Bibles to that epistle to the Hebrews. We don't know who wrote it. Many believe it was the Apostle Paul, and I think if I had one person to stand behind it would be him, but we're not quite sure. But it's certainly a man who knew his Old Testament Bible well. Hebrews chapter 4, let me just read one verse here, or two verses. Verse 14 of Hebrews 4, since then we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who was unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Well, let's again go to our Lord. Father, we are again thankful for those great hymns of the faith, for the men and women who wrote them, We are thankful for the great truths that are expressed in them. And now, Lord, as we open up your Word and think again that we are in the very presence of a holy God, a thrice holy being, one who knows everything, one who sees everything, we cannot hide anything from you. And so we pray, Lord, that even tonight we would seek to guard our hearts and our thoughts. and give them to the hearing of your Word, we are commanded again to love you with our whole hearts and minds and souls. We know, Lord, that we cannot do that perfectly, but we can do that evangelically. And so we plead for your grace, we plead for your help, and we plead, Lord, that you would make the Word profitable for our souls, and we pray this in your son's name, amen. Certainly you could say that one of the simplest ABCs of the Christian life, it would be something that you can see throughout your Bible. It is called, or could be called, a major Christian principle, and it's simply this. There's no escaping tension and conflict. As long as you are living this side of heaven, you will experience intense struggle and conflict. And no doubt, from time to time, you even ask the question, why does being a Christian have to be so hard? Well, the Bible lets us know why. It doesn't gloss over those harsh realities or hide the facts that we are up against some great enemies, a seducing world, a personal devil who was pure evil, and certainly our own remaining sin and corruption. But every day, that trinity of evil, in one way or another, seeks to destroy us, wound us, and cripple us. And while sin, the devil, and even the world can never ultimately destroy us, they do have the power to hurt us. discourage us, depress us, and tempt us. And Jesus knew it wasn't going to be easy. He talked about a daily cross. He taught us also to pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. But every day, every hour, we are tempted to sin. And you might think the older you get, the less tempted you might be. But temptation is always there. It changes color like a chameleon. It changes shape and size like storm clouds, but never ever does it go away. And so how do we fight the fight, the fight of faith? How do we resist, stay the course? Well, there are many Bible strategies, but I would argue that the key, major key, to living the Christian life is always one and the same, you keep your focus upon Christ. Christ has to be central in our thinking. We have to maintain a Christ-centered approach. And here's what I want to simply lay before you tonight when it comes to facing temptation, to make you aware of the resources we have in Christ. And there are four of them. I know there are many more, but here are at least four that we have when we think of battling the fights, battling temptation. You have, number one, the heart of Christ. Number two, you have the Word of Christ. Number three, you have the grace of Christ. And number four, you have the example of Christ. Well, let's consider these four Christ strategies when it comes to temptation. You have the heart of Christ. Jesus often talked about the heart. And one of his most in-depth analysis of the heart is found in Matthew chapter 7. He's speaking to the Pharisees. He's combating the religious formalism and externalism. The Pharisees, as you know, had a lot of rules, a lot of externals, but they never dealt with the heart. And so Jesus sort of drops a bomb here. Here's what he says in Matthew 7. What defiles a man is not what comes from without, or from the outside, but from within the heart of man. And then he goes into the specific sins. He doesn't mention all the sins, but certainly a number of sins, at least 13 sins he mentions here. Wickedness, coveting, pride, foolishness, sensuality, envy, slander, all of these evil things, he says, come from within. And even when we become Christians, we can't escape the flesh, can we? And the fact that their sins of our hearts are still the sins of our hearts. But here's the point I want to make. Jesus had a very different heart. You never find any of these sins in the heart of Jesus. No matter what stage of life. When he was a growing child, he never suffered from the terrible twos. During his teenage years, he never developed bad attitudes. He never got grumpy with his parents. He never suffered from that insidious pride of youth. Luke tells us, he grew in wisdom and in stature, in favor with God and with men. But if you want to get a peek at the heart of Jesus, turn your attention to Matthew chapter 11. Here we have Jesus making a reference to his own heart, and this is the only instance recorded in Scripture where you actually have Jesus making reference to his own heart here. Matthew 11, at the very back end of that chapter, you have this wonderful gospel invite, come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, verse 28, I will give you rest, and then he gives a description, a very succinct description of his heart. He uses two adjectives to describe his heart. Does he say, my heart is gentle and lowly? One translation, a number of translations, at least English translations use the word meek, meek and lowly, or meek and humble. And that really can't be said about anybody else. There's only one person who had a heart like that through and through. And that was the Lord Jesus. Another place where you can get a peek into his heart is in the upper room. It begins there in John 13. It runs through to John 17. And when you consider that discourse by our Lord Jesus, it's the longest discourse we have of Jesus. It's not a formal lecture, but it's a loving, heartfelt instruction. You could say that whole section is like a love letter. It's written to his disciple friends. He's telling them how much he loves and cares for them. He puts his heart on display. And that whole narrative, that whole discourse, begins with these words. John tells us, he loved his own unto the end. And when you listen to the Upper Room Discourse, you can't help but see Christ's love on display. He wants the best for his disciple friends. He knows that their hearts are troubled, and he piles on comforts and encouragement. He tells them about the promises of prayer. He tells them about the Holy Ghost that will come and be their comfort. He talks about heaven, that place that I'm going to, to prepare a place for you, a place of many mansions. And he tells them why he's going to the cross. He uses that word friend and says, no greater love than this, that a friend should lay down his life for his friends. And we shouldn't forget, brethren, that Christ's love for his disciples and his friends, his earthly friends, hasn't changed one iota. He loved them to the end. His own. Are you one of his own? You are his bride. You are the apple of his eye. There's no one he loves more than you. And He will never stop loving you. And when you hear Jesus speaking in the upper room to His disciples, we might be tempted to think, well, that's wonderfully true. That was true while he was on earth, when he could look into the eyeballs of his disciple friends, but we know that he's no longer on earth. Remember what the writer of Hebrews says, he's passed into the heavens. I can't see him, I can't touch him. He's so far removed from my world, my hurts, my pains, my struggles, my difficulties, my temptations. When he was on earth, of course, when he was rubbing shoulders with sinners and scraping the dirt and the mud off his sandals. He knew what it was like, but he's in heaven, enjoying the perfect safety and security from all of the dangers and all of the evils of this cursed world. Can he really understand? Can he really relate? Well, the answer is found in Hebrews 4, verse 15. You want to go back there if you haven't turned to another place in your Bible. Hebrews 4, verse 15 removes all the doubts and questions. Look what it says. Here the writer gives a double negative, which makes it a positive, and he focuses here upon the editorial work of Jesus. The Christ who died for us, he now makes intercession for us, and he emphasizes his priestly work. And he tells us, we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted, as we have, but yet without sin. So there's the same experience of temptation, but here's the big difference, without sin. In fact, that he doesn't sin. Never ever sinned doesn't mean that he doesn't relate or can't relate to our temptation, or it doesn't mean that his temptations are easier than ours. Some might think that, that his temptations were sort of like softball throws and ours are like professional hardball throws. Well, it's quite the opposite. We never or very infrequently feel the intensity of temptation. You know why? Because we succumb. He never did. He was no stranger to temptation. Peak level. Sort of like a category five level. of a storm, a hurricane storm. We fall, succumb at hurricane one status. Soon it starts to rain. He never did. He was tempted at the max. Remember what the writer of Hebrews will later on say, he resisted even on the blood. We hardly break a sweat. And because he was tempted in all points like us, you can be sure he understands. And the writer here says he has a heart of sympathy. A heart of sympathy. You will always find Jesus with a tender heart. He will never treat you with cold, indifference. He will never, ever suffer from a low level of irritability. If you're a mother, you know what that means, right? The little one comes to you for the 15th time within an hour, and mom can start to feel some level of irritability. Not again! But he never feels that. His heart is never cold, it is never disaffected, it is never unwilling to help us face temptation. That's a wonderful encouragement for the child of God. You have the heart of the Savior. You could say on your side, the most tender, sympathetic heart, the one who listens and understands, so willing and eager to help you fight and resist your temptation. That's one great strategy to take advantage of. Think of Christ and his heart when you're dealing with your temptations and seeking to overcome them. Second encouragement or wonderful resource is you have the word of Christ. Now most times when we read our Bibles, we think of the word of God. But it is also called the word of Christ. I think Steve quoted that text this morning in the Sunday school hour from Colossians 3, let the word of Christ in you richly. Is this the word of Christ? Is the whole Bible the word of Christ? Of course it is. It's as much the word of Christ as it is the word of God, and that's why Jesus could say what he said. Remember those words that he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount? You've heard it said. And he's making, I don't think, a contrast with him and Moses, but with him and the Pharisees. You've heard what they say, but here's what I say. And he puts his word as the authoritative word, the ultimate word. This is what I say. This is the final word. This is me speaking, the very son of God. And when Jesus had to deal with his own temptation, he never forgot the word of God. That's what steeled him. and protected him against the fiery darts and temptations of the wilderness. Go back to that section. of Matthew chapter 4. You could also go to Luke chapter 4 because it's recorded there. Both Luke and Matthew give us the details. I've got here my notes, Luke's gospel, so you might want to go to Luke chapter 4. But here our Lord is tempted by the devil. And there are three major temptations. There could have been more. We don't know exactly whether this was the limit, but certainly these three are the ones that are given focus by both gospel writers. And most Scholars and commentators believe that there's a common denominator here with these temptations. They all had to do with self. First, he's tempted to gratify self. Luke 4, verse 3. The devil addresses his physical appetites, pleasures. If you are the son of God, command the stone to become bread. One snap of the fingers and he could easily have satisfied his hunger pains. And remember, he's at the back end of a 40-day fast. It's not like he has a full stomach. When you think of Eve and eating the forbidden fruit, I mean, she had a full tummy. She wasn't hungry. He was. This is a far more intense temptation. This is a category five. This is one of those hundred-mile speed hardballs, and the devil aims it carefully. He knows that this is where Christ is most vulnerable, more susceptible here at the back end of this 40-day fast. And you could say it looks like a strike. No way he can hit this one, but he does. He hits it right out of the park. And he brings his bat against it with full force. Luke 4 verse 4, and he answered him, it is written thou shall not live by bread alone. The devil comes again. This time it's a temptation to exalt self. Who doesn't want to be famous? Luke 4 verse 5, the devil took him up and showed him the kingdoms of the world. What a sight that must have been. Have you ever gone into one of those places and one of those big cities and gone up to the top of the tower, whether it's the CN Tower in Toronto or the Empire State Building in New York or the Pearl Tower in Shanghai and you can see almost the whole city? Well, Jesus, I don't know how it happened here, but he could see the whole world. The devil probably even some kind of vision, we can't be sure, but he's saying to Jesus, everything can be yours, all the kingdoms of the world, every possession, every pleasure, every honor. All I ask is worship me. One simple nod of your head, one amen. And Jesus grabs his sword again and he gives another piercing thrust and sends the devil back to the drawing board. The third temptation is the temptation of self protection. This is perhaps the most difficult one to understand, where Jesus is told to jump off the tower, the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and give a visible demonstration of God's presence and God's protection. And here the devil even quotes from Psalm 91, it's a temptation not to trust God to take care or to take care of you. And again, Jesus resists him by using the word of God. You shall not put the Lord your God to a test. He makes good use of his Bible. It's written. It's written. It's written. Good reason to make good use of your Bible, to read your Bible, and study your Bible, and pray over your Bible. Because temptations will come. If you don't have the Bible in your heart and your mind, you're going to easily succumb to the hedonism and the emotionalism and the relativism of our day. But you have the sword, don't we? Every Christian has the sword. It's called the sword of the spirit, Ephesians chapter 6, so that you might stand in the hour of temptation. And sometimes the devil comes, brethren, like a sniper in the night. One shot. I think that's where he got David. One shot, a sniper in the night. And sometimes he comes like a guy with a machine gun and fires repeatedly a thousand, thousand thoughts to get you to sin. If you don't make good use of your Bible and the shield of faith, you're going to be like one of those unsuspecting policemen who gets shot when answering a 911 call concerning a domestic squabble and he never thought of needing a bulletproof vest. How do we fight the fight of faith? How do we resist temptation? Well, you have spiritual resources. You must avail yourself of them. You have the heart of Christ. You have the word of Christ. But thirdly, brethren, you have the grace of Christ. One of the most important words in our Bibles. Dr. Packer argues that it's grace, this word grace, that unlocks the meaning of the Bible. He calls it the key word of Christianity. You can't understand your Bible without that key word grace. It's a word that defines God. He's a God of grace. Remember what John says, grace came by Jesus Christ. You could say that there was something of a tsunami of grace that broke in upon the world when Jesus came. Titus 2, the grace of God has appeared. If Jesus had not come, there'd be no grace, no saving grace. It's a salvation by grace. It starts with grace. It ends with grace. By grace you've been called and by grace you will be glorified. And we need grace to break into our lives every day. Grace sanctifies. We grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's grace that liberates. It's grace that empowers. Christ said that his grace is a sufficient grace. And that's why he brings us into trials and even temptations to show us how sufficient his grace is and to make us realize just how much we need it. Why go to a high priest like Christ? Well, remember what the writer says, there's a throne of grace. You get the help you need. You can't fight this battle on your own. You can't take the devil on your own. And thankfully, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. Avail yourself of the grace of Christ, the grace of endurance, the grace of humility, the grace of wisdom, the grace of love. And you know what other grace you need? The grace of forgiveness. Because we don't always win our battles, do we? We often succumb, we sin. We say things we should never have said, we think things we should never have thought, and we do things we should never have done. Every day, the sins of commission and omission, every day, stain, pollute our lives and leave gaping wounds that they're not dealt with. And it's easy to come off the battlefield with regret and shame. I dropped the sword. I didn't use the shield. The devil found my Achilles heel. What do I do? Well, you do what David did in Psalm 51 after his great fall into sin. What does David do? He runs to the throne of grace. He cries for mercy, wash me, cleanse me. You do what the Apostle Paul does in Romans 7. After crying out, O wretched man that I am, he runs to Jesus, thanks be to Jesus. There's a fountain for cleansing. You do what Peter did after he had wept bitterly. He made sure he got in right relationship with Jesus. Spurgeon said this, I never forgot reading it somewhere, I don't know where I read it. Oftentimes when I come to the table, I remember these words by Spurgeon. He said, one of the great things about the Christian life is that it always has fresh beginnings. You can always start over again. Lord, I failed you last week, I sinned, there were things I said, things I did, but I can have a fresh beginning because of your grace and your forgiveness. How do we maintain a Christ-centered approach when it comes to fighting this fight of faith and dealing with our sin and temptation? Well, you keep before you the heart of Christ, you make sure you use the word of Christ, You will avail yourself of the grace of Christ. And then the final thing we can say, keep your eyes on Christ or follow the example of Christ. When it comes to living the Christian life and fighting this fight of faith and overcoming temptation, resisting the devil, there is always one person who got it right. There's really only one person who did. It's our Lord Jesus. He never lost a battle. He never succumbed to the pressure of peers at school, at work. He was always the victor, no matter where you shine the light or the spotlight on him, you always find perfect consistency, no stain, no smell of hypocrisy. He could say to the Pharisees, oh, vote the Pharisees. Do as they say, but don't do as they do. There's a gross inconsistency with how they live. But you couldn't say that about Jesus, could you? And what every gospel writer tells you in one way or another is get your eyes upon Christ. John says, we must walk as he walked. The Apostle Paul uses the language of imitation, be imitators of Christ. Peter calls Christians to embrace their suffering in a righteous way. He says Christ is our example. When the writer of Hebrews calls Christians to persevere in the midst of their suffering, he says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So my young person, children, teenagers, grandfather, grandmother, husband, wife, dad, mom, you can all follow him. You want to experience more success or success on the battlefield of life, you have to have your eyes fixed on Christ. In one sense, it's the simplest thing in the world, but it really is the most difficult. I think the devil tries to create attention deficit disorder. He's always seeking to distract us. Get our thoughts and get our minds on other things. Get our hearts and get our minds on ourselves. Get your eyes on Christ. not on your sin, but on Christ. And so much of the world pulls at our hearts, the sights and sounds of vanity fare. Someone has asked the question, good question, is temptation today greater than it was 100 years ago? I think it depends where you live. I would say from the perspective of America, Western civilization, our parents and our grandparents didn't have to struggle with the mass media like we do. The culture of yesterday in which they lived was shaped by a rich Puritan heritage and a Protestant work ethic, and we pretty well lost that. We're living in a Corinthian-like society. We're more like Daniel in Babylon, or Joseph in Egypt, or Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. So how can we persevere in the midst of a society of such decadence? Well, Daniel did. Joseph did. And why? Because God preserved them. At the end of the day, that's the only way any of us make it to heaven. I read something by Dr. Piper the other day. He said, I'm 71 years old, and hardly a day goes past where I don't say, Lord, keep me. Keep me. from falling. I don't want to become an apostate. And you won't if you take to heart the word of Christ, the grace of Christ, the example of Christ, and certainly the heart of Christ. You keep running, you keep fighting, you keep resisting, you keep overcoming. Believing that God is who he says he is, the keeper, the keeper of Israel, Jesus in that upper room discourse talks about keeping us. He says, no one can snatch you out of my hands. No one can snatch you out of my hands. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory. That's the only real hope we have that we'll make it to the end, a keeping merciful God and Savior.