This sermon is not an original thought for key points. Some points used from multiple sources found on Sermon Central. The points have been expanded upon and added too in this manuscript preached at First Baptist Church, Ardmore, OK
TITLE: TEMPTATION
SCRIPTURE: ST. MATTHEW 4:1
I recall hearing about an article years ago from the Denver Post -- "Like many sheep ranchers in the West, MS. LEXY FOWLER has tried just about everything to stop crafty coyotes from killing her sheep. She has used odor sprays, electric fences, and 'scare-coyotes.' She has slept with her lambs during the summer and has placed battery-operated radios near them. She has corralled them at night, herded them at day. But the southern Montana rancher has lost scores of lambs -- fifty last year alone. "Then she discovered the Llama - the aggressive, funny-looking, afraid-of-nothing llama -- LLAMAS DON’T APPEAR TO BE AFRAID OF ANYTHING, she said –
• When they see something, they put their head up and walk straight toward it
• That is aggressive behavior as far as the coyote is concerned, and they won't have anything to do with that
• Coyotes are opportunists, and llamas take that opportunity away
• These Lamas illustrate what James spoke of in: "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you"
• The moment we sense Satan’s attack through temptation is the moment we should face it and deal with it for what it is
It has been rightly stated - “WHEN YOU FLEE TEMPTATION, BE SURE YOU DON’T LEAVE A FORWARDING ADDRESS.” There is a common misconception concerning temptation. Many believe it is a sin to be tempted. It is not a sin to be tempted; the sin comes when you give in to that temptation. The HYMN Writer penned the words – YIELD NOT TO TEMPTATION, FOR YIELDING IS SIN. EACH VICTORY WILL AID YOU SOME OTHER TO WIN.
• Yield Not to Temptation
• Don’t Even Stop
• Don’t Even Slow Down
• Don’t Even Glance
• Like the Young Folks say – Whenever Temptation rises - Just Keep on Pushing
Let’s look at this Verse again. DO YOU BELIEVE THE DEVIL HAD THE ADACITY TO TEMPT CHRIST? The devil came after Jesus. He had the Guts to come after Jesus – Emmanuel – God with Us. You better believe devil has no problem coming after us and Tempting us
• The devil knows better than you what Tempts You
• Your Wife or Girlfriend did not see when you quickly glanced at that young lady that walked by
• The devil saw it
• You smiled when that man on the job gave you a compliment and then made a fresh remark
• The devil saw it
• The devil hears you when you talk about you would like to have that nice car or big house
• The devil hears you when you complain you struggle and don’t make enough money
• The devil hears you when you always talk about what you Don’t have
• The devil hears you when you complain your husband or wife never take you anywhere
Let me tell you how temptation works.
• Temptation comes from our Own Desires which Entice Us
• JAMES 1:14-15 -- “BUT EVERY MAN IS TEMPTED, WHEN HE IS DRAWN AWAY OF HIS OWN LUST, AND DESIRES. THEN WHEN LUST HATH CONCEIVED, IT BRINGETH FORTH SIN; AND SIN, WHEN IT IS FINISHED, BRINGETH FORTH DEATH”
The key here is the word - “OWN” – My temptation is not your temptation. What may tempt you would not bother or tempt me at all. When we are drawn away of our own Lust and Desires. And you better believe the devil knows exactly what that is. He knows exactly what he is doing.
• I am convinced he knows what tempts us better than we know ourselves
• Devil has been at this since being cast out of heaven thousands of years ago
• He has been at this a long time
• We talk about we have been saved for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years
• We walk around like we are Super Spiritual
• Say Dumb stuff like the Devil is Confused when we Praise God
• He is not working in our Praise
• He is working in our Problems
• He is not working in our Praise
• He is working in our Predicaments
• He is not working in our Praise
• He is working in our Pains
• He is not working in our Praise
• He is working in our Pride
• He is not working in our Praise
• He is working in our Perturbation
• He is not working in our Praise
• He is working in our Perfidiousness
So the text again tells us even our Savior was tempted. The writer of Hebrews stated in HEBREWS 4:15 -- “OUR HIGH PRIEST UNDERSTANDS OUR WEAKNESSES, FOR HE WAS TEMPTED JUST LIKE WE ARE, YET HE DID NOT SIN.”
• Even though Jesus was tempted, we find that He was “without sin”
• This shows us there is hope for us when we face temptation
• I CORINTHIANS 10:13 -- THERE HATH NO TEMPTATION TAKEN US BUT SUCH IS COMMON TO MAN: BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHO WILL NOT SUFFER US TO BE TEMPTED ABOVE THAT WE ARE ABLE; BUT WILL WITH THE TEMPTATION ALSO MAKE A WAY OF ESCAPE, THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO BEAR IT
Isn’t that Good News! I find it encouraging there is a way of escape from temptation. God has already provided us with an escape route. When we face temptation, it is important we deal with it immediately!
• It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it
• Benjamin Franklin said -- Do not allow temptation to linger in your life… when you do your chances of fleeing that temptation decrease greatly
• You must realize sin is more powerful than you are
• It will destroy you if it has an opportunity
• Jesus told His disciples in ST. MATTHEW 26:41 “WATCH AND PRAY, THAT YE ENTER NOT INTO TEMPTATION: THE SPIRIT INDEED IS WILLING, BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK”
TEMPTATION IS A FACT. IT IS REAL, IT IS CONSTANT AND IT IS POWERFUL. None of us are above being tempted. It really makes no difference how long we have been saved. Sometimes we think the longer we are saved, the easier we can handle temptation. I think the Apostle Paul was onto something when he wrote - I CORINTHIANS 15:31 “I PROTEST BY YOUR REJOICING WHICH I HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD, I DIE DAILY.”
• Paul was saying it does not get any easier
• Should however, become Easier to Identify
• Paul would Establish Churches
• Paul would write almost half of the NT
• He still understood the power of temptation
• We must Kill or Crucify the Flesh on a Daily Basis
• You better believe the devil knows those days you were rushed and failed to Pray
• Why do you think you had the flat tire
• Why do you think your heel broke on your favorite pair of shoes
• Why do you think the boss went off on you
• Why do you think your Credit Card Declined
• Why do you think you dropped your Cell Phone and shattered the screen
• Why do you think you were invited out for a few drinks
• Usually happens those days you fail to start your day in Prayer
Remember further in this text, Jesus went from this awesome scene at His baptism right into the wilderness.
• Satan knew what he was doing
• He is the great schemer and he had a plan!
• He is still that way today!
• He is still a Schemer!
• He does not want you to be useful or fruitful for God
• He will go to great lengths to trap you and entice you to sin
As soon as you begin to experience those Awesome scenes in your Spiritual life.
• Pastor the Church
• Preaching engagements around country
• Moderator of the District
• Vice President of the State Convention
• On line to be the President of the State Convention
• President of Board of Education
• Now Pastoring in the State Capitol
• You better believe the devil is coming after you
• Devil has been watching and waiting
• He now knows just how to tempt you
• And if you are not killing the flesh daily
• You are doomed to Temptation
• You are doomed to Sin
• NUMBERS 32:23 “….AND BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT”
TEMPTATION COMES AFTER SPIRITUAL HIGHS -- I remember at age 22 when I made my call to ministry, the seasoned Pastors warning me Satan would be after me.
• Before you are saved there is no reason for the enemy to waste time and resources on you
• You are not a threat to his plan
• Quite frankly, you are already on his team and don’t even realize
• But as soon as you are Saved
• As soon as you have a Spiritual High
• He will hit you with everything he has
Maybe you have Rededicated your life and you desire to be fruitful in Christian service - He will attack! Maybe you have been Fasting and Praying and growing closer to Christ - be on the lookout, an attack is imminent!
• The point is not for you to avoid spiritual highs
• Do not be afraid of progress
• But be ready to go into this battle prepared
Not only will the enemy Attack after A Spiritual High, we find that -- THE ENEMY WILL ATTACK DURING PHYSICAL LOWS. When Jesus was in the Wilderness, we are told He was Physically Hungry from a 40 day fast. The Devil will come at you when you are feeling poorly physically. Remember when ELIJAH was so discouraged he asked God to just kill him and get it over with? At this point in his life he had just ran a marathon in order to flee from Jezebel, he was Tired and Stressed. Instead of asking God for Strength, the devil has messed with his mind and he asked instead for Death, just get it over with.
The Apostle John gives a brief description of the TACTICS the enemy will use in - I JOHN 2:16 “FOR ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD, THE LUST OF THE FLESH, AND LUST OF THE EYES, AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE, IS NOT OF THE FATHER, BUT IS OF THE WORLD.”
• The Devil’s strategy has not changed since the Garden of Eden
• He Used the same things against Eve that he used against Jesus
• And he will use these same tactics against us as well
• Whatever we allow the devil to enter into our Eye Gate and Tempt us
• He will allow us to see
o Big Cars
o Magnificent Homes
o Power
o Prestige
o Position
Even PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN understood this when he said -- “NEARLY ALL MEN CAN STAND ADVERSITY, BUT IF YOU WANT TO TEST A MAN’S CHARACTER, GIVE HIM POWER.” The devil tempts us with power although he really cannot give it because we are told in PSALMS 62:11 “GOD HATH SPOKEN ONCE; TWICE HAVE I HEARD THIS; THAT POWER BELONGETH UNTO GOD.”
• Man thinks he has power here on earth
• President thinks he is the most Powerful leader in the free world
• Think we have Power on our Job or even in the Church
• We are reminded – Power Belongs to God!
When we chase after Power, we in essence chasing after our Demise and fall into the trap of Sin. We must be careful when those around us starting patting us on the back all the time. This is especially true of preachers.
• Pat on back Good Sermon
• Good job Doc
• Preachers, everybody is a Doctor
• Good Teaching
• Invitations come in
• We begin to think ourselves more highly than we ought
• I am talking about Temptation
Satan used this same process way back in the Garden of Eden. He spoke to Eve saying -- “YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE: FOR GOD DOTH KNOW THAT IN THE DAY YE EAT THEREOF, THEN YOUR EYES SHALL BE OPENED, AND YE SHAL BE AS GODS, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.” Do you see what he attacked?
• THE LUST OF THE FLESH - v6a And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food
• THE LUST OF THE EYES - v6b and that it was pleasant to the eyes –wish I had time to stay on this for a few minutes brothers
• THE PRIDE OF LIFE - v6c and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat
• Because of Temptation Adam and Eve now bought Sin into a Perfect Place!
His tactics have not changed today. He uses the same tactics to cause us to Yield to our Temptations. Many times when we are tempted we will be so prideful as to think we can handle our temptation.
• When we think we can handle our temptation on our own, it won’t be long before our temptation is handling us!
• When we fall into Temptation it is our Pride that will keep us there
• PROVERBS 16:18 “PRIDE GOETH BEFORE DESTRUCTION, AND AN HAUGHTY SPIRIT BEFORE A FALL”
We will face Temptation and we must learn to Resist them. So the question is - HOW DO WE RESIST TEMPTATION? By following Jesus example.
• Every time Jesus responded to temptation He used scripture!
• The same is true for us today!
• If we are going to overcome temptation we must Study the Word of God!
o This requires Reading the Word
o This requires Understanding the Word
o This requires Using the Word against Satan!
The Word is of the utmost importance when combating temptation. Satan is not afraid of you because after all OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS JUST A FILTHY RAGS. Another way to resist temptation is to guard yourself. I am about to date myself here, but when I was growing up there was a show on TV called “HEE HAW.”
• Doc Campbell is confronted by a patient who says he broke his arm in two places
• The doc replies, "Well then, stay out of them places!"
You cannot continuously put yourself in places where you will be tempted and not be affected.
• What situations are you in when you fall?
• Avoid them!
• What props do you have that support your sin?
• Eliminate them!
• What people are you usually with when you fail? Avoid them!
In closing this morning I am reminded of a story --
--A woman was laying on a float in the Gulf of Mexico. She was enjoying the comfort of relaxing on an inflated cushion that kept her afloat
--When she realized that she had been swept about a half mile out from the beach, she began to scream, but no one heard her
--A coast guard craft found her five miles from the place where she first entered the water
--She did not see her danger until she was beyond her own strength and ability
--The same will happen to us if we do not take temptation seriously
--Sin will take you farther than you want to go
--Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay
--Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay
BUT ULTIMATELY SIN BEGINS WITH TEMPTATION
So I stopped by this morning to tell you
Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin
Each victory will help you or some others to win
Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue
Look ever to Jesus and He will carry you through
