DCFC Online May 6th - Living with Temptations - Ps Murray Tomlinson

LIVING WITH TEMPTATION
Temptations are Your Desires Gone Astray

STORY:-  Tell the story of the Wise Old Pastor walking in the Shopping Mall, with a young man who told him that he was hoping to Live a Holy Life.   
None of us will ever be free of Temptations until our life on earth is finally over. Until then, temptations may be the largest threat you and I face.  SO …… How big of a Sin are Our Temptations?      Well ……….
1, Temptations are not sinful, or anything you should be ashamed of.
And this is probably the Reason Most People, (ALMOST NO ONE) ever speaks about their temptations, because we’re mostly ashamed of them.
Hebrews 4:15, (NKJV)   Tells Us………
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  SO IF Temptations were a SIN, then JESUS Sinned; because HE ALSO felt HIS Normal God Given Desires that were Seeking to Trespass Over GOD’S Boundaries. Yes HE was tempted just like we are, But Never Gave In to Them. Temptations Grow like Weeds in Our Lives. We Don’t Plant them, but they just keep coming up in our Lives. Temptations are as NORMAL as Living and Breathing. You’ll Never be free of them, SO We need to LEARN HOW to OVERCOME them. They ARE NOT SIN, but They DO SEEK to Entice You and I, TOO Embrace SIN.
JESUS HIMSELF WAS TEMPTED
In Matthew 4:1-11, we see Jesus was Led up By the Spirit into the Wilderness to be Tempted by the devil.  Matthew 26:41. Watch and Pray lest you Enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh (your lower carnal nature, sarx,) is weak.  
Matt 26:41, The Message Bible, 
Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire." 
1, Like Jesus, the Devil will Attack your IDENTITY.
IF you are The Son of God. (Matt 3:17, But Jesus Had Heard. This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well Pleased) Satan is Seeking TO ROB You of YOUR Confidence In GOD. He’s a THIEF !!!
2, The Devil will try to get You ADDICTED to Your Natural Fleshly Desires. YOUR HUNGRY, So Turn These STONES INTO BREAD.  HE WANT’S YOU TO SELF DESTRUCT, through your Natural Fleshly Desires.
That’s why Fasting can Help Break Strong Fleshly ADDICTIONS,   FOOD, DRINK, SEX, SHOPPING. Etc
3, Satan will seek to Nurture and Feed Your EGO and Your PRIDE, so that You Presume Upon GOD, and Jump off the Temple, Hoping You can get GOD to Dance to your Tune. (Or You Agenda) [But He is NOT Your SERVANT. HE IS LORD, And Not You]
1 John 3:5, (NLT) 
5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 
JESUS was Succesfull in Dealing with Temptation, And wants to Help US in Our Temptations, So That we Won’t Choose to Sin. We Just need to Come to Him and ask for His help.  JESUS Give me a Strategy.
JESUS was tempted in all points like WE ARE, But HE Never Sinned. Temptations for Us all are as Normal as living and breathing. JESUS FELT the Desire for Sin, just like you and I DO, But HE Chose NOT to FEED that Desire. Like Matthew 4 and Luke 4, HE used the SWORD, the WORD, against the Devil.
2 Corinthians 5:21, (NKJV)  Tells Us…..
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  

2, Temptations are experienced By Every Single Human Being.
NO ONE Escapes the Onslaught of Temptations. NO ONE. Not a Single Person.
Hebrews 4:15, (NKJV) Reveals that Everyone is Tempted. 
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Did you see the Words…… AS WE ARE?
YOU are Tempted, SHE is Tempted, HE is Tempted, THEY are Tempted, I AM Tempted.
3, Temptations Come To Everyone, NO Matter How Godly They Are. Far too many of Us are tragically misinformed about the Truth of Temptations. People Assume that the More Godly a Person becomes, the Less temptations that person will Face. Yet the most Godly of All Humans who ever lived, Jesus Christ, was in ALL Points tempted as we are!!  Jesus wasn’t just Tempted a Little, but in ALL WAYS.
Shocking, isn’t IT. Godliness does NOT in ANY WAY limit the Number of Temptations we may receive. 
In fact, when you read many of the Famous Christian Classics written by Saints from across History, they all lament about the NUMBER and STRENGTH of their Temptations. Temptations can be conquered the More we walk with the Lord, But they remain present in our lives until we cross 
OVER to the other Side.
4, Temptations are Normal 
God-Given desires that Seek to Trespass God’s Boundaries.
What exactly are Temptations? The answer may surprise you, because Temptations are based on the Normal Desires that God gave to all of Us, but with one thing out of place.
Those desires Seek to trespass the Boundaries God Established for Us.
In other words, a Temptation is simply a Good Desire …. Gone Bad!  Gone Astray!
Our God-given desire become temptations, when we desire Too Much, or go Too Far, or seek to fulfill them in the Wrong Place, or with the Wrong Person. Breaking Boundaries.
Temptations are simply the inner push of our Normal Desires to overstep Gods Boundaries.
Often the Bible calls our Sins a Trespass, which means….. to go Beyond a Clear Boundary into Forbidden or Into OFF Limits Territory.
Every single temptation is rooted in a normal desire. God Himself gave Us our Desires, and 
wants us to LEARN THROUGH EXPERIENCE to Honour and Obey His Stated Boundaries. Temptations are simply Desires that Entice Us to Go Beyond the Safe Boundaries that God has established for all of Us. When you Don’t Allow your Desires to go Too Far or Too Fast, you Don’t Sin. 
Since Temptations are simply God-Given Desires, they AREN’T SINFUL, but are Normal 
What you and I DO with Our Desires, will Determine if we Walk in Obedience, or Stray into Disobedience.

5, Temptations Precede every single Sin; so if you Overcome Temptations, You Won’t Sin. 
Every Sin we have ever Committed OR will Commit IS ALWAYS, ALWAYS….. Preceded by a TEMPTATION. [ A Straying Desire ]
Temptations Precede Every SIN.
Hebrews 4:15, connects temptation to sin
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus was tempted, (He felt the desire) but 
He just chose not to allow those desires to Stray and Give Birth to sin.
Maybe there IS a Secret or Key in this verse For Us. Jesus focused on defeating the Straying DESIRE, or Temptation, then defeating the Sins.
1                     2                         3
Desire           Temptation         Sin
 IF YOU Tone Down the Intensity of Your Wrongful Desire, …… then Temptations flee into the darkness, powerless and defeated.
When you defeat a temptation, you no longer have to struggle with that particular desire to sin because you exercised your SELF DISCIPLINE, and SAID NO to that Straying Desire. It’s a bit like Training a Straying Puppy.