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                      Understanding Your Temptations!

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By David Wilkerson
July 27, 1992
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          Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation, said
          three requisites go into the making of a true minister
          of the gospel. These three things also apply to any
          overcoming Christian: prayer, meditation - and
          temptation.

          It was said that Luther could speak to people's
          consciences more quickly than any man of his day. His
          preaching was so piercing, he seemed to read directly
          into people's hearts and minds.

          When someone once asked Luther the secret of his
          ministry, he replied that it was understanding and
          having victory over his temptations. Luther called
          temptation "the shop of experience" - and he believed
          his ability to probe so deeply into men's hearts was
          the result of having learned through his own
          temptations.

          It is true - the holiest of God's people understand
          what it's like to endure hideous, overwhelming
          temptations. In fact, probably a majority reading this
          message are in combat right now with a trying
          temptation that came when least expected!

          The Bible clearly says we are not to be ignorant of
          Satan's devices. And I believe that if We're willing,
          the Holy Spirit will help us understand God's purposes
          behind our temptations. He wants to give us what I call
          "the keys to unlocking the mystery of the temptations
          of the righteous."

          Consider these three keys:

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              1. The Most Important Key to Understanding Your
                Temptation Is Knowing Where it comes from.

                     ---------------------------------

          Does your temptation originate with God, the devil - or
          your own flesh?

          Your immediate reaction is probably, "That's easy -
          temptation always comes from the devil, because the
          Bible says, 'God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
          tempteth he any man' (James 1:13)"

          Yet Scripture also gives us this very clear statement:
          "Then Jesus was led up of the spirit into the
          wilderness to be tempted of the devil" (Matthew 4:1).
          God's Spirit actually led Jesus into the combat zone!

          The truth is, both God and Satan have a part and plan
          in every temptation that befalls us. Satan's design in
          tempting us is always to destroy, ruin and kill. But
          for those of us who love the Lord and are called by
          Him, God uses all of it to further a grand, eternal
          purpose of His own. The Lord allows your temptation -
          but He does not cause it!

          This is illustrated in two biblical passages that seem
          to contradict each other:

          "The Lord...moved David against them [Israel] to say,
          Go, number Israel and Judah" (2 Samuel 24:1).

          "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David
          to number Israel" (1 Chronicles 21:1)

          Both of these verses describe the same occasion. Yet
          one says God moved David against Israel - and the other
          says Satan moved David!

          The fact is, both God and Satan were involved. You see,
          Satan saw an opportunity to destroy David and wipe out
          Israel. But God had another purpose in mind: He saw a
          cleansing possible, He saw salvation for David through
          the devastation of his pride!

          So God used Satan as His rod to chastise disobedient
          Israel. He struck judgment to save His people -
          exposing pride, idolatry and apostasy. And if you know
          the history, God's plan worked! He let the enemy tempt
          David so far, but then He moved in and brought
          deliverance - and David and Israel were saved in the
          process.

          The end result was not the downfall of David - but
          repentance, greater humility and a stronger church in
          Israel. And you can rest assured: If Satan is coming
          against you, he has to have God's permission to do it.
          That's because even though he has a destructive purpose
          in tempting you, God has His own purpose - an eternal
          purpose - in allowing it!

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            2. If God Is Allowing a Powerful Temptation in Your
               Life, You Can Be Sure He Is After Something!

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          God may be using temptation to get at a long-standing
          lust or besetting sin that has a stronghold in you. The
          Bible says every person is tempted "when he is drawn
          away of his own lust, and enticed" (James 1:14). And
          that is what God is after - the remains of that lust!
          He will keep allowing it to pop up year after year,
          until finallly you say, "Why do I have to keep going
          through this same battle?"

          When sudden temptation strikes -unwanted, unexpected,
          out of nowhere - God's intent is to show you your
          weakness. Up to this time you've always been
          vulnerable, because you've never set up a guard at your
          weak point. And because God wants to help you become
          strong there, He gives Satan permission to test you
          again and again in that same area - until your guard is
          set up. You will continue to be tempted until the last
          roots of that lust are destroyed!

          God doesn't allow temptation because He wants us to
          feel dirty and unworthy, a victim of satanic whim. No -
          He invites us to say, "Lord, I know You have a hand in
          all this. Help me to put up my guard against this sin
          and deal with it righteously. I know my weakness - and
          I don't want to have to be tempted any further!"

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                 3. Every Temptation of the Righteous Comes
               During Two Special Works of God in Our Lives.

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          The most severe temptations strike during two unique
          occasions in our walk with the Lord: (1) immediately
          after we receive blessings and deliverance from God's
          hand, and (2) just prior to God's opening a new and
          greater door of service for us for His glory.

          God may have blessed you greatly, and then told you,
          "I'm going to use you - I'm going to open a door no man
          can shut!" Perhaps He has shown you He's about to do
          something very unique in your life, in the areas of
          revelation, usefulness and effectiveness. Beloved. if
          that's so, then be alert - because it is usually then
          that the devil moves in!

          You may wonder, "How does the devil know God is about
          to use me? He can't read thoughts - he doesn't know the
          future."

          True! But Satan has had 6,000 years to study God's
          ways! He has seen over the centuries how God uses those
          who turn to Him with all their hearts: Abraham, Jacob,
          Peter. And now, when he sees you praying and hungering
          for God, he knows what that means: anointing, power -
          and the shaking of his kingdom! He says, "That person
          is set on God - he's going to be greatly used. I've got
          to get to him before it happens!"

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               The Most Vicious Temptations Are Hurled
              Against Those Who Already Have Their Hand
              on the Door of a New Mandate From Heaven.

                      -------------------------------

          A powerful illustration of this is recorded in Psalm
          40. This is a fascinating account of how a flood of
          awesome temptations moved in on David immediately after
          one of his greatest victories. Listen to David's boast
          in the Lord:

          "(The Lord) brought me up also out of an horrible pit,
          out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and
          established my going. And he hath put a new song in my
          mouth, even praise unto God: many shall see it, and
          fear, and shall trust in the Lord" (Psalm 40:2-3).

          David is testifying to a great victory in his life! He
          has been brought up out of a pit by God - and he is
          living right and being blessed above measure. Others
          see what God has done for him, and it is cause for
          praising the Lord: "I have declared thy faithfulness
          and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving
          kindness and thy truth from the great congregation....
          Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou
          hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward"
          (verses 10, 5).

          Then David says, "Mine ears hast thou opened.... I
          delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is
          within my heart" (verses 6, 8).

          David is saying something awesome here: "Oh Lord, I see
          what You've laid out ahead of me! Your plans for me are
          so marvelous. You have Your hand on me - You want to
          use me!"

          These are the words of a man who is enjoying one of the
          greatest victories of his life. God has just delivered
          David. And now He has revealed to him that the whole
          kingdom is about to be brought under him. Indeed, David
          was about to enter into his most effective period!

          Yet look at what follows immediately in this same
          Psalm:

          "For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine
          iniquities have taken hold upon me. so that I am not
          able to look up: they are more than the hairs of mine
          head: therefore my heart faileth me" (verse 12).

          David was not lusting, slothful or out of God's will at
          this point. No - he was praying, preaching, witnessing
          and hungering for God's Word. Yet suddenly, at the
          moment when these two great works of God occurred in
          his life, David was drowning in a river of unexpected
          trials and temptations! The "innumerable evils" that
          took hold of him were a flood of grievous temptations:
          past failures, old lusts, the things that had caused
          him to sin. They all came rushing back!

          How many of God's most precious saints have cried out
          as David did, "God, some evil has a stranglehold on me!
          I'm overwhelmed by evil thoughts - I'm too ashamed to
          look up! I'll never be holy. I feel like such a
          failure!"

          Right now, you may be going through a temptation you
          don't understand. You hate it, you despise it - but
          suddenly, there it is, and you don't know where it came
          from. You say to yourself, "I've set my heart to love
          the Lord. I'm not out carousing or looking for sin. Why
          is this temptation coming up again?"

          First of all, you must understand that it is no sin to
          be tempted. But the devil will paint you with a brush
          of unworthiness! He'll say, "Aha! You thought that was
          all over, dead and gone. But look at yourself - it's
          popped up again in your heart!"

          You'll think, "I've made no progress at all, though
          I've sat under a holy message. How can I still be
          battling something like this?" Yet the truth is, the
          more righteous you are, the more shame you feel when
          you go through these temptations - because you no
          longer want to grieve a holy God!

          Throughout history, great men of God have testified
          that as they sat in the pulpit about to preach, the
          devil put blasphemous thoughts in their minds - and
          they had to battle through it! I was in a meeting once
          with one of the greatest men of God I've ever known - a
          prophet, near seventy years of age. The Lord's presence
          was strong that night, when suddenly this man came to
          me and said, "Quick, David, lay hands on me. I'm under
          satanic attack! I'm enduring temptations I haven't
          experienced since I was a young man!"

          I was flabbergasted. I'd thought he was one of the
          holiest men I'd ever met - and yet here he was, weeping
          and under attack, right in the middle of a move of the
          Holy Spirit!

          I see now that God had kept him on the shelf until that
          last remain was pulled out. God had allowed it, to show
          him the one thing that had held him back from His best.

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                Jesus and Paul Experienced Great Temptations
                       At These Same Two Occasions.

                      -------------------------------

          Jesus Himself is our best example of understanding and
          winning over temptation. Christ had just been baptized
          in water, and the Holy Spirit had descended upon Him as
          a dove. Then a voice spoke from heaven - acknowledging
          Him to the world as God's own Son. At this moment Jesus
          was honored and blessed in a way no man ever has been.
          His wonderful ministry lay just ahead, for which He had
          prepared those many long years. Yet no sooner were the
          words spoken, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am
          well pleased" (Mark 1:11), than the very next verse
          says, "And immediately the spirit driveth him into the
          wilderness" (verse 12).

          And so it was with the apostle Paul as well. He was
          visited by Christ on the road to Damascus and heard the
          voice of God. He was miraculously delivered from the
          dark pit of spiritual blindness and the miry clay of
          Pharisaism. He was healed of physical blindness.

          And what a revelation he received! Paul was told he was
          being prepared as a vessel of honor, to carry the
          gospel to the Gentiles. It would be a ministry of
          suffering - and yet one of greatness beyond anything a
          man could be told!

          Again, we see these two solemn occasions meet in a
          godly man's life: great blessing and deliverance, and a
          glorious revelation of future usefulness. Yet that's
          when Paul says "a messenger of Satan" came to buffet
          him - just after the revelation and just before the
          most effective time of his life!

          I have found this to be so in my life as well. I have
          experienced years at a time free from any major
          temptation - enjoying peace, growth and blessings
          beyond measure. Then God will say to my heart, "I have
          something even more wonderful for you, David -
          revelation, joy and victory beyond anything you've ever
          known!"

          Suddenly, with no act on my part, I find myself smack
          in the middle of a raging trial! I cry out, "Oh God,
          where did this come from? I've been walking right, I've
          been praying. I hate my old ways! But now look - it's
          the same old battle! Lord, this is too much!"

          Are you presently going through a heartbreaking
          struggle with temptation? Stop, take heart - and take
          inventory!

          Has God been saying something to you about greater
          usefulness? About taking you deeper? Has He talked to
          you about blessing your family, using you to win souls,
          or leading you into some new field of endeavor? You may
          be on the threshold of a glorious new walk with Him!

          Of course, many Christians are mightily tempted when
          they are led away by their own lusts, and God uses
          trials to bring those to the surface. Yet many
          believers are tempted not because they're looking to
          lust - but because the devil knows they are about to do
          damage to his kingdom. And he wants to get to them
          before that happens!

                      -------------------------------

               How Can Saints Win Over a Flood of Temptation?
                        How Do We Get the Victory?

                      -------------------------------

          In 1667 a doctor named Richard Gilpin wrote a book
          entitled Demonologia Sacra, in which he suggested ways
          to win over temptations. His outline is the best I have
          yet discovered. Let me summarize it in four points:

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          1. Resist the devil, and never run or retreat in fear.

                      -------------------------------

          "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil,
          and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Christians
          usually quote only the last half of this verse - but it
          is contingent only on the first part! The most
          important thing is to submit to God - and that means
          submitting to the temptation He has allowed!

          Jesus submitted to being tempted in the wilderness
          because He knew His Father had a hand in it. And
          knowing this gave Him resolve and comfort that He was
          not alone on the battlefield.

          But many Christians who are assaulted by great
          temptations begin to belittle themselves. They grow
          discouraged and depressed - and soon they give up,
          saying their faith doesn't work. They don't realize
          that the very reason they are being tempted is because
          they are making progress!

          The Lord has commanded us to set ourselves to fight:
          "Stand fast in the faith, quit you [act] like men, be
          strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13).

                      -------------------------------

                    2. Don't ever talk to your tempter.

                      -------------------------------

          Never dispute with the devil or his powers! This is
          where many saints fail. They argue with themselves
          about their temptation, whether some good might come
          out of it. Instead, they should be quickly quenching
          the flame, denying the devil an opportunity to inject
          deceiving arguments!

          A young man once came to me who was involved in sexual
          sin with his unsaved girlfriend. He told me he had
          heard strong preaching, and God had spoken to him,
          "Break it off immediately! Stop it, once and for all!"

          Yet instead of quickly obeying God, the young man
          allowed Satan to drop arguments into his mind. The
          devil said, "But you're responsible for her soul she'll
          go to hell unless you stay with her. Don't cut her off
          completely. Call her, encourage her - be available when
          she hurts!"

          It was a recipe for disaster! The young man was holding
          a conversation with demonic thoughts! He was arguing -
          talking to the devil!

          Satan cannot read your mind or thoughts - he's not
          omniscient. But he can read your actions! He hears your
          phone conversations, watches where your feet take you,
          and sees you in places you don't belong. That's how he
          knows so much about you - because your actions blab it
          out! And he records your weaknesses in his ledger of
          temptations.

          If a man knows his weakness is pornography, he can be
          walking down the street praising the Lord. But the
          devil watches where his feet go - and he sets up a
          temptation right on the edge of demonic territory! This
          man may he praying in his head - but soon his feet are
          conferring with the devil!

          The devil will tell him, "Go ahead - God can't be that
          harsh. He knows you're trying, that you're weak. He
          will forgive you - because He commands you to forgive
          490 times!" Dear saint. that is no time to talk - it's
          the time to run! Turn around - shut off the demonic
          conversation! The most effective way to talk to the
          devil isn't with your mouth, but with your feet!

                      -------------------------------

                  3. Put a sudden stop to any possibility
                     of giving in to your temptation.

                      -------------------------------

          The time to stop the temptation is at the first
          impulse. That's when you need to state a quick,
          emphatic NO! "No, devil! No, flesh!" Line up on God's
          side against your sin immediately. Nothing sends the
          devil fleeing more quickly than a sudden, final "No!"
          at the first attack.

          Paul said to put to death the deeds of the flesh
          (Romans 8:13). No matter what the cost or what you have
          to give up, have the funeral now! You may answer, "But
          it's too hard - I can't let my temptation go." Yes,
          letting it go will hurt. But whatever it is, you've got
          to let it die - with no hope of resurrection! Lay it
          down, say no - and do it speedily and finallly, with no
          turning back.

          I know a minister in his mid-sixties who used to travel
          extensively. Once, on a trip to Europe, he met a young
          lady who was really on fire for God - by his
          definition. The Holy Ghost warned him: "It's a trap -
          get out now! Don't ever see her again, don't even talk
          to her. Put an end to it!"

          But the minister reasoned, "She understands my ministry
          better than anybody. Surely it's okay just to talk."
          Sure enough, eventually this man left his wife and
          married the young lady. He knew it was wrong from the
          first, but he had flirted with the idea of marrying a
          younger woman - and before he knew it, he was ensnared.

          This man could have maintained his integrity and spent
          the end of his days in a blaze of God's glory. But
          because he neglected to say a sudden, final "No!"
          against temptation, he lost it all!

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            4. Repel all temptations with activated Scriptures.

                    ------------------------------------

          The devil laughs at our arguments they mean nothing to
          him. There is only one thing that puts terror in his
          soul, and that is the Word of God in the heart of a
          Christian - believed and activated!

          We cannot win our battles by bare human resolve, or by
          mouthing Scripture verses. That's because the force and
          power are not in the words, but in the authority God
          has invested in them, To have power over the devil, the
          Word of God must come out of a believing heart and
          trusting lips.

          David said, "By the word of thy lips I have kept me
          from the paths of the destroyer" (Psalm 17:4). He also
          boasted, "I kept myself from mine iniquity" (18:23).
          How did he guard himself from sin? "For I have kept the
          ways of the Lord... and I did not put away his statutes
          from me" (15:21).

          Luther testified, "I have suffered many great passions
          and vehement. But as soon as I laid hold of any place
          in Scripture, and stayed myself upon it as upon an
          anchor, straitway my temptations did vanish away -
          which without the Word had been impossible for me to
          endure, much less to overcome."

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              Answer Your Temptation With Contrary Commands!

                    ------------------------------------

          If your temptation is toward adultery or fornication,
          cry out, "Thou shalt not commit adultery!"
          (Exodus20:14). If it is covetousness of any kind, cry
          out, "Thou shalt not covet!" (verse 17). If it is the
          lust of the flesh, cry out, "If ye live after the
          flesh, ye shall die!" (Romans 8:13). If it is a
          long-standing lust that has laid hold upon you, cry
          out, "Sin shall not have dominion over you!" (Romans
          6:14).

          Go to the Bible and get some contrary commands! Begin
          to speak them and believe them. Only faith activates
          that written Word - and only an activated word sets the
          devil to chase! You can stand and say, "Devil, I am
          safe from you and anything you send against me from
          hell. I don't stand on my record, or any personal
          holiness - I stand on the written Word of God, as Jesus
          did."

          As the enemy came at me full force recently, one verse
          leaped out: "I will go in the ways of the Lord my God"
          (see Psalm 18:21). Suddenly, faith began to well up in
          my heart. Now I quote this verse every day. When I get
          up in the morning, I say, "I will go in the way of the
          Lord my God" - and He goes with me!

          If you go in the ways of the Lord your God, He's going
          to give you great victory. And He wants to encourage
          you now - that no matter what you're going through,
          He's bringing you through it completely. You're not
          going down!

          "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Hebrews 12:6).
          But, He says, those chastenings are only for a season,
          a short while - and afterward, great joy follows!
          Hallelujah! - what a promise! Obey His Word, claim His
          contrary commands - and enjoy victory over your
          temptation!

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