OVERCOMING TEMPTATION
Text: Luke 4:1-3, I Corinthians 10:13 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
[2] Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
[3] And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We all face temptation in some way, often, if not every day that we live. If you are a Christian and are born again by God’s Spirit you will face temptation. If you have never been saved and are NOT a Christian, you will also deal with temptation daily. There is NO Christian or Preacher on this planet that is above TEMPTATION and falling into sin.
We see in our scripture for today, Jesus shows us by example, that even the King of Glory is tempted. Please look closely with me. Notice, before Jesus walked away from this battle with temptation VICTORIOUS, in (V.1) HE was full of the Holy Ghost! In (Hebrews 4:14-16), we find the Word of God tells us we have a GREAT HIGH PRIEST, His name is JESUS! Hallelujah! HE was passed into the heavens, HE is the Son of God, was tempted in ALL points as we are, yet WITHOUT sin! This is why the Word of God tells us, to come BOLDY to the Throne of Grace and obtain mercy, in time of need!
Dear friend, every sin ever committed started in the heart of man as a TEMPTATION. Temptation always comes in a seemingly harmless thought in your mind. The devil will try and make sense of it, and convince you that it will not hurt you or anyone else. This is so far from the TRUTH. Sin will always take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. When we give in to Temptation and SIN is conceived, it hurts you and our Savior and everyone around us. It is this sin in the life of the Christianand a lack of faith to overcome it that hinders Revival and the Lord doing a work in our daily lives.
Temptation calls us to compromise EVERYTHING we believe in and EVERYONE we love, including Jesus! When we act on our temptations, the devil never shows us the DEVASTATIONthat sin leaves behind. The broken hearts, the broken homes and lives, broken churches, broken dreams and future plans, ALLGONE for a few short moments of pleasure. Sin and Temptation are designed to take us away from God’s will. Temptation demands that we take things into our own hands, and strip them from God’s, separating us from God and HIS plans for us.
For victory today over your temptation, look no further than our text above. Jesus was LED by the Spirit and was FULL of the HOLY GHOST! Even though he was hungry and weak in the FLESH, HE was FULL of the Spirit! Today, RUN from SIN, Temptation and temporary desires. Seek the Throne of Grace and ask the Lord for HIS strength. My friend, CLOSE the DOOR to any temptation, yield to HIM and ask the Lord to remove any wicked desires. Would you make room today in your HEART and MIND for Jesus alone???
Bro. Lawrence Longworth
Isaiah 61:1 “the opening of the prison to them that are bound; “
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