Help Is On The Way!

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity. I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #196 entitled “Help Is On the Way!”
 
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at  http://www.thepuritycoach.com

Transcript

We saw in a previous episode that when you choose to do wrong, when you choose to do what you shouldn’t and choose not to do what you should—when you choose to allow King Me to sit high and mighty on your heart’s throne—certain things are guaranteed to happen. One of these is sorrow and sadness. Another is this: you will experience significant hardships in life.

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity. I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #196 entitled “Help Is On the Way!”

In Proverbs 1 Wisdom says, “You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you – when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you.” (Proverbs 1:25-27 NLT)

This is serious. Joshua 24:20 warns, “If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.” (NLT)

I have three powerful questions for you. They are going to require you to think hard. They will also require honesty and truthfulness. You can certainly choose to keep King Me on the throne of your heart right now, and lie and deceive; but in the long run, whom are you hurting? Be honest and talk with your accountability partner(s) about your answers.

You see, in Proverbs 13:13 we read, “Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself.” (ESV) To “despise the word” is to consider Scripture insignificant and unimportant, holding little to no usefulness or value for you. Based on that, here are my three questions.

Question #1: Up until now, in what ways have you “despised the word” of God? Now, before you dismiss this question as not pertaining to you, let me ask a couple of quick follow-up questions. First, if you truly believe God’s Word holds great value for you, why then do you repeatedly choose to live for King Me? And second, why are you not daily walking in full obedience and total surrender to God, allowing Him to be Lord and leader of every part of your life? With that in mind, let me repeat question #1: In what ways have you despised, and are you despising, God’s Word?

Question #2: Proverbs 13:15 tells us that “The way of the unfaithful is hard” (NIV’84). Here is my two-pronged question: In what ways have you been “unfaithful,” and to whom have you been “unfaithful”? The truth God is giving us in Proverbs 13:15 is that the way of the unfaithful has been, is now, and always will be hard. Despising God’s Word will always lead to unfaithfulness.

Question #3: In Romans 2:9 we read, “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil” (NIV’84). And in Proverbs 13:21 God says, “Disaster pursues sinners” (ESV). In light of those two verses, here’s my question: What “trouble and distress” have you experienced because of your sinful choices? In what ways has “disaster” pursued you as a result of your worship of King Me?

Scripture is clear that “all wrongdoing is sin” (1 John 5:17 ESV). In fact, “everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God” (1 John 3:4 NLT). When you choose to violate even a fraction of God’s holy law you are automatically guilty of sin. This is why David cries out to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4 ESV).

James writes, “For the person who keeps all [God’s] laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10 NLT) Let’s face it, this verse describes you. It describes me. We are guilty because we have failed to keep God’s all of law; we have failed to do the will of God.

When you choose to let King Me reign in your heart, not only will you experience hardships in life, but you will also be declared guilty. Let me remind you that when you choose to live for King Me, you are also automatically choosing to not live for God. I know we touched on this in previous episodes but let me re-emphasize it here: When you are choosing to live for yourself, you are also automatically choosing not to live for God. You cannot have it both ways (Matthew 6:24). 

Guilt is the result of having committed a violation of the law. Break the law and you are guilty. Guilt is not a feeling but a fact. Choosing King Me is choosing to walk in opposition to God. You are choosing to sin. You are therefore guilty.

Let me quote James 2:10 again, and as I do, I challenge you to seriously consider what God is saying here. “For the person who keeps all the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10 NLT) So maybe you don’t drink, and you don’t misuse over-the-counter drugs; you may not overeat or blow your top in anger, or cheat, or steal, or any of a number of other vices. You might be looking in the mirror thinking, “I’m a pretty good person overall.” But every time you choose to put King Me on the throne of your heart, you are guilty of breaking all of God’s law. You stand before the King of Kings, you appear before your Creator, the righteous and holy judge, as one who is guilty, period.

The result of your guilt is God’s just punishment for your wrongdoing. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 6:7-8, “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.” (Galatians 6:7-8 NLT)

And in Galatians 3:10 we read, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” (Galatians 3:10b NLT)

Your guilt is a direct result of choosing to give in to your sinful, selfish, fleshly desires. The Word of God says you are “tempted when [you are] lured and enticed by [your] own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15 ESV). Every choice leads to a consequence.

Are you ready for some great news? You do not have to be found guilty. As we discovered in Episode #193, you can choose, right here and right now, to “repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;” (Acts 3:19 NASB’95). It truly is that simple. When you choose to repent and turn away from King Me to God, He promises, “I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free” (Isaiah 44:22 NLT).

Jesus took all your guilt upon Himself. He “personally carried [your] sins in his body on the cross so that [you] can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed” (1 Peter 2:24 NLT). Christ personally carried our sins. He took the full brunt of God’s wrath; He hung in our place (yours and mine) on that cross; He who was not guilty willingly accepted our guilt upon Himself and received the punishment due you and me for our sin. Isaiah 53:4-5 declares, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried ... But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (NASB).

Your sinful, King Me choice to turn your back on God deserves every ounce of His wrath. However, “Since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation” (Romans 5:9 NLT). You see, “God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9 NLT) 

Here’s the exciting, awe-inspiring, mind-blowing news: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV). The psalmist puts it this way, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12 NLT).

God Himself says, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25 NASB’95). This is why God says, “I will be merciful toward [your] iniquities, and I will remember [your] sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12 ESV). All you must do is “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19 NIV’84).

OK, we’re going to hit the pause button here until next week’s episode as we look forward to continuing this study. 

In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry (what we do to help men across the globe find freedom and victory over sexual sin), be sure to visit our website to see the multitude of resources we’ve made available to you – you can find our website at ThePurityCoach.com

One of these powerful resources we are making available to you is my book called “Overcoming Temptation: 4 Steps to Spiritual Victory.” You see, saying “No” to temptation and choosing to live an upright and godly life is a daily decision you must make. Every time you are faced with a temptation, you are also faced with a decision: Do I give in, or do I stand firm in my faith and fight it? Do I yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit and live to glorify God, or do I focus on King Me and give in to my fleshly desires?

This book “Overcoming Temptation: 4 Steps to Spiritual Victory” presents, in a very clear and practical way, how to live a life that is holy and pure, how to say no to sin and live by the Spirit in a way that glorifies your creator, your Savior, your Heavenly Father. Again, the title of this book is “Overcoming Temptation: 4 Steps to Spiritual Victory.” You can find it on Amazon.com or on my website (ThePurityCoach.com) in our Resources section.

And if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes! So, until next time this is Author, Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.