The Testing of Temptations

“The Testing of Temptations” 

Why is it that temptation is bad?

Have you ever been tempted? 

There’s 3 temptations I would like for us to take a look at here today. 

Read Matthew 4:1-4 

Talk about a temptation story/ Chuck-e-cheese story/ trying to kick chucke e the mouse-withdrawing temptation to kick the poor mouse  

Why is it that temptation is bad? 

What is at the core of temptations?

What is the core of the first temptation? There’s certainly nothing wrong with getting something to eat when you are hungry. Jesus got Hungry. You get Hungry. I get hungry. So how can it be a temptation to get some bread, whether by miracle or by money? 

The temptation is to put the bread first and God second, to put the need for bread at the center of our lives and our need to for God at the edge

Jesus said he wouldn’t do it. He said His need for God preceded his need for bread. He said that the word of God was basic to his life; that bread was also necessary, but secondary. He said that he would attend to God first and bread second 

Matthew 4:5-7

What is at the core of the second temptation? There’s certainly nothing wrong with letting God perform a miracle on your behalf. How can it be a temptation to stage a little excitement for the bystanders and show how wonderful things are with Jesus? 

The temptation is to put excitement first and God second. The temptation is to think of our lives as humdrum and ordinary, and God as the one who will make them exciting. The temptation is to look at God as entertainment.

Jesus said he wouldn’t do it. He said he wouldn’t use God to make his life interesting. He said that he would patiently let God make him his instrument 

Matthew 4:8-11

Now we come to the third temptation. At that moment Jesus found himself on the peak of a huge mountain. Spread out beneath him were glorious but godless civilizations, full of injustice, inequity, poverty, and crime. And the Devil tempted him: “Worship me and I will give all these kingdoms. Rule them as you see fit, establish your justice and peace and love in every government on the face of the earth. Make me your god and I will make you effective in the world.

What is at the core of this temptation? The temptation is to bypass God in order to do something good. The temptation is to be obsessed with doing the right thing that we are willing get rid of God In order to do it. The temptation is to be impatient with God’s ways - those quiet, suffering, sacrificial, loving, patient ways that never violate human dignity. God works SILENTLY and often SECRETLY In society. The moment we want to make things better in the world and do it efficiently, and effectively, God becomes the BOTTLENECK… Bypass God and establish law and order, peace and justice immediately. 

Jesus said He wouldn’t do it. He said he wouldn’t get rid of God in order to do God’s will more “efficiently.”

Al the time, subtle temptations like these are being introduced into our lives. They don’t seem like temptations - they aren’t temptations of violence or sexual promiscuity or cheating. They are temptations to be sensible about life and take care of our own basic needs, and then after we’ve taken care of them, to do something about God 

What’s at the core?

They are temptations to treat God as the entertainment in our lives, putting excitement into the drone of our existence and interpreting everything that is ordinary and routine as the absence of God. They are temptations to make the world a little better on our own but eliminate God for the sake of “efficiency”  

If Jesus had said yes to any of these temptations, he wouldn’t be our savior. And if we say yes to any of these temptations, we diminish God in our lives. And in diminishing him, we diminish ourselves. 

TELL THE STORY OF AN INMATE GOING ABOUT TO HIT THE SECURITY GUARD AND WAS SET UP WITH DRUGS IN HIS ROOM. HE WAS GOING TO DO MORE TIME AND HE WAS ABOUT TO BE LET FREE AFTER 10 YEARDS IN JAIL 

Why is it that temptation is so bad? - because it derails us from the goodness that is our God - living a fulfilled life.