“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.” (Revelation 3:12). This ‘assurance and blessing’ is the concluding part of the letter Jesus, our Lord, sent to the persevering church in Philadelphia. This blessing could be ours too if only we would persevere and overcome what sore temptations we face.
The devil is the architect of temptation. He brings temptation in our way each day of our lives and his motive for doing that is to make us sin against God. Thanks be to God, it is not automatic that would fall anytime we are tempted, for as Christians we have what it takes to overcome the temptation to sin. This is how to overcome –
Know that no one is above temptation
How likely are you to fall into a pit when you can clearly see the pit ahead of you? You will certainly avoid it, won’t you? If only Christians would understand that temptation is part of this earthly life, and that no one is above temptation and that we are tempted each day of our lives, it would be the first step in overcoming it.
- Know that you are being tempted when someone is offering you money so that you would compromise on your work ethics to do him a favor.
- Know that you are being tempted when your friends mock that you are not man enough because you do not indulge in alcoholism, extramarital affairs, etc.
- Know that you are facing temptation when you have an urge to do something to hurt someone so as to satisfy your thirst for vengeance.
- etc.
More so, anybody could be a vessel of temptation through what he says or what he does or through how he behaves towards you. Now being able to identify temptation puts you in a position of advantage to overcome it.
Overcome temptation by the word of God
Jesus has always been a perfect example for His disciples to emulate; He has already set an example for us with respect to overcoming temptation. This is what is written about Him – “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15.
‘(Jesus) was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.’ So Jesus went through all manner of temptations and passed successfully, committing no sin. How did He do that? We fall several times in the face of temptation. But how did Jesus overcome temptation with a clean sheet? Though He was God and all-powerful, He did not resort to using supernatural powers to overcome the tempter, the devil. Jesus just relied on those resources that have been made available to man – that is, the Scriptures – the Word of God. He used the Scriptures to overcome the devil and his temptation. How was Jesus tempted? Jesus went through many temptations in His life. The most notable one is recorded in Matthew 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1-13. Using Matthew’s account, let us revisit how Jesus was tempted and how He resisted and triumphed over the devil and his temptation. Matthew 4:1-11
Having been baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, Jesus was led by the Spirit of God to the wilderness. There, He fasted for forty days and forty nights after which He was hungry. Now after the forty days and forty nights of fasting were completed, Satan, the tempter, came to Jesus to tempt Him. Let follow their conversation.
|
Satan said |
Jesus responded |
| 3 If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. | 4 It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. |
Then the devil and tempter took Jesus up into the holy city, Jerusalem, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. The conversation continues –
|
Satan said |
Jesus responded |
| 6 If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. | 7 It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God. |
Again, the devil and tempter took Jesus up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. The conversation continues –
|
Satan said |
Jesus responded |
| 9 All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me. | 10 Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve. |
Then the devil, the tempter, left Jesus. Yes, Jesus has triumphed without a flaw. He has overcome the tempter and his temptation.
Did you note that in all the responses Jesus gave, there is a phrase that runs through? Did you catch that phrase? Can you remember it? The phrase was ‘It is written’. Every verbal response Jesus gave to the devil began with that phrase. ‘It is written’ – Jesus is directly telling Christians that all the defensive responses He used against the devil’s temptation have been written already; they have been given to man by God already; they are found right in the Scriptures, precisely, the Old Testament, which was the Scriptures available at that time. If He says ‘it is written’, then let find out where in the Scriptures they are written and the one who wrote them. Having search well, we discovered a couple of Old Testament verses written by the Prophet Moses. Let compare Jesus’ answers to these verses Moses wrote in the Scriptures –.
| Jesus’ response | Scriptures written by Moses |
| Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. – Matthew 4:4 | 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. – Deuteronomy 8:3-4 |
| It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God. Matthew 4:7 | You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah. Deuteronomy 6:16 |
| You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve. Matthew 4:10 | ‘(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), Exodus 34:14 |
Jesus basically quoted the Scriptures which God gave mankind through His Prophet Moses. Jesus leaned on the Scriptures to overcome the devil and tempter. Christians cannot do anything different from what Jesus did and succeed. Christians ought to learn and lean on the word of God so as to overcome the devil and his temptations.
Watch and Pray to overcome temptation
It was nearly about time for Jesus to be arrested by the Jews to His death. He has come to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. After an hour or so of prayer, He came to discover that His disciples, whom He expected to be watching and praying with Him, were asleep. In a gentle rebuke, He taught them, saying, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38. Also, Matthew 26:41, Luke 22:46). Okay! That is another strategy of overcoming temptation – by watching and praying.
The statement sounds like if you watch and pray, you will not face temptation or no temptation will come your way. That was far from what Jesus meant to say because though Jesus Christ Himself was righteous, holy, perfect, prayerful, etc., He went through a cascade of temptations, and His disciples would have a similar experience. The Lord Jesus meant to say that His disciples should be careful and prayerful so that they would not be overcome by the temptations that would come their way. In short, disciples of Jesus would, inevitably, face temptation, but the prayerful ones among them would not be induced by temptation into a habit of sin but would resist the tempter and his temptation much like what Jesus did.
Watch as used in Matthew 26:41, means being careful or vigilant. The tempter can tempt using different strategies and he can use any person at his disposal to tempt Christians. He can use a relative or a stranger. He might not even use anybody at all but can tempt Christians by speaking to their thoughts, etc. This calls for vigilance; we should be watchful so that we would not be taken by surprise.
Overcome temptation by self-control
One evening, David walked around on the roof of his palace. From the roof, he saw a woman, naked and bathing. Because of what he saw, David was tempted and was overcome by the temptation and he had an affair with her and landed in many troubles. He knew it was wrong to do that, but he acted on his lust to sin. What if David had exercised self-control – the story would have been different (2 Samuel 11:2-4). Sometimes we know the word, we can identify sin; yet we commit them anyway because we act on our lusts or desires or pleasures and not on the word of God.
For us Christians, we have what it takes to suppress our lusts and desires, for we have something in us that is way stronger than our lust, desire, or pleasure. When we believed in Jesus, we were given the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit lives in us and it is He who helps us. The Holy Spirit teaches us, reminds us, leads us, etc. One of the services the Holy Spirit provides is that He gives us self-control. It is written,
For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7 GNT).
This is what temptation does: temptation entices our desire or lust or our pleasures to make us sin. When the tempter tempts us by enticing us by our desires, lusts, and pleasures to sin, we should control ourselves and not give in to his temptation.
Overcome temptation by fleeing
Normally, we flee from danger and we flee when we are scared, isn’t it? However, sometimes, fleeing could be the only possible means to overcome certain temptations. The first event of fleeing to overcome temptation happened in the life of Joseph, son of Jacob. Joseph was a slave of Potipher in Egypt. Potipher’s wife continually tempted Joseph to have an affair with her, but Joseph did not consent to it. One day, she seized Joseph, attempting to force him into having sex. Guess what, Joseph fled from her to save his integrity.
Do not be shy to flee, for it is part of godliness to flee from people, situations, and things that will cause you to sin. Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, saying,
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV).
CONCLUSION
Basically, we have discussed four defensive strategies to overcome temptation which are knowledge of the Scriptures, watching and praying, fleeing, and self-control. The confidence of Christians in using these strategies is that our Lord Jesus Himself and other righteous men used them to overcome the tempter and his temptation.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- What should you do when you yield to temptation? Clue, Proverbs 24:16
- Do you have a daily Bible reading and prayer habit?
- What would be the prospect of a Christain who hardly prays?
- What would be the prospect of Christians who hardly read their Bibles?