Title: Overcome Temptation! (Luke 4:1-13)
It is not easy for Christians to keep their faith well in the world. Because the whole world is full of temptations of the devil. A lot of information coming in through our five senses can be a means of temptation by the devil that destroys our personality, corrupts us spiritually, and takes away our faith. Today's sermon is to explain what kinds of temptations the devil can face in the world. What are the devil's temptations?
1. The temptation to get things easily.
“The devil said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (verse 3). It can be said that this temptation is a temptation that we can have today as well. As we know, owning material is not so easy. If you don't sweat a lot, put in a lot of effort and effort, you won't get it. Even though sweating to obtain material things is a legitimate method established by God, the devil tempts us to give up on this foolish method.
No matter how hungry Jesus was, he did not use the power of God for it. Because that's not the right way. Rather, he thought of eternal life, eternal food, and truth first. And he refused the reward for not trying. Like Jesus, we have to overcome the temptation to obtain material things without going through the proper process.
2. The temptation to get everything at once.
The devil is tempting Jesus to take Jesus to a high place and show him all the kingdoms under the heavens and give him all these powers and glory if he bows down to him. A wise person spends a lot of time and, even if there are some hardships, do not try to avoid them, but rather face them. I hope that you will become believers who depend only on God, fear only God, and believe in God's help.
“Jesus answered and said, For it is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (verse 8). It is not the devil, but God who gives us happiness and salvation, so do not bow down to the devil. This means that we should give worship and praise only to God. Therefore, you must understand that greed to succeed easily and achieve everything at once is an act of selling your soul to the devil and spiritually becoming a servant of the devil.
3. The temptation to see miracles.
“Then he led them to Jerusalem, and set them on the top of the temple, saying, “If you are the Son of God, jump down from here. It is written, “For it is written that God will command his angels to watch over you” (verse 9). However, since the miracles shown for this purpose are self-assurance and heroism, the result is a disgrace to God's name and a robbery of glory. One of the mistakes that we believers are easy to make is that we fall into reckless mysticism without realizing it. It is saying that there is an instinct to test the power and work of God. But asking for a miracle without a clear purpose is just a test of God's power.
If you really want to see miracles, you must enter such a position so that God has to give you a miracle. Instead of expecting God to heal you, you must boldly do God's work first so that he can show you miracles. Before you can ask for material blessings, you must first be able to do missionary work boldly. I have to do something first so that God has to work a miracle. If you do that, God will be forced to show you miracles.