When Your Heart Says Yes, and the Bible Says No I. Introduction. A. James 1:14-16. i. Definition of sin. 1. Drawn away by own desires. 2. Desire gives birth to sin. 3. Sin grows up and brings forth death. ii. Sin occurs when 1. Our heart wants something that it shouldn't. 2. Something that is not in accordance with God's word. 3. When our heart wants one thing, and the Bible demands another. iii. Title of the lesson. 1. "When Your Heart Says Yes, and the Bible Says No." iv. What do you do when this happens? 1. Notice in the text that desire does not equal sin. 2. But rather desire gives birth to sin. 3. All of us at one time or another will have natural desires which are contrary to God. 4. We will then have a choice to make: a. Allow those desires to give birth to sin. b. Or listen to and obey the commands of God. B. Examples. i. When your heart says yell and fuss and argue, but the Bible says to be slow to wrath. ii. When your heart says stay out of other people's business, but the Bible says to go to your brother and correct him. iii. When your heart says I want a bigger house and a new car, but the Bible says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. iv. When your heart says I don't want to forgive you, but the Bible says to forgive. v. When your heart is full of passion, but the Bible says that fornication and adultery are wrong. vi. When your heart says I want some rest, but the Bible says you need to get up and work. vii. When your heart says I want to be recognized, but the Bible says to exalt others. viii. When your heart says let me hear the latest news, but the Bible says to not gossip. ix. When your heart says I want out of my marriage, but the Bible says you have no right for a divorce.
x. When your heart says I want to watch this television show, but the Bible says to protect our hearts and minds and keep them pure. C. What do you do? i. When Your Heart Says Yes, but the Bible Says No. ii. A few suggestions. 1. To help us prevent desire from becoming sin. iii. Hebrews 4:15. 1. "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." iv. Text. 1. Read Matthew 4:1-11. v. What did Jesus do? 1. When His human heart and the devil were telling Him one thing, but God and His word was telling Him something else. II. Jesus was prepared for the time of temptation. A. Jesus was prepared. i. Most remarkable aspect. 1. Jesus was in a weakened condition. 2. Forty days and forty nights of fasting. ii. Yet when the devil comes and tempts Him. 1. Jesus is ready. 2. We re not given any indication that Jesus knew the devil was coming. iii. Jesus was prepared to resist temptation even in His weakest hour. iv. When the devil came to Jesus 1. He was able to quickly recognize the situation. 2. He was able to quickly apply Scripture to the temptation. 3. And thus, He was able to quickly put an end to the devil's attempts. v. How was Jesus able to do this? 1. Years of preparation. 2. Jesus knew the word of God inside and out. 3. Jesus knew what He would need to do when the time of temptation came. a. He didn't have to pause and think about what to do. b. His mind was made up on how He would act long before the devil came to Him. B. Preparing for Temptation. i. One of the reasons that many people fall away from God. 1. They never prepared for the temptations that would come in the future. ii. The Bible is filled with warnings for us to get ready.
1. 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 2. Galatians 6:1, "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted." 3. 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." iii. Are you prepared for temptation? 1. Do you know the Scriptures well enough that you can recall them precisely at the time that you need them most? 2. Is your mind already made up on how you would handle certain situations if they arose? C. Two major problems. i. Many Christians don't know the Scriptures well enough for the Word of God to help in the time of temptation. 1. For the Scriptures to help us, we have to know them. 2. For many temptations, we're not going to have time to go back and study the issue and then decide how to handle the situation. 3. Jesus couldn't call time out. a. Let me go study and see if it is alright for me to turn the stones into bread. b. Give me a little while to see if you're right about the angels catching Me if I throw Myself down. ii. Many Christians haven't given much thought on how they will handle certain temptations until they find themselves in the middle of the temptation. 1. Example of divorce and remarriage. 2. Many people don't give much thought to what the word of God says about divorce and remarriage until they or a loved one get in a situation in which they want a divorce or to get remarried. 3. Then they start to study, and their study is tainted because of their desires. a. That's why all of these different theories about marriage and divorce get started. 4. When do you need to decide what the Bible teaches about divorce and remarriage and how you would handle a situation like that? a. Before you get married. b. Before you ever get in the time of temptation. 5. Make your mind up now, before you're in the heat of the moment. 6. From looking at how Jesus handled temptation, I think you can see that He already knew how He would handle the devil and His attempts. a. He was prepared. III. Jesus was able to deny Himself.
A. Consider Jesus' self-denial. i. Turning the stones to bread. 1. Vs. 2, "afterward He was hungry." 2. perhaps an understatement after 40 days and nights of fasting. 3. Certainly His insides would have been screaming for food. 4. but He said NO. ii. Throwing Himself down. 1. Was Satan right? 2. Could the thoughts of Jesus easily been on wondering if that was true? 3. Or could Jesus easily been motivated by pride to show Satan who He was? 4. But Jesus said NO. iii. Kingdoms in exchange for worship. 1. Why did Jesus come? To seek and save lost. To redeem the world. 2. A shortcut offered by Satan. 3. Jesus wouldn't have to die; He could save all the lost at once. 4. But Jesus said NO. iv. Jesus said NO not only to Satan but also to Himself. 1. To his fleshly desires, to his fleshly thoughts. v. In the time of temptation, Jesus was able to tell Himself NO. B. Can you tell yourself no? i. In the heat of the moment, at the time of temptation. ii. Sin occurs when we say yes. 1. Sin is resisted when we say no to our desires. iii. Mark 8:34, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." iv. Let's go back to a couple of our original issues. 1. When our hearts say yell and fuss and argue, but the Bible says to be slow to wrath. 2. We have a choice: yes or no. 3. Say yes to what our flesh is telling us to do. 4. Or to say, "No, I am not going to give in to these desires. I am going to be patient and not say what my heart is telling me to say." v. When someone is about to tell you a juicy bit of gossip, and you really want to know. 1. There's a choice: do what our flesh wants or do what God expects. 2. Listen, or tell the person that it s really not any of your business and that they don t need to be spreading gossip. C. Learning to say no. i. It's going to take practice and practice and practice.
ii. I think this might be the difference between mature Christians and immature Christians. 1. The ability to say no to self. 2. Hebrews 5:14, "But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." IV. Jesus trusted in God. A. Faith and trust in God. i. A third key to resisting temptation. 1. In addition to preparation and self-denial. ii. Think about the faith and trust which Jesus exhibited. 1. He trusted in God to take care of His physical needs. 2. He trusted in the word of His Father. 3. He trusted in the plan of God. iii. Why did Jesus not respond to the challenges and lies of the devil? 1. Because His allegiance was to His Father. 2. He knew that His Father would take care of Him. 3. He had no reason to doubt God. 4. He knew that while He was suffering physically right then, that it would all be worth it. B. Faith can help us in the time of temptation. i. Sin occurs when our faith becomes weak. 1. Think about it. 2. Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." 3. Why would we sin if we our faith was always strong? ii. Sin occurs when we lose focus on God and His promises. 1. Ephesians 6:16, above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." 2. Consider how strong a defense that faith is. 3. "Above all." a. girded with truth, breastplate of righteousness, shod with gospel, helmet of salvation 4. "shield of faith." a. faith is what stands between us and the devil. b. "quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. i. emphasis on "fiery darts." ii. emphasis on "all." iii. How do you do better at resisting temptation? 1. Strengthen your faith.
V. Conclusion. iv. How do you strengthen your faith? 1. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Rom. 10:17 A. When Your Heart Says Yes, and the Bible Says No. i. You've got to be prepared. ii. You need to be able to tell yourself no. iii. You need to trust in God. B. Examination. i. Are you prepared? ii. Can you tell yourself no? iii. Is your faith strong? C. Interesting point. i. The keys to resisting temptation are not really about what you do in the moment of temptation. ii. The keys to resisting temptation are regarding what you do before you are tempted. 1. Preparation, particularly related to knowing the word of God. 2. Building your faith in God. 3. Even telling yourself no is something you can learn before you get into a dire temptation. D. James 1:12. i. "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."