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 Jesus faced this time of temptation, and it will show us how we can face temptation. We'll see how Jesus had power over temptation, and his example will help us find power over temptation in our own lives.

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" [by William Barclay] because in it "Jesus is laying bare his inmost heart and soul." He told his followers about the struggles he faced.

Another interesting point is that this story reminds us that Jesus was truly human. Matthew says,

(v. 2) After fasting 40 days and nights, he was hungry.

Matthew's words give evidence that this story wasn't just a legend created by the early church, because it emphasizes the humanity of 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 Jesus. He wasn't like that. He became one of us—fully human.

Last week I watched a movie on the life of Jesus [I believe it was King of Kings] and this scene was probably the most unrealistic in the entire film. After being in the desert 40 days and nights without food and water, his hair wasn't even messed up. As he faced temptation, he never showed any sign of struggle. In fact, he showed no emotion at all. He spoke in a voice that I can only describe as "Shakespearean monotone." There was nothing at all believable about the scene; the director entirely missed the point that this story makes.

This story tells us that Jesus was human, Jesus was tempted, and he had power over temptation. It gives us hope, because we are human, we are tempted, and we can have power over temptation just as he had.

That's exactly what the writer of the book of Hebrews was telling us when he said,

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

He overcame temptation so that you can overcome temptation. Today we're going to look at how to do that. In dealing with temptation, this story shows us that there are three things you need to do. First of all …

1. Expect temptation.

Temptation is inevitable. Even good people are tempted. Even people who walk in the Spirit are tempted. Matthew said …

(v. 1) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Did you get that? 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. That's not true. Even good people experience temptation. Even people who's lives are led by the Holy Spirit experience 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.

In our judicial system there are 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." etc. etc. A cop can't do that, because it would be considered entrapment.

Some people think that is how God tempts us with 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 …

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone …(James 1:13)

God's purpose is not to tempt us, but to give us power over temptation.

Another thing I want you to realize is that temptation often follows a "peak" 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 and a voice spoke from heaven that said,

"This is my son whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)

One commentator called the baptism story 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 endorse (so to speak) his Son. Immediately after this powerful event, Jesus faced the devil one on one.

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.

Immediately afterward, Elijah heard that 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 when he heard about the threats from Jezebel.

Doesn't make sense, does it? But that's what often happens in our lives. After a peak experience, we often find ourselves alone in the desert.

In his book The Winner Within NBA coach Pat Riley talks about how difficult it is for a championship team to win a second consecutive championship, because that peak experience leads to a whole new type of struggle among the players. If you're not ready for success, it can be quite difficult to handle. That's why Benjamin Franklin said, "Success has ruined many a man."

It is significant to note that after Jesus was declared by John the Baptist to be the Messiah, the next event in his life was a time of temptation in the desert. The next event in his life was not the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, where thousands gathered to shout "Hosanna" in his presence. It wasn't the feeding of the 5,000, and it wasn't the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It was 40 lonely days and nights in the desert without food and water. After his coronation as king, Jesus faced a time of temptation. A peak experience in life is often followed by a time of temptation, or a time of struggle.

When things are going good for us, we have a tendency to think "I've arrived. This is it. I'll be on top from now on." It doesn't work that way in anyone's life. When you succeed in a big way, you can expect a time of testing to follow soon afterward.

Another thing I want you to realize about temptation is that it often attacks you where you are most vulnerable. After Jesus had been alone in the desert 40 days and nights without food and water, the tempter came to him and said,

(v. 3) "If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

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.

Here's a fact of life: Temptation doesn't hit you where you're strong; it hits you where you're weak. If your business is thriving but your marriage is on the rocks, guess where the tempter will attack. If you have a strong family life, but you're going through some struggles at work, guess where the tempter will attack. He'll find where you're vulnerable, and he'll go after it.

In a football game, when a key player such as Deion Sanders gets injured and is replaced by an inexperienced rookie, what does the other team do? They start throwing deep passes, because they know their opponent is weak in that position.

That's exactly how temptation presents itself in our lives. It hits us where we're weak. It hits us where we're vulnerable. Does that mean we have to throw in the towel and give in to temptation? No. It means we have to rise to the occasion, and face temptation in God's strength. Jesus was at the point of starvation, and he didn't give in.

To experience power over temptation, the first thing you need to do is learn to expect it. It happens to everyone, even good people; it frequently comes after a major victory in life; and it often hits us where we are weakest. Expect it. Secondly,

2. Understand it.

Many times we lose the battle against temptation because we don't understand how temptation works in our lives. Temptation is, by its very nature, deceptive. It often presents itself to us in a type of twisted logic. Matthew tells us that the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and then he said,

(v. 6) "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down."

Then, notice what Satan did next. He quoted Scripture at Jesus. He said,

(v. 6) "For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Do you see what Satan was doing? He quoted Scripture knowing that Jesus knew it was absolutely true, but he was trying to get him to apply it in a twisted, self-serving way. He was saying, "Come on, Jesus. God will take care of you. Jump." And there was an unspoken implication, "Or do you really believe God will take care of you? Maybe he won't, if you're not really the Messiah."

An insurance salesman once told me his most effective tactic was to tell the prospect that if he really cared about his family, he would buy insurance. If the prospect turned down his sales pitch, he would say to the man, in front of his wife and kids, "Are you telling me that your family isn't worth 50 cents a day to you?" I don't want to disparage life insurance salesmen, but this particular man knew what buttons to push to get people to accept his offer.

Satan knows what buttons to push, too. And he'll use whatever twisted logic he can. He'll say things like, "You know that God wants you to be happy, right? And you know that you'll never be happy as long as you're married to this person. So God must want you to get a divorce … Unless, of course, you believe that God just wants you to be miserable for the rest of your life." Or he'll say, "God doesn't want your family to do without the necessities of life, and you need your money much more than the government needs it, so cut some corners on your income taxes. Spend that money on your kids. Unless, of course, you think God doesn't want you to have enough to live on."

Very few people can be tempted with the idea of doing something bad just for the sake of doing something bad. But we can all be tempted with the idea of doing something bad in order to get something good.

Satan tempted Jesus to jump from the temple in order to prove to the world that he was God's anointed Messiah. He tried to get him to do something wrong in order to accomplish something good … but Jesus understood temptation well enough to see through Satan's twisted logic.

Another thing I want you to notice about temptation is that it often promises what God has already provided. Matthew tells us that Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said,

(v. 9) "All this I will give to you if you bow down and worship me."

There is something ridiculous about Satan's words, because he was offering to give Jesus that which God had already given him. God had already declared Jesus to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He had declared that all of creation would worship him, every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That has been God's promise to Jesus throughout all eternity. This is his world. In fact, the book of Colossians says that it was Jesus who created the world. This is his world, and yet, Satan offered it to him.

That's the way temptation works. It often offers something that it can't really give … something that only God can give. Temptation will say to you, "Do this and you'll be happy. Do this and you'll have peace of mind. Do this and you'll feel good about yourself." But the devil can't give you happiness, because it isn't the devil's to give. He can promise you the world, but he can't give you the world, because it really isn't his to give. Only God can give you happiness. Only God can give you peace of mind. Only God can give you a sense of well-being.

So, understand this about temptation: It promises more than it can deliver.

Another thing I want you to understand about temptation is that it doesn't last forever. When Jesus resisted the tempter, the tempter finally went away. Too often we give in to temptation because we think, I can't fight this forever. You don't have to. Temptation doesn't last forever. James said,

Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

Resisting temptation doesn't make you weaker, it makes you stronger. Also, I want you to understand that temptation doesn't leave forever, either. In Luke's account of the temptation story, after Jesus resists Satan's temptation, Luke says,

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:12)

When Jesus overcame temptation, it didn't mean he was through with temptation for the rest of his life. He had to deal with it again and again throughout his ministry (Remember the words of Hebrews: "He was tempted as we are"). Most notably, in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was tempted not to go through with his sacrificial death.

Temptation doesn't last forever, but it doesn't leave forever. You'll never get to a point where you no longer have to deal with temptation. In dealing with temptation, we need to expect it, we need to understand it, and thirdly, we need to …

3. Attack it.

How did Jesus respond to temptation? He responded with the Word of God. Every time the devil tempted Jesus, he responded by saying, "It is written." There is something about the words of Scripture that give us strength in overcoming temptation.

A while back I told the story of a pastor friend of mine who had a problem with exaggeration to the point of being deceptive. If there were 850 people at church, he would round it up to 1000. If he had 6 appointments in one day, he would say he had 10. If he paid $100 for something, he'd tell you he paid $200, or he'd tell you he'd paid $50, depending on which way he was trying to impress you. God began to convict him of this kind of deception, and he began making an effort to develop the "virtue of accuracy." When he was tempted to exaggerate, he would repeat to himself a verse from Proverbs:

The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight, (Proverbs 11:1)

saying this verse to himself again and again helped him overcome the sin of lying.

David understood this principle. He said in the Psalms,

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)

When it comes to attacking temptation, the Word of God is your first line of defense. The more you know Scripture, and use it, the more power you'll experience over temptation. When you're facing temptation, remind yourself that if you resist the devil, he will flee from you. (James 4:7) When you're tempted to lie, remind yourself that accurate weights delight the Lord (Proverbs 11:1). When you're tempted to take a verbal shot at one of your kids, remind yourself that Paul said, "Fathers, do not provoke your children." (Ephesians 6:4) The words of Scripture give us strength in the face of temptation.

Therefore, we need to make an effort to know the Word. Now, you can't memorize the whole Bible, and you don't have to. What I have learned is that when I read the Bible on a daily basis, God speaks to me about what I am going through at that time in my life. I can't tell you the number of times I have faced something during the day that is directly related to what I read earlier that morning in the Bible. You attack temptation by speaking the Word of God.

Also, you attack temptation by confronting temptation. Matthew tells us that when Satan tempted Jesus to bow down and worship him, Jesus said,

(v. 10) Away from me, Satan!

He did not run from the tempter, he confronted him, and told him, basically, to get lost.

Let me ask you a question. How do you speak to your tempter? Do you hear yourself whining, "Oh no. Temptation is so strong and I'm so weak. I'll never win this battle." Or do you stand strong and boldly say, "Get lost! There's no way I'm going to commit that sin!"

Years ago I was involved in a business meeting in which one of our clients tried to persuade my boss to cut some corners that were, at the very least, unethical. My boss confronted the man and said something along the lines of, "Are you suggesting what it sounds like you're suggesting?"

The man hemmed and hawed and finally said, "Yes."

My boss stood up and said, "This meeting is over. And so is our relationship." Then he stormed out of the office—and it was his office! The client sat there dumbfounded and, frankly, so did I. My boss came back in about 15 seconds later and said, "Did you hear me? The meeting is over. Steve will show you to the door." And he sat down at his desk and started going through his mail.

The reason I was so shocked was because I knew my boss desperately needed the business this client offered. But he didn't want the client's money bad enough to cheat others, so he kicked him out of his office.

That's the way we need to deal with temptation in our life. When it makes it's appeal, we need to cut it off mid-sentence, so to speak, and say, "I won't even discuss it. Get away from me."

You don't have to cower in the face of temptation. You can confront it boldly, because you're not confronting it in your own strength, but in God's strength.

Another way you attack temptation is to re-affirm your commitment to God. Jesus said …

(v. 10) Away from me, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

Jesus was saying, "Leave me alone, because I belong to God, and I don't belong to you. I worship him, I don't worship you."

When my children were little, and one of them would tell a sibling to do something, the sibling would often say, "You're not the boss of me." Once I heard my youngest, Jonathan, tell his brother, "You're not the boss of me. Only Dad is the boss of me." That phrase has become a catch-phrase in our family. Even now as teenagers, they still use it. When one of their friends tries to exert undue influence, they'll tell them flat out, "You're not the boss of me!"

That's how we need to respond to temptation. We need to say, "You're not my boss. Jesus is my boss. I don't serve you, I serve him."

When you face temptation, reaffirm your commitment to God. Remind yourself that you belong to him, that he is your Lord.

Conclusion

Temptation is a fact of life; expect it. Temptation is insidious, so make sure you understand it. Most of all, remember that temptation isn't all powerful, so attack it. Not in your own strength, but in God's strength. You attack it with the Word of God; you attack by confronting it and telling it to get lost; you attack by re-affirming your commitment to the Lordship of Christ. Jesus experienced power over temptation, and you can too, if you follow his example.

Steve May has been a pastor to pastors for more than 20 years, helping preachers and teachers to become more effective communicators of the gospel.