Sermon
2-17-13 journey to the cross – temptations Luke 4:1-13 9=
4 Jesus, full of the
Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2
where for forty days he was tempted by the
devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.3
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to
become bread.” 4 Jesus
answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread
alone.’[a]”5
The devil led him up to a high place and
showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6
And he said to him, “I will give you all
their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to
anyone I want to. 7 So
if you worship me, it will all be yours.”8 Jesus answered, “It
is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[b]”9
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him
stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said,
“throw yourself down from here. 10 For
it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you to
guard you carefully;11 they will lift you up in their hands,so that
you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”12
Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put
the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”
13 When the devil had
finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Lent
begins. 40 days between ash wed and easter. Sundays not included
An
opportunity for us to consider the suffering of Christ.
After
his baptism……..jesus is tempted………then he begins his ministry
sometimes
good things come after, because of, difficult times
sometimes
there is good that would never have come without the times of pain and struggle
3
Temptations of Jesus
1.
Bread
into stones – 40 day fast, he is hungry
Scripture - Man shall not live by bread alone
Man should not be controlled by his passions
Deut 8- not earthly bread, but manna.
Trusting God element
2.
Throw
yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple
Don’t put the lord to the test [as you did at
Massah] ex 17
Grumbling over water. Did not trust
3.
Bow
down and worship me for all the kingdoms
Worship the Lord only , him only shall
thou serve– deut 6
God alone is to be honored, leaned into by
us, in this life
Temptations
of us
What
are our primary temptations? My list
·
To
covet. To want more.
·
To
want it to go our way. Don’t challenge me. I want to be in charge.
·
To
want the easy way
·
To
quit, to give up, to wallow, to worry
·
To
hurt back
·
To
cheat, to take the easy way
·
To
demean others, to brag, my dog is bigger than your dog
It
seems that it all boils down to what we want.
I
am the center of it
Coveting.
Wanting things and wanting things to go our way.
That
is one of the top ten.
I
think all of the top ten are about wanting what we shouldn’t
Exodus
20
1.
Thou
shalt have no other Gods before me
[we
want to be God, we want to be in charge]
2.
Don’t
make any idols, no images
[we
want a God that we can understand and control]
3.
Don’t
take the Lords name in vain
[we
want everything to go our way. -no constraints on our behavior]
4.
Remember
the Sabbath day
[what
do you want to do on Sunday besides honor God]
5.
Honor
your father and mother
[we
want to honor ourselves]
6.
Thou
shall not kill
[I
want something so badly that I would harm another]
7.
Thou
shall not commit adultery
[wanting
someone else’s spouse]
8.
Thou
shall not steal
[wanting
anything]
9.
Thou
shall not bear false witness
[I
want something, not sure what. There is something to be gained from my
lying]
10.
Thou
shall not covet
“You
shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's
wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey,
nor anything that is your neighbor's.”
How do we deal with temptation
Willpower
my help but willpower is often not enough.
The
spirit wars against the flesh. You can never win the battle.
There
is only one way and it has been shown to be the only successful way
To
throw one’s self upon god – for this we are created.
To
trust him. to lean into him.
We
were so designed.
To
throw ones self on God
Is
To believe in a higher power
Higher
power is a 12 step program term
Some
Christians don’t like it….
Sounds
funny to Christians but many Christian’s gods are not higher powers, but weak
gods of our creations weak gods that we try to control with more prayers
What
if your god really is a higher power
·
You
can rely on him
·
You
can trust him
·
You
can talk to him
·
You
can lean into him
·
He
can help you in your time of need and in your weakness
Temptation
is fought on two fronts – fighting and resting
First
- Fight temptation
·
Don’t
put yourself in a position to be tempted
·
Just
say no
·
Jerry
alyea…….lay down until the feeling goes away.
·
Remove
yourself from harms way
·
Establish
new habits
Second
- Resting on God
Throw
yourself upon God.
Keep
after it.
Come
to believe and understand that for this you were created.
Conclusion
By
nature we want stuff………more and more
A
friend asked me the other day how to know when to help others.
There
are two extremes here,
To
do nothing, and to give it all away.
and
the answer is somewhere in between but it can be hard to find.
As
we are tempted to temptation to make life all about me
I
recommend
1.
Determine
to live a generous life
2.
Posture
yourself as someone that is going to ask God about everything, every time you
can
3.
Then
listen to what you hear
4.
Follow
it.
We
were created to want God. To walk with him
when
our life is submitted to him.
When
our wants are turned towards him first, life usually works out better for us
After
his baptism……..jesus is tempted………then he begins his ministry
Sometimes
good things come after times of suffering.
Sometimes
we never learn to love him, until we have loved lots of other things
We
may not learn to control temptations until we have had those “out of control
moments”
God
is not offended by this
But
he is constantly seeking us, inviting us to live with him,
for
which we were created.
