With the rising intensity of spiritual warfare, is it any wonder that temptation seems to be lurking around every corner? The two share a powerful connection. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah shares biblical insights and practical tools for dealing with the enticements you face day in and day out. From the battle for your soul, here's David to introduce today's message, simply titled "Temptation." And friends, we are talking about spiritual warfare as we deal with this brand new book called *The Battle for Your Soul*.
I must confess that many times when I hear spiritual warfare, there's kind of like a superstition that goes with it, like there's a demon behind everything that happens. The Bible doesn't present it that way. The Bible is very clear about what we do when tempted, what we do when we're under depression, how we deal with life according to God's word, and we're trying. To stay focused on that, not get off on any rabbit trails along the way, but just keep our mind straight. This is what God says.
This is what this means, and this is what it means to you. We'll get to our lesson in just a moment, but first, let me tell you that we are featuring during this month as our special gift. A copy of the book, "The Battle for Your Soul," two hundred and forty pages, helping you to learn how to stand strong in temptation. In this book, you will identify the enemy's strategies without becoming obsessed with them. You'll rest in assurance of your eternal victory, and you'll understand that spiritual warfare leads to greater peace and freedom.
You will be blessed and bettered by this book. I promise you, it will help you. And if you will get a copy of it today, you can begin studying it immediately. Available from Turning Point for a gift of any size. Ask for it when you send your gift, and also available in all the major bookstores, where you can go and purchase your copy.
Let's get started now with temptation. This is the one thing that is true for everyone, because the Bible says that temptation is a subject for every man. That includes you and me. This is pertinent to all of us. Let's study it together.
As John Pearly Huffman backed his twenty oh six Toyota Tundra out of a parking space at the Amtrak station in Santa Barbara. He accidentally hit a white two thousand and ten Honda Civic. He said, "I couldn't have been going more than a single mile per hour. I hit the Honda near the leading edge of the right door, and maybe a bit into the fender. It left more than a scuff, but slightly.
So I faced a dilemma: should I leave a note for the Honda's owner confessing the accident, giving my name and phone number, or should I just drive away?" The temptation to skidaddle was overwhelming. My insurance was already expensive, and besides, probably the owner wouldn't even notice the new dent in his car. In the battle for our souls, these are the kinds of temptations that come to us suddenly, without warning. And in this case, I need to tell you that John yielded to his conscience and wrote a note. Later, the Honda's owner called him, and they had a civil chat.
And the person never filed an insurance claim, so John was true to his conscience, but he never took a hit to his insurance policy. He wrote about this in the book that he wrote called Road and Track, and he called the article "Tempted by Evil: One Stupid Accident and Moral Disengagement." And I thought we live in a time of moral disengagement, and that's a sinister battlefield for your soul and for mine. At its core, the war we face concerns our desires, our decisions, and our direction. It's a matter of what we love, what we choose, and what we are becoming. Unfortunately, as someone has said.
Most people want to be delivered from temptation, but they would also like to keep it in touch. A Christian has the world, the flesh, and the devil that we have to deal with every day, but it's the devil who tempts us. And I want to talk to you today about temptation. And before I go any further, let me say that temptation is not a sin. The Lord Jesus was tempted.
Intensely in the wilderness, temptation is not a sin. Yielding to temptation is a sin, but temptation itself does not qualify for sin. The devil is actually called the tempter in two different places in the Bible, and as he roars about like a lion seeking to devour us, I'm sure he's passed your way more than once, as he has mine, and probably not so long ago. Perhaps even this very day. Satan has brainwashed large segments of people to live however they like, without shame or guilt.
For them, wrong is right, right is wrong, and as Christians, that can never be true for us because our goal is to please God. Temptation is Satan's magnet, pulling us off course. It's not anything new. The battle of temptation goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where Satan tempted Eve, and continues when David numbers his people because Satan tempted him to do it. Ananias sin because Satan filled his heart.
Paul was afraid the devil would tempt some in the city of Corinth because of their lack of self control, and Satan even sought to tempt the Lord Jesus, mentioned already, without any. Success in doing so.
So, from Eden to Corinth, to our own neighborhoods and our own time, Satan's strategies really haven't changed much.
Someone said, "Satan has not had a new idea since the Garden of Eden." He continues to tempt in the very same way. In New Testament days, the city of Corinth was one of the most decadent spots in the Roman Empire. When the apostle Paul preached the gospel there, many people trusted Christ as their Savior, and some were saved out of very deep corruption. Their lifestyle before they became Christians was pretty wicked. Imagine that the apostle Paul received a letter one day from a young, newly converted man.
This man was surprised that he still felt evil desires. His yearning for sin wasn't expunged by his conversion. He wanted to serve Christ with all of his heart, but he was plagued by temptation, and he wrote a letter to Paul asking, "What do I do?" Now, I can't prove that such a letter was ever written, but the concern was certainly prevalent in the hearts of many Corinthian believers. The answer Paul would give is summarized. In just one verse from his first letter to the Corinthians, this is not a verse unknown to many of you.
But perhaps we can draw some meaning from it today in these moments we have together. First Corinthians ten thirteen says this: No temptation has overtaken you, except such as is common to man. But God is faithful. Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. This single verse tells us three major things about temptation.
Number one, you will face it. That's what the scripture says. It says there is no temptation that is not common to man. In other words, if you're being tempted and you think you're being picked on, you're not. You're just being human.
It is human to be tempted. Everybody gets tempted. Maybe you were tempted on the way to church today, or even sitting in the pew. You are tempted. The New Living Translation says it this way: The temptation in your life are no different from what others experience.
Now, Paul is not saying because of this that we should just take it for granted. We're all tempted, so don't worry about it. He's not saying that at all. What he is saying is that it is universal, and we should remember that everybody goes through it.
So you know, I'm never sure if my messages are appropriate for everybody in church. But today, this message is for everyone, because the Bible says everyone, at one time or another, is tempted. John White wrote these words. He said, "You will be tempted. The kinds of temptations may change: candies for kids, sensuality for the young, riches for the middle-aged, and power for the aging." The evil one can ring changes with greater skill than any advertising agency.
You will be tempted continuously; therefore, temptation itself need not dismay you. It was your Savior's lot; he was tempted, and you will be too. These words are words of reassurance. Whatever you are going through, whatever temptation you are facing these days, you are not the only person to walk that road. You're in good company.
Temptation will be around till we get to heaven. You will never get to the place in your Christian life where you say, "Oh, finally, I won't be tempted anymore." Each brush with it is a skirmish in the overall war Satan is waging against you. In each incident, your soul will be strengthened by resistance or weakened by failure. The Living Bible translates First Corinthians ten thirteen like this. But remember this: the wrong desires that come into your heart aren't anything new and different.
Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you.
So put it down in your notes. When it comes to temptation, you will face it. Don't think you're not going to face it. That you're going to get past it. That somehow you're going to escape it.
Nobody escapes temptation. Can I get a witness? Everybody gets tempted. Here's the second thing: God will limit it. Your temptation will be limited by God.
Paul says, "But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able." The way I see it, the more mature we become in Christ, the greater the temptations are. The founder of the seminary that I attended was Lewis Sperry Chafer. He was a godly man who understood this principle. In one of his books, he wrote, "It has been well said that spiritual believers are honored with warfare in the front line trenches. There, the fiercest pressure of the enemy is felt." You may think if I get closer to God, I won't be tempted.
No, as you get closer to God and begin to be more valuable to the cause of Christ, temptation will increase.
So you better learn how to deal with it. You better learn the reality of it. Remember this: God never tempts us to evil. Satan tempts us to evil, but when God allows temptation to come our way, in this passage of Scripture, He makes a promise that's quite surprising. He says he will limit its intensity to what we can bear.
He knows our limitations, and he never allows us to be tempted. The Scripture says this beyond what we can bear, and he is present to help us. The Apostle Paul tells us that he will deliver us from temptation. God delivers us; he has delivered us, and he will deliver us, according to Second Corinthians one ten. You might think that we would be better off without temptation.
I think that on occasion, but when temptation comes, it serves a purpose. We need these tests because they help us demonstrate our love for Christ. One pastor that I read a lot said, "If you don't have any tests, you can't have any testimonies." In school, you take a test. Occasionally, to prove what you've learned. Without tests, there would be no real measure of growth and a little motivation to study or grow wiser in the subject.
And the Christian life is the same way. Without the occasional test, how would we measure our growth in Christ? When we are tempted to do wrong and still choose to obey Christ, it shows us that our faith in Him is growing. If you hear someone say, "I was overcome by temptation and it was more than I could withstand," don't believe him. That's not what the Scripture says.
The Scripture says there is no temptation that has taken you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, and He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can handle. And remember this: God is not merely regulating the circumstances; He's protecting the integrity of your soul. God cares about your soul. He wants your soul to be pure, so you can relate to Him.
If you yield to temptation, you shrink the soul. You complicate the soul, so that your relationship with God gets tarnished. And some of you know what that's like. David prayed on one occasion, "God restore to me the joy of my salvation." He didn't say restore my salvation. He said restore to me the joy of salvation.
Temptation can steal the joy of your salvation. And some of you are shaking your heads because you know what I'm talking about.
So when it comes to temptation, you will face it. But God will limit it, and the third thing is, you can beat it. You can be victorious over temptation. Let me extrapolate that a little bit. Paul would go on to tell his young friend that God would give him a way to escape the temptation, and says here, God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.
Whenever we are tempted, God has the end of that temptation in sight. The moment the test begins, the way out is already available. He doesn't wait to see how we're doing; he gives us a means of escape from that temptation at the very outset. It's interesting that the Greek word for escape had the connotation of a narrow passage out of a treacherous canyon. In other words, you might climb down into this canyon and find yourself trapped, and you don't know how to get out.
All of a sudden, you find a narrow way out. Paul says that if you see that path, don't walk past it, don't ignore it, but take the way out. The escape God provides is more than a way out of a situation; it's a pathway to preserving the health and strength of your soul. God will always make a way. But let me say something about this.
While this is very encouraging, it must not be taken for granted. Listen to me, and you know this to be true. In most situations, the way of escape will be just a fleeting thought. That thought will say something like, "This is wrong," and you know it, and you shouldn't be doing this. The way of escape may only last for a moment, and if it isn't taken, it will be too late.
Take the way of escape that God provides, and as you think back over the times you've been tempted, you know there's a moment, some place in that temptation, where you know you can make the right decision or the wrong one. If you yield to the temptation, you've made the wrong decision and you've walked past the way of escape.
Now, every temptation. Is different, and all temptations fall into certain categories.
So, what I would like to do at the end of my sermon is give you some practical things that I've learned over the years through the study of the Bible and through personal experience that will help you deal with temptation in your life. Because once again, we're all in the same boat; we all have temptation. Number one, recognize the possibility of it. You know, there are some people that think, "Oh, I am a Christian; I don't get tempted. I am not going to be." Listen to me.
There is a verse in one Corinthians ten, right before the verse that we are studying. One Corinthians ten thirteen says, "You are going to be tempted." One Corinthians ten twelve says this: Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. What that is saying is this: Don't get arrogant and proud. Don't get cocky about your Christian life and say, "Well, I'm never going to get tempted." You know, temptation comes in certain ways, and you can almost predict them. I like to say it this way: I love the ocean, and the ocean is a good picture of this.
The height of the wave determines the valley that follows it. There's a big wave, and then there's the trough behind it. Temptation works that way. It often comes to us on the aftermath of some great accomplishment. For instance, Elijah faced his worst defeat right after his greatest victory.
Peter made one of his worst mistakes immediately after he confessed Christ. David was at the height of his career when he fell into moral sin. It is interesting how that works. I one time visited Mont Blanc, and at the end of my tour there, I was introduced to the cemetery that's below the mountain, and I was told that in this cemetery, more than fifty percent of the people who are buried there. Lost their lives on the way down the mountain, not on their way up, because when they would get to the top, they would get cocky about the fact they'd made it and careless on the way down, and lose their footing and die.
Men and women, that is the thing we deal with in life. We get to the place where we think we've had this great experience. When you have that great mountaintop experience, that's when you need to be careful. Because what follows the mountain is the valley, and you don't want to go there.
So, what you need to do first of all is understand a little bit about how temptation works, and recognize the possibility of it in your life. Here's something most people would never think about: request help before temptation happens. In the Bible, there are two verses that tell us. That before you get tempted, you should pray about it. In the Lord's prayer, here's what it says: "Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Did you ever pray that in the morning, Lord?
Don't let me go into temptation today. Give me victory over temptation. And then, in Matthew 26:41, it says, "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation." The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. You see, you have to be alert to the fact that temptation is real, that you are a definite candidate for it, and if you've had an experience of great victory, you could be in jeopardy.
So be careful, watch and pray. And the idea is to be alert. Ari Tori said that the reason why many people fail in battle is because they wait till the hour of battle. They don't do anything to prepare themselves. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees before the battle came.
So anticipate your battles, fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will have victory. I used to be a youth pastor centuries ago, and I used to talk to young people, and we would talk very plainly. And I remember saying to them on occasion, "The place for you to make up your mind about what you think concerning premarital sex is not the back seat of an automobile." And that got their attention. That's an incredibly important step. Make up your mind ahead of time what you're going to do about the temptations that come your way.
Determine your convictions before the conflict happens. Here's the third thing: resist the devil, and he will flee from you. That's an interesting one. The Bible says you can make the devil run away. There are a lot of ways to see that happen.
The best is to take into your hands the sword of the spirit. The Bible says that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he took the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. He was tempted three times, and three times he said, "It is written." And then he quoted from the book of Deuteronomy. Can you believe it? And Satan was defeated by three quotations from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, because the Lord Jesus Christ knew what to do.
And at the end of that temptation, we are told, and the devil departed from him. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Don't just give in. Fight back out loud. Learn verses that help you with the areas of temptation that are in your life, and quote them to the enemy.
Use the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Then, number four, retreat from certain kinds of temptation. Believers recognize that there's a lot of difference in the perils we face. There's a time to resist and a time to retreat.
Sometimes we need to see the devil. Run and sometimes we need to run from the devil. The Bible in the New Testament tells us to flee certain things, and two of those things were to flee. Is it says here, flee sexual immorality, First Corinthians, and flee youthful lust, Second Timothy two twenty two. Fleeing temptation may involve changing the channels you watch.
Changing the places you go, changing the friends you spend time with, or changing the websites you visit. In the Old Testament story of Joseph, we are told that when the temptation was severe and Potiphar's wife was trying to get him to submit to her seduction, he ran out of the house. And I used to say, because he was better off without his coat than without his character, she kept his coat and used it to get him thrown in jail. But he kept his character. How did he do it?
He ran away from it. I think that's a very instructive thing because there are some temptations you cannot stand up against.
Some temptations you need to get away from. I remember someone saying that the best equipment you can have for dealing with temptation is the best pair of Adidas money can buy. Mark Twain said there are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice. Don't think you're going to be able to stand up against some temptations. Get away from it.
Don't put yourself in the position where you're constantly being assaulted by the enemy. And you know, one of the things that I think is very important is that that verse that comes before First Corinthians ten, that we're studying right now, is is a verse that reminds us: Let him who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall. In other words, don't get arrogant and proud and think this can't happen to you. The day you think it can't happen to you, the next day it will.
So stay focused, and we'll talk more about this on Monday. This is the Friday edition of Turning Point. Let me encourage you, as I have been doing for years, to get to church. If you're not going to church, you should go to church. Wherever you live, there's a church someplace near you where you can be blessed in encouragement, and where you can be a blessing.
If you live in San Diego and you don't have a church that you go to on a regular basis, you can come to Shadow Mountain out in El Cajon on Greenfield Avenue. We meet every weekend, Saturday night at five and Sunday at nine o'clock and ten forty-five. It's where the ministry of Turning Point originates. You're welcome. You'll find joy and happiness, love and acceptance.
See you on Monday. God bless you. Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and Senior Pastor Dr. David Jeremiah. Turning Point is also on radio and TV this weekend.
To learn where you can find it, visit our website davidjeremiah.org/radio. That's davidjeremiah.org/radio, or call eight hundred nine four seven nineteen ninety three. Ask for your copy of David's helpful new book, *The Battle for Your Soul*. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the New International and New King James versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr.
Jeremiah's decades of study. If you have an encouraging word for us, we invite you to share it by writing to Turning Point, P.O. Box 3838, San Diego, California 92163. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us Monday as we continue the battle for your soul on Turning Point with Dr.
David Jeremiah.
