A husband got very annoyed with his
wife for always coming back with a new dress each time she went out
shopping. He told her she must be more
concerned about the finances and resist any more purchases. She said it was very difficult as the Devil
was always tempting her. Her husband
replied “You must say to the Devil next time, ‘Get behind me Satan.’” The next week she came back from shopping
with yet another new dress. Her husband
was very annoyed. “Didn’t you tell the
Devil to get behind you as I said?” His
wife replied, “I did, but when he went behind me he whispered in my ear, ‘It
looks just as good from the back as it does from the front.”
Tonight we are looking at the topic of
temptation. Temptation is something that
affects us all. I wonder how many of us
can identify with Oscar Wilde when he said "I can resist everything except temptation."
In February 1942, after only seven days of
fighting, Singapore, which was considered an impregnable fortress fell to the
Japanese, resulting in 80,000 British and Common Wealth troops being taken
prisoner. Winston Churchill described the fall of Singapore
as the "worst disaster and
largest capitulation in British history".
The fall of
Singapore came about because the British underestimated their enemy. British
troops stationed in Singapore were told that the Japanese were poor fighters,
and would never be able to take Singapore.
But when the Japanese attacked, it took everyone by surprise, both
because of the speed of the onslaught which didn’t give the British forces time
to re-group, and also because they attacked from the land, through the jungle
and mangrove swamps of the Malay Peninsula, and not from the sea as the
military planners had assumed.
Paul in
Ephesians writes ‘For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’ (Eph 6:12). As Christians we are in a spiritual battle, and we must not
underestimate our enemy. Jesus likened
the devil to a thief who comes "to steal, kill, and destroy" (John 10:10). The
Devil wants to destroy our relationship with God, and one of his
favourite ways of doing this is through temptation.
Whenever
launching an attack, the attacker aims for the weakest part of the
defence. The Devil knows where the weak
areas of our lives are, where we are most open to temptation, and that is where
he will aim his attack.
I know there
are some things which wouldn’t tempt me at all.
But there are other areas in my life, where I struggle a great deal with
temptation, areas of weakness which the Devil focuses his attack on. But if you know what those areas of weakness
are in your lives, then you can do something about it.
In 2011 a
survey tracked the top temptations Americans face. The people surveyed
said they struggled with the following temptations either "often" or
"sometimes":
·
Worrying or being anxious—60
percent
·
Procrastinating or putting things
off—60 percent
·
Eating too much—55 percent
·
Spending too much time on
media—44 percent
·
Being lazy—41 percent
·
Spending more money than they
could afford—35 percent
·
Gossiping about others—26 percent
·
Being jealous or envious of
others—24 percent
·
Viewing pornography or sexually
explicit material—18 percent
·
Abusing alcohol or drugs—11
percent
I think one
of the biggest areas of temptation, particularly for men is viewing pornography
or sexually explicit material.
According to a survey which came out this week it is claimed that 70% of
men aged between 18 and 34 visit a pornographic website at least once a month,
and that its use is becoming more prevalent in society. It is a big issue, which many people wrestle
with within church. A Christianet Survey
conducted in 2006 found that a staggering 50% of Christian men and 20% of
Christian are addicted to pornography and sexually explicit material.
The success
of novels such as Fifty Shades of Grey, nicknamed mummy porn, sexually graphic
material has now entered the main stream, it’s considered more socially
acceptable. And because of the internet
and advances in technology, it’s much easier to access. This is why I believe many Christians find
sexual temptation one of the most difficult areas to resist.
When thinking about
temptation it is important to recognise that
·
Temptation
itself is not a sin
Jesus himself was tempted, but
without sin. In Hebrews (4:15) we read ‘For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who has been tempted in
every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.’
It is when we give in to temptation that sin arises.
·
Temptation
does not lessen the more mature we become as Christians.
The fact that Jesus himself
faced temptation is a reminder that we too will face temptation. This is why he taught us to pray “Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” It
doesn’t matter whether you have been a Christian for a short time or long time,
we all wrestle with temptation.
A Native American
elder once described his own inner struggles with temptation. He said “Inside
of me there are two dogs. One of the
dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is
good. The mean dog fights the good dog
all the time.”
When asked which
dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “The one I feed the most.”
Satan
Will Hit You
It is when we are at our
weakest and most vulnerable that Satan will often attack us, particularly when
we are hungry, isolated and/or tired.
It was when Jesus was at his
weakest and most vulnerable, when he was hungry and tired that the temptations
came.
When we are hungry or tired our defences are weakened. We might try to find comfort in food or
drink, or sexual sin, or some other area, rather than in Christ.
Satan’s
Lies
Satan is the great deceiver and tempter. He wants to plant seeds of doubt and
uncertainty in our mind. Notice how the
Devil tests Jesus. “If
you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
Satan
wants us to doubt who we are in Christ, and he wants to undermine our trust in
God. For example when God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, He
told them they could eat the fruit of any tree, apart from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. But when the
devil comes along, in the form of a serpent, he twists what God had said by
asking “Did
God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The devil plants seeds of doubt in the mind
of Eve.
And he also tries to deceive us that if we don’t give
into the temptation, we will somehow be missing out. That is why the serpent says to Eve God knows
that if you eat the fruit your “eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen
3:5)
Satan tries to deceive us into believing that God wants
to kill our joy and rob us of fun and excitement. But it is a lie. When we give into temptation, we are left
feeling full of guilt and shame, because as soon as we give in to a temptation,
the devil immediately condemns us. Call yourself a Christian, if you were a
true Christian, you wouldn’t have done or said that. The Devil wants us to doubt in ourselves,
and to doubt in God. He wants to entice
and trap us, and when he has done that, he wants to condemn us.
But we must remember that our true identity is found in Christ. We are the adopted sons and daughters of God,
loved, forgiven, redeemed. Satan wants us to doubt this, but knowing that your identity is found in Christ, you will live want
to live differently.
1. THE TEMPTATION TO DO IT YOURSELF (vv. 3-4)
The first temptation Jesus
faced was to turn stone into bread. The temptation sounds innocent enough,
doesn’t it? After all Jesus had been
without food for six weeks!
But
the temptation was for Jesus to use his power to serve his own
needs, rather than to rely upon the care and provision of God. It was a test of trust.
This is one of the ways the
Devil tempts us, to rely on ourselves rather than God, to use our power and
influence to serve our own interests. To
assume that we need to do things on our own, because we think that God does not care or maybe does not know about
our needs.
But Jesus’ response to this
test was to turn to Scriptures, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live
by bread alone.’”
Jesus makes it clear doing the will of God and being
obedient to His every word is more important than food or any other material
thing. We are called upon to trust God to provide our needs in His time and in
His way.
Jesus’ response
to temptation also illustrations the importance of knowing what scripture says
and teaches to take root in our lives, to build our lives on the truths
contained in scripture. It is why Paul when
talking about the armour of God in Ephesians says that the first thing we
should put on is the belt of truth (Eph 6:14).
When preparing for a battle,
the belt was the first thing a soldier put on, because it was designed to keep
the other pieces of the soldier’s armour in place.
Satan is the great deceiver, who often attacks truth
with lies. We need to put on the belt of
truth. We need to be firmly established in the truth of God’s word, so that we
can resist Satan’s lies and deceit. Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
This is why knowing God’s
word is so important, so that we can resist the attacks of the enemy. As followers of Christ we are called to abide
in the truth, walk in truth, and speak the truth. If we do that, we are spiritually ready in
every circumstance.
THE TEMPTATION TO TAKE THE EASY WAY (vv. 5-8)
The second temptation Jesus faced
to worship the devil in return for earthly power. Worship me and “I will
give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them.” The devil is seeking to tempt Jesus to
find a way to gain the
acceptance and loyalty of the world without having to suffer rejection,
betrayal and death on the cross, by worshipping him. But a crown without the cross would mean that there would be no
forgiveness for our sins.
Sometimes we face the
same temptation to take the easy road. To
go with the flow, to follow the path of least
resistance. Because let’s be honest, being a Christian isn’t always easy. Wouldn’t it be easier if we just chose those
bits of Christianity we like, and ditch the bits we don’t like? But if we are not careful, we end up
worshipping things other than Christ.
Jesus responds “You must worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Lk 4:8) We cannot
worship more than two masters. Jesus’
calls us to give ourselves to him in worship and service. Jesus said we must take up
our cross and follow him, discipleship can be difficult, demanding, and costly,
but it is also the path that leads to life.
THE TEMPTATION TO NOT BELIEVE IT UNTIL YOU SEE IT
(vv. 9-13)
The third temptation Jesus
had to face was to throw himself off the Temple.
Notice how the devil changes
his attack, this time quotes scripture, saying “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.”
Ahead of Jesus
was 3 years of ministry, in which he would have to face opposition,
misunderstanding, rejection, and ultimately death on the cross. To do something dramatic, as suggested by the
devil, surely would have been tempting.
This would be a show of Jesus’ power, and there would be no mistaking
Jesus’ true identity. But it would have also been putting God to the test, and
so Jesus refused to take this shortcut.
There
are many subtle ways that we can put God to the test. We may not jump from the
top of the church – but we do it in other ways. We do it when we do not put the
worship of God and attendance at church as a priority – and yet we expect God
to bless what we are doing – that is putting God to the test. We do it when we ignore
God’s will, and follow a path of our own choosing, and then cry out to God to
bail us out. We do it when we test the boundaries of what we know is wrong, and
are surprised when we fall, and we blame God. That is putting God to the test.
Jesus’
response to the Devil is to say ‘Do not
put the Lord your God to the test’. Instead
it comes down to trusting God.
FURTHER
TEMPTATION
In verse 13 it
says ‘When
the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity
came.’ This verse reveals that the Devil will always
be lurking in the shadows, watching, waiting for the next vulnerable moment. These forty days in the
wilderness weren’t the only times Jesus faced temptation.
RESISTING TEMPTATION
From these temptations that Jesus faced, we can see how the devil works,
but also how to resist temptation. Paul
writes “God is
faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you
are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (I Corinthians 10:13).
There are people here tonight who have been wrestling
with temptation for a long time, which has left you feeling ashamed and full of
guilt. And you believe that you can
never get free of it. But there is a way
out.. ‘when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can
stand up under it.’
The first thing we
need to do is to acknowledge the times we have succumbed to temptation. We need to ask for God’s forgiveness and
mercy. We need to be honest with
ourselves & with God about those areas of our live where we struggle the
most, and we need to hand them back over to God.
Once we have done
that, we need to learn how to resist temptation. We have touched on some of these already:
- · Prayer
- · Studying & knowing God’s word
- · Being accountable to others
- · Avoiding compromising situations
- · Look to God – ‘Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.’ (Col 3:2)
Think about
the areas of your life where you face trials and temptation? Are you doing any of these things, to try and
deal with them?
We need to
recognise that we are in a spiritual battle, and that Satan will try to tempt
us, in order to lead us away from Christ.
But the choice to give in to temptation or not is ours. The Apostle James writes, ‘Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ (James 4:7). Satan has no power over us, apart from what we
let him have.
Remember too that through the Holy Spirit Jesus is with us. He is with
us in our hour of temptation, in our moment of
trial and testing and difficulty, as the one who has defeated evil and overcome
temptation. It was the Holy Spirit that
helped Jesus resist temptation for forty days.
And you have the same presence and power of God the Holy Spirit in you
that Jesus did. You can live as he did. You can defeat the temptation that comes to you
as he did by the presence and the power, by being filled and led by God the
Holy Spirit.
The greatest
way to resist temptation is to open ourselves to God, to seek him first above
all us, to learn to trust him and to be obedient and faithful. When Martin
Luther was asked how he overcame the devil, he replied, “Well, when he comes knocking at the door of my heart, and asks ‘Who
lives here?’ the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, “Martin Luther used
to live here, but he has moved out. Now I live here.” Satan may try come
knocking on our door, but if Christ fills our lives, there will be no room for
Satan.
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