True or False?
Temptation can be both a curse and a blessing.
We can defeat temptation successfully on a regular basis.
What were your answers?
There are some things in life that are a sure thing· difficulties, taxes, death and temptation.
As Christians, we should expect to be tempted. Satan does his best to deceive Christians into living a life of sin so that they are useless to God and ministry. Overcoming temptation is something every believer needs to learn how to accomplish. We can also learn to use temptation as a means to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.*
Read I Corinthians 10:1-13
Share historical setting from Moses’ time
1. How Man Deals with Temptation
Man generally deals with temptation in 1 of 3 ways:
a. Some people simply give in to it.
Their philosophy says, "Don’t worry about temptation. If it feels good, do it. Whatever is natural must be right." So they exist like animals, living for their own self-gratification. We have a generation of people who have been taught that they have evolved from animals, and that they are merely a higher form of animal. Sad to say, some live like it.
b. There are others who spend all their time fighting temptation with their own strength.
They fight and fail, fight and fail, fight again and fail again because no one can overcome temptation consistently in his own strength . If we could, Jesus would not have had to come and die for us. These people might hate what they do, but they go on doing it because they do not have the power to stop themselves.
Illustration: Judas
c. Finally, there are those who overcome temptation through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They turn temptation into triumph. To some that may seem like a pipe dream·but it is not! All of us can learn the spiritual process of conquering temptation. It is possible to experience victory in this life. However, there are several things you must know if you want to experience it.
We are all subject to temptation, from the most righteous person you know to the lowliest criminal. The Lord Jesus was tempted. Peter was tempted. King David was tempted. Each of us are faced daily with an array of temptations: pride, materialism, dishonesty, lust, greed, sexual sin--the list goes on and on. Being saved doesn’t make you immune. It is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was without sin, yet was tempted by Satan. The Bible says He was tempted in all things as we are, yet remained sinless.
There is one particular area where we are most susceptible to temptation. Look again at vs. 12
The proud man inadvertently tempts the devil to test him. If you think you cannot fall, then you are headed for a big tumble. Pride always leads to failure.
Illustration: There was a ship Captain who had a regular route from California to Columbia. One day shortly before leaving for California some drug dealers sent him a message that offered him $50k to allow a small shipment of drugs to get through to the U.S. He quickly said no. On his next three trips they raised the offer each time until they reached $150K. He hesitated and said ’maybe’. He contacted the FBI - a sting operation was set up and the drug dealers were arrested. One of the FBI agents asked the Captain "Why did you wait until they got to $150K before contacting us?" The Captain replied, "There were getting close to my price."
Some people have asked, "If God really loves us, why doesn’t He annihilate Satan and stop temptation? Why not remove the allurement of sin?" But if God did that, you and I would lose the ability to be overcomers in Jesus Christ.
* Is there any victory in crossing the goal line before the other team has taken the field?
* Is there any victory in stealing home when the other team hasn’t shown up?
Without opposition, there is no victory. God hasn’t called us to a life of ease, but to a life of victory in Jesus Christ. We are all subject to temptation, but those who depend on the strength of Christ can experience triumph over it.
2. The Source of Temptation
The beginning of verse 13 is so true- 13:a...
Don’t think you have a unique temptation: all of us face common, garden-variety temptations. We are all tempted in common ways and they come from the same three sources:
According to Scripture the sources of temptation are the world, the flesh, and the devil.
a. The sinful world we live in.
The Greek word for "world" is cosmos. It means a system, or an order. There is a system the Bible calls "the world" and it is a system that is filled with evil desires.
1 John 2:15 warns us with these words:
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
We are not supposed to love this world and its evil system. That is why James 4:4 says, "Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
It is possible for Christians to become so much a part of this world that they don’t stand out for God. Christians are supposed to be different, since they are God’s saved people in an unsaved world. We are cast from a different mold. That’s why Paul says to the Romans, "Be not conformed to this world," which can literally be translated, "Don’t let the world press you into its mold."
Illustration-with thoughts about "tolerance training" that is being pushed on our society today·behaviors, attitudes, sexuality preferences, etc. So, the first source of temptation comes from the fallen sinful world that we live in.
Do you remember the old TV show, Hee Haw?
On one episode Doc Campbell talks to a patient who said he broke his arm in two places. Doc Campbell replied, "Well, then stay out of those places."
*When it comes to temptation and sin, that is good advice. Any time we put ourselves in the face of temptation we are asking for trouble. We need to take his suggestion to heart-"stay out of those places."
b. Another source of temptation is what the Bible calls the flesh our sinful nature.
In us is the inclination to do evil. Sad to say it’s inherited. We got it from Adam, and we sometimes refer to it as the "old nature." We usually want to blame our failing on Satan, claiming "the devil made me do it." But the fact is the devil just tempts toward sin and encourages the sin. He cannot force us to sin. When we do, we participate in the sin all on our own. Everybody has a sin nature, and Galatians 5:17 tells us it "wars against the Spirit, and the Spirit wars against the flesh."
If the devil were to suddenly stop tempting humans, sin would still be committed just because it is our nature to sin.
Prevailing Sins
A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them:
1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-centeredness
4. Laziness
5. Anger/Bitterness
6. Sexual Lust
7. Envy
8. Gluttony
9. Lying
*Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent).
*Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent).
c. A third source of temptation is the Devil .
He is a real being, and he uses our natural desires to get us to sin. He is constantly looking for ways to defeat Christians, so that they will be impotent for the cause of Christ in this world. He will whisper suggestions into our ear, or arrange circumstances that make it easy for us to sin. He is our foe, telling us how fun and easy sin is, but all the while plotting our destruction.
1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (NKJ)
Is that how we live? Spiritually sober? vigilant? aware of the devil and what he is trying to do? Or are we asleep at the wheel?
End of week one- Pray and minister
Begin week two-
Review and read I Corinthians 10:1-13
Now, let’s think through the...
3. The M.O. of Temptation
We are made in the image of the triune God. We have a soul, a body and a spirit: a triune nature. When we are tempted, it will either be in the area of the soul, the body or the spirit. It’s important that we understand this concept if we want to know how to overcome temptation.
a. The world will primarily tempt us in the area of our soul.
The word for soul is psyche, which we use to describe an individual’s mind, will, and emotions. Our soul contains our ego, our desires, our emotional self. The world will tempt the soulish side of us. When we talk about a person on an ego trip, or a person that is worldly, we are generally speaking of a person who is easily influenced by and somewhat controlled by the pleasures of this world.
Illustration: When the herdsmen for Abraham and Lot began to fight with each other over range land, Abraham told his nephew to choose some land, and he would go the other way. So Lot looked out and saw the well-watered plains and the tall grass of the east, and he went in that direction. Lot was already wealthy, but he was sucked into thinking he could be the wealthiest man in Palestine. He was tempted by the world’s system to be a big shot. That’s the constant message of the world: ÎYou need more, you can have moreâ. Lot fell into that trap, and it cost him everything he owned.
b. The world tempts our soul, but the flesh primarily tempts our body.
Our body will be tempted toward things like lust, laziness, over-indulgence, and sexual immorality. The flesh wants to use the body as the vehicle for its expression. When King David was walking on the roof of his palace, he spotted a beautiful woman taking a bath. Rather than turn away, he stopped and stared. Lust rose up inside of him. He felt his sex drive go into high gear as his passions were attacked by the flesh. His mind started to play out scenarios, and instead of returning to his wife, he asked to have that beautiful woman brought to his room. His physical body was under attack by the flesh, and David succumbed to sexual temptation and it brought tremendous pain into his life.
c. The third foe, the devil, wars against our spirit.
If our soul is our sense of self-consciousness, our spirit is our sense of God-consciousness. You know God through your spirit. Animals have a body and a soul, but no spirit; that’s what makes man more than an animal. Man can know God. Man has an innate sense of morality. Man can worship God in spirit and in truth. The spirit of man is the vehicle of worship and communication with God, and the devil wants to cut off that relationship. He wars against your spirit. He is the one who puts doubts in your mind. He is the one who tries to convince you that you can make it on your own.
For example-In OT times when King Saul turned away from following God and relied on the Witch of Endor for direction he wasn’t on an ego trip or under sexual attack. He was not being tempted to sin in his soul nor with his body. Saul was being tempted in his spirit-he faltered in his faith. Satan attacked Saul in the spiritual realm· tempting him to doubt God and His truth. Saulâs spirit was under attack and he failed to resist.
All three, the world, the flesh, and the devil are at war with our soul, our body, and our spirit. It will help us if we understand this biblical pattern.
Now I’ve tried to distinguish how temptation works by delineating the sources and the MO of tempting situations. I want to clarify something: I am not saying that the devil "only" tempts us in our spirit and never in the soul or body. In fact, all temptation initially comes from the devil but if we can also see that many of our temptations are not directly caused by Satan each and every time, we will be better prepared to deal with and defeat temptation.
4. The Way to Defeat Temptation
The great preacher Donald Grey Barnhouse gave us three words to use when battling temptation: ( faith, flight, and fight.)
a. To overcome the temptations of the world, we need faith.
John tells us the victory that overcomes the world is our faith (I John 5:4). Spiritual faith is the best weapon againstworldliness. The only way to get through the temptations of this world is to focus on Jesus Christ. Then, when the world comes to offer you its crumbs, you can reject it because you have feasted on the Lord Jesus. When our soul is satisfied with God, when we are full of his love and life, when we are responding to temptations with spiritual faith we will overcome the temptations that wage against our soul.
Scripture says that if you love the world and its evil system and what it values, then you aren’t loving God. So if you want to defeat the temptations of the world, love God more. Like the old chorus that says: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of this world will grow strangely dim"· Faith in the power of God is the key to overcoming this world.
Illustration:-from Jerry Kirk about TV porn·.
"I travel alone a lot in my job, and I stay in a lot of hotels with cable TV. I sometimes struggle whether to watch pornography while in the room.
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.
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 reminded me, ’Jerry, I’m not surprised by your sin. I’ve known all along you were a sinner. 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’."
Citation: Jerry Kirk, founder of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no.1
Obviously, Faith includes Trust and Dependence on God.
b. Against the lust of the flesh, the key word is flight.
When faced with fleshly temptation, we should flee-referred here to as "flight". The Bible says to flee immorality(I Cor. 6:18). It says to flee youthful lusts(2 Tim. 2:22). So if you are faced with a fleshly temptation, or are tempted to watch a movie that you know will arouse sexual impurities, walk away from it. You can’t watch "R" rated movies and expect to keep your mind pure before God. You canât watch soap operas and most of the sit-coms today without being influenced by temptation and sin. I’ve heard people say, "I watch that stuff, but it doesn’t bother me." What was it Paul said in vs. 12? Read
A young unmarried couple can’t park their car in some secluded rendezvous and expect to remain clean before God. You shouldnât put yourself in that kind of situation. The Bible says to flee fornication.
In the context of warnings about sexual temptation Prov. 6:27 says-
Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?
We have to make up our mind to flee from sexual temptations. When Potipharâs wife tempted Joseph, he didn’t wait around to consider his options--he ran out of the room. Flight is the key to fleshly temptation.
Illustration:- When Justin Armour was a rookie wide receiver with the Buffalo Bills, some veteran teammates invited him to a preseason party. Justin went, and couldn’t believe what he saw: Gorgeous women everywhere, offering free sex to any of the guys who wanted it.
"It was the most eye-opening experience I’ve ever had," Justin says. "I had heard about things like this, but I was so naive. I got out of there as fast as I could!"
As a single Christian guy, Justin had committed to saving sex for marriage. To do so, he knows he’s got to run from temptation.
"I’d rather not have my mind polluted by those things. Once you’ve been in a couple situations where’s there’s temptation, you learn how to avoid them and you don’t go back."
Citation: Preaching Today illustrations
"Flight" includes fleeing from, getting away from.
c. To win over temptation that comes directly from the devil, the key word is fight.
Both James and Peter say that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. You aren’t told to flee from Satan, but to fight him. He isn’t going to leave us alone, so weâre going to have to learn to fight him-not in our power but in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see the devil doesn’t pay attention to our strength or our good will, but he fears the power of Jesus Christ.
He fears the overcoming power of the Blood of Jesus Christ that has been applied to our lives.
In Rev 12:10-11 it mentions what will happen during the Great Tribulation that is yet future to us-but this truth cancertaintly be applied to us today:
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
When the devil comes and tempts you, fight back with the truth of what the blood of Jesus Christ has done in your life.
Bring the Word of God against him. Fight back with the truths of Scripture. Hold up your commitment to Christ against him. Put your sin under the blood of Jesus and you will no longer have to be on the defensive. You can just remind yourself, "I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. I resist the devil and temptation in the name of Almighty God. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I will not let the devil trespass on His property. With Godâs help I will resist."
To "Fight" includes resisting and standing firm against the enemy of our soul.
Turn to James 4 read 4:7
Turn to I Peter 5 read 5:8-9
In II Cor. 2 Paul warns us about how luring and deceptive the devil can be- He warns us "in order that Satan might not outwit us·for we are not unaware of his schemes."
Illustration: Gen. George Patton of WWII fame was a great student of the history of warfare. During the battles of North Africa, Pattonâs troops and tanks were engaged in a series of attacks and counter attacks with the German Panzer Divisions under the command of Gen. Erwin Rommell, generally considered the greatest battle field commander ever-up to that time.
Pattonâs forces did not fall for one of Rommellâs traps, and in fact, successfully countered attacked and defeated the Germans. Patton watched the battle unfold, and at the moment he saw the battle turn, he stood up in his staff car and cried out, "I read your book. I read your book."
He was referring to Rommellâs book on warfare called Infantry Attacks. Patton had learned of Rommellâs strategy,had planned his moves accordingly and defeated him.
Satan has written no books, but God has exposed the enemyâs schemes in order that Satan might not outwit us. "For we are not unaware of his schemes." II Corinthians 2:11
Through Faith, Flight and Fight move away from temptation and donât leave a forwarding address!!
Through God’s Power, by Faith, Flight and Fight we can Defeat the Tempter and his Temptations.
Pray and minister
Sing I Surrender All-4 verses
Change My Heart O God
*based on a sermon I heard on the radio by Pastor Adrian Rogers
Gene Haraldsen
