You Can Have Victory Through Jesus
Matthew 4:1-11
Matthew 4:2 - Matthew 4:11 (HCSB)
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.£ 2After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. 3Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4But He answered, “It is written:
Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
5Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
He will give His angels orders concerning you and,
they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.”
7Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”
8Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.”
10Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written:
Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only Him.”
11Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him.
Prayer
I hope that God has blessed you this week as he has blessed me. Have you ever thought about all the things God does for you each and everyday. There are too many to counts. God just continues to pour blessing after blessing on us even when we don’t deserve it. Why even when we were lost and blind God continued to bless us. One He kept us alive so we could hear about Jesus. Two HE sent His Son for our blessing. We did not deserve it but Jesus died to pay our sin debt, so we do not have too.
So why do we walk around mopping? Why are we depressed? I hear Christians who say that they feel like they just can’t accomplish anything. That everything they touch or do goes wrong. They feel like Satan is attacking them and he is winning. Satan can beat us. But he can’t defeat Jesus but he can defeat us. When we face him in our own strength, when we don’t bring Jesus to the fight with us Satan will win. We can’t overcome Him in our own strength. We are too weak and he knows all our weak points. He knows exactly what will tempt us if we face him alone.
There are 3 types of people in this world there are the saved, then you have the saved but backslidden, and then there is the lost. Now the saved are walking that close walk with Jesus and they have a personal relationship with God. In fact they go nowhere without Jesus. They are holding tight to his hand. Satan doesn’t bother to show up for the fight he knows that he has already lost.
Then you have the backslidden Christian. They are saved but they have lost that personal relationship with God because of un-confessed sin in their lives. They are walking without Jesus facing the world alone. Satan comes after them with every temptation that he has. He is sure to show up for this fight because he knows this is one that he can win. Without Jesus we are powerless against him. They finally you have the lost Satan doesn’t even have to fight them they are already his. The lost soul is caught up in the pleasures and temptation of this world. He or she believes the lies of Satan. There is no such thing as God. When you die that is just it you cease to exist. Jesus can’t save me He may have been a good man but He was not God. I must clean myself up before I can come to Christ. Or finally I have plenty of tie and many, many more lies.
So many allow Satan to win because they either don’t have Jesus or they have him but they refuse to let Him lead and block Satan’s attacks. This morning I want us to examine the victory we can have through Jesus which is ours if we are willing to claim it. Satan tempted Jesus. He knows how it feels to be tempted. He can understand the struggle we go through with temptation. Jesus overcame Satan’s temptation not in His human power but in the power of God. Satan tempted Jesus in three areas that we as humans are the most likely to fail.
Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and Satan comes as says if you are really who you say you are then turn these stones into bread. I know you are hungry so use your power and make these stones bread. What could it hurt? Who is going to see it? It is just turn rocks into bread and you are so hungry? Jesus had a choice to make God was watching He would know the choice made. Jesus could use His power and get something to eat. He must have been extremely hungry. Or He could follow God’s will and depend on Him. Yes Jesus knows the physical temptations that we face because He faced them. Maybe we are weak when it comes to drink, food, sex, what ever causes us physical satisfaction. If we face those temptations alone we will fail we must face them with Jesus because HE has already over come it and we can have victory also through Him.
Satan knows our desires and he will strike when we are at our weakest. Just as he struck when he knew Jesus was at His weakest. He knew Jesus would be hungry so he tempted Him with food. Jesus responded in the power of God by quoting scripture. HE said “ Man must not live by bread alone but on every word from the mouth of God.” Do you live on every word from the mouth of God? Do you seek God’s word? Do you feed on it so when you are hungry and at your weakest you can draw on God’s word to sustain you?
The second area where Jesus was tempted was in possessions and power. Satan takes Jesus to the top of the temple and says if you are who you claim to be jump and the angels will catch you and the people will believe you. Satan tempted Jesus with power and he tempts us with power. Just give some people a little authority and they can’t handle it. People strive for power and when they get it they want even more. While we are scrambling trying to get more stuff and receive that next promotion we forget that we already have all the power and authority that we need in Jesus. That we have already all the possessions we need in heaven through the power of Jesus. WE can claim victory over this temptation because Jesus faced the devil and said “ It is also written. Do not test the Lord your God” We just need to depend and lean on Jesus and we will have all the power we need or want.
The area of temptation that Satan tempted Jesus was His pride. As a school teacher I see where pride causes a lot of trouble and fights. Satan carried Jesus to a mountain top and showed Him all the nations of the world and said if you will worship me these I will give you. Satan was tempting Jesus with what was already His. Yes Satan had them for now but Jesus would be ultimate owner. But if He would just worship Satan He could get them now. Nor would He have to face the cross and have nails driven through His hands and feet. Nor would he have had a spear thrust into His side. But instead Jesus said “ Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.” Are worshipping God this morning are you only serving Him today. If we only serve God then our pride will be humbled and Satan will not be able to get near us to attack us with pride. What a victory we can have in Jesus if we just accept Him, submit to Him. Jesus has broken the back of Satan. Satan can not defeat Jesus. He tries but Jesus always wins.
Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the Garden He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Jesus could have said father don’t do this to me, I don’t want to save this ungrateful people. But He didn’t instead He said not my will but your will. Then he found the disciples asleep and said stay awake with me twice they fell asleep. He could have ranted and raved gave into His anger but He did not. Often times when we fail it is because we trying to do what we want not what God wants. We don’t seek out God’s will for our life. Jesus overcame temptation by seeking God’s will. Are seeking His will this morning? Or are you doing things your way. If you are seeking God’s will in all thing Jesus will be their when Satan comes and Satan can never hope to overcome Him. But if you are sitting here lost this morning you can not hope to overcome Satan in your strength for he is stronger than any of us. If you are sitting here this morning a backslider you can not overcome Satan because Jesus is not with you this morning. You must seek Jesus. You must seek Him for your salvation, you must seek His will for your life. You must surrender to Him this morning. Not 99.9 % of your life but 100% of your life you can hold nothing back.
Jesus was victorious on the cross. Satan thought he had won that he foiled God’s plan for man’s salvation when Jesus was nailed to the cross. He had tried to kill the child Jesus numerous times but could not. Numerous times through out history he had tried to wipe out the bloodline of David but He was always foiled by God. Now, Finally Satan was able to kill Jesus. But I want to show you something. Look Jesus was no captured as much as HE allowed Himself to be taken. Jesus was not guilty by He allowed Himself to be tried and executed. To be beaten and humiliated. I want you to understand that at any moment He could have said stop and the angels would have come to protect Him. He allowed the Roman soldiers to rip the flesh from His body for our sins because of His Grace. He allowed the crown of thorns to be placed on His head because of His mercy. He placed Himself on the cross because of His love for us. HE took on the sins of the world past present and future so that we might have an opportunity for salvation. He did that out of love. Yes Jesus loves even you while on the cross HE prayed Father forgive them they know not what they do. Today He is still crying that prayer. HE is waiting for you He is calling you? Will you answer Him today.
Do you want victory this morning? Are you sitting in the pew this morning saying that is something I would like to have? I am tired of living for Satan, chasing after the things of this world. I want victory in Jesus today. They put your pride aside. You can do it because Jesus did it call on Him today to remove that pride as you walk down the asile. Remember Jesus was victorious over pride. Is Satan telling you that you don’t need saving or that you got plenty of time? Don’t believe Him. No a one of us knows when our time is come. If the Holy Spirit is calling don’t hesitate but answer the call. Young people all over America woke up this morning planning what they were going to do tonight, tomorrow and with their lives. And the next moment they have breathed their last. They, if they were saved, met Jesus face to face for the first of many times. But if they were lost they woke up in Hell.
Why oh why does it seem Hell is more preferable than Heaven. Heaven is love, grace, mercy, and streets of Gold, and mansions for eternity. Hell on the other hand is dark, lonely, and a place of pain. The Bible says it is so dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face. There will be fire but it will be so dark no light will be put off because the light God is not there. Hell is a place of separation. Hell is a place where those who go there will forever separated from God. There are no second chances. Your body will burn and never burn up. The worms will eat you flesh and never eat you up. There will be no one to share you pain and sorrow with because you will isolated and no one but you will be able to hear your cries of pain and sorrow. Oh why oh why did I refuse to accept Jesus. Why or why did I chose to ignore the call and come to Hell. All I had to do was to accept Jesus that morning in that little church in the cotton fields where the Gospel was preached. Oh why or why. But you don’t have to say that, it doesn’t have to be that way. This morning you can come seeking Jesus. You can surrender your all to the one who gave His all for you Jesus Christ. All you have to do is to surrender to His will and submit to Him as your Lord and Savior. All you have to do is to ask Him to save you this morning. Are you seeking this morning? Are you lost? The way has been found. Are you backslidden then come seeking Jesus. Come seeking Jesus today.
