How To Deal with Temptation Wisely - Part 1

The index podcast for child family for Tuesday, May 29.

Now there's a difference between being tempted and getting into more clarity in part one out how to deal with temptation wisely when you face and what is your first response is that immediate little Russian laws what you know you're about to do and that is you about to yield or is it to resist the power of the Holy Spirit and one of the most important things we have to learn to be with his temptation for the simple reason it's always going to be with us and so what I want to talk about is how to deal with temptation wisely.

Listen carefully. I want talk about simply two things. Number one I will talk about the fact that in order to deal with temptation wisely.

There's some things I need to understand about temptation then secondly in order to deal with. It was almost build a defense against those times of temptation someone in turn, if you will to first Corinthians chapter 10 and also readjust the 13 verse which is loaded with truth. Listen to what he says and this also promise in verse 13 no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man. God and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. What is saying is simply this, all the temptations that we face were not the first ones of basic there, and to everybody. Then he says but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what God knows you can bear. That is when you trust him rely upon him to enable you to very, that would not be applicable to a person is not a Christian, you're on your own you doing your own thing you living your life apart from God. Without God, and therefore the only thing you've got to deal with their temptation is your own human strength in your to know by now that that is absolutely inadequate and insufficient, and you will falter involved God. He says God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape missing he'll make a way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it. He did not say he would remove it. Sometimes he will sometimes he won't. And so with that in mind, I want us to think about how do you deal with temptation wisely and the first thing we said is in order to deal with it wisely. We must understand some very simple things but very important things about temptation and the first one is this what is it temptation is really an enticement of our natural God-given desires to take them beyond God-given limits. For example let's take the desire to eat. There's nothing wrong with food and nothing wrong with eating except God knows that there is a limitation upon what we should put into our body, no matter what it may be. Likewise, there are sexual limitations.

There's nothing wrong with sex itself, as long as it is practiced within the confines of the will and plan and purpose of God so that temptation is really taking those God-given desires and taking them beyond God-given boundaries and once we do that we not elicit against God, but we sin against ourselves.

The Bible says the world, the flesh and the devil all tempos and you can look around and lick it all the advertisements and all the things that are out there. The world is continually attempting us to buy this by that get in debt though.

Make it easy to get in debt sexual temptation.

All the rest likewise is our own human flesh we have the senses that God gave us their fallen senses. When we trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. We have the Holy Spirit to indwell as an enable us and yet, in spite of that, they're still there. We still have our naturalness about us and then we have the devil to deal with and you recall, in the garden of Eden.

The first temptation.

There he was, you recall in the wilderness with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. There he was. The Bible says in first Thessalonians chapter 3 verse five he is called the tempter so the truth is it's an enticement of our natural God-given desires and not only that, but these temptations work on that which is on the inside of us. Satan is involved and our flesh is involved, and the world is involved and yet we look at the source of it is very simple yet very simple the one hand complicated. On the other.

What is a source of lease in the flesh is the source of the world system is a source of and the devil is a source of and so when we think about the ultimate real problem we have to deal with is this on the inside. Ms. somebody's as well.

I wouldn't be tempted. If God had not done thus and so. So when you turn to James chapter 1 because I will deal this whole issue of the source of what is the source of their temptation. So he says in chapter 1 of James verse 13 let no one say when he is tempted I am being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone like you that you can't tempt God to do something evil. Likewise, God cannot be accused of tempting any of us.

So this source of it is within ourselves.

Look, if you are in verse 14, but he says since God doesn't do it, but each one is tempted when he or she is carried away and enticed by his or her own lust. That is, we have to deal with their own naturalness those things about us that which is on the inside of us.

The way we think, the way we feel in the way we handle ourselves now.

What is the very nature of temptation itself. What is this all about, well, you notice the Scripture says it is common to all men.

There's no such thing as being the exception to temptation. Every single one of us has to face different types of temptation in our daily life. Week after week, month after month, year after year now. The things that tempt you may change in your life and some of us could say, you know, we've never been tempted by thus and so never have been and never will because it is absolutely no traction whatsoever. But on the other hand, those same things may tempt all the people and absolutely bring them to destruction. We all have those things attempters and trials. We all have those moments of weakness that we have to watch for and be careful about in a person who says they don't remember what Paul said here. He said, lest he says therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he says that he does not fall.

Deception is always Satan's ploy is always the process of trying to deceive us into thinking that which is true is untrue and that which is not true is true, always trying to deceive us. And so when you think about how it's built the very nature the Renée chip temptation is it's built on fantasy that fantasy is simply this is the capacity to imagine something that we want something we want to do someplace we want to go, something we want to possess the capacity to enjoy some bit of pleasure about something without putting anything into action, and so fantasizing about somebody fantasizing about something having dispossessing that is a dangerous thing because that's the beginning of the chain very fine but it's the beginning, always a sense of deception and fantasizing doesn't satisfy anything listed. It's the meditation of the mind upon some act upon some possession and yet not having it is not reality. Yet that is exactly what people do spending their time trying to think about trying to meditate upon trying to enjoy something that is beyond those God-given boundaries and it always leads to trouble its inescapable no matter where you go, no matter what you do.

You cannot escape temptation. Now the question comes another issue that we need to deal with an understanding of temptations this there is a difference in temptation and trials temptation reset is an enticement to do evil to commit evil in some fashion. And that's always bad and the end result of that temptation is defeat, failure, a trial on the other hand, is the season of testing, it may be a short season.

It may be an intense season. It may be a long season but a trial is a season of testing in which listed the end result is that God wants to approve of us.

He finds us and approved. On the other hand, temptation has one ultimate goal defeat yield failure, entrapment, enslavement, destruction, that is the end result that is the goal of Satan with all temptation and deception is his biggest, most successful to watch this carefully because he is the problem sometimes because you tempted with something you think everybody's tempted the same thing where you know how to half ARPANET position will what position you don't know what somebody else we do. That's why we have no right to falsely accuse out accuse anybody. Just because, for example, let's say that whiskey really really tempt you. You think everybody's tempted whiskey though.

Let's say you have sexual temptation. You think everybody is tempted the same way you are with sexual temptation. Not really. You can take any counter temptation. Everybody is not affected the same way, so don't project on somebody else and say well you know everybody is this everybody is not anything we have to each one of us deal personally with those areas.

We said those areas of weakness and those moments of weakness that we have in our life. Each person is responsible for their own weakness their own time the old moments of weakness in those areas that they're aware of so we need to understand how temptation works. We been told that what it is we've been taught with the source of the nature of how does it work, how does temptation work in your life and mine all temptation begins with a thought, every temptation begins with a thought. Now the thought itself may be wicked is the devil himself.

It may be something totally out now that you think where in the world did that come from. Have you ever been done praying and have a bad thought.

What if you sit there and tell me you haven't more than likely you don't pray because I want say something listen.

One of his choice times to attack us is when we are talking to God and if I were the devil is what I would do if you get too close to him attack is what you needed to convert, listen, he knows how to bring your past in front of you in your present to get you distracted and feeling bad and unworthy and all the rest want to go God when the world does not come from here. I'm talking you and and what about how I think about this. Satan is very subtle, very powerful.

He can't make you do anything as a believer, but he can sure mess up your mind if you let them do it. That all begins with a thought. And we said a few moments ago how it works. It had a works by being built on fantasy.

So now, would you jump these words down because when it happens. First of all there's a thought. And then there's a fantasy who, what would that be like. Thirdly, a desire or thinking about what it would be like to own that I have been possess that I would desire desire brings me to the point of my will and that is I have the right to make a choice and then comes the choice and then I consent what that means is I choose to sin against God. It always begins with a thought. Fantasize about it, desire it comes to my will have to make a choice and then I choose to choose. I consent to do it or not to do it and that sin. Now let's talk about something for a moment that the unloaded people can use this terminology rather freely and brass is not. I want to do that but I do want to say something about sexual sin, because the truth is the power of sexual sin is its promise of immediate pleasure without penalty. That's always the big deception about sexual sin, it it it promises immediate satisfaction, pleasure without penalty. It starts as a spark.

It grows to a flame and it erupts into an inferno. If you allowed to keep going and what people don't realize is this, that every act of sexual sin weakens you to the next temptation so people who say will you know they have this affair and that affair in this affair and that apparently think that there is strong limitation of the every single act of sexual sin weakens you to the next temptation I want to say something very clearly. If you want those persons are just sleeping around with this and sleeping around with that one this night that my one night stands and all the rest you think that you are going to suffer the penalty that you already have because what you've done each time you bonded yourself some of the person doesn't make a difference who it is you bonded yourself (or you go to the next and the next and the next. Next, you know you don't you're fragmenting your emotion you're fragmenting yourself and then out there somewhere. You find somebody that you think you really and truly love you think you've got much to give him when you've been sleeping around for years and years and years with this one and that one of the other one and you bonded with all of them.

What do you have to give that person that you feel like you really and truly loved with all of your heart what he had to give you only have what's left over to give. You can't give them your whole self. Is there any way to deal with that. Yes, there is when you come to Almighty God, and you deal with that. Honestly, truthfully, asking him to forgive you of your sin.

Repenting of your sin, to restore to you your capacity to be the person God wants you to be is it has God's grace left you out there no will you ever be able to give that person. All of yourself. I don't know the answer to that.

Only you know if you try that. If you have the answer that but something inside of me says if you bonded bonded bond involving bond. How can you give your whole self to someone that you really and truly love is the grace of God adequate for forgiveness. Yes. Can he restore you your capacity to be faithful and true to someone of yes he can. Yes he can. It's not my purpose to leave you with a sense of guilt and hopelessness and helplessness and look at your marriage apartment safe I can ever be what ought to be because of by the grace of Almighty God. He can restore to you and give you a sense of deep abiding love that you've never known before in your life so when you look at the very nature and how temptation works.

That's how it works.

It always works in a destructive way and here's what Satan does is how he operates.

He says don't worry about what they think. Don't worry about what he says little consequences of what he gets is absolutely poker, so the only thing we the only way one thing we consider looking at is what we want. We bracketed out penalty bracketed out consequences bracket. I would people think bracket at all that the only thing that matters is is what I want what I'm saying. That is the way temptation works and once he gets to the point that you have bracketed out all the important things that is so very important in life and he has you to the place that you're going to yield and what happens is we find ourselves.

If we allow ourselves the to let him get us off the big picture looking at one tiny thing in bracket out consequences which is his deceptive way of doing things. We will find ourselves in deep trouble. Cannot afford to bracket God out of any circumstance in this situation, and that's what you do if he can put the pressure on and narrow your focus so that you will that even in spite of the fact you may go to prison if you do it or you may you may fill up your life physically healthwise. Everything else if you get your bracket at all the major concerns you gone, and he knows that and so he wants a pinpoint focus on the very thing that is the temptation something that you want and he knows what to do in your life so you think about the fact that all the things we need to understand we need to understand.

I will repeat this. Understand all these things from what temptation is the source of the nature of and how it works. The distinction between temptation and trials the false ideas that people have about it and then one last thing to be said over and over and over again that simply is there is a limitation God's part of the barn limitation on he cannot, Satan cannot, no matter what he does. He is absolutely prohibited by Almighty God tempting you with something you can't handle it. You are a believer and you trust he would not allow that. Thank you for listening to how to deal with temptation wisely. If you like to know more about Charles Stanley were intact ministries and text data lighting is back after the presentation of InTouch ministries Atlanta, Georgia