Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
First Sunday of Lent
March 9, 2003
“Do Not Enter: Resisting Temptation”
Matthew 26:36-46
INTRODUCTION: How many have seen a “Do Not Enter” sign on the highway or somewhere in town? How many of you have deliberately driven into such an area anyway? How many wouldn’t think of doing such a thing? I confess that I have.
STORY: Walter always took our 90 year old friend, Kreager, to the bank when his check came. On that particular day, Walter was out of town and couldn’t take him. I picked him up and took him down to Citizen’s National bank as it was then called. When we got there, it was more convenient for me to enter in at the “Do Not Enter Sign” than to go around and enter the other way. So I deliberately drove in at the “Do Not Enter.” Then I quickly said to Kreager who was 50 years older than I was, “Don’t tell Walter I did this.” He said, “Oh, no, no. I won’t” Then he said, “Walter takes chances too!”
Why do we deliberately enter where there are signs that plainly say, “Do not Enter?” Is it because we think, “Oh, what is it going to hurt?” “Oh, it doesn’t really mean anything? No one is coming.” “I’ve done it before and nothing happened.”
Is it just because we “have it in us” to do the opposite of what we are supposed to do?
The title of today’s message is “Do Not Enter: Resisting Temptation.” Maybe we would not think of ever driving into a “Do Not Enter” road sign, but what about entering temptations and sins that so easily beset us? In Matthew’s account of today’s scripture, Jesus takes all of his disciples except Judas to the Garden of Gethsamane to pray late at night. He is starting to feel the pressure of the sins of the whole world pressing in on him, he is in conflict over the upcoming mission, and he asks his disciples to watch and pray with him. Jesus tells his disciples, “Watch and pray that you will not enter into temptation.” This scripture shows us that even when we want to avoid temptations that sometimes they are just there in front of us and that we succumb to them.
Let’s see how today’s scripture will help us to be better able to resist the various temptations that come our way.
1. The Agony Jesus Was In: Jesus knew he was on a mission--to the cross. That is why he came to earth in the first place. But as he got nearer and nearer to the cross he was in great conflict within himself. He was struggling with his human nature. He was fully God but also fully human. That may be difficult for us to understand. There were several things happening here that I hadn’t seen before.
When you do something wrong, how does it make you feel? Guilty, sad, depressed, separated from God’s favor, dirty? You might have a lot of different feelings that you can’t shake off. At this particular time Jesus was starting to feel the weight of the sins of the world on him. They were crushing him. They were pressing in on him. He had both emotional pain as well as the thought of future physical pain of the cross.
He also realized that he would go through this alone. He didn’t even have his closest disciples watching and praying with him. He didn’t really have his “support team” with him. They were all asleep.
He also knew that he would have the separation from the presence of God when he was on the cross. Matthew 27:45 says that he cried out, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me.”
And then during the triumphal entry where the crowds of people waved palm branches and shouted “Hosannah,” the people started to turn against him very quickly.
He was alone in his struggles. The conflict raged within him and he prayed, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will but as you will.” The Message Bible puts it this way, “My father if there is any way, get me out of this, But please, not what I want. You, what do you want.”
He could have gotten out of it. He could have said, “I have had enough. I am stopping at this point. The temptation was there to back out. He prayed the second time. In the Mark account it says, “if possible, the hour may pass from him.” Then he said “everything IS possible for you. Take this cup from me, yet not what I will but what you will.”
2. The Requests and the Overriding Desire to Do the Father’s Will: He prayed the second time, “My father if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way.” Each time he prayed, he came out with more strength to go ahead with the mission. And to do the father’s will.
He prayed until he had it settled within himself. He wrestled with what was ahead for him. How often do we wrestle with our struggles and temptations until we have gained victory over them? Do we give up before the battle is really won? The key here I believe is that more than anything else Jesus came back to the same conclusion, “Not my will but thine be done.” He had a great desire to do the Father’s will more than his own. Do we?
David in the Psalms was a person who faced a lot of temptations during his lifetime. He prayed, “I delight to do thy will O God.”
Jesus said in John 6:38, “for I have come down from heaven, not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” John 4:4 he said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to FINISH His Work.”
It takes more than saying, “I’m going to give up sky diving for Lent when we don’t sky dive anyway.” It is the Continual process of daily obedience--of choosing to go God’s way rather than our own. Of avoiding the many “Do not Enter” signs that present themselves to us. Jesus won out over the struggle. In verse 46 after he returned from his third time of prayer he came back and said, “Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” He was ready for what was ahead. He had not entered the “Do not Enter” sign. He had resisted the temptation to check out before the cross. He could have because his life was not TAKEN FROM Him. He laid it down WILLINGLY.
3. Resisting Temptation: How in the world can we do this when temptation to do wrong often comes in such subtle and very attractive ways?
Jesus is telling his disciples to do several things and these apply to us as well.
1. Be Alert and On Guard: We are bombarded with temptations every day in some way or another. He tells them “watch out for it.” Don’t deliberately enter out of willful disobedience but at the same time don’t let it sneak up on you and take you by surprise. Don’t be sleepy and doze off when it comes to temptation. He is telling them, “you’ve got to stay alert so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. He tells them, “I know that there’s a part of you that is so eager, so ready for anything in God but there’s another part of us as the Message Bible puts vs.41 “that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”
The “spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
STORY:A HOUND DOG, who in the days of his youth and strength had never yielded to any beast of the forest, encountered in his old age a wild boar in the chase. He seized him boldly by the ear, but could not retain his hold because of the decay of his teeth, so that the boar escaped. His master, quickly coming up, was very much disappointed, and fiercely yelled at the dog.
The Hound looked up and said, "It was not my fault. master: my spirit was as good as ever, but I could not help my infirmities."
"The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." For this reason, Christians must continually rely upon the Holy Spirit to help them overcome the evil one.
Be on the lookout for the subtle things. There may be temptations that you know that you would give in to more readily than others. Be on the watch. I Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and ALERT. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
2. Prayer brings the strength of God into our situation: What do we pray for? Every Sunday we pray “and deliver us from evil”--we don’t HAVE TO fall into the traps of sin time after time. EXPECT God to deliver you from evil. Don’t say, “Oh, well, I have to learn the hard way.” No, you don’t. Your strength to resist comes from God who is the source of strength. Your deliverance from evil comes from God. We know this from the strength that came to Jesus to face the cross--to complete his mission. His strength came from his relationship with the Father. John 17:15 says Jesus prayed for his disciples ahead of time. He said, “My prayer is not that you would take them out of the world but that you WOULD PROTECT THEM from the evil one.” In the Luke account as Jesus prayed, “an angel appeared to him and STRENGTHENED him” (Luke 22:43).
3. Don’t Give Satan a Foothold: Ephesians 4:27 says, “Do not give the devil a FOOTHOLD.” I Thess. 5:22 says, “Avoid all appearance of evil.”--Do Not Enter”--if you are tempted by certain things don’t go there--”Do not enter.” If you are tempted to smoke a cigarette when you get stressed out--don’t carry a pack with you. Get rid of the things that you find so easily tempt you. Don’t bring home 10 bags of Oreo Cookies if you are trying to avoid sweets. It could be anything. Why steer clear of the temptation? II Corinthians 2:10 says, “lest Satan should get advantage of us.” Another reminder to “Do Not Enter” is in I Peter 2:11. Peter says, “Dear friends I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul.”
STORY: A little boy asked his father, "What is a necessary evil?"
The Father replied. "One that we like so much we don’t want to get rid of it."
Do you have any “necessary evils” that you need to get rid of at this Lenten Season?
4. Cultivate the Habit of Putting God’s Will Above Your Own:
This doesn’t happen overnight. We are generally such selfish people. What do “I want.” We are like the guy who prayed, “My name is Jimmy, God, Gimmy, Gimmy, all you can Gimmy.” We don’t cultivate the habit of asking the Lord, “What is your will in this.” Most of the time we rush right on in the “Do Not Enter” areas of temptation. Remember that we don’t have to fall into these traps. Be alert. Pray first. Learn to consult the Lord about these questionable areas. Do think in terms of “how close can I get to sin and still be a Christian.”
STORY: The story is told of an ambulance company who was interviewing for drivers. The test was that the driver had to see how close he could drive to a cliff but keep the ambulance from going over the edge. Different drivers took the test. One even came out from the interview and said, “Man, I know I’ve got the job. I got so close that the wheels were right over the edge of the cliff. And I drove right out. No problem.”
Another told a similar story. They all compared notes to see how close each got to the cliff without toppling over the edge.
When the announcement was made of who was hired, the job went to a person who hadn’t even gone near the cliff.
The personnel manager said, “we want people who do not recklessly put our patients in unnecessary danger.”
Let’s make sure that our actions and choices do not jeopardize our spiritual life as well. May we cultivate the habit of choosing God’s will over our own.
CONCLUSION: What does all of this say to us at this Lenten Season? I think it tells us a lot in finding ways to live a more overcoming life as a Christian. “Do Not Enter” -- learn to resist the temptations that lurk around every corner. We need to realize that we don’t have to fall into these traps. A favorite scripture of mine is found in Revelation 12:11 “[we] overcome by the blood of the Lamb (what Jesus did on the Cross for us) and the word of our testimony (what we say) about temptation and sin. I’m not going to enter. I am resisting. The Lord is giving me the strength to do it...
Let us Pray:
