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To protect yourself from temptation
(Proverbs 2:10-22)
Andy Nagahara
Let’s read Proverbs again today. Today’s text teaches us about the temptations that can derail our path to a good life. Even if we give in to temptation, in most cases we can change our mind and start over. But recovery can require great sacrifices. There are many people who meet Jesus when they are young and begin to walk with him, but eventually turn their backs on him and spend most of their lives without following him.
Some have been able to return to Jesus in later years. However, they still regret that they spent most of their life without knowing the many blessings that they could have received if they had continued to walk with Jesus. The life without Jesus can cause us to worry about things we don’t need to worry about, hurt someone without intending to, and bring sadness and suffering instead of joy and peace to ourselves and to others.
We are now in the season of Lent, when we remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who was crucified so that your lives would be “joy and peace” rather than “sorrow and suffering.” The resurrection three days later is our guarantee that joy and peace will become a reality. For Jesus lives in the present with those who believe in him.
Let us learn from this text about temptation and how to avoid it so that we can recognize and refuse it when it comes from someone who is not God, and so that we can walk away if we find ourselves falling into it.
1. Knowing Temptation (13-19)
Two types of tempter are introduced in the middle of today’s text. We are going to look at that part first. Let’s read verses 13-15.
who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
What we have here is a villain who seeks to make a profit in a typically antisocial way. Everybody believes that they will not listen to the temptations of such people. But the temptations of evil are subtle. They never call on people to become bad people. They invite us to live smarter.
I’m sure you all remember the world’s first temptation, as recorded in the Bible. It is recorded in Genesis chapter 3. The serpent asked Eve, “Did God tell you not to eat the fruit of the trees in the garden?” Eve answered, “Only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, because if we eat it we will die.” The question of the serpent is tricky. Until then, it would have never occurred to Eve and Adam to doubt God. They were content with being given all the fruits except one. But the serpent takes advantage of the human mind. “No, it tastes best and will never kill you.” and then, as if to draw their hearts away from God, “For God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Him, knowing good and evil.” Knowing good and evil means judging what is good and what is evil based on one’s own standards. It means elevating oneself to the position of God. It means ceasing to live according to God and instead living according to our own will and desires.
Incidentally, Jesus himself was faced with a similar temptation before beginning his ministry, and he rejected it. Jesus’ response to the temptation there gives us a great clue as to how we can protect ourselves from temptation, and I will discuss this in more detail in section 2.
Now let’s read the next verses 16-19.
16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
This is where we need to read carefully. I have previously told you that the Proverbs is directly addressed to young men, but the temptation is not speaking about sexual seduction by women toward young men. Of course, sexual temptation is one type of temptation, but as I mentioned earlier, its true nature is that it is a temptation that takes advantage of our desire to live according to our own desires rather than obeying God.
Temptations that try to separate us from God are all around us in various forms and are not uncommon at all. In other words, we cannot live apart from temptation.
The woman described here is a symbol of the power that tries to separate the young man away from God. And it exploits the weaknesses of each of us. Whatever temptation may be, it is not an essence in itself, but a delusion created in the mind of a man who is conscious of something that arouses his desire. The fight against temptation is not a fight against someone else, but a fight against our own delusions.
2. Living with Jesus (10-12, 20-22)
Now I read verses 10-12, 20-22.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
Last week we heard about Judas Iscariot, whose tragedy came about because he was not willing to obey the words of Jesus, who embodied God’s wisdom. When he decided to sell Jesus, he gave in to temptation.
How can we avoid succumbing to temptation like Judas? How can we, as we have just read, receive wisdom into our hearts, make it delightful to our souls, deliver us from evil, and keep on the right path?
Let’s take a look at Matthew 4 for some clues about how Jesus responded to the devil’s temptations. Matthew tells us that after Jesus was baptized by John, he was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days.
The devil approached Jesus, who had just finished his fast and was hungry, and spoke three tempting words to him. First the devil said to Jesus, who had finished his fast and was hungry:
“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
In response, Jesus said:
It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “
Such things like hunger, poverty, emptiness of heart – leaves us powerless against temptation. It is natural to want to satisfy our needs and desires. The devil then told Jesus to perform a miracle to make it happen. The devil tempts us to fill it with our own power as well. And those who succumb to that temptation work to make it happen using the power of their money, their strength, their intelligence, and their status, while those who do not have that power are made even poorer – that is what is happening in the world.
Yet Jesus, more than anyone else, had the power to do so and yet he refused to exercise it. He knew that lack is not something that can be taken away from people, but something that God will fill. Jesus showed that the temptation that still enslaves people to this day is powerless in the face of God’s word.
Only God’s Word can fill all our needs.
Then the devil had Jesus stand on the edge of the temple in Jerusalem and said to him:
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ “
In response, Jesus said:
“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ “
This temptation is not one of necessity like the previous temptation to turn stones into bread. Jesus didn’t need to jump off and show it. If Jesus had wanted to make a name for himself as a religious man, he could not have had a better opportunity. But Jesus knew that seeking fame and prestige was against God’s will. And He wants those who try to live according to Him to know it as well. The desire to be seen as superior to others is also a force that draws us away from Jesus.
Finally, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said:
“All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.”
Bob Dylan sings, “All of us, after all, serve either the Lord or the Devil.”John Lennon responded by singing, “Instead of serving either, be the master of yourself.” However, as the devil is now proposing, the devil achieves his goal by making persons their Lord and God. Serving yourself, as Lennon put it, is the same as serving the devil. That’s why, as Dylan says, everyone is always serving either the Lord or the Devil.
The Lord Jesus Himself said in Matthew chapter 6 or Luke chapter 16, “Man cannot serve both God and wealth.” To “serve wealth” is to serve oneself and, ultimately, is to serve the devil.
Finally, let’s return to Jesus’ answer to the third temptation.
“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ “
With this answer the devil gave up and left Jesus. What words did Jesus use to drive the devil away? These were not his own words, but the words of the Old Testament, which have also been given to us.
To protect ourselves from temptation, we must be nourished by God’s Word, continue to trust in God, and simply worship and serve the Lord.
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, thank you that you came into this world and are still leading us.
Thank you for protecting us from temptation so that we can continue to walk with you.
Please continue to guide us so that we may continue to follow you until we finish our walk on this earth.
We pray with gratitude and expectation in the name of Jesus Christ.
Summary
The world is full of temptations. When we take our eyes off the Lord Jesus, anything can become a temptation and act as a force that draws us away from the Lord. However, it is not the power of the thing itself that tempts us, but the power of sin that works within us. Therefore, we cannot blame temptations for our going astray. The only way to protect ourselves from temptation is to live with Jesus.
For Discussion
1. What temptations do you realize you are prone to?
2. How can we protect ourselves from temptation?