Why Does God Allow Temptation in the Life of the Believer?: Understanding Temptation

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by some special friends of this ministry. Pastor Greg? I wanted to say a special word of thanks to the Harvest Partners who make this ministry possible. Next time you're online, check out Pastor Greg's personal blog at blog.GregLaurie.com This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound. How can you give a reaction for seeing it? This is the day, the day when life begins. Drivers have told their car insurance companies some doozies. Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have.

My car was legally parked as it backed into another vehicle. As I approached an intersection, a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. It's similar to the way we try to rationalize our sin before God. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us understand temptation.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Now here is what we are going to look at in the verses of the Forest and Luke 4. We are going to look at six things about temptation. Number one. We are going to look at where temptation comes from. Number two, we are going to look at when temptation comes. Number three, how does temptation come? Number four, who does temptation come to? Five, where is the best place to be when it comes? And lastly, number six, what is the primary weapon we should use to resist it? How's that sound?

Okay, you ready? Okay, let's read Luke four, and we're gonna read verses one to 13. Now Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil, and in those days he ate nothing, and afterwards, when they had ended, he was hungry. And the devil said to him, if, and by the way, this could be translated since, so it wasn't a question of if Jesus was the Son of God. Satan was effectively affirming it.

It could be translated since. Since you are the Son of God, says the devil, why don't you command the stone to become bread? Jesus answered him, saying, it is written, underline that phrase, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the devil took him up to a high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and the devil said, all this authority I will give to you, and their glory, for this has been delivered to me, and I can give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all of this will be yours. Jesus answered and said, get behind me, Satan, for it is written, underline that phrase again, you shall worship the Lord God, and him only shall you serve. Then Satan brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said, since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, notice the devil's quote in scripture now, for it is written, he will give his angels charge over you to keep you, and in your hands will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone. Jesus answered and said, it has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Okay, so let's deal with issue number one. Where does temptation come from? Where does it come from? Well, we play a key role in our own temptation. Satan needs our cooperation in this area, where there is no desire on our part, there is no temptation. Okay, when does temptation generally come? After times of great blessing. Often after times of great blessing, and this surprises us. A lot of people don't even go to church on Sunday, but you guys, you take time out to come here, and open God's word, and you know, that's a wonderful thing, or maybe you go to a great conference, or retreat, or you have a great time of worship, and you're saying, this is so fantastic, and it shocks you when you walk out of church, and you don't even have to get outside of church. And guess what, Satan can tempt us in church. I wish we could keep him out of here, but we can't.

He's the prince of the power of the air. And you know, maybe you're even in worship, oh Lord, you're so glorious, you're so wonderful, and suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, but like a flaming missile from hell, this wicked, strange, crazy thought comes to you. Just right there. Well, I can't believe I'm thinking this. Well first of all, you didn't necessarily come up with that. I mean, maybe you're twisted, and you did, I don't know. But really, seriously, sometimes you weren't thinking about anything like that. You literally were thinking of the glory of God. You literally were taking in the word of God, and this thing just came out of nowhere. You know what I'm talking about? And now you're feeling bad, because you had this thought, oh, can anyone see this thing?

It's like just right there, it's so embarrassing. Okay, you didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything wrong, you don't have to apologize. Now if you process it and make it your own, you do. But you could just say, this is from the devil, get out of here, forget this. I resist this, I rebuke this, and turn away from it. But it will often come after times of great blessing. Point number four, how does temptation come? In most cases, it comes to the doorway of our mind. In most cases, it comes to the doorway of our mind. Second Corinthians 11, three says, I'm afraid as he was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Your minds. When those flaming arrows among godly thoughts come, we need to have our guard up, because Second Corinthians 10, four says, we use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning, and to destroy false arguments. Listen to this, we capture these rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. No, I'm not gonna be filled with worry right now. Worry, take a hike, no. I'm gonna pray instead. No, I'm not gonna give in to fear right now. I'm gonna trust in what God says in his word. No, I'm not gonna give in to lust right now. I reject that thought. No, I'm not gonna give in to bitterness right now. I'm gonna forgive that person. No, you draw the line right there, right here in the mind.

Come in, Central. And you say, get behind me, Satan. I've told you that story before, that woman that liked to buy clothes.

Imagine such a thing. And her husband was a real cheapskate, too. So she said, honey, I'm going down to the mall, I'm gonna just, you know, window shop.

He says, no, you're not. Because every time you go window shopping, you buy something, just don't go. She goes, I won't buy anything, honey, I promise. Now, come on, you know our budget, it's tight this month. Please don't, but I will not buy anything.

I'm just going to browse. So she went out in the mall and came back two hours later with a new dress. He says, I told you not to buy anything. She said, dear, you don't know what happened.

What do you mean, whatever, here's what happened. I'm walking by this store. They had this cute outfit in the window. And I was interested. I did walk in, but I had no intention of buying it. And the salesperson said, here, try it on.

I still wasn't gonna buy it. And I put it on, and honey, the devil himself appeared in the dressing room. The devil appeared, what did he say? She said, the devil said to me, you look good in that outfit. The husband said, that's crazy. You should have said, get behind me, Satan. She said, I did. And then he said, hey, it looks good from the back, too.

What else could I do but buy it? Number five, where's the best place to be when temptation comes? Where's the best place to be? Answer, in the will of God. In the will of God, where was Jesus at this point? He was in the will of God.

How do we know that? Well, Jesus was always in the will of God, actually. He said, in John 8, 29, I always do what pleases the Father. And I could never say that, could you?

What an amazing thing to say that. I always do what pleases the Father, but you know what, Jesus did. But remember, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

He was in God's will. See, here's the thing that happens to us. We get out of God's will, we go to the wrong places, we hang out with the wrong people, and then we're surprised when we do the wrong thing. So if you're hanging around ungodly people in ungodly places, being tempted to do ungodly things, don't be surprised when you give in to it. That's why you wanna hang around godly people and godly places and do godly things.

Because the best defense is a good offense. So instead of standing around in places where you're vulnerable, saying, oh, this is so hard. Man, go hang out with God's people, like being here, this is a great place. Let's say you have a problem with alcohol. So you're hanging around in bars.

Why do you do that? They have great peanuts. Come on. Come on, you're weak there, don't hang out in a bar. Now it's like, I'm trying to go on a diet, but I love to hang around at Krispy Kreme donuts.

I mean, really, come on. So you put yourself in a place of vulnerability. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here, personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study, it's a worship service, it's church in your home. Maybe you're not able to get out to your church right now. If so, join us for Harvest at Home.

People are listening in from around the world. And listen to this, we have seen thousands of people make a commitment to follow Christ. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well today, Pastor Greg is helping us learn from the way Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Good insights to help us resist our temptations. Now notice what the devil says to him. Here's the first of three temptations, look at verse three. If you are the son of God, or since you're the son of God, command the stone to become bread.

Here's what the devil's saying, hey Jesus, I've been standing around the corner here, notice that baptism, heard what your father said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Okay, if you are who you say you are, prove it. Turn a stone, turn a rock, into a loaf of bread. Now why would that be tempted? Well if you hadn't eaten for 40 days, you'd be hungry too. I already told you about how hard it is for me to resist fresh bread. Jesus could have created fresh bread, Jesus could have materialized anything he wanted to eat at the moment, but he did not do that. And so Jesus responds by saying, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And he's showing us how to face temptation. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. What Jesus was showing us, when tempted, keep your priorities in order, stand your ground, and use the word of God. You know the devil comes to us with the same temptation today. Really the bait in the first temptation was designed to hit him physically. It was effectively saying put your physical needs above your spiritual needs. The devil still does that with us today. He said go ahead and enjoy this sin, you know.

It'll be fun, you know, play now, pay later. You have needs, enjoy the moment, come on, it'll be great. But by saying man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God's mouth, he's saying you gotta keep your life in the proper balance. There's nothing wrong with eating to live, but you don't wanna live to eat. There's nothing wrong with having stuff, but you don't want stuff to have you.

There's nothing wrong with having relationships, but you don't want a relationship with another person to become more important than your relationship with God. Right? When I was first going out with my wife-to-be, Kathy, we were very young, and she says, I said something to her, maybe our first or second time out. She says, Greg, you turned to me and said, if you ever get in the way of my relationship with God, you're outta here. I said, I said that? She said, yes, you did. I said, man, I was such a romantic, wasn't I? What a great thing to say to a girl. She says, actually, it was a really great thing to say to me.

I said, why? She says, well, I was kinda used to manipulating guys and getting them to do what I wanted them to do, and I thought, wow, here's a guy that loves God so much, he's gonna just say it right up front, and he loves God even more than he loves me. That's a guy I wanna be with. So I thought, okay, so there's a great line, single people.

Keep it in mind. See some nights go, hey, how's it going? Hey, if you get in the way of my relationship with God, you're outta here. I don't even know you yet. Yeah, well, maybe I should use that line later.

I'm not sure. I get confused. So really, he's putting the physical above the spiritual. Now, this second temptation is really interesting. The bait in this second temptation was to avoid the cross, which was the objective of Jesus. Why did Jesus come to planet Earth? To give us the greatest teachings that have ever been given?

That's not the primary reason. To do mighty miracles and change people's lives, as wonderful as that was, that was not the primary reason. To provide for us a great example of someone who loved God.

Well, yeah, he was that and much more, of course. Actually, the real reason, the primary reason Jesus came to this earth was to die for the sin of the planet That's his main objective. So all these other things, as wonderful as they were, were really secondary to the main goal of going to the cross and dying because there was no other way to satisfy the righteous demands of God. So here's what the devil says. Look at verse five of Luke four. Then the devil taking him to a high mountain shows him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and the devil said, all of this authority is mine and I can give it to you and their glory for it's been delivered to me and I'll give it to whomever I wish.

Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. The devil's saying, this is my stuff and I can give it to you if I want to. Note, Jesus did not refute the statement of Satan and you want to know why he didn't refute it?

Because it was true. Because Satan is the god of this world, the Bible says. Satan is the prince of the power of the air, you see. He's the one that is effectively pulling a lot of strings right now on planet earth.

Now ultimately he's overruled by God who is sovereign and in control but the devil has a certain leeway on this planet and he's saying, Jesus, I know why you're here. I know you've come to die on a cross. I get it and I'm telling you what, I'm gonna make you an offer you cannot refuse. I'll give it to you on a silver platter.

I'll give you all this stuff. You came to redeem humanity to God. You came to buy back that which was lost in the Garden of Eden. You're here to get the title deed of planet earth back.

I'll give it to you. No cross, no suffering, no crucifixion, no burying the sin of the world. All you have to do is just worship me. See, that's all the devil's ever wanted. That's the top job. He wanted to be worshiped. And so here we see him saying, alright Jesus, you can have it right now.

He still offers this to people today. I read an interesting poll done by USA Today among young people and it revealed what today's young people really want more than anything else. You wanna know what it is? To be rich and famous. 81% of those that are 18 to 25 year old said they wanna get rich and they want to be famous.

Get rich and be famous. 30% said their top goal was to help people who needed help. 22% said their goal was to be leaders in their community.

And 10% of today's young people said they wanted to become more spiritual. See, it's a selfie generation, isn't it? You know, we all wanna be a celebrity. We all want our own reality show. Even if it's not on TV. We'll have it on Facebook.

We'll have it on Instagram. We all wanna be the center of attention. We all wanna be the celebrity or whatever. I remember a quote by comedian Jim Carrey. I hope one day everyone will get rich and famous and have everything they ever dreamed of so they'll know that's not the answer. Wow, I think he knows too, cause he's rich and famous.

But you see, this is what people live for. And the devil's saying, hey man, I'll give it to you. He'll promise anything to anyone. Not that he delivers, occasionally he does. A lot of times it's just, hey, I got you where I want you.

I'm not even giving it to you now. But Jesus refuses the devil. Look at verse six.

Jesus answered and said to him, get behind me, Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God. In Him only shall you serve.

I want you to notice something. The devil didn't say serve me. He said, worship me. He said, if you'll worship before me, I'll give you the kingdoms of the world. And Jesus said, you shall worship the Lord your God. In Him only shall you serve. Why did Jesus add that? Answer, because Jesus understood that a moment of worship can lead to a lifetime of service.

What does that mean? A moment of worship at the altar of sex can lead to a lifetime of regret. A moment of worship at the altar of drugs. And by the way, I'm so against the legalization of marijuana that's a current trend, so against it. And I could go on why I'm against it. I can talk about my own personal experiences. As a kid with it, I could talk about what it did to people I knew. But there's no question that it is entry level gateway drug that leads to other things, okay?

And I just think that it's just a world of pain and a world of hurt to make this more accessible, especially to young people today. But you know, you just start there. Hey man, I'm gonna smoke the one joint. I'm gonna do this one time. I'm gonna look at the porn site one time. I'm gonna have this one little itty bitty affair.

I'm gonna have the whatever, however you rationalize it, one act of worship, if you will, turning away from God and bowing at this altar can lead to a lifetime of regret. Satan will say, just a little bite. You know, I was in a Target the other day and I bought some animal crackers. Now, you know what animal crackers are? They're actually cookies. And I don't know what it is, I love animal crackers. I don't like them with frosting.

I like them natural. And the thing is, there's something about them because they're subtly sweet, I'll eat one, I'll just eat another. And because they're smaller, I'll eat like, you know, 100. And so I got this giant thing in the shape of a bear.

Big bear, so it's really big in the middle because he's a fat bear. And I bought a big, giant thing, it was a good deal at Target, of animal crackers for the grandkids. I thought, I'll give them, and the grandkids came over and I'd give them a few. Here's three little animal crackers. Put them in a little plastic bag, enjoy them. And then I would sit down in front of the TV, I'd grab a few crackers. Big handful, put them on thing, eat them one at a time, go back again. Before I knew it, that thing was like three quarters gone. And the grandkids didn't eat them. And Papa had gained a few pounds. And so I got rid of them.

Because I couldn't resist them, it's just those little bites that get you started. Pastor Greg Laurie with practical insight on how temptation affects us so strongly. And he has more to share as he wraps up his message here on A New Beginning. And if you weren't able to hear all of today's study from Pastor Greg, you can hear the entire broadcast online at harvest.org. Listen from the beginning or fast forward to the part you missed. Or you can even download the MP3 to hear later. Just look for the title, Why Does God Allow Temptation in the Life of the Believer? Or call us for a CD copy at 1-800-821-3300.

We can take your call anytime around the clock at 1-800-821-3300. Pastor Greg, many of us I think have been on sort of a news diet. Watching the news can just cause so much stress and disappointment. The world is a mess. It sure seems like God may be up to something. You think?

Yes, I sure pray and hope so. Because I'll tell you what, our nation needs a healing. I cannot remember a time when we've been more divided. The only parallel would be late 60s with all the riots and racial division and issues of that time. I would say it's as bad today. I would say it's maybe even a little bit worse today.

Because you know what, Dave? Back in the late 60s, we didn't have social media. We didn't have Twitter.

We didn't have all these platforms where fuel can be thrown onto preexisting flames. And I think everybody just needs to step back. And I'm talking now primarily to Christians. And we need to live and behave as followers of Jesus Christ.

Because really, we should seek to be bridge builders, not bridge burners. We need to be peacemakers, not troublemakers. And I think we need to really pray that God would heal our land. Now, I know I've quoted this verse many times. But man, it is so clear and really gives us the prescription for the healing of a nation. And it, of course, is 2 Chronicles 7, 14, where the Lord says, if My people, notice He points His finger at His people. When a nation is in trouble, God doesn't point His finger at the government. He points His finger at His people. He says, if My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and churn from their wicked ways, then God promises, I'll hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. We need a healing.

And it's happened before, and it can happen again. The last great spiritual awakening in American history was known as the Jesus movement, or the Jesus revolution. Some historians believe not only was it the last great revival, some even believe it was the greatest of all the revivals.

Here's what I do know. I came to Christ in 1970. I walked into the epicenter of the Jesus movement, and I saw amazing things, and my life was impacted, and a whole generation was impacted, the nation was impacted, and I wrote a book about it, and the title of that book is Jesus Revolution. And I might also add that I co-wrote it with a lady named Ellen Vaughan. Ellen Vaughan was also the co-author of my autobiography called Lost Boy, a very gifted writer in her own right, and she helped me put this book together.

She did extensive research so you can understand the backdrop of the Jesus revolution. And I think as you read this book, you're gonna say, wow, this reminds me of right now. And so here's what we're saying.

Lord, do it again. As the scripture says, will you not revive us again that your people may praise you? So we need another spiritual awakening. I don't think we can organize it, but I think we can agonize for it in prayer, and I don't think we can make it happen, but I think we can prepare the ground for the work of the Spirit. And I think reading this book will inspire you because you know it's been said, the fame of revival spreads the flame of revival. So learn about the fame of revival.

Learn about what God did in the last great spiritual awakening in America, and let's pray that it'll happen again. I wanna send you this book, Jesus Revolution, at no cost. All I ask of you is that you would send a gift to help us continue to preach the gospel and teach the word of God. So for your gift of any size, I'll rush you a copy of my book, Jesus Revolution.

Yeah, that's right. It's an inspiring look at what happened during the 60s and 70s, and how it can happen again. In fact, the subtitle of the book is How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today.

And along with the book, we'll even include the brand new study guide that helps you dive even deeper into the insights Pastor Greg presents. So to thank you for your generous donation right now, we hope you'll ask for Jesus Revolution. You can write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call us anytime 24 hours a day at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg has more insight for us on resisting temptation and standing against our spiritual adversary. Hope you'll tune in to join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.