I Can Beat This Temptation
6/12/05 Proverbs 23 29-35 I Corinthians 10:9-13
Is there anyone here who faced temptation this past week? You may have found yourself in the ring, ready to give that knockout punch, only to discover that temptation was a little stronger and a little quicker than you had imagined and found yourself flat on the mat, caught off guard by quick left hook.
Before your knew it temptation was looking down at you, saying you ain’t so bad after all. I want you to know right now, that was just round one. There’s a whole lot of fight left inside of you, and I want you to know, if you go into the next round the way God wants you to go, you’ll come out of your corner saying, “I can beat this temptation.”
Sometimes when we look at Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself, we so focus on the neighbor part, that we forget the “as yourself part.” It’s important for us to love ourselves because if we don’t love ourselves right, then we’re not going to love each other properly. Now I’m not talking about standing in front of a mirror telling yourself , how good you look, and how in love you are with yourself.
I’m talking about loving yourself in such a way that you want nothing but the best for yourself. I’m talking about loving yourself as God loves you, so that you can say to yourself, “Self, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” Now our love for ourselves is submitted to our love for God which keeps us from simply becoming selfish in our love.
You see, in order to be properly equipped to beat up on temptation, you have got to love yourself. Love is willing to look out for the long term interest of another person. If your six year old child says, “but I don’t want to go to school anymore because I don’t like it and I’ve been a whole year.” Love is going to overlook the child’s immediate need for satisfaction, and think long term about the consequences and what’s best for the child in the long run.
Temptation is always going to involve some immediate benefit, pleasure, or satisfaction at the risk of some long term disaster, headache or new set of problems. For instance if you’re broke or want more money, temptation may come in the form of a pocket book on a table, a credit card on the ground, an old boyfriend, an idea of how to use a computer to hide funds being stolen, or the theft of someone’s money. The satisfaction and reward is immediate because you get the money, but the consequence of the action may not be known for quite some time. Just because you got it, does not mean you got away with it.
All of us are like fish in a pond from temptation’s point of view. The devil is out fishing. Any fisherman who plans on catching fish has to do two things. The first is, you’ve got to use the right kind of bait, and the second is you have to hide the hook. We all have specific things that we are more tempted to do than others. Satan just sits back and watches us. He sees where we want to be tempted.
How many of you know, there are some areas we just want to be tempted in. We give it away by what we focus our attention on. In our reading in Proverbs, we saw a guy that wanted to be tempted by drugs and alcohol. He was looking at it while it was in the glass.
He focused on the sparkling it caused as it was being swished around. He wanted to sample just a little bit here and there. He could feel how smooth it would go down and the pleasure it was going to give to him. Once he took it, he started seeing strange things and his mind became all confused. Once the experience was over, all he could think about was doing it again. He became an addict. Many of us are addicts to various things without knowing it. We just can’t wait to do such and such again.
After observing us, Satan comes along with a beautiful lure, that offers us all that we think we’re going to get from this whatever it is. It catches our attention. We swim around and look at it from all sides. Some of us don’t even think about the consequences. We just go ahead and bite the thing and run. But some of us are more cautious. We think now is now the right time, but I’ll be back after I’ve studied this a little more. We know that there is a hook, but we’re waiting to see how we can get it and escape the hook.
The biggest thing temptation has in its favor is our pride at just how smart we are. We convince ourselves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will never get caught. We expect the student getting D’s & F’s in school to get hooked on drugs, but do you know A students become addicts. We expect the thug to be dumb enough to rob a bank and get caught. But do we know bank presidents also rob banks and get caught.
We expect that girl with the tight clothes and dress so short it hides nothing, to be sexually active and end up facing pregnancy and abortion, but do we know it happens to the sweet polite girl that sings faithfully in the choir. What they all have in common, is none of them thinks at the time that I’m going to pay a huge price for the decision I’m making.
When it comes to temptation, none of us are as smart as we think, unless we really focus on, what’s going to happen when I get caught and others find out what I have done? Who all is going to be hurt? Who besides myself is going to be humiliated? How am I going to face the people who put their faith in me and are shocked to discover what I’ve done? When we love ourselves, we don’t just take the bait and run with it. We consider our own pain in the future and the pain we may cause others. We try to live out in advance what we are going to go through when we get caught.
The good news about temptation, is that contrary to what you might think, “You can beat temptation.” For God promises in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! [13] No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.” Do not put your faith in yesterday’s victory. Commit to taking the way out that God has provided.
How committed are you to being victorious over temptation. It means changing your lifestyle in the same way a boxer changes his life to prepare for a fight. There are some decisions you have to make in advance as to what you will or will not do. Sometimes preparing to overcome temptation means staying away from things you’d like to hang around. You don’t have to worry about biting Satan’s lure if, you’re not hanging around it.
But if you stay in a situation long enough, you’re going to be tempted to start nibbling. There are so many ways to nibble. We can nibble by flirting. We can nibble by exchanging numbers. We can nibble by trying it just to see what happens. We can nibble by day dreaming. We can nibble by channel surfing. We can nibble by compromising just a little. We can nibble by cheating. Where are you nibbling today? Have you truly considered the cost of what you are risking by nibbling?
Love yourself enough to keep the big picture ahead of yourself for your future. Let somebody know, “I don’t have time to nibble here, I plan on getting my college degree. I don’t have time to nibble here, I plan to get my benze, my hummer and my house the legal way. I don’t have time to nibble here, my children are all coming from my wife. I don’t have time to nibble here, I’m building a marriage of trust and faithfulness for life. If you are already nibbling start asking “where is the door of escape that God has for me to walk out of.” And when you find it, run, don’t walk.
Let’s look at Jesus for a moment. It was very early in Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit had led him into the desert to be tempted by the devil. During that time Jesus, spent forty days and forty nights fasting. Can you imagine going 40 days and 40 nights without food? Jesus was hungry. That’s when Satan threw out his first lure. What do you think Satan was going to use---Something to do with food.
He says, “Say Jesus, if you are the Son Of God, tell these stones to become bread.” In other words, you deserve to eat after all you’ve been through. Go ahead and use your position to get what you rightfully deserve. After all God put the feelings of hunger inside of you.” Now in this first level of temptation, Jesus and Satan are down on the ground.
Satan appeals to something that is very common and natural to us all. He appeals to a physical desire. But the trick here is that he wants Jesus to use his own power in the wrong way at the wrong time—Satan wanted Jesus to use his position to meet his own needs, rather than to fulfill Jesus’ God given mission.
We may not have the authority to turn stones into bread, but we do have power to make things happen. Some of us have all kinds of talent, some of us have all kinds of beauty, and some of us have all kinds of abilities. Who is lord of those things that we possess, especially when we have personal desires or wants or feelings? Jesus is tired, he’s hungry, and he’s alone. Why shouldn’t he fulfill his desires to please himself? Look how long He’s been good. Surely He deserves something for his efforts.
We can’t allow Satan to convince us that we deserve to have this or that or that we deserve to be happy at this moment. Our calling is to use whatever we have to glorify God, though painful it may be at that moment. Who is telling you that you deserve this? Jesus knew that Satan was not at all interested in trying to help Him in life. By looking to the future, Jesus was able to say, “I can beat this temptation.” So Jesus responded, “It is written; man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
In other words, there is something more important than whether or not I’m happy at the moment. It’s more important for me to be in God’s will, because who knows what blessings God has for me in His will that I can’t see at the moment. Many desires are normal and good, but God wants us to satisfy them in the right way and at the right time. When God sends forth a blessing, it does not come with the hook hidden in the lure.
If we step outside of God’s will to get our needs and our desires met, we are going to pick up a lot more than what we bargained for. Doing wrong always comes with compounded interest and the price you pay always lasts longer than the pleasure you get. You need to love yourself to get the best deal possible. Tell your neighbor, “I can beat this temptation.”
Satan then takes Jesus up higher, so that he can get a better picture of things. He takes Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. I want you to see why we’re no match for Satan. Do you see his power to travel through space without a plane. If he has figured that out, how do we think, we’re smart enough to beat him at his own game.
Well there he is with Jesus at the top of the temple. Hey if Jesus is going to announce Himself as the Son of God, He may as well do it in a spectacular fashion. He says, “now Jesus, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” for it is written He will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
Think about it Jesus, “how many people will believe that you are from God instead of just from Nazareth, if you came floating down out of the sky with angels holding you up as you came down.” People would be able to look up in the sky from all over town and see him floating down. Satan has taken Jesus up to a higher level under the guise of advancing God’s work.
But Satan is actually trying to get Jesus to prove the relationship He has with the Father. Go ahead and test the promises of God. The devil has taken a scripture verse and run away with it. The verse He quotes promises God’s protection for those who while being in God’s will and serving Him find themselves in danger. It does not promise anything for anyone who simply creates a crises and then calls on God for protection.
Sometimes we listen to people talk about living on a higher level and they quote a verse or two on finances and faith and we fall for it. We get ourselves in a financial mess talking about we’re living on faith and God will supply all our needs. It may look as though we’re being super spiritual, and are testimonies to what God will do, when in fact we are simply deep in debt and ashamed to admit it.
There is a difference between being led by the Spirit to do something, and jumping out and doing something without having counted the cost involve simply claiming walking by faith.
Jesus came back with Satan, “the scriptures also tell us, do not put the Lord your God to the test.” When it comes to your temptation, how are you putting God to the test? Have you ever said, “God I know it’s wrong but please forgive me while I’m doing it. Lord please watch over me. Lord help me to get through this. There is no promise in Scripture that says, when we choose to do wrong, God is going to come through and help us.
Now God can be merciful and do that, but God never tells us that He will do it. Part of Jesus’ strategy to keep from doing foolish things was to know the all of the word of God. Knowing the word of God can keep us from doing foolish things under the guise of looking spiritual.
Satan then took Jesus up to another level that was higher still. He took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will you he said, if you will bow down and worship me.” Satan is the God of this world according to the Bible.
He is saying look Jesus, you came to be king of this world. I can give it to you right now, with no persecution, no rejection, no nails, no whips, no thorns, and no cross. You don’t even have to die.”
Satan is willing to give Jesus a kingdom by a painless shortcut. Is there anybody here who ever took one of the devil’s shortcuts and found out you could get what you wanted, but the cost ended up being far greater than what you wanted to pay. What shortcut does he have for you today? All you have to do is reject God’s plan and worship him by accepting his plan instead.
So much of temptation involves taking a short cut to get to the real thing. Some shortcuts are far more dangerous than others. Sometimes you’ve got to love yourself enough to go the full distance. That quick temporary gain is not going to be worth it in the long run. Don’t look at what you’re getting, look at what its going to cost you.
Jesus didn’t hesitate on this third temptation to say, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written; Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” In other words, nothing compares to the promises I have in God. I willingly will go through what I have to go through, to get everything that God has in store for me. By loving himself, more than the things the world had to offer Him, Jesus was able to make it possible for those who wanted to be saved to be saved.
Satan is going to keep on tempting us with the things of this world and he’s going to make them glitter and look beautiful but always keep in mind there is a hook when we look to him. God knows how to take care of our needs and how to bless us beyond our wildest dreams, but it comes with the price tag of putting Him first in every area of our lives including the areas of our temptation. When we chose to love God, and to love ourselves, we can all say, “I can beat this temptation.”
Sermon Outline-Pastor Rick
I Can Beat This Temptation 6/12/05 Proverbs 23:29-35 1 Corinthians 10:9-13
