Does the Spirit lead us into temptation?
Sunday March 04, 2001
We are going to take our scripture this morning from Matthew 4:1-11
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
This scripture I would like to read again in the New Living Translation and hopefully it will be a little easier to understand.
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil.
2 For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry.
3 Then the Devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People need more than bread for their life;
they must feed on every word of God.’ ”
5 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,
6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He orders his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you with their hands
to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’ ”
8 Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory.
9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will only kneel down and worship me.”
10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God;
serve only him.’ ”
11 Then the Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus.
This seems to be the question of all times, does the Spirit lead us into temptation!
I know that a lot of the time we feel that we are being tempted by everything and by everyone around but that is not true.
God does not tempt us to sin!
No way, that’s satan’s specialty!
Now with that out of the way, we do need to know that God does test us at times.
Sometimes we might feel that the difference might seem subtle.
If you want to turn in your bibles to the book of James, we will read how temptations are different from trails.
Lets look at James 1:13
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
And again in the new living translation, James 1:13
13 And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either.
We may find that on occasion God may test us by putting us directly into the line of satan’s fire!
Let’s read what the scripture says in, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin.
13 But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience.
And God is faithful.
He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it.
When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.
We need to remember that the only way that God can show us if we are where we need to be in our spiritual life is to allow temptation to come our way so that we will see if we are as strong as we think that we are!
Sometimes we get to the point that we think that we can do no wrong.
When we get to that place in our lives it is time for a renewing of our spirit!
I myself find that the closer that you try to get to God, the harder that satan will throw things in your way to keep you from getting to your main goal in life.
We have all got to try harder in our spiritual life, we cannot allow satan to cause us to stumble and fall.
That only way that I know that this can happen is for us to pray without ceasing.
I know that you hear me say that every week, but friends it is true.
And I will be the first one to tell you that it is hard to stay on top of the mountain if you don’t keep your power line open to God!
As we go on we find in this case, the Spirit put Jesus to the test by allowing satan to tempt Him to sin.
Before His Devine mission on earth could succeed, Jesus had to first overcome this encounter with the enemy.
Similarly, we have to win numerous small battles over temptation if we are to fulfill the purpose or call that God has given us.
God may allow our faith to be tested, so that as He helps us through these initial skirmishes that we are in we can find us winning these small victories.
And this will prepare us to fight and win even bigger battles!
You see, God tests us, not that we might fall into sin, but that we might become victorious over our tests.
You know the feeling that we all get when we win!
Everyone likes to win and when we win over temptation it really boosts out spirits!
That is really what we are looking for to get to a place where we are pleasing our Father in heaven.
Now as we go on in our lesson this morning I want you to turn with me to Hebrews 12:1-13 and let’s read about how the Lord gives us our discipline.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.
And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward.
Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.
3 Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don’t become weary and give up.
4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
5 And have you entirely forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his children?
He said, “My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you,
and don’t be discouraged when he corrects you.
6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes those he accepts as his children.”
7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children.
Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined?
8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all.
9 Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever?
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how.
But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness.
11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.
13 Mark out a straight path for your feet.
Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.
You see that we will become strong when we go through these trials of life.
They are there to make us stronger not to cause us to stumble and fall.
God help us.
As we go on let’s look at why the Lord allows our faith to be tested in 1st Peter 1 Peter 1:3-12
3 All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again.
Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.
4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
5 And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him.
It will be revealed on the last day for all to see.
6 So be truly glad!
There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure.
It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.
So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love him even though you have never seen him.
Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
9 Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
10 This salvation was something the prophets wanted to know more about.
They prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you, even though they had many questions as to what it all could mean.
11 They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
They wondered when and to whom all this would happen.
12 They were told that these things would not happen during their lifetime, but many years later, during yours.
And now this Good News has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
And we need to go right on starting with the 13th verse, this is good and it will bring us what we are looking for this morning.
1 Peter 1:13-25
13 So think clearly and exercise self-control.
Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ.
14 Obey God because you are his children.
Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then.
15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God—who chose you to be his children—is holy.
16 For he himself has said, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges.
He will judge or reward you according to what you do.
So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth.
18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.
And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.
19 He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
20 God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see.
And he did this for you.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God.
And because God raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory, your faith and hope can be placed confidently in God.
22 Now you can have sincere love for each other as brothers and sisters because you were cleansed from your sins when you accepted the truth of the Good News.
So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts.
23 For you have been born again.
Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death.
But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
24 As the prophet says,
“People are like grass that dies away;
their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of wildflowers.
The grass withers, and the flowers fall away.
25 But the word of the Lord will last forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
You see over and over again the scripture brings forth the good news that is awaiting us in our life to come.
You all know that anything that is good you have to work for.
We need to all remember that we are working toward a goal that will bring us that perfect peace that we are all looking for here on this earth.
We all need to see by this parable that temptation does not need to end in failure.
For Jesus Christ to accomplish God’s Will He had to face satan and prevail.
This was His first major confrontation here on earth and Jesus had the fortitude to hold His own against satan.
We need to have that same fortitude, that same staying power, that same want to defeat satan that Jesus had.
Matthew shows us here in his writing that Jesus Christ was the one who served faithfully despite the enormous opposition that He faced.
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by satan to show that temptation doesn’t need to end in failure.
This should be an encouragement to all believers that daily find themselves facing satan and his schemes.
We all should see by what we have been talking about this morning that we all need to put on the whole Armour of God.
Let’s turn to Ephesians 6:10-20
10 A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power.
11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.
12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood,
but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world,
against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world,
and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
13 Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil,
so that after the battle you will still be standing firm.
14 Stand your ground,
putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.
15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News,
so that you will be fully prepared.
16 In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.
17 Put on salvation as your helmet,
and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.
19 And pray for me, too.
Ask God to give me the right words as I boldly explain God’s secret plan that the Good News is for the Gentiles, too.
20 I am in chains now for preaching this message as God’s ambassador.
But pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.
You see, Paul new of the troubles and the trials that we were going to face.
He was facing one of his many at this writing.
He was in prison at the time that he was writing this scripture and he had face many trials before that.
You also have to remember that Paul also caused many trials for the Children of God before he became a Child of God himself.
So if there ever was anyone that knew about trials it was Paul.
As we go on, someone might say well what was wrong with turning a stone into bread?
The issue was not what the temptation was, but the motive behind it.
Satan often appeals to our pride, hoping that we will take matters into our own hands rather than trust in God.
If Jesus had turned the stone into bread, He would not have been depending on God.
He resisted these temptations by quoting scriptures to reaffirm His trust in God.
That is why it is so important that we know the scriptures in the Bible so that we can use them to fight satan.
Do you feel like there was any risk that Jesus might yield to satan’s temptations?
Some people say that Spirit could never have put Jesus at risk since His divine nature would never succumb to temptation.
Others say that because Jesus was human His temptations were legitimate.
If this had been merely a mock spiritual battle, they say, then our salvation could not be legitimate.
Let’s look at what the scripture says in Hebrews 2:13-18
13 He also said, “I will put my trust in him.” And in the same context he said, “Here I am—together with the children God has given me.”
14 Because God’s children are human beings—
made of flesh and blood—
Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form.
For only as a human being could he die,
and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil,
who had the power of death.
15 Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
16 We all know that Jesus came to help the descendants of Abraham, not to help the angels.
17 Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,
so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.
He then could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted.
And as we go on with the scripture we find in Hebrews 4:14-16
14 That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God.
Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him.
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin.
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.
Jesus Christ was here, He faced all of the same trials that we do and he grew stronger, that is what we need to learn this morning that we can too!
We need to know that by our salvation we can be made fully alive in Jesus Christ, let’s read it in Ephesians 2:1-10
1 Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins.
2 You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air.
He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
3 All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature.
We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much,
5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.
(It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!)
6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ,
and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—
all because we are one with Christ Jesus.
7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10 For we are God’s masterpiece.
He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Praise God we don’t have to yield to temptation, we don’t have to bow down to satan, we can become fully alive in Jesus Christ!
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever and He will do for each of us what He will do for anyone else.
In closing one more scripture, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin.
13 But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience.
And God is faithful.
He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it.
When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.
We all need to know that God is always there and He will be there to help us if we will just go to Him in prayer.
All we need to do is to keep our power lines clear, keep all of the spider webs and tree branches away from the lines and we will always have a clear open line to God.
