Your Response When Temptation Strikes | Ben Stuart

Fighting for Unrestrained Intimacy with God

Scripture References

Primary text

• James 1:14-17

Other references

• Genesis 3
• 1 John 3
• Luke 11
• Romans 7
• Romans 16
• Matthew 26

Overview

Walking with Jesus is not a quiet stroll; it is a combat rescue carried out in already–won territory. Our King has crushed the enemy, yet daily intimacy with Him must still be fought for. The devil lures our thoughts, stirs our affections, and seeks to move our wills away from God. Ben Stewart traces that progression from James 1, shows how Jesus has broken the enemy’s power, and lays out a three-part strategy—eliminate the moment, look downstream, look upstream—so we can struggle well and enjoy the love that makes lesser pleasures grow dim.

Context

Ben opens with a Navy SEAL training exercise: flash-bangs, smoke, swift coordination, hostages freed in seconds. The beauty of that strategy amid chaos pictures what the Christian life should look like—aggressive, purposeful, and skillful, even while bullets fly.

Main Points

Life is a war—Jesus already landed, rescued, and won

• Intimacy with God “happens in the context of adversity.”
• Jesus came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3) and crush the serpent (Genesis 3).
• His victory was a rescue operation: He beat the “strong man” and now distributes the spoils (Luke 11).
• We have not been freed from the fight but freed for the fight; we can now shout the war-cry like Israel after David beat Goliath.

One movement, two parts: away and toward

• Classic language: mortification (killing sin) and vivification (cultivating godliness).
• Pull weeds and plant flowers: flee what isolates, pursue what deepens intimacy.
• Illustration: marriage—being beside your spouse doesn’t guarantee closeness; you must cultivate it.

The enemy’s strategy: lure, entice, destroy

• Story: Middle-school bully Marvin attacked Ben because he resembled the brother who had humiliated him—so Satan targets us because we look like Jesus.

• The devil studies our wiring (mind, affections, will) and tendencies.
• James 1:14-15: thoughts solicited → affections stirred → will engaged → sin conceived → death delivered.

• Illustration: Fishing lure—whatever makes this fish leave its friends; if the frog doesn’t work, use something shiny.

• What you think about shapes what you care about; what you care about you will chase.

Our strategy

1. Eliminate the moment (pre-sin line of defense)

   • Matthew 26: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
   • Remove provision: phones out of bedrooms, skip the Tuesday bar, fight the lion while it’s a cub.

2. Paddle downstream (see where the act will take you)

   • Sin always “gives birth to death”; play the tape forward before you hit “play.”
   • Story: Pastor keeps fallen-leader clippings in his prayer closet—temptation looks less sexy in cold daylight.

3. Paddle upstream (expose the lie underneath)

   • James 1:16-17—upstream from temptation is deception: doubting that “every good and perfect gift” comes from a flawless Father.
   • The core lie: God is not a good Dad; therefore I must find life elsewhere.
   • Story: Holding his newborn daughter, Ben realizes no word can capture a father’s love; God’s is infinitely greater.

Fuel for the fight: a superior love

• “The things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and His grace.”
• Replace beautiful but lesser things with the more beautiful reality of Christ (Puritan principle; Romeo and Juliet illustration—Juliet eclipsed Rosaline).

Key Truths

• Jesus’ victory over the “strong man” means believers fight from a position of secured triumph.
• Temptation always starts in the mind, targets the heart, and solicits the will.
• Killing sin (“mortification”) and cultivating righteousness (“vivification”) are inseparable.
• Removing the occasion for sin is not legalism; it is wisdom in war.
• The deepest antidote to habitual sin is confidence in the Father’s unwavering goodness.

Response

• Identify and remove your habitual temptation zone—tonight.
• Trace your most common lure downstream and decide if the destination is worth it.
• Ask the Spirit to expose the lie beneath each recurring pull.
• Replace emptied space with practices that stir affection for Christ (Scripture, prayer, worship, community).
• Confess failures quickly; fight alongside others, not alone.

Closing

Ben closed by thanking God that He seeks to free, not shame, His children and by urging listeners to forsake “broken cisterns” because a never-dry fountain is available. The host then invited everyone to name specific strongholds and take radical steps—confession, accountability, even trading a smartphone for a “dumb” phone—to walk in resurrection power.

“Father, thank you that you don’t want to shame us because of our sin—you want to set us free… We’re grateful, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Prayer

Father thank you that you don't want to shame us because of our sin—you want to set us free. You don’t just give us discipline; you give us love. Help us forsake our broken cisterns and drink from the fountain that never runs dry. We’re grateful, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.