Temptation Island
Pt. 3 – Temptation Tango
I. Introduction
Temptation Island is a dangerous place because temptation, when we don’t understand it and learn to deal with it, separates, isolates, and will become the gateway to your demise if you don’t learn to move off the island!
We began by discussing the tricks the enemy uses on us. We did this so that we would understand how temptation works so that we wouldn’t be ignorant of the devil’s devices. So we said that:
- Temptation tricks us into passing the buck.
- Temptation tricks us into feeling special.
- Temptation tricks us into falling for hookers.
So last week we began dealing with how to defeat temptation.
Remember the 4 R’s? Refocus - Temptation’s power is wrapped up in distracting you from what is important. You must focus on what really matters. Resist. We have been given authority over the devil and we must learn to quit lying down for him! Resist until it is time to run. If that thing doesn’t rebuke . . . run for your life. Drop whatever you have to drop to get away. I hope some of you have been suffering from the runs this week. Then we must respect. Stop a moment and respect boundaries, blessings, and relationships. We can’t fall because it disrespects God and those we care about.
So let’s go one step further today. Today I want to take you away from an account of triumph over temptation to one which shows total defeat to temptation and see if we can’t learn some valuable truths.
II. Text
2 Samuel 11:1-17
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” (Perfect example of no respect . . . David knew she was married so she was out of bounds and not only that she was married to someone who David was in relationship with . . . one of his mighty men. A man who has risked his life to faithfully serve David. No respect.) 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” 11Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die. ”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
III. Temptation Tango
Perhaps more than any other account in Scripture this passage walks out the James 1 passage that I read to you in week one. Temptation comes from our own evil desires. Temptation gets pregnant, gives birth to sin and leads to death. David is described as a man after God’s own heart and he still falls to temptation. No one is impervious. No one is superman and bullet proof. We have to learn from his mistakes so that we don’t repeat them! In this account it is almost like David is in a dance with temptation. He is tap dancing around danger until he falls! We must stop the temptation tango. How?
A. Understand seasons!
The Word says that it was the season when kings were supposed to go out to war, but David stayed home. Buts can get you in trouble. I was supposed to be at church . . . but. I was supposed to hang out with my spouse . . . but. I was supposed to take the other job . . . but. Where are remaining that you shouldn’t be?
David didn’t pay attention to the season. He was in the wrong place at the right time. If he had been where he was supposed to be he wouldn’t have had this encounter.
If you are going to defeat temptation you have to be aware of seasons. There are seasons in everyone’s life when they are more susceptible to temptation. It might be after a season of hard work, it might be after a season of extreme focus, it may be after a time of sickness. We must become season conscious.
I know that for me I am susceptible right after ministry.
If you don’t understand your season will end up in the wrong place at the right time! The enemy of your soul will make sure that at the moment you are where you should not be that the right lure, bait, site, smell will be in place to entice you.
Understand the seasons of your life so that you can guard yourself correctly. I have watched as people work themselves right into temptation. While others relax themselves right into temptation. What season of your life makes you weak to temptation? Are you where you should not be when you should not be?
Temptation comes when you are not doing what you should be doing!
I also want you to see this truth . . . temptation is not only successful in cold times. Spring was the time of war. it was the time of exploits and success for David. It was his most productive time! Don’t misunderstand me I am convinced that temptation is effective when we are going through dry times, cold times, tough times, but I am also convinced that during your best times, best days, and even during successful moments if we are not careful we can become very susceptible to temptations that catch us off guard. Feel closer to God right now than you ever have . . . be on guard. Feel more productive and more effective right now . . . don’t relax. Experiencing success and victory . . . stay away from the balcony. Temptation often comes during the spring!
B. You stop sending others to fight your battles.
David falls because he sent others to do his fighting. You are more likely to fall prey to temptation if you expect others to fight your battles. If you expect the pastor, your parent, your spouse to fight battles that you are supposed to be involved in you are almost guaranteed to come face to face with a temptation that you are not equipped to defeat!
Isn’t it interesting that when I start abdicating my responsibilities to someone else . . . when I expect someone else to get truth for me, when I expect someone else to pray for me, when I expect someone else to fight for me that I find myself exposed and defeated! Fight your battles! There are battles that only you can win. Temptation will try to get you to give those battles to someone else!
C. Stop researching temptation.
David saw her. He could have stopped right there. Instead he began to research her. He wanted details and information.
How many of us have been tempted and could have walked away unscathed but we continue to dig a little deeper and find out a little bit more until we are more likely to give in. How much more do you need to know about her? How much more do you need to know about that car you know is a temptation? How much more do you need to know about that place that will lead to your failure? The devil just might be in the details!
There are some things you don’t need any more info about. You don’t need any more info about pursuing that relationship with another person’s spouse. You have enough info! It will destroy your family and theirs. You don’t have to get any more info on how watching inappropriate material will impact you! We already know the details. You don’t need any more info on what going into overwhelming debt will do to you and your family. You don’t need to research it, fantasize about it, meditate on it, or even pray about it! We have enough info to know that we ought to run away!
D. Stop inviting other people to join the dance!
What? You remember the old statement . . . It takes two to Tango? You can usually spot temptation because someone who is being tempted will not only justify what they want to do but will also try to get others to compromise and let down. Misery loves company. When we feel ourselves being tempted a pretty good indication that we are close to messing up is if we If are trying to get others to feel good about giving in.
David tries to cover up his actions by getting Uriah to go home and sleep with his wife. Uriah refuses to leave the battle. David tries to convince him to let down, relax like I am relaxing, you deserve it, you need a break. If you catch yourself trying to convince someone else to do something they aren’t comfortable with, then you are probably on dangerous ground!
Temptation leads to tragic results. Adultery. Murder. The death of a child. Not a great chapter in the life of David. All could have been avoided by simply standing against temptation by understanding seasons, fighting his own battles, if he had quit digging for more info! Don’t pull others into your failure. Stop the dance or you will two step yourself right into sin!
