WEBVTT 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:13.400 chapter 4. This is a good story about Jesus, 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.879 just as He's getting ready to start His earthly 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:21.460 ministry, but I believe it's certainly applicable 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:28.379 to us as well. Matthew chapter 4, verse 1 is 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:31.500 where we will start. Before we do, let's pray. 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:35.429 God, we thank You for Your Word. I pray that 00:00:35.429 --> 00:00:38.189 you would help us to gain some strength from 00:00:38.189 --> 00:00:41.350 it tonight. God, maybe we come in here with stuff 00:00:41.350 --> 00:00:43.929 on our mind from the world, worries and stresses 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:46.829 and things competing for our attention. I pray 00:00:46.829 --> 00:00:48.990 that you'd clear my mind and clear the minds 00:00:48.990 --> 00:00:51.229 of anybody else that in these few minutes that 00:00:51.229 --> 00:00:54.350 your Holy Spirit would help us to focus on you. 00:00:54.490 --> 00:00:57.890 I pray that these words would be an encouragement 00:00:57.890 --> 00:01:00.329 to us, that we would gain strength from them. 00:01:00.670 --> 00:01:04.379 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:09.040 Now, this passage takes place right after Jesus 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:14.739 was baptized. He goes through this short period 00:01:14.739 --> 00:01:18.219 of temptation, and then he begins his earthly 00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:21.340 ministry. Now, I think it's important to note 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:26.680 that when we become Christians, when we get baptized, 00:01:27.790 --> 00:01:30.849 life is not always necessarily going to be easy. 00:01:31.109 --> 00:01:32.890 Now, being a Christian is the most wonderful 00:01:32.890 --> 00:01:34.590 thing that there is in the world. That's the 00:01:34.590 --> 00:01:36.849 greatest gift that we can have is grace and forgiveness 00:01:36.849 --> 00:01:41.489 of our sins. But it is not an automatic, okay, 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:43.750 you're a Christian, now everything in your life 00:01:43.750 --> 00:01:46.290 is going to be easy and all your troubles are 00:01:46.290 --> 00:01:50.590 over. And this passage is a good reminder of 00:01:50.590 --> 00:01:54.049 that, that even Jesus himself, the Son of God, 00:01:54.269 --> 00:01:58.439 after he was baptized, The next thing we see 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:00.939 in the Scripture is that he faces temptation. 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:05.239 Is he going to walk in obedience to God? Is he 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:07.560 going to walk in obedience? Is he going to give 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:11.039 in to temptation? Well, that's something that 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.379 we struggle with all the time. Now, maybe you 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:17.319 are a follower of Jesus Christ today, or maybe 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.539 you're not. I don't know your heart, but even 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.879 if you are a Christian today, a follower of Jesus, 00:02:24.839 --> 00:02:28.060 We all know that temptation doesn't stop when 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:31.280 we start to follow Jesus. If anything, things 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.199 may get a little harder because before you're 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:35.960 a Christian, you just go and you live and you 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:37.419 do what you want to do and you don't think twice 00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:39.680 about it. Well, then all of a sudden you start 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:41.520 reading the Bible, you start seeing what God 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.120 says, and you say, hold up. Maybe there are some 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:45.840 things in my life that shouldn't be this way. 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:47.580 I shouldn't be doing that. I shouldn't be acting 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:50.580 this way. I need to change some things. All of 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:53.400 a sudden you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit. 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.719 is now convicting you in things that you used 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:58.400 to do and they didn't bother you really at all. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:00.120 Now all of a sudden there's just something in 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:04.039 you that's just nagging at you, that conviction 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.780 of the Holy Spirit. And so in some ways being 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:10.500 a Christian is harder than not being a Christian. 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:13.860 Of course being a Christian comes with a lot 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.560 more hope and strength than not being a Christian 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.939 does. Because when we're not Christians and not 00:03:18.939 --> 00:03:22.240 following Jesus, we're up against all these things 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:24.060 and they're hurting us and we don't, Maybe you 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:26.960 realize it, but God's word sheds a light on how 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:30.580 sin does affect us in a negative way. So Jesus 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:33.840 had just been baptized, and he's experiencing 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:37.620 similar temptations as to what you and I do. 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:41.240 In verse 1, then Jesus was led up by the Spirit 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:44.960 into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:47.479 All right, well, that right there is something 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:50.949 for us to ponder. It's not like Jesus was just 00:03:50.949 --> 00:03:53.289 bebopping along, just doing what he wanted to 00:03:53.289 --> 00:03:56.810 do. It specifically says that he was led by the 00:03:56.810 --> 00:04:00.750 Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the 00:04:00.750 --> 00:04:03.669 devil. Now, that's kind of hard for us to wrap 00:04:03.669 --> 00:04:05.610 our head around, right? I mean, the Scripture 00:04:05.610 --> 00:04:08.590 says that God doesn't tempt us, but God certainly 00:04:08.590 --> 00:04:11.750 does allow us to be tempted. And temptation, 00:04:12.050 --> 00:04:15.889 I believe, is necessary. I don't believe that 00:04:15.889 --> 00:04:19.360 our faith can be proven apart from... from temptation 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:22.300 apart from the test. When we're tempted, when 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:25.720 we're tested, when we're tried, that proves whether 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.819 or not we're following the Lord, whether we really 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:32.899 are obedient to Him. And sometimes we fail the 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:35.339 test. That'd be great if we passed the test every 00:04:35.339 --> 00:04:37.740 time that we were tempted to do something that 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:40.959 was not good, that was sinful. But sometimes 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.959 we fail the test. And in a way, that's beneficial 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:47.389 to us. It helps us to see, man, I'm... I'm not 00:04:47.389 --> 00:04:50.009 where I need to be. I'm not following the Lord 00:04:50.009 --> 00:04:53.870 like I should. I failed in that way. I feel the 00:04:53.870 --> 00:04:57.310 shame and the guilt of that. And so God does 00:04:57.310 --> 00:05:01.129 allow us to be tempted because when we go through 00:05:01.129 --> 00:05:04.149 really hard times and trying times and troubling 00:05:04.149 --> 00:05:09.610 times, it often makes us better. Now, the devil 00:05:09.610 --> 00:05:16.300 tries to tempt us to tear us down. We see the 00:05:16.300 --> 00:05:18.899 story of Job as a good example of somebody that 00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:22.360 God allows the devil to go through some really 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:24.879 bad things. The devil says, hey, if you'd allow 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:26.980 Job to go through some rough stuff, God, he wouldn't 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:29.980 follow you. And God says, okay, if you want to 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:31.560 make him go through some rough stuff, I'll allow 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:34.660 you to do that. And so Job really suffered greatly 00:05:34.660 --> 00:05:36.920 with his own health and the loss of his family 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:40.160 and his wealth. But it had the opposite effect 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.620 of what the devil thought. The devil thought 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:45.079 that if Job went through these really hard times, 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:48.939 he would curse God. And on some level, I guess 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:52.180 he did. You know, he did kind of call God out. 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:55.920 But ultimately, he was humbled about his situation, 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.639 and he ended up rejoicing in the Lord even after 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.819 all that. And I suspect that Job was probably 00:06:02.819 --> 00:06:05.139 stronger after all that than he was when he went 00:06:05.139 --> 00:06:08.360 into it. His blessing was greater after that 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:11.949 than what he had before he went into it. Sometimes 00:06:11.949 --> 00:06:17.250 the devil wants to tempt us for evil, but God 00:06:17.250 --> 00:06:20.970 can even use that for our good if we would seek 00:06:20.970 --> 00:06:22.930 him, if we would trust him, if we would remember 00:06:22.930 --> 00:06:28.550 to call on him. And so the devil is going to 00:06:28.550 --> 00:06:31.709 have an opportunity here to tempt Jesus. Let's 00:06:31.709 --> 00:06:35.290 see what happens in verse 2. After he had fasted 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:38.129 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. All right? 00:06:38.490 --> 00:06:41.629 Stage is set for us. We see fasting mentioned 00:06:41.629 --> 00:06:43.689 in Scripture. Maybe we don't talk about it enough. 00:06:43.769 --> 00:06:46.389 Maybe it's a practice you do or you do not do. 00:06:47.110 --> 00:06:49.649 Fasting is a good spiritual practice for us to 00:06:49.649 --> 00:06:52.470 consider, to prayerfully consider and look at 00:06:52.470 --> 00:06:55.430 because when we fast, it's not just going on 00:06:55.430 --> 00:06:59.670 a diet, but when you're fasting, it should be 00:06:59.670 --> 00:07:01.410 a time that you say, okay, I'm not going to eat, 00:07:01.449 --> 00:07:03.990 but I am going to focus on God. And every time 00:07:03.990 --> 00:07:05.990 I get hungry, I'm going to focus on God that 00:07:05.990 --> 00:07:07.589 much more, and I'm going to pray to God, and 00:07:07.589 --> 00:07:09.850 I'm going to seek God, and I'm going to remove 00:07:09.850 --> 00:07:12.970 food from my life, and I'm going to dedicate 00:07:12.970 --> 00:07:16.230 more time in prayer. And every time those hunger 00:07:16.230 --> 00:07:19.709 pains come, it's a reminder of what we're doing 00:07:19.709 --> 00:07:22.370 and why we're doing it. And it shows God, okay, 00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:25.560 we're serious about this. We're serious about 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:27.779 this request that we're praying for, for somebody 00:07:27.779 --> 00:07:30.920 else, or we're serious about the sin in our life, 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:34.500 and we're just fasting, and we're repentant, 00:07:34.500 --> 00:07:36.860 and God, we're just humbling ourselves before 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:40.480 you. And so it's a good spiritual practice that 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:43.720 really does draw us closer to the Lord if we 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:46.180 go into it with the right heart. And so Jesus 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:48.660 is fasting here, and when you're fasting, you 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:52.089 get hungry. And man, when you get hungry, It 00:07:52.089 --> 00:07:54.449 can really do some stuff to you. It can make 00:07:54.449 --> 00:07:57.910 you angry. It can make you short. You do just 00:07:57.910 --> 00:08:00.449 about anything for a snicker bar if you get hungry 00:08:00.449 --> 00:08:02.850 enough. And Jesus has been out there fasting 00:08:02.850 --> 00:08:05.910 for 40 days and 40 nights. He's hungry. He's 00:08:05.910 --> 00:08:10.230 at a weak point, just as we are. Now, even if 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:12.689 you're not fasting, like if you go from breakfast 00:08:12.689 --> 00:08:14.930 to supper and you don't eat lunch, like you're 00:08:14.930 --> 00:08:16.810 probably already starting to get cranky. And 00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:18.490 you're like, where's the dinner at? I want some 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:22.199 dinner. And so Jesus has been fasting for 40 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:24.579 days. He gets hungry and the devil says, hey, 00:08:24.699 --> 00:08:28.319 he's at a weak spot. This is my opportunity for 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.699 me to try to get him. And listen to what happens 00:08:30.699 --> 00:08:33.820 in verse 3. Then the tempter approached him and 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:37.259 said, if you are the son of God, tell these stones 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:40.360 to become bread. Now we need to pay attention 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:45.440 to what he does here. He catches Jesus at a weak 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.850 point. And guess what? The devil has not changed. 00:08:49.049 --> 00:08:52.309 His tactics have not changed. His desire is to 00:08:52.309 --> 00:08:55.309 catch us at a weak point. And you got them, and 00:08:55.309 --> 00:08:58.169 I got them, and we all got them. A weak point, 00:08:58.210 --> 00:09:00.529 things are really, really stressful at work. 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:02.090 You've just been going through a really busy 00:09:02.090 --> 00:09:05.070 time at work. Things are stressful with health 00:09:05.070 --> 00:09:07.490 concerns, with you or somebody in your family. 00:09:08.309 --> 00:09:12.110 Things are stressful with money. I mean, the 00:09:12.110 --> 00:09:15.629 list goes on and on and on. And there's all these 00:09:15.629 --> 00:09:18.350 things. And you just wore out sometimes from 00:09:18.350 --> 00:09:20.250 just working hard. And all these things kind 00:09:20.250 --> 00:09:22.470 of, they just kind of weaken us a little bit. 00:09:23.309 --> 00:09:25.370 We'll be on guard because the devil wants to 00:09:25.370 --> 00:09:29.169 try to catch us when we are weak. And the thing 00:09:29.169 --> 00:09:32.409 that he does with Jesus, he says, if you are 00:09:32.409 --> 00:09:36.649 the Son of God, well, he's trying to poke and 00:09:36.649 --> 00:09:40.320 prod at Jesus a little bit. Are you really God's 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:42.179 son? Now, of course, the devil knows the answer 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:44.159 to that question. He knows good and well that 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:46.440 Jesus is the son of God. There's no doubt there. 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:49.240 He's not questioning Jesus because he's trying 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:52.159 to figure out if he's the son of God. But he's 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:53.840 saying, well, if you're the son of God, you're 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:55.779 all powerful. Why are you sitting here hungry? 00:09:56.139 --> 00:09:58.159 You can turn these stones into bread. You can 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:02.559 have a feast if you want to. Now, we have to 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:05.580 be careful that we won't fall into such traps 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:09.500 because maybe somebody... tempts us in some way 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:12.139 or we're tempted to to lash out at somebody that 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:14.600 questions our power or our ability oh yeah let 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:16.879 me show you you want to question me i'll make 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.740 you pay the price for it now jesus didn't fall 00:10:19.740 --> 00:10:21.960 for it he didn't say yeah i'm the son of god 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:23.559 i'm going to show you i ain't just going to make 00:10:23.559 --> 00:10:25.899 that rock a loaf of bread i'm going to make it 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:29.200 into a filet mignon i'll show you my power well 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.409 that's what the devil wanted That would have 00:10:31.409 --> 00:10:34.190 been sinful on Jesus' part to respond in that 00:10:34.190 --> 00:10:37.330 way. Now, turning a rock into bread in and of 00:10:37.330 --> 00:10:39.110 itself wouldn't have been sinful if Jesus would 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:40.570 have wanted to do that. He could have done it 00:10:40.570 --> 00:10:43.549 at any time. And that act of just turning a rock 00:10:43.549 --> 00:10:47.110 into bread was not a sinful act. But the sinful 00:10:47.110 --> 00:10:49.850 act would have been if Jesus would have given 00:10:49.850 --> 00:10:52.570 in to the devil's temptation. If he would have 00:10:52.570 --> 00:10:54.269 let the devil poke and prod him and he would 00:10:54.269 --> 00:10:56.669 have said, oh yeah, I'm going to show you. Well, 00:10:56.690 --> 00:10:59.149 that would have been weakness on Jesus' part. 00:11:00.209 --> 00:11:05.250 Jesus was far too smart for the devil and trusted 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:09.009 in God far too much to give in to this temptation. 00:11:09.090 --> 00:11:13.169 He says in verse 4, But he answered, It is written, 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:15.330 Man must not live on bread alone, but on every 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:17.850 word that comes from the mouth of God. Okay, 00:11:17.889 --> 00:11:20.470 that's the scripture from Deuteronomy. Jesus 00:11:20.470 --> 00:11:22.610 quotes the scripture. So the devil says, Hey, 00:11:22.690 --> 00:11:26.250 you're the son of God. Show me your power. Prove 00:11:26.250 --> 00:11:29.620 it. Prove to me you're the son of God. And Jesus 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:33.259 says, hold up. And it's interesting, and we need 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:35.980 to make note of this, that when Jesus responds 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:39.799 to him, he responds with the word of God. Now, 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:41.940 the devil's going to try to find us in a weakness. 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:44.820 He's going to try to find some area that'll make 00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:47.360 us want to say, oh, yeah, let me show you, or 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:49.120 I'm going to do this, or I'm going to do that, 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:52.179 or whatever the temptation may be that we give 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:54.519 in to. He's going to try to find some way in 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:58.399 a weakness to catch us off guard. And the way 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.360 that we can combat the temptations that we experience 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:04.460 is by the word of God. Now, I don't know what 00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:06.340 your temptations are. All of our temptations 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:09.559 are different. It may be something simple or 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:12.700 it may be something really major. It may be something 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:15.379 as simple as, all right, I need to stop drinking 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:18.500 Coca -Cola. Man, that Coca -Cola is really good. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.200 And so every day you get tempted. Man, I want 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.919 a Coke. Well, guess what? If you're like me, 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.559 you probably just give in and say, yeah, I'm 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:29.899 going to drink the Coke. Every time we give in 00:12:29.899 --> 00:12:32.299 to that temptation, it kind of weakens us a little 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:35.639 bit, but the reverse is also true. Every time 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:38.679 we overcome a temptation, it strengthens us. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.919 Sometimes in life, we go through this pattern 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:45.620 of giving in to certain sins, just falling into 00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:47.679 that temptation repeatedly, and it really does 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:51.059 beat us down. We talked about that language last 00:12:51.059 --> 00:12:53.759 week in Psalm 106, about our sin beats us down. 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:56.799 Well, the solution when we're beat down by sin 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:59.519 and given into our temptation, it sounds easy, 00:12:59.659 --> 00:13:02.519 but it's just stop giving into our temptation. 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:05.480 Well, how do we do that? Well, we do it by trusting 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:08.600 in the Word of God. That should be our source 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:11.100 of strength and our source of guidance. And that's 00:13:11.100 --> 00:13:14.279 what Jesus went to. So we need to figure out 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:16.759 what our temptation is, try to find some scriptures 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:18.840 that are relevant maybe that we can really find 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:21.379 strength from that help us, make a note of them 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:23.720 in your phone, write them down, memorize them, 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.500 And next time you're tempted and you say, all 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:27.779 right, I'm fixing to do this. And you say, hold 00:13:27.779 --> 00:13:30.620 up, I'm not going to do it. And we call on the 00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:32.519 word of God and we trust in the word of God. 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:36.220 And every time we overcome the temptation, it 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:38.620 builds our strength in God. It builds our faith. 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.500 It helps us to be able to do it. Because the 00:13:41.500 --> 00:13:43.299 next time we can say, I don't have to say yes 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:46.700 to this. And Jesus gives us the blueprint on 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:49.279 how to overcome temptations. We see it again 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:51.779 in verse 5. Then the devil took him to the holy 00:13:51.779 --> 00:13:54.500 city. had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple 00:13:54.500 --> 00:13:57.039 and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.960 yourself down. For it is written, He will give 00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:02.679 his angels orders concerning you, and they will 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:05.100 support you with their hands, so that you will 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:08.940 not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus told 00:14:08.940 --> 00:14:12.019 him, It is also written, Do not test the Lord 00:14:12.019 --> 00:14:15.039 your God. So this appears to be some kind of 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:18.360 vision that he's taken up to the temple. And 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:21.340 maybe this whole thing is some kind of vision. 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:24.259 I'm not really sure exactly what the setting 00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:26.679 is here in which this temptation is taking place. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:30.059 But regardless of what the setting is, he questions 00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:33.940 him again. If you are the Son of God, just jump 00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:35.919 on down. Nothing's going to happen to you if 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:38.679 you jump off the top of the temple. Well, he's 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:42.080 trying to get Jesus to... To doubt God. He's 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:43.740 trying to get him to give in to the temptation. 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:45.919 He's trying to get him to say, oh yeah, I'll 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:48.679 prove to you that I'm the son of God. Okay, so 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.419 the first time, Jesus responded with a scripture. 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:54.659 So the devil's pretty smart. What does he say? 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:57.720 He uses a scripture. He says, oh, well, you just 00:14:57.720 --> 00:14:59.460 throw yourself down there. God's angels are going 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:00.860 to catch you. Nothing's going to happen to you. 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:03.360 He's not going to let anything bad happen to 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.200 you. So now the devil is using scripture. All 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.919 right, he wants to go by the word of God. I can 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:11.679 use the word of God. But he twists it. He takes 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.240 it out of context. And the devil thinks he's 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.379 smart, but Jesus proves that he's smarter. And 00:15:19.379 --> 00:15:22.340 what does Jesus do again? He responds with the 00:15:22.340 --> 00:15:26.000 word of God. Do not test the Lord your God. Now, 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.580 we don't want to be so foolish as to put ourselves 00:15:28.580 --> 00:15:31.440 in situations. Now, we may sit here today and 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.320 we may say I trust in God, that God's going to 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:35.840 be with me and God's going to protect me and 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:38.019 God's going to walk over me, and therefore I'm 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:39.860 going to go to... four lanes of traffic, and 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:41.299 if I want to get to the other side, I'm just 00:15:41.299 --> 00:15:44.200 going to start walking because I believe that 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:46.059 God is going to trust me. Well, that would be 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:47.659 foolish. You're probably going to get splattered 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:49.779 by a semi -truck. Now, that ain't got nothing 00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:52.399 to do with God not protecting you or not loving 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.179 you or not being with you, but we have to use 00:15:56.179 --> 00:15:58.620 some common sense here and be careful that we 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:02.899 don't act foolishly. And the devil here, he takes 00:16:02.899 --> 00:16:05.000 some of God's Word, he twists it around. We've 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.320 got to be careful because sometimes... We may 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:08.980 see some scriptures. We want to make sure we 00:16:08.980 --> 00:16:11.799 try to understand as best we can. Or when we 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:13.500 hear people teaching us or preaching scriptures 00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:16.080 to us, whether it's me or your Sunday school 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.200 teacher or somebody you hear on the radio, we 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.000 want to pay attention to the scriptures that 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:22.860 we hear to make sure that, is that what that 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:26.240 really means? Hopefully nobody's trying to intentionally 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:30.940 lead you astray, but it's okay for us to... Look 00:16:30.940 --> 00:16:32.740 at Scripture. We should look at Scripture and 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:34.379 say, okay, I want to make sure that's what that 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:36.879 means. If I'm going to live by the Word of God, 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:39.860 I want to know the Word of God. And Jesus, of 00:16:39.860 --> 00:16:42.139 course, knew the Word of God, and he did not 00:16:42.139 --> 00:16:45.899 give in to this second temptation. Continuing 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:49.620 on in verse 8. Again, the devil took him to a 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:52.259 very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms 00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:54.320 of the world and their splendor. And he said 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.879 to him, I will give you all these things if you 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:01.299 will fall down and worship me. All right, well, 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:04.740 this is a pretty interesting thing that the devil 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:07.180 says. So there are certainly different interpretations 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:09.519 as to what this could mean. Did the devil even 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:12.579 have the ability or the power to give the world 00:17:12.579 --> 00:17:17.059 to Jesus? Was this all a lie? If Jesus created 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:19.099 all things and they were created through him, 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:21.740 why would the devil even attempt to do this? 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:26.710 But I don't really know exactly. What the devil 00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:29.349 was attempting here, I have a theory that may 00:17:29.349 --> 00:17:32.089 or may not be correct, but my theory is perhaps 00:17:32.089 --> 00:17:35.190 the temptation would be, all right, Jesus, you're 00:17:35.190 --> 00:17:39.569 coming to be the king of kings, to be the ruler 00:17:39.569 --> 00:17:43.349 of all these people and all these things, and 00:17:43.349 --> 00:17:45.630 there's this cross thing that's lingering out 00:17:45.630 --> 00:17:46.970 there that you're going to have to be nailed 00:17:46.970 --> 00:17:49.420 to and suffer, but... What if I just told you 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:51.200 you could have all this now and just skip it? 00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:52.900 I'll just go ahead and let you have all this, 00:17:52.940 --> 00:17:55.319 and you can just be the ruler of all this right 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:57.359 now without going through all the suffering. 00:17:57.420 --> 00:18:00.680 Perhaps that was the devil's angle. I don't really 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:04.559 know what his angle was, but whatever his angle 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:08.500 was, Jesus was not falling for it. This promise 00:18:08.500 --> 00:18:11.180 of giving him the kingdoms, whether the devil... 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:13.339 would have even had the power to do that, whether 00:18:13.339 --> 00:18:15.640 it was a lie, whether there was some other something 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:19.140 going on in that temptation, whatever he was 00:18:19.140 --> 00:18:23.259 trying to get Jesus to fail in, again, Jesus 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:28.319 did not budge. Because Jesus was most concerned 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.640 with being obedient to the will of God and following 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:35.440 the Father. And he was not going to be easily 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.549 led astray by temptations. especially not these 00:18:39.549 --> 00:18:42.589 weak attempts by the devil. So the devil tries 00:18:42.589 --> 00:18:46.109 three times to tempt Jesus, and he fails three 00:18:46.109 --> 00:18:48.690 times. And listen to what Jesus says this third 00:18:48.690 --> 00:18:52.410 time in verse 10. Then Jesus told him, Go away, 00:18:52.569 --> 00:18:54.710 Satan, for it is written, Worship the Lord your 00:18:54.710 --> 00:19:00.069 God and serve only him. All right, go away. I'm 00:19:00.069 --> 00:19:02.289 done with you. Are you King James? If you've 00:19:02.289 --> 00:19:04.369 got a King James, get thee behind me, Satan. 00:19:05.339 --> 00:19:08.160 Pretty popular verse. And maybe a phrase that 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.299 you've used a time or two in your life. That 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:13.920 the temptation is strong. And maybe you've spoken 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:16.980 it verbally. Get thee behind me, Satan. Just 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:24.299 get away. And Jesus gives us the example of what 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:26.960 to do in our temptation. One, we need to know 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:31.039 the temptation is going to come. And maybe when 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.599 we become a Christian, maybe we're tempted even 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:37.309 more. Just as Jesus, right after he was baptized, 00:19:37.390 --> 00:19:40.549 we see this temptation. Maybe for us, after we're 00:19:40.549 --> 00:19:42.769 baptized, after we become followers of Jesus, 00:19:42.890 --> 00:19:45.470 we start to experience temptations. But we do 00:19:45.470 --> 00:19:48.950 not have to give in to them. We need to be in 00:19:48.950 --> 00:19:50.589 the Word of God. We need to read the Word of 00:19:50.589 --> 00:19:52.789 God. We need to remember the Word of God. And 00:19:52.789 --> 00:19:54.849 we need to call on the Word of God in our daily 00:19:54.849 --> 00:19:57.009 life, in our struggles, in our pains, in our 00:19:57.009 --> 00:20:00.609 hardships, in our temptations. The Word of God 00:20:00.609 --> 00:20:06.549 can be a great strength for us. We need to follow 00:20:06.549 --> 00:20:09.210 the example of Jesus, and we need to call on 00:20:09.210 --> 00:20:12.450 the Word of God, and we can overcome our temptations. 00:20:12.490 --> 00:20:15.390 That's the good news for us today, is that Jesus 00:20:15.390 --> 00:20:18.509 proves to us in this passage that temptations 00:20:18.509 --> 00:20:21.869 can be overcome. Now, we can't overcome them 00:20:21.869 --> 00:20:25.849 on our own, but He overcame. And because He overcame, 00:20:25.890 --> 00:20:28.470 if we seek Him and trust Him, we too can overcome 00:20:28.470 --> 00:20:30.890 our temptations. So maybe there's some temptation 00:20:30.890 --> 00:20:33.769 you're struggling with tonight. Or maybe there's 00:20:33.769 --> 00:20:35.069 something you're going to struggle with next 00:20:35.069 --> 00:20:37.650 week or next month or next year. We don't have 00:20:37.650 --> 00:20:39.849 to continually give in to those things, but by 00:20:39.849 --> 00:20:42.329 the power of Jesus Christ through his death and 00:20:42.329 --> 00:20:45.490 resurrection, we can overcome those temptations. 00:20:45.589 --> 00:20:49.609 And finally, in verse 11, it says, Then the devil 00:20:49.609 --> 00:20:53.849 left him, and immediately angels came and began 00:20:53.849 --> 00:20:57.690 to serve him or began to minister to him. Now 00:20:57.690 --> 00:21:01.089 that's a beautiful scene, that after this long 00:21:01.089 --> 00:21:04.140 phase of fasting, He was probably weak. He was 00:21:04.140 --> 00:21:06.119 hungry. He just went through this temptation. 00:21:06.779 --> 00:21:10.839 And it says that the angels came and ministered 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:13.880 to him. That kind of reminds me of the story 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:16.920 in the Old Testament of Elijah. Whenever he's 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:19.519 just ready to give up after defeating all the 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:22.339 prophets of Baal by the power of God. He's running 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:24.500 for his life. He gets under a tree. He says, 00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:26.940 God, I'm ready to die. He wants to give up. And 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:30.339 in that story, God sends an angel to feed him 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:33.559 and to give him drink. and to strengthen him 00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:35.539 up and to let him rest. And then he says, all 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:38.160 right, after he ministers to him through the 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.980 angels, God says, get up and go on your way. 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:44.440 And this story is a reminder of that, that sometimes 00:21:44.440 --> 00:21:47.480 life is tough, and sometimes seasons in life 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:49.680 are really hard, and sometimes our temptations 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.339 are really hard. But if we call on the name of 00:21:52.339 --> 00:21:55.160 Jesus, that he who is in us is greater than he 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:58.299 who is in the world. And through Jesus, we too 00:21:58.299 --> 00:22:01.299 can overcome the temptations that we are up against. 00:22:01.849 --> 00:22:05.009 And I believe just as God ministered to Elijah 00:22:05.009 --> 00:22:09.690 and just as God ministered to Jesus here, I believe 00:22:09.690 --> 00:22:13.849 that God still ministers to us after our seasons 00:22:13.849 --> 00:22:15.769 of difficulty. And maybe you're in the middle 00:22:15.769 --> 00:22:17.829 of one now. Maybe you're coming out of one. But 00:22:17.829 --> 00:22:21.230 today I encourage you to trust the power of Jesus, 00:22:21.450 --> 00:22:25.210 to trust the Word of God, and to ask God to minister 00:22:25.210 --> 00:22:27.880 to you and to restore your soul today. Let's 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:30.059 pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for your 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:32.039 good word. I pray that you just would help us 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:36.380 to ponder this story and help us with our temptations 00:22:36.380 --> 00:22:38.819 and our struggles. Maybe some of us are going 00:22:38.819 --> 00:22:40.960 through some things right now or maybe the time 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:42.960 will come in the future. I pray that we would 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.859 remember this passage, that we would seek the 00:22:44.859 --> 00:22:48.359 power of Jesus to overcome those temptations, 00:22:48.539 --> 00:22:51.559 that we would find strength in you and that we 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:54.099 would be able to rejoice. and whatever we're 00:22:54.099 --> 00:22:56.200 able to overcome through you. And I ask these 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:58.500 things in Jesus' name. Amen.