TEMPTATION – IN THE RING WITH THE DEVIL
Bob Marcaurelle homeorchurchbiblestudy.com
James 1:13-15
“A person is tempted when he is lured (a fishing term) away and trapped by his own evil desires. His evil desire conceives and gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Eph. 6:10-12
“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so you will be able to take your stand against the devil’s schemes (devices, plans, strategies etc.)
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood (people). It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
DESCRIBING TEMPTATION
Temptation is not a fork in the road where we have a choice. It is the DESIRE, the “want to”, to take the wrong road and disobey God. It can be wicked like committing adultery or simple like not attending church.
Temptation is the PRIMARY WORK of Satan. He comes on the Bible scene in Eden and tempts Eve to disobey God. Then through her, he tempts Adam.
It comes from TWO DIRECTIONS.
In the case of Job, Satan uses the infliction of suffering to DRIVE us from God’s will. When his life fell apart, his wife, who suffered too, said “Curse God and die” (Job 1).
In the case of David, he uses the enticements of sin to DRAW us away (2 Samuel 11). Bathsheba, by bathing where David could see her was saying, “Come on over to my house big boy.”
Satan is not a hideous looking demon. He can be a beautiful woman or a handsome man. One song said,
“Somebody’s knocking / Should I let him in / Lord it’s the devil / Would you look at him / I’ve heard about him / But I never dreamed
/ He’d have blue eyes and blue jeans."
Temptation is a TEST. 1 Corinthians 10 says God, “allows us to be tempted, but not more than we can handle”. Satan wants us to fail the test and God wants us to pass.
It can defeat us in OUR STRONG POINTS.
“Whoever thinks he is standing firm should be very careful; so he will not fall.” (1 Cor. 10:13)
Satan knows and attacks our weaknesses. But he is powerful enough to get is in our strong areas. Most men’s weak point is a beautiful, seductive woman. We can see why David did what he did. But his strong point was love for his soldiers. Yet Satan got him to have Bathsheba’s husband, one of his soldiers, killed in battle, costing the lives, no doubt of many soldiers.
If anyone told David beforehand that he would do that, he probably would have killed him on the spot; but Satan is strong. Peter’s strong point was bravery and love for Christ, yet out of fear He denied knowing Jesus (Mk. 14). That’s why he wrote:
“Be on guard, your enemy the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking out whom he can devour.”(1 Peter xx)
Never say you will “never” do something. Moses rage (Num. 12:3; 20:8-12) / David’s murder of Uriah (2 Sam 11-12); Noah’s drunkenness and nakedness (Gen. 6-9) and Abraham’s sins against Sarah twice (Gen. 12:14 & 20:2), warn us we can commit any sin a lost person can commit.
We pay lip service to our belief in Satan but he is as real as God and Jesus tells us in His pattern prayer to take him seriously. A virtual army of invisible, evil spirit-beings, with schemes and strategies designed just for us invade our mind, our emotions, our wills and our souls when we are trying to live right.
DEFEATING TEMPTATION
1. Remember the Cost
Galatians 6:7
“Don’t fool yourself. God is not going to be mocked. Whatever a person sows is what he will reap.”
James uses the image of a fisherman using an enticing lure. Fishing is fun; but not for the fish! There is desire; the decision to give in; and then death; like a dead fish on the dock gasping for breath.
David found forgiveness but his baby died and a son he loved rebelled against him and ended up being killed and thrown in a ditch like a dog.
A man who had grown up in my long pastorate came to see me a few months ago. He said, “Preacher Bob, something you said when I was a teenager that has come true in my life. I joined a spa, met an old girlfriend, had a short affair and now I am about to lose my family. You told us:
“Sin will always take you further than you want to go; it will keep you longer than you want to stay and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”
2. Resolve Ahead of time to Do Right (Dan. 1:8)
“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.”
When Daniel was taken into exile, he knew Babylon always made fine young prisoners, adopt Babylonian lifestyles. Daniel decided before he got there that he would not defile himself and disobey God. God blessed this and Daniel rose to the second highest political position in Babylon.
Drug prevention in America is called, “Just Say No”. Kids are urged to make up their minds ahead of time that they will not do drugs. There is power in having a purpose in life and setting goals that direct our choices. The time for a girl to decide about her body is not sitting in a car by a lake with the captain of the football team.
An evangelist told young girls to take a big Bible and put it on the front seat on dates. He added, “It is hard for any boy to get past Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
3. Run
2 Tim. 2:22
“Run from youthful lusts”
When the wife of Joseph’s master seduced him and grabbed his robe, he ran right out of it. (Gen. 39). Jesus teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matt. 6). This is not the prayer of a coward wanting an easy life. It is the humble prayer of someone who knows his or her weakness and wants to avoid temptation at all costs.
The opposite of this is the converted ex-drunk Billy Graham talked about in “Peace with God”. To show his victory over alcohol he hitched his horse in front of the saloon every time he went to town. He looked over the swinging doors, took a big sniff and said, “I don’t need this anymore.” Billy said one day conditions would be right and he would give in and be back in that old life before he knew it.
A young farm boy loved to steal watermelons. After he joined the church the preacher asked him if he still stole watermelons. The little boy said, “Preacher, I can’t keep my mouth from watering but when I walk by a patch, but I can run.
The minute you feel attraction for someone else’s husband or wife, is the time to back away. The instant you need money and know you can take some from your company without getting caught is the time to resolve before God that you will never take a dime.
A drug dealer approached a man and offered him $5,000 to use his boat and bring drugs up from Mexico. He said, “No.” The man offered $10,000 and he said, no. He offered $20,000 and he said no again. When the man offered $50,000 he picked up his shotgun and ordered him off the boat. “Why are you so mad” the man asked. The captain said, “I’m not mad. You are just getting too close to my price.”
4. Realize Your Responsibility
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. But God can be trusted. He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape.”
(1 Cor. 10:13)
We don’t have to give in. When we do, we often shift the blame to something or someone else. When God confronted Adam with his sin, he said, “The woman”. When He confronted Eve she said, “The snake”. Worse than that, Adam blamed God when he said, “The woman YOU gave me.” We will never grow strong and live right until we realize we are in charge and are responsible for our actions. We always give in to temptation because we want to give in.
A mother found that five year old Billy had his sister, three year old Caroline backed into a closet. Crying, she said, “Mama, Billy kicked me, pulled my hair, and spit on me.” The mother said, “Billy”, why did you let the devil make you act like that?” Billy said, “The devil told me to kick her and pull her hair, but spitting on her was my idea.”
5. Return When You Fall
(Mt. 26:41; Jn.21:15; 2 Tim. 4:11)
1 John 1:9
But if we (Christians 5:13) confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us (restored fellowship) and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (growth).”
Peter and David failed horribly. Both repented. Peter became the powerful preacher of Pentecost (Acts 2). However, he was not through with failure. Twenty years later he gave in to prejudice against Gentile church members, and was rebuked by Paul (Gal. 2).
When the Apostles fell asleep in Gethsemane Jesus did not disown them, He said, “The spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak” (Mt. 21:15). He knew they weren’t uncaring or wicked; they were weak.” He re-used them and kept loving them and believing in them.
John Mark quit the mission field (Acts 15:36-40) and this caused friction between Paul and Barnabas. Paul wrote Mark off - for a while! But when Paul was dying he asked Timothy to bring Mark to him, saying, “He is useful to me!” (2 Tim. 4:11).
The devil will knock us down. But we don’t have to stay down. He will win some battles but he doesn’t have to win the war. We will fail but we don’t have to be failures. We may tell a lie, but we don’t have to become liars.
God’s hall of FAME is made up of people who were at times in the hall of SHAME but refused to stay there. The devil never beats us until we quit trying.
Bathe all of this with prayer. The armor we wear in Ephesians 6 does not include prayer, but it closes with a call for all kinds of prayers, and a prayer request from Paul that God would give him the courage to speak the truth. Prayer is not part of the armor, it is getting God inside the armor with us.
David Jeremiah said taking on the devil without prayer is like jumping out of an airplane into a terrorist camp, wrapped in the American Flag singing, "God Bless America"
