When Temptation Handles You.

We've been talking about Temptation and how to handle it. What do we do when the inevitable happens, and it wins? When you give in to the temptation, what then?

We can learn some important lessons from David in his Psalm 51, and looking at the experience he had with losing to temptation (2 Samuel 11-12) , and what he did immediately afterward....

1. Repent of the Sin

Psalm 51 reveals that true repentance is when we take--

A. Full Responsibility—not diminishing its sinfulness/wickedness and horribleness (various words for sin used here and in Ps. 32). 3 different words he uses, "Sin", "transgression", and "iniquity", show he understood the depths to which he had fallen. He didn't deny it, or try to minimize how awful it was what he had done. We are truly repentant when we take full responsibility for our sin, and realize the truth of what we have done, see it as God sees and call it what God calls it. Not soft peddling it.

B. Personal Responsibility—not blaming anyone else. Look at the number of times I, me, mine used in first verses of Ps. 51. Many want to deflect attention from themselves and their part in any sin. David saw his own responsibility and accepted that before God.

C. Godward Responsibility—it also affects my relationship to a holy God. V4—I have grieved a holy God in these awful acts. There is no "victimless" sin-- it may not seem it, but even if no one else is involvd, it affects our fellowship with a holy God.

2. Recognize Godly Conviction

The Holy Spirit Convicts of sin, righteousness… He only brings to our hearts those things we are guilty of. And it comes to us as awareness, guilt, shame, for what we have done. God's conviction is always specific.

Many are under a general cloud of guilt that does not come from God, but is from the enemy. Satan, being an "accuser of the brethren", is ever about reminding us of things God has forgiven us of, trying to make us feel unworthy, incapable of serving Him.

What does God do with confessed sin properly repented of?

“Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea…” Micah 7:19
“for Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back…” Isaiah 38:17
“ As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12

3. Readily Confess
In 2 Samuel 12:13, when David was confronted with his sin, he immediately said, "I have sinned against the Lord..." . He readily confessed when he was confronted. We can learn from his example. The longer we delay in confessing, the more we empower the enemy and the harder it becomes to deal victoriously with the sin.

David is the only man in the Bible called a man after God's own heart. Was it because he was perfect? Obviously not. It was because when his sin was revealed to him, he readily agreed with God's verdict on it.

4. Redeem the Failure

Psalm 51:14 “then I will teach transgressors…” Your failure can be the single greatest token of God's amazing grace the world ever sees. Many never recover from a failure because they are afraid someone will find out about it or think less of them. The failure becomes a "stick" in the hands of Satan to keep us fearful, cowering in fear, or intimidated thinking we could never do anything for God, "look what we've done, how we've failed...." Nothing could be further from the truth. The folks God uses most effectively are not the perfect ones, but the ones who have allowed God to help them overcome their failures. They've not wasted their failures, they have allowed God to redeem them. You can too.

Moses, Paul, and a host of others join David in winning over the ultimate failure.

Addiction led to the worlwide ministry of Celebrate Recovery
Bankruptcy led to salvation and ministry of Dave Ramsey
Abortion has led to ministry of many in Crisis Pregnancy ministries
Pornography addiction led to the founding of Citizens for Chrisitan Values in Ohio

"all things work together for good to those who love God..."

May God use these truths to help you in your spiritual walk. If you would like an audio of this message, please contact me with your address, or email me. You will find our email address at our church website is http://www.rhbaptist.org/

Which Kingdom are you In?

In Rev. 11:15, teh "kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord...". Untilmately that happens, in teh meantime there are 2 kingdoms-- the World and the Heavenly. They both have values and principles to live by. When you are of the world, you live by the world's principles and are worldly, of the world. When you are in the kingdom of heaven, you live by heaven's principles, and blessed by Heaven's king.


In the Parable of the Kingdom in Matthew 20:1-16, we see a Landowner, who is . . .

1. Passionate in His Love for the Vineyard.
Sometimes the simplest truth, the truth that sets me free, is the one hardest to get my mind around. And sometimes, that difficulty hinders my walk and service to the King. At times, we just need to pause and reflect on that simple truth-- God, the creator of the universe and one true and living and holy God, loves you. You are the "apple of His eye", the joy of His heart, the one He sent His Son to die for.

Look at how The Message describes His incredible love and grace, that He has lavished on us...

Ephesians 1:3-9; 11-14

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. 4 Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. 5 Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) 6 He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. 7 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people - free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! 8 He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, 9 letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, 10 a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. 11 It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, 12 part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. 13 It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free - signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. 14 This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. (The Message)

You think He loves you? You bet!

2. Persistent in His Pursuit of Laborers.

He pursues Continually.
Often there is an intentional process He uses to get us “on frequency” with Him: a circumstance, an event, a maturity level, a colleague or coworker, a difficulty, an observation... But he is persistant in His pursuit of us, as the"hound of Heaven", coming back again and again seeking us and convicting us and drawing us to Himself.

He pursues Expectantly. "Why are you standing here idle?" is the question of one who has offered opportunity, and knows there is no reason to not be in the vineyard. He expects us to be participating in the harvest.

He pursues Knowing our Limitations. Some are limited by time, or age... They get into the vineyard late, but are still able to contribute something, and are given the chance. He knows our limitations, but still wants us active. Notice, it's never too late to get in. To e saed, to serve in the vineyard.

3. Powerful in His Presence among the Laborers. Matt 4:24 shows us what happens when Jesus is reigning in His kingdom. And these things will happen around us as we are living the Kingdom life. Whgen you live according to His principles, He is active and moving. Though it may seem difficult, it is the only way to experience the full and abundant life He promised.

4. Punctual in His Payment of Laborers.Though the pament is different than some expect, God's grace is abundant as He pays what He has promised, not what is deserved. But He can to trusted to be faithful to His promise. There is a payday coming

Overcoming Temptation

This is a combination of 2 sermons I preached recently on Dealing with Temptation. You can call the church office for the audio version.

We all face temptation. James 1:13 gives the source of tempation: "every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed..." How can a person face and overcome the inevitable times they face temptation?

Recognize the Power of Smallness. Many understimate the importance of taking little steps toward victory, little stands against temptation. Standing against and being victorious over any temptation gives us strength to face stronger temptations.

Think about David's sin with Bathsheba. There were several small battles he fought before he consumated that sin in an act of immorality with her. In 2 Samuel 11, there are a number of "small" battles he lost in the temptation, that could have changed the outcome of his sin.

CS Lewis puts it like this:

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible. (Mere Christianity, p. 117)

Reckon self to be “dead to sin” and Rededicate your “members” to God (Rom. 6:11-13). Victory over sin comes when we begin to understand our position as children of God. We are dead to sin, it has no power over us unless we let it. And because sin always expresses itself through our body, we must constantly be yielding the "members of our bodies" to God so they will be instruments of righteousness, and not instruments of sin.

Resist and Surrender to God. "Submit yourelves therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7). There comes a time when you have tobecome antagonistic -- "enough, I'm not going to be Satan's puppet in this... I've had enough of being controled by this sin..." .

Reflect on the cost of the sin. (Prov. 6:28; Prov. 7:6-27) There is always a payday for sin. Satan seldome reveals the ultimate patday for the sin he is tempting us with. One of the saddest scriptures in the Old Testament is the description of Samson-- he gave up his secret to a persistant temptress, his hair was cut, his strength disappeared, and when he awoke to fight of the Philistines, the Bible says "he knew not the Lord had departed from him..." . That is what giving in to sin always does if we do not squarely face before the cost of committing that sin. And honestly looking at the cost will better motivate us to avoid that sin.

Here is one man's partial list of the cost he would pay for sexual sin. He would review this list whenever he was feeling particularly vulnerable to sexual temptation:

—Grieving the Lord who redeemed me.
—Dragging his sacred name into the mud.
—One day having to look Jesus, the Righteous Judge, in the face and give an account of my actions.
—Inflicting untold hurt on Nanci, my best friend and loyal wife.
—Losing Nanci's respect and trust.
—Hurting my beloved daughters, Karina and Angie.
—Destroying my example and credibility with my children, and nullifying both present and future efforts to teach them to obey God ("Why listen to a man who betrayed Mom and us?").
—If my blindness should continue or my wife be unable to forgive, perhaps losing my wife and my children forever.
—Causing shame to my family ("Why isn't Daddy a pastor anymore?").
—Losing self-respect.
—Creating a form of guilt awfully hard to shake. Even though God would forgive me, would I forgive myself?
—Forming memories and flashbacks that could plague future intimacy with my wife.
—Wasting years of ministry training and experience for a long time, maybe permanently.
—Forfeiting the effect of years of witnessing to my father and reinforcing his distrust for ministers that has only begun to soften by my example but that would harden, perhaps permanently, because of my immorality.
—Undermining the faithful example and hard work of other Christians in our community.
—Bringing great pleasure to Satan, the enemy of God and all that is good.
—Heaping judgment and endless difficulty on the person with whom I committed adultery.
—Possibly bearing the physical consequences of such diseases as gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, herpes, and AIDS; perhaps infecting Nanci or, in the case of AIDS, even causing her death.
—Possibly causing pregnancy, with the personal and financial implications, including a lifelong reminder of my sin.
—Bringing shame and hurt to these fellow pastors and elders: (list names)
—Causing shame and hurt to these friends, especially those I've led to Christ and discipled: (list names)
—Invoking shame and lifelong embarrassment upon myself.

The Real and Untold Cost July 1, 1996
Randy Alcorn
1996 by Christianity Today International/LEADERSHIP journal

Renew your mind with the Word. Temptation plays with our minds. It is where the battle is waged, and often lost. Before we give in to sin, we always debate and/or begin to rationalize it. We will first begin to "ok" sin in our minds before we do it. Therefore, we must keep our minds saturated with the Word, or we will believe the lie of temptation. We lose the battle many times because we believe a lie. The Word keeps our mind on the truth. "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Rom. 12:2

Remove your greatest hindrances.
“Bad company corrupts good morals.”1 Cor. 15:33
“flee also youthful lusts…” 2 Tim. 2:22
"come out from among them and be ye separate..." 2 Cor. 6:17

Many do not cosistently win over temptation because they continually surround ourselves with the things that cause our downfall. It may be friends, activities, past baggage unresolved, places you frequent, the music, movies, or thoughts you fill your mind with. All of these are common causes for defeat. Many times, the secret in breaking the power of temptation in a certain area is in removing yourself from its presence, or the presence of those who are participating in it.

Recruit trusted friend(s)
“and if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of 3 strands is not easily torn apart.” Ecc. 4:12

One of the most common reasons we don't overcome sin is we want to hide it and refuse to let anyone know we're struggling with a certain temptation. Or, we are embarrased, and resist asking for help. But having a trusted spiritual friend who can pray for you, and hold you accountable, and ask you the hard questions, and not be a yes person to you will be invaluable in overcoming temptation. Who do you know that could be a friend to you in this? Ask them if they will be willing to hold you accountable and help you get through this struggle.

May God bless you as you face and overcome temptation. If this has been a help to you, I'd love to hear about it. Click on comment, and drop me a note.

Kingdom Living leads to Wisdom

Why did Jesus speak so often about the Kingdom of Heaven, and try to illustrate for us what it was like? Only in the answer to that question do we grasp all that knowing Him brings to our lives.

Kingdom Living leads to living above what we could otherwise. It leads to wise living

Matthew 25:1-13
1. Wise Living Perceives Human Commonalities Unlearned
There were common traits all 10 possessed.
*they all had lamps
*they all went to meet the bridegroom
*they all got drowsy
*they all rose up and trimmed their lamps

This typifies all things we as humans have in common. Things we don't have to study or learn-- they come natural to us because we are humans.
Things such as anger, pride, greed, gossip, lust, addiction, sorrow, death, sickness..... These are all things the Bible calls Sin. This must be grasped, because it reminds us that in our own strength, in our own nature, we have nothing to please God or win His favor.

"all we like sheep have gone astray..." Isaiah 53:6
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." Romans 3:23

2. Wise Living Prepares for a Promise Unknown
" went out to meet the bridegroom..." verse 1
they didn't know for sure when the bridegroom was coming, but the knew he was. And they were prepared for him. Jesus is the bridegroom, and we are wise if we are awaiting His return, living in a way that honors Him and shows we know Him and are eager for His return. The bridegroom's absence was normal. He would leave and prepare the home they would eventually live in. The bride and the wedding party never knew just how long that may take-- months or even years. But the bride knew her beloved would return for her. Likewise, Jesus has promised to return for His beloved bride...

*Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth,…Rev. 16:15
*And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:3
*the angel said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Acts 1:11

3. Wise Living Perseveres in Postponement Unexplained
"while the bridegroom was delaying..." verse 5

they didn't know, and some were ill prepared when the time actually came. The wise were willing to stay at the task, even though it seemed he delayed longer than they wanted, expected, or anticipated.
Our Lord's delay is not our concern, we cannot know the day or the hour, but we are to be ever ready for His return. It could be any day.

4. Wise Living Possesses the Essential Unborrowed
"the foolish said to the wise,'give us some of your oil...', but the wise answered,
saying 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves." verse 9

the wise brought enough, but the foolish wanted to borrow some. What they needed, they had acquired for themselves, but it would not do for the foolish, they had to go and buy some for themselves. Every person has to go the same place to get what they need for eternityh-- that is the cross of Christ. At salvation, we are prepared for eternity. What someone else has is not enough-- we can't get into heaven on a second-hand religion. Having an uncle who is a preacher, or a godly mother, or deacon as a father is not enough. It is something each individual must possess of his own. What I have cannot give you salvation. Every person that has ever been saved got it the same way at the same place-- by faith in Jesus Christ as the one and only mediator for their sins.

5. Wise Living Faces Future Eternity Unafraid
"the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut..." verse 10

You don't fear death or dying when you know the bridegroom. Many have such a fear-- they just don't want to think about it. Others have a huge, dark question mark over their souls when they think of death and their readiness for it. Jesus tells this parable so that we know He is coming, and that we can indeed be ready when He returns. Are you ready?

Kingdom Living

There is a very noticable difference in the lives of those who live in His Kingdom, according to His rule.

3 Elements make a Kingdom

First, it takes a King. God is revealed as a...

A Seeking King
An Inviting King
A Fatherly King
A Judging King

2nd, It takes Subjects
There must be someone for the King to rule over.
How do we get into the Kingdom? How do we become one of His subjects?
By entering….

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Mt. 5:20

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Mt. 7:21

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Mt. 18:3

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. Mt. 19:23

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Mt. 19:24

3rd, it takes Activity
What characterizes the subjects of this kingdom? Certain activities charactirize those that live in His kingdom?

What are some activities Jesus mentions happen in His kingdom? These activities are revealed as paradoxes in Scripture...

If you want to save your life, Lose it

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. Mark 8:35

If you want to be great, be a servant
"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant" Mt. 20:26

If you love life, give it away
"He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake find it. Mt. 10:39

If you want to be first, be last
"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." Mt. 19:30

If you want to get, give.
Give and it shall be given unto you--- Luke 6:38

If you want to be forgiven of your sins by God,forgive.

But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Mt. 6:14-15

If you want to be exalted, humble yourself
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you... 1Pet. 5: 6

If you want to be strong, be weak
2 Cor. 12:10--for when I am weak, then am I strong.


If you do wrong, sin, err, blow it, never admit it or let anyone know about it.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Prov. 28:13

To have all you want in life, leave God out of the formula.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Mt. 6:33


If someone does you wrong, never forget it, and you exact your revenge
“You have heard that it was said, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Mt. 5:43-44


Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Ro. 12:19