Unstoppable temptation
Since the beginning of the devil's fall and sin it has been
his extreme plan and deepest desire to distract, divide, dominate, and then
destroy all people.
He does this through deception and temptation.
Temptation is Satan's invitation to give into his kind of
life and give up on God's way of life.
For as long as time exists we'll battle with deception and
temptation.
1.
Distract.
1.
God desires us to do whatever will
help each of us serve Christ best, with as few distractions as possible.
1.
We fill our lives with distractions.
2.
Others fill our lives with
distractions.
3.
Finally life fills us with
distractions.
1.
Staying focused and diligent on the
vision that God has for our lives will be the very best deterrent to sin.
1.
First would be a deep sense of love and
respect for God.
2.
Secondly, vision is always the
greatest deterrent to sin.
3.
Finally, heaven as our final reward.
2.
Satan distracted Eve into thinking
that sin is good, pleasant, and desirable.
Genesis 3:3-7 NLT [3] "It's only the fruit from the
tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You
must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'" [4] "You
won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. [5] "God knows that
your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God,
knowing both good and evil." [6] The woman was convinced. She saw
that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the
wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the
fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. [7] At that moment their eyes
were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig
leaves together to cover themselves."
3.
Notice in vs 6, 7 what Eve did:
1.
She looked.
2.
She took.
3.
She ate.
4.
She gave.
1.
The battle is often lost at the first
look.
1.
Temptation often begins by seeing
something you want.
2.
Each of us would win over temptation
more often if we learned to run from those things that produce evil thoughts.
1.
Notice vs.7, immediately shame shows
up.
2.
Next they do any thing and every
thing possible to cover it up.
2.
Divide.
1.
If the devil can divide and
disconnect you he can destroy you.
2.
First comes the freedom of
disconnection and accountability which feels good at first.
1.
Then all of a sudden you begin to
wonder if they were your real friends and if there was a real concern for you.
2.
Next you get bit with the venom of
bitterness.
3.
You can't tell it's effects
immediately but very, very soon it inherently infects everything you do.
3.
One of the realities of sin is that
it's effects spread.
1.
After Eve sinned, she involved Adam
in her wrongdoing.
2.
When we do something wrong, often we
try to relieve our guilt by involving someone else.
1.
Recognize and confess your sin to God
before your tempted to pollute those around you.
Acts 14:1-5 NLT[1] The same thing happened in Iconium. Paul
and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a
great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. [2] Some of the Jews,
however, spurned God's message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against
Paul and Barnabas. [3] But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching
boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true
by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. [4] But the people of
the town were divided in their opinion about them. Some sided with the Jews,
and some with the apostles. [5] Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with
their leaders, decided to attack and stone them."
4.
Division always leads to the death of
a thing, cause, or purpose.
1.
Could mean the death of a marriage,
the death of a relationship, or even the death of great groups of people.
1.
Division meaning two visions.
2.
The action of separating something
into parts.
5.
One group makes the decision to go
one way and they feel super strong and committed to it while the other group
feels just as strong and passionate about going another direction.
Luke 11:17-23 NLT "[17] He knew their thoughts, so he
said, "Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family
splintered by feuding will fall apart."
3.
Dominate.
1.
A guilty conscience is a warning
signal God placed inside of you that the Holy Spirit begins to ring off the
hook when you've done wrong
1.
Dominate means to have a commanding
influence over.
Genesis 4:7 NLT [7] "You will be accepted if you do
what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is
crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its
master."
2.
Sin simply means wrong doing.
3.
Missing the target by a vast amount
or by the smallest, is sin.
1.
We must subdue it and be its master.
1.
Many Christ followers refuse this type
of advice which leads us into idol worship.
Judges 2:1-23
NLT "[7] And the Israelites served the LORD throughout
the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him-those who had seen all
the great things the LORD had done for Israel. [8] Joshua son of Nun, the
servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.
[10] After that generation died, another generation grew up
who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things He had done for
Israel."
1.
We are always one generation from
extinction.
2.
Sharing Christ, His goodness, His
Word, His miracles, His blessings, His love and His justice is our eternal
mission.
"[11] The Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight
and served the images of Baal. [12] They abandoned the LORD, the God of their
ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods,
worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the
LORD."
1.
They went after other Gods.
1.
Temptations seek to drive you away
from God, never toward Him.
2.
I'll choose to do what everyone else
does instead of being my own person making my own choices to serve and honor
God.
"[16] Then the LORD raised up judges to rescue the
Israelites from their attackers. [17] Yet Israel did not listen to the judges
but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned
away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to
the LORD's commands."
"[18] Whenever the LORD raised up a judge over Israel,
he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the
judge's lifetime. For the LORD took pity on his people, who were burdened by
oppression and suffering. [19] But when the judge died, the people returned
to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them.
They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to
give up their evil practices and stubborn ways."
3.
Some things we need to desperately
understand about temptation:
1.
Being tempted is not a sin.
1.
We have not sinned until we give into
the temptation.
2.
We must pray for strength to resist.
2.
Secondly run, sometimes literally.
3.
Finally, say no when confronted with
what we know is wrong.
James 1:14, 15 NLT "[14] Temptation comes from our own
desires, which entice us and drag us away. [15] These desires give birth to
sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death."
2.
Dominance begins when the devil temps
us to doubt God's goodness.
1.
He implies (deceives) Eve into
believing that God is strict, stingy, and selfish for not wanting to share His
knowledge of good and evil.
2.
Satan made Eve forget all that God
had given her and, instead, focus and dial in on the one thing she couldn't
have.
1.
That's exactly what happens to us, we
dwell on the few things we don't have rather than on the countless things God
has given us.
2.
Dominating our thoughts, our actions,
and our blessings.
4.
Destroy.
1.
If the devil can get just one of
things working effectively in our lives then destruction is right around the
corner.
1.
Destruction is a process just like
anything else.
1.
Building something takes time,
energy, effort, and resources.
2.
Well so does destroying something.
1.
What a waste.
2.
Wasted talents, wasted energies,
wasted gifting, wasted resources, wasted lives.
3.
Destroyed dreams, destroyed
marriages, destroyed relationships, even destroyed children.
1.
So many face a life of waste.
1.
Who ever spoke that into you,
destroying your worth?
2.
Why do you believe that lie?
2.
If the devil just gets us questioning
our worth we'll battle that in our minds in such a way that many have even
contemplated hurting themselves or even worse.
1.
Questioning their value, questioning
their calling, even questioning their very existence.
Illustrate here:
this is how they catch and kill monkeys.
1.
They will take an old gourd or vessel
and hollow out a hole big enough for the monkey to get his hand into, they'll
hang it into a tree.
2.
Next they'll fill it with fresh
fruit.
3.
The monkey comes along and sees the
fruit, smells the fresh fruit then he places his hand inside the vessel grabs a
handful of the fruit and then tries to release himself from the vessel.
4.
He can't contain himself.
5.
He will do everything physically,
mentally and vocally possible to get free from the new stockade he's locked
into except, let go.
1.
He refuses to let go!
2.
Refuses to let loose.
3.
The only thing holding him,
overwhelming desire.
4.
The only thing keeping him is the
want for something so bad that he now has his hand on.
1.
He wants that fruit so bad that he'll
die to keep his grip on it.
2.
The hunter then walks up to the
monkey who is in fear for his life, knows there will be a price to pay but
refuses to set himself free by just letting go.
1.
What a powerful parallel we see in
human beings.
2.
So many people that desperately, and
destructively hang on to the thing that essentially will ruin and defeat them.
1.
Total and utter devastation.
3.
Some of us need to let go of that
bitterness, that desire, that temptation, that fear, or that addiction.
4.
Let go of all that you are hanging
onto besides Him and you'll become unstoppable.
1.
You can't keep hanging onto that sin,
that hurt, that bitterness, that destructive path.
2.
We grab a hold of this culture, we
grab a hold of this earthly mindset and it will destroy us.
1.
You might say Michael I don't have my
hands where they shouldn't be but I do have my mind in that unsafe, destructive
place.
2.
I do have my emotions in that
destructive place.
3.
I have been putting my finances in
that place.
1.
I have been investing in wrong
things.
4.
I've not actually grabbed a hold of
it yet but the temptation has been overwhelming, I feel as if I am carrying a
weight that is seeking to destroy me.
1.
That's because it is.
2.
That's the devils plan, distract,
divide, dominate, and then destroy.
1.
That's his way temptation, curiosity,
desire, 50 shades of grey, is a prime example.
2.
Over 100 million copies has been sold
to to the book, another nickname for it is "mommy porn" then they
made the movie that grossed worldwide:$547,628,165
3.
The devil plants a deep desire inside
of you.
1.
Lemme give you a deep revelation from
God Himself: God's not grey. His love is not grey, His sacrifice is not grey,
His declarations are not grey, His word is not grey!
Matthew 26:41 NLT "[41] Keep watch and pray, so that
you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is
weak!"
He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can
stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.
There is only one way to escape the consequences of sin and
that’s
to leave it. No person can do it for you. No pill will take sin’s grip away. No good work will erase
it out. You have to break the chains. The sin has to be stopped. The longer it
continues, the stronger its grip.
Call upon Jesus to help you. He is able to help you get the
victory over this world and it's devices of destruction.
You must trust in Him to show you the way out.
