TEMPTATION - A BLESSING OR A CURSE
TEXT - Luke 4: 1 - 15
INTRO. - I want to speak on one of the inescapable facts
of life and something that fills the pages of Scripture.
I want to speak on the subject of temptation. Temptation
is something that we all must face and was something
that our Lord faced while here on earth. In fact Jesus
summed up three years of his public ministry in just two
words in Luke 22:28, he called it "my temptations".
What is this thing we call temptation?
What is this thing from which even our Lord could not
escape? What is this thing that we are warned against in
Matt.26 to watch and pray lest we enter into?
The best definition of temptation I have ever found
was given by a Bible scholar named Kyle. He said that
"temptation is an excitement of the natural
desires to go beyond the boundary set". Notice
several truths from this excellent definition.
1. It is an excitement - not a yielding. Temptation
itself is not sin. Christ was tempted and yet did
not sin. To yield is to sin. Many feel because they
have such strong temptations they are sinning. Don’t
trust feeling on this. Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation.
2. It is an excitement of the natural desires. It is
natural and normal to be tempted. It is an
excitement of the desires that are good and natural
and were given by God to man before the fall. Our
nature is now depraved but these desires in
themselves are good and normal. God made man and
gave him the desire to want things, enjoy things,
and to do things. Temptation works with these
desires that are good in themselves but...
3. Temptation is an excitement of the natural desires
to go beyond the boundary set. God has set
boundaries on the natural desires and the world, the
flesh, and the devil try to get us to cross those
boundaries. God gave Adam and Eve the natural desire
to want food but He put a boundary on it when he
told them they could not eat of every tree of the
garden. The temptation was not sin but the yielding
was sin. The desire for things is alright but the
boundaries forbid covetousness and how we get the
things we want. We cannot steal them. We must work
for them.
4. Some people think they are plagued with certain
temptations that others do not have. This is not
true. These are natural desires. See I Cor. 10:13
LET US LOOK AT LUKE CH. 4 AND SEE WHAT GOD HAS TO TELL
US ABOUT TEMPTATION AND TEMPTATIONS.
I. THEY WERE DIVINELY PERMITTED - vs. 1
God allowed it. God never tempts to sin. In Gen.22:1
God tempted Abraham but the word "temptation" means "to
test" not "to lure to do evil". God does not tempt us to
sin but he allows Satan to tempt us. Temptation to the
Christian will strengthen us or weaken us. It is not
God’s plan for us to live with no temptation. For a
Christian to pray for temptation to be removed from
their presence is unscriptural. We can pray as the
Lord’s Prayer tells us, "lead us not into temptation but
deliver us from evil". We can pray not to be led into
yielding to the temptation. We are to watch and pray
lest we enter into yielding. But for us to ask for the
temptation itself to kept from us is not biblical.
II. THEY WERE HUMANLY CONDITIONED - VS. 2
They were conditioned along the 3 basic lines as found
in I John 2: 15 - 17.
1. The lust of the flesh - Luke 4:3 - bread - Eve saw
the tree that it was good for food...
2. The lust of the eyes - Luke 4:5 - saw kingdoms - Eve
saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes...
3. The pride of life - Luke 4:9 - Cast thyself down and
angels will catch thee - Eve saw the tree was
desired to make one wise
III. THEY WERE CUNNINGLY PLANNED - see verses below
Notice several truths about temptation from our text.
1. Temptation comes almost always after great blessing
from God - vs. 1 - 2
Jesus had just returned from Jordan where in Luke
3: 21-22 we see that our Lord had been baptized by
John, had the Spirit descend on him in the form of
a dove, and had heard the voice of the Father say
"Thou are my beloved Son, in thee I am well
pleased."
Here was the anointing for his earthly ministry.
Here began his earthly ministry.
Here the approval of the Heavenly Father was given.
If ever there was a time when the devil and tempt-
ation were least thought of, it was now. After a
mountaintop experience, a man may forget himself
and think he can stand while I Cor. 10:12 says
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand take heed
lest he fall"
2. Temptation will be brought to you in a way that will
be uniquely condition to your character and
weaknesses - vs. 3, 5-7, 9-10
The devil often custom makes temptation. The devil
will never tempt you like he did the Lord Jesus. He
will use the same pattern but he will never tempt
you to turn stones into bread or offer you all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Satan
will never tempt you to do something you know for a
fact is impossible. For Jesus to turn stones to
bread was a possibility, but not for us... He will
never tempt you against your character and offer
you the kingdoms of the world but he would Jesus.
Jesus was the God of heaven who had left his place
of rule to become a man and die for our sins. Satan
will tempt you in one way and me in another because
your weak and strong points are not my weak and
strong points.
3. Temptation will always come from the direction that
we least expect it - vs. 6
Who would expect the devil who tried to kill Jesus
as a baby to suddenly act kind and offer gifts and
power. Remember Satan hits from the direction least
expected. When Satan wanted to sell Jesus he went
to the treasurer of the apostles and when he wanted
one to deny him he went to the chief apostle. It is
said that Edinburgh Castle in all the wars of
Scotland was never captured but once. That was when
the enemy came up the steep rocks at a place where
the garrison thought it was so safe they wouldn’t
need to guard it.
4. Temptation is ever present in this life - vs. 13
When temptation leaves, it only does so for a
season. The tempter will follow us all from the
cradle to the grave. Remember this too, the nearer
to Christ you get -- the hotter will be the fight.
Never ponder sin for to ponder sin is to invariably
fall. To consider sinning is to cut our power lines
to God.
IV. THEY WERE SUCCESSFULLY RESISTED - vs. 13
How were they resisted? - vs. 4, 8, 10, 12
Jesus used the Word of God on Satan. In Eph. 6:17 we
find that in the Christian’s armor there is only one
offensive weapon while all the rest is defensive. That
one weapon is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word
of God. Psa.119:11 - thy Word have I hid in my heart
that I might not sin against thee. We need to know,
believe, and use the Word of God with the help of God’s
Spirit within us.
V. FINALLY -- TEMPTATION WILL BE A BLESSING OR A CURSE
James 1:12 says blessed is the man who endureth
James 1:15 says dead is the man who doesn’t
Never look for temptation it will find you.
Prepare ahead - Watch and pray lest ye enter into...
God promises victory over temptation in I Cor. 10:13
God promises sympathy in temptation in Heb. 4:15-16
God promises reward to the tempted in James 1:15
God promises service after temptation in Luke 4:14-15
Temptation will strengthen you or destroy you - you
choose which it will be.
