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Book: Matthew
 Print ( PC Only )
Matthew 4:1-11 Temptation
Intro. Jesus was tempted in three areas, physical, spiritual, vocational.
Man is essentially physical and spiritual, but he also exists
for a purpose, so there is the vocational.
I. The first temptation was in the physical realm.
A. Jesus is hungry, He had been fasting for forty days.
1. There is nothing wrong with being hungry, it is a part
of the marvelous design of the human body, one of our
basic drives.
2. The cells of the body require certain vitamins and
minerals to sustain them.
3. The whole process of the digestive system is so
marvelous that anyone who thinks that this process of
turning bananas into thought came by fortuitous
occurrences of accidental circumstances over a fifteen
billion years has to be a fool.
B. What is the temptation? "Since you are the Son of God, turn
these stones into bread." Let the spiritual side of your life
become subservient to the physical.
1. This is the heart of all temptation. To allow the
fleshly side of my being to rule over the spiritual.
2. The issue is always, do I yield to the desires of my
flesh or to the spirit?
3. Paul told the Galatians that these two sides of man's
nature were always warring against each other.
a. My flesh is warring against the desires of my
spirit.
b. My spirit was warring against the desires of
my flesh.
c. He then went on to describe the works of the
flesh, adultery, fornication, impurity,
lasciviousness idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders
drunkenness, revelings, and things like that.
d. He went on to declare that those who did such
things would not inherit the Kingdom of God.
e. In contrast to the works of the flesh, he
declares that the fruit of the spirit is love,
manifested in joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and
temperance.
4. Temptation is always to yield to the physical, or
fleshly side of my nature.
5. Will I be controlled by my flesh, or by my spirit?
6. Will I let my fleshly desires rule over my spirit?
7. The temptation was to use the spiritual to fulfill the
needs of the physical.
a. Take your gifts and use them for your own
enrichment.
b. Use them independently of the will of God.
C. The answer of Jesus was the written word, "Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God."
1. I need more than bread to sustain me, I need the word
of God.
a. The story of Jesus at the well in Samaria.
b. When they offered Jesus the meat, He
responded, "I have meat that you know not of,
My meet is to the will of My Father, and to
finish His work."
2. Man's life must be ordered and guided by the word of
God.
3. The word of God feeds the spiritual side of my nature,
and that is more important than the feeding of the
physical side of my being.
II. The second temptation followed, as Satan took Him to the pinnacle of
the temple and declared, "Since you are the Son of God, jump down, for
it is written, "He shall give His angels charge concerning you, and
they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot upon a stone."
A. You say that you are trusting in the word of God to sustain
you. Then really show your trust in the word. Do something
spectacular to show how much you trust the word of God. For it
is written.
1. Put the word of God to a real test.
2. Put your life in great jeopardy, and let the angels
sustain you.
3. This will really give a jump start to your ministry.
Draw the crowds by being spectacular.
4. There are many ministries that have yielded to this
temptation.
B. The response of Jesus again was the word of God. It is written
again, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord your God."
1. If by inadvertence or accident I am placed in a place
of jeopardy or danger, the Lord will watch over me,
and deliver me.
2. I am not to put myself in that place of jeopardy just
to prove my trust in God.
a. We read of the cults that practice snake
handling.
b. If they would only read the words of Jesus
here, they would realize that it is wrong to
deliberately place yourself in danger just to
prove the scriptures.
3. We realize here that the word tempt, has as a meaning
to test.
a. You are to trust God in every situation, but
not to put Him to deliberate tests.
b. God often tests us, and that is perfectly
proper.
c. It is good for us to know our limitations, so
that we will trust Him more.
4. In the answer of Jesus to the temptation we see the
importance of comparing scripture with scripture.
a. Many times people take scripture out of
context, and it can bring false conclusions.
b. A scriptural position can be a non scriptural
position, when used out of context.
c. There is the whole body of truth, and when I
so interpret a scripture that it does not line
up with the whole body of truth, my
interpretation is wrong.
III. The next temptation is the realm of the vocational, the calling and
the purpose of life. Satan took Jesus to a high mountain, and
showed Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. He then
promised to give them to Jesus, if He would just bow down and
worship him.
A. Jesus knew that He had been sent into this world to redeem it
from the control of Satan, and bring again the Kingdom of God.
1. To this end, He was going to suffer the indignity of
being despised, and rejected. He was to be beaten, and
crucified. He was going to receive the sins of the
world upon Himself, and suffer death for all man, as
He paid the price for sin.
2. This temptation is to seek to accomplish the purpose
of God outside of the will of God.
a. That old idea, that the end justifies the
means.
b. Just get the job done, it does not matter how.
c. Doing God's work our way.
3. Satan is saying that the cross is not necessary to
accomplish the desire of God to redeem the world.
a. He pressed this point again at Ceasaera
Phillipi when Peter began to rebuke Him for
telling the disciples that was going to be
crucified and rise again the third day.
b. Peter said, "Be that far from thee Lord." and
Jesus answered, "Get thee behind Me Satan."
B. Satan is offering a short cut, I will give them if you will
pay me homage. Jesus answered, "Get out!" I will get them by
driving you out. I will follow the path of the Father, and be
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It is
written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only
shalt thou serve."
C. True to the word, He met ever temptation.
D. The word of God is the key to overcome all temptation.
1. "Thy word have I hid in My heart, that I might not sin
against thee.
2. John in his first epistle said, "I write unto you
young men because you have overcome the wicked one."
"I have written unto you young men, because you are
strong, because you are strong, because the word of
God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked
one."
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