Handling Temptation

Matthew is writing to a primarily Jewish audience to show that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Anointed one who will bring redemption. That is what Matthew is showing here, and he starts with the genealogy of Christ and shows that He can be traced back to Abraham and David. He is in that lineage. Then Matthew talks about the birth of Christ, and then he gets into talking about John the Baptist, how he was the one spoken of by Isaiah of a voice crying in the wilderness, and how he preached repentance, but he was not the great one, but after him will be one who is greater. Jesus shows up to be baptized of John, who knowing who he was and who Jesus is, said I need to be baptized of you. But Jesus told John to allow Him to be baptized. John baptized Jesus and the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and they heard the Father’s voice say “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. So now Jesus is led by the Spirit to the wilderness for the showdown with the devil. Jesus fasted 40 days and then the tempter came and tried to tempt Him. Satan tempts Him with trying to turn the stones into bread. Jesus rebuffed him, and then comes the second temptation of casting Himself down off the tower so the angels would take care of Him. Jesus dismisses that temptation and then comes the final one. Satan takes Jesus up to a high mountain, shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and said that He would have them if He bows down. Jesus does not bow down and dismisses that temptation and shows that He beat Satan. He is King because He beat the prince of the power of the air. Jesus is showing that He is the Messiah who did not sin, the perfect One, the one who could redeem humanity from our sins. Matthew here is showing that Jesus is the one who Satan, and He is King. Hebrews 4: 15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” So Jesus was tempted yet did not sin.

Jesus is our example, and when it comes to temptation we would be remiss to say we just cannot beat temptation like Jesus could and move on. There are many principles in here that will help us become better at overcoming temptation. Sin is like a trap, you know when fishing or catching mice, there is always bait to lure the animal to it. It is always something that the animal would like. People like to say that the second mouse gets the cheese, yet normally mice will like peanut butter more. Why? Because it is more tempting for the mice who like foods like peanut butter more. In the same way, we can be tempted and like the mouse who goes after the peanut butter and gets caught, if we do not know how to handle temptation then we will be hurt. How are we at handling tempation? Many of us think that we can handle temptation, we have this it won’t happen to me, yet it does. Or we are the other way and have this idea of besetting sins, and we think we can never have victory over it. Well, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “ There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” So whatever the sin or temptation is we can beat it, we do not have to live defeated. Yet there is always a way out. We as Christians need to learn how to handle temptation.

How do we handle temptation?

Ready yourself for temptation

High point

The temptation comes after Jesus is baptized and they hear the voice from God saying that Jesus is the beloved Son in whom God is well pleased

Temptations come after victories because that is the time, we tend to be off our guard, we are not vigilant as we should be and we will fall

1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

In sports, huge upsets happen because the team that is supposed to win, do not play hard, not as serious and not as organized. They think it is going to be an easy win. We think after we have a victory that we are untouchable, but that is the time we will fall.

Weak point

The Bible here has one of the biggest understatements, that after 40 days of fasting, Jesus was hungry. I’ve done at the most three days and I was hungry, couldn’t imagine 40 days.

So Jesus was physically weak, but He was also alone and also in the wilderness. This was not a beautiful wilderness, but barren and rugged.

It was not until after Jesus fasted 40 days alone in the barren wilderness, that temptation comes. Many times temptation comes at our weakest point spiritually because that is when it looks appealling. When we are fine, temptation does not seem appealing but at our weakest is when we cave into temptation, because we think that is the way out of our troubles.

Realize what temptation does

Doubt the Word of God

Satan tells Jesus “IF thou be the Son of God”

After the baptism, where God declares that Jesus is His beloved Son

Satan gets us to doubt our salvation, or doubt God’s love

When we doubt that, we are in trouble because it is hard to live for God, when you are doubting His love.

He also got Eve to doubt God’s Word in Genesis 3:1-5

Genesis 3:1–5 KJV 1900

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Satan will masquereade as an angel of light

2 Corinthians 11:3 KJV 1900

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:12–13 KJV 1900

But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

He will do this to throw Christians off

All temptation, from the world, flesh and devil is all an assault on the Word of God. Getting us to doubt what it says, or what it means.

The world tries to push their philosphies on us, and when we go to the Bible, they laugh and try to get us to doubt God’s Word. Our flesh will want what it wants, and we think “If we want it, how can it be”

Recognize the appeal

James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It is an appeal to our desires

1 john 2:15 “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.”

Lust of the flesh-

meaning eating of the bread-the Spirit led Him out

If He turned the rocks into bread it would be a lack of reliance upon God.

Lust of the flesh is a twisting of the desires God gave us and causes us to seek them outside of His will

Gluttony and being controlled by food is a twisting of God giving us desire for food

All this immorality is a perversion of God given desires in marriage

A desire for rest and comfort, can be twisted into being lazy and not being productive

We as humans have a desire for justice, yet when we seek revenge we are doing that outside His will

Lust of the eyes

This one is found in the third temptation, where Satan shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world, and He will get them if He worships Satan

Lust of the eyes, is something that looks good to have, or if you do this, you get what your eyes are desiring, and everytime in order to get it, it results in compromise

About 100 years ago in Chicago was Al Capone. Al Capone would pay off police officers, so he could be unbothered. Yet came Eliot Ness and his team, who were called the Untouchables, because they could not be bribed, but the other police officers were bribed because Capone knew how to appeal to them.

Enemy will reward compromise by giving you something that seems better

A better paycheck

A trophy

Promotion

Better status in the eyes of man

Eve saw the fruit looked good

David saw Bathsheba was beautiful

Achan saw the piece of gold

Pride of life

Second temptation, where He was on the pinnacle of the temple and Satan, tells Him quoting Psalms that God will protect Him

The angels would have helped Him

This supernatural event everyone would see that He was the Messaiah

The pride of life is the temptation for people to bring us glory, and make us important

Doing things that will bring us glory or doing things for our glory

Resist with Scripture

Each time Satan tempted the Lord came back with Scripture

In the first temptation, Satan said that “If thou be the Son of God, command these stones be made bread”

Jesus comes back with Deuteronomy 8:3

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

Jesus comes back with Scripture that talks about how God takes care of His own, and how He sustains us

Satan tries to come back stronger in the second temptation, and even quotes Scripture

Psalm 91:11-12 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Satan conveniently left out the part about how God keeps the Messiah

Jesus responds back with Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah

Satan again comes back to tempt Jesus, but Jesus again refutes it with Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

Jesus says God wants everyone to only serve Him, and not our idols

In order to push away temptation, we must resist with Scripture

Memorizing Scripture is important

In counseling, most if not all the cases had some sort of Scripture memorization

It helps with internalizing the Scripture

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

However knowing what the Bible says will allow us to follow God, and recognize that this is a temptation

Jesus resisted the devil

1 peter 5:8-9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

james 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

We have to resist temptation, the only way to do that is with Scripture.

How are you at handling temptation? Do you make excuses or do you resist?