Our Defense Against Temptation, Part 4

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”  Ephesians 5:18-21

What are the keys to building our defense against yielding to the pressure of temptation? Consider these.
1. Being spiritually alert.
2. Making your prayers God-centered.
3. Using God’s Word.
4. Having a spirit of humility.
5. Fleeing from temptation.
6. Resisting by faith.
7. Being accountable to another.
8. Putting on spiritual armor.
9. Affirming your position in Christ.

Words of instruction from men of old prove temptation’s universal character. Here is what some of them had to say concerning temptation:

“Learn to say no; it will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin.” -Charles Spurgeon

“Temptations that find us dwelling in God are to our faith like winds that more firmly root the tree.” -Anonymous

“Fire tries iron, and temptation tries a just man.” -Thomas á Kempis

“Where there is no temptation, there can be little claim to virtue.” -William H. Prescott

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me round about.” 
Psalm 3:5-6