Footnote: I have read John MacArthur for over thirty years now, to me he is like Charles Spurgeon. Thus I read and listen to John the way I would Spurgeon. If you can hear John teach on radio that would be good. I have often said, that my preaching and teaching has been influenced by John for thirty years. If you want to know what I believe about the Christian life, about becoming a Christian and about the local church and the end times, I follow his thinking. I have studied the Bible now for over fifty years, just getting started I might say. I do not think that I have the ability unto my self alone to know the word of God, but I can study from those who have a better ability. Then the Holy Spirit can direct your spirit to believe its from God's word.
Often people will say, "I don't understand the Word?" And they are correct. Thus you need to read first the Bible, and then there are helps which will guide you into a better understanding of the Bible. But choose your helps carefully. And I would say if you follow John's understanding of the Word you would be much wiser. After a while you catch the idea of how to understand the Word yourself.
Listen to preaching and teaching that teach the meaning of the text in its context, that is in the verses they are reading from. You should be able to understand and see what he is teaching is in the verses. If he is saying things that are not directly in the text, then listen careful to see what he is say. If the preacher says, "I use only the KJV and use no other helps" I would check out what he is saying. No preacher or person can unto himself know the Word with out helps.
Charles
If you live by the Spirit and are headed towards eternal life because of your salvation, the Spirit in you gives the power to be killing the deeds of the flesh.
The question is, "All right, how do I do that? I agree that the power is there, that’s the bent of my life, that’s the way I am going. I want to see the Spirit do more and more of it. How do I get to that point? How do I gain that victory? How do I establish that habitual pattern? What do I do?"
1. Recognize the Presence of Sin in Your Flesh.
Do you know why most Christians are most commonly defeated by sin? I believe it is because their sin has so totally deceived them, that they never really get to the point where they honestly evaluate its reality. They are not dealing with the issue.
They spend so much of their lives justifying their sin as a personality quirk or a product of their environment. They sugar-coat their habitual sins as simply idiosyncrasies (traits) of individuality, or some prenatal attraction that their mother had, or whatever. People can become so good at denying the reality of sin that they don’t see it. As a result, they don’t deal with it because they don’t even recognize it for what it is.
Any kind of spiritual victory begins by identifying the enemy. It is the same old story, "If you don’t know what you are shooting at, how are you going to hit it?" How am I going to eliminate from my life what I don’t even identify as needing to be eliminated?
Sin is not only wicked, it is deceitful. And it’s there inside each of us. Believe me it is there. John Owen was right, he says of sin:
- It has no doors to open. It needs no engine by which to work. It lies in the mind and in the understanding. It is found in the will. It is in the inclinations of the affections. It has such intimacy in the soul.
It’s there! But inevitably it’s covered up. As the Psalmist prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me" (Psalm 139:22). We must ask God to help us see our sinfulness, if we want to recognize it for what it is.
Don’t be deceived about how good you are. Believe me, your sin is there, and it is wretched and it spurts forth between the cracks of your supposed righteousness. It comes out in anger and bitter words, unkind thoughts, criticisms, self-conceit, lack of understanding, impatience, weak prayers, immoral thoughts, and even overt sins. You need to know your weaknesses.
Haggai the prophet, in chapter one of his prophecy, repeats the command, "Consider your ways! Consider your ways!" (vv. 5, 7). In other words, take a good deep look at yourself. First Kings 8:38 says, "Know the plague in your own heart.""And Paul in Ephesians 4:22 talks about deceitful lusts. From these and many other passages, the Bible makes the point: If you want to kill sin in your life, you must begin by examining your own heart to see the reality of what is there.
Continue next time
