Be Wise About Temptation (Part 2)

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0:00I've told you guys before that Nikki and I like to travel, and one downside of traveling far away is that you're a foreigner, you can be a target for people who want to take advantage of you. And so when we started going a little further from home and went to Europe for the first time and things like that, we would get advice from people because we didn't want to have a bad experience. We didn't want to be taken advantage of. Before we did that kind of trip, I remember being told, you know, hey, when you go to New York City, those Rolexes that they're selling on the street, they're not real Rolexes.

0:43And so that's a little warning of like all of those products. You can tell they're not legitimate when they see a cop car rolling by and they bundle up their blanket and they run into the alley and hide. That's not a sign of a legit merchant. So that was a warning about New York City. We were told about pickpockets, how you have to hide your money. You buy like a pouch that you keep underneath your clothes so you don't get pickpocketed in the subway here or abroad.

1:13But the one piece of advice that I really remember is that we were going to Rome and we were told about the gladiators and centurions that are hanging around outside the Colosseum. The Colosseum, you guys probably know what that is. It's the thing that everyone wants to see first in Rome. It's the big stadium where they had gladiator fights and things like that. And we were told that when you go there, you're going to see guys dressed up like centurions, like gladiators hanging around outside.

1:44And here's what's going to happen. They're going to see you. They're going to know that you're a tourist. They're going to walk up to you and they're going to say, can we take your picture? And then you're going to hand them your camera and then you're going to stand back. And then I'm sorry, one of them is going to get the camera and then they're going to want to pose with you, right? They say, come up and pose with us, right? And then you pose with them.

2:07And if they don't run off with your camera at that point, if they take your picture, then they come back and they like, if you want this camera back, you need you need to buy this picture that they're there to prey on people who don't know what they're doing. Yeah, sure. Take our picture. Oh, look at, you know, look, kids, censurians go pose with the censurians. And then they, they stand there. And then the other censurian is standing there with your camera. It's like, that'll be 10, you know, 10 euros per picture or something like that. And you're like, I, I didn't know that you were going to charge us for this. Right. And they've got you because they're holding your camera and they've, and they're dressed imposingly at least more, more than I am dressed at the Coliseum. If you don't know that, if we, we, we probably would have seen that and thought, Oh, look, look at how neat this is. We can get our pictures with people who are dressed up like this. But now that we knew we were like, Oh, there they are. We got off the subway and we started walking towards Coliseum and we, we saw them. There they are. And sure enough, we saw, remember, we saw other tourists like, Oh, look, censurians. And they would go over, get their picture taken. It was the whole thing playing out right in front of us. Get your picture taken. Oh, there's a charge for this. Oh, you want your camera back? You got to pay money for the pictures that was just taken. Now listen that this is what's happening in chapter seven of Proverbs. The parent is

3:31like, here is what's coming. There are people there. There are people out there that know what you want and they're going to tell you what you want to hear. It's going to seem very appealing. Here's what they'll say. Here's what they'll do. And here's what's going to happen. And if you, if, and if you don't know you're going to get suckers, you're going to get taken advantage of, you're going to be tempted. So this is what's happening in Proverbs seven. It's a heads up about the messages and the methods of temptation in particular, sexual temptation. Now, last week we saw how the root of temptation is the desire within us. Desires. We don't feel the God is meeting. It's those desires that temptations connect with. They make us, they make it in some kind of appealing offer to give us what we want. Sometimes they know what we want more than we do better than we do. The wise parent knows this. And so he wants to prepare the son for what's coming. Just like Nikki and I avoided the trap of the centurions outside the Coliseum. This is what's coming. It's going to sound so good. It's going to sound like exactly like what you want, but it leads to great harm. But here's the good news, church, that God is also speaking. God is also speaking and he's speaking a better word for every enticement than temptation speaks. God speaks a better word, a word of true fulfillment. We're going to look at that today, too. So turn with me to Proverbs seven. Let's hear this warning from Scripture. The inspired words

5:07of God for us today. We're going to read the whole chapter. Let's come humbly. Not so proud that we don't want to listen to advice, but humbly so that we'll receive it. And let's come with with a lot of faith that God is speaking to us for our good and that he doesn't lie. So here are God's true and reliable words for us today from Proverbs seven. My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you. Keep my commandments and live. Keep my teaching as the apple of your eye.

5:49Bind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, you are my sister and call insight your intimate friend to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. For at the window of my house, I have looked out through my lattice and I have seen among the simple. I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight at the in the evening at the time of night and darkness. And behold, the woman meets him dressed as a prostitute, wily apart. She is loud and wayward. Her feet do not stay at home now in the street now in the market and at every corner. She lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him with bold face. She says to him, I had to offer sacrifices and today I have paid my vows. So now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly. And I have found you. I have spread my couch with coverings, cut colored linens from Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He took a bag of money with him. At full moon, he will come home. With much seductive speech, she persuades him. With her smooth talk, she compels him.

7:27All at once he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver. As a bird rushes into a snare, he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, O sons, listen to me and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths. For many a victim she has laid low. And all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, tell us what we need to hear.

8:11Help us pay attention. Apply this to our lives. Lord, unmask for us and reveal the strategies of temptation that go after the desires of our heart. Help us to hear how phony it is. Help us to hear them as lies. And to hear you speaking your truth, your wisdom, your grace, your love for us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Lord, it's in him that we trust and we need his help. We need the Spirit with us and in us to discern and to avoid these pitfalls. So please teach us. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Be wise about temptation, part two. Most of what we will focus on is in verses 10 and beyond. So I want to start with a couple of applications from verses 1-9. Just like we did the past couple sermons about sex and sexual temptation. We're going to start with some application at first. Look at verse 4. It reads, say to wisdom, you are my sister and call insight your intimate friend. Let me ask you, who is in your inner circle? What kind of influence are they having? Everyone, everyone needs confidants. Most everyone has confidants. I hope that you're not living a life where it's all you and no one else. Everyone needs confidants. Everyone needs people other than you whose opinions you trust. People who can speak into your life. But your inner circle should not only have, it should have people who love Jesus more than they love you. Your inner circle should have people who love Jesus more than you. And you've got to give wisdom a seat in your inner circle. You've got to let wisdom speak to you. I level at a trusting level

10:27as an intimate friend. That's what it means. Say to her, you are my sister. I'll listen to you. You know me. I trust you. Speak to me. So give us give wisdom a seat in your inner circle. Verse 6, the parent looks through the window and sees the youth. He doesn't say get off my lawn. Although maybe he thinks that he called he said he sees the youth. He calls them the simple, but that's not a put down. That's just the truth. Yeah, you that youth are inexperienced. You can't help that. You can't fault a young person for their inexperience. It's just simply who they are. And yet, he says, I have perceived among the youths. A young man lacking sense. Why does one young man stand out from the rest? It's not his inexperience. It's his choices. He's going to the wrong places. He's passing by where temptation lives. The street near her corner. Whose corner? The forbidden woman, the adulteress. And once again, like the other places in Proverbs, this is a symbolic character. She's cast as female because the audience in the speech is a son. But she is a symbol for all sexual sin. And this young man hasn't listened to the warnings, or maybe he thinks he can handle it. Either way, he's foolish. He's going right by where she lives.

12:07Let me cut to the chase here. Browsing the internet is like wandering around a city. There are some interesting sites, some informative places, some places for harmless entertainment. But some places online should and must be avoided completely. Temptation lives there. The site content, the sidebar ads, it's meant to draw you in. Visiting there only leads to trouble. Don't be like this young man who says, I can handle it. I swear I can. Seems interesting to me. I'm going to go there. I'll be okay. The same is true for apps on your phone. Certain ones have quick access to explicit content. Delete them for good. Do it today. And ask someone to hold you accountable. Change the settings on your phone so that you can't add them back yourself. Make somebody else put in a password that only they know. Cut off the access to the places where temptation lives. That's what this young man foolishly has chosen not to do. Don't tell yourself I can handle it. He's not only going the wrong places, he's going at the wrong times. In the twilight, at the time of night and darkness, ask any cop. People are more brazen and reckless when the sun goes down. And your willpower to resist is weaker. Bad decisions happen when scrolling or browsing the internet at night. And I'm not just talking about buying some crap that you didn't need on eBay. That's the least bad thing that can happen when you're on the internet at night. I'm pleading with you. Put down your device and go to bed. Or better yet, leave your phone in another room and buy one of those old fashioned

14:32alarm clocks. You know, the kind that have the red numbers and all they do is tell time and wake you up. Buy one of those. Put that in your bedroom and leave your phone in the living room. Your computer in the living room. Bad decisions happen when you're online at night. To get near temptation is foolish because it starts speaking to you. Calling out and trying to connect with the desires of your heart. The parent knows this and he tells the son the messages and strategies of temptation that appeal to three things that we want. This is the main body today. Three strategies of temptation goes after three desires that we have in our heart. Here's the first one. A full life. Within all of us is a feeling that there is a rich full life to be had and that we are missing it. Other people are having it and I'm not. There are experiences and relationships and adventures out there. And meanwhile, my life feels so ordinary. So blah.

15:49I've got to go to the grocery store. How lame is that? Other people are having an exciting life. Every log into social media seems to confirm this. This is why I personally can't stand social media and why. Look, if you try to message me on Facebook, I probably won't respond for for weeks or months. I just I can't get on it because I'll just confess this to you. I start getting consumed with. Look at all of these great lives and I start feeling like my life is crummy somehow. It just doesn't do good things for me spiritually. And so I just don't get on. Someone is on some exotic trip that I want to be on. They're eating some amazing food that I wish I was eating. And I look at my microwave meal and I'm like, this is lame. What would you say? A different night. Yeah. Yeah. Things that I make for myself which are which are which are crummy. Let's clear that up. Disclaimer. That's right. Yeah. My family makes wonderful food. I am not complaining about that. Things that I make for myself because I'm in a rush and I don't want to put the time in. I go online and I see somebody enjoying something or someone special. If the grass is always greener, right? If we could only have something more, if we weren't if only we weren't stuck with our boring life. Temptation is like advertising. Step one is to amplify your desire. And step two is to offer you a solution. Boy, it's hot out today. Kind of makes you thirsty, doesn't it? It's a nice day for an ice cold Coca-Cola at your nearest convenience.

17:49store. Listen, Satan is the greatest advertising executive ever. And sexual sin is one of his biggest accounts. It's always there trying to make you feel dissatisfied with your life. Behold, the woman meets him dressed as a prostitute. The alluring outfit represents the sumptuous experiences that she offers. The promise of something new and exciting. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline, but whatever it is, it is there to entice you with the promise of fullness that your life, you think, just can't give you. I've spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen. Wow, my sheets are just cotton. I bet Egyptian linen feels better. I perfumed my bed.

18:54My bed hasn't been perfumed in months. It all sounds very chic, doesn't it? Very bougie, very upscale. Being sold to you that way. The message is this. This is where life is found. Come and experience what you were meant for. And then it goes a little further and it says, you're worth it. You've worked so hard. You deserve this. And then even further, your wife, your husband is holding out on you. Your God is holding out on you. Just take a look at what you're missing.

19:51Don't stick to his way. Have it your way. Temptation gets us thinking that our life is thin and poor and that a full, rich life is just within reach. You just need to click that link or text that guy or unbutton that shirt or swipe to that page. Then you'll finally get what life has to offer, but God won't give you. Isn't this familiar? In your own life, in mine, in the history of mankind. In fact, this is the original temptation. When Satan, in the form of a serpent, asked Eve, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? This is the point to interject and say, no. No, he didn't say that. Stop lying to me. The life you're offering is not life at all. And God is not holding out on me. In fact, Jesus says this, fear not, little flock.

21:11Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. God has it all. A majestic kingdom full of rich delights that all have him at the center. But not only does he have everything, he gives everything. And he gives it gladly, not begrudgingly. The only things that God withholds from us are things that will diminish our joy in him.

21:47Disneyland calls itself the happiest place on earth. And in the same way, temptation lies to us and says, this is the good life. Look over here. This is where it is. Look over here. That's the time to talk back and walk away. Right then. Don't let it get another word in. Earlier we heard from Psalm 16, in your presence there is fullness of joy, David said, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Here's another verse you can use to push back at the temptation.

22:24For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. If I don't have it in my life, it's because God doesn't have it for me. He's given me good things. He's withheld nothing.

22:57But the temptation in Proverbs 7 isn't giving up yet. It also speaks about this desire. The desire to be beloved. The appealing clothes, the luxurious bedroom was only the beginning. Next, she seizes him and kisses him. She is forward and forceful. But what is more persuasive, I think, is this. When she says, I have come out to meet you. She knows who she's talking to, doesn't she? A young man who wants to be wanted. She's telling him exactly what he wants to hear.

23:36I've been waiting for you. Just for you. There are so many songs that convey this. That's why Harry Styles sings, just let me adore you. Savage Garden cries, I want to stand with you on a mountain. Foreigner emotes, I want to know what love is. And I want you to show me. And of course, Nat King Cole croons, you are my everything.

24:12We want intimacy. But even more than that, we want to be valued and cherished. We want to be special to someone else. To hear, I have come out to seek you eagerly and I have found you. Finally, somebody who has me in mind. Getting that is almost like a drug. And trying to get a fix of that drug or soothing the pain of withdrawal is the source of a lot of sexual sin.

24:50I will. Getting that feeling that somebody cherishes you is like a drug. And trying to get a fix or soothing the pain of withdrawal is the source of a lot of sexual sin.

25:05The fear of getting caught, it might be one of the only things holding us back. And so the temptation speaks with reassurance. No one will ever know. My husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. There will be no consequences. It will be our little secret.

25:25And these whispered words have a double impact, right? They say there will be no consequences and this is just for us. It amps up the intimacy. We are hardwired to crave this kind of intimacy. And these types of relationships can be convincing substitutes for what we want, for what we need. It's because God designed sex to bond people together. He made it connection forming. The two become one flesh. In the covenant of marriage, this deep bonding experience is reinforced with lifelong promises and mutual service.

26:09And that is what it means, humanly speaking, to be called beloved. But you take away the covenant aspect from sex and the talk of specialness is only based on momentary feelings.

26:26There's no promises attached to this. There's no covenant. There's no in richer and in poorer till death do us part. It's temporary. A sexual partner outside of marriage might say, you're all I want. But the words, listen to me, are as thin as a Hallmark card. And they go about as far.

26:53And yet, even marriage, it isn't meant to fulfill the desire to be cherished and beloved completely. It's not meant to fill that hole in that most important way. Those who've been married for a while know that. If you desire, if you try to meet the desire to be beloved only in your marriage, you're going to have an ache that makes you vulnerable to the very temptation spoken of here. That's why married people fall into physical affairs, emotional affairs, pornography.

27:33Marriage is not meant to carry that weight. It is a place for intimacy to be beloved. But it can't carry all of that weight. But here's the good news. There is someone who says to you, I've come to seek you eagerly. And he backed it up. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. And he followed through with an action even better than a marriage vow. And he cherishes you like no one else can, no one else will. No one else has.

28:11Listen to Jesus as he says, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him. And we will come to him and make our home with him. Your desire to be beloved is put there by God because you were made to receive his love and respond with love in return.

28:38But there's one more quiver or one more arrow in the quiver of temptation. There's one more invitation that seems so appealing and that's the invitation to relief from hardship. Come let us take our fill of love till morning. This is what it's all been leading up to. All the clothing, all the perfume, the flattery, the kissing. Temptation does a good job of making things seem so simple, so obvious. It's just sex, temptation says to us. It's just a bodily function.

29:12Stop thinking and just do it. And we want to believe the lie that if it feels good, it is good. Of course, it's never that simple. The repercussions are more complicated than that. And so are our motives. What are we really wanting? What are we really after?

29:38I'm going to make this claim for you. It's not just a physical experience. Even more than pleasure, what sexual sin offers us is relief. A release of endorphins. It's a temporary escape from a life of difficulty and disappointment.

30:00How do we know this? Because when does sexual temptation speak the loudest to you? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it speaks loudest when you're hurt. When you're confused. When you feel stuck or useless. When relationships in your life are messy. When you're stressed out. It's those moments that we feel the enticement of lust. We hear let us delight ourselves with love and it sounds so appealing. Take a load off. You'll feel better. It's when we're feeling bad that we want a quick fix to feel good.

30:46Sexual sin seems like the easy button. But it never delivers. Those of you who've been down that road know it never delivers. In fact, not only has your life not gotten any easier, many times it gets worse. Addictive behavior, inappropriate relationships, entanglements. It's like drinking salt water when you're thirsty. It is only going to make you thirstier. It's like being tired and laying your head down on a rock. And speaking of being tired, once again, Jesus speaks a better word to us.

31:32He gives us this promise. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Notice that Jesus doesn't promise an easy life. This is not an escape from your problems. In fact, though, it is better. This is the help of Christ to bring you through them. It's the assurance of peace with God. It's knowledge that He's in control. You know, the wonderful thing about a good night's rest is that it can help with so many different afflictions.

32:12And this rest that Jesus offers is deeper. It serves not just your body, but your mind and your heart and your spirit. Brothers, sisters, won't you come to Jesus and receive this rest? If you're heavy laden, if you're struggling with temptation and sin, turn once again to Jesus in faith. And rest in His control, rest in His work, rest in His love. God gave us these deep desires to have a full life, to be beloved, to have rest and relief when life is hard.

32:51And He is the only one who is good enough and strong enough, truthful enough and faithful enough to meet those desires. and he is the only one who is good enough, one who is high enough to meet those desires... and the one who is good enough to meet those desires.