The Danger of Temptation

Introduction

Today, we will conclude our series called Waiting on God. Waiting is never a fun thing. Our culture trains us to be very impatient. There was an article that gave some signs to show that you are an impatient person. See if any of these applies to you.

• You never let the microwave finish counting down.
• You arrive wherever you’re going early and get frustrated when people are just “on time.”
• The person in front of you at the red light has 0.5 seconds to go on green before you lay on the horn.
• You want to type “what?” when you see the reply dots on a text message more than once.
• You constantly burn your mouth because you can’t wait for your coffee or soup to cool a little.

Patience has been called a virtue, and sadly, there is not as much virtuosity going around these days. Even when it comes to our walk with Jesus, patience can be a difficult thing to master. It often seems that the LORD has a very different timetable than we do. As much as we might be tempted to encourage the LORD to pick up the pace, it might be better for us to consider that maybe He isn’t the one with the wrong timetable.

Today, I want to talk about the danger of temptation in our lives. Temptations are abundant. These are those things that pull us off of the track the LORD has us on. Not all temptations are evil inherently, but they are things that are used by Satan or our sinful flesh to get us to do something in a way the LORD does not want us to do. We will look at an instance in the Old Testament where a guy was tempted and gave into that temptation.

Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now, listen to the words of the Lord. This is what the Lord of Armies says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt. Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ” Then Saul summoned the troops and counted them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. Saul came to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the wadi. He warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, go on and leave! Get away from the Amalekites, or I’ll sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites. Then Saul struck down the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is next to Egypt. He captured King Agag of Amalek alive, but he completely destroyed all the rest of the people with the sword. Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and choice animals, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my instructions.” So Samuel became angry and cried out to the Lord all night.

​1 Samuel 15:1–11 CSB

‌The LORD calls for action

In these verses, we see the LORD sent the prophet, Samuel, to give orders to King Saul. Saul was the first king of the Israelites. Samuel begins by reminding Saul that he had been anointed as king over Israel by the LORD. This means that Saul was chosen specifically for the task. Saul wasn’t to rule over the people as he wished, but he was to rule as the LORD’s representative.

Up to this point, Saul hadn’t done a great job. In 1 Samuel 13, we see that he didn’t wait on the prophet to come and offer a sacrifice/blessing over the troops before battle, so Saul just did it himself. While this could have been grounds for dismissal, the LORD gives Saul another chance. This is a great picture of the LORD’s grace toward us. Even though we don’t get it right all the time, He doesn’t just throw us away. The LORD is one who gives second chances.

What we see in these verses is a sad scene though. Saul was given a second chance by the LORD, but what we see is he didn’t learn anything from the second chance. The LORD had told him to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all that belonged to them. The reason behind this was because of their mistreatment of the Israelites as they journeyed toward the Promised Land.

As Saul begins to carry out this mission, we can notice that he didn’t follow orders to the fullest. The LORD told him to destroy everything, but Saul thought he had a better plan. Saul would take the king of Amalek prisoner and gather the best of their animals for sacrifice later.

This disobedience brings the LORD to make a strong statement: “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my instructions” (v 11). It would kill me to know that I had disappointed certain people in my life. The LORD would be at the top of that list. What would cause the LORD to say such a thing?

‌The Temptations of Saul

We see from these verses that Saul was tempted in two specific ways.

‌The temptation to “help” the LORD

As Saul led some of his troops out, he made a decision to do what he thought was best. In verse 9, we see Saul sparing the life of the king and the best of certain animals. This is not what the LORD told him to do. The LORD said to destroy everything. This was something known in some translations of the Bible as “devoting to the LORD.” It was a sign the LORD had condemned something or someone and called for their destruction.

On the surface, it may seem hard to find what was wrong with the act of Saul. Maybe he was going to make an example out of Agag, king of the Amalekites. If you look beneath the surface, you will see there was a selfish motive behind this. By completely destroying everything, the LORD would get all of the glory. By taking the king of the enemy hostage, Saul would be able to parade his accomplishments around and receive glory for himself.

The problem with trying to “help” the LORD is He does not need our help. He is perfect. We are not. If the LORD has called for something, you can know there is a good reason for it. He has thought it through completely and offered the best solution to any situation. Our “help” is merely an attempt of our flesh to take some of the glory for ourselves — to make us look good at the moment. It might just be the LORD’s plan to not make us look good.

‌The temptation to get something for ourselves

Through Saul’s disobedience of the LORD’s orders, he was looking to gain something for himself.‌ By taking Agag alive, Saul was looking to show himself powerful; he wanted others to see him as strong and mighty. By taking the choice of animals, Saul did not have to sacrifice anything that was his.

Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep, goats, and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we destroyed.”

​1 Samuel 15:15 CSB

Did you notice something? Saul said these animals were taken to sacrifice to the LORD “your” God. Saul reveals that his heart’s desire was not to worship the LORD himself. By taking these animals, when it came time for sacrifice, he wouldn’t have to part with anything that was his. In his mind, it would be so much easier to just use these animals from someone else instead of parting with what belongs to me. A sacrifice that doesn’t cost us anything isn’t much of a sacrifice.

‌How to defeat temptation

Just as Saul was tempted to not follow the LORD’s ways, so we find those same temptations coming at us. There are moments when we are tempted to “help” the LORD accomplish His plans. It might be to add certain steps to it or take out certain things that would not be so appealing or helpful in our eyes.

How can we defeat the temptations that come our way and seek to prevent us from waiting on or trusting the LORD fully?

‌Recognize your condition

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.

​Romans 5:12 CSB

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

​Ephesians 2:1–3 CSB

Before we are quick to “help” the LORD, it would be good for us to remember that He is God and we are not. He is holy, and we are not by nature. He is infinite in wisdom and ability, we are not. We are sinful by nature and desperately need Him to correct us — not just once but continually.

‌Call on the Savior

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

​Romans 10:9–13 CSB

We may hear these verses and just think about eternal salvation, but they are also speaking about daily salvation — our dependence upon His work in our lives. The amazing part is that He is available, able, and willing to help in every situation of our lives.

‌Follow the LORD’s lead

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

​Proverbs 3:5–6 CSB

“Trust” in verse 5 here means “to fully depend or lean on.” It is an action that we continuously do in our lives, not just at certain moments. The Bible refers to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. When we trust Him as the Savior and LORD of our lives, we become His sheep. He will guide us when we need direction. He will protect us when we need it. He will comfort us in the hurtful moments. All He asks for us to do is to follow Him. When we do that, the results are on Him and not of our own doing.

‌Conclusion

Temptations are all around us. They come in all shapes, sizes, and appearances. Some of them look very appealing, but the truth is they are empty promises that actually bring the opposite result. While we are tempted in many ways from many directions, we have victory over every temptation in Christ. The question becomes will we listen and follow Him, or try to “help” when it isn’t needed?

I would encourage you today to say “no” to the temptations that come your way and say “yes” to Jesus. He is faithful and true. It is only through following Him and His ways that you will experience abundant life.