Facing Temptation

In Mark chapter one, we read about John the Baptist and his ministry about the baptism of the spirit that Jesus would give that was greater than the baptism of John. Well, we looked at Christian believers baptism last week and we were able to illustrate it, demonstrate it with Daniel at the end of the service. Praise the Lord. We're going to look at verse twelve and thirteen this morning. It says, and immediately, the spirit driveth him into the wilderness and he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan and was with the wild beast and the angels ministered unto him.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to look into your word today. Lord, may you direct in the sermon and in the service. Lord, may you be exalted. May we remember today that Jesus never fails May we look to you for guidance and strength and help and time of testing and temptation May we learn from your example here today.

We might live to the glory and honor of the one who has given us life By his death and his resur In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Daniel, you don't mind if I talk about you this morning, do Alright, good. Now, Daniel began a new life in Christ Jesus back the week of revival Trusted the Lord Jesus as Lord and savior of his life. He he wasn't the only one.

Praise the Lord. But he announced it so to speak to you last Sunday morning when he was was baptized his new life began in Christ back to revival but some of you were made aware of it and and he followed through in faith and obedience to the Lord and was baptized and publicly so to speak began his new life in Christ. With that new life in ministry will come testing Are you real Did you mean it How will you respond? How strong is your faith? With every decision, every commitment, comes a time of proving as in the life of Christ.

Ian just started working recently at Hobby Lobby. Daniel starts a new, you start a new job this week. When you start a new job or you take on a new ministry there is a time of proving and testing So, there is also in the Christian life When we make a commitment to Christ, when we rededicate ourselves to Christ, when we make a decision to follow the Lord a certain place, to do a certain thing, whatever the Lord may be leading in our life, there comes a time of testing, improving with that. We're going to see that in in Christ ministry today. I am no longer surprised that the trials that new Christians find at their doorstep.

Directly following their conversion or any Christian for that matter. I was a youth pastor for twelve years now. Praise the Lord. I've been a pastor for here over twelve years. And I have seen so many times people get saved, Christians make decisions for the Lord, and who isn't happy about it?

The devil's not happy about it. And he jumps in to try and throw a wrench in the works. I've seen teenagers particularly when I was a youth pastor. They they come to church on Wednesday night. They come on our bus.

They they get saved and next week, they'd come and tell me my parents were moving to a different state. And hopefully, we just pray that they would find a good church where they were moving to. Older teenagers would get saved and a month later, they'd get a job and Now, they couldn't come to church because they had a job They had to have a job to have a car and they had to have a car to get to the job. That's called circular reasoning by the way. I have seen people come to Christ and immediately have issues in their marriage I have seen kids have problems immediately with their parents especially with unsafe parents.

I've seen kids coming close to getting saved and all of a sudden, their parents pull em out. I've seen people struck with illness and physical difficulties on many occasions just after they trusted Christ or decided to dedicate themselves to a certain area of ministry. Trials and tests come in in many different forms and fashions. As we look at again in just a few minutes need to understand this, if you know Christ as savior when trials and tests come your way, there is something good that can come from them. God is not God is not relinquished control.

He does allow those tests in our life for good. All things work together what? For good to them that love the Lord, to those who are the called according to his purpose. But the mountain is almost always followed by a valley. Expect it.

And as we just mentioned, the valley isn't all bad either. We see in our text this morning immediately. Look at that verse 12 and immediately. Right after Christ came up out of the water at his baptism. A voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son and whom I am?

Well, please. Immediately, not the next day or the next the next month or but immediately, the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. Why? It says, he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of what? Tempted of Satan.

Immediately following this mountain top announcement of the inauguration of Christ's ministry on Earth. As the Messiah he was driven into the wilderness to be tempted, to be tested for forty days before he set off on the rest, the next three years of his ministry on Earth. You know, there seems to be some pattern in scripture in regards to the number 40 and testing. It rained for how long? Forty days and forty nights during Noah's flood.

Moses lived on the backside of the desert for how long? Forty years before God called him back to lead Israel out of Egypt. Moses was on Mount Sinai talking with the Lord when he got the 10 commandments for how long? Forty days. Forty days, he went without food.

The Lord sustained him. Israel wandered in the wilderness for how long? Forty years. Elijah was tested of God when he became angry and despondent after the mountain top experience on Mount Carmel, running from Jezebel, he too ended up, guess where? On Mount Sinai where he fasted and the Lord dealt with him for, you want to guess?

Forty days. Now, it is Jesus's turn. God is driving him into the wilderness. What is the wilderness? Well, it's the Judean wilderness.

It's a desert. It's what it is. When I was in Israel, just outside of Jericho, there is a monastery built on the side of a hill or a mountain of small mountain, big hill, whatever you want to call it. South Of Jerusalem and that monastery is supposedly built on the site where Jesus spent his forty days being tempted. Now, I do not believe they know.

Where exactly Christ was? We know the general area. Where he was. Tested and tempted near near Jericho in Southern Israel. At any rate, forty days is a long time.

To be without food and to be tested. I personally can't imagine going forty days. There are few people who have. You have to be in really good health or you have to have God's help. Thing is, we expect our tests to be brief but not always A matter of fact, a lot of times our testings are fairly long.

Mentioned in in in the service, Dorinda's had a a trial physically over the past. It's been more than forty days, hasn't it? Yeah Some days, sometimes it's forty days and sometimes forty years In either case, God hasn't forgotten you Jesus never what? Jesus never fails God never fails. God did not fail his son.

God will not fail you Though sometimes the testing maybe long The testing in the life of a new Christian will come and throughout Christian life, it will continue as we move forward in the Lord. As we grow in our faith along the way, we will be we will be tested. You see, if if you want to avoid any trouble in the Christian life, then, serve the Lord every day. Keep in his word. Walk in the spirit.

You will never have trouble. That would be a what? That would be a lie. That's what that would be. Because that just isn't true.

You see, sometimes, bad things come into our life as a Christian because God is chasening us. You know, when we God says, do this and we say, Not going there. Our heavenly father who loves us and wants the best for us, who he is going to step in and say, okay, well, we'll have to work on this and he brings chastening into our lives. Sometimes, we're walking with the Lord. We're responding to the Lord.

We just made a decision and we mean it to follow the Lord and all of a sudden, the roof caves in. That happens. What is God trying to do? Now, he wants to test your faith. He wants to prove it.

He wants to make it stronger. You see, even if you're following the Lord, sometimes, chest and difficulties will come and even temptation. Will come our way. The devil will tempt us and attempt to destroy the faith of God's child. The devil wants to destroy you.

The devil wants to move over this verse here. I'm going skip ahead. He wants to sift you as wheat. Jesus said to Peter here. The Lord said to Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.

Peter hit a really bad bump in the road The night of Jesus arrest. But his faith in the end failed not because his savior was there. That Satan wants to sift us. He wants to destroy our faith. He wants to destroy our testimony.

He wants to rob us of our joy. He hates us. And he tempts us to betray, to deny, to disobey, to rebel against our Lord and against his will. He is like a roaring lion. Says in first Peter five eight nine, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Guess what? You're not the only one. You're not the only one going through that test. You're not the only one facing that temptation. But be vigilant, be sober, the devil's out there.

He wants to destroy us. He wants to ruin to your testimony to to dim your light for Christ He does not have your best interest at heart No, very much the opposite and he is a formidable enemy a formidable enemy If we were to take on Satan alone we would most sure assuredly lose simply by the fact that I've been around forty seven years Satan's been around for at least six thousand. I have a conscience. He doesn't. He's wily.

He's real and He is after particularly God's children Praise the Lord. Greater is he that is in us. That's the Holy Spirit than he that is what? Then, he that is in the world. Praise the Lord.

We're not fighting Satan alone. God is with us. The devil will tempt us in an attempt to destroy us. The Lord will test us in an attempt to prove and strengthen the child of God. So, he will grow in the faith.

Grow in his character. Grow in his endurance. The Bible says that God does not tempt any man with what? Evil. God doesn't tempt any man with evil.

Satan tempts us. The world tempts us. The flesh tempts us and that passage it says, God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempted thee any man but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own what? Lust and enticed. Then, when lust have conceived, it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.

God does not tempt anybody to sin. God does not entice anyone to sin. That's Satan's department. That's the world's department. That is your own flesh's department.

But God does allow us to be tempted of the devil God does test us James one two to four My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, trials, or tests. Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience but let patience have a perfect work that you may be perfect or mature and entire complete wanting or lacking nothing. Satan wants to destroy you. Satan would love nothing better than to destroy Daniel. A young Christian wanting to serve the Lord on fire for him and hungry for the word of God.

Satan would love to destroy him but you know something? He can't. Can't destroy him. He can hurt him but if Daniel will put his faith in the Lord and trust in him, rather than growing weak, he'll grow what? He'll grow strong.

He'll grow strong. You see, God wants us to grow strong and how do we grow strong? Well, that little kid when they're one year old, and you want em to walk and you pull em up and you hold em by their hands and they start to take a step and they go poop down on their face and you pick em up and you cuddle them and say, oh, it's okay. Okay, here we go. Back up on your feet.

Okay. Why? Because we want em to what? We want em to grow. We want em to learn.

God wants you to grow in your faith. God wants you to learn. How does that happen? It happens by testing. It happens by test Job says in Job twenty twenty three ten but he knoweth the way that I take when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

That was because Job was so self confident and arrogant. He knew he was going to come forth as gold. Is that right? No. He knew that his God was what?

Faithful and he knew that his God would sustain him and he knew that his God would keep him and he was going to stick with God and trust him. For God was going to carry him what? Was going to carry him through. Did he? Did he?

Yes, he did. Was Job tempted to sin? Who tempted him? The devil did. Did God let it happen?

Did he permit it? He did. Why? Because he knew that he could sustain Job's what? Job's faith and on the other end, Job would come forth as gold.

He knew. God knows. What did Job do? Did he curse God? No.

Just kept trusting him. Didn't understand. Sometimes, he cried out to God. He said, Lord, I don't know why you let me live. But I'm going to trust you.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him and what the devil meant for evil, God turned it and brought about great good in the life of Job. Gave him back twice what he had to start with but that wasn't the real reward. The real reward. Was a faith that grew I would like to this morning to take a quick look not so much at the specifics of Jesus temptation but the nature of it and how Jesus succeeded. You see, Right after Jesus came up out of those waters, who led him into the desert?

Says right here the spirit did for a time of testing and proving. In 13, it says, who tempted him and that again was was Satan. Look if you would in Matthew chapter 14. Turn back a few pages to Matthew 14. Matthew 14 and let's read a little more about this temptation this morning and how Jesus dealt with it.

Excuse me. In Mark chapter one, it just tells us that Jesus was taken for this time of testing in the wilderness and there Satan tempted him forty days. By the way, some erroneously think when you read it at first, it it sounds almost like he was there for forty days. He fasted at the end of the forty days. He was tempted but no, Mark tells us he was tempted throughout the forty days.

We just have three examples near the end of that time of testing here in Matthew chapter 14. In Mark chapter one, it just tells us that he was tempted. In Matthew 14, we have the details because God wants us to have them at some of the details to give us an example to help us in our temptation, time of tempting and testing as well. So, let's learn from this. Matthew chapter chapter four.

Did I say 14? Matthew four. Matthew four verse one. Then was Jesus led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward and hungered and when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Satan came to him and said, if you really are the son of God, then you have the power to feed your self. Turn that stone to bread. Why are you sitting here hungry? Temptation Do it yourself. Are you who you really say you are?

Jesus answer in verse four and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God Why didn't he turn that stone to bread Why wasn't he feeding himself Because he had turned over his will to the will of the what? To the will of the father. It wasn't the father's will and if it wasn't the father's will, then he wasn't going to what? He wasn't going to eat. He was not going to take upon himself that which he had already turned over to the hand of the father Then the devil taketh him up into a holy city into the holy city Jerusalem, set it him on the pinnacle of the temple, say it unto him, if thou be the son of God, cast thyself down for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and in their hands, they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against stone.

I said this in Sunday school, we're talking about this false religion, false cult, Christian science like many others, they rampant quote scripture The devil is not afraid of scripture He is afraid of the proper use and application in the heart of the child of God of scripture. But he's not afraid to misuse it at all and so here, he takes a passage out of Psalm 91. He quotes it back to Jesus. He takes it out of context. He says, okay, you're going to quote scripture to me.

I'll just quote scripture back. Watch out. Not everybody that quotes scripture is telling you the truth It's easy take it out of context and twist it and many do Jesus said in verse seven, it is written again thou shalt not temp or test the Lord thy God. Jesus said, I do not have to prove that I am the son of God to you. And you are in no position to test or tempt me to do so.

You see, if Jesus would have jumped off the top of the temple, would have landed softly on his feet in the middle of the temple courtyard. What would have happened? Well, all the people there would have immediately gone. The Messiah is here. Was that God's will?

No. God's will was for Jesus to go to the cross. Verse eight, again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. He said unto him, all these things will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship me. Satan knew what he had done several millennia earlier.

You see, God created the world. He created man in his image. He put him in the Garden of Eden. He had fellowship with him and what did Satan do? He had already lost the battle in heaven.

He was cast down to earth. He decided to take his battle to earth. He decided to rob God of his treasure. That's us. He decided to build his kingdom here and so when he convinced Adam and Eve to sin, he robbed God.

He began to through the centuries, try to establish his kingdom. When the Antichrist come, he will give one last ending effort to accomplish that feat and it will fail. It will fail because when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, he made a way for you and I to once again become the children of who? The children of God and the subjects of his kingdom but Satan said to Jesus, he said this, he said, if you'll just bow down to me right now, you don't have to go through any of this other stuff. Just just bow a little.

And I'll give you all the kingdoms of this world. What do you think Jesus said? Look if you would in verse 10. Then saith Jesus unto him, get thee hence, Satan. For it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.

Then, the devil leaveth him and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. There's only one God, there's only one God to worship. I will not bow my knee to you no matter what you promise me. And he didn't. He chose the cross instead.

He chose the cross instead for you and for me. It wasn't just about the glory Wasn't just about the kingdom It's about the people that needed to be saved to be part of that kingdom. It was about you. And he said, I will not. I will not.

The devil tempted Jesus using the desires of the flesh against him. As he also does us. First John two fifteen and sixteen. First John two fifteen and sixteen. If you look on the screen, love not the world neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world and who is the prince and power of the air, the God of this world so to speak? It is none other than Satan, the devil. And he uses the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life to tempt us, to entice us, to turn our back on God, to turn our back on his will. To think that that he had something better to offer.

If you know Christ as savior today, you know he's a what? He's a big, fat, liar and the truth is not in him. There's nothing that he has to offer you that is better than what God has to offer you. Sad to say, there's a whole world of people out there that are blinded. They don't know that.

We need to let them know that. God loves them. Satan doesn't. Jesus died for them. Satan wants wants to destroy them.

Jesus will give them life. Satan and sin only brings what? Death, destruction The devil will use these things in our life. Use them here to try to tempt Jesus. Jesus was primarily tempted to disobey the father which by the way is a good very good definition for sin in general.

For all sin is rebellion against who? It's rebellion against against God. He tempted him to give in to hunger pains. To prove his deity He tempted him to give in to the desire to be worshiped to be exalted and prove God's promises Jesus didn't need to prove his deity. He knew he was.

Jesus didn't need to prove God's promises He knew God was faithful. He tempted him to give in to what he saw and escape the cross. Jesus would not forsake the path that he had chosen out of love for us. For the easy way out. You know, that's what the world is always offering.

It's always offering the what? The easy way out. It's offering the flattering way It's offering, hey, you know, look at the world around you. Look look how much fun they're having. They're fulfilled the desires of the flesh.

What you don't see are the consequences for this fun or pleasure in sin is only for what? For a season. The devil tempts us similarly to obey the cravings of the flesh to eat too much of the wrong stuff to drink alcohol the wrong stuff to do drugs, to ease the pains of life or escape depression of life by use of alcohol and drugs to do what feels good to the flesh rather than to do what honors the Lord. You know how many people I've talked to right outside this door their life is consumed with these things He tempts us to obey the desire for honor and acceptance among our peers To be notice to be famous to be patted on the back to seek the love of man over the love of God I was a youth pastor for twelve years. What do teenagers struggle with more than just about anything else Peer pressure, popularity, acceptance.

They want to be accepted by their peers. Now, how many a teenager? How many a young man or a young woman brings lifelong misery into their life? Because they want to please their peers, their friends. They just want to be accepted.

How many I I see these they have these these contests, these TV shows, American Idol or America's Got Talent. They they bring these young people on there and and and they they have all these talents that they do and I feel so bad for the people that win and you say, pastor, how can you feel bad for the people that win because almost everyone of them that wins will be gobbled up by the world. And their life become a life of misery and confusion. They'll end up in drug rehabs and alcohol rehabs. They'll end up in four and five marriages and jumping from bed to bed.

There won't be any satisfaction because the devil's got em convinced, fame. Is what they need. I mentioned a few weeks back, there was a a young lady when when I was a teenager that came on the scene. She got her start singing in church. She ended her life a few years ago in a motel room when she overdosed.

Her name was Whitney Houston. Stories like that are all over the place. In the entertainment industry, sometimes in the sports industry, devil isn't only not the He's one strong. Who He He's tempts us by what we see to lust after riches and wealth. Alluring things to take our eyes off of Christ to live for and trust in things that we need to be reminded.

Reminded. Because Because the the things of this world can be off for alluring even to the child of God. I had teenagers that that quit coming to church because of the allurement of being the next major league baseball player. Of course, they never got to the minors. Or the next millionaire It wasn't just teenagers though.

It was also adults. We always have to be on guard. We think we stand lest we fall. Jesus faced the devil and won by his unrelenting knowledge of and commitment to the will of who? The will of his father.

That's how you're going to win. That's how you're going to defeat that sin in your life. That's how you're going to overcome that temptation. That's how you're going to get through that test by having an unrelenting knowledge and commitment. For the will of the father.

By the way, where do you find that? Right here. Right here in our hands. We have that. We have it.

God hasn't left us without direction and guidance. God hasn't left us us without power and enablement through his word and his spirit. To best temptation in our life Jesus expressed that knowledge and commitment by quoting the words of the father carries his authority. David understood this when he said, thy word have I hid in my heart. That I might not sin against thee.

Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. That's still true today. Hide God's word in your heart. It will aid you. It is the sword of the what?

It is the spirit. It's quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. Jesus declared it when he said in John eight thirty two, you shall know the truth and the truth shall what? Set you free. Set you free from what?

Well, when you come to Christ by faith and trust Christ as savior, it sets you free from the eternal penalty and punishment of sin in hell but Jesus Christ didn't die just to set you free from hell. Jesus Christ died to set you free from whatever sin or temptation is. That wants to take you today. The truth shall set you free but you must embrace it God's will for Jesus to survive only in accordance with the instructions of the father and not to prove his deity Jesus expressed that when he says, man shall not live by words alone but by every by by man shall not live Let me find it By bread alone but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God Jesus expressed in verse seven, God's word stated that the devil did not have such authority and it was unnecessarily, unnecessary to prove God's promises when he says, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Jesus expressed faith in God's word and his will.

When he said in response to Satan's temptation to bow down and worship him, thou shalt not, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. He referred back to the will of the father and where is it stated? Right here in the scripture. For us, just like it was for him. You can claim it just like he did.

If you want, if you believe it, if you trust it, and if you know it. See, we can beat the devil in temptation in our lives. There is a way of escape. A way to pass the test, embark on our next mission for our savior. If we will follow the example our savior has laid before us.

Embrace by faith the will of your father in heaven. Commit your way unto him. Number one, embrace the faith, embrace by faith the will of your father. Trust in the Lord with what? All thine heart.

Lean on not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall what? Bring it to pass. I beseech you therefore, brethren, I have that just in my text, my works here.

By the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. Commit your way unto him. Embrace his will. Number two, embrace his word. Read it daily.

Search it. Study it. Meditate on it. Joshua one eight. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe do according to all that is written therein.

For then, shalt they make their way prosperous and then shalt thou have good success. Embrace the will of the father. Embrace the word of God. Hide it in your heart. Walk in the spirit.

This I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill what? The lust of the flesh. When you're tempted, go to God Walk in the spirit. Mind the spirit. Follow his will and then number four, if you fail if you fail get up try again says, first John one nine, confess your sins If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just what?

Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness. What does that mean? That means if you fail, do what? Admit it and get up. And try again and you know who's going to be there to help you?

He is. Jesus never fails Embrace his will Embrace his word. Walk in his spirit and if you fall get up and try The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighted in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. When you pick up that little baby and he takes two steps the first time or the second time or the third time he's going to what?

He's going to fall. You know, God knows. Sometimes, we're going to what? Fall but he's going to be there. If we let him.

To pick us back up. And say, let's try again. And that's how we grow. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, we thank you Lord.

For loving us, for dying for us, for always being here for us, for the promise you'll never leave us nor forsake us. I thank you Lord that though Satan wants to destroy us by enticing us to sin. Lord, by your grace and strength, we are able to overcome. And we will only grow stronger through your testing. Lord, we can count it all joy when we fall into diverse temptations.

Knowing that the trying of our faith worketh patience. Lord, at the end, we we become more like our savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you that all things do work together for good to them that love the Lord, to those who are the called according to his purpose but Lord, forgive us for our lack of faith. Forgive us for giving in. When greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.

Help us Lord to be willing to admit when we fail but Lord, give us faith to get up and try again, to commit our way unto you, to hide your word in our heart, and to walk daily in your spirit. Who gives us strength. Pray Lord today if you've touched the heart of someone or something in their life, Lord. Needs to change. I pray that as we give this hymn of invitation, we take this time to talk to you about it.

Lord, I pray if there's one here that's never trusted Christ as savior that they may come. Today, that they may come as we sing this hymn of invitation that we can show them how to be safe today and know it. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen.