Good morning/   Talk about last week

Prayer

As we begin this morning we will be discussing something that we all share in common, and that is temptation.  In some way or another we all face it.

I think that we all understand what temptation is. There is a story that is told about a little boy who is in a grocery store that I think illustrates the nature of temptation. The boy was standing near an open box of peanut butter cookies. “Now then, young man,” said the grocer as he approached the young man. “What are you up to?” “Nothing,” replied the boy: “Nothing.” “Well it looks to me like you were trying to take a cookie,” the grocer replied.  The boy then exclaimed, “You’re wrong, mister, I’m trying not to!”  Now for a boy that is temptation!

Now another thing that we understand is that many times temptation leads to trouble. Such was the destiny of a man in Reader’s digest. This man said he was shopping in the mall with his wife when a shapely young woman in a short, form fitting dress walked by. He said as she walked by his eyes followed her. Without looking up from the item she was examining his wife asked, “Was it worth the trouble that you are in?

How many of us have ever said, “The Devil made me do it!” and used that as an excuse when caught doing something we weren’t supposed to?  There’s one problem with this defense: the Devil can’t make us do anything.  He may be clever, but he’s not all-powerful god.  It may feel that way, however, when we’re dangling on temptation’s hook, its because Satan has a strategy for luring us into his net.  Author Chuck Swindoll says that Satan uses four steps. 

First, he lays out the bait.  Satan knows people like a skilled angler knows fish.  He notes our habits, then he prepares a lure and drops it right in front of our noses.

Second comes the appeal.  He can’t make us bite, but he does know what happens inside us when we catch a glimpse of that bait.  Our nature draws us to it.  We linger over it.  We toy with it.  We roll it over in our minds until it consumes our imagination.

Third, the struggle begins.  Immediately, our conscience jabs us in the ribs, warning us of the danger.  We know it’s wrong to take a bite. We may even see the hook like consequences poking through the bait. But Satan’s invitation looks so delicious. What do we do?

Fourth, the temptation ends with the response.  Either we resist or yield; swim away or swallow it whole.  Anyone who has resisted knows the feeling of freedom that decision brings.  On the other hand, anyone who has yielded knows the feeling of emptiness that follows and the pain of the hook in your cheek.

Let’s go ahead and dig into the scripture.  If you will turn with me to Luke 4:1-13 we will read about Jesus’ temptation.  Here in Luke 4:1-13 it says, “1”

In the story today we see three general kinds of temptation that our adversary is still using against us.

First he comes right after a high point in our lives, in Jesus’ case it was after His Baptism.

Second he comes at a time when we are physically weak.  For Jesus it was hunger for the last 40 days.

And third, he comes at a time when we are alone like Jesus was.  This is when we a most susceptible. 

In a book titled, Encounters With Christ, Mark Moore writes about this passage.  He says, “2”

Now going through this passage the first temptation comes in verse 3 here it says, “1”

Now don’t be mislead by a false understanding of the Devil’s statement when he says, “If you are the Son of God” - this is not a doubt but an affirmation.  It literally means, “since you are” or “ in view of the fact that you are the Son of God.”  The first temptation would be no temptation at all if Jesus were not indeed the Son of God.  The devil is well aware that God exists.  His basic strategy is to make us believe that God can’t be trusted.  The temptation sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it?  You could almost sense the innocence in the devil’s presentation of this temptation – “just make these stones into bread” – what’s the big deal?  You the Son of God – just do it!  There is no law against turning stones into bread.  It won’t hurt anything.  

Now Jesus had been without food for over 6 weeks!  Jesus could have done it in an instant and his hunger was screaming, “Do it.”  Satan was tempting Jesus to disobey the Father’s will by using his divine power for his own purposes.  John Piper says that sin …"gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."

The temptation for Jesus to eat was great.  However, He was able to get past the temptation.  this idea reminds me of a story about the Wolf of the Arctic regions whom the local tribes used to catch without having to hunt them down at all.  The tribes put some fresh meat on a sharp blade and let the wolf do the rest of the work.  The wolf with its appetite not only would eat the meat off that blade but in the process would lick the blade clean, slicing its tongue in the process and thus begin to bleed.  Then the wolf would either become so weak and vulnerable that the tribesman could just kill him or the wolf would die by bleeding to death.  It got caught up in its own desire for more food to the point where it didn’t realize what it was doing to itself.



That’s how we can end up if we’re not careful.  We can get so caught up in our own desires for what is pleasing to us, that we don’t even realize the harm we’re causing to ourselves or to others.

In verse 4 we see Jesus’ response.  Here in verse 4 it says, “1”

We often brag that we are “people of the Word.” But are we really?  The question is not how much Bible do you know but how much of the Bible that you know are you applying in your life.  Jesus lived by the word.  The key phrase in each of his answers is, “it is written.”  He did not allow the situation or the circumstances or even the enemy to dictate the truth.  The answers to all three temptations came right out of scripture and can be found in Deuteronomy. 

Our temptation is not to turn stones into bread because the impossible does not tempt us.  But the compliant behind the temptation is still very strong.  The devil’s ploy in this world is to make us believe that if we want something done we need to do it ourselves – not trust in God.  We regularly are tempted to go outside the confines of God’s will to satisfy our personal needs or desires.  Thus the idea of the first temptation can be summarized as the Temptation To Do It Yourself.

In verses 5-7 is the next temptation.  Here in these verses it says, “1”

The devil was offering Jesus a kingdom without the cross.  Why go to all the trouble and pain to win the world when it can be handed to you on a silver platter.  No suffering, No Struggling, No Sacrifice.  But a crown without the cross would mean that there would be no forgiveness for our sins.

There was once a poor country pastor who was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought.  “Honey how could you do this,” he exclaimed.  “I don’t know,” she wailed, “I was standing there in the store looking at the dress.  Then I found myself trying it on.  It was like the Devil was whispering to me, “Gee, you look great in that dress.  You should buy it.”  “Well,” the pastor persisted, “You should have known how to deal with him!  Just tell him, “Get behind me Satan!”  “I did,” replied his wife, “but then he whispered over my shoulder, “It looks lovely from back here too!”

Many times we are like this woman.  We want the riches of the world, even if we can’t afford them.  Then, Satan comes in and tempts us into doing it anyway.

Here in verse 8, Jesus replies to Satan.  Here it says, “1”

We do not have to look far to see the application for today.  Our world teaches us to avoid pain, to take the easy way, the path of least resistance.  Avoid sacrifice.  Why give all that money to the church when you can spend it on a new fishing boat.  Why spend the rest of your life with the same mate?  You deserve to be happy.  We want the authority and all of the splendors that we can get, but we want them the easy way.  Therefore this temptation can be summarized as the Temptation To Take The Easy Way Out.

Now the third temptation can be found in verses 9-11.  Here in these verses it says, “1”

The devil took Jesus to the point of the temple roof that overlooked the Kidron Valley, about a 450 ft. drop.  Whether he took him there physically or in a vision we do not know.  But once there he made Jesus very tempting offer.  Having seen Jesus defeat him two times by quoting Scripture, Satan now quotes it himself, for his own purposes.   Satan misquotes the promise of God, it was right as far as it went, but he did not quote it all.  For Jesus to have supernaturally survived a fall from the pinnacle of the temple in the full view of the people would have immediately identified Him as the Messiah.  This would be the equivalent of saying to God –“I won’t believe in you until I see you SHOW it to me by MY terms.” 

We tend to need to see things these days in order to believe them.  We have shows like Riply’s Believe It Or Not, so that we can see things that are hard to believe.  We are driven by what we can see we will trust.  That just doesn’t work with God though.

In verse 13 we see Jesus’ response again.  Here it says, “1” 

Jesus understood to start His ministry by dramatically jumping from the pinnacle of the Temple would be completely contrary to the will of God.  To do so would be to test God.  Jesus refused to take this shortcut.  There are many subtle ways that we can put God to the test.  We may not jump from the top of the church – but we do it in other ways.  We do it when we don’t put the worship of God and attendance at church as a priority – and yet we expect God to keep us an your children on the right path – that is putting God to the test.  We do it when we dive into a path of our own choosing and then cry out to God to bail us out.  We do it when we test the boundaries of known sin.  God says, “Here is the line,” and we see how close we can get to that line.  Then we are surprised when we fall.  Then we blame God.  But it happened because we tested God.

Now the one thing common to all three temptations is that they attempted to distract Jesus from his mission or destroy his relationship with His heavenly Father.  

Don’t miss the truth given in verse 13, here it says, “1”

This verse says that “when the devil had ended every temptation” – the temptation was “ended” when he carried to completion and every avenue of attack was employed.  When it says that the Devil “departed from Him” the Greek wording is much more blunt it says he “stood off.”  This battle was over but he had not given up.  Margaret Thatcher, the first woman prime minister of England stated, “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”  This verse reveals that the Devil will always be lurking in the shadows, watching, waiting for the next vulnerable moment.

Jesus rebuked the devil with the Word or God and we can too.  Mark Moore went on to say in his book, “2”

When Martin Luther was asked how he overcame the devil, he replied, “Well, when he comes knocking at the door of my heart, and asks ‘Who lives here?’ the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, “Martin Luther used to live here, but he has moved out. Now I live here.”  When Christ fills our lives Satan has no entrance. 

Let’s Pray/    At this time we offer….