Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Plain Talk about Temptation │ Msg 316 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living (64k)

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Plain Talk about Temptation │ Msg 316 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living (64k) · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: With bracing simplicity. Augustine, one of the most influential of
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  Speaker 1: the early Church Fathers, offered plain advice on how to
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  Speaker 1: resist temptation. He wrote, w attempted to plunge into the
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  Speaker 1: old life. Say to thyself, thou fool dost thou know
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  Speaker 1: that thou art carrying God around with thee? Isn't that
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  Speaker 1: great counsel that we're carrying God around with us? In
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  Speaker 1: his letter penned to the first century Christians, the Apostle,
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  Speaker 1: James also wrote with unusual clarity about the nature of
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  Speaker 1: temptation and why all of us are so vulnerable to it.
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  Speaker 1: James makes very clear that we simply cannot say the
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  Speaker 1: devil made me do it. That is definitely not a
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  Speaker 1: biblical response. Turns out, the real threat doesn't originate externally. Rather,
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  Speaker 1: as James explains, the lure of temptation lurks deep within
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  Speaker 1: each one of us, within the shifting shadows of every
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  Speaker 1: human heart. In this series, I'm hoping to unpack for
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  Speaker 1: you the importance of developing what I've called a hands
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  Speaker 1: on Christianity.
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  Speaker 2: Since temptation plagues each one of us.
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  Speaker 1: James offers a hands on approach to overcoming this very
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  Speaker 1: common and often debilitating struggle. So to begin with, please
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  Speaker 1: turn in your bibles to the first chapter of James.
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  Speaker 1: I'll be reading verses thirteen through eighteen.
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  Speaker 2: Here we will.
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  Speaker 1: Find this extremely practical description of the nature of temptation.
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  Speaker 1: My words will be taken from the New American Standard
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  Speaker 1: version of the Bible. James writes in chapter one, beginning
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  Speaker 1: of verse thirteen. Let no one say, when he is tempted,
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  Speaker 1: I'm being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted
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  Speaker 1: by evil, and He himself does not tempt anyone. But
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  Speaker 1: each one is tempted when he is carried away and
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  Speaker 1: enticed by.
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  Speaker 2: His own lust.
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  Speaker 1: Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin,
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  Speaker 1: and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do
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  Speaker 1: not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given
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  Speaker 1: and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from
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  Speaker 1: the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation
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  Speaker 1: or shifting shadow in the extra size of his will.
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  Speaker 1: He brought us forth by the word of truth, so
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  Speaker 1: that we would be a kind of first fruits among
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  Speaker 1: his creatures.
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  Speaker 2: Leave your bible open to that for a moment. Observe
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  Speaker 2: in verse thirteen. When temptations allurements come, we cannot say
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  Speaker 2: God is responsible. Why Because of verse seventeen. God bestows
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  Speaker 2: good things, perfect things. Even when we cast a shadow
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  Speaker 2: by our turning, he continues to bring good and perfect gifts.
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  Speaker 2: His full name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and he was
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  Speaker 2: known in his day as the silver throated orator of Rome.
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  Speaker 2: Known to us as Mark Anthony, he was without question
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  Speaker 2: the most eloquent of all the Roman emperors. He was,
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  Speaker 2: in the opinion of some historians, the one who swayed
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  Speaker 2: the millions with a simple instrument known as the tongue.
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  Speaker 2: He was, along with a gifted speaker, an eminent philosopher.
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  Speaker 2: He was a scholar, He was a student of nature.
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  Speaker 2: He was a courageous warrior, and unfortunately, he was a
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  Speaker 2: fierce opponent of Christianity. He was the one that led,
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  Speaker 2: in the second century reign of his the fourth Great
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  Speaker 2: Persecution against the Christians, which resulted in the martyrdom of Polycarp.
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  Speaker 2: It also led to the death of another church father,
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  Speaker 2: who has become beloved in the annals of history justin Martyr.
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  Speaker 2: This man, however, on the surface, being a strong man
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  Speaker 2: with a determination of steel, had a deep difficulty with
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  Speaker 2: a moral weakness. This bent was so great that it
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  Speaker 2: was detected early in his life, and his tutor, on
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  Speaker 2: one occasion, became so exasperated with his willingness to plunge
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  Speaker 2: into one circumstance after another which had terrible consequences, shouted
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  Speaker 2: into his face, Oh, Marcus, colossal child, able to conquer
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  Speaker 2: the world, but unable to resist a temptation. That indictment
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  Speaker 2: is not only timeless, it is true of many, even
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  Speaker 2: great people today. I suppose if Marc Anthony had lived
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  Speaker 2: as late as the nineteenth century, his favorite poet would
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  Speaker 2: have been Oscar Wilde, who, with his own irish wit,
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  Speaker 2: wrote the words can resist everything except temptation. The reason
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  Speaker 2: he said that is because he believed he had developed
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  Speaker 2: the secret of handling it. He said, the only way
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  Speaker 2: to get rid of it is to yield to it.
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  Speaker 2: Now we smile and we laugh at that, and I
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  Speaker 2: suppose we could and should. But down deep inside, I
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  Speaker 2: think our humor really has a hollow ring to it,
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  Speaker 2: because there's not a person who has not wrestled with
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  Speaker 2: temptation in a direct and even desperate way. As I
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  Speaker 2: say that, I realize that by temptation. We often think
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  Speaker 2: only in the sensual realm, but that should not be.
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  Speaker 2: You can be tempted with things, just as you can
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  Speaker 2: be tempted toward people. You can be tempted for a
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  Speaker 2: position with the motive of pride, just as really as
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  Speaker 2: you can be tempted toward an act of indecency or immorality. Furthermore,
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  Speaker 2: temptation really knows no barriers. It plays no favorites, does it.
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  Speaker 2: It can attack the President of the United States or
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  Speaker 2: the prison inmate at the very same time. It can
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  Speaker 2: strike in the heart of a bum on the curb
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  Speaker 2: of some city, as well as an executive in some
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  Speaker 2: corporation the same day. At the same time, it can
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  Speaker 2: become a battleground for the homemaker who is with her
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  Speaker 2: children around the house, as well as for the career minded,
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  Speaker 2: sharp keen young lady who is not even married. You see,
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  Speaker 2: temptation plays no favorites. It can attack a seminary and
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  Speaker 2: in the midst of his studies of theology and Greek
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  Speaker 2: and Hebrew and church history. It can crawl over the
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  Speaker 2: wall of a monastery and get right into the heart
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  Speaker 2: of a monk, just as easily as the salesman in
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  Speaker 2: this car, or the groceryman at the czechstand. You see,
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  Speaker 2: we must understand that Pastor and people alike wrestle with
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  Speaker 2: this problem. As a matter of fact, it becomes a
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  Speaker 2: tremendous cause for defecting from the ministry. Now, with that
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  Speaker 2: in mind, and it is a very serious thing to
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  Speaker 2: realize it, I want us to consider James' counsel to
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  Speaker 2: the subject of temptation and how we can handle it.
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  Speaker 2: I realize as I talk about the subject today, I
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  Speaker 2: am probably talking to someone right now who is engaged
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  Speaker 2: in the compromising situation. Perhaps you are a husband or
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  Speaker 2: a wife. Maybe you are a traveling businessman, and you
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  Speaker 2: have your points along the way where you make your contacts.
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  Speaker 2: I understand, being a realistic person by nature, that there
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  Speaker 2: are those who appear to be very submissive and gracious
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  Speaker 2: and warm around the home, but have their plans all
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  Speaker 2: made for acts that have been built on temptations. Some
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  Speaker 2: of you have become successful because you have been tempted
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  Speaker 2: with the desire to be great, and you are beginning
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  Speaker 2: to realize the greatness with all of its consequences and
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  Speaker 2: lack of satisfaction. So we're not talking about a theoretical
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  Speaker 2: subject that James dreamed up in some musty study. We're
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  Speaker 2: talking about reality. We're talking about thoughts that lead to
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  Speaker 2: real acts that go on just as they did in
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  Speaker 2: the heart of Mark Anthony, are in the people to
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  Speaker 2: whom James was writing. That's why James presents to us
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  Speaker 2: right away four basic facts that we all must understand
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  Speaker 2: and be willing to accept before we can even begin
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  Speaker 2: to deal with the problem itself. Look at the facts
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  Speaker 2: with me. Will you let no one say when he
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  Speaker 2: is tempted? Fact number one, temptation is always present in
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  Speaker 2: life when he is tempted. In my Bible, I've taken
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  Speaker 2: a pencil and I've circled the when of verse thirteen
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  Speaker 2: with the whin of verse two, and I've connected them
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  Speaker 2: with a straight line. Last week, we talked about trials
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  Speaker 2: and troubles and we said that they are inevitable. We
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  Speaker 2: even compared them with taxes and death, and we said
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  Speaker 2: that troubles are like taxes and death, they are inevitable.
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  Speaker 2: We should have added temptations as well. You will never
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  Speaker 2: be to the place where you will never be tempted. Never,
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  Speaker 2: you will never live to see the day on this
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  Speaker 2: earth in which you're old. Flesh will not be interested
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  Speaker 2: in things that it should not be interested in. That's
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  Speaker 2: why James says when he is tempted. Now, let's understand
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  Speaker 2: what it means to be tempted, as James writes of it. Here,
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  Speaker 2: Webster says, it means to entice to do wrong by
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  Speaker 2: a promise of pleasure or gain. That's important. It is
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  Speaker 2: an allurement or an enticement to do wrong with the
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  Speaker 2: added promise of gain or pleasure. It means to seduce,
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  Speaker 2: to allure into evil. It means to persuade. Let no
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  Speaker 2: one say when that persuasion occurs, and it will inevitably
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  Speaker 2: take place. I am being tempted by God. Fact number two.
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  Speaker 2: Temptation is never prompted by God. Not trials now, but
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  Speaker 2: solicitation to evil. God does not traffic in the realm
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  Speaker 2: of the immoral. He does not solicit us with evil thoughts.
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  Speaker 2: He does not lay us in a situation that we
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  Speaker 2: cannot get out of and say, Aha, see there, This
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  Speaker 2: shows that you really have in old nature. After all.
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  Speaker 2: Let me show you how specific that James is, and
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  Speaker 2: you probably wouldn't think of James as being like that.
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  Speaker 2: James had at his disposal two ways of referring to God.
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  Speaker 2: Look at the words I am being tempted by God.
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  Speaker 2: His first choice was a little small preposition whopi hupo.
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  Speaker 2: And in a particular setting, it means direct agency. In
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  Speaker 2: other words, let no man say when he is tempted,
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  Speaker 2: God directly led me into that. But James doesn't use
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  Speaker 2: that option. He uses apah apo, and that is indirect agency.
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  Speaker 2: That's even more specific. Let no man say when he
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  Speaker 2: is tempted, indirectly God set this up. Don't see that
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  Speaker 2: because God is not even indirectly involved in the setting
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  Speaker 2: of evil. You see what he's saying. He's saying, it's
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  Speaker 2: your responsibility. He's saying, it's mine. No one ever twists
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  Speaker 2: my arm behind my back, certainly not God forcing me
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  Speaker 2: into a situation in saying, is either you really are
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  Speaker 2: weak after all? No, James says, it's your responsibility. So
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  Speaker 2: the second fact is temptation is never prompted by God.
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  Speaker 2: Why not? Verse thirteen describes the reason, first because God
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  Speaker 2: cannot be tempted, and second because God himself does not
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  Speaker 2: tempt God is not tempted, and God is not tempting.
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  Speaker 2: He tests us, He stretches our faith, but when it
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  Speaker 2: comes to the solicitations of evil, he's not the author
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  Speaker 2: of that. Now, having said that, I want you to
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  Speaker 2: observe in verses fourteen and fifteen, the most important part
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  Speaker 2: of this passage. It is the root. It is the
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  Speaker 2: crux of the whole argument of James. It is, as
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  Speaker 2: I see it, the only place in all the Bible
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  Speaker 2: where the process of allurement is theologically established. There are
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  Speaker 2: a lot of illustrations, a lot of examples, but these
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  Speaker 2: two are ver is described theologically and in experience precisely
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  Speaker 2: what takes place before we look at them. Let me
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  Speaker 2: clarify that in every temptation there are three elements. Two
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  Speaker 2: of them are stated in this passage. One is implied.
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  Speaker 2: Let me give you all three, and then i'll show
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  Speaker 2: you the passage. First, there is the bait bai t
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  Speaker 2: the bate that's usually external. The bait becomes the object
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  Speaker 2: of interest. It is the point of involvement. The bait.
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  Speaker 2: It may be a person, it may be a thing,
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  Speaker 2: it may be a title, but whatever it is, it
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  Speaker 2: is the bait. That's what I'm calling it. Second, there
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  Speaker 2: is the desire called in this passage lust in the
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  Speaker 2: heart of the victim rests desire from him. Is the bait.
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  Speaker 2: The third element is the allurement that attracts the desire
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  Speaker 2: to the bait. Whether in fantasy or in actuality, there
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  Speaker 2: is the bait, there is the desire, and there is
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  Speaker 2: the go between, the allurement, the enticement that carries you
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  Speaker 2: into it. Now, let's look at the verses he implies
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  Speaker 2: the bait. Each one is tempted. Now, the point I
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  Speaker 2: want to make here is the third fact. Temptation follows
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  Speaker 2: a consistent pattern. That's the third major factor. Remember, each
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  Speaker 2: one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed.
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  Speaker 2: That's the lure by his own lust, that's the desire. Now,
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  Speaker 2: in the writing of verse fourteen, James chose a word
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  Speaker 2: translated enticed, That is a fisherman's term. Interestingly, it is
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  Speaker 2: a word that means to lure by a bait. He
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  Speaker 2: uses the word entice or to lure by a bait.
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  Speaker 2: He says, every man or each one, is tempted when
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  Speaker 2: he is carried away and enticed. The words carried away
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  Speaker 2: are not forceful words. They are not words that suggest brutality.
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  Speaker 2: They are words that suggest persuasion. They are the very
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  Speaker 2: words that Jesus uses when he says, if I will
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  Speaker 2: be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all
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  Speaker 2: men to me. The word draw and the words carried
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  Speaker 2: away are one and the scene. In the Greek text
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  Speaker 2: there is a drawing and impelling, a pulling from within
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  Speaker 2: to the bait. Each one is tempted when he is
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  Speaker 2: lured away or drawn out by his own desire, having
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  Speaker 2: been enticed by the way just in passing. Look at
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  Speaker 2: the word by in verse fourteen, by his own lust.
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  Speaker 2: That's hupah direct agency. Every man is tempted when by
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  Speaker 2: his own direct rust he is drawn out, not indirectly
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  Speaker 2: by God, but directly by himself. You see now, I
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  Speaker 2: suppose all of us, at one time or another, have
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  Speaker 2: tried our hand at fishing, some of you with great success,
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  Speaker 2: others of us still struggling to discover the techniques. I
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  Speaker 2: understand by those that are good at it, that the
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  Speaker 2: secret lies in the bait and knowing how to handle it.
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  Speaker 2: Especially is this true when you fresh water fish? I
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  Speaker 2: suppose the next thing to a genius is a bass,
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  Speaker 2: and somehow down in the rocks in that little lake
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  Speaker 2: where he lives and grows big and fat. Is this
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  Speaker 2: big bass that watches bait all the time? All those
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  Speaker 2: lures drop down. That's part of the occupation of hazard
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  Speaker 2: of being a fish is living with bait all around
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  Speaker 2: you all the time. And the bigger you are, I suppose,
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  Speaker 2: the more often you have seen the bait. No problem.
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  Speaker 2: No fisherman in his right mind would drop a clothes
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  Speaker 2: pin in the water and try to attract a bass
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  Speaker 2: with clothes pins, because bass don't eat clothes pin. I'm
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  Speaker 2: not a good fisherman, but at least I know that
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  Speaker 2: that they don't eat. Close pit. You wouldn't take this
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  Speaker 2: microphone and hang it on a hook and drop it
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  Speaker 2: down and expect that bass to want that microphone. But
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  Speaker 2: there are little worms that look just like the very
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  Speaker 2: thing that a bass loves. There are little flashy things
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  Speaker 2: with yellow tails and red tails that dance around, and
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  Speaker 2: this professional is able to pull them out of their
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  Speaker 2: hiding place and snap, they've got them. You see, the
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  Speaker 2: fishermen for our soul. Our enemy knows the bait we like.
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  Speaker 2: That's why one person can stand next to another person
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  Speaker 2: and the first person be terribly attracted to something and
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  Speaker 2: the second person is yawning through the whole process, because
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  Speaker 2: that individual is drawn out by that bait, and this
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  Speaker 2: one is not. You see, our enemy has been fishing
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  Speaker 2: for souls longer than any man on this earth has
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  Speaker 2: ever been living. He knows what we like, he knows
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  Speaker 2: our hot point, he knows where we weaken, and he
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  Speaker 2: spends his time there with us. James says, what happens
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  Speaker 2: is you are drawn out enticed for that bite. Dietrich
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  Speaker 2: Bonhoeffer has written a book, probably many more than twenty
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  Speaker 2: years old, and my copy happens to be that old.
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  Speaker 2: And in this book on temptation, he writes in a
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  Speaker 2: profound way what happens in the process between the desire
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  Speaker 2: and the bite. Listen to this. At this moment, God
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  Speaker 2: is quite unreal to us. He loses all reality, and
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  Speaker 2: only desire for the creature is real. Satan does not
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  Speaker 2: here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness
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  Speaker 2: of God. That's good. You do not say when you
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  Speaker 2: were tempted, Ah, God hates me and I hate him.
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  Speaker 2: You just forget about God. That's what happens. Now his
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  Speaker 2: falsehood is added to this proof of strength. Now listen,
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  Speaker 2: the lust thus aroused envelops the mind and will of
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  Speaker 2: man in deepest darkness, the powers of clear discrimination and
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  Speaker 2: of decision are taken from us. The questions present themselves
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  Speaker 2: is what the flesh desires really sin in this case?
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  Speaker 2: And when you ask yourself that, some of you look
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  Speaker 2: at me like, oooh me, But all of us has
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  Speaker 2: said that to ourselves. Is that really sin? Everybody involved?
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  Speaker 2: So my neighbor's worse than I ever thought about being,
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  Speaker 2: or that God's schooled. Ah, he's terrible. I'm lily white
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  Speaker 2: compared to it, well, a little shade gray. But is
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  Speaker 2: it really really sin? And in the process of imagination
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  Speaker 2: and compromise we begin to work our way through, as
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  Speaker 2: we rationalize ourselves into the rightness of the wrong and
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  Speaker 2: probably Satan's ace. Trump is Look, you're only human, nobody's
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  Speaker 2: perfect child of God. Let me say to you, you
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  Speaker 2: are superhuman in Christ, You're not merely human. James is
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  Speaker 2: mocking us. If there is no path to victory for
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  Speaker 2: you to shrug your shoulders and blow the dust off
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  Speaker 2: of James and walk out of this place and say, well,
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  Speaker 2: so it be. It's not for me. I'm weak. It's
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  Speaker 2: to deny the very point of James. One you can't
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  Speaker 2: handle it if you handle it the right way. Satan
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  Speaker 2: has deceived us long enough into thinking where weak, nobody's perfect.
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  Speaker 2: So what let's go ahead, same song thirtieth verse, verse
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  Speaker 2: fourteen says you have been enticed by your own lust.
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  Speaker 2: Now verse fifteen carries the pattern further. Then that's the
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  Speaker 2: word of continuation. You have been enticed. Then when lust
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  Speaker 2: has conceived, look at the word. It's the word for
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  Speaker 2: the beginning of the birth process. Just as two elements
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  Speaker 2: must be joined together to create conception that embryo a fetus,
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  Speaker 2: and then the birth months later, so in the moral realm,
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  Speaker 2: when desire and bait meet, at that point there is conception.
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  Speaker 2: The Greek word means to take together conceive. When these
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  Speaker 2: are taken together, that they produce a birth, and the
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  Speaker 2: birth is called sin, and the sin, when it is accomplished,
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  Speaker 2: brings for death. Now that's not a very pretty picture,
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  Speaker 2: but that's real. I want to dwell on it for
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  Speaker 2: a few moments. When lust is in my mind and
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  Speaker 2: it is a thought thing, it is a mental battle.
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  Speaker 2: When the thoughts that are planted in my head begin
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  Speaker 2: to be attracted to the bait that is laid before me,
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  Speaker 2: I'm faced with a decision. I turned them off, or
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  Speaker 2: I leave them go. I give them the green light.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus even tells us that in certain cases, just the
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: giving of the green light, it's tantamount to sin. It
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: is in fact sin. At that point, I am involving
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: myself in sin, and it leads me to death. I
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: confess to you, I have wrestled with this word in
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: verse fifteen death many many years, trying to come to
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: an understanding of exactly what it means. Obviously, it doesn't
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: mean physical death, because all of us would be corpses.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: If it did, we could not live through it. It
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: doesn't mean spiritual death because that would attack the very
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: basis of eternal security. And what sin would be bad
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: enough to take me and place me into spiritual death?
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: Where is the stopping point or the starting point? Somewhere
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: in between? There is what I would like to create
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: at this point in time, a death existence. If I
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: could coin the word, and it is original with me.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: At the time I enter into the fulfillment of my lust,
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: I enter the realm of an existence that is very
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: much like I was in in a lost state death.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: What does it mean? All right? It means I am
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: terribly guilty. I am filled with frustration. I have begun boredom.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: I have started the problem of bitterness and irritation. There
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: is a lack of peace. It is all smeared over
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: with the word negative lifestyle. That's what I would call it.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: Some time ago, I was driving from another state back
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: to California, and I happen to tune in on the radio,
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: and it was a talk show in a particular city.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: I cannot remember now where it came from, but it
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: was a large city. And this host of the talk
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: show was interviewing prostitute and he had several there, and
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: he was asking them questions regarding their state, their state
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: of mind, their real experience going into the in depth
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: world of a woman of the street. And he asked
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: them a question that they really were clamoring for a
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: time on the radio to express. He said, honestly, now,
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: I want to know what's your life really like down
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: deep inside? And almost without exception, in fact, without exception,
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: as they would butt into one another verifying the other's point,
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: they testify to a life of boredom, frustration, a life
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: that is filled with all kinds of lack of peace,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: no fulfillment, lack of gold, living their lives on the
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: edge the precipice of tyranny at times. In other words,
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: James is setting the record straight. Sure, there may be
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: pleasures for a period of time in sin, but let
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: me say to you that the dividends you reap from
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: that investment called lust work against you. Ust is like
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: a sick comedian. You find yourself laughing at your own
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: self after you've been involved. I have yet to see
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: anyone completely fulfilled in the results of temptation. I have
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: not seen it. I never will because God says it
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: leads to death. Let's look at a fourth fact before
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: we talk about some victory areas. Temptation flourishes on inc
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: consistent thinking. That's verse sixteen. It follows a consistent pattern,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: but it flourishes on inconsistent thinking. Do not be deceived,
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: my beloved brethren. This versus a command, and literally the
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: word deceived means to be let down the wrong path.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: Don't believe the lie. If the street sign says it's
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: this street, believe it. Don't question it. You know, that
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: is the job of the counselor today. And I suppose
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: we will never have enough of those that are capable
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: as professional counselors and pastoral counselors and whatever to meet
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: the demands of people. Because so many individuals have not
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: believed the truth, and believing the lie, they have begun
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: to live the lie. And one of the constant needs
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: of the counselor in his keen perception is to spot
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: areas of wrong thinking and counteract that with right thinking.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: That's really mental health, isn't it. The individual who has
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: believed the lie about temptation begins to be mentally ill
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: in the technical sense of the word. James says, don't
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: be led astray? Dare I specify that the fellow says
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: to the guy, Look, this is the real expression of
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: my love for you. Don't be led astray. The businessman
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: who looks at the top and thinks of it only
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: for pride's sake, That's where I'm going to be, and
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: pursues it for that single goal of being something. Oh God, says,
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: don't be deceived. The one who hasn't the money but
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: looks at that expensive, delicate antique with dust and says
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: to herself, Oh, that'll just make our home what it
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: ought to be, and then spends more than she should
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: or even has. James says, don't believe that this speaks
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: to the student at school, to the retired, to the
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: young teenager just starting to date. This speaks to the
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: man right now in the quest for success. Don't be deceived.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: When you are deceived, then you are playing into the
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: hands of temptation. Allurement builds its case on deceptive thoughts,
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: and it just moves you from a desire that is
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: theoretical to the actual act and only a period of time.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: I've also found that once it is enjoyed, it is
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: easier the next time, not harder. Now, what about victory.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: I would love so much to focus in on the
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: victory side of it. I supposed to make it even
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: more appreciated. I could share an actual experience. I was
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: at the supper table one evening and a knock came
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: at my door, and I left the table and went
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: to the front porch and there was a fellow standing there,
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: completely dissolved in tears. This happened some time ago, and
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: I don't think i've seen him since that time. But
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: he said, as he stood there, I've got to talk
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: with you. And he was just weeping, and I thought
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: he had lost a loved one or had just been
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: in a terrible accident. It was that kind of grief.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: And I said, oh, tell me what's wrong, and he
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: began to describe the misery of his soul. He had
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: been married only a month, and his wife had told
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: him she could no longer live happily with him, had
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: been going together for two and a half years, and
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: it had been two and a half years of constant
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: promiscuity with one another, constant week after week, month after month.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: What came to over thirty months of this and then
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: they had married, And suddenly, in the most blessed and
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: intimate and delightful part of marriage, there could be no compatibility.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: Almost from the start. I was with him and with
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: his wife until almost midnight that evening as we talked
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: about this detail, and I have discovered and their case
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: is only one in thousands that could be used, that
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: when this kind of temptation is yielded to over the
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: long haul, there is a strange switch in rows. Suddenly
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: the woman builds a deep resentment for the man because
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: of his taking advantage of her, and the man has
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: lost his image as the leader and begins the marriage
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: in an apologetic role. More than a leader role, so
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: that there is a constant battle between who is to
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: be dominant, who will take over. And I have even
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: bounced this off the head of a woman in Dallas
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: involved in ministering to women all over America, godly woman
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: who ministers to so many. She says, I've seen this
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: chuck time and time and time again, the resentment barrier
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: causing a dominance and then this loss of self confidence,
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: loss of the role, and he either reacts or succumbs,
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: and then we begin the whole marriage out of order.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: That's what it happened with this dear little fellow, And
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: I thought that ought to be shared. The terrible consequences
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: that come from believing the lie attacks and if possible,
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: destroys the home. Maybe that's where some of you are
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: right this moment. I do not know. Look at the victory,
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: will you Verse seventeen. Every good thing bestowed and every
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. First,
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: I would say victory comes through dwelling on the good.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: You cannot dwell on the evil and reap good. You
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: must dwell on the good to reap good. It comes
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: from dwelling the mind on good things. Philippians four eight.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: Whatever is true and honest, and just, and pure and
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: lovely and good, set your mind on these things. Do
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: you do that right now? Those of you that are
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: under the gun of this particular problem? What do you
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: think about when you don't think about anything? What do
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: you read in the secrecy of your library? What goes
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: through your eyegate and lands and lodges in the mind?
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: What do you dwell on? What thoughts are planted there
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: to counteract the other thoughts that are wicked? You see
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: the good things God gives. He's the father of lights.
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: He says, Look, I'm giving you these good things. First
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: of all, I'm giving you my son, the Lord Jesus
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: think upon him. I'm giving you these good acts of grace.
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: Remember how you have been burned in the past and
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: lived in the truth. That's the second realm. Victory comes
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: through living in the truth. That's verse eighteen. In the
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: exercise of his will, he brought us forth. And what
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: did he used to bring us forth? He brought us
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: forth by the word of the truth. How will I
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: be delivered on a daily basis? I will be delivered
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: moment by moment by the word of truth. Listen to me.
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: You see this book. It is the only book in
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: the world that can be called the truth. I'm not
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: saying it's the only important book in all of existence.
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: I'm not saying it's the only book you ought to read.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: But I'm saying in these pages, and I am finding
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: more and more, only through the truths in these pages
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: is their consistent victory over temptation. I talked with a
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: young woman some time ago with a deeply involved problem,
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: and the only answer that I could really share with
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: her was the placing of the living Truth into her mind,
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: so as to counteract evil thoughts with living, vivid thoughts
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: of what God has said. David says this, how shall
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: a young man keep his way pure? That's a question
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: that every young man who walks with God asks, and
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: then he answers by keeping it according to Thy word.
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: may not sin against thee. Someone has put it very
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: well and right down on the lower shelf when he
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: said a dusty Bible leads invariably to a dirty life.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: Now I don't know where the bite takes place between
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: desire and faate. Jesus says certain things can take place
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: even in the mind, and Satan can even tempt you
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: with thoughts saying, look, you've already committed it there, carry
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: it on out. What does it matter. That's a lie
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: that begins what is often called the law of diminishing returns.
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: What we are talking about is the thought life. That's
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: what we're talking about. I'm glad James doesn't describe any
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: one situation, so it applies to every one of us.
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: The way you handle those fleeting thoughts will determ and
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: a great measure the way you handle temptation. Mark Anthony
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: wasn't a weakling in body or in mind. He was
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: a weakling in the discipline of his thoughts. That's where
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: he was weak, small little thoughts. I read some time
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: ago about a bright, new shiny Cadillac backed out of
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: a driveway by its owner and sent on its way
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: to the freeway. On its way downtown to work. The
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: driver in the automobile was busily shaving himself as he
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: was on his way in normal operation. I suppose he
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: had his radio on and he was listening to his
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: news that morning and finding his way to his office.
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: Witnesses say that suddenly he reached up behind his neck,
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: slumped over the wheel. It swerved and went into a culvert,
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: and he met his doom. Car was completely demolished, was ordered,
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: and as they began to put together the details, a
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: keen thinking physician noticed behind the ear a small pinprick
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: or probably a wasp, had flown from the seat some
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: part of the car to his ear and had stung him,
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: temporarily paralyzing a particular area from the nerve and blinding
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: him with pain. He slumped over the wheel and it
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: led to his death. Why normally a grown man with
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: normal strength can just swat away a little wasp with
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: no problem, But that wasp, when it met its mark,
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: led to his doom. Someone has said, if you sow
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: a thought, you will reap an act. If you sow
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: that act, you will reap a habit. If you sow
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: a habit, you will reap your character. If you sow
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: your character, you will reap your destiny. It's just a
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: matter of time, small things, even insignificant thoughts. When you
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: are alone, What do you do when you have made
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: that business trip and checked into that motel and there
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: is no one around to identify you, knowing where you
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: are or who you are, or what you're doing, or
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: what your status is. How do you conduct yourself in
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: your thought life? What do you do for amusements? How
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: do you dress? What specific things do you allow to
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: lodge in your head so that they might help develop
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: your character? You say, any one of those little things?
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: Who would care? God cares? It was a number of
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: months ago that I was visited by a very capable
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: and gifted, well degreed minister of the gospel, and in
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: my own office, and he allowed me the privilege of
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: sharing this if I ever saw reason to do so,
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: in my own office. He began to describe to me
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: his bent, how he has a track record in this
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: area of immorality, and how in the counseling ministry of
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: his experience he began to succumb, and by and by
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: he fell again, and it caught up with him. He
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: lost his position, he lost his reputation, he lost his name,
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: He could very easily and indeed in some places lost
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: his credentials because of a small wasp known as temptation,
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: that he allowed to sting him, and thereby lost everything
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: his life considered dear, maybe about to get it. I
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: ask no one other than the Holy Spirit to do
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: soul surgery in your life to day. Your problem may
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: be drugs, it may be drink, It may be sex,
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: It may be one of several. It may be things,
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: may be position you know where the battle rages. If
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you will
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: never ever in your life, no victory ever, ever ever.
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: You're doomed to failure. It breaks my heart to tell
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: you that. But unless you come to know the Savior,
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: you will never know victory. You will only know degrees
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: of defeat. Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come to
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: your rescue, to take you into his arms, and to
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: give you that power that you need. Is right now
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: you can pray something like, Lord, I understand that I
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: am a sinner.
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: I need help. Your son died for me. I accept
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: that I believe he died for me, that he rose
• 45:47
  Speaker 3: again from the dead to give me power. I ask
• 45:54
  Speaker 3: you right now, Lord Jesus, to come into my life.
• 46:00
  Speaker 3: I'm especially burdened for the Christian that's not walking in victory,
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: single or married, young or old. Perhaps there is the
• 46:11
  Speaker 3: need to confess your sin and to forsake it. If
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: offenses have been created with others, there is definitely the
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: need for forgiveness there to be sought. Even Job said,
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: I made a covenant with my eyes I will not
• 46:28
  Speaker 3: gaze at a woman. Perhaps that's the decision that ought
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: to be made. Now I've been honest enough with you
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: to face it head on? Will you be honest enough
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: with God to do the homework?
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: Our Father? After such a searching and sobering time of
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: examining your word, today, I'm especially burdened for the Christian
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: that's not walking in victory, especially one who finds himself
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: or herself in the deep, deep forest of debilitating sin.
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: I pray earnestly for each one, for those who have
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: long lost the battle against temptation, whether single or merit,
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: young or old. This battle against the flesh rages in
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: the shifting shadows of all our hearts. And I confess
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: to you today, Lord, that this is indeed a serious
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: matter every one of us faces, including myself. So Dear Lord,
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: help us to resist the devil, to flee from him,
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: and to know the refreshing freedom of victory that comes
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: only from trusting in your word and relying on your
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: forgiveness for those weighed down by guilt and regret. Pray
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: that you would encourage them as they suffer from the
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: serious consequences of their sins. Provide for them anew, our Father,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: the lifeline of your amazing grace, your matchless mercy. Cause
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: them to turn in full and humble repentance to you,
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: and you alone, to find the mercy and the help
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: they need in this time of their lives. May they
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: receive from You the grace of God that forgives, and
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: the love of God that invites confession, and the instant
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: reversal that only you can bring through repentance. I pray,
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: dear Father, that these examples and principles we have looked
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: closely at today will lodge firmly in our minds. May
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: they act as a combating force against the sting and
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: the lure of sin. I ask this in the powerful
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: and gracious name of Christ, our Lord.
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 49:06
  Speaker 4: The preceding message, Plain Talk about Temptation was copyrighted in
• 49:12
  Speaker 4: nineteen seventy four and twenty sixteen, and the sound recording
• 49:17
  Speaker 4: was copyrighted in twenty sixteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
• 49:21
  Speaker 4: All rights are reserved worldwide Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 49:27
  Speaker 4: commercial use is strictly prohibited.