LESSON
32
Overcoming Temptation
Part 4
Seven Keys to Victory (cont.)
4.) Praise the Lord.
There is a power of
praise that most Christians have never tapped into, including those who think
they know the power of praise. There is
a realm and power of praise that is very powerful.
Josh. 6:3 - 5 And
ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war, [and] go round about the city
once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark
seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city
seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when
they make a long [blast] with the ram's horn, [and] when ye hear the sound of
the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the
city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight
before him.
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2 Chr.
20:15, 17, 21-23 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude; for the battle [is] not yours, but
God's.
Ye shall not [need] to
fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand ye [still], and see the salvation
of the LORD with you, O Judah and
And when he had
consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should
praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say,
Praise the LORD; for his mercy [endureth] for
ever. And when they began to sing and to
praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children
of
As a church we have yet
to experience the power of praise. We
holler, dance and shout in our churches but haven't seen the walls come down in
our cities. There is a power of praise
that will literally shatter the strongholds of the devil in your life, over
your family and over your city.
Psa. 149:1 - 3 Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, [and] his
praise in the congregation of saints.
Let
People have begun
learning to enjoy dancing before the Lord.
There is power in dancing before Him.
It’s a place of breaking free from the limitations and fears of
man. Move your feet and open your self
to the power of dance.
Psa. 149:4 - 6 For
the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will
beautify the meek with salvation. Let
the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. [Let]
the high [praises] of God [be] in their mouth, and a twoedged
sword in their hand.
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The high praise is a
realm where you have broken through the natural. A place where you no longer
have your mind on anything else but the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not praising to get God to move on
your behalf, but rather to exalt the King of Kings.
Psa. 149:7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, [and] punishments
upon the people.
Nothing will inflict more pain on the ungodly than the high
praises in your mouth.
Psa. 149:8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with
fetters of iron.
The devil is the king of
the heathen and the demons are the nobles.
The devil is the prince of the power of the air and the god of this
age. When you bless the Lord through
your praise the devil is bound up in your life.
For more on how to
worship and the power of the high praises of God see lessons 13 -16 and lessons
17 -19.
5.) Prayer.
Matt.
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The word ‘bind’ means to
declare unlawful. First bind the devil
over your situation and then find out what God says is lawful and declare it to
be lawful in your life.
Prayer is powerful. It is NOT just a bunch of words. When you declare the works of the devil
unlawful, the power of God is released through your life to push back the
powers of darkness. If you're dealing
with temptation speak to it and declare it unlawful.
When you're dealing with
a temptation, repent of it and then bind it upon your life. Usually the temptation is an area in your own
heart that needs to be repented of, as well as a spirit that is tempting you.
After you bind the
unlawful things in your life, loose those things which are lawful. If you are dealing with a temptation of lust;
bind the lust and loose a spirit of purity.
For more on prayer refer
to lesson 20.
6.) Fellowship.
Heb. 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without
wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some
[is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day
approaching.
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Fellowship is not ice cream
socials and pizza parties. The word
“fellowship” is from the Greek word coinania, which
means to come along side of.
Rarely, does a Christian
backslide when they surround themselves with a bunch of “on-fire”
Christians. The number one reason people
backslide is they still maintain a close relationship with their unsaved
friends. As long as you surround
yourself with people who are "dead in the Lord", you will also become
"dead".
Fellowship with those that are more mature in the Lord than you are. Find ways to provoke one another unto love
and good works.
The end-time church will
be spending time together more than just Sunday church service and an
occasional prayer meeting.
Fellowship is vitally
important!
Find people that are so
in love with God. If you think you are
too good for your brothers and sisters, you've taken the first step toward
walking away from the body of Christ.
Prov.
Do not forsake the
fellowship with the body of Christ. You
need them and they need you.
7.) Stay busy about the Lord’s work.
Be real with your
brothers and sisters in Christ. Allow
your weaknesses to be seen. Bear one anothers burdens.
Don't sit and become
idle. Use your time wisely. Don't spend all your time in front of the
Nintendo or the television.
1 Tim.
When you're not being
busy in the Lord's work, you will find something else to busy yourself
with. Idleness usually opens the door to
temptation and sin.
Dr. Ed Cole deals with a
principle of those who are idle or spiritually unemployed. They go after three things; that which is
illegal, immoral and illicit. If you
have time on your hands, have a prayer meeting, go out witnessing or clean your
church.
Be busy in the work of
the Lord; prayer, evangelizing, reading the Word or serving in your
church.
In Review:
1. List
the seven keys to victory.
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2. What
does it mean to bind and loose?
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3.
Define fellowship.
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4. What
happens when a person is spiritually unemployed?
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5. What
temptations do you battle with?
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6. How can you guard yourself against these temptations? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________