Sometimes Preachers have to preach on subjects that apply to only part of the congregation.
Such as:
• On Mother’s Day the sermon is directed primarily to the Mothers of this church
• On Father’s Day the sermon is directed primarily to the Fathers of this church.
• On Grandparent’s Day the sermon is directed to the grandparents.
• On Memorial Day the sermon is directed to the military
But when a preacher preaches about TEMPTATION, it is applies to every man, woman boy and girl.
• Every Bible Character that we hold in high esteem had to deal with temptations just like we do.
• The Angels of heaven had to deal with temptation, and one third of them failed the test of temptation.
• The Lord Jesus had to deal with temptation.
Illus: It does not matter if a person is a preacher, deacon, teacher, choir member, or a lay person; we ALL have to deal with temptation.
For example, the late Dr. Jack Hyles, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, said when he was a young pastor he would hug the older women for there was no problem with temptation.
But, he said that as the years have gone by, he has had to stop that because the older he gets, the better the older women look.
Every child of God has to deal with temptation every day of their life whether we are young or old.
But as we talk about temptation, something we need to recognize is this, IT IS NOT A SIN TO BE TEMPTED.
HOW DO WE KNOW IT IS NOT A SIN TO BE TEMPTED?
Because Christ was the sinless Son of God. Not one time did he ever commit one sin. But the Bible tells us Satan tempted him over and over again.
We have no control over the devil putting evil thoughts in our minds, but we do have a choice about dwelling on the evil thoughts he puts there.
It is not a sin to be tempted.
It is not a sin to be tempted, but it is a sin when he puts these thoughts in our minds and we choose to dwell on them.
Illus: Someone said we cannot help it if a bird flies over our head but we can keep him from building a nest in our hair.
As long as we live on this earth we will have to deal with temptations.
Illus: On one of the television broadcast, Benny Hinn was praying for a young man. When he got through praying for him, he stepped back and said, “Never again will Satan bother you!”
Benny needs to read his Bible, or perhaps get another one, because God’s Word assures us for sure, as long as we live in these mortal bodies, we are going to have to contend with Satan’s trying to tempt us to sin.
And as long as we live we are going to be tempted by Satan. In this sermon I want to show you how we can overcome temptation.
Illus: The mighty Niagara River plummets some 180 feet at the American and Horseshoe Falls.
Before the falls, there are violent, turbulent rapids. Farther upstream, however, where the river's current flows more gently, boats are able to navigate.
Just before the Welland River empties into the Niagara, a pedestrian walkway spans the river. Posted on this bridge's pylons is a warning sign for all boaters which states:
• "Do you have an anchor?"
• "Do you know how to use it?"
We all are going to be facing the temptations of life next week, and we all better have an anchor, and we certainly better know how to use it.
Let’s look at …
I. THE DEFINITION OF TEMPTATION
The Greek word for “Temptation” is “Peirazo” (Pi-rad-zo). It means to entice or to solicit to sin.
The devil has all kinds of temptations he tempts us with.
For example, he may tempt one person in one way and tempt another person in another way.
He has had thousands of years of experience in dealing with temptations and he knows what tempt each of us.
Illus: He is like a fisherman with a tackle box, in that box he has all kinds of bait and an experience fisherman knows the right kind of bait to use on each kind of fish.
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SATAN TO TEMPT US?
God never tempts anyone to sin but God allow us to be tempted for the same reason a school teacher tests her students for two reasons:
1. First, so he/she might determine how much the students are learning in a particular subject.
2. Secondly, so the students themselves might determine how much they have learned in a particular subject.
God is Omniscient; he does not have to test us to see how we are doing in a certain area of our life…HE ALREADY KNOWS!
When God tests us, it is not for His benefit it is for our benefit.
Illus: Jerry Kirk, founder of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, has spent his life fighting pornography on cable television.
He said, “I travel alone a lot in my job. One time, I was flipping through the channels to find the World Series. While flipping, I came across a channel with half-nude women. I flipped over to the baseball game. Ten minutes later, I flipped back to the movie, and then quickly back to the World Series. I did that four or five times before I shut off the TV.”
He said, “I was unnerved at the power of temptation, especially since I've given my life to combat pornography. I've had to come face to face with the Lord and plead for mercy: ‘Lord, how is this possible?’ I began to lose confidence in my prayers.”
God spoke to his heart and said, "Jerry…I've known all along that you were weak. I needed you to know that you were weak. And I need you to know that I alone will make you strong." (Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.)
The definition of temptation is to entice, to solicit to sin. And every day Satan is busy soliciting us to sin. He knows our weakness and he knows exactly what kind of bait to use to tempt us to sin.
Why? Satan tempts us to do evil because he hates us and wants to destroy our lives.
God allows him to entice us with evil so that we can see the need to seek him for these weaknesses in our lives. God wants to show us how we can overcome these temptations in our lives.
We looked at THE DEFINITION OF TEMPTATION, but now let’s look at …
II. THE DECEPTION OF TEMPTATION
How many of you have seen these Domino contests that they have for the Guinness book of records on national television from time to time? They are fascinating to watch.
One domino is knocked over and it knocks over the next one, and that one knocks over the next one, and then literally thousands of dominos are knocked over.
YouTube -NEW DOMINO RECORD + Most INSANE Spiral Ever! (32,000 Dominoes)
This is exactly the way sin works; it is called THE DOMINO EFFECT.
This is exactly what happens when we face temptation. Once we are tempted with sin, a chain of events begins to take place in our lives.
Three things in particular occur, such as:
A. THE WORLDLY EFFECT
What is the worldly effect?
When we preach about worldliness, we are speaking of a system that governs the life of wicked men and women. It is a system of rebellion against the rules of almighty God.
For example, we live in a society of people that is anti-God, anti-Bible, and anti-Church.
It is dangerous living in a society like that.
Why?
Because if we aren’t careful, we can forget that we are Christians and start thinking the way they think, and begin living as they live.
Illus: In Columbia, South Carolina, a man by the name of Ron Smith has a home back in the country. It is a beautiful place to live. No one lives close to him. But Ron has a hunting dog and a pet cow that run loose in the yard. This dog and cow get bored with things, and they have no one to play but with each other.
One Saturday, Ron was in the yard doing some chores and the hound dog came up to him and started to rub against his legs, wanting some attention. Ron reached down and patted the dog, and in a few minutes the pet cow came up to him and started rubbing against him, also wanting some attention.
Finally Ron ran both of them off so he could finish doing his chores.
But Ron noticed that the hound dog saw a rabbit and began chasing the rabbit into the woods. But as he watched the dog chasing the rabbit, he saw something very strange. The cow started chasing the rabbit also.
WHY DID THIS COW DO THIS?
Because the cow had hung around that hunting dog so long she now thought she was a dog.
The same thing can happen to us. We live in a society of people that are in rebellion against God, and if we are not careful, we soon forget we are Christians, and become like them.
We have to always remember that the lost world is governed by anti-God, anti-Bible, and anti-church beliefs.
WE ARE DIFFERENT! WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM!
This is THE WORLDLINESS EFFECT we all have to be careful about. If we are not careful, the DOMINO EFFECT will begin to take place in our lives AND WE WILL FALL FOR SIN JUST LIKE THEY DO!
When we are exposed to sin every day we become de-sensitized by sin.
That is, we no longer shocked about sin like we once were. Every day we are exposed to things that one time shocked us, but now we have become desensitized!!!
For example, our forefathers would be shocked if they could return to life and…
• See the way men and women dress
• Hear the way people talk
• See the disrespect that children have for their parents
• Hear the foul language that we hear today
• To see the things that now is on television
They would be shocked!!!
But we have seen and heard so much of these things that we have become de-sensitized and no longer shocked!!!
Look at 1 John 2:15. We read, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Daily we need to be aware of THE WOROLINESS EFFECT!
But there is another effect we need to be concerned about as we face temptations-
B. THE SIN NATURE EFFECT
Look at James 1:13-15. We read, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
James said, “For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” (James 1:13)
There are some things God can’t do. God can’t be tempted to do evil.
When you are tempted to do evil, you can know one thing for sure; God is not behind that temptation. God is a Holy God, and sin does not have the slightest attraction to him whatsoever.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells how years ago he used to hate cooked squash. He said, “Sometimes I have been in people’s homes and they would be eating squash, and I thought to myself, ‘How can they eat those things!’ But they would be licking their lips saying, ‘This squash really is good! Preacher, are you sure you do not want some of this good squash.’” And
Dr. Belger said he could honestly say, “I am sure I do not want any of that squash!”
That is the way sin is with God. Sin has no attraction to God whatsoever. It is impossible for the devil to put anything before God to entice him to do evil. He is a God of holiness.
But we aren’t God. We all have that Adamic nature within us. And sin can entice us.
Look at verses 14-15. We read, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
We need to understand the reason we can be tempted to sin. It is because we all have that sinful Adamic nature within us. If we did not have that Adamic nature Satan could not tempt us to do evil.
This is called the SIN EFFECT. But there is another effect we need to be concerned with, and that is the-
C. THE SATAN EFFECT
Look at Luke 4:13. We read, “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.”
Notice, the devil tempts everyone.
He even had the gall to tempt the Lord Jesus. However, the Bible says he tempted the Lord over and over again for forty days, and then HE DEPARTED FROM HIM FOR A SEASON.
The devil might cut us some slack every now and then, but one thing you can depend on…HE WILL BE BACK!
The good news is this, no matter how Satan attempts us to sin God’s Word tells us 2 Cor. 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
Illus: This reminds me of the story of the black man named Sam. He was a servant to a wealthy plantation owner many years ago.
One day the wealthy plantation owner said,
• “Sam, your loud praying at night is keeping me and the wife awake. I do not see why you need to pray like that. You are a good man already.”
• Sam said, “Sir, the devil has been working overtime on me lately, so I prayed for de Lord to help me!”
• The wealthy plantation owner said, “That’s odd. The devil doesn’t bother me. Why should he bother you?”
• The servant said, “Master, it is like this; when we went duck hunting yesterday you shot some ducks and wounded others, but you sent me after the wounded ones.”
• The plantation owner said, “DO YOU KNOW WHY?”
• Sam said, “Yes Sir! It was because you knew you had the dead ones for sure, but the wounded ones might get away.”
• Then Sam said, “It is this way, master. The devil knows he got you for sure. That is why he doesn’t bother you, but he is not sure about me yet and that is why he keeps after me all the time.”
God is with us each day as we face these temptations.
With the help of the Holy Spirit t and our trust in the promises of GOD’S WORD, we can overcome every temptation Satan puts before us.
Conclusion:
God will help us to overcome temptation but we have a part in this also.
If you are serious about wanting to please the Lord, some of you need to go home and...
• Cancel your subscriptions to some of these stations you have on your television.
• Cancel your subscriptions to some magazines you have subscribed too.
• Quit buying these filthy magazines that is placed beside the cash register when you buy groceries each week.
• Get rid of that wild music that you are pumping into your mind that encourages you to live an ungodly lifestyle.
• Tear some of those posters of ungodly people off of your walls.
• Quit going to these theaters supporting Hollywood which is anti-God, Anti-Bible and Anti-Church.
• And if you cannot control what you watch on the internet get rid of your computer.
• Break away from that evil crowd you are hanging out with.
• Spend time in prayer and the Word of God daily.
Illus: We need to be like the little girl that was walking home from school one day.
Though the weather that morning was questionable, and clouds were forming, she made her daily trip to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.
The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she feared that the electrical storm might harm her child.
Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school. Eventually, she spotted her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up at the sky and smile.
As the next flash lit up the sky the little girl just stopped, looked at the streak of light and smiled.
• Finally, the mother called her over to the car and asked, “What are you doing?"
• The child answered, "God keeps taking pictures of me, so I keep stopping to smile for His camera!"
May God bless you today as you face the storms of temptation that come your way! Every time they come, just look up and smile at the God who loves you, and wants to help you get through the storms of temptation.
In this sermon we have looked at:
I. THE DEFINITION OF TEMPTATION
II. THE DECEPTION OF TEMPTATION
(1) The Worldly effect
(2) The Sin Nature effect
(3) The Satan effect
