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Spiritual Lessons from the Lord's Temptation
Matthew 4:1-11
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - Jan. 23, 2013
*How long has it been since you were tempted to sin?
If it's been more than 24 hours, then maybe you haven't been paying attention.
Or you are a very rare person, indeed.
*We must learn how to overcome temptation in our lives.
And in this story of the Lord's temptation we will see how.
But that's not all.
Here God gives us at least four key spiritual lessons.
1. First: The temptation of Jesus teaches us about the leadership of God's Spirit.
*In the last chapter, Jesus was about to begin His public ministry.
He humbled Himself to be baptized by John the Baptist.
Then the Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord in the form of a dove.
But here in chapter 4, the story takes an unexpected turn, because vs. 1&2 say:
1.
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.
*If sinful men were running the show, we would have led Jesus to a mansion on a hilltop, to the governor's house, or straight to the emperor's throne.
But the Holy Spirit led Jesus out to a dry, barren wilderness without food.
*And this fact reminds us that the Holy Spirit will sometimes lead us into the difficult places of life.
That's not the end of the line of course.
God is preparing a mansion for every one of His children.
But sometimes the Holy Spirit will lead us through the difficult places in life.
We must not think that the Lord is always going to put us on easy street.
*This truth reminded me of George Young.
He was a carpenter and little-known preacher in the 1800s.
George spent a lifetime humbly serving the Lord in small communities.
Financial support was often lacking, and it was hard on George's family.
But through all the ups and downs his faithful wife never wavered in her loyalty to God and to her husband.
*After a long struggle, the family was able to move into their own small home which George built himself.
But later when George was away preaching, some local thugs, who didn't like his Gospel message, set fire to the house.
It was totally destroyed.
But out of that experience George wrote this wonderful song:
-"In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God leads His dear children along;
-Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet, God leads His dear children along.
-Some through the waters, some through the flood,
-Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
-Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song, in the night season and all the day long."
*Sometime around 1942, years after George died, another hymn writer decided to track down George Young's widow, and find out more of his story.
The song writer's name was Haldor Lillenas, and he found George Young's widow living in a County Poor House in a small out-of-the-way town.
Conditions there were pretty pathetic, but when Lillenas found Mrs. Young, she radiated the joy of the Lord, and spoke of how He'd guided her and her husband over many years.
*Then, she exclaimed, "Dr.
Lillenas, God led me here!"
I'm so glad He did, for you know, about every month someone comes into this place to spend the rest of their days.
So many of them don't know my Jesus.
I'm having the time of my life introducing them to Jesus!
Dr. Lillenas, isn't it wonderful how God leads!" (1)
*Whenever we need leadership, God's Spirit will give it.
And that's the first lesson from the Lord's temptation.
2. But the temptation of Jesus also teaches us about the righteousness of our Savior.
*Of course, Jesus did not yield to the devil's temptations.
The Lord never did yield to sin, even once.
But why did Jesus even allow Himself to be tempted?
There are at least 2 reasons:
[1] First, Jesus allowed Himself to be tempted in order to sympathize with us.
*Jesus Christ was certainly a flesh-and-blood man.
He got hungry, thirsty and tired.
He felt pain.
He shed tears.
He bled when He was cut.
And Jesus allowed Himself to go through all of this, so that He could sympathize with us.
*So Hebrews 4:14-15 says:
14.
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
[2] Jesus allowed Himself to be tempted to sympathize with us.
-- But also to show His righteousness to us.
*When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness, do you think He was worried about doing the right thing?
-- Certainly not, for in Isaiah 46:9&10, thus saith the Lord:
9. "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
10.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'"
*Jesus was a man like us.
But He is, and always has been the Lord God Almighty.
That's why Paul made this mind-boggling statement in Colossians 2:8&9.
8. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
9.
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
*Astounding statement: All of the fullness of the Godhead permanently lives in the body of Jesus Christ.
This is astounding, but of course absolutely true.
And God cannot sin.
Listen to some evidence from the Word of God:
*2 Timothy 2:13 says: "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."
-Titus 1:1-2 says:
1. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which is according to godliness,
2. in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
-And James 1:13 says "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."
*God cannot sin, and Jesus is God, so it was not possible for Jesus to sin.
James Merritt expressed it this way: "Jesus was tempted not to prove he could overcome sin, but to prove that sin could not overcome him."
So in John 8:29, Jesus could say this about Himself and His Heavenly Father: "He who sent Me is with Me.
The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." (2)
*The temptation of Jesus teaches us about the righteousness of our Savior.
3.
But it also teaches us about the power of Scripture.
*God's Word has the power to help us overcome sin.
And here we see some of the ways God's Word can work in our lives.
[1] First: Scripture can help us expect temptation.
*In vs. 1 when Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, He knew that He was going to be tempted.
And we need to know that we are going to be tempted, not by God, but by the devil and by our own sinful hearts.
*Again, James 1 puts it this way:
13.
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.
14.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
*The Bible tells us that we will be tempted to sin.
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