Men's Breakaway Liveblog 3 | Peter Mahaffey
For Peter's second session at Muskoka Bible Centre's Men's Breakaway conference, Peter provides Biblical principles to overcome sin. Our primary zeal should be to honour God.
11:24 What are we fighting against? We are not fighting against sin, but we are fighting to "see the beauty and glory of Christ more clearly so that our souls may find satisfaction in him"
11:27 We are in a war; so we need to have war-like mentality. The war is internal (sinful flesh) and external: the world and the devil.
In North America, Satan puts people to sleep to get the people of God. Relax on the couch. "You are not in a spiritual war." But we are in a war until Christ returns.
1 Pet 2:11: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul."
11:31 "If you make peace with porn, you will go to hell." God's children have eternal security; but no slave of Jesus Christ can be a slave of Satan. You need to fight.
11:32 We also need to heed the warnings of Scripture. These warnings are written for Christians.
11:35 One help to overcoming sexual sin is to use a filter on your digital devices. Such a move removes the opportunity to sin. You must be drastic in what you do to overcome sin. Jesus said that you should rip out your eye rather than sin. "Jesus takes sin extremely serious; how series are you taking it?"
If you struggle with pornography, put something on computer or phone to prevent you from taking the opportunity to sin.
11:38 You must also practice confession. "Confession is a gift of God to expose our sin to the light."
11:41 We do accountability all wrong. Confession is not having someone check up on you; it's you confessing your sin to a brother. You make yourself accountable to someone else. You give updates on your life; it's your responsibility to confess to your brother.
Practically, choose one or two brothers to be accountable to. If you have four guys, you may select one guy a week and nobody knows what's going on your life.
11:49 [lost connection for a bit] Peter had spoken about speaking to your mind, not letting your mind speak to you. So he recites Scripture to himself before he preaches, so that he doesn't worry about what people think of him. He teaches his mind what to think.
We must not be lazy to overcome sin. But we must actively renew our minds.
11:50 We also need to give up fleeting pleasure for eternal satisfaction. Hebrews 11:24–26: "By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward."
Set our minds on our eternal rewards, so that we can resist the fleeting pleasures in the here and now.
11:54 We also need to be engaged in Christianity community and fellowship. Holiness is impossible without the help and protection of others. "The devil and sin will always try to get you in isolation."
11:59 Remember this that God has promised to complete the work he has done for you. God is working far more in the work of sanctification than you.
By grace and Spirit of God, we can win. We can walk in purity.