So last week we looked at our sinful condition. We also looked at the pitfalls of relying on our own understanding when temptation arises, instead of going to the Lord and His word. We saw in scripture that we are sinful from the time of birth, our hearts/flesh/own understanding cannot be trusted. We cannot rely on ourselves to make the right decisions apart from Christ.  

We saw this in the examples of Eve and Saul, who encountered situations where they needed to follow God’s word, even though it went against their own understanding, but chose to listen to their hearts leading to disaster.

We saw also that even though we are now delivered from the obligation to sin, we still suffer with temptation and our own sinful desires. As long as we are on this earth we are locked in a battle between our sinful nature, and the new nature that we have in Christ that desires to carry out His will. We’ve identified the problem in great detail, and now it’s time to start identifying the solution this week, before we figure out how to act on that solution next week. 

I will give a little trigger warning here…I’m going to talk about some specific areas of sin related to our sexual desires. I hope and pray that those discussions will be an encouragement to you, and not cause anyone to stumble.

So, I think we can all agree that the ultimate goal would be for us to never sin, right? It’s also true that no human was ever sinless apart from Christ.  So, this being the case, we should look at the first recorded case of Jesus resisting outright temptation. We’re going to read through a few accounts of Jesus’ temptation experience, starting in Matthew chapter four. 

Matthew 4:1-11 – “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

Mark 1:9-12 – In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;^d with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

The Setting / Context

Jesus was led by the spirit to be tempted. To me this implies that Jesus being tempted was part of the Holy Spirit’s plan. The spirit knew he needed to be tested. This is not to say that Jesus was being tempted by the spirit. The text directly says that he was to be tempted by the Devil, and James 1:13 explicitly says that God does not tempt anyone. But why did Jesus need to be tested in such an extreme way? He had already accomplished a feat of nuclear proportions by living a sinless life for decades up until this point. First off, he needed to do this because it was the will of God through the Holy Spirit. Secondly, I believe this sustains the words of Hebrews concerning Jesus…

Hebrews 4:15 – “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we  have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin

Another thing that stands out is where he was led to. He was led into a wilderness. He was led into a place where all his physical needs would be on display. His need for shelter, food, water, companionship. He was led into a place where all he had was his relationship with God.

Another point that I think is quite profound, is that this temptation began right on the heels of Jesus being baptized. Now we know that for Jesus to be sinless, he encountered and was victorious over sin earlier in his life. His sinless life did not start at the moment he was baptized. But what I find compelling is this; the moment Jesus made a public proclamation of his heart orientation, he was tested. He was led by the Spirit into a physical place that increased his vulnerability to temptation, and the Enemy was right there ready to attack him. The text from Mark says the spirit drove  him into the wilderness. I think the use of the word “drove” is compelling, as it brings to mind images of a cowboy driving the cattle before him…or maybe a shepherd driving a lamb.

We see in this text that it is possible to be tempted by the enemy directly even after we have the holy spirit in us. Jesus was the earthly embodiment of the holy spirit, had been physically descended on by the holy spirit, and was still tempted directly by the Devil. I am not arguing that the enemy is responsible for every temptation we experience; as we discussed at length last week we are inherently sinful apart from Christ, and struggle with that sin nature even as redeemed Saints. We are Saints with a sin problem, but the enemy takes full advantage of our weakness whenever he can. If Jesus, the embodiment of holiness, could be tempted by the devil…how much more can we faulty shells be tempted? Furthermore, scripture tells us that the enemy does in fact seek out who he can tempt and destroy. 

THE TEMPTATION PROCESS: 

Now that we have the setting, let’s look specifically at the temptation process that Jesus went through. 

I would point to two things: First, if you look at most old testament prophets, and the Hebrew people as a whole, God led them into the desert or into a time of scarcity and trial, to test their faith in Him and their faithfulness to His word, and we see this at work in Jesus’ battle of temptation here. He was led, like His people before Him, into the desert where all He had was the Word of God and a directive to be obedient. 

Now, I’m about to tell you something that you might already know, but it blew my mind when I realized it. I’m going to go slow in case anyone needs to pick their brains up off the floor like I did.

The enemy attacked Jesus in ways that correlated directly to how he attacked Eve.

The Enemy attempted to come against Jesus AND EVE  in the following ways:

• He appealed to Jesus’ physical craving for food – How was Eve tempted? The enemy used her need for food. 
• Equality with God; the enemy enticed Jesus to prove his significance by forcing the angels to save him and by showing off that he was the son of God by commanding stones to become bread – The enemy also tempted Eve to attempt becoming equal with God through the medium of food. 
• Appealed to the lust of the eyes – he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth that could be his. The last straw that led Eve to sin was seeing the fruit was beautiful and good to eat. 
• I am firmly convinced that these correlations are purposeful on the part of our savior. Jesus suffered the same temptations that Eve did, but endured. I also think that it’s compelling that, while Jesus came to be the better Adam, He was tempted and victorious in the same way Eve should have been. He went through the same experience as the first woman, but without flaw. 

Jesus saw through the overall theme of sin. Sin  sin promises something that it cannot deliver on.  

Sin promised Jesus guilt free food, if only he mis-used his power and gave into his cravings. Imagine what would happen if he had done this. Would it really be guilt free? Not only would he have misused his power, but in one fell swoop Jesus would have given up his sinless nature, and would have squandered the inheritance he has as our savior. 

Sin promised Jesus glory and riches and abundance, if only he were to bow down and worship Satan. But we know that the Devil is powerless to follow through on his promises to provide us any good thing. Scripture tells us in James 1:17 that every good and perfect thing is from above. Coming down from the Father. 

Sin promised Jesus safety and the boasting of being rescued by angels if only he threw himself off a high place. But I’m fairly confident that this would not have happened…as Jesus said, we don’t put the Lord our God to the test. And I think we’ve seen in scripture that trying to force God into action doesn’t usually work out well for the one doing the forcing. I think of the example from last week of Saul trying to force God’s favor to be with them by sacrificing a burnt offering that was not his to offer. 

In our own experience, sin promises us things every day that it is powerless to deliver on, and it lies to us about the reality of sin itself: 

Sin says, go ahead and tell that little white lie; you’ll save your skin and no one will know. You can move on with life. But we can’t; the guilt hangs over us and our stomachs drop when the topic is brought up. Even if we’re never found out, our sin damages our souls. No sin leaves us unscathed. Scripture shows us that all sin, no matter how “small” we perceive it to be, separates us from God. 

Sin says, go ahead and tell your friend the juicy piece of gossip, or talk in code about it; you’re not technically spilling details that aren’t yours. It’s not gossip if you pray for them afterward. It’s not gossip if you both promise not to tell. You’ll have the relief of getting it off your chest and the other person will know how to pray for them better.

Ephesians 4:29 – Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Scripture says in Proverbs 6:16-19 that a lying tongue is one of the things that the Lord hates and is detestable to Him! 

Sin tells us reading a “christian romance novel” is fine. If the main characters quote scripture before they passionately make out it’s fine. You won’t be affected by it. You can’t look at someone to lust if you’re just reading about them! It’s not as bad as pornography. It’s okay to linger a little and let yourself feel some things. It’s such a fun book and the plot is good. 

Sin says, just give in and watch a little porn. You need the release, and you’re not actually doing anything with another person. Sin says it’s okay to watch Bridgerton, or Highlander, or Game Of Thrones, or any of the popular shows that have heavy sexual themes. The main characters get married in the end, so if we don’t think about it too hard we can justify it. It’s not porn, is it? It’s just a TV show, and all the other parts are so good. 

Sin says, masturbation isn’t mentioned in the bible, right? You’re not watching anything while you do it, are you? It’s just you and your body, and after all, God gave you the ability to do this. Is it wrong? 

Colossians 3:5 – Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

1 Corinthians 6:18 – Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

1 Peter 2:11 – Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Sin gets us to slowly, piece by piece, syllable by syllable, deconstruct God’s words, wisdom, and principles for the sake of our own pleasure.

Science is beginning to agree with God’s word in some of these areas as well, which I am grateful for, as it points to the truthfulness of scripture. The Integrative Life Center, for instance, has an amazing article on the effects of pornography on our brains. The effects of porn use are mostly universal with both men and women.

• Over time, pornography use makes us incapable or severely hampered in experiencing true pleasure. Our brains are really good at forming associations and dopamine reliance. Being aroused and experiencing a climax based on porn or erotic movies/tv shows trains our brains that we get dopamine from those circumstances. Regular or even occasional use of pornography trains your brain to only be aroused and experience pleasure when you watch porn. This means that those who indulge in this sin will find it very hard to engage with and experience real pleasure when they have a real partner in front of them. 
• This type of addiction makes both men and women more likely to experience mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. 

I would offer new names for those conditions in this specific circumstance: Condemnation and shame. Especially in the life of a christian who is indwelt by the holy spirit, we do know deep down that our sin is wrong, and if we live in un-repentance, we feel the shame and condemnation of that sin. 

Science has found out what God already told us. These sins not only harm our souls, like all sin does, but harms our bodies in a way that is measurable. 

Sin makes promises it cannot fulfill. Sin leads us away by the hand, promising sunshine and rainbows and fulfillment, while we’re led down a path that pulls us away from God. When I think of Sin and the lies it tempts us to believe… so many stories come to mind. 

King David, tempted to think that sleeping with another man’s wife could be swept under the rug, but no matter how hard he tried in his own power, the evidence came to light and led to destruction and loss of life. I can imagine that the whispers of temptation in his mind were that he could follow his lust just this once, and no one would know. After all, her husband was away and he was a powerful King; she wouldn’t dare refuse or disobey him. Even if David hadn’t killed Uriah, David’s sin led to destruction of the covenant between Bathseeba and her husband. Scripture doesn’t specifically tell us about Bathsheeba’s state in all this, but I’m sure she suffered greatly because of David’s sin toward her. Not only was she forced into a state of unfaithfulness by the king of a patriarchal culture, she was likely forced into secret keeping from her husband. Scripture never tells us that Uriah found out. 

Ananias and Sapphira – we’re not told in the text exactly what they were tempted to believe, but I’m sure they didn’t think that lying about the money they gave to the apostles would end being six feet under. 

And even in a culture that denies God’s word, we see the truth of it at play in our media and the stories that have been told for centuries. 

In the original version of the little mermaid, Ariel is promised power to make the Prince fall in love with her, but because that power is rooted in darkness and deceit, she ends up forlorn and alone, blown away to become seafoam for the rest of her life while the Prince falls in love with someone else. 

Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars. Plagued by the knowledge that some tragedy will befall his wife in the future, he’s allured by the dark side of the force. The dark side promises that if he only joins in, he will have the power he needs to save his wife. Yet that very power that he is lended by joining the dark side is the same power that leads to death and destruction of all he holds dear. 

Then there’s Hansel and Gretel. Led away by their gnawing hunger they enter the witch’s house that is bedecked and lush with candy. She promises abundance, nourishment, and safety, but her real plans are for their destruction. 

Jesus saw through all the lies and empty promises from the pits of hell, and walked onward in victory and glory. Now let’s take a look at how he did this. 

JESUS’ RESPONSE:

Jesus responded with scripture. 

Jesus declared his obedience to the Enemy, and told him to leave. 

Jesus started almost all his responses with the words “For it is written” – this was not a self help mantra, or to remind himself of truth. “For it is written”, followed by a scriptural truth that was directly applicable to Jesus’ circumstances. Jesus was proclaiming to the Enemy that he was committed to walk in obedience, and who held the real power to provide good. That power residing only with the Father. Now these verbalized truths were only effective because they were rooted in God’s word and in truth. Saying “Mmm, not today Satan!” does not carry the same power as God’s word. Not even close. He responded only with scripture; no added frills. He didn’t add naming and claiming, insulting the devil, or debate the lies he was being tempted to believe. He replied with scripture alone. Scripture was then and is now all sufficient to fight the enemy and remind ourselves of the Truth. And that is what we see Jesus do here. Effectively, when every lie and empty promise was brought to Jesus, his response was to say “No, that’s not right, because my Word says this, and that’s what I hold to.” 

Jesus was able to have this response for two reasons. One, He was God. But another consideration that I think is critical here…Jesus was saturated in the Word. Even apart from his being completely God, and as John says, Jesus was “The word”. Even part from this, as a Jewish boy, he would have been taught the scriptures from a young age and been saturated in them. We see in this account that, when pressed, Jesus’ default setting is to bleed scripture. 

Jesus spoke truth to the lies of the Enemy out loud, directly. This was not some trick, or easy hack to get the Enemy to leave Him alone. Neither was this a one time fix. Jesus had to respond directly to every lie the enemy tempted Him to believe, over and over again until finally telling the enemy to leave and the temptation ceasing. Each time Jesus refuted the empty lies of temptation, the Enemy tried a new tactic, and so Jesus had to respond.

Jesus spoke to the Enemy. This is something quite controversial in the Church, and as such I approach this with gentleness. Before getting into this topic, I want to circle back to our discussion last week. We are first and foremost led astray by our own sinful desires, that spring out of our inherent sinful nature. Our sinful nature is our first enemy. 

The Devil is not omnipresent like our Lord, so I do not argue that the devil is behind every sinful temptation and we should go around rebuking every bad attitude as if it’s not our sinful nature anymore, but just the Devil. 

But it must be acknowledged that the enemy is at work in our sinful natures, and takes every opportunity given to him to work for our destruction and separation from God. It is clear from the account we see in Job that the Lord in his sovereignty does allow the enemy to work in this world and to put God’s people through trial. We see this when the Enemy approaches the Lord to seek his permission to persecute Job and make him suffer. We see this in the letter of Paul to the Corinithians, where he tells of how he has pleaded with the Lord to take away his affliction. Most scholars agree that he was talking about some kind of spiritual battle. (2 Corinthians 12)

James 1:13-15 – “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

We first wrestle with our flesh, but if we do not master it, the enemy is there waiting to take advantage of our offered weakness, and drag us down. Our first enemy is our own sinful nature, but when the enemy sees that we are living in the flesh instead of the spirit, he readies his fiery darts to shoot through our lowered defenses. 

I see no more compelling example of this than in Genesis 4. 

Genesis 4:6-8 – “The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Now I want to zoom in on the word “crouching” in this text. In the original Hebrew, the word used here is “rabats”. This word has a meaning that, quite honestly, whacked me over the head (No pun intended to Cain) . Just so there is no room for things to get lost in translation, I’m going to read directly from the concordance.

“The Hebrew verb “rabats” primarily means to lie down or recline, often used in the context of animals resting or crouching. It conveys a sense of rest, relaxation, or dwelling in a place. The term can also imply a posture of readiness or waiting, as seen in some biblical contexts. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, the imagery of animals lying down was common and often symbolized peace, security, and contentment. “

So, to phrase that scripture a little differently…if we do not “do well”, sin reclines and makes itself at home on our doorstep. This definition of the word implies that sin makes itself at home in us when we do not resist and rule over our flesh. While we acknowledge we have sinful nature, we must also be aware that there is a spiritual battle happening for our souls, for our affections, and for our attention. While the soul of those who believe in Christ is secure in Christ’s finished work at the cross, our affections and attentions are up for grabs on a daily basis. If we give into our flesh, the enemy will be thrilled to waltz through the door and devour our lives, piece by piece, through the open door we have provided.  Spiritual warfare is a reality, whether we choose to engage with it or not. 

Ephesians 6:12 – “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

To quote C.S Lewis, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” 

I think there is a brilliance to Lewis’ insight here. The devil would be pleased and delighted, if every believer disregarded the role that the demonic plays in the life of the believer. On the opposite side, the Devil I’m sure is pleased with new age spiritists or those who are led astray to extremes in the charismatic movement, who see demons behind every negative thought and every sickness. Who spend more time rebuking the devil or consulting crystals than they spend in loving their neighbor and reading the word of God.

So to reiterate, I do not believe that we solely need to focus on the devil, and spend all our time rebuking that which is outside of our flesh. Not at all. We have a sinful nature within ourselves that we need to be at work to master, with the help of the Holy spirit. But when we don’t do this work faithfully; when we engage with our sinful desires and begin to follow them, as Eve did, the enemy is there ready to take up residence and make a home for himself in our hearts. However, scripture is clear that we are able to directly oppose and resist the devil, by the power of the Holy Spirit and of scripture. 

Ephesians 3:16-19 – “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

James 4:6-8 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” 

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. By his power alone are we able to resist and oppose the enemy. We need to be saturated in the word of God in order to be able to come against the lies of sin. We need to be saturated in the word of God to even be able to discern between the leading of the holy spirit and our own thoughts. We need to be saturated in the word of God to know the difference between the lies of the enemy and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We have authority, in Christ, to speak aloud the promises and truths of scripture in the power of Jesus name, and to resist temptation. To remind ourselves of the truth. To proclaim to the enemy, as Jesus did, that the enemy is a liar, and his empty promises have no place in our lives as redeemed saints. 

I don’t know about you, but as I think of all the different facets of my own sin that I need to constantly be engaged in fighting, it’s exhausting. I know that each and every one of us here are intimately acquainted with just how deep and pervasive our sin is, how much we struggle to overcome it, and how gutting and deeply discouraging it is when we fail. As you listen to all the ways that we need to be on guard and vigilant toward our sin, it’s so easy to feel like tossing our hands heavenward and giving up. We know that we’ll still make mistakes or choose sin at times. We know we can’t do it perfectly, and that stings. It might make it hard to even want to try and live in holiness. We feel the condemnation from our past that still haunts us, the present that we struggle with, and the future that we just know we won’t be able to act out perfectly. 

Psalm 139:7-16 – “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, i know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when i was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Romans 8:1-8 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” 

Psalm 103:13-17a – “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and it’s place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,”

Hebrews 4:15 – “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”

He remembers your frame and that you are dust. He knows full well all that you are capable of, and all that you are not. The savior knows this because He came into this world in the likeness of sinful flesh, specifically to redeem you, and you, and you. He lived in this world in the flesh, facing every sinful temptation imaginable, yet without sin. He faced the temptation to lust, to steal, to lie, to cheat, to gossip. All the sins we struggle with, the ones we cannot even imagine, He endured and overcame. While we must engage in our sin struggles and seek in every situation to respond in the power of Christ, the full and final payment of our sins has been paid at the cross and our souls are safe with Christ. Christ has won the war, now it is ours to repel the fiery attacks of the enemy who nips at our heels while we walk home toward Christ. 

I heard Krista Dunham teach once on Sanctification and she summed it up like this: “Sanctification is something that has happened, and is still happening.” 

Beloved, Jesus knew every single sin you would ever commit when he chose to forgive you. He knew and forgave you, no matter how last-minute you gave in to your sin after struggling to resist. He knew and forgave you no matter how many times you’ve returned to your sin. He knew and forgave you, no matter how deep and pervasive the sin, or how seemingly trivial. The Savior saw it all and still chose to forgive you. This is our identity as redeemed daughters of the King. We are already eternally forgiven by a savior who loves us. It is now ours to operate from that standing we have as forgiven people, and live in the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus in our daily lives.

I’m really excited to get into the specifics of that in our final class next week. But for now, I want to leave you with this hope. 

• 1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

He who is Mighty has done a great thing!

-M