Fighting Temptation with the Word

Dannah Gresh: You face temptation every day, so do I—we all do. 

“Just one more piece of cake.” 
“No one’s home . . . no one will know.” 
“Everyone I know is viewing sites like this.”
“It’s not like everyone else isn’t talking about her too.” 

It’s not a matter of if you’ll face temptation, but when. It may hit you loud and clear, or it may creep in gradually. 

So the real question I want to get into today is this, "How do we fight it?"

Welcome to Revive Our Hearts Weekend. I’m Dannah Gresh. Thanks for joining me today. 

Maybe you’ve been battling the same addiction, the same sin, for months or years. If that’s you, Friend, I’m glad you’re here. I want to tell you—you’re not alone!

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” 

Temptation is a problem for all of us. Let me say it again, you’re not alone in that endless battle with spending or food or porn or losing your cool. The enemy will make you feel like your sin problem is the worst, but I can tell you, it’s pretty common. Of course, that doesn't mean it’s okay.

Paul goes on to share this, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

God is faithful, and He will give you the way out. But are you looking for it?

The best example we have to follow is Jesus. He faced the same temptations you and I have, and yet, He never gave in. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is going to show us how Jesus overcame temptation and what that can look like for you too.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Jesus Himself knew what it was to be led into the place of temptation. He knew what it was to be alone, to be hungry, to be humanly vulnerable, as we are. He had just been through that wilderness temptation in Matthew chapter 4, right before he started His earthly ministry, and now He gives us what we call the Lord’s Prayer.

It’s in His first recorded message. It's just the next passage after we read about Him being in temptation in the wilderness for those forty days and forty nights. He endured intense, relentless temptation without letup, I think, from Satan.

Jesus faced the temptation head-on—armed with the Word of God. Praise God, He was victorious over every fiery dart sent His way. We’re going to see that that’s what gives us hope as we face our temptations. Having experienced temptation Himself, Jesus taught us to pray that we might not be led into temptation’s path or snare.

Satan is called twice in the New Testament the tempter. He tempted Jesus, and he tempts us to disobey God, to doubt God, to choose our own way instead of God’s way.

But even though there’s a tempter and even though there’s temptation in this world, we can’t blame God who sometimes leads us into those situations that Satan uses to tempt us. We can’t blame God, and we can’t blame Satan when we fail to respond in a godly way to the test. So we end up in a testing situation. Satan uses it to tempt us. Then we fall, and then who’s responsible? God for leading us into that situation? Satan for tempting us? No. We are responsible.

When we end up falling into sin, when we end up saying "yes" to temptation, when God says don’t taste the fruit and we say, “I will,” who’s responsible? The serpent? God for putting the tree in the Garden? No. We are responsible.

Think about where you are tempted. Think about a time when you’ve been in a situation where you knew there was:

• Something you shouldn’t do.
• Something you shouldn’t say.
• Somewhere you shouldn’t go.
• Something you shouldn’t look at.
• Something you shouldn’t be involved in.

You knew it, but you just felt overwhelmed by the temptation. “I can’t help myself” is the feeling that we’ve all had at times.

So is God responsible in those situations? Or is Satan so powerful that we just can’t win, that we can’t be successful in dealing with those temptations? We need to understand that the source of temptation is not to be found in the situation itself that God may have allowed us to get into or may have even led us into because He wanted to test us. He wanted to prove our faith.

But that’s not where the temptation comes from. The temptation actually has its source in desires that are within our own hearts.The situation we were in, the test, the perfect storm, so to speak, just brought those desires to the surface and exposed them.

Let me ask you to turn to James 1, beginning at verse 13. You’ll see this stated real clearly. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted [tempted to sin] when he is lured and enticed by . . .” what? By God? No, God doesn’t do that. By Satan? Well, Satan’s involved, but what’s the source here? He’s enticed by “his own desires.” His own desires. “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:13–15).

John Owen was a Puritan theologian of the 1600s, and he said, “However strong a castle may be, if a treacherous party resides inside, the castle cannot be kept safe from the enemy. Traitors occupy our own hearts ready to side with every temptation and to surrender to them all.” See the castle of our heart has a traitor living inside. It’s called my flesh—my desires that want to do what I want to do.

Temptation hits us at the point where our internal heart desires are not under God’s control. Now those desires may not be inherently sinful. It may be a desire for something that isn’t bad in and of itself but when it’s not under God’s control, it becomes an idol.

A desire to be loved. That’s not a sinful desire. But when I have a demand, when I let that desire turn into a demand to be loved and I’m willing to satisfy it in ways that are outside the bounds of God’s commands and God’s permission, then that turns into an evil desire. It turns into a lust—something I have to have, and I will get at any cost. That’s when we become vulnerable—when we have desires that are not under God’s control.

So first we see that we are fully responsible. Then second, we need to realize that God governs the extent and the intensity of Satan’s tests. Satan cannot push us, prod us, prompt us, move us, stir us, tempt us beyond what God allows him to do.

So that’s why we have that familiar verse in 1 Corinthians 10 that says, “God will not let you be tempted beyond your ability” (v. 13). He determines the extent and the intensity to which you can be tested. That ought to encourage you when you’re facing temptation to know that Satan can go so far, but only so far. God has put a boundary on how far he can tempt you.

Now having said that, we need to realize that we cannot resist temptation in our own strength. We do not have the strength to say "no" to sin. This petition in the Lord’s Prayer, the fact that it’s in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation,” is an acknowledgment that we need help. We cannot protect ourselves from temptation. We cannot keep ourselves from sin and from the evil one.

This is a cry of desperation. It’s a cry of dependence. We are weak, but He is strong. That’s why Paul said to the Ephesians, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:10–11). We need His help. We need His grace.

Remember that familiar, wonderful hymn of Martin Luther, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," and that stanza that says,

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He,
And He must win the battle.

We can’t win that battle on our own. Don’t even try, because when we try we’re saying, “Lord, I can manage this without You.” Sometimes I wonder if God doesn’t just say, “You want to try? You think you can win without Me? Go ahead. See how far you get.” We know we can’t get very far without falling.

But here’s the good news: Even though we can’t resist on our own, God is able to keep us from falling into sin. He is able. That alone should be something that encourages and strengthens us when we’re in the midst of temptation, when we’re fighting with those lusts and desires of our own hearts that are so strong.

Sometimes you know God doesn’t want you to say that. He doesn’t want you to go there. He doesn’t want you to eat that. He doesn’t want you to watch that. It’s like you tell your two-year-old, “Don’t,” and that’s exactly what he wants to do. You told him he could touch everything else in the room, but he can’t touch that. Where does he go? His desire is he wants to touch the one thing you said he couldn’t.

We have sometimes these hugely strong, powerful drives and urges to do that which we know we’re not supposed to do. In the midst of that, remember that God is able to keep you from falling. You don’t have to fall. You don’t have to yield to temptation.

I love that verse in Jude. It’s verse 24 toward the end of that chapter where the Scripture says, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” I love that verse because that’s what I want. I want one day to face the Lord Jesus, to be in the presence of His glory with great joy. I know that God is able to do it. He is able to keep me from falling and to present me blameless.

Now, it’s also encouraging to remember that God always makes provision for His children to resist temptation. God always makes provision for His children to resist temptation. “God is faithful,” 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

God always makes a provision. He promises a way of escape. Now that way of escape may be the grace to endure. God has made provision for us to be triumphant over temptation. So we need to recognize our need for His protection, cry out to Him for grace, and cooperate with Him in resisting the evil one and running from sin.

Dannah: So good. As Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth just pointed out, God does not leave you alone in your temptation because you cannot overcome it with your own strength. We need Him. We need His Word, which arms us and strengthens us for the battles we will inevitably face. 

In fact, we need to put on Scripture to prepare us and get us through those moments of temptation . . . for everything . . . including our emotions. I don’t know about you, but they often get me into trouble. I’m more prone to sin when I’m fearful, angry, hurt. You know? Well, putting on Scripture made a real difference for me, and I’m going to tell you about one of those times. 

I had a chance to share about this at our Revive ’21 conference, and I want you to hear part of that today. 

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I'm going to just say this to you the way I say it to tween girls: Sisters, my friends, your thoughts are the boss of your feelings. Whatever you are thinking about is going to be how you feel.

You have to know the Word of God so that when the bad emotions fall on you, what has been put in you helps you to put on the Truth.

I had a really emotional . . . we'll just call it “the great Mexican meltdown” recently. That's what I call them when they're big. Now, I'm not prone to extreme emotional immaturity. I have my moments, but this was like a thick battle.

I don't know if you've ever had one of those days or months or summers where just a lot of things converge, and you come to a breaking point. I came to that point, and I got to a place where I just couldn't think on anything good. All I could think on was all the bad. Have you been there?

I am a woman who can sleep. Nothing wakes me up, and I can sleep long and hard. So when I don't sleep, and when I become sleepless, it is because my emotions have gone out of control.

So I laid down in bed one night, and it was 10:00, and the emotions started to get thick, and the darkness started to make them so pronounced. It just fell on me so heavy.

I remember sitting there and thinking, My life is terrible. I'm a bad mom. I'm a bad wife. I'm a bad teacher. I'm a bad blonde. (laughter) You name it. And the thing is, it was a deep, thick heaviness.

I had to choose to put on what I had already put in me, and I have spent time in my life memorizing Scripture for times like this. But I wasn't using it.

And so I laid there in bed. I can't really show you this . . . I'm laying in my bed and, you know, have you ever been there where just the darkness is heavy, holding you down. Right? And I'm laying in that bed, and the Lord is saying to me, “Put on what you put in you. Put on what you put in you.”

And I'm crying, and I am shaking with fear of the future.

And the Lord says to me, “Hey, a woman of God smiles at the future.”

And I'm, like, “I got nothing to smile about, Jesus.”

I'm searching my memory bank for Scripture, and suddenly . . . I was feeling very sinful, I should mention. (laughter) That's part of it.

And so suddenly, Psalm 130 comes to mind: “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who can stand?” (v. 3 NIV).

And all I could do was whisper it. And I said it over and over. I was, like, “Lord, is this verse going to sink in? Because I think this is the one.”

And then the next thing I knew I was feeling a little bit of it, and so I sat up in the dark, hoping that I didn't wake Bob with my whispers.

(In a whispered voice:) “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who can stand? If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand? If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand?”

And then I thought, “Okay, I need to say this out loud because maybe—maybe—if my ears hear it clearly, I'm going to start to feel it because I'm not feeling it.”

So I drug myself to the bathroom, and I looked in the mirror. “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand? For with You there is forgiveness and therefore You are feared. My soul waits and in his word I put my hope. O, Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning” (vv. 3–6 paraphrased).

(Sounds of letting out breath.) And then I felt, like, “I’ve got to say this full out loud.” (laughter)

So I walked downstairs, turned on the fireplace, “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins who could stand?”

And I felt my backbone straightening. I felt my spirit getting stronger. And then I thought, You know, I need to shout this out loud. (laughter)

So I walked out to my barn. (It was a bit of a temptation, because there were baby goats out there, and that could also help with peace, love, and joy.) And I held a baby goat in my arms. (That poor little thing, because I began to praise the Lord.)

If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, therefore, You are feared, my soul waits, and on Your word I put my hope. More than watchmen wait for the morning—more than watchmen wait for the morning—put your hope in the Lord for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. (cheers and applause)

And I want you to know something: I was feeling it. I was feeling the unfailing love. I was feeling the forgiveness. I was feeling the full redemption. Full redemption, Sisters! That is better than Walmart's guarantee. (cheers)

I was feeling it because I had put His Word in me, then I could put it on me. But I had to do the work of it, Sisters. I had to do the work of it, Sisters. You have to do the work of it, Sisters. In the dark night when everything is crumbling in on you, you have to do it.

Now some people would say, “That was just a mantra.”

No, that was the living, active Word of God. It is alive and active, and it works. (applause)

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We do the work of getting into Scripture and putting it on us, but God is the One to do the actual work in us to help us overcome the temptation to let our emotions be the boss of us!

Jimmy and Kelly Needham have experienced victory over temptation. You may have heard their names before. Jimmy is a singer-songwriter and pastor. Kelly is a good friend to me and a familiar name at Revive Our Hearts. I’m so thankful for their transparent conversation with Nancy about a battle Jimmy faced with pornography and how they fought it together. You may know, that was a battle in my own husband’s life. Let me say this again, Friend, if that’s you, you’re not alone. 

Let’s listen to part of a conversation Nancy had with Jimmy and Kelly about finding freedom from a pornography addiction. If you have young children listening, you may want to occupy them elsewhere for a few minutes. Here’s Nancy. 

Nancy: You were, Jimmy, in college. You were walking in community, walking in the light, but still battling. Yet, there came a point. I don’t want to miss this, because for some, they may think, This is just something that I just have to do the rest of my life. And God, in His mercy, brought you to a place that put an end to it.

Jimmy Needham: Right, yes. I hear that so much from guys that deal with this. It’s that idea, the resignation that, “I guess this is just how it’s going to be. I guess I’m just going to periodically fall back into this.”

Nancy: We can feel that way about any sin struggle.

Jimmy: Yes, absolutely. I feel like there’s just this hopelessness over this issue that I really want to dispel, because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us!

Nancy: That’s huge!

Jimmy: Yes, that’s not a small thing! I actually just wrote about this because I wanted to give people a sense of, “Okay, what did it look like for me, and is lasting victory possible?” And so, for me, in college at nineteen, growing in satisfaction with Christ, but still feeling that temptation.

I remember for me, and the way I put it for folks is that I had to get a few decisive victories under my belt. I had to get where I could feel what it felt like to overcome in the moment of temptation. I remember those three or four of them very specifically.

I was in my room. None of the guys were home in the house I lived in. I was tempted to get on the Internet and look at something. And in that moment, just a settled “no” came inside me. I read some of the Word. I left the house. I went for a run, ran for a couple of miles, and came back.

I was able to see in that moment: The temptation came, and God through His promises and His presence gave me freedom. I fled sin, I fled to Christ.

Nancy: He gave a way of escape, and you took it.

Jimmy: I took it; I ran, yes! And then, it was a couple weeks later, and the moment happened again. But this time I had a memory; I had a memory of victory. There was something really powerful about that for me. It was like, “I remember what it feels like to win this in Christ! I remember!”

So a similar thing happened. I think I took off running, and did that whole thing. But it was about three of those moments where, by the third or fourth time, I had times to look back on and go, “I remember what it felt like. I remember the overcoming of that temptation, and now I’m here in this moment.”

It wasn’t the end of the world! And so, yes, the Lord strengthened me with those memories and His promises! Now I’m thirty-two, and the last time I looked at pornography was when I was nineteen years old. And that’s not, like, “Go, Jimmy!” or anything like that. That’s saying God actually can produce lasting freedom, lasting victory in your life!

Maybe you’re listening to this, and you’re just thinking to yourself, I’ve been in this for a long time, and every time I fight it, it fights back harder. I’m telling you that God is mighty, and He’s for you. He’s your Father. He wants to see you free—free in Christ!

Nancy: So from that point at nineteen, would you say, after those decisive victories, did you ever get to the place where there wasn’t any temptation? You travel. You have road life. You certainly have opportunities to be exposed to temptation.

Jimmy: Sure. It would be a lie to say I’m never tempted or have never been tempted in that window from nineteen to present. But it would also be a lie to say that I feel or have felt, in this decade or so, the same level of temptation I felt then.

So, definitely there’s a felt decrease now. You [Kelly] could testify to that.

Kelly Needham: Yes. And I think I would say, too, you’re so aware of the power of that temptation, and you also know how much you love nearness with Christ now. There’s not even a desire to expose that in even mild forms.

We’ll talk some, and there will be just certain movies (we love good movies that are well-reviewed, highly-reviewed movies) . . . Jimmy will say, “I would love to see that for the cinematography, for all these other things. But if there are going to be elements of sexual immorality portrayed, it’s not even worth going there!”

Nancy: Because of what that might stir up.

Jimmy: Yes.

Kelly: So I think one myth to dispel about the temptation going away means, “It doesn’t matter if I see a few magazines or a few movies. I’m invincible!” I think you walk with a sense of, “I’m not invincible.”

I think the Bible warns us of that. “Be careful lest you fall! Beware of that weakness.” And you [Jimmy], appropriately, in wisdom are closing doors and not even opening the door in some of those areas that we might say, “Oh, it’s not that bad.”

Dannah: Can you relate to Jimmy and Kelly’s story? Oh, I can. I wrote about it in Happily Even After: Let God Redeem Your Marriage. You can get a copy at Revive Our Hearts. I’ll put a link in the show notes. 

Whether or not pornography is your addiction or your husband’s, my guess is you know the struggle of temptation in some area or another. You have everything you need to overcome your temptation. Don’t wait another minute to go to God’s Word. Open your Bible. Soak in Scripture. Write it down in a place you’ll see it, maybe even in a place you find yourself the most tempted. 

At Revive Our Hearts, we want to help you fight temptation and live in freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. And that means equipping you with biblical tools and encouraging resources, like this program.

You know, Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations by using the Word of God. Nancy’s going to talk about that Monday on Revive Our Hearts, as part of her series on the person of Christ, a series that goes with her book, Incomparable.

When you make a donation of any amount to the ministry of Revive Our Hearts, you’ll receive a copy of Nancy’s newest book, Incomparable: 50 Days with Jesus. Plus, you’ll receive a special reading guide to lead you through the book as you prepare your heart for Easter. Through this book, Nancy will help you see that Jesus is not just enough—He is everything.

Ask for Incomparable when you call 1-800-569-5959, or go to ReviveOurHearts.com/weekend and click on today’s episode. 

I want to ask you, are you living in awe of Jesus? Too often we can develop a casual attitude about our Savior. We can sometimes forget that He is God, that He is wonderful and powerful and beyond anything we can imagine. I hope you’ll join us next week on this program as we gain a sense of awe and wonder for who Jesus really is. 

Thanks for listening today. I’m Dannah Gresh. We’ll see you next time for Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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