Temptation Management-101—2 Series

Temptation Management 101-II—Luke 4:1-13

We must learn to control/manage life’s temptations.

Control our falling into the temptations—Sexual/Drug/Alcohol/Food/ Social-Relationships/ Financial, etc....— so they do not become sin, hindering God’s work in us.

Jesus was able manage temptation so that it never hindered His ministry by becoming sin.

God’s people must know how to manage temptation...

...because the way we handle temptation is crucial to the effectiveness of our witness.

How are we to manage temptation effectively? or How can we be better at temptation management?

But First,

Why should we be concerned about temptation management in the first place?...2 verses:

1Cor. 10:13—“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; & God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.”

Jas. 1:12-15—“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, & He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away & enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; & when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

Secrets to temptation management

Last time we found 3 secrets to temptation management were...

1. Keep Full

2. Keep Current/Moving

3. Keep Compliant

A 4th Secret to temptation management is

KEEP OPEN(:1)

Explanation:(:1)

“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan & was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness”

Go anywhere God leads...Even in the wilderness!

Argumentation:

2Tim. 3:1—“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.”

Mat. 24:21-22—“for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.”

Jas. 1:2-4—“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect & complete, lacking in nothing.”

Jos. 24:3—“Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, & led him through all the land of Canaan, & multiplied his descendants & gave him Isaac.”

Rom. 8:35-37—“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR THY SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

Illustration:

Ellen’s car broken into/ ‘Maybe someone in court that needs to hear the Gospel’/

Playing at kid’s request/I do not want to play/But I do/Keep Open

Application:

?You OPEN to the Spirit’s leading when Managing Temptation?

?Are you effectively Managing the Temptation you face?

A 5th Secret to temptation management is

KEEP DILIGENT(:2)

Explanation:(:2)Patient/Steady

“...for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days; & when they had ended, He became hungry.”

Barrage

Other noteworthy 40 day periods include....

—Rained for 40 days & forty nights to destroy—

“For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days & forty nights; & I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”(Gen. 7:4)

—Moses was in the Lord’s presence in the cloud on Mount Sinai for forty days & forty nights with no food or drink—

“And Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; & Moses was on the mountain forty days & forty nights.”...“So he was there with the LORD forty days & forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”(Ex. 24:18; 34:28)

—Israel spied out the land of Canaan for forty days—

“ ‘According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, & you shall know My opposition.”(Num. 14:34)

—Israel wandered in the desert for forty years & ate manna for forty years—

“And the sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.”