The Pathway of Tempation

Introduction.

Let me read you a well written poem by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

and sorry I could not travel both

and be one traveler, long I stood

and looked down as one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth:

Then took the other, just as fair,

and having perhaps the better claim

because it was grassy and wanted wear :

though As for that, the passing there

had warned them really about the same,

and both that morning equally lay

in leaves no feet had trodden black.

Or, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how may lead on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

somewhere ages and ages hence:

two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference .

For those of you getting to know me and for those of you do not I am not a poet. I must confess that writing out words to express inner thoughts , is not one of my top 10 list of things to do. To my delight this morning’s passage is not about poetry but it's about the life of a disciple of Christ more specifically the temptations we face along the road of life.

So this morning we're going to look at the pathway of temptation this morning will focus on peter's temptation and how he walked the pathway of temptation

A Disciple’s examples on the Pathway of Temptation

This week as I researched and read over peter's life I was reminded of one of my childhood friends. You see, I was raised in a small church and grew up in the same with the same children. There were some that left and some that came, but for the majority of the time we were the same group of people.

Description of Peter

One of the boys named Paul was a leader in the group . If there was something to be done, he would volunteer. If there were decisions to be made, he made them. If there was a need for a leader, he led. If you appeared. Get the picture. There was Paul. The fondest memory I have a pool was the time our youth group had spent a weekend retreat at a campground. Several of us had decided that we would get out of in one of the canoes and make her way around the water pier little did we know but the conversation conservation police were out on the water at the same time as we were and decided to see what these crazy kids were doing. They pulled up beside the bold and asked, who's in charge!.

Guess who said, quote I am! Quote you're right, Paul. Unfortunately for Paul, there was also an RC MP in the boat with the conversation list. Paul hadn't paid a parking ticket and now was receiving another ticket for not falling the laws on the water. Paul was very similar to Peter as I see him in this passage. Peter had passion. He always wanted to be at the centre of attention. Maybe some of you know maybe some of you here today can identify with Peter and my friend Paul. You may be one of those people. You may have somehow someone in your life that you know that it's like Peter. Christ saw this as a positive trait and yet many times in peter's life his enthusiasm got him into trouble.

Today or this week you may find yourself once again along the road of temptations pathway. You're in fine company. Peter, the rock, a chosen disciple of Christ struggled with his very thing.

Matthew 26:69–75 ESV

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Verse 69 begins with the story in this passage with Peter sitting outside the courtyard and is approached by servant girl. If you were reading this for the first time without any background to the text you would have this would not seem unusual period

To understand the whole context of this situation we must understand what has happened just before the event. Jesus had spent three years in close contact with Peter.

Peter on many occasions showed signs of passion.

Matthew 14:28–29 ESV

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

Matthew 14 tells us that after seeing Jesus walking on the water, he wanted to literally follow in Christ's footsteps

Matthew 15:15 ESV

15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”

when the disciples were clueless as to the meaning of the parable Peter was the one who asked explain the parable to us Matthew 1515

Matthew 16:16 ESV

16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

words of passion from peter's mouth.

Matthew 16:22 ESV

22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

Peter even rebuked Jesus Matthew 1622

I can well imagine that Peter after hearing the words from Jesus that the church was going to be built on his name, made him even stronger in his passion to be the best disciple.

Can you relate? God has called us to ministry. The purpose behind each of our ministries is not to lift ourselves up or to receive praise, rather it is serving Christ and bring honor and glory to him. New pathway entering the pathway

Entering the Pathway

Peter was entering into what I've called the pathway of temptation.

Temptation comes in many forms and can appear quickly or slowly. I am sure Peter wasn't even aware that he was entering the pathway.

That is how quickly we can enter this path. The pathway is many different forms as there are people. Entering the pathway begins when we begin to take her eyes off the God.

Peter's desire to be the best disciple drew him into looking and what was good for Peter rather than Jesus. How his actions, Peter thought, were what Jesus wanted him to do in described situations. How many times do we find ourselves in that situation?

Now we enter the story when Christ states that all his disciples will desert him in a moment of need. Peter response was one of personal denial. "never me" that is the first sign that Peter was walking down the road to temptation.

The true question that Peter should have asked his,”is it going to be that bad Jesus that ever I even I, passionate Peter, would walk away from you? " wold, “ I really deserved you in the name of in the time of your need? "

The part he plays in the passage

Now we enter the garden scene Jesus has betrayed and Peter stands up to defend the Lord with a sword. Brave move, bold move, but not what Jesus was wanting. Jesus was arrested and the disciples fled. Judas must have been betrayed must have betrayed Christ that moment, but it was all the disciples that deserted him.

one commentary writes which I believe sums up the road of temptation that Peter walks down . " Peter failed Christ by sleeping when he should have been praying, fighting with a sword when he should have been yielding, and fleeing when he boasted what he would die for the Lord. "

the Cup verse 39 was the price Christ would pay for by being made sin on the cross his holy nature revolted at the prospect of being made sin, it is holy will was one with the father and he willingly laid down his life. "

Submitting to temptation

Peter had been told that he would deny Christ. Were Christ’s words that Peter would deny Christ a warning or prediction. As I read through these words and studied the passages, I believe the answer is yes. Christ was trying to reach Peter to examine his action based on the underlying heart issue.

The denial would then be response to the heart of the matter. Peter knew with his head what he needs to do, but his heart was set on how it would affect him. His yielding to temptation was for selfish praise. Christ both knew the situation and peter's heart, yet he lovingly warned it predicted peter's response.

"Peter, a fisherman, tries to be a soldier and win spiritual victories with the carnal weapon! We need to remind ourselves that Christ does not need to be defended. We fight Satan, not flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:10-18) the weapons we use are spiritual, not fleshly (2Cor 10:3-5; Heb 4:12)”.

Realization of condition

let us once again take a look at the text Peter finds himself in the courtyard outside the area where Jesus was being held I could only imagine the many thoughts are running through his head a desire to be Christ side, confusion, bewilderment, then along came the first girl, a servant girl. In that culture of the day it was a person with little or no value.

You see, calling Jesus ,the Galilean, was a form of content. She also must have been loud and pointing out Peter for his denial response was to the greater crowd. The verse is quite clear, "he denied them before them all, " verse 69

Peter now finds himself leaving the pathway of temptation to the road of sin. The first step in his denial of Christ.

Moving along with the crowd, Peter finds himself in a new location with possible different people around that last time he made his pronouncements. Again, Matthew records a second servant girl identifies Peter as the one who was with quotation Jesus of Nazareth. Quotation this description was important for Matthew recording because it was fulfillment of a prophecy.

This time Peter ups the Anti and not only denies Christ or any knowledge of Christ, but he uses a personal oath to proclaim that statement. When we find ourselves in the midst of sin and off the road of temptation, it come harder and more outrage the lies we used to cover up our sin . Peter at this point must have been scared in what all this attention would bring upon him.

The final accusation was the strongest. The accent, his upbringing had tided him directly to Christ. This time it was a man not a servant who is identifying Peter. He is spiraling down out of control and thinking only to himself. Peter brings curses upon his upbringing and strongly claims his denial of Christ.

Several years ago when the movie called the passion of the Christ came out, I was amazed by the cinematography used to capture that moment. In the movie, the Roster crows and the camera fades to Jesus. For most leaders or parents the eyes would show an attitude of quotation told you so quotation or quotation why didn't you just listen to me quotation. Not so in the movie. The eyes of Christ response to peter's one of love and compassion. Christ knew peter's response and his love for Jesus, but he also knew his actions were for personal gain.

Scripture records that when the rooster crows three times Jesus his words to Peter hit him. I believe it was at that moment that Peter realized the impact of his actions and how related to Jesus rather than the effect he would leave on himself.

In the message description was

Matthew 26:75 The Message

75 Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

One commentary writes, “ it was forgetting the word that got him into sin, and now by remaining the word, his cold heart was warmed again Luke 24:32 and he wept in repentance . After his resurrection, Jesus met Peter and the disciples was restored to fellowship. Peter sorrow was a godly sorrow that resulted in repentance and forgiveness. Quotation seek second Corinthians 7 verse 10 .

In that moment, Peter realized that his actions were not Christ centred. He may have also come to the realization that his desire to be the best disciple, " the pathway of temptation " and began to process the move to the road of recovery .

Our journey on the pathway of temptation

What does that mean for us? What can we take away from peter's example on his journey on the pathway? Let me outline three things that we need to be aware of as we journey through life. If we are truly honest with ourselves we often find ourselves on the pathway of temptation. I'd like to leave you with three ways that would that we know we're traveling down the pathway of temptation. First we must recognize we have entered the pathway. Second we realized that we find herself being comfortable with the pathway. Finally, we truly know we're on the pathway Wendy fruit when we begin to enjoy the pathway.

Entering the pathway

Each one of us has the propensity to be like either Judas or Peter. Temptations are real and are different for each one of us. First of all let me state that God is not wanting us to be on this pathway. He's not the one tempting us to sin. He asked us to remain holy, to see his will and to look to God for answers to the many questions in our lives, but inevitably we find ourselves drawn to the temptations of life .

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

To know we are walking on the path of temptation we can ask three simple questions

Where is my focus?

Is our focus on God? Are we daily walking spending time reading, listening, and praying to God?

Luke 21:36 ESV

36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

How is your standing?

I've been told that those who are trained to identify counterfeit money are given the real thing to examine. All their training is handling all different denominations of the real thing.

They are never given counterfeit money to examine.

Why? The rationale is this, that moment they come in contact with the fake, it will stand out.

Something will not be the same as the real thing.

They know the real thing so when the artificial will be clear.

So too is it with our lives. When we stay immersed in God's word and teaching that that we begin to enter to the world and his temptation that we can identify for what they're worth.

Am I prepared to enter the pathway

As I stated earlier all of us will at one time or another will find ourselves on the pathway of temptation. This is a common to us. The question we need to ask herself is are we prepared when we are on it?

Do you people in your life help you with this?

Do you have a spiritual support group that you have allowed entry into Your life?

We often Blinders on and can't realize that we're walking down the pathway. Having people set up in your life or is important question. Are you a part of a connecting group that you can challenge you, encourage you, or even challenge you in your life? Do you open yourself to the examination? Do we open ourselves to God to examine our lives?

Another way to be prepared when you enter the pathways to know what tempts you. Think about it. What is been some of the temptations in your life in the past period bigger small. Do you struggle with impure thoughts, stay away from the TV shows or movies, what you read that triggers those thoughts. Do you struggle with gossip, challenge yourself with only speaking to things that are happening in your life and not of others. I could go on and on and be rest assured that I picked these simple temptations because they are common to all of us . You will need to identify what tempts you and prepare yourself for them.

Am I on the pathway

The last question is am I on the pathway? Can you identify when you are being tempted? Peter continues down his path because the slippery slope of temptation is just that, slippery. Not being able to identify that we are on the pathway will lead us to the next stage of the pathway. We will find your selves like Peter soon weeping because you are once again yielding to temptation.

Comfort on the pathway

The next part along the pathway can be described as being comfortable. Peter was there, comfortable and going along the path without cares about our situation. Jesus challenged Peter on several occasions to watch, to be aware. At one moment when he was thinking about more about himself, we find that Jesus described him as Satan.

When we are comfortable in the pathway we begin to rationalize away the temptation in our lives. Have you ever wondered why Peter was hanging around in the courtyard? Were the words of Christ, that he would deny his lowered, pushed him so far down in his thoughts that he placed himself in a mob type environment to see Christ, or was he in a comfortable place in his mind that he would have never dreamed that he would deny.

Being comfortable on the pathway is having the mindset that you have overcome your previous temptation and the victory you has that has you thinking you can lower your guard. We all have had victory over temptation. That victory comes from God grace poured into our lives. Peter

Peter was in that situation. He had come to believe that in his heart that nothing could stop him. He was going to be the hero when Christ was betrayed. He was going to be faithful disciple that would not fail. The Bible doesn't tell us specifically what the other feeling disciples dead or what they went but the narrative describes Peter action. Being comfortable in the pathway is best understood as one who feels they are unstoppable without the help of Christ. This person knows that their temptations all around them and rather than fleeing or avoiding they stay close enough without heeding the call to flee the temptation.

The longer a person stays comfortable in the pathway of temptation the easier they find themselves in the next stage of temptation. I would describe this as enjoying the temptations path .

Enjoying the pathway

As Peter continued to progress to his third denial of Christ that time when Christ was being held, we to move from a temptation to full outright yielding to temptation. Enjoying may not be the best way to describe this stage, but it is way to describe the justification we often use when we submit to temptations. God would mind, it doesn't matter. It was for a good cause. The problem with being in the stage of the pathway it is wrong. Living in this stage of temptation is no longer temptation but rather sin. Fortunately for us, Peter gave an excellent example and living in the pathway of temptation and more importantly how to leave this pathway .

Leaving the pathway of temptation

If there's one thing I can give you today in have something to walk away it would be this. Temptations pathway will be a part of our lives . It is learning how to leave this pathway period to not only leave but to have noted no desire to walk down this path. First Corinthians 1013 states

The good news is Christ response to our sin. He has paid the penalty for our sin. It has been removed

Examination of our lives of by the Holy Spirit

A power to overcome all temptation is through the power of the Holy Spirit and not that of our own strength. Jesus told his disciples to watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak period quotation we need to daily ask the spirit of God to examine our live in to bring our light to our sin. It is very easy to want to stay on the path of temptation, but is not what God desires of us.

When we invite the spirit of God to come into our lives we should have the same response that Peter shells in this passage. He wept it was more than crying. It was a deep remorse for sins.

Examination of a remorse for sins

The 2nd way to be effective is leaving the pathway of temptation is how we handle our remorse of our sin through the holy spirit's convictions. When my boys were younger they were quotation caught quotation something they would knew was wrong at often see tears. Learning which tears were of quotation or I got caught now and now what is going to happen quotation in tears of true remorse.

Peters experience that true remorse that night when he heard the rooster in jesus's words came roaring through his head. It was the remorse of letting his own desires rather than following Christ. Peter's desire to be known as the disciple rather than known as the servant of God was his struggle. True repentance and remorse for sin is when we realized that God is holy in our sin hurts him. In Peters remorse he realizes the pain that he brought on his Lord. His actions were more to do with self preservation than support of his Lord. The very thing he vowed he would never do. True remorse has a 360 turn around from sin.

Strengthen our relationship with God

One pastor wrote quote since communication with God is to occur throughout the day, don't imagine that precludes the need for passion in your prayers. Paul commanded the Colossians “ devote yourself to prayer, keeping it alert ", (4:2) bracket, and he warned the diffusion to do to be on the alert with all perseverance and petition quotation as they prayed (Ephesians 6:18)

For prayer to accomplish what God wants in our lives, it must be an all dash consuming practice that makes alertness and perseverance in most valuable commodities. Quotation marks

Conclusion

Good news, Christ work on the cross has paved a way to spend eternity with God. We need to leave the path we have temptation and commit ourselves to travel the paved Rd to be fulfilled life with God. John 1010

In conclusion to allow will you allow me to take Roberts Frost’s first poem and applied today.

Two roads diverged on temptations path, and I I took the one less traveled by because Christ has made all the difference