Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire. Here's what's coming
up in today's edition.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Before you were saved, you had no choice. You had
to sin all sin and fell short of the glory
of God. Before you were saved, you had no choice.
But once you're saved, there is a power that lives
inside of you where you can resist those cravings. You
can resist that pull towards the wrong thing by the

(00:30):
Holy Spirit who lives within you. And because that old
man of sin is hanging on the cross with Jesus.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Sin is like an old man who's lived in this
same home his entire life. He never wants to leave
it behind, and it may take a lot of effort
to get him to completely leave, even if it's what's
best for everyone involved. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that
sin can be a stubborn thing to get rid of,
but the power of Jesus can purge it from your
life one piece at a time. But he won't do

(01:03):
the work unless you surrender those issues of sin to him.
You need to do the work of recognizing the sin
issues within yourself. Well, let's join faster. Jeff in the
Book of Romans, chapter six, as he continues his message,
disarm me the giant of lust.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Fame is a lust. Are you ready for this one?
Food gluttony? How about money? Money is a luss. Violence,
violence is lust driven, violence is a lust. All of
these things spring out of what Peter called luss that

(01:42):
war against your soul. These are luss inside of us.
We're in a battle. And the great thing about heaven
is going to be there is no more temptation. The
devil's gone, the flesh is gone, fallen nature is gone.
And can you imagine even going one week without feeling
a temptation. Imagine eternity with no more temptation. But in

(02:07):
the meantime, we have lusts that war against our soul.
And Peter said, I beseech you, as pilgrims and strangers
in this earth, that you avoid these lusts that war
against your soul. Now, I want to tell you today.
I know this is a delicate subject, and I know
that I'm hitting home because we all experience this, But

(02:32):
I want you to understand that there's not a form
of lust you face in whatever way it manifests in
your life, that you have a savior who understands every
weakness of yours and mine. He was tempting in every
way that we are yet without sin. That's almost beyond
comprehension to me. But there is not a lust that

(02:52):
you experience, not a compulsion, not a poll not a longing,
not a craving that Jesus Christ did not deal with
it on the battlefield of life. The only difference with
him was he never succumbed. So when he hung on
that cross, Satan had orchestrated the murder of an innocent man.
He was innocent through and through, pure, tempted in all

(03:16):
points like we are yet without sin. And so that
precious blood that flowed down that old wooden cross was
the blood that set us free, not only got us
into heaven, but set us free from the giant of lust.
That's the message, Jesus in the midst of your battle,

(03:37):
is your friend. He's not against you, he's not looking
down at you, angry at you because you're struggling over this.
It's not a sin to be tempted. It's not a
sin to experience the compulsion, the craving of a wrong
kind of lust. The Bible says, Jesus has set us free.
You will know the truth and it'll make you free.
And he whom the sun frees is free, truly, indeed,

(04:01):
truly free, free on the inside. You can be in
a wide open space, folks, and be in prison on
the inside, or you can be in a little jail
and be free. Freedom is an inside thing, it's not
an outside thing. Now here's the million dollar question. How
do you disarm the giant of lust? How do we

(04:21):
do it? How do you do it? If I'm supposed
to be free, how do I do it? I'm gonna
give you three simple things. First, say this with me.
Ask for help. That isn't that profound, but you know
what that entails and what requires humility to ask for help. Men,

(04:42):
men don't want to admit to struggling with a weakness.
Oh I am a man, hear me, roar. We don't
like to admit it. I'm not telling anybody. And they're
dying on the inside, struggling. We had men come down weeping,

(05:09):
seeking God breaking. A couple of them reeking of alcohol,
came into church, not having any idea they would be
down here getting their hearts right. And I watched the
chains break. I watched the chains break, and that's what
church is about. And the Bible says we should take

(05:33):
our struggles vertical and horizontal, vertical to God. There's nothing
you take to God that he doesn't already know. There
is nothing you take to God that's going to shock God.
God already knows. Isn't amazing. So many times we pray,
we think we're telling God something we're telling for our sake,
not for his sake. He already knows every struggle. So

(05:54):
you go to God and you confess the lust to him.
Whatever kind it is, you name it and you say
it to him. God, I am struggling with and name
it and say it. The Bible says, trust in Him
at all times. You people pour out your hearts to him.
Let it go to him. For God is our refuge.

(06:18):
He's not gonna reject us. You're not going to turn
us aside. He's our refuge, our rock, our strength, our shield,
our healer, our deliverer. He is our sealer, he is
our savior. He is all of these things to us.
God is you can tell him about it. Tell him
about it. Now. You'll notice that sometimes when you go

(06:40):
to do that and you know you've confessed your sends
to him, he's forgiving you, but you're still struggling with
that giant. And if that's still what's happening, here's what
you need to do. Take it horizontal, Tell a friend,
tell a pastor, tell a counselor tell someone trustworthy about
your struggle. Well, pastor, I just don't want to do
that because I know it will happen. They'll look at
me from then on like I'm some kind of a freak. No,

(07:02):
they won't, because there's not a person in here who
hasn't dealt with the giant of lust in some arena
of life. And so like Jesus said to you, that
is without sin, you cast the first stone, and nobody could,
and nobody still can. The church has got to get
past this illusion. We try to give people that when

(07:24):
we walk into church, we've got some halo over our
head that's not tarnished. We struggle all week long with
the flesh. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. We all
have battles. And if we would just get to the
place where we say, brothers, sister, I want you to
pray with me because I'm really dealing with this giant.
Because listening with the Bible promises confess your faults to
one another. You know that was there. And that's not

(07:47):
talking about a Catholic priest going to confession. You're all priests, okay.
So it says, confess your fault to one another and
pray for each other so that you may be healed. Now.
I used to read that and go, oh, that's why

(08:09):
I'm about physical healing. But then I dug into it
this week and found what I thought I would find.
It's not just talking about physical healing. The word healed
here refers to freedom from sin. That when you bring
something into the light, it's like God pulls up the curtains,
the sunshine comes in. All the cobwebs in that dark

(08:29):
room where you've been defeated are revealed. The spiders, the cobwebs,
the rats scurrying on the floor, the cockroaches as they
all start to run when the light comes in. And
the light comes in, when we confess to one another
and just say I need prayer, I need prayer, That's
what celebrate recovery is all about. Here at turning point,

(08:50):
I'm gonna tell you celebrate recoveries, and I may Tuesday
night and Thursday night we have celebrate recovery. I go
to most of the graduations and I'm never I never
cease to be amazed because Celbary recovery is all about
you sharing with someone else your struggle, coming out with it.
I need you, I need your prayer, I need your help,
I need you to walk through this battle with this

(09:12):
giant with me. And I sit right over there and
I listen to these testimonies on graduation night, and I
am always absolutely blown away at what I hear, the
things that they have been delivered of. Sometimes this was
the last stop, this was it before they walked off

(09:35):
the cliff, and here they turn, and here they get delivered,
and here they get free. And I told every service
I'm not to my car before I've called Kathy, and
I say, Kathy. One of the great reasons that turning
point is here is celebrate recovery, because it's really seeing
people free. It really is. So the word for healed

(09:58):
me is freedom from sins. And when you go to
somebody and you say, hey, I'm struggling, there's something about
that It breaks the spell of that lust. Second thing,
recognize what Jesus did for us on the cross, so
we ask for help and then we recognize something. What
did Jesus do for us on the Cross? Now? If

(10:20):
I passed out a poll right now and I asked
one question, what did the Cross do for you? Overwhelmingly
you would say, well, the Cross got me forgiven in
my sins and got me into heaven. And you would
be absolutely right. But you would only be partially right.
And do you know that a lot of Christians don't

(10:41):
know what the Cross really did do? And because they
don't know, they have not gotten free. You will know
the truth, and that's what makes you free. Now, let
me give you some truth about the Cross. This is
an amazing statement. I'm reading from Romans six two, verses

(11:02):
six through seven. Listen to what Paul says, your old
evil desires were nailed to the cross with him. Now,
I'm gonna read it again because it takes several times
for it to sink in. Listen carefully, your old evil desires.

(11:23):
Other versions would say, your old man, the old man
of sin, the adam nature that got you in all
your trouble in the first place, That nature that sins,
that old adamic nature was nailed to the cross with him.

(11:45):
Now follow me here. There's that old song were you
there when they crucified my Lord. Yes, you were, you
were there. You were there, You were there, You were there,
all of you. I was there when they crucifer my Lord.
Somehow in the mysterious profound workings of God, when Jesus

(12:07):
died on that cross, he nailed the old man of
sin on that cross with him. That means my old
nature is da d dead.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
Okay, thanks for listening to Hardwired. We all face challenges
that can feel daunting, and to help you dive deeper,
we've prepared a special devotional. It's designed to spark meaningful
conversation and provide practical steps to strengthen your faith. Whether
it's fear, discouragement, or uncertainty, learn to confront these challenges

(12:48):
with courage and faith. This devotional compliments each sermon. You'll
gain tools to apply God's word throughout the week. To
get your free devotional text, giants to eight one, seven four,
eight four or seven sixty seven. Join us as we
discover how to little life of faith free from the
giants that hold us back.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
It gets better. That part of you that loves to
sin was crushed and fatally wounded, so your sin loving
body is no longer under sin's control, no longer needs
to be a slave to sin. For when you are
dead to sin, you are freed from all of it's
allure and its power over you. Is this saying that

(13:30):
we will never sin again? No? Is it talking about
sinless perfection. No, here's what it's saying. Before you were saved,
you had no choice. You had to sin all sin
and fell short of the glory of God. Before you
were saved, you had no choice. But once you're saved,
there is a power that lives inside of you where

(13:51):
you can resist those cravings. You can resist that pull
towards the wrong thing by the Holy Spirit who lives
within you. And because that old man of sin is
hanging on the cross with Jesus. And listen, I ask

(14:12):
you a question. If something is on a cross, is
it alive or dead? It's dead. Hear what he's telling us.
For when you are dead to sin, you are freed
from all it's allure and its power over you. So
to overcome us, we've got to recognize that the person
we used to be was nailed to the cross with Jesus.

(14:37):
Catch that now, that person you used to be that
was involved in all the sinful activity. That person that
needed to get saved. That person is gone. That old
man of sin is nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ.
Listen what the Paul said, I am crucified with Christ.

(15:01):
He said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet
not I but Christ lives in me and the life
I now live I live by faith in the Son
of God. He's saying. He said, I'm dead to sin,
but alive to God. Before you were saved, you were
alive to sin and dead to God. But now that
you're saved, you are dead to sin and alive to God. Oh,

(15:25):
we got to get this. According to the Bible, we
Christians went from being dead in sin to being dead
to sin. Say with me, I'm dead. Obviously you going
to the restaurant afterwards? What you learned? Now, I learned
I'm dead. But you really hear you The old man

(15:46):
is dead. Now watch seventeen times in twenty three verses
in Romans alone, we're told we have died or we
are dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.
So what that means is that old man can't make
you yield to sin anymore because he's crucified. Paul says,

(16:17):
since you know that, or now that you've heard that,
I want you to reckon it to be true. It's
easy for us in Texas to say I reckon, So
can we just say it? I reckon? Well, that was
five of you. Let's try it again. I reckon. What
are you supposed to reckon? He says, likewise, you also
reckon yourself to be dead, indeed to sin, but alive

(16:37):
to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The word reckon
means count something is true, conclude that something is true.
If I stepped off the stage right now and I
handed one of these folks in the front row a
lot of one dollar bills, said here you go, here's
one hundred dollars. But it was just a wad of

(16:58):
one dollar bills, said, here's one hundred dollars. What's the
first thing you're going to do when I walk away? Two? Three, four, six, Right,
you get around it? Ninety eight, ninety nine and all
there's one left. So I conclude, having counted all the dollars.

(17:21):
He told me the truth. That's reckon. I reckon. I
was told the truth. So we're supposed to add up everything.
The Bible tells us Jesus did for us. He took
our sins on himself. He took our judgment, He took
the blame, he took the wrath. He died in our stead.

(17:41):
He made him who, being a nu no sin, to
be sin for us, that we might be made the
righteousness of God. He took our sin upon himself and
gave us his righteousness. When I add all those things up,
I come to the end, and I go I reckon.
I conclude that I have been told the truth that
I am dead to sin. I preside over a funeral

(18:03):
one time of a person who had been addicted to drugs,
and after the funeral, one of their loved ones said
this to me, at least now they can't be tempted anymore.
Why because a dead person can no longer live in sin.
They're dead? Are you ready? You are that dead? Your

(18:24):
old man is that dead? No? This is not just
John three point sixteen today. But I'm telling you doctrine,
and doctrine is truth that sets you free. We've about
to understand these things. So it works out like this.

(18:45):
Today You're gonna go to a restaurant, You're gonna go
down the line, and you're gonna go to that one
place where it's about this wide. When you get to
the end of the line, the cash registers is right here,
but they make sure right for the cash register. Right
here is the chocolate cream pie, the lemon merangue pie,
the con pie. All of those things that are one
thousand calories per bite are right there. And let me

(19:07):
tell you what happens to me. With me, I experience
a craving and it's always for the chocolate cream pie.
You know what the devil does. There's always just one left,
and that one says to me, God saved me just
for you. God save me, just for you. And you

(19:30):
know what I do. I agree, I say, oh, this
is providence. And then it funny how when your flesh
wants something, you'll come up for a hundred reasons. But
now here's the deal. If you walk in this truth,
here's what you do. If you walk in this truth,
you hear that saying to you, I was saved just
for you. You who come to me, You say, I reckon,

(19:54):
I'm dead, and you pay your bill and walk away
and leave that chalker cream for somebody else. You're driving
down the highway you've had struggles with alcohol. You drive
down the highway and here's those flashing lights of a
liquor store and it seems to say liquor, Stop, liquor
pull over, and you feel yourself letting off. The accelerator

(20:15):
is starting to turn down that exit ramp. And here's
what you do. You say, I reckon, I'm and you
turn the wheel back and keep right on going. Somebody
comes up to you if you've had a struggle with drugs,
and they say, hey, I've got some good stuff. Why
don't you come over. We'll get a little high. You
don't have to do it all the time. Let's just
do it one time. And you know it's the devil,
but that compulsion, that craving comes upon you. But you

(20:37):
remember what you heard in Turning Point Church as we
preach from the Word of God, and you say, I reckon,
I'm to sin, but alive to God. And we could
carry this out all day on the different scenarios where

(20:59):
sin approaches and temptation and we get that lust of
craving for something. We shouldn't do one last thing. So
you ask for something, you recognize something, and then you
feed something. Now listen, carefully. There's an old story. There's
two dogs fighting in you, black dog and a white dog.

(21:20):
One's the flesh, the other is the spirit. Which one
wins the one you feed the most, I promise you
it's that simple. What does that mean? Well, you can
feed yourself all day on fleshly garbage, television, magazines, books, culture,

(21:42):
pop culture, trash, lustful images, wrong philosophies, it's everywhere. Or
you can get up in the morning and first thing,
heads straight for your Bible and open it up, and
that is your manna. That's your manna. What did God say,
I'm gonna give you fresh man every day. It's there,

(22:03):
the mercy of the Lord in you. Every morning you
open up that Bible and He's got manning for you,
and you gather it and you feed your spirit. Man,
You feed the spirit of God within you with the
word and with prayer, and with obedience to the initial
promptings of the Holy Spirit. And if you do that,
you will walk in the spirit. Now watch this, It says,

(22:26):
if we buy the spirit, do put to death the
deeds of the body, we will live. How do you
kill the flame of lust? You put it out with
the heavenly water, of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit

(22:47):
is given as the seal of our redemption. It is
given to give us power to witness, and it's given
to give us the power to mortify, to kill, to
defeat the flesh. So you get up in the morning,
it's my favorite time of day. I cherish this time.
I open up that Bible. Got the coffee right here

(23:07):
that I don't want to be free from. So don't
pray for me. I just like it right here. But
I open up that Bible and I feed on that manna.
It is so good, it is so precious, It is
so powerful, and I can feel the Holy Spirit inside
of me being edified and strengthened. If you look at
Luke one and Luke twot eighty, you will read how

(23:31):
John the Baptist and Jesus grew mighty in spirit. They
were mighty in their inner man. I want to grow
mighty in spirits. How does it happen you feed that
inner man? So say with me, ask for something, recognize something,

(23:53):
feed something. If you do that, that giant of lust
will be starved to death.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
Not only have you been set free from sin, the
monster of sin has been put to death in your life.
Thanks to the power of Jesus. When you face temptation
as you go through life, your best response is to
remember that God has defeated sin and death and you
no longer have to give in to those temptations. You've
been given a different option, one that allows you to

(24:22):
live in freedom rather than being a slave for the
sins of your past. If you'd like to learn more
about Hardwired, here's some info.

Speaker 3 (24:30):
Wouldn't it be great if everyone had access to hearing
these messages from Pastor Jeff. We're asking our faithful listeners
to be willing to donate to this ministry. Does this
type of impact interest you? If so, there are a
few really simple things you can do at pray dot com.
Do you see Pastor Jeff's profile. If so, you'll notice
a give button that will take you to where you

(24:51):
need to go to donate something financially. You can also
just tap on your present icon, which will direct you
to the Hardwired giving page. As we close, here's what's
coming up on Hardwired.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
Next time. On Hardwired, Pastor Jeff will look at the
final giant that you need to face down in your life,
and that is the giant of depression. It's a giant
that is absolutely wrecking havoc on today's culture. But the
Bible contains key wisdom on how a believer can fight
against the spirit of darkness that attack your mind. God
has given you the tools you need to win the battle,

(25:24):
and He will have the final victory over all sickness, pain,
and death. That's all the time we have for today.
Thanks for tuning in for this edition of Hardwired with
Jeff Wickwire. You can listen to more messages from this
and other books of the Bible by visiting hardwired dot org.
Join us next time to continue our study in the
Book of Psalms. Right here on Hardwired