Today we are going to look at resisting sin.  What is it all about?  Where the strength to resist sin comes from.  

Heb 12:1  says Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

James 4:7 says Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

You can read verses like these, and if you don’t know the context, you can go away thinking resisting sin is about using your willpower to not do something bad.  

The resisting of sin is a passive action.  What I mean by that is something else is doing the work in you, and you are the beneficiary of that work.  It’s very much like the concept of passive income in our society.  You are the beneficiary of something that is working on your behalf to earn income.  

It’s the same way with resisting sin.  It’s the grace of God that resists in us.  The apostle Paul says he labored more abundantly than all the other apostles yet it wasnt him that was performing the work, he says it was the grace of God that was working in him.  Paul’s much laboring was a passive action.  It wasnt his own strength that was doing the work.  He was the beneficiary of the work of God. 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

When we are experiencing the infirmity that comes from being clothed in perishable flesh, and living in a world shadowed by death, what we find in God is a compassionate kindness that alleviates our suffering.  There’s comfort for our affliction in the presence of God.  There’s strength for us when we are beset with weakness, in the presence of God.  

Verse 16 says let us come boldly to the throne of grace so we can obtain mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.  The time of need hebrews 4 talks about is when we are being tempted.  When we feel weakness; when we feel lack; when we encounter tribulation in the earth; when we feel that an injustice is being committed against us, thats the time of need, thats when we are in need of help from God; that’s when we are being tempted to try and perfect our lives from sin. 

God doesnt leave us to come to Him by ourselves.  He draws us to Himself.  

Heb 5:1  For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Heb 5:2  Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

The highpriest was a minister of the things pertaining to God and what is in Gods heart.  They were ordained by God to minister His heart to the people.  They would bring the people to God by showing them God is filled with compassion towards them when they are beset with sin. 

The idea is the highpriest was filled with compassion for the people because they were compassed about with the same weakness, and affliction as the people.  The highpriest was intimately acquainted with what hurts the people, and that’s how they were able to make an offering that could help the people in their affliction.  

Jesus was intimately acquainted with the suffering and the weakness that came upon mankind from sin.  He tasted the same death and tribulation that was tormenting all people.  He was beaten and bruised by the same death that was bruising us.  He knows what it’s like to experience death and tribulation in his body and in his emotions.  Jesus put on our body of death.  He came in the likeness of sinful flesh.  He put on the perishable flesh we were clothed in.  Peter says Jesus was put to death in the flesh.  Jesus felt all of the weakness and confusion that comes from the manifestation of death in the flesh.  He felt the same fear pressing in on him, that all of mankind felt from death.  He heard the same voices we all hear when we encounter the fruit of death.  He sweat blood at the thought of the death of the cross.

Now listen, Hebrew 1 says Jesus is the express image of God.  The apostle Paul says in Colossians 1 that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the beginning of all creation.  Jesus says in John’s gospel if you’ve seen him, you’ve seen the Father.  God Himself is intimately acquainted with what hurts you.  He is intimately acquainted with your pain and your suffering.  He put on your skin suit and tasted death.  God Himself felt the weakness and the fear that comes upon a person when they encounter the death and tribulation and corruption in the world.  When we see God Himself, Almighty God; Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor sweat blood when He encountered what we face in this world.  It says something to us.  It tells us He knows.  It tells us He is intimately acquainted with what hurts us, having Himself tasted everything that stands against our lives.  It tells us Gods heart is full of compassion for us when He finds us in our weakness.  

It’s like a support group.  God’s our support group.  Why do people even go to a support group?  What is it that brings them there?  The reason you go to a support group when you need help is because you know you won’t be judged.  You know you’ll find compassion at the support group because everyone there is intimately acquainted with the hurt you feel.  You know no one will make you feel guilty or ashamed because they’ve been through the same thing you’ve been through, and they know the pain and the confusion and the hurt you’ve felt.  You go to a support group because you know no one will despise you for your weakness because they’ve walked in your shoes.  

God Himself has walked in your shoes.  He doesn’t despise you for your weakness.  He doesnt despise you for the things you’ve done because of the fear of death.  He doesnt despise you for wanting life.  He doesnt despise you for trying to come down off the cross when the world was crucifying you.  

A lifeguard doesn’t despise the person who is drowning for flailing around and trying to take them under.  They understand the person is just fighting to live and not die.  That’s really what’s going on when the works of the flesh manifest in our lives.  The world is nailing us to a cross, and we are trying to lay hold of life ourselves by coming down off the cross.  

God understands how you could come down off the cross.  He understands why you could try to take up your own lives.  He never created you to experience death.  He knows you do not have the ability to resist death in the flesh.  He knows He’s the only one who possesses the strength to resist sin and death in the flesh.  So what He does is He draws us to Himself by showing us He’s full of compassion towards us when we are beset with sin.  He shows us the nail marks in his hands and the puncture wound in his side, and He looks us in the eyes, and says to us, I know what your going through, me too, look?  And the compassion we see in His eyes draws us to Him so we can receive grace in our time of need.  You’re not coming to someone for help unless you believe they are intimately acquainted with what hurts you.  

In the past I despised myself for my weakness, and thats one of the things that kept me from coming to Him.  I felt isolated and alone when I needed help the most.  Theres grace for us in identifying with God in our weakness.  If we can see ourselves in the face of God, when we are beset with weakness, it will be as a sharp two edged sword discerning our hearts, telling us the weakness we are feeling is not a sign God is far from us.  Its not a sign that our lives are being overcome.  

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  ***How do you run the race?  How do you lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us?  LOOKING UNTO JESUS.  LOOKING UNTO the FAITH that was revealed in Jesus.***
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

The sin that so easily besets us is unbelief.  Hebrews 4 says the children of Israel didnt enter the promised land; they didnt enter God’s rest, even though the work was finished from before the foundation of the world.  The reason they didn’t enter into the rest that comes from Gods work is because of unbelief.  

Unbelief in this context isnt just about obtaining eternal salvation.  We can all be tempted with unbelief in our lives.  Not unbelief that Jesus is the Son of God.  Not unbelief that Jesus is the Messiah and was sent by God.  Not unbelief in the historical events of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  But, unbelief that God is with us, having already sanctified our lives from death.   Unbelief that God cleansed us from the death in the world by providing Himself a lamb.  Unbelief that God has served us with a sinless life, a life without spot or blemish, a life that cannot be corrupted by the tribulation in the world.  

There’s times we encounter tribulation, and corruption, and sin, and injustice(that is the day of temptation or the evil day the scriptures speak of).  When we encounter injustice and tribulation in the world, and we are filled with weakness, we can be tempted to believe that our lives are being overcome, that we havent been set apart from sin.  We can be tempted with unbelief.  We can be tempted by the fruit of death we see in our lives.  We can be tempted to try and cleanse ourselves from sin.  The weakness we feel in those moments is tempting us to live by the sword; to take up our lives.  It’s tempting us to come down off the cross.  It’s tempting us to try and gather justice and peace and love and joy to ourselves instead of looking to God’s lamb, and what He’s already done to perfect our lives from sin and death once for all time through Jesus.  

Hebrewss 12/author of Hebrews says …. When you are in your time of need.  When you are compassed about with weakness, when you see your life, and you are seeing spots and blemishes in the life you have from the world, and you are being tempted to take up your own life.  Do not consider yourself or your own strength, thinking you can perfect yourself from sin.  You have not resisted sin unto blood, striving against sin.  Consider, Jesus who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.  Consider Jesus, lest you be wearied and faint in your mind in the day of temptation. 

God’s the only one who can resist sin.  He’s the only one not coming down off the cross.  God doesnt expect you to be able to resist sin on your own.  Once death entered the earth He knew He was the only one who could resist sin.  He knew He’s the only one who wouldnt come down off the cross.  God knows he’s the only one who can resist death.  When we think of resisting sin it can help us to understand what we are talking about, if we see that the wages of sin is death.  So when we think of resisting sin we ought to be thinking of resisting death.  Who can resist death in the flesh?  Who is it that can rest in the midst of death manifesting in their flesh?  God, that’s who?  He’s the only one who can be at rest in the presence of death coming upon Him.  Hebrews says Jesus was tempted in every way we were tempted and yet without sin.  Yes Jesus resisted sin on the cross but the way that looks is he resisted death on the cross.  It was death that he resisted.  God was in Christ on the cross, resisting death in the flesh.  God was in Christ on the cross striving against sin, even unto his blood being shed.  God was in Christ, resting, even in the presence of death coming upon him.  God’s the only one who can be at rest while being nailed to a cross.  

We don’t try and resist, we don’t try to rest, we look to the one who did resist.  Hebrews 12:2 says looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith.  

The power to find the grace of God, laboring in you, resisting sin on your behalf, is found in looking unto Jesus, the alpha and omega of faith; the beginning and end of faith.  God resists sin in you by showing you the gift He has in His hand to give you.  He shows you the substance of everything you’ve ever desired for your life in Jesus seated at His right hand.  He shows you Jesus, and He shows you the spotless life you’ve always wanted; He shows you Jesus and He shows you a life thats been cleansed from sin and death; He shows you Jesus and He shows you the justice from this world your heart cries out for.  He shows you Jesus, and He shows you that He’s served you with the desire of your heart.  He sets His glory before you.  He shows you how He’s served you with the glorious life you’ve always wanted, and that disesteems the death and the tribulation and the weakness thats compassed you about like the bulls of bashan.  It neuters the power of tribulation in your heart.  The revelation of Jesus resists sin in you.  Hebrews 12 says Jesus despised the shame of the cross for the glory that was set before him.  Jesus saw the glory He shared with the Father from the beginning.  He saw that glory made it impossible for death to hold him, and the death of the cross was disesteemed in his sight.  The glory Jesus saw that He shared with the Father, labored in him, resisting death in him.  

Only eternal life can resist death …. Eternal life is the only thing that can be at rest in the presence of death.  The only thing that can resist death in the flesh.  The only thing that can resist the temptation that comes from death, is if eternal life can dwell in a flesh that can die, and then that flesh that is dying can be put to rest by the incorruptible seed/indestructible life that is abiding in that body.  

Pray