Sermon Notes How to Deal With Temptation (Matthew 4:1-11) Key Phrase: It is written Objectives *To understand how to overcome temptation with the scripture *To learn how to study and use the scriptures Lead Questions What is temptation? What is the difference between temptation and sin? When does temptation normally happen? What usually tempts us? The Matthew 4:1-11 Temptation (How to Deal With Temptation SERMON POINT #1. Remain (verse 1) Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. 4 Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down. 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. 7 Jesus answered him, It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test. 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me. 10 Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. John 16:12-15 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.
I. The Temptation: A Multi-Perspectival Reading D. Redemptive-historical reading: Jesus the one true Israelite 1. Interpreting temptation in light of the history of Israel s failings. Look for quotations, allusions, prophecies that show how Jesus fulfills Old Testament (OT) hopes and themes. 2. Matt. 4:4 and Deut. 8:3 3. Matt. 4:7 and Deut. 6:16 (Exo. 17:1-7) E. Reading back from the future: Jesus the Lamb of God Investigating temptation in light of the end, the future of the story. Foreshadowing pretext of the crucifixion and resurrection coming; look for seeds of those future developments. F. Cosmic reading: Jesus the Lion of God, victor in combat against Satan Examining temptation in light of cosmic conflict between good and evil. This conflict surfaces sporadically in the Bible, quite frequently in the Gospels, already in birth narratives. SERMON POINT #1. Remain spirit led (verse 1) SERMON POINT #2. Embrace (verse 4) {2a} Know (verse 4) D. Redemptive-historical reading: Jesus the one true Israelite Matthew 4:1 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested. Matthew 4:4 Deut. 8:3 Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11,12 Matthew 4:7 Deut. 6:16 Matthew 4:10 Deut. 6:13 Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. 4 Jesus answered, It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Deuteronomy 8:1-5 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your
heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Matthew 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down. 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. (quote from Psalm 91:11-12) (the devil omits in all thy ways ) SERMON POINT #1. Remain spirit led (verse 1) SERMON POINT #2. Embrace the scriptures (verse 4) 2a. Know your source (verse 4) {2b.} Know (verse 7) Matthew 4:7 Jesus answered him, It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Deuteronomy 6:13-16 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. Exodus 17:1-7 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. Moses replied, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test? 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst? 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me. 5 The Lord answered Moses, Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink. So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
SERMON POINT #1. Remain spirit led (verse 1) SERMON POINT #2. Embrace the scriptures (verse 4) 2a. Know your source (verse 4) 2b. Know your boundaries (verse 7) {2c.} Know (verse 10) Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 All this I will give you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me. 10 Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Deuteronomy 10:20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. Deuteronomy 13:4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. Joshua 24:14 Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. SERMON POINT #1. Remain spirit led (verse 1) SERMON POINT #2. Embrace the scriptures (verse 4) 2a. Know your source (verse 4) 2b. Know your boundaries (verse 7) 2c. Know your purpose (verse 10) SERMON POINT #3. Don t embrace (verse 11) Matthew 4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
How To Deal With Temptation (Matthew 4:1-11) 1. Remain Spirit led v1 2. Embrace the scriptures v4 a. Know your source v4 b. Know your boundaries v7 c. Know your purpose v10 3. Don t embrace separation anxiety v11 Additional Questions/Meditations 1. Who leads Jesus into the desert? / 2. Were these real temptations for Jesus? See Hebrews 2:14-18 / 3. Jesus was tempted in three areas, what were they? Write out the temptation and Jesus response. / 4. Why does Satan tempt Jesus in these areas? / 5. It is interesting that Satan quotes the Word of God (vv 5-7). He omits part of Psalm 91. (When someone uses scripture watch that they are not taking it out of context or twisting its meaning.) What is Jesus reply to Satan? / 6. Who comes to Jesus after Satan flees? / 7. What do you learn from Jesus example? / 8. How does this event witness to you who Jesus is? Read: Ephesians 6:10-18, memorize each piece of spiritual armor 2 Timothy 2:22-24 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. James 4:1-12 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people,[a] don t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: but shows favor to the humble. 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[d] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you who are you to judge your neighbor?
Numbers 11 (NIV) Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2 When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. 3 So that place was called Taberah, because fire from the Lord had burned among them. 4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! 7 The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. 8 The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. 9 When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down. 10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord, Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, Give us meat to eat! 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me if I have found favor in your eyes and do not let me face my own ruin. 16 The Lord said to Moses: Bring me seventy of Israel s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone. 18 Tell the people: Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt! Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, Why did we ever leave Egypt? 21 But Moses said, Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, I will give them meat to eat for a whole month! 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them? 23 The Lord answered Moses, Is the Lord s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you. 24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied but did not do so again. 26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. 28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses aide since youth, spoke up and said, Moses, my lord, stop them! 29 But Moses replied, Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them! 30 Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. 31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. 33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,[d] because there they buried the people who had craved other food. 35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.