Our King Is Tempted, but Without Sin

If you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 4, verse 1 through 11,

Matthew 4:1–11

we're going to be looking at the temptation of Jesus this morning.

Last week, we looked at the baptism of Jesus, and it was His inauguration day.

Do you remember the words?

It kind of climaxed in chapter 3, verse 17, where God says of His Son,

This is My beloved Son with whom I'm well pleased.

He made a declaration, an announcement.

And in that statement, this is My beloved Son with whom I'm well pleased,

God the Father, there were choice words.

He's drawing on Psalm 2, this is the Messiah, this is My Son, He's going to inherit the nations.

And He's also drawing on Isaiah 42, the suffering servant with whom I'm well pleased.

This Messiah is going to suffer.

He's going to establish His reign through suffering.

And so what we're going to see this morning is this.

We're going to go from the inauguration day to the proving day.

Jesus is inaugurated as King, and then what we're going to see is Jesus' medal is proven through the temptation.

Imagine this.

This is just make-believe.

I don't think this really happened, but just pretend with me.

God the Father in heaven says, this is My beloved Son with whom I'm well pleased.

Public announcement.

Up in heaven.

Bling, bling, bling.

Bling, bling, bling.

Bling, bling, bling.

Little telephone call in heaven.

God the Father picks up.

Yes?

It's Satan?

I just heard the announcement.

Yes?

I meant it for all to hear.

Yes?

Now, I've heard that He is well-pleasing to you.

Why don't you send Him my way?

Let me put Him to the test.

Let's see what He's got.

You know what God the Father would say at that point?

It's in the plan.

I've already sent Him.

He's being led by the Spirit right now into the wilderness.

And by the way, He's my beloved Son.

I think you've got more on your hands than what you realize.

Click.

This morning, what I want you to see is this.

What the temptation of Jesus shows is that Jesus is trusting and obeying of His Father all the way through.

He trusts and obeys His Father all the way through each temptation.

He submits Himself to the will of the Father.

He trusts and obeys.

And by doing so, He proves what God the Father has just said.

This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

So there are really kind of three stages in this passage.

Verses 1 and 2.

It's the preparation.

Jesus shows up in the wilderness.

And then there's 3 through 10 where we're going to see kind of three rounds between heavyweights.

The devil and Jesus the Son.

I'll tell you right now, Jesus wins.

And then, verse 11, the triumph.

The aftermath.

We'll be spending most of our time on 3 through 10.

But let's look at this preparation to begin with.

It's a preparation of extremes.

Verses 1 and 2.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry.

Maybe one of the most extreme understatements in the Bible.

But there may be more going on there than meets the eye.

We've got some extremes.

Extreme landscape.

The wilderness.

It was a deserted place.

A lonely place.

Extreme wilderness.

Extreme landscape.

We've got extreme hunger going on here.

Jesus has been fasting 40 days and 40 nights.

And we all know that kind of 40 days without food is kind of the maximum a human being can go without dying.

So Jesus is at the extreme of His life, humanly speaking.

He's been fasting.

He's been fasting.

Which means this.

He's just not going without food, going without food.

He's going without food in order to prepare Himself for something.

He was extremely hungry.

But when we get into the temptations, we're going to come back to this.

Because we've got to ask, what was He really hungry for?

Extreme isolation.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, yes.

But He alone faced the devil.

Now, I'm going to just be honest with you.

I can't imagine going 40 days without food.

It's hard to imagine going 40 minutes without food, just to be honest with you.

And if I was in an extreme landscape with extreme hunger facing an extreme opponent like the devil,

I'd fold like a cheap suit.

I think we all would.

Speaking of this extreme opponent,

he was led out to be tempted by the devil.

We were singing a song here.

Thank you, Ben and Lindsay.

What a sweet song.

Our enemy meant for evil.

God meant for good.

Jesus is led out to the wilderness.

The devil wants evil.

God wants good.

And so He's led out to the devil.

And the devil goes by a lot of different handles.

In the Bible, ruler of this world, John 12.

Prince of the power of the air, Ephesians 2.

The God of this world, 2 Corinthians 4.

The serpent of old, the deceiver of the world, Revelation 12.

The destroyer, Abaddon, Apollyon.

The accuser, the slanderer, the tempter.

Head to head.

Extreme opponent.

There's extreme stakes.

Will Jesus, when facing all these extremes,

will Jesus prove Himself as the Son of God,

faithful to His Father,

or will He be disqualified?

Will He yield to the devil's temptations

and not just Himself be disqualified,

but throw God's plan of salvation into the garbage can?

The stakes are high.

A lot of extremes going on here,

but there's one other extreme I want you to see.

There's extreme fulfillment going on here.

When you hear the word wilderness,

when you read the word 40,

when you read the words hunger,

when you hear the words sun,

you need to be realizing

that Jesus is experiencing here

something that parallels

what Israel experienced in the wilderness.

Very intentional.

Remember, Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness,

wandering the wilderness.

And we see in Deuteronomy 6, 7, and 8,

right before they enter Canaan,

the promised land,

God through Moses addresses them.

And so what we see here

in the temptation of Jesus

is when He says it is written,

He is quoting from Deuteronomy 8

and Deuteronomy 6.

Parallel.

What you also need to know

is that in Deuteronomy 8,

Israel is likened to being God.

God's son.

God led His people, Israel,

His son,

into the wilderness

to test them,

quote unquote,

to know what was in your heart,

whether you would keep

God's commandments or not.

So God leads His people,

His son, Israel,

through the wilderness

to prepare them for entering Canaan.

And we all know

they failed miserably.

They're a bunch of complainers.

stiff-necked,

made it hard.

God was merciful, though.

God leads His son, Jesus,

into the wilderness

to prepare Him

for His public ministry

to prove

that He is

the true

Son of God.

to prove

what was in His heart,

to fully obey the Father,

no matter what,

to submit Himself

gladly

to His God.

He did

what Israel

did not do.

God has a purpose

for leading His son

into the wilderness.

Jesus.

Jesus is going to

show Himself

as the true

Son of God.

So there's

extreme fulfillment.

A lot of action

going on here,

isn't there?

Matthew has this,

like,

if you, like,

if you, like,

cut Him,

He'd bleed out

like Old Testament.

He's just,

He's just,

got Old Testament

all over the place.

Okay,

so verses 1 and 2,

our King

is being put

to a very

extreme test.

If any of us

were in that situation,

we'd fold,

like,

cheap suits.

You've got to understand

we've got extremes

going on here.

And He's going to

prove Himself

to be faithful.

He's going to,

this is saying

He's ready

for ministry.

Stage 2,

the Son

is tempted.

In verses 3 through 10,

the devil seeks

to disqualify.

Jesus

and undermine

God's plan

of salvation

with three temptations.

Now,

has anybody seen

a boxing match

before?

There are these

things called

rounds,

and so

they come out,

the fighters fight

for a round,

they go back

to their corners,

and they come back

for another round.

And so imagine

the temptation

as three rounds.

Who's going to win?

Let's look at round

one.

The first temptation

of Jesus.

And the tempter,

this is verse 3,

and the tempter

came and said

to Him,

Jesus,

if You are

the Son of God,

command these stones

to become loaves

of bread.

So here's the setting.

We're in the wilderness,

dry,

barren,

and it lacks

a lot of stuff,

but what it doesn't

lack is stones.

And Satan knows

that Jesus is

quote unquote

hungry.

And so in verse 3,

I hope you notice

how the devil

kind of moves

into this temptation.

If you are

the Son of God,

command these stones

to become loaves

of bread.

If you are

the Son of God,

if you are

the Son of God,

what you need

to realize

is that the devil

is not questioning

Jesus' sonship.

What the devil

is doing

is tempting him

to use his sonship

in a way

that would

cause him

to disobey

his father,

to cause him

to move independently.

It's kind of like this.

Jesus,

I got the memo.

I heard the whole thing.

You're his beloved son

in whom his soul delights.

I get it.

I get it.

Well, since you are

the Son of God,

Jesus,

since you're the Messiah,

God in the flesh,

you've got all the power

to create out of nothing,

since you're that,

why don't you just use

your Son of God power

to feed yourself?

Why don't you fill

your little tummy?

I know you're hungry.

What the devil

is tempting Jesus

to do

is to misuse

his power

as the Son of God.

To use his power

not for the advancement

of his Father's will,

but to satisfy

himself,

personal gratification.

And you might be sitting

in your pew right now

saying,

what's wrong with that?

I mean, seriously,

he's got all the power

he wants to.

If he's hungry,

we could just make

some bread out of stones.

What's the big deal

about that?

Well, the big deal

about it is

he can't do

whatever he wants.

He is submitted himself,

Jesus,

to the will of his Father.

He is the divine Son

sent to accomplish

the Father's purposes.

And so let's look

at how Jesus responds

to this temptation.

Chapter 4, verse 4.

But Jesus answered,

it is written.

It is written.

Look at 4.4,

it is written.

Look at 4.7,

again, it is written.

Now look at verse 10.

For it is written.

Jesus resists

by quoting the Bible.

Jesus resists

by reciting God's Word.

Jesus is saying,

hey, I'm not going to trust

your Word,

you fork-tongue liar,

but I'm going to stand

on what God has said.

I'm going to trust

and obey.

As the Son of God,

I'm going to trust

my Father.

Man shall not live

by bread alone,

but by every word

that comes

from the mouth

of God.

What's he hungry for?

What's Jesus

really hungry for?

He fasted 40 days

and 40 nights.

He was hungry.

We immediately

interpret that as,

oh, he is just

looking for a snack.

Could it be

that he's hungry

to accomplish

the Father's will?

He's more hungry

to obey his Father

than to fill his belly

even though he could.

He submits his power

to the Father's purposes.

And he quotes

Deuteronomy 8.3.

It's a reference

to when Israel

was in the wilderness

and without food.

God put them there

intentionally

to test them,

to see what they would do

and to show them

what he can do.

He can provide

for their most basic needs

on a daily basis.

So he sends Israel

daily supplies

of this stuff

called manna,

this heavenly bread,

to teach his son Israel

that God,

their father,

is able and willing

to meet their everyday needs.

All they needed

to trust his word

to believe what he said.

And you know

what God does?

He provides for them

daily for 40 years

while they're

in the wilderness.

40 years,

day after day,

manna on the ground.

All they need,

he provides for them.

40 years of manna

just like he said

he would do.

40 years of God's

faithfulness

to his own word.

By quoting

Deuteronomy 8.3,

Jesus is saying,

Satan,

I'm going to trust

and obey

my father's word.

He has me here.

I've been fasting.

I am going to trust

that he will provide

for me.

I'm not going to provide

for myself

even though I can.

I'm going to submit

myself to him.

I'm going to trust

his timing

to when I'm going

to eat next.

but my appetite

is to do

the will

of my father

and even if that

means I just

got to put

my own power

under his will.

The son submits

to the father

proving to be

the true son

and he wins

the first round.

Second round.

temptation number

two,

verses five

through seven.

The setting

from the stones

in the wilderness

the devil takes

Jesus to the

highest point

of the temple

in Jerusalem.

You see that

in verse five.

Now whether this

is a real

actual physical

taking Jesus

to the temple

or this is some

kind of vision,

it's not clear

but what is clear

is that the

temptation is real.

And we read

the temptation

in verse six.

If you are the

son of God

throw yourself

down.

Again,

the devil

is trying to

play on the

son of God

thing that God

has already

announced.

If you are the

son of God

he's seeking

to cause Jesus

to misuse

his sonship.

He wants to

disqualify Jesus

and undermine

our salvation.

the temptation

is Jesus

throw yourself

down.

They are like

three hundred

feet above

a valley

on the temple.

He said

throw yourself

down from

his height.

He is saying

willingly,

Jesus will you

willingly put

yourself in

harm's way

Jesus.

Let's see what

God does.

Let's see what

your father does.

Now,

the devil is

pretty slick.

because

the reason

he gives,

he quotes

the Bible.

There's one

other it is

written in

this passage.

It comes

from the lips

of the devil.

Throw

yourself down,

son of God,

for it is

written,

he will command

his angels

concerning you.

On their

hands they

will bear

you up,

lest you

strike your

foot against

toes.

You won't

even step

your toe.

It is

written very

slick.

Very slick.

Evidently,

the devil knows

the Bible.

He's lousy

at applying

it, but he

knows it.

Not even

lousy.

He intentionally

misapplies it.

Now,

remember what

just happened.

This is

instructive.

Jesus just

resisted the

devil by saying,

hey, I live

by every word

that proceeds

from the

mouth of

God.

So,

the devil

says,

oh,

oh,

really?

Well,

how about

this?

Put this

on for

size,

son of

God.

If you

live by

every word

from the

mouth of

God,

how about

you live

by this?

Psalm 91,

11,

and 12.

How about

this,

Jesus?

Let's go up

on the

temple,

let's throw

yourself down,

and let's

see you live

by Psalm 91,

11,

and 12.

Throw

yourself down,

and as you're

falling,

let's see if

God the

Father commands

his angels to

come,

gather you

with their

hands,

and protect

you from

falling and

smashing.

Jesus,

put your

money where

your mouth

is.

You see

what the

devil is

doing?

He's saying,

prove it,

Jesus.

If you're the

son of God,

live by

God's word.

God's word.

And what the

devil is doing

is he's trying

to corner

Jesus with

God's word.

It's a

misapplication

of the

Bible.

He's trying

to use

God's word

to disqualify

Jesus,

to trap

him.

Now,

just to

remind you,

the devil

has been

distorting

God's word

from the

very beginning.

You remember

this?

To Eve?

Did God

actually say

you shall

can't eat

of any

tree from

the garden?

Did God

really say

that to Eve?

Puts a little

doubt in her

head.

And then

remember this

one?

This is also

Genesis 3.

Eve,

you shall

not surely

die.

If you eat

that,

eat from

that tree,

you won't

die.

God's just

being dramatic.

It's a

clear distortion

of God's

word.

The devil

has been

distorting

and misusing

God's word

from the

very beginning.

He is the

father of

lies.

And so

though Psalm

91 does

promise safety

to those

who trust

God,

the devil

is intentionally

misapplying

it.

Nowhere in

Psalm 91

is the

believer told

to intentionally

put themselves

in harm's

way in order

to obligate

God to

save them.

There's no

way in

Psalm 91

it says

that.

What we

see in

Psalm 91

is a

live by

faith,

a humble

faith,

trusting in

your God

and trust

that he

is going

to keep

you safe.

what Satan

is subtly

doing is

tempting

Jesus,

the son

of God,

the second

person of

the Trinity

to elevate

himself over

the father,

the first

person of

the Trinity

to force

the father

to do

the son's

bidding.

Satan is

tempting

Jesus through

a misuse

of Psalm

91 to

force the

father's

hands and

Jesus sees

right through

it.

I know

you.

I know

you from

the very

beginning.

And Jesus'

response in

verse 7 of

chapter 4 is

this.

Again, it

is written.

It is written.

There it is.

He's standing

on the word

of God.

He uses

God's word

to correct

a misuse

of God's

word.

You shall

not put the

Lord your

God to the

test.

I see what

you're doing.

You shall

not put the

Lord your

God to the

test.

I'm not

going to

test him,

devil.

He's quoting

Deuteronomy

6.16 which

says in full,

you shall not

put the

Lord your

God to

the test

as you

tested him

at Massa.

It's a

reference to

Exodus 17.

Israel,

again,

is in the

wilderness

deprived of

water and

they start

to complain.

Wah,

wah,

wah.

Where's

the water?

Moses,

wah,

where's the

water?

We're thirsty.

Why'd you

bring us

out of

Egypt?

We're so

thirsty.

They have

water there.

Seriously,

we're going to

die.

So thirsty.

And they're

complaining to

Moses.

And Moses

responds to

them,

why are you

complaining to

me?

Why are you

testing the

Lord?

Why are you

testing the Lord?

And in

chapter 17,

verse 7,

Moses sums

it up by

summarizing what

Israel is

saying is that

they're asking,

is the Lord

among us or

not?

We're thirsty!

Israel's

testing of

God was

Israel's

doubting of

God.

Satan was

trying to

lure Jesus

into putting

God to the

test in

order to

prove Jesus

is the

Son of

God.

And that

whole line

there actually

disproves,

disqualifies

Him.

But Jesus

knows better.

He's not

going to put

the Lord

His God

to the

test.

He's going

to be the

faithful son.

He's going

to trust

and obey.

He's going

to prove

His

sonship

to His

Father.

There's no

need for

any of

this stuff,

any of

this sensationalism.

He's not

going to

throw Himself

down from

the temple

because God's

not asking

Him to do

that.

In fact,

not yet.

Jesus will

one day

give His

life.

He will

voluntarily

put Himself

in harm's

way.

But that

comes later.

That comes

later.

In Golgotha,

in the cross,

the suffering

servant,

Isaiah 53,

Jesus becomes

sin for us.

He doesn't

put God

to the test.

He actually

submits Himself

to the will

of the Father.

Remember Gethsemane?

Not my will,

but your will

be done.

And

there it is.

Matthew 26.

Jesus submitting

Himself again

to the will

of the Father.

Jesus will

one time,

one day,

give His life

up,

not by throwing

it down from

the temple,

but by hanging

on a cursed

cross.

And in so

doing,

obey the

Father's will.

Jesus says,

I'm not buying

this stuff.

I'm not throwing

myself down.

I'm not putting

God to the test.

I'm going to

submit myself

to the will

of the Father

because I'm His

Son.

Jesus wins

round two.

Round three.

Verses eight

through ten.

The setting.

The devil

takes Him

to a very

high mountain.

You see this

in verse eight.

And shows Him

all the kingdoms

of the world

and their glory.

Now,

we all know

that there's not

one mountain

high enough

where we can

go to and

see all the

kingdoms of

the world

at once.

So mostly,

likely,

this is some

kind of a

vision.

But what

Satan is

doing is

trying to

shortcut

the Savior's

mission.

He's trying

to tempt

Him to

idolatry

and shortcut

the mission.

Now,

imagine this.

If this was

modern day,

times,

Satan showing

Jesus all

the metropolitan

areas of the

world in

their glories.

New York

City,

the Big

Apple.

Glories of

finance and

trade.

Sophisticated

people,

shows in

Paris,

the glories

of fine

food and

fashion.

the glories

of Geneva,

Switzerland,

glories of

international

finance and

banking.

You can have

that too.

The glories of

Washington,

D.C.,

Beijing,

Moscow,

the glories of

political force

and might.

You can have

that too.

You can have

that too.

You can have

all this,

Jesus,

if you would

just bow

down and

worship me.

You can have

all the kingdoms

of the world

and their

glories.

They can all

be yours

if you just

worship me.

We've got a

different tactic

going on here.

Do you notice

there's no

if you're

the son

of God?

He just,

all pretense

is gone,

out the

window.

It's like,

hey,

I'll give you

all this

stuff if

you'll just

worship me.

Why doesn't

Satan start

with if you're

the son

of God?

Maybe he's

realizing it's

working against

him.

Maybe he

realizes that,

hey,

the first two

rounds,

Jesus won

and that's

not working.

So let's

get rid of

all pretenses

and let's

get down

right to

it.

Jesus,

I'll give

you all

this stuff

if you'll

just

worship me.

And in

so doing,

in verse

nine,

we see

the vain

glorious

imposter

that Satan

is.

If you'll

fall down

and worship

me.

Let's just

think about

it this

way.

The devil

who's a

created

being

is tempting

the son

of God,

the eternal

son of

God,

second person

of the

trinity,

to worship

him,

a created

being.

This is

blatant

idolatry.

I mean,

it verges on

being ridiculous.

Satan has

always wanted

what belongs

to God

alone,

exclusive

worship.

What caused

the fall of

Satan to

begin with

was his

lifting himself

up to the

place of

God to be

worshiped.

And he got

expelled from

God's presence

because of

it.

He's a

glory stealer.

And so what

Satan wants

is for the

son of God

to bow down

and worship

him.

In order for

the son of

God to bow

down and

worship him,

the son of

God would

have to turn

his back

on the

father and

say,

sorry,

I'm no

longer

exclusively

devoted to

you.

I'm going

to get all

these kingdoms

in order to

worship him.

It's the

cardinal sin.

It's the

worship of

another God.

But it's

also a

shortcut.

What Satan

is offering

Jesus is

all the

kingdoms of

the world

without

suffering.

It's

undermining

the very

mission of

the

son of

God.

Would you

turn in

your

Bibles to

Matthew

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28?

This

comes after

Jesus

suffers,

after he's

crucified,

dead,

buried,

and raised

from the

dead.

I just

want your

eyes to

fall upon

something.

Matthew

Matthew 28:18

chapter 28

verse 18.

This is the

great commission.

This is after

all of his

suffering.

And Jesus

came and

said to

his disciples,

all authority

in heaven

and on

earth has

been given

to me.

All of

it's mine.

It comes

after his

work on the

cross.

In order

for Jesus

to accomplish

his mission,

he would have

to suffer.

Jesus knew

full well that

what lied

ahead of him

was pain

and hardship,

betrayal,

that he would

have to bear

the very

wrath of the

Father in

order to

save a

people for

himself.

And Satan

very subtly

here is saying,

hey, I'll give you

a shortcut.

I'll give you all

the kingdoms of the

world and their

glory if you

just bow down

and worship me.

And then we

see in verse

10,

Jesus brings

this bout to

an end.

Be gone,

Satan, for it

is written.

Be gone,

Satan, for it

is written.

We're done here,

Satan, for it

is written.

Deuteronomy 6.13,

you shall worship

the Lord your God

and him only,

him only,

exclusive worship

and service.

Him only

shall you serve.

Now, Israel

failed that test,

but Jesus,

the true Son,

is faithful.

He proves

himself to be

faithful in his

worship of his

Father.

What Jesus is

saying in

Deuteronomy 6.13

is that I

submit to his

word, my

Father's word,

not your word.

I don't buy

your little

half promise.

I don't buy

the shortcut.

I see what God

the Father has

called me to as

a son.

And I'm going

to stick to

it.

I'm going to

do it.

Jesus is saying,

I worship and

serve not no

one but my

Father.

I'm exclusively

and wholeheartedly

and by the way,

happily devoted to

him and his will.

He says,

get out of

here.

Get.

I belong to

him.

Winner of

round three,

Jesus.

He proves

himself to be

the true

son of God,

the one who

trusts and

obeys his

father.

He's been

through some

extreme temptations

and he's shown

himself faithful.

And then in

verse 11,

we see the

triumph.

Don't miss

that first

little phrase,

then the devil

left him.

Jesus told

him to leave

and the devil

left.

The devil

obeyed.

And then

what we see

is the

angels come

and minister

to him.

Surely they

brought with

them food.

Surely they

brought with

them encouragement

for his

obedience.

And surely

this is the

right working

out of Psalm

91.

91.

Jesus the

son has

entrusted

himself to

the father

and the

father commanded

his angels

concerning him

and they met

his needs.

Jesus triumphed

over Satan's

temptations

proving himself

to be the

true son

of God.

This says

he's ready

to go.

He's walked

through it.

He's resisted

the devil's

temptations.

He's prepared

to start

his ministry.

A light

has

dawned.

Now

I want to

point to

three things

to walk

away with.

The first

is

man

I was

trying to

wrestle through

this this

week.

Do I

apply anything?

Because it's

awesome to

see Jesus

just resisting

the devil

successfully.

It's

awesome.

What a

God we

have.

What a

king.

What a

savior.

He did

what none

of us

could do.

He

perfectly

lived a

righteous life.

Not once

did he give

himself to

temptation.

Not once.

He did

what none

of us

could do.

And then

he died

in our

place for

our unfaithfulness.

What a

God we

got.

What a

savior.

What a

king.

His

obedience

from

beginning to

end secured

our salvation.

He

submitted

himself to

the will

of the

father even

to the

cross.

That's

one thing.

Rejoice

in your

savior.

Second

thing.

Jesus is

able to

help you

when you're

tempted.

Because

Jesus

suffered

when he

was

tempted.

Would

you turn

your

Bibles

to

Hebrews

Hebrews 2:18

chapter 2

verse 18.

I just

want you

to let

this sink

into your

heart a

little bit

because all

of us

are facing

temptations

right?

I just

want to

let you

know

Jesus

gets

it.

He's

been

there.

He knows

what it's

like to

be

tempted.

He can

sympathize

with our

weaknesses.

But not

only can

he

sympathize,

he can

help

you.

He's

able to

help you.

He's

willing to

help you.

Hebrews

2

18.

For

because he

himself has

suffered when

tempted,

he is

able to

help those

who are

being

tempted.

Anybody

tempted in

the room?

Anybody?

Anybody?

Yes.

Yes.

We're all

tempted.

And you

know what?

Instead of

letting that

kind of

distance you

from your

Savior,

recognize he

is ready and

able to

help you in

the temptation

because he

himself has

been tempted

yet without

sinning.

You know

what you

do when

tempted?

Here's what

I do.

Jesus,

help me in

the middle of

the night when

my anxiety

meter is off

the charts,

when my fears

are going,

when I don't

know what's

going to

happen.

I'm trying to

cling to

things and

make sense

of things and

I can't because

my brain is

not big enough.

I start to

freak out.

You know

what I do?

Jesus,

help me in

my bed.

My wife has

heard it.

Jesus,

help me.

He's able to

help us when

tempted.

He knows

what it's

like.

The last

thing,

the third

thing,

when temptations

come,

Jesus shows

us how to

resist temptation.

We resist

temptation by

reciting God's

word.

In order to

recite God's

word, it's

got to be on

our hearts.

Psalm 119,

11, I

have stored

up your

word in

my heart

that I

may not

sin against

you.

We don't

read the

Bible just

to read the

Bible.

We read the

Bible to

fight.

We read the

Bible to

resist.

Can we be a

church that

regularly says

when tempted,

it is written.

It is written.

When you're

tempted to

greed, it is

written.

When you're

tempted to

sexual immorality,

it's written.

Sinful anger,

it's written.

Unforgiveness and

bitterness, it is

written.

Condemnation, it

is written.

There's another

thing I've found

myself doing in

the middle of

the night.

Lying in my

bed, and these

thoughts come in

of past sins I've

committed, and I

start to think,

what a miserable

wretch I am, and I

start thinking more

about my sin than

about the Savior who

saved me from it, and

you know what comes

into my head?

It is written.

There is therefore

now no condemnation

for those who are in

Christ Jesus.

If God is for me, who

can be against me?

There's nothing that

separates me from the

love of God, not even

my own sin.

when you're afraid, it

is written.

God is with me.

When you're anxious, it

is written.

Don't be anxious for

anything, but in all

things with prayer and

supplication, make your

request to God, and He'll

give you the peace of

God which transcends on

all understanding.

When you're questioning

your worth, it is

written.

I am the apple of His

eye.

When you're facing

discouragement, it is

written.

This I call to mind, and

therefore I have hope.

The steadfast love of the

Lord never ceases.

When you're tempted to

gossip, it is written.

I will use my lips to

build up.

Ephesians 4.29.

Where are you tempted?

Where are you regularly

tempted?

Are you saying it is

written to it?

Are you resisting it?

And maybe you're sitting

and you're saying, well, I

know where I'm being

tempted, but I don't know

where it is written.

Ask for help.

Because surely there is

another saint in this room

who's been tempted by the

same thing, and they have

an it is written right

there in the top pocket of

their heart that they can

share with you.

Let's seek each other's

help for finding out what

is written so that we can