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Transcript

The Sting Of Secret Sin · Ian Green Audio Sermons

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Ministry of Young Green, a place where faith is strengthened, hope is renewed, and the Word of God comes alive.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Whether you're searching for answers, walking through a difficult season, or simply hungry to know God more deeply, you're in the right place.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: So take a moment, quiet your heart, and open your spirit.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: Let's get into the Word of God together.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: This is Ian Green, and this is today's message.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: The sting of secret sin.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: There is something I want to speak about today that perhaps we don't speak about enough.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Secret sin.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: The things that nobody else sees.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: The private battle, the hidden thought, the secret appetite, the thing you would never want displayed publicly.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: You can love God and still discover that there is an area of your flesh that keeps trying to pull you backwards.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: But hear the word of the Lord.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: Sin shall not have dominion over you.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: That means sin is not supposed to be your master.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Lust is not your master.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: Pornography is not your master.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Fantasy is not your master.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Bitterness is not your master.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Pride is not your master.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: The secret habit is not your master.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ is Lord.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: And because Jesus is Lord, sin no longer has the legal right to sit on the throne of your life.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: See, the enemy works through suggestion.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: We need to understand something about spiritual warfare.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: The enemy very often begins with a suggestion.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: Look at the Garden of Eden.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: The serpent didn't physically force Eve to eat the fruit, he introduced the thought.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yea, have God said?
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Satan planted a suggestion, and he still works through suggestion.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: A thought comes, an image comes, a memory comes, a fantasy comes.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes something enters your mind seemingly from nowhere.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you may even wake from a dream with something ungodly impressed upon your mind.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: But understand this: a thought entering your mind is not the same thing as you agreeing with that thought.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Temptation itself is not the same as sin.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: The danger comes when we begin to entertain what should have been rejected.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: And James 1:14:15 says, Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Notice the progression.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: There is temptation, there is enticement, then there is conception, then there is sin.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: The enemy wants you to take something that appeared in your mind and begin meditating upon it.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because what you meditate upon begins to affect your desires, and what affects your desires can eventually influence your actions.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: That is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 5 that we are to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to entertain every thought that knocks on the door.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to give every imagination somewhere to sit down.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: Some thoughts need to be arrested immediately.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: No, I will not meditate on that.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: No, I will not entertain that.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: No, my body belongs to Jesus Christ.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: And many of us know that moment.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: The Holy Spirit is warning you.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know you shouldn't continue.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Something inside you is saying, turn it off, put the phone down, walk away, stop thinking about it, don't go there.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: That is the moment where self-control has to operate.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Galatians 5 tells us that self-control is part of the fruit of the spirit.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: But sometimes we ignore that warning and we continue.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: And once our flesh becomes excited, temptation becomes stronger.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: Then something very dangerous happens.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: We start negotiating with sin.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: We start producing reasons why what we are about to do isn't really that bad.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I've been under pressure.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm tired.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody knows.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not hurting anybody.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'll repent afterwards.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: This is the last time.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: And suddenly we have become the defense lawyer for the very thing the Holy Spirit told us to flee from.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: That is deception.
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  SPEAKER_02: See the enemy tempts you before the sin and then condemns you after the sin.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Beforehand, he says, It's not that serious.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: Afterwards, he says, Look at you, how can you call yourself a Christian?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Beforehand, God understands.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: Afterwards, God can never use you now.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: Do you see the strategy?
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  SPEAKER_02: He seduces you into the act and then uses the act as evidence against you.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: That is the sting of secret sin.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: There may be momentary pleasure, but afterwards comes the sting, the shame, the disappointment, the broken fellowship, the feeling that you've let God down again.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes the greatest sting is hearing yourself say, Lord, I said I wouldn't do this again.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, don't confuse conviction with condemnation.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: This is where we have to understand the difference between the Holy Spirit and the accuser.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: The Holy Spirit convicts you because he wants to restore you.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: And Romans 8:1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: God does not expose sin because he hates you.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: God exposes sin because he loves you too much to allow something to enslave you.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: And Romans 6 14 doesn't say, Oh, hopefully one day sin might stop controlling you.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: It says, Sin shall not have dominion over you.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Hallelujah! Grace isn't permission to remain enslaved, but grace is God's power bringing you out of slavery.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: There is another weapon the enemy uses, secrecy.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: He tells you, Don't tell anybody, they'll think differently about you.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: You're supposed to be strong.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Deal with this yourself.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: But James 5:16 says, confess your thoughts one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: There are some battles you were never intended to fight completely alone.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: That doesn't mean broadcasting your weaknesses to everybody.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: Wisdom is important.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: But sometimes freedom begins when you find a mature, trustworthy, godly person and say, I need you to pray with me.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: I need accountability.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm struggling in this area, and I don't want it controlling me anymore.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Secrecy gives certain sins somewhere to hide, and confession brings them into the light.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: And things that thrive in darkness begin losing their power once exposed to the light.
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  SPEAKER_02: Don't just repent.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: So listen carefully.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: If you keep falling in the same place, ask yourself, what keeps leading me there?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: Is it late at night?
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  SPEAKER_02: Is it being alone?
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  SPEAKER_02: Is it your phone?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Is it a particular website?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: Is it certain social media?
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  SPEAKER_02: Is it conversations with a particular person?
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  SPEAKER_02: Is it loneliness?
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  SPEAKER_02: Is it frustration?
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  SPEAKER_02: Is it rejection?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: Is it boredom?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Or is it stress?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes we keep asking God to deliver us while continuing to create the exact environment in which we normally fall.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus spoke radically about removing stumbling blocks.
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  SPEAKER_02: In other words, stop giving your flesh easy access to what keeps defeating you.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: Put boundaries in place.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Remove access.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Change routines.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: Don't stay awake scrolling through things that weaken your spirit.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Don't keep revisiting something God told you to leave alone.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Don't deliberately put yourself at the edge of temptation and then pray that you don't fall over the edge.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: No, flee.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2.22, flee also youthful lusts.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't say negotiate with them.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't say study them.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't say see how close you can get without sinning.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: It says flee.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: There is always a way out.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: 1 Corinthians 10.13 says that God is faithful and with temptation he will always make a way to escape.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: There is always an exit.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: The problem is that sometimes we see the exit and choose not to take it.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: The Holy Spirit says, put the phone down, there's your exit.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: Get out of that room, there's your exit.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: Call somebody, there's your exit.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Start praying, there's your exit.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: Go for a walk, there's your exit.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: Turn that program off, there's your exit.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: The more often you obey that prompting, the stronger that response becomes.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: You are developing spiritual resistance and you are learning to say, My flesh does not command me.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus is Lord over me.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: Perhaps somebody listening to this has fallen recently, and the enemy has been telling you, Here you are again.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: You'll never change.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: You've prayed about this before.
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  SPEAKER_01: You've repented before.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: You'll always be like this.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: That is a lie.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: Proverbs 24:16 says, For a just man falls seven times and rises up again.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: The enemy wants your fall to become your identity.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: But God says, get up, repent, confess it, bring it into the light, and learn from what happened.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Strengthen the place where your defense was weak and keep walking.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: Don't turn one failure into three days of failure because you think you've already ruined everything.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Don't say, Well, I've fallen now, so it doesn't matter.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: No, stop immediately, turn immediately, repent immediately, come back to God immediately.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: 1 John 1 9 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: See, you are not a slave anymore.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Romans 6.12 says, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts thereof.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: Notice the language, reign.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: See, sin wants a throne, sin wants authority, sin wants obedience, and sin wants to become a master.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: But Romans 6.14 declares, sin shall not have dominion over you.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: Why?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: Because you belong to somebody else now.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: You belong to Jesus, hallelujah.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: You've been bought with a price, and your mind belongs to Jesus, your eyes belong to Jesus, your imagination belongs to Jesus, even your sexuality belongs to Jesus, your body belongs to Jesus, your private life belongs to Jesus.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: And the goal isn't merely to appear holy when people are watching, the goal is to belong completely to Christ when nobody is watching.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: That's where integrity lives, and that's where character is formed.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's where true freedom begins.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna close in prayer.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for every person listening who is fighting a secret battle.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: Lord, expose the strategy of the enemy and show us where the suggestion begins.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: Show us where we have been entertaining thoughts that should have been taken captive.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: Show us the environments, habits, and triggers that continually weaken our defenses.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: And Father, give us courage to bring hidden things into the light.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: Give us wisdom to find trustworthy believers who can pray with us and stand with us, and give us the strength to flee temptation when the door of escape appears.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: And Father, where there has been failure, let there be genuine repentance without condemnation.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Wash us, cleanse us, restore us, and strengthen us.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: Teach us self-control through the power of your Holy Spirit.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: And today we declare the word of God: sin shall not have dominion over me.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: I am not sin's slave.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: My flesh is not my master.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: My past is not my master.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: My secret struggle is not my master, because Jesus Christ is Lord, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: So, Father, please give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, give us disciplined minds, and let our private lives honor you just as much as our public lives in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for joining me today, and I pray that this message has encouraged you, strengthened your faith, and drawn you closer to God.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: If this ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider becoming a partner and helping us continue to share the word of God and the message of hope with people around the world.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: You can find out more about support in the ministry through the links provided.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, remember this God loves you and He has a purpose for your life, and He's always with you.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Ian Green, God bless you, and I'll see you again soon.