In Mt 26.41 the Lord tells His disciples–and us to “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Yet, how many go about careless of the snares about their feet, careless of the lying beauties before their eyes at every turn, careless of the lusts and lies of their own hearts so ready to lead them astray!
Are we greater than Abraham, the friend of God, who entered twice into the same temptation? Are we greater than David, a man after God’s own heart, who was so suddenly and violently swept away by temptation that he piled one sin upon another for a nearly an entire year? Are we greater than Noah that believed God, built an ark, and entered into it for safety, only to enter into drunkenness as soon as he came out of it again? Are we greater than Peter, who ate and drank with the Lord for three years, saw His miracles, confessed His name, and swore his allegiance, only to deny Him three times in the hour of temptation? What folly and pride do we manifest when, in the face of so many examples, and against so many warnings in Scripture, we put ourselves in harm’s way and dally with temptation!
Two things should convince us of our great duty to watch against temptation. First, consider our own weakness. We are weakness itself; and it’s our greatest weakness–and folly–that we are often confident in our own strength. And what is it that makes us so weak? It is that we have a treacherous party in our own hearts, our own indwelling sin, which Hannah More allegorically called Parley the Porter. He stands at the door of our hearts in charge of what goes out and what comes in. He swears allegiance to our hearts and promises loyalty in the pursuit of our safety; but none is so easily taken by temptations to sin as he. He is a treacherous traitor ready at all times to sell our souls for sin. What, then, is our great strength with him at the door!? However strong we might be, if we have a traitor within, our fortress is laid bare and we have no strength at all to withstand an assault. And this Parley is in all our hearts. In unbelievers it rules, but in believers it threatens and presses and, without watchfulness, it ensnares us and overcomes us. Is it not our great duty, then, to be watchful against temptation, if we have a traitor in our hearts ready to side with sin and deliver us over captive to it?
Secondly, we should consider the effects and fruits of temptation. Temptation darkens the mind so that a man cannot think straight or clearly. It clouds the judgment and understanding so that a man judges partially and justifies the means by the end. Temptation dangles the carrot of sin in front of the eyes dressed in beguiling and deceptive apparel, which takes the mind away from its better thoughts and causes it to forget its present possessions in grace as well as its promised possessions in reserve. It fills the mind with itself until the mind cannot think about anything else and therefore cannot judge the temptation in the light of a truer rule. Moreover, after clouding the mind and understanding, temptation turns to the affections and seeks to ensnare them by promising good and gain to those who embrace it and threatening harm or loss to those who refuse it. By this it is able to draw away the heart after it so that lust is conceived in the will.
But it doesn’t stop there. Since sin aims at death (Js 1.15) it proceeds to enflame the conceived lust in order that it might be brought to actual accomplishment in the life. It does this by provoking this lust at nearly every moment. Stirring it up with new solicitations, promising it satisfaction if it would but reach forth its hand unto the sin, and warning it of the loss of its desired pleasure forever if it doesn’t act soon.
Is it not our great duty, then, to watch against temptation? Can we justify our neglect to be watchful when every temptation to sin comes with such a blinding, ensnaring, and enflaming power? How do we expect to resist it if we fail to exercise the watchfulness unto prayer which our Lord charges upon us? Is anything left if we’re left to ourselves? What are we in the face of temptation without prayer and watchfulness? Let us therefore watch and pray against all temptations to sin.
