Tempted....Only a Little
A transcript So for your amusement. Here goes... Tempted�Only A Little 2 Corinthians 2:11 You know I�ve been thinking a lot about how Satan gains an advantage in our lives those little toe holds that don�t seem like a big deal to us but if given time grow until we are overcome by all the little things he puts in our path. Paul finds the people at Corinth on the Position of allowing Satan in among them by way of those small and seemingly unimportant things. (2 Corinthians 2:11) 9: For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10: To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11: Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. Hal Lindsey wrote a book that sold over a million copies. It is called, Satan Is Alive And Well On Planet Earth. In and it sold to an amazing cross section of Americans Christians and non-Christians alike. It is definitely a subject of interest but as time passes we the Church tend to speak of Satan less and less we are not comfortable with the idea, or maybe we don�t want to scare people away with all this unpleasant talk about good and evil. Heaven and Hell. I think t is time that we hear more about our adversary Lucifer, the beautiful one, cast down due to his own arrogance. I have no doubt that we are engaged in a struggle between good and evil. If you need proof that this is reality just pick up any newspaper or turn on the evening news. Both are overflowing with graphic blow by blow accounts of terror, violence and human depravity every evil thing you can think of can be found on display under the heading of World News, but what I find most frightening as the days of my life move to completion is when is appears in the local section. We think that He is only at work else where not where I live, not in my house�And absolutely and positively not in me Why is that you reckon? What has gone wrong? I reckon that�s what I�m going try to get into today. It is us you me the whole of the world. Humanity has jumped the track and headed off in our own direction. No one to blame but us. Within every human being, there is a propensity to do evil. God calls this sin. His word tells us this is sin. We all struggle with sin. Many people do not think that sin is even real that it is a man made constraint. Something to take the fun out of life. Therefore they cannot and do not sin. (one who says they are without sin is a liar) But there must be more to this�there has to be some driving force behind the intensity of evil. There must be some power pushing our culture toward Godlessness and destruction. Satan is indeed alive and well on planet Earth and he has a plan and a goal to corrupt every good thing he can! Is it possible for us to know how he operates? Yes. We are told in 2 Corinthians 2:11 11: Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. KJV� If we rely on the truth of God�s word we will be prepared and able spot of the schemes of the devil. The devil has an MO (Modus Operandi) unchanging since the beginning of time. We are not at his mercy reading and being in God�s Word can show us Satan�s tactics and tricks then we can combat his influence in our lives. He loves temptation he loves to tempt us so that he may draw us away from God and to destroy us. Are we familiar enough with how Satan uses temptation to break our relationship with God? Let�s examine his strategy during the first temptation recorded on the pages of Scripture. (Genesis 3:1-6) 1: Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. We can see a great deal when we read that passage. Learning his methods from this the first temptation. It reveals a bunch of clues as to how Satan works�what his schemes really are. Satan is a crafty fellow. He ain�t a cartoon version of evil no silly creature dressed up in a red suit with a pointed tail. He is much harder than that to spot He can and will approach appearing just like one of us. He will use slick words and even scripture to convince you that he is anything other than what he is. His attack will be sophisticated and subtle. See how he approached Eve. He directed his offer primarily to the intellect the place where our pride makes its home. He began by sowing a little doubt�doubt about exactly what God had told them. God had given His Word to Adam and Eve. His Word was their guidance. His Word was the only defense they would have needed in this situation, but instead it became the avenue of Satan�s persuasion. He wants all of us to have our doubts about God and His Word. Satan used a three-pronged attack. First was that he challenged authority of God�s Word. The first words Satan uttered were, " Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" or to boil it down �."How do you know that God really said it? Were you there when God gave this Word?" When Eve replied, she misquoted the Word of God and, in fact, She added to it. Right there Satan knew then that he was on the right course. By questioning the authority of God�s Word, he also questioned its truth�.., If she couldn�t be sure God really said what He had said, then how could she trust that it was true? Maybe something had been lost in the translation when Adam had communicated that word to her. Finally, he cast doubt on the acceptability of the Word which God had supposedly given. Then as he does even today, He sought to redirect her thinking�away from what God had said and onto her and get her thinking about what was good for her. He set out to appeal to her selfish desires and focus her gaze, not on the goodness of God, but rather on her own self-interest. So, he attacked of God�s integrity. He declared that God had an ulterior motive for what He had said and that God was trying to keep something from them something that would make them happy. He said, " Ye shall not surely die!� : For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. " So, we see that Satan was not only sowing doubt, he was also issuing a denial that God�s Word was true in the first place. These are Satan�s big guns�Doubt and denial. These are the tools he uses. Denial follows closely upon doubt. Once the prince of lies�has convinced you that God cannot be trusted. You�re trapped Now we have delusion. He wants to bring a delusion to God�s people. In this case, he told Eve that she and Adam would be like God. But he will tell us anything we want to hear. He doesn�t care what the delusion is, as long as it draws us away from God�s truth. What happened in this first temptation is What happens today. His plan was to turn a look into a lust, a desire into a decision, a choice into a chain, and a sinner into a seducer. Each was a step away from God. Temptation comes in a from every direction. Through the eyes. In 1 John 2:16 we are told of "the lust of the eyes." When Eve�s look became her want it became a lust, Satan had conned her to take the first step. �She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat�. Now that desire turned into a decision. She took that the second step. Satan did not force her, she made decision to eat from the tree. He will tempt us, but we you and I make the final decision. Then she ate, the third step�..She made a choice and created a chain of events and the Satan had her just where he wanted her. She had been snared by the devil. Then she gave it to Adam. She had been turned into a seducer doing Satan�s work for him. Satan desires not only to corrupt us, but to use us in seducing others. His strategy was covert. He almost never mounts a frontal assault, because we might see that coming. He uses subtlety to entrap us even before we become aware that we snared. He seeks to cause us to doubt the authority, accuracy and acceptability of God�s Word. He seeks to deny the power of God�s Word and loves it when we detract from it to suit our own human reasoning. He intends delude us into accepting a lie instead of the Word of truth. He attacks our mind sidetracking our very thoughts. Our minds are the battleground where he seeks our defeat. If he can influence the way we think about God and His Word, he can then influence our behavior. This is a good strategy this distract and mislead works almost without fail in Chess. How we set up a defense against this strategy? Well, we might begin by saying that it is important for us to understand several general truths concerning temptation. Firstly, we must understand that the source of temptation is Satan, not God. James 1:13 says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, �I am being tempted by God�; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt any one." God is not the author or source of temptation, Satan is. Secondly, the power of temptation is found in our desires. James 1:14 says, "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." If we were not enticed, we would find temptation powerless. The word, "enticed" is actually a fishing term. It means "to be lured by bait." The bait is the deception that entices us to take be taken in all it takes is a just like a fish once we hit that bait�After that, it�s too late you�ve been taken in. Something we must understand about temptation that there is a way out. In other words, no temptation is irresistible. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we read, KJV 13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. From the NIV "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, that you may be able to endure it." God always provides the way of escape. Having said that, let�s look how we can handle temptation and defeating Satan�s strategy. 1. We must be aware of his strategy. Remember, we are told in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we are not ignorant of his schemes. Although the first half of this message has been devoted to an examination of Satan�s strategy, it is so easy to forget what you�ve heard. Remind yourself to think about how Satan works. Unless you are consciously aware of his strategy you will be caught off guard he a slick operator and he is good at making you think that he has your best interest in mind. 2. We have to keep out eyes open for his attacks. Don�t you think that you are somehow exempt from the attacks of the enemy because you have accepted Jesus Christ. Far from being exempt, now you are a prime target! Therefore, be ready! 1 Peter 5:8 says, 8: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: He will come will come. And often when we least expect Him. He will come when we are weak. He will come when we are down. Be ready for Him. In fact, know that is when he will come. Do not be surprised not be surprised by the attack. Stay in the Word and you will be able to recognize his work for what it is. 3. our minds are the area of the enemy�s attack, we must find ways to protect them from his influence. 2 Corinthians 11:3 3: But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. In 1 Peter 1:13 we read, "Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Our minds must be protected from the influence of the enemy as he seeks to lead us away from the truth of God�s Word. As it says in Romans 12:2, our minds need to be renewed if we are to be transformed by God. Where we focus our minds will determine how vulnerable we are to temptation. If we allow the devil to influence how we think about God, we will find ourselves taking one step after another away from Him. 4. We must realize our limitations. The quickest way to fall into temptation is to think that you are above it. Immediately before the verse on temptation in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is verse 12, which says, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." NIV We are all just ordinary regular people, and given the right situation this as ordinary people we can and often do yield to temptation. Many people, who thought that it could never happen to them, have wondered. How they ended up the mess they are standing in right now. If you do not really and truly look to God to lead you. Then are better able can avoid his many guises and traps. 5. We are certainly in warfare. Our enemy is powerful. But we have access to weaponry which is more powerful than he. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every though captive to the obedience of Christ." God has given us powerful weapons to enable us to bring our minds in line with His truth. Satan attacks us at the point of our intellect, sowing doubt and delusion. But by the power of the weapons we have been given we can destroy these invasion of our minds As we depend upon God�s resources, we can defeat Satan�s schemes. So, the next time He decides to come at you, see it for what it is, refuse to be a victim of his tricks and lies. Instead, resist! As it says in Ephesians 6:11, 11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The NIV uses the schemes of the devil." If he can cause you to doubt those, closest to you for one second�he will�he will watch as you �One born of the blood�fall into despair. But we don�t have to fight this battle alone Christ went to the cross for us He will not abandon us to go any of this alone�But in all the choices I�ve talked about I haven�t mentioned that the most important one is to chose to reach out for your Savior� He is waiting to take you under his wing giving you the strength and protection you, in your time of temptation and need. Father, Keep us safe form the world let us be conformed to your will to trust you in every way. Keep you hand upon our shoulder and our face toward you. In the Name of the Father and Of the Son and Of the Holy Ghost Amen
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