Resisting Temptation 1.

Introduction

I am so happy to be back with you guys after being out for a few weeks. i hope you were able to spend some time with your families and with friends. A couple of Sunday’s ago I asked you guys to give me ideas on what we could talk about on Wednesday’s as we take a break from recieved several great ideas and I wish I could just teach on all of them but I decided to spend the next few weeks talking about how we can “resist temptation.”

If you have breath in your lungs, temptation is something you struggle with…perhaps even give yourself up to. If you are a Christian you know the struggle of wanting to serve and please God but also the heavy wight of your flesh that pulls you away from him and into sin. It is my prayer that over the next couple of weeks you acquire some tools that can help you as you fight temptation in your life.

Over the next few weeks we will be almost exclusively focusing on the story of Adam and Eve and how this struggle began. Paul tells us in Romans chapter five that the effects of the fall were passed to everyone, everywhere. The struggle that was introduced with Adam Eve did not end there. In fact, the story that unfolds in Genesis chapter 3 is the same story that unfolds in our own lives when we are tempted. So, before we run out of time open your Bibles to Genesis chapter three and then turn over to Matthew chapter four and keep you finger there.

In the Garden

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It is always interesting to me how the serpent is described in , “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast that the Lord God had made.” There are two words or phrases that describe the serpent; he is “crafty” and “made”. In other words, the serpent was clever but he was still a creature and subjected to the authority of God. It is almost like the writer of Genesis is telling us ahead of time, “the serpent is only a creature… he relies on crafty and clever words because he has no power.”

The serpent find the woman in the garden, surrounded by trees of various fruits and asks her, “Did God actually say, you cannot eat of any tree in the garden?” This is the most clever and crafty of tricks the serpent has… he puts question into the mind of the woman about the word of God. What the serpent is trying to do is make the commands of God to seem lacking in grace. In other words, the serpent was really saying, “God has put you in this garden but wont let you eat anything?! What kind of God is that?” Is this not what happens to us sometimes when we are tempted? Our friends may express doubt about God because he “withholds” so many “pleasures” in this world. There are forbidden trees all around us and the world will tell you that if God really loved you he would not withhold these pleasure from you. Who are you listening to?

Now, we know and so did she that God did not say that she could not eat of any tree…just one tree. In fact, that is what she says to him. “Oh no, God only told us we could not eat of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. All other trees are good for us to eat. However, if we eat of the tree in the midst of the garden we will surely die.” At this point in the story Eve seems to be doing well, God had given Eve his word and this seemed to be enough for her. Yes, she trusted God’s word. If God told her to not eat of the fruit of this one tree there must be good reason for it. After all, he is her creator and he knows better than anyone what is best for her. He has given her and her husband this beautiful garden to live and all that they would ever need. In other words, God had already given Eve everything she needed to be satisfied. God had given Eve his word and it is the trust worthiness of God’s is what the serpent will seek to destroy in the heart of Eve.

The serpent takes it up a notch after seeing that Eve was not budging. “You will not surely die...” In others, “Eve God has been lying to you. He just wants to control you because he is afraid you will become like him after you know good and Evil.” Ah, here is the crafty serpent that was spoken of in verse three. There is nothing that will break your trust for someone like finding out that they are a liar. Hearing this from the serpent produced doubt in the heart of Eve. The serpent had hooked her. He knew if he got her to question the word of God then he would be able to coerce her into eating the fruit. This is so evident in our current culture. Everywhere we turn there are people attempting to convince us that God’s word is not true and that we are wasting our time believing it. It is keeping us from enjoying life.

If Eve cared about the consequences of her actions she did not show it. She looked at the fruit on the tree…he doubt about the goodness of God that was provided to her by the serpent caused her to look at the tree and see its fruit and it was “Good” and a “delight to the eyes.” The word “saw” here is not a quick glance or a catch of the eye. Eve gazed deeply at the tree. She examined its limbs and leaves and saw every intricacy of its bark. She must have been considering the taste and texture of its fruit and decided that the momentary pleasure of the fruit of the tree was worth the consequences of her actions. However, more than likely she believed the lie of the serpent. She wouldn’t die…

Our knee jerk response here is to look at this and blame the serpent. While he is the influencer in this story he is not the cause. Notice it said, “she saw the tree” and “She took the fruit.” Eve made it up in her mind that this is what she was going to do. Eve and only Eve was responsible for her sin.

This is how temptation happens for us all. Satan comes to us in an effort to destroy our trust in the word of God. He is crafty and clever and it is often not easy to determine what he is doing. Perhaps for you, he is using a group of friends in your life to influence you to believe that giving into your temptation is liberating. You are being yourself and that is all that matters. They are saying that any God who withhold anything from you is not a good God. Or perhaps you believe that there are no consequences for your sin. You know, those sins no one sees. The ones that don’t have immediate consequences. Perhaps you have believed, “I wont die.” Whatever it may be, our resisting of temptation begins with one thing… do we trust God’s word? We give way to temptation when we take our eyes off of the promises of God and indulge in our sin. What I think is interesting her is that the picture that is painted here is almost as if Eve turned from God to the tree. She took her gaze off of God and looked upon the tree.

In the Desert

Now, turn with me to Matthew chapter 4. Here we see a similar story take place.

beings by informing us that Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” What an interesting thing. Why would the spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? I mean, is that not something most people try to avoid. After all, we are talking about how to resist temptation and the spirit is leading Jesus into the wilderness in order that he might be tempted. The fact is, just as with anything in life we will not know how to resist temptation without the example of Christ to show us. This is waht the writer of Hebrews means when he says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Christ was led into the wilderness to do what Adam and Eve could not do and to give us an example of how we can do the same.

It is not by accident that there are similarities between and . In the Genesis account Adam and Eve are tempted to eat the fruit and here Jesus is tempted to eat bread. In both situations eating the food is outside of the will of God and in Both situations the devil is found to be questioning the word of God. David Platt says, “Jesus steps into the same story Adam stepped into, but Jesus is able to stand where Adam fell. Jesus is a new Man, unlike Adam and unlike all of us in the universal human story who have succumbed to sin.”

I also want to point out the condition of Christ when he was tempted. He was hungry. It would have made sense for him to fall and take up satan at his word and turn the stones into bread. If you hadn’t eaten in forty days you may have skipped the miracle and just eaten the rocks. I think this is so important for us to see because often, even if we are strong in our faith we fall to sin when we are most vulnerable to. It’s when we have fought the battle for so long and we are tired and giving in seems much easier than resisting. But, lets not miss how Jesus resisted the temptation of the devil. it was not by his own effort, and it wasn’t by trying harder. It was by the word of God. Three times Jesus responds to satan by quoting directing from the Old Testament. Satan even tries to twist the words of God in verse five, just like he did in Genesis three. However, rather than Jesus going, “You know what, your’e right.” He instead answered back again with the word of God.

In short, Jesus resisted the devil by believing and trusting in the word of God. When it seemed like Christ was alone in the wilderness, he wasn’t. The Spirit led him there but he did not leave him there. In verse 11 we find the angles ministering to Christ after he completed his battle with the devil. Likewise, God has sent us a comforter in the Holy Spirit who ministers to us before, during and after our battle with temptation. You are not alone in your fight and in fact it is not your fight to win. Jesus resisted temptation by God’s word alone and nothing else. It was God’s word that caused him to resist temptation. In doing so, Christ did what Adam could not do and if we believe him, trust in his word and rely on the spirit we will be able to resist temptation. However, we cannot do this apart from faith… we cannot trust God’s word if we do not have faith in him. We cannot resist temptation if we are not saved.

Conclusion

Have you been losing your battle? Does it seem like sin have overcome you? May I ask you the most serious question of all? Have you been changed by christ? Has he come to live inside of you and has he changed you? Have you been saved? If you have not set your heart towards Christ and trusted in him I pray tonight is the night you do so! There is one thing I can promise you… you will find yourself in the wilderness and you will be hungry..perhaps tonight you are already there. The bread of satan will not satisfy you and without Christ you will surely die in that wilderness. Place your faith in him tonight and plead with him to forgive you of your sins and empower you to resist temptation. He will do so with joy!