TEMPTATION

Paul says in his second epistle to the Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 2:11 NKJV

lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

In this he makes us aware that we have an adversary that is always looking for a weakness to exploit, some means of taking advantage of us. He also suggests that we are on to him. We can see him coming! But based on the number of fails that I have to deal with, I’m not sure that everyone is paying attention. Maybe you ARE ignorant of Satan’s devices. I’m not going to list them all, but looking at a familiar portion of scripture, I want to look at three sure signs that the devil is playing you. Let’s think about this.

Luke 4:1–13 NKJV

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

SATAN TEMPTS US ALL

Common to man

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

There can be no question that you will be tempted to sin.

This is not a game. Satan and his minions will not let up. They hope to catch you out in a big, soul shattering fail or if that doesn’t work, the death of a thousand cuts.

And this is a constant. Our text focuses on the final big guns conflict between Satan and Jesus, but v.2 says that Jesus was tempted by the devil for forty days! The entire time he was in the wilderness fasting and seeking God, He was being tempted!

The end game

Luke 22:31 The Message

“Simon, stay on your toes. Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from me, like chaff from wheat.

Again the commonality of temptation is reinforced. Your Bible might simply say “sift you” and seem to be referring to Peter but the pronoun is plural meaning all of the disciples. The Message picks up on this…Satan is trying to separate you all from me.

And why does Satan do this? Why does he exert the effort? Because he wants to separate us from Christ. He wants to derail your destiny.

Jesus singles Peter out because He knows that the weight of his denying Christ is the kind of thing that could easily tank his faith, but he warns all the disciples because on one level or another, they are all going to be tempted. One way or the other, Satan’s end game is to separate you from Christ.

THE BIG THREE

In our text we see three powerful strategies. If these are the devices that Satan thought could actually draw Jesus into sin, then we are dealing with weapons-grade temptation. These have a powerful influence on us, a huge magnetic effect.

Felt Need

Satan will come at you through your emotions…through your felt needs.

Emotions are unrelated to reality. They are volatile pockets of irrationality that can completely thwart analytical thought and sound judgment.

This is a particularly effective tool in the day and age we live in when feelings have taken the primary role in decision making.

In the past feelings were sublimated to things like duty and morality and faith. People stayed in difficult marriages even though it felt awful and lonely and hopeless. People stayed on the job because their very real responsibilities outweighed their unhappiness with their circumstances or the way management made the feel.

Now everything is decided by feelings. We vote on personality over policy. We ignore truth if it doesn’t make us feel good. We actually base our gender on feeling as opposed to common sense and biology. That is how far we have come.

So when it comes to temptation, feelings are the open door to hell! Satan will snare you through your felt needs quicker than you can say “I’m a snowflake!!”

You will be tempted by feelings of fear, loneliness, depression, boredom, stress, jealousy, and doubt. Your feelings will lead you into bad relationships, illicit sex, drugs and alcohol, gluttony, bad financial stewardship, and every kind of foolishness you can name.

Here is Jesus…hungry. I should think so. Forty days of not eating is starvation, unless God is miraculously intervening. We know by the Word that Jesus was feeling the hunger. And that is where Satan strikes. At the place of the most intense feeling that Jesus could be having. The all consuming feeling of hunger.

How you feeling? Mark it down…when a feeling becomes dominant, an itch you feel like you have to scratch, that is where Satan will strike.

Tailor made

The next point of temptation has to do with our unique sense of self. We could call it isolation. We could call it ego.

It comes out in the Greek very clearly. Satan shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world and says, “They’re yours if you will worship me. I can give them to anyone I choose and I will give them to you.

Greek is a funny language. The order of words has a completely different meaning than in English. Satan, in translation says, I will give this authority to you. That is how we would say it. Subject (I), verb, (will give), object (this authority), indirect object (to you). The subject will generally come before the verb.

The Greeks liked to mix it up and they did so for reasons of emphasis. The way this reads in the Greek is “To you will I give the authority this all and glory their.” Soi doso ten exousian.

By putting “To You” first in the sentence, The devil makes the personal and unique nature of the offer clear. The devil is saying, “This offer is just for you and for no one else!” I will never make this offer to anyone but you. This is YOUR lucky day! This is YOUR big chance. It’s all about YOU!

Satan runs this scam on us all the time. Identically to what he is doing to Jesus here, he will say to you, this is your once in a life time opportunity. If you miss this, you’ll never be happy. You’ll never have another shot at this. This is for you and you alone! Satan is just a used car salesman in red pajamas.

A variation on this theme is You’re different! You aren’t like everyone else. No one else has your problems. No one else has ever been tempted this way. Even though Paul has already addressed that in 1 Cor 10, we don’t believe it. My temptation is unique.

Another variation on the theme is it will be different for you. Anyone else who does this, it ends badly, but it won’t be that way for me. I am unique. I’m not like all those other losers. I can play with fire and not get burned.

Another variation on the theme is no one will understand you and therefore no one can help you. No one can related to you. They’ll reject you if they find out. I can’t confess. I have to hide this.

These are all zeroing in on the same thing. They isolate you! It’s all about you!! This is a powerful enticement. Clear the decks so that all you can see is you. Isolate and destroy.

Question God

The third temptation is as old as the garden. Question God. God said He’ll take care of you. Will He now? Does He really care about you? Does He really have your best interests at heart? Why don’t you see if it’s true. Cast yourself down from the temple and see if He catches you.

And that is just the same scam he runs on you! Why, think of all the things you’ve asked for that He hasn’t responded to, all the unanswered prayers.

Genesis 3:5 NKJV

For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

God is holding out on you. God just doesn’t want you to thrive. He knows that if he lets you out of the box you can be as all knowing as He is. He’s just holding you under. There’s a better life for you OUTSIDE of the will of God!

The devil will always attack the integrity and trustworthiness of God. He will always attack your basic faith. You have put your life in God’s hands. That was a mistake. You can’t trust God.

And Satan will crowd out your faith with doubts and unbelief and that will spread across every area of your life and soon you are saying things about God that aren’t true.

Psalm 94:7–9 NKJV

Yet they say, “The Lord does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob understand.” Understand, you senseless among the people; And you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?

DEFEATING TEMPTATION

Now we’re all familiar with the general principal: Jesus fought the devil with the Word. We know that is a completely valid lesson from this scripture. But I want to drill down a bit more. If you know where your enemy will strike, you can prepare your best defenses. Let’s close by thinking about these specific lines of attack.

Needs are not determinative

The first thing we need to do is recognize the difference between want and need. Felt needs are desires. We should actually remove the word need here. A genuine need is something that is life-threatening. Though we have to concede that Jesus was definitely pushing the limits with 40 days of fasting, apparently He knew He wasn’t going to die if he didn’t turn the rocks into bread. He knew the difference between need and appetite.

You have to be very analytical about your feelings as well as brutally honest. There is ultimately only one thing that you cannot live without and that is God.

You don’t have to have a boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband/six figure income/the acceptance of your peers and whatever else it may be that you are driven to attain. Remember the devil seeks to exploit your felt needs. If you have reduced that to God, it will be very difficult for him to exploit that.

Psalm 27:4 NKJV

One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.

Luke 10:41–42 NKJV

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

You are not the center of life

The next line of attack is something you have heard so often around here that it is almost a mantra! You are not the center of the universe. It isn’t all about you, and when it comes to sin, you’re just like everybody else and everybody else is just like you.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

There is nothing unique about anyone’s battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are all beset by the same struggles and the same decisions and the same surrenders are required of us all.

One man believes he can, another believe he can’t. They are both right.

And in the end, the mercies and the judgments of God are universal. Whoever wants mercy will find mercy and whoever wants judgment will be judged.

Luke 13:5 NKJV

I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Don’t push your luck

Finally, in the famous words of Clint Eastwood, a man’s got to know his limitations. Don’t test God! He’s a heck of a lot smarter than you. He knows what’s good for you. You don’t.

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Your greatest weapon in defeating temptation is to know your God. Know His love, grace, mercy, judgment, righteousness, perfection, power.

Matthew 22:37 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

Know Him, love Him, serve him. If you know Him then the devil can’t lie to you about Him. Really that is the power of the Word that Jesus used to defeat the devil. It isn’t quoting Bible Scriptures. It’s knowing the God who spoke them!