Who is Wrestling With Temptation

As I told you last Sunday, during the Christmas break our entire family went to see the final installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. We really enjoyed every minute of it’s 3.5 hour running time and since then film has come up in family conversation several times. One thing that we have repeatedly talked about is how these three films portrayed the friendship of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

Now, in case some of you haven’t seen the movies or read the books let me fill you in a bit. In Tolkein’s story the central character, a halfling or hobbit named Frodo, has the responsibility of destroying a powerful and inherently evil ring. The only way this can be done is by traveling hundreds of miles across enemy-held territory called Mordor to throw it into the volcano where it was originally forged by the evil Sauron-who is sort of a satan-like character. This is of course a long and perilous journey and at one point Frodo decides to strike out on his own so as not to endanger any of the other members of the fellowship who had set out to help him with this task. But his friend Sam will hear nothing of that-here’s a clip of that part of the movie.

FILM CLIP HERE FROM FELLOWSHIP-2:44:14 to 2:47:40

Well, it’s a good thing that Frodo decided to let faithful Sam accompany him because there are several times in the film when he wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for his loyal confederate, Samwise Gamgee.

And to me this facet of this story puts a spotlight on the fact that we all need friends.

I mean, life in this fallen world can be hard and we weren’t designed to go through it alone. God didn’t make us self-sufficient beings. And we see this in the very beginning of human history. Remember? When God made Adam, He saw that it wasn’t good for him to be without a companion so He made Eve. This should remind us that we are all wired to live our lives in relationship with other people-we are programmed such that we require friends. And I’m sure you would agree that TRUE friends-friends like Sam-who “stick closer than a brother” no matter what life brings-well they are PRECIOUS! Perhaps this realization is what inspired the following poem:

.

Now, the relationship between Sam and Frodo illustrates the truth that one of the BENEFITS of having friends is that they provide us with someone we can talk to when life gets tough. As a matter of fact Sam and Frodo have some wonderful conversations-conversations in which they give each other counsel that helps them to succeed in completing their difficult task. And that’s the way it is between good friends. As Proverbs 27:9 says, “…the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his EARNEST COUNSEL.” I’m sure we would all agree that when we have a dilemma one of the first things we do is go to our friends for their input. We VALUE the “earnest counsel” of a true friend.

Well, for the next three weeks I’m going to present a mini-sermon series designed to assist you when it comes to this aspect of the relationships we have with others. My plan is to take three sermons and use each one to help equip us to provide “earnest counsel” for a friend when it comes to certain issues. Now-please understand. The aim of these messages is not to train you to fill the shoes of professional counselors-but rather to give you some basic information that will help you provide godly advice and guidance to a friend who seeks it from you. Some times the best advice we can give one another is to see a professional-but there are also times when it falls to us to give each other guidance. And it is my prayer that these sermons help you do just that. Here’s the schedule:

This week we’ll look at how to counsel a friend who is wrestling with TEMPTATION. Next week after we celebrate communion we’ll go over some information that I hope will help you minister to a friend who has gone through a DIVORCE. And then on January 25 we’ll look to the Bible for guidance when it comes to helping a friend who struggles to control his or her ANGER. My thought is that I will do this from time to time in future similar “mini-sermon series” through which I will address other issues that can come up in friendships. If you have a suggestion for a topic to deal with in one of these sermons-please let me know!

As I alluded a moment ago, in each of these teaching sermons our text book will be the Bible. So let’s begin this morning’s message by looking at two passages of Scripture that deal with the subject of temptation: 1 Corinthians 10:12-13and James 1:13-15. Follow along with me as I read.

1 Corinthians 10

12 – 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.

James 1

13 – When tempted, no one should say “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone;

14 – but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

15 – Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Sermon:

Okay, what do you say to a friend who comes to you for help in dealing with temptation? How do you advise them? Well the first thing we need to do is remind them of some basics facts. For example:

1. ALL people struggle with temptation.

As 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “If you think you are standing firm-IF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEYOND THE REACH OF TEMPTATION-be careful because it’s “COMMON to man.”

No one is immune to this problem. It is inevitable that all of us will be enticed-or tempted-to do wrong from time to time in life. And, like I told you during the 40 days, the same temptations we face have been faced by others. So when our friends come and tell us they are struggling in some area one thing we must tell them there is nothing abnormally wrong with them. Being tempted is part of being human. Perhaps you’ve seen the bumper sticker that says,”Lead me not into temptation; I’m perfectly capable of finding it on my own.” Well, that humorously puts forth the truth that in life all people find themselves fact to face with temptation. I mean, even mature Christians, believers who make it their goal to walk as close to God as they can-even they wrestle with temptation every single day. Like the rain, temptation falls on the just and the unjust.

C. S. Lewis once said, “A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only [good people-only] those who try to resist temptation-know how strong it is.”

The fact is all of us are sinful fallen creatures so all of us are tempted. The monk who lives behind cloistered walls wrestles with it just as much as the salesman out on the road.

Another thing-it’s not a sin to be tempted. Jesus Himself dealt with this particular aspect of being human. As Heb 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high Priest Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One Who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet without sin.” So sin happens, not when we are tempted but rather when we yield to temptation…when we act on our evil thoughts and selfish desires.

2. A second basic fact we must understand is that temptations come in ALL shapes and sizes.

I point this out because we tend to think that temptations are limited to sexual sins but that’s not true. There are all kinds of temptation.

• Some of us are tempted to take revenge on those who wrong us.
• Some are tempted to win at all costs even if we have to hurt people to do it.
• Sometimes we wrestle with envy or jealousy or hatred or the urge to do violence.

In fact, let’s do a quick poll to illustrate the range of temptations that we all wrestle with. Raise your hands if you struggle with these enticements-if you are ever been tempted to eat too much or spend too much or to procrastinate or to hold a grudge or to lie or to call in sick when you weren’t or to fib a little on your tax return or to drive faster than the speed limit-or to sin sexually. My goodness! I’ve never seen so many hands go down so quickly! The truth is all of us are tempted in a wide variety of ways each and every day.

3. And then, the third basic fact we must grasp is that the source of ALL temptation is SATAN himself.

This is important for us to know because if we are to win our battle with temptation we have to understand what-or rather WHO we’re up against. As a matter of fac the dictionary defines temptation as,”the act of enticement to do wrong, by the promise of pleasure or gain.” In other words temptation tries to motivate us to be BAD by promising something GOOD and doesn’t that sound like the devil’s tactics?! Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that when it comes to temptation our “..struggle is not just against flesh and blood. It’s against the powers of this dark world-the spiritual forces of evil.”

So, as this text and numerous others like it indicate, our temptations are orchestrated by the powers of darkness. You see, the truth is there’s an evil force at work in this fallen world of ours and its ruler seeks to destroy your life-my life. Part of the way he does this is by stirring up our desires-hoping that we’ll respond to them in sinful ways. He wants us to take the wrong path and pay the painful consequences. He wants to ruin our life. He wants to demolish our Christian witness. He means us no good. In John 10:10 Jesus describes him a “thief-come to kill and destroy.” And that is his intent. satan wants to STEAL the joy that God intends you to have in life. He wants to DESTROY you and your family.

Now, these days many people-even some Christians-tend to downplay a belief in a literal devil. And if you’re one of them then let me just ask you this-how do you explain the fact that in this country alone 60 million people have been slaughtered on battlefields, mostly over issues like border disputes and ethnic differences…60 million people. How do you explain racial prejudice-judging someone by the color of their skin? How do you explain the fact that 35,000 little children under 5 years of age starve to death every 24 hours while just across the border from where many of them live, house pets have to eat low-fat meals because they’re packing a little too much weight around the middle? How do you explain sexual abuse? How do parents mistreat their own kids in this way? How does a mother conceive a child, carry it in her womb for nine months, and then put it in a dumpster and walk away? How do you explain men commandeering jet liners and flying them into the World Trade center?

How is all this moral insanity explained? A damaged chromosome here and there? An ineffective public school system? Come on! It’s deeper than that.

It’s evil and its organized and there’s an intentionality behind it so as, James 1:16 says, “We must not be deceived…” there IS a force at work in this world and in your life and mine and it’s the force of evil and its leader is a fallen angel named satan. He wants to wreck your life-and one way he does it is by stirring up the dark destructive desires that dwell in each of us-desires, that if we let them will destroy us and our loved ones.

So when your friends come to you and ask for your guidance when it comes to temptation tell them that temptation is inevitable. Remind them that there are a wide variety of temptations.

Warn them that the source of all temptation is the devil himself. But be sure to tell them one additional thing. They must to understand that…

4. …when we yield to temptation it is OUR fault.

James 1:14 says,”Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

Now, draw a line under the words, “each one” and “own” to remind you that when we choose to give in to temptation and sin we can’t blame anyone else. Each one of us is responsible. “The devil made me do it” is not a valid excuse. The fact is nothing outside ourselves is strong enough-not even satan-to cause us to sin. He is a powerful enemy but a defeated one so we can’t blame him for our sin. No, sin takes place when we agree to his temptations and of our own free will decide to follow it.

In other words, no one HAS to yield to temptation. No one HAS to cross the line and sin. We have a choice. Anyone who says, “I can’t help myself” is either lying or deluding themselves. Let me give you an example to show you how true this principle is. Let’s suppose you are home alone and you decide to yield to temptation and watch a pornographic movie. I know that’s an extreme example but hang with me. You tune in to the appropriate “adult” channel and start to watch but a few minutes into the film you hear a car pull up in your driveway and a car door open and close. You lean over to look out the window and you see ME about to knock on your door. Could you stop watching the movie? Of course you could-because no sin is irresistible. We don’t have to lose the battle with temptation. We can say NO. In fact, God promises that He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. Our Creator…our Designer…knows our limits and He has promised that He will not allow the devil to exert more pull than we can say “no” to.

Years ago many ships were lost at sea in accidents that were caused by overloading-carrying too much cargo. Well, after decades of tragic losses, a man in England by the name of Plimsoll came up with the idea that a line should be painted on the side of merchant vessels, so that it would be easy to tell if they were overloaded. This later became known as the “Plimsoll mark.” It soon became illegal for any ship to be loaded more heavily than permitted by the Plimsoll mark on its side. Well, in the same way there is a “Plimsoll mark” on our lives. God will not allow satan to tempt us any more than we are able to handle. He won’t let him overload us with more enticements than we can carry. In fact, as our text from 1 Corinthians tells us, if we are willing, He will always provide a way out. Some translations word the last part of verse 13 this way,”When you are tempted God will also provide a way of ESCAPE…” And I’d like us to take that word “ESCAPE” and use it as an acronym to help us remember six things we must know or do to win this battle we all wage. I first saw this in the devotional materials we provided our mission trip team members this past summer, written by Billy Beacham, so it should be familiar to many of you. Okay, here we go.

1. The “E” Stands for ENVIRONMENT.

You see, one way we can prevent our struggles with temptation from happening in the first place is to stay away from environments where we know we are sure to be tempted. Ephesians 5:15 alludes to this principle when it says,”See then that you walk CIRCUMSPECTLY, not as fools, but as wise.” In other words we should walk AROUND places where we know temptation waits to entice us. And as this verse says, it IS foolish to go where you know the devil is lying in wait ready and willing to tempt you. We would all be better off today if Adam and Eve had steered clear of that forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden.

Well, satan still waits in forbidden places-places God wants us to stay away from-and this is why the Bible warns us to walk circumspectly-to walk around those places! In fact, Proverbs 4:14 says, “Do not set your foot on the path of the wicked…” which is another way of saying not only should we avoid places where we are tempted, we should also steer clear of PATHS that lead to places where this will happen. We must do everything we can to avoid anything that can lead us to sin.

This week I read about a Christian man who doesn’t wear sunglasses when he goes to the beach because he says they make it too easy for him to look where he shouldn’t be looking without his wife or Christian friends knowing the direction of his glances. He is a wise man-someone who knows what it means to walk circumspectly. We should all follow his example and keep out of any environment where we know we might be tempted to sin. I mean, if you have a problem with gossip stay away from people who can’t keep their nose out of other people’s business. If you struggle with the temptation to eat too much, don’t buy your coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts. If you have an alcohol problem don’t eat your meals in bars. In short, stay away from people, places, and things that you know could cause you to stumble. Remember, as Warren says,”It’s easier to STAY out of temptation than to GET out of temptation.”

When we foolishly spend time near people, places, or things that we know will tempt us we are playing right into the hands of the devil. This is what Paul was getting at in Romans 6:13 when he said, “Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin.”

2. The “S” in this acronym stands for “SPEND time with God.”

You see, one of the greatest weapons in this war we all wage with temptation is to keep a daily appointment with our almighty, all-loving God. I say this because spending time with God-learning His perspective on our lives-learning to think His thoughts-well, it opens open our spiritual eyes. I mean, the closer we get to God the more clearly we see satan for who he really is. The deeper our relationship with God is, the better we can see through the devil’s lies and understand the potential consequences of our sin. The more time we spend with God the easier it is for us to say no to satan’s invitations.

When Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days He told satan,”Away from Me! For it is written ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” (Matthew 4:10) Jesus was basically saying, “Leave me alone satan, because I belong to God and not you.” And we need to have a deep relationship with our Lord such that we can confidently say the same.

Have your kids ever gotten in an argument with each other-perhaps one tried to tell the other one what to do and her sibling said, “I don’t have to do what you say. You’re not the boss of me!” Well, when we spend time daily with God reaffirming His Lordship in our lives, we are strengthened to say the same thing to satan, “Get away from me. You’re not the Lord of my life! You’re not the boss of me. Jesus is!” In fact, as we learned in our study of Warren’s book, when we walk with God we come to see that every temptation can be good for us because it gives us an opportunity for to grow closer to God by obeying Him instead of yielding to satan’s invitations.

And this leads to the principle behind the third letter in this acronym.

3. “C” stands for: CLAIM Scripture.

The gospels record that Jesus’ primary weapon when He faced temptation was Scripture. Every time satan tempted Him, His response was, “It is written…” And this should remind us that the Bible is a weapon in our own battles with temptation. This is one reason it has often been referred to as “the SWORD of truth.” David understood this principle. In his 119th Psalm he said,

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word…I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”

The fact is, the more Scripture we know-the more easily we can handle the Sword of Truth-the more power we will experience over temptation. It’s like every verse we memorize becomes an anti-missile we can fire to shoot down the projectiles satan launches our way. Let me show you some examples. When you first feel drawn to sin you can fire off James 4:7 where it says, “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” When you’re tempted to lie or cheat, you could use Proverbs 11:1 which says,”The Lord abhors dishonest scales but accurate weights are His delight.” When you’re tired and tempted to take a verbal shot at one of your kids, you parents out there can rely on Ephesians 6:4 where it says,”Fathers, do not provoke your children.” That’s how the Bible works-when we put it in here-when the Word of God is stored up in our minds-it stands ready to strike automatically and no weapon can stand against the Truth.

Charles Swindoll tells how Scripture memory helped him defeat temptation. He writes:

“I was once in Canada. I had been away from home eight days and there were two more to go-a weekend. I was lonely and having a pity party for myself at supper-alone. I bought a newspaper, thumbed through the sports section, and found nothing but hockey-a Canadian favorite but not mine. I heaved a sigh and walked toward the elevator. En route, I heard a couple young women talking and laughing as they used the hotel phone in the lobby. I smiled as I passed by and a few steps later punched the “up” elevator button. I got on. So did the two ladies. I punched ‘6.’ They didn’t reach for the row of buttons, so I asked, ‘What floor?’ One looked at me rather sensually and said, ‘How about six? Do you have any plans?”

We were alone on an elevator. In Canada. I was flattered, to be honest, since most folks don’t usually mistake me for Tom Selleck. These women were available and I was lonely. On that trip from the lobby to the sixth floor, I had an extremely significant decision to make…the bait had been dropped. Do you know what immediately flashed into my mind? My wife and children? No, not at first. My position and reputation? No, not then. The possibility of being seen or set up? No. God gave me an instant replay of Galatians 6:7 where it says, ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked A man reaps what he sows.’ and Ephesians 6:11,

‘Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand agains the devil’s schemes.’ and Romans 6:11-12, ‘Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts.’ During that elevator lift, the memorized Word [verse after verse] flew to my rescue. I looked back at the two ladies and replied, ‘I’ve got a full evening planned already; I’m really not interested.’ They looked at me like I was some sort of fool and stayed on the elevator as I stepped off. I walked to my room grateful for the overcoming power of God’s book.”

Well as Swindoll learned, God often provides a way of escape through the power of His Word. Perhaps this is why Dwight Moody once said, “Sin will keep you from this Book and this book will keep you from sin.”

4. Okay let’s move on. The “A” stands for ACCOUNTABILITY…

…and it refers to the practice of finding a fellow Christian friend to be your accountability partner. Now, understand-true accountability is when you confess a sin and give someone permission and leverage in your life to do something to help you. It’s different from disclosure. Disclosure is telling someone you have a problem with porn on the internet. Accountability is asking them to keep your computer until you an overcome the problem. Disclosure is telling someone you are arguing with your parents a lot and being unkind to them. Accountability is having them call your parents once a week to see how you’re treating them. Accountability is a good thing because other people can give us a lot of power when it comes to saying NO to temptation.

The story is told of a horse pull in Canada. One horse pulled 9,000 pounds, another 8,000. Together you would expect them to pull 17,000 pounds right? Not so! When teamed together, they pulled 30,000 pounds! This principle is called synergism. It means that separate agents working together have a greater total effect than the sum of the individual agents. In other words, much more can be done in a team effort than can be accomplished solo and that’s the way it is with temptation.

5. Okay… “P” Stands for two words: PLEASURE and PAIN.

And the point here is that the pleasures that come with yielding to temptation-and of course sin IS a pleasurable thing but its pleasures are temporary whereas the PAIN that always comes after goes on and on. Moses understood this principle. Remember? In Hebrews 11:24-25 it says he,

“…refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the PASSING PLEASURES of sin.”

Randy Alcorn says that whenever he is tempted by sexual sin he finds it helpful to review the painful effects such an action could have. Here are a few of the things he mentions:

• One day looking Jesus in the face and having to give an account for my actions.
• Inflicting untold hurt on my loyal wife…losing her respect and trust.
• Hurting my beloved daughters.
• Destroying my example and credibility with my children-nullifying both present and future efforts to teach them to obey God.
• Causing shame to my family….and so on.

Whenever we are tempted to sin, we should ask God to open our eyes so that we can see all the pain our sin will cause us and other people. This can be a powerful motivation to say “no” to satan’s invitations. This leads us to the “E” in Escape…

6. …which stands for EVANGELISM…

One thing we must always remember as Christians is that when we yield to temptation and sin we often lose something very precious, namely the power of our personal witness. You see, many non-believers are looking for an excuse not to take the claims of Christ seriously and often all it takes, is for them to see one of us involved in sinful behaviors. You know, we often talk about how wonderful it will be to go to heaven and have people we don’t know come up to us and tell us that things we did unknowingly led them to faith in Jesus, whether it was the way we taught a Sunday School class or helped a neighbor in need. And it WILL be great to have people walk up to us on the streets of glory and say their lives were changed because of our non-verbal witness.

But can you imagine the reverse? Can you imagine how painful it would be to walk the streets of Hell and have people come up to you and say,

“I would have become a Christian if it weren’t for you! I saw you sin and concluded that your faith in the Son of God was just an empty sham. I’m here because of what you did.”

Now, as Christians we won’t walk the streets of Hell but when we stand before God’s throne I do think we will have an understanding of our sin. In the light of God’s holiness we will, for the first time comprehend the true depth of our depravity. Perhaps this is why the Bible says God will “wipe tears from our eyes…” – tears we shed when we get to heaven and realize that our sins kept others from Jesus. No sin is so pleasurable that it is worth that pain.

Invitation:

You know, one of the wonderful things about Christian fellowship is that we CAN come to one another with our struggles. We can be honest about our temptations and failures because we both are sinners saved by the grace of Christ. In his book Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes,

“Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the communal life, is not the sinning brother still a brother, with whom I, too, stand under the Word of Christ? Will not his sin be a constant occasion for me to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ?” Indeed it can. Let us pray.