Charles Stanley - How to Deal With Temptation Wisely
When you face temptation, what is your first response? Is it immediately to rationalize what you know you're about to do and that is you're about to yield? Or is it to resist in the power of the Holy Spirit? When you think about the things that tempt you, what is the strongest temptation you have on a daily basis? That is day after day, what is it that gives you the most problem with your temptation? Would you say that you yield more often than you resist? What is it about that particular temptation that motivates you to want to give in no matter what the Word of God says about it?
I wonder if you've ever identified those particular areas of your life in which you know that you are vulnerable, most vulnerable in those areas. Or I wonder if you've ever thought about the times, the moments in your daily life when you're the most vulnerable. And the truth is, all of us have one or more weak areas we have to watch. All of us have those moments when we are less strong than we are at other times. How do you respond, and I wonder if you've ever even thought about the idea. And then the question comes, what is your reaction? Is your first reaction to blame God, someone else, your circumstance, who you are, your background, your past? Is your reaction to blame or is it that you're willing to assume responsibility realizing that nobody forced you, nobody made you yield to temptation, it was a choice that you made.
Well often times we get in trouble because we don't know how to deal with things. And one of the most important things we have to learn to deal with is temptation for the simple reason it's always going to be with us. And so what I want to talk about is "How to Deal with Temptation Wisely". Now listen carefully. I want to talk about simply two things. Number one, I want to talk about the fact that in order to deal with temptation wisely, there are some things I need to understand about temptation. And then secondly, in order to deal with it wisely I must build, listen, I must build a defense against those times of temptation.
So, I want you to turn if you will to First Corinthians chapter ten and I want us to read just the thirteenth verse which is loaded with truth. Listen to what he says in this awesome promise in verse thirteen: "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it". Now what he's saying is simply this. All the temptations that we face, we're not the first ones to face it, they're common to everybody. Then he says, "But God is faithful who will not allow you," listen, "who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what God knows you can bear".
That is, when you trust Him, rely upon Him to enable you to bear it. That would not be applicable to a person who's not a Christian. You're on your own. You're doing your own thing. You're living your life apart from God without God and therefore the only thing you've got to deal with your temptation is your own human strength and you already know by now that that is absolutely inadequate and insufficient, and you will falter and fall. God, he says, "God is faithful who will not let you be tempted beyond what you're able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape". Listen, "He'll make a way of escape so that you may be able to endure it".
He did not say He would remove it. Sometimes He will, sometimes He won't. And so with that in mind, I want us to think about how do you deal with temptation wisely? And the first thing we said is in order to deal with it wisely, we must understand some, some very simple things but very important things about temptation. And the first one is this. What is it? Temptation is really an enticement, listen, an enticement of our natural God-given desires to take them beyond God-given limits. For example, let's take the desire to eat. There's nothing wrong with food and nothing wrong with eating. Except God knows that there is a limitation upon what we should put into our body no matter what it may be. Likewise, there are sexual limitations.
There's nothing wrong with sex in itself as long as it is practiced within the confines of the will and plan and purpose of God. So that temptation is really taking those God-given desires and taking them beyond God-given boundaries. And once we do that, we not only sin against God, but we sin against ourself. The Bible says the world, the flesh, and the devil all tempt us. And you can look around and look at all the advertisements and all the things that are out there. The world is continually tempting us to buy this, buy that, get in debt. They'll make it easy for you to get in debt and sexual temptation and all the rest. Likewise, there's our own human flesh. We have the senses that God gave us. They're fallen senses and when we trust the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have the Holy Spirit to indwell us and enable us.
And yet in spite of that, they're still there. We still have our naturalness about us and then we have the devil to deal with. And you'll recall in the Garden of Eden the first temptation, there he was. You recall in the wilderness with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, there he was. The Bible says in First Thessalonians chapter three verse five, he is called the tempter. So the truth is it's an enticement of our natural God-given desires. And not only that, but these temptations, listen, these temptations work on that which is on the inside of us. Satan is involved and our flesh is involved, and the world is involved. And yet, when we look at the source of it, it's very simple. And yet very simple on the one hand, complicated on the other.
What is the source of it? We said the flesh is the source of it. The world's system is a source of it, and the devil is a source of it. The thing you and I have to do with it because we can't handle the devil. We can resist him. We can't control the world's system. It's gonna always be this way. But you and I have to deal with the flesh. That is, we have to deal with our own naturalness, those things about us, that which is on the inside of us, the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we handle ourselves. So, it's very simple. He says it is an enticement, the God-given desires, to take them beyond God-given boundaries. And it comes from within. We have to deal with it.
Now, what is the very nature of temptation itself? What is this all about? Well, you notice the scripture says, "It is common to all men". He says, listen, "No temptation is overtaken you but such as is common". That is, someone can say, "Well, you know what? It just not like this with everybody. I'm an exception". No, you're not. There's no such thing as being an exception to temptation. Every single one of us has to face different types of temptation in our daily life, week after week, month after month, year after year. Does this mean that you will always have to face the same temptation all the time with the same sense of difficulty and hardship? No, it does not. God can enable you, strengthen you and help you to overcome any and every temptation in life.
But let me say this. You can never reach the stage where you think, "Well, I'm so mature I can relax. I'm so spiritually minded now, I don't have to think about it anymore. I'm at this stage of my life now where it doesn't matter anymore". You'll never get to the stage where temptation dies. It'll always be there in one form or the other. Now, the things that tempt you may change in your life. And some of us could say, "You know, we've never been tempted by thus and so, never have been and never will be 'cause it is absolutely no attraction whatsoever". But on the other hand, those same things may tempt other people and absolutely bring them to destruction.
We all have those things that tempt us and try us. We all have those moments of weakness that we have to watch for and be careful about. And a person who says they don't, remember what Paul said here. He said, "Lest", he says, "Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest," he says, "that he does not fall". Now in the truth about the nature of it is this. It is simply saying when you and I yield to temptation, I want to get my needs met, my way in my own time. That is, it's something we want, when we want it, the way we want it, no matter what. And one thing for certain, it always comes in a form to entice us to do evil. That's the very nature of temptation. It is enticement in some form or fashion that is going to lead us to sin against God.
And if you'll think about what happens, it always strikes against our personal relationship with Him. That is, when we're tempted, Satan is tempting us to yield to temptation in order to do what? To get us in an estranged position from God. We don't feel His fellowship, we don't feel His love. We feel guilty, unworthy, we lose our sense of self-esteem. Something begins to damage our relationship to Him. And the end result, as far as Satan is concerned, is to enslave us. This is why when somebody says, "One drink won't hurt you. One affair won't destroy you. One this, one that, one the other".
But see, see temptation always begins with something as simple as a fine thread. That fine thread becomes a string and that string becomes a rope and that rope becomes a chain and you are enslaved. And some of you know as surely as I'm speaking that that's exactly what's happened to you. One shot in your arm. You thought it was just something fun. One drink at the bar you thought would never hurt you. One affair out yonder somewhere would do you no damage. And on and on. One theft would not put you in prison. And you could go on and on and on. One word of gossip about someone else just as a matter of joking, ultimately may end up to destroy someone else's life. Sometime it's the one.
You see, watch this. Deception is always Satan's ploy. He's always in the process of trying to deceive us into thinking that which is true is untrue and that which is not true is true. Always trying to deceive us. And so, when you think about how it's built, the very nature, the very nature of temptation is it's built on fantasy. Now fantasy is simply this. It is the capacity to imagine something that we want, something we want to do, some place we want to go, something we want to possess. It's the capacity within my mind to think about it. Listen, all temptation begins with a thought. Every temptation begins with a thought.
Now, the thought in itself may be wicked as the devil himself. It may be something totally out yonder that you think, "Where in the world did that come from"? Have you ever been down praying and have a bad thought? Well, if you sit there and tell me you haven't, more than likely and you don't pray. Because I want to tell you something, listen. When Paul, for example, when Paul was speaking here in Ephesians chapter six and he came to that last part, talking about the armor of God, he says, "Being strong in the Lord and putting on the whole armor," and so forth, and then listen to what he says. When he comes to... he finishes up by saying, "The helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God, with all prayer and petition with pray at all times in the Spirit".
You know what he's talking about? He knows that one of Satan's, listen, one of his choice times to attack us is when we're talking to God. And if I were the devil, that's what I would do. If you're getting too close to Him, attack. And so what can he do? He can bring, listen, he knows how to bring your past in front of you in your present to get you distracted and to feeling bad and unworthy and all the rest and wondering, "Oh, God, where in the world did this thought come from? Here I am talking to You and how am I thinking about this"? Satan is very subtle, very powerful. He can't make you do anything as a believer, but he can sure mess up your mind if you let him do it.
Now it all begins with a thought. And then, there's a fantasy. Ooh, what would that be like? Third, thirdly, a desire. Well, thinking about what it would be like to own that or have that or possess that. I have a desire. Desire brings me to a point of my will and that is I have the right to make a choice. And then comes the choice. And then I consent. And what that means is I choose to sin against God. It always begins with a thought, fantasize about it, desire it, comes to my will, I have to make a choice, and then I choose. I consent to do it or not to do it and that's sin. Now, with that in mind, that's what temptation's all about. That's understanding what it is.
Now we want to understand how, how do I defend myself against that kind of temptation? How do we build a defense mechanism? The first one is this. I've said this before but very important building a defense. Remember there's a divine control. Very important, I've said it five or six times. There's a divine control. God's put a control on it. If I'm gonna build a defense, I've got to know that my God is involved in defending me so He's put a limitation on what Satan can do in our life.
So, number one. Number two, determine, now watch this, determine to resist temptation in the power of the Holy Spirit. You say, "Well now, wait a minute". Watch this, I don't mean after you get into the heat of it. I don't mean when you're down the road ten miles into the middle of it. I'm saying before you are tempted, determine, "God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I choose to resist temptation. I choose to be obedient to You. I know I'm going to be tempted. I know I'll have to face that but I choose to be obedient to You. I choose to resist temptation. I cannot do it within my own strength. I'm choosing to do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. And You said He would enable me to live a godly life. So, I determine".
Step number two, I determine to resist that temptation no matter what it is. Three, number three, immediately focus on the big picture. When, when temptation comes, immediately focus on the big picture. We say, "You know what? Don't put a telephoto lens on. You'll get it right down so that that's all you think about is the pleasure, not the pain". So, number three is you want to focus on the big picture. Now, I want to give you some questions to ask under that point. You're focused on the big picture. In other words, you're not, you're not narrowed down to pure pleasure.
You're asking some questions. Number one, what, question you want to ask is this. Is this temptation a specific violation of the Word of God? Do I know this temptation is a violation of the scripture? Well what you've done, you've got God in on it again now and see, as far... when you have the big picture, you're not narrowed down to just pleasure and pleasure and no consequence. Now you're thinking about it wisely. Is there a specific scripture that tells me this is a violation of scripture? The second question you want to ask under that point is this. What are the consequences if I yield to this sin? What are the consequences if I yield to this temptation?
Now Satan's gonna say, "Aw, don't worry about the consequences". But remember we got the big picture in mind. We're seeing the whole landscape. We're not just looking at one little spot out there. We've got the wide angle lens on, we see the whole thing. And the whole issue is this. The issue is, is there a specific scripture? Is there a specific scripture in mind? Secondly, what are the consequences of yielding to this particular sin? Now, when we think about the consequences, what are the consequences now? What are the consequences in the future? What are the consequences to others? What are the consequences, listen. What are the consequences, now watch this, now, in the future, to the lives of others? And what are the consequences to my personal life if I yield to this temptation? Very important.
That's why you gotta keep the big picture because one of Satan's tactics is, "Get your mind off the consequences. Get it on pleasure. Get it off the consequences". But the big picture says, "I'm gonna ask these questions". All right, the third question under this issue of the big picture is this: Am I prepared to pay the price? Am I prepared to pay the price for this particular pleasure in life? When I look at the possible consequences, am I willing to pay that for this particular thing or pleasure? The next question under that is this. Is there some other way, a good way, a right way to get this need or this desire met in my life? Is there some other way?
And listen, whenever there's a need, no matter what it is, no matter what the desire is, if it's of God, He's going to show you how to have your need met the right way. It may not be exactly what you want, but you know what? That's not the issue. The issue is how do I get these needs met and still live a godly life? If I'm not interested in living a godly life, then go to it! But pay the consequence, pay the fare, it's gonna cost you. The consequences are terrible in some situations and circumstances.
Now, the next point is this, and that is, make yourself accountable to somebody. If you have an area that you're just weak in. You have an area that you know that you just have a difficult time. You just think, "I want to but I don't. I want to but I can't. I wish I could, I hope I do". Find, listen, some very, very loyal devoted friend of yours with whom you can share the deepest, most intimate things of your heart and say, "You know what? Here's an area of weakness in my life. And I need some help and what I need you, I need you to ask me how I'm doing. I need to know that I'm gonna have to tell you the truth about what I did or what I didn't do, what I had or what I didn't have, where I went, or where I didn't go". And I got a letter the other day from someone who had said to someone else in their business, "I want you to hold me accountable for this particular thing in my life". And he signed it.
Now that other person who is his friend is responsible to God for dealing with him. He's responsible to be honest. And when he's not honest, I think a real true genuine loyal friend, they can look at you and tell whether you're lying or not. So, if you're gonna use that point, which is very important, an accountable friend, more than likely they can tell whether you're lying or not. If you really want to overcome it, whatever it is, you make yourself accountable to somebody. That person can be a great help to you. But you've gotta be honest. You've got to want to be healed, want to be freed, want to be liberated, want to have victory in your life. And then another very, very important part, and that's this. That's the Word of God.
If you want to build a defense against temptation, if you will read this book every day. And you will talk to the Father every day. This book is like an anchor. Now listen. Let's say that this is the anchor. And it is a spiritual anchor. Well listen, as long as I am, that's the anchor and I'm chained to the anchor, I can only get arm's-length. That's as far as I can get. But you know what I decided? You know what? I don't particularly want that in my life. I can head out cross yonder somewhere. And that is exactly what happens to people. They get tempted and they don't understand what temptation's about. And they think they're horrible and terrible and just because they have thoughts of temptation, listen.
Here's the devil's lie. Watch this. Are you listening? Say, "Amen". Here's what he says. "You thought it, you might as well do it. Doing it is just as bad". In other words, thinking it's just as bad as doing it. No, it is not. That is a very deceptive, convincing, persuasive, entertaining lie of Satan. "Well, I've already thought it, I might as well do it". There's a lot of difference in thinking about shooting somebody and doing it. There's a lot of difference in thinking about stealing something from somebody and doing it. There's a lot of difference in thinking and doing.
So when Satan says, "You might as well". No, you might not as well. Here's the anchor. Because no matter what I'm facing in life, whatever the situation, whatever the circumstance, there's a passage of scripture in here that'll relate to it. And so what I want to do is I especially want to underline and mark those verses that relate to the area in which I am the weakest. Or, maybe the moments, that have something to do with the moments of which I'm weakest. Read the Psalms, listen to David talk about his temptations and his trials and his failures. Find those verses.
See, but you've got to stay in God's Word. And then, one of the wisest things you can do that's really helped me and helped a lot of people, and lot of folks have told me this. Before you wake up in the morning. Before you get out of the bed in the morning, you just say, "Lord, I want to put on the armor today". And if you don't know what the armor is, in the sixth chapter of the book of Ephesians, we talked about a few moments ago. And listen to what the armor is and you'll think about how God so beautifully designed Paul to do this. He didn't put it in this order, but this is the way I, this is the way I say it to myself. Put on the helmet of salvation that protects what I think. The breastplate of righteousness that protects my emotions.
My loins gird about with truth so that I'm walking in truth and not in error. I want to know the truth about things. Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I want to be a good messenger, not a bad messenger. I want to take the sword of the spirit. I want God's Word working in my heart during the day. I want to take, I want to take the shield of faith that so when one of those fiery darts of temptation comes, all I have to do is say, "Thank You Lord, that I don't have, that I can just send that one right on by. Just let that go right on by". And if some temptation hits you, you just say, "Lord, I let that go by. I choose to let that go by. I don't think, I'll just let that go by".
You don't have to stop the darts. Let 'em go by. And no matter how accurately Satan may fire them at you, you have the shield of faith. I want to show you something about that shield. You know, most people think of shields as being round shields like this. And the Romans and the Greeks had different kind of shields. The word of shield in Ephesians chapter six is, in the Greek is "thureos". It is a shield. It's the same word for door. It's one of those shields that is squared off and it's long and it was a shield so large that a Roman soldier could kneel down, and here's what they would do when they were being attacked by chariots.
Kneel down, put those shields over them and those chariots go right over them. Then they'd just stand up, turn around, fire away and shoot 'em in the back. But it wasn't some little round shield. It was a big shield. They could, it covered their whole body. He doesn't say, "Put that little round shield on you". No, he says, "In fact, above all else, the shield of faith," covered, listen, covered by your faith. You're trusting God to protect you. Trusting God to guide you through these times. And then, one last thing I would say. Affirm the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. He will enable you to do every single thing we've said. Because every single point is as scriptural as it can be, straight from the Word of God. It will help you no matter what you're facing in life.
That's the way you handle temptation wisely. You deal with it understanding what it's all about, how it works, where it came from, what it is, the nature of it, the distinction between that and trials. You understand that and then you build a defense. You build that defense mechanism and you watch God begin to give you victory in your life in ways that you have never known before. But let me say this to you. If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, do you know what that means? That means that Satan has so deceived you, here's what he's gotten you to believing. You don't need God. You don't need the church. You don't need the Bible.
All this stuff about Jesus, you don't need any of that. You're gonna live your life on your own. That is Satan's lie. He has you enslaved to a lie. And the lie is you don't need God. You don't need His Son, Jesus, and you don't need the Holy Spirit to enable you. That is a Satanic lie. But if you're not saved, he's conquered you with that. He's gotten you to believe that. You know what he's told you? He said, "Don't worry about the consequences. You die and that's the end of you". It's not the end of you. It's the other side of the beginning. And if you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you have been entrapped and enslaved and deceived by the lie of Satan, you don't need God.
And my friend, every single one of us need Him. You need Him now and you're gonna need Him for all eternity. And I want to encourage you to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sin, to acknowledge the fact that you've been deceived by the devil, that you need Him, that you're trusting Him as your Savior. You need Him in your life. You want to be set free to those things that have enslaved you and entrapped you and hindered you and destroying your life. You want Him in your life. You want Him to set you free. You cannot set yourself free. And He will do it if you let Him do it. And I want to encourage you to do that. You can simply pray this prayer:
Father, I never thought about being deceived by the devil. Father, I know that I've sinned against You. I know that I've had it my way or tried to have it my way. I do believe that Jesus died at the cross for my sins. I do believe it because the Bible says so. And I'm asking You to forgive me of my sins, the worst of all that I've been an unbeliever and I wanted to have it my way. I'm asking You to forgive me and I'm trusting You to save me on the basis of your promise that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
He will change your life if you'll let Him.
Father, how grateful we are we never have to make that offer and wonder how You're gonna respond because Your hand of grace, Your arm of grace, Your great unconditional love always reaches out to anybody, anywhere under any condition who's willing to cry out to You for help and forgiveness, cleansing, and salvation. And I thank You that every person who prays that prayer will the moment it's prayed be saved for all eternity, for we ask it in Jesus's name, amen.