I want to talk about bondage to sin — that is, your battle with the flesh. Under the New Covenant, God will allow situations to show you how wholly dependent you are on Him to deliver you through faith.
God will never lead you into temptation but He will allow you to come to your wits' end. If you have a besetting sin, Satan will come against you continually with his lies: "You’re too weak! You're never going to make it."
You hear the rattling of chains as Satan tries to bind you to your habit once more and you wonder, "Lord, how will I ever get up from this? I've gone down so low!"
What can you do? You know you can't outrun the enemy and you are no match for him in a fight, so you cower before him, trembling in fear.
You may say to yourself, "I'll just go back to my old ways. At least I'll be spared from all this spiritual warfare. It's too much for me!" But you know you can't go back to your old master. If you turn back now and desert Christ, it will cost you your life.
Many Christians become caught in the hellish cycle of sinning and confessing, sinning and confessing. They run to friends, counselors, anyone who will listen to them as they cry and pray. Such believers will do everything except stand still and trust the Lord to bring their deliverance.
The Old Testament gives us example after example of how we have no power in our flesh to fight spiritual battles. Our old man is utterly weak and powerless but we have a new man inside us. This new man understands there is no human way out, that God has to do all the fighting. We resist the devil not in our strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is revealed in us by faith alone.
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee” (Isaiah 41:10).
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.