Thanks, Greg. Hello, church. How are we doing
today? Listen, I have revised this sermon about
four times now, and I'm going to say it's very
top -heavy, but I think it just means that I
need to condense it a little bit, and so work
with me as we go through the sermon. And my father
was a pastor, and he said, if you need to say
ouch instead of amen, that's okay, too. Okay,
because sometimes it hurts so good, right? So
we've been on this series about wilderness, and
I'm sure that we've all had questions about where
that leads us and where we're going and what
wilderness we're going. So as we've navigated
the series on wilderness, we've learned that
the wilderness can be a place of testing, a place
of waiting, a place of silence. And that wilderness
seasons, they come for all of us, right? In fact,
sometimes the wilderness is exactly where obedience
leads you. And last week, Andy was referring
to the wilderness leading us to a place of solitude,
a place where we find God and where we find rest.
Pastor Greg in worship was saying, in this kind
of way that your struggle might be minimal it
might be something that can be fixed tonight
tomorrow the next day your struggle might be
one that you've been praying for for a long time
that you haven't seen god's hand move and that's
the beauty of church that's the beauty of community
it's the beauty of being around each other because
we're all in different stages of life We're all
going through different things in our life. Our
struggle might be something that's fixable and
our struggle might be something that kind of
puts a pain in your stomach and you just can't
get over it for a while and you're sitting uncomfortably
with something for a while. So I'm going to be
sharing about the wilderness being a place where
we're tested and where temptation might come
our way. And again, those temptations might be
small. They might be addictions. They might be
really heavy things in our lives. But we're not
going to focus on the problem. We're going to
focus on our identity in Christ and how we can
overcome those temptations in our life, right?
So we're going to be reading out of Matthew chapter
4. And the reason I said I've revised it a million
times is because I've gone 1 through 11, and
then I've gone 1 through 7, 1 through 8, 1 through
3, 1 through 4. And I'm like, okay, we'll get
there when we get there, and I should put a timer
on, but you guys beep at me when you guys are
done listening to me. So the context of chapter
4 is really interesting because Jesus was just
baptized by John the Baptist, right? They had
been talking about there's a man that's coming.
He's going to... He's going to save the world.
But he hasn't done any miracles yet. He hasn't
had multitudes of people following him yet. He
hasn't turned fish into bread and multitude or
multiplied wine and done all those miracles yet.
He really hasn't been in the practice of who
Jesus is and what we know of him in Scripture.
So in this context, we're seeing that Jesus has
just been baptized. He hasn't really been in
ministry yet. And in the scripture, we also know
that they are referring to Jesus as man, as flesh
and blood. We know Jesus as our spiritual foundation
and the Holy Spirit coming down and being our
guidance. But in this moment, in this context,
it's talking about Jesus in flesh and blood and
as man. So before I move on, I want to let you
know that Jesus has not gone through anything.
He has not. expected us to go through anything
that he hasn't gone through already. Jesus does
not expect us to go through something that he
hasn't already gone through. So we're going to
be looking at the scripture, Matthew chapter
4, verses 1 through 8 -ish. So if you could please
stand with me as we read scripture, if you're
able, and if not. Stay right where you are. And
I'll be reading the New International Version.
It says, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Like,
who does that, right? After fasting 40 days and
40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to
him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell
these stones to become bread. And Jesus answered,
I love it when there's scripture within scripture.
He says, it is written, man shall not live on
bread alone, but on every word that comes from
the mouth of God. And that's in Deuteronomy,
right? Then the devil took him to the holy city
and had him stand on the highest point of the
temple. And he said, 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 the stone.
And Jesus answered him, It is also written, Do
not put the Lord your God to the test. And we'll
end there for now. You may be seated. Father
God, I just pray that as we... dive into your
word this morning that you be with us, that you
clear our minds of anything else that is going
on, that you clear our minds of the chicken buffalo
dip and the Super Bowl and what we got to go
shopping and do after church or if we're hungry.
Father God, clear our minds right now so that
we could focus on your word and so that we could
find our identity in you this morning. Amen.
And we're done. Church is over. So in the first
verse, we see that Jesus was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted. Jesus was
led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Andy,
you talked about this last week. God leads us
to these places, right? Matthew tells us that
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted. In Greek, the word tempted also
means So if we look at this, that God was leading
him into the wilderness to be tested, it reminds
us that being in the wilderness does not mean
you are outside of God's will. That was a lot
of what Andy was sharing last week. Being in
the wilderness does not mean you are outside
of God's will. Sometimes the wilderness is exactly...
where obedience leads you. Imagine going to a
place where you knew God was leading you to set
you up for a test. How prepared would you be
in this very moment? Just think about that real
quick. How prepared would you be for a test this
very moment? If we think back in our high school
years, our college years, when they would do
those pop -up tests, then our hearts sunk and
we're like, boom, I'm not ready for this test,
right? How prepared would you be in this very
moment for a test? Where has your wilderness
been? We've been talking about the wilderness
being a place, a physical space where God is
leading us. Sometimes that wilderness is an event
in life. Sometimes it's a relationship or the
lack of a relationship. Sometimes it's a job
or the lack of a job. A friendship or no friends.
An illness, a prayer that hasn't been answered.
Caring for a loved one, being depleted. A place
of solitude. A place where you're just exhausted.
Where has your wilderness been? The scripture
goes on to tell us that after fasting for 40
days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry. In preparation
for this, I'm ashamed to say it. But I fasted
for the first time for three days. For the first
time in my life, I fasted for three days. And
I'm embarrassed to say that because I think that
we all need to be fasting at some point in our
lives, spiritual fasts and things that we need
to be doing to edify our spirit. Man, when I
tell you that my only focus was on my next meal
after my fast was over, like... That's all that
I was thinking about. But you know what helped
me? Realizing that this was the best thing for
me in the moment. Realizing that this fast was
a fast of food, but it was also edifying me,
purifying my spirit in preparation. Has anybody
in the room fasted for more than three days?
Raise your hand if you've fasted more than three
days. It's tough, isn't it? It's tough. I don't
know what got you through it, but I know what
got me through it was this is the best thing
for me right now, and it's purifying my spirit.
It was standing steadfast on the strength that
God was giving me that strength, right? You raised
your hand if you fasted more than three days,
more than four days, more than five days, more
than six days, right? We're talking about food.
But how many of us fast longer than that when
it comes to our spiritual bread? How many of
us fast from prayer, from worship, from being
in the word? From being in prayer with fellowship?
How many of us fast from that more than three
days? Like, why does that seem to be so easy?
Why is it easy to fast from the word? Why is
it easy to navigate away from worship, prayer,
being in the word, being in fellowship? Why is
that so easy? To walk away from that for a week,
two weeks, three weeks, a month, years. It's
easy to fast from the word. Why? After 40 days
and nights of fasting, Jesus was hungry. He is
physically weak. He's isolated. He's vulnerable.
And it's there in that moment that the tempter
comes. Temptation doesn't come when we're strong.
Temptation doesn't come when you just... have
been around 60, 50 other believers in Christ
or that support system in your life. That's not
when temptation comes. It doesn't come when you
have the best of the very best encouraging you
and telling you that you're going to be okay,
you can do this, you got this. It comes when
we're tired, when we're isolated, when we're
discouraged, when we're just looking for some
relief. When I'm just looking for a piece of
bread, I'm telling you, I walk to that refrigerator
often, and that fast, and man, I would just look
at it and just be like, just one little morsel
of cheese. You know, I do charcuterie, so I've
always got cheese and salami and grapes hanging
around. And I tell you what, it was tough. Temptation
comes when you're at your most vulnerable. It
comes when you're depleted. And the tempter came
to him and he said, if you are the son of God,
tell these stones to become bread. And Jesus
answered, it is written that man shall not live
on bread alone, but on every word that comes
from the mouth of God. He replies with scripture.
In the scripture, he replies with more scripture.
That's in Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse three.
And so, yes, I'm talking about a physical fast.
And yes, Jesus was hungry physically. But then
he referred to, nah, man, you're not going to
get me. I don't have to just live by this physical
bread. I live by the word of God and his strength
in me. So let's address the devil's strategy.
He's like trying to make him prove his identity.
Well, you say you're this person. Prove it. Prove
it. You see, the enemy often attacks what we
know to be true. He's hoping to create doubt
when we're worn down, doubt in our identity and
who we are in Christ. What we know to be true
is that our identity comes from God, not from
our past experience. So I just want to pause
there for a little bit. Because we are talking
about temptation. But the first part of this
is challenging him. If you are the man of God,
then do this. Prove it. Prove it. How many of
us have walked away from our past identity? And
we come across old friends in our new identity.
And they're like, what? You're not partying anymore?
Prove it. Here's a beer. Not that drinking is
terrible, but maybe that's what they've decided
to do, right? Not drink. And so prove it. And
so old friends and new identity, sometimes they
don't mix, right? But I'm here to tell you that
your past experiences, they don't identify you.
Your past experiences do not identify who you
are. And it is Satan's job to bring doubt into
your life about who you are, where you stand,
and where your relationship is in Christ. So
your past experiences do not define you. I always
tell young people when I'm talking to them, your
experience does not define who you are. Stop
saying who you are based on what you've gone
through. I'm broken. I'm lost. I'm hurt. Yes,
feel it, but don't stay there. Don't stay hopeless
and hurt and broken. That's Satan putting doubt
into who you are in him. Your identity is in
Christ. So your past experiences do not define
who you are. Your past experiences do not define
your present moment. Your past experiences do
not define eternal life in Jesus Christ. Your
past experiences are washed clean. Slate is white
as snow. The Word of God tells us that, right?
So Satan comes in a moment of desperation, in
a moment of solitude, in a moment of weakness,
and in a moment where he wants us to doubt our
identity in Jesus Christ. But if we stand firm
in what we know to be true, we know that our
identity comes from God the Father, and we are
his child. Right? The Father does know who you
are, and you know who he is. You have to have
this new creation mindset moving forward. Right?
You have to have this concept of, that's not
me. That's not what I do. I'm trying to move
this way. This is the direction that I'm going.
And move forward in your new identity. You know
who the Father is, and he knows who you are.
So in this verse, he said, hey, turn these stones
into bread. You're hungry, right? So prove it.
He has the power to do it. Jesus has the power
to turn the stones into bread. We haven't seen
these miracles yet, but we know. that he has
the power to do it. So nobody would blame him.
Oh, man, after 40 days, you turn bread, you turn
stone into bread. He has the power to do it.
Nobody would blame him because he's hungry. But
Jesus knows who he is, and he knows who his father
is, and he even knows what the scripture is.
So going back to that question, how prepared
would you be right now if you were going to have
a test? Would you be able to spit back scripture?
Would you be able to stand firm in faith and
know that God has got your back? So instead,
Jesus responds, man shall not live on bread alone.
but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God. So he's like, no thanks. God's got me. But
how often do we take the bait? In our wilderness,
we're often tempted to create our own way out,
our own desire path. Do you guys remember that?
We're not going in the direction that was created
for us. We're going to create our own. We're
following our own will instead of God's timing.
Our own provision instead of God's provision.
All for a quick solution. All for just quick
relief. We take matters into our own hands and
we compromise what God is doing or what he wants
to teach us. In the moment. Sometimes the wilderness
is exactly where obedience leads you. And obedience
matters more than immediate comfort. I'm going
to say that again. Sometimes the wilderness is
exactly where obedience leads you. And obedience
matters more than immediate comfort. Obedience
matters more than a piece of bread while you're
fasting. Obedience matters more because that
is what is growing your faith. See, persistence
leads to God's provision. Persistence doesn't
just lead to... This me complex, I did it on
my own. I got everything on my own. If we don't
see that God has given us the strength to get
to where we are, we're outside of his provision,
and we're just doing it all on our own, thinking
that we're high and mighty, Jesus complex, see
where I got to on my own. Well, God gives us
breath. God gives us strength. And he gives us
the persistence to see his provision. Verse 5
says, Then the devil took him to the holy city
and had him stand on the highest point of the
temple. So Jesus, the devil took Jesus to church.
And he said again, If you are the son of God,
challenging his identity, prove it, right? Throw
yourself down. For it's 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 the stone. Isn't it crazy how
Satan knows scripture? Satan is quoting scripture
to Jesus. He's saying, after all, if you throw
yourself down, the angels are going to come catch
you. So he's telling God, hey, why don't you
cause a little bit of chaos and see if God's
going to come and rescue you. When I was going
through my journey of finding out I had cancer,
and going through chemotherapy. I had some people
tell me, why are you doing chemo? Do you not
believe that God can heal you? You should try
all these natural remedies. I'm not going to
tell you that my faith wavered because I was
diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer.
My faith didn't waver in God. I believe that
God could heal me. I believe that he will continue
to heal me. But if I wanted to test God's hand
and be like, okay, I'm going to stop chemo. I'm
going to stop chemo and see what God wants to
do with my life. I think that would be a little
bit foolish. And sometimes... We want to do foolish
things to see if God's going to rescue us. I
think sometimes we test God. If I do this, let
me see if you're really there for me, God. We
want to create chaos. And we want to cause drama.
To see if God's going to get us out of this mess
that who put us in. We put ourselves in. So,
in my walk, I put all my faith in God. But I
know that God was putting his act of glory and
beautiful wonder in the hands of those doctors.
And so if you decide to get yourself in messes
that you want to see God pull you out of, you're
trying to force God's hands to demand a sign
from him. And that's very manipulative. We don't
force God's hand. We don't rush his timing. We
stay the course. We stay persistent to see God's
provision. Faith doesn't need to manufacture
drama to validate trust. Persistent means waiting
without demanding proof. How many of you have
gotten to the age and to the point where you
feel like you don't have to prove yourself to
anybody? I am who I am. I don't care what anybody
else thinks. Okay, we're like, it doesn't matter.
I don't want to be a stumbling block for anybody.
I will say that. Jesus commands us not to be
a stumbling block for anybody. But I'm at the
point in my life where people's opinions of me
do not matter, and I do not have to prove myself
to anyone other than to God the Father. who oversees
my life. Jesus resisted every temptation. He
didn't argue with him. He didn't have a 20 -minute
conversation with him about why he shouldn't
jump off of the temple. He just stood in his
truth. And what was that truth? I am the child
of a living God. This is my identity in him.
You don't get to tell me to jump off just to
see what God's going to do in my life. He stood
on this truth. He stood on business, right? He
stood on truth. He didn't panic. He didn't try
to negotiate. He persisted on standing in his
confidence that was rooted in his identity, his
relationship with the Father, and in his knowledge
of scripture. Amen? So when we're facing our
own wilderness and temptation to take the easy
way out, we'll always come. It's always going
to be there. The easy way out is easy. That's
why it's called the easy way out. It's going
to be there. It's available to everyone. Right?
This is the easy way out. But the word of God
says that the road is narrow for those who want
to follow his ways and his will. So we got all
these options, but we want to be here. Focus.
We need those horse blinders sometimes. Right?
We want to be here. So it may look like we're
compromising our values, abandoning patience,
or choosing comfort over calling. That's what,
when we face our own wilderness, the temptation
to take the easy way out will look like compromising
your values, abandoning patience. Choosing comfort
over calling. But like Jesus, we're called to
remember who we are, whose we are, and what God
has already spoken in us. If God is taking you
here, he's directed you to go here. And he's
already told you to go here. But because we want
to follow our own will, we go this way, we go
that way, we go around here, we go around there.
And we're still trying to get to here. God has
already spoken to you. He's already said, hey,
wake up. Your identity is in me. I have a calling
for you. It's over here. Hello. Hey, I see you're
over there. is around. I'm terrible at geography.
But you're supposed to be over here. Hello? And
the easy way out is out there. It really is.
The wilderness doesn't last forever. Scripture
tells us that joy comes in the morning. I can't
wait for morning sometimes. I cannot wait for
morning. Woo, and morning might not be tomorrow,
actually. Did you know that? Joy comes in the
morning doesn't mean that it really comes in
the morning, like the next day. Joy comes in
the morning is our hope that he will give us
hope, that it will come, and that our past is
our past. Scripture tells us that after the devil
left, the angels came and they ministered to
Jesus. He didn't get left there with Satan for
40 years, 40 more nights, days. It was temporary.
It was a moment. Jesus didn't leave him there.
The angels came and they ministered to his life.
They brought that joy that came in the morning.
So when we resist shortcuts and remain faithful,
God will meet us with strength that we did not
create for ourselves. He will give this supernatural
strength that allows us and helps us to overcome
any fear that we might be going through because
fear doesn't come from God. So today, if you're
in the wilderness, take heart. You're not alone.
Stand firm. Know who you are in Christ. Trust
the Father. Hold on to the word and refuse the
easy way out because God's way, though costly,
always leads to life. Your past does not define
you. Your life eternal with Jesus Christ defines
you. Amen? That's it. That's it there's more
pages, but that's it