Tempted Of The Devil
I. You can get so tuned into
spiritual things that natural things become secondary; Jesus wasn’t hungry
until after the fast-Matthew 4:2, Colossians 3:2
A.
Jesus got so hooked into spiritual things and
what God was going that natural stuff became secondary, faint, and carried no
weight
1.
Sure his body was hungry (if he did fast
food), but he wasn’t all that aware of it because he was so aware of his spirit
and spiritual things
2.
You an get so tuned into God’s word and what
it says that what everybody and everything else says means nothing
3.
This doesn’t mean that Jesus was some
spiritual flake always acting spooky, but he was however aware of the spiritual
implications of all that surrounded him
B.
It helps us to be more spiritually aware and
awake to spiritual things
1.
Carnal immature people will always gravitate
towards the natural
a.
Mark 8:15-16-Jesus was talking a spiritual
bread, words, and they’re thinking about natural bread
b.
EX: Politicians; people get mad at flesh b/c
they gravitate towards the natural
c.
Matthew 14-Jesus was spiritually situationaly
aware
2.
We need to develop spiritual situational
awareness; always being aware of the spiritual atmosphere and climate of every
situation we are in
a.
Ephesians 1:18-When you see it from the right
perspective you can take the spiritual action necessary to rectify it
II.
Jesus lived a spirit-led life-Matthew 4:1
A.
He didn’t just decide to go up into the
wilderness because he wanted to; he was led
B.
If Jesus was being led by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil, then we know it’s going to lead to these
six things:
1.
The more free you’ll be
2.
The more sanctified you’ll be
3.
The further away u get from Satan’s plan for
your life
4.
The more effective you’ll be
5.
The more you’ll experience all the good
things that God has prepared for you
6.
The more victory you’ll see
C.
The Holy Spirit never leads you into
something that will lead to your harm
III.
This is an opportunity for Jesus to be promoted-Matthew 4:1-2
A.
Did the Holy Spirit lead him into this desert
place to be tempted/tested/proved of the devil? Yes. Why? God will give you
opportunities to prove that you are ready for more.
1.
There is a proving or testing that is good-1
Peter 1:7
a.
John 6:5-9-Jesus asked Philipp a question to
prove/test him
1)
He’s giving Philipp an opportunity to respond
in faith and to prove himself
b.
Exodus 16:4-God is giving them an opportunity
to prove that they trust Him
c.
Psalm 26:2-It is the will of God that we be
examined, proved, and tried
1)
He’s praying that the Lord give him
opportunities to prove himself faithful
d.
2 Corinthians 13:5-We should be endeavoring
to take advantage of the opportunities that we have to prove ourselves
2.
Jesus is up here and it’s proving time
a.
We see our master proving himself when the
opportunity to do so arose
3.
James 1:13-God does not entice with sin, he
doesn’t solicit sin, he doesn’t tempt you with sin; God doesn’t use the curse
that Jesus redeemed you from to test you; that’s blasphemous and a slap in the
face to Jesus; God’s part is he always gives you something to do that’s right;
He’s not tempting you to do wrong
B.
Promotion in God’s Kingdom, Jesus or
otherwise, doesn’t come without being proven
1.
Matthew 25:14, Luke 19:15
a.
He’s not tempting them to do wrong with the
money; he’s giving them an opportunity to prove themselves faithful so that
they can be promoted
b.
Promotion only came to the ones who had been
proven
c.
Thank God for the opportunities that we get
to prove ourselves
d.
What they did with their opportunity
determined the level of their promotion
2.
Luke 16:10-11-What you do on the testing
grounds is what you’ll do in the real world
a.
If you can’t handle the fake stuff, you can’t
be trusted with the real (ex:bullets)
3.
Promotion comes when you’ve proven yourself
capable of handling it
a.
EX: If an airplane doesn’t prove itself in
training it won’t be promoted to runway
4.
Tests reveal the truth about a thing
a.
You can say something about yourself, but we
don’t find out the truth until you get under the pressure of a test/opportunity;
These “proving times” bring the real you out; You don’t prove yourself with
words
1)
EX: You can say you love God, but that
doesn’t prove you love him-John14:15
b.
The way you prove yourself worthy of the promotion
is pass tests-Proverbs 28:20
1)
You’ve been commanded to prove yourself-2
Corinthians 13:5
c.
Mt 25:21-The servant that didn’t prove
himself didn’t get promoted to greater
5.
You don’t get promoted w/o being proven and
you can’t be proven w/o the tests
6.
God’s not tempting Abraham to do wrong, He’s
giving him the opportunity to be tested, proven, and promoted (Genesis 22)
C.
God’s interest in you being tested is so that
you can be proven and promoted; not so that you can fail and be defeated
1.
God didn’t send Jesus up there to lose, he
sent him up there to beat Satan in the head, pass the tests, and be promoted-1
Corinthians 10:13
2.
God doesn’t test to teach, he tests to prove
and promote
a.
Anybody knows a good teacher teaches before
the tests
b.
Now if you don’t pass the test God very well
could teach you something in that
3.
God wants to promote you, but a promotion
without being proven will be to your destruction and that’s the purpose for the
“tests”
4.
With enough grace any test can be passed with
ease
D.
Jesus knew every attack is just an
opportunity to be proven faithful and see promotion
1.
If we don’t operate with a “proven”
mentality, then we won’t live a promoted lifestyle; you have to have the
mentality that every opportunity you have to prove it you are going to do jus
that
2.
We are all at different places spiritually so
what can you handle?
a.
There’s benefits for the grown up, for the
obedient that others won’t get
b.
Sometimes God just wants to see what you’re
going to do to show you who you really are and where you’re really at
3.
Luke 4:14-Jesus past the test and then got
the promotion
E.
The pressure of the test is a precious or
valuable thing (1 Peter 1:7)
1.
The pressure of the test is precious b/c w/o
it there would be no proven & no promotion
a.
Jesus being led up there by the spirit to be
tempted was a precious thing; he has the opportunity to pass the test and be
promoted
b.
You got to get a revelation of precious
pressure
2.
The time of pressure is no time to cave in;
it is the time to prove yourself
a.
Pressure should lead to proven & proven
will always lead to promotion (Daniel 3)
F.
When Jesus is being tempted, tested and tried
that leads to this great promotion it’s on the level of his thoughts
1.
Is casting down every imagination and every
thought that’s against the Word and big deal to God?-Romans
8:5-6
a.
When your thought life becomes life or death
to you, you’ll guard it
2.
Every test and in that regard every promotion
begins on the level of your thought life
a.
How are you going to deal with and handle
your thoughts? God is watching