Workbook: Feast on the Lamb

Blinded by the light

In this week’s lesson we talked about the power of truth, through understanding light. As I was writing this week’s lesson for you I remembered that when you have been in darkness for some amount of time, and your eyes have adjusted to it, that if the lights are turned on all of a sudden they can actually be blinding and the experience is initially quite uncomfortable. No doubt you may feel this way to a degree. When the light of God’s truth shines into our lives and hearts, the experience can cause a degree of discomfort at first. You may feel exposed, and you may feel overwhelmed, maybe even scared. But don’t be afraid, this area of your life may not have seen light for quite some time, and as your eyes need to adjust to the light, so does your heart.

Take a minute and acknowledge this reality, it’s ok to be overwhelmed, and it isn't a bad thing to feel exposed, you need only allow your heart a second to adjust.

We covered a lot of ground in this week’s lesson, but ultimately we circled around the power of the cross which sets us free from sin’s power. Also, how our feasting on the lamb, which is our intentional engagement of relationship with Jesus, is how we engage with the power of the cross every day to overcome sin. That is what we are going to dig more deeply into right now - how we can ground ourselves in the power of the cross to overcome sexual sin. In other words, we don’t overcome sin by understanding it, although this is helpful. You can understand everything about how, and even why you have a pornography or lust problem and yet remain in bondage to it! We overcome by the power of the blood of Jesus, and our faith in him as the great chain-breaker!

Let’s begin today by talking about something that may feel like a tangent, but I can assure you is not, let’s talk about ‘faith’. Hear me out: if the power to overcome the sin you are wrestling with is entirely wrapped up in the cross, then we must begin with obtaining faith that the cross is enough to set us free from that sin’s power in our lives.

Digging the well of faith

Right at the core of overcoming sin is faith. Before we even begin to embark on our journey to see victory over lust we must dig a deep well of faith. Faith in the power of the cross to set us free from sin. In order to see where we are starting from, have a good think and write down answers to the following two questions:

Do you believe that you can have victory over pornography addiction and lust?

Do you believe that you will have victory over pornography addiction and lust?

The whole christian journey is one of faith. It begins with faith, moves forward in faith, and ends with faith realised. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight“. In the Christian walk our path is not illuminated by human understanding, but by the light that comes only through faith. We cannot base our belief system off anything other than what God has spoken, not our history, not the world’s ways, nor people’s opinions, for we walk by faith. There will be moments when you are tempted to believe that you won't have breakthrough. There will be moments when you feel like it isn't working, that you are doomed to struggle with this sin forever. At these inevitable moments, when you are vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy, you must have a well of faith to draw from.

Today we are going to dig this well.

Let’s pick up a shovel, and begin to dig, by asking some diagnostic questions:

Where do you think your confidence in your ability to see victory over sin comes from? Your history? Your ability to persevere? This course? Take a moment and think about your answer and write down what comes to mind as honestly as you can. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you by searching your heart.

The truth is that confidence in anything other than the blood of Jesus will not be powerful enough to see faith realised. Where your faith is placed, will either see you have great victory through this journey to overcome pornography or see you fall short and remain in bondage. If your faith is in yourself, your own abilities, or even comparing yourself to other people’s journeys, you will not overcome, for only faith in the blood of Jesus is able to set you free. Thankfully, when it comes to the power of the blood of Jesus and the work of the cross, the bible makes some pretty staggering claims. Take some time to read through Romans 6:

Romans 6:1-23

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The bible presents this new reality to us - that if we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour through faith, then our old sinful self has been crucified with Christ. And because of this we are ‘no longer slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been set free from sin’. Over and over again the bible reiterates ‘no longer slaves’... the exodus has happened. Don’t be deceived. If you are in Christ, you are not in Egypt anymore.

I’ll be honest, It takes faith to believe the truth of God’s word doesn’t it. Especially when we feel like we are still in bondage. However, believing the truth is imperative to seeing freedom. For Jesus said “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) As we dig a well of faith today, let’s dig it deep into the truth of the word of God, and into Jesus himself, that we might find freedom.

Take some time and think about this: What do I really believe about sin’s mastery in my life if I am honest with myself, do I believe I am subject to it, or that God’s grace enables me to choose righteousness and see freedom and transformation? Ask the Holy Spirit, who searches our hearts, to reveal it to you.

Ok, let’s go back to our earlier question: what is the Christian’s relationship to sin? According to Romans 6, it is one where we have a choice whether to choose sin or to choose righteousness, because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Romans 6:11-14 says “in the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law but under grace.”

Does this sound like someone who is powerless to pornography addiction and lust and is doomed to struggle with it forever? Or someone who now has been set free from it’s power and has the ability, because of God’s grace, to overcome? What then is our relationship to sin? It is not our master. First of all, wow. Isn’t this wonderful news! We have been liberated from slavery to sin!

Digging the well of your faith deep down so that it can tap into the truth of God’s word like this is imperative to overcoming sin in general. For freedom comes through truth. Here’s a confronting outcome of all of this, if you believe that you are still a slave to sin, you will always struggle to walk in freedom because freedom doesn’t come when we don’t believe the word of God. However, if you believe the truth, you will find freedom as Jesus promised.

This well of faith, that we are digging right now into the word of God is doing a couple of things.

1: It is renewing your mind.

Romans 12:2

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will."

2: It is training you to wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, so that you can stand against the enemies schemes when he attempts to stop you from getting freedom.

Ephesians 6:10-12;17

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. … 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Hopefully going over these scriptures has given you hope for real breakthrough from the sin you are facing and a good amount of ammunition to fight the good fight of faith, not by sight, not by strength, but by faith in the power of the cross to cut you off from sin’s grip. We will continue to dig this well of faith, as we continue to see the renewing of our minds throughout this course. Now let’s turn to moving forward in this faith and begin to take some ground in overcoming sin!

Feasting on the Lamb

Last week we made some changes in our lives so that there are more boundaries to help us from falling into temptation. This is in part what we can be doing to live out the passage from Romans 6 we just read to ‘not offer yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness.’ This week to set you up for success in your journey we are going to set up some boundaries to help you take some ground back from the enemy, from sin’s effect on your life. Instead of only fighting against what is bad, we are going to fight for what is good!

As Christians we don’t want to only focus energy and attention into not doing something, it leaves us feeling empty and dissatisfied. Rather we want to focus on building rhythms of intimacy with God into our lives. Feasting on the lamb every day is the single most important part of this course, and of the Christian life. The reason for this is that breakthrough is a person, deliverance is a person, peace is a person, joy is a person, love is a person and it is Jesus Christ. To think that we could have breakthrough, deliverance, healing, peace without spending real, quality time with Jesus is foolishness. Because Jesus himself is the antidote and the answer, we must prioritise our time with him. I absolutely cannot overstate this. There is nothing in life that is more important than cultivating a daily, deep and devoted relationship with Jesus. We receive everything from God through Jesus, because everything God has to offer is in Jesus. Jesus said as much in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” When we are apart from Jesus, we are spiritually incapacitated. But with him, when we remain or abide in him, fruit will come naturally.

In light of this, how are you going with your prioritisation of time with God each day? Are you finding it difficult to prioritise the time in your schedule? Or finding that you are easily distracted? Or maybe even unsure of how to be with God in this way? In order to overcome these common barriers it can be helpful to make a plan for how you will do this. To do so, answer the following questions which you will share with your group this week.

1: When will you spend time with God each day and roughly how long for?

2: How will you keep it ‘quality time’, minimising distractions?

3: Where will you do it? to aid the above question

4: What boundaries can you put in place around your time with God to ensure you continue to keep it a priority?

Share your new goals and boundaries with your accountability partner, and if you are in one, your group. This will help you to have the support, and the accountability you might need in getting into a healthy new rhythm of relationship with God. Even further than this, make a commitment to God. We should get serious about this, for we are saying to God ‘I want to prioritise you more in my life, and I am going to commit this time to you’. Making a commitment to the Lord like this can help you to take it seriously and prioritise it in your life. Additionally, you should expect some degree of spiritual warfare over this time. The enemy definitely does not want you spend time with God, and he will try as hard as he can to keep you from worship, prayer and the word. This might look like intense competition for the time through added pressure from work or family life, or it might even look like suddenly getting very tired whenever you try to read the bible or pray. If you expect this warfare to come, you will be much better equipped to resist the devil when he comes by sticking to your new boundaries no matter what he throws at you.

This daily time with God is in a way a daily digging a deep well of faith and relationship into the Lord that you can draw living water from. Jesus told the woman at the well that everyone who comes to him would never be thirsty again! We are going to get into this a bit more next week, but we go to sin because we are thirsty, and so we dig counterfeit wells into pornography, worldly success, substances, you name it. We’re all thirsty. As you dig deep into Jesus every day, you will find that living water will bubble up inside of you that never runs out, and wells up to eternal life.

THIS WEEK

Personal

1: Set in stone your new plan for the boundaries around your time with God each day. And communicate it to your group or accountability partner. 

2: Continue to prioritise your daily time with God. If you don’t yet have a plan what to do when you spend time with God, the devotional that we have put together for you is a great place to start! And remember, there is no substitute for quality time! The goal is not to ‘get through it’ but to spend good time, with an open heart, speaking to and hearing from the Lord every day.

Group

1: Discuss where your current level of morale and faith is at when it comes to succeeding in overcoming pornography. Minister to, pray for and encourage one another in the gospel 

2: Discuss what your new boundaries are around your time with the Lord each day and how it’s going.

3: Discuss reasons why group members may have struggled to overcome pornography in the past and why it will be different this time.

4: Pray for one another, share how you have been going in your journey this week, have you relapsed?