Title: What to Think and Do During Temptations
Topic: Salvation
Summary: This bible study outlines five things to think and five things to do during the suffering of spiritual temptations.
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
Exodus 14
James 1:13-14
Matthew 4:1-11
Psalms 107
Isaiah 24
Jeremiah 5:14-18
Nahum 2:1-2
Psalms 34:15; 37:24; 118:17-18; 119:71
#44 What to Think and Do during Temptations
By Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 6/8/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Isaiah 24
1
Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
3
The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
4
The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
5
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
6
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
7
The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
8
The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
9
They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
10
The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11
There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
12
In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
13
When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
14
They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
15
Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
17
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19
The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22
And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23
Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Arcana Coelestia #4729
4729. 'And let us say, An evil wild animal has devoured him' means a lie invented out of a life of evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'a wild animal' as affection or else evil desire, dealt with in 45, 46, for in the genuine sense 'a wild animal' means that which is living, 774, 841, 908, and therefore 'an evil wild animal' here means a life of evil desires. The fact that a lie is meant is self-evident; and this lie is connected with what has come immediately before about them casting that Divine truth away among falsities - a lie invented out of a life of evil desires. For falsity arises from three different sources, the first being the teaching of the Church, the second the illusions of the senses, and the third the life of evil desires. Falsity arising from the teaching of the Church occupies solely the understanding part of a person's mind, for he has been convinced since early childhood that such falsity is the truth, confirmations coming in by and by to strengthen that conviction. But falsity arising from the illusions of the senses has less impact on the understanding part, for people who are under the influence of falsity arising from the illusions of the senses receive little insight from their understanding because their thinking is founded on base ideas and on sensory impressions. Falsity arising from a life of evil desires however springs from the will itself, or what amounts to the same, from the heart, for a person desires that which he wills from the heart. This is the worst kind of falsity because it clings and is not rooted out except by means of a new life received from the Lord.
[2] As is well known, man has two inner mental powers - the understanding and the will. That which the understanding takes in and absorbs does not therefore pass over into the will, but that which the will takes in and absorbs does pass over into the understanding; for what is in a person's will occupies his thought also. Consequently when his desires lead him to will what is evil he is also thinking about it and confirming it. And when thoughts of evil have become confirmations of it they are called falsities arising from a life of evil desires. These falsities are seen by that person as truths, and once he has confirmed those falsities, truths are then seen by him as falsities, for he has now blocked off the light that flows from the Lord through heaven. But if he has not confirmed those falsities, truths which have been previously absorbed by his understanding stand in the way and prevent those falsities from being confirmed.
