...from the desk of Rande Wayne Smith D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

Battlegrounds - 6

THE DEVIL DIDN’T MAKE YOU DO IT

The Proverbs 5:1-14

My child, pay attention and listen to my wisdom and insight. Then you will know how to behave properly, and your words will show that you have knowledge. The lips of another man’s wife may be as sweet as honey and her kisses as smooth as olive oil, but when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain. She will take you down to the world of the dead; the road she walks is the road to death.
She does not stay on the road to life; but wanders off, and does not realize what is happening.

Now listen to me, sons, and never forget what I am saying. Keep away from such a woman! Don’t even go near her door! If you do, others will gain the respect that you once had, and you will die young at the hands of merciless people. Yes, strangers will take all your wealth, and what you have worked for will belong to someone else. You will lie groaning on your deathbed, your flesh and muscles being eaten away, and you will say, “Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me? I wouldn’t listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them. And suddenly I found myself publicly disgraced.”
 

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion to His glory and our edification.  Amen.

“The Devil made me do it” is the excuse we sometimes use when we give in to a temptation … like eating too much chocolate. “The Devil made me do it!”

And while we may laugh at that, the truth is that excuse isn’t accurate … most of the time anyway. And that’s what I want to talk about this morning, in this 6th message on the battlefields of our life … temptation, and how we face it.

Temptation is a word with such broad connotations and is so flippantly used that we hardly recognize its’ meaning anymore. Let me suggest a word picture … the concept of temptation usually implies something which is probably bad but nevertheless looks quite attractive. And for the sake of our discussion this morning, let’s use this definition.

The experience of temptation is the attraction of a person on an instinctual, emotional, or intellectual basis to something which at the moment appears to be quite appealing but which in the final analysis will be both displeasing to God and destructive to the person.

And there isn’t a single human being who hasn’t faced temptation on the “battleground” that we’ve been talking about. Temptations range from the smallest to the largest magnitudes with equally varying consequences.
What they all have in common is at the moment of inception, they seem to be incredibly promising in terms of bringing pleasure, power, things, and recognition.

Scripture is full of stories about those who faced temptation and lost. Virtually every book of the Bible could be used as a source for teaching and warning about the struggles of temptation. This morning we’re going to look at 2.

The Corinthian Christians were facing all kinds of temptations. And a study of Paul’s letters to them indicates that they had a very poor track record when it came to victories. They had allowed themselves to fall into the temptations of pride, immorality, competition, and a host of other things which were slowly tearing the church fellowship apart.
It’s in the midst of this inter-church strife that Paul writes a letter.

Paul begins the 10th chapter looking at ancient Israel … the spiritual ancestors of the Corinthians … and the great status and privilege they received from Jehovah. But in spite of all that God gave, Israel repeatedly dropped the ball.

Among their most notable failures were idolatry (temptation to include other gods in their worship), immorality (temptation to unfaithfulness in marriage commitments), and complaining (temptation to blame God and others for their problems).

As Paul describes this shabby page from Israel’s history, he makes a point that the Corinthians need to think about.
“All these things happened to them as examples for others, and they were written down as a warning for us. For we live at a time when the end is about to come.

“If you think you are standing firm you had better be careful that you do not fall. Every temptation that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the temptation, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.”

Paul’s warning us that if we don’t take temptation and its’ consequences seriously we’re just a foot from the spiritual grave.
The Corinthians didn’t understand the fire that they were playing with. Paul tells them to take a hard look at history. It shouldn’t be too difficult to see what happens when people think they are “scotch-guarded” against sin.

Now in this passage is a promise that most of us have heard, and even claimed. “(God) will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the temptation, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.”

When I 1st came to faith I was told to memorize that verse because it would be an “escape route” from my temptation experiences. I was given the impression that there was something magical in the verse.
That God would appear out of the dust, like the Lone Ranger, at the very moment of maximum danger and pull off some kind of amazing spiritual rescue. But I soon became confused, frankly, when on several occasions God didn’t “rescue” me. It was then that I began to ask myself about the real meaning of Paul’s promise.

Let’s quickly take the verse apart. It makes 3 basic points.

The 1st is that temptations are normal. “Corinthians,” Paul is saying, “don’t get the dumb idea that you’re facing struggles and problems which are unique to you alone. You aren’t in any special battle or conflict that scores of other people haven’t faced long before you arrived on the scene. Temptation is as normal as your appetite, and just as common.”
The 2nd point Paul makes … God is faithful. He has provided a restraining mechanism in the Christian life which will never allow us to face forces of evil within or without that could potentially destroy us. “Nothing,” Paul wrote to the Romans “will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus.”

Nothing … no force of temptation is great enough. So don’t panic about facing spiritual enemies which seem so powerful. They can’t destroy you.

The final point is that temptation can be escaped. God has given us “strength to endure” and will “provide (us) with a way out.” This “strength to endure” comes long before temptation ever begins to rear its’ head.
The “strength to endure” comes through spiritual “body-building,” conditioning, and sensitivity as to what is coming.

The 5th chapter of The Proverbs is an interesting place to see this all unfold. It includes a classic temptation situation, and how it should be dealt with. It’s written in language that’s clear and direct.

The writer, Solomon, discusses an age-old confrontation between a young man and a “loose” woman. He begins the same way the Apostle Paul did … “pay attention and listen.”

Then he describes the source of temptation: this woman whose lips are “as sweet as honey” and “kisses as smooth as olive oil.”
We can look at this passage in 2 ways: the specific situation … sexual temptation … but it’s also the general pattern which fits all temptation. The woman is a personification of all temptations which seem at the moment … by our beginning definition … to be appealing.

Solomon says 2 things about her attraction: her lips and her kisses. Along with those the young man is inundated with seductive words. He’s told how handsome he is, how much he deserves what she has to offer, how enjoyable it will be, and probably, how everyone else is doing it.

Solomon continues on with a hard fact conclusion. “But when it is all over, she leaves you nothing but bitterness and pain.”
Look at those 6 words … “but when it is all over.” They’re incredibly significant. The characterization in the beginning describes the woman in the present; everything after describes her (remember the definition) in the final analysis.

“But when it is all over ….” Christians look at life in terms of the end. That’s one of the basic ministries of The Holy Spirit when He enters our lives. He brings to our spirits the eyes of God, and He begins to help us see things as they will be.

When you can only see life in the “now” you make certain decisions. But when you can see things “in the end” … you make better decisions. For example, how many of us have said, “if I knew then, what I know now, I wouldn’t have done that.”
Do you think there’s anybody who has money in the stock market today, who if they knew 6 months ago, what they know now, wouldn’t have done some things differently?

Would David have committed adultery with Bathsheba if he had seen the end? Eve’s decision-making at the tree is clearly illustrative. Her emotions, her intellect, and her appetites all told her RIGHT NOW that to eat was a good idea.

Her spirit … to which she did not listen … would have shown her the things “when they were all over.” But she chose to reject that input.

“When it is all over” the lips that were “as sweet as honey” left “nothing but bitterness.”
The “kisses as smooth as olive oil” caused “pain.” Notice the contrasts … a big difference … when it is all over.

Someone gives my wife a box of chocolates. When I select one (covered with white chocolate, I do so in hope that it will be solid or have peanuts in it. I bite into it and find the white chocolate covers coconut. I hate coconut. Yucky coconut covered by 1/16 inch of white chocolate. Why would anybody do that?

Temptation is like that: it is a yucky ending thinly covered by an attractive present. That’s what the young man in The Proverbs was about to discover.

Solomon says that this woman’s pathway is spiraling downward; she doesn’t have purpose in life.
And what’s worse … she doesn’t even know how much spiritual trouble she’s headed for. She’s ignorant of her own ending.

That’s temptation personified. It gives no thought of tomorrow; no sense of the long-range; no comprehension of where things are going; no indication that it even knows or cares.

Having said all this … what’s the “strength to endure” which Paul speaks about? The 5th chapter of The Proverbs gives an interesting set of answers.

Basically the paragraph describes the anguish of person who gave into temptation. He’s now hypothetically looking back over his life and reaping the consequences.
In the case of this young man he gave his name and honor to others … namely, the loose woman. He spent his most intimate and personal hours with someone who really didn’t care for anything but his money. It was synthetic passion and love. He was drained of his vitality and his strength. He gave away the fruit of his labor, his income, to someone who just wanted to exploit him.

Finally, at the end of his life his spirit and body are wasted. He has no values, no shame, no self-respect, not even his health. Just a string of “nows” where there was a lot of “fun.” But the “end result” is miserable.

How did he get into such a mess? And it’s here that I want to center my attention for our final segment of study. What I see here is a step-by-step escape route from temptation.

There are 5 points of escape, each building on the preceding one. The 1st shows this young man … in his failure … at the point of ruin in the congregation … the body of people committed to God and His purposes. And that’s the 1st point in the Scriptural escape route.

#1 commitment to a congregation. Once we become Christians and are “indwelt” by The Holy Spirit, we become part of the people of God. God gives us a group of Christian brothers and sisters with whom we must have fellowship. You and I cannot be triumphant Christians if we choose a lonely, individualistic life. We cannot be triumphant and effective if all of our friends are unbelievers.
We can’t make it if our only touch with things of faith is one hour on a Sunday morning.

The 1st deterrent to temptation is to be with strong Christian people in fellowship. Paul says that we’re to “drawn together in love.” The writer of the Hebrews says, “let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.”

Out of fellowship comes spiritual strength … just being with other believers as frequently as possible.

#2 submission to spiritual superiors. In retrospect, this man says, “I chose not to listen to my teachers … those who could have helped me, warned me, and shown me better ways.”
Every one of us has got to submit ourselves on occasion to spiritual superiors.

Every one of us has got to have men and women to whom we will listen when they point up areas in our lives where trouble lurks. This man wouldn’t … and it virtually destroyed him.

#3 willingness to take criticism. This principle piggybacks on the previous point, but it’s worth mentioning separately. Some Christians find it hard to accept criticism of their ways and styles. They are supersensitive, defensive, and snarl back in counter-attack.

We have to learn to accept the counsel of those who see things that we may not see.
Children can find this help in their parents; Christian friends in one another … when wisdom is sought. This man couldn’t take reproof.

Apparently someone saw him with this woman and pointed out the end result … but he wouldn’t listen. Let’s stop right now for a moment of prayerful meditation: “Holy Spirit, am I listening to your reproof? Do I hear the loving, yet rebuking words of other believers?”

#4 achievement of self-discipline. Here’s the ability to say “no” to any part of our being which seeks to pursue something which “in the end” will be destructive.

A child’s curiosity tempts him/her to strike a match.
But the nervous system soon informs the inner-being that the decision was a painful one … fire hurts. And from that point on, self-discipline takes over. A child has learned to say “no” to himself/herself.

But can we say “no” to the temptations of immorality, self-indulgence, covetousness, lust, and pride as well as a host of other things? It’s a daily exercise that we must condition ourselves to experience without letup. And it comes from being filled with The Holy Spirit and being with other Christians.

#5 keeping away from the door. I’m back to the misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13. Most of us start right here … at the door.
We think that God will snatch us away when we stand at the door of temptation. He probably won’t.

His escape route comes during the 1st 4 points. If those are in motion, the automatic consequence is that we won’t go near the door of temptation’s house. Through the 1st 4 we begin to develop an ability to see the “doors” long before we get to them. When they appear on the horizon, we make a wide detour about them.

Peter writes, “From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God’s will and not human desires.” He’s saying the same thing Solomon was saying. Be part of Christ’s people and Christ’s way and there won’t be a desire to go to the door.
Don’t go near to the door! Stay away from environments, people, circumstances in which your weaknesses will be tested.

Take a look at Joseph. Under terrible temptation, he ran from Potiphar’s wife’s offer. He wasn’t going near the door. That’s the kind of escape that God offers.

No, the Devil never made you and me do anything. Those things done which are displeasing to God and destructive to us, we did ourselves. No one else is to blame. We get tempted through things which appeared to be smooth and tasty. But in the end we were disarmed. There are escape routes on the battlefield of temptation. And tomorrow’s routes are being walked today.
 

MARANA THA