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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 31
31 December 2006
Enter Not into Temptation
(Message delivered by Pr Hien Nguyen at the
Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, Dec 17, 06)
Text: James
1:12-15
This world is full of temptations, and every one of
us has been tempted many times. We have read or heard or seen many
people, young and old, male and female, fall into temptations. Many a
high-ranking official has lost his reputation due to bribery, corruption
or a sex scandal. Many young ladies and men have been lured into sexual
immorality. Many others have been tempted to commit sins like theft,
murder, drug trafficking, fornication, adultery, suicide, etc. Even in
the churches, many leaders have been tempted to compromise God’s truth,
God’s Word and Biblical principles for the sake of being accepted,
recognised, accredited, popular, or for personal gains/interests or
selfish ambitions.
Many who fell into temptations
did not confess their sins! They blamed others or the circumstances or
even God! How can it be! God is holy, just, kind, good, wise and mighty,
and He desires human beings to obey Him and live a holy
life according to His Word so that they may
be blessed. “For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he
any man” so you and I are not to say, “I am tempted of God” (v 13).
The word “temptation” James used in this
chapter not only refers to temptation to sin (v 13) but also to testing,
trials, afflictions, persecutions, etc (vv 2, 12). God allows Satan to
tempt us as he did Adam and Eve (Gen 3). Even our Lord Jesus was tempted
(Matt 4). The Lord wants to try or prove us to see if we fear Him, love
Him, and obey Him or not (v 12). Temptation and testing are
opportunities for us to prove our love, obedience and loyalty to the
Lord. So, we are taught to endure the testing with perseverance (v 12)
and to resist and overcome Satan the tempter through our faith in
Christ and through the Word of God (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9; 1 John 2:14;
5:5).
Our Lord Jesus still warns us, “Watch
and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41). May the Lord help us
have proper attitudes towards temptations, understand Satan’s approach,
and learn how to overcome temptations.
Satan the Tempter & His Approach
Satan is the great dragon, the
old serpent, the Devil (Rev 12:9), the wicked one (1 John 2:13-14), a
liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), the
adversary of believers (1 Peter 5:8), the
tempter (Matt 4:3; 1 Thess 3:5), etc. He is very subtle and cunning (Gen
3:1; 2 Cor 11:3), he “deceiveth the whole world” (Rev 12:9).
Satan’s purpose is to draw human beings away from the Lord and His Word,
truth and salvation (Luke 8:12; 2 Cor 4:4; 2 Thess 2:8-10) and to tempt
them to be independent from God by doing what they please according to
their lusts “as gods” (Gen 3:5).
Satan the Attacker of God’s Word:
God’s Word is truth (John 17:17) while Satan is a
liar, so he has attacked God’s Word since the first human beings, Adam
and Eve, existed in this world. God said to Adam, “Of every tree
of the garden thou mayest freely eat” (Gen 2:16-17).
Satan cast doubt on God’s love and God’s Word with a question, “Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?” (Gen 3:1). God said, “But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die” (Gen 2:17).
Satan twisted God’s Word, telling a lie, “Ye shall not
surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil” (Gen 3:4-5). Sadly, Eve was deceived by the seductive
words of Satan and fell into temptation, and Adam listened to her and
fell too! Then they did not become like gods but were cursed as sinful
human beings!
God’s Word states that sinners will be judged and
condemned to Hell (Rev 21:8), but nowadays many are still deceived by
Satan’s lie, thinking that there is no Hell! Many are even deceived by
some unbiblical beliefs that they are gods or will become gods,
independent from the living and true God!
Satan misused the Scripture to
tempt our Lord Jesus to cast Himself down from the top of the temple,
“for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and
in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou
dash thy foot against a stone” (Matt 4:6). Satan omitted, “to
keep thee in all thy
ways”
and added, “at any
time” (Ps 91:11-12). Nowadays Satan still attacks God’s Word,
particularly the perfectly inspired and perfectly
preserved Hebrew and Greek texts underlying the KJV
through modern English versions with a lot of additions, subtractions,
misinterpretations, and modifications based on the corrupt texts,
dynamic equivalence technique of translation, and ungodly translators.
For examples, Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11 in God’s Word are cut off
or doubted. The term “only begotten Son” is replaced with “one and only
Son” (John 3:16) and “God” is replaced with “He” (1 Tim 3:16) to
undermine Christ’s eternal Sonship and Godhead, etc.
We must be cautious and discerning or else
we may be deceived by unbiblical articles, journals, books, websites,
and even modern versions of the Bible!
Satan Disguised as an Angel of Light:
Satan may disguise himself
as an angel of light, so nice, so brilliant and so powerful. There are
false Christs and false prophets who lure many people away from God and
His Word through deceiving signs and lying wonders (Matt 24:24; 2 Cor
11:14; 2 Thess 2:9-10), through unbiblical doctrines (Col 2:22; 1 Tim
4:1; Heb 13:9), through a different gospel (Gal 1:6-9; 2 Cor 11:4), etc.
Our Lord Jesus has warned us, saying,
“Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt 24:4). We must therefore
be cautious!
Satan the Tempter:
Satan is very cunning and subtle and he makes use of human sinful nature
to tempt every man with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life (Gen 3:6; Matt 4:3-11; 1 John 2:16).
The Bible tells about Eve,
“And when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food
(the lust of the flesh),
and it was pleasant to the eyes (the lust of the eyes) and a tree
to be desired to make one wise (the pride of life), she took of
the fruit thereof, and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her;
and he did eat” (Gen 3:6).
Truly, “Every man is
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed (allured
by bait). Then when lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death” (James
1:15). Satan knows what bait is suitable to tempt men and women, young
and old. For those who desire fame, position or titles, Satan will tempt
them to have
it through compromise or subtle ways. For
those who embrace sexual lusts, Satan will tempt them through dirty
novels, movies, videos, bad friends, and worldly pleasures. For those
who love money, they are tempted to get easy money by illegal or ungodly
ways, etc.
My dear friends, it is vital to separate
ourselves from sinful lusts and let the Holy Spirit control our hearts
and fill us with God’s Word and godly desires or else Satan will make
use of these sinful lusts to tempt us.
Satan the Accuser:
Satan may trouble believers with his accusation before God (Job 1:9-11;
2:4-5; Zec 3:1-3; Rev 12:10). The best way to overcome his accusation is
to put on the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness (Eph 6:14) and to
trust in His Blood (Rev 12:11).
Satan the Persecutor:
When Satan sees that it is more effective to threaten believers, he will
be fierce and cruel like a roaring lion, threatening, discouraging, and
scaring believers so that they may give up their faith due to shame,
persecutions, tribulations, afflictions, trials or death, etc (Matt
13:21). Enduring the testing is a blessing with the reward of the crown
of life (v 12). We are to endure all the trials and persecutions and
never give up our faith so that we may obtain the “crown of life”
and “shall not be hurt of the second death” in Hell (Rev 2:10-11;
20:14).
How to Overcome Temptations
Acknowledge One’s Weakness:
Our Lord Jesus knows our weakness more than we do.
When hearing Jesus’ warning, Peter said with much self-confidence,
“Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be
offended.” When Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him thrice,
Peter said, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee”
(Matt 26:31, 33-35). Peter did not acknowledge his weakness, so he
did not watch nor pray, and in the end he fell into temptation.
Before their fall, Adam and
Eve were perfect human beings with the ability to obey God’s will.
However, once they chose to be independent from God by disobeying Him,
they were cursed and “sin entered into the world” (Rom 5:12).
With a sinful nature, we know for sure that we
are unqualified to fight against Satan and overcome his temptations. The
Bible warns us, “Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Then we are to be humble, watchful
and prayerful, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”
(Matt 26:41).
Trust in the Lord and Look unto Him for
Strength and Deliverance:
Acknowledging our weakness, we will not put our trust in the flesh but
in the Lord alone and look unto Him for strength and deliverance. Do you
and I realise that we need the Lord Himself as He says, “without
me, ye can do nothing” (John 15:5)? We need His strength and
grace, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made
perfect in weakness.”
Our Lord Jesus was tempted in all points like as we
are, yet without sin, so He can “be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities” (Heb 4:15) and be “able to succour
(help) them that are tempted” (Heb 2:18). We are thankful to the
Lord that He is ever living to pray for us and that we have been able to
stand firm until today, it is His grace, prayer and deliverance alone.
Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to
have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee,
that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:31-32), and “The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations” (2 Peter 2:9),
and “will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be
able to bear it” (1 Cor 10:13). Thanks and praise to the Lord
for His grace and help!
Resist Satan with the Whole
Armour
of God: We are to “be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole
armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil” (Eph 6:10). We are safe with the defensive
armour
of God: God’s truth is our belt, God’s righteousness is our breastplate,
God’s gospel of peace is our shoes, our faith in God is our shield,
God’s salvation is our helmet.
But Satan still attacks us and only flees
when we resist him with the offensive
armour
of God: God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit and our prayer (Ps 56:9;
Matt 26:41; Eph 6:13-18; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9).
Adam and Eve failed to resist
the Devil with God’s Word and they failed, but our Lord Jesus resisted
the Devil and overcame him by the very Word of God: (1) “Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word the proceedeth out
of the mouth of God,” (2) “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God,” and (3) “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”
(Matt 4:1-11). Let us live by every Word of God! Never tempt God!
Resist Satan with all our determination and worship and serve the Lord
alone! “I have written unto you,
young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth
in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one”
(1 John 2:14). Is the Word of God abiding and living in our whole being
and controlling us with our full dependence and submission? Is it
directing our heart, our mind, our thinking, our motives, our faith, our
conduct, our worship and service to the Lord? Do you and I still think
that we can live without God’s Word and can overcome Satan and
temptation without God’s Word?
Conclusion
Nowadays, many like to hear a message or
sermon with interesting stories or experiences. They testify that they
are touched and encouraged and feel comfortable and good. However, their
lives are not transformed or sanctified, and they are still defeated by
Satan and his temptations. Why? They do not hear what God speaks to
them, nor live by God’s Word, nor have any weapon to resist Satan!
Satan is real and temptation is real. The
blessing is only for those who overcome. Being tempted is not sin but
yielding to temptation is sin.
Once we fall into temptation
due to our weakness or foolishness, we are to repent right away,
returning to the Lord in full submission, putting on the whole armour of
God to defend ourselves, and using God’s Word to resist Satan, the
attacker of God’s Word, the disguised angel, the tempter, the accuser,
and the persecutor. It is vital to
hear God’s Word, live by God’s Word and use God’s Word properly,
watchfully and prayerfully to resist Satan until he flees away!
Thank God for having kept us
standing until now. May the Lord help us “enter not into
temptation” till He comes. All glory be to Him alone. Amen.
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