Have you ever noticed how opportunity only knocks once, but temptation seems to keep banging away until you answer the door? It’s always there waiting to entice us, and unless we are constantly on guard against it, we will slip and succumb to it. It might be the temptation of fear; the temptation of selfishness; or any other temptation of the world. And we always have to be on guard so that we don’t accept any of it – even a little of it.
Today, I want to talk to you about something that I believe needs to be talked about more often in churches today. I want to talk to you about ….
1. BEING ON THE ALERT TO SEE THE TEMPTATIONS
All of us need to be watchful for temptation, but in today’s world, I would think that our young men and women need to be even extra cautious. I recently heard a story that was aimed primarily at teens, and I want to repeat it to you today. And I want each one of you who are teenagers to listen very carefully to make sure you fully understand the meaning behind this story.
Two teens wanted to go see an “R” rated movie. Their dad said absolutely not. He said it had adult content of all kinds in that movie and it was no place for them. They argued that some of their friends had seen it and said that most of the movie was okay, it was just a few small parts and those weren’t enough to hurt anyone. The father said ‘No’ again and the boys got mad. The father told them to go watch TV, so they did.
A few minutes later, they heard the dad in the kitchen rustling around the pots and pans. Then in a little while, they smelled the wonderful smell that only fresh-baked brownies can smell like. They smiled and figured that their dad was making something for them because he was sorry he angered them.
In a little while, the father brought in a whole plate full of brownies that had been cut and stacked. He offered them to the two boys and each took one. The dad said, “Now before you eat these, you need to know something. I used nothing but natural ingredients. I also used the best ingredients possible.
“But I put something extra in the mix that the recipe didn’t call for.” The boys questioned what it was, and finally the father said he had gone out in the back yard and got just a little doggy stuff to mix in with it. The boys almost got sick. They freaked out and said, “You put dog stuff in our brownies? What’s the matter with you, are you trying to poison us?”
The dad tried to explain that just a little wasn’t going to hurt them at all, and the rest of the brownies were really good. The kids didn’t buy it for a minute. The more the father kept trying to say just a little wouldn’t hurt, the more the kids were against ever eating them.
Finally the father said, “Now you understand why I don’t want you to go to an “R” rated movie. Just a little doesn’t seem to matter, but as you see in the brownies, just a little is still vile and unhealthy.” He then told the boys that there wasn’t really any dog stuff in the brownies, but they still threw them away.
Just a little temptation can still take its toll on our minds and hearts. A doctor asked the man how he broke his arm, and the man said he broke it in a bar. The doctor told him to stay out of those places. And certainly, it would be to our best interest to stay away from all forms of temptation.
There is another temptation that we all seem to fall for, and that is when we see someone else, who has succumbed to temptation in their life. We must be careful, because there are three things we don’t know.
We do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin; we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her; and we do not know what we would have done in the same situation..
JAMES 1:13-15 states,
‘When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire ahs conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.’
We all have personal struggles in our lives, don’t we? Today, I want to talk about overcoming those struggles. Not just the struggles that come from without, but the struggles that come from within. I want to talk to you about having victory over the many temptations we have in our lives.
Here is a definition of temptation; "the act of enticement to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain.” And that is exactly what the devil does. He entices us to sin by offering something very deadly to us that looks so good.
Our goal is to come up with some practical ways that will help us overcome temptation. First, understand that we are in a war, not against flesh & blood, but against spiritual forces of this dark world, and it is necessary to understand our enemy and his tactics. Therefore, we must understand temptation if we are ever to defeat Satan.
In the book of James, we find …
2. THREE FACTS ABOUT TEMPTATIONS
First, temptation is going to happen. No matter what you think or what you want, we are all going to be faced with temptation many times every day for the rest of our lives.
In JAMES 1:13, James writes;
‘When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me …”
He didn’t say, “if” we are tempted, he said “when” we are tempted. Just as surely as sparks fly upward, we are going find temptation in our lives. As long as we live in this flesh and on this world we will face temptation.
Everybody faces temptation. It is not by accident that James talks about having temptations, right after he talks about having trials.
Joni Tada is a writer and speaker. She is also paralyzed from her neck down because of an injury she sustained in a diving accident. She is confined permanently in a wheelchair. After her accident, she says –
"I was in my late 20’s, single, and unfortunately, had every prospect of remaining so. Sometimes lust or a bit of fantasizing would seem so inviting and so easy to justify. After all, hadn’t I already given up more than most Christians just by being disabled? Didn’t my wheelchair entitle me to a little slack now and then?"
When we are going through a trial or when we are suffering, we often use that as an excuse for giving in to the temptation. Sometimes we use the hard time we are going through to justify a “day off” from standing guard. The trouble with giving in to temptation is, it always leads to a sin. Temptation never leads us to a Godly righteousness.
The first fact about temptation is that it is going to confront you.
The second fact about temptation is that God is never the one tempting you. Remember in JAMES 1:13 says God does not tempt anyone.
How often do we see kids getting caught for doing something wrong and immediately start blaming somebody else? Actually, adults do that, too, don’t they? The first thing we do when caught doing something wrong is to put the blame for our doing it on someone, or something, else. It’s the old Flip Wilson attitude; “the devil made me do it.”
I think that one of the biggest things wrong with our society today is our inability to stand up and take responsibility for our own actions. God permits temptation, but he never directs us into it – we do that.
In ISAIAH 6, we read where the angels surrounded the throne of God and sang, “Holy, Holy, Holy!” “Holy” means totally separated from sin; apart from sin; and if God is separated and apart from sin, that means He doesn’t direct us into temptation. We are the guilty ones on that count. We make a choice to accept the temptation, and through that choice, we have chosen to enter into sin.
The third fact about temptation is; it is always aimed at individuals, not at groups.
Repeating what Bill Howard said in his sermon several weeks ago, there is too much world in the church. As we live our lives, there are only two paths we might walk. One path is in the world, and the other path is in God. One is oil, the other is water, and the two shall never mix.
1 JOHN 2:15-16 state,
‘Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.’
We would be more comfortable if James said temptation comes from the devil, but he says it comes from our own evil desires. He places the entire responsibility for temptation on our shoulders. So we can see now that when we yield to temptation, it is an individual matter, beginning and ending with us.
We are like fish when it comes to temptation. We are safe and in our own waters, when all of a sudden, something is dangled in front of us. It looks so good, and it just won’t go away, so we finally drop our defenses and grab it. When the fish grabs the bait, it ends up caught and cooked and when we yield to temptation and it becomes action in our lives, we also end up caught and cooked. So the decision for the day is: “To bite or not to bite ….”
What would be some practical ways we might be able to handle temptation?
Counteract it, but never tolerate it. Every time you see a temptation, you have a decision to make.
ROMANS 6:13 tells us,
‘Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life – and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.’
Don’t try to peacefully co-exist with temptation; it will never work to your benefit. It will only cause you to stumble and hurt yourself.
We all have a tendency to play with temptation, don’t we? It is like the man who brought in two dozen donuts to work one morning. One of his coworkers asked him why he did this since he was on a diet. He said God so much as told him to.
He said on the way to work, he passed the donut shop and he told God that if he was supposed to go in and get some, provide him with a place to park right in front of the door. Now, what are the chances of that happening? Yet the man said he looked up and saw it, right in front of the door, just as he made his 10th trip around the block.
And, if we play around with temptation, we will always end up taking the bait, and that will always cause us to choose sin.
For a moment, let me refer back to the two teens who wanted to go to the “R” rated movie. By going to see movies that offer just a little bit of unwholesomeness, we are tolerating sin in our lives. And if we do anything else in life that enables a little bit of sin to be around us, we tolerate that, too. And if we tolerate it, we will lose. The more we tolerate, the more we will yield, and the more we yield, the more we will sin. And the more we sin, the more we will lose. The man who went to the doctor said he broke his arm in a bar and the doctor told him to stay out of places like that. And if you go anywhere that includes sin, you may not get a broken arm, but you will get hurt somehow by that sin.
So, don’t tolerate temptation in your life! Get rid of it.
You cannot play around with the carnality in you without becoming wholly carnal, if you play around with and tolerate lies, you will end up forfeiting your right to the truth, and you cannot play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity to your fellow man.
One of the snares that catch most Christians is in the area of anger. Somebody does something that we perceive as wrong and we blow our tops. This isn’t Godly. It is hatred in its purest form, but we all have a tendency to do this. But where does anger come from? We don’t like hearing this, but all anger comes from our not getting what we want, or when things don’t go the way we think they should.
Now, there are times when righteous indignation is fully justified. Remember how Jesus cleared the evil merchants from the temple square. Jonathan was upset with his father Saul because of the bad way he was treating David. But when we do feel righteous anger, we must be sure that we do not sin in that anger.
EPHESIANS 4:31 lays it out plainly for us.
‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger – brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.’
When somebody does something that we get upset at, we must instantly ask ourselves these questions.
· Why did the person do that?
· Is there a biblical reason why we are upset?
If we ask the person ‘Why’ they did something, we might end up saving everyone a lot of time and ill feelings. There is always a reason why someone does what they do.
Secondly, if the person violated no biblical tenants, we might think twice before we decide to get mad at them. If we get mad at them in this case, we are playing around with the temptation of hate and we don’t want to go down that road.
For as sure as they did something to offend you, you can be sure you have done something to offend somebody else, too. And if your anger is justifiable, do not approach the person in anger or hatred, but in the love of Christ. Tell them what they did and how that affected others. Tell them what biblical truth they violated and that you do not want to have a broken relationship, so they must never do that again – and then forgive them as Christ forgave you.
If you let anger rest in your heart, several things happen. First of all, it grows. Secondly, you began talking badly about that person to others. Third, you start becoming bitter, and finally, you begin to grieve the Holy Sprit.
EPHESIANS 4:30 gives us a warning.
‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God ….’
In all of these cases, let us remember that Paul said in Romans 6:13; "present yourself to God.…” Let’s not present our bodies to sin, leaving the door open, allowing sin it’s opportunity, because if we do, I promise you we will lose.
Make sure the resistance fits the temptation. If a person is tempted by sensual pleasures, they need to run from the temptation like David did when Potipher’s wife tried to seduce him. In 2 TIMOTHY 2:22, it says to flee the evil desires of youth.
If we are tempted to gossip about others, or spread negative comments about them, the answer is to stop talking about them – immediately. Psychologists say the only reason we tell others something bad about somebody is so that we can justify our negative feelings to ourselves. That way it makes us feel righteous.
So, we have many kinds of temptations, and each kind has its own kind of response from us. Sensual – run so you won’t take a chance on losing your salvation. Gossip or slander – hold your tongue rather than take a chance on losing your salvation. Anger or bitterness – forgive so you will be forgiven.
3. REMEMBER HOW TEMPTATION LOOKS
Remember that all temptation looks good and is pleasurable to do. But that pleasure is short-lived. It is temporary. What lasts for eternity is the price we pay for those few moments of pleasure. When we do wrong, we pay the price. This is what you need to ask yourself: “Is it really worth it?”
‘Then after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death.’
ISAIAH 59:2 tells us,
"It is your evil that separated you from God. Your sins cause Him to turn away from you, so He does not hear you …’
Simply put, God is so holy that He cannot look upon sin, so when we decide to sin, He must turn His back on us. That is not a very pleasant thought for a Christian.
Here is a short commentary on temptation.
‘Once desire is kindled, it burns like a raging fire and seizes the flesh. It makes no difference what kind of temptation it is. When temptation has taken hold, all joy in God is gone and we begin to seek nothing but our own pleasure. By doing this, Satan does not fill us with hate for God, but with total forgetfulness of God.’
We must at these times remember the pleasure of sin is temporary. And the pain of sin is deadly. Adam & Eve desired the fruit because of what it could do for them and because it looked like it tasted good. Ask Adam and Eve if it was really worth it.
If you struggle with a particular sin, find a verse that deals with it - memorize it and use it to quench the flames of temptation.
Once we do all this, there is one more thing we need to do, and that is to claim the promise of God to help us defeat the temptation.
1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 gives us that promise.
‘No temptation has seized you except that which 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.’
God gives us the chance to escape the temptation, but we must be willing to take it. The first 9 trips around the donut shop were ways out. He chose not to take them.
Several years ago, a nice new red brick building was built in a small town in Pennsylvania. It housed the City Hall, Police, and Fire departments. It was a beautiful building and had all the latest upgrades.
Within months, the floors started to buckle, windows wouldn’t open, and cracks appeared everywhere. Within one year, the building went from state of the art to condemned. They found out later that they had built over an old mining tunnel. The years of mining beneath the building had weakened the earth foundation, and this building suffered permanent damage because of it.
If you fool around with any kind of temptation, I promise you it will lead to sin. See it as bait, and see yourself as the fish. If you choose to play with the temptation, or grab the hook, I give you another promise: You will receive permanent damage.
God has promised to give you ways out. The most impacting way He gives us His Son, Jesus. Have you been playing with sin lately? Have you let it creep into your heart and start turning your heart cold and numb to the desires of God? If this describes you this morning, I plead with you to take that way out – right now as we go into our time of invitation.
INVITATION
