The Strength to Overcome Temptation

Introduction

Since we concluded our American Experiment series last week, we are going to look at this passage of scripture in the context of our theme of the year. As we began the year, it was my intent that as Christians we would be stronger and more courageous than we have in the past. The time in which we live certainly necessitates that we do so.

Today we're going to be dealing with a topic that touches us all, and that is temptation, and there's no better example to look at than our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 4.

Before we get into the message, there are a few things that I want to go over to lay a little bit of a groundwork.

The first is on the subject of temptation all together. As I had said, it's something that we all face. In some form or another, we are faced with it continually. On a day-to-day basis. But the fact of the matter is, we do not have to give in to temptation. The devil would have you believe otherwise. 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.”

Every temptation that you succumb to is one that you chose to. God always makes a way of escape for Christians. We do not have to sin. We do not have to give in. When you understand that, it takes away the excuses that we use when we do.

Secondly, I just want to give you some background to this passage here if you by chance are unfamiliar.

Chapter 1 in the book of Matthew deals with the lineage of Jesus from Abraham all the way up through Christ himself. Then it speaks of the birth of Jesus, which I'm sure we'll get into in the coming month.

Chapter 2 tells us the story of the wise men and how Joseph had to take his family and flee to Egypt as Herod hunted down all of the two-year-olds and under in Bethlehem to destroy them. Then we learn the latter part that he would take and settle in Nazareth, where Jesus would grow up.

Chapter 3 introduces a great man of God by the name of John the Baptist. It is he who would lead the way for Jesus, and in this chapter, Jesus comes unto John to be baptized in the water by him. After some objection, Jesus convinces John to baptize him. And then we get a beautiful vision of all three parts of the Godhead. Matthew 3:16–17 “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

So immediately afterward is when we see Jesus being tried - before His ministry truly began.

I. The Assessment of the Situation

Jesus was Led by the Spirit

This is an amazing point that many people fail to consider. Jesus was there because the Spirit led him there.

Many Christians today have this notion that God should make their path easy. That they should not encounter troubles, or trials, or tribulations, or temptations because they are a Christian. That just simply is not true. In fact, the path of the Christian is often times much more difficult than the path of the heathen. Consider a few examples through scripture:

When Paul was a heathen, he had it made. He was the man in charge. He was able to go and get letters and seek and destroy people he deemed ungodly. Yet, after he was saved, what was his life like, then? 2 Corinthians 11:24–28 “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”

Yet Paul was used in such a mighty way that God allowed him to pen several books in the New Testament.

Joseph had the palace in his future, but in order to get to the palace, he had to suffer persecution, endure the pit, Potiphar's house and years in prison.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to suffer in the fiery furnace.

Daniel had to suffer the lion's den.

Consider the fate of all the apostles, who were most certainly led by the Spirit of God as they did great works for the cause of Christ. Yet they were persecuted and put to death. Read Fox's Book of Martyrs and examine how so many godly Christians suffered by following the Spirit for their lives.

And of course, we certainly cannot forget Jesus Himself!

Do you think you are greater than they? What makes you believe that you shouldn't suffer hard times, trials, tribulations, and temptations?

Often times we will endure trials and temptations for they are the refining fire that molds us into the Christians God wants us to be.

Jesus was led by the Spirit.

Jesus was Led to the Wilderness

It's not only that He was led by the Spirit, but we must examine where the Spirit led Him to, and that is the wilderness.

The wilderness was a place of solitude. He had no friends to fall back on. He had no comforts of home. He was in a place, deserted and alone - BUT HE WAS NOT ALONE - AND THAT’S THE KEY

God will lead us to a place where we must rely on Him for He is all that we have.

Church, let me just say this: You do not need a support group to overcome temptation. All you need is God! He is sufficient!

Jesus was led to the wilderness.

So we see the situation. Jesus was led by the Spirit to the wilderness. Next, we're going to focus on the appeals of the tempter.

II. The Appeals of the Tempter

Know this: Temptations to sin will always come from Satan. They do not come from God.

James 1:12–15 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 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: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

The Spirit of God may have led him to that place, but it was Satan who tempted him.

So know this: whenever you give in to temptation to sin, you are giving in to Satan himself.

This is also a vital point to understand, because we must understand how Satan attacks in order to defeat him. Paul said: 2 Corinthians 2:11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

One to His Flesh (v3)

The first appeal that Satan made unto Jesus was to satisfy his flesh.

And understand this was not a sexual deviant temptation that we often in this perverse society face. This was a temptation that on the surface seemed so innocent. Think for just a moment. Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights and was hungry as anybody would have been. But the target was the same, and that is the flesh.

Just 3.5 years later, in the garden, we see this: Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

You do not have to have some grand statistics to understand that the flesh of man is ruling the day today.

Our society encourages fornication rather than condemning it.

We task the school with teaching our children sex education.

We encourage it by making birth control and abortion so readily available.

We glorify harlots such as the Kardashians and Taylor Swift.

Young girls and their pimps are making millions through pornography and sites like OnlyFans

Here’s some statistics:

Over 50% of practicing Christians (those who attend church monthly and consider faith very important) report consuming pornography with some frequency.

What’s worse? 49% of practicing Christians who view porn say they are comfortable with how much they use

Satan is most assuredly walking to and fro in America, bragging about the temptations of the flesh that not only the lost people are consuming, but the Christians as well. My friend, this should not be.

He gave an appeal to the flesh.

One to His Pride (v6)

Now we see Satan appealing to another primal instinct of fallen man, and that is his pride.

By nature, you and I are proud people. It's only through the grace of God whereby we can garner humility.

Notice on the second attempt that Satan himself would use the Word of God in an attempt to make Christ stumble. More on this in a minute.

Pride would have had Jesus been caught by the angels in front of the multitude.

Pride would have had Jesus demonstrate his true glory.

He knew that over the next three and a half years, the Pharisees and those who would pollute the temple would spend their time doing nothing more than trying to catch him and trick him into sin. He knew that ultimately they would crucify him. How much of a "in your face” moment would that have been? Satan may not have known that, but Jesus certainly did.

Satan appealed to his pride.

One to His Eyes (v8-9)

Lastly, Satan appealed not simply to his flesh or his pride, but something else that feeds both of them, and that is his eyes.

Satan showed him all the glory of all the kingdoms in the world. Can you imagine that sight? It could have been his in a moment. The people that he had for 4,000 years been pleading with to surrender unto him. That would have been a difficult sight to reject.

There's a reason why we sing that song: "Oh, be careful little eyes what you see." It's because our eyes will lead us straight into destruction and damnation.

Proverbs 27:20 “Hell and destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.”

Of course, Jesus knew this truth. Matthew 6:22–23 “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

If any of this sounds familiar, it's because it was the same temptation Eve faced in the garden, and the ones John warned us about. 1 John 2:15–17 “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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

We must guard our eyes, church, for Satan appeals to the eyes as well.

We see the assessment of the situation, the appeal of the tempter.

III. The Answer by the Saviour

Now that we've seen how Satan attacked our Lord, it's important to understand how He responded.

For what worked then will certainly work today.

What worked for Jesus will not only work for Jesus but it will work for you and I as well.

The first thing we see is that he was conditioned.

He was Conditioned (v2)

What I mean is, he was ready for the temptation before the temptation ever came to him. He had conditioned himself through fasting and prayer for the temptation that was yet to come.

If you are going to endure temptation rather than give in to it, you cannot wait until temptation is upon you to do something about it. You must prepare before time.

We've already established that we face temptations daily. So there's no reason why we cannot prepare for the temptations ahead of time, for we know that they are coming.

Let's look at the setting again, but in a more God-centered way. Not as disadvantages, but as advantages

He was led by the Spirit.

The Spirit led, and He followed. The fact of the matter is, no matter where the Spirit leads you, if you are being led by the Spirit, you are exactly where God wants you to be. And the safest place you can possibly be is in the center of God's will.

He was led to the wilderness.

In other words, he didn't have to impress anybody. It was just him and God, the Father, that were fighting this battle together. Therefore, pride entered not into the equation.

He fasted & prayed

It doesn't specifically say that he prayed, but fasting is always accompanied by prayer. So what was he doing? He was starving his flesh so that the power of the flesh would not rule the day.

Church, if we're ever going to have victory over the flesh, we've got to stop feeding it! If we're ever going to have victory over temptation, we must know that it's coming and prepare ourselves ahead of time.

He was conditioned.

He Refused to Consider

One of the strongest things that helped Jesus repel temptation is not even mentioned in Scripture by name, but it is so important.

Whenever Satan approached him, Jesus did not take time to ponder about the ramifications. He knew that it was wrong and immediately, as Barney Fife would say, "nipped it in the bud."

One of the most dangerous things you can do when you're faced with temptation is to entertain the idea. That's exactly the toehold that Satan wants in your life. Because once you begin to consider it, half of the battle is already won for him.

Jesus was posed with the temptation, and he immediately answered. He didn't need to take time to think about it or pray about it because he knew immediately it was wrong. Just like you and I, when we're faced with temptation, we will know immediately that it's wrong, but we'll entertain the thought. And that leads to nothing good.

He refused to consider.

He Countered with the Word (v4;7;10)

This is the most obvious point, but it is a point nonetheless.

Paul tells us about the armor of God in Ephesians 6. However, as you well know, the only offensive weapon we have is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. And there are times when we need to weather the storm. But we're not called to simply take the punishment of Satan. We’re to fight back. James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Resist (def) stand against; oppose

And the only thing that we have to fight back with is the Word of God. Therefore, we must know how to wield it.

I mentioned earlier about how Satan used the Word of God against Jesus. But notice Jesus' response: Matthew 4:7 “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

What Jesus was saying was, "Yes, it says that, but it also says this."

In other words, we need more than a superficial knowledge of God’sWord, we need to know it well enough to defend truth. And if you can't do that, you better get to studying else you'll fall into temptation every time.

He countered with the Word.

He Continued Steadfast

Another take-away that is vital and maybe not obvious is that he continued steadfast. What I mean by that is Satan didn't just tempt him once and then leave him alone. He did it time and time again.

If he did that for Christ, you can expect that he will do that for you and I as well.

If we are able to endure one temptation, we must make sure that we continue to be prepared and expect another attack as well.

Jesus continued Steadfast

We see the Assessment of the Situation, the Appeal of the Tempter, The Answer of Christ

IV. The Aftermath of the Encounter

By resisting temptation instead of succumbing to it, what were the results?

He was Refreshed

Jesus did not have to give in to temptation in order to be filled. God the Father took care of him.

Let me say this: You do not have to give into sin to be refreshed. God gives us a way to escape. This applies all across the board.

Stealing is never justified. If you trust God, He'll take care of you. If He can supply manna from Heaven in the wilderness, He can provide food for your table when SNAP benefits run dry.

You don't need to cross the border illegally. God can take care of you right where you're at. It's not necessity that brings many of the people here, it's lust.

Husbands, let me read some wisdom to you: Proverbs 5:15–20 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, And rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, And not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: And rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; And be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of a stranger?”

God has given you wives to satisfy your flesh - you need not seek it with another or on the internet.

Young people, if you can’t contain yourselves, get married. If someone wants to have sex with you, but are not willing to marry you first - THEN THEY ARE NOT THE PERSON FOR YOU! (There’s nothing that kills the mood than a crying baby…)

Jesus withstood the temptation, and was Refreshed

He was Redeemed

He was ‘vindicated’. He proved Himself worthy and fit for the ministry He was called to do.

How many of you have overcome temptation by the Blood of the Lamb, and when you come out the other side you feel clean instead of dirty?

Overcoming temptation feels a whole lot better than succumbing to it.

He was redeemed.

He was Rewarded

Satan offered him a perverted kingdom. It was counterfeit. But do you know where Jesus is right now? He's sitting on the right hand of the Father waiting for the call to come get his children and begin the Eternal Reign of our Lord.

The Lord rewards his faithful children who endure temptation.

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.”

Temptation in a real sense is an exercise in patience. If we endure temptation and wait upon the LORD, He will renew our strength & strengthen our hearts

He was Rewarded

Conclusion

I wonder how many of you have been dealing with temptation - and the results have not been good. Well, right here, right now, you have two options.

You can either:

Continue doing what you're doing and continue failing as you're failing - And drive that wedge between you and the Lord deeper and deeper.

Or you can come to this altar and seek help from the Lord. Admit to him that you're struggling. He knows it anyway.

Confess your sin unto Him and get it cleansed, get right with the Lord, and get strength & determination for the next battle.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Temptation is something all of us face. You're not alone. The only question is, what will you do about it?

You might be here today & you’re lost. You succumb to temptation, because you have not the Power of the Holy Spirit within you.

I want you to know that the Lord offers so much more than salvation. He offers you the power and the strength to live a life that is godly and holy. But you must first put your faith in Him. Will you do that today?