The Danger of Compromise
The word compromise means an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions
The word concessions means the action of conceding, granting, or yielding something.
One of the greatest ways the enemy gains access to our mind and heart to influence and destroy is through temptation
When we compromise we yield to the desires that are being placed before us
When Satan tempted Eve it was said that the fruit from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil was pleasing to her eye
The devil makes the things that will destroy our lives look very appealing
He takes time to study us and finds our weaknesses
When we look at God’s word this is what God says concerning the world and its desires
John 15:19
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
John 18:36
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
John 17:14
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
God’s word over and over speaks of The World
What God is pointing to is the world system that is based on the lies and deceptions of the devil
2 Corinthians 4:4
4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
The world and its system is based on the lies of the enemy
When we compromise and yield to the temptations and desires presented to us we open a door in which the enemy can destroy our lives and imprison us
Three reason that compromise is dangerous are:
1. It will rob us of our identity
a. 1 Corinthians 2:13-16 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
b. As we begin to compromise the lies of the enemy will influence us
c. We are called to fix our minds upon Jesus
d. We are called to have the mind of Christ
e. But when we begin to compromise and yield to the enemy, the lies of the enemy begin to deceive us
2. It will rob us of our purpose in Christ
a. Ephesians 2:10 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
b. The word workmanship is also translated masterpiece or creation.
c. Ephesians 1:4 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
d. God has created us with specific things for us to do
e. We are not randomly here
f. But when we compromise we become robbed of our purpose
g. We begin a path and begin to pursue things that are not in alignment with His will
h. He has a specific and unique will for our lives
3. It will rob us of our destiny
a. God has a direction He is leading us
b. He has created us for a unique and specific purpose
c. But when we begin to compromise we are taken out of the will of God
d. Sadly two men in the bible who compromised who saw the purposes and plans for their life destroyed were Saul and Samson
e. Saul had everything needed to be a great king
i. He was anointed by God
ii. But sadly his heart was not yielded to God and in the end he was not obedient
1 samuel 15:20-29 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,As in obeying the voice of the Lord?Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,And to heed than the fat of rams.23 For rebellion is as the sin of [d]witchcraft,And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,He also has rejected you from being king.”
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
f. Samson was incredibly gifted and empowered by God
i. He had supernatural strength
Judges 15:11-17 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What is this you have done to us?”
And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”
12 But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.”
Then Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.”
13 So they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.” And they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds [b]broke loose from his hands. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said:
“With the jawbone of a donkey,Heaps upon heaps,With the jawbone of a donkeyI have slain a thousand men!”
17 And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place [c]Ramath Lehi.
ii. But what destroyed the purposes of God for Samson was his compromise and disobedience to the Lord
iii. His relationship with Delilah led to him telling her where his source of strength was found
iv. His hair was cut, his eyes gouged out
v. But Samson in the end humbled himself, repented, and was forgiven
But if we are in compromise what is the solution?
The solution is repentance
The solution is turning from the things that are blinding and destroying us and turning fully to God with our whole heart
Matthew 22:34-40 34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus said those who love me will obey my commands
One of the greatest areas of compromise today in the body of Christ is sexual sin
I have had different conversations with couples who are simply living together who are not married
Some even believe there is no difference between living together and being married
But as I have prayed and sought the Lord on this what I truly believe is important to God is a covenant made before the Lord publicly in the presence of witnesses
When two people come together before the Lord in marriage they are committing themselves to one another and to the Lord
Asking God to bless their relationship and their home
When we are involved in sexual sin or any sin that we know is against God and His word and we justify it, we are robbed of the good things God has for us
None of us are perfect and none of us are without sin, But God is very clear in His word of how we are to live
The world and its system is based on the lies of the devil
The world will glorify everything that is against God and His kingdom
But we are called to be living sacrifices
We are called to be holy
If we are living in compromise, the first step to begin to align our lives with the will and purpose of God is repentance
It is confessing and renouncing the deeds of darkness and truly yielding our heart and life to Jesus Christ and His Lordship
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