INTRO.- ILL.- Thomas Edison was once asked how he resisted temptations. He said, “Never have any. I don’t have time.”
I love his idea of escaping the temptation to do evil. Keep busy doing good. If your life is filled with doing good you will no have time or thought for doing evil.
Matthew 12:43-45 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
When a house or life is empty it’s wide open to anything or anyone to come in, but if it’s occupied with good stuff, evil cannot enter. SO WITH OUR LIVES! If we fill our lives with good stuff: worship, service, prayer, and praise, it’s less likely that evil or the evil one will enter in.
Romans 13:11-14 “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.” So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
ILL.- One lady said, “I can resist everything but temptation.” What else is there to resist but temptation to sin? What is it that gets to you? Materialism, Pride, Self-centeredness, Laziness, Anger, Sexual lust, Gluttony, Lying, WHAT?
All of us are tempted by something. And temptation in itself is not bad. Temptation means the devil wants your soul. If you were never tempted to sin then it’s possible that the devil already had you in his grasp. What a horrible thought! And yet, in some ways, it happens.
Ephesians 2:1-3 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”
Dead in your sins! Who is that? All who have never believed in and trusted Christ for their salvation! At one time, we all were dead in sins because we live according to our fleshly appetites, the ways of the world and the evil one who is at work in this world.
But we still have a problem, do we not? We are still tempted to sin! And we must do something about these temptations.
PROP. - What must we do when tempted? What can we do?
1- When tempted - don’t blame God
2- When tempted - do blame yourself
3- When tempted - do look up
I. WHEN TEMPTED - DON’T BLAME GOD
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.
ILL.- A manager of a minor league baseball team was so disgusted with his center fielder's performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun--until it bounced off his forehead. The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between is hands and smacked him in the eye.
Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted. “You idiot! You've got center field so messed up that even I can't do a thing with it!”
We humans are pretty good when it comes to the “blame game.” We don’t like to take responsibility for our own failures or sins. We prefer to blame it on someone else. “Well, I would never have smoked had it not been for my dad who smoked.” Or “I remember when my friend took me to a bar and bought me my first beer and that started my drinking problem.”
It’s always easier to blame someone else for our failures than it is to own up to them or admit some kind of error.
People also tend to want to blame God for everything bad that happens to them. “God created me this way. I can’t help myself. It’s His fault.” This is how many Gay people think. “God made me this way so it must be right. I was born this way.”
This is just the opposite attitude of someone in scripture. Who is that someone?
Job 1:22 “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
In all of what? In all of Job’s losses, including the death of all ten of his children, he did not charge God with wrongdoing or blame God! WHAT A MAN! WHAT A GOD-MAN HE WAS!
I know that many people would like to blame God for everything bad that happens to them, but that’s incorrect thinking.
God cannot be tempted by evil. Why is that? Because He is God. He is holy. He is pure. He is without sin.
To be sinless is almost beyond our comprehension. We have so sinned so much and so often that we just can’t imagine anyone being without sin. Perhaps the nearest thing to it is to see a newborn baby in all of its sinlessness or purity.
ILL.- C.S. Lewis wrote: “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets real thing, it is irresistible.”
Have you noticed how irresistible a baby is? I mean, when you see a newborn baby don’t you just want to look at it and/or hold it and cuddle it? That’s a little picture of the holiness of God.
God cannot be tempted to sin. Temptation holds no power over Him. And God does not tempt anyone. If this is true then why are we tempted to sin? It should be obvious to us that we live in a sinful world, a broken world, but God didn’t break it, man did. Consequently, there will always be temptation in this world to sin. BUT IT’S NOT GOD’S FAULT EVEN THOUGH HE CREATED THE WORLD.
II. WHEN TEMPTED - DO BLAME YOURSELF
14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Each one is tempted by his own evil desire. Ah ha, we all have evil desires at times that raise their ugly heads and give us a try. I still believe it’s called the old man of sin or the sinful nature that we all have within. If we all were put in the wrong place at the wrong time, we would fall into sin!
ILL.- Thomas Boston (Scottish church leader of the 1600s) wrote: “Temptation is the fire that brings up the scum of the heart.”
ILL.- John Piper says that sin (lust for example) "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
ILL.- A Reader’s Digest reader wrote: While my wife and I were shopping at a mall kiosk, a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by. My eyes followed her. Without looking up from the item she was examining, my wife asked, "Was it worth the trouble you're in?"
ILL.- Letter to Dear Abby: “Since I am a pastor with 43 years’ experience, I’d like to offer this suggestion to the inexperienced young minister who didn’t know how to handle a very bold woman in his congregation who had designs on him. Whenever I noticed a romantic twinkle in the eye of a woman in my congregation, I always checked to make sure it wasn’t caused by a reflection from the gleam in my own.”
Each one is tempted by his own evil desires. Your temptation may not be for sexual lust. It may be something else.
ILL.- For example, some people shouldn’t go shopping. Why? Because they are aroused by what they see and when they see that certain something they can’t help but buy it. And the problem of “I want” can quickly turn into idol worship. That is, we want more and better material things more than we want to know God and please Him.
I John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.”
“The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
The KJV calls them: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. One preacher called these “the three world goals.” And most of the temptations that we face in life come from these: 1- lust for sensual pleasure 2- lust for things pleasing to the eyes (materialistic desires) 3- Pride of being appreciated, praised, or glorified.
I Corinthians 1:30-31 “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. “Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
If there is anything about our lives, our talents, our gifts, our material goods, etc. that appear good or great, it’s because they are a gift of God and He alone deserves the glory!
ILL.- Thomas Alva Edison might well be called the “Founding Father” of most of our modern electrical conveniences. One of the most interesting and instructive things about Edison is what he said about alcohol beverage: “To put alcohol into the human body is like putting sand in the bearings of an engine. I am a total abstainer from alcoholic liquor. I always thought I had a better use for my head.”
Brothers and sisters, this is true for all sin. God has a better use for our minds and bodies than to give in to sin.
III. WHEN TEMPTED - DO LOOK UP
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
ILL.- Someone said: “To realize God’s presence is the one sovereign remedy against temptation.” AMEN!
We not only look up and recognize that God has given us every good and perfect gift but we also look up and realize He is the way out of temptation to sin!
I Corinthians 10:13 “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.”
He is the way out and always provides a way out.
ILL.- Alexander was trying to save all the pennies he could in order to buy a baseball bat. But he had a hard struggle. One night when he was saying his prayers, his mother heard him say fervently: “O Lord, please help me save my money for a baseball bat. And, God, don’t let the ice cream man come down this street!”
We all need to pray a similar prayer: “Lord, keep so and so away me. And keep me away from so and so.” It could be a person and it could be some worldly activity or some material goodie. “Lord, J.C, Penney’s is having a terrific sale on something I’d like to have but I don’t have the money for it and I really don’t need it. Could you please block my driveway with something!”
ILL.- Mark Twain once wrote: “There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice.”
II Timothy 2:22 “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” There are some things in life from which we must run!
ILL.- I have a preacher/brother who is being tempted by a woman. She makes calls to him night and day or else texts him. He is separated but he is still married to his wife. He is not interested and that helps a lot but what else does he do? He either doesn’t answer his phone or else turns it off and reads Proverbs 5, which speaks of the lips of an adulteress. And smart he is!
ILL.- Some time after the conversion of Augustine, he came face to face with the woman who had been his evil genius for many months, having dragged him deeper and deeper into the slavishness of sin until he had been freed from its bonds by the regenerating power of the cross. When he would have passed her with only a formal nod, she stopped him and said, “Augustine, do you not know me any more? See, it is I.” Looking at her a moment, and knowing that she no longer held him in her evil spell, Augustine replied, “But it is not I.”
CONCLUSION----------------------
ILL.- When the Emperor arrested Chrysostom and tried to make him recant, he shook his head. The Emperor said to his guards, “Throw him into prison.” “No,” said one of them, “he will be glad to go, for he delights in the presence of his God in quiet!”
“Well, execute him,” said the Emperor. “He will be glad to die,” said the soldier, “for he wants to go to heaven, I heard him say so the other day. There is only one thing that can give Chrysostom pain, and that is, to make him sin; he said he was afraid of nothing but sin. If you can make him sin, you will make him unhappy.”
If you can make a person sin you will do more than just make a person unhappy. You may well send his soul to hell!
We must do all within our power to keep from giving in to temptation to sin and help others along the way. We may well ask, “What can I do to save myself and others?”
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
