dealing with temptation-andy stanley

1. temptation has something to do with our confidence in God

 ¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (matthew3:16)

The Temptation of Jesus

 ¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

 ⁴Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'^[a]"-jesus realized behind the temptation was nothing to do with his hunger neither self-control , but if he trust God in providing our daily needs. 

⁽² Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.;¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." ¹⁸ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. )

 ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
   " 'He will command his angels concerning you,
      and they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'^[b]"

 ⁷Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'^[c]"- force God to be our servant , bail us out from all defile decisions; the difference between faith and presumption. faith is to respond the promises of God. we are to cooperate with God, not to manipulate with God.

 ⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

 ¹⁰Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'^[d]"

 ¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

2. God loves Jesus->Holy spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by devil

3. temptation usually fall into 3 categories: use God to use our own needs;to cut the short cut to do right things; 

4.if Jesus had failed into the temptations , He would have never been able to pay for our sin and free us frm the power of sin. behind the temptations lots of other states of others' and future states are also invovled

5.sins break our confidence in God and our relationships with God. we leave church mainly because we *behave* to leave God instead of *think*to leave God

6. Jesus was tempted to do thing on his own