TEMPTATIONS
I. What does it mean to be tempted?
(Genesis 3:1-7)
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
A. Many people believed that Adam and Eve had an internal temptation, meaning, they knew that they were not suppose to eat from the tree,
therefore, that was a temptation in itself, but that is not true.
See, Adam and Eve were created in a perfect world, with the perfect
body and a perfect spirit, and because of this, satin, being the serpent,
had to directly tempt them, because Eve and Adam were born with
a spirit nature (God Nature).
(Luke 4: 1-13)
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into[a] the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, saying,[b] “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”[c]5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him[d] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan![e] For[f] it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”[g]9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’
11 and,
‘ In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”[h]12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”[i]13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
B. Jesus was born in a fallen world, with a natural body and a perfect spirit. Like Adam and Eve, Jesus was also born with the spirit nature,
therefore, satin had to tempt Him directly, unlike Adam and Eve,
Jesus defeated satins temptations.
C. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree, with the exception
of Jesus Christ, man has been and is being born with the Sin Nature.
We have an internal temptation born with us. Take children for
instance, if you tell them not to do something, they are going to do
it any way, because you told them not to do it. We have to be taught
to do right, because we all ready know wrong. So, how do we get
from the Sin Nature to the Spirit Nature (God Nature)? Only one
way, and that is through our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior!
II. What does satin use to tempt us?
A. One of the areas satin uses to tempt us with is in Pleasurable Things.
Pleasurable things consist of Drugs, Alcohol, Pornography, Gambling, etc. There are two areas this can affect. One area is that
these things can cause you to become addicted. They can take
complete control of your life. When you let things control your life,
your letting satin control your life. The other area is that these things
can and will cause someone else to stumble. When someone sees you
doing these things, this could cause them to start doing these things also.
(Demonstration)!!
Do the circle on the chin demo!!
(Matthew 18: 6-7)
6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
B. Another area satin uses to tempt us with is by Worrying. Have you ever thought about what makes us worry? Could it be that we say or
think What if? or If only? What do you mean what if or if only?
I mean that people tend to look to the past and into the future. What
if I lose my job or If only I would have done this. You see, worrying
does not do one bit of good. What’s happened has happened and
what’s going to happen is just going to happen, whether we worry or
not.
(Matthew 6: 25-34)
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
C. The last area deals with the things that we say and do which cause people to get angry with us. One thing we do is tell lies to try to cover up something. God simply says “Thou Shall Not Lie”. The truth may hurt for a moment, but a lie can hurt forever. Another thing is how we use our tongues.
(James 3: 5-12)
5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.[b]
III. How do we defeat satins temptations?
A. As we know, satin uses drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling, worrying (what if and if only), ways of trying to find assurance,
our tongues, lies, betrayal and etc. as temptations. So, how do we
defeat satins temptations? I will tell you how to defeat satins temptations, and that is to COMPLETELY focus on God!! Where
we go wrong is when we lose focus of God, when we take our eyes off of Jesus and we start focusing and reaching for the things of this world. You see, if we will focus on God 100% of the time, everything else will fall right into place.
Lets Pray!
Invitation Song: “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”
