Sermon Notes - Escape pt 5
Sermon Notes – Series Title
Subtitle: Breaking Free from the Power of Temptation
Purpose: To equip Christians to resist the temptation of taking an ungodly shortcut to a godly end.
Passage: Matthew 4:8-11
Main Point: What is the one thing I want my audience to know? What do I want them to do about it? (Should be an application, an insight, or a principle)
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.
Exegetical Outline – Matthew 4:8-11
1. The third manner in which the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness was by showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and telling Him He can have all these if He will worship the devil (8-9).
a. Note: The temptation here was to give Jesus what was already promised Him by the Father, but to do it right now and without any pain. It was to take a shortcut.
2. The way in which Jesus responded was by resisting his deceit and remembering the Scripture which says to worship and serve the Lord God only (10).
3. When Jesus resisted the devil, he left Him and angels came to minister to Him (11).
Homiletical Outline
INTRODUCTION
Consider one of the following question sets when shaping the introduction:
What is the question I am answering with this sermon? What can I do to help my audience want to know the answer to that question?
What is the tension this message will resolve? What can I do to help my audience feel that tension? (personal example, illustration, scenario, etc)
What mystery does this message solve? What can I do to help my audience want a solution?
Me:
We: Waiting for God’s will to come about may be one of the greatest challenges we face as Christians. Many can relate to the struggle of waiting for that perfect mate to come into our lives. Others have waited or are still waiting for a career opening that will put you right where you wish to be, but for now, you persevere where God has you, maybe separated from family & friends, maybe filling a position you really don’t enjoy, maybe living in a town that rarely gets below 100 degrees! J. Some of you are facing financial challenges that never seem to end and you question whether God really will provide. Still others face health issues and wonder why God hasn’t healed you here and now.
Maybe your situation appears even more spiritual. You long to see a family member or friend begin a relationship with Jesus, but your attempt at discussing spiritual things seems to go no where. Maybe you’ve considered pursuing a ministry with your life but the opportunities haven’t opened up nearly as fast as you’d like.
All of these are legitimate pursuits and even pleasing to God. To desire them or even pursue them is not displeasing to God. The issue at hand today is when we pursue them on our own timeline and neglect God’s. Today’s temptation has to do with pursuing a God-given end on an improper timeline.
I believe this may be one of the greatest struggles of our Christian life. It may even be more elevated in our modern culture because we live in a society that worships convenience and immediate gratification. To wait for what we want is simply un-American. We have minute-rice, 1 hr photos, drive-thru meals, instant potatoes, and instant messaging. We don’t have to wait for anything anymore. So when God says wait, and He so often does, we go ballistic. We have been programmed by this world to rebel against waiting. As a result, we are highly susceptible to the temptation we will examine today.
Illustration: Play chorus of Queen song “I want it all”
In fact, some of you right now are wishing I would wrap up my introduction so that we could get to the meat of this message. If that is you, then you need this message more than anyone. In fact, I’m just gonna pause here for a minute just to help you learn to wait. [Pause].
If we are ever going to learn to resist temptation. If we are ever going to learn to experience God’s very best for us. If we are ever going to learn to build our future, build our family, and build our faith, we must learn to wait on the Lord’s timing. Today, we will see one example of how we can do this. So, with no further waiting, lets look at our passage and see how Jesus addressed the temptation to grab hold of God’s will too soon.
HEART
God:
Quick review
I am tempted to meet God-given needs in an ungodly manner.
I am tempted to test God by making selfish, wrong presumptions/assumptions.
1. I am tempted to compromise my WORSHIP to grab hold of God’s WILL too soon (8-9).
a. It was certainly God’s plan and will to give all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus. However, God’s plan was first for Jesus to become a sacrifice for the sin of the world and then to be exalted to His place of King. The devil was tempting Jesus to take a shortcut. A shortcut with incredible consequences, not only for Jesus, but for God’s people. Without Jesus’ death, none of us could be part of His Kingdom. Once again, we see the tremendous consequences of our falling to temptation. It never just hurts us. It always hurts those around us.
Illus: This is the temptation of those who are action based or driven people. We see a good and godly end, but press on to accomplish it in our own time and strength. We may have a God-given dream but move forward outside of God’s wisdom and provision. For example, we desire to expand our building in order to minister to more people. This is certainly a godly vision. In fact, I am confident it would be pleasing to God if our intention is to minister to His people and accomplish His work. However, if we were to incur unhealthy debt to accomplish it, if we were to use worldly tactics to pressure people to giving, if we were to be deceitful in how we raised the funds, it would be taking a shortcut that God did not intend. God’s plans done God’s ways never lack God’s provisions. Whenever we push God’s timeline, we displease Him. If Satan knows he can’t knock us off God’s agenda, then he’ll use God’s agenda to stir our selfish desires to do it our way. This is very common in the lives of Godly people.
“The Christian who is ambitious to be a star disqualifies himself as a leader.”
b. I naturally struggle with delayed GRATIFICATION..
Illus: One great example of a person who avoided this was David. God gave him an incredible vision and desire to build God a temple. Something that was pleasing to God and was even part of God’s plan. However, God told David he would not accomplish this, rather his son, Solomon would. David even did all the fundraising, but did not seek to build the temple. The only reason given for David not being able to build it was because his hands had shed too much blood. For some reason God wanted it done at a later time. Would it be that we could be so humble to lay down our dreams at the feet of God’s divine timeline and say “Your will be done in Your perfect time, not mine.” How much damage has been done because godly people pursuing godly ends try to accomplish them in their own timeline, resulting in personal pain and pain to others. This is the pitfall of many godly leaders. They burn themselves out and their families with them because they will not wait on God’s timing and feel they must do it all themselves on the world’s timetable. Have we forgotten that God waited over 2000 years to fulfill His plan of sending His Son after
He revealed Himself to Abraham? Peter (2 Pet 3:8) writes that for the Lord, a day is like a 1000 years and a 1000 years is like a day. His timeline is not ours.
Applications: We are all tempted to grab too soon what God may eventually give us.
· A career or job opportunity.
· A position of ministry or leadership we just aren’t ready for.
· Giving too much to our kids too soon does more damage than good.
c. I need to embrace God’s TIMELINE (2 Pet 3:8).
i. This temptation is often more an issue of timing than it is of our intentions or desires for what we see. Jesus knew that all the kingdom’s of the world would be His. For Him to desire this was not ungodly. For Him to pursue it outside the Father’s timeline is. We all need to understand that God is preparing a place for us that exceeds our wildest imaginations. Your dream home, car, job, relationship, salary, etc will look pathetic compared to what God is preparing. Your main issue is not that you desire these things. Your main issue is you will not wait on God to provide them.
ii. How do I know I’ve accepted God’s timeline?
1. I can accept & be content with God’s “No” or “Not right now”
2. I will not compromise other Truth to achieve.
3. I will not hurt or harm others to achieve.
4. I can honor God regardless of the outcome.
2. I can RESIST the devil’s temptation when I REMEMBER God’s Word.
a. Jesus’ quote is from Deut 6:13. The context is again for God’s people on the verge of entering the promised land. God is reminding and warning them not to forget the God who brought them out of Egypt and into the promised land when they find themselves amongst His promised blessings of great cities, houses filled with all they need. Abundant crops, and more than sufficient resources. He warns them not to forget Who gave these things to them. They are not to worship and pursue these things, but to realize they are from God. Pursue Him only. When we begin to pursue the blessings instead of God, we become vulnerable to worshipping whatever will give us the “blessing” (i.e. things).
b. Note: We all should realize from Jesus’ example that every temptation He faced resulted in His remembering God’s Word. We will only be able to resist to the degree that we know God’s Truth. It doesn’t necessarily require that we have it all memorized (although it is a great benefit). Instead, we must hesitate to make any decision before consulting God’s Truth.
c. The Bible tells us to delight ourselves in Him and then He will give us the desires of our hearts. The key here is to first find our delight and desire satisfied in Him, then He assures us of our satisfaction. Whenever we seek our satisfaction solely in the things of this world, we fail to wait or delight in God. Our passionate pursuit of God in His Word is one of the best indicators of where our true delight is. A heart that is void of His Word is a heart that is satisfied in something other than Him. Is a heart that is extremely vulnerable to the devil’s temptation. Is a heart that is bound for great pain and destruction.
3. When I PROPERLY resist temptation, I will EXPERIENCE the success I desire (11).
a. The devil will flee (11a; James 4:7)
b. God will provide for me. (11b; James 4:8a)
c. I believe many of us give up just before we ever experience this. My prayer and hope for this series is that we won’t quit anymore. That we will persevere until we experience the blessing of God. That we will long for it so deeply, that nothing in this world will substitute. Just remember, on the backside of every temptation is the blessing of God. Don’t give in and miss out on God’s best!
You:
Where are you today in regards to this temptation? Where have you taken a shortcut to get God’s blessing? It may be in your career. It may be in a relationship. It may be in your financial realm. It may be in pursuing a ministry dream. You will know you have taken a short-cut, when you have to overlook or neglect one aspect of God’s Word in order to accomplish another. You don’t have to pursue ungodly things to fall to this temptation.
CONCLUSION
We:
So, what would a church look like that was aware of this temptation and choosing to resist it? For one, they would be a church that was not financially strapped to debt. A church that is doing God’s things God’s ways will never lack God’s provision. I would imagine a church of this kind would be one that is passionately pursuing God through His Word in order to discern God’s work and the devil’s. I would imagine a church like this would be one that does not need to manipulate or pressure people to accomplish God’s will. It would be a church that is able to accept “NO” or “Not now” from God and continue to trust Him to provide in even better ways. It would be a church that is characterized by a deep contentment in God’s greatest blessing. . . Himself, not needing to accomplish great things just to prove itself, but trusting that God will do great things through a church that worships Him and Him alone.
I long to be part of a church like this. I think you do also. We will be when we choose to break free from the power of temptation. We will be when we recognize we are not alone in our temptation. We will be when we acknowledge that we are not helpless toward temptation. We will be when we consistently pursue God’s way of escape. May God’s be well pleased with our church as we pursue Him in the area of temptation.