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Title: Overcoming the devils temptation!
Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Date: February 17, 2002
OUTLINE: You can breakdown this sermon by looking at the three various ways Satan seeks to tempt Jesus and us and then conclude with the joy that Jesus overcame for us and still does when we are tempted.
1. First Satan tries to tempt Jesus into depending not on God but on Himself. "TELL THESE STONES TO BECOME BREAD" Jesus reminds us to live upon every Word of God.
2. The second temptation “Did God really say…?” this was meant to challenge the authority or clarity of God’s Word. Jesus shows us the importance of understanding the correct Scripture for the correct moment.
3. The third and final temptation upon Jesus, sought to have Jesus trust in what the devil could give instead of what God could give. “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.”
4. Conclusion: As we learned from Jesus’ response to the three temptations, it is Jesus who won the war and it is still Jesus who wins the battles. Although we seek to apply all that Jesus gives to us at best we hang on to his coattails and enjoy his victory, remembering not to trust in our strength and what we do, but in the strength of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Title: Overcoming the devils temptation!
The American dream and the desire to be all you can be, tell us that if you want something bad enough, and you are willing to work hard enough for it, you will be able accomplish it. If you can dream it, you can achieve it! And that is true for most everything in this world. You can be a quadriplegic and yet still win the Nobel prize. You can be the underdog in sports and yet come out on top. In the United States people who start out with nothing can become millionaires, at least that is what the infomercials say.
And so with the American dream fully entrenched in our thinking, we assume that the same applies to our walk with Christ. If you try hard enough, if you practice enough, if you surround yourself with the right things, you will be an awesome Christian. And maybe you will be, after all we know that the more time you spend in the Word of God, the stronger your faith will be, and the more certain the Word of God will be upon your thoughts and actions.
But what do you say when you have tried hard enough and spent every waking hour in the Word of God, and yet you are still plagued with sinful thoughts and actions; how then can you overcome the devils temptation?
St. Paul had it right when he said, “The things I want to do I don’t do, and the things I don’t want to do, I keep on doing!” He never stopped trying to overcome but he resolved himself to seeing that when He tried on His own, there was no stopping failure to a screeching halt! But the American dream inside us all, keeps pushing us to do better anyway, despite what we find in Scripture that is contrary to that belief. “Maybe”, we think, “when I get better at applying the Word, then I will overcome!” And again that is possible but as the truth of the matter is, even if we were made perfect for a day, we still could fall to the temptations of the devil.
What we forget is that Adam and Eve were perfect at one time. They had God surrounding them. They had perfect communion with Almighty God. This is what Christ has won for us now. They had no sin to deal with until Satan came along. And as soon as Satan tempted our first parents to doubt God’s Holy Word, they forever changed life as we would know it. Even in perfection, we failed to honor the Word of God and keep it. So why do we think that we can do it now?
All things are possible! If we have faith as small as a mustard seed we can even move mountains. But I think the key to all this is to take “US” out of the picture and lean solely on our Savior. So far everything you have heard in this message has been based upon what we do, and how we fail. Being the season of lent, this is as good a time as any to offer such a heavy law. But it is now time for Gospel.
As we look at Matthew 4:1-11 we can see the beginning of Christ’s victory over sin. He takes whatever Satan puts before him and overcomes. And what Jesus does here in this text is what He still does for us now. And we can try to model what Jesus does, in the hope of imitating his strength, in fact I even suggest that as we continue in this message but, as long as we live in this sinful world, with sin stained flesh, we will never be able to duplicate perfectly what Jesus does. If we could duplicate perfectly what Jesus does, would we still need Jesus or could we get to heaven on our own? And isn’t that Satan’s goal for us, to trust in ourselves and not in our Savior?
Even the disciple, who had Christ before him, could not stand on the water for too long. Although Jesus gives us his strength to do miraculous things, we still need to confess our sins. Although He gives us his victory, we still admit our failures and we still bow before his perfection. So as we look at Christ’s victory this morning, let us not see it as just a model on how to operate, but also let us take note that only Jesus was able to be victor over Satan, and that truth is still in effect to this day.
In the Gospel of Matthew we see Satan trying to do to Jesus what he has done to all mankind. First Satan tries to tempt Jesus into depending not on God but on Himself. “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Satan wanted Jesus to do for himself instead of trust in God. This particular lie has worked for Satan when he has tempted you and me time and time again. That American Dream still pushes us to think we must do for ourselves, and try harder. But Jesus teaches us that this first temptation has no weight. Instead of leaning on what we are to do, Jesus’ answer reminds us that we should lean on God. “It is written, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.”
What Words can we live on, instead of depending on ourselves to become better servants? Every Word of God of course, but especially the Words that focus on His LOVE, His GRACE, and His victory over sin. When Satan comes to repeat this temptation on you, you can say honestly, “I am unable to overcome all my sins, therefore I lean on every Word that comes from God, especially the Word “forgiveness”. Jesus is the only one to ever defeat the devil and so He is my champion in this cause!”
The second temptation of Satan to Jesus is much like the one put before Adam and Eve. Remember back then, Satan said, “Did God really say…?” this was meant to challenge the authority or clarity of God’s Word. Sometimes we get angry at God when a loved one dies before their time, or someone suffers unjustly. And during such moments we might only remember the promise that God is love only to counter such a memory with doubt. “You see”, we might think, “if God is love why did he allow my loved one to die?” But we forget that God also said, “I shall not contend with man forever!”, as well as the reasons behind those words. Satan is good at giving us the right Scripture at the wrong time, so that we will understand God in a different light than one that is just and righteous!
Some pastors with good intention are good at telling their congregation what to do, but fail to tell them how to do it or how it is done for them. They might say, “Do not Gossip” but forget to mention that only the love of Christ upon the spirit can halt the tongue. I am sure I have done this as well. Satan is a great deceiver. And he tries the same trick on Jesus by saying, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you…” But Jesus teaches us again how He responded to such a temptation. ‘Sure the Word of God says that, but what really fits for this situation is’ “Do not put the Lord God to the test.” When Satan tries to knock you down by giving you the law and telling you that you are a terrible sinner, you can say, “I sure am a sinner and here are some sins you forgot to mention!” You can say such a thing because you are clinging to the proper Word for the moment and that proper Word is that Jesus Christ died for you. He paid for the weight of all sin with His life and won salvation for you because you could not do it yourself. Although your sins are still heavy before you, they are light and made empty in the eyes of Jesus.
The third and final temptation upon Jesus, sought to have Jesus trust in what the devil could give instead of what God could give. “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” How often this temptation gets us. “If only I had more money”, “If only I had more time, I could serve more in the church!” “When I get this particular thing, everything will be better!” Jesus shows us how He dealt with such a temptation when He said,. “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” And we can try to copy Jesus and imitate what He did before Satan, thinking once again of the American Dream idealism. But in truth, that is yet another temptation of the Devil.
When Satan suggests for us to, “try harder, work longer, follow Jesus’ steps and you will be that great perfect Christian” you can say, “All mankind has tried before me and failed, only Jesus could defeat the temptations of Satan and only Jesus can defeat you now. So I claim Jesus to fight off this latest temptation because I am powerless to do it myself.” And in truth Satan will flee once again, because in truth he is fleeing from Jesus again.
There is nothing wrong with trying harder and spending more time with God, that in and of itself will feed you the Holy Spirit and give you strength in Christ Jesus. As we learned from Jesus’ response to the three temptations, it is Jesus who won the war and it is still Jesus who wins the battles. Although we seek to apply all that Jesus gives to us at best we hang on to his coattails and enjoy his victory, remembering not to trust in our strength and what we do, but in the strength of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And in the end we too shall be victorious.
After Jesus was done with the devil, angels came and attended Him. For us we have more than just the help of angels, we also have Jesus himself attending us, along with the Holy Spirit and our Father. But we are not just attended only in victory; we are also attended when we fall. With Christ with us always, we can thus always defer to Him and His victory when temptations come our way. And since Jesus is in control, you will do more than meet the standards of the American Dream, you will surpass them, not because of what you did, but because with Christ, and Christ alone, all things are possible.
In the precious name of Jesus our precious Savior, we rest in His power, His Work, and His Gifts to endure this world. Amen.
