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TEXT: Romans 8:28
SUBJECT: Divine Cordial #8
Tonight, with God’s help, we’ll continue our study of Romans 8:28. Our guide is Thomas Watson, a great Puritan pastor and author. His book is called A Divine Cordial (or, Encouragement). It’s divided into two parts: The best things are good for us. And so are the worst things.
THE TOPIC
Tonight we’re on one of the bad things that do us good. The topic is Temptation. Watson says,
"The evil of temptation works for good. Satan is called
the tempter. He is ever lying in ambush, he is always
at work with one saint or another. The devil has
a circuit that he walks every day. He is great molester
of God’s children…but his temptations are overruled
for good to the children of God."
THE PROOF
I don’t need to prove the first part, do I? Every believer is tempted every day—and many times a day. Your temptation is not mine, mine is not yours, but we all have them. Christians are tempted to sin. If you don’t believe me, wait five minutes!
The second part, though, is harder to accept. Not only does Watson say we’re tempted, but that the temptations do us good. Not that Satan has that in mind when he entices us, but that God overrules his evil intent and turns the curse of temptation into a blessing.
Is that true? It is. The Bible says so. James 5:11 is a fine example,
"Indeed, we count them happy who endure.
You have heard of the perseverance of Job
And seen the end intended by the Lord—
That the Lord is very compassionate and
Merciful."
What did Job endure? A lot of things, of course. He had health problems, family problems, and financial problems. But his biggest problem was spiritual. What ate him up alive was that God wouldn’t answer him! Thus he was tempted to despair or to blaspheme the Lord. Job was tempted—mightily tempted to sin. But the temptation did him good.
And James says we ought to learn from his life. That we ought to be as patient as he was under temptation. That’s the proof.
"All things work together for good…."
…Including temptation.
HOW?
How does this work? How do "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life" end up making us better and happier than we’d be without them?
Watson has a lot to say on this one. Here’s some of it:
"Temptation sends the soul to prayer. The more furiously
Satan tempts, the more fervently we pray. When the deer
Is shot at, he runs faster to his cover; when Satan shoots
At the soul, it runs faster to the throne of grace".
Is he right? Sure he is. Powerful temptations remind us of our weakness and drive us to God for help. That has to be good.
"The more a child of God is tempted to sin, the more
alarmed he is by the temptation. When Joseph’s
mistress tempted him to sin, he ran from the house".
A friend of mine had an experience very much like Joseph’s. For years, he and his wife had been drifting apart, while at the same time, he was inching closer to a woman at work. One day, they were alone in an office and she kissed him. My friend, who’d been sleepwalking toward adultery for years was suddenly woken up! He literally ran out of the room, got in his car, raced home, told his wife what had happened, and began patching things up between at home.
This was a terrible temptation. It might have well have ended in an affair, a divorce, two broken homes, devastated kids, and all the rest. But it didn’t. God overruled it and made it save a Christian marriage.
If temptations make us fear sin, they must be good for us.
"Better is that temptation that humbles me,
than the success that makes me proud".
Peter was a good man, but prone to think too highly of himself. When told that he would deny the Lord, he said others might, but he wouldn’t. But when the rooster crowed, he was broken man. And better for it.
No temptation is more subtle and dangerous than pride. And nothing breaks that pride like…temptation. If temptations humble us, they’re good for us.
"Temptations work for good, as they make the saints
long more for heaven. There they shall be out
of gunshot. Heaven is a place of rest, no bullets
of temptation fly there. The eagle that soars in
the air and sits upon high trees, is not troubled
with the stinging of the serpents. So when
believers are ascended into heaven, they shall
not be stung any more by the Old Serpent.
In this life, when one temptation is over,
Another comes. This makes God’s people
Long for the time when the noise of muskets
And cannons will be replace by the music of
Harps and viols".
Think of the men who served in World War I. For five years they hunkered down in muddy, ice cold, or sun-baked trenches. Machine guns were fired at them, poison gas was dropped on them, snipers picked them off one-by-one. The flu, measles, and dysentery sent them to hospitals. They never had a moment’s rest. Can you imagine how much the men wanted to go home? Sons wanted to see their parents? Husbands wanted to see their wives?
Well, we’re in a war much longer than they were; our enemies are more relentless than theirs. What effect does this have on us? It makes us want to go home. And our home—the Bible says—is heaven. What a mystery! We’ve never been to heaven, but it’s the only place where we can feel at home.
If temptations make us long for heaven, they must be good for us.
If your son died, who’d you go to for help? I’d go to someone who knew what it means to lose a son. His tears would be real; his advice would be proven. His loss—though terrible—would fit him to help me in way the smartest and most compassionate person—who hadn’t lost a son—never could.
The same is true with your temptations. They help you to help others. If you’re tempted to gamble, don’t tell me about it because I have no idea what the "thing" is with that. But on other temptations I can tell you a lot of good things. Because they’re my temptations. I know how powerful they are; how cunning they can be. I can tell you how I gave into them, at times. And how, by grace, I resisted them.
You can do the same thing. That’s what Hebrews means when it tells us to come boldly to Christ because,
"He was tempted in all points as we are,
yet without sin".
His temptations equip Him to help you in yours. And, in a secondary way, your temptations equip you to help others. Here’s the quote,
"The man who has walked through a place full
of quicksand is the best man to guide others
through that dangerous place…No one can
better discover the tricks of Satan than those
who have long been in the school of temptation".
If helping others is good for you, then so are temptations which fit you to do it.
"The child who is sick is most looked after.
When a saint lies under the bruising of temptation,
The Father pities him. When Satan puts the
Soul into a fever, God comes with a medicine".
God loves us at all times, of course. But never is His love more felt than when we’re under the power of temptation. We often think God has left us then, but in fact, He’s never closer to us. Our Lord prayed for the disciples regularly. But He spent special time praying for Peter. And when? Not at the victory of Pentecost, but in the temptation of Gethsemane.
"Simon, Satan desires to sift you as wheat,
but I have prayed for you. And when you are
converted, strengthen the brethren".
If temptation brings me closer to God, it’s good for me. But, if it brings God closer to me, it’s even better. Martin Luther thought good preachers were made by
"Study, prayer, and temptation".
The list is not complete. But here are six ways that temptations work together for our good.
TWO PROBLEMS
This is all very good, of course, but I bet you’ve spotted some problems with it, haven’t you? I did, but Watson answered them very well.
The first problem is this: What if I give into the temptation? It’s easy to see how resisting temptation makes you stronger, but what happens if it gets the better of you? Can even that work together for your good?
Watson says it can. And does.
"A saint may be overcome, but this foiling shall be
overruled for good. By this failure, God makes
way for more grace. It will make him more fearful
of sin and careful of duty. Thus being worsted
by temptation works for good".
He proves it by the example of Peter. Our Lord not only let him be tempted, but also allowed him to fail! Peter not only thought about denying the Lord, but he did it three times!
Yet, how does the story end? He wept bitterly and became a humbler and better man than he was before.
This brings up the second problem: If even sin works for good, why should I worry about it?
Here’s the short answer: Even though sin works for your good, it’s still wrong, it still grieves the Holy Spirit, it still hurts you in the short-run, and other people too. Thus, the sovereignty of God is no permission to commit sin. Watson says,
"It is madness running into a lion’s den. He who runs
himself into temptation is like Saul, who fell on his
own sword. The Apostle Paul, in his voyage to Rome
met with a contrary wind. So the wind of temptation
blows contrary to the wind of the Spirit, but God
makes use of the cross-wind to blow the saints to heaven".
Thus, the fact that even sin works for good does not mean sin is not sinful or that you’re not responsible for it, but only that God is powerful, wise, and loving enough to turn even this—the worst thing of all—to our good.
Thinking about His Infinite wisdom, Almighty Power, and Eternal Love never made anyone careless about sin. It does just the opposite.
"The fear of the Lord is to hate sin"
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