Lent: How to Fight Temptation

Well, good morning.

We're breaking from the book of Nehemiah for the season of Lent.

So Lent is the season of the 40 days leading up to Easter.

And so during this season, each Sunday, we'll meet mainly looking at a gospel reading, a story of Jesus, as to prepare our hearts for Good Friday and for Easter.

Three months ago, the week before Christmas, my daughter shows up into our home with a Christmas Danish Kringle.

Do you know this treat?

Here's a picture of it.

And so it's just layer after layer of dough and cream cheese and icing, which is it's the perfect treat for breakfast.

And, you know, for lunch.

And when you get home, you get home from work, you need a little upper, and it's great for then.

And then nobody else in my family really loved it like I did.

So I am responsible for this gift.

You know, I need to really make sure it goes not to waste.

And so even at night, I could I'd be watching my my nightly Seinfeld episode, and I I could I could hear it in the kitchen.

Russ.

Russ.

I will make you happy.

So it's right, you know the feeling.

It's calling you because you know the the afterwork piece was good, but it didn't really, you know, satisfy you.

But the the nighttime piece, like that one, that's gonna be the one that satisfies all the lack of joy in your heart.

Like that will totally do it, right?

We all know temptation.

We want something that's not good for us.

It won't really deliver, but we still want it.

And then there's also unhealth and destruction there.

Author Kathy Keller wrote this prayer.

Lord, help us remember that when we break your laws, we also break ourselves.

When we violate your word, we also violate ourselves.

Help us to remember that sin is first of all an offense and grief to your holy good heart, but is also stupid.

Amen.

All right, Luke chapter 4, verses 1 and 2.

Luke 4:1

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil, and he ate nothing during those days, and when they were ended, he was hungry.

So there's two easy mistakes we could make when reading this passage.

The first mistake is that there is a demon or a devil behind every door.

The second mistake is thinking I am just like Jesus.

So let's talk about the first mistake.

There is a demon behind every door.

If we look at the text, it's very clear that the Spirit of God, God Himself, not a demonic force, leads Jesus into the desert.

It's there that the devil, known as the liar, shows up and begins to tempt him.

See, God uses the devil.

God uses the devil to show that Jesus is who he says he is.

Now, a spiritual experience with the devil or demons is possible.

That's possible for us as spiritual people.

But is it it is an exception to the normative daily Christian life?

So we should be aware, but we never have to live in fear.

Let me give you six reasons why we have no fear of the devil and demons.

Number one, the devil and demons operate under God's sovereignty.

That's the book of Job.

Number two, Jesus publicly disarmed and humiliated the devil and demons on the cross.

Colossians 2, 15.

Number three, demons beg Christ Jesus not to destroy them.

Matthew 8, 28 through 31.

And that same Christ lives in you.

Number four, God promises to protect his children.

1 Peter 5, James 4.

Our souls are safe with God, Matthew 10, 28.

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

That's Romans 8.

See, to live in any fear of demons or the demonic, to live in fear of that, it's just unneeded.

And any church that creates fear of that is diminishing Christ's centrality, sufficiency, and power, and is actually just manipulating you towards something other than Jesus.

Now, this story itself forces us to admit something.

We have to admit that the worst enemy is not out there.

The demons and the devil and the culture and my horrible cousin.

Like the worst enemy is not a the worst enemy is actually inside of us.

Right?

Taylor knew it.

Right?

What does she sing?

It's me.

Hi.

I'm the problem.

It's me.

Right?

She knows this truth.

That every lie coming at us only means something because we desire it.

Or else it just wouldn't even mean anything.

There's something in us.

Have you ever watched something, said something, done something, thought something?

And the entire time you simultaneously love and hate it.

Right?

Because there's a war within us.

Paul explains it this way, Galatians 5, 16 and 17.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Paul says there's a war in us, flesh and Holy Spirit, lie and truth.

Now let's look at how Jesus responds as temptation comes to him.

Luke 4, 3 and 4.

The devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

And Jesus answered him, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone.

Point number one is this our souls are created for wholeness and satisfaction in God alone.

The lie is that the next Danish Kringle will satisfy you.

Suddenly you will be okay.

The next image, the next hit, the next person.

This past Sunday on CBS Sunday morning.

Does anybody else as old as I am and watch CBS Sunday morning?

Anybody record it?

Watch like old souls.

Those are old souls if you're watching Sunday CBS Sunday morning.

I always record it.

I watch it at night.

I have my old man time, Sunday morning, 60 minutes.

I mean, that's just a bucket of old people stuff, and I love it.

Last week they interviewed Dan Lannigan.

He has spent 30 years collecting movie stuff.

So from the Blues Brothers movie, Belushi's Hat, the hat, Belushi's the guy on the right.

He paid$28,000 for that hat.

So he owns that hat and his warehouse, huge warehouse full of movie stuff.

He paid$270,000 for the Blade Runner gun, which I didn't even know was a thing.

I didn't know that was a big deal.

Apparently, it's a big deal.

He has a warehouse full of just movie stuff.

And they asked him, Will you ever have enough?

And he said, Well, I already have too much.

And yet, the next item that comes up, he's gonna want it.

Right?

It's always the next item.

It's always the next, the next thing will complete the collection.

We all know this lie.

This is a temptation to self-nourish.

That I can nourish my soul by my own means and my own resources apart from God.

But our souls were created for wholeness and satisfaction in God alone, so everything else is like a foretaste or a substitute.

The good news is that in the grace of God we're relieved of this exhausting way of life.

Our souls can be satisfied in that God actually does know you and created you and loves you.

Luke 4, verses 5 through 8.

Luke 4:5–8

And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.

If you then will worship me, it will all be yours.

And Jesus answered him, It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

Point number two is this our souls were created to be the created, not the creator.

The temptation here is to be in control.

That I should be the creator.

I'm gonna be in control.

It's the burden to have to have everything controlled.

That your kingdom, that you reign in your kingdom.

This week I was watching Friends with one of my daughters, and while Monica was at work, uh Chandler decides he's gonna clean the apartment.

I don't know if you remember this episode.

And if you know Monica, Monica is a clean freak and a control freak.

And so Chandler wants to be sweet boyfriend, and so he's gonna clean the apartment, and as he gets into it, he decides to do a really good job because to clean for Monica, you need to do a really good job.

And so he starts to move the furniture and move items.

He's gonna clean the best he can, and then he gets about halfway through and everything's a mess, and Ross helps him, but he realizes uh he doesn't know how everything goes back in its place, in its right place.

And Monica knows where everything goes in her kingdom.

So Monica walks in, you know, the couch is you know four inches off, and the coffee table's not centered.

She likes things a certain way, her way.

It's gotta be her way.

Monica fans, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

And if you relate to Monica at all, um I'm with you.

Here's a couple questions to diagnose us.

Control freaks, you'll you'll associate.

Do you often feel the need to be in charge?

I mean, look what I'm doing right now.

I can't get more in charge.

Like, that's the the how deeply rooted this is.

Number two, are you uncomfortable when things are uncertain or out of your control?

Do you sometimes micromanage situations or people to ensure they are correct?

Anybody else?

Yeah, we all have an inner monica.

We want to use control to feel okay, to feel safe, to feel secure.

To feel like that we fully control our kingdom.

And while we are participants in our kingdom, we do not fully control it.

And that's what Jesus was saying when he says, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

While we're participants in our kingdom, we we have a freedom in humility.

And the freedom is as much as I participate and I use wisdom and I steward, there's a freedom to know, oh, actually I serve the Creator.

My kingdom is his.

Luke 4, 9 through 13.

And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.

For it is written, He will command his angels concerning you to guard you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

And Jesus answered him, It is said, You shall not put your Lord your God to the test.

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Point number three is this our souls were created for humility, not elitism.

Verse nine, did you pick up on that word?

Pinnacle.

The devil sets Jesus on a pinnacle.

The temptation here is self-importance.

So we have a temptation to self-nourishment, and we have a temptation to self-importance, constantly having to make yourself seem important or righteous.

But what if?

What if you are already important?

What if you're already righteous?

See, the gospel declares you in Jesus fully worthy, fully important.

You matter, fully forgiven and fully righteous.

Not because of anything you do, but because of what Jesus did for you.

That identity secures you, it gives you a humility, but it makes you incredibly secure.

And this is the gift that we have, this freedom of humility, which actually equips us to act to love another person who's not perfect.

So let's get practical.

What do we learn from Jesus in this passage on how he deals with temptation?

How do we fight temptation?

Five observations.

Number one, ignoring the temptation will not help.

We have to face it.

If the temptation's there, we need to face it.

Number two, we seek to understand the lie, the untruth underneath the temptation.

So there's a temptation, but under that temptation, fueling it is a lie.

What is the temptation promising me, but it will not deliver.

Number three, we combat the temptation with what is true about ourselves as Abba's child.

We remember who we are as God's son or God's daughter.

We begin with our identity, what's already true about us in Jesus.

Number four, we combat the temptation with what is true about sin and goodness.

We remember there's more going on in this moment.

If we can just slow down, like I got a lot of emotions, I got a temptation.

Can I slow down to remember who I am in Jesus already?

Can I slow down enough to remember, okay, what's going on here?

What's the promise here?

What's the lie?

What's true?

What's actually true about sin?

What's actually true about goodness?

Then number five, with the Holy Spirit's help, we recenter our heart and mind on what is true.

One more practical application.

Two questions for your heart for this week.

Number one, Abba Father, what is an influential lie in my heart that no longer needs to be there?

That would be something worthy to be repent of, to say, God, God, this is this is a lie.

This is not healthy, it's destructive, but it's in me, it's constantly in me to begin to confess that again.

Number two, Abba Father, what does it mean for me to walk in the truth today?

Now remember, I said there's a second mistake we could make reading this passage, is it's thinking that we are Jesus rather than letting Jesus be Jesus for us.

There's a scene in the 1975 movie Monty Python Holy Grail, incredibly silly, silly, silly, silly movie.

Arthur a black knight to head down the path.

And in this two-minute clip we're gonna watch, in this two-minute clip, we are we are the black knight.

Here we go.

I move on no man.

Now stand aside what are the adversaries.

But a scratch.

A scratch?

Your arms off! What's that then?

Come on, you fansy.

Victory is mine.

We can't be lord, but in my mouth Come on, then what you're indeed brave tonight, but the fight is mine.

Oh, I don't know, eh?

Look, you're stupid! And you've got no arms left! Yes, I have.

Look! Just a flesh wound.

Look, stop that! Chicken! Chicken, look, I'll have your leg! Right! Right, I'll do you for that.

You what?

Come here! What are you gonna do?

Bleed on me?

I'm invincible! You're a loony! The black knights always trouble! How about you?

Come on, then! All right, we're calling the draw.

Come, Patsy! Oh, oh, I see.

Running away! You yellow! Come back here and paint one's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off! So we're a lot like the Black Knight.

We're saying, I'm invincible, tis but a scratch.

But we really need a lot of help.

We need the Holy Spirit's help in us at a given temptation.

And we need a secure promise that can hold us in the temptation, in our victory, and in our failure.

Last point is this temptation is always a conditional statement.

The gospel is a secure promise.

Did you notice that in the passage, every temptation is conditional?

Like, hey, if you do this, you'll get this.

If this, then this.

Priest Paul Walker explains it this way.

Who doesn't know the power of this devilish temptation?

What is it for you?

Money, sex, and power are the usual suspects.

I'm not immune to that triune.

But a few years ago I preached a sermon saying that if we just had crown molding in our living room, I would be happy.

Fulfilled homeowner and person, well, wouldn't you know it?

We put crown molding in the living room, and gosh darn it, it looks really good and made me happy for a month or two.

Now, if we could just figure out a way to put it in the master bathroom, adjoining our bedroom, I'd be really happy.

Some of the more searing conditional sentences are if you were lovable, then you would be loved.

Or if you had worth, then you would show your worth.

If you were a better parent, your children would be happy and successful.

The list goes on and on and on.

If the sentence structure of Satan is conditional, then the grammar of God is declarative.

Jesus responds to each of the devil's temptations with a declarative statement from Scripture.

It is written, he says three times over.

One doesn't live by bread alone.

Worship God only, don't put God to the test.

To each of the devil's slippery slopes, Jesus answers back with a solid rock.

I don't know your mistakes, I don't know your temptations, I don't know your crown molding, but we all have it.

We all have temptations, we've all made mistakes, and what we need is we need a promise from beyond ourselves.

We need the one-way love of God in Jesus.

That Christ lived the sinless life, we did not, that he lives Luke chapter 4 sinless and we do not.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

That he died on the cross for our sins, so we're fully forgiven and fully righteous.

Now, maybe you're here and you have a question about that or something else.

I'll be down front after we'd love to speak to you or pray with you.

But let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you do not leave us on the path alone to fight our fights and struggles and temptations.

But you are with us.

We acknowledge this morning there is a war inside of us between lie and truth, between flesh and spirit.

Would you help us rest in our secure identity in Jesus alone even more?

Would you help us to find our wholeness and satisfaction in you?

Forgive us for all the ways that we try to self nourish.

Forgive us for all the ways we try to be important outside of you.

Help us to rest in you.

Help us to grow in you and to know the implications of your radical grace to us in Christ alone.

Amen.