2 Samuel 11:1 “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at home.”

Most of you will recognize this verse as the preface to one of the darkest periods in the life of David. These few sentences set the stage for David’s adulterous sexual sin with Bathsheba, and the subsequent arranged murder of her husband Uriah. How does one so great, fall so greatly? This simple verse provides at least one of the keys to it all.

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“For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.” (Proverbs 7:6-9, ESV)

Just as we saw last time that our temptations to sin are common to us all – so all of our temptations have common elements to them. Here again, getting some understanding of these matters in a detailed fashion becomes a necessary weapon in waging the battle.

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One of the most useful tools put at our disposal in God’s Word for aiding us in the battle against indwelling sin – is the unmasking of Temptation’s tactics in Proverbs 7.

So much of this battle is rooted in argumentation. Our lusts and desires raise arguments for why they ought to be left alone, and indulged when they cry out. We need to understand how seductive and calculating Temptation is. The wisdom of thinking and contemplating regularly, soberly and accurately about Temptation cannot be overstated.

The battle is in the mind. The more right thinking the Believer can get, the more truth we can have at our disposal, the less likely we are to be deceived – even by ourselves. If we are not informed, watching and prepared, we will be sitting ducks.

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In continuing through this series – it is my hope that not simply the material, but presenting it different ways and giving emphasis here and there and especially opening up an area more by others will be of additional help. Today is one of those “opening up” places with guest blogger – Scott Ferguson. How sin loses its grip progressively over time is one of the most encouraging things we can hear. Here’s how he describes it.

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In prosecuting the “Every Believer’s Battle” against the influence of indwelling sin – we need to know, and rehearse regularly some foundational principles.

1. We must never forget – This is war.

2. We must never forget – Sin doesn’t die.

3. We must never forget – God has designed and decreed your victory.

Never is that third principle more important than in the immediate aftermath of some particular failure.

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