HOW TO RESIST TEMPTATION
INTRODUCTION:
1. This morning, I am going to present a lesson on the subject
of temptation.
2. The Bible teaches that we are all tempted to sin. No one is
immune from temptation.
INTRODUCTION:
In 1986, Gordon MacDonald, who at that time was the president
of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, was asked the question: “If
Satan were to blow you out of the water how do you think he
would do it?"
Mr. MacDonald said, “I’m not sure I know, all sorts of ways, I
suppose; but I know there’s one way he wouldn’t get me. “He’d
never get me in the area of my personal relationships with my
family. That’s one place where I have no doubt I’m strong as
you can get.”
Within two years of making that statement, this admirable and
respectable Christian leader was a broken man. He had
committed adultery against his wife and nearly lost everything
he had.
3. Satan, who is called the tempter (Mt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5), is out
to get us. He doesn’t care how spiritual we are, or how
secure we are in our Christian homes; he is going to tempt us
to sin hoping to lead us away from God and our families.
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BRETHREN, SINCE WE KNOW SATAN
IS OUT TO GET US, WE BETTER BE
PREPARED FOR HIS ATTACKS. WE
MUST LEARN HOW TO OVERCOME
TEMPTATION.
THIS MORNING, I AM GOING TO OFFER
THREE POINTS ON HOW WE CAN
RESIST TEMPTATION.
I.
FIRST, TO RESIST TEMPTATION,
WE MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT
TEMPTATION IS.
1. What is temptation? Temptation is an enticement or an
allurement to sin against the will of God.
2. James explains temptation this way:
 (Jam. 1:13-15) “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting
me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone;
but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged
away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
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3. These verses teach several things about temptation.
a. First, God does not tempt us to sin, in fact, (1 Cor. 10:13)
explains that God provides us with a way out of temptation.
God allows us to be tempted in order to refine our faith and
to help us grow in our dependence upon Him.
b. Second, temptation in of itself is not sin. Jesus was tempted,
however, He was without sin. Temptation only becomes sin
when we give into the temptation.
4. Let me try to explain the process of temptation with a
personal illustration.
ILLUSTRATION:
When I was in 5th grade, I rode in a bicycle competition. The
rules were very simple. If you complete five miles, you won a lot
of prizes.
About 2 miles into the race, I realized that I didn’t want to
complete the race (I was tired), however, I wanted the prizes.
Then I heard a little voice in my head say, "Keith, turn around,
take a short cut, go to the finish line and pretend that you rode
all 5 miles."
At that point the temptation to lie was planted. James called it
the evil desire. If I would have said no to that temptation it
would not have been a sin.
Next, I heard a little voice say, "Keith you deserve those prizes.
No one will ever know that you cheated." At that point I was
being, as James put it, dragged away and enticed.
Then, I rode to the finished line, received applause from the
crowd, and picked up my prizes and went home. At that point I
gave birth to sin.
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5. Temptation is a process.
a. Temptation starts with a harmless thought or desire that
entices us to do something that we are not supposed to do.
b. Next the initial thought is then entertained and explored. We
contemplate committing the sin.
c. And then after entertaining the thought, we commit the act of
sin to fulfill our cravings and desires.
6. Here is another example of how temptation works:
a. In the early chapters of Genesis, Eve was given the desire to
eat the fruit, which God had forbidden her to do.
(1) We, likewise, are constantly bombarded with desires to
commit sin.
(a) We are tempted to lie on our income taxes.
(b) We are tempted to get angry and seek revenge upon our
enemies.
(c) We are tempted to lust after other human beings.
(d) All of us are flooded with desires to commit sin.
b. Next Eve entertained the thought--if I eat the fruit I will gain
wisdom and be like God. She justified the sin.
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(1) We also entertain tempting thoughts so that we can justify or
rationalize committing the sinful act. We say things like:
(a) Everybody’s doing it.
(b) No one’s perfect.
(c) God will forgive me, so I might as well do it.
(d) God wants me to have a little fun.
(e) I didn’t know it was wrong.
(f) When we are tempted to sin, we entertain the desire and
think of the benefits of the sin.
c. Then after spending some time thinking about it, Eve
committed the sin. Right after committing the sin, both Adam
and Eve hid from God.
(1) After we commit sin, Satan wants us to feel so guilty that we
alienate ourselves from God. And when we alienate
ourselves from God, it will produce spiritual death--the type
of spiritual death James talked about.
7. Brethren, if we are going to conquer temptation we must stop
the temptation from going past the first stage. We are all
going to have tempting thoughts and desires, however, we
must not entertain those thoughts. If we do, then chances
are we will commit the sin.
8. So far, we have noticed to resist temptation, we must first
know what temptation is.
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II.
SECOND, TO RESIST
TEMPTATION, WE MUST
PREDETERMINE IN OUR MINDS
THAT WE WILL NOT GIVE IN TO
THE TEMPTATION AND SIN
AGAINST GOD.
1. No matter how desirable, alluring, appealing, tantalizing, or
inviting the sin may be, we must not commit it. We cannot
get suckered into Satan’s web of deceit. Nothing in this
world is worth our souls, or our godly reputations.
2. We must say "no" to the temptation; we must say “no” to sin!
ILLUSTRATION:
In (Gen. 39), Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to go to bed with
her.
 The Bible says in (Gen. 39:6-8) “Now Joseph was well-built and
handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph
and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused.
How did this young and handsome man resist should a
temptation?
 The answer is in verse 9: “My master has withheld nothing from me
except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a
wicked thing and sin against God?”
Joseph predetermined in his mind that he would not commit
such a sin against God.
3. To resist temptation, we must predetermine in our minds not
to sin against God.
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III. THIRD, TO RESIST TEMPTATION,
WE MUST RELY UPON THE
STRENGTH OF GOD.
1. In the Scriptures, we are told time and time again to rely upon
God’s strength to fight off temptation.
 (Eph. 6:10-11) “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against
the devil’s schemes.”
ILLUSTRATION:
Sometime back, the Denver Post reported this story: Like many
sheep ranchers in the West, Lexy Lowler has tried just about
everything to stop crafty coyotes from killing her sheep. She
has used odor sprays, electric fences, and scare-coyotes. She
has slept with her lambs during the summer and has placed
battery-operated radios near them. She has corralled them at
night, herded them at day. But the southern Montana rancher
has lost scores of lambs—fifty last year alone.
Then she discovered the llama—the aggressive, funny-looking,
afraid-of-nothing llama…. “Llamas don’t appear to be afraid of
anything,” she said. “When they see something, they put their
head up and walk straight toward it. That is aggressive
behavior as far as the coyote is concerned, and they won’t have
anything to do with that…Coyotes are opportunists, and llamas
take that opportunity away.”
2. When Satan attacks us with his devilish schemes, we must
not fight him alone. We to send the llama to help. We must
send God to get rid of him.
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3. When we are tempted, we need to go immediately to God in
prayer and ask Him to help us resist the urge to commit the
sin.
CONCLUSION:
1. Brethren, everyday we battle temptation, and at times we lose
the battle. But we must keep fighting and fighting to defeat it.
2. The Bible tells us that we can resist temptation.
3. How?
4. To resist temptation…
a. We must understand what temptation is.
b. We must predetermine in our minds that we will not give into
the temptation and sin against God.
c. We must rely upon the strength of God to help us overcome
temptation.
5. This morning, if you have been losing the battle with
temptation, come forward and ask God to help you. With the
Lord's help, you can conquer Satan and the temptations that
he throws at you. If you are subject to the Lord's invitation,
please come now as we stand and sing.
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