The Temptation of Jesus 01/01/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:27

There's no way in the world. We're gonna get through 11 pages of notes this morning. I know that so But you know, we send them out and I think right now

00:37

I'm sending them out to about 355 addresses every Sunday morning

00:44

And I believe over 125 of them are pastors in mostly third world countries, so So sometimes they're more full or complete than what we can get through here because of the time

01:01

So today we arrived to Luke 4 1 through 13 Let's pray and ask

01:06

God to help us Thank you father for your word and for this episode before us

01:12

We pray our God as we read it Reflect upon it here.

01:17

It taught that you would Ennoble Jesus Christ in our hearts and minds and we pray that you would help us our

01:26

God take to heart lessons That we might learn that we might better live before you as we experience temptation in this world

01:34

For we pray in Jesus name. Amen well here in Luke chapter 4 we read of the 40 -day journey of our

01:45

Lord through the wilderness in which he was tempted to sin as as the devil instigated

01:55

This period of temptation occurred just prior to the onset of his public ministry in Galilee In fact that's mentioned.

02:02

I think right after this episode in verse 14 and following Now it's important that the temptation of our

02:09

Lord be seen in the context of what was just recorded respecting both our Lord's baptism as Well as his genealogy

02:18

Which is at the end of chapter 3 In his baptism the

02:24

Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven Which said you are my beloved son in you.

02:32

I am well pleased and Then Luke recorded the genealogy of Jesus taking his lineage back to Adam Who's described as the son of God having been created by God, of course

02:45

And so Luke set forth our Lord Jesus in his temptation as God's obedient son

02:51

Submitting to all that his father had commanded his people And when

02:56

Jesus was baptized the Spirit came upon him to equip him to enable him To complete his task of doing the will of God in bringing salvation to his people, but in his redemptive work

03:09

He would encounter and overcome opposition the devil Would attempt to divert him from Submission and obedience to the father and that's what we have in this temptation in the wilderness and so Essentially the devil would have

03:26

Jesus take matters into his own hands to act independently of His father to act so as to reveal a lack of trust in his father's care and father's provision

03:38

As well as his preservation The devil would have Jesus sin But whereas the first Adam had fallen into sin through the indirect assault of the serpent in the paradisal garden

03:54

Jesus Christ the second Adam faced the devil directly and Came forth from the wilderness

04:02

Not a garden an ideal garden, but from the wilderness a barren wilderness. He came forth as the devil's conqueror

04:09

And so at the beginning of his ministry our Lord is depicted as Overcoming the evil one who stood in opposition to him

04:17

And through the obedience of Jesus to the Holy Scriptures Jesus the Son of God in obedience to his father rendered the devil powerless to thwart him

04:29

Matthew Henry drew another lesson from this connection of the temptation of Jesus to Adam the

04:35

Son of God The last words of the foregoing chapter the end of the genealogy

04:41

That Jesus was the son of Adam bespeak him to be the seed of the woman. Remember Genesis 3 15

04:49

The proto evangelium in Genesis the first gospel The seed of the woman being so we have here according to the promise breaking the serpent's head

04:59

Baffling and foiling the devil in all his temptations who by one temptation had baffled and foiled our first parents and Thus in the beginning of the war

05:09

He made reprisals upon him the devil the serpent and conquered the conqueror

05:16

Now, let's read the passage before us Luke 4 Then Jesus being filled with the

05:22

Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness being tempted

05:29

Being being tempted for 40 days by the devil and in those days he ate nothing and afterward when they had ended he was hungry and The devil said to him if you were the

05:42

Son of God command this stone to become bread But Jesus answered him saying it is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God Then the devil taking him up on a high mountain showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and The devil said to him all this authority.

06:02

I will give you and their glory for this has been delivered to me and I give it to whomever

06:09

I wish and therefore if you will worship before me all will be yours

06:16

And Jesus answered and said to him get behind me Satan for it's written you shall worship the

06:21

Lord your God and him only You shall serve and then he brought him to Jerusalem set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you were the

06:31

Son of God throw yourself down from here For it is written. He shall give his angel charge over you to keep you and In their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against the stone and Jesus answered and Said to him it has been said

06:48

You shall not tempt the Lord your God And now when the devil had ended every temptation he departed from him until an opportune time

07:01

There are several salient points of emphasis in this episode of Jesus's life and They may be understood to be related to the themes in the account

07:12

We just considered of the baptism of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon him

07:17

Here are the words of I Howard Marshall who wrote a wonderful commentary on the

07:23

Greek text of Luke's gospel On the one hand the story demonstrates how the

07:29

Spirit who had come upon Jesus guided and empowered him in his new task On the other hand, it shows how

07:36

Jesus as the Son of God was obedient to God The new factor in the situation is the devil who attempts to deflect

07:45

Jesus from obedience to God and hence From the fulfillment of the messianic task laid upon him by God the temptation proves fruitless so that the end of it

07:57

Jesus is able to enter Galilee in the power of the Spirit and to commence a task which includes the release of the devil's captives and Thus at the outset of his ministry

08:08

Jesus is depicted as overcoming the evil one who stands in opposition to the work of the kingdom of God Those are the major themes but there are other themes also in our passage

08:21

This temptation episode reveals to us The absolute resolve and the resolute character of Jesus Christ as the obedient and faithful Son of God to accomplish his father's will and purpose

08:35

This account also serves to instruct and motivate motivate disciples of Jesus Christ in the manner

08:41

That they are to recognize and deal with temptation to sin Particularly in the manner the devil assaults them as their as their tempter to sin against their

08:53

God And so Christians are to follow the example of their Savior who set before them the manner in which the devil may be withstood sin avoided and obedience to God's Word maintained so again to quote

09:09

Marshall There to note that in each case Jesus replies to temptation with a quotation from Scripture Thereby indicating that the life of the man of God must follow certain clear principles

09:23

Expressive of God's will which have already been revealed Note in the Old Testament That's a whole nother lesson that we could go off on here is that the

09:33

Old Testament provides Christians instruction on how to live Well from this testing experience again our

09:46

Lord shortly after his baptism drew out a lesson for Christians Matthew Henry wrote Now when we have had the most comfortable communion with God Jesus said his baptism the

09:56

Holy Spirit coming upon him and the clearest discoveries of his favor to us You are my son and whom

10:02

I'm well pleased. We may expect that Satan will set upon us The richest ship is the prizes is the

10:10

Pirates prize and that God will suffer him to do So that the power of his grace may be manifested and magnified

10:19

So if things are going well for you, you're walking close to the Lord. You're enjoying rich fellowship. Hang on because something may be coming down We want to first consider the details of the passage and then we'll consider several major themes that are suggested for us

10:36

Upon our Lord's baptism when the father had given him the Holy Spirit Jesus thereafter was always guided and enabled by the

10:43

Spirit to fill his work as the promised Messiah The first task our

10:49

Lord was to achieve was the successful withstanding of Temptation to sin instigated by the devil and so we read again verses 1 & 2

10:59

Then Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the

11:04

Spirit into the wilderness Being tempted for 40 days by the devil Jesus was filled with the

11:12

Spirit. In fact, he was always filled with the Spirit through the remainder of his earthly life

11:19

The work of the Spirit in this account is chiefly one of guidance Jesus Was not only filled with the

11:26

Spirit, but he was also led of the Spirit into the wilderness in order to be tested

11:33

Of course, we should understand that whereas God tested Jesus through this event it was the devil who tempted

11:40

Jesus to sin You must hold that distinction for God does not directly tempt anyone to sin against him

11:50

Even though the Spirit led him into the wilderness God did not tempt him.

11:55

God tested him the devil tempted him James wrote of this

12:02

West is a man who endures temptation for when he has been approved He will receive the crown of life, which the

12:07

Lord has promised to those who love him Let no one say when he is tempted.

12:13

I am tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil Nor does he himself tempt anyone but each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed

12:24

And then when desire was conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it's full -grown brings forth death

12:29

Of course, the Lord Jesus was not enticed by any sin in him for he was without sin

12:38

That this period of temptation was in the wilderness alludes to Israel also having been tested by God in the wilderness

12:47

We read of this in God's words to Israel in Deuteronomy 8 Every commandment which

12:53

I command you today you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the

13:00

Lord swore to your fathers and You shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness

13:09

To humble you and test you There again. God was testing Israel To know what was in your heart whether you would keep his commandments or not

13:18

And so he humbled you allowed you to hunger fed you with manna Which you did not know nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and So Israel had been tested in the wilderness and now

13:38

Jesus is tempted He was tempted for 40 days in the wilderness parallels that Israel was tested for 40 years in the wilderness

13:51

The reference to the duration of the temptation may be meant to give a further allusion to the wilderness period of 40 years of testing

13:58

If so a period of days is regarded as the appropriate counterpart for a single man

14:06

To a period of years for a nation 40 days for Jesus 40 years for Israel We read in verse 2b in those days.

14:16

He ate nothing afterward when they had ended he was hungry and So Jesus was physically weakened by his fasting through these 40 days in the wilderness

14:28

However, of course Jesus must have been spiritually strengthened not weakened Due to his close communion with his father through those 40 days of fasting

14:38

It would appear the three temptations occurred at the end of the 40 days Not during the entire period of hunger.

14:45

It was at the height of his hunger that the devil came with his first temptation Verse 3 records the devil's challenge to Jesus and the devil said to him if you are the

14:57

Son of God command this stone to be come bread This was not a challenge for Jesus to prove that he was the

15:06

Son of God that would be a wrong interpretation The devil knew quite well.

15:12

He was the Son of God The temptation the devil posed to Jesus was that he act on behalf of his own personal interests

15:21

Instead of living wholly in submission and obedience to his father The Devil wanted

15:27

Jesus to take matters into his own hands to serve himself First and foremost rather than his father

15:35

This is really at the heart of sin manifesting a desire for autonomy

15:41

Self -rule for the right of self -government rather than submitting to God as King That's really at the heart of all sin

15:52

Jesus Responded to the devil with a quotation from Scripture verse 4 records Jesus is response, but Jesus answered him saying it is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God Now some have thought

16:09

That this was a parallel Turning the temptation to turn a stone into bread with God providing manna to Israel in the wilderness, but that would be a false

16:20

Conclusion an unjustified parallel Our Lord responds by quoting

16:26

Deuteronomy 8 3 man shall not live by bread alone And really what's being said is that spiritual life should be one's primary interest in pursuit in life

16:36

Yeah breads necessary, but it's not preeminent spiritual life takes precedence over physical life

16:45

Essentially the Lord was saying human life does not depend primarily in having my needs met

16:52

It is more important to obey the Word of God even if obedience involves physical hunger

17:01

If we seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness all these other things will be provided for us by God the kingdom of God must be preeminent

17:12

And yet how we can justify ourselves in taking matters into our own hands Jesus didn't

17:19

We wrongly assume surely God wants me to be happy and I cannot be happy if I remain in this condition

17:26

And so we justify our escaping difficulty and hard situations Through our own independent actions, even though God has led us there and his purpose to lead us through it

17:40

Satan deals with us in this way When the way gets tough people want to escape

17:46

The evil one presents a way out He tempts us to take matters into our own hands

17:53

We escape the trial that lies before us, but we also leap out of the furnace that God has intended for our purification

18:01

The people of God bail out of jobs marriages all kinds of difficult Situations and then they justify themselves in doing so and then they naively stand and thank

18:11

God for having brought them out of it Although they may have violated God's Word in having done so our

18:18

Lord indicated that obedience to his father took precedence over everything else in life as It should in ours

18:27

Obedience to God is more important than even the basic necessities of life The devil was challenging

18:35

Jesus not to have confidence in his father to see him through his trial But rather take matters into his own hands to relieve himself of his suffering

18:48

Verses 5 through 7 we read of the devil's second temptation of Jesus and the devil taking him on a high mountain showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and The devil said to him all this authority

19:01

I will give you and their glory for this has been delivered to me and I give it to whomever I wish

19:07

And therefore if you will worship before me all will be yours We read that the devil again tempted to lead our

19:14

Lord into sin He would he could not lead Jesus to disregard scripture

19:22

So he would not go there again as in the first temptation, but rather he offers our

19:28

Lord power and glory fame and fortune I Suggest that our Lord could not trust many of us with that kind of temptation.

19:36

We'd probably jump for it And so the Lord in his providence in his mercy sees to it that the devil does not make that available to us or most of us

19:48

But our Lord would be tempted in all points that all of his people would encounter and so this too came his way

19:56

Now we read that then the devil taking him up on a high mountain showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment Of time.

20:02

How are we to understand this event? Well, we simply do not know how it happened but that it did happen is

20:11

There's no doubt The point is this the devil offered Jesus all the power and glory that the world had to offer

20:18

It would be his freely if he would bow down and worship the devil Again the temptation is to serve yourself and your own ends rather than obey

20:30

God We might ask the question Did the devil have the authority to grant him this?

20:38

Well, yes It would seem so before the devil had first fallen into sin God had given him the authority to rule over or manage the world on God's behalf

20:50

But when this chief angel sinned so as to become the devil having sinned due to his pride God did not remove his privilege and responsibility.

20:58

He continued to rule over the earth He is the prince of the power of the air the scriptures tell us he's the god of this age

21:08

So the devil continued to be the ruler of this world but after his fall he became the archenemy of God and all that is good and The devil has a means to advance people if his choosing

21:22

He'll cause and enable evil people to advance and gain influence and power whereby he might cause further sin and rebellion against God He sets up Kings he takes him down And he'll also enable the advancement of the

21:37

Lord's people the devil will if it will result in them forsaking God and doing his will

21:46

Remember the parable of the sower and the seed sown among thorns For the riches and the cares of this world

21:53

They forsook the Lord Now thankfully, however, although Satan rules

22:00

God overrules him He can only do what the Lord grants him permission to do

22:06

But the devil did have the authority to advance the authority of Jesus if Jesus would worship the devil in place of his father

22:15

John Calvin addressed this manner of the devil assaulting us with this form of temptation We have to contend every day with the same imposture

22:24

For every believer feels it in himself and it's still more clearly seen in the whole of life of the ungodly

22:30

Though we are convinced that all our support aid and comfort depend on the blessing of God yet our senses allure and draw us away to seek assistance from Satan as if God alone were not enough a

22:45

Considerable portion of mankind disbelieve the power and authority of God over the world and imagine that everything good is bestowed by Satan For How comes it that almost all resort to wicked contrivances to robbery and to fraud

23:00

But because they ascribe to Satan what belongs to God the power of enriching whom he pleases by his blessing

23:06

True indeed with the mouth they ask that God will give them daily bread But it's only with the mouth for they make

23:14

Satan the distributor of all the riches in the world We cannot be divided in this way

23:22

The devil offered Jesus what God his father had promised him to be Lord over creation

23:28

But the father offered it to Jesus Conditioned on a life of faithful obedience on to him which would take him to his cross in the grave

23:36

And the devil offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world apart from suffering and overcoming but by surrendering his will to the devil

23:45

An easy way out in some ways

23:51

So our Lord answered the devil in verse 8 Jesus answered said to him get behind me Satan for his written

23:57

You shall worship the Lord your God him only you shall serve And so the

24:03

Lord would have nothing For what the devil and the world offered him he would follow and keep the first commandment now shall have no other gods before me

24:13

Jesus had again quoted from Deuteronomy specifically Deuteronomy 613

24:21

And by the way, when Jesus told the devil get behind me Satan. Those were the same words that Jesus said to Peter When Peter says we're not gonna allow you to be crucified get behind me

24:32

Satan you savor not the things of God But rather the things of man And then the third temptation of Jesus that Luke recorded is found in verses 9 through 11

24:44

And then he brought him to Jerusalem set him on the pinnacle of the temple said to him if you were the Son of God Throw yourself down from here

24:51

For it's written. He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you and in their hands

24:57

They shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone So the devil transported

25:03

Jesus to Jerusalem and to the temple Mount The word translated temple does not refer to the temple building specifically but to the large temple

25:12

Mount on which the temple sat and the pinnacle of the temple is Probably a reference to the top of the portico on the south side of the temple

25:21

Mount that was high above the Kidron Valley The wall itself was over a hundred feet high and then the valley was many hundreds of feet deep the first century historian

25:34

Josephus referred to this place as a dizzy height and Here the devil challenged

25:39

Jesus to jump Some Suggest the devil was leading Jesus to display himself before the people as the

25:47

Messiah it said that the devil therefore was offering Jesus a way to gain notoriety or Recognition of the people apart from a life of humble and submissive obedience to the father that would lead him to his cross

26:00

When they saw that he jumped out but landed safely from his fall. They would immediately embrace him as their

26:06

Messiah In fact, there was a Jewish expectation of that day that the

26:11

Messiah would appear in this manner A rabbinic tradition reads when the King Messiah reveals himself, then he comes and stands on the roof of the holy place

26:22

It would seem the devil took that wrong interpretation that Rob grabbed by and and tempted

26:29

Jesus in that manner Perhaps the devil was challenging

26:35

Jesus and demonstrate his trust that he had just expressed in his father It's as though the devil were saying you say that you trust the father prove it by jumping off this temple

26:46

Mount He said he'd protect you And so the devil here quoted scripture

26:53

Assuring Jesus that God would not allow him to perish And so in the first temptation the devil would have

27:00

Jesus live apart from Scripture in this temptation The devil would have Jesus live according to an abuse of Scripture Many people may pass the first test but fail in the second and it's amazing

27:16

What people justify themselves doing as they quote a text of Scripture to ease their conscience and justify their decision and action

27:24

But scripture must not only be used It must be used rightly The devil quoted

27:33

Psalm 91. He will command his angel concerning you and on their hands They will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone

27:42

Interestingly the devil leaves off the words that separates these two readings the passage includes these words to keep you in all your ways

27:52

Some suggest that by leaving off these few words the devil was able to give a spin on these verses It's not that that is not suggested in the context of Psalm 91 what

28:03

God was promising is that he would guard his own as he walks in the way the Lord has directed him

28:08

It's not a blanket promise of protection regardless of how one lives Some tempt the devil and tempt

28:16

God by doing foolish and dangerous things Presuming upon God that he'll not allow his own to be harmed

28:23

But God does not promise Protection for the careless and indifferent or to those who recklessly place themselves in peril

28:34

Jesus responded that the devil's abuse of Scripture with the proper application of Scripture We read in verse 12

28:41

Jesus answered said to him. It's been said you shall not tempt the Lord your God Here he quoted

28:47

Deuteronomy 616 Which records the words of God to Israel you shall not tempt the

28:54

Lord your God as you tempted him in Massa and Then the episode concludes with verse 13 now when the devil had ended every temptation he departed from him until an opportune time

29:08

It had been a hot and difficult battle, but our Lord came forth from the field the victor We read in Matthew's account that God sent angels to comfort him and perhaps to provide him food and water as he recovered from his trial

29:23

But the point of this testing or this temptation Jesus was now prepared and Qualified to stand forth before the people and make known

29:31

God and his will He had to go through this testing before the onset of his public ministry

29:41

Now let's just draw a few lessons from this passage In the few minutes we have remaining first.

29:47

Let's consider our dealings with the devil When Christians mentioned the concept of a personal devil many dismiss them out of hand the common thought is this belief in the devil and demons is pre a pre scientific way of Dealing with the presence of evil in the world to harbor such beliefs in this day is pure ignorance

30:10

And this is how people of the world regard us. I Came across this opinion of a psychologist on the psychology today website.

30:19

How can people seriously believe in the devil? Now, here's a man who supposedly people trust to give guidance on how to deal with life

30:29

How can people seriously believe in the devil the years 2015 not 1315 and yet the fact remains that tens of millions of Americans continue to believe that there is a magical wicked evil

30:41

Oh and smart being out there doing magical wicked evil deeds and presiding over a fiery realm where demons crawl and witches cackle

30:49

Oh wait, no cackling which is just demons, right? very sarcastic I Didn't leave the end

30:56

Didn't give the entire quote because he hit on Ben Carson, you know the brain surgeon because he made a comment

31:03

About believing in the devil and then Anthony Anthony Scalia also, you know The Supreme Court justice who made a comment about the devil and he rebuked them and tried to make fun of them according to a 2013

31:16

YouGov survey 57 % of Americans believe in the devil. And yes, that's 50 % of American adults

31:24

He's a sarcasm not kindergartners But hey, it's probably the same percentage among that demographic to only a completely uninformed

31:33

Poorly educated mind with little knowledge of things like evidence could believe in the devil But there is no such thing as the devil just as there's no such thing as fairies imps or goblins

31:45

The two largest religions in the world Christianity and Islam teach that there is a devil and they are wrong

31:52

There's no evidence for such a thing. Not a shred It's simply something that germinated from the unscientific

31:59

Irrational minds of early humans who tried their best to explain why bad things happen to good people

32:05

Why good people sometimes do bad things and why there's so much needless suffering in the world

32:12

That's how the world Views us when we talk about the devil And yet they would exist they would reject or dismiss the existence of a personal

32:24

God with the same line of reasoning wouldn't they? And yet because of the state of the modern world in which evil abounds there seems to be

32:32

Less objection to the devil's existence today than there was even a few decades ago

32:37

George Barna the Christian pollster wrote of this We've heard how people are searching for answers and turning to faith during the pandemic but a new study reveals shocking information about what exactly

32:49

Americans believe it found that roughly half 51 % of American adults have a traditional biblical view of God as the all -powerful all -knowing

32:59

Creator a dramatic decrease from 73 % in 1991 that's significant drop of Those who believe in Jesus more say he sinned that didn't 44 to 41 percent and then look at this last line more people believe in Satan 56 percent then believe in God He only has 51 percent

33:26

Among Christians there are varying attitudes about the devil and how we should regard him some give over emphasis to the devil

33:34

And that they seem to have a fixation on him to an unhealthy degree They're always talking about the devil claiming to engage him in a vivid violent encounter as though they were knights fighting fire -breathing dragons

33:46

And it was seen their tales of these encounters take on the form of speech like medieval knights in embellishing their engagements

33:54

They present themselves as a modern -day. St. George slaying the dragon and just to show you how

34:02

Real this is here's an email. I got this week My brother

34:07

I left out the names his name is We're from Scranton, Pennsylvania, but recently moved to the state of New Hampshire My brother's need of prayers.

34:15

It's all started in Scranton the exorcist from the Diocese of Scranton Told us it my brother experienced demonic oppression and obsession that worsened into demonic possession and now he is without an inner voice can't speak in his head and demons hiss out of his mouth

34:34

One senior SF came to our Scranton home perform a house Exorcism because he experienced a severe demonic attack by several different demonic entities

34:43

He felt them on his body pressure electric shocks. And whenever he prayed he heard them blasphemy

34:49

One senior SF tried to drive the demons out of the home after identifying spirits he moved through the home, but the demons refused to leave the home and blasphemed against the

34:58

Catholic Church as He tried to drive them out of the house He told us that my brother started showing signs of obsession oppression

35:05

And then he told us that it was demonic a possession. I'm asking for the church to pray for my brother

35:11

He received a Catholic exorcism and we were told that it can take more than one and sometimes it gets worse after the first Exorcism and it did it's full possession of his mind and control over his body

35:22

Can you pray for freedom from demonic possession bondage and captivity? I Can't say that's an unusual email that I receive frankly

35:35

And Will not address the Roman Catholic era nonsense reflected in the note But it does illustrate how far some will go in emphasizing these matters and Yet we suspect that though there's much confusion and errant assessment in this note

35:50

It actually reflects more truth about the subject than the psychologist who dismissed it altogether

35:58

But we have to keep things in balance in biblical perspective Besides those however who may over sense that overemphasize the devil in his dealings.

36:10

There are some who under emphasize him They say he's but a toothless lion of which we need not concern ourselves

36:18

The serpents head was bruised by Christ on the cross. He's become a non threat. I've heard that This is dangerous

36:27

For the scriptures described the devil in other terms and the scriptures warn us in Numbers of places about the danger the devil poses to us

36:36

Be of sober spirit be on the alert That's instruction to you and me from the

36:42

Word of God Why your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour?

36:48

resistant firm in your faith If he should six finally be strong in the

36:54

Lord strength of his might why? Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil

37:03

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood But against the rulers against powers against the world forces of this darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places

37:17

Satan controls all non -christians according to the Bible. He works in the sons of disobedience

37:24

When people choose to disobey God they choose to serve the devil He controls the world system.

37:32

He's the god of this world And if the Lord did not restrain him he'd use his power of influence to persecute you and have you thrown into prison

37:42

Revelation 2 Jesus is warning to a church. He has the power over death from which the

37:48

Christian had been delivered thankfully through Christ The devil may come in many forms he may appear as an angel of light

37:58

Think Joseph Smith in Mormonism, right Moroni or as a minister of righteousness.

38:05

In other words, he's in the pulpit There are many of them according to Paul He even reveals his presence in influence even in the mistaken notions of Christians Lord we will not permit you to die on the cross said

38:20

Peter get behind me Satan said our Lord directed toward Peter The devil is a deceiver a liar a tempter an accuser a tormentor an opposer he's described in relation to Christians as your adversary as A trapper who lays snares to catch you using cunning to defeat you.

38:42

You don't see it coming And we're instructed and admonished to equip ourselves to withstand the devil finally brethren be strong in the

38:50

Lord in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God that you can withstand him And so he's depicted as one who is cruel merciless full of hatred violent

39:00

Cunning powerful who has his intent and purpose to destroy you

39:05

Your character your influence your relationships and if you desire to take a stand for God and order your life

39:13

According to his word, he'll identify you and he'll focus his efforts to withstand you

39:20

Do not depreciate his resolve and ability to destroy your life and family

39:28

Imagine if you heard that an evil sadistic perverted felon was paroled in your neighborhood And then he's now going about looking for vulnerable unsuspecting prey that's happening all across the nation now, by the way

39:41

Would you not take steps to protect your family? There is one vastly more dangerous and powerful who has singled you and your family out and lies in wait to maim and destroy bringing the captivity silly souls who are not watchful and the only thing that prevents that from occurring is the grace of God's restraining hand and Spiritual weapons which

40:02

God has placed in for our disposal which with which we may pitch battle and so we're to take steps to know his his methods

40:14

And Paul says we are not ignorant of his wiles his devices, but many are sadly

40:20

You need not be paranoid of him or in terror of him. We could or to have confidence in God To give us victory.

40:29

Well, you need to be alert and watchful Armed and skilled in the use of your weapons for that's how

40:35

God has ordained that we succeed The devil

40:42

And last let's just touch on this matter of regarding our temptation to sin

40:47

I should have started with this because it's so important Let me just summarize some matters about temptation.

40:54

That's really I think critically important There's no escaping temptation in this fallen world, it's going to happen

41:05

Recognize top of page 9 temptation to sin is not sin Temptation leads to sin, but it's not sin.

41:15

It's no sin to be tempted. Our Lord Jesus was tempted and He had not sinned it's only when you yield to temptation either in mind or deed does it become sin and So temptation is not something that can be repented of nor should it be repented of Unless you purposely put yourself in a place of temptation

41:40

Many put guilt trips on themselves for what they're tempted to do. Don't allow the devil to defeat you in this way

41:46

He is a wily character. The devil would have you not feel guilty about sin, but he'd have you

41:53

Would have you feel guilty about being tempted to sin Third temptation to one particular sin may be often repeated

42:05

There's a sin that so easily besets us according to Hebrews 12

42:13

For temptation may be experienced for a prolonged period of time I used to hear it say look once it's a temptation look twice at sin.

42:22

No a temptation might be prolonged It may go for a period of days weeks months, maybe even a period of your life

42:30

Where you're dealing with the same temptation to sin Fifth temptation is a cause in a form of suffering for the true

42:42

Christian Temptation we suffer from it Jesus suffered being tempted and so do we as his disciples

42:50

Charles Spurgeon wrote this Temptation even when overcome brings with it to the true child of God a great degree of suffering

42:58

The suffering consists in two or three things it lies mainly in the shock which sin gives to the sensitive regenerate nature

43:05

Sin to the man who's used to it. It's no suffering if he be tempted.

43:11

It's no pain to him In fact frequently temptation yields pleasure to the sinner To look at the bait is sweet to the fish which intends to swallow it

43:20

But to the child of God who's new made and spiritually alive the very thought of sin makes him shudder he cannot look at it without abhorrence and Detestation and without being alarmed to think that he's likely to ever fall into so abominable a crime

43:37

And six temptation itself is is not evidence of God's displeasure. Jesus was tempted

43:44

And it was immediately after God said from heaven. You are my beloved Son in whom

43:50

I'm well pleased Temptation to sin should not be a basis of your assessing whether or not

43:58

God is pleased with you Seven temptation should be a cause of for us drawing to God We're bidding to boldly approach the throne of grace in time of need

44:11

But oftentimes when we're tempted to sin we we might even get away from God or try to get away from God We're told to come to the throne of grace

44:20

Boldly in time of need that we might find grace to help but sometimes when we're tempted we tend to pull away from God and Then a temptation should be a cause for us to draw together

44:36

Sin separates it separates us from God but also from one another we might ask ourselves

44:42

How can I be among the people of God and doing what I am doing? We're to draw together to encourage and exhort one another

44:53

This is what the scriptures declare We're not to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin

45:00

But rather we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but we're to draw together even as we see that day approaching and then

45:13

Number nine temptation need not result in sin Jesus armed with his assurance of his sonship his awareness of his calling to his mission is

45:23

Understanding of the Word of God being filled with the Holy Spirit won the day He was able to withstand his foe, but he didn't do anything that you and I can't do

45:35

When you're tempted to sin Pull a verse of Scripture out that counters it.

45:41

This is what God has declared And again, whereas Jesus met the devil alone.

45:48

We need not indeed. We cannot he stands with us. He sits on the throne He's he's a

45:54

Intermediating high priest on behalf of his people to give them the assistance and grace they need and Lastly temptation need not lead to our defeat

46:08

We shouldn't just be defensive. We're to go on the offense May the Lord help us to do so as we begin this new year

46:16

Let's not be fearful or cowardly as to what's coming down. Yeah, things might get worse.

46:22

I suspect they probably will but The spiritual battle is a glorious battle

46:31

There's honor and glory That the Lord will confer upon his people who have faithfully

46:37

Endured temptation the Lord Jesus came forth from that wilderness temptation the full of power and Authority and he began his

46:47

Galilean ministry Because of his successful Endurance and faithfulness to his father through this trial

46:57

May the Lord help us as we also face temptation. It's a regular aspect of every one of our lives and May the

47:07

Lord help us to Deal with it biblically. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you our father for your kindness to us

47:14

Thank you our father that we have recorded for us our champion Jesus Christ And we see how he clearly

47:23

Defeated the devil and we see Lord the means that he used even a right understanding of your word

47:31

Our God may we use the word similarly our Lord when we're tempted

47:36

May your word be recalled by us our God and may you grant us great grace our

47:42

God to obey your word promptly and fully without compromise and So help us we pray as we attempt to live for you in this fallen world