TEMPTED BUT TRIUMPHANT

LUKE 4:1

A. OF OUR LORD IT IS WRITTEN THAT HE "WAS TEMPTED IN ALL POINTS AS WE ARE, YET WITHOUT SIN" Heb. 4:15
  1. He was tempted by Satan:
    1. When He had not eaten for forty days and forty nights - Matt. 4:1-13
    2. When He was hungry - verse 2
  2. He was tested by Satan:
    1. On altering the laws of nature to satisfy his hunger - "command that these stones be made bread"
    2. Had He yielded to this sinister temptation, He would have expressed unbelief in God caring for our bodily needs - Matt. 6:24-34
  3. The sin of presumption was the next test Satan put to the Son of man:
    1. "Cast thyself down: for it is written He will give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Matt. 4:5-7
    2. This was designed to tempt the Son of man to assume on the goodness of His father and cause Him to sin presumptuously.
  4. The third temptation:
    1. Was to trap the Son of man to sin against the first commandment -- "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" - Ex. 20:3
    2. Had the Son of man yielded to this temptation Lucifer would have attained his original objective; he would have been like the most High - Isa. 14:12- 17
B. TEMPTED BUT TRIUMPHANT
  1. Here is the bright and morning star for all who are tempted:
    1. Our Lord was tempted but He was triumphant.
    2. Not once did He yield to temptation - John 14:30
  2. The secret of His victory over temptation:
    1. He made the word of God His defence - Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4, 7, 10
    2. His victory is our assurance that through Him we too can be victorious - Rom. 8:37
C. LET US CONSIDER, BRIEFLY, THE MAGNITUDE OF TEMPTATION
  1. By tempting us, Satan seeks to cause us to mistrust God:
    1. That was the great sin of our first parents in the Garden of Eden - Gen. 3:1-6
    2. That was what he sought to accomplish when he tempted the Son of man - Matt. 4:1-10
  2. By tempting us, Satan seeks to led us to be presumptuous: Ps. 19:13
    1. The man of God fell for that trap and lost his life - 1 Ki. 13:1-24
    2. That is the sin of the last days - Matt. 7:21-26
  3. Satan tempts us where we are the weakest:
    1. Judas is a vivid example - John 12:6; Matt. 26:14- 16; 27:1-5
    2. That was the downfall of Achan and his family - Josh. 7:1-26
    3. That is the ever present danger to all who are tempted to be dishonest with God in tithe and offering - Mal. 3:8-11
  4. He tempts us with the lust of the flesh:
    1. The lust of the flesh is a trap into which many fall.
    2. David, that mighty king, is one of them.
    3. Solomon is another.
    4. Samson is still another example.
  5. He tempts us with the lust of the eye:
    1. Eve fell into this trap - Gen. 3:1-6
    2. So did Achan - Josh. 7
    3. And so did Samson - Judg. 16
  6. The pride of life is still another channel through which Satan works:
    1. Lucifer himself fell over this ambition - Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:12-17
    2. Nebuchadnezzar is another example - Dan. 4:30
  7. Our weapons against these temptations:
    1. The word of God - Heb. 4:12, 13
    2. Prayer - Jer. 33:3
    3. Abiding in Christ - John 15:1-11


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