Greg Laurie - How to Effectively Resist Temptation (08/02/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie teaches from Luke 4 how Jesus effectively resisted temptation in the wilderness by relying on Scripture, showing us that temptation comes to everyone—especially after blessing or to those making a difference—and the key weapon is God's Word to keep priorities spiritual over physical and avoid shortcuts or testing God.
Jesus' Model for Resisting Temptation After Baptism
Grab your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 4. We are continuing our series that we are calling God Came Near, which is a chronological look at the life of Christ from all four Gospels. And today I want to talk about how to effectively resist temptation. Now we have all ineffectively resisted it. How can we effectively resist it?
How many of you have ever been tempted to sin? Raise your hand. You have been... Okay. How many of you have given in to that temptation? Okay. How many of you have effectively resisted that temptation? It is good. What? What? Eight people. The rest of you are just. .. Maybe you didn't understand the question. How many of you have successfully resisted temptation? Thank you. I was getting a little scared about first service. Yeah.
We get tempted. We pretty much give in every time. You know when I first became a Christian and one of the believers told me that I should be careful because the devil was going to tempt me. I had no idea what they were talking about. I think I sort of lived by the philosophy of Oscar Wilde who said, I can resist anything but temptation. And what I mean by that is, for me temptation was simply opportunity. You know, if it looked good, do it. Go for it. I didn't think of it as temptation. I didn't think of it as something to be resisted. I thought of it as something to just do.
But of course I had already begun to reap the consequences of that. I found myself in a miserable state at the age of 17 and heard the gospel and gave my life to Jesus Christ. But the Christian said, now be careful, Greg. You are going to be tempted by Satan. And I thought, what are they talking about? How will I know when I am being tempted? I asked. They responded, you will know.
And I remember my first legitimate temptation. It was very overt. I was in high school still. I was in class. There was this really cute girl in the class. I didn't have the courage to even talk to her. I just noticed her. And she never noticed me. And so I was a brand new Christian. I had my little Bible. I even had a little pin in my jacket. A little picture of Jesus on it. And I was a newly minted Jesus freak. You know. And I am kind of making my way through this new life.
And after class is dismissed this really cute girl walks right up to me. And I thought, why is she walking up to me? What is happening? Because see this didn't happen to me. You know some guys were hit on by girls throughout their life. I was not one of those guys. It just didn't happen. So this girl walks up and says, hi what is your name? I momentarily forgot my name. I was like, I am not sure exactly. Yes, Greg is my name. She goes, you are really cute. She actually said that to me. I thought, that is very unusual. People don't say that. I mean I know I am cute. Don't misunderstand. But pretty girls did not say that to me.
So she said, you know I was wondering if you would like to spend the weekend with me. My parents have a cabin up in the mountains. And they are not going to be in it. We could go up there. And I thought, I think this is a temptation. And I said no. And I walked away thinking, I just missed the greatest opportunity of my life. But then I realized I just resisted my first temptation. Thank God successfully. Because that is what that was. You know, and she was attractive. And temptation is attractive. Otherwise it wouldn't be tempting. And the devil is really good at this. And he has been doing it a long time.
Why Jesus Faced Temptation – Understanding His Humanity
So now we are going to talk about how Jesus faced temptation and how we should face temptation as well as we look at Luke chapter 4. Now chronologically in our series our Lord has been in relative obscurity. We have looked carefully at His birth there in the manger of Bethlehem. And then there is sort of a silence about the childhood of Jesus. One quick little window opens and closes where we see Jesus at age 12 going into the temple. His parents lose Him effectively. And they come back and find Him speaking with the elders. And He reminds them He must be about His Father's business.
But there is nothing else in Scripture about the childhood of Christ. And now we see the Lord beginning His public ministry at age 30. He appears at the Jordan River. And John the Baptist, who by the way is His cousin, baptizes Him. The Holy Spirit comes on Jesus as He is being baptized in the form of a dove. And the Father speaks and says, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
So what happened next? Well after that Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted. So you might say after the blessing came the temptation. After the dove came the devil. But why was Jesus tempted? I mean was Jesus not God? It does not Scripture tell us that God cannot be tempted with evil. Nor does He tempt any man. Therefore when we read Jesus was tempted. Was He really tempted? Well the answer is yes He was. But not in exactly the same way that we are.
You see the difference between Christ being tempted and you and I being tempted is we have the vulnerability. We have the capacity to cave in and take the bait. Jesus did not. Because He was God. However He still felt the presence and pressure of temptation. So you say well why would He go through that? So you could know that you have a God that understands what it is like to be tempted. So you could know that you have a God who sympathizes with you when you are being tempted. So you could know that you have a God who has walked in your shoes.
Hebrews 4.15 speaking of Jesus says, This high priest of ours understands our weaknesses for he faced all the same temptations we do yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God that we may receive His mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So what it is really saying is, Okay. You have a God who has been there. He has faced it. So come boldly to Him.
And by the way, here in Luke 4 Jesus gives us a model to follow when we are tempted. I want you to notice that He did not use His supernatural power to deliver Himself from this temptation. Don't forget Jesus is way more powerful than the devil. The devil is nowhere even close to being the equal of Jesus. So Jesus could have just banished Satan. He could have said authoritatively, Go to hell. And it would have happened. I mean, people today use that as a way to curse a person. If Jesus would have said it, you would have had no other choice.
Remember the demons that He cast out of a man. A legion, for they were many. They said, Don't send us into the pit before our time. Jesus has the authority to banish Satan. Jesus has the authority to overrule the devil. But He did not do it. He faced it as a man. An occupied ground that we too can occupy. Effectively giving us a model to follow or a template. So the next time you are tempted you want to face it like Jesus did here.
Blessings of Enduring Temptation and Its Real Source
Now I wish there wasn't temptation. But you might be surprised to know that testing and even temptation can have a positive effect in your life as a Christian. James 1.12 says, Blessed is the man who endures temptation. For when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those that love him.
So right off the bat we learn three things about temptation here. Number one, it can be endured. Blessed is the man that endures temptation. Number two, there is a reward for the person who endures it. Because if you do endure it we are told you will receive the crown of life. And thirdly, you will be a happy person if you resist temptation. Blessed is the man that endures temptation or resists it. And that word blessed could also be translated happy. Martin Luther once said, quote, One Christian who has been tempted is worth a thousand who who haven't.
So let's look at the following aspects of temptation. Number one, where does it come from? Number two, when does it usually come? Number three, how does it come? Number four, who does it come to? Number five, where is the best place to be when it comes? And number six, what is the primary weapon we should use to resist temptation? How does that sound?
Well look for verse one. Then Jesus, now this is after he has been baptized, remember, being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan. And notice this, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days he ate nothing. And afterwards when he had ended he was hungry.
And the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread. But Jesus answered, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the devil, taking him up to a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world. In a moment of time, and the devil said, All this authority I will give to you, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I can give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. And Jesus answered and said to him, Get behind me, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.
Then he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. Now I want you to notice the devil quotes the Bible in verse 10. And for it is written, Satan speaking, He will give his angels charge over you to keep you, and in their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, It has been said, or it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.
And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. We will stop there. So let us take point number one. Where does temptation come from? Where does temptation come from? Well listen. We play a key role in our own temptation. Satan needs our cooperation in this area to give in to the temptation. Where there is no desire on our part, there really is no temptation. It takes two to make a successful temptation, temptation, and you are one of the two.
James 1.14 gives us really a perfect analysis of how temptation works. James 1.14-16. It says, Everyone is tempted when he is drawn away, listen, by his own desires. And he is enticed. And when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is full grown, it brings forth death. Now in those verses I just read to you, you effectively have the five steps of temptation.
First you have the temptation itself. Each one is tempted. There is no exceptions. No one gets a pass on this. Everyone is going to be tempted. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman. If you are young or if you are old. Everyone will get tempted in one way, shape, or form. So the temptation comes. That evil thought knocks on the door of your imagination. It has been said opportunity knocks once, but temptation beats on the door every day. Isn't that true? And it happens to the best of us.
So there is no sin in being tempted. Understand that. It is not the bait that constitutes temptation. It is the bite. If it comes to your door, and you do not open the door, you have been successful. But here is how it always starts. But this series of verses we just read shows how people fall to it. So first it comes, each one is tempted. And then number two, you are now under its power and enjoying the experience. He is drawn away by his own desires. This is where you take a little bite. Right?
I had a blueberry pie given to me at Christmas. It does not even sound good to me, a blueberry pie. Who eats blueberry pie? Well I did. I ate all of it for the most part. I mean I like boysenberry pie. I like peach pie, apple pie. I have never had a blueberry pie. I took one bite of it and it was so delicious. So I had a second piece, which is always a bad idea. And so I was just sitting around in our kitchen covered in foil. So I have this little way that I will take bites. I will go and take just a little bite off the side. Right? And then I take another. What are you clapping? You do that too I guess. Okay. So you are feeling better that you are not the only one. Whoever that was over there. Anyway.
So I take a little bite then. Oh that was really good. I will take another bite. Well now the edge is sort of uneven. So I will take a knife and trim it. You know. And eat all that is left. And then I will just... there is one little loose piece. I will eat that little piece. Well I will just take one more. And I ate the whole thing. I ate it all. You know. So that is where the problem is. One little taste.
Why do you think they offer you a free donut and Krispy Cream when you walk in? Because they love me. No. Because they know once you have a fresh glazed donut you are going to want more. Why do you think they ask you to take a test drive when you are looking at a car down at the lot? Because they care about me. No. Because they figure once they get you in the car you might buy the car. So that is how temptation works. He knocks at the door. We say, well I am not going to do it. But I will take... just a taste. Just... I am going to take it for a spin around the block. And by that I mean maybe just mentally. I will not do it. But I will just sort of play the little what if game. What would it be like if I were to do it? Do you realize you are already being hooked right now?
This is how temptation works. James 1.14. You are drawn away by your own desires and you are enticed. Okay. So now you have seen it. You have thought about it. It is appealing. And you are ready to bite. There is still a way out. You can still walk away. But the hook is set. Verse 15. And desire is conceived. It gives birth to sin. So you take it. So the temptation comes. You say, no. No. No. No. No. No. No. Yes. And you bite it. And you go, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Oh no. You know. And you start reaping the consequences of it. Guilt kicks in because hopefully your conscience is working. Maybe there is immediate repercussions depending on what kind of a sin it is. And that euphoria and pleasure which was short lived at best is gone. Now you have that deadness, that regret. Now finally the full effect of sin kicks in verse 15. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. That is the result of sin. And you are separated from your fellowship with God.
So what do you need to do? You need to repent right there. Say, God, I blew it. I sinned. I am not rationalizing it. I am sorry. And I turn from that sin. And I turn from that sin. And then you need to again enter into fellowship with the Lord. Because this is where we are going to find the strength to live the life He has called us to live. So temptation comes to everybody.
When Temptation Strikes – After Blessing or When Strong
Number two. When does temptation generally come? When does it generally come? Answer. Often after times of great blessing. I want you to notice again the context. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan. It was a glorious moment. The Holy Spirit came upon Him. And again as I said earlier, after the dove came the devil. After the blessing comes the trial. And this happens with us as well. Maybe it is after a church service. And we have been blessed. And it has been great. And immediately a temptation comes to do something wrong. So don't be surprised when you are hit after a time of blessing.
Maybe you have had a mountaintop experience with the Lord. And the devil is there to challenge it. In fact there is a story in the Gospels of when Jesus came down from a mountain. And as He descended from this mountain there was a man who was demon possessed. Excuse me. His child was demon possessed. And He wanted Jesus to deal with it. So here is the Lord after this mountaintop experience if you will. He had just been transfigured with Moses on one side and Elijah on the other. And immediately He descends. And what is waiting for Him but the devil. And that is so typical in the Christian life.
So be ready for that. Don't be surprised when it comes. Don't be shocked when the devil hits you. Because he feels that is an opportune time. Because you might be thinking, Oh I would never give in this sin now. I am doing so well spiritually. The devil knows exactly what he is doing. He will hit us when we think we are the strongest. Not when we are the weakest. See when we are weak we know it. And we say, I need God's help. I can't get through a day without God's help. But when you have known the Lord for a few years and you have memorized a few verses and God has used you in some capacity you start thinking, Well I am doing pretty well now. I don't think I would ever fall.
You might even find yourself saying, hearing somebody else fell to a sin. Well I would never fall to that sin. I mean I will tell you one thing. I would never ever do that thing that person just did. Oh really? Are you an idiot or what? Know this about yourself. You are capable of doing the most wicked things. And so am I. The Bible reminds us that our heart is deceitfully wicked above all things. And who can really know it? Jesus said it is not what goes in a man that defiles him. It is what comes out. It is what comes out. It is all in the heart here folks. The capacity is there. Don't ever say, I would never fall into that sin. You or I could fall into any sin if we were to lower our guard.
See this was Peter's problem. We all know about his denial. Where he denied that he knew Christ three times. But that denial started in the upper room after Jesus said, One of you is going to betray me. Speaking of Judas. And Simon Peter said, Even if all deny you I will never deny you. So not only was he boasting of his commitment but he was doing so at the expense of the others. Hey these other guys might let you down Jesus. But not me. Not Simon. Jesus said, Well since you brought it up before the roosters crowed twice. You will deny three times that you know me. Peter says, No. You are wrong. There is no way. Well of course we know exactly what happened. So don't think you are above it. The Bible says, Pride goes before a fall.
Who Temptation Targets and How It Enters the Mind
Number three. Who does temptation come to? Who does it come to? Well in a broad sense everyone is tempted as I said. But listen. At the same time without question the enemy focuses his attacks on those who are young in the faith and those who are making a difference in the kingdom. Let me repeat that. He focuses his attacks on those who are young in the faith and those who are making a difference for the kingdom.
So a new Christian is going to be hit hard. Because the devil is not happy when he loses one of his own. That is why that attractive girl came and tempted me. Because the devil thought I don't want Greg Laurie to know Jesus. I don't want Greg Laurie to reach his potential. I don't want him to spend another day in this new faith. So he hits the new believer. That is why we need to pray for new believers. Especially after they come forward in a church service or one of our crusades to really pray for them. And that is why they need follow up and friendship and discipleship and all that.
But listen. The devil also attacks those who are making a difference for the kingdom of God. That is why he attacked Jesus. Because he knew what Jesus had come to do. And he wanted to stop him. The old country preacher Vance Hefner once said, If you have not been through the devil sifter you are probably not worth sifting. Interesting. So listen to me mature Christian. If you have found yourself being tempted lately don't feel that is because you are a failure. It may be because you are a success. So if you have been facing this kind of opposition of late don't feel that is because you are doing something wrong. It may be because you are doing something right.
If you can't remember the last time you were tempted that is not a good sign. The devil might say, Why waste my energies on him or her? They don't do anything but sit around and complain. No. I am going to save my energies. I am going to attack that Christian over there that actually goes out and shares their faith. That believer over there that wants their life to make a difference. That person is a threat to my kingdom. Okay.
Number four. How does temptation come? How does it come? In most cases it enters the doorway of our mind. Right? 2 Corinthians 11. 3 says, I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent s cunning your minds would somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Those flaming arrows of ungodly thoughts come when our guard is down.
2 Corinthians 10.4 says, We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We capture those rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. So there are just some thoughts you are not going to let in. That thought comes to you. That thought is not allowed in my home. That thought is not coming into my mind. I reject it. It is at the door. I slam the door in its face. It is where we say get behind me Satan.
I remember reading the story of a woman who liked to shop. And every time she went to the mall she would buy something. It drove her husband crazy. Because he was very cheap. And didn't like his wife to shop. So she said one day, I am going down to the mall. He said, No, no. You are not. She goes, I am just going to browse. He says, No, you are not going to browse. You are going to buy something. She says, I won't buy anything. He says, Now listen to me. I don't want you to buy anything today. We cannot afford it. Don't buy anything. She says, I will just go window shopping.
So she went down to the mall and she is walking along and she saw a cute outfit in the window of a store. So she decided to walk in and check it out. And the salesperson pulled it out in her size. And she went into the dressing room and she tried it on and she brought it home. And the husband said, I told you not to buy anything. Why did you buy this outfit? How many of you have heard this story first? Well, maybe I won't finish it then. Can you finish it? Okay, how many of you have not heard it? Raise your hand. Oh, that's more. How many of you want me to finish it? How many of you who have heard it want me to finish it? How many of you who have heard it don't want me to finish it? Okay, I think we are going to finish it.
So she comes home. She bought this outfit. He said, I told you not to buy it. She says, Honey, you don't understand what What happened? I am in the dressing room and I am trying on this outfit. And the devil appears. What? Yes. Satan himself appeared in the room. He said, What happened? Satan said, You look good in that outfit. You should buy it. And the husband said, You should have said, Get behind me Satan. She said, I did. And then he said, Hey it looks good from the back too. So what else could I do? Don't clap. Thank you. It comes to the mind. Generally. Don't let it into the mind.
The Best Place to Be – In God's Will During Temptation
Number five. Where is the best place to be when temptation comes? Answer. In the will of God. Notice Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Then he was tempted by the devil. Now Jesus was always in the will of the Father. In fact only Jesus could have said this. I always do the things that please him. I could not say that. But Jesus could. He was always in the will of God.
But too often we are out of the will of God effectively bringing temptation upon ourselves. In other words, we hang out with the wrong people. And we go to the wrong places. And we end up doing the wrong things. You know some people want to be delivered from temptation. But they would like to keep in touch. To pray against temptation and then to rush into a place of vulnerability vulnerability is to put your fingers in the fire and then pray they won't be burnt.
So don't be surprised when you get tempted to do the wrong thing. Do I need to illustrate this? Wow. I got drunk the other night. I am so ashamed. Well where were you? I didn't see you at church. Yeah I didn't go to church. Well where did you go? I went to a bar with friends. Oh yeah. And they all started drinking and said I should have a drink. So I had one and I two and I got drunk. And well why did you do that? I mean don't you understand you were in the wrong place with the wrong people and then you did the wrong thing and you are surprised by that? You see?
Or maybe you are out on the Internet and then you search for pornography and you find some and then you say oh my mind I was filled with all this junk. It was horrible. Why were you out searching for that? Don't you understand you have a responsibility to stay away from places where you could be vulnerable? Listen. Life is hard enough just living it day to day without going out of your way to be in a place where you know you could fall.
Coming back to Peter after his boast in the upper room. Remember he was out there at the home of Caiaphas and there was a fire in the courtyard. And it was there that Peter denied the Lord three times. He was in the wrong place with the wrong people. And he did the wrong thing.
Now in the first of three temptations Satan says to Jesus, number one, if you are the Son of God command the stone to become bread. And by the way in the Greek the word if could be translated since. So Satan was not really questioning if Jesus was the Son of God. He was effectively affirming it. Hey. Since you are the Son of God why don't you take this rock and turn it in to a piece of bread. Effectively the devil is saying, Hey I have been listening. I saw you there being baptized. I heard the Father say, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Well prove it. If you are really God do a miracle right now.
What does Jesus say? He says, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Again I want to emphasize Jesus didn't have to put up with this nonsense. He could have airlifted himself out of there. Jesus could have just said, Maui. There he would have been. Catching away. Right. He could have done anything he wanted to do. But he gave us a model to follow. Here is how to resist temptation.
Jesus is essentially saying, I am dealing with you now as a man on man's behalf. Here is the way to do it. It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So Jesus is showing us when tempted we need to keep our priorities in order. And we need to stand our ground and use the word of God. And the devil is going to come in the same way to us today.
The bait and the first temptation in turning stones to bread was effectively the temptation from the devil for Jesus to put the physical above the spiritual. Now remember Jesus had been fasting for forty days. So when we read he was hungry. In a sense that is an understatement. He was literally starving to death. So put the physical above the spiritual. That is what the devil says to us. Amen. Enjoy it. Play now. Pay later. Don't worry about the long term repercussions of sin.
By saying man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. He is saying keep your life in the proper balance. Listen. There is a place for eating food. Even blueberry pie. There is a place for enjoying the pleasures of life when they are godly pleasures. When they are proper pleasures. But they can get out of whack. You know good things can become bad things quite easily if they become excessive. In other words there is nothing wrong with eating. But if you live to eat you have a problem. But if you eat to live that is fine.
There is nothing wrong with having things. But it is a problem when things have you. You see. So it really comes down to our heart. And the idea is always keep the spiritual at the forefront of your life. Always keep the will of God at the forefront of your life. And so that is what Jesus was doing here.
The Three Temptations – Prioritizing Worship and Trust
Now we come to the second temptation. Effectively it was a temptation to avoid the cross. It was a shortcut to the objective of Jesus. Why had He come to this earth? He had come to buy back that which was lost in the garden of Eden. When our first parents sinned, Satan became the God of this world. The prince of the power of the air. The spirit that now rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience. The scripture says, So here is the devil kind of running the show on planet earth in many ways. Allowed by God.
Jesus is coming to get the title deed if you will of the earth back again. And there is only one way it can be done. And that is through His death on the cross. The entire Old Testament foreshadowed it. It pointed to it. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. It was never God's ultimate plan that we continue to offer animal sacrifices in a tabernacle and later in a temple through a high priest to reach Him. That was just a type or a shadow of what was to come. Jesus would become that Lamb of God. Jesus would offer up His life and be the atonement for all of our sins. And He would be the only one we need to go through from that point on in approaching the Father.
Jesus knew He had to go to the cross. And the devil is saying, Hey Jesus, I know why you are here. And I am going to make you a deal. I am going to make you an offer you cannot refuse. Here it is. Look at verse 5 of Luke 4. The devil taking Him up to a high mountain showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said, All this authority I will give you and their glory for this has been delivered to me and I can give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if you worship before me all will be yours.
By the way, that is what Bono was singing about in the U2 song Vertigo. Some of the lines are, All of this. All of this can be yours. All of this. All of this can be yours. Just give me what I want and no one gets hurt. Remember that song? And so that is what the devil was saying. Hey all of this can be yours. It has been delivered to me. And He is still offering this to people today. Hey I will give you the whole world. I will give you everything.
I read a poll that was done among young people in the United States. And they were asked the question, What did they want more than anything else? And 81 percent of 18 to 25 year olds said, What they want more than anything else is to get rich. And then number two was they want to be famous. Thirty percent said their top goal was to help people who needed help. Twenty-two percent said their goal was to be leaders in the community. Ten percent said they wanted to be more spiritual. So here we have a generation of young people that more than anything else they want to be a Kardashian. Or fill in blank here. You know whoever the celebrity of the moment is. I want to be famous. I want to be rich. I want to have all that money. That is what I want. Careful what you wish for. You might get it.
Why do so many of these people have messed up lives? Why is it that every time we turn around another celebrity is going into rehab? And what about those people that win those lotteries? I mean that is a story unto itself of the horrible things that can come into a person's life when they come into quick riches and all the peril that can follow. And so here are people that want this and the devil will offer it. Doesn't mean he will deliver it. It just means he offers it. I will give this to you right now. You want it? Follow me and it is yours. And they follow. Of course he may give them a little. He may give them none.
But I want you to notice what Jesus said. Verse 8. Get behind me Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God. In Him only shall you serve. Wait a second. Satan said nothing about serving. He said just worship Him. But Jesus understood that a moment of worship can lead to a lifetime of service. A moment of worship can lead to a lifetime of service. A moment at the altar of adultery can lead to a lifetime of regret. A moment at the altar of illicit pleasure, be it drugs or Or whatever else can result in a lifetime of addiction. So that one time can turn into all the time. And Jesus understands it starts there.
So I am not going to worship you for a moment. I am not going to give you that momentary satisfaction. Now I want you to notice Satan offers him all the kingdoms of the world. So here is what he is saying. Jesus I have always wanted to be top dog. I really wanted to be God. That is why Satan got thrown out of heaven. Or I should restate that and say why he lost his access to God in the way he had it before. In a way Satan still can get access to heaven. See the first sin that was ever committed was not Adam and Eve in the garden. The first sin that was ever committed was not even on the earth. The first sin that was ever committed was in the heavens. And it was when Lucifer, once a high ranking beautiful angel, said, I want to be like God. And in Isaiah 14. he is cast down to the earth because of this.
However he still has access to the throne of God to bring accusations against us as given to us in the book of Job. But my point is simply this. Satan wanted to be worshipped. And he is saying, OK Jesus I will tell you what. No cross. I will give this thing to you. I will give it to you on a silver platter. Just worship me. Jesus says, No. Worship the Lord God. In him only shall you serve.
I want you to know now that as we come to the final temptation of Jesus the devil quotes the Bible. Verse 9. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple. Satan said, Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, He will give his angels charge over you to keep you. And in your hands he will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.
So the devil knows the Bible. And he can even quote the Bible. But I want you to notice something that is very important. The devil quotes the Bible but he leaves something out. Satan says, Yes. It is written, He will give his angels charge over you. But if you go back to the original verse that the devil is quoting, which is Psalm 91, it says, He will give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. And in their hands they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.
So the devil is leaving out that part where it says, God will keep you in all your ways. Why did Satan leave that out? Because what that verse is saying. contextually is that the Christian is indestructible until God is done with them. However that doesn't mean we are fools. It doesn't mean we jump off buildings and say, Well God will catch me. The angels will catch me. No it doesn't say that at all. But what it does mean is if God isn't done with you, no one is going to stop you. See so you don't have to walk around being afraid of death all the time. Because you are not going to die until it is time to die.
But what about when it is time to die? You are dead. Now having said that I could certainly do something foolish that could bring about my death. So there is a place for being a fool in that regard. And that is testing the Lord. It is not trusting the Lord. You read about these preachers with these services where they handle rattlesnakes. Venomous rattlesnakes. And over the years some have died. Is that an act of great faith? No. That is an act of great foolishness. They are testing God. Not trusting God.
Now doesn't the Bible say that if you are bitten by a venomous serpent or if you drink a deadly poison it will not harm you. Yes. But it doesn't mean I am supposed to go out and drink deadly poisons and have snakes bite me. It means if a snake happened to bite me and it wasn't my time I will get through it. And that is shown in the book of Acts when the apostle Paul was shipwrecked on an island. I believe it was Malta. And he was warming himself by a fire. And a venomous viper came and fastened himself onto Paul's leg. And all the people that lived there thought, He is going to die. That snake is deadly. Paul just kept warming himself by the fire through the snake. Nothing. Why? Because his time wasn't up. But once it is up it is up. So the point is don't test the Lord but do trust the Lord.
But it is interesting that the devil can quote scripture. And this folks is why we need to know the word of God. Because when you talk to a cult member they will quote verses too. And if you don't know those verses in their context you won't know what to say. So just because someone quotes the Bible doesn't mean it is contextual and it is accurate. So that is why we need to know what the Bible teaches.
The Sword of the Spirit – Our Primary Weapon Against Temptation
And that brings me to my final point here. Point number six. What is the primary weapon we should use to resist the temptations of Satan? Answer. The Word of God. Again Jesus stood on ground that we too can occupy. Christ quotes scripture to defend Himself. Verse 12. It is written. You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Every time he comes back with it is written. It is written. It is written. He knew the Word of God.
You know it is interesting when you go over to Ephesians 6. And Paul talks about the armor of God we are to wear. The helmet of salvation. The breastplate of righteousness. Having your feet shot of the preparation of the gospel of peace. Have you ever noticed that all those weapons are primarily defensive? A helmet to protect your mind. A breastplate to protect your vital organs. Boots to protect your feet. There is only one offensive weapon in all the armory there. Or all the armor. And that is a sword. Taking the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
We need to have a working knowledge of scripture. Or we will become a casualty in the spiritual battle. Psalm 119 verse 9 says, How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word. Psalm 119 verse 11 says, Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. It is good to carry a Bible in your briefcase or in your purse. But the best place to carry the Word of God is in your heart. Read it. Read it when you get up in the morning. Read it throughout the day. Read it at night. Keep filling your mind with the Word.
You know, I have verses that I committed to memory at age seventeen that are still in the brain. And that was only five years ago. Plus thirty-seven years. But they are still there. Verses I committed. You say, Well I can't remember things. I can't memorize things. Oh yes you can. Of course you can. Think of how many stupid song lyrics you know. I know. I know. Far too many. I amaze people with my trivial knowledge of nothing. I was playing Trivial Pursuit with a couple of friends the other day. I don't even ever play it. And we started pulling cards and I knew the answers to all these things. They said, You cheated. You read ahead of time. I said, I just have trivia in my brain. I don't remember when I got it in there. But it is in there. I wish I didn't know all the things that I have learned. But thankfully a good part of my memory banks are filled with Scripture.
So don't say you can't do it. You can do it. It is just the discipline of memorizing verses and keeping them in your heart. I know it is not the most exciting thing to do. But let me tell you something. When that attack comes. When that temptation comes. When that trial comes. You will have your sword ready. Because you have sharpened it. You see.
Let me illustrate. The devil will come to you. And they will trip you up and you will fall into sin. And they will say, God would never forgive someone like you. Well if you don't know your Bible you might believe him. But you pull out the sword of the Spirit. And you say, It is written. If we will confess our sin, and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Satan whispers in your ear, You are condemned. God will never hear you again. No. Satan you are wrong. It is written, Romans 8. 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
The devil says to you, You are not going to make it. I am going to get you. You are going to fall again. Oh no. You are wrong devil. It is written, John 10. 20, Romans 8.28 Jesus speaking, I will give them eternal life, and they will never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. In Philippians 1.6 Being confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ.
Or when tragedy hits the enemy will say, Life is over. God has abandoned you. God does not love you. And you will say, No. You are wrong again devil. Because it is written, Romans Romans 8. 28, For we know that all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose. Or when a loved one dies, the devil says, That is it. You will never see them again. And you will say, Wrong again devil. It is written, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. 2 Corinthians 5. 8 It is written, To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Listen. I have put this into practice. Not only in resisting temptation but also getting through tragedy. And I have quoted Scripture out loud to myself when I start going down into that pit. And I will tell you what. That pit is always there for me. And that pit is, You will never see your son, Christopher, again. He is gone. And I still to this day, over five years, miss him with all of my heart. But I remind myself what the Bible says. And sometimes I quote it out loud. I have even rebuked myself. Because I will say, I will never see him again. And I will say, Greg, shut up. The Bible says. And as I quote this Scripture, it elevates me. It lifts me. It is not a magic formula. It is the truth of the Word of God. Memorize it and learn it and use it.
Yes Jesus showed us how to face temptation. You are blessed when you endure it. But know this. It will come again. I mean you go through some hard time. And you get through it. You resist it. You go, Thank you, Lord. What? He is back again? I just came through it. Don't I get like a week off? No. And here is a funny thing. You may resist him on one thing and he is coming in the back door. You say, What do you mean by that, Greg? Here is how it works. I resisted some temptation to do some illicit thing. That is wrong. I rebuke you, Satan. Get behind me. No. Praise God. I did great. The devil says, You are awesome. I am awesome. You are such a man of God. I am such a man of God. God is really fortunate to have someone like you. God is really fortunate to have someone like you. Now what is happening? I am falling to pride. See how it works? He will hit you this way. Then he will come and hit you that way. And he comes He comes up through the roof. He comes up through the floor. You have to always keep your guard up.
There are a lot of ways he comes. Sometimes he comes in all of his depravity as the devil. And sometimes he comes as an angel of light. But he will be there. Notice verse 13 again of Luke 4. When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. He will be back. But God will give us the strength to resist him when he comes back next time, and the next time, and the next time. Because 1 Corinthians 10. 13 says, There is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man. But God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able. But what with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.
I memorized that at age 17. It is still working for me. It is a good thing to memorize Scripture. But let me close by saying this. If you are not a Christian, you are so vulnerable. If you are not a Christian, you can't stop the devil. Well I can. How? I have a crucifix. Ooh. He is really scared of those. I have some holy water as well. The devil doesn't fear crucifixes or holy water. He doesn't respect or fear any religious icon. Well I have a silver bullet. That might work on a werewolf. Too bad there aren't any. Well I wear garlic around my neck. Well that will keep your friends away, but. it won't keep the devil away. No.
The only power that Satan respects is the power of Jesus Christ. That is it. So when I belong to the Lord I am under divine protection. It is like I have an ID tag attached to me. Property of Jesus Christ. Like the old man who would get tempted. Someone would say, Old man what do you do when you get tempted? He says, I just remind the Lord, Lord your property is in danger again. I belong to Him. And the devil knows that. He can read. He sees that ID tag and he backs away. Not because of how godly I am, but because I serve the living God and I have committed my life to Christ.
But if I am not a Christian I am a sitting duck. Listen. The devil can pretty much do what he wants in the life of a nonbeliever. The Bible says the God of this world has blinded the eyes of those that do not believe. And the Bible also says they are taken captive by Satan to do his will. He can even possess a nonbeliever. A person that does not have Christ in their life can be actually controlled by Satan. So that is why we want to be in God's protection.
And I want to close by asking have you asked Christ to come into your life yet. Because if you have a, you have no defense against Satan. You have tried to be a better person. You have tried to overcome your temptations. You have tried to overcome your addictions. You make your New Year's resolutions which you have probably already broken. And you feel hopeless. And you feel helpless. I have got good news for you. Christ can come and live inside of you and forgive you for the wrongs you have done and give you the strength to face the future and And give you the power to overcome temptation.
But you must ask Him into your life to be your Savior and Lord. And if you have not done that I would like to close by giving you an opportunity to pray and invite Jesus into your life. Let us all pray. Bow our heads if you would. Father we thank You for Your Word to us today. We thank You for Your love for us. We thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins and then to rise again from the dead. And now I pray for any that are here. If they don't know You yet Lord, help them to see their need for You. And help them to come to You. We pray.
Now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying. Maybe some of you would say, Greg I am not sure if I am really a Christian. I am not certain that Christ lives inside of me. But I want Him to. I want to believe in Him. I want His protection against the devil. And I want Him to forgive me of my sins. And I want to know His plan for my life. So pray for me. I am ready to say yes to Jesus.
If that is your desire. If you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. If you want your sin forgiven. Would you lift your hand up wherever you are. And let me pray for you. You want Christ to come into your life. Lift your hand up. I will pray for you. God bless you. God bless you. Two people. Anybody else. Lift your hand up high where I can see it. You want His forgiveness. You want to be sure you are a child of God. God bless you up There is a second one. One final moment. If you have not lifted your hand yet would you lift it now please? And I will pray for you. You want Jesus Christ to come into your life. God bless you in the back of the balcony in the middle there. God bless.
Now you that have just raised your hand if you would please I want you to pray this prayer after me. And anybody else even if you did not raise your hand. If you want Jesus to come into your life. Pray this after me if you would. Right where you sit. Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner. But I also know you are a Savior. And I ask you to come into my life and forgive me of my sin. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for loving me and calling me and forgiving me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.