Have we Trials and Temptations? Absolutely.

 The following is a transcript used for the basis of the sermon preached at GracePointe Church in Springtown, Texas on September 22, 2024.

Why are so many pastors falling (Satan). A recent news story said there were 14 individuals who have resigned from churches due to some sort of scandal over the summer in the DFW area alone. That is a staggering number to me, but then I looked up that there are 5,842 Christian non-profit centers in the Metroplex, including Fort Worth, meaning that the number of churches affected represents 0.2 percent of all churches. One church is too many but that equates to 2 out of every thousand congregations.

Someone has said that if there is a mist in the pulpit, there will be fog in the pew. While that generally refers to confusion over a biblical passage, I think the same truism could be related to moral failures and falling in temptations. In other words, there are untold thousands of moral failings and fallings in churches, and tens of thousands of failings inside and outside the church.

If pastors of the pulpit are falling prey to falling to temptation, what is going on with the people in the pew? There are good and bad cops, good and bad teachers, construction workers, farmers, and lord help us good and bad lawyers and politicians. At least I have heard of good lawyers and politicians.

So, the title for my message is Have we trials and temptations? Absolutely! The title is taken from a hymn and the background to the hymn is as follows (found at this webpage )...

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In the vast canvas of historical figures, some remain hidden in the background, their tales whispered among only a few. Joseph Scriven is one such name. His life was a complex tapestry of faith intertwined with profound sadness.

 Early Life of Humility and Service

Born in Ireland on September 10, 1819, to an affluent family. He grew up as a noble man with a heart of mercy, always looking to help the destitute. A story is told of him where a man looks at him carrying a wood saw and a sawhorse, “That looks like a sober man,” the man exclaimed. “I think I’ll hire him to cut wood for me.” The response from the other man was, “That’s Joseph Scriven. He wouldn’t cut wood for you because you can afford to hire him. He only cuts wood for those who don’t have money enough to pay.” Joseph was a devoted man of the Plymouth Brethren Church. A man of high aspirations who was regarded with favor among all those he met. He graduated from Trinity College in Dublin.

Tragedy Strikes

While still in Ireland, he got engaged to be married to his childhood love. He had great hopes of a family who would serve the Lord together. Tragedy struck his life as his bride-to-be accidentally drowned the night before their wedding. She fell from her horse while crossing a bridge over the River Bann. Joseph arrived seconds later only to find her knocked out, drowned in the river. Her death was swift. He described his sorrow this way: “The bottom of my world seemed to disappear.”

A Man Acquainted with a Heavy Heart

This led to a life of depression, sorrow, and devotion. Like so many others who wrestle with God emotionally, he held his head above water and continued to walk with Jesus and serve the Lord. He wandered the land to ease his pain and traveled across the Pacific. He became a leader of a Plymouth Brethren fellowship and started a school for orphans in Canada. He would often read the Bible to railway construction workers who were building the Grand Trunk Railway across the Canada West. He was known to all for his selfless service, his continued battle with physical ailments, and his heavy heart.

 Unrelenting Storms of Life

In 1857, at the age of 38, he moved near Port Hope, Ontario where he fell in love again with the 23-year-old aunt of a young child he was tutoring. Her name was Eliza. They were promptly due to be married. His pain was briefly abated with the renewed prospect of a family. But in August 1860 his fiancée fell ill with pneumonia and unexpectedly died.

 Even through this, Scriven continued to serve all those who were in need. He was known for never turning down anyone who needed help. He was often sick with bodily ailments. These plagued him his whole life. But he was devoted to walking with the Lord. Even though he was a man with deep spiritual wounds, he never stopped groping for his confidence that Jesus was a friend who would never leave him.

 One day a close companion was visiting and happened across a poem on Joseph’s bedside table. He asked him who wrote it. Joseph said, “The Lord and I did it between us.” The poem was titled “Pray Without Ceasing.” He wrote it for his mother, believing the poem would bring some spiritual comfort to his mum, who lay ill in Ireland. He had not intended that anyone else should see it.

 “Take Me Home”

Later in life, he was very ill with a fever and had been brought to a friend’s home to recover. This friend observed Joseph prostrate on the ground, imploring God for something. Soon his friend realized that he was asking Jesus to take him home. His companion was not overly alarmed as it was typical for Joseph to break down in such ways. Later that night, it was very hot. Joseph may have gone outside to cool down, or to get a drink of cold water from the spring. His friend reported, “We left him about midnight. I withdrew to an adjoining room to watch and pray. You may imagine my surprise and dismay when upon visiting his room I found it empty. All searches failed to find a trace of the missing man until a little after noon his body was discovered in the nearby river, lifeless and cold in death.”

 It was never determined whether his death was accidental or a suicide. He was buried in an unmarked grave.

 What a Friend We Have in Jesus

The poem entitled “Pray Without Ceasing” was soon changed to “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” It became one of the most popular Christian hymns of all time.

 What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer! 

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer. 

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
May we ever, Lord, be bringing
All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
There will be no need for prayer—
Rapture, praise, and endless worship
Will be our sweet portion there.

 Are You Weak and Heavy-Laden?

Amidst life’s darkest storms, the story of Joseph Scriven stands as a testament to the enduring faith of a man acquainted with loss and a man who held Jesus’ hand until the end. You’re not alone in your struggles, and like Joseph, you too can find peace and purpose amidst the pain. Hang on. Joseph’s life encourages us to look beyond our sorrows and see the broader tapestry of life, where faith, service, and love intertwine to bring comfort and hope to our souls. I know it is hard, but take it to the Lord in prayer and pray without ceasing.

You and I are undoubtedly victors as well as victims from some of the spiritual skirmishes, and today we will examine specifically and explicitly what the Bible says we can do emerge from these battles as victors rather than victims.

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Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 ¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Dear Lord Jesus, we come to you today as you are the Son of Man as well as the Son of God. You know what it was like to walk this world in the flesh. You faced down temptations and spiritual oppositions on all sides and as a result you are certainly more than able to come to the aid of those who are fighting the battle. There are more dangers and distractions today than ever in my lifetime and perhaps greater than even in the history of humanity. Please God, use Your word and the preparations I have made in this sermon to come to the aid of myself, our members, and anyone who is struggling to be victorious in the spiritual battles with the wiles of the devil. In the mighty and majestic name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Our passage today begins with that very rich, respected and significant word of Therefore. I firmly believe that the Old and New Testaments are very relevant in our lives. The Therefore in this passage is referring to the previous 12 verses which state that the Old Testament examples are given to us so that we can learn from them. So are the examples from the Gospels and the New Testament. In Paul’s final epistle to Timothy, he said that ALL SCRIPTURE is God-breathed for our teaching (DOCTRINE), our reproving or rebuking from what is bad, our correction to what is good, and our training in right living.

Look to Job for patience. Look to David for praise and worship. Look to Solomon and proverbs for wisdom. Look to Joseph on handling adversity. Look to Abraham for faith. Look to Deborah for how to lead as a woman. Look to Hannah for prayer. Look to Esther for Courage, to Mordecai for guidance for the family and yes look to Nehemiah to see how teamwork makes the dreamwork.

Having explained what that therefore is there for, let’s look at verse 12.

#1 Be Humble. Point number 1 in your struggle with temptation, in steps to being a victor rather than a victim, is first of all BE HUMBLE. 2C10:12 does not say that this can happen to you, but rather this WILL happen to you. Every church member. Every attender. Every child. Every deacon, teacher, every staff member.

Humility is at the heart of true discipleship because humility is at the heart of who Jesus is. No, Jesus did not fall in temptation, but he certainly FACED it and won the battle.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:29 that he was lowly and humble in heart and before we point our finger at a fallen, failing, faithless sinner, we should pray to God and look to Jesus and say, “Lord Jesus vanquish pride from my heart.”

1a. How can we be humble? 1^st Look to Jesus. They say never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. The same can be said about fighting temptation. Find a righteousness fulfillment from Jesus. Stay in the Word. Stay in Prayer. Stay in Church. Seek the Holy Spirit’s filling. When you look to Jesus, and are seeking the Holy Spirit’s filling, He will not lead you into temptation.

1b. Identify your enemy. Humility comes when we see that easily besetting sin is lurking at the door of our hearts. Before Cain killed Abel, God said sin was crouching and lurking at the door of his heart, waiting to pounce and spring into action. Sin is lying before you and lying to you, desiring and lusting after your heart and the first invitation you can give to your temptations is to deny that it is there. Hebrews 12:1 says “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.”

Jeremiah 6:14 says, “You can’t heal a wound by saying it’s not there!” Call it out by name. Don’t deny it. Identify it.

Pride is the root with many fruits. Greed. Lust. Selfishness. Arrogance. Laziness. Gluttony. Atheism. Agnosticism. When Jesus met the demonized man at the Decapolis, He asked what His name was to identify the sin. When you identify your sin by name, it’s easier to defeat it. Identify it for what it is EVIL. Only then can he deliver you from evil, when you identify it.

You know I would love to tell you that I have really defeated the sin of pride, but to be honest, I am way too humble to brag about that!!

Seriously, get over yourself and your righteous indignation about the sins and failures of other and pray to God that you would not fall.

2. Don’t bring a knife or a gun to a spiritual fight   . Take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5). When an ungodly thought, a worrisome fear, a lying spirit comes to mind, cast it out, cast it down to the pit of hell where it came from. What tempting strongholds are in your mind? Look at verse 4. With the right weapons, we can pull down those strongholds. What are those weapons?

2a. Scripture meditation. If I were to tell you to memorize verses, you probably wouldn’t do it, so really more important than memorization is meditation. It means saying it over and over again until it goes from your head to the heart. Do you struggle with envy, desires, being discontent. Meditate on 1 Tim. 6:8 “having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” Heb. 13:5 “be content with such things you have.” 1 Tim. 6:6 says “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

2b. Break curses. You know we believe in blessings. We say God bless you. We speak blessings. But some of you have curses put on you, even from childhood. “You’ll never change!”  Curses can be broken! “You’re just like your father.” “You’ll never amount to anything.”

1) First, let Jesus free you. As a believer, your chains are gone, you’ve been set free, but like Otis the drunk on the Andy Griffith show, you take the key and lock yourself up. When Jesus preached in his home town, He quoted Isa. 61:1 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

Jesus’s hometown crowd was no advantage. They started putting curses on Him, saying, you’re  just a carpenter’s son. but He wouldn’t let them and neither should you.

2c. Reverse the curse with blessings. Bless those who curse you and not with “bless your heart”. When Satan or demons or people try to curse you and you bless in return,  pretty soon, Satan will stop cursing you.

Remember Balam and his donkey? Balak wanted to curse on Israel, so he hired the prophet Balaam. But every time Balaam went to curse Israel, God put blessings instead of curses in Balaam’s mouth. Four times this happened and finally Balak gave up. Get rid of temptation by reversing the cursings in your life.

1. Be Humble

2. Use Your Weapons 

3. Submit to God & Resist the devil. That sounds silly, because it’s so simple. It’s not silly, it’s not simple, but it is Scriptural. “Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee.”

When you give in to temptation, the temptation will stronger, and you’ll get weaker. But if you resist, just for a minute, an hour, a day, you will find that you get stronger, and the temptation gets weaker. Remember the first part though: Submit to God. Submission and resistance.

This formula is found in 1 Peter 5:6-9 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,” that’s obviously the humility part. “that He may exalt you in due time,” That’s using his weapons, His power. “⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” This is submitting to God. ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 

This is where partners come in. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, ⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!... ¹² though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.