Why Temptation Keeps Coming Back

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Welcome to The David Jeremiah Podcast from Turning Point Ministries, delivering the unchanging word of God to your ever-changing world.

Listen daily at davidjeremiahpodcast.org or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. On today's episode, Dr. Jeremiah brings a message from his series, The Battle for Your Soul. And now, here's David.

David Jeremiah (0:23)

And friends, we are talking about spiritual warfare as we deal with this brand-new book called The Battle for Your Soul. I must confess that many times when I hear spiritual warfare, there's kind of like a superstition that goes with it, like there's a demon behind everything that happens. The Bible doesn't present it that way. The Bible is very clear about what we do when tempted, what we do when we're under depression, how we deal with life according to God's Word. And we're trying to stay focused on that, not get off on any rabbit trails along the way, but just keep our minds straight. This is what God says. This is what this means, and this is what it means to you. We'll get to our lesson in just a moment, but first, let me tell you that we are featuring during this month, as our special gift, a copy of the book, The Battle for Your Soul, 240 pages, helping you to learn how to stand strong in temptation. In this book, you will identify the enemy strategies without becoming obsessed with them. You will rest in assurance of your eternal victory, and you will understand that spiritual warfare leads to greater peace and freedom. You will be blessed and bettered by this book. I promise you it will help you. And if you will get a copy of it today, you can begin studying it immediately. Available from Turning Point for a gift of any size, ask for it when you send your gift. And also available in all the major bookstores where you can go and purchase your copy. Let's get started now with temptation. This is the one thing that is true for everyone, because the Bible says that temptation is a subject for every man. That includes you and me. This is pertinent to all of us. Let's study it together.

As John Purley Huffman backed his 20-06 Toyota Tundra out of a parking space at the Amtrak Station in Santa Barbara, he accidentally hit a white 2010 Honda Civic. He said, I couldn't have been going more than a single mile per hour.

I hit the Honda near the leading edge of the right door, and maybe a bit into the fender, it left more than a scuff, but slightly. So I faced a dilemma. Should I leave a note for the Honda's owner, confessing the accident, giving my name and phone number? Or should I just drive away? The temptation to ski-dattle was overwhelming. My insurance was already expensive, and besides, probably the owner wouldn't even notice the new dent in his car.

In the battle for our souls, these are the kinds of temptations that come to us suddenly without warning. And in this case, I need to tell you that John yielded to his conscience and wrote a note. Later, the Honda's owner called him and they had a civil chat, and the person never filed an insurance claim, so John was true to his conscience, but he never took a hit to his insurance policy. He wrote about this in a book that he wrote called Road and Track, and he called the article, Tempted by Evil, One Stupid Accident, and Moral Disengagement.

And I thought, we live in a time of moral disengagement.

And that's a sinister battlefield for your soul and for mine. At its core, the war we face concerns our desires, our decisions, and our direction. It's a matter of what we love, what we choose, and what we are becoming. Unfortunately, as someone has said, most people want to be delivered from temptation, but they would also like to keep it in touch.

A Christian has the world, the flesh, and the devil that we have to deal with every day, but it's the devil who tempts us. And I want to talk to you today about temptation. And before I go any further, let me say that temptation is not a sin.

The Lord Jesus was tempted intensely in the wilderness. Temptation is not a sin. Yielding to temptation is a sin, but temptation itself does not qualify for sin. The devil is actually called the tempter in two different places in the Bible, and as he roars about like a lion seeking to devour us, I'm sure he's passed your way more than once as he has mine. And probably not so long ago, perhaps even this very day. Satan has brainwashed large segments of people to live however they like without shame or guilt. For them, wrong is right, right is wrong. And as Christians, that can never be true for us because our goal is to please God. Temptation is Satan's magnet pulling us off course. It's not anything new.