| SERIES:Conversations with Jesus | PREACHER:Lenin Kumar | DATE:July 16, 2017 | SCRIPTURE REFERENCE:Matthew 4:1-11 |
1 – Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the
devil.
2 – After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
3 – The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell
these stones to become bread.”
4 – Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
5 – Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the
highest point of the temple.
6 – “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 a stone.'”
7 – Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God
to the test.'”
8 – Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all
the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 – “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You bow down and worship me.”
10 – Jesus said to him, “Away from Me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship
the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'”
11 – Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.
You know since I became a pastor nearly twelve years ago, I have learned a
great deal when it comes to the subject of preaching….much more by the way than
I learned in my preaching classes at seminary! I guess necessity IS the mother
of invention! * One of the first things I discovered is that it is not enough
to just give people information in a sermon. You must organize it in a way that
they can understand and remember it. You can see this same principle in musical
composition. To illustrate this I've asked Elisha to play a very familiar hymn
to see if you can recognize it. [ELISHA PRAVEEN plays all the notes of “Amazing Grace”
but not in any recognizable order] Can anyone name that tune? No… of course
not… but when we organize these pitches with rhythm, the melody becomes
familiar. Listen: [ ELISHA PRAVEEN plays “Amazing Grace” normally.]
Now… understand… all
the same notes were there both times ELISHA PRAVEEN played but the second time they
were organized in a way that we could recognize this familiar tune. Applied to
sermons, this means that when you preach you can’t just throw a bunch of
information at people… like you were throwing feed to chickens.
No, an effective message must be structured in a way that people will
recognize it’s truth and how it applies to their lives. This is what many
experienced preachers mean when they say that every sermon should all have
“three points and a poem.” In the past twenty two years, I have also seen the
importance of having a “hook” at the beginning of my messages-you
know… something to make people sit up and pay attention and want to hear more.
Hopefully that is what is happening right about now as I begin today’s message!
And then… one other thing I have learned is that there are basically two types
of sermons: There are topical sermons These messages begin with a specific
issue or need like “How to Raise Children Without Raising Your Blood Pressure”
and use scripture from all over the Bible address that issue. The other type of
sermon is an expository sermon. This type of message begins with a specific
passage of scripture and basically draws all of it’s content from an
explanation or teaching of that text.
Both forms of preaching are valid… neither better than the other. Jesus
used both styles in His ministry. Which brings us to today’s text.
Now you could “preach” the truth that is contained in this conversation
that Jesus had with Satan in the wilderness in either way. But today I want us
to organize our study of this text into more of an expository style.
So, you might want to think of this message as more teaching than
preaching. Keep your Bibles open and let’s study this passage verse by verse.
As we go along, I believe we’ll glean many various lessons that will help us as
we seek to serve God. I don’t promise three points… but if I can I’ll try to
squeeze in a poem or two!
Let’s begin by getting an image in our mind’s eye of the setting of this
conversation.It took place in the wilderness that lies between Jerusalem and
the Dead Sea. The Old Testament calls this area “Jeshimmon”, which means “the
Devastation,” and from having seen it myself, I would say this is a fitting
name. It stretches over an area of thirty-five by fifteen miles and is filled
with yellow sand, crumbling limestone, and scattered shingle. The ground itself
is contorted… ridges run in all directions as if they were warped or twisted.
The hills are like dust heaps; the limestone is blistered and peeling…rocks are
bare and jagged… the whole area glows and shimmers with heat like some vast
furnace. Even to this day as one drives through or flies over this region it
appears to be forsaken by man and God. But, in this desolate area, Jesus could
be more alone than anywhere else in Palestine. And perhaps this is why the
Spirit of God led Him there. He had just been baptized in the Jordan River,
after which God had commissioned Him for His life’s work and before He got
started He needed some time alone.
And, you know, in our own lives there are times when we need to be alone
with God…
…times to stop doing and start thinking and
praying. I think that most of the mistakes we make in life might never happen
if we learned to stop regularly and give ourselves a chance to be alone with
God… time to “look” at things from His perspective before we “leaped.”
So Jesus went to this desolate place to fast, and pray, and plan… so that
He could prepare Himself to begin the task that had been His since the
foundation of the world. Note that verse 1 says that one part of this
preparation involved Jesus being led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.
And it is important for us to understand the exact meaning of that word,
“tempt.” The Greek word here is “peirazein.” And “tempt” is not the best
translation. To “tempt” means to “entice someone to do wrong… to seduce a person
to sin.” But “peirazein” means “to test.” It is the same sort of word used in
Genesis 22:1 where it says, “Some time later God TESTED Abraham….” by
commanding him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. As it says in James 1, God
never tempts someone. He would never lead someone to do evil. But He does test
us as He tested Abraham's faith. You know when a new plane is designed, it’s
structure is TESTED. It is forced to hold more weight and endure more stress
than it would ever have to do in real flight. But it is tested in this way
before it is put to a useful purpose. And in the same way a man or woman must
often be tested before God can use him or her for His purposes. In I Timothy
3:10 Paul advises young Timothy that before deacons serve they, “….must first
be TESTED….” Job 23:10 Job referred to his trials in this way. He said, “…when
He (God) has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
So God’s TESTING is a good thing William Barclay writes, “What we call
temptation is not meant to make us sin; it is meant to enable us to conquer
sin. It is not meant to make us bad, it is meant to make us good. It is not
meant to weaken us, it is meant to make us emerge stronger and finer and purer
from the ordeal.”
I Corinthians 10:13 is a great summation of this principle. It says, “No
temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He
will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,
He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
So sometimes what we think of as trial or temptation is really a test that
comes to a person whom God wishes to use. We reap a rich harvest of spiritual
maturity when God sows tribulation in our lives. In Romans 5 Paul reminds us
that when trials come, we learn perseverance which produces true character.
Then this quality of character brings forth hope. As John Stott says, we learn
that “the God who is developing our character in the present can be relied on
for the future too.”
So testing is something to be thankful for. It is good for us. Remember the
words of James 1:2-4: “Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, because you know that the TESTING of your faith develops
perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking in anything.”
Okay, back to the text... it says in verse 1, “...Jesus was led by the Spirit
into the desert to be tempted or tested by the devil.”
Now, who or what was this “Devil?” Well, first of all we should understand
that he is not some impersonal evil force. Matthew introduces him here as “THE”
Devil… using the definite article with a masculine noun, implying personality. And
the entire Bible teaches that Satan is a person… a fallen angel… who rebelled
against the sovereign rule of God and is in the world working against both God
and man. In Matthew 9:34 he is called “the prince of devils,” implying that he
has under his command a host of devils or demons who do his bidding. The Bible
presents Satan as one of great power, and records several different names for
him, each of which speak of his nature and work. In I Peter 5:8, he is called
“Adversary.” In Revelation 9:11 he is referred to as “Apollyon” which means
“Destroyer.” He is also called “Belial” in II Corinthians 6:15 which means
“worthless.” In John 8:44 Jesus refers to him as the “Father of all Lies.” ….
and we could go on and on for he is mentioned 83 times in the Bible.
Seventy-four of those times he is called either “Satan” or “Devil,” which means
“slanderer.” This is appropriate for…in Genesis 3:4 we see him slandering God
to man (Genesis 3:4) and then in Job 1 he is slandering man to God.
What is interesting though is that when Satan appears to man he never does
so in his true form. In Eden he appeared to Eve as a serpent, perhaps a
beautiful, graceful, flying serpent, before the fall.
In II Corinthians 11:14, Paul says that he transforms himself into an
“angel of light.” And for this reason he is all the more deadly an adversary.
For, if he appeared to us in his true form, we would fear him and run from him
but because he does not, people listen to him and face the inevitable painful
consequences. An equally impressive truth is that the devil always appears
before God in his true form. You see, God knows him for who he is… the
enemy… at war with God and His purposes. Jesus is God’s main weapon in this
war. I John 3:8 says, “…the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the
devil’s work.”.
And while, according to Romans 8 and I Corinthians 15, this battle rages
even in the natural elements, the main arena of this conflict is in the mind
and thoughts of man. Since we are so directly involved in this battle, then I
think it would be prudent for us to note WHEN Satan attacked Jesus… Verse 2 says
that he did so at Jesus’ weakest point… at the end of the 40 days of fasting.
And this is the way Satan works. He always attacks us when we are weak. As Max
Lucado writes,
“He doesn't challenge us to a fair fight… no, he is the master
of the trapdoor and the author of weak moments. He waits until your back is
turned. He waits until your defense is down. He waits until the bell has rung
and you are walking back to your corner.Then he aims his dart at your weakest point and… bull’s eye! You lose your
temper. You lust. You fall. You take a drag. You buy a drink. You kiss the
woman. You follow the crowd. You rationalize. You forget who you are. You walk
into her room. You break your promise. You buy the magazine. …You deny your
Master.”
Remember, Satan always attacks us at our weakest point… so one key to
winning over him is to know where the chinks are in our armor.
Now ask yourself… do you go about your life dressed in the FULL armor of
GOD? Is the “belt of truth” buckled firmly about your waist? Is your
“breastplate of righteousness” in place? Are your "feed fitted with a readiness"
to share the Gospel of Peace? Is the “Helmet of salvation” on your head and the
“shield of faith” in your hand? And do you know how to use your weapon? Are you
ready to use the “Sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God? You can be
sure of this… he knows which part of your armor is weakest and that is where he
will attack.
And Satan’s principal weapon in this conflict is not TESTING but
TEMPTATION.
Now what exactly is TEMPTATION? Well, at its core, TEMPTATION is a
shortcut… a fast track to quick results. TEMPTATION masquerades as better,
quicker, and easier, but in the end it is always the more expensive and painful
way. From steroids, to premarital sex, to cheating on Wall Street, TEMPTATION
looks, sounds, and feels good on the surface. But beneath its facade, the
reward is short-term and the consequence is long-term and painful. As Proverbs
14:12 says “There is a way that SEEMS right to man, but in the end it leads to
destruction.”
Now, all of us have taken these shortcuts… these ways that have seemed right
and end up painfully wrong.
When I was in High School I took a one. I ran track... I may not look like
it but I was a sprinter. I ran the 300 meter low hurdles and have the knee scars
to prove it. But, like most sprinters I had a humility problem. Sprinters run
the quick, flashy races… not the boring distance runs which only provide
spectators a chance to head to the refreshment stand. And this sin of pride
reared its ugly head one day at track practice when our coach commanded the
entire team to go on a 5-km run.
This was unheard of… only the distance runners on the team did this at
practice… not the sprinters!
I remember thinking… I don’t NEED to do this. I’m a sprinter… not a
jogger…. I only have to cover 300 meters… why is he making me run 5 km!? Well,
the route we were to take was a huge circle… west three km to the little village of
Parigi, then north a km to the neighborhood where my family lived,
then east two km to Madhugiri, and south a km back at the High School. Our route surrounded a huge forested area
where I played as a kid. And since I was so familiar with the terrain I
suggested that we pull out in front of the pack, take a short cut through the
woods, cutting about 5 km off the route. We would come out in front of the
group later… no one would know and we would be spared the majority of this
pointless run.
Well it worked at first. me and my friend sprinted out ahead of the group and when we
rounded a corner and got out of their line of sight. But we hadn't gone too far until we came upon a
muddy stream. And… in trying to cross the stream by tightrope-walking across a
fallen tree, we both fell in, turning our uniforms a deep
chocolate color. When we finally got back to the school our crime was of course
obvious to the coach who responded by throwing us both off the team. After
receiving additional discipline at the hands of my parents that night, I
apologized to my coach the following day and he eventually let me back on the
team. But that’s the way it is with temptation… it always looks good in the
beginning but ends up bad. And my experience was painless compared to the agony
of other shortcuts Satan tempts us to take. For… yielding to temptation pushes
us away from God’s best will for our lives and in so doing bars us form the
rich and lasting rewards that come from doing things His way.
And, when you think about it, Satan often offers us things that are already
ours… if we are willing to wait and trust God for them. In the wilderness Satan
challenged Jesus to prove His power — yet He is the Creator of the universe… He
had all power! Satan offered Jesus prominence-yet He was already the King of
kings and Lord of lords. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were blessed with
authority, position, and power. God had glorious plans for their lives!
But they took a deadly shortcut and it cost them joy, their relationship
with God… and so much more… mankind is still paying the unbelievable price of
that shortcut. God promised Abraham a son from union with his barren wife,
Sarah. But then he took a shortcut with Sarah’s maid, Hagar.
And this shortcut is the root cause for all the unrest in the middle east
today. Esau took a shortcut to fill his belly and lost his birthright. And we
could go on and on with examples. Satan continually tempts us by saying, “Take
it NOW… indulge yourself NOW… get your satisfaction NOW… make your big play
NOW… grab your pleasure NOW.” It’s like those TV commercials we have seen since
January… advertising lending institutions’ offer to loan people the exact
amount of their tax refund. Why do this? So people won’t have to wait for few
weeks to spent the money Govt will eventually refund them! These lenders
say, “Why WAIT for Govt’s check? Go out and get that boat NOW.
Take that cruise NOW. Buy those new clubs NOW. Build that deck NOW.” Funny,
these loan sharks never say anything about the interest rate in those
commercials. And Satan is the ultimate loan shark… he never mentions his
interest rate. But don’t kid yourself. It is extremely high… it adds up quickly
and compounds daily… before you know it he owns you. He whispers to you young
people…. “You want sex NOW? Why wait? Take it. I’ll advance you whatever you
want. Enjoy yourself. Go for it. Do it NOW. Don’t worry about by fees. We’ll
talk about that later.” And later the fees come due in the form of broken
hearts and shame and guilt and unwanted pregnancies and venereal diseases… and a
lifetime of plans and dreams that are forever destroyed. While sex within
marriage is a proper and wonderfully pleasurable experience, Satan offers to
advance us the erotic pleasures at an improper time. When people follow this
and all of Satan’s shortcuts they discover that they cheated themselves… they
lost far more than they gained.
So Satan’s main weapon in his war against God and His purposes is the
shortcut known as TEMPTATION. And this was Satan’s suggestion to Jesus in this
conversation… to take a shortcut to found His kingdom. Look at the three ways
Satan tempted Jesus…. First of all, as it says in verse 3, he tempted our Lord
to turn stones into bread.
Now, this was not just a temptation to satisfy His hunger… it was Satan’s
way to pollute Jesus’ choice of methods to win men to God. How was He to
persuade men and women to follow Him, to be a part of the kingdom of God? Why
not bribe them by giving them bread… and all manner of material possessions? But
Jesus said “NO!” to this shortcut. Skillfully using the Sword of the Spirit, He
quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 and pointed out that man’s problem was not hunger for
material things… it was hunger for a relationship with God. He knew that “bread”
is a dead end shortcut …. material things will never satisfy the hunger in
man… this will only come with a relationship with God in which we trust Him for
our needs. This temptation didn't bear any fruit so as it says in verse 4,
Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple. This was probably the southeast
side of the temple which was four hundred and fifty feet above the Kidron
Valley. Tradition says that it was from this place that the martyr James, the
half-brother of Jesus was flung to his death in the valley below.
And as Jesus
stood here Satan offered Him another shortcut…. Satan said, “Do you want people
to follow You? Then, take a shortcut… amaze them with feats of power.”
Well Jesus again used the Sword of the Spirit to fend off this attack and
quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 which says that it is wrong to test God. God calls for
us to have faith in His timing… not to try and force His hand so as to hurry things
along to match our schedule. God invites us into a faith-relationship with Him
in which we trust Him to provide for us. Faith that is dependent on signs and
wonders is not faith. In fact sight is the opposite of faith. Jesus also knew
that enticing people to follow Him because of the sensations He could provide
was a dead end… sensations only make people want more. This year’s sensation is
next year’s common place.
So a kingdom founded on sensation is doomed to eventual failure. The
kingdom of God was not to be founded on RAZZLE DAZZLE. Men and women were to
follow Him not for entertainment but for salvation.
So the TEMPTER tried a final time… Verse 8 says that He took Jesus to a
very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. He then
perverted the words of Psalm 2:8 and promised to give Jesus all these kingdoms
if He would only bow down and worship him.
This whole exchange was sort of a scriptural fencing match. Using the
technique employed by many cult groups, Satan would attack by misquoting
scripture… and Jesus would defend and counter attack by using Scripture
properly.
But in this third attack Satan was saying, “You want to save the world? You
came for that purpose didn't you? Well, then take a short cut! Compromise!
Worship me and I will give you all the people of the world to rule.” Jesus’
response was to send Satan away and by quoting Deuteronomy 6 to remind Him that
we are to worship God and God alone.
Before we conclude we should note one other thing… this was not the only
time Satan attacked Jesus. In Luke’s account of this conversation, it says that
after failing to lure Jesus into this shortcut, “Satan withdrew of a more
opportune time.” And those opportune times came again and again. In Luke 22:28
Jesus thanks His followers for standing with Him in His “temptations”.
One attack came at Caesarea Philippi when Peter tried to talked Jesus out
of taking the way of the cross. And when he did Jesus said the same things to
Peter that He had to Satan in the wilderness, “Satan begone!” I think we can
infer from this that our struggle with Satan is continual. We never reach a
stage in our Christian maturity that we are beyond the power of temptation.
When it comes to being victorious in spiritual warfare, “Eternal vigilance is
the price of freedom.” Jesus had to fight battles like this right up to the
cross… which is why He can help us to fight and win in our struggles with
Satan.
Also I hope you realize that Jesus must have been the source of this story.
He was alone in that wilderness so He must have told His disciples what had
happened. He apparently thought it was important for us to know of this battle
and by reading of His tactics, learn how to win in our own struggles with
principalities and powers. He wanted us to know that like us, He had the
possibility to yield to temptation but He also had the power not to — which is
why He can help us.We don’t have to be victims in our battles with Satan…we can
be victors. As it says in Romans 8 “we are more than conquerors over all
things-the devil included-through Him who loved us.”
Well, what can we learn from Jesus’ battle of wits with Satan that day that
will help us in our struggles with him? We learn the importance of living on
every Word that comes from the mouth of God. We see how vital it is that we
spend so much time reading His Word and listening to His voice that we Know
God! We know His ways so thoroughly that if something doesn't measure up to
God’s ways, we turn away from them. This is what Jesus did in the wilderness
that day. He said to Satan in essence, “I understand that you are saying
this… but that is not the last word I had from God. The scriptures actually
say…..” Jesus never discussed it with Satan. He never analyzed it. He just kept
doing the last thing God told Him to do until God Himself told Him what to do
next. He lived on the Word of God…. He also showed us that we must not TEST
God…. We must not try to manipulate God to bless our efforts. We must obey
Him… trust His timing… avoiding tempting shortcuts. We also see that we must
worship God and God alone….There must not be any thing else in our lives that
we give homage to… when we do not apply this principle… we give the devil a
foothold in our lives.
You know, the wonderful thing about scripture is that no matter how you
study it… whether you need help with understanding a specific topic… like how
to be a better parent… or if you just want to understand a certain chapter in
the book of Matthew and look at it in expository fashion…verse-by-verse.
No matter how you study, you discover that as it says in II Timothy 3:16,
“all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the faith and
correcting error, for re-setting the direction of a man’s life and training him
in good living.”
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