Teptation
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Tonight, let us think through the M.O. of Temptation.
I believe we are made in the image of the triune God. We have a soul, a body and a spirit: a triune nature. When we are tempted, it will either be in the area of the soul, the body or the spirit. It is important that we understand this concept if we want to know how to overcome temptation.
The world will primarily tempt us in the area of our soul. The word for soul is psyche, which we use to describe an individuals mind, will, and emotions. Our soul contains our ego, our desires, our, emotional self. The world will tempt the soulish side of us. When we talk about a person on an ego trip, or a person that is worldly, we are generally speaking, of a person who is easily influenced by and controlled by the pleasures of this world.
Illustration: When the herdsmen for Abraham and Lot began to fight with each other over range land, Abraham told his nephew to choose some land, and he would go the other way. So, Lot looked out and saw the well-watered plains and the tall grass of the east, and he went in that direction. Lot was already wealthy, but he was sucked into thinking he could be the wealthiest man in Palestine. He was tempted by the worlds system to be a big shot. That is the constant message of the world: You need more and you can have more. Lot fell into that trap, and it cost him everything he owned.
The world tempts our soul, but the flesh primarily tempts our body.
Our body will be tempted toward things like lust, laziness, over-indulgence, and sexual immorality.
The flesh wants to use the body as the vehicle for its expression. When King David was walking on the roof of his palace, he spotted a beautiful woman taking a bath. Rather than turn away, he stopped and stared.
Lust rose up inside of him. He was, attacked by the flesh. His mind started to play out scenarios, and instead of returning to his wife, he asked to have that beautiful woman brought to his room. His physical body was under attack by the flesh, and David succumbed to temptation and it brought tremendous pain into his life.
The third foe, the devil, wars against our spirit. If our soul is our sense of self-consciousness, our spirit is our sense of God-consciousness. You know God through your spirit. Animals have a body and a soul, but no spirit; and that is what makes man more than an animal. Man can know God. Man has an innate sense of morality. Man can worship God in spirit and in truth. The spirit of man is the vehicle of worship and communication with God, and the devil wants to cut off that relationship. He wars against your spirit. He is the one who puts doubts in your mind. He is the one who tries to convince you that you can make it on your own.
For example-In Old Testament times when King Saul turned away from following God and relied on the Witch of Endor for direction, he was not on an ego trip or under sexual attack. He was not being tempted to sin in his soul or with his body. Saul was being tempted in his spirit he faltered in his faith. Satan attacked Saul in the spiritual realm* tempting him to doubt God and His truth. Sauls spirit was under attack and he failed to resist.
All three, the world, the flesh, and the devil are at war with our soul, our body, and our spirit. It will help us if we understand this biblical pattern.
So, I have tried to distinguish how temptation works by showing the sources and the MO of tempting situations. I am not saying that the devil “only” tempts us in our spirit and never in the soul or body. In fact, all temptation initially comes from the devil but if we can also see that many of our, temptations are not directly caused by Satan each and every time, we will be better prepared to deal with and defeat temptation.
The Way to Defeat Temptation
The preacher Donald Grey Barnhouse gives us three words to use when battling temptation: (faith, flight, and fight.)
To overcome the temptations of the world, we need faith.
John tells us the victory that overcomes the world is our faith
(I John 5:4). For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is, the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
So, this means Spiritual faith is the best weapon against worldliness. The only way to get through the temptations of this world is to focus on Jesus Christ.
Then, when the world comes to offer you its crumbs, you can reject it because you have feasted on the Lord Jesus. When our soul is satisfied with God, when we are full of his love and life, when we are responding to temptations with spiritual faith we will overcome the temptations that wage against our soul.
Scripture says that if you love the world and its evil system and what it values then you are not, loving God. So, if you want to defeat the temptations of the world, love God more.
Faith in the power of God is the key to overcoming this world.
Illustration: I traveled a lot in my past job, and I stayed in a lot of hotels with cable TV. One time, I was flipping through the channels to find something to watch. While flipping, I came across a channel with half-nude women. I continued flipping and found a good show to watch. Ten minutes later, I flipped back to the movie, and then quickly back to the good show. I did that four or five times. See I was struggling whether or not to watch. And the only way not to struggle was to rely on faith. I prayed to the lord. God reminded me, Troy; I am not surprised by your sin. I have known all along you were a sinner. I have known all along that you were weak. I needed you to know that you were weak. And I need you to know that “I alone will make you strong.”
Obviously, Faith includes Trust and Dependence on God. Against, the lust of the flesh, the key word is flight.
When faced with fleshly temptation, we should flee referred to here as “flight”.