Learning how to Win instead of giving way to Sin
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Today, we’re going to be continuing on in our study of the Book of Matthew.
Last week, we seen the coronation of King Jesus and confirmation from the Father above and today we are going to see the one and only Son of God put to the test here on earth.
His entire life has led up to this point! Today in God’s Holy Word, we’re going to see King Jesus tested and tried and one slip would have led to us still being lost and undone in our sins with no hope in and of ourselves of eternal life but praise be to God, He passed the test with flying colors!
And my goal today is for us to also learn how to pass the tests of temptation that the tempter will send our way!
The title of today’s message is…Learning how to Win instead of giving way to Sin.
We will be taking our message today from Matthew 4:1-11. If you have it would you say, Amen!
The Tempting — (Vs. 1-4)
The Tempting — (Vs. 1-4)
The first thing I want us to look at this morning is The Tempting that came Jesus way.
Chapter 4 Verse 1 begins here by telling us a little bit about the situation the Lord is in.
It begins by saying that Jesus was “led up” of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Now, as I was studying this week I guess it’s one of those deals where I’ve read it so much it just never sank in but someone tell me who led Jesus to the wilderness?
The Spirit did, correct?
The Spirit of God led the Son of God into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil!
But why would the Spirit do that?
So that Jesus would be able to identify in every way with the ones He came to save!
The Bible says in...
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
This has to be one of my favorite verses in all the Bible and the reason is because whenever I come face to face with a temptation no matter what temptation it is, I can know that it’s nothing my Lord hasn’t already faced!
Jesus was in “all points” tempted as we are “yet without sin!”
That means when a temptation comes my way, I can know that not only is it one that my Lord has also faced but it’s also one my Lord has overcome and therefore, since He was able to overcome it, if I put my trust in Him and turn to Him instead of the temptation, I too can also overcome it, Amen!
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Listen friend, try to overcome the tempter by yourself and you will fail every time because he has been doing this a lot longer than you have and he has many more at bats than you do but turn to the one who is mighty at pulling down strongholds and put your faith in Him when temptations come your way and you’re sure to overcome them through your faith in the one who has already gained the victory, Amen!
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
27 Neither give place to the devil.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Now, some of you are probably thinking to yourselves right now…that verse says God will make a way of escape but He’s the one who allows us to be tempted in the first place!
He’s the one who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil!
And you are correct.
God does allow us to enter into temptable situations but He will never be the one to do the tempting.
The Bible says in...
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
You see, God allows us to be tested by temptation but ultimately we are tempted by our own lusts and desires.
Well, Bro. Bobby why does He even allow us to be tempted?
That’s a great question and the answer is even greater!
He allows temptations to come your way as a way to test us in order that He might grow us and in turn that we might grow closer to Him!
You see, God never sends a test our way in order to hinder us but rather to help us!
His goal as a Father is to teach His children, to help His children to learn and to grow from their mistakes. His goal is for His children to grown in their faith and their walk with Him and therefore when He feels that one of His children have reached the point of graduating to the next level in their walk with Him, He may allow a temptation to come their way to test them.
Now, whether or not we pass the test is up to us.
It’s just like when we were in school. We all knew there were tests coming at some point right?
But it was up to us to focus on what the teacher was teaching and to retain it for later on when the test actually came.
And on that day when the test was presented, whether or not we passed depended on the effort we put into learning what she had taught, right?
The same goes with the tests God sends our way through temptations.
Did we learn from the last temptation?
Did we put effort into growing from the last time we failed the test? Or did we just say to ourselves, “ah I’ll do better next time” and go on about our business?
Listen, you’re only going to get out of God what you’re willing to put into Him!
That’s why God says all throughout His word to prove Him! To test Him with our faith!
Now testing and tempting are two different things!
Some people get these crazy ideas that they can sprout wings and fly and so they go jump off a building and say I’m putting my faith to the test…if God wants me to survive He’ll give me wings!
No friend, if God wanted you to fly, He’d of made you a bird, Amen!
Or these folks who handle poisonous snakes in the name of God and call it faith!
That’s ignorant if you ask me!
That’s called tempting God and the Bible says, “ye shall not tempt the Lord your God!”
Proving God and tempting God are two totally different things!
Let me show you something that I found this week about why God sends temptations our way.
And some theologians would probably say that I’m making a play on words or that I’m taking this in a spiritual way when it’s speaking of a physical way but in either right, it doesn’t change the outcome of God’s goal by allowing temptations to come our way!
When the Bible says here, “Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” the phrase “led up” means “to bring out, to depart but it also means to lead up or bring into a higher place.”
Now, I think there is a two-fold meaning here. I believe the first lesson we need to take from this is that when God wants to grow us He has to remove us from the comforts of the place where we have been!
Jesus was led out into the wilderness by himself in order that He might grow closer to the Father through the process of temptation.
And dear friend, when we find ourselves wondering in the wilderness by ourselves, we better remember two things…be on the lookout for temptations and we’re here so that God can grow us!
So many times, when these wilderness situations come, we look up to God and ask why me, why now, why here, why this…when we ought to be saying, “ok God, I see you. I know you’ve brought me to this place to grow me, to mature my walk with you, to help me be a stronger Christian. Now, help me to keep my head on a swivel for enemy must be near and help me to pass this test!”
We need to change our perspective on the wilderness experiences and see them as seasons of opportunity instead of opposition, Amen!”
And the second thing I see here is that God’s goal with every test is to bring us to a higher place in order that He might prepare us for that Heavenly place, Amen!
So, Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and then the Bible tells us that He had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and was hungry!
Some of us can’t make it 4 hours without food much less 40 days!
Jesus was undoubtedly famished and exhausted and weak.
And notice that’s when the tempter showed up.
Can I just tell you this morning that many times the devil will wait until you’re at your very lowest point to attack!
Now, don’t get me wrong, he will also attack when you’re at your highest but in either way he waits until your mind is preoccupied with everything else around you to pounce!
Here, Jesus is hungry and His body needs food to sustain Him and look who comes along and the temptation he uses.
He begins with “if”.
“If” you’re the Son of God that you claim to be then change these stones to bread. The Son of God should have that power shouldn’t He?
“If” you truly are the Son of God He wouldn’t want His one and only Son to whither away out here in this wilderness! Change these stones into bread and let’s have a meal!
He appeals to the flesh and to Jesus pride as the Son of God.
I want to teach you something about temptation this morning.
Did you know that every temptation in this world falls into 1 of 3 categories?
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
There’s the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and then there’s the pride of life!
Let me show you something real quick…I mentioned that Satan had been at this scheme for a very long time, right?
Well, look back in your Bible’s with me at Genesis 3:1-6
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
The first thing the devil does is downplay God’s command.
God said they would die if they ate of the fruit and the devil says no you won’t.
Second, look at what he does.
He appeals to Adam and Eve’s pride. God knows that when you eat the forbidden fruit that you will be as gods knowing good and evil!
God doesn’t want you eating it because He knows you will be like Him!
Then look what happens...
Eve saw that the tree was good for food…there’s the flesh.
It was pleasant to the eyes…there’s the lust of the eyes.
And lastly, a tree to be desired to make one wise…there’s the pride of life.
All three in one setting! From the very beginning Satan has been using these same three antics to hinder man’s relationship with almighty God!
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life!
For King Saul it was the pride of life caused his fall.
For King David and his son Solomon it was the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes that caused them pain and anguish.
For King Hezekiah it was the pride of life.
Listen this morning friend, the Bible says in...
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
We must be on the lookout at all times for what temptation might come our way next for the Bible says in...
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
The word “devour” used here means to swallow whole or to drink up!
The devil is looking, waiting, watching for his opportunity to devour those who call themselves Christians so we must always be on guard!
We must resist him stedfast in the faith! That means we must be firm, locked in, unwavering in our faith!
If we aren’t stedfast we shall be sure to fall victim to his schemes!
He comes to Jesus in a moment of weakness and tempts Him with the most obvious choice to quick fix His problem but notice how Jesus responds!
“It is written” — I want you to highlight that phrase in your Bible’s if you don’t have already because that is going to be a common theme as we look at Jesus’ tempting.
“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Jesus quotes Satan scripture to combat the temptation.
“Bread alone Satan won’t fix my problem! I need every word that cometh from the lips of God!”
Did you know that you own the greatest compilation of God’s words known to mankind?
It’s called your Bible!
Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is recorded right here in this book we call a Bible.
God breathed, Spirit inspired, Son the focus. All in one! The greatest weapon on the face of the earth and we take it for granted every single day!
This Book can save the world!
This Book will change lives!
This Book can stop wars!
This Book can calm fears!
This Book can bring Unity!
This Book can mend broken families!
This Book can mend broken hearts!
This Book will bring conviction!
This Book will bring salvation!
This Book is the greatest Book on the face of the planet and yet the least read and even more least practiced!
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Jesus fought the temptation of the flesh with the Word of God and in order for us to win the war of temptation we too must fight with the Word!
We see The Tempting. Next, I want us to look at The Testing.
The Testing — (Vs. 5-7)
The Testing — (Vs. 5-7)
Test one was the lust of the flesh. Now comes the pride of life.
Now, the reason I named this section the testing is because look what Satan does.
Jesus combats Satan’s first temptation with the word of God right?
Now, Satan takes the word of God and tries to use “IT” as a prelude to temptation.
Listen to me very carefully this morning friend. This is proof that the devil can read, Amen!
He knows the Bible probably better than you and I know it and therefore that’s why he’s so adamant about taking as many lost souls to hell with him as he can because he knows his time is limited!
He knows he’s fighting a losing battle and that one day his time will be up!
But he comes at Jesus with scripture and once again throws that “if” word in there as just a nudger if you will to try and poke at Jesus deity.
“If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it is written He shall give his angels charge concerning thee and they won’t even let you dash your foot against a stone.”
If you’re really Him then just jump! Prove it to the people and they will all bow down to you! Heck I will even bow down to you!
You know you’ll be fine. Let’s just get this show on the road and make it public!
Then notice how Jesus responds… “It is written.”
There’s that phrase again!
While the devil may have known the Word of God, Jesus was the Word of God and knew it better because it was written of Him, Amen!
There’s The Tempting and the Testing and now we’re going to see The Twisting.
The Twisting — (Vs. 8-10)
The Twisting — (Vs. 8-10)
We’ve seen the lust of the flesh and the pride of life and now Satan uses the lust of the eyes and the pride of life together.
This time Satan uses the world in all it’s glory to try and get to Jesus.
What he forgot is that the glory of this world pales in comparison the glory of Heaven and therefore for Jesus to bow down and worship Satan for the glory of this world would be a downgrade for Jesus.
The other thing is this…Satan may be the god of this world but this world will one day pass away and Jesus knew that.
Why would anyone trade limited glory for eternal glory?
He tried twisting the truth but forgot that who he was actually tempting was the very definition of TRUTH!
Jesus responds with, “get outta here Satan! “For it is written” thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve!”
Get out of here Satan!
Resist the devil and he will flee from you…look at the first part of Verse 11… “then the devil leaveth him.”
Satan was defeated!
Jesus got the win instead of giving way to sin and He did it how?
By trusting in and putting into practice the Word of God!
“It is written, It is written, It is written!”
Over and over and over He used the Word of God to combat Satan and His temptations and if we are to win the war against sin and temptation it must also be won by learning and putting into practice the Word of God!
The last thing we see here is...
The Tending to Jesus — (Vs. 11)
The Tending to Jesus — (Vs. 11)
40 days and 40 nights without food. A victory over the most evil, vindictive, deceiver this world has ever seen and then comes a time of refreshing!
The Bible says Angels came and ministered unto Him.
I got thinking about the immensity of this as I was putting this all together yesterday.
This is the first time in scripture that we see to my knowledge angels since Christ’s birth, right?
They came to tell the world He had come at His birth but nothing for the last 30 years and now after the greatest test to date, and acing the test might I add, Jesus is reunited for just a few moments in time with some familiar faces from His home on high!
Oh, what a moment this must have been!
I can only imagine they brought word from the Father of how proud He was of His Son for overcoming the devil!
How excited He was for Him to begin the next leg of His journey!
The angles probably brought some manna from heaven to feed Him with and some crystal clear water flowing from the river of life!
They probably cleaned Jesus up and encouraged Him with a word from above before heading back and allowing Him to start His new journey.
Here’s what I want you to take from this part.
We all from time to time face wilderness seasons in our lives where tests come our way.
Sometimes they’re in the form of temptations as we seen here today. Sometimes they’re in the form of trials which is something altogether different.
But in either situation, what you need to know is that God is allowing these seasons to come your way so that you might grow closer to Him!
And when you come out the other side and I assure you if you will put your trust in Him, you will come out the other side, you will be stronger, more refreshed, and better off because of it!
Sometimes He allows the tests and the trials in order that we can find Him in the midst of them!
No matter what you may be facing today friend, know that God loves you and only wants what’s best for you!
And my prayer this morning is that the next time you are faced with a win or sin situation, your will put into practice the same thing Jesus did and that you will overcome the enemy and win!