Susan sat crying
on her bed. Her anger just boiled over and she yelled at her children again.
She thought, “Why can’t I stop sinning against my children?” Sam woke up again
with a headache. He had been trying so hard to remain sober, but could not
resist the urge to drink the night before. He lay in his bed staying at his
ceiling wondering, “Would he ever be able to overcome temptation?” Sarah sat
with her head in your hands. She just got her last credit card statement and
the reality of her spending slapped her in the face. She went overboard again
and scared to tell her husband thinking, “Will I ever beat this?” Have you ever
been there? Do you have particular besetting sins that seem unbeatable? Or
simply do you have trouble overcoming temptation? How do we continue to fall to
sin?
John Piper says of
the tempting power of sin, “Sin gets
its power by persuading me to believe that I will be happier if I follow it.
The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.[1]”
If Piper is right, then the solution to overcoming temptation is to find your
supreme joy and happiness in God. The tempting lie of sin is that it invites us
to find our happiness in something other than God, to find our trust and our
delight in that which can never truly satisfy.
God placed
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He gave them free reign over every tree in
the garden but one. The Accuser and the Tempter approaches Eve with the
beginning of temptation, throwing doubt into her mind by asking, “Did God
actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” Satan wanted to
throw doubt into Eve’s heart. Did God actually tell you that you can’t eat the
trees in the garden? Why would God limit you from eating the beautiful and
luscious fruit on the trees in the garden? Did He actually say that?
Unbelievable! I can’t believe God would do that to you.
Eve comes to
God’s defense (sort of) saying, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the
garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit that is in the midst of
the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” And yet, the Father of
lies continues to attack Eve’s happiness in God. He said, “You will not surely die. For God
knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil.” Satan wanted Eve to believe that God withheld
something good from her. He gave Eve reasons to believe that she would be
happier to distrust God. This is the root of all temptation. This is why we struggle with sin.
And this is what Jesus wants us to
overcome. Jesus begins and ends his encouragement by charging his disciples to,
“Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Jesus not only gives us words to
live by, but gives us an example to follow. I pray that we will overcome
temptation as we look to Christ. Let me offer 3 specific ways we can work to
overcome temptation.
Overcoming Temptation
through Prayer
After finishing
his last supper with his disciples, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to
prepare his own heart for his death. Luke 22:39-41,
And he came out
and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed
him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not
enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and
knelt down and prayed.
It is absolutely amazing that in
the shadow of the cross, Jesus still has genuine concern for his disciples. He
does not want them to fall into temptation, so he encourages them to pray. He
both encourages them to pray and then models for them how to pray.
Jesus’s
exhortation to pray is a very clear sign that we should expect temptation. It
seems obvious, but how often are we surprised by temptation? Jesus has warned
his disciples about Judas’s betrayal and has directly told Peter that he was
going to deny him three times. Temptation is very real, because our adversary
is very real. Jesus knows that the importance of prayer, because he knows he is
going to face temptation. He has already faced and overcome temptation in the
wilderness by trusting and delighting in God’s Word more than the empty
promises of Satan. Jesus knew more temptation was coming. He looked at his
disciples told them to pray to overcome temptation and then he models for them
by going to pray.
Are you expecting
temptation to come? And are you expecting that you are going to need God’s help
to overcome that temptation? Those are
two different questions. First, we have to be aware that temptations are going
to come our way. They may take many different forms, but their root will always
be the same. The temptation will come to invite you to find your happiness in
something other than God. You may be tempted to find your happiness in your
wealth by fudging on your taxes or by withholding your firstfruits of your
income to the Lord. You may be tempted to find your happiness in sexual
fulfillment by looking at pornography or by inappropriate contact outside of
marriage. You may be tempted to find your happiness in your comfort by
forsaking the regular gathering of the saints or by neglecting the effort
required for your growth. There are many ways you will be tempted, but do not
be deceived, for you will be tempted.
The second
question is slightly different than the first. After we are aware that
temptations will come, we have to believe that we have the potential to fall
into temptation. If we do not understand the power of evil and the weakness of
our flesh, we are setting ourselves up for failure. One of the qualifications
for a leader in the church is the awareness of our pride. Paul writes in 1 Tim
3:6, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit
and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” Paul connected spiritual
immaturity directly with the potential of falling into sin. Youthful zeal often
masks our spiritual reality. Jesus says to pray because of the force of the
temptation. We are going to need help to overcome temptation. And we are not
alone, for even Jesus Christ did not underestimate the power of the temptation
facing him.
When we neglect
prayer, we are foolishly setting ourselves for failure. Have you ever seen
someone who was very strong putting too much confidence in their strength? They
are carrying something very heavy and someone asks them if they need help, but
instead of taking the help they do it on their own and eventually succumb to
the weight of what they are carrying. Beloved, do not be the foolish strong
man, but know temptation will come and ask God to strengthen you in the day of
temptation. Pray, “Led us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Jesus
did not just tell us to pray, but he prayed. If the Son of God prayed to
overcome temptation, how much more do we need to pray?
A life without
pray desensitizes us the damaging effects of sin. We may continue to fall into
temptation because we are drifting from the Lord in our prayerlessness. Prayer
refocuses our minds and hearts on our great Savior who is with us. Satan wants
you to trust in yourself while the Lord wants you to trust in Him who is always
with you even to the end of the age. You cannot carry the weight yourself, but
need God’s help. And the beauty is that God offers his help to you. Turn to Him
in prayer.
Overcoming Temptation
through Submission
Jesus does not
only provide a model of praying, but a model of what to pray. Jesus knelt down
and prayed, verse 42,
[S]aying,
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my
will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven,
strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his
sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Jesus was on his knees praying that
his Father would remove the cup from him. The cup is specifically referring to
the cup of the wrath of God that was going to be poured out on him in the place
of sinners on the cross.
There
are several places in the Old Testament that use this language when we
referring to the coming judgment.
For not from the
east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is
God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the
hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out
from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
(Psalm 75:6-8)
Wake yourself,
wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the
LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of
staggering. (Isaiah 51:17)
The cup in the
LORD's right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your
glory! (Habakkuk 2:16b)
Understand that what Jesus was
facing in the Garden was far worse than anything we have ever experienced in
this life. Jesus was going to take the full fury of God’s wrath against sin.
This was an awful reality facing him.
Jesus did not
want the cup. This was his last temptation. John MacArthur helps us understand
this last temptation well when he writes,
Christ struggled
because He was totally devoted only to that which was pure and righteous and
perfect. He struggled because the power of holiness was the only motive He had
ever known in His eternal being, the only motive for every thought, for every
word, for every act was absolute pure holiness, holy, holy, holy. We struggle
with three things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of
life. He struggled against three driving dominant, all-consuming, all pervading
impulses, holy, holy, holy. For us, we’re trying to abandon sin and embrace
holiness. For Him, He was being tempted to abandon holiness and embrace sin
bearing…This is incomprehensible to Him. This is repulsive to Him. This is
foreign to Him. He’s not like us. He’s not fighting against sinful impulses to
be holy. He’s fighting against holy impulses to be made sin. Satan is tempting
Him to cling to holiness, just as he did when he tempted Him in the wilderness,
cling to the right to be satisfied…You don’t need the cross. You don’t need to
embrace sin. You don’t need to embrace sin to be satisfied. You don’t need to
embrace sin to become acknowledged. You don’t need to embrace sin to take Your
rightful throne.[2]
Jesus was going to drink the cup of
the wrath of God and experience the weight of sin first hand. He was going to
be made sin who knew no sin. It is hard for us to fathom how utterly repulsive
sin is to God. The Holy One was to be numbered with the transgressors. Jesus
was being tempted to forsake his Father’s will to be forsaken. The intensity of
this temptation is far beyond any temptation we have experienced in this life.
And in the face
of great temptation Jesus utters one of the most beautiful sentences in the
entire Bible, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Jesus humbly
submits himself to the Father. He humbly puts his trust in the gracious love
and sovereign grace of God. He entrusts Himself to Him who judges justly. For
the joy set before Him, Jesus willingly endured the cross. Jesus submitted
Himself to the Father’s will. This is the essence of all prayer.
We lift our
desires and our requests to God, but we must desire God’s will to be done more
than our own. “Not my will, but thy will be done,” is the essence of finding
our happiness and delight in God. If God is all-good and all-powerful then His
will is best. We must trust Him. If there was ever a time for someone to doubt
God’s goodness, it would have been Jesus in the Garden. He was holy and was to
be punished as unholy. He was righteous and was to be treated as unrighteous.
He was deserving of glory and was treated with shame. Jesus trusted God’s will
for His life. Jesus trusted God’s ultimate purpose in his death. He died that
we may live. He was cursed to reverse our curse. His blood was spilled so we
could be forgiven.
Friend, if you
are here and you are not a Christian, have you ever considered what Jesus
Christ is offering you? Have you ever considered the wrath of God? Jesus faced
the wrath of God against sin and prayed for God to let it pass from him. Have
you seriously considered what is facing you in death? The Bible says the wages
of sin is death. We all deserve death and judgment for our sin. We all deserve
the wrath of God for our sin. Jesus came to take that wrath for us. We know
that Jesus overcame temptation by submitting to the Father’s will, Philippians
2:8-11,
And being found
in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him
the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is Lord. One day every knee
will bow and every tongue confess. The question is not if you will bow, but
how? Will you bow willingly or forcefully? Will you accept his sacrifice and
his obedience on your behalf? Will you allow Him to take the cup of the wrath
of God for you?
Friend, as
Christians, we love Jesus so much because we understand what He did for us. He
took God’s wrath for us so we never have to!!! He overcame the grave and has
given us hope in His resurrection!! Consider Christ’s offer. Jesus wanted there
to be another way, but there was no other way. Friend you may want there to be
another way, but there is salvation in no one else and there is no other name
under heaven which men can be saved other than Jesus Christ.
Jesus was in
agony in the garden, but he was not alone. An angel from heaven was sent to
strengthen him. Jesus submitted himself to the Father’s will and the Father
sent an angel to help him in answer to that prayer. This was a supernatural
strengthening. And he needed that help, because of the extreme agony of his
soul. The word agony literally means to combat unto death. Jesus’ agony only
fueled him to pray more and more earnestly. The text says, “[H]is sweat became
like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke uses medical
language here giving a strong indication that Jesus literally was sweating
drops of blood. The condition is known as hematadrosis when the blood mixes
with sweat because of extreme anguish and pain.
The text only
says “like great drops” implying it could only be metaphorical, but I have no
reason to doubt that Jesus was under such agony that he sweated blood. This
also fits the exhortation given to us in Hebrews 12:3-4, “Consider him who
endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow
weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted
to the point of shedding your blood.” We are encouraged to continue to endure
in our struggle against sin because we have not yet fought like our Master.
Beloved, are you
trusting God this morning? Are you tempted to doubt God’s love for you? You may
be tempted to doubt God’s goodness and his love because of your trial, but you
must pray like Jesus, “not my will, but yours be done.” We may not understand
everything that happens in our lives, but we have a God we can trust. I love
the way Charles Spurgeon puts it, “If you can't trace God's hand, trust His heart.”
God is for you!! Trust Him.
A close friend of
mine was recently let go from his position at a Christian school. He had been
at the school for 6 months was given nothing, but encouragement and affirmation
for his job until he was abruptly let go with little warning. Sadly, the
previous school he was at almost the identical thing happened. He moved his
family across the country to serve this school before he was again abruptly let
go with no warning. My friend has had to look his children in the face twice
now and say we have to move again. My friend is living in this prayer. Lord, I
do not understand. I am trying to be obedient to you, “Nevertheless, not my
will, but yours be done.” This is not a hypothetical prayer, but one we live in
and cling to. Are you tempted to doubt God this morning? Submit to His will.
Pray with me and my friend, “Not my will, but yours be done.”
Overcoming Temptation through Awareness
Jesus
battled temptation through prayer and submitted to his Father’s will and then,
“And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping
for sorrow, and he said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you
may not enter into temptation.’” (Luke 22:45-46) Jesus finishes where he began,
by urging his disciples not to fall into temptation. He finds his disciples
sleeping. The text explains the reason for their sleep: sorrow. The disciples
are exhausted and overwhelmed with the coming prospect of losing their beloved
master and friend. This was extremely taxing on them emotionally and they were
completely spent.
Jesus encourages
his disciples again to rise and pray. Scripture uses the imagery of being awake
as being ready. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “So then let us not sleep, as
others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (1 Thess. 5:6) The disciples
need to be awake and prepared to face temptation. If their eyes are not open
and they are not ready, they will not overcome temptation. We must be awake and
ready. The Puritans of early America use to employ a “Tithingman” for their
congregation. He had a long pole that he had a large knob on one end and a
rabbit’s foot on the other. He was responsible to make sure that people stayed
awake during the sermon. A sermon could easily last up to an hour and half to 2
hours. He would use the large knob to wake up men and the rabbit’s foot to
tickle women awake. It seems silly to us, but they believed that it was
necessary to receive help to literally stay awake to prepare them to hear and
obey God’s Word. What lengths are we willing to go to stay awake to keep
happiness in God?
We may not need to
hire a “Tithingman” to poke when we have fallen asleep, but we need help to
stay awake. Jesus warned his disciples to rise and be ready so that they will
not fall into temptation. Beloved, God has given us each other so that we can
keep each other awake and ready so that we may not fall into temptation. God
wants us to exhort, encourage and sometimes nudge each other to stay awake so
we are ready when temptation will come. Have you ever considered that it was
your obligation to help others in this congregation stay awake and aware for
the coming temptation? Beloved, stay awake and pray that you may not fall into temptation
as you submit yourself to God’s will. Jesus need to pray to overcome
temptation, how much more we?
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