The Keys To Victory In The Midst Of Temptation

Introduction

On April 26, 1986, the actions of a few people had a terrible impact on the world around them. Today we know this incident as the Chernobyl disaster.

During a safety test at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, operator errors and design flaws led to a catastrophic explosion and reactor meltdown. This decision resulted in immediate deaths, injuries, and the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents. The environment was severely contaminated with radioactive fallout, causing long-term health issues.

At the same time, the response to the disaster also demonstrated the positive impact of individual decisions. Firefighters, workers, and scientists risked their lives to contain the radiation and prevent further damage. Their heroic actions saved lives and mitigated the consequences. Additionally, the disaster prompted significant changes in nuclear safety regulations globally, leading to improved standards, enhanced training, and stricter regulations to prevent future incidents.

By experience, we all know that one wrong decision can leave a trail of devastating consequences. Unfortunately, Satan also knows this.

This is the reason why Satan targeted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He knew that Adam’s sin would bring death to the entire creation. Adam gave into temptation and we still live with the consequences.

This is also the reason he targeted Jesus in Luke 4:1-14, which is the passage we will be discussing today. And I invite you to turn to your Bibles to Luke 4:1-14. Satan knew that if he could get Jesus to sin, it would mean the end of salvation for humanity.

Jesus and Adam were both considered high value targets by Satan. He knew that their sin would have far reaching consequences.

Today, as we celebrate Father’s day, I want you to understand that Satan also considers Fathers to be high value targets. God has called men to be leaders in the home. But Satan knows that when a Father gives in to temptation, it affects the entire family and has an impact that could continue for generations.

But fathers also have the power to resist temptation and make decisions that can have a positive impact on their family and on future generations.

But it’s not just fathers that are targeted by Satan. All Christians are considered high value targets because we are called to be the light of the world. And Satan knows that when Christians sin, we not only hurt ourselves, but we harm the reputation of Christ, the Church and the gospel.

Since we’re all going to be targets of Satan’s attacks, we must learn how we can successfully resist temptation. And that’s exactly what we’ll learn as we look at Luke 4:1-14.

Please follow along as I read from the passage:

[pray]

Dear heavenly father, we ask that you give us wisdom to understand how we can resist Satan’s attacks. We know that he desires to destroy your plans for our lives. He knows that our sins will hurt us and our families. Please help us to learn how we can follow the example of Jesus and resist temptation. In Jesus name, Amen.

We Must Recognize The Schemes Of The Devil

During World War 2, there was a battle that took place in November of 1943 called the “Battle of Tarawa”. Initially, the United States troops didn’t realize that that Japanese, who were located on a small island, were using the coral reefs to their advantage. As the American troops tried to invade the Island, their boats got stuck on the coral reefs and they had many casualties. However, once they understand how the Japanese were using the coral reefs, the United States soldiers changed their strategy. They chose to invade the Island during high tide so that their boats would be able to safely pass over the coral without getting stuck. As a result, they were able to successfully invade the Island.

Initially, the soldiers didn’t understand the strategy of their enemy, but once they understood, they were equipped to win.

In the same way, we must recognize the schemes of the devil so that we can resist temptation and win the battle against sin.

And as we look at the passage today, there are at least 3 tactics that Satan uses. And if we want to resist temptation, we must recognize when they occur.

We Must Recognize His Exploitation Of Our Desires

The first tactic that we recognize in this passage is the exploitation of our desires. What do I mean? I mean that Satan takes our desires and he seeks to turn those desires into opportunities for sin.

Look at verse 2 in our passage. It says that Jesus had fasted for forty days and he was hungry. Satan recognized an urgent and real desire for food and he sought to use it as an opportunity to sin. Instead of trusting God to provide the food he needed, Satan tempted Jesus to use his own powers to create his own food.

This is similar to how Satan tempted Adam and Eve. He appealed to her desire to be equal to God. He told her that if she ate the forbidden fruit her mind would be opened and she would be like God. In other words, He exploited her desires.

The book of James confirms the truth we see in this passage, that Satan seeks to exploit our desires and lead us to sin. It says, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jas 1:14–15.

Therefore, it’s clear that whatever desires we might have, whether it be for health, money, a promotion at work, or obedient children, can all be twisted and used by Satan as an opportunity for sin.

One story that illustrates how good desires can lead to sin is found in the story of Charles Ponzi, who like many of us wanted to have some money.

Charles Ponzi was an Italian man who migrated to the United States in the 20th century. In order to make money, he came up with a scheme in which he offered to sale postage coupons and promised his clients that they could make a 100% within 90 days. But his promises were all lies. As more people bought the coupons, he would use their money to pay off the initial buyers.He deceived thousands in the process, but made himself lots of money. Ultimately, his scheme fell apart and he was arrested. But because of his sin, thousands of people lost their savings and we now refer to similar modern day fraud as “Ponzi Schemes”.

Therefore, if we want to be able to resist temptation, we must recognize that the source of temptation is often the legitimate desires that we all have. But Satan doesn’t just want to exploit our personal desires.

We Must Recognize His Exploitation Of Our Beliefs

We also must recognize that Satan seeks to exploit our personal beliefs.

You’ll notice that as Satan tempts Jesus, he repeats the phrase “If you are the Son of God”. It wasn’t that Satan didn’t know that Jesus was the Son of God. He knew exactly who Jesus was. But he questioned Jesus’ identity to cast doubt on Jesus’ own beliefs.

But God had already clearly declared the identity of Jesus as the Son of God at His baptism in chapter 3. Luke 3 says that when Jesus was baptized a voice from heaven spoke and said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” But perhaps after a time of testing in the wilderness and being without food for forty days, Satan thought that he could cast doubt in Jesus’ mind.

This is similar to how Satan tempted Eve in the Garden. In Genesis chapter 2 God clearly stated they could eat from every tree except for one. But just one chapter later, Satan tries to cast doubt on Eve’s beliefs by asking her, “Did God really say you couldn’t eat from every tree in the garden?” He twisted God’s Word in hopes of casting doubt in her mind.

And he attempts to do the same thing to Jesus by saying “If you are the Son of God”.

It is kind of amazing how obvious Satan’s lies are sometimes, and yet we still often believe them. It reminds me of a man named Samuel Rowbotham.

In the late 19th century a prominent figure named Samuel Rowbotham gained attention for advocating a “flat earth theory”. He belived that the world was a large flat disc shape with the North Pole at the center and an ice wall around the edges.

He argued that all the evidence supporting a spherical Earth, such as photographs of earth from space of the curvature of of the horizon was part of a big conspiracy.

And the surprising thing is that many people believed him. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he was able to convince people to believe the earth was flat.

In the same way, Satan seeks to take the clear truths of the Bible and cast doubt in our minds. If we are to resist Satan, we must recognize his exploitation of our beliefs.

We Must Recognize His Exploitation Of Our Weakness

Lastly, we must recognize Satan’s exploitation of our human weakness.

Satan loves to attack people when they are at their weakest points. But he’s not going to leave us alone at the first sign of resistance. He’s going to keep attacking us again and again.

We see this in this passage as well.

Jesus was at a very weak point here. He was hungry, he was in the wilderness, he was facing trials. And Satan saw Jesus in this vulnerable position and tempted him, not once, but three times.

And we read something very interesting in verse 13 after Jesus had successfully resisted him 3 times. It says, “And when the devild had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”

Satan viewed Jesus’ time of fasting and testing in the wilderness as an opportune time because he was at a point of human weakness. But he wasn’t going to give up. He was going to continue looking for more opportunities to tempt Jesus in the future.

All of us face times of weakness in our lives. There are times when we are more vulnerable to temptation and we must understand that Satan won’t give up. He wants to attack us again and again in hopes of wearing us down.

Even those who have been very faithful in the past, after being repeatedly attacked by Satan are in danger of stumbling.

Constantinople was a powerful city in what is now modern day Turkey. It was the capital of the Byzantine empire and a major economic hub. It was also known for being well-fortified.

However, in 1453 it was besieged by the Ottoman empire. The Ottoman forces attacked the city over several weeks and tried everything they could to weaken its defenses. For several weeks the Byzantine’s were able to defend their city.

But the Ottoman empire persisted. They kept attacked and eventually breached the walls of the city and overthrew the city.

And when it comes to temptation, it doesn’t matter how strong you’ve been in the past, Satan seeks to look for opportune moments in your life to tempt you and lead you into sin. He is persistent and seeks to exploit our weaknesses.

Summary Of Points/Sub Points

So we’ve seen that Satan seeks to exploit our desires, our beliefs and our weaknesses, but how does this knowledge help us resist sin. Allow me to give you a few examples.

Application

For those of you who might be looking for a job, it’s a good thing to have a job and to earn wages so you can support yourself and your family. But what if Satan tempts you to exaggerate or lie about your experience on your resume. It might help you get a job, but you’ve dishonored your Savior in the process. Instead, you can view this temptation as an opportunity to trust God to provide you with a job. Keep praying. Keep sending out your resume. Keep looking for a job. But don’t allow that desire to be used by Satan to lead you into sin.

Some of you young women desire to get married. To get married is a good thing. Marriage is a gift from God and a blessing. But what if Satan tempts you to dress immodestly. You may be tempted to wear revealing clothes to get the attention of a man. Or you might be tempted to commit sexual sin with someone in hopes of earning their love. Instead, God upholds the value of modesty and purity. If a man is only attracted to you because of your looks or because you’ll have sex with him, then what kind of man will you attract? But when you honor God in the your dress and your purity, God will bless your desire for marriage in his own timing.

But what happens when you don’t get that job or that relationship doesn’t work out? Satan will seek to cast doubt in your mind about God’s love and His provision in your life. He’ll tempt you to regret being faithful to God. He’ll tempt you to think it would have been better if you sinned. He will seek to convince you of things that the Bible says aren’t true. So in those moments, it’s important to remind yourself of the things you know are true. Remember the truths you’ve read in the Bible and that you’ve been taught at church and don’t let Satan convince you otherwise.

But what happens when it’s been several months and you still haven’t found a job? Or you haven’t 2 or 3 relationships that didn’t work out. This is when Satan will seek to beat you down with the same old attacks. He’ll see your vulnerability and weakness and a sign that it’s time to attack. Therefore, in those moments, it’s important that you What if in those moments when we are most tempted to give in to temptation, we doubled down on our commitment to worship and praise God. What if we persisted in our faith. What if we rallied the church and asked them to pray for us.

Once we understand the schemes of the devil and how he exploits our desires, our beliefs and our weaknesses, we can recognize what’s happening and make the proper adjustments.