Successfully Resisting Temptation
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” (James 1:12)
Most people do not find any blessing in enduring temptation. It seems a most unpleasant business with a deadly risk of failure. Yet, the Bible tells us here that there is a way where the man who endures temptation is blessed. How can this be?
James tells us more of the nature of temptation. In verse 14, he states, “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” Drawn away of his own desire (lust) and enticed. Now the secret of successful, blessed resistance is in dealing with the roots of the temptation: our own desire. Therefore, we read in the words of Jesus, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation.” (Luke 22:40) There is a way not to enter into temptation, and that way is found in dealing with our own desires.
If I am tempted to watch movies, television, and to read inappropriate books because I am hungry for knowledge and understanding, the secret of dealing with those temptations is to confront my desire to learn. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) My desire for wisdom and knowledge needs to be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; that is, I need to consecrate not to know any more than Jesus desires for me to know. By thus renewing my consecration, I draw close to God, and I find a great blessing in doing so (James 4:8). I also find that I acquire great power and authority over the temptation. The direction of my desire is changed to obedience to Christ at a deeper level than just a reaction to the temptation of the moment. I change. I draw nigh unto God, and in this way, the devil is resisted successfully, and he flees (James 4:7).
As we all know, in living a holy life, there is a deadly rut that ends in failure in this business of resisting a temptation. It is the way of resisting solely with my will, with increasing desperation. In that way lies failure. “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High.” (Daniel 7:25) If you attempt to serve God solely out of strength of will, you will find that Satan is too strong, too persistent for you. Many try this, and they try their very best, but their best is not good enough, and they are worn down and end up yielding, and thus fail. However, there is no temptation which cannot be successfully resisted all the time, even our besetting temptations, if we are willing to go to the bottom and thoroughly deal with the roots of the temptation. This is the secret of victorious Christian living.
Well, you may think, this is all well enough, but what if I cannot get the consent of my heart “to go to the bottom”? What if the weakness of my experience is such that I am weaponless and a prey?
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
When I am tempted to think I cannot successfully resist temptation, I can remind myself that God is faithful. It would not be possible to live a Christian life if He were not. But this scripture plainly teaches us that God manages what is allowed to come our way. Every single temptation I encounter is allowed of God, and He also makes a way to escape, that I may be able to bear it. You see, you can have the victory because God has made it possible for you to have the victory. You can have the victory if you take it the way God has designed for you to take it. If you take it any other way than the divinely-designed way, you will not do well, but if you take it God’s way, then you can escape the temptation and bear it.
So… when I am fiercely drawn upon to read or look at something that is not right because of a thirst for understanding involved in the subject matter, then I can realize that God has allowed this particular trial to come upon me, and He has allowed it for my good. My consecration needs the renewal; I need to go deeper. It is not good in the eyes of God for me to stay where I am. So I am brought into a valley of decision; my will to choose right is tested, and my flesh is allowed to be stimulated. In each temptation is life and death. If the root work is done right, I will live more abundantly (the blessing), and if I do not face up to and do the root work, then I will grow colder, even if I successfully refrain from yielding. If I yield to outright sin, of course, then I die; and there is nothing left but to repent and do the first works. If it is a thing that simply would not be wise to do, and I yield, then I may have not made a wilful transgression, but I find that I am now spiritually lean and weaker than before. At the end of that pathway lies sin. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:15)
Trials are actually God’s vote of confidence in us. They are allowed by God to test and prove us for our good. And so is brought to pass the scripture in Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Not everything is good, but by God’s providence for His children, everything works together for good to them that love God.
It is necessary to have an utter ruthlessness in dealing with our flesh. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:13-14) Notice the wonderful promise in these verses. It is definitely possible to mortify (put the death) the deeds of the body, and if you do this through the Spirit, you shall live. However, if you are disposed to pamper and gratify your natural flesh, you will find yourself lacking the mercilessness necessary to keep your body in subjection. The ruthlessness must be acquired from God. You must get it like Jesus had it. You must pursue it, even to praying, fasting, and weeping to get it. You must pay any price, go to any length, make any sacrifice to steel yourself for the work of mortification of your body.
Brother John Bunyan writes,
Then it came burning hot into my mind, whatever he said, and however he flattered, when he got me home to his house, he would sell me for a slave. So I bid him forbear to talk, for I would not come near the door of his house. Then he reviled me, and told me that he would send such a one after me, that should make my way bitter to my soul. So I turned to go away from him; but just as I turned myself to go thence, I felt him take hold of my flesh, and give me such a deadly twitch back, that I thought he had pulled part of me after himself.
[John Bunyan; The Pilgrim’s Progress]
Anyone who has followed this path of successfully resisting temptation (down to the roots of desire) readily comprehends this deadly twitch of which John Bunyan speaks. It is the mortification of the flesh. It is the death pangs of the natural. It is the bringing under of the body (1 Corinthians 9:27).
We are in the flesh to be tried, tested, and tempted. In the very nature of things, it must be. God has designed it that way.
“Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:28-30)
You see, the table of the Lord is prepared for you to eat in the presence of your enemies (Psalm 23:5).
One of the most fatal things in the life of faith is discouragement. One of the most helpful is cheerfulness. A very wise man once said that in overcoming temptations, cheerfulness was the first thing, cheerfulness the second, and cheerfulness the third. We must expect to conquer. That is why the Lord said so often to Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:6,9,18); “Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed” (Joshua 1:9); “Only be thou strong and very courageous.” (Joshua 1:7) And it is also the reason He says to us, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
[Hannah W. Smith; The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, “Concerning Temptation”]
This cheerful confidence arises from having dealt with all known inward adjustments and having a perfect willingness to deal with any new adjustments that are presented by the Spirit of God. The prayer has been prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24) And the soul is confident, cheerfully confident, that God will answer this prayer, and the soul is also cheerfully confident that it is willing to measure up to any light from heaven. That is, there is a ready willingness to pay any price to buy the truth and walk in the light (Proverbs 23:23). Everything is as it should be, including a fervent desire to go forward, so the soul is not discouraged or disheartened in the least with the onslaught of (God-allowed) temptation.
“Welcome the storms, my hope is abounding;
Let the waves come, my anchor is sure;
Fixed in the Rock on which I am standing,
How can I fall when all is secure?
Wonderful peace in Thee I’m possessing,
Vict’ry through Christ I ever shall sing;
Let the rain fall in showers of blessing,
Homage and praise to Thee I would bring.”*
Recommended reading: The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, by Hannah Smith; chapters on “Difficulties Concerning Temptations,” and “Difficulties Concerning Failures.”