Sermon Tone Analysis

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INTRO: Jesus is our ultimate example.
· We can learn the principles of Christian living from His life by listening to what He says and by watching what He does.
· One of the greatest tests a believer will face is the test of temptation.
· After Jesus was baptized, Matthew tells us that he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
· Today we’ll look at how our Lord, our Example, faced this time of temptation, and it will show us how we as believers can also prepare for and pass the Test of Temptation.
I know I am supposed to be talking about being an outwardly focused church, but I go here because I have a theory...
I believe that the reason we are so focused on ourselves (so inwardly focused), and so disconnected from the world outside of these walls, is because we have never learned to approach this life as Jesus approached it.
We will buy book after book to try and approach this life the way some author, or preacher , or actor, or singer approaches it, but we fail to simply look at the example God set for us through the earthly life of His Son, Jesus the Christ!
The example of Christ IS THE ANSWER for most, NO! ALL of our problems in this life!
And the answer for how we should deal with temptation exists in the way that JESUS handled temptation.
Jesus told his disciples to...
· Victory comes in meeting the test, and victory over temptation comes from being constantly prepared for it, which, in turn, comes from constantly relying on the Lord.
ILLUS.: It is said that a person traveling in tiger country will not be attacked if he sees the tiger before the tiger sees him.
· Generally tigers attack from behind in order to surprise their victims, and therefore one of the best defenses against this TEST of STRENGTH is to face it.
Don’t know about you, but I, personally, DO NOT want to test this theory!
· Jesus’ time of testing, the way He faced it, should prove invaluable to every Christian as we do our best to live the Christian life.
1.
There is TRANSPARENCY in this story.
What do I mean?
This is an amazing story, offering unique insight into the nature and character of Jesus.
· For one thing, it’s one of the few stories told about an event in the life of Jesus in which there are no eye witnesses.
· How did Matthew (or any of Jesus’ disciples) know about the temptation he faced in the desert?
· There’s only way they could have known.
· He told him them about it.
· At some point during his time of ministry on earth, he told his disciples about the time he spent in the desert, battling temptation in a showdown with the devil.
· The temptation story has been called "the most sacred of stories" because in it we see the transparency of our Savior.
· "Jesus is laying bare his inmost heart and soul."
· He shared with his followers about the struggles he faced.
· Be honest and transparent with those you wish to influence for Christ.
Another aspect of His transparency is seen as this story reminds us that Jesus was truly human.
Matthew says, (v. 2) “After fasting 40 days and nights, he was hungry.”
· This story wasn’t just a legend created by the early church, because it emphasizes the transparency and the humanity expressed by Jesus.
· There has always been a tendency among some followers of Christ to strip away his humanity and make him completely unreal.
· Songs are written about him containing lines such as “The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.”
· This is the image some people have of him—he was so divine that he never cried as a child, he never skinned his knee, when he worked as a carpenter he never drove a crooked nail, because He was divine.
· He just went through life floating around on a little cloud about six feet off the ground.
· That wasn’t the Jesus of scripture...
· He was 100% human and experienced everything just like you and me as well as being 100% divine.
· He became one of us—fully human as well as fully divine.
· The fact that he was transparent and honest enough to share with the disciples “He was hungry” helps us to identify with the great truth that in His humanity He was able to pass the test that pointed us to the divine power within his life.
Because Jesus was the ultimate example we can learn from His transparency regarding His humanity.
· We can learn that we will also struggle and face these temptations and tests every day.
· Listen to these words from...
· Jesus passed the test of transparency when He openly shared with His disciples that HE TOO experienced temptations.
· Resisting temptation is a part of the Christian life.
2. THE TEST OF TEMPTATION IS INEVITABLE
Even good people are tempted.
Even people who walk in the Spirit are tempted.
· Did you understand that scripture?
· He was led by the Spirit.
· He was doing exactly what God wanted him to do, and still He faced temptation.
· We have a tendency to think, when we face temptation, that God must have abandoned us or there must be something wrong with us, or else we wouldn’t be experiencing temptation in our lives.
· The truth is this: EVERY CHRISTIAN WILL EXPERIENCE TEMPTATION.
· Even Spirit-filled and Spirit-led Christians will face the test of temptation.
· There’s an important distinction I want to make.
· The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, but it wasn’t God who tempted Jesus.
· God doesn’t tempt you to sin; he doesn’t try to entice you with evil opportunities.
ILLUS.: In our judicial system we have laws against entrapment.
· When an undercover cop is trying to bust people for buying drugs, he can’t walk up to someone and say, “Hey you want to buy some drugs?
Come on, try it, you’ll like it.
Just think of how good you’ll feel.
All your problems will go away.
Come on, don’t be scared.”
· A cop can’t do that, because it would be considered entrapment.
· Some people think God tempts us to sin—that he puts the cookie on the table and says, “Come on, I dare you to eat it.”
· God doesn’t do that.
Temptation is inevitable, but it doesn’t COME FROM GOD.
The Bible says...
God’s purpose is not to tempt us!
· He will allow this temptation to take place, and it will test us.
· However, God will give us power over temptation.
3. THE TEST OF TEMPTATION NORMALLY FOLLOWS A TIME OF VICTORY
· Temptation often follows a victory or “mountain top” experience in our lives.
· Right before Jesus went to the desert to be tempted, he was baptized by John the Baptist.
· It is a moving scene.
· John declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and after he baptized Jesus, the Spirit came down in the form of dove...
His baptism story is the “Coronation of the King.”
· It was the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry, and was undoubtedly an exciting time in his life: He was about to begin the work God had called him to do.
· God even spoke from the heavens to affirm his Son to all who were present.
· Immediately after this powerful event, Jesus faced his duel with the Devil.
In the Old Testament there is a story about the prophet Elijah who single-handedly faced and defeated 450 prophets of Baal during a time of extended drought.
· He challenged them to call upon their gods to bring fire upon their altar.
· They prayed and prayed, but nothing happened.
· Then Elijah built an altar to the Living God, and he called boldly upon God to consume the altar.
· The fire of the Lord came down from heaven and consumed the altar—and everyone knew that Elijah’s God was the Lord.
· And then Elijah prayed for the rains to come; God answered his prayer and it rained.
· It was a high point in Elijah’s life.
HOWEVER, immediately afterward, Elijah heard that the wicked Queen Jezebel was angry and wanted to kill him, and Elijah panicked and ran for his life.
· He hid out in the desert and told God “I can’t take this anymore; please kill me now.”
(1 Kings 18)
· Elijah was courageous when he faced 450 prophets of Baal, but he ran like a coward the next day when the Queen made a threat on his life.
Doesn’t make sense, does it?
· But that’s what often happens in our lives.
· After a great victorious experience, believers often find themselves alone in the desert.
4. THE TEST OF TEMPTATION ATTACKS YOUR WEAKNESS
Temptation often attacks you where you are most vulnerable, your place of weakness.
· After Jesus had been alone in the desert 40 days and nights without food and water,...
Why did Satan say this?
· Because he knew that Jesus was hungry.
· He knew that the idea of eating food was the most tempting thought he could put in Jesus’ mind.
· He wanted Jesus to abuse his power for his own needs, and so he attacked him where he was, at that moment, most vulnerable: he tried to get him to eat.
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