Date: 11-18-2020

Title: When Temptation Rears Its Ugly Head

(S) cripture:
    Matthew 4:1-11 (NASB) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'” 5 Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'” 8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'” 11 Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

(O) bservation:
    When the devil came to tempt Jesus, he did so in three areas: 1) His Authority, 2) His Life and 3) His Mission. Each time Jesus responded to the temptation by quoting scripture. When the devil used scripture to tempt him, Jesus showed how the devil had perverted the scripture.

(A) pplication:
    If I am going to resist temptation when it comes, I must do it the way Jesus did by relying on God’s Word and God’s power in my life. I cannot trust will power or human resolve – I am no match for Satan, I must use the Word. Therefore, I must spend time in God’s Word daily and memorize some of it. I want to be able to quote Scripture in the heat of the temptation not just when I have a Bible with me so I can look up a verse.

(P) rayer:
    Lord, help me to use Your Word to avoid yielding to temptation. Strengthen me as I spend time with You. Help me to walk the straight path that You set before me. Amen