22nd October 2023 - Teaching Services - Yasmin Chaffer - Resist Temptation

A word for us for today. Father, bless her and continue to bless

her as she sows and and receives from you, Lord, God Father,

Let our hearts be open, let our ears be ready, we might hear

from heaven in Jesus' name. Amen. Good morning. So the title of

this morning's message is resist temptation, and I'm going to start with a quote

from a book by Charlie mcas called The Boy, the Mole, the Fox,

and the Horse. I got you a delicious cape, said the mole.

Did you, yes? Where is it? I ate it? Said

the mall. Oh, but I got you another? Did you where is

that one? The same thing seems to have happened. Resist temptation. I'm

not actually going to talk about resisting k today, but what is temptation?

One dictionary definition says the desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise.

Let's look at the first recorded temptation in the Bible, that of Adam

and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Whilst it's a well known story,

there's always more that we can learn from it because it's God's word and there's

life in his word. So Genesis chapter two, verses fifteen to eighteen,

and then chapter three, verses one to seven. And I'm reading from the

Holman's Christian Standard Bible for the most part today, So it's Genesis chapter two,

starting verses fifteen to eighteen. And the Lord God commanded the man,

you are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must

not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on

the day you eat from it, you will certainly die. The next verse

is talk about the creation of Eve, which is not relevant today, so

I'll jump to chapter three. And now the serpent was the most cunning of

all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the

woman, did God, really you can't eat from any tree in the garden.

The woman said to the we may eat the fruit from the trees in

the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the

garden, God said, you must not eat it or touch it, or

you will die. No, you will not die, the serpent said to

the woman. In fact, God knows that when you eat it, your

eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and

evil. Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful

to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she

took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her

husband, who was with her, and he ate it. And the eyes

of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked. So

they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Imagine for a minute

what it was like to have literally of evil in the world we live in

right now. That takes a lot of imagination, but this was Adam and

Eve's reality. The meaning of the Hebrew word used here includes evil, affliction,

grief, and misery. God never intended, for instance, because of

Adam and Eve's mistake their sin, we do. But thankfully we have Jesus,

who really is the answer to it all. As it says, for

example in John sixteen, verse thirty three, you will have suffering in this

world. World, be courageous. I have conquered the world. Genesis two,

verse sixteen wnded the man. You are free to eat from any tree

of the garden, but you mustn't be a ledge of good and evil,

for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die.

This was a command, not a suggestion. It was clear and unambiguous,

both in the instruction and the consequence of not doing it. Some people might

say, why did God put the tree at the not evil there? Then

he doesn't specifically tell us, But I would like to suggest that one reason,

anyway, is because God is love. A dictator does not give people

a choice, but love does. It was the only choice that they had.

You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, except one

that suggests variety more than two or three. And freedom of choice is such

a fundamental freedom, isn't it Verse seventeen. You must not eat from the

tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat

from it, you will certainly die. Whilst this meant that they would experience

evil, they had no concept of it or any experience of death. There

are times when God's instructions to us may feel like He's holding out on us,

But how often are they to protect us or because he has something else

in mind? At these times we need to trust God's character. He is

love, even though we don't understand why God has actimpty has or we don't

feel like obeying. This is such a small example. It does illustrate the

point. I remember one time giving a birthday gift to a friend. It

was nothing spectacular, but something that I thought that she would like. Her

face lit up and she said she'd actually wanted to buy it for herself,

but the Lord had told her not to, and she didn't know why at

the time, but she obeyed that. It's not that there was anything bad

about it, but because God had something else in mind. Another question,

then, is how much do we trust the one who gave the command.

God knows the bigger picture, the whole picture. He knew what the knowledge

of good and evil would do to us, to the world, and wanted

to protect us from it, and he wanted Adam and Eve to trust him.

And trust, in my opinion, is the most important gift that we

can give, not only to each other, but also to God, and

it's fundamental to any relationship. We have. Other commandments, now necessitated by

the introduction of sinning to the world, the tank commandments, and Jesus said

in Matthew twenty two, verses thirty seven to forty that the most important commands

were to love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your

mind. This is the greatest and most important. The second is like it,

love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets, the

writings of the prophets depend on these two commands. The model of prayers,

the Lord's prayer in Matthew six, verse twelve includes forgive others as we have

been forgiven. This is loving others and yourself as well as God by honoring

him. How much do we trust the one who gave the command? Do

we trust our heavenly Father enough to obey, regardless of how it feels,

how difficult it is, because we know that he loves us, and he

knows us, and he knows the picture. He knows the cage that we

create for ourselves if we refuse to forgive, and how it hardens our hearts.

Forgive others as we have been forgiven, recognizing the wrong that we've done,

and asking the Lord for forgiveness unnecessary steps to receiving his forgiveness by faith,

because we know that he's faithful to forgive when we ask him. As

it says in one John one, verse nine, it's so important to forgive

ourselves te important as forgiving. I'd like trying to drive forward in life with

your eyes in the rear view mirror. I'll quote again from The Boy,

the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. Being kind to yourself is one

of the greatest kindnesses. For kindness, but being kind to yourself can start.

Now, that's part of love God, love others, love yourself,

isn't it, And it doesn't have to be self centered. I'm currently reading

a brilliant autobiography by a guy called Rahil Patel called Found by Love. He

tells how he became a Hindu priest and gave it all up after about twenty

years, and a bit later, how he became a Christian. Rahiel is

not the name that his parents gave him, but one he decided to take

on when he heard it and learned its various meanings. He said, among

other things, that in the Hindi language, it means one who takes the

beauty from the past into the future and leaves the bitterness behind. I just

think that's so beautiful. One who takes the beauty from the past into the

future and leaves the bitterness behind. Forgiveness brings the freedom to do that.

I said all that to illustrate our need to trust God, who as he

did with Adam and Eve, gives us commands like forgiveness. In the Bible,

his word to teach us how to live free Genesis three and verse one.

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the

Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did God really say

you can't eat from any tree in the garden? The serpent was Satan,

the devil. This is clear by what he said to Eve. At the

end of the day, you know a tree by its fruit. He tempted

her successfully to doubt God's word and sin by breaking the command, thereby fracturing

the relationship that God had always meant people to have with him and creating a

distance between them. Also, it's clear from other verses in the Bible,

for example, Revelation twelve and verse nine, Satan is described as a serpent.

The great dragon was hurled down that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan,

who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and

his angels with him. Satan said to the woman, did God really say

you can't eat from any tree in the garden. No, just the journey

to temptation to do that which is wrong. The first step was doubt was

sown into Eve's mind about what God had said. God didn't say that they

couldn't eat from any tree in the garden, they would have starved. This

really highlights the importance for us of knowing for ourselves what God has said in

the Bible his word. Sometimes he speaks through other people or direct word by

Holy Spirit that in a voice, or even for example, through peace about

something. However he speaks, God will never contradict his written word, which

is why it's so important for us to know it, so are not led

astray, for example, by our own desires wishful thinking that is not of

the Lord. So the first step on the journey to temptation for Eve was

doubt being sown into her mind about what God had said. Genesis three,

verse two. The woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit

from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in

the middle of the garden, God said, you must not eat it or

touch it, or you will die. Eve made some effort to resist.

She started well, refuting the claim that they weren't allowed to eat from any

tree in the garden, but then added something to what God had said about

the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. He only said

that they mustn't eat it. Eve added or touch it. May not feel

that significant in this case, but we need to be wary of adding something

to what God has said. Again, we need to know the word of

God, or we may unwittingly add to it like Eve did. I'm guessing

she didn't add or touch it deliberately, but whether it's inadvertent or deliberate,

it's important that we don't add to it, because that's the path to partial

truth. So the second step on the journey to temptation for Eve was adding

to what God had said. Additional point is that Adam was there and said

nothing. We'll go to verse six a bit later, but there it says

she gave some fruit to her husband, who was with her, and he

ate it, saying nothing. Taking a passive stance when we know better because

it's easy or for whatever reason, can be just as wrong as actively being

in doing what's wrongs. One Verse one says, blessed is the man who

walks not in the car ansel of the ungodly, nor stands submissive and inactive.

As it says in one translation in the Path of Sinners, that's what

Adam did when he could have supported Eve to do what was right. Ultimately,

we all had to take responsibility for our own decisions and actions or inaction,

but timely support to make right decisions can be helpful, especially when you're

under pressure. I remember years ago I wasn't under pressure in any way,

but it was one Saturday morning, not long after nine o'clock, and we

were walking down Staines High Street and we passed a cash miss machine and I

saw fifty pounds was still in it. Clearly someone had gone to make a

withdrawal and then forgotten to take the money and gone. I pointed it out

to Simon and said, what shall we do now? I knew the rights

answer it was obvious, but Simon stating it helped me to make the decison.

I'm just being honest with you. We went into the bank handed in

the money, knowing that because of the time and the amount, it'd be

easy for them to trace whose it was. The bank plot was astonished at

our honesty. It's not always appropriate to tell people how Jesus died to pay

the price for their sins and rose again so that we can be forgiven and

really live as God intended with him now and then eternally with him in heaven.

However, we can leave the fragrance of Christ in different ways, to

use that term from two Corinthians, in this case, through honesty. The

other side of that coin, if you're not on your own, is peer

pressure, which can obviously be either positive or negative. For example, when

I was a student in Italy, where I spent the third year of my

degree, I hung out with an Italian crowd about my age. There were

maybe five of us, and one night we went out to a cafe which

was on a boat because I was in Genoa on the coast, and it

was one of those places where you can play board games and it was really

chilled. It was lovely and you paid at the point of leaving, so

we got our drinks, we chatted, and when we were ready to go,

one of the guys said let's just go, and they were all nodding

and laughing. It would have been really easy to walk out of that place

without paying for them. It was just a bit of fun. When I

realized what they were saying, I said that's stealing. I'm going to pay

for my drink. When you're not speaking your own language, sometimes you just

lose a bit of subtlety when you say things. I saw the looks that

were exchanged, and they didn't need interpreting. But obviously if I was paying

for my drink, it meant that they would have to pay for theirs.

One of the girls in particular looked quite irritated, and things were a bit

quiet initially, but everyone paid for their drinks and we left. Obviously there

can be the temptation to fit in and go with the crowd. In that

type of situation, you haven't got a big window of opportunity to make a

stand. It's easier. It was easier for me because I wasn't what we

would call an integral part of that crowd. I hadn't been hanging out with

them for that long. In fact, it was the mother of one of

the guys who went to the church that I went to who introduced me to

her son, and he took me along et ce. But in my experience,

the lesson meshed you are so to speak in a crowd, the lesson

you've invested in relationships, the less bothered you are by their opinions in being

different, unless you're desperate to fit in. So whether you're on your own

or in a crowd can make a difference to how you respond to temptation,

but both can have pros and cons depending on the situation. So the second

step for Eve on her geney to temptation started well with quoting the word of

God, but she then probably inadvertently added to it. And also Adam didn't

help by not making a stand or supporting her to do the right thing.

Genesis three, verse four, No, you will not die, the serpent

said to the woman. In fact, God knows that when you eat it,

your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like God, knowing good

and evil. Satan's gone from sowing doubt to direct contradiction to God's word.

I've said it already, but we really need to spend that time reading the

word, listening to it however you take it in in order to know the

truth, so we can recognize alie, what counterfeit when we hear it.

I remember hearing one preacher say that the people who are experts in recognizing counterfeit

money spend their time studying the real thing, not forgeries, so that when

they come across counterfeit money, they recognize it for what it is because they

know the real thing that well, we need to be like that with the

truth for all sorts of reasons, especially as sometimes the exact situations we're facing

aren't literally in the Bible, but require us to apply the truth that we

know to guide our thoughts and behavior. So Satan goes from direct contradiction to

God's word by saying no, you will not die, to what I'd call

partial truth verse five. In fact, God knows that when you eat it,

your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God, knowing good and

evil. Yes, that was true, but not the whole truth. God

knew that spiritually speaking, this knowledge would be too great for us and would

kill us. Satan missed out that part and dressed it up as something positive

that God was trying to keep from eve temptations so often comes deceptively. If

Satan had said eat the fruit, it will bring misery, hatred, anger,

bloodshed, and death into the world and to your children forever after,

and tried to describe it accurately for people who had no concept of these things,

What do you think reaction would have been God is not a spoilspot.

He loves us more completely than any of us has yet understood, and thankfully

his love and his perfect wisdom are inseparable. Another aspect of this partial truth

is that actually we are called and destined to be like God. Ephesians five

is one to two says, be imitators of God as beloved children, and

walk in love. Just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for

us, we are to act like he did. What was so fundamentally wrong

with what the devil said is that it was an attempt to become like God

independently of him. As Jesus says in John fifteen, verse four, live

in me, and I will live in you. No branch can bear fruit

of itself unless it's united to the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless

you live in me. I'd suggest the third step of Eve's journey to temptation

was entertaining the denial of truth and partial truth. She didn't resist it by

going back to what God had actually said Genesis three, verse six. Then

the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at,

and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of

its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who

was with her, and he ate it. Notice, for Eve, the

temptation was not what looked and sounded evil, but what looked and sounded good.

We're not usually tempted by what looks and sounds destructive or plain wrong,

but because our senses tell us it's good. Our human reasoning without God,

Eve swallowed the lie that the knowledge of good and evil was wisdom. I

like something, Joyce Smyer says about this. She's a Christian author and speaker.

Wisdom is simply the proper use of knowledge. The Bible actually tells us

that the reverential fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That's Proverbs

nine and verse ten. If Eve had understood and applied this by respecting God's

command, things would have turned out very differently. That's a lesson that we

would do well to learn. So the fourth set to temptation for Eve was

returning her focus to that which was forbidden. It's so much easier to resist

what is wrong if we turn away from it, rather than keep looking at

it and thinking about it. So This was Adam and Eve's journey of temptation

that led to sin equints of which, of course, was separation from God

left. Our journey may not be exactly the same, but hadn't be asked

similarities to be able to lriate to theirs, The message is still the same.

Resist. The very word itself gives you some idea of what's required.

It takes effort. If you've ever used a resistance spanned at the gym,

you'll know how much harder it makes it to do movements that are easy without

it. The effort strengthens your muscles. Resist temptation. We don't have time

to look at how Jesus did it in the desert, as recorded in Loot

four, but a key point is that he kept saying what God said.

He drew on scriptures and stayed focused on those. I'm going to end with

Psalm forty and verse eight, and I'm reading from the NIV. That's Psalm

forty, verse eight. I desire to do your will, my God.

Your law is within my heart. I desire to do your will, my

God. Your law is within my heart. When our desire is to do

God's will, and we've spent time in God's word, so it's within our

hearts, ready for us to draw on to guide our thoughts and words and

behavior. We will be in a min much stronger position to resist temptation.

Thank you, M.