Overcoming Temptation
“Through the Power of the Holy Spirit”
by Pastor Donny Granberry
Illustration:
Little 4 year old Johnny was caught by his mother with his hand in the cookie jar when she asked him, “Johnny, why can’t you just be good?”
He replied, “Oh, Mom, it makes me tired to be good.”
If there is one area where all people struggle it is in the area of temptation.
Let’s face it, sometimes it just makes us tired to be good.
Tonight we will take a look at temptation in general, and how the Holy Spirit gives us victory over temptation and sin.
What does the Bible say about temptation?
To overcome temptation we must learn what the Bible teaches about the nature of temptation.
We are going to look at five truths that will help us to understand temptation.
1. We Must all Cope with Temptation.
Temptation cannot be avoided.
You can run, but you cannot hide, temptation does not follow you, it is already there when you arrive.
It matters not if you are a sinner or a saint, it matters not what your age is, it matters not if you have served the Lord for 50 years or 50 minutes, everyone faces temptation.
Look at what James said,
James 1:14 NIV
… but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
The Bible clearly states that every man is tempted. Even Jesus.
Hebrews 4:15 NIV
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.
Jesus was tempted with food – after fasting for 40 days.
Jesus was tempted to do a miracle, just for showing off – throw yourself down from this pinnacle.
Jesus was tempted with power – all of the earth would be his.
The enemy knows what to tempt you with.
The enemy will attempt to lure you into his snare by the things you desire.
I wish that I could tell you that once you pass a test, or temptation, you will never be tempted again.
“You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.”
Not only must we keep from yielding to sin, we must realize that …
2. Victory is Possible
It is possible to be victorious over sin.
Sin cannot trip you unless you help put a hurdle up.
The bible states that God will ALWAYS provide a way out of the temptation.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
In other words, temptation is not allowed to crush you, but to strengthen you.
Job
Too many people are ventriloquist dummies to the enemy.
He turns the head, pulls the string, and we do what he says.
They do not call them dummies for no reason.
2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
By that same power we can win the battle against temptation and sin.
Not only must we keep from yielding to sin, we must realize that Victory is possible, and …
3. The sources of Temptation
The bible teaches us that there are three sources of temptation.
One source is from within an individual, the other 2 are from without.
a. From with we are tempted from our own carnal nature.
Every person has a carnal nature; we all inherited it from the sinful nature of our forefather, Adam.
Romans 5:12 NIV
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
The carnal nature of temptation comes from within, again James 1:14, “each one is tempted, when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.”
Be careful little eyes what you see,
Be careful little hands what you touch,
Be careful little mouth what you say.
Mark 7:21-23 NIV
For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man `unclean.’"
It is unnatural for the nature of man to do what is right.
b. The 2nd source of temptation is “The World”
This temptation comes from the outside.
You must be careful who you associate with.
You cannot be surrounded by an unregenerate society and not be affected by it.
Yesterday, Marlys and I ate lunch at Brother-in-Laws Bar-B-Q.
When I got home I had to change clothes because I smelt like I had been in a fire because of the smoke in that place from the pit.
What was in there had not only gotten on me, but had effected the way I even smelt.
John tells believers, 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of God is not in him.”
Susie Luchsinger, Reba McIntyre’s sister. Reba loves singing in clubs.
c. The 3rd source of temptation is Evil Spirits.
We are tempted from without by the devil and demonic spirits.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent.
In the N.T., Satan is called the tempter (Matt. 4:3).
Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness.
Not only must we keep from yielding to sin, we must realize that Victory is possible, The sources of Temptation, and …
4. The Battlefield
We have discussed the sources of temptation, not we will look at the Arena of temptation.
Where is the battle for good and evil fought?
a. A mental Battle
Too often, spiritual warfare is spoken of as if it takes place somewhere “out there” in some distant spiritual realm.
There is some truth to that, but only a small part.
The vast majority of spiritual warfare is right now taking place in the hearts and minds of people.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
This verse identifies our minds as the arena where spiritual warfare takes place.
b. A Spiritual Battle
The battle is not only a mental battle, but it is a spiritual battle.
Paul said that the weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world.”
He went on to say that these weapons have divine power.
Why we cannot fight this battle carnally, we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities, spiritual forces of evil.
The battle will only be won when we use the spiritual weapons given to us by God.
You do not see our troops in Iraq using BB guns or paint ball guns.
To over come temptation we must keep from yielding to sin, we must realize that Victory is possible, The sources of Temptation, the place of Battle, and …
5. Never say, “I can’t Resist”
It is like a fresh batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies to a diabetic, you can resist, you just have to want to.
It is easy to give in, and then we have to blame it on others.
Next Sunday Night we will look at four things a Christian can never say when he is tempted.
