The Temptation
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Jack Handey, known for his odd sense of humor frequently expressed in an old Saturday Night Live segment titled "Deep Thoughts," wrote an equally odd book entitled Fuzzy Memories. In it Handey relates the story of a bully who demanded his lunch money every day when he was a child. Because Handey was smaller than the bully, he simply gave the bully his money.
"Then I decided to fight back," Handey says. "I started taking karate lessons, but the instructor wanted $5 a lesson. That was a lot of money. I found that it was cheaper to pay the bully, so I gave up karate."
Unfortunately, many Christians have the same attitude about Satan and the temptations that come their way. It's easier to pay the bully than to learn how to fight him.
Temptation is a real thing. It is a common thing. It happens to us all. Victories…sure. Failures… yes. Do our failures outnumber our victories? Or as we have seen more and more common today… there is just no more fight. There is temptation, but we don’t fight it anymore. Its way easier. We gonna fail anyway. Whatever we gain by winning is not worth it. I’m gonna fail anyway. Even if i win today I’m gonna lose tomorrow. I’m not hurting anyone. Nobody will be affected. Fighting temptation is too hard. Its too costly. There is little payoff in the end. The temptation just comes again…and this time I lose. Its just easier to pay the bully.
But this is one of the great deceptions of sin. We think that all it is costing us is $5 for the bully. But it is not. The cost is so much more. It is so much more than we think. It is so much more than we maybe imagined. When we fail we tend to minimize the actual cost of the sin that we commit. Have you ever thought of it this way? Did you know that telling a lie requires the same payment as murdering someone? We think that we are relatively ok if we tell a lie because compared to the person who murdered someone its nothing. But is it? We can see how this maybe the case in our country, but standing before God… those who commit the smallest of sins are as guilty as one who have committed all of it. The price that needs to be paid for the lie is the same as for the murder. It would take the death of the Son of the living God to bring salvation. Let us not be deceived…
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
Let me say… this is a serious issue. There is a battle that we need to fight and by the power of the Holy Spirit we can win. And by the power of the Spirit we can have a winning record. Lets take a look at how our Lord passed His test.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.
The Contrast
The Temptation
He Cares for Us
The first thing we will look at today is the clear contrast between the temptation of Adam and that of Christ. Second, we will look at the temptation of Christ and the victory got by his obedience. Finally, we will see the angels caring for Christ after the test and how in the same way Christ cares for us in the wilderness of this world.
Thesis: hough sin and the pattern of this world causes us to lose confidence in the Word of God for temptation, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures that will cause us to see the life and life more abundant we have in the obedience of Christ and Christ alone.
I. The Contrast
-Christ succeeds where Adam failed.
A. Right after the baptism of Jesus he was lead into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and there would be a time of testing as he will be tempted by the Devil. And we uncover a great picture when we look at this account in the book of Luke. After the Baptism of Jesus Luke takes us though the genealogy of Jesus, ending of course with Adam the son of God. Then he gives the account of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as he is lead into the wilderness to be tempted. The idea sets up a juxtaposition. A contrast. We will see where Christ succeeds where Adam failed.
B. Adam was in paradise and probably had a satisfied stomach. As Jesus was hungry in the wilderness because he was fasting for 40 days. Adam faced one temptation. Our Lord faced three temptations from the evil one. The results though, for Adam, were failure and fall, whereas our Lord gained victory and life more abundant for us. He was victorious in His combat against Satan and salvation and redemption resulted from the battle he faced. We will see where Christ succeeds where Adam failed.
C. This is what is referred to as the active obedience of Christ. He is actively obeying the law of God winning and earning righteousness for us. This righteousness is imputed to our accounts so when God looks at our account He sees the righteousness of Jesus. Why is this important Shane? This is why we can enter into the kingdom of heaven when we die. Without the active obedience fruit given to us, we would just be neutral. Jesus death on the cross would pay the price for our sin, but that just gets us out of the negative… it would not get us into the positive for us to be given the reward of heaven. We can’t get a reward by not sinning, we have to produce righteousness. Adam had to gain our reward. He failed but Christ succeeded. We will see where Christ succeeds where Adam failed.
II. The Temptation
-Victory through the Word of God.
A. Christ wins with the first test, tempting Christ to lose confidence in the goodness of God. And with the consumption of food. It is suggested that Christ use his divine power to relieve human suffering. You are hungry… why as the Son of God do you allow yourself to suffer like this? Its obvious that the Father has forgotten you… He even led you here by the Spirit into the wilderness making even harder getting something to eat. Why suffer? You can do something about it… why suffer. Why torture yourself?
B. You want to steal this money, you could and no one would know it was you. You need the money. You need to pay your bills. You can get those diamond earrings you always wanted. You deserve it. No need to suffer anymore. I mean does it not say in the proverbs…
Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.
You tried. You asked for help from God and he does not help you. He obviously does not care. It seems its up to you. Just take it.
C. Cheat on her… this one really seems to care about you. You work hard, you sacrifice for the family, you sacrifice for her. You kill yourself to provide. All you want is affection, support, and encouragement from her and all she does is put you down. When you get home all she does is nag. She calls you a looser. When she gets together with her mom and sister all they do is laugh and make fun of you. Nothing you do is ever right. You have prayed to God and he does nothing. You just need a little help but it seems that she gets worse and worse. You try to disciple her but she don;t listen. You pray with her and all she does is complain about how long it was… and I don’t appreciate you asking God for change… you the one that needs to change not me.
D. She not intimate with you anymore…Then you are reminded of the scripture in 1 Corinthians…
Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
She is giving the devil a foothold in my life. I can’t keep withstanding this temptation. See come on. This girl likes you. She thinks that you are great. She supports, she encourages you. She thinks you are the man. Don’t torture yourself anymore. God and your wife has abandoned you. Lots of guys are doing it. Even preachers do it. Solomon did it a lot. Its all good… you only live once.
E. We don’t even get to the second kind of temptation. We lose it here. Just where Adam did. We are caused to doubt the word of God and we are led to doubt the goodness of God. Did God really say… He just does not want you to have the knowledge of good and evil … he does not want you to be like Him. He is holding you back. Adam sins and Christ speaks. We fight temptation with the Word of God.
F. And the reason why we can have victory is not that we quote the scriptures but that we know the scriptures. We did not just look up the scripture on google that deals with the temptation we are fighting. We know the scripture that deals with the temptation we are fighting. The scriptures are not darts it is a double edged sword. It cuts and it heals. We must believe that the Bible is the true word of God and not something we hope will work. We must believe that it is as bread. We cannot live without it. It is life. It is the whole of who we are as Christians
G. We commit adultery not because we lust per se, but because we believe that life is about happiness and pleasure. The life we really want is one of ease with no problems. We ought to be problem free. Christ endured for the joy set before him. We can be victorious because of the joy set before us. But do we know what is the joy set before us?
III. He Cares for Us
-Cast all anxiety on Him.
A. After the temptation of Christ the angels came to take care of Him. And do we not know that Christ has taken care of us as he still takes care of us. Adam’s failure did a number. All of us are in sin with Adam. He was our representative head. We all sinned in Adam. And sin had a consequence. We are weak with temptation.
B. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous no not one. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins. We are all by nature children of wrath. If we break even the smallest of commands we are as guilty as one who has broken all of it. So you see we are in trouble. How much trouble?
C. The place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Outer darkness. Eternal darkness. The smoke of torment and anguish never cease. The worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. The place reserved for the devil and his angels. This is the reality and destiny of the effects of sin and the fall of man.
D. So Shane then I’m in trouble. Can I be saved from this? Yes. Salvation has come and we find it in Christ and in Christ alone. This is the one whom John the Baptist pointed to. He said that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Yes. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Jesus came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
G. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. Confess your sins and he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Repent and believe the gospel.
Repentance that leads to salvation.
H. Rejoice today. By the power of Christ we are freed from the curse and consequence of the sin we commit. But by the Power of the Holy Spirit we can defeat the tempter and the accuser. We are more than conquerors. We have overcome by the blood of Jesus.
