What Have You Been Delivered From?

What has the LORD delivered you from?  What have you been delivered to?

When the Holy Spirit made His home in me five years ago, I had a sudden awareness that Jesus is Lord; that Jesus is my Savior; that I was forgiven, and I had passed from death to life.  I grew in understanding and realized that the Holy Scriptures revealed to me the true condition of my heart in order for me to see my need for salvation.

I came to the knowledge that the cross of Christ wasn’t a revelation of my sin but a revelation of my value to my Father in heaven.  Jesus, the risen Christ, provided the ultimate act of love–one man dying for another; cleansing me and reconciling me back to my heavenly Father, that I may know Him and know life, destroying the works of the devil.

Colossians 2:13-15  “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

We have been “made alive together with God;” this is good news.  Brothers, we have been delivered (rescued, saved)!

What Have You Been Delivered From?

I struggled with addiction my whole life, completing seven treatment programs in Long Island, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Phoenix, over the course of twenty-four years.  When sharing my testimony, I often tell people that, as I would draw near to death, I was willing to surrender my addiction, but I didn’t know I needed to surrender my lust, my greed, and my pride.  You see, the trinity of the natural man is pleasures, riches, and honors.  This is what he puts his hope in, this is what he seeks to save him.

Do Not Love The World

An examination of Scripture identifies our need for deliverance from the bondage of lust, greed, and pride.

1 John 2:15-17  “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Do you see it?  The desires of the flesh are lust, the desires of the eyes are greed, and the pride of life is pride.

The Fall Of Man

Genesis 3:6  “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” 

Do you see it?  The the tree was good for food (lust), it was a delight to the eyes (greed), and the tree was to be desired to make one wise (pride).  The fall of man occured because man yielded to the temptations of lust, greed, and pride.

The Temptation Of Christ

Matthew 4:1-4  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’  But he answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

In the first passage, Jesus overcomes the temptation of lust.

Matthew 4:5-7  “Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple  and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”   Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

In the second passage, Jesus overcomes the temptation of pride.

Matthew 4:8-10  “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

In the final  passage, Jesus overcomes the temptation of greed.

Jesus walked as a righteous man without sin; in Matthew 3 Jesus fulfilled righteousness by being baptized by John.  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The very next verse, in Matthew 4 is this: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”  When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God rested on him.  Then, the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, that he would overcome lust, greed, and pride.

Romans 6:16-19  “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.  I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations.  For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”

Colossians 1:13-14  “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Psalm 68:20  “Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.”

Psalm 40:17  “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me.  You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!”

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