Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Title: Ash Wednesday: Response to Temptation
Text: 1 John 2:16, Gen. 3:6, Luke 4:1-13
Introduction
1. Today is Ash Wednesday.
This begins a 40 day period of reflection, prayer, and fasting...
focusing on Jesus Christ and His life and sufferings leading up to the cross.
Some people make the Lenton season a time of dreariness, sadness, and depression...
But, just because we focus on Christ and His sufferings...
we also know the end of the story...
we know that Jesus Christ rose again...
and in fact, the 6 Sundays during Lent are not counted in the 40 days...
because Sunday is always a reminder of Jesus’ Resurrection...
This doesn’t lessen the importance of repentance...
self-discipline...
and self-denial...
but it does place these things into the larger picture...
and the big picture is one of victory and celebration.
2. Luke 4:1-13 tells the story of the temptation of Christ in the wilderness...
And, while Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness...
Lent is traditionally seen at joining Christ in the wilderness for 40 days.
And I certainly encourage you to join Christ in a time of prayer...
fasting...
meditation...
and reflection...
but for our purposes tonight...
I would like to focus on the temptation aspect.
Read Text: 1 John 2:16 (NKJV), Gen. 3:6, Luke 4:1-13
3. 1 John 2:16 describes temptation in 3 ways:
1. The Lust of the flesh...
2. The Lust of the eyes...
3. The Pride of Life...
4. These temptations are common to all people......
Body
1. The Lust of the Flesh
A. In Genesis 3:6, Scripture tells us that Eve "saw that the tree was good for food"
Here’s Eve, in the Garden of Eden...
a place of beauty and wonder...
a paradise...
the sun is shining...
it’s warm...
the lush garden in all it’s splendor...
and Eve is just minding her own business when Satan comes to tempt her.
He begins to cast doubt on God’s motives for making certain commands...
And, as the doubt takes hold in Eve’s heart...
she "saw that the tree was good for food"....
The lust of the flesh...
You know...I can identify with Eve...
although for me...an apple is not all that tempting...
for me, it’s pizza...
or a Big Mac...
I can be driving down the middle of town...
and even though I have enjoyed a nice meal...
perhaps soup and a salad...
I’m content...
I’ve certainly eaten enough to sustain life...
the food was pleasing and tasty...
but all of a sudden...
those yellow arches come into view...
and I begin to think about a Big Mac...
or that red roof will begin to call to me...
"wouldn’t a meat-lovers pizza be good about now"?
B. But we aren’t alone in our tempation...
Scripture tells us that For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" Heb 4:15 (NIV)
Here’s Jesus...enjoying a time of prayer and communion with God...
He hadn’t eaten for 40 days...
Because He knew that fasting was a way to develop Spiritual discipline...
and helps to draw us closer to God...
And Scripture tells us that Jesus was just minding His own business...
when Satan approaches...just like he did Eve in the beginning...
He says, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Luke 4:3 (NIV)
appealing to the lust of the flesh.
Of course Christ was hungry...
and I’m sure some bread would taste nice about now...
But Christ responded, "It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone" Luke 4:4 (NIV)
C. Eve was tempted with the lust of the flesh...
and she succumbed...
Christ also was tempted with the lust of the flesh...
and He remained faithful to God in the face of temptation...
in order to show us that, with the power of Christ at work within us...
WE are able to remain faithful to God in the face of temptation....
The lust of the flesh can take many forms...
perhaps it is food...
perhaps it is drink...
perhaps it is sexual pleasure...
and just because we are saved and sanctified and on our way to heaven...
doesn’t mean that we should think that we are above the temptations of the flesh...
There will come times when we are just sitting there...
minding our own business...
and satan will come and tempt us with the lust of the flesh...
and if we try to overcome by our own efforts...
we will fail...
but through the power of Christ...
we will win the battle with the temptations of the flesh.
2. The Lust of the Eyes.
A. 1 John 2:16 also describes the "lust of the eyes"
as we look back at Eve...
in the Garden of Eden...
When satan begins to cast doubt upon God’s Word...
he appeals not only to her lust of the flesh...
but he also appeals to the lust of the eyes...
Genesis 3:6 tells us that Eve saw that the fruit "was pleasant to the eyes" Gen 3:6 (NKJV)
We are very visual people...
And we are strongly affected by what we see.
In fact, in this age of computers...
the internet...
rampant pornography...
fancy graphics...games...colors...
a new word to describe all this has been coined...
"eye candy"...
candy for the eyes...
your mother always told you that if you eat to much candy...it will rot your teeth.
Well, we need to be very careful about what we look at...
Like the children’s song says, "o be careful little eyes what you see".
B. And satan knows this about our being tempted by visual things...
he even approached Jesus with visual temptation...
just like he did with Eve...
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Luke 4:5 (NKJV)
Again with the "eye candy"
Christ could see all this...
and it could create a desire to have it in an illicit manner...
for Him...it was an invitation to have the kingdoms of the world without the pain of the cross.
C. And satan continues to tempt us along visual lines...
sometimes its more subtle than the yellow arches...
or the red roof...
maybe its the beautiful woman...
maybe its the handsome man...
maybe its something else...
but its all eye candy...
it looks great...
but once you partake...
it only leaves you feeling empty.
3. The Pride of Life
A. Finally, John talks about the temptation of "the pride of life".
for Eve, this meant that she saw that the "tree desirable to make one wise" Gen 3:6 (NKJV)
Eve was tempted to know what God knew...
satan was able to cast enough doubt upon God’s motives...
that Eve chose to disobey God...
and partake of the forbidden fruit.
B. satan came after Jesus in the same way...
he took Jesus up to a high point and tempted Him to throw Himself down...
he said, "IF you are the Son of God...throw Yourself down...the angels will catch You...
and satan even resorted to quoting Scripture to tempt Christ.
the Pride of Life...
it would have been very easy for Christ to do just that...
in His mind, He could have said...
"I really am the Son of God...
and I really can throw Myself down...
and the angels really will catch Me"
But instead of doing what satan was tempting Him to do...
He responded by saying, ""It has been said, ’You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ " Luke 4:12 (NKJV)
And Scripture tells us that after satan had finished tempting Christ in every way...
he left Him until a more opportune time.
C. And satan will use the same tricks on us...
he will try to inflate our pride...
get us to focus on OUR wisdom...
or OUR strength...
or even OUR spiritual strength...
This is a very insidious temptation...
we all want to be viewed by others in a positive light...
we all want people to think highly of us...
but when we get caught up in pride...
and boasting...
and getting all puffed up...
we think of ourselves more highly than we should...
we need to remember, everything we are...
everything we have...
all our abilities...
all our wisdom...
everything...
comes from God...
Conclusion
1. Today is Ash Wednesday...
this begins our 40 days of focus upon Christ...
I assure you that satan will try to avert your focus...
he doesn’t want you to draw closer to the Lord...
he doesn’t want you to pray and fast...
he doesn’t want you to meditate upon God’s Word...
so he will tempt you...
1. He may tempt your flesh...
your earthly desires for food and pleasure...
2. He may tempt your eyes...
causing you to see things that perhaps you shouldn’t be looking at...
and creating within you a strong desire to have what you see...
3. He may tempt you with pride...
And most probably...he will tempt you in all 3 ways...
that’s what he did with Eve...
that’s what he did with Christ...
2. Eve showed us that we need to be very, very careful...
because we are fallible...
it is possible for satan to lure us to yield to temptation...
3. And Christ showed us that...
even though we are fallible...
we are able to be faithful and victorious...
even in the midst of temptation...
if we will find our strength in Christ...
and focus on His Word...
4. Adam and Eve yielded to tempation...bringing sin and death for all mankind...
But Christ resisted temptation...bringing salvation and life for all mankind...
5. Let’s use this time of Lent to focus on Jesus Christ...
to see all that He went through...
to experience His great love...
to identify with Him...
but also to draw closer to Him...
satan will tempt you...
he doesn’t want you to draw closer to Jesus...
he doesn’t want you to pray and fast and focus on Christ...
the temptation will be there to pursue the lust of the flesh...
or the lust of the eyes...
or the pride of life...
but with the power of Christ at work in our lives...
we will be able to withstand the temptation....
and come Easter...
we will have spent the most blessed 40 days of communion with our Lord.
