Yield Not to Temptation!

Introduction:

This week we remembered the events from 19 years ago when terrorism came to our shores. In response to these attacks, a war on terror was declared.

As the web of combatants was sequentially captured, many debates were had about prisoner rights, were those held at Guantanamo Bay detainees or war prisoners? What techniques were acceptable to get answers for the interrogators? 13 Enhanced interrogation techniques were deployed to elicit information that some considered torture and others considered intelligence gathering.

Each detainee had a different breaking point. Similarly, each of us have different breaking points with various temptations that we face. Some of us have great struggles in one area, while others succumb much easier to other temptations. To some the besetting sin is drugs or alcohol, to others it may be promiscuity, while to others it may be property or ego. Some of us can’t walk past a piece of chocolate cake, while other become obsessed with praise of our peers.

Transition: Whatever temptation reveals your weak breaking point, Jesus experienced temptation and provides an example for you to resist and experience victory.

Jesus’ Temptation Identifies Him with Humanity (3:23-38)

Genealogy links to Adam (3:38)

1. Seth was a 3rd named son conceived after Cain killed Abel

2. Believing in a literal Adam and Eve and a common ancestry for all humanity, Eve must have conceived other unnamed children (e.g. Where did Cain get his wife?)

3. Matthew’s gospel was written to prove Jesus’ right to claim the role of Messiah, so he traces through Mary to Abraham, the Father of Judaism.

4. Luke’s gospel is written to prove Jesus’ authority over all races so he traces through Joseph (legal sonship) to Adam, the father of us all (and ultimately to God, whose image all of us bear).

Temptation is Common (Heb 4:15)

Hebrews 4:15 ESV:2016

15 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.

I know I’ve used the illustration of POW’s in the past. How some prisoners are able to resist until rescue while others collapse under interrogation.

· Jesus’ exposure to temptation was in every respect like ours, BUT He resisted the full force of the attraction to give in.

Jesus proves resistance is possible

1. Jesus begins his earthly public ministry with submission to the Father’s will and victory over Satan.

2. At the end of the gospels we find that Jesus concludes his earthly public ministry with submission to the Father’s will and victory over Satan.

3. The bookends of his life among us, give us a strong example to follow.

Transition: The last couple of Sundays the sermon may not have seemed real relevant except to the extent that we are all to seek the Father’s will first and prepare the way for Christ’s second coming. But today’s message impacts every one of us daily because…

Jesus’ Temptation is same as all of Humanity

As we will see in the next few minutes, the temptation we face in 2020 is the same as that which was encountered in both Old and New Testaments, before the Fall and after the Resurrection.

A Timeless Description of Temptation (1 Jn 2:16)

1 John 2:16 ESV:2016

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

1. I see something (desire of the eyes)

2. I like/want something (desire of the flesh)

3. I convince myself that this will make me happy (pride of life)

Eve’s Encounter with Temptation (Gen 3:6)

Genesis 3:6 ESV:2016

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Israel’s Encounter with Temptation (Psalm 91)

1. Satan’s quote in vv.10-11 comes from Psalm 91:11-12.

2. Satan surely sees a link between this experience and the experience some 1400 years earlier.

3. Wilderness – same place [not the same wilderness because Jesus is within the Promised Land and Israel was outside the Promised Land, but they were both barren, deserted, unhabitable places]

If the wilderness setting of this psalm is established, then Satan’s use of Ps. 91 in the context of Jesus’ use of Deut. 6–8 in the wilderness setting becomes all the more significant[i]

4. 40 – same quantity of duration

· 40 is a frequent number to identify testing – Noah’s flood, Moses’ desert, Israelites before conquest, Jesus before public ministry. 40 lashes was the maximum that could be administered (Dt 25:3) & 40 days was the time of purification after childbirth.

A Hint about defeating Temptation (Deut 6-8)

1. Jesus’ temptation came in 3 waves

· The three temptations were: (1) Serve Yourself (Lk 4:3–4); (2) Honor Yourself (4:5–8); (3) Be spectacular (be presumptuous and prove Your self-importance; 4:9–12).[ii]

2. All 3 of Jesus’ responses come from these 3 chapters in Deuteronomy (6:13,16; 8:3)

3. The three responses of Jesus come from Deut. 6–8. These chapters belong to the section where one finds the stipulations of the covenant made between God and Israel his covenant partner.[iii]

4. Each of us yields to temptation when we exchange our desires for God’s glory.

5. The opening section of Deut. 6–8, which focuses on the call to Israel to be faithful and obedient, contains the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (6:4–5)[iv]

Application

1. Where Eve yielded, Israelites yielded, humanity yields, Jesus resisted.

Transition: How does my diversion from God’s glory contribute to my downfall?

Temptation and You

Autopsy of Temptation (1 Jn 2:16)

1. The word tempted in 4:2 carries a double meaning.

I have encountered teachers who gave tests for 2 different reasons. 1) Sometimes a teacher gives an exam at the beginning of class to find out how much the students don’t know so that he/she can adjust lessons plans. 2)After instruction, teachers give exams to establish how much the students do know.

The second type of exam is meant to encourage the student that progress is being made.

2. Some people see this temptation as a very real enticement by the devil (4:2)for Jesus to fail. Others see that Jesus has just been affirmed at His baptism, 4:1 indicates He is full of the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit leads him to the Wilderness to demonstrate His first win.

3. From Eve’s earliest exposure to rebellion to the end of the New Testament where John writes his first epistle, we see the same plot:

· I see something

· I like/want something

· I convince myself that this will make me happy.

4. The same pattern continues to this day.

Cure for Temptation (PS 119:9)

Psalm 119:9 ESV:2016

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

1. Know God’s will

a. Scripture Quoting – many cite that Jesus’ response to Satan’s challenges was to quote the Bible.

b. God Speaking – Jesus wasn’t just reciting words, He understood that the words of God reveal the will of God and that submitting to God’s will is the key to victorious Christian living.

Isaiah 55:11 ESV:2016

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

c. When God speaks, He speaks with a purpose and wisdom is knowing how/when to apply God’s will to a situation.

2. Love God more than…

a. Satan makes promises he cannot deliver

i. He promised Eve to make her like God

ii. He promised Jesus to give Him all the kingdoms of earth

iii. He promises you that you can indulge sin and no one will ever know.

b. Jesus rephrases the Shema when answering those who tried to trip Him up.

Matthew 22:36–37 ESV:2016

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

3. Die to Self

a. This command appears in all 3 synoptic Gospels (Mt 16:24, Lk 9:23, Mk 8:34)

b. Luke adds the word “daily”

Luke 9:23 ESV:2016

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

c. We live in a world that accentuates “self-love”.

A singer in the 1990s tried to convince us that learning to love ourselves was the greatest love of all. This same artist succumbed to her addiction and was found in what was determined to be an accidental drowning.

d. Perhaps instead of focusing on self-love (what has historically been called narcissism) we would do better to set our affections on the things of God.

e. After all Colossians 3:2 clearly commands:

Colossians 3:2 ESV:2016

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Conclusion:

I believe this verse summarizes the path that Jesus took when he crushed Satan in this time of testing.

My goal this morning is not to exaggerate the temptation, but to highlight the victory that is possible.

Whether your struggle is one that could bring devastation to your own life, or perhaps it may seem less hideous, but rumors & gossip could destroy another person’s reputation and ruin your own credibility as a person who can be trusted.Text

Song of Response #517.. “I’d Rather Have Jesus”

Benediction: Jude 24–25 (ESV) — Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

[i] David W. Pao and Eckhard J. Schnabel, “Luke,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos, 2007), 284.

[ii] Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1560–1561.

[iii] Pao and Schnabel, 283.

[iv] Pao and Schnabel, 283.