Radical with David Platt
Radical with David Platt is a podcast that highlights sermons weekly from teacher, author, and pastor David Platt.
Radical with David Platt
Conquering Temptation
We’re in a spiritual war and Satan is actively working to destroy us by tempting us to sin. And one of the scariest things is that we often don’t even realize it. In this message from David Platt from Proverbs 7, we’re reminded to stay alert to temptation and to fight it in the power that God supplies. The good news for those in Christ is that our victory over sin is assured because of what God has accomplished in the gospel.
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You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author and teacher David Platt. Here's the question I want you to think about today what are the most common temptations that you face in your life so the marshmallows, to use that illustration that your eyes and your fingers are most drawn toward. What are the most common lures to sin that you are prone to be enticed by? Let's just take 30 seconds to either bring to mind or maybe to write down what are the most common temptations you face. Let's take a moment. God help us to see in our lives how we're most lured towards sin. So take a moment to reflect on that question before God. I obviously don't know all that's coming to your mind.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're often tempted to anger. Maybe you're often tempted by envy or jealousy of who others are or what others have. Maybe you're tempted by lust, maybe by pornography. The list of ways we might be tempted to sexual immorality is long and varied. Do you struggle with temptations to gossip or slander? Do you struggle with temptation to lie or cheat? Do you struggle with addiction to anything from alcohol to social media?
Speaker 1:For many, our most common temptations are evident in the way we use our phones? Are you tempted to base your identity on what others think about you? Are you tempted by materialism? Are you tempted to get more instead of giving more? Are you tempted to spend too much or to eat too much? And then keep in mind temptations don't just revolve around things we might be tempted to do that we shouldn't. Temptations can also be things we're tempted not to do that we should.
Speaker 1:So are you tempted by prayerlessness, tempted to go throughout your busy day apart from concentrated and continual time in prayer? Are you tempted to ignore God's word or just to give passing attention to it? Are you tempted to keep God's word to yourself instead of sharing it with others? Are you tempted to lack trust in God with this or that part of your life, or to lose trust in God when you walk through trials in your life? Are you tempted by worry or anxiety about different things in your life? Are you tempted to ignore injustice or oppression, to ignore people who are in need? I could keep going, but I trust we realize we are surrounded by all kinds of temptations all day long. We live every moment, in a sense, in that chair from that video with all kinds of enticements before us all the time. I'm going to put this up on the screen and we're going to go through it quickly, but before we even look at Proverbs 7, I want to remind us of truths we see all over the Bible that form the foundation for this chapter.
Speaker 1:First and foremost, we live in a spiritual world and we often forget this. We're so immersed in a rationalistic, naturalistic, western mindset that explains everything by science and technology. Seriously, how can you believe God controls thunder and lightning when meteorologists can use satellite pictures and computers to predict storms a week before they even happen? How can you say a personal tempter engages our wills in a battle of good and evil, when we know it's the configurations of our DNA or our family history that lead us down certain paths? We do things just because we're naturally made that way, and this naturalistic worldview has deadened us to the reality of the spiritual world around us To the point where we see spiritual explanations of anything almost like religious lunacy. In the book Screwtape Letters, cs Lewis depicts an older demon named Screwtape giving advice to a younger demon named Wormwood, and Screwtape says at one point to his younger protege I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient talking about the person they're tempting in the dark. The fact that devils are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights and persuade him that since he can't believe in that, he therefore cannot believe in you. So we often think about spiritual explanations or spiritual temptations as fantasy or fiction and as a result, we don't realize we're involved in a spiritual war.
Speaker 1:I want to make sure to distinguish here, particularly in Metro DC at this time of year. We're not talking about a political war or a culture war or a fight for our nation. We're talking about something much deeper than all these things. We're talking about what Ephesians 6 calls a battle not against flesh and blood, but with spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We're talking about the battle for your heart and mind that is happening every time you're scrolling through your phone. We're talking about the spiritual battle that's playing out in the thoughts you have, the desires you possess, the words you use, the attitudes you have the desires you possess the words you use, the attitudes you have, the decisions you make, the relationships you're in, because it's not just our lives. There's a spiritual war at work in your family members' lives, in your friends' lives, your co-workers' lives. There's spiritual battle taking place in every single person you see around you right now and over 8 billion people in the world, and the stakes in this spiritual war are high. Casualties in this war don't merely lose a limb or even an earthly life. Eternity, heaven and hell are at stake in this spiritual war. In addition to so much in our lives right now.
Speaker 1:Just think about it. Any one of us could do one thing this week that could have a devastating effect on our lives and others lives around us, or maybe, more likely than just one big thing, maybe a number of small things. To go back to the screw tape letters at one point screw tape talks about the value of tempting subjects to small sins, he tells Wormwood. You will say that these are very small sins and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But it does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the light and out into the nothing. Indeed Screwtape says the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without, without mileposts, without signposts, which leads to this last biblical truth I'll put on the screen before I come back and give you one more.
Speaker 1:At the end in this spiritual war that is raging in you and around you and me, there is an adversary in this world who wants to destroy us. The bible Bible calls him the devil. His name means the slanderer. Other places he's called the tempter, the liar, the accuser and the destroyer. The Bible does not describe the devil and demons, spiritual forces of evil, as a wimpy cartoon character trying to entice you, but as a lion looking to devour you. There is an adversary at work in your life right now who wants to destroy you. He wants to destroy your family, your marriage, your children, your parents. He wants to destroy your friendships. He wants to destroy your friendships. He wants to destroy your future, and not just here in this world. His aim is your eternal destruction. There are spiritual forces of evil working every single day, all throughout the day, toward that end in your life. This is where I'm hesitant to use that video, because we're not talking about a sweet treat on a plate. We're talking about real temptations with real consequences every single day of our lives.
Speaker 1:So with that biblical framework, we're going to read Proverbs 7, which is essentially a story about temptation to adultery. Yet it's deeper than just adultery. The whole book of Proverbs is essentially a father discipling his son, telling him how to live wisely. And wisdom, from the very first chapter of Proverbs, is personified as a woman calling out for him to follow her. And in Proverbs 8, you look at it, right after this chapter, you see wisdom personified as this woman beckoning a son to follow her. But right before this, in chapter 7, what we're about to read, we see another woman whom he follows instead. So what we're about to read is, yes, about adultery, but it's also about all kinds of temptations to sin and foolishness. So let's read it Proverbs 7, verse 1.
Speaker 1:My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you. Keep my commandments alive, keep my teaching as the apple of your eye, bind 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, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. And behold, the woman meets him dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart, she is loud and wayward, her feet do not stay at home. Now in the street, now in the market, in every corner, she lies in wait, she seizes him and kisses him, and 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.
Speaker 1:I've spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen. I've 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's gone on a long journey, journey he took a bag of money with him and at full moon he will come home. With much seductive speech, she persuades him with her smooth talk, she compels him all at once. He follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter or the 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, 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 has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throne. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death. Did you see it?
Speaker 1:This whole chapter starts as a father's instruction to his son. He's telling him to view wisdom as his sister, as his intimate friend, and to keep away from foolishness, specifically called the forbidden woman here. And then he goes on to tell this story of a young man lacking sense who goes from simply taking a stroll in the beginning to finding himself in the end in the chambers of death in a matter of minutes. How does that happen? How does temptation work?
Speaker 1:Let me show you the cycle of temptation in this chapter, and it's not necessarily always. I don't mean to imply it's a step-by-step process, but temptation usually involves a combination of these things. First, temptation waits as this simple young man goes out for a stroll. Did you hear verse 12? At every corner she lies and waits. What a picture of temptation. It's always there, waiting for you in all kinds of ways, all day long. You may think you're just going along in your day, but temptation is not staying home. It's lurking all around you. And then, just the right moment, temptation appears verse 13. She seizes him and kisses him. She makes herself known to him. Now, keep in mind, temptation is not always this forward. This aggressive Temptation is often more subtle or passive.
Speaker 1:Think about Genesis 3. The serpent makes himself known with a simple, seemingly innocent question Did God actually say not to eat from any tree in the garden? And does God really want your good? Which leads to the next picture Temptation appeals. I've come out to meet you. Verse 15 says to seek you eagerly. I found you. I want you, I want your good. Temptation says.
Speaker 1:Temptation appeals to our desires. In the words of John Piper, the power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier. No one sins out of a sense of duty. Temptation flatters you. You want, you deserve this. You are justified in this. Then temptation invites in verse 18 it's come, let us take our fill of love till morning.
Speaker 1:In genesis 3. It's come, take this piece In our lives. It's dwell on this thought, indulge this desire, say those words, react that way, take those steps and notice how the invitation comes with a promise. Temptation promises at least two things here in Proverbs 7. It promises satisfaction You'll be delighted with love and it promises secrecy. No one will know. My husband is gone. Temptation promises to be good for you and devastating to no one. Yet it's interesting.
Speaker 1:After all of that, it still seems that there's some pause in this young man. The very next verse tells us with much seductive speech she persuades him. And that's how temptation works. It allures, just continues to draw, persuade. It eventually compels him. That word capturing just the relentless allurement of temptation that we're all familiar with.
Speaker 1:You ever resist temptation for a time, like you didn't blow up in anger at first, but they just kept nagging at you until you lose it. You choose not to scroll over those images at first, but later. You're tired, you're more vulnerable and you give in. You hear a sermon on giving. You decide, but give more generously. But after a couple of weeks you've completely forgotten and you're back to spending as before, you resolve to pray, to read the Bible. But life gets busy and other things get more important.
Speaker 1:One writer put it this way temptation is rarely a single arrow to be avoided, but far more often a wide and prolonged wave of warfare meant to wear us down until we surrender. Temptation allures relentlessly. We resist at one corner. It waits to meet us around the next corner, where it starts all over again, and maybe from a totally different angle, until, in the words of verse 23, he follows her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a stad caught fast until an arrow pierces its liver, like a bird rushing into a snare. He goes and he does not know it will cost him his life. Don't miss it. See, the aim, the end of all of this is to lure us to sin and lead to our destruction. Lure us to sin and lead to our destruction.
Speaker 1:Whenever I read this chapter, I cannot help but think about a once really close friend of mine who was allured by someone, not his wife. I remember him packing his things and jumping into his car and driving away to go be with her, us pleading with him don't do it. And he went anyway, leaving his wife, leaving his daughter who loved him so deeply and leading to the loss of so much in his life. And we are obviously applying this text to temptation in general today. But for anyone who is in any way flirting with temptation to adultery or sexual immorality in any way, hear God graciously bringing you to this place in this moment to hear you say you're like an ox going to the slaughter. Don't do it. Hear his words speaking to you.
Speaker 1:Temptation is aiming for your destruction. Open your eyes, see what's happening. It's waiting, it's appearing, alluring, appealing to you, inviting you, promising you so much, alluring you all to destroy you. So how do you fight this most important of all wars that's playing out in all kinds of ways in all of our lives? Hear the word of God, three exhortations from a father to a son and God to us all, in Proverbs 7. First, fill your mind with truth Verse 24 listen to me, be attentive to the words of my mouth. This is where the whole chapter started, in verse 1. Keep my words, my son, treasure of my commandments, with you. Keep them as the apple of your eye, that language there is. Literally. Put the truth of God at the very center of your sight. Bind them on your fingers. Write them on the tablet of your heart. Live with wisdom like it's your intimate friend you love. It will keep you from the forbidden woman.
Speaker 1:Temptation thrives on you not being close to God through his word and wisdom through his word. Temptation thrives on lies and deception in this world, which means the way to fight temptation is to fill your mind with truth. It's how Jesus fought temptation in Matthew 4, tempted three times. Every time he quotes God's word in response. He knew what God's word said. He knew it was true, he knew it was good. So meditate on his word, memorize it, write it on the tablet of your heart, love it. Read this word not just to check off a box in your day. Read it because it's critical to your life. Keep my commandments and live Life and death depends on having this word hidden in your heart. So fill your mind with it.
Speaker 1:And then, before we move on, let's not overlook the fact this father in Proverbs 7 is doing all he can to pass God's word to his son, to the next generation. So let's not just fill our minds with truth, let's fill others' minds with truth. Parents, are you teaching your children the word of God? Are you helping them to meditate on it and memorize it and love it. Are you showing them what that looks like in practice in your life Such a way way they're passing that on to them so they're ready for spiritual war in this world? We can run them around from this practice to that activity in pursuit of success according to this world, but we are only setting them up for failure if we don't give them God's Word. Prepare your children to fight temptation coming at them from all sides with truth and wisdom that you've poured into them, and not just parents, but for us as a church to prioritize passing on truth to the next generation so that they can live.
Speaker 1:Fill your mind, mind, fill their minds with truth and then guard your heart with vigilance. This is exact language from proverbs 4, 23. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life, and it's here again in proverbs 7, 25. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways. And interestingly, we read these exact words from Jesus in our Bible reading as a church family this last week in Mark, chapter 7.
Speaker 1:For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within and they defile a person. Do you see how temptation starts in your mind and in your heart? Makes sense, right? If we don't want to commit adultery, then guard your heart against lust. If you don't want to commit murder, then guard your heart against hate. If you don't want to commit theft, then guard your heart against covetousness in your life. Like guard your desires. Not everything you desire is good, and even that statement is controversial in our day. We just bought into the lie that because we desire it, that makes it good. No, just because you have a desire for something does not mean you're obligated to fulfill that desire, because that's the way you're made. See how temptation is appealing to our desires, flattering us, promising us, alluring us. Guard your hearts. Out of the first sinning, come into the world.
Speaker 1:Genesis 3, 6. The woman saw the tree was good for food. It was the delight to the eyes, it was to be desired to make one wise. So she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. They didn't fill their mind with truth and they didn't guard their hearts with vigilance.
Speaker 1:And you keep reading this chapter and you see, immediately they started blaming each other and blaming God for what they had done. We do the same thing today. She made me angry. He caused me to do that me angry. He caused me to do that In marriage. It's my spouse isn't satisfying me, so I need to find someone else who is In singleness. It's I'm willing to find somebody outside of marriage who will satisfy me. Or with so much sexual immorality in our day, it's God you made me this way.
Speaker 1:No, james 4, 13. Let no one say, when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God. Fill your mind with truths from God and guard your heart with vigilance before God and watch your steps at all times. Verse 25. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths. Do you realize?
Speaker 1:This whole chapter started with a stroll. It started with a young man wandering instead of watching out. There's a reason. First, peter 5 says be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour you every day. Be alert, resist him. This is not passive, james 4, 7, 8. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you, not ignore the devil, and he will flee from you. No, resist him. And how do you do that? You draw near to God instead, and this is where I want you to see the most important truth Proverbs 7 and all over the Bible that you must not miss, because if you miss this truth, you will lose the battle against temptation in your life, guaranteed. If you walk away from today committed to doing everything you can, doing more, to fight temptation, you will fail. Think about it. Your adversary is a lion. You're not. If you see a lion and you say I'm going to do everything I can to fight him, it's not going to work out well for you. You need help and I have good news for you.
Speaker 1:Remember how we set this whole picture up. We live in a spiritual world and a spiritual war, and the stakes are high your life, your relationships, your family, your future forever. It's all at stake in this spiritual war and there's an adversary in this world who wants to destroy you. But I want you to hear this one final truth there is an ally over this world who wants to save and satisfy you. Hear this good news in this battle in this world, the God who made you the God you are tempted to turn from, the God whom you have turned from. We all have. We've all given in to temptation to trust our ways instead of God's word. We've all been this foolish man, woman, done the things we want and as a result of our sin, which has brought unimaginable destruction in the world, we're all in a row that leads to eternal destruction beyond this world. Holy judgment, do our sin before a just and holy God.
Speaker 1:But the good news of the Bible, the greatest news in all the world, is that God has not left us alone in this battle, and God has not left us alone in our sin and eternal destruction. God has come to us in the person of Jesus. He's come to this world and he lived. Jesus lived a life of no sin, unlike anybody else in the history of the world. He didn't give into temptation one time and then, even though he had no sin for which to die, he chose to die on a cross to pay the price.
Speaker 1:For what? For your sin and my sin, for the sins of all who trust in him. And then, three days later, jesus rose from the grave. He defeated sin and death for us, so that anyone, anywhere, no matter what you've done, no matter how you've given in, no matter how this picture of Proverbs 7 is played out in your life, if you will simply turn from your sin and trust in Jesus to save you from your sin, he will forgive you of all of it and give you eternal life with him, starting now with his spirit inside you. So if you have never put your trust in God's love for you, in Jesus to save you from your sin, give you eternal life and restored relationship with God, I invite you to do that today.
Speaker 1:Don't believe the lies of this world that your best life is according to your ways. Believe the God who made you, that he knows you and what is best for you in your life now and for all of eternity. And once you trust in Jesus and for all who has, then do not fight against temptation in your flesh. Fight against temptation and the power of his spirit living in you. Don't try to fight this battle alone. Rise every morning and say Jesus, me. Then listen to his word and walk in fellowship with his spirit all day long, looking to him to give you the power to overcome temptation all day long, knowing that he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world, your ally, who's over all the world, the one who conquered sin and death, is living inside you to save you from sin, not just for eternity, but today, this week, and he will satisfy you.
Speaker 1:You look back at that cycle of temptation and you realize how Jesus enables you to overcome temptation, because he's waiting to satisfy you at every turn. He has appeared not just 2,000 years ago, but he's with you right now, always appealing to your good, and he actually knows what will lead to your good, and he invites you every day to experience what is truly good in your life. He promises you true satisfaction and he always keeps his promises. And he allures you with new mercy, waiting for you every single morning and following after you all the day long. So how do you fight the alluring temptations of this world? With the alluring love of Jesus for you and the almighty power of Jesus in you. That marshmallow picture is not a perfect illustration. It breaks down to many levels, but the kids who held on knew something better was coming.
Speaker 1:Ladies and gentlemen, fight temptation with the knowledge that someone better has come. Jesus, god in the flesh, has come. He's made full light, free from the destructive power of sin, available to you and me now and forever. So fill your mind with his truth, guard your heart with his vigilance, watch your steps at all times by the power of his spirit inside of you, and live.
Speaker 1:So I want to give you a moment alone with God, specifically in a time of confession. If you've never trusted in Jesus as the Savior and Lord of your life, then I want to invite you in this quiet moment to confess you're a sinner before God and ask God to save you from your sin, put your trust in what Jesus has done on the cross for you and for all who have done that, who are trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord, that who are trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord. I want to give you a couple moments to confess before God how you have given in to temptation, how you are struggling with sin, just to be honest with Him, what he already knows and to ask God for His forgiveness. And to ask God for his forgiveness and to ask God for his help in fighting those specific temptations. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of Radical with David Platt. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radicalnet.