When Temptation Meets Endurance
Introduction
The Bible gives us hope when we are tempted that we will be able to overcome such temptations.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Satan’s Strategy In Temptation
Have you ever noticed that your greatest temptations come after your greatest triumphs? Jesus’s greatest temptation came after He had just been baptized.
The Temptation of Jesus
Mat 4:1 Then (after He was baptized) was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mat 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Mat 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6 And saith 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 a stone.
Mat 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10 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.
Mat 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
We need to realize that temptation is not sin. It is heartening to realize that Satan doesn’t have any new tricks in his temptation arsenal. He has been using the same strategies since day 1. Satan always seems to come at us in one of three ways or a combination thereof: physical, mental/emotional, or spiritual.
In the garden of Eden the devil came to Eve in just those ways.
The Fall
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (physical appeal), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (emotional appeal), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (spiritual appeal), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
God’s Purposes In Allowing Temptation
God always has a purpose or plan for what He does or allows. In the case of Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness His plan was to exalt Jesus by showing His absolute sinlessness. God also wanted to show that Jesus met His temptation as a human and defeated it as a human.
How We Can Meet Temptation
It’s encouraging to know that we have the same ammunition to use against Satan that Jesus used, the same weapons that caused the Devil to leave after His attack. We can have the same experience of victory in the temptations we face. There are three keys:
1. Remember That Jesus is present. When you are tempted, keep in mind that Jesus is living in you.
1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
2. Remember tha Jesus met His temptation in the power of the Holy Spirit. That same Holy Spirit is available to you and me.
Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
3. Remember to use the ammunition that Satan can’t handle: Scripture. You have the Word of God. Fill your mind and heart with God’s Word.
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Psa 119:12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
But what if it is too late and you have fallen into sin? Satan’s biggest lie is that if you have fallen into sin you belong to him. Not true.
We are all sinners.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Salvation is permanent.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.