Transcript The Enemy Within - Gregg Vermeesch Part 1

1 Corinthians 2:1-5
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with
eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you
the testimony about God. For I resolved to know
nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and
him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and
with much trembling. My message and my preaching
were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith
might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
By Kris Lundgaard
Psalm 139
O LORD, you have searched me and you
know me. You know when I sit and when
I rise; you perceive my thoughts from
afar. You discern my going out and my
lying down; you are familiar with all
my ways. Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD. You
hem me in—behind and before; you
have laid your hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me, too
lofty for me to attain. Where can I go
from your Spirit? Where can I flee from
your presence? If I go up to the heavens,
you are there; if I make my bed in the
depths, you are there. If I rise on the
wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far
side of the sea, even there your hand
will guide me, your right hand will hold
me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day, for
darkness is as light to you. For you created
my inmost being; you knit me together in
my mother's womb. I praise you because I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; your
works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I
was made in the secret place. When I was
woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body. All the
days ordained for me were written in your
book before one of them came to be. Search
me, O God, and know my heart; test me and
know my anxious thoughts. See if there is
any offensive way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting.
The Power of Sin
in What It Is
Four Key Truths About Sin:
 Sin Living In Us Is “Law”
 We Find This Law Living Inside Us
 We Find This Law When We Are At
Our Best
 This Law Never Rests.
Sin living in us is “law”
Romans 7:17-23 - As it is, it is no longer I myself who do
it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good
lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the
desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For
what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do
not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do
what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it,
but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law
(sin) at work: When I want to do good, evil is right
there with me. For in my inner being I delight in
God's law; but I see another law (sin) at work in the
members of my body, waging war against the law
(God’s law) of my mind and making me a prisoner of
the law of sin at work within my members.
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We find this law inside us.
Romans 7:21 So I find this law at work
We find this law when we are at our best.
Romans 7:21 When I want to do good, evil is
right there with me.
This law never rests.
Romans 7:14-25
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to
do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Four Key Truths About Sin:
 Sin Living In Us Is “Law”
 We Find This Law Living Inside Us
 We Find This Law When We Are At Our Best
 This Law Never Rests.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit
of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption.
Romans 8:2 because through Christ Jesus the law
of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin
and death.
What do you think is the most frustrating
thing about the sin in your heart?
Do you have trouble seeing your sin? What
should you do about that?
The Long Arm Of The Law
The law of sin pushes us around the same way other laws
motivate our obedience: with promises and threats.
The Rewards of Sin:
 Stature
 Wealth
 Pleasure
 Excitement
 Fulfillment
 Security
Hebrews 11:24-26
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be
known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to
be mistreated along with the people of God rather than
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He
regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater
value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was
looking ahead to his reward.
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The Punishment of Sin:
 Mocked
 Mistreated
 A Hard Life
 Discriminated Against
 Danger
 Fear
 Death
Psalm 73
A psalm of Asaph.
1Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human
ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know
no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.
11 They say, "How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?"
12 This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in
innocence.
14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,“ I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
20 As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will
despise them as fantasies.
21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into
glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides
you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and
my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are
unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign
LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
Sin Is An Inside Job
 In-Bred Working
 Compelling
 Deceiving
 Convincing
 Urging Us From The
Shadows of Our Heart
Ephesians 2:1-3
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and
sins, in which you used to live when you followed the
ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of
the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one
time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we
were by nature objects of wrath.
Sin Gets Under Our Skin
 Indwelling sin wears out its welcome
 Indwelling sin doesn’t observe a Sabbath
 Sin does its dirty work with the greatest of
ease
Weapons of Choice:
 Daily Prayer
 In The Word – Daily
 Fellowship/Service
 Accountability
 Christian Counseling
Ephesians 6:10-17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put
on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand
against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the
day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm
then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with
your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of
faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows
of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Psalm 101
1 I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
when will you come to me?
I will walk in my house
with blameless heart.
3 I will set before my eyes
no vile thing.
The deeds of faithless men I hate;
they will not cling to me.
4 Men of perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will have nothing to do with evil.
The Haunted Heart
Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the
LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to
reward a man according to his conduct, according to
what his deeds deserve."
What is the heart?
The best way to think of your heart is that it comprises:
 Your thoughts, plans, judgments, discernment (the
mind)
 Your choices and actions (the will)
 Your longings, desires, revulsion, imagination, feelings
(the affections)
 Your sense of right and wrong, which approves or
condemns your mind, will, and affections (the
conscience)
Jeremiah 31:33
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of
Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put
my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I
will be their God, and they will be my people.
Ephesians 1:17-19
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray
also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in
order that you may know the hope to which he has
called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the
saints, and his incomparably great power for us who
believe. That power is like the working of his mighty
strength,
Ecclesiastes 9:3
This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun:
The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men,
moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their
hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good stored
up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of
the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his
heart his mouth speaks.
Matthew 6:19-21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break
in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If we are true Christians, we move the knowledge of
God’s redemption from our minds into our hearts.
God knows our hearts are sinful. He has it taken care of
that, He gives us a new heart…
Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will
remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of
flesh.
A new mind – even the mind of Christ…
Romans 7:25
Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the
sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Romans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not
know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes
for us with groans that words cannot express.
And new desires for the things of God…
Romans 7:18
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out.
2 Corinthians 5:2
Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our
heavenly dwelling
Hebrews 13:18
Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and
desire to live honorably in every way.
Deuteronomy 30:6, The LORD your God will circumcise
your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that
you may love him with all your heart and with all your
soul, and live.
Psalm 97
10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil,
for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is shed upon the righteous
and joy on the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous,
and praise his holy name.
Yet, God’s work is not finished…
1 John 3:2
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not
yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to
face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully
known.
Galatians 5:17
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the
Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with
each other, so that you do not do what you want.
This battle never ends, don’t ever think that you have
won, heed the warnings in these verses…
Luke 11:24-26
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes
through arid places seeking rest and does not find
it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'
When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and
put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other
spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and
live there. And the final condition of that man is
worse than the first.“
Matthew 26:41
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into
temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
1 Corinthians 16:13
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of
courage; be strong.
2 Peter 3:17
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this,
be on your guard so that you may not be carried away
by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure
position.
Luke 12:15
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist
in the abundance of his possessions."
As complicated and endless as this war is,
believers rush in with confidence. God gives
us everything we need to fight the good fight.
We have Him on our side, He rules over evil.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such
a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything
that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and
let us run with perseverance - the race marked out for
us.
1 John 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to
you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we
claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all
sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make
him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Jeremiah 17:5-10
This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
Identifying The Sin In Your Heart
Tim Lane – “Every sin is some form of idolatry, we
worship our way in to sin and we must worship our way
out of sin.”
1. Defining idols of the heart:
a. What they are—Rom 1:25—good things morphing into
God.
Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served created things rather than the
Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
b. Why we have them---Rom 1:21– to stay in control of our
own lives.
Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither
glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their
thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
c. How they affect us
1. Distorted thinking—Rom 1:21
2. Enslavement—Rom 1:25 (served)
3. The sin underneath the sins
What idols rule your heart?
2. Identifying idols of the heart:
a. Using problem emotions; anger, fear, worry,
despair, euphoria, calm/comfort, etc.
b. Motivational Drives: approval, comfort,
image, control, helping, dependence,
independence, work, achievement,
materialism, religion, individual person,
irreligion, racial/cultural, inner-ring, family,
relationship, suffering, ideology…
3. Diagnostic questions:
What is my greatest nightmare? What do I worry about
most?
What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to feel what I did
not even want to live? What keeps me going?
What do I rely on or comfort myself with when things go bad
or get difficult?
What do I think most easily about? What does my mind
wander to when I am free? What pre-occupies me?
What prayer, unanswered, would make me seriously think
about turning away from God?
What makes me feel the most self-worth? What am I
proudest of?
First Step—Repent
a. Name the idol—be specific
b. Unmask the idol—destroy its attraction
i. See how weak and poor it is in itself
ii. See how dangerous it is
iii. See how grievous it is to Christ
Second Step—Rejoice
a. Rejoice in general
b. Rejoice in particular—bring specific
passages together with prayer
(meditation)
c. Rejoice in process—growth in grace is
gradual over time
d. Repent and Rejoice in community
 Sin is unfulfilling, it will never satisfy you or provide you
with permanent happiness.
 Sin occupies valuable space within your heart, in which if
you are a believer, is where Christ lives within you.
 Sin separates you from God, it is impossible to have a close
personal relationship with God when you are not dealing
with your sin.
 Sin ALWAYS has consequences and affects other people as
well as yourself.
 When you become a Christian, sin no longer rules over you,
through Christ you have the power over sin.
 As soon as you overcome one sin, satan will try to get you to
sin in another way. He is very good at what he does, he’s
been doing it a long time. He is smarter than you.
 Your strength is not of your own but through the blood of
Christ.
1 Timothy 1:12-17
The Lord's Grace to Paul
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength,
that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his
service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a
persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I
acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was
poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love
that are in Christ Jesus.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of
whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was
shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners,
Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as
an example for those who would believe in him and
receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and
ever. Amen.
John 12:25-26
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man
who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal
life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I
am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the
one who serves me.