Temptation and the Power of Choice!

Well, thank you, David. And, brethren, I know that a lot of you, because of that video, are feeling like you're 17 years old again. But please don't try to do handstands after services or walk in your hands. Maybe next week we'll have a zip line installed through the hall. And to get to your seat, you can go on a zip line to come through your hall to the chair. They're giving me a high sign back there to turn my microphone on, so hopefully it is by now. Today I would like to discuss temptation and the power of choice. Temptation is all around us. We saw a lot of the young people mention themselves about how at school or the media, the influence of the media, I was just stunned at how deep their comments were. You know, they're not reading a script, those teenagers up there, they're just spontaneously speaking from the heart. And they made some pretty profound comments. And one of them is the fact that temptation is all around us. And temptation can take many forms. First of all, temptation can become something like a serious sin that violates God's law, and that's obviously not a good thing. Or it can be something that eventually slowly harms us, like eating the wrong things. If we eat the wrong kind of foods, maybe foods that are too high in sugars or too high in fats, those kind of things long term can produce chronic diseases. Or the temptation to eat too much. Eating too much also results in chronic problems, chronic diseases. Or temptation can be something like spending money on things that we can't really afford. So temptation can develop itself in many ways. But I think what we need to understand about temptation is that temptation is something that doesn't come from God, but it's something that God has always allowed because it helps us to learn to make choices. And better than that, it teaches us, if we have his spirit and if we're on the right track, to learn to make the right choices. Because developing character always involves a choice. As a matter of fact, our life today, where you are right now, and where I am in my life right now, is the sum total of the choices that we have made through life up to this point in time. So choices, whether they're good choices or sometimes bad choices, can have a profound effect on where we are right now. And the choices that we make today will have a profound effect on what we become tomorrow. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 15, because I want to focus on the importance of choosing. The purpose of temptation is to teach us to make the right choices and to have the courage to say no to ourselves or to others. As I mentioned on the Holy Day, the last Holy Day, the days of unleavened bread, God purposely has allowed leaven to be in the world wherever Satan is present, even going back to the Garden of Eden. Throughout history, even to the end of the one thousand years when Satan is again let loose for a short period of time. Because God uses the enemy, God uses his method to tempt us in order to fashion us, to develop us, to have the mind of Christ. Because we are all confronted by choices, and God wants us to learn to make the right choices. He wants us to learn to choose life. Deuteronomy 13, verse 15. This was a message given to the nation of Israel. See, I've set before you today life and good, that's on one hand, death and evil. That's the other choice.

In that I command you today the love, the Lord your God, and the walk in his ways to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his judgments, that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away, how does our heart turn away? Well, we are tempted to do something differently. We are tempted to lose faith. We are tempted to violate God's law. We are tempted to begin making the wrong choices in our lives. Verse 17. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, who draws us away? Satan draws us away. He draws us away through temptation. And are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them. I announce to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go and to possess. Verse 19. I call heaven and earth as witness today against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. So there are those two options again. Life and blessing or death and cursing is the other option. Therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live, and that you may love the Lord your God, and you may obey his voice, and that you may cling to him, for he is your life, and the length of your days, and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them. So part of God's plan, part of God's development, he has a personal development plan for you, and he has one for me. And part of that personal growth development plan God has for you is to allow you to be tempted to do the wrong things, but to learn to make the right choices. God allows us to be drawn away, to be tempted to sometimes disobey him, or tempted to sin, because temptation is a choice.

And every time we are tempted, that choice provides an opportunity to strengthen our character, or over a period of time, if we make the wrong choices, repeatedly, to weaken our character. And that's, again, not a very positive thing in our lives. Before we discuss how a temptation grows into a sin, let's see some more about how God develops righteous character in each of us.

Let's go to Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16 in the scripture that we read occasionally. That's very powerful because it outlines the works of the flesh and the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, which are opposite of one another, which are in contrast to one another. And when we get to the fruits of the Holy Spirit, there are actually nine of those fruits.

There are nine qualities of godly character that are taught here by the Apostle Paul. And I want to discuss a little bit how God uses the fruits of the Holy Spirit to develop us because it's probably in a different way than most of us have always thought.

Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16. Paul writes to the congregation, I say, then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. What is the lust of the flesh? It's temptation. It's being tempted to do something that is contrary to God's will. Continuing, for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. So the Spirit wants to do what's right. God's Spirit within us wants to keep his laws, hold that integrity, those high values close to our heart.

But our carnal, human nature, the fact that we're physical and human and have these senses that we have want to be pleased. Right? They want to be pleased now and that's the struggle that we continually have. He says in verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law that is under the condemnation of the law. Now, the works of the flesh are evident which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, fluidness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, reveries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That is a pretty powerful statement by the Apostle Paul. He doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room there, does he? About if we are practicing a lifestyle of these sins. Now, Paul's not talking about if we occasionally lose our temper and we have an outburst of wrath, you know, we're having a bad day, somebody hits our hot button, we have an outburst of wrath. He's not talking about that. That's going to happen. What he's talking about are those who practice as a way of life these kinds of qualities.

He says in verse 22, but the Spirit, through to the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law, and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. He says if you really want to be in Christ, then the Spirit rules over the flesh.

If you really want to be in Christ, then you are a living sacrifice and you make the choices that say no to yourself. You'd say no to other people when they're trying to pull you in to do things, to think things, that are against God's will, against God's way of life. And those who are in Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

He says if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. He says let's see it happen. If we're living in the Spirit of God, let's not just talk about it. Let's do it! Let other people see us living in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, doing something about it. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and being one another. So Paul lists nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. I want you to never forget that fruit matures and ripens slowly. And that's the way that God's Spirit develops those fruits. Within us. Always remember that change is a process, not an event. A process is something that takes time.

In order to get to A to Z, you have to go to B, and then you process to C and D and E and F and G. And that process takes time. So how does God develop the fruit of the Spirit through His Holy Spirit in us in our lives? Well, He allows this to happen by a contrast. And this contrast gives you the circumstances that are going to happen to each and every one of us that expresses the exact opposite of these fruits in your life. This contrast, through your life experiences, gives you the temptation to react in ways that are either going to reflect the fruits of the Spirit or the works of the flesh. Let's take a look at some of them. Love is the first fruit that's mentioned. How is God going to develop the fruit of the Holy Spirit called love in your life? Well, I can tell you exactly how He's going to do it. He's going to bring some very unlovable people in your life to see how you react. When He brings very unlovable people in your life, will you make the choice and, contrary to that, react in love? Or will you act like they are acting? And some of these unlovable people will even be in the Church of God. You know, brethren, when I was born, I had a brother and sister, two older siblings. I did not get to choose my physical family. Someone else chose who my brother and sister were and are today. And it's the same in God's Church. You and I don't get to choose who our brothers and sisters are spiritually. God made that choice. And some of them are wonderful and lovable, and some of them can be a challenge at times. So the way that God develops love as the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives is He's going to have us, and He will work out the circumstances, that we will come in context with some very unlovable people. You know, it doesn't take any character to love kind, considerate people. That's not a challenge. You meet someone and they're kind and considerate and they give you stuff. Well, it's not a challenge to love them back. That's easy. That's not even a choice.

The choice comes when you know that the fruit of the Spirit is love and you meet some people that are very hard to love. How about joy? Another fruit of the Holy Spirit. Well, we will be put in situations in our lives at times of very personal sorrow to see how we will respond to these difficult situations. We'll go through periods of sorrow. It may be a health trial. It may be a relationship struggle. It may be losing our job. It may be a number of things, but the question is, will we respond to those situations with sorrow, with resentment, with anger or bitterness, or in spite of what we're going through, will we have the fruit of that Spirit known as joy? I hear a lot and I see a lot in our media today about happiness. And the problem with happiness is it's usually the result of things that happen on the outside. People are happy because the sun is shining, because they got their paycheck today. They're happy because it's Friday and they're getting a couple of days off. Right? They're happy because of those kind of things. But, brethren, joy isn't based on something that happens on the outside, because that can change. Joy is based on our inner relationship with God. And joy transcends what's happening on the outside. So, yes, sometimes we'll go through health trials, but we can still be joyful. Sometimes we will have relationship challenges, spouses, children, siblings, other church members, or whatever it may be. But in spite of that, how will we react?

If we realize that joy is our inner relationship with God, and that is the foundation, then what happens on the outside really won't affect us on the inside. Let's talk about peace.

How will God develop peace within us through the fruit of the Holy Spirit as it grows? Well, that'll happen because God will allow us to experience episodes in our life that are confusing.

He'll put things in our lives that make us worry, because worry is in contrast to peace. And He will put things in our lives in which we feel we are in complete chaos to see how we will react. Will we stay in a state of peace? Because where does the state of peace exist? Where the state of peace really exists is the distance between our two ears. It's on the inside.

And though there might be worrying situations, and though the whole world might be chaos, if we have the fruit of God's Spirit and we understand that that is just a test, that those things are just to see how we react, then we will not act like we are confused, or we are in chaos, or we will not overly worry about things, most of which we usually have no control over anyway.

How about long suffering, which is just another word for patience? This is one that God has blessed me with over the years. Blessed me with learning how to develop long suffering, or patience. Well, God will do this by putting you in situations where you are tempted to be angry, or better yet, where you are forced to wait for something. Something that you'd like to have right now. Something that logically says should happen right now, could occur right now, should have been done last week, and you are forced to wait and wait and wait. It might be something as simple as unanswered prayer, or maybe answered prayer, and God's answer is no, and so you keep praying about it. But long suffering is kind of interesting in that sometimes the more we want something, I have found the longer that God will allow us to have to wait for it, because it's through that process that we learn long suffering, or patience.

Another one is kindness. How will he develop the fruit of kindness in our lives? Well, he's going to develop in our lives by allowing us to be confronted with people who treat us rudely, and people who treat us abruptly to see if we'll respond the same way. If you're in a restaurant, and the waiter or the waitress treats you rudely, ignores your table, treats you abruptly, how will we respond? What is the choice? We can either treat them the same way and take that, or we can make the right choice and treat someone with kindness in spite of the way that they're treating us.

Goodness, we will be confronted with evil, selfish people in times in life who have few redeeming values to see if we can counter wickedness with an example of godliness.

So that's the way that God is going to use these principles to develop these nine fruits, to develop these qualities in our lives. Gentleness, we'll have situations that will arise where we will witness, or maybe we'll personally experience, harsh or overbearing treatment. How will we respond? How did Jesus Christ respond the last few days of his death? When he was slapped, mocked, spit on, had a crown of thorns put upon his head, interrogated in a couple of kangaroo courtroom scenes. Did he get angry? Did he respond in the way that he was being treated? No, it says he opened not his mouth. He did not revile. He didn't act like they did. He demonstrated the perfect growth and development of the Holy Spirit. He was gentle to those who were harsh and overbearing to him. So the question is, we have a choice there. Will we respond to someone with gentleness, or will we respond to them with hostility and aggression? That's a choice that we have to make. One of those choices develops a greater depth of that fruit in our lives, and the other takes us backward. We take a step backward in life and in our own personal development. Self-control. We will come across situations where we will be tempted to indulge in habits or social customs that encourage us to lose control.

We'll be encouraged to acquire an addiction in our lives. So will we make the right choice?

Or will we learn to say no and lose control? Or will we say yes and succumb to that kind of addiction? In these situations, we will be tempted to forget about the fruit of the Spirit. The one that we're trying to develop, the one that we want to be part of our lives, we will be tempted to react back the same way we are being treated at that time or what we see going on around us.

That temptation, that reaction, that choice that we make, is a choice to either develop character or to lose ground in our own personal development. I'd like to talk about four stages of temptation. There are four stages of temptation. These stages usually occur in just about any type of temptation we might have, whether it's a sin or whether it's just something we should need or something we shouldn't be buying or whatever. These usually are the four stages of virtually any temptation that we face. The first is the enemy pinpoints a strong desire inside you.

And let me assure you that he knows every weakness and hot button that we have.

He knew your pappy. He knew your grandpappy. He knew your great-great-grandpappy. He knows your family history. He knows your DNA. He knows every weakness each and every one of us have inside of us.

So he pinpoints a strong desire that's inside of us. It may be a sin of pleasure. It may be a distorted ego wanting to be number one, needing a lot of attention. It may be a need to control situations and control other people. Or it may be something like a simple desire for love and respect, which is innocent in itself and something we all desire. So the first stage is the enemy pinpoints a strong desire inside you. Let's take a look at Mark chapter 7 and verse 14. Take a look at what Jesus said. Mark chapter 7 and verse 14.

Many people discord the scripture, distorted it, saying this is talking about clean and unclean meats, which of course is ridiculous. Jesus was responding to the religious traditions of the day, the oral law, that criticized his apostles for not washing their hands in a ritualistic way before they ate. So that is the context. It's not about clean or unclean meats. But in this structure that he talks about, he tells us where wicked desires come from. Matthew chapter 7 verse 14.

So you eat a little bit of dirt. Is that a problem? Let's say that you go to a restaurant and right before they cooked your hamburger, they were cooking shrimp.

And that shrimp juice is on the grill and they cooked your hamburger on it. Or maybe it was a pork chop. Ultimately, is that going to defile you? Jesus is saying, in those situations, on those kinds of situations, here's what happens. That stuff goes in your mouth. It doesn't go into your heart. It goes through your eliminatory canal. You sit on a little round throne and you expel it. You sit on a little porcelain thing we call a potty and you expel that stuff.

So that's what Jesus is saying here. Then he talks about what really does defile a person.

He says here, verse 19. Let's pick it up. Verse 18. So he said to them, Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him because it does not enter his heart, but his stomach and his eliminated, thus purifying all foods? And he said, What comes out of a man that defiles of man? For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. So if you accidentally eat an unclean food that you didn't plan on, if you end up eating dirt, Jesus says, Don't worry about it because it ends up being purified through your digestive system and being expelled. He says, What we really need to be concerned with is the defilement that comes from within us. It's from our hearts. That's where it begins. And it's usually evil thoughts and evil attitudes that lead to sin. So Jesus points out that sin defilement comes from inside us, not something we consume that goes through our digestive tract. And as I said a few minutes ago, Satan knows every hot button and weakness that you have as an individual. He knows everyone. And like Achilles' heel, if you remember studying Greek mythology, the one vulnerable spot in Achilles was his heel. Like Achilles' heel, the enemy knows exactly what can bring you down. He knows exactly what can bring me down. And he plants a thought in our hearts, in our heads, with his spiritual Wi-Fi system because he's the prince of the power of the air. And he plants that thought inside of us. I would like to do that. I would like to have that. I would like to possess that. That would be fun, pleasurable, good. That's the thought that he plants in our heart.

Number two. So number one, is he pinpoints a strong desire inside you? Number two, the enemy gets us the doubt or question what God has said about this sin. And we humans are great at rationalizing sin. We truly are. So Satan, once he pinpoints a deep desire in our hearts, the next step is to begin to question if it's really, really, really wrong, or if maybe God didn't say it enough times to really be authoritative in the Bible. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12. Doubting. We begin to doubt and question whether it's really a sin. James said in James chapter 1 and verse 6, we won't turn there, but he says, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. Oh, that's bad! That's a sin! But it's only mentioned 18 times in the New Testament. Maybe, I don't know. That's not even a biblical number. Sevens of it could. 21, I might believe, but 18 times? So we begin to doubt. We begin to have these questions. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12. Beware, brother, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily. And that means encourage each other daily. While it's called a day, lest any of you should be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. That's actually our next point, deceitfulness. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. So we have to endure to the end. And we can't compromise on sin. We understood from the beginning what the violation of God's law means, what God's law means. And we have to hold to that understanding and that knowledge until the end and not begin to make compromises in our lives, not begin to doubt God or to doubt His law or doubt what God says. This doubting opens up doors for us to question things regarding sin. We start asking ourselves questions. Did God really say not to do this? Didn't God only mean this for ancient Israel? Maybe I think God meant this for unconverted people, not at the level that I am in life. Didn't that Old Testament character, you fill in the blank, do this? And he turned out okay. He was a man after God's own heart. Or he's called a friend of God. So our minds begin to doubt and we begin up rationalization and come up with all of these reasons why just one more time to say goodbye to this problem, this habit that I have just one more time as a farewell address, one more time, and then I'm going to really kick this problem for sure. I mean it this time. And then we go into number three. We deceive ourselves that doing it won't hurt us or have a price tag or that we can get away with it. But brethren, a little sin is like being a little bit pregnant.

It eventually shows. And in time it gives birth to big consequences. That's why a little bit of sin is. So after Satan pinpoints a desire in us and puts the thought in our heads, and after we begin to doubt what God tells us, next the deceitfulness of sin begins to justify our desire to do it, to give into it. Let's go to John chapter 8 and verse 41. Jesus talked about deceitfulness and how common it is in the human heart. John chapter 8 and verse 41.

Jesus is having a little verbal duel with the Jewish leaders. They're trying to offend him. They're trying to provoke him. John chapter 8 and verse 41. You do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, We are not born of fornication like you are, Jesus. We heard about your manner of birth.

We are not born of fornication. We have one Father God. Jesus said to them, If God were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to listen to my word. You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own resources, meaning it just comes naturally to him. He speaks of his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Verse 45, But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe in me. Then he says in verse 46, Which of you convicts me of sin? This is okay. Here's a question. Aside from your silly oral law, which has no meaning at all to me, tell me point out one sin that you've ever seen me do. Just one! Any takers? Jesus says.

So again, he says, Which of you convicts me of sin? And I tell you the truth. Why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears God's words, therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God. See, the Jewish leaders were living in a world of self-deceit, a carnal world of delusion and deceit. At best, Satan is only capable of telling half truths. Satan cannot tell the truth. He's only capable of telling half truths. And why can he do that? Because a half truth is also half a lie. And he's really good at that. So we need to understand that. Remember, he was the one who deceitfully told Adam and Eve, You will not surely die.

They did, didn't they? He said, You will become like God. They never became like God. They're dust and ashes or somewhere in the bowels of the earth. They died a long, long time ago. They never became anything like God. They were dead. D-E-A-D. So Satan is very good at deception.

And when we've locked into that Wi-Fi signal that he permeates, because he's the prince of the power of the air, we forget about the fact that sin has a price tag, that there's a price to pay for it. And we deceive ourselves that it's okay, that we'll hide it, that we'll get away with it, that no one will notice. But brethren, like I say, long term, it indeed will eventually catch up to us.

And then the fourth is literally giving in to disobedience. The final stage is when we decide to give into temptation and yield to something we really know is not good for us. And if it's a violation of God's law, it's a sin. And it needs to be repented of immediately and passionately. And of course, repentance just does not mean I'm sorry that I did it again. I'm sorry that I got caught. Repentance means I make a commitment to you, Father, that I'm going to turn my life around and I'm going to stop doing this. James chapter 1 and verse 12. Let's take a look. James chapter 1 and verse 12.

James gives us some wisdom and instruction regarding being tempted.

James writes, chapter 1 and verse 12. Blesses a man 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.

How are we approved? Well, we're approved, of course, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

And we receive God's Spirit that helps us, that resides within us. And part of that approval process is learning to say no when we have that choice to make. When we have that choice regarding a temptation, to learn to say to ourselves, no. To learn to say to others who may be trying to influence us in a negative way, to say, no, I'm not going to do that. And that is how we become approved.

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. And as I said earlier, he allows and uses the enemy as the agent of temptation in our lives. Verse 14, 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 when it is full grown brings forth death. So, what are some of the ways that we can resist temptation? I'd like to close the sermon today by talking about some of the ways that we can resist temptation. Number one, let's break up a myth. Mr. Thomas, I keep getting tempted all the time. What's wrong with me? I'm tempted. There's a strong temptation that keeps bothering me every day. What's wrong with me? And the answer is there's nothing wrong with you. You are what is called human. That's what's wrong with you. You are a human being. And as long as the prince of the power of the air resides in this world, and you are physical and human, you will experience temptation. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14, let's see who else experienced temptation. None other than Jesus Christ. Do you think something was wrong with Jesus Christ because he was tempted? Is temptation a sin? Well, if temptation was a sin, then Jesus Christ couldn't be without blemish. Then he couldn't be the perfect sacrifice, could he? So being tempted is natural in a world that is controlled by the prince of the power of the air and combined with the fact that we are human, that we are fleshly, just like Jesus Christ was when he walked in this earth. Chapter 4, verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus Christ the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. And our confession should be, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, and I am his disciple for my entire lifetime. I will follow him. I will develop the mind of Christ. Verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So Jesus Christ was tempted. You're tempted. I'm tempted. Temptation itself is not a sin. So we need to understand that. I think that is an important thing to understand.

Another thing that we work on, think about, in a way that we can resist temptation, how we can hold fast to our confession, is to begin to look for the patterns of your temptations.

Look for areas of patterns. Do they happen when you're alone? Do they happen when you're not busy, when you've got too much time on your hands? Do they happen when you spend time with a certain crowd of people? Do they happen when you're on the internet? Look for the patterns. I mean, every temptation has a pattern. Every sin has a repeating pattern of when that temptation starts, when that craving, that urge starts. And the key, the first step, is to break the patterns, and you're off to a good start. It's like, you know, it's hard for me to resist doughy, chocolaty cookies if I open my cupboard, and there are eight packages of doughy, chocolaty cookies, right? The way to break that pattern is to stop buying doughy, chocolaty cookies.

To break the pattern. Obviously, the next thing is to stay close to God in prayer and Bible study. We've mentioned this for many years. When the temptations are pulling you in the wrong direction, it's time to go to God. And as Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew chapter 6, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. But I'd like to focus more on the next couple of items as we begin to conclude the sermon today. I want to encourage you, when you are tempted, to refocus your attention on something different. This is something that we don't often do. If you keep thinking about a temptation, you only strengthen the temptation. If you keep thinking about it, and you keep dwelling on it, all you do is you make it a greater stronghold against you. The more you fight it, the more it consumes you, and the more it ultimately weakens your resolve. The major reason the diets don't work for most people is because they walk around thinking about food all day. They're hungry, and they think about how that grandma's meatloaf would taste with the mashed potatoes and the gravy and the green beans. And, oh, I really miss eating, and oh, I'm hungry, and if I could just have that chocolate syrup, and if I could just have this, and you're thinking about it, and all that it's doing is consuming you and weakening your resolve, get your mind on something else. Ignoring the temptation is more effective than trying to fight it. You can defeat bad thoughts by replacing them with good thoughts. And sometimes that'll require getting up and leaving, taking a walk. If you're alone in your thoughts, getting up and going outside, doing something for someone else, breaking up the situation in which you are focusing on that temptation. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8, again, a scripture that we have read for many years. Paul knew exactly what he was talking about because he knows that the human mind tends to dwell on the wrong kinds of things. The human mind tends to be negative, and when we are tempted, we tend to keep thinking about the wrong thing. And the key, again, is to refocus our attention on something different. Paul writes, finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. So don't keep dwelling on that deep thought that Satan put in your heart, in your mind, that enticement, that temptation. Distract yourself. Do something different. Stop thinking about it and think about something else, preferably something that is positive.

Again, that oftentimes is going to require us to physically get up, then maybe leave a room, maybe take a walk, maybe turn the computer off, or maybe get out and purposely serve someone else so that we get our mind off of ourselves and stop thinking about our desires and what we want. A great antidote to that is get out and do something good for someone else. That'll get our minds off of ourselves. Another thing that I encourage anyone to do, who has for a long time been struggling with a particular sin or a temptation, is to share your personal struggle with a support group or a godly friend. Some temptations are so strong because of our modern culture or our family backgrounds or past habits or addictions that we have that we need the help of others who have been through a similar experience. There is no shame in asking for help. There is no shame in asking for support. As a matter of fact, it is a biblical concept. James chapter 5 and verse 16. Let's take a look at James chapter 5 and verse 16. In the context of healing, James gives instructions for individuals aside from calling the elders to the church.

The anoint an individual, he says in chapter 5 and verse 16, he says, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. So go to a godly friend, go to a support group, and tell them what you're struggling with. Share your feelings. Event the frustrations that you have. Ask for help. Ask them to encourage you to hold you accountable.

Please ask these chapter 4 and verse 9 if you'll turn there. Please ask the chapter 4 and verse 9.

There are a lot of great organizations, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and many others who have helped millions of people because they're support-based.

They have a sponsor who has the time and the personal experience to provide encouragement and support and hold people accountable. That's why it's a biblical concept, and that's why that is so valuable. Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 9. Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls. You got a problem that you're dealing with? You got a temptation? You have something you're struggling with, and you've been struggling with it for years. Stop trying to do it alone. Continuing, it says, For he who has no one to help him. Let me read that again. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls. For he has no one to help him up. Verse 11. Again, if two lie down together, they will be kept warm. They'll share their body heat. But how can one be warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, even if you're attacked physically. And a three-fold cord is not quickly broken. Even better than two is a support group of three, or five, or twenty. And if you need help, there's no shame at all in getting the support that you need, the help that you need. That's actually a very biblical concept. Our final scripture, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4. If you need help, I encourage you to get it. Oftentimes, we hide our faults when we truly need help because of our own pride. We don't want to admit we're having a problem. We want others to think that everything is under control. And we delude ourselves. But let's not delude ourselves. Let's realize that God wants to help us, that we have a church that wants to help us, that we have brethren who want to help us and support us. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty in God. The greatest weapon we have is the power of God's Holy Spirit, of having that relationship with God. Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Casting down every excuse, every way that we rationalize our problems, and just casting it down and being gut honest with ourselves and the problems that we are struggling with. And bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Verse 6 in another translation, God's word for today, we are ready to punish every act of disobedience when you have become completely obedient. So we'll be ready to serve alongside Jesus Christ when we are completely obedient. And that doesn't come from anything that we can do alone. Of course, it comes through the help and the power of God's Spirit as we grow towards perfection and we develop those fruits. As I stated earlier in the sermon, developing character is always a choice. Our life today, where we are right now, is a total sum of all the choices that we've made through life. The good choices, the bad choices, and that's where we are at today. Our quality of life tomorrow will be the sum choices that we are making today. The purposes of temptation is to teach us to make the right choices because we are human, we will always be confronted with choices. The key is to make the right choices and get through the day. And tomorrow, do it all over again. Don't worry about 10 years. Don't worry about 20 years. Make your goal today to make the right choices today. Wake up tomorrow morning and do it all over again for one day. Put one foot in front of another and make the right choices day by day. I encourage you in every situation and in every temptation that you may experience in life, I encourage you to choose life. Have a wonderful Sabbath day. Again, BJ and I will have to leave in about 10 minutes. We give you our apologies, but if you're with us in Bible study, we'll certainly see you on Tuesday night.