Don’t Take The Bait!
Scripture: Matthew 22:15-22; First Corinthians 10:13; James 1:13-16
In my message last week I told you that grace does not cover sin, that in fact what it does is empower us to walk away and reject sin. Grace empowers us to reject sin, not cover it up after we do it. In follow up to that message this morning I want to talk about the actual temptations. I want you to think about the definition of the word temptation. It means, “a desire or craving for something, especially something considered wrong.” A temptation is something that is targeted towards a specific person. Let me explain, I have no desire to own an expensive sports car. So a sports car salesman can blow my phone up with offers and deals to try and get me to purchase one, but if I don’t currently have the desire and I “never” cared about them in the first place, it will not be a temptation. A temptation only works if there is a desire for it. So temptations are tailor made for the individual and I want you to keep this in mind as I go through this message. The title of my message this morning is “Don’t Take the Bait!” For the purposes of this message, bait is the equivalent of a temptation.
First Timothy 4:1 says the following, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” Now let’s read this from the Amplified Bible. It says, “But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons.” (First Timothy 4:1, Amp) Paul wrote to Timothy that in these days which we are living in people will depart from the faith because they listened to deceiving and seducing spirits. They will be so confused and deceived that they will begin to believe a lie and turn away from the truth. In other words, they will be completed fooled.
Have you ever heard the term “hook, line and sinker” relating to someone falling for something? The term is used to emphasize that someone has been completely deceived or tricked. To “fall for something hook, line, and sinker” is to be fooled completely. This is a term that most people understand if they have ever fished. When a fisherman casts his line out into the water, the line has a weight attached to it to make it sink and it has a hook from which the bait is attached. Sometimes a fish will swallow the baited hook and the attached weight when it is going for the bait. When this happened the fish is thoroughly caught with little chance of escaping. I am not sure how many of you have ever fished, but to do it correctly, you must have something to attract the fish you’re attempting to catch, namely the bait. For fish, your bait could be worms, night crawlers, insects or a number of other lures. Bait, in general, is anything that can be used to attract prey. Remember what I said about temptations (bait) being tailor made for the individual? If you were not fishing and were trying to capture a lion, then you would need bait that was more substantial than a few worms. A lion would pay absolutely no attention to worms – they wouldn’t even represent an appetizer to a lion. My point is that the bait you choose will depend directly upon the prey that you are going after. The bait must be something that will get your prey’s attention and attract it to the trap you have set for it. So here is my point, temptations (bait) are tailor made to the individual so the bait that is used to tempt you is something that would specifically get your attention and your enemy knows what that bait is because he has been watching us.
Have you ever considered that there are people out in the world right now thinking of ways to “bait” us? Let me give you a few examples of some baits being used to tempt us. You go to the mailbox and low and behold there is a credit card offer in the mailbox with your name on it advertising a very low introductory interest rate, that’s bait. Whenever you get “free checks” in the mail from the company that you have a credit card through and all you need to do is sign and cash them, that’s bait. You see, in both cases they are trying to get you to go out and spend money you do not have so they can charge you more money in return as you pay them back. Whenever you get a bill with the option to pay the “minimum amount” that’s bait. The longer it takes you to pay off something the more money the credit card company makes off you in interest. When you see ads in the newspaper from a car dealership offering low percent financing and huge rebates, it’s bait. They are trying to get you on the lot so they can get your mouth watering so bad for a new car that you will be willing to pay more money at a higher interest rate with no rebate because the rebate and lower interest does not apply to the model you end up choosing. A 16 year old flirting with a 25 year-old - JAILBAIT! Enough said on that one. When you walk into an “All You Can Eat” buffet restaurant, it’s bait. Remember, you should never eat all you can eat as your body cannot utilize that many calories and what is not used is turned to fat. When you go to the fast food restaurant and see the “super-size fries”, that’s bait. New Light, we must recognize what the bait is for us individually and then we must learn not to take it – to leave it alone!
Our last dog was a yellow lab named Elijah (Eli for short) and I truly loved that dog. My daughters purchased him but he thought he belonged to me. Eli loved playing in the snow, the rain and subsequently the mud. However, when it was time to bring him back into the house, he hated getting wiped off and I mean he hated it to the point where he would refuse to come in. His choice would be to come in and track mud all through the basement as he dried naturally. When he is ready to come in, he would jump on the door (his way of knocking.) But when I opened the door to let him in holding the towel to dry him off he would change his mind and refuse to come in. So enters the bait of honey roasted cashews. I kept honey roasted cashews on my desk as a snack and even ever I ate some Eli would find his way to me so he could share in the snack. Eli loved honey roasted cashews so of course I always shared with him. Now to the bait - I used the cashews to lure him to the door. When he saw them he would start to drool and get very excited. When I opened the door I would see the panic look on his face because he had to make a decision. If he wanted the cashews and he did want them, he had to come in. But to come in, he knew he would get wiped off – which he hated. Eli would literally stand there thinking about how badly he wanted those cashews versus coming in and getting wiped off. More times than not, depending on how hungry he was, he gave in to his stomach and allowed himself to be wiped off so he could have the cashews. Thinking of those times watching him battle with the temptation reminded me of what we go through when we are weighing the benefits versus the danger of going after the bait.
Do you know that Jesus faced the same temptations we face? He always had people “baiting” Him. Baiting sometimes comes across as teasing, but there are times when the baiting takes on a more sinister connotation. When someone who may not have your good at heart begins to bait you to see what your responses would be “or more likely to get you in trouble” you need to stay away and not take the bait. Jesus showed us this when He was baited. Let’s read Matthew 22:15-22: “(15) Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. (16) And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. (17) Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ (18) But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, ‘Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? (19) Show Me the tax money.’ So they brought Him a denarius. (20) And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ (21) They said to Him, ‘Caesar's.’ And He said to them, ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God’s.’ (22) When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.” (Matthew 22:15-22)
When you read this passage of Scripture you must have an understanding of who the Herodians were in order to understand the impact as to what they were trying to do to Jesus. The Herodians were a political party who favored the house of Herod and looked to those of that house to deliver them from Roman oppression. They were men of standing, influence and power. They preferred the rule of Herod versus the rule of the Romans which leads us to the question at hand. They asked Jesus “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” The question was a trick question and a no win for Jesus regardless of how He answered. If Jesus said “No, you are not to pay tribute to Caesar,” He could be accused of being a traitor of Rome. Since Rome was ruling over Israel at that time you know what would have happened next – He would have been brought before a Roman court. If He had said, “Yes, you are to pay tribute to Caesar,” then He could not be the true Messiah. They believed that the true Messiah would deliver them from their Roman “oppressors”. They thought they had Jesus trapped. But when Jesus answered them, they marveled at His answer as it was the one answer they had not considered. In His answer to them, he let them know that they did owe something to Caesar. They were using his coins (his likeness was on the coins); they walked down Roman roads; and Rome did provide them with a measure of peace so they did owe something to Rome. So He told them to give to Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to God what belonged to God. He did not take their bait.
If you have not put it together yet, let me make this clear. Bait is used to tempt the prey into taking some action which would lead them into a trap and ultimately their death. So my question to you this morning is “Do you have to take the bait?” Turn with me to First Corinthians 10:13. When we read First Corinthians 10:13 we find that we have a promise from God that when we are tempted, we have a way out. I will be reading from the Amplified version so mine will read a little different from yours. Look at what Paul shares with us about handling temptation: “No temptation [regardless of its source] has overtaken or enticed you that is not common to human experience [nor is any temptation unusual or beyond human resistance]; but God is faithful [to His word, He is compassionate and trustworthy], and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability [to resist], but along with the temptation He [has in the past and is now and] will [always] provide the way out as well, so that you will be able to endure it [without yielding, and will overcome temptation with joy].” (First Corinthians 10:13, AMP)
Can we say reading this verse is all about grace in action? It is a given fact that at some point in our lives, more often than not, we will be faced with situations where we must choose between taking the bait or walking away from it. Paul tells us in First Corinthians 10:13 that the bait (temptation) that we will face is such that is common to man. He also stresses that with any temptation that we face, regardless of its source, a way of escape will be provided by God for us - GRACE. Based on this, we do not have to take the bait. We do not have to fall into temptation. Anytime that we are being baited, God will give us an escape route so that we do not have to sin against Him. Sometimes that will mean walking away from the bait while other times it could mean just keeping our mouths closed. Regardless of the situation, God has promised that whatever we are baited with we do not have to take the bait. He is constantly providing a way out for us – we just need to look for and accept that way out.
But what happens when we do not walk away and we take the bait? Let me discuss briefly the results of us actually taking the bait. I know that many of you know what the consequences are for taking the bait. Whether you can reflect back on your own experiences or on the examples that I mentioned previously you know that whenever you take the bait the outcome is generally not good. People do not tend to bait you in order to be a blessing to you. I am not saying that it could not happen, I am just saying generally whenever you are baited into a response or action, the desired outcome is not for your good. If you look in our natural world, we do not use bait to feed the prey (to give it something to eat). We use bait in order to catch our prey, whether that is fish, mousetraps, or other large animals. Bait is used to draw a prey into a situation that the prey – if given the choice – would never choose to be in if it knew the outcome. In the book of James we have a very good demonstration of the process of being baited and the results of taking the bait. Look at James 1:13-16 and again I will be reading from the Amplified Bible.
It says, “(13) Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’ [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one. (14) But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion). (15) Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death. (16) Do not be misled, my beloved brothers and sisters.” (James 1:13-16)
Were you able to see the process? First we must understand that God does not tempt us with evil to see what our responses will be – that is not how He operates. His job is to provide us a way out when we are tempted (baited). Examine what happens when we are tempted. First, the bait is presented and we must decide if we will entertain taking it. This is the point where we should run away. If we decide however, to entertain taking the bait, we begin to process the potential benefits we will receive once we take it. For example, if we are very hungry, our hunger may override the danger associated with our taking the bait. Once we begin to entertain the idea of taking the bait, the battle is over. James said when the lust is conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished, it leads to death.
I want to close with an example of this. When an Eskimo is out hunting wolves, he has a unique method of setting the bait. Wolves are very smart and perceptive. They can literally smell scents that signal danger to them. To overcome this “advantage” of the wolf, the Eskimo takes a very sharp knife and dips it in the blood of an animal that will attract the wolf. He allows the blood to dry and dips it again and again to make sure he has a thick layer of blood on the knife. Once he has the layer just right, he freezes the knife with the blood. After the knife is frozen, he takes the knife and buries it blade up in the ground. The wolf smells the blood and seeks it out. When it finds the blood covered knife, it begins to lick the blood off enjoying its taste. What the wolf does not realize (and neither do we) is that the enjoyment is temporary and it will cost him its life. The wolf continues to lick the blood covered knife not realizing it is actually drinking its own blood. You see, because the knife is slowing cutting into its tongue and mouth as he continues licking, the blood he is drinking is his own. The Eskimo later comes along and picks up the dead wolf. Not knowing it was a trap, the wolf bled to death while drinking its own blood. The bait led the wolf to its death just as sin can lead us to death.
We must become aware of any bait that people or our chief enemy Satan sets before us. When we recognize that we are being baited (tempted), we must allow God’s grace to empower us not entertain any thought of value that we could possibly receive from taking the bait. We must recognize the bait as being very dangerous to our wellbeing. With this realization, we must choose to run away so that it does not get us off track as to where God is taking us in our spiritual walk. If you find yourself being baited by someone this week, do not give in to the bait. If you are baited spiritually or emotionally this week, walk away, seeking God’s escape route that He has already provided for you. Have a very blessed week this week.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(We are once again conducting live services on Sunday morning beginning at 9:15 a.m. We will continue to broadcast live on Facebook Live at 10:00 a.m.. Please tune in to "New Light Christian Fellowship Church" and like our page if you wish to watch our broadcast and be notified when we go live. If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. We also have Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. via Zoom that you are also welcome to attend – please email me for the link. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. If you would like to donate to our ministry you may do so through our website: newlightchristianfellowship.org by clicking on the PayPal or Cash App buttons. May God bless and keep you.)
