When You Fall Back // Pastor Vlad

the message that I've been carrying in my heart for a few months already that I want to share is actually about holiness. It's actually about total freedom and what to do when you fall back. A lot of times in deliverance church or people that experience deliverance, you know, especially if you get deliverance from, you know, alcoholism, gambling, smoking, masturbation and all these other sins, watching pornography, or smoking weed, or some other behavioral things, though not a demon, but some people have a spiritual problem hiding behind their repeated cycle of sin. And they get delivered from a demon, and a demon comes out, curses gets broken, and they go back and they experience few months of just a just a blissful freedom. They no longer have cravings for those things, and then sometimes this is what happens. They fall back. Or sometimes they start to struggle again, and some people they do not have a biblical framework of how God develops holiness in your life. Because God's development of holiness is not only through deliverance, it is also through discipleship. God wants us to be holy. And getting delivered from a demon is not what fixes every single thing. And I want to teach you today what to do when a temptation comes back. What to do even if you fall back, even if you experience the same attacks on the outside that you were attacked on the inside. And I believe that the Lord is going to give freedom today, but most importantly, the Lord is going to bring truth that will set us free in Jesus' name. Can you say amen? In Proverbs 24:16, the notes are also on YouVersion Bible app. A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again. But the wicked shall fall by calamity. So, in other words, it's not how many times you have fallen. It's who is falling. Let me say that again. It's not the times that a person has fallen. It's who is the person that is falling. The Bible compares one person falls one time and they cannot get up because that person is wicked. So, it's not the amount of times that a person falls. It's who is doing the falling. We have this idea that if I am righteous, I will never fall. If I am truly delivered, I will never be tempted again. If I am truly set free, those things will never be something I wrestle with. But, Proverbs says the righteous man falls seven times and he rises back up. So, being a righteous doesn't mean you don't fall. It means you don't stay there. Come on, somebody. Luke chapter 22 verse 32, a scripture that Jesus speaks of Peter who was his disciple. Peter who already cast out demons. Peter whose name was changed. Peter who was an apostle. Peter was so close to Jesus that one day we will experience that Peter had that for three and a half years. And Jesus said, "Luke 22 verse 32, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail." He doesn't say, "Watch this." He doesn't say, "I prayed for you that you will not fail." Jesus knows Peter will fail. He's not praying that Peter will not fail. He says, "I prayed for you that your faith will not fail." What does it mean? "So that when you have returned to me, you strengthen your brethren." I want you to notice that Jesus is not praying that you don't fail. He is praying that you return to him if you do. He is praying that you don't stay down in guilt and shame and condemnation. He is praying that even through your fall, there is a deep confession, there is a deep repentance, and there IS A RETURNING BACK to your old, new, godly, holy ways. If we go to Matthew chapter 12 verse 43, 44, and 45, when an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none. And the unclean spirit says, "I will return to my house from which I came." And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. He goes and takes with him seven other spirits. Did you notice in Proverbs, righteous man falls seven times? In here, a wicked demon is returning back to his old house with seven more demons. Did you notice Jesus is praying for Peter to return to him, and then here is demons returning back? And he finds it empty. He finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last of that state is worse than the first. And watch this, the last phrase, because I cannot tell you how much time this chapter and this verse has been used to attack Christians, and how many Christians have have been using this to attack themselves. So shall it be with this wicked generation. So Jesus is saying, "A wicked generation has demons return to them. A righteous man returns to Jesus." This is not speaking demons returning back. This is not speaking about a righteous person. Why? Because demons don't just return back if your house is empty. For those of you who know anything about demonology, anything about spiritual warfare, you know one thing, demons operate by agreement and legal legal open doors. Demons do not enter because you're empty. They enter because you are wicked. The Bible says this wicked person, wicked generation, wicked demons come back to. But see, the scripture says I'm not a wicked generation. I am a royal generation. I am a holy people. I am new creation. I AM BORN AGAIN. I AM INDWELLED BY THE SPIRIT. I AM WASHED BY THE BLOOD. I AM INDWELLED BY THE SPIRIT. THIS DOESN'T MEAN I CANNOT EXPERIENCE demonic torment, BUT WHEN I FALL, I RETURN TO MY SAVIOR. DEMONS DON'T RETURN TO ME >> [applause] >> UNLESS I OPEN THE DOOR, UNLESS I DO THE SAME THING I USED TO DO ON REPEATED, HABITUAL, unrepentant ways. I want to speak to you today. If you're taking notes, when the wicked person falls, the demons return to him. When a warrior falls, he returns to Jesus. I'm not going to give you a license to sin. But I'm not going to give you but I also want to give each one of you today the power that Jesus gives us to live a holy life. A holy life does not come from legalism and a holy life does not come from cheesy grace, cheesy Christian kind of a do whatever you want to do. A holy life comes from understanding. Some of our problems are spiritual, but even if you remove the demon behind your repeated sin, you still have to deal with what I'm going to talk to you for the next few moments. Amen. I'm going to share with you just three practical steps. Number one, know who you are. Your sin is not your identity. In other words, your sin is not your standing. Jesus is your standing. When a righteous person See, that's why the Bible could easily say, "A righteous person falls seven times." That's why Jesus could look at Peter and call him his disciple and says, "I prayed for you." And he's not praying that Peter don't fail. He Because there was pride in Peter's heart, and anytime you have pride, you will fall. And Jesus knows Peter is going to fall because Peter is self-dependent. Peter is self-absorbed. PETER IS OVERCONFIDENT. PETER HAS an inflated version that he already is something because he's been in church FOR 3 YEARS. PETER WILL FALL. AND JESUS IS NOT PRAYING TO STOP THAT. HE'S PRAYING THAT WHEN PETER DOES, AND HE'S HIT WITH THE MUD OF HIS OWN SHAME, AND THE DEVIL WILL BE THERE TO SAY, "YOU DON'T BELONG TO JESUS. JESUS DOESN'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING WITH YOU." AND THERE WILL BE FAITH THAT WILL RISE UP AND SAY THE SON OF GOD WHO SET ME FREE IS WAITING FOR ME. I WILL RETURN TO THE SAVIOR. WHY? Because I'm righteous. Why? Because I'm new creation. Why? Because I'm not a wicked generation. I go back to who I am. I know who I am. I am saved. Not because I don't smoke. I am forgiven not because I don't watch pornography. I am a new creation not because I don't gamble on the weekends, but because of the blood of Jesus Christ. My church attendances do not improve my righteousness. I live out OUT OF THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS by doing the things that I do. BUT I'M NOT MORE RIGHTEOUS BECAUSE I'VE HAD 6 YEARS OF SOBRIETY. I'm not MORE RIGHTEOUS BECAUSE I HAD 12 YEARS OF NOT watching pornography. I am righteous because the blood was spilled for me and I was given a new status with God. >> [applause] >> Your struggle is not your identity. Your sin, the last thing you did, is not who you are. You are not the last thing you that you did. Failure is an event, not a person. As a Christian, we're not defined by our sin. We are defined by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Can somebody say amen? In Romans chapter 6, Paul goes in so much depth where he talks about who we are and he says things like verse 3, "For do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death." Then verse 11, he says, "Reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." What does this means? That means your old life has already been nailed on the cross. That's a fact. It's not subject to your feelings. It is not subject to how your week has went and your new life has been raised with Jesus. As surely as Jesus has risen from THE DEAD IS HOW SURELY YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED to new life. You may say, "WHAT DO I DO WITH WHAT I HAD? WHAT DO I DO WITH THE FEELINGS? WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS THING THAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK? What do I do with this thing that happened a month ago?" You treat it from the position of who YOU ARE IN JESUS. THAT IS NOT WHO YOU ARE, WHAT HAPPENED. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CALVARY IS WHO YOU ARE. YOU DIED WITH HIM. YOU WERE BURIED WITH HIM. YOU ROSE WITH HIM, AND YOU ARE SEATED IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES WITH HIM. THAT IS WHO YOU ARE. >> [applause] [music] >> BUT I'VE DONE THE same repeated sin so many times. Well, amazing part is only one time Jesus had to die to secure your righteousness. And I want to tell everyone at the top of my lungs, JESUS IS BETTER AT SAVING YOU THAN YOU ARE AT SINNING. >> [applause] [music] >> You know, when the Holy Spirit comes, he convicts us. And many people only know the conviction of the Holy Spirit in regards to sin. But John 16:8 says, "When he has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment." The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin 100%, but then he also convicts us of righteousness. Why does he convict us of righteousness? Because we are convinced when we fall, when we're tempted, when we are facing trials, we are convicted, I cannot be righteous and this happening to me. And the Holy Ghost comes and says, "Righteousness is attached to the cross. It's not attached to you, it's attached to Jesus." He convicts us. SO, NOT ONLY JESUS DIED, THE SPIRIT REMINDS me not what I have done, but what Jesus has DONE BECAUSE THE SPIRIT glorifies Jesus. And then of judgment, not my judgment, but that one day this flesh will be judged. One day sin will be judged. One day I will have a new body. ONE DAY I WILL HAVE NO MORE TEMPTATION in this world. And one day I will see Jesus face to face. He convicts me of that. So, what we experience when we fall in sin is condemnation. Condemnation and conviction is not the same. Conviction is specific. Condemnation is general. Conviction attacks one particular issue. Condemnation attacks your identity. Conviction is from the Holy Spirit. Condemnation is from the devil. Conviction gives you hope. Condemnation makes you hopeless. Conviction leads you always to repentance. Condemnation leads you to regret, depression, waitiness, and remorse. This is how it looks like you fell. And the condemnation says, "You are a sinner. You are a pervert. You are an addict. You are an angry person. You have always been like this." And what the devil does is he right away changes your identity based on one fall. Conviction works like this. You are righteous, but your attitude to your wife this morning was sinful. You are righteous, but you should not be looking at Instagram reels in your feed because they are perverted. You are righteous, but you exaggerated when you shared that with that person. That was wrong. You disclosed a secret that you said you will never say, and you buttered it up under where we should pray about this person, but you actually disclosed a secret. So, Holy Spirit, he narrows it, and he does it in such a way there is pain attached to that conviction, but there is a way out. There is hope. There is repentance. There is confession. And you walk out, and you grow in godliness. You don't get stuck in that despair. Why? Because who you are is not what you did. It's what Jesus did. Can someone say amen? Let's go to step number two on how to process the fall. And that is do what you are. So, not only I know who am I, I have to do who am I. Which means the position that I have in Jesus must leads to the practices of Jesus. In the next minute, I'm going to shoot straight really fast the scriptures that I want you to catch this one word in there. 1 John 3:4, "Everyone who makes a practice" Somebody say practice. "Practice of sinning also practices lawlessness." 1 John 3:3, "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil." 1 John 3:9, "No one is born of God No one born of God makes a practice of sinning. He cannot keep sinning." 1 John 3:10, "Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God." Matthew 7:23, "Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." Matthew 13:41, "Gather out of his kingdom those who practice lawlessness." John 3:20, "Everyone practicing evil hates the light." Romans 1:32, "Those who practice such a things are deserving of death." Galatians 5:21, "Those who practice such a things do not inherit the kingdom of God." 1 John 3:7, "He who practices righteousness 1 John 2:29, "Everyone who practices righteousness is born of God." Did you catch the word practice? So, my position is I am righteous. The way I live righteous is I start going to practices. This is not trying. This is training. So, God says, "I SECURED RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT THE WAY you live this out is you have to GO TO PRACTICES. YOU PRACTICE WHAT YOU HAVE. YOU DON'T PRACTICE TO GET RIGHTEOUSNESS. YOU PRACTICE TO RELEASE RIGHTEOUSNESS. That means naturally, righteous living WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE UNTIL YOU PRACTICE IT. THE PROBLEM WITH SIN IS NOT THAT WE STRUGGLE WITH SIN. IT'S NOT THAT WE FALL IN SIN. GOD CONDEMNS THE PRACTICE OF SIN. WHAT IS A PRACTICE? It's when you're trying to get better at something. WHAT IS A PRACTICE? It's when you're trying TO SECURE AN ABILITY TO SHOOT THREE-POINTERS FROM A PARTICULAR AND YOU KEEP SHOWING UP. YOU'RE MISSING, BUT YOU KEEP SHOWING UP TO THE PRACTICE. SO, IT'S NOT THAT YOU PICKED UP A BALL IN THE PARK, SHOT THREE-POINTERS, AND YOU ARE A BASKETBALL PLAYER. THAT'S NOT WHAT GOD is aiming for. He is aiming for a gym membership WHERE A PERSON SHOWS UP TO PRACTICE REGULARLY. GOD SAYS, "IF YOU'RE RIGHTEOUS, HOW DO I DO WHAT DO I DO NOW?" GOD SAYS, "SHOW UP TO THE PRACTICE EVERY DAY." SEE, but the devil tells us, religion tells us, we tell ourselves, "I got to try harder." When the scripture tells us we got to train better. The religion tells us it's about perfection, but the scripture tells us it's about practice. So, you're struggling with lust? You're struggling WITH ALCOHOL? YOU'RE STRUGGLING THAT YOUR evenings you suit down and and you fall into some kind of a repeated thing? You pray the prayer, "I'm so sorry, God. I will never do it again." And this is what we say, "I will try better." It won't work. You'll fail again. Why? Because trying is reactionary. Trying is you're saying the next time TEMPTATION COMES IN, I WILL EXERT MORE EFFORT. BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT YOU DID THAT LAST TIME. YOUR EFFORT IS LIMITED. IT WILL BE EQUIVALENT TO a marathon happening after the service AND I WILL SAY, "I'M GOING TO TRY to run a marathon." And of course, I will collapse after 2 and 1/2 miles. And then I will do this again. I will say, "I'm so sorry. I didn't finish the marathon, but next Sunday, I'm going to try harder." You know what's going to happen next Sunday? I will collapse at 2 and 1/2 miles. What is the key? Don't try. Start running. Practice running. DON'T FOCUS ON a marathon. Focus on daily practice. Put on running shoes on Monday. I might not finish 2 miles on Monday, but on Tuesday, I'm going to do another 2 miles. Wednesday to another 2 miles. Why? It's not about marathon. It's about practicing. AS I PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS, I PRACTICE GODLINESS, I PRACTICE PURITY, I PRACTICE MY THINGS, and then I will be able to finish the marathon and you will say, "Wow, you're a great runner." No, I PRACTICED WELL. >> [applause and music] >> SOMEBODY SHOUT PRACTICE. Dallas Willard says, "We mistakenly think the way to grow is to try harder when the way to grow is to train." Write this down. You don't rise to the level of your trying. You will fall to the level of your training. You will fall to the level of your practice. Don't try harder. Keep showing up to the practice. Keep showing up to your daily encounters. Don't wait to exert more effort in the moment of temptation. No, release more effort every day before even the temptation shows up in developing practices. That's why in 1 Timothy 4:7, Paul tells Timothy, "Train yourself." It's actually a gym language. Paul is saying, "Train yourself." He doesn't say work on your biceps and triceps. Nothing wrong with that. He's not saying do push-ups and pull-ups. Nothing wrong with that. He says, "Train yourself toward godliness." Paul knows, "I have holiness as a gift. Righteousness is a gift. But in order to live righteous, the secret is not trying to attempt to run a marathon. The secret is showing up to the practice every single day. Timothy, train yourself towards godliness. Not Timothy, be godly. Practice godliness. Do you see how many verses I read to you today? What the Bible says, "He who has God in him practices righteousness." They don't just live righteous, they practice it. And the problem with people who are not going to heaven is not that they smoked or fell into sin. It's they made sin a practice. THEY MADE SIN A HABITUAL PRACTICE. AND JESUS SAYS, "DEPART FROM ME. YOU DON'T KNOW ME. YOU DON'T HAVE RIGHTEOUSNESS. WHY? YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS. You practice immorality. You practice gossip. YOU PRACTICE ENVY. YOU HABITUALLY SHOW UP TO THE GYM OF THE DEVIL TO PRACTICE UNGODLINESS. And Jesus says, "You're not part of my team." But there are some of you, you have the membership, but you don't show up to the gym. And then you keep falling into the same sin. You keep going to the deliverance for the same thing. And we will pray for you again and again. But can I tell you something? Don't wait for the next marathon to fail again. Show up to the practice. Today, tomorrow, when it comes to practices, all spiritual practices, sometimes they're called disciplines, fall into two categories or two motions. Things we abstain. These are the practices where you say no to the flesh. And things you engage in. And these are the practices where you yes to the you say yes to the spirit. Paul likes to call it put things off, put things on. So, the Bible gives us a framework. I am righteous. I don't become righteous by living righteous life. I become righteous, it's a gift from God. My old self is dead. But the flesh, my body, the temptation, the cravings are still going to be there. And the way I deal with that is that I don't focus on perfection. I focus on the practice. I don't focus on trying harder. I focus on showing up and training every single day. Paul says, "Train yourself toward godliness." In this training, two things will happen. There are things I'm going to have to say no to, and there are things I'm going to have to say intentionally yes to. It could be something like saying yes to reading of the scriptures, yes to prayer, but saying no to watching things after 9:00 p.m. It could be something like, you know what? I am not going to go to that store, and I'm not going to actually take that route after work because I always stop and pick up liquor. I'm going to take a a route. I am not going to pick up liquor. I'm going to buy water. >> Come on. I am going to say no, and I'm going to say yes. And this is not about I'm going to live righteous. This is about I'm going to practice it. That means treat it the same way as you treat hitting three-point shots in a basketball court. It is not just about make sure that every single time I score it, and if I don't, I'm going to lose my salvation. No, this is a practice of righteousness. I am righteous. I practice righteousness. Come on, somebody. >> [applause] >> In Titus chapter 2, verse 11 and 12, Paul says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." See, that's the grace of God giving us salvation. The grace of God giving us righteousness. But then in the next verse, he says this, "Teaching us." Teaching us. So, the grace is not just imparting righteousness. And see, the grace is not JUST YELLING, "BE RIGHTEOUS!" THE GRACE teaches me. See, if you get a teacher, you get a coach, you don't get it at first. THE TEACHER IS NOT A MONSTER. The teacher is patient. You don't know how to write, and they're patient with you. They start small, and they begin to work with you until you get to the point that you can play that instrument. You can play that game. See, the grace is not just giving you the gift. THE GRACE SIGNS UP TO be your trainer AND SAYS, "SHOW UP TO THE PRACTICE, and I will walk with you. SHOW UP TO THE PRACTICE, AND I WILL TRAIN YOU. SHOW UP TO THE PRACTICE, AND I WILL EMPOWER YOU." SOMEBODY GIVE GOD some praise for grace. >> [applause] [music] >> Teaching me. The grace saves me, and the grace teaches me. Dallas Willard said, "Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. See, grace does not mean I no longer exert effort. It means I no longer earn it. It's important. Because the grace of God does not mean you don't release effort. In fact, to live a Christian life is about picking up the cross, saying no to yourself, crucifying desires. There is all of that is effort. And for those people who got into this bandwagon of greasy grace where you think the grace means no effort, that is not in the Bible. Grace simply means we're not earning it. There is no attitude of God will love me more or God will love me less. It is about exerting effort. Because the grace empowers me, teaches me. I'm not trying to earn righteousness. I am exerting effort from the position of righteousness by practicing righteousness. I've been carrying this for like 3 months, guys. Second service, I'll be more domesticated, but this one I I don't know if it's a sleep deprivation for the last few days or what it is, but I'm like burning, and it's not because it's hot. This word is burning inside of me. It changed my life. Point number three, return to who you are. So, first is know who you are. Always go back to that. Know who you are. Do what you are. >> [panting] >> Do what you are. But there's one more thing, and we have to touch this, and I mentioned this in the beginning of the message. I'm going to mention it right now, and we're going to wrap it up. Return to who you are. What this means, Luke chapter 22:32, as I've read, Jesus didn't pray that you won't fail. He would pray that you return. Where you return, write this down, reveals who you are. The fool returns to his sin. The righteous returns to his savior. Second Peter 2:22 says, "And it happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit, and a pig being washed to her wallowing in the mire." But see, you're not a dog. You're a son. You're not a pig. You're a daughter. A dog returns to their vomit. A pig returns to their mire. But see, a Christian, Jesus says, "I prayed for you that you return to me. Why return to who you are?" >> [music] [applause] >> VOMIT IS NOT WHO YOU ARE. MIRE IS NOT WHO YOU ARE. >> [laughter] >> YOU'RE A SON. RETURN TO ME. [screaming] YOU MAY SAY, "BUT I'VE FALLEN. BUT I LOST MY RHYTHM." JESUS SAYS, "I'M PRAYING FOR YOU THAT YOUR FAITH WILL NOT FAIL AND THAT YOU RETURN, THAT YOU RISE UP." When Adam committed sin in Genesis 3:9, THE LORD COMES TO THE PLACE WHERE HE WOULD meet with Adam before. And his cry was this, "ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU? WHY YOU HAVEN'T RETURNED? WHY ARE YOU HIDING INSTEAD OF RUNNING TO ME? IF YOUR SINS ARE LIKE SCARLET, Isaiah 1, IT SAYS, "COME TO ME, let us reason together and I will wash you." THERE IS GRACE TO SAVE YOU. THERE IS GRACE TO TRAIN YOU. And there is grace to restore you. THERE IS GRACE TO RENEW YOU. THERE IS GRACE TO REBUILD YOU. THERE IS GRACE TO GIVE YOU SECOND CHANCE, THIRD CHANCE, FOURTH CHANCE. THAT'S NOT A LICENSE TO SIN. THAT'S AN INVITATION TO PRACTICE. >> [applause] >> THAT'S AN INVITATION TO PRACTICE. >> [music] [applause] >> GOD WILL BUILD BY GRACE IN YOU WHAT HE HAS by nature in himself. Can somebody say amen? When the wicked fall, they return to who they are. When the righteous fall, they return to who Christ named them to be. Jesus calls Judas the devil. When Judas falls, he returns where? To the devil. That's who he was. Peter was called a rock. When Peter fell, Jesus says, "Return to who you are." Return to who you are. To the righteousness, to the holiness, to sobriety, to purity, to fidelity, to commitment, to dedication, to generosity, to humility, to honor, to health, return. Know who you are. DO WHO YOU ARE. AND return to who you are. That's our biblical New Testament framework for holiness and righteousness.