Flee Temptation — Anton Bosch

And now and we're in Luke chapter 11. We're concluding on the model prayer in Luke chapter 11 this morning. And so let's read together the first four verses of Luke chapter 11. Luke 11 verse 1 now it came to pass as he was praying in a certain place when he ceased that one of his disciples Said to him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.

And so he said to them when you pray say our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins.

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. And so we're at the end of verse Four this morning do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

This is a Difficult verse again I Think that you've gathered by now that the Lord's prayer the model prayer is is not that easy. It's something that we say Globally and yet to understand what it says is a little bit more difficult and so do not lead us into temptation.

But deliver us from the evil one. These two ideas are obviously connected and not being in temptation and being delivered from The evil one or from evil. Some translations don't include the word one simply from the from evil.

The problem here is That God does not lead us into temptation and that's what makes Understanding the verse a little difficult. So I'm going to look at this issue of temptation very In fact most of this morning and I'm going to go to James which is the proof text on the subject James chapter 1 and verses 13 through 15.

James chapter 1 verse 13 Let no one say when he is tempted. I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted By evil nor does he himself tempt anyone. When we are tempted we can't blame it on God. There is a Doctrine which is very popular today that says that God is the author of evil that even when we sin God Causes us to sin.

God does not cause us to sin. James is very clear that God does not tempt us and James continues to give us the reasons why. So going back then to to Luke. The lead us not into temptation clearly does not Mean what it appears to mean and and and I I'm not undermining the scriptures.

But we need to understand what he is actually praying. What he is praying is not a is not a theological statement. What he is praying is a cry from the heart and and the cry is I Don't want to be tempted.

That really is if maybe if I had to write a modern translation, I would use those words. Please don't let me be tempted. Now we understand temptation is common to man. Temptation is something that every one of us face multiple times a day and So can we escape temptation?

No, obviously we cannot but at the same time I believe that it is good and it is right for us to call out to the Lord and Say Lord, please Spare me the temptation. Now let's talk about temptation then in James.

So so he cannot tempt. He doesn't tempt anyone and he cannot be tempted but each one Everyone is tempted. When he is drawn away by his own desires and Enticed. Now we Recognize also and I'm not going to go there because I don't want to use the little time we have To speak about the devil, but let me introduce that very quickly.

Obviously the devil is the one who attempts. You remember that in the garden in the wilderness Jesus is tempted by the devil. The problem is in that process. We end up blaming the devil for our own temptations many times.

You see the point is that if we don't find ourselves in in a place where we can be tempted then we cannot be tempted and I'll explain that as we as we go along. But it's because we expose ourselves. We open our ears to the devil and that he is able to to tempt us.

But at the end of the day, the responsibility is still ours. It becomes it becomes an easy out to say well it was the devil. I Have I've quoted that That old skit many times and only the older folk will probably remember it but look it up on YouTube, it's quite funny the the woman comes home and she's bought a new dress and And she says well, you know, it wasn't my fault.

I Went to the store and I I was just going to walk past. But the devil made me look in the window. I'm gonna come back to this idea in a moment, and I don't like preaching sermons based on stories but there's a very important lesson, even though this is a very cartoonish thing the devil made me look in the window and Then the devil made me go inside and Then the devil pulled a gun on me.

And he made me buy the dress now. I'm telling a long story in a few words. You didn't think I could do that, but I can See it's the devil's fault. It's easy for us to blame the devil. You remember this is this is the oldest excuse in the book literally.

Why Adam did you eat? Oh? It was the woman That you gave me. So he's blaming his wife and he's blaming God. You gave me the woman and she's the trouble so God it's your fault and Those in that doctrine which I made reference to earlier blame God For their sin, but the woman says it wasn't me.

It was the serpent. It's his fault and Right in in those in those two few verses is the whole picture. Adam did not accept responsibility for his sin. God had put him in that position. He said She doesn't accept responsibility.

It's the devil's fault. No, James says each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own Desires. The old King James says his own lusts. I Think desires is a better word here because we tend to associate lust only with sexual stuff.

This is not just sexual stuff. This is this is any sin and we are drawn away by our own desires and Enticed you see why you can blame the devil if you did not have a appetite for a particular kind of sin.

Then the devil could not tempt you with it. If you have no desire for a Bentley it's just not something that Moves you Doesn't do anything for you. A Bentley is just not a temptation but if you have a desire for a Ferrari and There's that built-in need for speed the devil will use those things and So it begins with my desires and So each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires.

Verse 15 then When desire has conceived can you see the picture the seed? Conceives. So the temptation plants the seed it conceives it produces fruit and It gives birth to Sin, and when it is full-grown.

So there's three phases here conception birth. Adulthood. When it is full-grown it brings forth death. That is the process of Spiritual or of any kind of sin now. I need to address something this morning, which is absolutely crucial and That is that we we and and I I hesitate to even say this and yet it is necessary because it is true and That is that temptation is not sin.

Jesus was tempted and He says that he was tempted in every point just as we are. Yet without sin. So the fact that he was tempted in the wilderness and he was tempted in the garden. He still went to the cross sinless.

Because he did not sin. Temptation is not sin. But here's the problem. Here's the problem because and I haven't told you anything that I don't think you you you know, you don't know you you know this.

Because I've said it many times other preachers say it all the time. Temptation is not sin, but here's the problem. Because I believe temptation is not sin. I will expose myself to temptation. I Will play with sin.

Remember the story of the woman who bought the dress. She walked past the store she put herself in a position of being tempted and From there on it was just downhill. Oh, but there's nothing wrong in looking.

Anyone who has gone to a car showroom and told the salesman. I'm just looking. Knows exactly what happens. You drive out with a car. That you didn't intend by. Oh, it's the salesman's fault. It's the sales manager's fault because they played this tag-team thing with me they pressurized me.

No, it began the moment you drove onto that lot. The moment you opened your door and entered the car dealership. That's where it started. Did you buy a car the moment you stopped in the parking lot of the car dealership?

No you didn't. But from there the results or the consequences were pretty inevitable. Believe me I've been there many times. And I don't learn. Folk temptation is not the problem. But it is when we expose ourselves to temptation That it becomes a problem.

The devil will find enough stuff and Occasions to tempt us. We don't have to help him in his work by putting ourselves in compromised positions and Yet we do this all the time. Those brothers who come out of drugs know That you can't even have a conversation with your homies.

Because that's where it begins. Oh, no, I you know, I haven't seen them for a while. I haven't seen my my homies for a while. Yeah, I just want to go and shoot the breeze with them. See how they're going.

See how they're doing. And you know how it goes from there so here's the here's the heart of what I believe. Jesus is saying. He's saying Lord help me to avoid temptation. We can't avoid every form of temptation.

But we can avoid probably 90 of the temptation that we expose ourselves to by the places we go by the things we think by the things we watch on the computer and on the on the on the devices on the tablet or the the cell phone that's where it begins and folk there is there is no man or woman who is strong enough that.

Once you allow the desire to conceive. In other words you allow the seed to take root. That you can stop the process. Once you allow the temptation to conceive Sin will result. The only the only way to prevent it and I don't want to get too graphic, but this is the this is the picture that he is using here is Abstinence you understand what I'm saying.

That's the only way to prevent sin from conceiving and that is not to dabble with Temptation. You remember the story of Samson? How he played with sin. Oh. You know I can I can deal with this I can handle it.

I'm not gonna sin. I'm just going to. I'm just going to enjoy the the company of these women just a little bit. Now we're not going to go to bed. We're just going to talk and we know how that ended. You remember David.

Where did that begin? The day he should have gone to war. I love that scripture. It was war season. I can't imagine such a thing. It was war season. It was a time to go to war and David says no, I'm not going to go to war.

I'll send the generals they can go and fight the battle. I'm I'll just stay here. That's where it began and The next step was instead of doing something constructive with his day. He spends his day sleeping, and he wakes up in the late afternoon.

Tired of sleeping and he begins to look around. Walking on the roof of his palace, and he sees Bathsheba you see here's the thing. He was leading himself into temptation. You can see in the story that there are a whole bunch of steps at which the process could have stopped.

And at which he could have walked away. Even after he sent his generals off to war he could have repented and said that's not this is not the right thing for me to do. I Need to be in the battle and he could have saddled up his horse or his chariot, and he could have gone out to war and Even if he stayed home.

He could have kept himself busy with the affairs of state and Done a job, but instead he sleeps all day. And then he wakes up and again instead of praying. Instead of singing a psalm remember he wrote all these wonderful psalms.

He goes and he has a look around. And he's looking for something to do and he sees her it could have stopped at that point. But he says no. Call her. It's not in the Bible, but I imagine that that David's intentions were good saying well I you know I just want to have dinner with her.

We'll just talk and we know where the next step goes and then he murders her husband. Can you see the the process of desire conceiving and giving birth. All along the way he could have stopped the process multiple times.

I've never counted, but probably six times in this hole in this whole sequence of events. He could have walked away, but he goes to the next step the next step the next step. Until eventually it ends up in murder and adultery obviously.

See the scripture promises that he will not test us Beyond what we are able, but with the temptation provide a way of escape. It doesn't mean that he's going to take the temptation away. But he provides for David a way of escape.

The way of escape for David would have been to go to war. The way of escape would have been the moment he looked over the wall, and he saw the woman to turn away and To go back into the palace and go and do something else.

But he continues to look and I believe that what Jesus is saying is father. Help me. And of course it doesn't apply to Jesus as much as it does to us, but help me. To not be in temptation. Specifically when it is my own cause my own fault that I'm in temptation.

When I've created my own environment. And folk I don't know how. How to impress this upon you that this is absolutely critical. We have seen in these last months the sordid story of Ravi Zacharias play out before our eyes.

I'm not going to get into the story if you don't know it. Then it's better. You don't know the story. But it's a terrible story. It's one of the saddest and darkest days in all of Christian history and it began when he exposed himself to temptation.

When he set himself up with telephones with cell phones and with computers that no one else had access to. When he closed the door between but behind him and a woman who was not his wife. And not just one but 200 or more folk we must learn and Not one of us is beyond what what he has done in the same week in The same week there's been an expose of one of the other international preachers.

That is well known to all of us. Who preaches against money preachers and yet he's been exposed? For his own greed earning millions upon millions. Folks, there is no one of us who is beyond temptation.

There is no one of us who can stand. Once we find ourselves in that position where we are compromised. Father don't lead me in that position. Father or help me to to be to turn around. Before it's too late and folk these are practical real things.

And I want to urge you to Examine your life. Examine the things that you do and Doing and and and look to what degree those things expose you to temptation. Many of you know I Never go to the beach. I Go to the mountains, and there's a reason for that.

Because when I go to the beach I see things I ought not to see. And so all my life. I've avoided the beach as far as I possibly can. And you said there's nothing wrong with going to the beach. Then how can I pray father don't lead me into temptation when I put myself in a position where I see things I ought not to be looking upon.

Whether it's sex or whether it's money or whether it's power or whatever it is anger greed. If you have a problem with greed. Stop watching home shopping Network. Stop going to amazon .com. Oh I'm just gonna look.

Yeah, right. And I'm sure your intentions are good just to look. But when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin. The wages of sin is death. When sin has matured it brings forth death. Father don't lead me into temptation.

And folk I'm concerned that many of us pray, and we say Lord. Please help me not to sin. Lord, please help me to live a holy life. I'm sure that many of us cry pray that. But do we pray and say Lord help me not to put myself in a position where I am tempted.

And I believe we should be praying this every day and say Lord help me lead me in the paths of righteousness. Lead me away from temptation. But more than just lead me help me to hear your voice. I Am absolutely positive that when David stood on that on the parapets of his of his palace.

And he looked down that there was a voice in his deep down in his heart saying David don't do it. God's Spirit was within him. He was a man who had a relationship with God and God's Spirit told him don't go there.

But David ignored the voice of the Spirit and Listened to the voice of the flesh. Father don't lead me. Father lead me into righteousness. But more than that Lord give me the grace to hear your voice and to obey your voice.

Just by the way. Look I this is not this is not theological this needs to be real practical living. As I said a little earlier you need to go back and look at how you order your life. What programs do you watch on television?

What? Websites do you visit on your computer or on your cell phone? Who are your friends? Where do you go? Where do you spend your time? And I believe that every one of us will find areas where we expose ourselves to temptation by those things and From a practical point of view those who are married.

There is no way you should have a device whether it's a cell phone or a tablet or a computer that your husband or your wife does not have all of your passwords to. Now I know this is shocking. But that is our protection if you have secrets from your husband or your wife.

You're exposing yourself to temptation. If there are things that you are watching on your computer or your phone that you don't want your husband or your wife to know about. You're in trouble. Not with her but with the Lord.

Because you're leading yourself into temptation and I know that you say well, that's that's invasive. No, it's not and I am NOT a legalist. I Don't make rules and laws but folks this is necessary for us if we're going to protect ourselves and Incidentally this applies to your children also.

We know about the young boy this last week who died. Because his parents weren't watching what he was doing on his computer. They thought they were watching but they weren't if you're paying for the cell phone or the computer of your child.

You need to have access to that device and you need to be watching what they're doing and where they're going. Oh, this is an invasion of privacy. No, it's not an invasion of privacy. It is protection and that mother and father who grieving for their boy that they have to bury a.

Very liberal people. But they're saying we failed. Because we didn't watch. We thought the problem was out there. When in fact the problem is on the computer and The drug dealer came to the door. So we are our brothers keeper and one of the things that is common to all of these preachers.

And and and here's the problem with the preachers is because they do it. Every Christian says well if they do it I can do it also. No, you cannot. But the problem is that they are not accountable. They're accountable to no one.

Yes. They have boards. But the boards are filled with their own family members and their own employees. Who are beholden to them and who will not speak the truth to them because their paycheck is dependent.

Every one of us needs to be holding ourselves accountable To someone and it's not so that they can pry into our business. But if you know that somebody is going to look at what you've looked at on your on your device.

You won't go there. It's as simple as that. I know there are ways around it. If you want to be devious you will be devious and you'll find a way to to to beat the system. But that's on you. But if your prayer is father don't lead me into temptation.

You will be an open book on your computers and your devices on every area of your life. Accountable. Because we are our brothers keeper. We are there to protect one another. We are there to help one another to not be led into temptation.

And for the reality is as a pastor, I cannot keep you from doing what you want to do. There are people who do stuff that I'm deeply grieved over and That I know that this will come to pass that in the end.

Their sin will produce fruit and it will be terrible fruit. But I can't force them. I cannot force you. I cannot force anyone to do the right thing. You must make the decisions. You must say father. I don't want to be led astray.

I want to be a. I want to live a holy life. I want to please you. I want to stand before you on that day and hear those words. Well done good and faithful servant. Lead us not into temptation and Deliver us from the evil one he cannot deliver you if You willfully sold yourself to the devil if you willfully entered into a deal with the devil.

To eat the fruit that is forbidden. He can't help you. Because you've exercised your free will. Proverbs chapter 6 verse 27. Quoted this many times. Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes?

Not be burnt. There are people here this morning. There are others watching who are playing with fire. This is real and You think you can put fire inside of you open your shirt and put fire in there? And it's gonna be fine.

You cannot take fire into your bosom. You cannot play with sin. You cannot play with temptation and think you're gonna not be burnt. You will be burnt and I've had breath brothers and sisters come to me and say brother.

Why didn't you warn me? I warned you but you didn't want to listen and I'm warning you again this morning and I'm pleading with you. Don't set yourself up for the fall. Don't set yourself up for temptation.

Flee temptation to Timothy 2 22 easy to remember flee. Youthful lusts. The problem is While he's writing to a young man youthful lusts is not just a problem for young men and young women. It's a problem for everyone.

Those things never go away. Flee them. But pursue Righteousness so the answer is not just not to be led into temptation. The answer is like David had to do is go back and do what you were called to do.

Pursue right chase after righteousness pursue righteousness. Don't pursue youthful lusts. You remember the story of Joseph as his boss's wife Tried to ensnare him. I Believe the young man was upright.

I don't believe that he put himself in a in a compromised position. And when the temptation came He ran for his life. He ran for his life and This is the problem is I'm not seeing Christians. I'm not seeing pastors and preachers running for their lives fleeing From temptation fleeing from youthful lusts.

But we play with it and we think that we'll not be burnt. Let me emphasize the answer is not just staying out of trouble. The answer is doing what you ought to be doing. Because if you don't do what you should be doing The temptation will come again.

Do not lead us into temptation. But deliver us from the evil one. Can this be our prayer? Father Help me not to lead myself into temptation. Father help me To not expose myself to temptation. Set me free folk there is only.

There's only one way this can be done and that is walking Dependent on him day by day Moment by moment recognizing the weakness of our flesh. Recognizing that within every one of us there is nothing good except what Christ has put in there.

Recognizing that Unless he keeps us unless the Lord keep the house. They that keep watch keep watch in vain. But as we walk dependent upon him. And I don't want to introduce a whole other subject. We've spoken about walking in the spirit and not in the flesh.

Listening to what the spirit is saying listening to what God is saying doing and obeying him and not listening to what the flesh Has to say that is the answer. Father we pray that you'd help us Lord we are weak.

Lord there is there is not one of us and Lord we've seen in these last weeks. We've seen in these last years men who we esteem to be great men of God for In the most terrible ways and Lord none of us are beyond that.

So I pray Lord that you'd help us. That we may pray this prayer on a daily basis father. Don't lead me into temptation, but more Lord help me not to put myself into temptation. But deliver us from the evil one.

Create within us Lord a desire and a hunger and a thirst for righteousness for being right before you. And Lord even though we may be able to hide things from Even our spouses and our families we cannot hide things from you.

So Lord help us to be upright before you in everything that we think and everything that we do. That we might please you Lord that we may overcome Even as Jesus overcame Lord. I know there are there are folk here this morning, and there are those who are watching.

Who is struggling in areas of their lives? Lord I pray for them. I pray that you would give them victory. Pray Lord that you to help them. To recognize the way in which they put themselves in harm's way.

And Lord that in that process they may find in you their sufficiency. I Pray Lord that this may be real. Lord that you would help us. The father of all help us to not just go away and to get busy with the rest of our life for the rest of today.

But Lord that your word may Penetrate into our hearts and Lord that unlike sin that that conceives and produces death. We pray Lord that your word would be conceived in our hearts and produce eternal life.

And so Lord help us to cherish your word. And Lord as a seed is taken as we protect it and nourish it until it has grown and it becomes a strong tree. We pray Lord that we may protect and guard your word lest we sin against you.

We ask this in Jesus name. I pray that you'd go with us now. Lord keep us protect us bring us together again safely on Thursday and Sunday. Lord we pray for those who can't be here because they're working.

We pray that you would Minister to them and strengthen them where they are. We ask these things in Jesus name Amen.