Jesus and Temptation
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02-24-2019
Matthew Chapter 4
Jesus’s Temptation
Intro -
I did not take Monday off after my fall
Actually it is pretty miracles but I was that sore or hurt
Thank you for your prayers and Praise the Lord!
This morning we are going to look at
In particular Jesus’ temptation
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus is tempted
There is a lot of speculation as to what Jesus being tempted meant
There is some thought that Jesus was tempted prior to taking His role as the Messiah, or prior to Him leading a nation
Not sure that fits because before there was anything
I tend to land that the way in which Jesus was tempted is how you and I are tempted
I believe that this story which actually happened should give us some insight into how you and I are tempted
It should also give us some insight and example of how to handle temptation
First maybe we should understand temptation
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
First things first, if you are a child of God, if you have been adopted by Jesus and as Scripture puts it heirs to the promise of Jesus
Then no temptation will overcome you and I
It doesn’t mean that we are safe from temptation, it does me that because we have the spirit of the Living God inside of we will not be overcome
This verse also speaks to the power of temptation
Often times you and I will say that temptation is so much stronger than you or I, again if we are children of the Living God then there is no temptation that can overcome us
But when we are tempted there is always a way out
You might not think so in the moment but there is
If we are honest we know there is but for some reason we like the sin a little bit
You and I will be tempted to sin, you and I will be tempted in all sorts of ways, but understand that there is always a way out of the temptation
Jesus understands our temptation
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
See Jesus understands us
Praise the Lord we have a high priest and a savior who understands us
I mean you wouldn’t want me to be the high priest or the savior because I don’t understand some of you
I don’t understand you and you don’t understand me
But Jesus does
See Jesus being tempted was not to check off a list to ensure he could be the savior of the universe
Jesus being tempted was about him stepping down from heaven to understand his beloved creation
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
A few things should be noted before we dive in
Jesus went to the wilderness for the purpose to be tested
See prior to being tested Jesus fasted
Jesus was prepared
I am not saying that you will know when you are being tested but I do believe that we are to prepared, because we don’t know when it will come
Then it goes on to say that Jesus was hungry
You would to if you had fasted for 40 days
Another point to prove that Jesus was fully hungry
Had he not been fully God I am not so sure he would have gotten hungry like that
Again just more back story to understanding when we read this Jesus understands your struggle and my struggle
Jesus did not create us and then put us in this world without understanding what we face, or what this life is like
3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
First the tempter comes to him and sees that He is vulnerable and tempts him with getting his way the wrong way
First thing is you and I should understand the tempter does not come when we are ready
People don’t punch you in the nose if you are ready
People don’t slip when they are ready
rather you and I fall into temptation when we are not prepared, when we are not ready, when we least expect it
Because lets be honest if we are ready for it then it isn't that devastating
The tempter tempts Him with a legitimate temptation
Jesus is hungry and the tempter says he you are hungry why don’t you make some bread
The problem here is not eating but rather it is how you and I go about getting it
see for Jesus to make the bread there is no trust or dependence of God to provide for Him
You and I will be tempted to do some legitimate things in our lives but it is how we go about getting them
will you and I lie and cheat our way to get what we physically need in this life
Or will we trust in the Lord to provide for us like He always has?
Will be not give so much to the church because we have more bills this month?
Will be completely withhold our tithe so we can make our house payment so they don’t come and take our house, or so we can go and buy food?
Because we need shelter and we need food right
Or do we trust in the Lord!?!
Jesus’s answer is unique, I haven't tried physically eating the Bible but I understand that it does fulfill my ever need
I have moments in my life where I rest in the Lord and Trust in Him!
I have experienced the peace Paul talks about in Philippians that this world cannot understand
Jesus answers the tempter
3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
Moses is explaining to the entire nation
He was reminding them that God had provided for them in the past and will continue to provide for them in the future
Church that is our answer that God will continue to provide for us as He always has
We find our strength in the Word of God we find nourishment from the Word of God
We understand also that Jesus’s comeback the tempter back in is from scripture
See Jesus was a student of the Word of God
Rather than trying to justify our sin to others, we need to answer the tempter with Scripture!
5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Notice this particular temptation the tempter takes us to what we think we deserve, or what we know we will get
and then he uses scripture and begins to twist scripture to make it say things that he wants
Church you and I need to be students of the Word so we don’t fall for the lies spoke by the father of lies
Jesus was again a student of the Word, He knew the word of God so well He was able to discern that the tempter was twisting it
The tempter begins to take it out of context and change the meaning of it all together
Often times we are tempted to force Gods hand on issues
with statements like, if you do this God I will do this
Or God I did this so you owe me this or that
Or God if really want me to do this then God you need to do XYZ
sometimes we even do that with scripture
we begin to take parts of scripture or the entire piece out of context and it changes the meaning all together
Rather then getting into a big debate Jesus answers again with Scripture!
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.
Moses again tells the entire nation they are not to tempt God as they did at Massah
Massah was the place in the dessert they began to test God
Church I don’t believe that we cannot ask God difficult questions during our times of trouble, I do believe that we can cry out to God
But I don’t believe that we are to puff our chest up and challenge God in an attempt to force God’s hand to favor us
I believe that the tempter does that with us, tempts us to use scripture to challenge God thinking we deserve whatever blessing we think we will get from God
Church we are to know the word of God so when the tempter twists it to us, we will recognize it as being wrong
We must be students of the word of God!
8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
The tempter takes Jesus to a high mountain and show him the kingdoms of the world!
The tempter tells Jesus that to get all of this the only very simple thing he has to do is to worship him
Jesus is going to get all of this anyways
Jesus is tempted though to get it at the wrong time or the wrong way
You and I are tempted to get things at the wrong time, almost goes back to trying to Force God’s hand
Sometimes we will get something or do something and then ask God to bless it rather than asking God if we need it or should do it in the first place
Church we are experts at this within the church
we will come up with some really good programs and think this is exactly what the church needs, I can see it so lets make it happen
And we do, we make things happen apart from God and then ask God to bless this ministry or program
Instead church our prayers should be seeking God and asking Him if said ministry, or said program is what He wants when He wants it
Notice how Jesus answers again
Jesus uses Scripture!!
13 “You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 “You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,
Do you understand how important know the Word of God is in life
If you and I expect to survive this things called life we need to, we must be reading and memorizing the Word of God
Moses again giving advice to the nation
God is the one true God and the Only true God
You and I will be tempted to cave to people saying that ali the God of Islam is the same God you and I worship
know what they word of God says and use that rather then trying to debate others
11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
This is a beautiful verse about what happens after we are tempted
God sent the angels to minister to His beloved son!
and Jesus was perfect and without sin and God still sends his angels to minister to His son whom he loved
Maybe you are here today like me and have been tempted and have given into temptation at some point
Maybe you are like me and have failed at all of these
You know if the Bible stopped there we would all be in a world of hurt because Jesus never sinned
all that really gave us was some advice to resist temptation, and to know that Jesus was able to fend of temptation
But!
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Church God has made it possible if you have messed up to still walk with Him!
Church the Bible is clear that if you and I confess our sins and repent which is to turn away and desire to not do them
To trust that God gives us freedom from the power of sin and live in that trust
God can and will forgive us our sins
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
You and I will understand that you and I are saved by the Grace of God
Grace - getting what we don’t deserve from God
you can’t earn or buy the grace of God
Through our faith in Jesus who died on the cross to save us!
Church do you understand you can have walked in here today, and heard a sermon about the temptation of Jesus
Understood that you have failed and given into all those temptations and feel defeated
BUT!
God made a way fro you and I to find forgiveness and freedom from that temptation and sin and guilt
It is at the cross!!
closing
maybe you are here today and you know for a fact you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus
there will be people down front
Maybe you are here today and you are struggling with sin and failing into temptation grace is waiting for you at the altar if you will confess it to God and repent!
The altar is open!