Preparing for Temptation

Introduction

Good morning. Oh, we’re awake. How many of you this morning have at one point or another in your life move from one place to another? If I can get a show of hands. That’s good because I know you got here somehow. Okay. Now, in that move, in the process of going from one place to the other, what did you do? Did you say, well, we’re gonna, we found our house, so we’re gonna move in to this place. And the move-in date is July 1st. Did you wait till June 30th and say, okay, we better round everything up and get in the truck and go? Did you move in July 1st and say, we’re gonna let it go? We’re gonna let what happens happen. I’m surprised no one’s shaking their head violently, no.

Because we know it takes a lot of effort to move. There’s packing to be done. There’s the place of consideration of how to get there, what you’re going to be doing once you’re there, you have to pack up all the boxes, you have to unpack all the boxes, you have to store the boxes. There’s a lot of boxes involved here. There’s a lot that goes into planning a move. And so, of course, if I were to ask you for advice, and I were to say, I’m about to move, should I wait until the week before? Do you think that’s something I could do? Hopefully, the advice I get from my wise counselors here would be no. Do not. No matter what you do, do not wait.

And we get that because there’s a lot to do. There’s planning that has to be done in order for everything to work out right, or at least as best as it can. So this morning, I’d like to start a series of lessons, which will be completed in July, as I’m preaching every two or three weeks, about something we all face. Something that each and every one of us, whether you are this tall or you are this tall. Something that takes effort. Something that causes pain. But also something that we can learn from more than just about any other. This morning we’re going to talk about the eye of temptation and more specifically this morning, what to do before you are in the storm of temptation. Over the next two lessons, we will then look at during temptation what it is we should be doing, and of course, after.

What do we do with success or failure? What does God want from us? Because after all, just with packing up and moving from one house and unpacking into the next, we understand as human beings that tough situations require planning. So if you will, open your Bibles with me this morning is Psalm chapter 101. Psalm chapter 101. And before we read, I want to make one more point about temptation. This morning, the main point, if you take anything away from this morning’s lesson, I’m going to give it to you right now. Plan for temptation. It will come. It’s not a matter of if, it is a matter of when and when alone. We must plan. As if we are going to battle. We would not be happy with our U.S.

military if they just dropped in somewhere or dropped into our home city if we were under siege, under attack, to defend us. We would be furious. We would be upset.

Brothers and sisters, we are going to battle, so therefore we must have a battle plan. Read with me, David’s in Psalm chapter 101, beginning in verse 1. I will sing of steadfast love and justice. To you, O Lord, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house. I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me. I will know nothing of evil. This morning we’re going to look at four things that David outlines in his preparation for temptation here in Psalm chapter 101.

1. Keep First Things First

And the first one, most ironically, is to keep first things first. Look at verse 1, one more time. I will sing of steadfast love and justice. To you, O Lord, I will make music. What does David do first? In this Psalm, just like he does in almost any other, in almost any type of conversation he has with God. He starts by praising him. Now this is huge. This is big for three reasons. First of all, God deserves it. Look at Psalm chapter 100. Psalm chapter 100, and beginning in verse 3. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are His. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name, for the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever. God deserves our praise, and we know that. A second part of why this praise is so necessary for us in our preparing for temptation is it grows our faith in Him while keeping us humble. After all, in James chapter 4 and verse 10, the wisdom literature there says, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you. And finally, it allows us to remember God. What does David call out here in verse 1? God’s steadfast love and his justice. And verse 3, that God, it is God who made us, we are his. We are his people. Praise God for that wonderful blessing. That will help us prepare.

If you don’t think it will, think about this perspective with me. If when you wake up in the morning, you not only pray to God and ask him for help with your day, but you praise him for being our deliverer, for being your fortress, for being the Almighty God. That should give you comfort. That that God, as we’ll talk about later, is on our side. That there is nothing through the course of the day that can pull you down. And whether you’re in the calm before the storm of temptation or you’re right there in the thick of it, God is with you. God is great and almighty. And because of that, that should give us courage to stand up for what is right, to stand up through the thick and the thin of the day.

Secondly, and perhaps most practically, allow me to ask you a question. When was the last time that you faced a temptation and you stopped? At a time you could. I understand we can’t always stop and just get down on our knees and pray. But the last time that you sat on your knees and you prayed to God and praised him in the moment of temptation. How often when you’ve done that have you still fallen short? My guess is that on occasion, I know from my life and probably from the number here, it’s happened to everyone here, still stumbled on occasion despite praying to God in the moment, despite praising him. But let me tell you this. I guarantee that will lower your chances of falling. Because it raises your chances of being connected with the God who can pull you through.

Look with me in Psalm chapter 119.

Psalm chapter 119 and verse 164. Don’t worry, we’re just not reading the whole, even most of Psalm 119. Psalm 119, just 164 and 165. Talk about praising God, praising God, praising God. Let’s see what David says. Beginning in verse 164 of Psalm 119, seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules. Great peace have those who love your law. Nothing can make them stumble. David praises God seven times a day. Why, though, verse 165? Great peace have those who love your law. Nothing can make them stumble. David understood praising God is at the core of not only our faith, but our success and fulfilling our faith into actions and not falling to the storm of temptation. But of course, looking back at Psalm chapter 101 with me now in verse 2, we understand David moved on.

2. Ponder the Way That Is Blameless

It was not just a one-point plan, as convenient as that would be. In Psalm chapter 101, verse 2, we’re introduced to the second tenet of David’s temptation plan. He says, I will ponder the way that is blameless. Now, this verse here has an interesting translational rift, excuse me. A lot of the earlier translations suggest that David is saying he will behave in a perfect way, behave in a blameless way. The New American Standard version says he will give heed to. The English Standard Version says I will ponder. Let me suggest that those are one and the same. Because if you think about it, to act, you have to decide first. Whether consciously or subconsciously, you have to make the decision.

Let’s start by talking about pondering the blameless way, the rendering of the English Standard Version. Let me ask you. How often do you think about striving for perfection? How often do you think about being perfect in a way other than I can’t? Because I’ve got to tell you, I, at least for one, and probably most of us here, think about the sinful way a lot. We think about avoiding sin. We think about the disaster that comes with sin, and we certainly think about the eternal punishment associated with disobedience to our God. And we think about that a lot. But how often do we think about the perfect way? The blameless way, the blessings of obedience, the wonderful eternal reward God gives us if we submit our will to his.

How often do we consider those things? I’m afraid that too often we say tragic things like this. Well, we all sin anyway. I’m just human. The Bible says in Romans 3 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and I certainly am one of the all. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 10. If we say we have not sinned, in fact, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Or how about this, which I have actually heard before. Don’t worry. After all, we all sin all the time. I certainly understand that there is a place and time for these thoughts. But allow me to say, once and for all, brothers and sisters, we must be very careful with when we choose to use these.

After all, we all sin all the time. What? If that is true, we have a lot of work to do. More so than even just saying we have a lot to do to be perfect. We have even more because we have to come out of the hole that says sinning is okay, and we should expect to do it all the time. Brothers and sisters, we need to stop sinning all the time. If that’s our attitude, we will never make it. We must be like David and ponder the blameless way. We need to look at our lives the way he did, the biblical way. God’s way is for us to trust in him. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13. It says, No temptation has overtaken you that is common that is not common to man.

For God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you well may be able to endure it. The biblical way says that we can do it. That you can be more than this wretched, sinful being. And the minute we’ve thought that, brothers and sisters, we’ve lost. It’s over. Satan has you in his hand eating the apple he’s holding out to you. God is there for us. God teaches that. He will never desert us nor allow us into an inescapable, sinful conclusion. But what this means for us in our planning is to remember that we can do it. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 13, Paul says, I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Let me ask you another question. Do you believe that? Do we believe that we can, in fact, do all things through God and Christ who will strengthen us and be our fortress and our deliverers? Because if we don’t, if we say we all sin all the time, that’s just the way it is, we are doubting the power of God that says we can do all things through him. It is one way or the other. And it’s all a mindset. That’s why this is part of our preparation for before the eye of temptation. We need to realize that our mindset dictates our actions. Think about this. I’m a big sports junkie. One of my favorite times of year is March. And in March, you have the NCAA tournament where you have, well, now there’s 68 to 72 teams.

They’re adding teams every year, but it used to be 64 teams. And you have some teams that you’ve never heard of, and I gotta tell you, if I haven’t heard of you and you play sports, that is a talent. Because I watch Sports Center a lot. Okay, we had a college this past year named Florida Gulf Coast. Half the people that they reported went to a different college’s website because no one was familiar with it when what they typed in about it, they got a different actual college. This Florida Gulf Coast was a 15-seed. For those of you who don’t know, you ranked one through 16 in four different brackets. That means this team was essentially ranked out of 64, 59, 58. It beat a two-seed.

The number five through eight team. It won the next round. And it kept winning. It wasn’t an accident. That team didn’t show up and say, well, man, Goliath is over there. We’re probably going to lose. But it’s okay. I mean, we look at the track record. Only two number two seeds or number 15 seeds have ever beaten a number 15 seed. So if we lose, it’s great. No. They were convinced they could win. We could do it. They had confidence in their coach, in their scheme, in their individual abilities and talents that were God given, mind you. And they put it together. They worked together much like we can work together as a family, and they overcame the Goliath in their way. They overcame all the statistics that said, you can’t do it.

And you know what? They did it. They did it two times. They did it two or three or four times until they met, of course, Florida, and then they took them out and into that.

We will never overcome temptation if we approach it with a defeatist attitude. And that sounds great, and it makes sense that we just need to accept that. But until we truly believe in that, and we truly allow that to penetrate our heart, allow God to work from within us and know that we can, in fact, do all things through him who strengthens us, we will never overcome that. We won’t be able to stand through the eye of temptation if we don’t understand that we should ponder the blameless way. Focus on being perfect, as some of the older renderings given. That leads to David’s next point. Look in Psalm chapter 101, back in verse 2. And I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh, when will you come to me?

3. I Will Walk With Integrity of Heart

I will walk with integrity of heart within my house. Here, David makes an assurance. I will walk with integrity. It reminds me a lot of Joshua in chapter 24 and verse 15, when he’s talking to the people of Israel. And he says, You can do what you want. Here’s what’s right. As for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord. We will walk with integrity. Brothers and sisters, the ability to withstand the storm of temptation lies squarely on our decision to stand and our belief that we can, in fact, do it. Let me ask you. When David and Joshua said this, when they say these types of things, we’re going to stand up for what’s right, we’re going to serve the Lord. Were they committing to being perfect the rest of their life?

No. We know that. We know, of course, David, and we’re going to look at momentarily. David fell short. Ironically, in one of the ways that he says in Psalm 101 is a way to overcome temptation. I can tell you this: they did pretty good. We can say all we want to David and Joshua weren’t perfect, but brothers and sisters, I would love to be and have a heart like David, who has a heart after God, or a heart like Joshua, who is a follower and intense disciple of God’s law and God’s will. It’s just like with a battle. When we need a good battle plan, we need to decide in advance what our stance on the temptation is if we wish to remain standing. And furthermore, it means we have to anticipate what our individual temptation is.

Let me ask you a question to keep in your own minds. This week, starting even tomorrow, I’ll give you a password today. Starting tomorrow. What is Satan going to put in your path? What is Satan going to try to drag you away from God with this week? Keeping that in mind, make up your mind today, right now, what your stance will be. Look at Genesis chapter 39. There’s two great examples in the Bible of setting your mind on something. The first is Daniel, who set his mind in Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8, to not defile himself with the food and the wine of the king’s court. But this morning I’d like to look quickly at the example of Joseph. In Genesis chapter 39, beginning in verse 6.

So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge. And because of him he had no concern about anything but the food that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and in appearance. And after a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me. But he refused and said to his master’s wife, Behold, because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house. And he has put everything that he has in my charge. He’s not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

So we get the picture here. Joseph is being tempted to lie with Potiphar’s wife day after day. This is a very compromising position to be in. But Joseph knows it. Joseph had to have set himself to God. He says, How can I create, how can I commit this great wickedness and sin against God? He had his priority straight. He had predetermined how he was going to react to the sin he knew was going to be tempted and laid out in front of him. So what does he do? In verse 11 and 12. But one day when he went into the when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me.

She had him now. She literally has him now. But the text says, but he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. Joseph knew what he was going to do before it happened, and it didn’t matter what Satan threw at him. She had him by her hand. He was willing to throw it off and run out to avoid sin. Do we think about those circumstances even half as much as Joseph certainly would have had to to do that? Let me ask you, those of you who are in school. Do you anticipate that people are going to ask you to be cheating? Do you anticipate that people are going to be talking about things, gossiping and things of other lascivious nature that have no business being around Christian ears or Christian conducts?

Do you have a plan for that? Everyone else before work? Do you think about what your struggles will be that day? Who you’re going to encounter that day, what could happen that day, what you’re going to say to your spouse, what looming money battle, what looming whatever battle you have in your house is coming, do you consider what you’re going to do when the moment gets heated and the word start flying faster than your brain does? Or do we wait until it’s too late? If we wait until the moment to decide what our exact stand will be, that is exactly what the great deceiver wants. He wants to look at the sin, to see its appeal, to look at how fun, exciting, how good it will make you feel to let those words out, to put them in their place, to be disrespectful, to say things that are rude and cut down others.

How enticing and how joyous it will be to once and for all show him what he’s been showing you? And in so doing, in examining the very thing that Satan wants, we are trashing our precious God given soul in the exact same process. The minute we have given temptation, even a moment of thought or consideration as to whether or not it’s okay this one time, we have likely lost. There is no recourse from sin. Joseph knew fornication was wrong. Case closed, the decision was made. Lying is wrong. Case closed, no exceptions. Rude, hurtful words are wrong. Case closed. Cheating is wrong. There is no decision to be made. There is no exception to be found or to be had. Who we are and how we live is a direct, 100% derivative of our hearts.

And our heart is all about preparing. Look with me quickly in Matthew chapter 12.

In Matthew chapter 12 and verse 33. Jesus says, either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good. And the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Careless words. Brothers and sisters, that’s the words that we don’t even give full thought to.

Because the time for thought is before the temptation happens. We must decide to do what David did, to walk with integrity of heart before our God, and to do it as he says in his own home first, to do it in private as well as public. Because I think we understand that it’s somewhat easier to be a Christian in public. When we’re difficult to control our own thoughts and our own actions, even when we’re in the privacy of our own home. If we can master our heart and walk with integrity, as much as in private as in public, we will push Satan right back down to where he belongs and get him out of our life for the day or for the moment. And finally, one final point this morning.

4. Nothing Worthless Before My Eyes

David says in Psalm chapter 101 and verse 3 and 4, I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me. I will know nothing of evil. David says two important things here. What does it say in verse 3? He will have nothing worthless before his eyes. At the end of verse 4, I will know nothing of evil. Regarding the first, it’s likely he’s talking about idolatry. But I think all of us are aware from 2 Samuel chapter 11 and verses 1 through 5. It is David’s eyes and seeing something that is evil before his eyes, or allowing himself to see something that is worthless, at least to him, that allowed him to slip away from being the man of God he otherwise was in the majority of the time.

David put himself and allowed himself to be put in front of evil. Brothers and sisters, it’s hard enough to avoid the temptation Satan throws in our path. We don’t need to be in paths where it’s littered with it. That just doesn’t make sense. If we’re trying to be children of God, stay on the path of light where you know what’s coming. Don’t venture off into the darkness and hope that your Christianity and your resolve to obey God is strong enough because Satan’s resolve to get you away will likely overpower you. That’s the way it works. We have to be prepared. David put something worthless, sin, before his eyes, and he was not prepared for it. The moment, the passion, the lust, the allure, the exciting Satan’s offering that Satan was putting before him, like we just talked about, got David, the man after God’s own heart.

But how different is David’s reaction to this circumstance from that of Joseph’s. How different is it? Joseph knew. Joseph was determined. He knew that Potiphar’s wife was coming after him day after day. And so he made the plans according to what he knew was going to happen. Because just like with Joseph, and just like with David, there is no excuse or middle ground. You have either stuck to the guns of our God, or you have forfeited your faith and your soul to go after what Satan offers you. Professor at Florida College writes in a book, Nathan Ward. Temptation is not an extreme sport. We’re not supposed to go out and test just how far we can be pushed before sin overtakes us. Like a wave, sometimes that even professional surfers will run away from.

Those are out there. And most of us are not professional surfers. And if it scares them, I can’t even stand on a surfboard. It frightens me. We can’t allow ourselves to be allowing our faith to be tested on our own. Let Satan come after us. Prepare for when you know it’s coming. Don’t try to add to your impressive Christian resume of overcoming temptation because eventually there’s going to be some blemishes. We need to be proactive in eliminating the temptations from our lives. David says, I will know nothing of evil. What does that mean? David knew where evil was, and he would eliminate as much as humanly possible. If it’s internet surfing, television watching, being around people who are idly just talking about things and people for the sake of talking, or simply not proactively spending enough time in service to God, we are allowing cracks in our armor that Satan is getting us with.

It’s not just that he wouldn’t put anything before him, but that he would know the difference of evil and good. In Romans chapter 12, verse 9, Paul writes, Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, and cling to what is good. In preparing for our battle, do we truly hate Satan? Do we truly hate all that he is, all that he offers? And do we even hate the sin that he offers us that should be fleshly enticing because we attach the eternal destruction that’s associated with it? Because if we don’t, we’re not going to make it. Because the storm of temptation, brothers and sisters, is coming. And if you’re not in it now, it’s about to come hard soon. I promise you. Stand firm. Stand right and make a plan to stand up.

Conclusion

Because that’s the only way you’ll still be standing there when the storm of temptation comes. If you’re here this morning and you realize that the storm of temptation has beaten you down, and that you need to work with your Christian family here, we can work with you, pray for you, study with you. Or maybe you realize that you haven’t been fully in obedience with God. You don’t have the Lord, the deliverer, the fortress on your side that God prayed to and praised accordingly. If you we can do anything for you at this moment in time, come forward now as we stand and as we sing our invitation song.