WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.740 Today I am beginning a new series of messages 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:11.300 on the temptations of Jesus. And I do hope that 00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:16.199 you will not miss one single one of these heart 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:19.480 -to -heart talks in this series of messages. 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:25.359 Because I believe that they will mean much to 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:32.310 you. What? Really? were those temptations that 00:00:32.310 --> 00:00:36.710 Jesus had in the wilderness. Everybody talks 00:00:36.710 --> 00:00:42.869 about his temptations. I dare say there are very 00:00:42.869 --> 00:00:47.710 few people living today, whether they are a Christian 00:00:47.710 --> 00:00:57.469 or not, but what knows that Jesus had temptations 00:00:57.469 --> 00:01:02.130 in the wilderness? that there was actually a 00:01:02.130 --> 00:01:07.049 time when the enemy, Satan, confronted Jesus. 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:13.269 They stood face to face, and the devil had the 00:01:13.269 --> 00:01:17.069 audacity to tempt the Son of the Living God. 00:01:18.370 --> 00:01:24.650 Much has been said, many words written, regarding 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:30.799 the temptation of Jesus. In the wilderness. And 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:34.640 yet, how many of you folk listening to me this 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:39.459 very moment, some of you Bible teachers, some 00:01:39.459 --> 00:01:41.700 of you haven't gone to church all of your life, 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:47.640 can actually tell me what those temptations were. 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:54.700 What was that first temptation? What was it? 00:01:56.739 --> 00:02:03.480 Oh, somebody said, satan tempted jesus and challenged 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:10.699 him to turn the stone into bread i know that 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:14.319 we all know that but where was the temptation 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:24.120 there had to be something in the turning of that 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:29.419 stone into bread that had Jesus yielded, it would 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:34.719 have caused him to sin. Wherein was the temptation? 00:02:36.699 --> 00:02:45.060 Pause a moment. Do you really know wherein was 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:50.060 the temptation? We're going to take these temptations, 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:56.689 the three of them, one at a time. Before we go 00:02:56.689 --> 00:03:00.030 very deeply into this first temptation, when 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:04.509 Satan challenged Jesus to turn the stone into 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:07.069 bread, I want to make something very clear to 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:12.090 you, and that is the fact that Jesus could have 00:03:12.090 --> 00:03:15.729 sinned. Oh, I know immediately whenever I make 00:03:15.729 --> 00:03:18.689 that statement, there are those who feel as though 00:03:18.689 --> 00:03:23.870 I am almost blasphemous in making that statement. 00:03:24.750 --> 00:03:30.409 But consider with me. Had it not been possible 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:35.729 for Jesus to have yielded to temptation, then 00:03:35.729 --> 00:03:41.150 his temptations would have been a farce. They 00:03:41.150 --> 00:03:46.150 would have been a mockery. I know you and I think 00:03:46.150 --> 00:03:50.710 of Jesus in the light of the Son of the Living 00:03:50.710 --> 00:03:58.039 God. Absolute perfection. which he is. We never 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:03.199 think of him in the light of one who could have 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:12.060 yielded to temptation. But it's true. Those temptations, 00:04:12.099 --> 00:04:15.860 when Jesus was in the wilderness, confronted 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:23.279 by Satan, tempted of Satan, if it were not possible 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:28.399 for him to have yielded to any one of these three 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:32.100 temptations, then, beloved, those temptations 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:36.480 were a farce. They were nothing more or less 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:41.279 than a mockery. But I am telling you upon the 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:46.279 authority of God's word that when they stood 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:52.279 face to face, When Jesus faced Satan and Satan 00:04:52.279 --> 00:05:01.560 faced Jesus, they both knew that Jesus could 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:06.519 yield to any one of those three temptations. 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:20.730 Why? You must realize that Jesus was the very 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:27.269 son of the living God. When Jesus, way back there 00:05:27.269 --> 00:05:30.949 before the foundation of the world, offered himself 00:05:30.949 --> 00:05:34.470 through the Holy Spirit to God the Father to 00:05:34.470 --> 00:05:40.529 come to this earth, he was deity, he was divinity. 00:05:42.569 --> 00:05:46.329 perfect, the matchless, the sinless son of the 00:05:46.329 --> 00:05:52.670 living God, God's only son. But when he came 00:05:52.670 --> 00:05:57.149 to earth, he took upon himself the form of man. 00:05:58.649 --> 00:06:05.709 He became as much man in the flesh as though 00:06:05.709 --> 00:06:11.990 he were not God. On one hand, he was as much 00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:19.029 deity as though he were not man. On the other 00:06:19.029 --> 00:06:26.069 hand, he was as much man as though he were not 00:06:26.069 --> 00:06:32.810 God. That's exactly what the fourth chapter of 00:06:32.810 --> 00:06:38.069 Hebrews means in the 15th verse. For we have 00:06:38.069 --> 00:06:44.029 a high priest. That's Jesus. You and I have Jesus 00:06:44.029 --> 00:06:46.509 at the right hand of God the Father this very 00:06:46.509 --> 00:06:52.509 moment in position of great high priest. He's 00:06:52.509 --> 00:06:55.290 living ever to make intercession for you and 00:06:55.290 --> 00:07:01.430 for me. He is interceding for our sins, our imperfections, 00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:07.709 our failures. When we're tempted, He is there 00:07:07.709 --> 00:07:11.120 interceding in our behalf. before the throne 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:18.279 of god we have a great high priest which cannot 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:21.420 be touched with the feeling of our infirmities 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:31.300 but was in all points what's that word all a 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:38.800 -l -l but was in all points tempted Like as we 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:46.860 are yet without sin. Oh, to me, that's one of 00:07:46.860 --> 00:07:48.360 the most thrilling portions of the entire word 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:52.699 of God. I mean that. That's the reason we have 00:07:52.699 --> 00:08:00.660 a great high priest who understands us. Had he 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:05.199 never been tempted. Had he never had the possibility 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:09.579 of being able to yield to temptation. Had he 00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:12.420 not been as much man as though he were not God. 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.259 Had he never been in that position. He never 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:19.660 could have understood me. He could never have 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:25.519 understood you. Know that. There isn't an unregenerated 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:30.779 man. But what Jesus understands perfectly. There 00:08:30.779 --> 00:08:34.590 isn't a man or a woman. who lives this hour but 00:08:34.590 --> 00:08:39.690 what Jesus understands that one perfectly. He 00:08:39.690 --> 00:08:43.169 understands your weaknesses. He understands your 00:08:43.169 --> 00:08:47.169 failures. You cannot sympathize with someone 00:08:47.169 --> 00:08:49.769 else unless you have gone through the thing yourself. 00:08:50.850 --> 00:08:55.009 You cannot understand another's burdens, another's 00:08:55.009 --> 00:08:59.100 problems. You cannot understand another's sorrow 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:04.480 unless you have gone through a Gethsemane. You 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:07.100 cannot understand another's heartache unless 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:13.200 your own heart has been broken. You cannot give 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:16.240 to anyone else any more than you have experienced 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.779 yourself. That's why I told you over and over 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:23.899 again, that it's not going to be God the Father 00:09:23.899 --> 00:09:28.480 who's going to judge you and judge me. When we 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:32.600 have that great judgment day, I will be judged 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:38.120 one day, not by God the Father. In that day, 00:09:38.259 --> 00:09:42.720 my judge is going to be Jesus. God the Father 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:46.840 has given judgment over to Jesus Christ, his 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:52.279 Son. Because the Son has experienced, he has 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:56.179 been through, he understands us even better than 00:09:56.179 --> 00:10:01.960 God the Father understands. For he was in all 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:11.820 points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:17.240 Oh, I think that's glorious. I think that's marvelous. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:21.860 All right now, before we go into these temptations, 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:25.659 remember something. We must realize, first of 00:10:25.659 --> 00:10:30.740 all, that Jesus was as much man as though he 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:36.860 were not God. Jesus did not face temptation, 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:43.450 nor overcome it in the realm of his deity. but 00:10:43.450 --> 00:10:49.149 in the magnificence of his pure, strong manhood. 00:10:50.909 --> 00:11:00.350 And Jesus was in that wilderness that day, in 00:11:00.350 --> 00:11:05.230 that hour of temptation, as man's representative. 00:11:05.370 --> 00:11:15.019 Know that. That day, Jesus, was facing temptation 00:11:15.019 --> 00:11:22.340 as your representative as my representative he 00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:28.240 has been in the wilderness as man's representative 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:36.320 and as surely as he came out of his temptation 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:42.730 victoriously having won So remember something. 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:47.529 Temptation in itself is not a sin. You can be 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:55.009 tempted every hour of the day. Temptation in 00:11:55.009 --> 00:12:00.409 itself is not a sin. It's when you yield to that 00:12:00.409 --> 00:12:05.110 temptation that it becomes sin. All right. Now, 00:12:05.149 --> 00:12:08.769 let's begin first of all. Let me, if you will 00:12:08.769 --> 00:12:12.700 please, just read. from the fourth chapter of 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:14.840 the book of Matthew. I can tell you right now 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:17.240 you're going to love this series of messages 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.840 on the temptations of Jesus. I believe that before 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:22.700 I will have finished these heart -to -heart talks 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:29.039 with you, you will thank me. You will be glad 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:32.559 for that which I pray the Holy Spirit will reveal 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:38.139 unto you. Now, the order of the temptations is 00:12:38.139 --> 00:12:42.679 different in Matthew and Luke. In both, the suggestion 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:48.940 that stones be turned into bread is first. Luke 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:52.820 reverses the order of the last two. It is almost 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:57.720 certain that the order in Matthew was the actual 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.919 order. Therefore, in the series of messages, 00:13:01.179 --> 00:13:09.649 I shall refer to Matthew at all times. let me 00:13:09.649 --> 00:13:13.710 read it the fourth chapter of matthew then was 00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:20.789 jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness 00:13:20.789 --> 00:13:26.509 to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted 00:13:26.509 --> 00:13:30.169 forty days and forty nights he was afterward 00:13:30.169 --> 00:13:34.350 and hungered and when the tempter came to him 00:13:34.350 --> 00:13:40.960 he said If thou be the Son of God, command that 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:45.279 these stones be made bread. But he answered and 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:50.940 said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:55.340 alone, but by every word that proceedeth out 00:13:55.340 --> 00:14:00.139 of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him 00:14:00.139 --> 00:14:04.000 up into the holy city and setteth him on a pinnacle 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:07.919 of the temple. And saith unto him, If thou be 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:12.620 the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:16.419 written, He shall give his angels charge concerning 00:14:16.419 --> 00:14:20.379 thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:25.200 up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:30.379 a stone. And Jesus said unto him, It is written 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:36.070 again, Thou shalt not tempt. the Lord thy God. 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:39.570 Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding 00:14:39.570 --> 00:14:42.889 high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms 00:14:42.889 --> 00:14:47.029 of the world, and the glory of them, and saith 00:14:47.029 --> 00:14:51.049 unto him, All these things will I give thee, 00:14:51.090 --> 00:14:56.769 if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith 00:14:56.769 --> 00:14:59.850 Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it 00:14:59.850 --> 00:15:03.110 is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 00:15:03.250 --> 00:15:06.860 and him also. only shalt thou serve. Then the 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:10.460 devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and 00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:16.799 ministered unto him. Study that portion of the 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:20.919 Word of God very carefully until our next heart 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:25.240 -to -heart talk, and I will tell you in our next 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:34.159 message, Wherein Was the Temptation? God bless 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:34.240 you.