Have You Not Read S1:E26

Welcome to Have You Not Read, a podcast seeking to answer questions from the text of Scripture for the honor of Christ and the edification of the Saints. Before we dig into our topic, we humbly ask you to rate, review, and share the.

Podcast. Thank you. I'm Dylan Hamilton and with me are Michael Durham and Andrew Hudson. Today we're handling a question that came in to us from one of our listeners. The question reads, what are the best ways to avoid the temptations of man?

Michael, you want to start us off? Sure. This is a great question. I think.

That any follower of Christ who has spent any time at all thinking about how best to follow Jesus and how to be in right relationship with the Lord, to enjoy the fellowship and communion with their Savior, they want to avoid temptation.

They want to strike out against the recurring sinful patterns in their life. And I find it interesting, the question itself, Dylan, did I hear correctly that the question is how to avoid, the best way to avoid the.

Temptation of man? Is that what they said? Yeah, what are the best ways to avoid the.

Temptations of man? That pertain to a man? Is that what we're taking it as? That pertain to men? Maybe. Well, let's take it in the broadest sense. We'll take it in terms of mankind. Yeah, everyone who was born in Adam.

And as those who are born again by the spirit of the second Adam, we do have promised help to fight against and to endure through temptation. And I think that the question itself is actually looking for possibly a step before, right?

We have some passages that talk to us about how to fight in the midst of temptation, what to do when we realize that we are tempted, that we are being tempted. How about avoiding it altogether? Now, we can't necessarily avoid all temptation, okay?

Why do we say that? Because we're led along by our own deceitful desires. Our own deceitful desires. That is absolutely correct. Now, there are temptations that come from the enemy, there's temptation that comes from the world and the system of rebellion against God that of course is pushed along and invigorated by the enemy.

But whereas we can avoid temptations that come in in those senses, there are temptations that arise from within us that impact us before we have an opportunity to avoid them. Why do I say that? Let's go ahead and clear that up in James chapter 1.

In James chapter 1 we have a blessing in verse 12. James 1 verse 12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.

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. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived my beloved brethren. So when we hear that description we see that it is first of all wrong for us to say that the temptation that we now endure and are undergoing is God tempting us.

I don't know of anyone who's ever actually perhaps said that but here's how it works into the believers approach and a wrong approach. Considering the reality of the sovereignty of God and every believer, every Christian believes in the sovereignty of God whether they would admit it or not because it's either you know God is fully governing and shepherding this event in my life or it's God has every capacity to fully govern and shepherd this event in my life but he's intentionally carefully not doing so.

In which case he's still controlling everything. Right. Okay. Passively permitting. Either way, either way the believer is at some point having to acknowledge the sovereignty of God over the situation.

Here's the temptation within the temptation. Okay. Which is to say that well this is hopeless you know if God is bringing this about or if God's not helping me here either way whatever you want to put it then you know throw up the hands and who knows.

What can I do? What can I do? So let no one say that. Don't allow that very often unspoken unarticulated self-deception to remain. No resist that. Recognize that this temptation, this temptation occurred because your own desires are enticing you.

Meaning that there is a corrupted desire that emerges and works upon your will. It it's like a leaking dike. It does not hold back the water. It seeps through and then comes before your attention and now what do you do?

You didn't ask for this. You didn't necessarily go searching for this but all of a sudden it is here. Now I think upon reflection that most believers would recognize this and there's a lot of questions that get generated by this.

Is it as a demons afflicting me? Is it I didn't live my last seven days in perfect holiness? My my holiness regimen wasn't up to par thus this has somehow... It's like a discipline? Right yeah this has somehow got through.

I didn't do you know I didn't take all my spiritual vitamins and so on. People struggle with this okay. Why is this in my head? Where does this come from? And James says well you know it's this the old old old word is concupiscence.

It's a it's a lustful desire that works upon your will before your will is ever engaged and it is something to be resisted. It is sin which only by the grace of God may be mortified and we must war against it to be sure but it's not it's not possible in this life as believers to avoid all temptation because even if we can avoid the temptations of the world and even if we can avoid avoid temptations that come direct from the enemy and just like we see the devil tempting Christ in the wilderness okay even if we could avoid all of that we still have desires that work within us upon our will.

Now given the other types of temptations what's the best way to avoid those? I think that's a good question. It's not necessarily about you know what do you do in the temptation which of course is a valid concern a valid question but if we limit ourselves to that consideration then we're then we're missing some potential of fighting against sin.

It's also a bailing water moment sometimes as well right you're already in the boat it's already sinking right let's bail water. Yes so here is some counsel from a father to a son about avoiding the temptations of man.

What's the best way to avoid the temptations of man? If we read Proverbs 7 we have an extended picture about a fool a simple youth a man devoid of understanding and we read in Proverbs 7 verse 8 that this young man with no understanding passed along the street near her house.

This her is already identified in verse 5 the immoral woman the seductress that flatters with her mouth and verse 9 is in the twilight in the evening in the black and dark night. Now let's just be honest it's night and this is the corner next to the harlot's house so not only is this young man devoid of understanding but he's also stupid.

Biblically speaking. Biblically speaking. Biblically stupid. Now what does the father say to the son and of course he lays all the whole disaster out for his son how it all ends up. Now he says in verse 25 do not let your heart turn aside to her ways.

Now you've got to be in control of your heart you got to say to your heart okay you follow me as I apply principles of wisdom all right this is the anti-Disney message you don't follow your heart you tell your heart what to do.

Do not stray into her paths. This is this is so antithetical to the vision of what humanity is today slaves to our passions and if anybody is telling us that we shouldn't do what we are passionate about if anybody were to tell us that we shouldn't just do whatever comes into our hearts and heads then they are tyrannical.

Or probably a bigot of some sort. Exactly. Now he just says do not let your heart turn aside to her ways do not stray into her paths. So what was the best way to avoid well recognize where the temptations are most prevalent and avoid them.

That is not an unchrist-like thing to do that's not unchristian that's not unbiblical. We're not supposed to go to places where we know there's going to be all kinds of temptations to lead us astray in the name of Christ or we're gonna go you know we're gonna go to we're gonna go to this strip bar you know for Jesus.

Well Jesus certainly didn't call you there. Right. Yeah that's what did Joseph do? He fled. Joseph's a pretty wise guy wasn't he? Pretty wise man. You could say that. Yeah and when it came down to it he ran right he got out of there and this is one of the best ways to avoid the temptations of man is to recognize where those temptations are and when they manifest flee.

This is very this is very biblical and that's not the only not the only way. What else could we say biblically about avoiding the temptations that are common to man. We.

Talked about fleeing and I think that's a common thing but it's I think Paul lays it out for Timothy in 1st Timothy 6 to flee towards something. It's not just a fleeing away of one thing it's fleeing towards something as well.

Excellent. Not just running from danger but fleeing to safety. Yes and that would.

Be or actually fleeing to the fight because we think sometimes in these things we're we're fleeing or we're there to feel safe about our sin. We should flee to fight against it and 1st Timothy 6 9. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things you man of God. And then directly after that it says what and pursue righteousness godliness faith love perseverance and gentleness we are fleeing.

And it also says you know it's fight the good fight of faith after that. So it's fleeing towards a fight. And it should be a faithful fight towards these things rather than a flee just from one thing to another one bad thing.

To another bad thing. Another passage that helps us here is Jesus with his disciples after the Last Supper on the night of his arrest. In Matthew 26 he has called his disciples to come with him to the Garden of Gethsemane for a time of prayer.

And he has asked the disciples to pray as he went off to pray but he comes back to them he finds them sleeping. And this is in Matthew 26 verse 40. And he says to Peter what could you not watch with me one hour.

Verse 41. This is important for our question. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. So there needs to be a recognition about the fact that God has made us in his image that he has made us as his special creature.

We are spirit and flesh. You know God designed us to be together as a whole spirit and flesh together. And Jesus says the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. Now that second half of the verse has become very much an aphorism.

It's a bumper sticker kind of thing. Lost meaning. It's almost lost its context. In this meaning it's right but it is something of an observation about human nature. What. What is the proverbs say about the fool he gives vent to all his feelings.

But folks have a tendency to vent everything that they zealously believe in by their spirit. Right. Their spirit is very willing. And they'll lay out you know their five-year plan of grandeur and then go proceed to achieve you know step A and B of their 26 letter alphabet plan.

Okay. And if you were to connect with them five years later you know they've been through ten other cycles of five-year plans. Yes. Right. But we are all like that. We have the temptation. We have the tendency to talk big and then not follow through.

Well Jesus here is making it very clear. Very specific application here. Watch and pray lest you enter temptation. Now Peter's pretty big. Right. You know I will never betray you. Yeah. Ignore the fact that I'm not gonna stay awake for you.

But I will never betray you. I may sleep on the job but on. Okay Peter watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. So Jesus is counseling his disciples not to even enter into temptation. Don't even get in there.

What's a good way to avoid temptation. Watch and pray. And in this particular context keeping our eyes open being alert to the situation. The prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself. But the foolish pass on and are punished.

Hey you know it's as simple as when you're teaching your son to dribble a basketball or to dribble a soccer ball. Or however to make progress down down the field with the court. Keep your head up. You know I'll watch.

Be aware. Be alert and pray. I recognize your weakness. The flesh is weak as drew the flesh is weak. Pray. Be independence upon the Lord. And this would be our continual state of alertness and dependence even in earlier in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 6 when we talk about as the Lord's Prayer verse 13.

And do not let us enter into temptation. What a good prayer. So prayer is a very large part of this. Yes the avoidance of temptation the supplication of us to our father that he would deliver us and not let us enter into it.

One final verse about not even entering into temptation would be Galatians chapter 6 verse 1. Which is brethren if a man is overtaken in any trespass you who are spiritual restore such a one. And a spirit of gentleness considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

Right. So the spirit of gentleness. A spirit of gentleness and a willingness to consider oneself brothers. That's humility. That is humility. And if there's one way to one thing that will really help us to not even enter into situations of temptation it is to cultivate the humility that we see in the mind of Christ.

That this mind be in you as it also was in Christ Jesus which was the mind of humility. And if we're humble and in recognizing our own weaknesses our own weaknesses in the flesh our own lowliness before the Lord there's a lot of temptations we're gonna be able to avoid.

Right. So what you're talking about.

Is knowing the self as best one as best as one can and practicing or getting.

Wisdom and practicing discernment. And especially isn't it true that so often we put ourselves into very bad situations and put ourselves into temptations that we could have avoided because of pride. And so often this pride is bolstered by our looking at others who have fallen others who are trapped in sin others who have not done well and we begin to irrigate to ourselves some sort of spiritual maturity that we really don't have.

Like that won't be me. Yeah exactly right. But that's what Galatians 6 1 is about. When you work to leave in labor in love to restore one who was fallen in transgression you must be very careful that you do yourself don't fall into the temptation.

So one of.

The recommendations we can have from this is read the Proverbs a lot and also look at the other wise men in the Bible. And what when they came across temptation what did they do. And I know we have the direct like don't even enter into temptation but what did we see.

What that looks like to. We run out of the house. We have the humility to run out of the house naked because we are trying to avoid that type of temptation. That's right. All right. Well I think that wraps up our discussion on temptation today.

Michael what do we think before. Well I.

Am I am thankful for the I've said this before but just answers to prayer. There are just so many times in my life where we recognize that everything is in the hands of the Lord. And without turning to him in prayer I mean what are we going to do.

There are too many worries and too many anxieties and too many fears that would utterly collapse me. I have to turn to the Lord and I have to continually come to him and ask for him to do what only he can.

It is so apparent the limitations in my own abilities my own capacities my own understanding my own wisdom. It is so apparent. The fragility of our peace. Our peace can be shattered so quickly with difficulties.

It's interesting that we've had so much discussion in these last few years about the fragility of the infrastructure you know at the country in which we live and so on. You know it's quite possible. It's always been pretty much fragile.

And isn't it true that even the most robust well-to-do strong Empire is just on the edge of the Lord's mercy. And if you lean on it it's a broken read right. And don't lean on Egypt Israel. It's a broken read.

It'll stab you through the hand. And this is so important to remember leaning on the the justice system of our country or leaning upon the the medical infrastructure of our city or state or leaning upon the financial institutions.

This is we must lean upon the Lord. We must wait upon the Lord. And I am so.

Thankful that he hears our prayers and answers them. Men do that to call the.

Deacon back to. In God we trust. Yes. I'm very thankful to have been granted the favor with my supervisors in a very important process which has to do with my retention in the current role that I am fulfilling until possibly the end of this year.

Very grateful that God has given me favor with them and at very.

Least I have peace with them. Amen to that. Amen to piggyback off of what Michael said. I'm I'm thankful for a congregation that prays not just together but for one another throughout the week. I have not been a part of many churches in my life but the willingness to send out prayer requests to ask direct specific questions about those prayer requests because they care specifically about what needs praying for because we know that our God he deals in specifics.

I'm very thankful for that. I have not witnessed that before before coming to Sunnyside and we have seen an abundance of that and it has really drove us to do the same. So I'm very thankful for that here at Sunnyside and we hope to be a part of it for many many years to come because we.

Enjoy it so much and that wraps it up for today. We are very thankful for our listeners and hope you will join us again as we meet to answer common questions and objections with Happy Knot Red.