Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
10/25/98 am
Dealing With Temptation
Reading — Genesis 3.1-6 & Ephesians 6.11-18
Our Sunday series is on Satan and how he works in our lives. This morning we’ll be looking at how Satan tempts us, and some ways we can better deal with those temptations.
Remember Oscar Schindler of Schindler’s List, the book and movie about the German who used his resources to rescue over twelve hundred Polish Jews? What a noble effort that was. However, do you know what happened to Oscar Schindler after the war? A few months ago U.S. News & World report ran the rest of the story. After the war, Oscar Schindler: Abandoned his wife, became a womanizer, and a drunkard, spending the rest of his life in destitution and dependence upon others.
How could this be? How could someone so brave, so noble, so sensitive, to the needs of others fall so far? How can a gospel preacher abandon his family and ministry for an extramarital affair? How can an elder or deacon be tempted to embezzle funds from the company they work for? How can a woman…
- Who teaches Bible classes,
- Who is raising her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, leave her husband and children for another man? It’s easy... In a dark moment of temptation, we give into Satan and his temptations.
You see, as children of God, temptation dogs us at every turn. Satan never gives up... He never quits. Have you ever said:
- I know this is wrong...
- I know this is a sin, but I want it anyway?
What is it that brings us to such a decision?
Go with me to the Garden of Eden and lets examine a case study in temptation. As we watch the way the tempter comes to Eve, we recognize that while this story comes to us out of the ancient past... It is up to date as the temptation you and I face daily. You see, the scene, the names and places may have changed, but the methodology has not. Satan still uses his time-tested pattern. I mean, why give it up?... It works so well.
Let’s examine Satan’s methodology
FIRST, WHEN SATAN COMES, HE COMES IN DISGUISE.
Scripture says that the serpent was more crafty, more cunning than the other animals. This Hebrew word means:
- Wise,
- Shrewd,
- Deceptive,
- Insidious.
Moses is saying that, when the serpent came to Eve he didn’t come in his ugliness. Temptation is never ugly... sour... painful... or bloody. When Satan comes, he disguises his person:
- He does not come in the form of a coiled snake,
- Not with the roar of a lion,
- Or the wail of a siren.
- He doesn’t come waving a red flag.
There was nothing in his approach to Eve that alarmed her, or even warned her of the approaching danger!
Satan slides into our life. He eases in as a comfortable and concerned companion. Sin feels good. There seems to be nothing about him that we would dread or fear. In fact, the New Testament tells us that he often comes as:
- An angel of light,
- A minister of righteousness,
- He resembles God.
How is Satan disguised in your life?
- As a beautiful blue-eyed blond.
- As a new business opportunity.
- Perhaps he comes in a bottle.
- In a book... magazine... or video.
And we won’t know who he is, or what his real intentions are until he has us by the throat, and it’s too late. Not only is he disguised in person, he is disguised in his purpose.
When he came to Eve he didn’t come saying:
- I came to tempt you.
- I came to destroy your health.
- I came to rob you of your faith.
- I came bringing death, both physical and spiritual.
Satan doesn’t come kicking down the door of life saying:
- Give me your tongue in gossip,
- Give me a few moments with alcohol and drugs,
- Give me thirty minutes in front of the soaps,
- Give me an hour with pornographic material from a book, the internet, or a video,
- And I’ll destroy your marriage... ruin your life... and damn your soul...
Church, make no mistake, Satan is not out to enhance our lifestyle, to make our life better... He is out to destroy it, both in this world and in the world to come.
THIRDLY, SATAN ALSO DISGUISES THE PROCESS.
Satan never comes saying:
- I am here to lead you out of the will of God...
- Away from Jesus...
- I am here to divide the church.
He seems to have come to Eve in order to have an innocent religious discussion. Satan wants to talk theology. He begins by saying, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? Satan is a religious devil. Then with this discussion, he takes Eve to the door of death and hell.
So, Satan comes in disguise. He conceals who he is. And he conceals what he is trying to do.
SECONDLY, THE TEMPTER ATTACKS GOD.
First he attacks God’s word.
In verse three, Eve responds to Satan by quoting Scripture, God has said, do not eat of the tree in the middle of the garden. Note Satan’s response:
- No, you’re kidding... Surely die?
- You don’t believe that do you?
- God knows better than that.
- God is just trying to get your attention.
Surely die?... Come now you’re much too sophisticated for that! Look about you:
- God is so good...
- He loves you so much...
- He’s good enough to give you this marvelous garden...
- All these trees and beautiful flowers...
- God is so excited about you... Surely die?...
- No, God certainly didn’t mean that.
Oh, how easy we fall into this trap. We believe in the inerrancy of the scripture, but when Satan focuses our attention on ONE particular commandment and says, he doesn’t mean that... Not surely die!
For instance how do we fee about such scriptures as:
- Those who live after the flesh shall die?
- Do we believe seek you first the kingdom of God.
- Or drunkards, fornicators, adulterers, liars cannot inherit eternal life.
Does God mean it when he says things like:
- Love not the world or the things in the world.
- You can’t love God if you can’t love your brother?
- Or he that believes and is baptized will be saved?
Does God mean these things. Surely He does... Surely He does!
NOT ONLY DOES SATAN ATTACK GOD’S WORD, HE ALSO ATTACKS GOD’S MOTIVE AND CHARACTER.
Note verse 5 of our text. For God knows that when you eat of that tree your eyes will be opened an you will be like God, knowing good and evil. You see, what Satan is doing here is attacking God’s goodness. Satan is saying:
- God just wants you to submit.
- He just wants to keep you on a tight leash.
- He just doesn’t want you to have a good time.
- He knows when you eat of that fruit you’ll experience things you can’t experience any other way.
- God has an ulterior motive in all this.
- He has a hidden agenda.
- Don’t allow him to keep you under his thumb.
Go for it!... Grab all the gusto... You only live once... You deserve better! Sound familiar?
Solomon wrote, little foxes spoil the wine. You see, once the well is poisoned, all the water is ruined. All of it. Listen to me church, once you get a man to question:
- The motive,
- The character,
- The integrity,
- The goodness of God you’ve spoiled his religion and his commitment to it.
One of Satan’s most effective ways to rob us of our faith is to get us to believe that God is not good to us, that we deserve better than we’re getting in this life. If you’re thinking that this morning watch out... Satan is in this kind of reasoning. It is one of his favorite tricks.
Okay, let’s turn our attention to how to say no to temptation
FIRST, WE MUST CONTROL OUR THOUGHTS.
Solomon tells us in Proverbs 23.7 that we become what we think. Jesus said, out of the heart come the issues of life. James says, that we are tempted by our own lust, by our own evil desires.
Church, sin is not a disease or a genetical defect.. Sin is not something we have no control over. Sin is a determinate choice we make. Each of us will become the person we determine to become, by what we think about. Mind control is the answer to our becoming the people and person God wants us to be. Here it is church:
- A mind focused on things, become a materialist.
- A mind focused on sexual fantasies, becomes a fornicator.
- A mind focused on hate, revenge and jealousy, becomes a gossip, a slanderer and a murderer.
- A mind focused on God becomes godly.
Paul gives us the answer in Philippians 4.8, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
SECONDLY, WE CAN SAY NO TO TEMPTATION BY PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15.33, do not be misled, bad company corrupts good character. Sometimes Satan uses people to tempt us... He used Eve to get to Adam... RIGHT?
You see, many temptations that confront us are a result of our surroundings, the circumstances we knowingly place ourselves in. How often have we heard someone say, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We must not take unreasonable chances, by placing our soul in jeopardy, by being in the wrong environment.
As children of God, we must learn to control the company we keep and what we spend our time at.
- We must control the TV programs we watch,
- The books and magazines we read,
- The music we listen to,
- The videos we select to view,
- The sites we visit on the internet,
- The places we go,
- The people we spend time with.
For instance a man with a weakness for alcohol, must stay away from bars and liquor stores. An individual with a weakness for gossip, must stay away from those who deal in such talk.
Truth is church, we know who and what draws us closer to God. And we know who and what tempts us to sin. These things are within our power to control. Scripture tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from us.
Determine TODAY to stay away from those:
- Individuals,
- Activities,
- And places
That tempt us to sin... That keep us from walking closer to God.
THIRDLY, PRAYER WILL HELP.
In Jesus’ model prayer of Matthew six, He says, pray that you not be led into temptation, but delivered from evil. It amazes me how infrequently we pray this prayer. How many of us prayed this prayer this morning?
Church, God has power over Satan. He can and will deliver us from temptations... Ask Him! Someone says, Randall, if God can deliver us from temptation, why doesn’t He just do it automatically?... I don’t know... I don’t have a clue. What I do know, is that He asks us to pray for deliverance from evil. The power of God through prayer will help us say NO to sin... Let’s use it!
FOURTHLY, WE MUST LOSE OURSELVES IN GOD’S WORK.
Grandmother was right when she said, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop... RIGHT?
In Luke, Jesus tells us what happens when we try to clean up our lives without becoming involved in the work of God, When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.
My good people, it is not enough to say NO to sin and Satan, we must replace evil with God’s goodness. Unless we do, that evil will return... That’s what the Bible says!
THEN FINALLY THIS MORNING, WE MUST PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD.
Note our text from Ephesians chapter six. Paul tells us how to use this armor to protect ourselves from Satan’s attacks.
WITH THE BELT OF TRUTH.
Satan cannot deal with the truth because he is a liar and the father of all lies. You see, temptation best dealt with by truth. Jesus tells us we are: sanctified by truth... set free by truth... and that God’s word is truth.
WITH THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Right living, doing good inhibits Satan. A breastplate of good deeds... Right living will stop many a temptation... Many fiery darts of Satan.
WITH FEET FITTED WITH THE GOSPEL.
Church, if we viewed each and every individual we meet as a soul to save with the Gospel, then we will not be tempted to sin against them... RIGHT? Not a sin of passion... Not a sin of hate... Not a sin of neglecting their physical needs.
TAKING UP THE SHIELD OF FAITH.
Faith helped great men of old ward off Satan’s discouragement and it will work in the same way for each of us. John tells us that, faith is the victory that overcome this world... Believe it... Use it!
PUT ON THE HELMET OF SALVATION.
We must know this morning that saved people have God’s promise of help with temptation. 1 Corinthians 10.13 says, 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.
TAKE UP THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD.
Jesus dealt Satan three death blows in His wilderness temptation experience. Each time He did so using the sword of the Spirit. Church, if this sword worked for Jesus don’t you think it will assist us also?
THEN PAUL CONCLUDES BY SAYING, AND DON’T FORGET TO PRAY.
Satan has a real difficult time butting into a conversation between a man and his God.
I hope these thoughts will be useful as we strive to deal with Satan and his temptations. This morning, right now, Satan wants you. He is tempting you to say no to this invitation to become a child of God by:
- Faith,
- Repentance,
- And New Testament baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
How will you deal with him and his temptation? Come, saying no to Satan and yes to God.
