Posted on by pastorkevinjud

How to Handle Temptation

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Lent 1 2026
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
February 22, 2026
Genesis 3:1-21, Romans 5;12-19, Matthew 4:1-11

Sermons online: 
Text and Audio:         immanuelhamiltonchurch.com   click “sermons”
Text:                           pastorjud.org   
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com 
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

Before switching to mostly Aldi and self-checkout, I remember going to the grocery store and seeing the tabloid newspapers prominently displayed by the checkout.  As I waited in line I could read the headlines of the National Enquirer.  “Man abducted by UFO for the 4th Time”, “Elvis is alive,”  “Bigfoot shot by Montana Police.”

The headlines were entertaining but knowing the reputation of the National Enquirer I had doubt that they were true.  In order to trust the message, you need to trust the messenger. 

            Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden and there is no checkout line.  There is no National Enquirer.  Adam and Eve have only one messenger – God.  Can they trust this messenger?  They have been created in the image of God.  Their will and God’s will are one and the same, and all is good… until evil comes into the Garden. 

            A high angel is overcome with pride and arrogance and rebels against God, likely taking a third of the angels with him. We do not know much about Satan’s rebellion, but we soon find that ancient serpent slithering around in Paradise looking to deceive Adam and Eve.  

            The serpent deceives by planting seeds of doubt.  He asks Eve, Genesis 3:1 (ESV) 1 … “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” The devil uses doubt and confusion and misdirection against Eve.  Eve responds, Genesis 3:2–3 (ESV) 2 …“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but Eve said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”  Eve seems to be holding her own against the serpent — she knows what God said.  But the lying devil continues to sow doubt and mixes it with an appeal to pride and the attraction of the forbidden fruit.  Genesis 3:4–5 (ESV) 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

            The devil entices Eve.  Sowing doubt softened her up so the appeal to pride works well.  “You will be like God.”  And so, even though they have abundant fruit from all the other trees in the Garden, the forbidden fruit of this tree is just so appealing.  Genesis 3:6 (ESV) 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” 

            Adam and Eve had one command and the devil is quickly able to get them to rebel.  He appeals to pride and secret knowledge and they give in to the serpent’s deceptions and the world is changed forever.  Paradise is no longer — and the first man and woman feel shame at their nakedness. In their fall all of their offspring are brought down into sin.  The beautiful harmony between God and man walking together in unity of purpose and desire is shattered, and Adam and Eve desperately try to cover their nakedness and hide from God. The devil said, “You will not surely die,” but he was lying.  Death came into the world and we still live under the shadow of death today.

            You like to think that if it were you, you would have done better.  You want to tell yourself, “I could have resisted the devil.  I would have carefully listened to God and done what He said.”  You want to think that, and yet the devil successfully uses the same strategies against you to this day.  The devil sows doubt in your mind about what God has clearly said.  The devil appeals to your pride.  The devil uses your appetites against you to get you to partake of forbidden fruit.  The devil lies to you about finding true freedom in indulging your lusts and desires. The deceiver is quite adept at using lies and doubt and pride to get you to ignore God’s commands and follow your own ideas. 

Much of our media and education system seem to be geared toward trying to convince you that you are way too smart to believe that God created the world. Smart people believe life is the result of an endless series of random mutations.  They try to convince you that only a fool would believe that God sent His Son in the flesh to be the sacrifice for sin and that He gives out forgiveness in baptism, in His Word, and in His Body and Blood.  They tell you that you are way too smart to believe God. Instead, you should just trust your own feelings.  You can be like God.  The devil prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  What can you do?  How can you fight the devil?  

            In our Gospel reading today we hear about the devil tempting Jesus in the wilderness.  The devil tempts Jesus with doubt and appetite and pride.  Jesus has been fasting for 40 days and He is hungry when He encounters the tempter.  The devil goes right for a double temptation of doubt and appetite.  Matthew 4:3 (ESV) 3 … “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  “If you are…”  Just forty days earlier down in the valley at the Jordan River Jesus was baptized and the heavens opened and God the Father declared, Matthew 3:17 (ESV) 17 …“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Now the devil tries to use this against Jesus. You think you are the Son of God…prove it to me.  And I know you are hungry…why don’t you just use your power to make some bread?  Fresh bread would taste so good.  Matthew 4:4 (ESV) 4 But [Jesus] answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”  Jesus deflects the devil’s temptation.  But the evil one tries again.

            Matthew 4:5–6 (ESV) 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself 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.’ ” 

            The devil tries doubt and pride.  Prove you are the Son of God by showing off your powers. Matthew 4:7 (ESV) 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 

            From the top of a high mountain where they could see all the kingdoms of the world, the devil tempts Jesus again with a shortcut to power and glory without having to go to the cross.  Matthew 4:9 (ESV) 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Just give up on God the Father and do what I say and worship me.  Jesus answers, Matthew 4:10 (ESV) 10 … “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 

            Jesus is faithful where Adam and Eve fail.  Jesus is faithful where the people of Israel fail. Jesus is faithful where you fail.  Jesus is the Son of God.  He is Israel reduced to one.  He is the faithful one who fulfills the law. 

            There is a temptation in reading this account of Jesus and the devil in the wilderness that you read it as a do-it-yourself lesson for how to battle the Prince of Darkness, but it is not that.  The lesson to be learned here is that Jesus is faithful.  It is not that you are to be like Jesus, but that you belong to Jesus.  You are with Jesus to delight in His will and walk in His ways. 

            In baptism and confirmation you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways.  You absolutely should resist the devil, but you should not do battle against the devil.  Jesus has done battle with the devil and Jesus won.  Jesus gives His victory to you.  His victory is your victory.  You have already defeated the devil because you are in Christ. 

            So what can you learn from Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the wilderness, and at Gethsemane, and on the cross.  Certainly you face ongoing temptations.  The devil, the world and your own sinful nature will try to get you to listen to them rather than to listen to God.  There are so many voices trying to get you to doubt God’s word.  They appeal to your appetites and pride to get you to listen to them and reject God.

            So when the temptation comes to stop caring and pull back and play it safe – you tell that temptation, “No thanks.  I’m with Jesus.”  When the temptation comes to run after something you should not have, or someone, or some feeling – you tell that temptation.  “No thanks, I’m with Jesus.”  When you get discouraged and start to believe that it is just not worth it to do the right thing, watch again the faithfulness of Jesus and declare, “It is worth it, because I am with the faithful one.  I am with Jesus.”[1]

            Listening to the devil or the world or your own sinful desires is like believing headlines of the National Enquirer.  Tell them, “No thanks. I’m with Jesus.”  Live not by lies.  Live by the Word of God.  You are with Jesus.  Amen. 

[1] Thanks to Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs, Concordia Theology, Lectionary at Lunch

Posted on by pastorkevinjud

God wants you to endure to the end

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BULLETIN

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Lent 1 2024
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
February 18, 2024
Genesis 22:1-8, James 1:12-18, Mark 1:9-15

Sermons online: 
Text and Audio:         immanuelhamiltonchurch.com   click “sermons”
Text:                           pastorjud.org   
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com 
itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:    bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

      Drops of sweat fall from your face onto the dry grass.  You are bent over, hands on your knees desperately trying to catch your breath.  You have a side cramp and your legs are burning.  The hot August sun beats down and you feel like you are going to throw up. Then the whistle blows again, the coach barks again, another 50 yard sprint.  “Last one to finish does 20 push-ups.”  Despite your pain you take off at full speed to the 50 yard line.  You hate wind sprints, but the coach seems to love them.

      Why would the coach put his team through such a painful trial?  Is he a monster?  No.  He is a coach who wants to increase the endurance of his team so that they can persevere on Friday night through all four quarters until the final whistle. The coach wants his team to endure to the end.

      Like a coach making you run wind sprints, God sends trials into your life to increase your endurance and perseverance.  James 1:12 (ESV) 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him”. 

As you know all too well, so many trials will come in life. Sickness, injury, accidents, financial hardship, death of a loved one.  Trials like these are difficult.  It hurts to go through them.  Trials are a constant reminder that life is hard. 

      Martin Luther says of this verse  “… trials keep a man alert, perfect him in humility and patience, and make him acceptable to God as his dearest child.” And also, “Thus it is good for us always to be oppressed with some trouble, lest in our weakness we succumb to the offenses of the world and fall into sin.”

      In this life you like to feel like you are in control of things and there are times when everything seems to be going smoothly, but it never lasts.  Trials and troubles come and they are God’s way of letting you know that you are not in charge.  You do not have everything altogether.  You need help.  You need Jesus.

      This is an intimidating Bible verse because it sounds like you need to pass the test.  You read this and think that it means, “If I am steadfast enough, I will receive the crown of life.”  If…that is a big if.  And you know this “if” is a problem.

      You will face trials and tests from God and you will also face temptation to sin.  Trials can come from God but God will not tempt you to sin.  In this life you will endure both. 

      James 1:12 (ESV) 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

      This is an intimidating Bible verse because it sounds like you need to pass the test.  You read this and think that it means, “If I am steadfast enough, I will receive the crown of life.”  If…that is a big if.  And you know this “if” is a problem.

      As a baptized child of God with the Holy Spirit enlightening you to God’s law, you know that you are not good enough.  But your natural, sinful self in its pride thinks that it is strong enough to resist temptation.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his Bible Study on temptation, “Lead us not into temptation. Natural man and moral man cannot understand this prayer.  Natural man wants to prove his strength in adventure, in struggle, in encounter with the enemy.  That is life. …So moral man calls out evil, his daily prayer is—Lead me into temptation, that I may test out the power of the good in me.”

      You want to believe that you are good enough, strong enough, powerful enough, wise enough, all on your own.  You want to believe it — but then you face trials and temptations and your true self is revealed.   

      During World War II, C.S. Lewis gave a series of radio lessons that became the book, “Mere Christianity.”  In this he wrote, “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist.”

You want to believe that, like Jesus, you can stand up to the temptations of the evil one, but the reality of your failures show you, all too clearly, that this is not true.  You know you would fail the test. 

Thankfully, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,” is not conditional.  It does not mean, if you remain steadfast, it assumes you will remain steadfast.  Being blessed does not depend on your level of perseverance, but on the promise of Christ.  When you remain steadfast you will receive the crown of life that is the promised gift from the giver of all good gifts.  You have been saved and God has given you the promise of eternal life.  You persevere through trials and tests and temptations as a genuine Christian who knows the need for a savior.

      You have the promise of eternal life, but there is danger lurking and you need always to be on of taking sin too lightly or of not take responsibility for your sin and letting sin grow. 

      As a sinner it is easy to adopt the excuses of our first parents when God confronts them after their fall into sin.  Adam blames God, Genesis 3:12 (ESV)  12 … “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 

      Eve blames the devil, Genesis 3:13 (ESV)  13 ….“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

      It is easy to fall into the temptation to blame God for your sin.  “If God didn’t want me to act on them, why did he give me these desires?  I’m just hot headed, I can’t help it.  I’m German so I am naturally stubborn as a mule.  I am so good looking the girls just cannot resist me.  I can’t help it.  God made me this way. 

      James is clear that sin does not come from God.  God has nothing to do with evil.  James explains temptation, James 1:14–15 (ESV) 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” 

      James warns.  Sin is serious.  Sin leads to death.  James 1:16 (ESV) 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”  Do not be deceived.  The devil, the world and your own sinful nature are lying to you trying to let your desire give birth to sin, and sin grow up into death.  Flee from sin.  Flee from temptation.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Do not let the devil have a foothold in your life.  Do not embrace sin.  Do not let sin become your lifestyle. 

You find out how bad you are when you are trying to be good.  You know the struggle.  Stay in the fight.  Just because you are not good at it is not a reason to give up enduring trials and temptations.  You endure because you are God’s own child, you are baptized into Christ. 

      There are many who claim that God changes with the times and His teachings adjust to fit our desires and the ways of the culture.  Do not be deceived.  God does not change.  God is all good.  God has nothing to do with evil.  James 1:17 (ESV) 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

      God has given you every good gift.  He has made you His own child and given you eternal life through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  He knows you will struggle with trials and temptations.  He knows you cannot pass the test of being good enough.  He passed it for you and gives that gift to you.  And why does He give you that gift? 

      Why? Because He wants to.  James 1:18 (ESV) 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”  Because He wants to, He birthed you by the Word of truth.  Sin gives birth to death.  God gives birth to life everlasting.  God saves you because He wants to.  You are blessed for all eternity in Christ because He wants to bless you. 

In this life you face trials and temptations.  You will endure imperfectly but you will endure because you are God’s chosen child.  God will send trials to keep up your endurance so you keep going until the last breath.  Life is difficult.  Cling to Jesus.  You will receive the crown of eternal life.  Amen.