← ArchiveLuke (That you may know)Sunday, February 14, 2016DateFebruary 14, 2016Speaker—TextLuke 3Passages in this sermonLuke 30:35Luke 43:07James 114:061 Corinthians 1014:16Deuteronomy 616:41Psalms 11917:09Ephesians 620:25Matthew 620:28Genesis 423:35James 424:30Hebrews 428:41Hebrews 4:1629:33TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Happy Valentine's Day. It just so happens that I will be preaching on temptation, not love, today. We are walking through as a church through the book of Luke. And Luke reminds us, he says, I have written this book that you may know.0:30And we see in Luke 3 today that God's word points us that you may know that Jesus understands our temptations. That Jesus understands our temptations. And so what better way to begin this sermon than with a temptation, with a test. So here's your test. Let me give some background. We have a three-year-old. He's our oldest at home. And one of my favorite books that I read to him is called, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.0:58Anyone ever heard that book? Don't. That's a wonderful book. And it has a whole series. So the first page is this. There's a bus driver. And the bus driver says, do not let the pigeon drive the bus. And for the rest of the book, there's a little pigeon. And he's asking questions. I know how to drive. Please, it'll be fun. And every page, Eli, our oldest, is supposed to say, no.1:26And it never fails. On the first page, Eli always says, I look at him and say, are you going to let the pigeon drive the bus? And you know what he says? Sure. It's like, no, you don't get it. Every page, he's letting the pigeon drive the bus. Wonderful book. So here's my Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Do not look at this picture. Okay? Do not.1:55Do not. I'm going to count down to three. You can close your eyes. You can bow your heads. You can turn around. You can look at the floor. Do not look at this picture. Three, two, one. Some of you have failed. Okay, three, two, one. You can now look back. For those of you who looked, you know what I looked like in the fifth grade. Actually, this is the picture right here.2:25But for those of you who were laughing earlier, we know who you are. Why was that so difficult, though? Think about it. And this is just a trivial test, but temptation does something to our heart, doesn't it? Very clearly, I said, look, do not look at the picture. And some of you, whether it's just outright rebellion, whether it's just not, your will was not strong enough for whatever reason, you looked.2:47And is not temptation, is not well within us the same way? So let's look at Luke chapter 3 together. This morning. Sorry, Luke chapter 4. We've been journeying through Luke chapter 3, and we'll begin in verse 2. So Luke 4, 2. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil.3:15In those days, he ate nothing. And afterward, when they had ended, he was hungry. And so what we have here following are three temptations. Now, it's my conviction, just by, I believe, what's going on here in the wilderness, that these are the final three temptations of the 40 days of temptations.3:39So we don't necessarily know it was Jesus in the wilderness 40 days and then tempted at the end. I believe that the Greek, the original language, gives us the impression that Jesus is being tempted for 40 days. And what we have are the final three, and here they are. The devil said to him in verse 3, If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.4:07But Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, All authority I will give you, and their glory. For this has been delivered to me, and I will give it to whomever I wish.4:34Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. In verse 8, Jesus answered and said to him, Get behind me, Satan. For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Jesus, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. Now, listen who is using Scripture.5:03The devil says, It is written, He shall keep his angels charge over you, to keep you. And in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, It has been said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Now, when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him. Make note of this, until an opportune time.5:32Let's pray. Father, we pray as we are instructed to. Lord, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Lord, we have seen in such a trivial matter already, Lord, that we are so prone to temptation. And Lord, your word reminds us that everyone in here, Lord, myself, we have fallen short of your glory.6:01So, Lord, where we fall short, may we find the grace of Christ. Lord, speak to our hearts, remind us that you understand our temptations and that we have a Savior who can deliver us from everyone. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Well, we're going to look at three things about temptation. The reality of temptation, our response to temptation,6:30and finally, the redemption from those of us who fall into temptation. So, what is the reality of temptation? Verse 2, Jesus was tempted for 40 days by the devil. Matthew actually adds that he was tempted by the tempter. Now, here's what I want us to start off with this morning. Because sometimes we struggle. Sometimes we have an innate, just, I think, a sense to say, if you're struggling, it must be your sin.7:00Right? I mean, don't we just sometimes, we incorrectly, not biblically, just think, well, if you're struggling, if you're struggling with that temptation, then it's your sin. Let me just say, pause that real quick. Look at verse 1. The first reality of sin is this. Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, returned to the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.7:23So, very clearly, Luke tells us twice, for those of us who are hard-headed, Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and he was led by the Spirit. So, when Satan says, I have full authority, we remind Satan, oh, no, you don't. The Spirit led Christ into the wilderness. And in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted for 40 days.7:52The first reality of temptation is this, that we can be tempted when we are filled with the Spirit. So, temptation can find you when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. When you are living in God's will. Now, that's counter to sometimes what we believe. Well, you're struggling with temptation because you're not living according to God's will. Who here wants to tell Jesus that? I mean, really? So, before we say, Lord, who sinned, this man or his parents?8:22But Jesus says, but no, but that the Son of Man might be glorified. So, if you're struggling here this morning, I want you to know this. It might not be because of your weakness. It might be your struggle with temptation because you are where you should be. And the tempter is coming to you and saying, hey, how about this apple? How about this carrot? How about this bread? We can be tempted when we are filled with the Spirit.8:47That's the first reality. Verse 1, we can be tempted when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Second reality of temptation is this. And if you were here Wednesday night, you've heard this. Temptation is temptation because it is tempting. Temptation is temptation because it is tempting.9:15The first temptation is what? Jesus, if you are the Son of God, and for me, if I was Jesus, I'm not. I'm not even more close. For Satan to come up to me or to Jesus and to basically blaspheme him in his face, that would be a temptation. To say, Satan, who are you to talk to me like that? I saw you when you were cast out of heaven. I did it once. I'll do it again. But Jesus doesn't do that.9:44The first temptation is what? Turn these stones into bread. Now, let me just remind you, for those of us who like to eat, this temptation is at the end of what? Satan doesn't come to Jesus at the end of the buffet line. They say, turn these stones into bread. He comes to Jesus when he was hungry. And the temptations you and I face, the reality of our temptations is this. You're going to be tempted by things that are tempting. If you don't struggle with food, Satan's going to say, you know what?10:15The world's not going to say, we're not going to tempt you there. I'm not going to waste my time. If you're full, if you just finished the buffet, we're not tempting you with bread. Temptation is temptation because it's tempting. And that's exactly what God's word shows us. Temptation is real. It is a reality. And you can face it when you're filled with the Spirit. It is real because it is tempting. Look what else we see about the reality of temptation.10:44The reality of temptation. We face temptation in the good times. Not only can you be filled with the Holy Spirit, but you can face temptations when things are going great. And you say, well, pastor, how do you know that? I'm glad that you asked. In John, in Luke 3, 21, if you back up on my Bible, it's on the same page. We see Jesus being baptized. And after Jesus was baptized, we hear a voice from heaven, God the Father,11:14saying, this is my Son and who I am well pleased. And we have the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. There is no more direct picture in Scripture of the Trinity than that. Can you imagine what a great moment that would have been for Jesus Christ? What a spiritual high that would have been to be baptized, to have your Father boom with a thunderous voice, I am well pleased, and have the Holy Spirit descend on a dove, as a dove on you.11:41In that high time, what happens? We have the genealogy, and then we have temptation. So if you are here and you say, man, this has been a wonderful week. This is awesome. The Lord has done great things. As Tony said in his testimony, the Lord is just showing off in my life. I want to tell you this. Temptation can still find you. You say, well, this is a depressing Valentine's Day sermon.12:11Sorry. If you say, well, you know what? I'm actually, this is a good sermon because I'm not in a good time. I'm in a bad time. I'm in a difficult time. Well, another reality of temptation is this. Temptation can find you in the difficult times. I would imagine for Jesus Christ, 40 days in the, where was Jesus? The wilderness. And we've talked about wilderness as a place that no one wants to be.12:39It's uninhabited, isolated, difficult. And we go through wilderness parts of our life sometimes. In difficult times, temptation can still find you. An old pastor once said this, Satan will hit you when you least expect it. When you're hungry, when you're isolated, and when you're tired. That when you just say, Lord, I'm just worn out. Those are times where temptation, the realness, the reality of temptation will find you.13:06Temptation can come in the good times. It can come in the bad times. Sometimes you can be led to that test of faith. And that leads me to my, the last of the realities of temptation is this. Temptation is a test. Temptation is not an automatic failure. Temptation, the word means in the Greek, it's perzamanos, if you want to know that.13:32It means to test someone. Often in the Old Testament, it speaks of God testing someone. Now, I don't want you to think I'm saying that God puts us to temptation because James is very clear, God does not tempt. But you and I are tempted when by our own evil desires, we are enticed and drug away. And when those evil desires take root, they are birthed and conceived into sin.14:02That's James chapter one. But temptation is not the failure. Temptation is a test. And you say, well, how do you know that? First Corinthians 10 tells us this. No temptation has overcome you except which is common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But with the temptation, he will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.14:30So, first Corinthians reminds us this about the test. With every test, you have a chance to pass or fail. I remember taking my oral exam in seminary, the final test I would ever have, hopefully, in my life, academically. And the way I knew I passed or failed, they sent me out of the room.14:56And when I walked back in, if my professors were standing, I passed. If they were sitting, it was... And I leave the room, and this is not a pastor story. This is the truth. I leave the room, and they start laughing. And I'm thinking, Lord, this is not good. I've wasted four years, five years. And I walk in, and thankfully, I passed. There is grace. But with the temptation in our life, we know this, that we can pass that test,15:25because we see it here in Scripture, that Jesus is tempted. And what does he do? He reminds Satan where his strength comes from. That's God's word. So, with every temptation you face, God promises us several things in 1 Corinthians. 1, you will not be tempted beyond what you can bear. Now, if you're doing it in your own strength, we have no hope. But you will not be tempted beyond what you can bear.15:55And with every test, we have what? We have a way out. For those of you who failed the test earlier, some of you passed because I gave you a way out. Look down. Look the other way. And so, how do we respond to temptation? That's our next task. Temptation is real. But how do we respond? Look at verse 4. How do we respond to temptation in our lives?16:19We respond the same way Jesus Christ does three times in Deuteronomy. Three times. The first time, Deuteronomy 6, 13. Second response, in verse 7. Look at 7 and 8. Jesus says, get behind me. Deuteronomy 6, 13 there.16:50And then lastly, Deuteronomy 6, 16. What does Jesus do when faced with temptation? It is written. It is written. It is written. We respond to temptation in our life with God's Word. With God's Word. Why is it so important that we know Psalm 119, 105? Your Word have I hid on my heart that I might not sin. Let me just be honest with you.17:18Even with God's Word hidden in our heart, it is still difficult. It is still difficult. But if we do not have God's Word, if we do not have it in our life, there is no hope. There is no hope. Men especially. Men, we need to know this verse. Psalm 119, 9. How can a young man keep his way pure? By walking according to your Word.17:43You say, well, why do you share that? Because you can go on Facebook. You can go on your email. And you have things pop up that says, look at this. Click here. Let your mind go here. Let your eyes go here. Seek that. Seek that temptation. Seek that lust. That's what you need. That will be filling and fulfilling to you.18:10Temptation is temptation because it is tempting. Lord, how can we keep our way pure? By walking according to your Word. How do we respond to temptation? By God's Word. By God's Word. Men, I would recommend this to you. Especially men, ladies, too. At your computer, either you hide this verse in your heart or you put a big Bible verse on your computer, on your keyboard,18:36that says, Lord, how can I keep my eyes pure? And that's not going to keep you from sinning, but hopefully that'll help. Right? Lord, we need to be people who can withstand temptation. How do we respond? By His Word. By His Word. That's exactly how Jesus responds. Saying, it is written, it is written, it is written.19:06We also respond this way. We respond, look at verse 1. We respond by being on the offense. I know I'm missing football, as many of you. So we're going to have a football thought. We need to be on offense, not defense, when it comes to temptation. Verse 1. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and returned from the Jordan, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. That is not accidental.19:35It is not accidental that Jesus was able to respond to temptation because He was filled with the Holy Spirit. So we need to be people who do that. So how can we be on the offense? How does Jesus teach us how to pray? Our Father in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we have forgiven those who trespass against us.20:06Lead us not into temptation. Is that not an offense of prayer? God, today, when I wake up, do not lead me into temptation because, Lord, I know I'm weak. But if you do, we have Ephesians 6. That's Matthew 6. Ephesians 6 says, put on the full armor of God that you may be able to withstand the adversary.20:29We have to be on the offense. And it begins with God's Spirit. It begins with prayer. How do we respond? By His Word. We respond on the offense. Thirdly, we respond this way. By building fences. Now, this is not something Jesus has right here. Because I think the Spirit purposely leads Him into the wilderness to show us that Jesus Christ has power over every temptation.20:57But you and I need to build fences in our life that we may be able to withstand. So what are those fences? Arnold Glasso says this, temptation usually comes in through a door that has been deliberately left open. Temptation comes in through doors that have been deliberately left open.21:27It's like this, Lord, don't let me look at that. That's like my son. We have a one-year-old, and he's three and a half, and he'll pray. And he'll pray. And when we finish praying for dinner, he'll say, sissy was looking. How do you know that? No, but she was. We sometimes deliberately leave doors open, don't we?21:56God, don't let me do this temptation. We have to be people who build fences. And one of the primary functions of the church is this. It is a fence against temptation. Personally, Satan doesn't tempt me as much on Sunday mornings than as Monday mornings. You know why? Because you guys are here. I don't have to worry about my back as much at 1030.22:24Because I know if Satan is coming behind me, you guys can see and say, hey, pastor, I just want you to know, watch out for this. Are you building fences in your life? And if you're the person that doesn't really want to connect with others, doesn't want to connect with the church, you have no fence. You're doing it alone. And the only one I know that can go into the wilderness and overcome temptation is Jesus Christ himself. Are you building fences? Men, you need other men in your life that can look at you and say,22:52Josh, what have you been looking at this week? Josh, where's your heart? Are you spending enough time with your wife? How about your family? Are you neglecting your family? Those are fences that we need. Ladies, you need other ladies in your life that can come in and say, hey, I'm watching you. I'm watching your back for you and watch mine. Are we fence builders against temptation?23:17Lord, lead us not. What is that prayer? God, build a fence around me. Lord, may we respond to temptation. And lastly, how do we respond? We respond this way. Genesis 4, 7. And you might not be familiar with that passage, but here's what's going on in Genesis 4. Adam and Eve have a child. They actually have two. Cain and Abel. And both present offerings to the Lord.23:46One is good. One is not pleasing. And the Lord tells Cain, your offering has not been accepted. And instead of Cain doing better, you know what his solution is? I'm just going to kill my brother. So murder is not something that we just struggle with now. It is something that humanity has struggled with since the beginning of time, brokenness. And you know what the Lord says to Cain in Genesis 4, 7? He says this, if you do well, will you not be accepted?24:16If you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. James 4, 7 says this, therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee. Jesus answers Satan here in verse 8, get behind me, Satan. A final way we respond to temptation is this, you resist and you flee.24:45You resist and you flee. I think there are times that we fall into temptation and we give in because we just don't want to resist. What is resisting? It is defined this way. Resist means to try to prevent or to struggle against something. To try to prevent or struggle against something.25:15The temptation during Valentine's is this. Love is all about sex. So why not? Everyone else is. Everyone else is living together. Why not? Why not just take your commitment to that level? You don't need to be married. You don't need a covenants. You're practically married.25:44What's a piece of paper? What are those? Those are temptations. And there are times in our life where we just don't feel like resisting. Remember, if you're going out on a date tonight, if you're married, God bless you. Sexual attraction is of the Lord. It is God's design. Sexual attraction is not Satan's idea. And I'm thankful for that because you wouldn't be going out on a date tonight if you weren't attracted. Right?26:15Right? I mean, you don't go to the store and say, you know what, that person repulses me. Let's go out on a date. We don't do that. So when I say temptation is not the failure, giving in is. So if you're tempted, I'm really attracted to this person. Lord, I'm struggling here. That's not necessarily a bad thing. You should be attracted. That's a God-given desire. But the way you handle that is whether you prove your faith or not. Right? Don't give in to the temptation.26:44Because with every temptation, we have the strength in Jesus Christ to resist and to flee. 1 Corinthians 10, with every temptation, there is a way out. He will not give you more than you can bear. So how do we respond if we have failed? Because some of you here today, I know that you have come in here and you say, well, this is not a good day. I have failed. Temptation is reality.27:15We have a response. And finally, we have redemption. We have redemption when we fall. Look at verse 13. Now, when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Now, we can't get in here very quick. I might run through this, push through this. But if you're here on Wednesday night, you remember that the very last verse in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3, Luke reminds us.27:42He actually gives the genealogy in reverse and reminds us that Jesus is the son of Adam. And Adam in the garden was also tempted by Satan. And he failed. Failed miserably. And your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, continue that, grandfather, has passed on to you the habit of giving in to sin.28:03That habit actually is so strong in us that without Jesus Christ, we give in. Because all of us have sinned and fallen short. So if you come here right now and you say, Lord, I'm just guilty. I am ashamed of the things I have done. I want to welcome you and say, join the club. Join the family.28:35But what we have in Jesus Christ is this. In Hebrews 4. Adam failed, but the new Adam. Jesus did not fail. Hebrews 4 tells us this. We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every way. Now, youth, I take time to say something to you every service, don't I? Here it is. Jesus didn't have a phone to send text messages.29:03I get that. But he was tempted in every way you're tempted. Send this picture. No one will see. Yeah, right. Yeah, right. Adults, we see the same thing. Jesus was tempted in what way? Every way. We say, well, he's God. He didn't struggle. He was tempted in every way yet without sin. And I love Hebrews 4.16.29:33Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace. Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. What is redemption? What is the hope for those of us who have failed? For those of us who sit here right now and the shame of the temptations that you have given into are eating you up. The redemption is this. You have a high priest and his name is Jesus.30:01And he was tempted in every way yet, thank God, without sin. And that you and I, because of Jesus Christ, may come to the throne of grace boldly to find mercy. Mercy and mercy is something, getting something you don't deserve and receiving grace, getting something, not getting something you don't deserve. Grace is getting something you do not deserve. Thank God we have a high priest that looks at temptation and says, not this time.30:32Not this time. We're going to build fences. We're going to put God's word in our heart. We're going to be filled with his spirit that we may respond in a way that glorifies God. Temptation is reality. For some of you, you're going to pray in a little bit, Lord, the thing I've been struggling with, keep me from that, keep me from that. And the reality of temptation is that you're going to go home and you're going to find yourself tempted with the very thing you're praying for right now.31:00But know in the strength of our Savior, he always gives you a way out. And you will not be tempted for more than you can bear. We're going to have a time of invitation. And if you have never made Jesus Christ, he already is. But if you have never made him Lord of Lord and King of kings of your life, the Bible says that we all live in brokenness.31:26God designed us for a relationship. And because of our sin, that design is broken. You don't work your way back into God's good graces. There is no hope. The Bible says even the good things you do without him are like filthy rags. That's not to you. That's to the pastor. But because of our Savior who died on the cross and three days he rose again, we have a high priest that redeems us from our failures.31:55And we find salvation in him. If you have never received the salvation that has been offered to you freely, not of your works, lest any one of us boast, but it is a free gift of God. Won't you receive that today? You say, Pastor, I don't have to do anything. You don't. He did everything. But we still have to believe with our heart into righteousness.32:23We confess with our mouth unto salvation. And then the Bible says this, we live according to his word. We prove our confession with our life. We bear fruit that proves our mouth, that proves our heart. Are you willing to live in that strength? We face temptation even on Valentine's. But there is no greater love than this, than that a man lay down his life for a friend.32:50And I know of that man, his name is Jesus. And he will save the people from our sins. Let's pray.← Previous in Luke (That you may know)Sunday, February 7, 2016Next in Luke (That you may know) →Sunday, February 21, 2016More sermons on Luke →
