The Great Escape – A Series on Temptation
Matthew 4:1-4 NKJV
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’
Matthew 4:5-7 NKJV
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
Part I: The Tempter (Satan)
James 1:13 NKJV
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
I. INTRODUCTION
What is Temptation?
II. WHY DOES GOD EVEN ALLOW US TO BE TEMPTED?
A. In one sense temptation is the necessary result of freedom.
B. If God were not to permit any alternatives, or if He did not allow us to know of these alternatives, again our yes would lose most of its meaning. So, on one level, temptation is the result of freedom and our call to love.
III. WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO AVOID TEMPTATION?
1 Corinthians 14:33 NKJV
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace
Luke 11:4 NKJV
And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation But deliver us from the evil one.”
Matthew 6:13 NKJV
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
IV. THE SOURCE OF TEMPTATION COMES FROM THE FOLLOWING:
A. The World
John 15:19 NKJV
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Matthew 13:22 NKJV
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
B. The Flesh
Romans 7:18-19 NKJV
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
James 4:1-4 NKJV
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
C. The Enemy
Genesis 3:1 NKJV
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
V. TEMPTATION IS NOT THE SIN, GIVING INTO TEMPTATION IS
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NKJV
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as 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 will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
VI. THREE STEPS BETWEEN TEMPTATION AND SIN
James 1:14-15 NKJV
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
A. Our Inner Desires Lead Us into Temptation.
B. Deception
C. Disobedient Action
VII. JESUS OVERCAME TEMPTATION
A. STONES INTO BREAD
Matthew 4:1-4 NKJV
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
B. PUT GOD TO THE TEST
Matthew 5:5-7 NKJV
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
VIII. HOW TO MAKE THE GREAT ESCAPE
A. REFLECTION QUESTIONS
What have I learned about how Satan tries to tempt me?
What is God specifically saying to me?
What will I do about what God is saying?