Tempting… | Sunday, April 13, 2025

We are going to open the Scriptures today to Luke chapter 4, which is where we're continuing our study this morning. Turn to about the middle of your Bible and start turning to the right. You'll find the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke. We are making our way through this Gospel in a series called "Meet Jesus," and we finally have Jesus in the text here today.

Luke chapter 4, beginning at verse 1, reads: "Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil. In those days, he ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.' But Jesus answered him and said, 'It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

Lord, as we stand here this morning, we have in our hands what we believe to be Your Word. We pray that from it, You would speak to us today. As the metaphor is used here, this is bread for us that we are to consume. I pray that it would become a part of our lives and that it would continue to change and transform the way that we think and the way that we live. God, use Your Word, and by Your Spirit, make us more and more into the kind of people You desire us to be—more and more like Your children, that we would show Your nature in this world. God, fill us today, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those in agreement said, "Amen." Amen. You can be seated.

This may seem like the wrong passage for this day because today is Palm Sunday. Some of you probably received one of these while you were coming in. If you don't know what this is all about, that's perfectly fine. But 2,000 years ago, we commemorate the day that Jesus came into Jerusalem at the beginning of what is referred to as Holy Week or Passion Week. This is kind of the high point, the culmination of so much of His ministry. It will end on Friday with the lowest point for sure of Jesus's time here.

The earth, which turns out to not be the lowest point, is significant because of what we will celebrate next Sunday. Palm Sunday is the remembrance of that triumphal entry, as described at the end of the Gospel of Luke, specifically in chapter 19. Jesus comes into Jerusalem from the east, coming from what is called the Mount of Olives. He descends into the Kidron Valley to enter Jerusalem at the head of that week. As He is coming in, people are rejoicing at His arrival. They are taking palm branches, waving them, and placing them down in front of Him. They are proclaiming Him to be King and Messiah, singing a psalm.

It’s interesting that when I woke up this morning, I had a song in my mind. This does not happen frequently, but I remembered the words: "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." This is that day, from Psalm 118. On Palm Sunday, those followers, those multitudes, were singing "Hosanna," which means "saved now." They proclaimed, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." This moment marks the high point of Jesus's ministry—His coming into Jerusalem.

What we have here in Luke chapter 4 is actually before Jesus's ministry even begins. The words of Jesus that we just read are, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Those words may appear in red in your Bible; they are the first recorded words of Christ in the Gospel of Luke. It is fascinating that these first recorded words of Jesus were not spoken to people, individuals, or a multitude. Instead, they were spoken to a spiritual entity referred to here as the devil.

This detail clues us into an important aspect of the Gospels in general, and the Gospel of Luke in particular. The Gospel of Christ is a spiritual story that inclines us to spiritual realities. This is important because we live in a society, especially after the Enlightenment over the last 400 to 500 years, where naturalism is the prevailing ideology. This means we explain every sort of metaphysical reality with naturalistic explanations. We seek verifiable, empirical evidence to validate or explain everything that possibly happens.

We think there is nothing beyond this world. However, the Bible clues us into a greater reality: there is a world beyond this world. It opens our eyes to spiritual reality, something that we could not know through just the sensory experience we have. We need revelation, and the Bible gives us revelation. It provides insight into spiritual realities, particularly in passages like the one we have here.

Christians do not see the world in the same way that the average, naturalistically oriented person in the Western world in 2025 does. We see the world as the Bible presents it, which is that there is a world beyond this world. As I mentioned, this world is imperceptible to sensory experience and experimentation in a laboratory or through equipment we might use to try to validate or see it. That is why it is often skeptically viewed and scandalized by many in our culture. They cannot imagine something like that. They want evidence, something tangible to validate this.

Well, we have the revelation of Scripture to speak of this. In the text we are examining, we can look back at what happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago during Jesus's triumphal entry, as described in Luke chapter 19. Yes, there were tangible physical events occurring, such as people taking palm branches and laying them down before Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, making praise noises like "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." There were many physical actions taking place, and we have historical documentation to tell us about that.

However, everything that was happening in the tangible realm indicates that things were also occurring in the spiritual realm. This is evident when Jesus was challenged by some of the religious Pharisees on that day. They said, "Tell these people to stop singing these words." They recognized that the crowd was announcing and proclaiming him as king and Messiah. The religious Pharisees insisted that he tell them to stop, but he replied, "If they were to stop, even the rocks would cry out." He was indicating that something spiritual was happening there in Luke chapter 19.

Something very clearly spiritual is taking place in Luke 4 as well, where Jesus is having a conversation with a non-physical spiritual being. We should recognize and acknowledge that there is something spiritual happening in this room at this very moment. It can be hard for us to wrap our minds around that because we...

We have been so affected by the cultural worldview of our time, which believes only in naturalistic realities, that even those of us who believe the Bible and are Christians have a hard time with that reality. At this very moment, there are spiritual things taking place in this room. And not just in this room, but throughout the world, there are spiritual things happening. The Bible speaks about these things, and we have that here in this passage.

It is my belief, my conviction, that the very fact that you are conscious right now is a spiritual reality. The fact that you know you are conscious is significant. I was just talking to my son about this the other day because he has been reading some philosophy in high school. They were studying René Descartes, and he told me he really likes Descartes. I said, "Yeah, wait until you have to read him. You may not like him quite so much." But that name is important; he is the one who came up with the cogito: "I think, therefore I am." He argues that the only thing you can really know for sure is that you are conscious.

The fact that you are conscious is, I believe, a spiritual reality. Scientific naturalism does not have a tight explanation for consciousness. They refer to it as the hard problem of consciousness. Cognitive science cannot explain exactly what it is. We know that we have it; you know that you have it because you are thinking at this very moment. I don't want to know what you're thinking, but you're thinking. We all have this, and it presents a hard problem for naturalistic science and cognitive science.

However, it is not a hard thing for the Christian because we believe Genesis chapter 2 reveals that God breathed into man the breath of life. When God breathed into humanity the breath of life, you became a living soul. There is something distinctly different about you compared to other living beings. You are separate, distinct, and different, created by God to have a soul, and that makes you unique. Your consciousness resides in your soul, which encompasses your intellect, emotion, and will. That is the true nature of who you are.

Now, I know some of you will object and say, "You don't know my dog. I have a dog, and my dog has a soul." Not in the same way. Dogs act primarily by instinct. It is your soul that...

Experiences what we're going to read about here in this passage of Scripture is the area of temptation. That's where the enemy comes and deals with us at the level of intellect, emotion, and will. He seeks to deceive and tempt us. Your dog does not experience that in the same way.

Now, some of you might object because maybe you have a terrier like mine, and you might say, "Now that dog has been tempted to do bad things. If he wasn't so cute, I'd get rid of him. He's destroyed my yard digging up more yesterday." However, what is given to us here in Luke chapter 4 adds an interesting layer of understanding as it relates to this spiritual realm. In this passage, Jesus is going to be tempted spiritually by a spiritual entity. What He experiences here is the same thing that you experience every single day of your life. You are experiencing it maybe even right now. You are being tempted.

I don't want to know what those temptations are, but we all experience these things. The spiritual temptations that you experience now or will experience later today or this week fall into categories of temptation that we're going to see here in this text.

First, temptation is common. Everybody experiences it. Paul writes about this in his first letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He said, "No temptation has overcome you except such as is common to humanity." We all experience temptation. That's a common thing that all humans throughout all time have faced. We see that in this text.

Second, as we go through this text, we discover that the spirit who tempted Jesus is the same kind of spirit that tempts you. While it may not be the exact same identity of spirit, it is the same kind of spirit that uses the same schemes, tactics, and strategies that have been effectively employed against humans throughout all of recorded human history.

Going back to the first temptation seen in Genesis chapter 3, the kinds of temptation used here in Luke chapter 4 are the same kinds of temptation that were used in Genesis chapter 3 to tempt Eve and then Adam. They are the same kinds of temptation that you will experience right now or later today.

This week, we are reminded that there are common schemes and tactics that we should not be unaware of. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that Satan tries to outwit us, and he emphasizes that we are not unaware of his schemes. It is crucial for us to understand the ways, strategies, and tactics that he uses to deceive and tempt us.

The types of temptation we encounter are similar to those found in Luke 4 and Genesis chapter 3. They align with the categories that the Apostle John refers to in his first epistle, specifically in 1 John 2, where he writes that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These are the categories of temptation that the enemy brings to Jesus, the same ones used to deceive and tempt Eve. They are also the same temptations that you and I experience.

In this text, we find that temptation is a common experience for all human beings. We are tempted by a spiritual entity that employs these familiar schemes and tactics: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Therefore, the account of Jesus being tempted and overcoming temptation is particularly relevant, especially since the vast majority of humans do not succeed in this regard. Jesus does, and this makes the text applicable for you and me today, this week, and throughout our lives.

What we have here is something eminently applicable because Jesus overcomes every temptation—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He does so by the Spirit's power, using the Word, and humbly relying upon the Father. It is important for us to acknowledge that temptation is normal; it is the normative experience of all human beings at all times. As conscious spiritual beings, we experience temptation, and we will continue to do so. We have likely been overcome by temptation many times before, and we will be again if we do not respond to it appropriately.

Effectively, you can overcome temptation. Gosh, that's a glorious reality! Jesus is our perfect example of that in this text. In James, one of the early apostles, he writes about enduring and overcoming temptation. In James 1:12, he says, "Blessed is the one who endures temptation." I don't even need to ask the question because I know the answer. You all want to be blessed. How many of you want to be blessed? I know you all do. We want to receive the blessing.

One of the blessings that James talks about in that passage is the crown of life. That gets into a whole theological discussion about what that is. I think, in some respects, it's connected to abundant life. We want to be blessed and experience abundant life. But he says, "Blessed is the one who endures temptation, who persists through it, who persists and survives, overcomes temptation." So, we want to overcome temptation, and yet so often, when tested by it, we fail. Without the power of the presence of God by His Spirit, without the working of His Word in the midst of temptation, you will fail.

Now, the hard part with temptation is that when James talks about the blessing that comes through enduring temptation, he discusses the test of temptation, which leads some of us to think that God is testing us. But James addresses that. He says, "Let no one say when he is tempted that he is tempted of God." It's not God who is up in heaven trying to test you. Although sometimes we think that the temptation is His test to see if we are going to fail, and that He just wants us to fail. That's not what it is.

Here's how I think the test of temptation is actually not a test of you and your endurance in temptation, but a test of God's faithfulness in temptation. God, in temptation, is revealing that He is faithful as we rely upon His Spirit, His power, and His Word. He can enable and quicken us to stand in temptation. That passage where Paul tells us, "No temptation has overcome you except such as is common to man," is powerful. He says, "With the temptation, God will provide you an escape that you may be able to bear it." What an awesome promise!

You see, before you are a follower of God and before you have His Spirit dwelling in you and empowering you, I don't know that you really have the full power to stand against temptation. Yes, you can kind of build up willpower for a time and try to stand against it until that cheesecake shows up. Oh my goodness gracious! Now, some of you don't like cheesecake, so you're thinking, "I have no problem with that." But...

Some of you may be wondering, "Why would you do that to me?" when it comes to the topic of temptation. It comes to all people. In Christ, and by the abiding power of His Spirit and His Word, we have the ability to endure, to overcome, and to stand. We have the example of this in the passage we are considering, and we desire the blessing of enduring temptation to receive the crown of life. The obvious question is, how?

I believe the opening words of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, provide our first indication of the answer to that question. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Notice that the Spirit is mentioned twice in this opening statement, where Jesus is tempted and where He overcomes and stands in the face of temptation. This teaches us a key and important point: overcoming temptation requires the help of a mighty helper.

The first thing that stands out to me in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, and in Jesus being led by the Spirit, is that I need the help of a mighty helper. The Holy Spirit is referred to in the Bible as the helper. I need a mighty helper, which indicates to me that I, in and of myself, am weak. It can be hard for us to admit that, to acknowledge and recognize our weakness. Sometimes we say things like, "I do it all by myself. I got this," and we resist admitting our vulnerability.

There are some men here today who still experience back pain because, at one point in your life, you thought, "I got this," and you didn't. I remember when it happened to me. I was lifting and carrying a big foam king-size mattress upstairs at my old house by myself, thinking, "I can get this upstairs. I don't need anybody's help." No one was there to assist me anyway, but I was determined. I didn't quite make it, and I still have back pain from that incident from time to time.

Therefore, we must acknowledge the abiding presence and sustaining power of the Holy Spirit. We need to recognize that we are powerless and that we need the help of a mighty helper. In our introduction to Jesus at His baptism in Luke chapter 3, which we considered last time, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him.

Jesus in bodily form. Verse 22 of Luke chapter 3 states that it descended upon Him in bodily form and remained with Him. John the Baptist had predicted that there would come one mightier than him who would baptize not with water, like he did, but with the Holy Spirit.

When you trust in Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior, He baptizes you with His Spirit. You receive the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, which is what the Bible describes. Can I test it empirically with laboratory equipment? No. Even Jesus says this work of the Holy Spirit, in His conversation with Nicodemus, is like the wind. You can't see the wind, but you can see the wind's effects. I can't see the Spirit in you, but I can see the Spirit's effects. One of the effects is the enabling power to stand against temptation and to transform and change you over time through a process that we call sanctification.

This is an aspect of you being saved. When you become a Christian, the Bible describes you as having been saved. You've been saved from the punishment of sin. Jesus took your sin on the cross, which we will remember, commemorate, and celebrate on Friday. He redeemed you from the punishment of sin. But He is redeeming you. He is presently, at this moment, saving you through the sanctification of the Spirit, where He is transforming you from the power of sin—not just the punishment of sin, but the power of sin.

One day, He promises to redeem and sanctify us from the presence of sin. I'm looking forward to that, and you should be too. But right now, He is transforming us by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to redeem us from sin's power.

Now, the problem is that you live with yourself every day. For some of you, the struggle is real. You don't always see the progressive sanctification at work because you see yourself every day and notice the failures and the falls. However, here's the amazing thing that sometimes happens: you bump into someone you haven't seen for a long time, someone you used to run with, and they say, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but something's different about you." There's a change.

Transformation occurs for a reason. The Spirit has been sanctifying and cleansing you by the washing of the water of His Word so that you are not the same and have the ability to stand against temptation. However, you will be powerless in the face of temptation without the abiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit descended and remained upon Jesus in Luke chapter 3. When you become a Christian and trust in Him, He baptizes you with His Spirit. In this passage, Jesus was full of the Spirit and led by the Spirit. He wants us to be full of the Spirit and led by the Spirit as well. If we walk in the Spirit, we have power. Without the help of a mighty helper, I cannot stand against the enemy and his tempting work.

The enemy is very skilled at tempting humanity. He has been practicing it for a long time and knows the right thing to use at the right time in the right way. He tests to see in me and in you where there are gaps or chinks in the armor, or where there are weaknesses in the wall, if you will. He knows when to show up. He understands that you are probably more vulnerable when you are tired or hungry. He knows you may feel weaker after a victory when you suddenly think, "I've got this." Sometimes, he knows you are tired and weak when you are isolated and alone.

In our culture, many have been isolated and alone, and thus overcome by temptation. The enemy even came to tempt Jesus, who we find described as the Son of God at the very last words of chapter 3. Not only is He fully God, but He is also fully man. He experiences weaknesses, which can be hard for us to comprehend. In His earthly body, He experienced weaknesses, and one of those was during a time of fasting.

We are told that during those days, He ate nothing for 40 days. I have fasted for periods of time, but never for 40 days. Some of you may fast for 40 minutes and already feel hangry. Imagine going 40 days without food. Afterward, when those days had ended, He was hungry. If someone is really hungry, what do you tempt them with? The devil said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

Listen, I have learned a really practical...

Maybe you don't know this, so I'm going to fill you in: do not grocery shop when you're hungry. You already know that one. I've had this principle that I've tried to live by for a very long time. Self-control begins at the supermarket. Once you buy it, you're done. If it gets into the basket, into the car, and into your cupboard or freezer, it's over.

I made the mistake the other night. I went into Albertson's to get something; I don't remember what it was. I walked past the freezer aisle, which was my first mistake. My second mistake was looking and seeing that Talenti ice cream was on sale. I bought four of them for the kids. I bought them for the kids, kind of. They are not actually for the kids, but they will be by the end of the day, I'm sure.

John wrote in his epistle that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh. Here, this temptation comes to Jesus. It's a temptation that is common to all of us, and it falls under three categories. The first is the lust of the flesh. We are tempted by things that this body desires—the appetites of this body. Now listen, those appetites are not bad. In fact, God created those appetites for a reason: so that you would perpetuate life and produce more life.

You have appetites, but those appetites can be hacked. The enemy is really good at hacking your appetites to get you to go towards, look at, or long for things that are not ultimately good for you, or maybe they're not the right thing at the right way at the right time. Jesus was hungry, and the first temptation of the enemy was aimed at this desire of His flesh.

James says, "Every one of us is tempted when we are led away by our own desires and enticed." You're not going to be tempted with something you don't desire. For example, probably none of you here in this room are tempted by the latest Lego set that came out, but your kid or grandkid might be. You're led away by things that you desire.

Man, I see some adult men laughing about that right now, and that is kind of cracking me up.

Anyways, we are led away by things we don't understand. Now, listen, the enemy might test you. He might tempt you with something you're like, "I don't want that," and then he knows you won't use it. But when he finds something that works, he will use it over and over again until it doesn't work anymore. If that thing hooks you, he will use it to keep you ensnared for as long as he possibly can. This becomes what we call a life-dominating, besetting sin. It's what the author of the Book of Hebrews refers to as a sin that so easily ensnares you. Each one of us is tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed. The enemy uses the things of this physical world to tempt our physical appetites, the flesh, the body, to draw us away from doing things that are out of line with God's good, perfect, best will, desire, and plan for that time and in that way.

If we are walking in the flesh, we will fail. But if you walk in the Spirit—Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit into the wilderness—Paul says in Galatians that if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts and desires of your flesh. The flesh wars against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These two are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you desire to do. You experience the struggle described in Romans chapter 7: "The good things that I want to do, I don't do, and the bad things that I don't want to do, that I practice." Oh, it's such a struggle. However, if I am walking in the Spirit, I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Now, Jesus was hungry; He was craving sustenance for sure. His physical body had appetites. The tempter says, "If you're the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Would it have been wrong for Jesus in that moment to eat? I don't think so. But point number two is that sin isn't always doing the wrong thing. It may be the right thing done in the wrong way or at the wrong time. I'm not sure that Jesus was being tempted to eat; His body had an appetite and desired to eat. He was being tempted to use His power and authority in a way that was wrong for that time.

In a future text, Jesus will actually use the same power to multiply bread to feed the multitude. He has the power and the authority to do that. He can do it; it's just that in this way, at this time, it was not the right way or the right time, and it wouldn't have been relying upon His Father.

Jesus responds in verse four, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God." Take careful note of how Jesus responds to this temptation. It is a pattern, a model, an example that we should take note of and follow. First, He was filled with and led by the Spirit. I have no power in and of myself to stand against temptation apart from the abiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Second, He responded with Scripture. "It is written." In all three of these temptations—lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life—Jesus will say, "It is written." It has been said. Three times, He goes back to Scripture, specifically to Deuteronomy 8 in this passage.

My flesh, your flesh, our flesh is tempted to run after what it wants when it wants it. It doesn't want to wait. It does not want to trust in God for provision. Our experience of this is what we see in the world around us. We see it in passages of Scripture.

Abraham, in Genesis chapter 12, the first man of God who followed God by faith, experiences a lack, a famine, as he starts to follow God. What is the temptation? The inclination is to go down to Egypt to fill this need in his flesh. He gets into all kinds of sinful problems there in Egypt. He does not trust God as provider, Jehovah Jireh. He learns later on that God is the provider who will take care of him, but in that moment, he turns to Egypt and he sins.

Stories like that abound in Scripture, and we see them in our own lives and in others. But Jesus was filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, and when tempted, He responds with Scripture. This is key. The only way to respond to temptation with Scripture is to know Scripture.

So the question is, do you know Scripture, which is referred to by Paul in Ephesians chapter 6 as the sword of the Spirit? Do you know how to use this when temptation comes? Do you know what the Scriptures are? How well do you know it? "It is written. It is written. It has been said."

Number three: overcoming power in temptation is supplied by the Spirit and depends upon the Word. There are three important keys to overcoming temptation in this passage. The first is the Spirit. The second is the Word. The last one we will see is humble reliance upon the Father. It is God who enables us in all ways to overcome and stand in temptation.

Well, first one down, Jesus one, Satan zero. But there's more temptation; it isn't over. Then the devil, in verse 5, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give to you and their glory, for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you worship me, it will all be yours."

Don't you see all this? It could be yours if you just bow down to me. It's fascinating that Jesus doesn't argue with the devil when he claims, "All of this has been delivered to me. I have authority, jurisdiction over all of this." That is a fascinating reality. Many theologians believe that humanity was given power, jurisdiction, and authority over all creation when it was granted dominion in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Then, in the temptation and sin of Genesis chapter 3, man ceded that authority over to the enemy. Now, the enemy has power and jurisdiction over this world.

I would suggest to you that he uses this tactic frequently against many different people. My observation is that it is exceptionally effective against men. I know this as a man, and I observe it in men. I don't know; maybe it's similar for women, but I know it's acutely true that men are overcome by what is described as the lust of the eyes. He takes Him up on a high mountain, shows Him all the kingdoms, and says, "Look at all this. It could all be yours. All that you see could be yours, but you just have to give power over to me." The lust of the eyes is one of the most effective temptations in the enemy's arsenal, especially against men.

Solomon, the great wise king of Israel, wrote in Proverbs 6:25, "Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids."

Do not lust after her beauty. There is a lust of the eyes. Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. The lust of the eyes is something that 3,000 years ago the wise King Solomon acknowledged could be a problem. Do not lust for her beauty in your heart.

I wonder if Solomon had his mom and dad in mind when he wrote this. His mom's name was Bathsheba, and his dad's name was David. In 2 Samuel 11, it happened. One night, David arose and was walking on the rooftop of his palace. From the rooftop, he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful to behold. He inquired of some of his servants, asking them to find out who that lady was. They told him, "Oh yes, her name is Bathsheba. She's the wife of Uriah, one of your men in the military." David wanted her for himself. What took place after that was adultery and ultimately the murder of her husband.

If only David had considered the counsel of Job, who said in Job 31:1, "I have made a covenant with my eyes. I will not look upon a young woman," referring to the lust of the eyes. Perhaps he would have thought of his own writing in Psalm 119, where he said, "Turn away my eyes from looking on worthless things." Jesus would say, "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart." The lust of the eyes has been the downfall of many, and the enemy tempts many with this.

It may not be for her beauty; it might be for all kinds of different things that you could lust for, long for, or desire. How do we withstand this temptation of the enemy? Well, Jesus answered in verse eight and said to him, "Get behind me, Satan." That's a good place to start. Get behind me, Satan. For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve," quoting scripture from Deuteronomy 6:13.

By this scripture, Jesus teaches us an exceedingly important and applicable point: overcoming the lust of the eyes requires redirecting our gaze to God and His glory. Notice what He says: "You, Satan, are tempting me with this before my eyes. You get behind me."

See you there. He says, "You shall worship." That is a word that comes from the etymology of old English; it's "worth ship." It ascribes value to something. It redirects your attention from that which you acknowledge as worthless to that which is worth more. It shifts your gaze from distractions that pull your attention and tempt your desires to that which holds greater value. Worshiping God recognizes that you were created to serve Him.

I suggest that this is only possible by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, for whatever it is that you are looking upon, tempted by, or distracted by. I can't help but think of the old hymn, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." Look full in His glorious face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Jesus to Satan: zero. But it's not over.

John said, "All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." In verse 9, the devil brought Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle, the highest point of the temple, and said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here."

Now notice this: the enemy says, "For it is written." The enemy knows the Bible better than you, and he will use it and twist it to try to get you to justify sin. It breaks my heart. I know a number of my colleagues and friends in ministry who have fallen into sin, and so frequently they justified it with Scripture. Where did that come from? I suggest it came as a temptation from the enemy.

It is written, "He shall give His angels charge over you." Jesus, don't you know the Bible? Satan says, "to keep you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." Jesus is tempted with the pride of life. What is the nature of this? In some sense, it seems like, "Hey, cast yourself off the pinnacle of the temple, and everybody's going to see how awesome you are because you will not die. The angels are going to bear you up." It's an appeal to His desire for recognition.

Glory and pride are traits that every single one of us possesses. It is fascinating because, in the conversation between the serpent and Eve in Genesis chapter 3, it seems that it was the pride of life that pushed her over the edge towards the desire for the fruit. She saw that it was good for food, which represents the lust of the flesh. She thought, "It's going to make me feel good." She also saw that it was beautiful to behold, representing the lust of the eyes. Then the serpent said, "Don't you know that if you eat of it on the day that you eat of it, you shall become like God?" When she saw the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and that it would be desirable to make one wise, she took and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Jesus is attacked at the point of pride. I don't know what your point of pride is, but I guarantee you the enemy does. He has been probing and testing to try and find it for a while, and he will use it as long as it is effective. The enemy will do everything he can to discover and take advantage of your desire in this area.

What is the proper response? First, note Jesus' response. Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." The root of so much sin is pride. As I mentioned, it seems to be the triggering event that caused Eve to partake of the fruit in Genesis chapter 3. It is central to the fall of the one we call Lucifer, the devil. As we look in Ezekiel chapter 28 and Isaiah chapter 14, pride was present there.

In response to the devil's temptation, Jesus uses Scripture. The enemy's attempt on our pride fails when we humbly rely upon God and His Word. Jesus turns and leans upon the Word. He has the Spirit of God upon and in Him, and He uses the Word of God offensively as a sword. He relies heavily upon the Father. The most effective response to the temptation of pride is to humbly rely upon God for His enabling power in the midst of it.

Jesus 3, the devil 0. Now, here's the thing: when you are victorious, when you experience victory over sin and rejoice because blessed is the one who overcomes, remember that it may have been that very thing that has gotten you every single time. When you finally stand against it, take heed when you think you stand. Verse 13 states, "Now when the devil had..."

He ended every temptation and departed from him until an opportune time. The enemy will look for another opportune time. Therefore, Peter says, "Be sober. Be vigilant." Your enemy, the adversary, the devil, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is looking for an opportunity today, this week, to take you out.

Paul would say, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil in your battle and your temptation against sin." There will be days when you, as you are walking in the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, have the Word of God ready like the sword of the Spirit that it is. You will stand, and you will be victorious.

But understand that in this life, before you are delivered by the grace of Jesus from the presence of sin, you will still fail. You will still fall. In those moments, the enemy will immediately come in with condemnation and say, "You couldn't do it, could you? He wants nothing to do with you. You should stay away." That is what Adam and Eve did; they hid themselves from the presence of God.

But God would say to you and to me, "If you confess your sin, I am faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness." Jesus has the power to forgive us of sin. He has the power to forgive us because He bore our sin on the cross, which we will celebrate on Friday. His body was bruised, and His blood was shed because without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission, removal of sin, or forgiveness of sin.

He forgives those who come to Him and confess because He has the authority and the power to do so, having borne my sin and your sin on the cross. Once He has forgiven, His desire is to cleanse us of all unrighteousness so that we can walk in what is right, good, and true for His glory.

We are going to close our service today in the most appropriate way possible. We are going to partake of communion. I am going to invite Anthony and the worship team back up here. If you don't have these little things with the bread and the cup, as we are worshiping through this song, please let us know.

Ushers will be coming down the aisle. They would love to give them to you, and we are going to partake together. So hold on to it for a few minutes as we worship the Lord. We are going to remember that it was by His body and His blood that we are forgiven. But not just forgiven; we are given the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit to strengthen us in the day of adversity when the enemy comes in like a flood. He will most certainly do that to try to cause us to fall.

However, as we follow the example of Christ, we can, by the Holy Spirit's power and presence and through the Word of God, stand in the face of temptation. Father God, we praise You for the good news that we have here in this text. Jesus, for the example, You were tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. God, we rejoice in that and help us by Your Spirit and by Your Word to stand humbly relying upon You this week. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Lord Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed, which in celebration of that is going to be this Thursday night, traditionally called Maundy Thursday, took bread. When He had broken it, He gave it to His disciples and said, "Take, eat. This is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." Let's partake together.

In the same manner, after they had eaten, He took also the cup. He said, "This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me." Let's partake together. Praise You, Jesus.

Let's stand together. You can pass your cups to the center aisles if you'd like. Father God, we thank You for Your grace and Your mercy. Jesus, Your mercy displayed in such a beautiful way on the cross. Even on the cross, You prayed, "Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do."

Awesome, Lord. We rejoice today in Your goodness. We rejoice today in Your grace. Lord, we are thankful for the forgiveness that You give to us as we come before You. You take away our guilt and our shame, and You clothe us in a robe of righteousness. You call us to go and sin no more.

I pray, God, that You would help us by Your Spirit and by the working of Your Word. Train us in righteousness so that we may walk in a way that brings glory to You, fully relying upon You. Pour out Your Spirit upon Your people today. Bless them, we pray.