Two weeks ago, on Saturday night, I finished the sermon to the Saturday night crowd and didnt like it. I thought, Thats not that great. I need to fix this. So I went to Red Robin by myself and reworked everything, and it [the snow] was coming down pretty good. By the time I left, it was blowing hard. I went, Oh, man. I should not have been here. I should have left for home earlier. I live kind of out in the country, and theres a stretch of road there on County F where there is a bunch of open fields. The blowing and drifting is pretty bad. By the time I got to that point, I just knew when I saw the drift, Im going to get stuck. Theres no way around it. And I was stuck. I do not have a four-wheel drive or a front-wheel drive; I have a rear-wheel drive car, and I went in the snow and was stuck. I was stuck for about a half of an hour. Id still be there if not for two men who stopped and helped me. One stopped out of kindness and a servants heart. The other stopped because we managed to push the car into the center of the road, and he had no choice. He wanted to continue on his trip. That was the worst weather Ive ever been in in my life. The winds were blowing at least 40 miles per hour. Snow was just pelting you. It was cold, and you couldnt see anything. It was like you were in Antarctica or something. What made it worse was I had no gloves, so I was digging snow with my bare hands and my shoes. I had no boots. I had no hat so my head was freezing cold. I had no shovel, so I was there probably longer than I should have been. I finally got out, made it home, and my wife was there to greet me. I got a little bit of sympathy from her, which is hard to do being a critical care nurse. Then she finally couldnt contain herself anymore, and she said to me, Did you not know the blizzard was coming? Did you not read the paper? Did you not hear everybody talking about the big snow and the storm and the wind and all of that? Did that miss you? Do you know whats in the trunk of my car? She starts telling me the supplies and rations for five years. Would I have been stuck in that drift had I had gloves and boots and a hat and shovel? Sure. But it would not have just beaten me up like it did. I wouldnt have been as cold as I was; I wouldnt have been stuck as long as I was had I been prepared. What were talking about this morning is preparing for temptation because it comes. Dont say if Im tempted. Say when Im tempted because the Bible makes it very clear in 1 Corinthians 10:12 [on page 1135 of pew Bibles]. He says, So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you dont fall! Warning! Blizzard coming-spiritually speaking. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. When you are tempted, its going to happen. So if its going to happen, you should not be nonchalant, go into the week without being spiritually prepared for the temptations that will come your way. Would you agree with that? The storm is coming, spiritually speaking. You cant stop it. You also cant stop yourself from occasionally getting stuck in those temptations, but you can make sure they dont last as long. Its kind of like a baseball player. A baseball player will never get to the point where he gets a hit every time at the plate. He can hone his skills, spend extra time in the batting cage, prepare and study pictures, and work out weaknesses so that his batting average improves. Hes not going to bat 1,000, but he wants to improve. Our goal is not that we bat 1,000; in fact, its too late for us to bat 1,000. Once youve struck out one time, youre not batting 1,000 anymore-no matter how many hits you get. After that, its too late for us to bat 1,000, but we can increase our batting average. We can strike out fewer times. We can pop up fewer times. We can be more effective. When temptation hits us, and we succumb to it, we dont have to stay down as long or succumb as frequently if we follow these principles. So thats our goal this morning. In the Book of Genesis 3, in the fall of man, we find out that temptation is as old as Creation. We also find out that Satans methodology has not changed since the Garden of Eden. The Bible teaches that there is a tempter, that hes real, that he does entice us to sin, that there is within us a sin nature that is willing to cooperate, and that there is a spiritual struggle that is taking place. Genesis talks about that. It talks about the three deadly Ds. If you are a note-taker this morning, Im going to give you my outline right now. Im not going to string you along this morning. Im going to give you the outline. Here are the three Ds. Number one is Doubt; number two is Deceit; number three is Desire. Those are the things that he uses. Desire isnt always bad. If we desire the right things, desire is good. If we desire the wrong things, desire is bad. Desire comes in three forms: there is the lust of the flesh, that which feels good; there is the lust of the eyes, that which looks good; and there is the boastful pride of the life, that which makes me look good. Theres doubt; theres deceit; theres desire, and Satan uses those three because they work. If its not broke, dont fix it, and its working well-100 percent success rate so far. Desire comes in three forms: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life-that which looks good, that which feels good, and that which makes me look good. Were going to see him employ all three here in this text. In Verse 1, Now the serpent was more crafty than all the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? Which one is that? Thats doubt, isnt it? They doubted Gods promises, Did God really say that? Satan will do that. He will try to get you to doubt Gods Word, to doubt what God has said. The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. Which one was that? That was deceit. Thats a lie. The moment they partook of the fruit, they became separated from God, didnt they? Spiritual death took place. God kept his promise, so that was deceit. That was a lie, but he gets us to question the Lord. He gets us to believe his lies. He promises pleasure, but ultimately delivers pain. He promises short-term gain, but there is long-term loss. He promises victory that leads to defeat; he promises life, and it leads to death. You have to see the lie; you have to see the deceit behind that half truth. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. What is that? That is desire. Im going to be like God. That would be a wonderful thing to be like God! Im going to have his knowledge. Im going to know good from evil. So he uses desire against her. When the woman saw the fruit of the tree was good for food… Whats that? What kind of desire is that? Lust of the flesh. Oh, is that going to taste good. Oh does that look good. Right? When we cant have desserts, oh do they look good. When we cant have desserts, it seems like everybody and their brother is making them for us too. Oh, does that look good. …and pleasing to the eye... Thats a no-brainer, lust of the eyes. It looks good. …and also desirable for gaining wisdom… Whats that? Thats pride of life, that which makes me look good. Im going to be smart. Im going to be something, boy, after I partake of this fruit. So …she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. We know the rest of the story. He has not changed his methodology since Day One. Lets take a look at what it might be like if you were a new demon or a transferred demon or trying to learn how to tempt Gods people. You can hear Jerry whisper in our ears-not Pastor Jerry, Jerry the tempter. Lets look in Luke 4 [page 1017 of pew Bibles], and I will finally get in our text. Were going to read 1-13 of Chapter 4 from Luke. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert… Who led the Lord into the desert? The Holy Spirit. God does not tempt us, but God allows us to be tempted so that we might grow in our faith. In the desert, the devil tempted Him for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them He was hungry. I guess! Forty days without food. Four hours for me, and its like hey, hey, hey! Forty days… The devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. Jesus answered, It is written: Man does not live on bread alone. By the way, remember when Willie Nelson used to sing We Are the World, and he would sing as God has shown us by turning stone to bread? I would always want to shout at the radio, He didnt do that, Willie! He resisted that temptation. It was a temptation to take the shortcut. Youre in the wilderness. Are you going to trust the Father to provide for you, or are you going to take matters into your own hands? So he uses the first of the deadly deed. He gets the Lord to try to doubt, to doubt who He is. Are you the Son of God? If you are the Son of God… Satan will try to doubt who we are. If you know that you are a child of God and know that God is with you in the temptation, what an advantage that is to know that Im not in this desert alone. I have the help of the Lord with me. Years ago, and Ive shared this story before so Ill make it quick, I was at the YMCA. I had just finished a ball game, and I was out getting a drink. There was a little boy who tried to get my attention. He was about three years old. He said, Hey, hey mister. Hey mister. I said, Yeah? He said, Hi. Hi. My name is Chris, and Im a son. Wow, Chris! Thats really impressive. Yeah, yeah, Im a son. Well, good. I am too, Chris. Nice to meet you. I went back in and played ball. That was about the length of the conversation, but what struck me about this boy was he was beaming and glowing ear to ear because of whom he belongs to. He knows whom he belongs to. His identity is wrapped up in the fact that hes a son. Know that as you enter into temptation, God is on your side. What a difference that is-Hes not the tempter. Hes not the one tempting you, but He is on your side. The Scripture we began with stated with the temptation, He will provide a way of escape. So know who you are in God. The second thing he tries to get Jesus to doubt is the fact that the Father will provide, Just turn the stone to bread. Lust to the flesh, Oh, it would taste so good. Just do it. Snap your fingers, and its done, and you can end this hunger right now. Has the enemy ever tempted you to take a shortcut? Sure he has. Hes tempted you to bypass faith and take a shortcut-immediate provision. People who never dreamed of taking money have encountered financial difficulties and embezzled funds. Athletes who have a strong faith, who try to live for God, have been overcome by the temptation to succeed in their sport and have taken steroids. People who are tempted to wait on the Lord go ahead and have it now and make financial decisions in a hurry rather than wait. You can go on and on. People enter into promiscuity because they dont want to wait until they are married. We want to take a shortcut. We dont think God will provide for us the right mate, so instead of waiting, we hurry along to a bad relationship. On and on the list goes. When we doubt, were tempted to take the shortcuts, but Jesus doesnt respond to that. He says, It is written: Man does not live by bread alone, so hes going to try a different one. Verse 5, The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 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. So if You worship me, it will all be Yours. Jesus answered, It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. So he tries to tempt Jesus with the lust of the eyes, Just look at these kingdoms of the world. They can all be yours if you will just worship me. I can give them to anybody I want. I have the authority. Its all mine. Ive actually had people quote this as a proof that the kingdoms of this world belong to the devil. You know hes the god of this world. It says in Luke 4 all the kingdoms belong to him. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he was lying? Are you honestly going to use the words of Satan to form theology? I sure hope not. That was a lie. The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof. It was not in his authority to give it to anyone he pleased; it was not even his! He uses deceit to try to entice Jesus, and Jesus doesnt buy it. So now hes going to go on to number three, and thats going to be desire. Hes going to use the pride of life, that which makes me look good. Verse 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. He quotes scripture from Psalms 91. Jesus answered, It says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Why Jerusalem? Why the temple? Why the highest point? Why not in the desert? There are no people in the desert. Go to Jerusalem, the most-populated city, the temple, the most-populated place, draw a crowd, jump off the building. When you are rescued and fall safely to the ground without being harmed, everybody will worship you, and theyll know you are the Messiah, How good youre going to look. Jesus doesnt buy into it-the pride of life: that which makes me look good, that which makes me not want to look bad. Well go to great lengths to pursue the pride of life. Just this week, I had to pay a bill that has been sitting on the desk for a while. Its one of those bills you hated to pay because I needed some computer work, and they came out and couldnt fix it; however, they still charged me for coming out, so basically youre paying for nothing. I am thinking, Thats the last priority right there. Ill put that aside. And then its past due. I was like, I better get this paid. So I put it in an envelope and looked down at the envelope, and the red Past Due was shining through. Do you know what I did? I took the envelope, tore it open, and folded the bill the other way so the Past Due wouldnt be seen. Then I put it back in the envelope. What caused me to do that? Pride. Right? I dont want my wife to see a bill past due on the table. I dont want the postman who comes to the mailbox to pick it up to see that Im paying something past due. Its the pride of life. Well buy things we cant afford, so people will be impressed by our lifestyle. Go places we cant afford… Well say things about ourselves that make us sound more holy or religious than we are, As I was doing my devotions at 3 oclock this morning, before I began my four hours of daily prayer… Well do that, the pride of life, that which makes me look good. Its a temptation. The devil knows what buttons to push. The buttons of doubt, the buttons of elicit desire-those still work, and they work very effectively. We still buy the lies; promise pleasure and bring pain, and we buy them. Notice Verse 13, When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him… Wouldnt it be nice if we just stopped right there? But it doesnt stop there. It says, …he left Him until an opportune time. Hes coming back. Hes relentless. It would be nice if you and I had to face temptation. We faced it once, and we struggle with it, and its over with. You can say, Well, Im glad thats over with. Hey, howd your temptation go? Oh, it was tough, but I made it through. Thank God! I dont have to face that again until the day I die. It doesnt happen that way, does it? Its everyday. Sometimes its a trickle, and sometimes its a blizzard. Sometimes it knocks you off your feet, but its relentless. Any gardeners out here today? Anybody grow vegetables or flowers? A couple gardeners? That would be like if somebody everyday was coming and putting weeds in your garden. How frustrating would that be? Some of you are saying, I think somebody does do that! How frustrating to everyday say, How did that weed get there? Thats what temptation is like. It comes everyday. You have to always be on your toes. You have to be relentless because temptations are relentless. When you do neglect, and a weed starts to grow, what happens to it? It grows deeper, gets bigger, gets stronger, and harder to remove. So it is with sin when we give into temptation and it becomes sin. The Bible says it doesnt just remain stagnant. It grows. James 1 says when a sin matures, it leads to, what? Death. Thats pretty serious stuff. We neglect it: it grows in our lives. Thats why its so important to understand how Jesus dealt with it. I want you to notice a couple things about how we dealt with it. One is a basic question that you may have never thought of before, How did we find out about the wilderness experience? How did we know what the temptations were and how Jesus responded to those temptations? Was anybody with Him? Any human being with Him? No. He was alone. He just started His earthly ministry, or was about to, so there were no disciples yet. He has not yet met Peter, James, John and the rest. How do we know about the temptations? He told His followers. He told His disciples. He told Matthew, He told John, and they recorded it for us to read. Jesus actually shared what He was going through, the struggles. These were real temptations. You say, Oh, you know, He was the Son of God. He was also the son of man, fully God, but He was fully man. The temptation to turn the stone to bread, to take the shortcut after 40 days without food, was very real. Jesus really was tempted. He really did go without sin, without yielding to those temptations, but He shared with them. Sometimes thats a scary thing to do. I dont want to share what Im struggling with because people might not like me, or its embarrassing, or they might be shocked and appalled, but you know what? The Bible says [1 Corinthians 10:13] no temptation has taken you except that which is common to man. When you share a struggle, you dont share with the world. When there are one or two really close people you can say heres what Im struggling with to, theres accountability right away. There is support and help. Maybe theyve gone through the same struggle. You know they have, and they can help you along the way. This week, my wife and I were having lunch. All of the sudden, I start to have a difficult time breathing. I thought maybe I had swallowed wrong, but this wasnt a choking kind of thing. This was definitely a breathing thing. My breath was laboring (as Pastor is taking deep, slow breaths), and I started to panic. When I started to panic, I started to hyperventilate. I started to try to really breathe fast. I felt my fingers start to tingle. I felt myself get a little queezy. You know what that is, right? You get a little bit of nauseousness and dizziness at the same time. I thought to myself, Im going to faint. I have never fainted in my life. I didnt know what it was like, but for the first time, Im going down. I couldnt share this with Brenda. She was saying, Whats wrong? Whats the matter? I just sat there with this look of shock on my face, concentrating on two things: Number one, breathing; and number two, not falling down. I didnt want a scene, but I was so confused, Whats wrong with me? I wish this would go away. I wanted to talk to her, but I couldnt. Finally, after what seemed like forever, it subsided. I shared with her what was going on. Heres what I was struggling with. Heres what was going on internally that you couldnt know because I couldnt tell you, but now Ill tell you whats going on inside of me. She knew exactly what was going on. She says, Thats Vaso-vagal. Sounds like a vegetarian bagel or something, Ill have the Vaso-vagal please. Im a vegan. She can explain this better than I, but my particular case of Vaso-vagal was because I was overheated. When I left the house, it was really cold, so I put on a bunch of layers of clothing. When we got in the car, the sun came out and it got really warm. I kept my clothing on. When I got out of the car and went into the restaurant, it was cold. When I got in the restaurant, it was hot. I kept my clothing on, and I was overheated. The blood vessels dilate, and more blood gets through and less gets to the brain. You start to feel dizzy, and you pass out. Thats the bodys way of protecting itself. Once you lie flat on the ground and relax, normal blood flow is restored to the body, something like that, right? Sorta, kinda…close enough. If you have any questions, talk to Brenda. Sometimes having a critical care nurse as a wife is a helpful thing. Other times, its not because you tend to not get sympathy too often when you hurt yourself. So, she said, Get rid of some of those layers of clothing. That helped. It helped me to share what I was going through, that inner struggle that she couldnt know. In that same way, when you share that inner struggle and say, Heres what Im going through, you gain support, you gain knowledge and you gain accountability. Youre able to remove some of those things from your life that have been causing you to have those problems. The second thing I want you to note is how Jesus dealt with the temptation. It says, He left Him until an opportune time. So Jesus was tempted here, and Satan is doing his thing. Theres a struggle going on, and then its finally over with. The passage we read in 1 Corinthians 10 talked about this resisting of sin. It said, When you are tempted, He will also provide a way so that you can stand up under it. How did Jesus stand up under it? Every time the temptation came, what did He do? He quoted the Word; He stood upon His relationship with the Father; He trusted the Father to give Him strength to resist the temptation. Resisting temptation is not-and listen carefully to this because I think this is important-its not about you saying no to sin. Some of you are shocked to hear that. I thought thats what the whole thing was. No, no, no. Temptation is about you saying yes to God. Theres a big difference between the two. Its not about your willpower and your struggling and you overcoming temptation. Who gets the glory then? You do and ultimately the defeat because you are eventually going to succumb. Its about yielding to God and saying, God, I cant. You can, and Ill let you. Using a weight-lifting analogy…I will use another one. I used one Saturday when I talked to our leadership. Im going to use another one today. Say youre doing a bench press. It doesnt matter how much you have on the bar. If you did enough reps, eventually, youre going to get tired, and youre going to need help, right? You could say, I have an empty bar, and you could maybe do 200 of them, but eventually, youre going to quit. Youre going to struggle, and youre going to need help. Resisting temptation is not you pushing up the bar. Its about you saying to your spotter, God, Take it. Take it. When you struggle, and you cant get that last one off your chest, your spotter comes and grabs it and pulls it off of you and racks it, thats what God wants you to do. God doesnt want you to struggle and say, Oh, look at me, how tough I am. I battled against temptation and won. God wants you to turn that temptation over to Him. Stand upon His Word. Stand upon His presence, His promise. Will we ever get to the point where we dont succumb to doubt or deceit or wrong desires? No. Will the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life always be effective? Yes, but we can increase our batting average. We can have more victories and fewer defeats. We can stay down for a shorter amount of time, get stuck for a shorter time, when we are not just saying no to sin but yes to God. Thats the example that Christ gave us in His Word. Amen? Amen.