- If you pull out your message notes, we're in this series where we're trying to look at key areas of our lives from a new, fresh perspective, because we often get it wrong, our perspective's often wrong, and we wanna get it
from God's perspective. The Bible calls this repentance. This is a series on repentance, and I told you, each time, that the word repent, metanoia, in the Greek literally
means change your mind, metanoia, change your mind. Any time you change your mind, any time you rethink something and you learn to see it
from God's point of view, that's repentance. So we're looking at all
different areas of our lives, what, we're changing our, the way we thought about God, and changing the way we
think about ourselves and changing the way we think about life. Last week we talked, looked at changing the
way we think about sin. This weekend, I want us to look at changing the way we
think about temptation, because we often get stuck in a cycle of good intentions, failure, and then guilt, and then good intentions,
and failure, and guilt, good intentions, failure. God doesn't want you
to live in that cycle. So we're gonna look at how do you win over persistent temptation? The way you win over persistent temptation is not by resisting it, but by rethinking how you
actually see temptation. This is gonna be a very practical message, and maybe some areas of your life, you have just habitually stumbled in, anger or envy or gossip
or impatience or whatever. I think what we're gonna
look at today from God's Word is gonna be a big, big help. So get out your message notes and a pencil as we look at the reasons for rethinking how we looking
at persistent temptation. I'm gonna give you nine
biblical ways to do that, Tom's gonna help me out here. As I said, very, very practical. So let's get right into it. What does the Bible say? If I wanna get victory
over the areas of my life that I keep stumbling
in, the habits that I go, I don't like these things about me, but I just keep doing 'em
over and over and over. Well, how do I break
that cycle in my life? Well, there are eight or
nine things that you do. Number one, first thing,
understand how temptation works. You can't defeat temptation if you don't understand how it works. Now, the only good thing
we can say about Satan is that he doesn't have any new ideas. He's used the same
temptations over and over for thousands of years. The ones that he used on the
first couple, Adam and Eve, he's still using today. He doesn't have any new strategy, and that's why the Bible says we don't want you to be ignorant of how Satan works in your life, because when you understand how he works and you go, I can see it coming. The key is not resisting those temptations but rethinking and knowing how to respond to what you know is a predictable pattern that he has in tempting you. Now, that pattern is in
Genesis chapter three, in the very first temptation
where Satan comes to Eve and he says, look at this
good fruit over here. God has said, don't eat any of the trees, but, but, but, that
was, by the way, a lie. God had said, you can
eat of any of the tree except this one. It was a minimum amount. The Bible says it looked
good for food and he said, did God really say, don't eat this? Then he said, go ahead and try it, and he said, you know,
you're not gonna die if you eat this, you're
gonna be a God yourself. Now, that is a pattern that Satan uses in your
life literally every day. It's there, I wrote it
down there on your outline, the pattern for temptation. Every temptation goes through
these same four steps. The first is it starts with
a wrong desire inside of me. Now, let me clarify that. It could be a wrong
desire, like envy, or lust, or gossip, or impatience,
or I want revenge, those are wrong desires. Or, temptation can actually start with a right desire, a
natural, a legitimate desire, but it is a temptation to fulfill it in the wrong way or the wrong time. Let me say that again. A temptation comes from something
in your life that's wrong, and you shouldn't do it, like get even with somebody, retaliate, or it could be, you have
a lot of normal desires, like you have a desire for food, you have a desire for sex, you have a desire to breathe, you have a desire to be loved. There's nothing wrong with those desires. But when we go to have those
desires met in our lives in the wrong way or at the wrong time, then it becomes temptation,
that make sense? So the temptation can be a wrong desire or it can be a right desire, wrong time, wrong way, illegitimate way. Temptation takes something
that's routine in your life and it turns it into runaway, and all of a sudden, you can't think about
anything else but that. Any desire, even good
desires in your life, any desire in your life, out of control, is now destructive. Any desire, even a good
desire, out of control, becomes destructive. So it starts with a desire. Step two is then Satan
says, doubt God's Word. He goes, did God really say? Satan says to, this to you
every day of your life. Did God really say, don't get even? Did God really say, don't
have sex outside of marriage? Did God really say, whatever. He could say it a thousand different ways. Satan tries to get you
to question God's Word. Did God really say? Then he substitutes that
doubt with his deception. I told you in the first
message of this series, behind every sin that I commit is a lie that I'm believing. Behind every, every time you sin, you're believing a lie
that's not the truth. All of a sudden, you've
not believed what God said, you've believed what Satan
said, and that's a lie. So we go from desire
to doubt to deception. When I agree with that and I believe I know what'll make me
more happy than God does, I've just bought into a lie. Everybody's doing it, I've
just bought into a lie. They won't, there's no problem with this, it's not that bad, I've
just bought into a lie. When I do that, then we
go to the fourth step, which is disobedience, and then I get hooked and defeated. So you just need to know
that every time you sin, Satan's gonna whisper in you, you got this natural desire,
nothing wrong with that. Then he's gonna say, did God really say? Then he's gonna say, it's
not that bad, it's okay. You can get away with it. It's no, won't hurt you,
everybody's doing it, all these different things. Then you fall for it and you get hooked. Now, once you understand that, the second thing you need to know, is I need to know what
makes me vulnerable. This is different for every one of us. What makes you vulnerable
to temptation and to sin? What makes you give in to it? In Ephesians chapter four
in the Bible it says, verse 27, do not give
the devil a foothold. He said, don't give him
a place in your life he can start leveraging to tempt you and to get you messed up and to get you off, out of whack. Now, what's the most common foothold Satan gets into your life? Do you know what it is? Do you know what is the
most common foothold that you give Satan in your life that allows him, then, to
do all these temptations? I'll tell you what it
is: any negative emotion. Any time you have a negative emotion, you've just given Satan
a foothold in your life, and you're gonna be more vulnerable than at any other time to temptation. That's why the Bible
says in Proverbs 4:23, above all else, guard your heart, above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. Now, why does God says guard your heart above everything else? Your heart is the center of your emotions. Now, I want you to listen very closely. We're gonna cover a lot of material today, so, I know it's gonna be like on overload, drinking from a fire hydrant, but, to defeat temptation, you
don't focus on your behavior, what I'm about to do. Instead, you wanna identify
the thoughts that you're having and the feelings that come
out of those thoughts, because that's how Satan hooks you: not your behavior, but your thoughts. What am I thinking, the
doubt and the deception, that's gonna cause me to have the emotion that's gonna cause me to get hooked that's gonna cause me to give
in to whatever I'm doing. You see, Satan plays with your emotions every day of your life. He hooks your feelings. You know what I'm talking about? Satan is a master
manipulator of your moods. So he gets you in certain moods, he gets certain emotions
going in your life, and those emotions are from your thoughts. Once he's got you emotionally
involved, you're done, you're cooked, put a fork
in it, it's over, okay. Because the behavior's gonna happen once your emotions have kicked in. Then, I wanna do this, and my
emotions are gonna lead me. So he's a, he's a
manipulator of your moods. Now, you are far more
vulnerable to temptation when you have certain
emotions in your life than at other times. Sometimes Satan can tempt you,
doesn't bother you at all, 'cause you're not emotionally hooked. But when certain emotions,
negative emotions, start rising in your life, you're getting set up by Satan
for a downfall, all right. Now, today I wanna give
you a little spiritual EKG. The Bible says guard your heart. I want you to do a
heart checkup right now, because you need to know your
current emotional status, and what's out of whack, so that then you go, well, I don't wanna be vulnerable in this area. Now, I've given you a list
here of emotional states, and I'm gonna ask you,
as I go through these, for you to give yourself a number, zero, one, two, three or four. Zero meaning, being
more the negative side, four being more of the positive side. For instance, I've given 10 things here. Like right now, am I
more physically exhausted or am I more energetic and in shape? Okay, I want you to circle. If you say, I'm totally
emotionally, physically exhausted, I shouldn't even be here, in fact, I may fall
asleep on this next point, you give yourself a one, a zero, okay. I give you permission to take
a nap when Tom is teaching. (Tom and audience laughs) Okay, but wake up when it
comes back to me, all right. If you don't, no, no, I'm real, I'm in peak physique right
now, I'm energetic and say, then you give yourself a four. So give yourself a rating on which side of the scale
you're on, zero to four, physically exhausted,
energetic, and in shape. How about the next one? I'm gonna have you total these in a minute and I'm gonna give you your score. Am I right now feeling more
discouraged and pessimistic or am I feeling more
encouraged and optimistic? I want you to rate yourself, right now. This is not where you are all the time, it's where you are right now. How about number three, am I
more bored or discontented, or am I more challenged and contented? Bored and discontented, or
do I feel challenged by life, but I'm contented? I'm not, certainly not bored. Give yourself a zero on one side or up to the four on the other. How about, am I feeling right now, more spiritually dry and empty, and we all go through these periods, or am I right now feeling
more spiritually growing? Give yourself, rate
yourself one, zero to four. How about this next one. Am I right now feeling lonely and distant? Maybe the people I love
are in another state. I'm distant from people I love. Feeling lonely and distant, or do I feel loved and do I
feel close to others right now? You know, geographic distance makes a big difference in your emotions. If you travel a lot, you
have extra temptations. It's a fact of life. How about the next one. Am I right now feeling insecure or unsure about my future or whatever, or am I feeling more confident and secure? Give yourself an evaluation. Insecure or unsure, confident and secure. Here's the next one on the spectrum. Right now, am I feeling
deeply wounded or hurt or, on the other hand, do I
feel understood and valued, understood and valued? Give yourself zero to four. Next one, right now, am I
holding on to unforgiveness, or at the other end, have
I forgiven everybody? In other words, am I holding on to anger, I won't let it go, am I
holding on to a grudge, bitterness, resentment? There's somebody that I need to forgive but I just don't, I
don't wanna forgive 'em, so I'm holding on to that. Well, you give yourself a
zero or one or low score. Or I've forgiven everybody, you can give yourself a four. When you hold on to hurt, you give the foothold to the devil. Next one, am I, right now, feeling sad or am I grieving a loss,
or am I feeling happy? Which one do I tend to feel right now? Finally, and number 10, right now, are you feeling more frustrated about something in your life, or are you feeling more fulfilled or productive in your life? Okay, now I've given
you 10, so add those up. Obviously, if you gave
yourselves all ones, you'd have 10 points, if
you gave yourself all fours, you'd have 40. So add 'em up right
now and get your score. While you're adding that up, I'm gonna give you the
meaning of this in a second. When you mix several of
these things together, like loneliness and
frustration and discouragement, it's a potent mix for temptation, and that's when you're most vulnerable. When you're frustrated and angry and hurt, that's a mixture that's a powerful combo. We start justifying, well,
I deserve some comfort, so I'm gonna do this, all right. Now, let me give you your totals. If your total right now, number, is 35 to 40, you're in great shape. You're really in good emotional shape, and keep going down that path. If you gave yourself
anywhere between 25 to 35, you're vulnerable, and
you need to be careful because you're vulnerable, you're easy pickings
for Satan to tempt you. If you gave yourself, if
you had 15 to 25 points, friends, you're in extreme danger. You are set up right
now for a big, big fall, 15 to 25 points. If you had less than 15 points, my friend, my brother, my sister, you're in a crisis. You're in crisis right now and you may not even know it, but you're in a crisis. You need help, you need
to call our church office, get in and get some good counsel and some counseling that
will help work through because you're in a crisis right now. Now, what I'm saying is that the more vulnerable you are emotionally, the more you're gonna fall for temptation. The stronger you are emotionally, the less you're gonna fall for it. Now, related to this is
this, another question, and that is, how long have you been in this current situation? Is this something I'm just in right now, or I've been in it for
weeks or months or longer? The longer you're in the low numbers, the more vulnerable you are to Satan. The longer you're in
loneliness and discouragement or grief or whatever all, the longer you're in
all of that left side, the more vulnerable you are. Now, we got nine steps
for how to build a system for overcoming temptation. First I gotta know what,
how temptation works, second, I gotta know
what makes me vulnerable. The third, and Tom's
gonna talk about this, is learn my pattern of temptation. You need to learn your particular pattern
of temptation, Tom? - We all have patterns, we
have unique fingerprints, we have unique heartbeats,
unique voice prints, we all have patterns. We also have a unique
pattern of temptation. There are things that tempt you that don't tempt other people, things that don't tempt you
that do tempt other people. We have a very unique pattern, and Satan understands
that pattern and uses it, so you better understand that pattern so he can't use it against you. Because if you understand
the pattern in your life, you can identify problems in advance, and you can avoid the
situations that cause temptation to be said yes to in our lives. The Bible calls this wisdom. Proverbs 14:8, look at this verse. The wise man looks ahead. A fool tries to fool himself
and won't face facts. So we gotta face the facts
about our own temptation. The fool won't face the facts. They rationalize, and you know what that
means at Saddleback, to rationalize is to tell
yourself rational lies. You're telling yourself
something you believe, nobody else would believe it. Instead, we need wisdom. Mature people are self-aware
of these patterns, and that allows you to say no. What I'm saying is,
saying no to temptation isn't just saying to temptation. It's learning to say no
before you get to the place that you can't say no to the temptation. That's very key in our lives. So how do you do that, how do
you understand that pattern? There's some, a few ideas there, the pattern that's true
in all of our lives. First, you gotta understand,
questions to ask yourself, when am I most tempted? What day of the week is it? What time of the day? Is it morning time, is it
lunch, is it late evening, everybody else has gone
to bed, I'm all alone. When is it that you're most tempted? A lot of us try to go on diets and find out we can handle
any diet in the world until three o'clock in the afternoon. We're fine until then, but from then on, it's just downhill. So you gotta understand
when you're most tempted. You gotta understand where. Second is, where am I tempted? Is it an work, is it in my
kitchen where all the food is? Is it at a neighbor's? Is it at some 7-Eleven
with the slushie machine, and I've always loved,
not me, but maybe you. Is it at the sports bar? Is it at my computer, all alone? Is it at the beach? So you avoid those places because that allows you
to avoid the temptation. You ask yourself, who is with me when I'm most tempted? Is it mostly when you're
alone when you're tempted, or is it mostly when
you're with other people and they draw you into it? We all are unique in that, so I understand that about yourself. You ask yourself number four, this is extremely important one. What temporary benefit
do I get when I give in? Why am I saying yes? What is it that's causing me to say yes? Is it that I think it's
gonna give me comfort? Does it seem to give me relief, or it gives me temporary
excitement or a false confidence? Hebrews 11:25 says there is
pleasure in sin for a moment. We would not fall to
temptation if it wasn't fun, if it wasn't pleasurable. To lie to yourself and say,
oh, I don't really enjoy it, of course you do, that's why
you fall to it again and again. So you ask yourself, what
is it that I'm falling for, and what's God's positive
alternative to that? Then you ask yourself number five, how do I feel right before I'm tempted? What are the feelings that
are going on in my life that are gonna cause me to trip up? Is it frustration, am I fearful? Maybe I'm just bored. Maybe I'm angry or lonely, maybe I can't sleep, I've got insomnia. What Rick said a few minutes ago is what I'm saying again here. You gotta know the emotional
triggers in your life. What is it that makes you vulnerable? - Okay, so first I've gotta know what emotions make me vulnerable, and they're the negative ones, and then second, I've gotta
know the circumstances, or the situations, or the places, or the people that make me vulnerable. Now, if I don't spend time
thinking that through, I'm not really serious
about overcoming temptation. If you just blow this off and you never really
give any thought to it, you're just gonna keep falling over for the same temptations, the same habits, over and over and over. But if you spend some time, and smart people, wise
people, mature people, sit and go, they're self-aware. What makes me vulnerable? What emotions make me vulnerable and what people make me vulnerable? What expressions and
experiences and situations make me vulnerable? Once you know the answer to that, then you can go to the step four, which is plan to avoid those situations. You just plan to avoid those situations. If I don't wanna get stung,
I stay away from the bees. I don't walk into a beehive
if I'm allergic to bee stings. The Bible says in Proverbs
four, verse 26 and 27, plan carefully what you do, avoid evil. Okay, how do you avoid evil,
by doing the first thing, plan carefully what you do. Avoid evil, walk straight ahead. Don't go one step off to the
right, off the right way. You know, I actually memorized this verse when I was a teenager
living in Nagasaki, Japan, helping plant a brand new church. I was 18 years old, and the
home that I was staying at was the missionary's home up on the hill. The only way to get to it is you had to walk, I had, every day, walk through the Red Light
district of Nagasaki, Japan, where prostitutes were out on the street and pornography and posters of nudity, literally, everywhere. I literally walked down through that area and back through that area twice a day. I had to remember this verse: avoid evil, walk straight ahead, don't get your eyes one way or the other, just keep walking forward, because I didn't wanna be
distracted by all of that there. Now, this thing of plan
ahead, it's just common sense. If you're serious about dieting, you need to take healthy
snacks with you during the day. 'Cause if you don't have healthy snacks with you during the day, you're gonna pick up
the donut that's there. If you're gonna take your kids, you're on a diet and you're
gonna go to the county fair, you need to take snacks. (Tom and audience laughs) 'Cause they got deep
fried everything there. That's just planning ahead, you
know what I'm talking about? So if you're gonna do that with food, you can do it with anything else, too. If you're saying, you know what, I'm struggling with alcohol, then you don't go to a bar to watch a game or to eat pretzels. You just don't go there, you plan ahead. If you're struggling
with porn in your life, you don't dare walk
into a airport bookstore where you're all alone and there's a, you know,
magazines and things like that. You, planning ahead means I can block some channels on my TV so they're not even there. I can block some websites on my phone so they're not even there. That's what it means to plan ahead. Now, sometimes, even when
you've planned ahead, you get hit by temptation
right out of the blue. Maybe you're having, you
have a problem with anger and you lose your temper pretty easily and you get impatient, and you say stuff that you really go, I didn't really wanna say that, but I did in that moment. You're, and all of the sudden, you've done the best plan, but something happens with
your kids or a coworker or a neighbor or somebody who cuts you off in the middle of the road, and now all of a sudden, you're feeling the adrenaline rise, and your temptation is,
temptation, is to get angry, maybe start cussing or whatever. In that situation, you
need emergency tactics. You need a break in case of emergency kit. When a temptation come on, you weren't planning for it, but all of a sudden, boom, I'm gonna, if I don't have an emergency kit here, I'm gonna get really upset here. I'm gonna get mean, I'm gonna get angry, I'm gonna get impatient with whoever just triggered me. What is the emergency kit for temptation? Write this down, number five. Cry out to God and quote scripture. That's the emergency kit for temptation. You cry out to God, and
you quote scripture, two things you do. You quote scripture to
yourself, not to that person. (Tom and audience laughs) But you quote it to yourselves, like, you
blankety-blankety-blank-blank-blank, blessed be the name of the Lord. (Tom and audience laughs) Oh taste and see, the Lord is good. No, no, when I say, first, cry out to God, sometimes, when you're
in a tempting situation, you don't have a long
conversation with God. You do what I call a microwave prayer, and it's one word: help. - [Tom] Yeah. - Help, okay, this is not
where I wanna be right now, and I'm gonna lose my cool or I'm gonna step across the line or I'm gonna do something stupid or say something stupid if God, you don't help me right now. So when you get in an emergency and all of a sudden,
that temptation hits you, and you feel the adrenaline
running through your body for one kind of sin or another, you gotta go, SOS, Danger, Will Robinson, help, God, I need you right
now, Mayday, Mayday, help. Sometimes prayer is one word: help. That's, the Bible's full of examples of David and Peter and Paul and a lot of other great people doing these microwave prayers where all of a sudden out of left field, a temptation comes along and they go, I'm not gonna go down that road, and I'll fall for it if,
God, you don't help me. Now here's what the Bible says. Psalm 50 verse 15, call
to me when trouble comes and I will ignore you. (Tom and audience laughs) Oh, that's not what God says. Call to me when trouble
comes and I will what? - [Tom and Congregation] Save you. - Circle that, you call to God, you cry out to God and you just say, God, I need your help right now. I'm trying so hard to
break this bad habit, and I'm crying out to you right now. Now, why can I expect God to help me? Because he's sympathetic to my situation. Look at the next verse,
Hebrews chapter four. This is one of the most
encouraging verses in the Bible. Hebrews 4:15 and 16, Jesus
understands our weaknesses, for he faced the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So, because he faced the
same temptations we do and he didn't sin, so let us come boldly,
that's crying out God, help, let us come boldly to our gracious God, and there we will receive
his mercy and grace, that's the power to change, to help us when we need it. Now, this is a very important verse, so circle a few things. First, circle the phrase same temptations. He faced the same temptations. Have you ever realized that? Did Jesus ever struggle with anger, yes. Was Jesus ever tempted
with loneliness, yes. Did Jesus ever struggle
with sex and sexuality, yes. Did Jesus ever, was he
ever tempted by fatigue and to get grouchy, yes. Why, 'cause he's God, but he's
God in a fully human body, and the Bible says he was tempted
in the same way as we are. So any time, there is no
temptation you're gonna have that Jesus hasn't already experienced. So Jesus goes, gotcha,
I know what it's like. I was one of you. God says, I became a human, incarnation. I was in the flesh, I know what it's like to want to just slug that person back because of the way they
offended you just now. I know what it's like to want to just devastate that clerk because of how rude they were to you. You wanna be more rude back. Jesus knows what it means
to be tempted by lust. Jesus knows what it means
to be tempted by impatience. Jesus knows what it means
to be tempted by fear and be so scared you go, I'm gonna, I'm not
gonna do the right thing 'cause I'm scared right now
of what other people think. But it says he never sinned. Now notice, tempted, but he never sinned. Here's an important thing
you need to understand. It's not a sin to be tempted. So don't be intimidated by it. A lot of times, Christians go, I've been a Christian now like five years, how come I'm still being tempted by that? Or, I've been a Christian
now 25 or 30 years or longer, but I'm still being tempted by that, and I start feeling intimidated or a little bad about it. Listen, you will never outgrow
temptation in your life. That's part of being on a broken planet. It's not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin to give in to temptation, does that make sense? So a lot of times, you know, you're praying, and all of a sudden, you just have this foul
thought go through your mind and you go, what kind of Christian am I? Then Satan starts putting you down, go, see you, you have that. No, he put that thought there. You're not responsible for the thoughts Satan puts in your mind. You are responsible for
what you do with them. You don't have to choose to dwell on it. You know, I don't wanna think that, and so you change your thought
and think of something. But you're not responsible for every, thoughts come in to your mind from a thousand different stimuli, billboards, television, radio, internet. You can't, you can't,
Martin Luther used to say, you can't keep the birds
from flying over your head, but you can keep them from
making a nest in your hair. (Tom and audience laugh) So, if you have a vile thought, don't be intimidated by that and go, oh man, I'm not a godly
woman, I'm not a godly man. I just had the most vile thought. That's a thought, it's a temptation. What you do with it now determines whether it turns into sin. Does that make sense? So don't be intimidated by the
devil, that's an important. Jesus was tempted in every way. He wasn't ashamed of it. You don't need to be. You're gonna be tempted
the rest of your life. You're never gonna get to the point where you go, oh well, I'm such a strong Christian,
I'm never tempted anymore. Let me tell you something. The closer you get to God, the more Satan will throw at you. I know this. He will keep throwing stuff at you and throwing stuff at you
and throwing stuff at you, hoping that one of it will stick. You just can't get intimidated but go, I know what you're doing Satan, I know you're gonna do desire, doubt, deception, you know, and disobedience. I'm not gonna fall for it. So, and it's not a sin
for me to be tempted, and I'm not gonna give in to it, so I'm not sinning here, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed that you
threw that thought in my mind. I didn't throw that thought
in my mind, you did. Does that make sense? You don't let him intimidate you. All right, now, so the first
thing is you cry out to God. But the second weapon that you do in an emergency is you
remember God's Word. Psalm 119 verse 11, I love
this in the Message paraphrase. You should memorize this verse. I've banked your promises
in the vault of my heart so that I won't sin. King James says, thy Word
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against this. Message paraphrase, I've
banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin. The more of this book
you get into your mind, the more defenses you
have against temptation, because if you've memorized a verse, then, when Satan tempts you, you go, well, that's not right,
'cause God says this. In Jesus' temptation, we have the story of his temptation in the desert when he was given these
three big temptations, every time Satan tempted him, he quoted a Bible verse back to him. By the way, all three verses were from the book of Deuteronomy, which some of you have never even read. It's one of the least
read books in the Bible, and yet, Jesus quoted
the book of Deuteronomy, which was the verses that God gave to the children of Israel when
they were in the wilderness, and when he's in the
wilderness being tempted, he uses that book. So when Satan comes and tempts you, he says, why don't you do this, well, you don't wanna say, now, I have my pocket Bible here, and I know somewhere in here there's a verse that
says, mm, don't do that. That's not helpful. But if you've got it memorized, then the Holy Spirit can ring, yeah, but the Bible says this. You memorize the promises of God. So what you wanna do to be ready, your emergency kit is you need, let's say you've got a problem with anger. You get triggered pretty easily. Well then, you just need to
go find a verse in the Bible that's about anger. Then you need to write it
down on a little 3X5 card and you need to read it over and over and say it aloud until
you've got it memorized, and then every time that
you start to think that, the Holy Spirit can bring
that verse to your mind, and you've got a tool. The Bible, this book is worthless sitting over here on the
shelf in your bedroom, but this book, in your mind, becomes, the Bible calls
it the sword of the Spirit. It's how you've, trying to
fight the devil without a sword. This is your sword. The most helpful thing you can do is start finding some Bible verses that will help you in the
areas where you're weak and memorize them. Put 'em in your mind,
bank them in your heart. Now, here's the next thing, number six in the steps to overcoming temptation. When I'm tempted, number six, refocus my attention on something else. Now, this is the key. Refocus my attention on something else. We have been taught that
when you're tempted, you need to resist temptation. Everybody look up here. Nowhere in the Bible does
it say resist temptation. It says resist the
tempter, resist the devil. That's a different issue, and you do that in a different way. But nowhere in the Bible does
it say resist temptation. Why, because whatever you resist persists. Anything you resist means
you're focusing on it, and when you're focusing on it, you're still being tempted. I've told you this story five or 10 times. When I was a little boy, my mom would make fresh
cookies before dinner. She didn't want me to
eat 'em before dinner. I'd come up, my nose would go right to the top of the thing, and she'd go, now Ricky,
don't you eat those cookies. I'm not, Mom, I'm just smelling 'em. (Tom and audience laugh) But the more I look at
'em, I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't
want it, I don't want it. What am I doing the whole time? Focusing on what I don't want. It's, and whatever has your attention, has you, captures you. You're a goner if you keep focus on. What I need to do is just turn away and look at something else, and break the attention, break the focus. I need to refocus my
attention on something else. So the key to overcoming any temptation is not to resist it, but to just refocus. Just turn your mind to something else. If I'm watching TV and something on TV is either making me mad,
sad, glad, sexually aroused or anything else, whatever it's doing, and I go, I don't want that, I don't sit there and go, I don't want this, I don't want this, I don't want this, I don't, whoa, I don't want this, I don't want, whoa, I do not want this. (Tom and audience laugh) The whole time, what am I doing, focusing. It's real simple, turn the channel. It wasn't that hard. Don't resist temptation, refocus. You cannot control the thoughts that come into your mind, but you certainly can
control changing the channel. You don't have, does that make sense? You don't have to accept, and turning the channel is
the refocus in your life. So you change the channel. What is changing the channel? The Bible word for that is called repent. It's what this whole series is about. Metanoia, change your mind, change the channel. Now, Romans 12:21 says this, don't let evil conquer you,
but conquer evil with good. This is called the
principle of replacement. I don't say no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, 'cause I'm focusing on the negative. You've heard me do this before, I said, man, I really need to stop smoking, I really need to stop smoking. These coffin nails are gonna kill me. Man, I, it's not, it costs a lot of money. My lungs are turning black, and on and on. What am I doing? The whole time, I'm focused
on what I don't want. It's like a coach walking out to a pitcher and saying, don't throw a curve ball. What's he gonna think of, a curve ball. You gotta, he should walk out
and say, throw a fastball. Give him something positive to focus on. Now, in this idea, don't
let evil conquer you but conquer evil with God, the thing is, if your mind
is filled with good thoughts, you don't have any room
for tempting thoughts. That's why the Bible in
Philippians four says, think on these things,
things that are helpful and pure and lovely and great. Now, remember, we've been saying this from the very beginning. Temptation starts in your mind. It doesn't start out there, it starts in your mind. James chapter one verse 15 says that the stages of
temptation are attention, arousal, and action. First, something gets my attention. What you just said all of a sudden triggered something in me, attention. Then arousal, the emotions kick in. When you get attention and arousal, it's gonna lead to action. If you wanna stop any
bad habit in your life, you don't stop the action, you stop the attention and the arousal. You stop the thought and the emotion. Does that make sense? You don't stop with the action. You don't go, I'm gonna stop doing this. No, you nip it in the bud, you nip it, nip it, nip it, as Barney Fife would say. If you know who Barney
Fife is you're really old. (Tom and audience laugh) You nip it and you say,
I'm not gonna think it and I'm not going to feel it because I'm just gonna change the channel. I'm gonna change the channel. Whatever gets your attention gets you. If I were to say to you right now, hey, you guys hungry? Well, now that you've mentioned it, Rick. (Tom and audience laugh) I could go for a Double-Double. If I said, a little bit, is
it a little cold in here? Anybody, you a little cold? Well, now that you mention it. 'Cause you focused on it. If I said, huh, aren't you guys tired? (loud yawning) You're dying to yawn right now. (Tom and audience laugh) Some of you did, 'cause
I got you to focus on it. It's not hard to break temptation. Turn the channel. Just change the focus. You see, what I'm trying to teach you is that the more you
think about something, the stronger it becomes in your life. Some of you have a secret sin. Everybody's got some secret sin. It gets a stronger hold
and hold and hold on you because you're focused on it. The more you fight a feeling,
the more it controls you. Fighting the feeling will
never give you freedom. We teach this in Celebrate Recovery, we teach this in God's Word. On the other hand, if you
ignore it, it weakens. You don't fight it, you ignore it. The Bible says in II Corinthians
chapter 10 verse five, we capture every thought
and we make it obey Christ. Now, that takes practice, and it's why I'm teaching you this series on Rethinking Your Life, and that, we're gonna keep working on it and working on it 'til you get good at it. But anything, you can get
good at with practice. What I am trying to say is, when Satan comes to tempt you, never argue with the
devil, you're gonna lose. He's got more arguments, he's been arguing with human
beings for thousands of years. When temptation calls, drop the phone. Don't go, I don't really wanna do this. I don't wanna do this because, and you've got five or six,
10 reasons, you're focused. When temptation calls, drop the phone and don't even pay attention to it. Point seven, this is a
key for preventative, join a Small Group for support. God wired us to need each other. If you're not in a Small Group, you are, you're like a
lone ranger out there, easy pickins for Satan,
'cause you're not in a pack. You're not protected by a group. You're out there, you're
alone by yourself. Satan, like a sniper,
can just pick you off. You need to be in a Small Group. Now at Saddleback, we
don't say Small Groups are a program of our church. Small Groups are the
church, it is the church. This is just a gathering on the weekend, but the real church is what
happens in a Small Group. Your body is not one big
cell, it's thousands of cells. Saddleback is not one big meeting, it's thousands of cells,
about 8,000 Small Groups that meet all over Southern California and now even around the world. You need to get in a Small Group. The Bible says, Hebrews 10 verse 25, let us not give up the
habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage
each other all the more. You know what happens when
you get in Small Group is you're gonna discover that a lot of other people have the same problems you do. You go, I didn't know anybody
else felt the way I do. Well, they do, because everybody's going
through the same thing. They all feel the way you do. That's why we love Celebrate Recovery. Over 25,000 people have gone
through Celebrate Recovery here at Saddleback Church, and it's not used around the world. Why, because you get in there and you go, oh, other people are afraid of this, oh, other people struggle with that. Oh, other people have this habit, compulsion, thought,
addiction, you know, hurt. Other people are frightened
by stuff like this. You know what, when you, revealing your feeling is
the beginning of healing. The tension just drains out when you realize you're not alone. The Bible says it like this in James 5:16, admit your faults to each
other and pray for each other. That sounds like Small Group, that sounds like Celebrate Recovery. Admit your faults to each
other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. If you wanna be forgiven,
you just tell God, but if you wanna be healed, you gotta tell somebody else. God wired the world in the way that we get healed when
we tell other people what we're struggling with. Why, it's liberating. The moment you admit to somebody else what you're struggling with, it starts weakening its grip instantly. Let me say it again. The moment I tell you
what I'm struggling with, I already got a victory over it. If you can't tell anybody about
what you're struggling with, it already is out of control in your life. It's out of control 'cause
you can't talk about it. You're so intimidated and
so scared to talk about it, that means it's out of control. The moment you start talking about it, you don't have to talk
about it to everybody, just get one trusted
group, one trusted friend. We'll get to that one in a minute. The moment you share
it with somebody else, you just got a whole lot of control over what's been out of
control in your life. But as long as you can't talk about it, it's out of control, and that's scary. Hiding a hurt only intensifies it. Wearing a mask makes you
miserable and lonely. What I'm asking you to do is not just admit where you've sinned, but admit where you're being tempted. Listen to this, if there were
more confession of temptation, there'd be a whole lot less need for the confession of sin. We're more likely to tell people our sins that our temptations. But if you've got a buddy, if you're a guy and you get a buddy, and if you're a woman and get a gal buddy. (audience laughs) What do you call a gal buddy? - [Tom] A woman. - Do you have to have a
bosom to be a bosom buddy? (Tom and audience laugh) I don't think so. I got buddies that don't have bosoms. But you gotta have a friend. You don't need a lot of 'em but you need one or two. The moment you share
with it, I said it takes, oh, and here's a V thing. If before you sinned, you were actually to
go to a friend and go, you know what, I'm struggling with, I'm being tempted by this person at work. Nothing's happened, but I'm being tempted. You know what, you're far more
likely to not fall for it. If there were more
confession of temptation, there would be less need
for confession of sin. If we started earlier and just, why, guys, we're all in the same boat. We're all tempted. It's not only liberating, it's empowering because God gives grace to the humble, and when you tell somebody,
I'll struggling in this area, then you've just been humble, and God will give you more grace, and when you talk about
a problem, as I said, it helps you gain control. Number eight, not only do you need to join a Small Group for support, you need to enlist one friend, I need to enlist one friend
to share my struggle. This is gonna be my growth partner. You're not gonna have victory by yourself. There are battles in your life
you can't win by yourself. There's sometimes problems are so big, you're gonna have to team tackle them, and you need other people in your life. If you have one person who, hey look, I'm giving you permission
to check up on me. I'm telling you, I'm struggling with this, my impatience, my lust, my
envy, my pride, my greed. I'm telling you this, I'm
struggling with my temper, I'm struggling with, whatever it is, you have the power and it's
like, you cut it in half. You enlist a friend, and this is a battle you're
not gonna win on your own. Now let me show you two important verses. Ecclesiastes chapter
four, verse nine and 10. Two are better than one, because together, if one falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, there's no one to help him up. Let me ask a real important question. Who checks up on you? Who is given, who have
you given permission to to check up on you in your spiritual life? Who have you invited in
your life to help you grow? Who have you allowed to ask
you the tough questions, and you're not gonna get uptight about it? For them to say, how you
doing with that temptation? How are you doing with that habitual area where you keep stumbling and you really wanna get over it? Let me pray for you, can I check up on ya? Can I encourage ya, can I check up on you? You need, that's what friends do. Friends walk into your life when everybody else walks out. The Bible says that we
need those kind of people. There are some problems in your life, some of you are gonna die with the same habits you've
had for 30 years, why, 'cause you never were serious
about getting rid of 'em. The reason why I know you weren't serious 'cause you did never get a partner, you didn't get a friend,
you didn't get a coach, you didn't get a sponsor, you didn't get an accountability partner, you didn't get a soul mate. You didn't get somebody that you could bring
in to your life and go, I give you permission to
check up on me and go, how you doing on that? I'll check up on you and it'll be a mutual
encouragement society, a mutual accountability society. The Bible says in Galatians 6:2, by helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? Love your neighbor as yourself. Let me give you one last
one and we'll wrap it up. The ninth key in God's strategy for breaking through
persistent temptations is this, remember, God is on my side. He's rooting for ya, he's pulling for ya, he's on your side, he wants you to win. He will pull out the stops to help you win if you'll let him. One of the great promises of the Bible, every person listening to the
sound of my voice right now should memorize I Corinthians 10:13. I memorized it in King James, which is different than this, but here's what it says
in this translation. When temptations come into your life, remember that they're no different from what others commonly experience. And God is faithful. He will never let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. And when you are tempted,
he will show you a way out so that you will be able to withstand it. Now, that is so packed, I could have done a whole
message just on that verse. But notice three or four things. First it says, every temptation experience is common to everybody else. Now here's the good news. If we all have the same
common temptations, then there are same common solutions. So, you go, nobody has my sin, nobody has my tempt. You're dead wrong, everybody else does. Maybe in a different
format, but we all have, it says they're all common to everybody. Then it says, God's faithful. Then it says, he won't let you be tempted more than you can handle. You can say, I couldn't help myself. Then you're lying, because God says, I will
never put more on you, or allow more on you than
is in you to bear it up. He said, I will show you a way out. As a result of that, we get to the last verse on your outline, I Corinthians 15:57, we give thanks to God because he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The solution to the stuff
you wanna change in your life is not willpower. Your will is not strong enough. You've tried to break habits and your willpower wasn't strong. The solution is, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the good news. This is the gospel,
that change is possible. I don't have to stay
the same, I like that. If you don't like me
the way I am right now, hang on, I'm getting better, and I want you to do good. It's never too late to start over. God has promised to help, so let's get started right now. Are we're gonna help
each other out on this? - [Congregation] Yes. - Okay, we're gonna encourage each other? - [Congregation] Yes. - You might wanna take this outline, and this week, whatever you're
studying in your Small Group, put it on hold, and just
review this message together in Small Group. Whatever you're studying in Small Group, just maybe put it on hold
for one week and say, let's go over Rick's notes and let's talk about, how
can we encourage each other in our Small Group? If you're not in a Small Group,
I will help you start one. You can either check on
the card, Small Group, and I'll have some people
get in contact with ya, or you can go out on the patio at any of your campuses
to the Small Group table. We have a Small Group starter kit. I'll help you get a couple people and you can start a Small Group. It'll be the most important
step in your spiritual growth. You need to be in a group. If you're struggling with
a very specific thing, check out Celebrate Recovery and go out to the table
at any of our campuses and check out the CR. It is life-changing, why, because CR is built on
every one of the principles I just taught you. Let's bow our heads for prayer. You ready for a change? I said it last week. On this earth, you're
never gonna be sinless, but you can sin less, if you do it God's way. So what life-long habit would
you like to be released from? Maybe you've been stuck in that cycle of good intention and
failure, and then guilt, then good intention,
then failure and guilt. It's time to get out of that cycle, to break that cycle with these nine steps. Would you pray this prayer in your heart, just follow me in this prayer. Dear God, say it in your mind. You know all the habits
and temptations in my life. You know everything that trips me up and has tripped me up for years. Lord, you know the tempting situations I'm facing right now. What's amazing to me, God, is that you even know the temptations that lay ahead of me this next week that I don't even know about. You know what's coming. So I'm asking for your help. I am willing to follow these principles, your principles so I
can change and be free. Help me to see the patterns in my life that lead to temptation. Help me to see the emotions that make me vulnerable,
and that, to recognize them. Give me the strength to start avoiding the situations that get me in trouble. When I'm hit with an emergency situation, help me to remember to cry out to you, to quote scripture to myself. Help me to refocus my
attention on other things when I'm tempted. I know I can't handle this by myself. I commit today to finding a Small Group or getting in a Small Group,
starting a Small Group where I can be encouraged and I can encourage other people, too. Help me find that one friend
that I invite into my life that I give permission to check up on me. I need a friend like that, Lord. Help me to find that person. Most important, Lord, I need you to do some heart surgery on me. Remove the negative emotions
that make me vulnerable and replace 'em with your love and your forgiveness and your trust. Jesus Christ, I ask you to
start making these changes in me from the inside out, beginning today. I wanna follow you completely, I want you to be the manager of my life, and I want you to save me, not just from hell, but from myself. I humbly ask this in your name, amen. - [Tom] Amen. (relaxing music) - Thanks for checking out
this message on YouTube. My name is is Jay, and I'm
Saddleback's online pastor. I wanna invite you to take your next step by checking out our online community, or help get you connected to
a local Saddleback campus. Three things we have
to offer you right now: first, learn more about
belonging to our church family by taking Class 101, Second, don't live life alone and get into community with others by joining an online Small Group or a local home group in your area, Third, join our Facebook group to be more engaged with
our online community throughout the week. Take your next step and learn where a local campus is near you by visiting saddleback.com/online or email online@saddleback.com. Hope to hear from you soon.
