AN APPLE A DAY
The Temptations We Face
Part 3, The Devil Made Me Do It
James 4:7
May 14, 2006
Pastor Brian Matherlee
In the movie, On Golden Pond, a man, played by Dabney Coleman is speaking with a Ethel at a dock. Ethel is the mother of the woman he likes. He puts one foot on a boat and continues speaking while the boat begins to be pushed away from the dock. When he realizes how far it has moved it is too late. He asks her, “What does one do when you find yourself in this predicament?” She tells him, “You fall.”
Sometimes we might think that we are destined to fall every time temptation comes our way. But that is not true. Today, we continue our series on temptations we face. We spoke two weeks ago about how the world attacks our soul. Last week we covered how our sinful nature attacks us within our bodies. Today we will talk about the direct attacks of Satan himself upon our mind.
How does Satan go about attacking our minds?
Satan’s tactics are:
• Doubt
• Fear
• Confusion
Areas of attack:
1. God’s Word
a. Genesis 3:1, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
i. Eve responds in verse 3 by telling the serpent what God did say... “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden.” And then she misquoted God by stating that touching the fruit would bring death when God had told them in 2:17, “..for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
ii. Eve’s response shows how Satan’s challenge was finding a place to reside because she was straying from the truth.
iii. Knowing the truth is our sure defense.
2. God’s Goodness
a. Genesis 3:5-6
b. Satan likes to use this attack—God’s holding out on you! There’s nothing really wrong with it...He just doesn’t want you to enjoy life. Our children are very susceptible to this attack.
c. The younger we are, the more we view God’s commandments as rules against fun. But God gave every command, every law, and every precept for our benefit and to extend and enhance our living.
3. God’s faithfulness
a. In questioning God’s goodness we are told God does better for others than He does for us. In the temptation of doubting God’s faithfulness we are challenged to think that God has left us in our suffering and circumstances won’t change.
b. The Bible is clear that God’s Word is true, He is good and He is faithful—not in a life that is free of troubles—but in spite of the troubles we face.
c. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
d. In Mark chapter 4 the disciples were with Jesus in a boat. A storm came up and fear took hold. In verse 38, they said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” The disciples were probably scrambling to do all they could to keep the boat from capsizing and couldn’t understand how Jesus could sleep through it.
e. Do you ever feel like God is asleep in the midst of the storms of your life? Satan comes against your mind to tell you that God is asleep. He will tell you that if God cared about you...if He loved you...if He were really Faithful and True that you wouldn’t be in the mess you’re in.
f. Mothers, the Devil will attack you by using your children. How could a good God let that happen to your child?
g. How do we stand against this kind of attack?
h. VFR stands for Visual Flight Rules. All pilots are allowed to fly in these conditions. You can see around you, there are no impediments to your ability to see where you are going.
i. IFR stands from Instrument flight readings. Only trained pilots can fly by these. And they can fly in any conditions. They don’t have to see anything to safely navigate their plane. They know how to rely upon their instruments within the cockpit regardless of the signals coming from everywhere else.
j. Both types of pilots may find themselves in low, or no, visibility situations. If a VFR pilot finds himself in a situation where he cannot see, his mind and body tell him things contrary to the instrument panel that are hard to ignore and they don’t have the understanding to navigate without their sight. If the IFR pilot finds himself in the same situation he will have to override what he knows is true to go with what his senses are telling him.
k. John Kennedy, Jr. is an example of the difficulty encountered by pilots whose training is limited to VFR. In July of 1999, Kennedy’s Piper Saratoga was on approach to Martha’s Vineyard when it made a series of turns and then fell from the sky at 9:41 p.m., killing Kennedy, his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 33, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, 34.
The board did not address whether Kennedy, 38, might have become disoriented while flying over the ocean on a nearly moonless night in thick haze. Normally in crash investigations, the board first eliminates mechanical or structural causes before considering pilot error.
The board said that Kennedy had more than 300 hours of flying time, somewhat more than originally reported. However, pilots said that 300 hours would have left Kennedy at an experience level when pilots often become overconfident and are not sufficiently seasoned to recognize dangerous situations. (Don Phillips
Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, July 31, 1999; Page A3)
l. We must realize our need of God in facing temptations. Our biggest temptation is to forget we are in a battle.
Conclusion
How do we overcome?
By knowing what the Bible says.
I’d like to give you 5 of my favorite Scriptures I use when Satan comes against my mind:
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 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.
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
• Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
• I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Now, you might wonder about the last one...since it is for confession of sin and not so much about resisting temptation. But look back at the story of Adam and Eve. The final lie Satan got them to buy into that day is that God wouldn’t forgive them. Why else would they have hidden.
And Satan still lies to us today. When we sin, Satan says, “A Christian wouldn’t act that way.” He’ll throw in our face, “You’ve sinned too much or done that too many times for God to forgive you this time.”
God did punish Adam and Eve but He didn’t forget them or forsake them. And our sin deserves punishment but God doesn’t forsake us. Jesus has paid the price for our sin and God will forgive!
