CONQUERING TEMPTATION
GENESIS 39:1-23
TEMPTATION IS ALWAYS A GREAT SURPRISE TO CHRISTIANS. THERE ARE SOME GENERAL THINGS THAT WE CAN DO TO PREPARE OURSELVES FOR WHEN TEMPTATIONS OCCUR, THERE ARE SOME THAT WE CAN EVEN EXPECT, BUT WHEN THEY HAPPEN, WHERE THEY HAPPEN, AND HOW THEY HAPPEN, CAN CATCH US BY SURPRISE.
YIELDING TO TEMPTATION CAN OCCUR IN THE MOTIVE THAT WE DO SOMETHING. WAKE UP SUNDAY MORNING FEELING TIRED, WARM BED FEELS GOOD, GOOD BIBLE PREACHERS ON TELEVISION, I’M TEMPTED TO JUST STAY UNDER THE COVERS AND LISTEN TO CHARLES STANLEY. WOULD YOU EVER THINK THAT LISTENING TO CHARLES STANLY WAS SINFUL, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, BUT HE IS THE INSTRUMENT IN THIS CASE THAT SATAN USES TO TEMPT A PERSON NOT TO GO TO CHURCH.
DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY THEY PUT SINGLE CHOCOLATE BAR STANDS AND TABLOID MAGAZINES NEXT TO CHECK-OUTS. TEMPTATION IS THE ANSWER. YOU WOULD NEVER GO LOOKING FOR THEM, BUT YOU SEE A PICTURE, OR READ A HEADLINE, AND YOU’RE HOOKED.
RICH OR POOR, YOUNG OR OLD, MALE OR FEMALE, TEMPTATION IS PART OF THE LIFE OF THE CHRISTIAN, AND THE CALLING OF A NON-CHRISTIAN. JUST AS THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US THROUGH CONVICTION, SO TOO DOES SATAN LEAD NON-CHRISTIANS TO PERFORM ACTIONS THROUGH HIS CALLING WHICH IS TEMPTATION. TEMPTATION IS THE CONVICTING POWER OF SATAN, AND THE NATURAL HUMAN IS NO MATCH FOR IT.
1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-13:
FOR I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE IGNORANT OF THE FACT, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THAT OUR ANCESTORS WERE ALL UNDER THE CLOUD AND THAT THEY ALL PASSED THROUGH THE SEA. 2 THEY WERE ALL BAPTIZED INTO MOSES IN THE CLOUD AND IN THE SEA. 3 THEY ALL ATE THE SAME SPIRITUAL FOOD 4 AND DRANK THE SAME SPIRITUAL DRINK; FOR THEY DRANK FROM THE SPIRITUAL ROCK THAT ACCOMPANIED THEM, AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST. 5 NEVERTHELESS, GOD WAS NOT PLEASED WITH MOST OF THEM; THEIR BODIES WERE SCATTERED IN THE WILDERNESS. 6 NOW THESE THINGS OCCURRED AS EXAMPLES TO KEEP US FROM SETTING OUR HEARTS ON EVIL THINGS AS THEY DID. 7 DO NOT BE IDOLATERS, AS SOME OF THEM WERE; AS IT IS WRITTEN: “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK AND GOT UP TO INDULGE IN REVELRY.” B 8 WE SHOULD NOT COMMIT SEXUAL IMMORALITY, AS SOME OF THEM DID—AND IN ONE DAY TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND OF THEM DIED. 9 WE SHOULD NOT TEST CHRIST, D AS SOME OF THEM DID—AND WERE KILLED BY SNAKES. 10 AND DO NOT GRUMBLE, AS SOME OF THEM DID—AND WERE KILLED BY THE DESTROYING ANGEL. 11 THESE THINGS HAPPENED TO THEM AS EXAMPLES AND WERE WRITTEN DOWN AS WARNINGS FOR US, ON WHOM THE CULMINATION OF THE AGES HAS COME. 12 SO, IF YOU THINK YOU ARE STANDING FIRM, BE CAREFUL THAT YOU DON’T FALL! 13 NO TEMPTATION HAS OVERTAKEN YOU EXCEPT WHAT IS COMMON TO MANKIND. 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 ENDURE IT.
YOU CAN SEE BY THE CONTEXT OF THIS PASSAGE THAT THE ISRAELITE NATION STARTED OUT WELL WITH THEIR WALK WITH THE LORD BUT EVENTUALLY SOME FELL TO THE TEMPTATION PRESENTED TO THEM.
THE PASSAGE IS GIVEN TO US AS A WARNING. WE ARE ALL GOING TO BE TEMPTED, IN VARIOUS WAYS AND AT VAROIUS TIMES. SATAN CANNOT INVENT NEW TEMPTATIONS, HE MUST WORK WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE EXISTING ORDER (PHYSICAL MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL), AND WHILE HE CAN MANIPULATE A CIRCUMSTANCE AND ADD TO A CIRCUMSTANCE, HE CANNOT CREATE A TEMPTATION THAT HUMANITY HAS NOT CONSIDERED.
TEMPTATION WHEN IT IS PRESENTED IS GOING TO BE SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE HAVE DEALT WITH BEFORE, OR SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE DEALT WITH BEFORE. THE SCRIPTURE SAYS “IT IS COMMON TO MANKIND.”
IT ALSO TELLS US THAT THERE IS A WAY TO ESCAPE THE TEMPTATION. THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE, BUT THERE WILL BE AT LEAST ONE. WE CAN OVERCOME IT, NOT IN OUR OWN STRENGTH, BUT IN THE ESCAPE ROUTE THAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO US.
TEMPTATION IS DIFFICULT TO SAY NO TO BECAUSE IT WILL ALWAYS BE SOMETHING THAT WE LIKE, AND MOST OFTEN, SOMETHING THAT WE KNOW IS WRONG, EVEN BEFORE WE DO IT. THIS IS WHY YIELDING TO TEMPTATION IS SO SERIOUS. IT IS KNOWINGLY SAYING YES TO SIN.
SATAN CAN BE VERY DECEPTIVE WHEN IT COMES TO TEMPTATION. HE CAN MAKE A DECISION LOOK LIKE IT’S THE RIGHT WAY GO, ESPECIALLY WHERE GROUPS ARE CONCERNED, BUT ONLY SO THAT HE CAN REAK HAVOC WITH THE ENTIRE GROUP. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN CHURCH SITUATIONS.
NOTE ALSO FROM THIS PASSAGE THAT DEALING WITH TEMPTATION WILL NOT ALWAYS BE AN EASY THING TO TO. THE LAST VERSE OF THIS PASSAGE PROMISES US A WAY TO ENDURE THE TEMPTATION. WHEN I THINK OF THE WORD ENDURE, IT REMINDS ME OF HAVING TO GO THROUGH SOMETHING UNPLEASANT THAT WE CANNOT GET OUT OF. THERE ARE SOME HEALTH TESTS THAT PATIENTS ENDURE FOR THEIR OWN HEALTH’S SAKE BUT DON’T LOOK FORWARD TO, A COLONOSCOPY IS A GOOD EXAMPLE.
TEMPTATION WILL COME IN AN AREA THAT WE ARE VULNERABLE TO.
HEBREWS 12:1-3:
THEREFORE, SINCE WE ARE SURROUNDED BY SUCH A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES, LET US THROW OFF EVERYTHING THAT HINDERS AND THE SIN THAT SO EASILY ENTANGLES. AND LET US RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE THE RACE MARKED OUT FOR US, 2 FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS, THE PIONEER AND PERFECTER OF FAITH. FOR THE JOY SET BEFORE HIM HE ENDURED THE CROSS, SCORNING ITS SHAME, AND SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD. 3 CONSIDER HIM WHO ENDURED SUCH OPPOSITION FROM SINNERS, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE HEART.
THE WRITER TO THE HEBREWS REMINDS US THAT IN GOD’S POWER WE CAN OVERCOME THE SIN THAT SO EASILY CAN ENTANGLE US, AND BE COMMITED TO OUR CHRISTIAN WALK.
HE REMINDS US TO FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS WHO “ENDURED” THE CROSS AND OPPOSITION FOR THE “JOY” SET BEFORE HIM. JOY IN THE FACT THAT HE WAS DOING HIS FATHERS WILL. JOY IN THE RELATIONSHIPS WE WILL HAVE IN HEAVEN. THESE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF REASONS JESUS HAD FOR FUTURE JOY IN THE MIDST OF PRESENT TEMPTATION AND TRIAL.
ONE CAN ENDURE A COLONOSCOPY FOR THE FUTURE JOY OF KNOWING YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE COLON CANCER, AND FOR THE WEIGHT LOSS THAT COMES DURING THE PREPARATION.
LETS LOOK AT SOME GENERAL FACTS ABOUT TEMPTATION NOW, AND THEN APPLY THEM TO THE CASE OF JOSEPH AND THE POTIPHAR.
POINT ONE: TEMPTATION IS NOT SINFUL IN AND OF THEMSELVES:
TEMPTATIONS ARE NOT WRONG, ALTHOUGH THEY MAY LEAD TO SIN AND WRONG. TEMPTATIONS ARE GENERALLY A PERVERTED USE OF SOME GOOD, GOD-GIVEN DESIRE.
TO BE TEMPTED IS NOT A SIGN THAT WE ARE MORALLY WEAK AND NOT SPRITIUALLY STRONG. JESUS FACED THE TEMPTATIONS OF SATAN AND NO ONE WOULD DARE TO SAY THAT HE WAS MORALLY OR SPIRITUALLY WEAK.
SOMETHING ELSE WE MUST SAY ABOUT THE TEMPTATIONS JESUS FACED. THEY WERE REAL TEMPTATIONS WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF FALLING PRESENT.
HEBREWS 4:15-16:
15 FOR WE DO NOT HAVE A HIGH PRIEST WHO IS UNABLE TO EMPATHIZE WITH OUR WEAKNESSES, BUT WE HAVE ONE WHO HAS BEEN TEMPTED IN EVERY WAY, JUST AS WE ARE—YET HE DID NOT SIN. 16 LET US THEN APPROACH GOD’S THRONE OF GRACE WITH CONFIDENCE, SO THAT WE MAY RECEIVE MERCY AND FIND GRACE TO HELP US IN OUR TIME OF NEED.
JESUS WAS TEMPTED IN EVERY WAY OR IN EVERY MANNER JUST AS WE ARE. THEY WOULD NOT BE TEMPTATIONS IF THEY COULD NOT SUCCEED.
I THINK WHAT THIS PASSAGE TELLS US IS THAT JESUS WAS ABLE TO SEE ALL THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE TEMPTATION AND DETERMINE THAT HE WOULD NOT SURRCOMB TO IT. HE ALSO GAVE US A STRONG COPING MECHANISMS AGAINST TEMPTATION WHEN IT OCCURS.
HE USED THE WORD OF GOD IN THE DESERT TO DEFEAT SATAN, AND HEBREWS, WE FIND WE CAN APPROACH GOD’S THRONE, WHICH USUSALLY IS DONE THROUGH PRAYER.
POINT TWO: CONSIDER THE GOAL OF TEMPTATION:
WE MUST REMEMBER THAT WHEN IT COMES TO TEMPTATION, WE ENTER THE GAME, SO TO SPEAK, AFTER IT HAS ALREADY STARTED. WE DO NOT INITIATE TEMPTATION, ONLY REACT TO IT. SATAN ALREADY HAS WELL THOUGHT OUT GOALS AND TARGETS WHEN HE CHOSES TO TEMPT.
SATAN’S OVERALL TARGET IS TO DESTROY THE BUILDING OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. HE HAS TRIED TO DESTROY GOD IN HEAVEN AND JESUS AT CALVARY. HE WANTS TO DESTROY AS MANY PEOPLE AS HE CAN AND SEND THEM TO HELL. HE WANTS TO DESTROY THE TESTIMONY AND IDENTITY OF CHRISTIANS, SO THAT OTHERS WILL NOT FOLLOW THEIR PATHS.
1 PETER 5:8-11:
8 BE ALERT AND OF SOBER MIND. YOUR ENEMY THE DEVIL PROWLS AROUND LIKE A ROARING LION LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO DEVOUR. 9 RESIST HIM, STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT THE FAMILY OF BELIEVERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD IS UNDERGOING THE SAME KIND OF SUFFERINGS. 10 AND THE GOD OF ALL GRACE, WHO CALLED YOU TO HIS ETERNAL GLORY IN CHRIST, AFTER YOU HAVE SUFFERED A LITTLE WHILE, WILL HIMSELF RESTORE YOU AND MAKE YOU STRONG, FIRM AND STEADFAST. 11 TO HIM BE THE POWER FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN.
SOMETIMES THE TARGET HE SEEKS TO DESTROY IS NOT THE PERSON OR GROUP HE IS TEMPTING, BUT THOSE WHO WILL BE EFFECTED BY THE TEMPTATION.
I RECENTLY BECAME INVOLVED IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, AND WHEN I STOPPED TO CONSIDER IT AND IN PRAYER ABOUT IT, MY EYES WERE OPENED TO THE REAL PROBLEM AND IT BECAME CLEAR AS CRYSTAL THAT THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH, AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE ABOUT IT.
SATANS GOAL IS TO DESTROY THE INFLUENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN AND THE CHURCH.
SATAN’S GOAL IS TO RUIN THE LIFE OF EACH AND EVERY CHRISTIAN.
JOHN 10:10: 10 THE THIEF COMES ONLY TO STEAL AND KILL AND DESTROY; I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL.
POINT THREE: RECOGNIZE THE POWER OF TEMPTATION:
SATAN IS RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE FOR TEMPTING PEOPLE AND CAUSING THEM TO SIN. HE IS THE MASTER OF DECEPTION, AND ALWAYS SEEKING TO FIND NEW WAYS TO DECEIVE PEOPLE.
SATAN ALSO USES MISLEADING POWER TO CAUSE PEOPLE TO SIN. IT CAN BE THROUGH MISLEADING INFORMATION LEADING TO INACCURATE CONCLUSIONS, AND BY MAKING MISLEADING PROMISES AND HALF-TRUTHS.
SATAN CAN BE DEFEATED THOUGH, WHICH WE WILL CONSIDER AS WE STUDY THE STORY OF JOSEPH.
