Food
for Thought:
Chocolate Anyone? Or Try It You'll Like It
A Summer
Sermon Series: The Jesus I Want to Know
August 19 , 2007
Dr. Mark Ruppert
Genesis 3:1-13; Matthew 4:1-11
What is the greatest temptation you face? If you ask my wife,
no, better yet, ask me about one of her greatest temptations, you
notice I decided to focus on her rather than me, one of her greatest
temptations is CHOCOLATE. Margaret is a “Chocoholic” if ever there
was one. Me- it is potato chips and French onion dip. And these
are just the easy ones-the food ones, although food can be a big
temptation to a number of people. What tempts you, what tempts me
and how do we deal with temptation?
Someone once said, “I wouldn’t be tempted if temptation wasn’t so
tempting.” Comedian Flip Wilson said, “The devil made me do it the
first time, but ever since I’ve been doing it on my own.” Famous
playwright and poet Oscar Wilde once said, “I can resist anything
but temptation.”
And American humorist, writer Sam Levenson said, “Lead us not
into temptation. Just tell us where it is; we’ll find it.”
Sometimes it almost seems as if we don’t find temptation, temptation
finds us.
Two Sunday’s ago we discussed how important it is for the
believer to have a Renewed Mind that is focused on God because well,
it’s true- garbage in to the mind, garbage out of the mind;
Christ-like things into the mind, Christ-like things out of the
mind. You see, whether we believe it or not, our human nature is
prone to sin. Human nature is weak, we are a rebellious people who,
only by the grace of God, seek out the light because we are
attracted to darkness. We are prone to darkness. Let’s be honest,
temptation can initially look good, at times it looks inviting, at
times it looks better, if only for a time until we get caught, or
are conscientious, touched by the Holy Spirit helps us puts the
brakes on what we know to be wrong and sinful.
That is why Paul said in Romans 12:2-3, “Do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and
acceptable and perfect.”
A recent survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked
areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them. Do you know what
they were? Let me give them to you: 1) Materialism; 2)
Pride; 3) Self-centeredness; 4) Laziness; 5) and
there are two here because there was a tie between
Anger/Bitterness & Sexual lust; 7) Envy; 8)
Gluttony; and 9) Lying. Now listen to this- those
involved in the survey noted that temptations were more potent,
when do you think? When they had, are you ready, neglected
their time with God (81% said so) and when they were
physically tired (57% said so). Resisting temptation was
accomplished by, what do you think?
Prayer (84%), Avoiding Compromising
Situations (76%), Bible Study (66%), and Being
Accountable to Someone (52%).
As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate
trestle bridge was built across a large canyon out West. Wanting to
test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars
and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then
driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed the entire day.
One worker asked, “Are you trying to break this bridge?” “No,” the
builder replied, “I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t break.”
Well, our second scripture passage from Matthew 4 speaks to this
very issue, for we read how Jesus was faced with temptations that,
in a way, weren’t designed to see if He would sin, but to prove that
He couldn’t. It is as if the devil says to Jesus- “This is a test.
For the next several hours I will conduct a test and I will let you
prove that you are who you say you are and will not, can not sin.
OK Jesus?” And Jesus says, “Bring it on.”
I mean Jesus was tempted with the flesh- He hadn’t eaten for 40
days and nights and His belly was growling- He was famished. So the
devil conveniently looks and sees a few stones and tempts Jesus to
turn the stones to bread and fix the hunger problem. He was tempted
with the world- the devil took Him to the pinnacle of the temple and
tempted Him to throw Himself down and let the angels snatch Him up
before He would kill Himself- after all He was supposedly the Son of
God. And Jesus’ third temptation was by the devil himself- the
devil was willing to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world-
remember, Satan is the ruler of this world- and Jesus could have all
the kingdoms of the world if He would only bow down and worship the
devil. In each case Jesus did not succumb and fought temptation
with scripture- I think there is a lesson in this for us, right?
But when we lay our New Testament passage from Matthew 4
side-by-side with Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve are tempted by the
serpent, we find Jesus succeeding and Adam and Eve failing
miserably.
So what are we humans to do? We find ourselves wanting to be
like Jesus- I mean He is the bench-mark; He is the one we are trying
to model our lives after- right? We want to be more like Jesus but
in reality, we are more and more like Adam and Eve.
OK time to analyze. What went wrong with Adam and Eve? Eve
thought she had it all figured out and she could be in control. She
thought she was bigger than God and so she forgot about trusting and
obeying God and she came out on the short end.
Lesson #1- Whenever we think we are at least equal to or bigger
than God- we are in big trouble and headed, like Eve and Adam, for
they, excuse the expression, They Fall.
On the other hand look at Jesus- what went right in the
wilderness experience with the devil? Jesus focused on Scripture;
He modeled His life after Scripture even when the options and the
benefits that the devil offered Him made all the human sense in the
world- not really.
So lesson #2 is stay focused on God and not the things of
this world. A moral to the two stories is model yourself after
Jesus; don’t model yourself after Eve, and for heaven’ sake, don’t
even put old Adam in the equation cause he was nothing but a modern
day wimp who didn’t even put up a fight.
OK- let’s be honest. We read the story of Eve and Adam
conversing with the serpent- and which one of us has recently
conversed with a serpent? Unless we had a little too much vino and
we have a pet snake at home and somehow we thought the snake was
speaking to us. You get my point? So it’s difficult to relate to
the Adam and Eve story and it’s difficult to relate to Jesus’
situation because we normally don’t go around having a conversation
with a visible devil like Jesus. And we look at Jesus’ temptations
and don’t find ourselves facing similar temptations- they were
unique to Jesus. And so we ask ourselves, “what did Jesus know of
the temptations we face today-Someone who is a recovering alcoholic
or a substance abuser? Or how about the lonely widow or widower or
divorcee? How about the struggling single mom or business owner or
person who has been married to the same person for 26 years and you
realize there is nothing there between you? Or what about the youth
who craves peer acceptance more than anything else in the world?
Ah, but there is a common thread, a common temptation that Jesus
faced in the wilderness but did not give into and one that we face
and it is this- to treat God as less than God. And there is
a common thread to Adam and Eve’s temptation and us, and that is
to be independent from God or the idea to want to be God. And
the things is, if we are all brutally honest we have all treated God
less than God and we have all wanted to be independent from God and
maybe, just maybe want to be God, in a crazy way.
Here is a question for all of us to ponder- what is shaping
you? Now think about that question- what is shaping you?
The more we let that question work on us the more we will come to
realize that our choices in life really do shape us into the
person we are becoming. An unknown author once wrote, “Sow a
thought and reap a deed; sow a deed and reap an action; sow an
action and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a
character and reap a destiny.” Wow. And so we can say that we do
make our choices and, whether we like it or not, our choices make
us.
We all face temptations each and every day of life. Those
temptations bring us to forks in the road for they will either bring
us closer to God or take us farther away from God. Think of it this
way- if we do, by the grace of God and the working of the Holy
Spirit, chose to obey God, we will be blessed by God, we will be
strengthened and in a way, become more like Christ. But, but if we
chose to disobey, no matter if it is a big or small thing, we will,
in some way, corrupt and erode our character and weaken our ability
to reject future temptation.
But also, when we chose to disobey we will cause a breach, a
break in our relationship and fellowship with God and, if it
continues, we can actually begin to move further and further away
from God.
So what does a person do? How do we resist temptation?
First, we need to see temptation for what it is- temptation
and put on the brakes. When confronted with temptation we need
stop before we leap. There are those moments before we succumb
that, if we stop soon enough we can catch ourselves before we enter
the act. Second, we need to recognize our pattern of
temptation. We all know what are weakness or weaknesses are and
make every effort to find a detour away from not to the temptation.
Third, we need to ask for God’s support and help.
Psalm 50:15 says, “call upon me in the day of trouble; I will
deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” I know I cannot overcome
temptation by myself, I need God’s help. God is stronger than the
temptation; I certainly am not and so that is why I need His help.
And remember how Jesus dealt with the temptation in the wilderness?
He used the Word of God to resist, and it worked; it worked for Him
and it can work for us. Fourth, in resisting temptation we need
to redirect our attention to something else. Rather than
trying to take the temptation head-on, redirecting one’s attention
to something else can work wonders. And here is another help- it
never hurts to have someone that we can trust, another believer
that you can hold in confidence, to know our struggle or struggles
who can hold us accountable and walk with us. Spiritual friends can
be very important in overcoming temptation.
Are you a chocoholic? Do you face temptation? How do you deal
with it? A periodic “gut check” where we are asking ourselves some
hard questions like, where are my choices taking me spiritually? Am
I closer to God now than I was a year ago at this time? Are there
temptations that have a foothold on me that I have given into that
need eradicated because they have arrested or reversed my growth in
Christ? What am I becoming? James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and
he will flee from you.” And remember this, there are several good
protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice. So be
a coward and resist. Oh, by the way, “Chocolate Anyone?” Amen.
Key Points
Introduction: What is the greatest temptation you face?
A recent survey of Discipleship Journal…
Temptations were more potent when they had __________ their
time with God and when they were __________ tired
Resisting temptation was accomplished by _______, avoiding
_________ situations, ______ ______, and being __________ to
someone
Matthew 4
Matthew 4 and Genesis 3 side-by-side
What went wrong with Adam and Eve?
Lesson #1- Whenever we think we are at least equal or bigger
than God...
What went right in the wilderness experience with the devil?
Lesson #2- stay focused on God and not the things of this
world
A common temptation that Jesus faced but did not give into and
that we face is…
A common thread to Adam and Eve’s temptation and us is to be…
How do we resist temptation?
First, we need to see temptation for what it is- Temptation-
and put on the brakes
Second, we need to ______ our pattern of temptation
Third, we need to ____ for God’s support and help
Fourth, in resisting temptation we need to _____ our
attention to something else
Conclusion: There are several good protections against
temptation, but the surest is cowardice.
Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.)
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