Foundations Week 8 Temptation

We can see that our major source of temptations are our own fleshly desires. These are part of the old, fallen human nature we had before we were saved. Your old nature seeks what YOU want; pleasures for yourself. Your new nature in Christ seeks to please God.

Read Romans 6: 6. What happened to our old nature when we were saved? ________________________________________________________________

When we are saved, we are set free from the power that sin had over us. We are given true freedom—we no longer have to be slaves to our sinful desires! Freedom from sinful desires is so much better than the freedom to indulge in them!

Read Romans 6: 12-14. Name the two things we can choose to yield ourselves to.___________________________________________________________

Because of the power of the Holy Spirit of God living inside us, we can choose not to succumb to these desires. We have a choice! We can surrender to those sinful desires, or we can surrender control to God and let Him rule. “If I find an area of my life in which I repeatedly succumb to temptation, it is because there self, my old passions, my old nature, my old desires, hold control rather than God’s gracious Spirit” (Keller, 1970, p. 241)

We have seen that the things that tempt us all are the desires and lust inside of us; that our greatest enemy is ourself. The Bible tells us that we also have another enemy: Satan. However, the only things Satan has to use against us and to tempt us with are our own evil desires! Dealing with our evil desires is hard enough, but it seems that Satan is always there to egg us on!

For example, if a person is pressed for time and tempted not to attend church, Satan whispers, “You know, you deserve a day off! And missing church one time won’t hurt a thing! Besides, you really don’t need to go anyway, it doesn’t do you any good.” If losing control of our temper is our problem, Satan says, “You don’t have to take it when people treat you like that! You deserve some respect! Of course it is alright to let that person know just what you think of them! God understands! He doesn’t expect you to control your temper under these circumstances! Why, a saint would lose their temper if somebody said that to them!” Can’t you just hear him now? He is dangling the lusts of our own hearts in front of us!

Read 1 Peter 5:8. Who are we to be on guard against? _______________________________________________________________________

What are we told to do when he tries to destroy us? _______________________________________________________________________

What will God do for you after you have suffered at the hands of the devil for a little while? _______________________________________________________________________

He will use it to give you maturity as a Christian, strengthen, establish, settle you, and He will give you peace.

James 4: 7-8 tells us more about how to handle Satan. What are we to do? ___________________________________________________________________

We are to humble ourselves before God, resist the devil, and he will flee from us. Rather than focusing on the devil, we are to spend our time and energy seeking God, focusing on Him, and obeying Him. Notice there is NO mention in the Bible of rebuking or binding the devil as many people commonly teach today! In Scripture, people did not practice binding and rebuking Satan. Even the disciples never rebuked the devil, and Jesus Himself did so only twice! (Matt. 4:10, 6:23)

“God has made provision for us to be triumphant in temptation. He is able to deliver us from evil. The decision as to whether or not we shall triumph in temptation is pretty much ours” (Keller, 1970, p. 245)

Read 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. What do these verses say we can do to be obedient to Christ? ______________________________________________________________________

The battle is really in the mind. The thought life controls the whole life. We each have control over what we choose to think about. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they should be engaged in “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” We have the ability to screen, select, let come in, and nurture what goes into our minds. We can keep our minds from wandering into evil thoughts by choosing to focus our minds on what is good in God’s eyes.

Psalm 119: 11 gives us a wonderful way to think on good things—the things of God—to avoid giving in to sin. What is it? ____________________________________________________________________

When Jesus was tempted, He answered Satan with Scripture every time. This is one of the reasons it is so important to memorize Scripture—it is the best weapon we have against temptation! And if you are dealing with a particular temptation, (anger, for example) look up verses dealing with the temptation. Memorize them. Then when Satan whispers his lies to you, you will have the powerful truth of God to put into your mind instead of listening to Satan’s lies and temptations! “In the Bible, people who won the victory against Satan had trained their minds in the truth of God.”(Franklin, Spiritual Warfare)

Read Hebrews 2:18. When we are tempted, what is Jesus able to do for us? ___________________________________________________________________

Jesus understands our weakness, for He faced all the same temptations Himself. As man He took on human yearnings and desires, but as God He could control them. As a result, He is able to help us when we are tempted.

Read Hebrews 4:16. What do we need to do to obtain His help when we need it? ______________________________________________________________

When we ask Him, He gives us the strength to resist temptation and be obedient to God! We do not have the strength to resist in ourselves, but Jesus does, and He will give us the strength we need! We do not have the strength within ourselves to live the Christian life, but Christ does. He is living inside of us, and He will live it for us if we choose to let Him!

Read Luke 22: 35-36. What does Jesus tell us we are to do in order not to enter into temptation? ______________________________________________________________________

God always makes a way of escape. Watch for it! Watch means to be watchful and attentive to spiritual things!

FOCUSING ON GOD BRINGS VICTORY

Satan uses many tactics to get us to take our focus off of God, including causing us to focus on past failures, past offenses, busyness, pleasure, our rights, distractions, good things instead of the best, other people’s wants.

Victory comes from doing whatever is necessary to focus on God. This is a simple solution, but it requires work. Recognize that everything in life works against maintaining focus on God. Staying focused requires effort and concentration. It requires changing your lifestyle.

WAYS TO FOCUS ON GOD

1. Saturate your mind with Scripture—Jesus answered
     Satan, “It is written” (Matt. 4:4). Scriptures are the
     pure and undefiled thoughts of God. In them we find
     how God thinks—His perspective. By saturating our
     minds with Scripture, we are less susceptible.

2. Develop a daily time with God—Meeting daily with
     God orients us to Him. It helps us focus on who He is
     and His purposes. No great saint who ever lived did
     not spend consistent time with God.

3. Create an environment of godliness—What messages
     surround your life? What music do you listen to in
     the car? With what group of people do you spend the
     majority of your time? What television programs play
     in your house? What do you read? We don’t want to
     so insulate ourselves that we live in a bubble, but we
     must make sure that our major influences are from

God.

4. Before you participate in any action or activity, ask
yourself these questions:

Will it bring glory to God?

Will it advance the kingdom?

Will it help or hinder my becoming more like
Christ?

Does it edify everyone involved?

(Franklin & Lawless, 2001.)

_______________________
Franklin, J. and Lawless, C. (2001). Spiritual Warfare-Biblical Truth For Victory. Lifeway Press, 63.
Keller, P. (1970).The Inspirational Writings: A Layman Looks at the Lord's Prayer.     New York, NY: Inspirational Press,
     241, 242, 244.