How to Handle Temptation
Text: Matt. 4:1-11
Introduction
1. Illustration: "Temptation is not meant to make us sin; it is meant to enable us to conquer sin. It is not meant to make us bad; it is meant to make us good. It is not meant to weaken us; it is meant to make us emerge stronger and finer and purer from the ordeal. Temptation is not the penalty of being a man, temptation is the glory of being a man, Temptation is the test which comes to every man whom God wishes to use. So, then, we must think of this whole incident, not so much the TEMPTING, as the TESTING of Jesus." (William Barclay)
2. As we begin the season of lent, we take a good look at our lives, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in our lives that doesn’t please God.
3. But I think one of the great things that lent teaches us is that we can overcome sin. Jesus teaches us how to handle sin in his temptation in the wilderness.
4. Read Matt. 4:1-11
Transition: First, Jesus teaches us how to…
I. Trusting in God’s Power (1-4).
A. The Scriptures Say
1. The story of Jesus temptation begins with, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
a. It’s not a coincidence that Jesus’ temptation immediately follows his baptism.
b. After every spiritually significant event in our lives, you can be sure that the devil will be right there to try to make our lives difficult and to but doubt in our hearts and minds.
c. Doubt is the devil’s favorite weapon. That’s what happened in the Garden.
d. “The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Gen. 3:1).
e. So, it shouldn’t surprise us that after a major mountain top experience for Jesus, that the devil would be right on his heals.
f. However, we might surprise us is that the Holy Spirit led him to be tempted.
g. This statement by Matthew corrects two wrong assumptions. The first one is that God tempts us. Nowhere in the NT does it say that God tempts us.
h. In fact, in James 1:3 it says, “And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.”
i. The second error in thinking that Matthew corrects is that the devil has the power to act independently from God.
j. The devil is never seen as being equal in power to God. He can only do what God allows him to do.
k. The devil is a fallen angel, and is a created being, and therefore, he is not equal to God in any way.
l. Next, Matthew tells us that Jesus fasted for forty days and nights. Fasting was used as a spiritual discipline for prayer and time that prepares you for the difficulties that lay ahead.
m. After forty days and nights he was hungry. Being the Son of God didn’t make this any easier because Jesus was still human. His body went through the same weakness that ours would if we didn’t eat for forty days and nights. So, the three temptations he faced were at a time when he was physically weak.
2. With the first temptation, Matthew tells us, “During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
a. When the devil tells Jesus, “If you are the Son of God,” it was not an attempt to get Jesus to doubt who he was, because they both knew the truth, but rather he was tempting with his own power.
b. As the Son of God, Jesus was certainly able to change stones into bread, but this was an easy way out, and that is not what Jesus wanted to do.
c. Now, notice how Jesus responds to the temptation; he quotes Scripture. In fact, that is Jesus’ way of dealing with each temptation. In all three temptations Jesus quotes from the Book of Deuteronomy.
d. In these Scriptures the Israelites failed to obey God, but Jesus is making it clear to the devil that it’s not going to work on him.
e. Jesus makes it clear that “people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
f. In other words, God can sustain us regardless of if we have enough to eat, because his word can give us what food cannot.
g. Making bread for himself would have shown that Jesus had not quite set aside all his powers. Remember, he was now functioning in the power of the Holy Spirit.
h. It would have shown that he had not completely humbled himself and had not completely identified with us.
i. Jesus refused and showed that he would use his powers only in submission to God’s plan.
B. The Word of God is Alive
1. Illustration: Charles Spurgeon on preaching the Word: There seems to be to have been twice as much done in some ages in defending the Bible as in expounding it, but if the whole of our strength shall henceforth go to the exposition and spreading of it, we may leave it pretty much to defend itself. I do not know whether you see that lion—it is very distinctly before my eyes; a number of persons advance to attack him, while a host of us would defend [him]….Pardon me if I offer a quiet suggestion. Open the door and let the lion out; he will take care of himself.
2. We can trust in God’s strength because his Word is more powerful than anything the devil can throw at us.
a. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” (Heb. 4:12-13).
b. You can read, and should read, many books in the world, but no book is alive like the word of God.
c. You can read the same passage over and over, but the Holy Spirit can show you something new and fresh every time you read it.
d. It is also powerful. It is powerful because it is God’s truth. It contains more power in it than any lie with whom the devil can hit you. Scripture says it will never come back void!
e. Not only does the word of God provide us with power against the devil, but it also exposes the problems in our own spiritual lives.
f. It tells us who we are deep inside. It reveals the issues we struggle with that no one knows expect us and God.
g. It tells us what we need to change, and what we need to turn over to the Holy Spirit.
h. Read it, study it, meditate on it, and it will change you!
Transition: Next, Jesus teaches us how to…
II. Trust in God’s Love (5-7)
A. Jump Off
1. Jesus next temptation takes place in Jerusalem, the religious and political center of the Jewish people. Matthew tells us about in vv. 5-6, “Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
a. The Temple was the religious center of the Jewish people and the place they expected the Messiah to arrive.
b. ““Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.” (Mal. 3:1).
c. The Temple was also the tallest building in the area, and this highest point was probably the corner wall that jutted out of the hillside.
d. This time the devil tried to use Scripture to convince Jesus to jump off the building.
e. Trust me, beloved, the devil knows Scripture better than you, and he will twist it’s meaning and use it against you to convince you to sin.
f. The devil wanted Jesus to test his relationship with God to see if he would protect Jesus.
g. However, the devil was misquoting Scripture out of context, and tried to make it sound as if God protects anyone, even if they attempt to defy natural law.
h. The Scripture that the devil uses in context means that God will protect those who are in God’s will and serving him.
2. Again, Jesus’ response to the devil is to quote Scripture. In v. 7 it says, “Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’”
a. This Scripture happened in the wilderness when the people were thirsty, and they questioned if God was going to take care of them. In fact, it says that the people tested the Lord.
b. Now, Jesus could have jumped off the building, and God could have sent his angels to protect him, but this would have been an absurd use of God’s power and against his will.
c. Jesus knew the Father would protect him, but his focus was to be fulfilling the mission his Father had given him, to go to the cross and die in our place.
d. Jesus knew the Father loved him, but he had a plan for Jesus to go to the cross for us.
B. God Is Love
1. Illustration: One time a father wanted to teach his son the lesson of God's great love. He took him to the top of a high hill and pointed northward over Scotland, southward over England, eastward over the ocean, westward over hill and valley, and then sweeping his arm around the whole circling horizon, he said, "Johnny, my boy, God's love is as big as all that." "Why, Father," the boy replied with sparkling eyes, "then we must be right in the middle of it." (Earnest Worker)
2. Nothing and no one can change the fact that God loves you.
a. “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.” (1 John 3:1).
b. Think about this statement. See how much God loves us because he calls us his children.
c. This is an amazing statement! Why? Because we are all sinners, but God loves us anyway!
d. He loves us despite ourselves, despite of our failings, despite of our mistakes, and despite of our sins.
e. God doesn’t love us because of what we do, but regardless of what we do!
f. That doesn’t mean that God loves our sin because God hates sin. However, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love us.
g. He loves us for who we are, and because he loves us wants to change us.
h. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Transition: Jesus also teaches us to…
III. Trust in God’s Plan (8-11).
A. Worship the Lord
1. The third and final temptation had to do with earthly glory. In vv. 8-9 it says, “Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
a. The nations of the world are under the devil’s control. He knew that one day Christ would rule over all the earth.
b. The temptation was, “Why wait? I can give it to you now.” The devil was trying to tempt Jesus to take all the kingdoms of the world right then, without carrying out the Father’s plan to save the world from sin.
c. For Jesus, that meant getting earthly power without going through the suffering, pain, and humiliation of the cross.
d. He was essentially offering Jesus a painless shortcut.
e. However, what the devil didn’t understand was that pain and suffering were a part of God’s plan that Jesus had to choose to obey.
2. Jesus now takes authority over the devil. In vv. 10-11 it says, “10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” 11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.”
a. Jesus tells the devil, “Get out of here Satan!” He takes complete authority over the devil.
b. He was done with his nonsense. Once again, Jesus quotes Scripture.
c. For Jesus to take a short cut and worship the devil would be to go against the 1st Commandment, “You must worship the Lord your God; serve him only.”
d. Jesus chose the path of obedience to the Father’s will.
e. This was the only way to bring salvation to the world. Jesus knew that the cross was his mission, and there was no easy way around it.
f. Because Jesus was superior to the devil, the devil had to do what Jesus commanded.
g. As a result of passing the test, angels came and took care of Jesus.
h. God always rewards our faithfulness!
B. Plans I Have for You
1. Illustration: "The life of Jesus Christ was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s. But what seemed to be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose." (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest: August 5).
2. God has a plan for you, and his plan is perfect!
a. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11).
b. God has a plan for your life, and it is a great plan.
c. It is a plan to give you a future and a hope.
d. His plan will never fail, and he will never leave you behind.
e. So, when the devil comes to you and tries to get you to take a short cut and bypass God’s plan, do what Jesus did and tell him to get lost!
f. God plan is better for you, and shortcuts are usually everything but.
g. Satan’s shortcuts offer you a faster way to get there, but they always lead you into a ditch.
h. Stay with God’s plan and he will not abandon you.
Conclusion
1. Jesus’ temptation teaches us…
a. Trust in God’s Power
b. Trust in God’s Love
c. Trust in God’s Plan
2. What’s the point preacher? Even if God’s plan leads you through the wilderness, you can trust him.
