Key verse: “Then the devil left him and angels came and attended him” (Matthew 4:11) (Secondary verse James 4:7)
INTRODUCTION
Temptation is a trap – it can get you into a lot of trouble and see you come undone in an instant.
A woman and a man are involved in a car accident.
It’s a bad one. Both of their cars are demolished but amazingly neither of them is hurt. After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So, you’re a man... That’s interesting. I’m a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There’s nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."
The man replied, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!" The woman continued, "And look at this, here’s another miracle... My car is completely demolished, but this bottle of wine didn’t break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune." Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement. He can’t believe his good fortune coming across such a nice lady under such terrible circumstances. He opens the bottle, drinks half of it and then hands it back to he woman. The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man. The man said, "Aren’t you having any?" She replies, "Nah. I think I’ll just wait for the police..."
Temptation – it’s a giant that we all struggle with! It’s certainly one topic on which I feel well qualified to speak! I certainly have a lot of experience in it – particularly in the failure side of things.
The story of the man and the woman is funny – but for those who find themselves under constant attack, temptation is no laughing matter. Satan attacks Believers everyday. So it pays to understand the tactics he will use. That way you can defeat the giant of temptation in your life.
Let’s take a look at how he works (Matthew 4:1-11).
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ "
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" `He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ "
7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ "
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ "
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
1. SATAN TEMPTS US TO GIVE PRIORITY TO THE PHYSICAL OVER THE SPIRITUAL ( Matthew 4:2-4)
Immediately after he was baptised, Jesus was lead by the Holy Spirit, into the desert. During this time Jesus didn’t carry any food with him. So he obviously became very hungry, and the devil took advantage of this natural, God given physical need – hunger. And he did it by tempting Jesus to turn stones into bread.
You see the devil will do anything to lure you into giving priority to your physical needs. If he can do that in your life, then he has succeeded in diverting your attention from your greater spiritual needs.
a. Jesus was tempted to use divine power to satisfy a spiritual need.
He tried this trick on Jesus. Right there in Jesus hour of desperate need, the devil had no concern for Jesus. Rather than feed him, the devil tried to persuade Jesus to abandon his dependence upon God, and to use his divine power for selfish ends.
But Jesus defeated this giant of temptation by refusing to give in to the devil’s mind games. He beat off Satan’s attack by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3.
"It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ " (Deut 8:3)
This section of the Bible from the OT, tells how God provided Manna from heaven – food for survival – for Israel in their time of need, and it describes how they depended on God in faith.
b. You will be tempted to give greater attention to the physical than the spiritual.
And so the first of Satan’s tactics that you need to be aware of - if you are going to defeat the giant of temptation in your life – is this ...... Satan will tempt you to give priority to the physical over the spiritual (Outline).
Illustration: Writer & speaker Joni Erickson Tada was paralysed from the neck down in a diving accident. In her book “Secret Strength,” Joni wrote about facing temptation.
“I was in my late 20’s, single, and with every prospect of remaining so. Sometimes lust or a bit of fantasising would seem so inviting and so easy to justify. After all, hadn’t I already given up more than most Christians just by being disabled? Didn’t my wheelchair entitle me to a little slack now and then?”
Joni goes on the ask her readers;
“When God allows you to suffer, do you have tendency to use your trials as an excuse for sinning? Or do you feel that since you’ve given God a little extra lately by taking abuse, that He owes you a "day off?"”
Hard times can often lead to temptation ... In our suffering the evil one is quick to come to our aid and offer one of his solutions; pursuing pleasure to numb the pain, becoming bitter, getting even, feeding anger.
Satan wants to destroy your trust in God – and he will do it by getting you to trust in the physical things of the hear and now. He wants to convince you that your physical drives are more important than your spiritual needs.
The good news is that you can beat this giant – but you will need to depend on the strength of Jesus Christ to do it.
2. SATAN TEMPTS US TO EXPLOIT THE GOODNESS OF GOD (Matthew 4:5-7)
Well, the devil didn’t hesitate, Jesus’ second temptation came immediately after the first. On this occasion the devil wasn’t giving up easily. He blatantly misused Scripture and quoted Psalm 91:11-12 saying that this was a promise for Jesus’ protection.
" `He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ " (Psalm 91:11-12)
a. Jesus was tempted to do something spectacular.
The devil provided Jesus with an opportunity to display his trust in God. The setting is the roof of the temple in Jerusalem. As he gazed down from the highest point Jesus was tempted to test God’s love and care for him. If he were to throw himself off, surely the God of mercy wouldn’t allow his only Son to die or come to any harm?
You see Jesus had told the devil that he wouldn’t turn stones into bread because he was trusting God to provide. Now the devil was testing that trust. Satan wanted Jesus to show his trust by taking advantage of God’s loving care.
Again Jesus defeated the devil with a quote from Scripture.
“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut 6:16)
In other words, God does provide protection for his people - - - - but don’t exploit it!
b. You will also be tempted to exploit God’s goodness.
So the second of Satan’s tactics that you need to be aware of is this ...... Satan will tempt you to exploit the goodness of God (Outline).
If you’re going to defeat the giant of temptation then you need to be aware that Satan will tempt you to test God’s goodness.
Often we are tempted to take unnecessary risks and then we expect God to protect us.
Illustration: Young Christian guys speeding on a wet road. God promises to protect us – but he does not promise to protect us if we step outside of his will.
God promises his protection, yes, but he does not promise to provide it if you choose to go your own way. God provides his protection for you - - when you follow his will.
When you cease to obey, then you’re taking your life into your own hands – and that’s a dangerous place to be.
Don’t assume that God will protect you if you’re living in disobedience.
3. SATAN TEMPTS US TO USE ANY MEANS TO GET WHAT WE WANT (Matthew 4:8-10)
Finally, Satan ditches his subtlety and just gets to the point. He took Jesus to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world – and he said this ...
"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me" (Matthew 4:9)
This is the devil’s strongest attack – bow down to him and he will give you domination over others.
a. Jesus was tempted to look past the means to the ends.
Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world on one condition - - "if you will bow down and worship me" (Matthew 4:9).
You can imagine Jesus dilemma – he knows the bleak destiny of many people in the world. But if he accepted this dominion over them he could make the world believe. It was a shortcut. It would do away with the need for his own sacrifice on the cross.
And that’s precisely why he didn’t take it. And as he had done on every other occasion, Jesus defeated the devil with Scripture.
“It is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10; Deut 6:13)
b. You will be tempted to use wrong means for a right purpose.
And so the final tactic Satan uses, that you need to be aware of - if you are going to defeat the giant of temptation in your life – is this ...... Satan will tempt you to use any means to get what you want. (Outline).
But if you want to defeat the giant of temptation, then you can’t have any partnership with evil. As you serve God you must do God’s will God’s way.
Be aware of this tactic used by the devil – and don’t be tempted to achieve a good outcome by taking shortcuts.
Illustration: This is particularly relevant to us at ABC today. As we pursue the establishment of a Christian School in Australind we must be sure we are following the Lord each step of the way. This is the most important reason why we need an Advisory Board. If we can gather good information we can make educated decisions based on hard facts - - - not on emotion or on some other devious impulse.
We need to know the mind of God at every step so that we’re not tempted to take any shortcuts.
(Pause)
CONCLUSION
Friends, Satan attacks Believers everyday. So it pays to understand the tactics he will use. That way you can defeat the giant of temptation in your life.
He will tempt you to cater to your physical desires at the expense of your spiritual needs. He will tempt you to exploit God’s goodness – assuming that God will protect you even if you’re living in disobedience. And the devil will tempt you to achieve a good outcome by taking self-centred shortcuts.
So now you know the tactics that the devil will use against you. But knowledge alone will not protect you. Knowledge alone will not defeat the giant of temptation. It helps, but it’s not enough.
I want you to notice one more thing in this account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert – and it’s this ........ Jesus never faltered.
Only one person has ever been strong enough to fight the devil and win – and that’s Jesus.
In the Bible the Lord says,
“Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honour me” (Psalm 50:15 GWT)
How do we “call on” the Lord?
Follow Jesus’ example. Jesus defeated the giant of temptation by using the weapon that everyone has at their disposal – the Word of God, the Bible.
Ephesians 6:17 calls the Bible, “The sword of the Spirit.”
When Satan tempted Jesus with untruth – he took up the the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God – and defeated Satan with Scriptural truth.
That’s good advice.
