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White Rock SDA Church

Daniel Pel

The Truth about Temptation - Self control in an out of control world!

Father in Heaven, we are so grateful that we can open your Word.

We are so grateful that we can invite you to guide us into a knowledge of your truth.

So we ask for your Holy Spirit to be with us now and that you will speak to us each 1 individually, that we may learn what temptation is and how we can endure temptation in Your Spirit and with Your help, and with Your empowerment that comes from above.

So, be with us now and guide us in this study we pray in Your precious Name.

So, our topic is titled, The Truth About Temptation.

And I subtitled this message, Self-Control in an Out of Control World.

And I think each of you will agree with me that we do indeed live in a world out of control.

And how do we maintain self-control in the world in which we live?

And how does this all revolve around temptation?

And how do we resist it with the Spirit of God?

We're going to look at some of these questions and we're going to begin our study together.

And so I hope you have your Bibles with you.

And I invite you to turn to the book of James, the New Testament book of James, beginning in chapter 1, James chapter 1.

And I'm going to read from verse 12, James, the first chapter, beginning in verse 12.

Blessed is the man who endures temptation.

And we want to talk together about how we can endure temptation.

And listen to what it goes on to say, blessed is he, blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him.

I'm sure that each 1 of you want that crown of life.

And so in order for us to spend eternity with Jesus, we are to have His life represented in us, through us.

We need His Spirit in us in order to overcome that which separates us from Him which is sin.

Now I want you to take notice as it goes on here in James 1 to describe how temptation works.

Let no 1 say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God.

For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

But each 1 is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Then when desire has conceived it brings forth, it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown brings forth death.

And so we find here in James chapter 1 a sequence of how temptation works.

We are enticed by something, and we have a desire for something, and then as we dwell upon that desire and we make that desire our own, then what happens is that the desire conceives and brings forth sin.

The Bible puts it very clear in Romans 6, in verse 23, the wages of sin is death.

And so what we find here in James 1 is how temptation works in our life.

We are enticed by something, we involve in that desire, and then that desire conceives and brings forth sin and death.

Now, it is important to understand right at the beginning of this presentation, the truth about temptation, that temptation in and of itself is not sin.

As a matter of fact we know very well that Jesus was tempted like we are, and yet in Him was found no sin.

And so the temptation itself is not the sin.

But once we engage in that temptation and we make it our own, and we allow that desire to conceive to bring forth sin, that's when we find ourselves separated from God.

And I want to bring you to a passage in the Bible that I think clearly illustrates how this happens in our lives.

So, we turn from James 1, and this is really going to be a lot like a Bible study.

We're going to use various scriptures in order for us to understand the truth about temptation and how we can have self-control in an out of control world.

So you're in James Chapter 1, turn with me to the middle of your Bible to the book of Psalms and we're going to turn to Psalms Chapter 1.

Psalms Chapter 1 and I'm going to begin right there in verse 1.

Listen to what it says, this is indeed well described here as it illustrates what happens when we are drawn away by those desires when we are enticed and we enter into sin.

The description is as follows, Psalms 1 beginning in verse 1, "'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper." In this illustration that is given here we basically have 2 roads, 2 ways.

And It describes the man that is blessed because he is making the law of God his focus.

He's allowing the law of God to be written in his heart.

He shall be, as it says in verse 3, like a tree that is planted by the waters that will bring forth fruit.

That's the experience that God wants for you and for me.

And yet it also describes here what happens when we do not walk in the path of the Lord, but rather in the path of sin.

It tells us in verse 2, verse 1 rather, Blessed is the man who works not in the counsel of the ungodly." So, we can either walk in the counsel of God, or in the counsel of the ungodly.

Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

It's almost like this is kind of the mental picture that I get in my mind.

If let's say this pulpit here is the object of desire, enticement, this is the sin that I know is opposed to the will and way of God, and I'm not to involve myself in it, or to look at it, or engage in it.

The impression you get here as you read Psalms 1 is of a person that is walking by, right?

He's walking, but then he sees it and he stands still.

And then the next moment the Bible says He sits down.

It's an engagement in that act that separates us from God, that act of sin.

This is when temptation has become a desire that has conceived and brings now forth sin and death.

Either we are in a path in which our focus is on the law of God, the commandments of God.

We are focusing on God, on Christ, on His commandments.

And this enables us and strengthens us to resist temptation, right?

Temptation in and of itself is not a sin.

As a matter of fact we are all bombarded by temptation day by day.

The temptation is there and we are walking in life and it is right there on all sides.

But the question is if we are going to stand still and engage in it, or if our focus is going to be on Christ.

Now with this in mind we are going to further examine how temptation works and how we can have self-control in an out of control world.

And so I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, you are there in the book of Psalms, right after the book of Psalms comes the book of Proverbs.

As we talk about how to resist temptation.

Proverbs 16, verse 32, He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and He who rules His Spirit than he who takes a city." That's quite interesting.

We get almost the imagery here of a warfare.

And do you know that we are living in a spiritual warfare?

Do you know that we are engaged in a battle?

And it's not always a battle that you can see with your physical eyes, but it's a battle nonetheless, a battle that is taking place for your soul and for my soul.

Our minds are the battlefield where this all plays out.

And the Bible tells us in Proverbs 16 in verse 32, "'He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.

He who rules His Spirit than he who takes the city.

We look at history and you know sometimes you read in history books and they make movies and you know Hollywood makes movies about them and there are novels about these men of war that take cities and that conquer nations.

And yet the Bible says the true mighty 1 is not the 1 that takes a city, but the 1 that can actually rule his spirit.

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The Truth about Temptation - Self control in an out of control world!

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