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Christian, the best way to deal effectively with temptation is to know God's Word well. Let us not neglect the Scriptures. It is important that we should know it very well, for without it we would yield more easily to the temptations we face everyday in the nonChristian world. May the Lord help us through the knowledge of His word.
Discussion Questions:
1. What would you regard as your greatest source of temptation?
2. What steps should you take to deal with temptation?
3. What are some situations in which God's Word must take precedence over physical needs?
4. How does one avoid making God a means to an end?
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How to Handle the Values of the Non-Christian World
(Ecclesiastes 2:1-15)
Because of the recent regional economic crisis, Singaporeans have perhaps become a little more concerned about getting good value for their money for the things they buy. We are more careful now about how we use our funds. And only when we consider something to be really worthy to purchase, would we spend our money on it. Now when we think of values, we are thinking of things which are worth pursuing in life. Values are the principles, standards by which things are considered to be worthwhile, profitable or desirable to us. And only when we consider something to be really worthy to pursue, would we then spend our time and effort on it.
One of the great challenges that Christians in our present age must face is how to handle the values that are increasingly being forced upon us by the world. We live in a world with values that are entirely different from those that we have. The things that are considered to be most worthy of pursuit by the world's standards are not the things that we should consider to be most worthy. But sometimes, Christians find themselves under tremendous pressure to conform to the world's values. What are some of the values that the world wants us to have? The first one that needs to be mentioned is the high value placed by the world on the pursuit of achievements, appearance, and affluence.
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Achievements
King Solomon had many achievements in life. He wrote in Ecclesiastes 2:4-6, "I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees"
Some of the structures built by Solomon include the Holy Temple, His own palace, the armoury known as "the Forest of Lebanon" and a special residence for the Egyptian princess that he married. According to 1 Kings 6 and 7, he took twenty years to complete all these and we can only imagine how magnificent they must have been. Today, many are still trying to accomplish similar feats of building. Bill Gates, the richest man in the world today, recently built himself a US$12 million house. This is no ordinary house, but an "intelligent" house, i.e. it is completely self-regulated and automated.
Besides building, Solomon also achieved much in the realm of wisdom: "And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. . . . And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom" (1 Kings 4:29-34). Many people must have gaped at the glory of Solomon's outstanding achievements and wished they could be as successful as he was!
Today, the situation is the same. People always seem to be under pressure to accomplish things successfully, and to perform well. There are certain standards to keep. There are also higher standards we must strive to attain all the time. The world tells us that the great
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rule in life is: that every one can in the end get what he wants if he only tries hard enough. Those of you who are working would have realised that you are constantly expected to meet your employer's or company's high standards of achievement: in meeting datelines, in improving quality, productivity and efficiency.
Incentives are given for you to outshine all your colleagues if you can. Even fast-food restaurants have an "employee of the month" incentive scheme. There is no doubt that the working world is very achievement-oriented.
But the working world is not the only place that is achievementoriented. The desire to achieve is inculcated in our children right from the time they enter kindergarten, through primary school, secondary school, junior college, polytechnic, university, and right until they enter into the working world. The process of getting educated is clearing one achievement hurdle after another: first there is the Primary four streaming tests, then PSLE, O levels, A levels, and it continues.
Those who enter National Service also have a set of achievement hurdles to clear. I remember a friend who told me that he got punished with confinement in camp one weekend because of test results. It was not because he failed; actually he did quite well — 70%. He was confined because he did not reach the higher standard which his training officer had set — 90 %. He was not the only one who had to stay in camp. The majority of those who took the test were also there with him.
It seems that in almost every place we go, we are always being tested, examined, judged, evaluated and graded all according to our achievements. Even foodstalls are now being graded – A, B, C, or D!
We are accepted and honoured if we have reached a certain level of achievement, but rejected and even disgraced, if we have not. That is the way in which the world sees our worth. Now, this poses a problem, because it is not possible for everyone to reach those standards of achievement. Many who try to do so, fail. And the sad
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thing is that there is not usually much sympathy for those who fail. In the eyes of the world, those who fail to achieve cannot be of much worth. Failure has almost become a dirty word in our society. One philosopher has said, "There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house." This is perhaps the reason why so many young people today get very anxious, and even paranoid about standards of achievement — they do not want to be considered as failures, and when they do fail they become very, very upset and depressed.
There are some students who regard the situation of not being able to get a place in a university locally or overseas as being the end of the world for them. They feel rejected and dejected because they had not achieved what was expected of them.
And even those who do get into the university sometimes face the same problem. You may have heard a few years ago about one Singaporean student who topped his school in the A level exams and then went overseas to study in a very prestigious university overseas. But there he found that he could no longer be the top student because there were others who were so much better than him. Due to this, he took his own life, because he felt there was no reason for him to go on living.
So we see what awful results can come from following the world in placing such high value on achievement. And the tragic thing about this is that, in the final analysis, all of these achievements really amount to nothing — they will eventually be forgotten, or destroyed; they will eventually vanish into eternity. King Solomon, the epitome of achievement, wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:3 "What profit hath a man of all his labour [or for all that he has achieved] which he taketh under the sun?" The answer is None. Worldly achievements have no value. After years of success, what was Solomon's own assessment of his achievements? Look at Ecclesiastes 2:11, "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."
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Should we then evaluate our worth on the basis of what the world values most? The answer which God gives to us in His word is NO. There is only One who is qualified enough to make an accurate assessment of how much we are worth, and that is God. He sees everything and He knows everything; nothing at all is hidden from his sight. Therefore, to know how we should view our own worth, we must look to God and understand the way that He sees us.
In the eyes of God, all a man's worldly achievements have no value, and man really has nothing to be proud of. Many who think that they are extremely successful today by their own labours will be utterly shocked to discover one day when they stand before the throne of God, that their vast business empires, high status, years of research, study and acquiring scholarly degrees, to append to their names, years of pursuing recognition, fame and power, have all come to nothing.
Many people were very disappointed when many Asian currencies began spiralled downwards from July 1997, and with that the value of their stocks and shares as well. It seemed that all their hard earned money and investments were now worth very little. Well, the disappointment that many will experience before God's Great White throne of judgement will be quite similar to that experience, but much worse. They will find that the value of all the glorious achievements they had invested all their lives in, will have depreciated down to nothing.
They will be filled with extreme regret that they had wrongly invested in pursuing their own glory when they should have invested in seeking after God and pursuing His glory.
According to Jeremiah 9:23 and 24, there is only one achievement in life that is recognised by God as having great value:"Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I
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am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." Can you see what achievement God values in us? It is the achievement of knowing and understanding Him.
Let us therefore be very careful not to get ourselves caught up in following the achievement-oriented value system of the world. This is the principle we must live by where our achievements are concerned. It is good for us to do well, if we can, in our studies, in our work, and career (Col 3:23, 1 Cor 10:31, Ecc 9:10), but we must always put much greater value on developing our relationship with God, and glorifying Him, rather than ourselves. We must learn from the example of Joseph and Daniel, in the Old Testament. They were very diligent in whatever they did and their achievements in life were even great by world standards – the typical "rags to riches" story. For Joseph, it was from being a slave in Egypt to becoming the prime minister of Egypt! For Daniel, it was from being a captive of Babylon to becoming the second most powerful man in Babylon! But for them, knowing God and doing His will was of far greater value than all their achievements, and they always gave God the credit for all they had achieved in life.
Appearance
Appearance is another pursuit on which the world places a high value. While King Solomon was famous for his achievements, he had a brother who was famous for his appearance: Absalom. Absalom's appearance is described in 2 Samuel 14:25, "But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him." Absalom was so charming and attractive that he even "stole the hearts of the people" (2 Samuel 15:6)! But Absalom treacherously slew his own brother and plotted to dethrone David, his own father. He died a very humiliating death. So much for his good appearance.
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Appearance is extremely important in the eyes of the world. People often judge one another by their physical features, their personality, and their public image. It is commonly believed that our looks are what brings us love and acceptance, and everyone naturally wants to be loved and accepted. And that is why many spend a lot of time and expense on keeping up a good outward appearance. They think, "If I can only reduce my waistline and improve my figure and posture, people are bound to love me and accept me." Or "If only I restore my hair, dye it a different colour, and get tattooed eyebrows, then people will love me and accept me."
Long ago, I had a Jewish friend who had a big hooked nose. This would not have been a problem at all if he lived in Israel, where all have hooked noses. But because he lived in Singapore, where people have small straight noses, He did not like his nose. He became so self-conscious about his hooked Jewish nose that he spent a lot on plastic surgery to have it cut and straightened. He could not accept his nose, because it did not seem to conform to the world's standard of noses.
Sometimes, Christians also get caught up in following this aspect of the world's value system. They get very depressed because they feel that their outward appearance or image falls short of the world's standards. Have you ever wished to be someone else, rather than yourself? Have you ever said, "I do not like myself for all that I am! Why can't I look like him? Look at how impressive he is." There are some who will deal with this problem by trying to emulate or copy someone else whom they admire very much. They copy his hairstyle, his attire, his mannerisms, his tastes, and his way of life. But no matter how hard they try, they cannot succeed, because inside them, they are still the same old person, with the same old features that they do not like.
If you find yourself spending a lot of time and money on your outward appearance, or if you feel depressed or insecure because you are not as impressive outwardly as other people, please be careful: it means that you are following the world's value system, not God's.
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And we must be careful to establish our own value system on God's Word. So what does God's Word say about one's appearance? It tells us that outward appearance has no value. We see this principle stated at the time that Samuel was sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the next king of Israel. Jesse naturally paraded the most impressive of his sons first. Samuel admired the tall and handsome appearance of Eliab. But look at 1 Samuel 16:7 to see what God said, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." In the end, the one who was chosen was David, the youngest son, and the only one that Jesse did not consider to be worthy enough to show to Samuel. David was God's choice because he was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
Let us also see what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." From looking at these verses, we learn that what we should value more than outward appearance, is what we are within. God looks at our heart, and He greatly values any inward beauty that he can find there.
But is that the way you look at yourself? To find out, here are some simple questions: Do you consider yourself a trend-setter – usually the first to buy the latest style in clothes? Do you spend a lot of time and money shopping for new clothes? Are you always thinking about what you are going to wear? Do heads turn to see your newest dress or shirt? And do you enjoy making heads turn to look at you? Listen to what the Apostle Peter said when he addressed Christian wives in 1 Peter 3:3,4, "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." To that we can
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also add Proverbs 31:30 – "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised."
And this is what we should apply with regards to our appearance. Learn to accept your appearance. Remember that God made you the way that you are, with all the physical features and personality traits (but of course not your sinful traits — we must not accept those but change them).
If you cannot accept your appearance, you would be like the pot complaining to the potter, "Why have you made me so plain?" You would be questioning God. So learn to accept whatever appearance that God has given to you.
Now accepting your appearance does not mean that you should not care about it at all, going around with dishevelled hair and an untidy appearance. You may tidy up what God has given you in order to look socially acceptable, so that you will not look offensive to others, and attract undue attention to yourself. But do not spend more time and effort than what is necessary for this. Taking an hour to adorn yourself is probably too much. God tells us to redeem the time because the days are evil (Eph 5:16). Many will spend more time in the morning preparing their outward selves than they do preparing themselves inwardly by seeking God in prayer and His Word.
The more important thing is for you to spend more time to improve your inward appearance, to cultivate inner beauty. And there is much to be done here because none of us are born with a beautiful inward appearance. We are all born with hearts that are blemished with sin. Spend time and effort to remove all the blemishes of sinful attitudes like pride, hatred, envy, lust, deceit and hypocrisy. If you want to see your blemishes, James 1:23-25 tell us that God's Word is the mirror you should use if you want to see them.
Then make yourself more attractive by adorning yourself with good works (1 Timothy 2:9-10) and by bearing the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
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meekness, and temperance. There is much greater value in doing all this than in trying to improve your outward appearance.
So far, we have seen two areas on which the world places a high premium: achievement and appearance. But rather than giving much value to achievements as the world does, we should give greater value to developing our relationship with God and glorifying Him. And rather than giving much value to enhancing outward appearance as the world does, we should give greater value to cultivating inward beauty.
Affluence
The third pursuit on which the world values very highly is affluence. King Solomon's affluence is described in Ecclesiastes 2:78, "I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts."
Many would love to enjoy the opulent luxury that King Solomon lived in. Affluence has in fact become the number one pursuit for most people. Just look at the world today and you will see how greatly material wealth and riches are highly esteemed. Those who have great wealth to invest seem to have more power than anyone else in the world, being able to cause great regional economic crises just by shifting their wealth from place to place. The media always seems to portray the rich as people who really enjoy themselves, as being the most blessed and respected people in the world, as people who have created their own heaven here on earth. And because of this, it has become the desire and dream of many to become rich.
An English writer made this observation recently: "What this century worships is wealth. The god of this century is wealth. To succeed one must have wealth. At all costs one must have wealth."
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We all know very well about the 5 C's that most Singaporeans desire to have. Because of God's blessing on our nation, we Singaporeans are now enjoying a time of prosperity that has put many things that we could not afford previously, now within our reach. And thus, many have upgraded themselves to a higher standard of living. A comparison between life in the 60's and 90's will reveal a vast difference. People are no longer looking just for a roof over their heads, but for a five-room flat or executive condominium, or even a private apartment. People no longer just want to have clothes to wear, but they must be Gucci, Lanvin or Versace. People no longer just want to have a car, but it must be a Volvo or Mercedes. For the annual family vacation, people no longer just want to go up to Malaysia, but now to Europe, the U.S. or Canada. And for a house pet, a rabbit or hamster is not good enough; it must be a chinchilla! The list goes on. As the standard of living goes up higher and higher, many things will get added into the list of things we must have, as if it would be a most dreadful thing not to have them.
Some concern has been expressed in the press or media about this trend that pervades our society. Some call it materialism. But this is just a milder term for greed and covetousness. We all probably have friends, relatives, and colleagues who are very much caught up in it. Sometimes, we may even feel that we are being left behind, while everyone else is moving up to higher and higher standards of living. When we visit their homes and gaze at all the wonderful things they have, or when we get invited by them for a meal at one of their country clubs, this little nagging thought may keep rising in our minds: "Hey, this is very nice. This is the life! How I wish I could enjoy such affluence."
When that happens, we must wake up from our dream world, and remind ourselves that this is all part of the world's value system. We must be careful not to fall into it, because in reality worldly affluence has no value. Christ our Lord Himself warns us in Luke 12:15, "Take
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heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
Human life is precious, and was not meant to exist merely to gain a great abundance of material possessions or great riches. When a person lives only for affluence, he has really reduced his life to being nothing more than a machine that accumulates and processes the many things of this world. Covetousness degrades human life which was meant for nobler and better purposes.
Thousands are living today like machines. All that they think about is how to make more money to build up their possessions. They work non-stop, seven days a week, 18 hours a day, as they are motivated by a desire to amass more and more riches. They are never satisfied, because there is always more and more to gain. And they think that that is what life is all about. They are just machines that accumulate, something like vacuum cleaners, that suck in everything and hoards it all up in a bag which is eventually disposed of. How degraded life becomes when it is lived only for affluence!
Human life was meant to fulfil the supreme purpose of serving and worshipping God. A man's life consists of the abundance of the glory that he can bring to God. This then is the proper place and purpose for our lives. If we are living for God, our lives become purposeful, meaningful and fulfilled. But if we are living for our material possessions, our lives become as worthless and valueless in eternity as our material possessions.
When a lifetime of accumulation ends, all the riches that have been hoarded up are eventually squandered away by posterity. The nett result of that lifetime: zero! And that is the outcome of following the high value given by the world to affluence. In Luke 12, Jesus told the parable of the Rich Fool who prospered and said to himself "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry."? What happened to him? He died that very night and never got to enjoy his riches.
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While the world values affluence very highly, we must be careful once again to see what kind of value the Word of God places on it. Actually riches or material wealth in themselves are not evil. It is not sinful to be rich — Abraham and Job were both rich, and yet they were godly men. It is the attitude of Covetousness, or the desire to be rich, which the Scriptures frequently warn us against. In 1 Tim. 6:910, the love of money is described as the root of all kinds of evil.
Furthermore, the Bible recognises that the possession of material wealth brings with it great dangers. For example, there is the danger of failing to acknowledge that God is the source of the blessing, "And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth" (Deut 8:17-18) .
There is the related danger of trusting in riches (Ps 52:7), "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness." Some people have the idea that money solves everything. It is dangerous to hold to this. This danger of trusting in riches is so great that our Lord said that it was extremely difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, "And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:23, 24).
In the parable of the sower, God's Word warns us that riches can hinder a person's spiritual life: Look at Mark 4:18, 19, "And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."
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It is interesting to see the description given to riches in this verse: "The deceitfulness of riches" Why did Christ describe it like that? Because He wants us to know that all the happiness and comfort that wealth and affluence seem to promise us, will never materialise. Riches have a way of deceiving us into thinking that all will be nice and well with us when we have them, that we will be content and satisfied when we have them. But the truth of the matter is that riches do not bring happiness. And those who have them are not content and satisfied. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world, was once asked, "Now that you have everything a person could have, what else do you want?" he said "I want more of it!" When he was asked, "Which is the best million you ever made?" he answered, "The next million!"
But as Christians, this the principle that we should live by with regard to material wealth: if God blesses us with material wealth, we must be content and be thankful to Him for it. But we must be careful not to let it deceive us, and not to put our trust in it. We must not love it or place too great a value on material wealth. And we must regard ourselves as stewards who have been entrusted with this wealth to dispense according to God's directions.
Instead of seeking to be rich in material wealth, we should rather seek to be rich in two other ways. "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate" (1 Tim 6:17, 18).
Let us now see what else we should be rich in, according to James 2:5, "Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?"
God's Word esteems faith and good works to be of greater value that material gains. These are the true riches we should seek. And besides that, we should also seek to be rich in the knowledge of
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God's Word. We are told that God's Word is more valuable than gold (Ps 19:10).
How should a Christian handle the values of the non-Christian World? We have seen that as believers, we must not follow the world in giving great value to Achievements, Appearance and Affluence. Our values must be different from that of the world. In 1 John 2:15,16 we are told very clearly: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (Affluence), and the lust of the eyes (Appearance) and the pride of life (Achievements), is not of the Father, but is of the world."
But let me tell you that when you do not conform to this world's values, you will not have much worth and value in the eyes of the world. Since you have no great achievements to boast of, no attractive appearance to show off, and no affluence to glory in, you might be regarded as a nobody and you may not gain much attention, glory, honour and respect from the world.
What should your response be? You can say: So what if the world regards us as being of no value? In 1 Cor 1:27, God's Word says that He "hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence."
And though you may not have much value in the eyes of the world, take comfort in the fact that you have very great worth in eyes of God, since you have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ. By the death of Jesus Christ, God has drastically upgraded your eternal value. From being a sinner worthy only to be condemned to eternal death, you have now become very precious to the supreme God of the whole universe. An infinite price has been paid for you in the death of God's only Son. Therefore, you have
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