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TITLE: Watch and Pray- A Defense Against Temptation
TEXT: Matthew 26:38-48
THEME: Prayer can help us defend against life’s temptations.
OPENING
SENTENCE: In his book The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis tells a story of people in hell who are
given the chance to go to heaven and stay there if they will give up their indwelling sin.
INTRODUCTION: The only one who is allowed to remain is a young man who is tormented by
a red lizard that sits on his shoulder and mocks him. For Lewis, the lizard represents his
indwelling sin all which, in this man’s case, is lust. An angel comes and promises to get rid of
the red lizard, and the man, for the moment, takes great joy in that. He’s thrilled. I can be rid of
this thing. And then he realizes the way the angel will get rid of it, as the angel begins to glow
with a fiery heat. He will kill the lizard. Beginning to recognize the implications, the young man
says, “Maybe you don’t have to kill it. Maybe you don’t have to get rid of it entirely. Can’t we
just do this another time?”
The angel says, “In this moment are all moments. Either you want the red lizard to live or you
do not.” The lizard, recognizing the hesitation of the young man, begins to mock and plead at the
same time. Be careful. He can do what he says. He can kill me. One fatal word from you and he
will. Then you’ll be without me forever and ever. It’s not natural. How could you live? You’ll
only be a sort of a ghost, not a real man as you are now. He doesn’t understand. He’s only a cold,
bloodless, abstract thing. It may be natural for him, but it’s not natural for us. I know there are no
real pleasures, only dreams, but aren’t they better than nothing? I’ll be so good. I admit I’ve gone
too far in the past, but I promise I won’t do it again. I’ll give you nothing but really nice dreams,
all sweet and fresh and almost innocent.
TRANSITION
SENTENCE: For C. S. Lewis, these words typify for all of us the way in which we compromise
and allow indwelling sin in our lives.
TRANSITION: It's almost innocent. “I don’t want to be a legalist. God will forgive me. I won’t
let it go too far…again.” And with such words we allow the lizards to live that torment us and for
many of us the lizard is what keeps us from fully enjoying God’s best.
SAY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY: This morning I want to see that while we do not
have an angel that will destroy our indwelling sin we do have a resource the can help us be
prepared and overcome it. I want us to ask, “How does prayer help us resist temptation.”
TEXT: Matthew 26:38-48
THEME: Prayer can help us defend against life’s temptations.
How does prayer help us resist temptation?
I.
It helps us to be prepared. (Matthew 26:38-41)
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Matthew 26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of
death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the
ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I
will, but as you will.” 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t
you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will
not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Months ago we looked at this passage in regards to Jesus three prayers while seeking to prepare
Himself for His coming crucifixion. Jesus understood that He and his disciples were soon to
face the extreme test. Would His disciples remain faithful to Him knowing they could face the
same fate as Him. This was going to be their supreme test of faithfulness. Knowing this He
encourages to watch and pray.
A. Temptation has the idea of testing. (See Slide) The word in the Greek that is translated
temptation can be, and often is, translated testing, which actually its primary meaning. For
example note James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces
perseverance.” The word testing here is the same word that will be translated “temptation” in
verse 13 that later we will look at closer. We test something to see if it will pass or fail. Our
faith can be tested in many ways. In this case the test was to see if they would be faithful in
following Jesus in trials but we can also be tested sexually, emotionally and physically.
B. We are most vulnerable to temptation when we are unprepared. When Jesus tells them to
watch he is warning them that something hazardous to their faith and devotion to Him is
coming. They need to be prepared by watching and praying. He uses the same word
“watch” in another context regarding his second coming.
Mark 13:32-4132 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor
the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will
come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each
with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 “Therefore keep watch
because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening,
or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him
find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!
C. Unchecked temptation leads to sin. James 1:13-18. Now remember the words “test” and
“temptation” are used synonymously by James. When we are unprepared we are more
vulnerable to a sequence of mental steps that lead to sin. Notice how he uses the same word
in verses 13ff to explain this sequence.
James 1:13-18 “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged
away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
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James goes on to tell us that temptation deceives us into believing that that which we desire is
good for us and he reminds us where good things come from. Notice: “16 “Don’t be deceived,
my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
ILLUSTRATE: Satan works through deceit. That’s how he draws us into some stupid act that
discredits us before our children, or destroys a marriage, or leaves us paralyzed with guilt or even
drives some to toward terrorism. He dangles sin in front of us like a fisherman’s lure. When we
bite, the hook catches in our throats—whether it is bitterness, some issue at work, some sexual
sin, whatever it is. He works through deceit.
APPLY: Haddon Robinson says of this: “When Satan approaches us, he never comes dragging
the chains that will enslave us. … He comes offering us pleasure, expansiveness, money,
popularity, freedom, and joy. In fact, he never hints about the consequences; he only promises
[he] will fill all the desires of our hearts. That is how we are destroyed.” Mephistopheles, a Satan
figure in Faust, says, “The people don’t know the devil is there, even when he has them by the
throat.”
THEME: Prayer can help us defend against life’s temptations.
How does prayer help us resist temptation?
II.
It helps us face the conflict between the two internal forces.
A. Man is both a spiritual and physical being.
The view of secularism/naturalism is that man is no more than a physical being in which our
thoughts are merely the result of active synapsis pulsating electric charges through our minds. In
this view there is no immaterial spirit- thus there is can be no conflict between our spirit and our
body. In that they are one and the same whatever impulses we have it is only natural that we act
on them- in fact we fight against our nature if don’t.
The battle for the mind and ideas today is over this issue. Are we just a physical body with a
mind that produces our thoughts through natural electrical impulses? Or, are we both physical
and spiritual beings in which our bodies can be directed by our spirits for something greater than
merely appeasing the temporal desires of our bodies?
The Christian position argues that we are both spirit and bodies which means we have a spirit
that is immaterial and eternal and exists independent of the body. When the body ceases to exist
the spirit continues on into eternity. This spirit craves something greater than what the simple
pleasures of the body can produce. It longs for meaning, purpose and significance. Something
the body cannot provide. It craves for something greater than mere existence.
B. There is a conflict between our spirit and our flesh. Because our spirit operates in a different
realm it often comes into conflict with the desires of our body. Our spirit understands that
our physical desires need constraint and it understands our bodies can be used for good or for
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evil. Our spirit reminds us there is an existence and meaning beyond the physical realm and
that there is an objective morality that should guide us in how we use our bodies. The
tension between these two realms can be strong but ultimately one will prevail. We may
accept the reality of objective truth and morality but that does not mean we will always act in
the right way. In fact, the greater the effort to resist the desires of the flesh the greater the
impulse becomes. C.S. Lewis speaks to this in his book, “Mere Christianity”)
“Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. ... We never find out the strength
of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man
who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation
means—the only complete realist.”
C. Temptation desires the things of the flesh. But the flesh in not the only area of temptation.
Temptation can have different focuses of which the flesh is a dominant one. For instance,
John 2:15-16 tells us.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father
is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass
away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
ILLUSTRATE: There is an objective morality and when understood, accepted and acted on can
be of great benefit to us as individuals and as a society. The last week I read the book, “The
Locust Effect” by Gary Haugen. The book is an admission that all the efforts made to reduce
poverty in the world have been hindered because violence and corruption have created an
environment where the poor cannot progress because they have no protections from people with
selfish and evil intents. He proposes that if we want to reduce poverty we first must address the
cultural corruption that assures the poor stay that way. His book in proposes solutions and
provides some models that have worked to change this condition.
APPLY: To do so requires that we understand the conflict between the spirit and the body. We
must understand there is an objective morality that is intended for everyone’s benefit. Our spirit
can recognize this objective morality that can influence how we live. The question is, “Will we
live by the spirit or by the flesh?”
We have hope in that God assures us we can have victory. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No
temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will
not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
THEME: Prayer can help us defend against life’s temptations.
How does prayer help us resist temptation?
III.
It connects us with the source of power and perspective.
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A. Prayer connects our spirit with the Spirit of God. God is Spirit and our spirits are able to
communicate with Him. When we are in fellowship with His Spirit we can know His will
and His purposes for us that give us meaning, purpose and significance.
B. It is the Spirit who gives us Gods Word. (I Cor. 2:10-16)
Gods wants us to know his thoughts and purposes. To do so He gives His Word. Notice that this
passage tells about how He achieves that:
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s
thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God
except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we
speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining
spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the
things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand
them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes
judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
C. It is that same Spirit who works in us. (Galatians 5:16-25)
Not only has the Spirit of God given us His Word so we can know His thoughts and ways He has
also given us His Spirit to empower us to overcome the things of the flesh. In that light Paul tells
us:
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh
desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in
conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the
Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry
and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ
Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us
keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
ILLUSTRATE: Converted slave ship captain John Newton used a metaphor to illustrate the
effects of indwelling sin:
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Imagine a Christian sitting down with a blank page and pen. He begins to write out his perfectly
scripted life, explaining how he would love others, how he would structure his prayer life, or
how he would [build a beautiful Christian family]. But indwelling sin and Satan crouch at his
elbow, disrupting every pen stroke and messing up every word and sentence as our Christian
friend tries to write the script.
At every point in the Christian life [our own flesh] and Satan jab our elbow, and our pen skids
across the page as our perfect plan is reduced to scribbles. This is a metaphor of the Christian life
with indwelling sin. Yet the biggest problem is that sin is not at our elbow—our sin is in us!
(Tony Reinke, Newton: On the Christian Life (Crossway/2015), page 112; submitted by: Van
Morris, Mt. Washington, Kentucky)
APPLY: And so it is. We need something greater than the sin that is within us to help us write
the script of our lives to be what God wants it to be- and what we want it to be. We need the
Holy Spirit to write our script and to invite Him into our lives and souls we need to pray.
THEME: Prayer can help us defend against life’s temptations.
SAY WHAT YOU HAVE SAID: This morning we saw that we have a resource the can help us
be prepared and overcome our indwelling sin. We asked, “How does prayer help us resist
temptation” and saw that it helps us be prepared, to face the internal conflict we all content with
and connects us with the one who can empower us to deal with it.
TIE INTO OPENING SENTENCE: Like the young man in CS Lewis’s, “The Great Divorce” we
all have a red lizard, an indwelling sin so to speak, that tempts us and while we do not have an
angel to destroy it we do have the indwelling Holy Spirit who when we watch and pray.
APPLY TO SPECIFIC AUDIENCE:
1. The essence of who you are is both a body and spirit and the two are often at war. The
physical passions you have may be very natural but the spirit reminds us that we can use
them for good or for bad. What is natural is not necessarily what is good.
2. The way the word “orientation” is used today argues that your physical and natural desires
define who you are and are therefore appropriate to act on in every circumstance. In this
view there is no conflict between body and spirit, there is no such thing as temptation, only
orientation, and that acting on our physical impulses is to be expected.
3. Jesus tells us that we must understand the internal battle between the spirit and the flesh and
we are often tempted to let the flesh rule. We need and objective morality as given by the
Spirit to ours and we need to watch and pray so when our period of temptation hits us we will
be able to handle it.
HAYMAKER: In his book, Against the Flow, Oxford professor John Lennox notes that when
God calls us to do something difficult he gives us the strength when we need it, not before we
need it. Lennox illustrates this biblical principle with a story about an encounter with a Russian
follower of Jesus who spent years in a Siberian labor camp for the crime of teaching his children
about the Bible. Lennox writes:
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He described to me that he had seen things that no man should ever have to see. I listened,
thinking how little I really knew about life, and wondering how I would have fared under his
circumstances. As if he had read my thoughts, he suddenly said: "You couldn't cope with that,
could you?" Embarrassed, I stumbled out something like: "No, I am sure you are right." He then
grinned and said: "Nor could I! I was a man who fainted at the sight of his own blood, let alone
that of others. But what I discovered in the camp was this: God does not help us to face
theoretical situations but real ones. Like you I couldn't imagine how one could cope in the Gulag.
But once there I found that God met me, exactly as Jesus had promised his disciples when he
was preparing them for victimization and persecution.
Lennox adds, "We can be confident, then, that the Lord will give us a sufficient amount of grace
to handle whatever comes our way, whenever it comes our way—and not necessarily a moment
before!" But by watching and praying we will be prepared when that time does come.
(John C. Lennox, Against the Flow: The Inspiration of Daniel in an Age of Relativism (Oxford:
Monarch, 2015), page 147)
THEME: Prayer can help us defend against life’s temptations.
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