Tips for Teaching This Week’s Session of The Gospel Project for Adults

Listen to this week’s leader training podcast with Y Bonesteele, team leader for The Gospel Project for Adults, for a summary and guidance in leading your group.

This week’s additional resources for study and preparation:

• Article: “Unlocking the Bible: Temptation” by Colin Smith
• Article: “Don’t Face That Temptation Alone” by Paula Marsteller
• Sermon: “The Battle for Your Identity: A Lifelong Battle” by Joseph Bunce
• Sermon: “The Temptation of Jesus” by R. C. Sproul

Transcript of Leader Training Podcast:

Hi, this is Y Bonesteele, team leader of The Gospel Project for Adults. Welcome to another Leader Training podcast. Today we are in Unit 20, Session 3, Jesus was Tempted, with the core passage of Luke 4:1-13. And with the key concept of: Like Jesus, we can turn to Scripture to help us resist temptation.

After Jesus was baptized, the Spirit led him into the desert for forty days. And specifically, “to be tempted by the devil.” Does God allow us to be tempted by the devil? Certainly. He did so with Job early in the Old Testament, and He did so with Jesus, and He does so for us. God doesn’t tempt us as James 1:13 states: “13 No one undergoing a trial should say, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone,” but He does allow Satan to tempt us. Spiritual warfare is real, and we must always be alert and prepared for battle in the spiritual realm.

Why do you think God’s plan for our redemption included Jesus facing temptation? Jesus identified with us in getting baptized, and He identified with us in being tempted. He can empathize with us and knows we are susceptible to sin because temptations that come our way.

Jesus “ate nothing during those days and when they were over, he was hungry.” Verse 2 shows Jesus’s humanity in His forty days of fasting, abstaining from food, and like any other human would have been, He was hungry. And because He was hungry, seemingly a little more vulnerable, the devil thought he might have an opportunity there. So he said, “‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’” The Gospel Project Commentary states on page 86, “this was not a denial as much as a dare. He was not trying to cause doubt that Jesus is God’s Son. Rather, he was trying to bait Jesus into using His power as the Son of God for His own benefit instead of trusting God’s reasons for leading Him into the wilderness. Satan was urging Jesus to take what He wanted instead of relying on God.”

But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.” Jesus here was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. When Satan tries to twist the truths of God to tempt us to rely less on God and more on ourselves, we can go to Scripture to find truth. In Deuteronomy 8, Moses was exhorting the Israelites before they entered the Promise Land to obey God’s commands, remembering that their wilderness experience was a time of humbling and trusting in God for provision. They experienced hunger, yet God provided manna so they would trust in God’s word and continue to follow Him. For context, Deuteronomy 8:2-3 states: “2 Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these forty years in the wilderness, so that he might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” This Scripture must have been an encouragement to Jesus during His fast. He must’ve recalled it during those 40 days, maybe even before Satan tempted Him. It would have sustained Him through that hunger.

Jesus knew that our life is not sustained by the physical alone. Later, Jesus would say He is the Bread of Life in John 6:35: “‘I am the bread of life,’ Jesus told them. ‘No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.’” We know that Jesus is the ultimate sustenance that we need.

How does Jesus’s response challenge your view of where true sustenance comes from? Food, water, shelter, transportation, money—these are things that the everyday person needs in life. And beyond these things, there are a lot of trivial things that we might say we need. But Jesus’s response shows us that our greatest need is found in the word of God. And the word of God says our greatest need is Jesus. He sustains us. He fills us. He makes us whole. He gives us life and the good life. It is easy to worry about the “needs” from this world. But we are reminded that God provides for our needs and Jesus is our greatest need.

The devil then continued to tempt Jesus, next taking Him up and showing Him the kingdoms of this world. And the devil said, I will give you all this if you worship me. And Jesus again, quoted Deuteronomy: “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only,” summarized from Deuteronomy 6:13. We already know the devil is a liar and a twister of truth. His claim to authority was no true authority at all, but simply whatever God allowed. Jesus knew that only God should be worshiped. He knew that Satan lies. He knew that power without God’s endorsement would be futile and empty. He also knew that inheriting the kingdom would come from suffering and sacrifice in obeying God’s will, and not from worshiping other things, not from taking shortcuts away from God’s plans. Worshiping God is of more importance than the kingdoms of the world, because God truly is sovereign over all.

What are some ways we are tempted to take shortcuts to avoid suffering in our mission to take the gospel of Jesus to the world? Sometimes we may use the excuse of saying, “the testimony of our life is our means of evangelism” without ever sharing the message of Jesus or God’s redemptive plan as a “shortcut”. Sometimes we pursue ministry jobs or mission trips, purely for our own pleasure and not because we have a burden for the lost. Sometimes our ‘faith’ is performative just to look good or gain something in return from those around us. God knows our hearts and the devil will tempt us all he can to get us to think more about ourselves than God.

So again, Satan tempted Jesus by taking him to the top of the temple and told him to throw Himself down so that angels could protect him. The devil even used Scripture, implying, ‘Hey, you know Scripture; I do too,” because he does, and he loves to manipulate it to get us to disobey God. The devil used Psalm 91:11-12, saying, ‘hey, let’s see if God will save you.’. Again, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16, in saying “Do not test the Lord your God.” Though the devil tried to tempt Jesus in similar ways as he tested Adam and Eve in the garden, and the Israelites in the wilderness and over time, where they failed, Jesus stood firm, relying on Scripture to guide His steps.

What Scriptures have helped you avoid temptation and sin in your life? There will be varying answers here depending on the temptation that is trying to be avoided.

Thus, as the Gospel Connection states: “Jesus was tempted as we are, yet He resisted the devil’s temptations and remained without sin. Thus, He was the blameless sacrifice needed to atone for our sins.” And we can rest assured, that the Holy Spirit helps us as well in avoiding temptation and standing firm in our faith to resist sin.

On to the Group Experience, pass out the note cards as you let people write down temptations, following instructions on page 90 of the Leader Guide. Engage with the questions given there. Continue with the Context and Recap with the questions given: how would you categorize the temptations Jesus experienced in the wilderness in our passage for today? And, what might have been Satan’s purpose in tempting Jesus? Possible answers are mentioned in the Leader Guide.

Transition to the Group Activity, recreating the chart on a board. Divide the group into two teams and assign each group a column: Internal Desires and External Influences. Instruct the group to read the verses given and analyze how temptation comes from our own sinful desires and/or external temptations and note ways we can resist temptation.

For example, under internal desires, answers can include, for:

Romans 6:11-14: we are tempted because sin reigns in our body. We are naturally prone to sin because of original sin. We resist by “offering ourselves to God” and being reminded of God’s grace.

Galatians 5:17, 19-21: we are tempted because of the flesh which is opposed to the Spirit. And the works of the flesh include: “sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar” (from Galatians 5:19-21). We resist by letting the Spriit lead us, not our flesh.

Ephesians 2:1-3:  we are tempted because we “walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air” (in Ephesians 2:2), according to our “fleshly desires” (in v. 3). We resist by remembering Christ saved us and made us alive in Christ.

James 1:12-15: we are tempted because we are “drawn away and enticed by [our] own evil desire” (in James 1:14). We resist by being aware that God doesn’t tempt us, but acknowledging our own evil desires so that we can turn to God.

Under External Influences, answers may include for:

Luke 22:31-32:  we are tempted because of Satan. We resist by having others strengthen us and keep us accountable.

Luke 23:33-39: we are tempted because many times we don’t know what we’re doing when we’re not focused on God. We go through the motions like Pilate, the soldiers, and all who were complicit in Jesus’s death. We resist by focusing on the gospel, on all that Jesus did for us, dying in our place for our forgiveness of sin.

Ephesians 6:10-18: we are tempted because of the schemes of the devil and the forces of evil and darkness. We resist by being strengthened by the Lord and by putting on the armor of God.

1 Peter 5:8-9: we are tempted because the devil is prowling, looking for someone to devour. We resist by being sober-minded and alert and knowing that together, as the body of Christ, the church can resist evil.

Then read Luke 4:1-13 to see how Jesus resisted temptation. Discuss: “Are temptation and sin the same thing? How are they different?” The answer is at the top of page 92 of the Leader Guide. Point out that Jesus was tempted but never sinned. Pass out Pack Item 10: Victory over Temptation and discuss ways to resist temptation.

Debrief with: “How does Scripture help us to resist temptation?” Scripture gives us the truth of God’s Word. And when we are studying the Bible well and correctly, it gives us wisdom and insight to live by, to follow God and resist the devil. “What are some ways we can use Scripture proactively in the battle against temptation and sin?” We can journal and reflect on when we have been tempted and fell to sin and write down verses that could have helped us during that time. We can study God’s Word and be prepared, aware, and alert when future temptations come our way.

Tackle the Head question if time is limited and you can’t cover all questions. “How can we find passages of Scripture that will be helpful in our battle against temptation and sin?” Being self-aware of the temptations that make us sin the most, we can have ready verses in the Notes on our phone or in our journal or set to memorization in our minds. Being prepared ahead of time will help us tackle the temptations that come throughout our week or month. We can use concordances and commentaries in our search.

Point out Next Steps as additional action points, end with prayer requests and praises, and if time permits, pray through Psalm 141:3-5: “3 Lord, set up a guard for my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips. 4 Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing or perform wicked acts with evildoers. Do not let me feast on their delicacies. 5 Let the righteous one strike me — it is an act of faithful love; let him rebuke me — it is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. Even now my prayer is against the evil acts of the wicked.”

Hey, thanks for joining me on another Leader Training podcast. Write me at [email protected] and hope you have a great group time!