We live in a corrupt world where temptation is a part of life. In this sermon, Dr. Stanley discusses that though everyone deals with temptation differently Jesus showed us—through His own trial on Earth—what the best defense is.
we have to decide how we’re going to
respond to temptation
and the way jesus responded simply this
go to the word what did god say
and here’s what god has said you do
not have to yield i have put a
limitation
on the temptation of every single one of
my children so that
i have made a way of escape you do not
have to do it
that’s the word of god next on in touch
lessons learned in the temptation of
jesus
all of us have to face temptations of
some sort
and probably until the last day of our
life we’ll be dealing with something
doesn’t mean that you do the same thing
all the time
but temptation is just a part of life
look at this
awesome corrupt evil vile
society in which we live but adam and
eve had to deal with that
and there was none of this and every
generation has had to deal with it so we
can’t blame it
on somebody else and something else
because we have a fallen nature
and because we live in a fallen world
temptation
is something we have to deal with
probably most every day
not every day necessarily and it doesn’t
mean that you deal with the same
temptations
all the time or maybe as many as you did
before
you were at this point in life but it’s
there
and the issue is this how do you deal
with it
a lot of people will live their whole
life and never decide
how to deal with temptation it just
happens that when it hits them
for some reason this is the way they
respond
and if this hits me here i’ll respond
this way so they don’t have any
real method of responding
is there a way to deal with temptation
that was
can i build some kind of defense can i
look ahead and respond and know that
this this will always work probably most
people would say no
because we’re all different if that’s
true then that means we’re all
subject to the satanic power
the power of the devil to hit us from
every side
every angle any time anywhere and down
we go
that is not the will of god the purpose
of god or the plan of god
so you say well can we live without
temptation no
but we don’t have to yield to it unless
we
choose to you say but you know what you
just don’t know how tempted i am
and you don’t know that the kind of
temptation i’ll deal with so let me say
two things number one
if you’ve never trusted jesus christ as
your personal savior you’re on your own
you don’t have in a real defense because
you’re dealing with someone
who’s got the answers and knows exactly
when to hit you
where to hit you and how long to hit you
to bring you down
so if you’re not a believer you don’t
have a chance you don’t have a choice
if you are you have the opportunity
to understand what temptation’s like
what it’s about what it really is
what is the goal of it who’s behind it
and that you can
live not without temptation but without
continuous falling you say well will you
ever reach a stage in your life where
you’re not tempted anymore i doubt it
will
will you ever live to a place in life
where
some things don’t bother you anymore i
think that’s true but as far as
temptation
absolutely out of your life no it may be
something as simple as
you just gossip you gossip to 20
you gossiped at 40 60 80. you’re still
doing it
and you’re still asking god to forgive
you or it may be something far more
serious than that and many people do
they live with sin in their life they
live
facing the same temptation over and over
again and this is that conclusion
well i guess that’s just the way it is
that’s the way it is that everybody’s
tempted by something and so
this happens to be mine and so i guess
i’ll just have to live and die with it
you don’t have to you may live and die
with the temptation but not falling to
it
not succumbing to it not being defeated
by it
but that’s a matter of your attitude and
your understanding
and the possibility of building a
defense
in your life to protect you well the
best place
to go that i know to find out how to
deal with temptation is with the one
who conquered it every single time and
that’s jesus
it’s not his will that you and i live
falling into temptation
it is his will that we live the kind of
life that has a defense
a mechanism a plan that when we are
attacked by the devil
we know what to do next so that’s what
this message is all about
and i want you to turn if you will to
the fourth chapter of matthew
and those first 11 verses give us an
account
of jesus facing temptation and i want us
to see what can we
learn from this experience he had
in order to protect ourselves from
falling
notice i didn’t say protect ourselves
from being tempted but to protect
ourselves from falling
in the temptation when it hits us so
beginning in this uh fourth chapter and
i want to start with the first word
because the first word is important when
he says then
what’s then well you turn back in your
bible and find out what happened right
before this
what happened right before this is the
time in which jesus was baptized
and in the 14th verse but john tried to
prevent him saying
i have need to be baptized by you and do
you come to me
but jesus answering said to him speaking
of john
permitted at this time for in this way
it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness
then he permitted him or baptize him
after being baptized jesus came up
immediately from the water and behold
the heavens were opened
and he saw the spirit of god descending
as a dove and lighting on him
and behold a voice out of the heavens
said
this is my beloved son in whom i am well
pleased
see you so what’s that got to do with
temptation look at that word
then that means that what we’re about to
read
happened right after this well is that
important it is extremely important
and i’ll show you why in a moment so
then beginning in chapter 4 verse 1
jesus was led up by the spirit into the
wilderness
to be tempted by the devil and notice it
says he was lit up
he didn’t just wander up there he was
let up
and if you notice he says led up by the
spirit the spirit of god
and so this event in jesus life
very important and planned and had a
purpose
so led up into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil and after he’d
fasted
40 days and 40 nights he then became
hungary and the tempter came and said to
him
if you’re the son of god what’s most
important word if
you are the son of god he didn’t say
since you are
but if you are the son of god command
that these stones become bread remember
he’d been fasting for 40 days so he’s
rather hungry
but he answered and said it is written
man shall not live on bread alone but on
every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of god
then following that the devil took him
into the holy city
and had him stand on the pinnacle of the
temple which is very high
in fact about 150 feet high if you go
all the way down to the valleys about
450 feet
and he said to him if you are the son of
god not since you are
if you are the son of god throw yourself
down
for it is written now the devil is
quoting scripture he will command his
angels concerning you
and on their hands they will bear you up
so that you will not strike your foot
against the stone
jesus said to him now you can quote
scripture so can i
on the other hand it is written you
shall not put the lord your god to the
test
again the devil took him to a very high
mountain
and showed him all the kingdoms of the
world and that glory
all the kingdoms of the world and their
glory everything
and he said to him all these things i
will
give you if you fall down and worship me
then jesus said to him go satan
for it is written you shall worship the
lord your god and serve him only
then the devil left him and behold
angels came
and began to minister to him now
let’s define briefly very briefly
what a temptation is and i’ll have some
definition up here
temptation is simply an enticement
to get a person to act contrary to god’s
will
so any time that you and i attempted to
do something wrong
it is a temptation to
follow other than god’s will and purpose
and plan it’s to do it our way
so look an enticement to get a person to
act
contrary to god’s will and so this is
exactly what satan’s doing here he said
now if you’re the son of god if you’re
the son of god if you’re the son of god
knowing that he was
tempting him in that fashion it’s a
temptation to disobey god
and so obedience is absolutely essential
to walking with the lord
disobedience gets us in trouble and we
disobey him because we
are enticed by something something
somebody says something somebody does
something awful we have
and so enticed to be disobedient to god
whatever the temptation may be it may be
the temptation to say something that we
shouldn’t say
look like something that we should not
look like think the way we should not
think
you name it temptation comes in many
forms
and so it is an enticement to be
disobedient to god
now what we deal with here is the
tempter himself and i want us to look at
this for a moment because
who is the tempter the tempter is the
devil somebody says i don’t believe in
the devil
ask adam and eve if they thought there
was a devil
and asked me if i think there is one
yes there is a devil you can call him
satan you can call him devil you can
call him tempter slander accuser father
of lies
all the names the bible gives him but
the devil
is somebody so let me give you a little
definition
uh since you don’t think of him somebody
dressed in a
i can remember this when i was growing
up the devil just in a red
outfit or the long tail and horns and a
pic
pitchfork and i thought scared me to
death but anyway
what’s the truth the tempter isn’t watch
this an intelligent being
that is completely evil
and is directly involved in perpetrating
evil
in the lives of individuals as well as
much larger scale which is the whole
world
so he is an evil being an
intelligent being so he’s not someone
you can just
forget and push aside and say there is
no such thing
let me just say this to you if you don’t
believe there is one you’ve had it
because the truth is he’s already
successful he already has you in the
state of unbelief
which is exactly where he wants you the
devil doesn’t want anybody to believe
that he exists
or to label him in any fashion or to
accuse him of doing anything that’s bad
so if you say i don’t believe in the
devil that’s a figment of your
imagination
then you’re saying that god lied
jesus lied much of the bible is not true
then how do you explain all the evil
things that are going on in the world
somebody says well they just happen or
where do they start
well it just happened well wait a minute
if it just happened it starts somewhere
the bible is clear where it started the
bible is clear about who’s behind it all
and the bible is clear
about how you and i are to respond to
him
jesus said he’s the father of lies now
watch this so if you say i don’t believe
in him
fine the bible says the one that you
don’t believe in is the father of lies
he’s lied to you and you’ve accepted his
lie
and so you will live unto listen you
will live
under the penalty of believing satan’s
lie that he does not even exist
my friend that’s spiritual suicide you
need to ask yourself the question
do i really believe that or am i just
trying to rationalize my sin
well what what’s motivating your sin
that’s just who i
am well who are you if you are living in
sin
disobeying god deliberately
or willfully fulfilling temptation
satan has you right exactly where he
wants you not believing in him
but following his plan to wreck and ruin
your life
so there is a devil there is satan and
all of us have to deal with him in some
fashion or the other
and so when i think about somebody says
where did he come from he’s a fallen
angel he shows up in the garden of eden
and he’s been working ever since and
he’s worked on me
all of my life i’m sure and he’s worked
in every one of our lives
he’ll do anything watch this he will do
anything to destroy us up to the point
that god has put a level and
a point in which he absolutely cannot go
beyond that
so when somebody says the devil made me
do it no he didn’t
he may have he may have challenged you
but
ultimately you have a will of your own
when people deny there is a devil
watch this you deny you deny
a an awesome indescribable
immeasurable powerful source of evil in
the world
the very object of his existence as far
as he’s concerned
is your destruction and the fact that
you deny that he exists
is foolish and you need to ask yourself
the question what is the truth
about it so you can begin by saying well
let’s put it this way do you believe
jesus
well you’re already in trouble if you
have to say well
either you do or you don’t and the
testimony of jesus is
the devil is a powerful being evil being
who tempted even jesus the eternal
son of god and our savior so
right after he had this awesome
experience
of being baptized the spirit of god
coming upon him and
and god just blessing him blessing him
and blessing him in this experience
then what does god do he sends him into
the wilderness you say that doesn’t look
very fair and i would say
why didn’t he let him just enjoy the
experience well he did enjoy it
but his watch this listen carefully god
doesn’t do anything without a purpose
god doesn’t react and respond he has a
purpose
so he gave him this awesome experience
to
introduce him at the beginning of his
ministry
and so when he comes upon the scene john
baptizes him
the beginning of his awesome ministry
and so the scripture says that
then he was led up
by the spirit into the wilderness he
didn’t just drift up there
he didn’t find himself up there he was
led the scripture says
by the spirit of god into the wilderness
and he says for the verse specific
purpose
came off of this behind into the
wilderness
the scripture says to be tempted by the
devil
why in the world would god allow the
devil to tempt his son
probably more than one reason but
remember this
one of the primary reasons god allows
testing and trial in their life is to
prepare us
but paris oftentimes for greater testing
and greater trial and so what jesus is
suffering here or experiencing is the
fact
that the father is now getting him ready
to face
the reality of his awesome ministry
so the spirit of god leads him up there
the bible says to be tested
now it’s interesting that
when satan shows up he doesn’t show up
just any time
he watch this carefully he shows up at
the point
because he works the same thing in your
life and mine he shows up at the point
in those 40 days that jesus would be
physically the weakest therefore the
most
vulnerable to satan from satan’s point
of view
and so this would be true of us we
fasted 40 days
uh with no food we’d be physically weak
probably emotionally weak
and satan hit us with something uh we
would be
more prone to be disobedient than if we
had sat down at a nice
meal with our friends and had prayer
so here is the devil and he’s coming at
this point in jesus life
when he thinks this is the time
to get him at the time
when he is being prepared for his
ministry and being tested
he had to be tested because god was
sending him as the savior into the world
and he was going to be tested all of his
life from carpenter
to awesome preacher deliverer healer
savior redeemer and so forty days
of listening to god that’s what he was
doing listening and talking to the
father
lord you know what you and can you
imagine the kind of conversation that
went on between him and god
it was an awesome awesome time of
listening to the father
and so now after end that’s 40 days
satan shows up
and listen to what he says and the
tempter came and said to him
watch this not since you are
but not now that you are but if you are
the son of god
command that these stones become bread
if you are not sincere but if you’re the
son of god
in other words if if you who you say you
are
then you have the power to turn these
stones in the bread
and what he was saying is why don’t you
just use your power
your divine supernatural power the truth
is why don’t you misuse it
by turning stones in the bread that be
very impressive
and besides that would be a way of
satisfying your hunger
in a miraculous way and so jesus said to
him he didn’t get an argument with him
he said it is written
watch this carefully it is written man
shall not live on bread alone
but on every word that proceeds out of
the mouth of god
now what i want you to see is this jesus
didn’t have to come up with an idea of
how to deal with satan when he was
tempted
40 days he’d been listening to god
preparing for the ministry that god had
called him to do and so when satan
attacks him
if you’re the son of god you’re hungry
in fact you feel like you’re just
starving well these stones
you have the power to turn them into
bread delicious scrumptious bread you
know what kind of bridge your mother
used to make you it’d be just like that
and jesus said to him it is written in
the word of god
man shall not live by bread alone but by
every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of god
watch this carefully jesus had a plan
he had a plan for dealing with
temptation and the plan was
you go to the father you go to the word
of god what does the word of god say
now jesus already knew this
paul came along right into the
corinthians and he put it this way
no temptation comes at you it’s taken
you but such as is common to man we all
have it
but god is faithful who will
not permit you to be tempted above what
you’re able to bear
but will make a way of escape that’s the
promise of god
if you don’t know that promise and you
get hit with something really hard
you say well listen god you knew i
couldn’t handle that
and that was too much for me and you let
me be tempted and it’s your fault no
he says go to the word of god it is
written what’s written it’s written is
this
god will not allow one of his children
to be tempted or tried more than you are
able to
bear depending on trusting in him
he says he’s put a limit on it now if
you’re not a christian you have no
limitation
you if you’re not a believer listen you
have
no defense against the devil he’s going
to win
every time you may be strong to a degree
but he’s going to win there is no way to
win
against the devil who knows all the
strategy all the deception
and all the things that he camouflages
so we cannot see
you cannot beat the devil at his game of
temptation
it’s impossible and so this is why
listen jesus then said to him
well let’s talk about this food business
for a moment well let me just tell you
about food my heavenly father created
food and
i know all about food no he said there’s
just one thing
you’re tempting me to disobey god here’s
what the word of god says
you attempting me to get a crowd by
jumping off the temple this is what god
says
i’m going by the cross you tempted me to
worship you
instead of my heavenly father this is
what the word of god says
we have a plan jesus plan was
go to the word of god now you say well
suppose i don’t know where to go well
watch this now if you have a plan
the plan has some parts to it right
and the first part is go to the word of
god
and find those verses that
are verses of protection like a shield
when you attempted and he said this is
just one of them
he says he he said a limitation
so if i’m tempted first thing i need to
do is say well listen
thank you father that you’ve set a
limitation on this and i do not have to
yield
so i need some ammunition i need a
defense
and my defense is the word of god now
i may say well i have a defense well
that defense has parts to it
and that’s verse after verse after verse
in the word of god
that makes me realize i do not have to
yield
i do not have to surrender to that and
you need to find those verses in the
scripture that
apply in a way that appeals to you or
what you have to face in life
and so somebody says well well you know
i know that’s true but
you just don’t understand me i do
understand
i understand that all of us are fallen
creatures when we
trusted jesus as our savior he came to
live within us through the holy spirit
and the holy spirit of god is the one
who listened does what
he ignites our faith in other words our
faith gets a charge
when we are tempted by the devil to do
something wrong
and we turn to the lord he there’s a
charge that comes
a charge of confidence and assurance
that i do not have to yield to that
the promise of god is that i don’t have
to and that he’ll protect me in the
process
you say well why don’t you give me some
verse of scripture
that i could use well if i did what you
do you just use that one
you’ve got to find one that best that
suits you for example it may be
that you have a problem of being angry
towards somebody
well found the world of getting the word
of god and see what it says about anger
and maybe it’s immoral see what he says
that’s something that’s immoral
or maybe you have a problem with with
greed
find out what he says about in other
words go to the word of god
that’s what jesus did listen it’s
evident
jesus just had one plan
and watch this jesus didn’t get in any
arguments with the devil if you do that
you’re gonna lose every time
he’s smart he’s intelligent he listen
you and i don’t even know all of our
weaknesses he knows them he’s practiced
on us long enough he knows exactly
when we’re the weakest when we’re the
strongest well to hit us who to hit us
by whatever it might be
so what we have to ask is lord what
how do i defend myself against
temptation
i build listen i build
a foundation of strong truth
so that wherever satan fires his dart
i have a defense and my defense is the
word of god
and so jesus said to him he said very
simple
he said we can’t just eat bread alone in
other words
i’m not going to misuse my power to
satisfy my hunger
so then say the bible says then the
devil took him
to the holy city and had him stand
on the pinnacle of the temple as we said
at the top about 450 feet down to the
valley
floor and he said to him again if you’re
the son of god now watch this
listen carefully if you think satan’s
going to hit you one time and forget it
this is the son of god and he he
defeated satan one time satan comes
right back again he says
in the same way if you’re the son of god
throw yourself down and then he quotes
the scripture
think about how subtle satan is not only
did he tempt him to do something wrong
but he quoted the scripture to defend it
he says for it is written
he will command his angels concerning
you and
on their hands they will bear you up so
that you will not strike your foot
against the stone
so he said look here’s here’s the word
of god have you ever had anybody come to
you and give you a verse of scripture to
pray
a verse of scripture to defend their sin
absolutely and so he comes back at jesus
again
so when god gives you watch this
carefully you listen and say amen
when god gives you a victory is what you
can expect
watch out so he says
jesus said to him on the other hand he
says in other words
satan you you quoted this one let me
give you one and that is you shall not
put the lord your god to the test
and so what happens
satan is buffed again here’s what god
says
both times gee watch this carefully
jesus
did not get in an argument with the
devil
whenever you get in the argument with
the devil you have lost
first of all you have acknowledged that
he has
some bit of uh of a foothold somehow
you’ve acknowledged that well maybe he’s
right or maybe this or maybe that
you can’t argue with the devil when you
attempt it the right response is
immediate go into the word of god
what does god say for example somebody
well somebody will try to rationalize
their
immoral living and god says thou shalt
not commit adultery
so what does not mean
what no which thou shalt not steal thou
shalt not bear false witness
thou shall not kill what in the world
does not mean
it means exactly what it says and that
is i shall not do it i must not do it
it’s not right
and so when satan hits us we have to be
careful we don’t get an argument with
him
and oftentimes his will happens somebody
says well you know
i have been tempted but i’ve been
talking to my friends or your friends
was acting like the devil probably and
saying
look nobody’s perfect so your friends
can be such powerful tools the devil
uses
or even somebody in your family well
we all go to this church now you go to
that church you act like you don’t love
us anymore and you’re critical of us
because we do all the things that you
think
are wrong and so on and on and on that
goes there’s no limitation to the kind
of stuff
that they can throw at you what’s the
right response
here’s what god says here’s what god
says
if if god says that let me ask you a
question what argument do i have
the argument is useless it has no
foundation
you have to ask yourself the question
where did that argument come from
if it is a contradiction to the word of
god
you must not believe it because god’s
word
is true and somebody says well i don’t
believe the bible
well what you just is you confess that
satan has you in his grip
and he can just move on to something
else unbelief
is a confession of satan’s victory in
your life
and so can this confession or shall we
say this boasting about
i don’t need religion religion is a
weakness religion is just a form of a
weak people
well i would simply say to you sir or
ma’am whoever you may be
you’ve just confessed to that your
weakness
the devil got ahold of you he conquered
you he has you in his
grip so that
there’s no there’s no sense in you
arguing about anything because
you are you’ve already surrendered
yourself to it
and the truth is satan
can get into somebody’s life with pride
and arrogance and what happens is he has
a heyday
because oftentimes people listen
to error because of a person’s position
in life
every time jesus faced it here’s what he
did he said
it is written so here he’s testing him
again to misuse his power and besides
that to say
listen the best way to get a big crowd
the quickest way for you to have a bunch
of follow great followers
is just if you throw yourself down just
get up on the temple
and put it in the paper get in the news
you’re going to jump at a certain time
all these people will be out there
listening and watching and they’ll be so
excited they’ll be clapping and watching
this happen
you jump down you land on your feet and
they’ll just go wild
and then when you say i’m the son of god
i’m the savior
they’ll believe it no problem
jesus said i’m not going to misuse my
power
and avert the plan of god and do what
god wants me to do in a way that is
displeasing and dishonorable to him
what you’re telling me to do watch this
always a hook in satan’s temptations
what you’re telling me is
jesus if you listen you can avoid the
cross
you can avoid the cross if you just do
what i said
jump off the top of the temple you’ll
have a crowd
it’ll be all over the world before you
know it
anything satan tempts you with it may
look real profitable promising
real satisfying if you first look but if
you’ll get under and look again
you’ll find there’s a trap there’s a
snare
it’s full of lies it’s not of god it’ll
ultimately destroy you
and the world is full of lies the world
is full of lies
and so that’s why whatever we face in
life
we have to ask ourselves the question
what’s the truth
because the truth is
there are penalties to sin here is a
divine truth
that even the most educated ungodly or a
godly person cannot prove different
we reap what we sow more than we sow
later than we sow
period that’s that is that is a
scientific principle it is a natural
principle
it is a spiritual principle and people
who boast
that they don’t need god they don’t need
this at any other if they can just get a
glimpse of the end of their life
and they’ll realize that there’s a day
coming when there consequences to their
unbelief and their disobedience
so he said if you’re the son of god
just jump and you’ll have what you need
without the cross
and so he quotes this scripture of what
god says he’ll do
and then he he quotes him back one
don’t put the lord thy god to the test
then again the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the
kingdoms of the world
and their glory and he said to him
all these things i will give you if you
fall down and worship me
now if you take your route you’ll never
get them all
if you take your route you can’t live
that long but if you’ll just fall down
and worship me
i will give you the kingdoms of the
world
well of course that’s another one of
satan’s lies and of course what did
jesus
what did jesus say he says get out of
here satan
for it is written you shall worship the
lord your god
and serve him only every single time
jesus used the same method
of dealing with temptation now i don’t
think
any of us can improve on that method
and think about this here’s here’s what
you have the privilege of doing
you can build you can build this wall
of strength you can build this resource
you can build this armor before you
against temptation
does that mean it’ll never break through
no but it means that you
build into your life the word of god
if the word of god is a vital part of
your thinking
a vital part of your decision making a
vital part of your lifestyle
you that is the word of god is a vital
part of your life
it’s it’s it’s something that you read
daily
it’s something that you believe from
cover to cover it
it is a pattern for your life the
promises of god are here the power of
god is here
if you will build the truth of god into
your life
you will build a barrier i’m not saying
that you’ll never get tempted naturally
you’re going to get tempted
i’m not saying that you’ll never falter
because this
we still live in these bodies and we
live in a corrupt world
but you will have a resource and you
will have a defense against the devil
that listen you will falter fewer and
fewer and fewer times
and the things maybe that had a grip on
you that you think well god i won’t
how could i ever get rid of this the
word watch this
the word of god can break any bondage no
matter what it is
if you read it get it in your mind get
in your heart
pray over it and you begin to think the
way god thinks
because if you think the way god thinks
you’ll begin to act the way god acts
and so jesus said this this is the way
this is the way you deal with it just go
to the word
now when somebody uh discusses with you
temptation
and sin and so forth and you start
talking about going to the word
here’s what they’re going to say i don’t
believe i don’t believe the bible
well they’ve victims of satan
well how do you know that’s what it
means or they will say
well that’s that’s your interpretation
how many times have i heard that
that’s your interpretation and then i
want to say to them what’s your
interpretation you know what they say
nothing
this book this book is
our defense against the devil he hates
it
this is why our colleges and seminars
are so full of professors
who want to say the bible is not true
that’s an ancient book very ancient how
ancient ancient is god
i mentioned that it has no time because
this is the voice of god put in print
this is the life of god put in print
this is this
this is this is the message of god the
promise of god the power of god
the plan of god put in prince so that
you and i
will have a resource that we can turn to
jesus said the way you deal with
temptation
the way you deal with the devil is that
you turn him
focus him quote to him
on the word of god whatever it might be
now somebody says well
you know what’s your favorite verse and
so forth you find your favorite verse
that is
you know where you attempted the most
and for somebody
just to read the ten commandments and
god says thou shall
not well for some people that’s enough
but some people may not be enough and
all through this book here’s what you’re
going to find the word of god
there are so many promises in the word
of god
of his help and strength and guidance
and protection and watch care
and the reason i go back to first
corinthians 10 13 is
he says no temptation
not any no exception no temptation
it can include yours no temptation will
overtake you
will hit you but such as this common
demand you can say
well god you know nobody else is in my
position
millions of people have been in your
position god you know
nobody hurts like i heard yes they do
hurt like you heard well
what you listen one of the greatest acts
of pride is to say
but oh god i’m different no you’re not
different
you’re living in sin disobeying god
that’s not different
and so he says he will put a limitation
when god says he will put a limitation
on the temptation no matter what it is
so that you can bear that is so you can
walk through it
you can have victory no matter what when
listen if i
said here’s what you ought to do no what
does god say he says
he puts a limitation on your temptation
so that whatever it is
it can’t get any heavier than that
because he loves you
and because he loves you he’s going to
limit
the testing that you and i have to
endure
now let’s say okay that being true but
suppose i don’t know the word of god
you’re in trouble when you face the
devil
and his temptations and his trials in
your life
just knowing john 3 16 is not enough
there are many verses of promise of the
power of god that he’ll never leave you
nor forsake you lord
you never face a single temptation
alone you say well you know i live alone
and i’m having a hard time and it’s just
so bad being alone you’re not alone
if you’ve trusted jesus christ as your
savior by his
own confession he’s living on the inside
of you
listen if jesus is within me according
to his word
i have everything i need to be able to
walk obediently before him
so i can’t blame it on any of that the
truth is this i can’t blame
my yielding the temptation on anything
or anybody somebody says well you know
i just didn’t grow up believing it well
get ready to start believing in other
words
if the truth is here believe it
jesus said every time go to the word go
to the word go the word here’s what
here’s what my father said here’s what
i’m saying to you
you don’t have to live in sin
you don’t have to yield a temptation
you say but it’s so strong sure it’s
strong
the devil doesn’t come along and say
well i want to get you
now what he says i want you so
temptation doesn’t come as simple plain
and easy
it comes as a strength of the devil
to defeat you drag you down in
unbelief and weakness until you yield to
the devil
you may not believe in him remember this
that does not
remove him you don’t even have to
believe in god if you don’t believe in
god
do you think that affects god no it
doesn’t affect him
it affects you so unbelief doesn’t
affect god
unbelief affects the person who is not a
believer
and when i think of all the wonderful
promises that god has given to us in his
word
how to live a godly life walk in
obedience to him
and all of us who try to walk an
obedient life to him
for us it’s so foolish to try to live
without god
there is a pain and suffering and
heartache and rejection
and all the rest multiplied many times
for people who do not know the lord
somebody says well i’m going to make it
somehow what’s that
what somehow no you’ve been deceived
the truth is if you’ve never trusted
jesus christ as your savior
you’re in trouble
you see there’s only one way to live and
live it right
and that is having trusted jesus christ
as your personal savior
until you surrender your life to jesus
and he comes into your life through the
holy spirit
and he builds the defense and he begins
to work in your life
and you see it’s not us it’s the spirit
of god within us
that responds to temptation as we obey
the lord
so if you waiting until one day you feel
like you can handle temptation you’ll
never be saved
but if you’re willing to say to him lord
i’ve sinned against you
i keep on sinning against you i don’t
want this in my life
i want to ask you to forgive me of my
sin i receive jesus christ as my
personal savior by faith
i believe when he went to the cross he
paid my sin dead and full
and today i just surrendered my life to
him thank you for this message lord
and i pray that you’ll teach me how to
live this life
in the power of the holy spirit will he
do it yes he will
and if you are a believer this morning
you now are inexcusable
with dealing with temptation very simple
very simple message is what jesus did
here’s what we’ll do but did jesus
succeed will we succeed yes
because the spirit of god within us
will enable us to walk through all kinds
of temptation
heartache burdens in life does it mean
we’ll never falter no it doesn’t mean
that
because we’re human we live in these
human bodies of ours we live in a
corrupt evil vile world
but we’ll be victorious when he
is in control of our life amen
and father how grateful we are for this
awesome passage of scripture
that’s so simple so plain
but so perfectly built for your children
to show us how to walk in victory every
day of our life
we love you and we praise you and we
bless you and pray that whatever is
going on in all of our lives
that we will resort to you that their
own nobilities and talents and skills
resort to you
trust you going to your word
and drawing from this awesome spring
this wave of truth
exactly what we need to meet every issue
in life
in jesus name amen
as believers when we face temptation we
should follow jesus example
and turn to god’s word for strength and
wisdom
at intouch.org learn more about how to
respond
when god allows trials in our lives
there you can see today’s message
lessons learned in the temptation of
jesus
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