April 27, 2025 • 28 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book, Asked. But first,
here's the message the Desert.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Storm before we read our text today. In Matthew four,
there are three times in the Bible when the devil
speaks directly to man. Three times and it's recorded in
God's word. The first time is in the book of
(00:38):
Genesis chapter three, when the serpent the devil slithered into
the garden of Eden and tempted Adam and Eve, and
they fell. But in the temptation, Satan slandered God to man.
And here's how he did that. He slandered God to
men by saying has God said? He questioned God's word,
(01:01):
he distorted God's word. And then he said, God knows
if you eat of this fruit that you've been forbidden
to eat, God knows that you will become as he is. God.
The first temptation was not to be ungodly, It was
to be godly, to be like God. It was pride, personify,
And Satan is saying God doesn't love you, He's holding
(01:23):
out on you, He's keeping the best from you. And
so the devil, with his words slendered God to man.
He does the same thing today, his mo his method
of operation really doesn't change. He's still in the business
of slandering God. The second time the devil speaks is
(01:44):
in the book of Job, when the devil is given
permission to speak to God, and when he does, he
brings up God's servant Job. Remember Joe, Joe was a
godly man. He was living in devotion in a righteous
way before God. God had blessed him. And so what
did Satan do? Satan said to God, the only reason
(02:05):
that Job serves you is because you give him all
these good things. You've blessed him. He said, Job doesn't
serve you for nothing. God, you've given him all these things.
You take these things away from him, and he will
deny you. So in this case, it wasn't Satan's slandering
God to man. It was Satan slandering man to God.
(02:29):
Do you see that? And he still does the same
thing today. He slanders us. He's the accuser of the brethren,
he is the slanderer of the liar, and he's constantly
creating shame in our lives and shaming us even in
our own hearts. He is slandering us before God. But
(02:51):
the third time that he speaks is our passage today,
and that is in Matthew chapter four. He slanders the
god man the first eleven verses. Then Jesus was led
by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by
the devil. Notice, Jesus is led by the spirit to
(03:13):
go face to face against the devil. To be tempted
by the devil. Jesus was establishing at the outset of
his ministry his authority over all the works of the enemy.
He was preparing himself spiritually as well as physically for
the mission that God had given him. And so before
(03:36):
he even began, right after his baptism, when the dove descended,
when the Father spoke and said, this is my beloved son,
and whom I'm well pleased. After the dove came the devil.
And is true often in our lives. After great spiritual experience,
(04:01):
after mountaintops come valleys, after streams. In the desert, comes
the desert, and we must never coast. And if you
find yourself on a spiritual high right now, doing quite
well spiritually, you need to remember that you're now a
target of the enemy, just as Christ was driven by
(04:22):
the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil,
a unique time in his life in which he was
tempted and after fasting, this is verse two forty days
and forty nine, Jesus fasted physically from food. He was hungry.
That's the humanity of our Lord. He is God, but
(04:44):
also man, the God man one hundred percent God, one
hundred percent man, just as much God as if he
were not man at all, and just as much man
as if he were not God at all. The God man, Jesus,
he's hungry. Enter the tempter in verse three, who came
(05:04):
to him and said to him, if you are the
son of God. The best translation of that word, if
they're the subjective is the word. Since Satan knew Jesus,
and knew him quite well from the beginning of time,
he wasn't introducing himself to the Lord or questioning the
deity of Jesus. In fact, he is saying, because you
(05:26):
are the son of God, since you are the son
of God, do this. And what did he command him
to do or tempt him to do? If you are
the son of God, since you're the son of God,
command these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus answered,
it is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
(05:49):
Then the devil took him up to the holy city
that is Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of
the temple, and said to him, since if you are
the son of God, throw your down, for it is
written he will command his angels concerning you, and on
their hands they will bear you up lest you strike
your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him again,
(06:12):
it is written, you shall not put the Lord your
God to the tests. Jesus refused to perform a spiritual stunt,
a miracle to gain the popularity of the masses. He
didn't come to be a miracle worker. He came to
be the savior of the world. So he rejected that temptation.
(06:37):
So Satan came again. In verse eight, the devil took
him to a very high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of this world and their glory, And he said,
all these I will give you if you will fall
down and worship me. No, Jesus did not rebuke Satan.
When Satan said, I can give you the kingdoms of
(06:59):
this world. Is this world belongs to Satan, this world system.
He is the god of this age. He's the prince
of the power of the air. He's the ruler of
this dark domain. So he has this power to give
peaces of the world if you will. And he offered
this to Jesus. Bypass the cross, give up your mission,
(07:25):
bow down to me, and I'll give you the world
and all the kingdoms of this world, the world, the flesh,
and the devil. And Jesus said to him, begone, Satan,
for it is written you shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him,
(07:47):
and behold, and don't miss the angels. Here the angels
came and ministered to Jesus. What a conversation, What a conferenceation.
There are three kinds or types of temptations that Jesus experience,
that we all experience. The Bible says that Jesus was
(08:12):
tempted in all points, as we are tempted, but without sin.
Remember it's not a sin to be tempted. Everyone is tempted,
including Jesus himself. The Bible tells us in first Corinthians,
chapter ten and verse thirteen, that there is no temptation
that has taken you, but that it is common to man.
(08:35):
But with the temptation, God will make a way of escape.
So we're all tempted. Jesus was tempted, and at three levels,
if you will, or three different kinds of temptations, they
are the same. When it says Jesus was tempted in
all points, such as we are tempted, it doesn't mean
he had the specific temptation, but what it is saying
that he was tempted at all points as we are tempted.
(08:59):
Three temptation of Christ. One regarding physical appetites. Turn these
stones into bread. You're hungry. God's not taking care of you.
You need to take care of yourself. Turn the stones
to bread. Fulfill your normal natural desires. Again, here's the temptation,
(09:20):
right to fulfill a god given desire in a god
forbidden way. It was normal to be hungry. He had
been without food for forty days. He'd been in the desert,
so it was normal to want food. But the temptation
came was to exercise his powers, his God given powers
and desires and fulfill it in a god forbidden way.
(09:43):
And these kinds of temptations come at us all the time,
these natural desires that we have. And the devil says,
you know, you can't trust God to meet your needs.
You can't trust God to send you that mate, that wife,
that husband you're looking for. You can't trust God to
show his love for you. You can't trust God to
take care of you. So take care of yourself. Give
(10:04):
in to your physical appetites. So that's the first kind
of temptation, the lust of the flesh. And then when
he took him to the pinnacle of the temple and
told him to jump off and the angels would bear
him up, what was that all about. Jesus was on
this mission to save the world, to save you, and
(10:26):
meet Satan was offering him an out, an option. Jump
off the temple. Everybody's going to believe. The crowds are
going to follow you. They'll put up posters everywhere. Meet
the man who jumped off the building and the angels
bore him up. But that wasn't God's plan for Jesus.
(10:47):
He didn't come to earth to be popular with the masses.
He came to live and to die and to rise
again on the third day. This was subverting the mission
of Christ, and so he rejected it out of hand.
He refused, said, you shall not test the Lord your God,
as it is written. Then came the third kind of temptation,
(11:07):
with spiritual allegiance, whom will you worship? When Jesus answered,
you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only,
and him only shall you serve? You serve whatever or
whoever you worship. And Satan could offer all these kingdoms
of the world, but you see they were only temporary.
(11:28):
They weren't lasting. Jesus came for an everlasting kingdom. When
you think about it, temptation at the very core is
about now or later? Right? Will I obey my flesh?
Will I listen to the world? Will I follow the
commands of Satan now? And get whatever I can get,
(11:53):
whatever pleasure, whatever power, possessions, all of that? Can I
can have him now? Or I can trust God knowing
that the eternal kingdom, that he who does the will
of God abides forever. So Jesus responded to each one
of these temptations, and we must as well.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
Desert Storm. In his powerful book Ask, doctor Graham helps
you unlock the power of prayer in your life using Jesus'
teaching to ask, seek, and knock. As you follow these
three simple commands, you'll completely transform how you pray. We
(12:33):
want to help you discover a deeper, more meaningful, and
more powerful prayer life by sending you a copy of
Ask as our thanks for your gift of ten dollars
or more. Call now to request your copy of this
powerful resource. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
(12:54):
four six two seven. You can also text the word
ask to five nine seven eight nine. Don't let stress rob.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
You of peace.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
It is possible to break the destructive grip of stress
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in his booklet Breaking Free from Stress. We'll send you
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(13:24):
Now let's get back to today's message, desert Storm.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
We must overcome these temptations. So how are we going
to do that? What is the way of escape that
the Bible talks about. Well, the Bible tells us in
the Book of James that when we submit to God
and resist the devil, that he will flee from us.
And when we draw near to God, God will draw
(13:51):
near to us. So three ways that Jesus responded, just
as the scriptures tell us here in the Book of James.
We submit to God, we resist the devil, and we
draw near to him. We draw near to the Lord.
Here's how that works. You submit to God. The way
to victory is the way of surrender. The word submit
(14:14):
there in the Book of James is actually a military term,
as a soldier would submit to an officer or a
commander to submit. So the way to victory is the
way a surrender. Please listen to me. If you are
(14:36):
going to overcome temptation in your life, it begins with
a surrender, the complete surrender of your life to the
Lord Jesus Christ, to his authority and power in your life.
Because with that submission, underneath his authority comes spiritual power.
(14:56):
There's a difference between power and authority. If you have
served in the military, you know the rank and file
of authority and submission, surrender to the commanding officer, and
(15:17):
that's where the power of the victory comes. Well in life,
our Lord Jesus Christ is our commander and chief, and
when we submit to him, to his authority, when we
come under him and he is over us, then we
are given authority over all the works of the enemy
(15:38):
in our lives. Now, this is powerful spiritual truth, and
it needs to be talked about and taught more spiritual authority.
If I can illustrate it in a simple way, a
police officer standing in the middle of traffic may weigh
one hundred and seventy eighty pounds. He could not stop
(16:01):
a mack truck or a car from running through the intersection.
He could not physically stop those automobiles. But he has authority.
And so when he holds up his hand and says
stop in the name of the law, that is spiritual authority.
And if you break that law, you know you're going
(16:21):
to have a problem. So that's the difference in power
and authority. We have authority in the name of Jesus Christ.
In the Book of Revelation, they overcame him by the
blood of Christ and the word of their testimony, and
they love not their lives unto death. They overcame him
(16:44):
the devil by the blood of the lamb. What Christ
has done for us on the cross, by the word
of their testimony, our authority in Christ, and we love
not our lives and to death. That's the surrender, that's
the sacrifice that Jesus made. This is what Jesus did.
He submitted his will to the will of the Father.
(17:05):
He said, what did Jesus do well? He quoted a
lot of scripture to the devil. He did more than
quote Bible verses of the devil. This was bigger than
a Bible drill. All right. I don't know about you,
but I've gone down in the midst of temptation quoting
scripture all the way. That's important to memorize scripture. I'm
going to get to that in just a minute. But
this was more than just saying scriptures to the devil.
(17:29):
Jesus submitted himself to the word of God and to
the will of God. You see that he submitted in
each answer that he gave. It was a surrender. It
was a submission to obey God. That's what soldiers do.
They obey the commander in chief. This is what Christian
(17:50):
soldiers do in spiritual battle. We obey the commander in chief,
our Lord, Jesus Christ. Are you living under the authority,
under the lordship of Jesus? Have you surrendered your will,
your way to him. That's the way, that's the way
of escape, to overcome temptation, to live in the victory
(18:11):
that is ours in Christ. Whether it's physical appetites or
spiritual allegiance or personal ambitions, it is in Christ and
Christ alone that we have authority over the works of
the enemy in our life. Use the authority that God
has given you. Then he said, resist the devil, and
(18:35):
he will flee from you. He says, submit to God,
resist the devil, and he'll run from you. The word resists,
there's another word out of military annals. To resist means
really to stand up against the enemy. If an enemy
attacks us, we're going to respond and stand up for
(18:57):
our freedoms, and so many have done that over the
years of our history and in the history of the world.
To resist the enemy is to stand against the enemy,
not run from the battle, not in cowardice, shrink from
the battle, but to stand up in the authority of
(19:19):
Christ and resist the devil. You have that right, you
have that responsibility. You have the authority of Jesus Christ
and his name to resist the devil. So start resisting him,
rather than giving up and giving in. Resist the enemy,
(19:41):
Paul the Apostle. Paul said, put on the whole armor
of God, that you may be able to stand against
all the strategies, all the whiles of the devil. Take
a firm and courageous stand. Too many believers have just
given up in the battle. You've stopped fighting, You've stopped resisting.
In Jesus's name, Now again, have this power in yourself,
(20:01):
but in Christ you do. Do like David the shepherd boy.
But when he heard the giant mocking God and blaspheming
the Lord God, he took his slingshot and his stones,
and he ran to the battle. Run to the battle,
confront it, and overcome the enemy in your life. You
(20:24):
don't have to be afraid of the devil. Thirdly, draw
near to God. He'll draw near to you. The closer
you draw near to God, the closer you get to God,
the Father Satan will be away. That's what Jesus did.
He was there in the wilderness getting close to God, fellowshipping,
(20:46):
denying himself food and drink in order to get close
into the fellowship of his Father. Angels ministered with him.
What a picture of what it means to draw near
to God? I would The most important spiritual advice that
I could give you is take time every day of
(21:11):
your life to draw near to God, to get close
to Jesus. Not just spare time or left over time,
but the best part of your day, preferably for me,
is the morning to meet God, to read God's word,
to meditate upon the truth of scripture, the soul transforming,
(21:37):
to pray, to memorize the scripture. I've been memorizing scripture
since I was a boy, and I promise you it
has prepared me for spiritual battles that I faced along
the way. Do you have some verses memorized to prepare
you when the devil comes, that you will submit to
God's word when the temptation, when you're in the throes
of a temptation, when you're in a struggle. It's too late.
(21:59):
When you're in the in the middle of a struggle
or a temptation, a seduction, you need to get ready
right now. Steal your soul, prepare your life. Saturate your
life with a word of God, which is the weapon
that God has given you. Sharper than a two edged sword.
Sharpen your sword every day draw near to God. He'll
draw near to you. And one final thing before we
(22:22):
say that that's the end of this sermon, and that
is let God's people minister to you and serve you.
Now I know it says here the angels came and
ministered to Jesus. But God sends people into our past
along with angels, to minister to us in times of temptation,
and when we face temptations. Even if you fail in temptation,
(22:49):
you need God's people. The church is not an audience.
We are an army, and we should never shoot our own.
Wounded is shameful when churches and Christian organizations and schools
shame they're wounded. The goal of discipline is redemption and restoration.
(23:14):
So let us be soldiers in arms, and let us
lock arms together to provide accountability with each other in
the times of spiritual battle. If we do fail, there's
someone there to pick us up and to help us
do better. The next time, there's someone there to minister
God's grace and God's healing to our lives. This is
why we need a good church, so that we could
(23:37):
be in this together. Psychologist knows if you're going to
overcome an addiction of some kind, you need accountability. The
ultimate accountability should be in God's Church, where we are
accountable to one another. So draw near to God by
drawing near to one another, and let the angels and
the saints of God minister to us. Jesus overcame the devil.
(24:03):
The devil fled, and he will flee from you. If
you will practice the spiritual dissonance and devotions of following Christ,
then live in the authority and the victory, and He
has provided with you.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
the Desert Storm. Nothing lights a fire in your faith
like experiencing the power of prayer firsthand. As you begin
to see God as a personal, loving father who desires
to hear and answer your prayers, it transforms your life
and thanks to friends like you, more people all around
(24:38):
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son Jesus through the TV, radio and online outreach of PowerPoint.
That's why your support of this ministry is so vital.
We'll say thanks for your gift of ten dollars or
more by sending you a copy of doctor Graham's book Ask.
This is a great resource to help you strengthen your
own prayer life and teach you to approach God with
(25:01):
boldness and confidence. So call now to request your copy.
When you give, call one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety
five four six two seven. You can also text the
word ASK to five nine seven eight nine, and don't
forget to visit Jack Graham dot org. Or you can
(25:22):
shop our eastore, give a gift online, or sign up
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is Jack Graham dot org. Pastor what is your PowerPoint
for today?
Speaker 2 (25:36):
It doesn't matter how old you are, where you live,
or what your social status may be. Temptation finds us all,
and if you're a believer, you've definitely had to deal
with temptation in your walk with Christ. There's no place
we can hide from temptation, but we can certainly fight
it in the power of Christ, and as a result,
when over sin. Whenever you feel like the temptation you
(25:59):
face is two much to handle. Just remember that Jesus
was tempted even as you're tempted, and yet through it
all he lived without sin by the power and the
grace and the strength of God. In one Corinthians ten thirteen,
we're reminded that no temptation has overtaken you. Accept such
as is common to man. But God is faithful who
(26:21):
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.
Remember that temptation is the seduction to fulfill a God
given desire in a God forbidden way. Also, always be
aware that Satan is watching to trip you up, and
his goal is to get you to give in to temptation.
(26:44):
So be ready, stay on the alert, because sin may
gratify momentarily, but it never satisfies. Jesus said to his
disciples in Mark fourteen thirty eight, watch and pray lest
you enter into temptation. The spirit, indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak. When Satan tries to entice you
(27:04):
with temptation, whether it's your physical appetite, your personal ambitions
or your spiritual allegiance. Run to God's word for strength,
stand on His truth, and rest in the promises of Christ.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a
gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll send
you doctor Graham's book, Ask as Our Thanks. Call one
eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven. That's
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word ask to five nine
(27:38):
seven eight nine and join us again next time as
doctor Graham brings a message about how to overcome the
obstacles between you and God's best. That's next time on
PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored
by PowerPoint Ministries.
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book, Asked. But first,
here's the message the Desert.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Storm before we read our text today. In Matthew four,
there are three times in the Bible when the devil
speaks directly to man. Three times and it's recorded in
God's word. The first time is in the book of
(00:38):
Genesis chapter three, when the serpent the devil slithered into
the garden of Eden and tempted Adam and Eve, and
they fell. But in the temptation, Satan slandered God to man.
And here's how he did that. He slandered God to
men by saying has God said? He questioned God's word,
(01:01):
he distorted God's word. And then he said, God knows
if you eat of this fruit that you've been forbidden
to eat, God knows that you will become as he is. God.
The first temptation was not to be ungodly, It was
to be godly, to be like God. It was pride, personify,
And Satan is saying God doesn't love you, He's holding
(01:23):
out on you, He's keeping the best from you. And
so the devil, with his words slendered God to man.
He does the same thing today, his mo his method
of operation really doesn't change. He's still in the business
of slandering God. The second time the devil speaks is
(01:44):
in the book of Job, when the devil is given
permission to speak to God, and when he does, he
brings up God's servant Job. Remember Joe, Joe was a
godly man. He was living in devotion in a righteous
way before God. God had blessed him. And so what
did Satan do? Satan said to God, the only reason
(02:05):
that Job serves you is because you give him all
these good things. You've blessed him. He said, Job doesn't
serve you for nothing. God, you've given him all these things.
You take these things away from him, and he will
deny you. So in this case, it wasn't Satan's slandering
God to man. It was Satan slandering man to God.
(02:29):
Do you see that? And he still does the same
thing today. He slanders us. He's the accuser of the brethren,
he is the slanderer of the liar, and he's constantly
creating shame in our lives and shaming us even in
our own hearts. He is slandering us before God. But
(02:51):
the third time that he speaks is our passage today,
and that is in Matthew chapter four. He slanders the
god man the first eleven verses. Then Jesus was led
by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by
the devil. Notice, Jesus is led by the spirit to
(03:13):
go face to face against the devil. To be tempted
by the devil. Jesus was establishing at the outset of
his ministry his authority over all the works of the enemy.
He was preparing himself spiritually as well as physically for
the mission that God had given him. And so before
(03:36):
he even began, right after his baptism, when the dove descended,
when the Father spoke and said, this is my beloved son,
and whom I'm well pleased. After the dove came the devil.
And is true often in our lives. After great spiritual experience,
(04:01):
after mountaintops come valleys, after streams. In the desert, comes
the desert, and we must never coast. And if you
find yourself on a spiritual high right now, doing quite
well spiritually, you need to remember that you're now a
target of the enemy, just as Christ was driven by
(04:22):
the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil,
a unique time in his life in which he was
tempted and after fasting, this is verse two forty days
and forty nine, Jesus fasted physically from food. He was hungry.
That's the humanity of our Lord. He is God, but
(04:44):
also man, the God man one hundred percent God, one
hundred percent man, just as much God as if he
were not man at all, and just as much man
as if he were not God at all. The God man, Jesus,
he's hungry. Enter the tempter in verse three, who came
(05:04):
to him and said to him, if you are the
son of God. The best translation of that word, if
they're the subjective is the word. Since Satan knew Jesus,
and knew him quite well from the beginning of time,
he wasn't introducing himself to the Lord or questioning the
deity of Jesus. In fact, he is saying, because you
(05:26):
are the son of God, since you are the son
of God, do this. And what did he command him
to do or tempt him to do? If you are
the son of God, since you're the son of God,
command these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus answered,
it is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
(05:49):
Then the devil took him up to the holy city
that is Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of
the temple, and said to him, since if you are
the son of God, throw your down, for it is
written he will command his angels concerning you, and on
their hands they will bear you up lest you strike
your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him again,
(06:12):
it is written, you shall not put the Lord your
God to the tests. Jesus refused to perform a spiritual stunt,
a miracle to gain the popularity of the masses. He
didn't come to be a miracle worker. He came to
be the savior of the world. So he rejected that temptation.
(06:37):
So Satan came again. In verse eight, the devil took
him to a very high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of this world and their glory, And he said,
all these I will give you if you will fall
down and worship me. No, Jesus did not rebuke Satan.
When Satan said, I can give you the kingdoms of
(06:59):
this world. Is this world belongs to Satan, this world system.
He is the god of this age. He's the prince
of the power of the air. He's the ruler of
this dark domain. So he has this power to give
peaces of the world if you will. And he offered
this to Jesus. Bypass the cross, give up your mission,
(07:25):
bow down to me, and I'll give you the world
and all the kingdoms of this world, the world, the flesh,
and the devil. And Jesus said to him, begone, Satan,
for it is written you shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him,
(07:47):
and behold, and don't miss the angels. Here the angels
came and ministered to Jesus. What a conversation, What a conferenceation.
There are three kinds or types of temptations that Jesus experience,
that we all experience. The Bible says that Jesus was
(08:12):
tempted in all points, as we are tempted, but without sin.
Remember it's not a sin to be tempted. Everyone is tempted,
including Jesus himself. The Bible tells us in first Corinthians,
chapter ten and verse thirteen, that there is no temptation
that has taken you, but that it is common to man.
(08:35):
But with the temptation, God will make a way of escape.
So we're all tempted. Jesus was tempted, and at three levels,
if you will, or three different kinds of temptations, they
are the same. When it says Jesus was tempted in
all points, such as we are tempted, it doesn't mean
he had the specific temptation, but what it is saying
that he was tempted at all points as we are tempted.
(08:59):
Three temptation of Christ. One regarding physical appetites. Turn these
stones into bread. You're hungry. God's not taking care of you.
You need to take care of yourself. Turn the stones
to bread. Fulfill your normal natural desires. Again, here's the temptation,
(09:20):
right to fulfill a god given desire in a god
forbidden way. It was normal to be hungry. He had
been without food for forty days. He'd been in the desert,
so it was normal to want food. But the temptation
came was to exercise his powers, his God given powers
and desires and fulfill it in a god forbidden way.
(09:43):
And these kinds of temptations come at us all the time,
these natural desires that we have. And the devil says,
you know, you can't trust God to meet your needs.
You can't trust God to send you that mate, that wife,
that husband you're looking for. You can't trust God to
show his love for you. You can't trust God to
take care of you. So take care of yourself. Give
(10:04):
in to your physical appetites. So that's the first kind
of temptation, the lust of the flesh. And then when
he took him to the pinnacle of the temple and
told him to jump off and the angels would bear
him up, what was that all about. Jesus was on
this mission to save the world, to save you, and
(10:26):
meet Satan was offering him an out, an option. Jump
off the temple. Everybody's going to believe. The crowds are
going to follow you. They'll put up posters everywhere. Meet
the man who jumped off the building and the angels
bore him up. But that wasn't God's plan for Jesus.
(10:47):
He didn't come to earth to be popular with the masses.
He came to live and to die and to rise
again on the third day. This was subverting the mission
of Christ, and so he rejected it out of hand.
He refused, said, you shall not test the Lord your God,
as it is written. Then came the third kind of temptation,
(11:07):
with spiritual allegiance, whom will you worship? When Jesus answered,
you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only,
and him only shall you serve? You serve whatever or
whoever you worship. And Satan could offer all these kingdoms
of the world, but you see they were only temporary.
(11:28):
They weren't lasting. Jesus came for an everlasting kingdom. When
you think about it, temptation at the very core is
about now or later? Right? Will I obey my flesh?
Will I listen to the world? Will I follow the
commands of Satan now? And get whatever I can get,
(11:53):
whatever pleasure, whatever power, possessions, all of that? Can I
can have him now? Or I can trust God knowing
that the eternal kingdom, that he who does the will
of God abides forever. So Jesus responded to each one
of these temptations, and we must as well.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
Desert Storm. In his powerful book Ask, doctor Graham helps
you unlock the power of prayer in your life using Jesus'
teaching to ask, seek, and knock. As you follow these
three simple commands, you'll completely transform how you pray. We
(12:33):
want to help you discover a deeper, more meaningful, and
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(12:54):
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Speaker 2 (13:01):
You of peace.
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It is possible to break the destructive grip of stress
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(13:24):
Now let's get back to today's message, desert Storm.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
We must overcome these temptations. So how are we going
to do that? What is the way of escape that
the Bible talks about. Well, the Bible tells us in
the Book of James that when we submit to God
and resist the devil, that he will flee from us.
And when we draw near to God, God will draw
(13:51):
near to us. So three ways that Jesus responded, just
as the scriptures tell us here in the Book of James.
We submit to God, we resist the devil, and we
draw near to him. We draw near to the Lord.
Here's how that works. You submit to God. The way
to victory is the way of surrender. The word submit
(14:14):
there in the Book of James is actually a military term,
as a soldier would submit to an officer or a
commander to submit. So the way to victory is the
way a surrender. Please listen to me. If you are
(14:36):
going to overcome temptation in your life, it begins with
a surrender, the complete surrender of your life to the
Lord Jesus Christ, to his authority and power in your life.
Because with that submission, underneath his authority comes spiritual power.
(14:56):
There's a difference between power and authority. If you have
served in the military, you know the rank and file
of authority and submission, surrender to the commanding officer, and
(15:17):
that's where the power of the victory comes. Well in life,
our Lord Jesus Christ is our commander and chief, and
when we submit to him, to his authority, when we
come under him and he is over us, then we
are given authority over all the works of the enemy
(15:38):
in our lives. Now, this is powerful spiritual truth, and
it needs to be talked about and taught more spiritual authority.
If I can illustrate it in a simple way, a
police officer standing in the middle of traffic may weigh
one hundred and seventy eighty pounds. He could not stop
(16:01):
a mack truck or a car from running through the intersection.
He could not physically stop those automobiles. But he has authority.
And so when he holds up his hand and says
stop in the name of the law, that is spiritual authority.
And if you break that law, you know you're going
(16:21):
to have a problem. So that's the difference in power
and authority. We have authority in the name of Jesus Christ.
In the Book of Revelation, they overcame him by the
blood of Christ and the word of their testimony, and
they love not their lives unto death. They overcame him
(16:44):
the devil by the blood of the lamb. What Christ
has done for us on the cross, by the word
of their testimony, our authority in Christ, and we love
not our lives and to death. That's the surrender, that's
the sacrifice that Jesus made. This is what Jesus did.
He submitted his will to the will of the Father.
(17:05):
He said, what did Jesus do well? He quoted a
lot of scripture to the devil. He did more than
quote Bible verses of the devil. This was bigger than
a Bible drill. All right. I don't know about you,
but I've gone down in the midst of temptation quoting
scripture all the way. That's important to memorize scripture. I'm
going to get to that in just a minute. But
this was more than just saying scriptures to the devil.
(17:29):
Jesus submitted himself to the word of God and to
the will of God. You see that he submitted in
each answer that he gave. It was a surrender. It
was a submission to obey God. That's what soldiers do.
They obey the commander in chief. This is what Christian
(17:50):
soldiers do in spiritual battle. We obey the commander in chief,
our Lord, Jesus Christ. Are you living under the authority,
under the lordship of Jesus? Have you surrendered your will,
your way to him. That's the way, that's the way
of escape, to overcome temptation, to live in the victory
(18:11):
that is ours in Christ. Whether it's physical appetites or
spiritual allegiance or personal ambitions, it is in Christ and
Christ alone that we have authority over the works of
the enemy in our life. Use the authority that God
has given you. Then he said, resist the devil, and
(18:35):
he will flee from you. He says, submit to God,
resist the devil, and he'll run from you. The word resists,
there's another word out of military annals. To resist means
really to stand up against the enemy. If an enemy
attacks us, we're going to respond and stand up for
(18:57):
our freedoms, and so many have done that over the
years of our history and in the history of the world.
To resist the enemy is to stand against the enemy,
not run from the battle, not in cowardice, shrink from
the battle, but to stand up in the authority of
(19:19):
Christ and resist the devil. You have that right, you
have that responsibility. You have the authority of Jesus Christ
and his name to resist the devil. So start resisting him,
rather than giving up and giving in. Resist the enemy,
(19:41):
Paul the Apostle. Paul said, put on the whole armor
of God, that you may be able to stand against
all the strategies, all the whiles of the devil. Take
a firm and courageous stand. Too many believers have just
given up in the battle. You've stopped fighting, You've stopped resisting.
In Jesus's name, Now again, have this power in yourself,
(20:01):
but in Christ you do. Do like David the shepherd boy.
But when he heard the giant mocking God and blaspheming
the Lord God, he took his slingshot and his stones,
and he ran to the battle. Run to the battle,
confront it, and overcome the enemy in your life. You
(20:24):
don't have to be afraid of the devil. Thirdly, draw
near to God. He'll draw near to you. The closer
you draw near to God, the closer you get to God,
the Father Satan will be away. That's what Jesus did.
He was there in the wilderness getting close to God, fellowshipping,
(20:46):
denying himself food and drink in order to get close
into the fellowship of his Father. Angels ministered with him.
What a picture of what it means to draw near
to God? I would The most important spiritual advice that
I could give you is take time every day of
(21:11):
your life to draw near to God, to get close
to Jesus. Not just spare time or left over time,
but the best part of your day, preferably for me,
is the morning to meet God, to read God's word,
to meditate upon the truth of scripture, the soul transforming,
(21:37):
to pray, to memorize the scripture. I've been memorizing scripture
since I was a boy, and I promise you it
has prepared me for spiritual battles that I faced along
the way. Do you have some verses memorized to prepare
you when the devil comes, that you will submit to
God's word when the temptation, when you're in the throes
of a temptation, when you're in a struggle. It's too late.
(21:59):
When you're in the in the middle of a struggle
or a temptation, a seduction, you need to get ready
right now. Steal your soul, prepare your life. Saturate your
life with a word of God, which is the weapon
that God has given you. Sharper than a two edged sword.
Sharpen your sword every day draw near to God. He'll
draw near to you. And one final thing before we
(22:22):
say that that's the end of this sermon, and that
is let God's people minister to you and serve you.
Now I know it says here the angels came and
ministered to Jesus. But God sends people into our past
along with angels, to minister to us in times of temptation,
and when we face temptations. Even if you fail in temptation,
(22:49):
you need God's people. The church is not an audience.
We are an army, and we should never shoot our own.
Wounded is shameful when churches and Christian organizations and schools
shame they're wounded. The goal of discipline is redemption and restoration.
(23:14):
So let us be soldiers in arms, and let us
lock arms together to provide accountability with each other in
the times of spiritual battle. If we do fail, there's
someone there to pick us up and to help us
do better. The next time, there's someone there to minister
God's grace and God's healing to our lives. This is
why we need a good church, so that we could
(23:37):
be in this together. Psychologist knows if you're going to
overcome an addiction of some kind, you need accountability. The
ultimate accountability should be in God's Church, where we are
accountable to one another. So draw near to God by
drawing near to one another, and let the angels and
the saints of God minister to us. Jesus overcame the devil.
(24:03):
The devil fled, and he will flee from you. If
you will practice the spiritual dissonance and devotions of following Christ,
then live in the authority and the victory, and He
has provided with you.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
the Desert Storm. Nothing lights a fire in your faith
like experiencing the power of prayer firsthand. As you begin
to see God as a personal, loving father who desires
to hear and answer your prayers, it transforms your life
and thanks to friends like you, more people all around
(24:38):
the world are hearing about their loving God and his
son Jesus through the TV, radio and online outreach of PowerPoint.
That's why your support of this ministry is so vital.
We'll say thanks for your gift of ten dollars or
more by sending you a copy of doctor Graham's book Ask.
This is a great resource to help you strengthen your
own prayer life and teach you to approach God with
(25:01):
boldness and confidence. So call now to request your copy.
When you give, call one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety
five four six two seven. You can also text the
word ASK to five nine seven eight nine, and don't
forget to visit Jack Graham dot org. Or you can
(25:22):
shop our eastore, give a gift online, or sign up
for doctor Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again
is Jack Graham dot org. Pastor what is your PowerPoint
for today?
Speaker 2 (25:36):
It doesn't matter how old you are, where you live,
or what your social status may be. Temptation finds us all,
and if you're a believer, you've definitely had to deal
with temptation in your walk with Christ. There's no place
we can hide from temptation, but we can certainly fight
it in the power of Christ, and as a result,
when over sin. Whenever you feel like the temptation you
(25:59):
face is two much to handle. Just remember that Jesus
was tempted even as you're tempted, and yet through it
all he lived without sin by the power and the
grace and the strength of God. In one Corinthians ten thirteen,
we're reminded that no temptation has overtaken you. Accept such
as is common to man. But God is faithful who
(26:21):
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.
Remember that temptation is the seduction to fulfill a God
given desire in a God forbidden way. Also, always be
aware that Satan is watching to trip you up, and
his goal is to get you to give in to temptation.
(26:44):
So be ready, stay on the alert, because sin may
gratify momentarily, but it never satisfies. Jesus said to his
disciples in Mark fourteen thirty eight, watch and pray lest
you enter into temptation. The spirit, indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak. When Satan tries to entice you
(27:04):
with temptation, whether it's your physical appetite, your personal ambitions
or your spiritual allegiance. Run to God's word for strength,
stand on His truth, and rest in the promises of Christ.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a
gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll send
you doctor Graham's book, Ask as Our Thanks. Call one
eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven. That's
one eight hundred seven ninety five four six two seven.
You can also text the word ask to five nine
(27:38):
seven eight nine and join us again next time as
doctor Graham brings a message about how to overcome the
obstacles between you and God's best. That's next time on
PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored
by PowerPoint Ministries.
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