Lead us not into temptations from
Alex Tang
Lead us not into Temptations
Text: Luke
4:1-13
Sermon Statement
It is the
human Jesus who resisted the temptations of Satan by his lived experience of
the Scriptures. This gives us hope that we can resist temptations by (1)
knowing ourselves; (2) developing a plan to resist; (3) avoid temptations; (4)
resist and pray; and to (5) get the help of theirs.
Introduction
The bible
teaches us a lot about temptation and tempting.
Paul warns
his mentoree about the temptations of money. The bible has a lot to say about
money too.
1 Tim. 6: 9-10
9 People who want to get rich fall into
temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men
into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced
themselves with many griefs.
Jesus and
his three inner circle disciples (John, Peter and James) were at the Garden of
Gethsemane. Jesus was being tempted and this was his advice to his disciples.
Matt. 26: 41
41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall
into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Dictionary.com
defines ‘tempt’ as
·
to entice or allure to do something
often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.·
to attract, appeal strongly to, or
invite·
to render strongly disposed to do
something·
to put (someone) to the test in a
venturesome way; provoke (e.g. to tempt one's fate)
Temptation
is the enticement, allurement or seduction to do
·
Evil acts
·
Immoral acts
·
Sinful acts
Recognising
this, James has this to offer:
James 1:13-15
JAS 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is
tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil
desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives
birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
It is
interesting to note that in the Lord’s Prayer or the prayer Jesus taught his
disciples to pray, it includes this statement, Matt. 6:13
MT 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" `Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
MT 6:10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
MT 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
MT 6:12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
MT 6:13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. '
Foremost
in Jesus’ mind may be his personal experience of temptations of Satan as
documented by our good doctor Luke 4:1-13 which will be recent in his memory.
We shall
look at the temptations of Jesus by the devil.
Text and Context
Luke 4:1-20
LK 4:1 Jesus, full
of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the
desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the
devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
LK 4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the
Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
LK 4:4 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does
not live on bread alone.' "
LK 4:5 The devil led him up to a high place and
showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all
their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to
anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be
yours."
LK 4:8 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship
the Lord your God and serve him only.' "
LK 4:9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him
stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of
God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
" `He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
LK 4:11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot
against a stone.' "
LK 4:12 Jesus answered, "It says: `Do not put the
Lord your God to the test.' "
LK 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting,
he left him until an opportune time.
LK 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the
Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone
praised him.
LK 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought
up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And
he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to
him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
LK 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
LK 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
LK 4:20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to
the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened
on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today
this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Context
·
Jesus baptized and acknowledgement by
God
LK 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus
was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily
form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I
love; with you I am well pleased."
·
Jesus had already
spent 30 years on earth to build his character
LK 3:23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old
when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of
Joseph…genealogy
·
Jesus’ temptations narrative
LK 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from
the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the
devil…
·
Jesus starts his
ministry
LK 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the
Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside…
Jesus’ Temptations:
Luke 4:1–13
First temptation
(Luke 4:1-4)
·
“If You are …..” “Since You are the Son of God,
act like God and command these stones be made bread!”
·
“Man” does not live on bread alone.
·
“It is written.”
Jesus uses Scriptures.
·
“Here is a principle to live by … and I will
live by it.”
·
The physical is one avenue of temptation for all
of us
The texts that Jesus quoted from are from Deuteronomy which
is about the Exodus experiences of the ancient Jews.
Deut. 8:3 3
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then
feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach
you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the
mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell
during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines
his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
Second temptation
(Luke 4:5-8)
·
authority over all the kingdoms of this world is
Jesus’ destiny
·
The temptation is not possession of worldly
power but of good intentions
·
“Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”
(Luke 4:8).
God’s timing
·
determine to do the right thing, determining
that in every situation you will worship God, and Him only you will serve.
Deut. 6:13-15
DT
6:13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14
Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the LORD
your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against
you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.
The temptation here is not between choosing between good and
bad but between good and better. Satan is willing to give up his domain without
a fight. Jesus can be king immediately. Imagine what amount of good Jesus could
have done if he has taken over from Satan? The better is following God’s
timing.
Third temptation
(Luke 4:9-12)
·
“If [and here we have the if of doubt] You
[really] are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.”
·
God’s people, led out of Egypt and given
demonstration after demonstration of God’s power, ran out of water. At that
moment of pressure they forgot all God’s goodness, and cried, “Is the Lord
among us or not?” (Ex. 17:7) In questioning God’s presence and His love, they
“put God to the test.”
·
Make God prove Himself!
·
Relationship with God must always rest on faith,
and on confidence in God’s trustworthiness.
Deut.6:16-19
16 Do not test the LORD your God as you did at
Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the
stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the
LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over
the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, 19 thrusting
out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.
This temptation is about doubts. Can God be trusted? Did he
really said that?
Here I want to deal with two questions which are
inter-related.
CAN
JESUS SIN?
CAN
JESUS BE TEMPTED?
This deals with the humanity of Jesus. If Jesus
cannot sin or tempted, there is no point for Satan to tempt him, is there?
The
Person of Christ
False
views of the person of Christ
(from House, Wayne H. 1992. Chart of Christian Theology and Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 55)
Person
of Christ- Fully Divine, Fully Human
(from House, Wayne H. 1992. Chart of Christian Theology and Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 56)
The kenosis of Christ
|
Christ Emptied Himself of
Divine Consciousness
|
The Son of God laid aside his participation
in the
Godhead when he became a man. All the
attrib-
utes of his deity literally ceased when the
incarna-
tion occurred. The Logos became a soul
residing
in the human Jesus.
|
|
Christ Emptied Himself of the
Eternity Form of Being
|
The Logos exchanged his eternity-form for a
time-
form bound down by human nature. In this
time-
form Christ no longer had all the attributes
commensurate with Deity, though he could use
supernatural powers.
|
|
Christ Emptied Himself of the
Relative Attributes of Deity
|
This view differentiates between essential
attributes,
such as truth and love, and those that
relate to the
created universe, such as omnipotence and
omnipresence.
|
|
Christ Emptied Himself of the
Integrity of Infinite Divine Existence
|
At Christ's incarnation the Logos took up a
double
life. One "life center" continued
to function
consciously in the Trinity while the other
became
incarnated with human nature, unaware of the
cosmic functions of Deity.
|
|
Christ Emptied Himself of the
Divine Activity
|
The Logos turned over all of his divine
roles and
duties to the Father. The incarnate Logos
was
unaware of the happenings within the Godhead
|
|
Christ Emptied Himself of the
Actual Exercise of Divine Prerogative
|
The Logos retracted the mode of the divine
attributes from the realm of the actual to
the
potential. He retained his divine
consciousness
but renounced the conditions of infinity and
its
form.
|
Adapted from Robert E. Picirilli,
"He Emptied Himself” Biblical
Viewpoint, Vol. 3, No. 1 (April 1969):23-30.
How to deal
with temptation?
11. Know yourself (Grass is always
greener on the other side)
a. Your weak points
“A man who carries gunpowder about with him,
may well ask that he may not be led where the sparks are flying. If I have a
heart like a bombshell, ready to explode at every moment, I may well pray God
that I may be kept from the fire, lest my heart destroy me.” Charles H.
Spurgeon, “Lead Us Not into Temptation” in Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996 [1863]) 14:394.
·
Wanting
to eat food that will cause you to feel guilty after
because you consider it to be fattening, unhealthy, or in excess ·
Wanting
to buy things you really want even though you don't have the money, or you've
already got enough things and you know you really don't need more.·
Wanting
to yell at someone because you're frustrated and you can't restrain the
temptation to lash out. This could be targeted at anyone in your life,
including your partner, your children, your boss.·
Wanting
to have an affair with someone. Toying with infidelity
is a commonplace temptation for everyone from celebrities, pop-stars, and
politicians, to neighbors and co-workers.·
Wanting
to indulge excessively in alcohol or take illicit drugs.·
Wanting
to give in to sexual urges which you feel are inappropriate such as viewing
pornography, visiting prostitutes, sex before marriage, etc.·
Wanting to give in to procrastination and laziness.
You'd rather not be bothered doing something even though you know you should.
b. What makes you susceptible?
·
Boredom
with your current situation or relationships.·
Indecision
or lack of thought about what you want out of life, your job, your
relationships, your future direction.·
Attention
or affection-seeking. Perhaps you're feeling that not enough people are paying
you adequate attention or affection.·
Low
self-esteem or insecurity.·
Stress
or feeling down.·
Frustration with the way things are headed
in your life, with other people in your life, with yourself.·
Insecurity
and low self esteem·
Lack
of faith in yourself, or in your faith or core beliefs.·
A
need to prove something to other people in your life, maybe even as an act of
revenge or "evening the score" (such as having an affair because a
spouse had an affair).·
A short-term or shortsighted view of the gains
and a lack of a bigger vision for your future.
22. Prepare to resist temptation (Batten
down the hatches)
a. What does it mean to be obedience to
God
Jesus said, “Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). Peter said to new
believers, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may
grow thereby…” (1 Pet. 2:2).
b. Live by the Spirit
When the apostle Paul was
instructing Christians on how to live a godly life, he said that believers need
to be “led by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:17). They must continually “live in the
Spirit” and “walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25).
Weapons of warfare 2 Cor.
10:4-5
c. Defines your limits
d. Exercise your will power
·
The
visualization approach:
Visualize yourself resisting the temptation.
Picture yourself seeing that chocolate bar, picking it up, feeling it closely,
perhaps even smelling it. Then visualize yourself putting it down and walking
away from it. Make the whole experience as real and tactile in your mind as
possible. When you feel you've practiced it enough, go to the store where they
sell chocolate. Look at it. And resist it. Take along a friend if this gives
you support. After a while, you might even consider taking a taste test to see
if you can eat just a little without overdoing it.
·
The gratitude approach: Concentrate on
all that you have to be grateful for. Gratitude enables you to remember what
you have in life that is good, to be happy about, such as your family, your
job, your pets, your hobbies, your health, your friends, the fact you've got a
roof over your head and enough food to eat, etc. Gratitude grounds you in a way
that removes justifying giving in to temptation because you felt
"deprived" of something or someone. Importantly, write down your
gratitude, for clarification and reference
e. Think of the consequences of failure
33. Avoid temptations. Prevention is
better than cure
a. Avoid situation where you may be
compromised
b. Remember your rules or limit
c. Stop justifying your actions
If a man has
a strong desire to drink alcoholic beverages in excess, then he must avoid all
situations that will tempt him to get drunk. Obviously, he should not allow any
alcoholic beverages to be kept in his house. He should not go into bars or
restaurants that serve liquor. Also, he should not keep company with men who
like to drink.
If a man is
struggling with sexual lust, then he should not watch any TV programs or
videos, or look at magazines that will pour gasoline on his corrupt embers. (In
our sex-saturated culture this task will take continued diligence.) King David
should not have been on the roof of his house watching a beautiful woman (who
was not his own wife) taking a bath. Young Christian men and women should never
go out on dates where they are alone and can easily fall in to the sin of
fornication.
44. Pray and resist
a. Watch and pray
b. God understands
Heb. 4:15
15 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. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need.
c. God knows our limits (1 Cor. 10:3)
13 No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man. And 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.
5. Get a friend to help
(Ecclesiates 4:9-15)
ECC 4:9 Two are
better than one,
because they have a good return for their
work:
ECC 4:10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
ECC 4:11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep
warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
ECC 4:12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of
three strands is not quickly broken.
Conclusion
It was the human Jesus who resisted
the temptations of Satan by his lived experience of the Scriptures. This gives
us hope that we can resist temptations by (1) knowing ourselves; (2) developing
a plan to resist; (3) avoid temptations; (4) resist and pray; and to (5) get
the help of theirs.
.
