Church 9/4/2021
Offertory scripture:
We need God’s covering.
Giving is about the heart.
Be humble and accept/receive what God has given you. It is God who gives us the ability to have wealth. Let us therefore give because we desire to honor Him.
Sermon notes:
Sometimes when someone gets tempted they feel condemnation inside because they think it’s wrong to be tempted.
Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
Matthew 11:20-24 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%2011:20-24&version=NKJV
Point #1: Jesus Himself was tempted
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:15 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Hebrews%204:15&version=NKJV
Point #2: Temptation itself is not sin.
You are not disqualified if you are tempted.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=James%204:7&version=NKJV
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Say this: “It’s not me that’s disqualified; it is Satan that is disqualified.”
As long as you are alive in the human body, you will face temptation.
How do we handle temptation?
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Hebrews%204:16&version=NKJV
We will find mercy, grace, and help from God.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
James 1:13-14 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=James%201:13-14&version=NKJV
Condemnation is not from God. It’s from Satan.
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Mark 3:24 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Mark%203:24&version=NKJV
God doesn’t tempt you because it goes against His will and His kingdom.
Point #3: God made a way to escape temptation
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Corinthians%2010:13&version=NKJV
Point #4: God can bring good out of every temptation
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Romans%208:28&version=NKJV
Temptation is Satan’s weapon to destroy you, but God can use it to bring good in your life. It can be a tool for God to turn your life around and to build you.
Jesus’ temptation
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Matthew 4:1-11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%204:1-11&version=NKJV
After Jesus’ temptations, angels came and ministered to Him. (Most theologians believe that when the angels ministered to Him, they gave Him manna.)
If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’
Numbers 14:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Numbers%2014:8&version=NKJV
So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
2 Chronicles 20:20 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Chronicles%2020:20&version=NKJV
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:35 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%206:35&version=NKJV