Victory over Temptation; Control

Hook

Who here plays video games?

Older brother illustration

Who has ever carried a team or had someone carry their team in sports?

Book

Matthew 4:1–11 CSB

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, 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 give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

First, lets ask what sin is?

Sin comes from the Hebrew ‘hattah’ or the greek ‘hamartia’ meaning to miss the mark.

All sin stems from one root: pride. Every single sin comes from pride.

Jesus’ First Temptation: Feeding Himself

Matthew 4:3 CSB

3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Why was this a sin? Is it a sin for you to eat?

Philippians 2:5–6 CSB

5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.

Jesus using His sonship outside of the will of God would have negated His purpose on earth.

Jesus’ Second Temptation: The Pinnacle

Matthew 4:5–6 CSB

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, 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 give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Why is this a sin? Is it not true?

Deuteronomy 6:16 CSB

16 Do not test the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah.

To test God is to step outside of faith.

Romans 14:23 CSB

23 But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.

Jesus’ Third Temptation: Possession of the World

Matthew 4:8–9 CSB

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”

Why was this a temptation for Jesus? Is it possible for Jesus to have chosen to bow down and worship?

Jesus was meant to fulfill two roles from Scripture that we’ll look at during the Glimpses series:

-The Davidic King

-The Suffering Servant

Jesus was being offered a way to fulfill the king role without going through the suffering servant role.

Look

What does temptation look like for you?

Temptation will present itself to you in the most attractive way possible.

Temptation can be loud, or can be subtle.

Temptation can be different for every individual.

For example, I have absolutely no temptation to steal things. That’s just not my struggle.

For someone else, they might be compelled to just take things while no one is looking.

Took

How do we fight temptation?

John Piper, an amazing theologian, has an acronym for fighting temptation.

He uses it specifically for lust, but it can apply anywhere.

A—Avoid as much as is possible and reasonable the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire.

My translation: RUN

You think that it’s harmless because no one knows.

You think that sin is your pet.

You think you can control it.

Genesis 4:7 CSB

7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

You think sin is a secret pet?

Illustration: SBC PDF

N—Say “No” to every lustful thought within five seconds.

You don’t have much more than five seconds.

Give it more unopposed time than that, and it will lodge itself with such force as to be almost immovable.

Say it out loud if you dare. Be tough and warlike.

As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Strike fast and strike hard.

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

T—Turn the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction.

But saying no isn’t enough.

Fight fire with fire. Attack the promises of sin with the promises of Christ.

We must stock our minds with the superior promises and pleasures of Jesus. Then we must turn to them immediately after saying, “NO!”

H—Hold the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out.

Fix your eyes on Jesus (see Hebrews 12:2). Here is where many fail. They give in too soon. They say, “I tried to push it out, and it didn’t work.” I ask, “How long did you try? How hard did you exert your mind?”

Hold the promise of Christ before your eyes. Hold it. Hold it! Don’t let it go! Keep holding it! How long? As long as it takes. Fight! For Christ’s sake, fight till you win!

E—Enjoy a superior satisfaction.

You were created to treasure Christ with all your heart

If you have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph. Plead with God for the satisfaction you don’t have: “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14).

M—Move into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors.

I’m reading a book by Charles Spurgeon called “Plain Advice for Plain People.”

He talks about those who are lazy, or idle.

“A man who wastes his time and strength in sloth offers himself to be a target for the devil, who is a wonderfully good rifleman and will riddle the idler with his shots: in other words, idle men tempt the devil to tempt them. He who plays when he should work, has an evil spirit to be his playmate; and he who neither works nor plays is a workshop for Satan. If the devil catches a man idling, he will set him to work, find him tools, and before long pay him wages.”

Find a good work to do, and do it with all your might.

“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Abound in work. Get up and do something. Sweep a room. Hammer a nail. Write a letter. Fix a faucet. And do it for Jesus’s sake. You were made to manage and create.

We all struggle with temptation. But Jesus has given us the victory over temptation: Control.