Temptation's Trials - An Interview with Warren Wiersbe

Arnie Cole: Thanks so much for joining us today, Warren. We really appreciate you coming into the studio and being with us. And today we want to talk about temptations, trials, and triumphs. So Warren, why does God allow us to be tempted?

Warren Wiersbe: Well, it's not biblical, but He does permit temptation for the simple reason that if you don't fight battles, you're not going to grow muscles. We are in a battle. And because we're in a battle, we have to follow our leader, our great Commander, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has already won the battle. So actually, we're not fighting for victory; we're fighting from victory. We can say Jesus defeated Satan, and in Christ I can defeat Satan. Temptation has to be a part of life because faith that can't be tested can't be trusted. In the parable of the sower, for example, Matthew 13:1-23, the sun came up and the seed that just went down shallow, no roots, burned up. Now, that's what happens to us. The first month or two that I was a Christian, it was wonderful, wonderful! And then the tests began to come. Now, why did God allow the tests? So I would see how authentic my faith really is. Without knowing that, you can't go any place.

Arnie Cole: So what are some of the key points we need to know about temptation?

Warren Wiersbe: Well, for one thing, expect it. I don't know why people are surprised when temptation comes. I've pastored three different churches; my people have taught me a lot. But some of them come in with weird questions, you know? "And why should I be tempted about that?" I don't know. If I knew that, I'm God and you don't want to talk to me much longer. There's something about temptation that people forget, namely there are three aspects to temptation. Number one, we can tempt ourselves. Samson was an expert in that. Every time he turned around, he got himself in trouble. I've heard sermons, you know, about Peter who followed afar off. Don't follow afar off! He wasn't supposed to follow at all. Jesus said, "Get out of here." They've smitten the shepherd and the sheep are going to be scattered. So where does he go? To the most dangerous place in Jerusalem, where Jesus was being tried. Why did he get in trouble? Because he was there. If he'd have run away like Jesus told him to. So we can tempt ourselves. Secondly, we can tempt others. Or thirdly, we can even tempt God. The nation of Israel was famous for tempting God. And most of the time He just overlooked it, forgave them, but sometimes He whipped the daylights out of them because they tempted Him. Now you start tempting God, you're really going to get in trouble because He knows how to spank. My father had the fastest belt in Northern Indiana. He made the Lone Ranger look like a cripple. And when I'd open my big mouth and say something I shouldn't say, he'd go for his belt. And I'd go for the bed, I'd dive under the bed. Fortunately, my daddy did not have any hips. He just was a straight line. So he had to use one hand to hold up his pants and the other hand to hit me with the belt, and that was a safety measure for me.

Arnie Cole: Yeah, no kidding.

Warren Wiersbe: But you know, I'm glad my daddy spanked me. And temptation can either be an opportunity to learn, it's an opportunity to win a victory. But I think I have to say it again: we don't fight for victory, we fight from victory. Satan tempted Jesus and Jesus sent him defeated. So you and I wake up in the morning and say, "Thank You, Lord, You whipped the devil."

Arnie Cole: Warren, the Bible talks about different types of suffering. What are they?

Warren Wiersbe: Well, I suppose we all think we've had all of them, but I'm not sure. Of course, there's physical suffering. We think of Job. Only Satan and the Lord knew why this was all happening. If Job had known that God was testing him and proving him, it would have made a different situation, but we don't know. There is physical suffering, and we've all been through it. There's also emotional suffering, where we just seem to fall apart. My heart goes out to Job; even his wife came out and said, "Curse God and die." That's a lot of encouragement. But we go through emotional suffering. Those who are raising children, maybe a child goes astray—it hurts, it hurts so much. There's mental suffering, where we can't sleep at night because we're worrying about something. Somebody said to me one day, "It's silly to count sheep if you can't go to sleep; why don't you just talk to the Shepherd?" And I think there's a lot of truth to that.

Arnie Cole: A lot of truth to that, that's very true.

Warren Wiersbe: So we don't know how God is going to test us. But we know this: when we're in the furnace, the Lord is there with us. And when we're in the furnace, we have to remember this: He keeps His eye on the thermometer and His hand on the thermostat. He knows how long, how much. And I want my suffering friends hearing my voice now to know this: you're going to make it. Don't give up. Suffering is the way of purity, preparation for battle, and victory.

Arnie Cole: How does God use our suffering?

Warren Wiersbe: Well, for one thing, He uses it unbeknownst to us to bless other people. Little story here: we had a lovely young couple in one of the churches I pastored, and their first child, a beautiful girl, had something wrong with one of the eyes. And then they discovered it was cancer. The eye had to come out. And so I think she was about three years old at the time, and they took out the eye and put in an artificial eye. And she grew up as a beautiful person and as far as I know, she's still alive serving God. There was a man in our church who was just a little stubborn; he wasn't a member of the church. In fact, he'd never proclaimed Christ as his Savior. And one Sunday morning, I gave the invitation and he walked the aisle and said, "I want to proclaim the fact that I've trusted Jesus as my Savior and I want to unite with the church." So afterward I asked him, I said, "What was it that moved you? You know, I'm waiting for him to say 'Oh, that third point of your sermon, boy, that really hit me.'" No. He said, "I've been watching this couple."

Arnie Cole: Oh, wow. In their suffering.

Warren Wiersbe: "I've been watching this couple and the way they've been behaving." And he said, "It changed me." Wow. So when you're suffering, you're ministering to the glory of God. Jesus was that way on the cross. Sometimes the Lord uses suffering to spank me. And He's more patient with me than my father was, but to spank me. And we deserve it, we need it. Hebrews 12 tells us that if you don't get spanked when you disobey, you may not be a child of God.

Arnie Cole: That's right.

Warren Wiersbe: You may just be an ordinary sinner. So I think God uses our suffering to be a blessing to us, to be a blessing to others, and the greatest part of it is to the glory of God.

Arnie Cole: In the middle of your suffering, how do you glorify God in that?

Warren Wiersbe: Well, when I've been in the hospital, and one time was very close to death—in fact, I was supposed to die at the age of two, but the Lord saw me through and here I am much beyond that—we have to ask the Lord, "Lord, make me a blessing." A blessing to the nurses, so they might say to me one day, "Why aren't you like these other patients? They cuss us and they do this and that." That's the chance you have to say, "Well, Jesus is right here with me and He's the Great Physician and He's going to see me through." So I think that suffering is never wasted. God never wastes it. He knows how much, He knows how long, and He's going to give us all the grace that we need.

Arnie Cole: Warren, it looks like persecution of Christians is on the rise throughout the world. Do you think we should expect it in our own lives?

Warren Wiersbe: It's going on right now. There are Christians in certain jobs who if they were to bow their head in the lunchroom in prayer, they'd get fired.

Arnie Cole: That's right.

Warren Wiersbe: We need to pray for our students in the schools. The persecution is already on. Churches are going to be persecuted. And number one, expect it. That's the first thing, just expect it. Why should we at the end of the age be excused from what started at the beginning of the age? Jesus was persecuted. They lied about Him, they rigged up a fake trial, they crucified Him. His apostles were persecuted. But when they went home, they were rejoicing that they had the privilege of suffering for Jesus. So number one, expect it. Number two, don't pray for relief and for escape. God has a blessing in every pain that we go through. I remember this story, it's actually happened; a pastor over in England went to visit an elderly man to give him bad news: his son had been killed in the war. And the man said to the pastor, "Pastor, where was God when my son died?" And the pastor wisely said, "The same place He was when His own Son died." You see, Jesus never asks us to go through something He hasn't been through. He's been there, and because of that, He knows how to identify with us. And I'll guarantee that there never will be a day when God's grace is going to run out. He's not going to hang out a sign that says "Sorry, no more grace," because His grace is sufficient for us.

Arnie Cole: Warren, our Center for Bible Engagement has conducted research on prayer. In fact, I've done a lot of the research myself, and prayer's always been kind of baffling to me because 26 percent of all atheists will pray at some time in their lives. And most people define prayer as talking to God, and lots and lots of people pray. But we find that so many people don't understand that hearing from God comes by reading or listening to the Bible. Why is that?

Warren Wiersbe: Well, once again, we have to have balance in our Christian life. In Acts 6, Peter and the apostles discovered that things weren't getting done right. So they appointed assistants, deacons, to help them to feed the people and take care of the widows. And then they said this: "But we will give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word." Now, the two go together. People who pray can't pray with faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Arnie Cole: Good point.

Warren Wiersbe: So if I'm not into the Word of God, finding His promises, His warnings, etc., I really can't pray. Prayer means I come to God and talk to Him. And He wants that, just like any father or mother or grandmother or grandfather wants the children to come. My children would come and say, "Dad, I can't get this problem in my mathematics book." Well, I'd try to help them. Usually, they knew more than I did, but that's all right. So we have to have the Word of God where He speaks to us, and prayer where we speak to Him. Now, if you have all prayer and no Word, you have no basis for your praying. But if you have all Word, you might be an intellectual genius, but if you aren't praying, you have not because you ask not. Charles Spurgeon made an interesting statement one day: "Gentlemen, whether we like it or not, asking is the basis of the kingdom." In other words, God wants us to pray. You know, if my children didn't talk to me for three weeks, I'd wonder what's going on here? Do I have bad breath? What's going on? So it's important that we balance our Christian life. As I read my Bible, it encourages my faith and I can pray. As I pray, God speaks to me through that Word that I've read. It's a beautiful thing. And we need to keep that balance, otherwise there's going to be trouble. The problem is there are hindrances to prayer that some Christians don't know about. For example, take a look at 1 Peter 3:7 and you'll discover if they're not getting along with the wife or the husband, God will hinder their prayers. I remember when I found that verse, I thought, "Oh boy, I've got to be careful." And that's true. If I regard iniquity in my heart, said the psalmist in Psalm 66:18. Now that word "regard" means I know it's there and I'm glad it's there. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. So if I'm cultivating and enjoying some sin, don't worry about praying; God's not going to hear you.

Arnie Cole: So these barriers that we put up against God in our prayer lives really will stop God from hearing?

Warren Wiersbe: Yes. James tells us that, James 4:2 says, you know, "you have not because you ask not." Okay, that's the first problem: I'm not talking to God. Why should He give me anything? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord won't hear me. There are a number of barriers. If we are deliberately disobeying the Word of God. Now, that doesn't mean that God in His mercy does not answer prayer in emergencies. I think God even hears the prayers of some unsaved people because He's so merciful and gracious and He helps them. But it would be better if they were children who could snuggle up in God's lap and love Him and listen to Him.

Arnie Cole: You know, Warren, I work with a lot of men and especially the younger men, believers, Christ-followers, and they get stuck in this internet porn and it's repetitive. Would I be right in telling them that they're destroying not only their spiritual life but their prayer life?

Warren Wiersbe: Yes, they are. They are. When I was in the pastorate and folks would stop by to chat about their problems, one of my first questions was usually, "Tell me about your prayer life." Because everything rises and falls with faith, and the best expression of faith is trusting God's promises and praying. You and I can both look back and see what God did because of prayer. Here I am lying in the hospital, the chaplain says to my wife, "He's not going to make it." He was a real encouragement, that tremendous. But I made it. God saw me through. I can remember when the church needed money and here came the money. I mean, God does things. God answers prayer. And He gets the glory. We can't stand up and brag. I cannot take credit for answered prayer.

Arnie Cole: Right, right.

Warren Wiersbe: This is why we need to pray for those in authority and pray for those in leadership, which we need to do regularly.

Arnie Cole: So Warren, how can we know the difference between God telling us to wait for an answer to prayer and the finality of Him actually telling us no?

Warren Wiersbe: I think that you've touched upon the biggest problem I have. I am a very impatient person. That's not good. So the Lord has on more than one occasion just put me on the shelf. Said, "Sit there. Just sit there. You've got to learn to be patient." You see, if a child does not learn to be patient, he'll never learn anything. You've got to be patient to grow in knowledge, to grow in grace, to grow in character. You've got to be patient. So I think the first thing we need to learn in life is that in the Christian life, God is on the throne. He's not limited by time. God doesn't wear a watch; God doesn't look at a calendar. But He has given us time. What a precious gift it is. And He just wants us to wait. But you must remember that when a Christian is waiting, he's not just doing nothing. He's reading the Word. He's praying. He's looking for somebody to help. And then God will go to work.

Arnie Cole: And then you're really open in case the answer to your prayer is no.

Warren Wiersbe: I've learned, and you've learned, that when God does say no, it's not a slammed door. He always opens another door. By the way, I think it's a mark of maturity for us to be thankful for unanswered prayer.

Arnie Cole: I agree. That's a tough thing to learn.

Warren Wiersbe: But it's worth it.

Arnie Cole: So Warren, do you have a prayer routine?

Warren Wiersbe: Well, "routine" is a nasty word, I suppose, but I have a system, yeah. I have a prayer notebook.

Arnie Cole: Do you really?

Warren Wiersbe: M-hm, I have a prayer notebook, and the first page I use every day. There are certain things that are so important I want to pray about them every day. And then I go from Sunday to Saturday pages. And every once in a while I erase something, the prayer answer—prayer has been answered. So in my devotional time in the morning, I begin with reading the Word. I start at Genesis, Psalms, and Matthew and just keep on going. And so I'll read the Word and then I'll do my everyday requests. Then I'll read some more in the Word and I'll do that day's request—Tuesday, Thursday, whatever. And then I'll finish by reading the Word in the third place down in the New Testament somewhere, and then I'll pause just to wait before the Lord; maybe He wants to remind me of something else. So this is the way I do it, and I've been doing it since I was in seminary. And God has been so good. If anybody looks at my ministry or my life, just give God the glory. Why am I alive today? Because my great-grandfather prayed there'd be a preacher of the gospel in every generation of our family, and there has been. That old Swede couldn't pray in English, but He prayed—God knows Swedish—and He just prayed. And I was supposed to die at the age of two, and here I am.

Arnie Cole: Here you are. Now, do you ever pray Scripture?

Warren Wiersbe: Oh yes! Oh my, yes!

Arnie Cole: How does that fit into your routine?

Warren Wiersbe: Depends on what the Scripture is. Sometimes a Scripture just hits me. The Holy Spirit just takes that Psalm or that chapter and says, "This is it," and I pray my way through it. That's a good way to pray because then you're praying in the will of God. If we're praying the Bible—you know, I'm reading the Word of God and it says this or that—that's God's Word. And if I pray that, He'll do it. My problem is that I don't like to admit some of the things the Word of God shows me about myself. The Word of God is a mirror, and we look in that mirror and we see exactly what we look like. And we don't like that. But I have to say, "Lord, You're right. What I did yesterday was wrong and I'm sorry, I'm confessing it now." And you know what He does? He forgives me. Like I say, the Christian life, the victorious Christian life, is a series of new beginnings. And don't be discouraged because of what happened yesterday. It's today, now. And God's not going to forsake you.