Quoting Deuteronomy To The Devil (Matthew 4:1-11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.240 While our scripture eating this morning comes from the Fourth Chapter of the Gospel, 2 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:13.390 according to Matthew. Matthew, Chapter Four, verses one through eleven. This 3 00:00:13.630 --> 00:00:19.070 is the word of the Lord. Then Jesus was led up by the spirit 4 00:00:19.190 --> 00:00:23.460 into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted 5 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:29.059 forty days and forty nights afterward, he was hungry. Now, when the 6 00:00:29.179 --> 00:00:32.700 tempter came to him, he said, if you are the son of God, 7 00:00:33.500 --> 00:00:39.130 command these stones become bread. But he answered and said it is written. 8 00:00:39.329 --> 00:00:43.329 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds 9 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:47.170 from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy 10 00:00:47.289 --> 00:00:50.000 city, set him on the pinnacle of the Temple and said to him, 11 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:53.719 since you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is 12 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:59.240 written he shall give his angels charge over you and their hands they shall bear 13 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:03.799 you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, 14 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.829 it is a written. Again, you shall not tempt the Lords your 15 00:01:07.870 --> 00:01:12.069 God. Again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed 16 00:01:12.069 --> 00:01:15.629 him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to 17 00:01:15.709 --> 00:01:21.420 him all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship 18 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:25.980 me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for 19 00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:29.620 it is written you shall worship the Lords, your God, and him only 20 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:34.810 you shall serve. Then the devil left him and behold, angels came and 21 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:40.370 ministered to him. Thus far this reading of God's holy word, the grass 22 00:01:40.489 --> 00:01:42.969 withers in the flower fades, but the word of our Lord endures forever. 23 00:01:44.609 --> 00:01:53.040 Please be seated well as we come to this passage. This morning we come 24 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:57.640 to a passage that is, I think, probably fairly familiar to all of 25 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:02.230 us. But though it is familiar and it may even seem to be old 26 00:02:02.390 --> 00:02:07.950 hat, we may be that familiar with it. What we read here, 27 00:02:07.069 --> 00:02:10.590 I think, is a lesson that it is vital for us to learn well. 28 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:17.620 Temptation and struggle with sinful desires is, as we all know, a 29 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:23.939 problem that never goes away. Our temptation to sin is a constant, even 30 00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:29.699 moment by moment, battle, and it will be until the Lord Jesus returns 31 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:36.889 again. And as I think about temptation, as I've sought help for it 32 00:02:37.009 --> 00:02:40.250 in the past or ask people for advice, it's been my experience that very 33 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:45.759 often when we ask someone to help us for it with advice for how to 34 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:50.759 fight our sins or to resist our temptations, very often the advice we get 35 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:55.319 as something along the lines of just don't do it or cut it out or 36 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:01.789 get away from what tempts you. Or maybe more spiritual advice would be pray 37 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:07.110 more or, based on what we read here, will memorize more scripture and 38 00:03:07.469 --> 00:03:12.389 then just quote it to the devil when he tempts you. And all that 39 00:03:12.550 --> 00:03:16.099 really is very fine advice, but it seems to me that there's something lacking 40 00:03:16.219 --> 00:03:22.699 there, and what's missing, I think, is the reminder that sin is 41 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:29.250 something that no one can defeat on his own, though we've been saved and 42 00:03:29.409 --> 00:03:32.770 though the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in our hearts and he lives with 43 00:03:32.969 --> 00:03:39.050 us to help us and to strengthen us, nevertheless our temptations are very often, 44 00:03:39.689 --> 00:03:46.400 they are regularly so strong that we can't overcome our sin with something, 45 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:51.240 without something more than advice that essentially tells us we need to try harder, 46 00:03:52.919 --> 00:04:00.229 because I can assure you, as someone who has really work to try harder 47 00:04:00.069 --> 00:04:04.990 to overcome sin in my life, I can tell you that no matter how 48 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:11.740 hard you may buckle down or resolve to do bear better or to swear your 49 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:17.060 sin off with solemn oaths maybe, or a sincere heart or deep conviction, 50 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:25.569 just trying harder will not deliver you from your sins and your weakness. It 51 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:30.449 just, it just won't. What we need isn't trying harder. What we 52 00:04:30.649 --> 00:04:36.529 need is the Gospel, because only the Gospel can save you from your sins 53 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:43.240 and deliver you from what you hate and fear about yourself. And that's what 54 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:47.160 this passage addresses this morning. Here in Matthew, Chapter Four, we see 55 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:53.149 Jesus do something more than just quote Deuteronomy to the devil. At each point 56 00:04:53.189 --> 00:04:56.790 he does quote Deuteronomy to the devil, but he's doing something more than that. 57 00:04:56.870 --> 00:05:00.550 At each point where Jesus is tempted, he quotes a passage of scripture 58 00:05:01.029 --> 00:05:09.899 that reminds his heart of the promises of his father and of the Gospel Message. 59 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:15.220 In the first temptation, Satan tempts Jesus to doubt his relationship with his 60 00:05:15.339 --> 00:05:20.730 father. It's a temptation of doubt. In the second temptation, Satan tempts 61 00:05:20.769 --> 00:05:25.730 Jesus to try to do things on his own in a way that is contrary 62 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:30.290 from his father's revealed will, and he essentially tempts him to look out for 63 00:05:30.410 --> 00:05:36.160 number one. And in the third temptation, Satan tempts Jesus to compromise his 64 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:41.399 loyalty and his love for his father and in order to get what he wants 65 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:46.160 the easy way. And so what I'd like is to do this morning is 66 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:51.029 look at each of these temptations in turn and I'd like us to see in 67 00:05:51.110 --> 00:05:58.670 each one how Satan tempts Jesus, how Jesus Responds to Satan and what we 68 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:04.420 can learn from his victory over the tempter. Now, the temptation that Satan 69 00:06:04.500 --> 00:06:10.939 first attacks Jesus with is a temptation of doubt. In versus one through four, 70 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:14.980 we read this. Then Jesus was led up by this spirit into the 71 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:18.490 wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days 72 00:06:18.610 --> 00:06:24.410 and forty nights afterward, he was hungry. Sort of an understatement, you 73 00:06:24.449 --> 00:06:27.529 should think. Now, when the tempter came to him, he said, 74 00:06:28.529 --> 00:06:32.199 if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread. 75 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:38.839 But Jesus answered and said it is written, man shall not live by bread 76 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:44.319 alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Now 77 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:50.709 don't forget the context here. Immediately before Satan tempted Jesus, the very last 78 00:06:50.750 --> 00:06:56.870 thing that Matthew tells us about is Jesus is baptism at the Jordan River by 79 00:06:56.910 --> 00:07:00.790 John The baptist. It's in the two verses right before it that we read 80 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:04.500 this. When Jesus had been baptized, he came up immediately out of the 81 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:09.699 water and behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit 82 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:14.459 of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him, and suddenly a voice 83 00:07:14.540 --> 00:07:20.529 came from heaven saying this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased. 84 00:07:23.410 --> 00:07:30.439 So the father gave Jesus this wonderful affirmation, this promise and encouragement, 85 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.800 just as he's entering into his ministry. But no sooner does that happen than 86 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:41.279 Satan comes along and tries to undermine Jesus is confidence in his father's word. 87 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:45.870 And the reason that he does this is because if he can get Jesus to 88 00:07:46.029 --> 00:07:53.589 doubt his relationship to the father, then Jesus is entire ministry will be undermined, 89 00:07:54.430 --> 00:08:00.220 because if he doesn't have that confidence that he needs, he will not 90 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:03.939 be able to endure everything that his father's leading him to go do. I 91 00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:09.740 mean, you think about it, Jesus was facing three long years of trying 92 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:13.889 to get his message across to a bunch of thick headed people who couldn't seem 93 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:20.209 to get it. He was going to be misunderstood, disliked and rejected by 94 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:22.649 all the people who, by right, should have been his friends and admires. 95 00:08:22.689 --> 00:08:30.480 He was going to face abandonment, loneliness, derision, mockery, betrayal 96 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:39.159 and eventual death. God was calling Jesus to a long, long road of 97 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:46.750 obedience in the face of the worst possible circumstances, and unless Jesus was sure 98 00:08:46.870 --> 00:08:52.389 and confident of the relationship that he had with his father, none of that 99 00:08:52.429 --> 00:08:58.820 would be possible for long, would it? And notice as well that Satan 100 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:05.539 attacks Jesus when he's is low and is weak as anyone can get. He 101 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:13.169 comes and temps him after forty days of fasting, he's physically weak, he's 102 00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:20.970 exhausted. Jesus is at the end of his rope physically and the temptation that 103 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:24.519 Satan gives him is one that hits him right there, right at the point 104 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:31.840 where he is at his weakest, his hunger. Now, I know how 105 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.639 I get if I've missed a couple of meals, right, I mean I 106 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:43.830 and I've tried fasting before and no, you try it and it's a spiritual 107 00:09:43.990 --> 00:09:48.990 discipline in part because it's darned hard. When you're fasting, you get grumpy, 108 00:09:50.789 --> 00:09:54.980 tired, your listless, you get frustrated. Y'All know what I'm talking 109 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:58.299 about. You've heard of people talk about getting angry. You know that particular 110 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:05.259 kind of anger that you have when you're hungry. And the point is, 111 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:13.289 a hungry person is an emotionally weak person. And Satan comes to Jesus and 112 00:10:13.370 --> 00:10:22.840 he's says this. He says if, if, if you are the son 113 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:30.799 of God, just turn these stones into bread. If you are, if 114 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:35.950 you really are, you can do that. And the underlying thrust, I 115 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:39.870 think of this temptation, or what he's saying, is this in verse one. 116 00:10:41.190 --> 00:10:48.549 The spirit led you here and you are so miserably hungry. Why, 117 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:54.700 Jesus, why would a loving God and father do that to you? You 118 00:10:54.779 --> 00:11:00.460 know, you know, maybe I'm just throwing this out there, maybe you're 119 00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:09.610 wrong about your relationship with him. But Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy Chapter Eight 120 00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:16.049 in verse three. In the context there in Deuteronomy chapter eight basically is this. 121 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:22.879 We can trust God's words because of the powerful demonstrations of love that he's 122 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:30.080 shown to his people. That passage was an encouragement by Moses to trust God's 123 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:35.070 word, even in the hardest of times, by looking back and recalling what 124 00:11:35.190 --> 00:11:39.909 God has done for us. And the point here is that we are to 125 00:11:39.070 --> 00:11:45.909 hold fast to the testimony that we've been given. Though things may seem bleak, 126 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:50.899 it is the word of God, and that alone that will sustain in 127 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:54.620 us in the midst of struggles, and the word here, in view, 128 00:11:56.940 --> 00:12:03.850 is Matthew. Seventeen. Right before Jesus went out into the Wilderness to fast, 129 00:12:03.210 --> 00:12:09.169 a voice from heaven had come and told everyone they are that day that 130 00:12:09.409 --> 00:12:16.559 Jesus was the very son of God. His father had spoken, and Jesus 131 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:24.960 now can hold on to God's word. And the Word Dou was is very 132 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:33.429 similar. When we're alone, abandoned, hungry, weak, needy, lonely, 133 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:39.110 whatever it may be, when we don't have what we long for, 134 00:12:39.429 --> 00:12:45.539 what we desperately want, or need. We can get to a point where 135 00:12:45.580 --> 00:12:50.179 we start to question our relationship with the Lord, can't we? We can 136 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:52.659 look at our lives and we can say, Lord, if you love me, 137 00:12:54.100 --> 00:13:01.090 if I am really yours as an adopted child, then why am I 138 00:13:01.649 --> 00:13:07.809 so miserable? Or we may look at the people around us and we could 139 00:13:07.809 --> 00:13:11.690 say, Lord, you know, those people are so happy, go lucky. 140 00:13:11.769 --> 00:13:15.559 They they do everything you say not to do. They refuse to do 141 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.960 anything you say they should do and they seem like their lives are pretty easy. 142 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:30.269 How come they are so happy when I am so unhappy? And then 143 00:13:31.990 --> 00:13:35.629 we can get caught up in sinful patterns, and when we do, the 144 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:39.870 tempter pounces. You know, this is this is how the devil works. 145 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:46.940 Right here. You're going through a time, there's something going on. It 146 00:13:46.059 --> 00:13:50.539 could be just trafficker, it could be a life altering crisis, and he 147 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:56.169 comes to you and he says, Hey, try this, it might help, 148 00:13:56.649 --> 00:14:00.289 you might like it. You know what, if you just did this, 149 00:14:00.570 --> 00:14:03.009 things would be better. And you go now, I don't think I 150 00:14:03.049 --> 00:14:05.169 should. He goes, Oh, yeah, it's a good idea to say. 151 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:07.730 Man, he says yeah, and then you go okay, fine, 152 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:13.279 and you do it and he goes, you did it, you did it, 153 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:18.399 and he rubs your nose in it. He talks us into sin and 154 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:24.149 when we sin, he plays the role of the accuser. Hasatana in Hebrew, 155 00:14:24.750 --> 00:14:30.789 is the accuser. And then he lays it on and he makes you 156 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:33.750 try to Dow or he tries to make you doubt your relationship with your father. 157 00:14:35.429 --> 00:14:39.419 But when he does that, we need to try to remember to do 158 00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:46.580 what Jesus did here and we need to remind ourself of our standing in Christ. 159 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:52.860 When I was in seminary I had a professor, one of the godliest 160 00:14:52.929 --> 00:14:56.330 men I've ever met. In his name was Knox Chamblin, pretty good name 161 00:14:56.450 --> 00:15:01.090 for a Presbyterian, John Knox Chamblin, and he used to tell us this. 162 00:15:01.169 --> 00:15:07.720 This is courses in Mississippi, and he would say, Oh, ladies 163 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:13.639 and gentlemen, the most important thing you can do every day is to preach 164 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:20.590 the Gospel to yourself. And he was right. We have to preach the 165 00:15:20.909 --> 00:15:28.429 Gospel to ourselves. Satan tried to get Jesus to doubt his father's affirmation about 166 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:33.230 him, but Jesus resisted. And when we are tempted to doubt, we 167 00:15:33.429 --> 00:15:39.980 need to do the same thing. We need to remind ourself of what scripture 168 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:45.100 says about us. For instance, in Galatians, chapter four, verse four 169 00:15:45.220 --> 00:15:50.330 and following, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his 170 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:54.809 son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those 171 00:15:54.889 --> 00:16:00.690 who were under the law, in order that we might receive the adoption as 172 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:06.200 sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of 173 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:11.039 his son into your hearts, crying out Ah Bah, that is Daddy, 174 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:15.799 father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son. And 175 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.429 if a son on an air, through God, of God, through Christ, 176 00:16:22.149 --> 00:16:27.909 you see your father in heaven gives you the precisely same sort of wonderful 177 00:16:27.950 --> 00:16:36.820 affirmation that he gave to his son Jesus. So remember that and and believe. 178 00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:44.419 Believe, for instance, what Paul says in Romans Chapter Eight. He 179 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:48.730 says, if God is for us, who can be against us? He 180 00:16:48.850 --> 00:16:52.289 who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, 181 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:59.210 how shall he not, with him, also freely give us all things? 182 00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:07.319 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 183 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:11.119 nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height 184 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:15.750 nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the 185 00:17:15.910 --> 00:17:19.829 love of God which is in Christ, Jesus, Our Lord. That is 186 00:17:19.910 --> 00:17:27.950 the Gospel. You are his, he loves you, he will bless you 187 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:36.980 and he will never leave you nor forsake you. So the first temptation is 188 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:42.180 one of doubt. The second temptation Satan attacks Jesus with is to try to 189 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:52.609 get him to reject God's way and do thinks his own way. Then the 190 00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:55.849 devil took him up into the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of 191 00:17:55.930 --> 00:17:59.759 the Temple and he said to him, since you're the son of God, 192 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.920 throw yourself down, for it is written he shall give his angels charge over 193 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:08.440 you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot 194 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:15.029 against a stone. Jesus said to him, it is written again, you 195 00:18:15.349 --> 00:18:22.630 shall not tempt the Lord your God. So this time Satan takes Jesus to 196 00:18:22.710 --> 00:18:27.579 Jerusalem and puts him at the highest point of the temple, way up above 197 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:33.180 the top of the Kidren Valley, at some six hundred feet above the valley 198 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:40.140 floor, and he tries to trip Jesus up, this time by quoting scripture 199 00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:45.930 himself. And what Satan's trying to do is to get Jesus to believe that 200 00:18:45.130 --> 00:18:49.569 this is what God would have him do, by misquoting the Bible in order 201 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:57.839 to get him to believes seemingly biblical advice to advance purely selfish desires. And 202 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:02.400 it's Ironic, I think, that the passage that Satan quotes is from the 203 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:06.519 ninety first psalm, and if you were to go and read the Psalm in 204 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:11.269 its context, you'd find that the whole point of the Psalm that Satan quotes 205 00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:17.589 is trust God, Walk in God's way, pays and defeat the evil one. 206 00:19:21.349 --> 00:19:26.539 But Satan is shameless. He's shameless. He will do or say anything 207 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:32.019 if he thinks it will give him some advantage over us in our lives. 208 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:37.980 Now, the temptation he gives Jesus may not seem like much of a temptation 209 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:41.450 at first. It seems a little bit more like a suicide pact, I 210 00:19:41.609 --> 00:19:45.769 think, but if you think about it, it really is tempting. See 211 00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:51.329 what Satan was tempting Jesus to do was to go way up on this high 212 00:19:51.410 --> 00:19:56.200 place above the city and then to jump off and swoop down like Superman over 213 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:00.759 the temple and prove to everybody that he was the son of God. And 214 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:08.589 First Corinthians chapter one, we're told that the Jews wanted signs and wonders. 215 00:20:08.589 --> 00:20:12.190 Right, so, Satan says. They want it, you should give it 216 00:20:12.269 --> 00:20:22.819 to them. But the reason that's wrong is because God's means of showing his 217 00:20:23.539 --> 00:20:33.859 power is not through mighty works and undoubtable, astounding miracles. The way that 218 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:41.210 God shows his love and his power is through acts of selflessness, acts of 219 00:20:41.410 --> 00:20:48.329 love. Most especially, Jesus is dying for us on the Cross. And 220 00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:59.039 First Corinthians chapter one we read this. The message of the Cross is foolishness 221 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:02.759 to those who are perishing, but to us, who are being saved, 222 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:07.029 it's the power of God. For its written I will destroy the wisdom of 223 00:21:07.109 --> 00:21:11.710 the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the 224 00:21:11.789 --> 00:21:15.269 wise? Where's the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has 225 00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:19.539 Not God made footless the wisdom of this world? For since, in the 226 00:21:19.619 --> 00:21:22.980 wisdom of God, the world, through wisdom, did not know God, 227 00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:27.900 it pleased God, through the foolishness of the message, preach to save those 228 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:33.210 who believe. For the Jews request as sign and the Greek seek after wisdom. 229 00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:38.289 But We preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the 230 00:21:38.369 --> 00:21:44.569 Greek's foolishness. But to those who are called both Jew and Greek, Christ 231 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:48.640 the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God 232 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:56.400 is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. See, 233 00:21:56.519 --> 00:22:02.109 if Jesus had done what Satan tempted him to do, he would have 234 00:22:02.309 --> 00:22:10.630 turned on its head the entire purpose of his coming. So Jesus Responds to 235 00:22:10.789 --> 00:22:15.259 Satan by saying to by quoting Deuteronomy, chapter six, Verse Sixteen, which 236 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:19.259 says in its completeness, you shall not test the Lord, your God, 237 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:26.819 as you tested him at Massa. Now, Massa is what we read from 238 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:30.970 the ninety five Psalm this morning. When God they tested God and he swore 239 00:22:30.130 --> 00:22:34.130 that he would not let them enter his rest. That was the place in 240 00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:40.690 the Wilderness Wanderings where the people demanded that God bring water out of a rock 241 00:22:40.930 --> 00:22:45.880 to prove to them that he was with them, and they did that. 242 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:52.720 They doubted his providence, even after the plagues on EACHYP and the Red Sea 243 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:57.400 crossing and the daily provision of manner and all of the other wonders in the 244 00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:03.269 mirror, in the in the Sinai Peninsula, and in the context of Deuteronomy 245 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:08.589 six, what Jesus quotes, we find that Moses is rehearsing for them all 246 00:23:08.829 --> 00:23:14.619 of the Lord's past goodness to them and of his promises of so much more 247 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:19.460 goodness in the future. And on the basis of that, Moses urges them 248 00:23:19.660 --> 00:23:26.099 not to follow their own sinful desires and temptations, but rather to trust God 249 00:23:27.049 --> 00:23:33.130 and believe the good news that he will bless them and work all things together 250 00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:40.170 for good for them. There are a lot of people out there in the 251 00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:42.359 world today who don't buy that what I'm about to say, but this is 252 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:51.839 true. God does have a detailed plan for our lives and there is a 253 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:59.630 right thing to do in every circumstance. But the hard, simple fact of 254 00:23:59.710 --> 00:24:06.470 the matter is that often, always, always, walking in Jesus's steps is 255 00:24:06.670 --> 00:24:14.099 incredibly difficult. He said that the servant is not greater than the master, 256 00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:17.859 and he told us that we all have to take up our crosses and follow 257 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:23.180 him, and what he means by that is that we're all called to imitate 258 00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:32.369 him by showing the same love he showed us to other people in order to 259 00:24:32.529 --> 00:24:36.450 love them, is he first loved us. He calls on us to lay 260 00:24:36.490 --> 00:24:41.319 aside our pride, to lay aside our selfish desires and goals, and to 261 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:48.480 pour ourselves out for other people, even as he poured himself out for our 262 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:53.630 good. And The promise of the Gospel is that, though this sort of 263 00:24:53.789 --> 00:24:59.630 life seems to be one hundred and eighty degrees opposite of what we think is 264 00:24:59.829 --> 00:25:03.950 best for us, more often than not the Bible tells us that it's actually 265 00:25:04.029 --> 00:25:11.940 the very means by which God blesses us. He promises us a life filled 266 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:15.380 with joy and peace, hope, comfort all the rest of the fruit of 267 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:23.769 the spirit, as we walk as he walked, as we live the life 268 00:25:25.089 --> 00:25:30.690 he calls us to live. But when we look at that kind of life 269 00:25:30.730 --> 00:25:33.009 we think, well, I'm not going to get what I want out of 270 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:41.359 that. That is not going to make me happy. But here's God's promise 271 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:51.990 to you. He will always provide, he will always take care of you. 272 00:25:52.309 --> 00:25:56.430 Now, what he gives you will probably not be what you want, 273 00:25:56.509 --> 00:25:59.750 but, like the rolling Stone said, you may not get what you want, 274 00:25:59.789 --> 00:26:03.900 but you'll always get what you need. And we see in scripture. 275 00:26:04.019 --> 00:26:08.500 We see in our own lives, if we really stop and think about it, 276 00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:15.420 how wonderful God's provision and grace to US already has been. We have 277 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:22.329 been blessed in so many ways, and experience teaches us that, at the 278 00:26:22.369 --> 00:26:27.250 end of the day, obedience to God's call in our lives never leaves us 279 00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:34.839 miserable, but always leaves us blessed. But when the going gets tough, 280 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:42.720 it is so hard to do that, when we're tempted to take the reins 281 00:26:42.759 --> 00:26:49.190 of our lives into our own hands, we have to remember the promises of 282 00:26:49.349 --> 00:26:59.150 scripture and we have to actively trust God to take care of us. And 283 00:26:59.309 --> 00:27:03.059 the good news is that he has so far and that he will in the 284 00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:10.660 future, and we know it's true because he's promised it. So the first 285 00:27:10.700 --> 00:27:15.170 temptation is one of doubt, the second temptation is to look out for number 286 00:27:15.250 --> 00:27:21.930 one, essentially, and the third temptation, Satan attacks Jesus with, is 287 00:27:22.009 --> 00:27:26.450 one of compromise. Again, the devil took him up on an exceeding high 288 00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:30.359 mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and 289 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:34.400 he said to him, all these things I will give you if you will 290 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:41.319 fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, 291 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:45.710 Satan, for it is written you shall worship the Lord, your God, 292 00:27:45.029 --> 00:27:51.390 in him only shall you. Sir. So, having tried his hand 293 00:27:51.509 --> 00:27:57.230 at misquoting scripture, Satan throws that one away and this time he tempts Jesus 294 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:04.859 by promising to get out of his way and just let him have all the 295 00:28:04.980 --> 00:28:11.380 nations of the world without a fight. He says that he will give Jesus 296 00:28:11.539 --> 00:28:18.450 this supposed easy victory, without the struggle, without the suffering, without the 297 00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:26.529 rejection, without the death of the cross, without any of that. If, 298 00:28:26.609 --> 00:28:38.240 if Jesus will just do this is one teeny tiny, just little thing, 299 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:51.269 just once bow down and worshiped Satan. Now there are a whole lot 300 00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:56.779 of reasons that's a bad idea, but the chief of those, the chief 301 00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:02.420 of those is that though Jesus came so that his reign might extend to the 302 00:29:02.579 --> 00:29:07.019 ends of the Earth, Jesus did not come to be an earthly king. 303 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:12.690 Jesus came to conquer Satan, to crush his head, as God said in 304 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:18.009 Genesis Three Fifteen, to die in the place of his people, to suffer 305 00:29:18.250 --> 00:29:25.400 for you and me. That was the point and his mission would have been 306 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:30.279 an utter failure if he'd come and just taken gearge. You see, Jesus 307 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:36.440 didn't come to make us subjects in his kingdom or to make us butlers and 308 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:42.349 maids in his house. He didn't come to just take charge. Rather, 309 00:29:42.589 --> 00:29:48.150 he came to suffer in our place so that we might enter into a loving 310 00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:57.220 relationship with him as his bride and his children and his friends. But this 311 00:29:57.700 --> 00:30:07.569 temptation must have been pretty strong to Jesus to avoid the pain, the rejection 312 00:30:07.329 --> 00:30:15.130 of everyone that he loved, the unspeakably horrible death of the Cross and all 313 00:30:15.250 --> 00:30:21.369 Satan as for was it he just bow down and worship him this this one 314 00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:30.400 time? But Jesus says in the old King James I like it better get 315 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:37.829 thee behind me, Satan. And he quotes Deuteronomy Thirteen. And in the 316 00:30:37.950 --> 00:30:44.630 context of Deuteronomy six verses fourteen to thirteen, Moses is making the point that 317 00:30:44.789 --> 00:30:49.460 God's call to us is to center every aspect of our lives on him and 318 00:30:49.940 --> 00:30:56.019 on his message of hope for us. There Moses reminds us, he tells 319 00:30:56.059 --> 00:31:00.140 us God hasn't held back anything from us. That is good for us. 320 00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:06.410 Rather, he's given us everything that we need at every moment and, most 321 00:31:06.450 --> 00:31:11.690 especially, we now know, he's given us his son to die that we 322 00:31:11.769 --> 00:31:17.210 might live. To put it in the words of David in Psalm thirty seven, 323 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:22.839 trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and feet 324 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:27.319 on his faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he will give 325 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:37.990 you the desires of your heart. We know, I think we know most 326 00:31:37.990 --> 00:31:42.390 of the time, that God's plan is a good plan for our lives, 327 00:31:44.430 --> 00:31:49.420 and most of the time we believe that he will work all things together for 328 00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:56.259 good for us. But the point of the passage that Jesus quotes is to 329 00:31:56.420 --> 00:32:05.049 impress upon us that as we hold on to God's promises and as we walk 330 00:32:05.250 --> 00:32:10.930 in his ways, we can have a one hundred percent confidence that he will 331 00:32:12.170 --> 00:32:17.640 give us what is good for us. But often it seems like we want 332 00:32:17.799 --> 00:32:24.039 things we just don't get. We want possessions, we want friends, we 333 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:30.589 want respect, we want better jobs, we want better kids, we want 334 00:32:30.750 --> 00:32:32.829 better this or that or the other thing, and we don't get it. 335 00:32:34.109 --> 00:32:37.390 And the ten ter comes to us and tells us that all that we have 336 00:32:37.630 --> 00:32:44.980 to do to get whatever it is that we want is just compromise a bit, 337 00:32:45.099 --> 00:32:52.339 you know, if you just cut corners this one time, if you 338 00:32:52.579 --> 00:32:59.970 just, you know, tell this little white lie or cheat just a little 339 00:33:00.049 --> 00:33:07.170 bit, then we can advance our wants and desires. When I was in 340 00:33:07.289 --> 00:33:13.720 seminary, I had a professor that I thought the world of and wanted to 341 00:33:13.799 --> 00:33:20.359 impress. But he's one of the smartest people I've ever met and it was 342 00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:23.559 hard because he was always twenty steps ahead of you, not just wander two. 343 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:31.069 And he gave us a take home mid term and I wanted to impress 344 00:33:31.069 --> 00:33:36.549 him and I hit something that I knew was would that I that I read, 345 00:33:36.990 --> 00:33:39.029 I knew I'd thought about, but I was completely I was having that 346 00:33:39.230 --> 00:33:47.940 test blank and I gave into the temptation to open the book to remind myself. 347 00:33:52.140 --> 00:33:58.490 I got a good grade on that paper. But that that was close 348 00:33:58.529 --> 00:34:04.809 to twenty years ago and I still cringe and shame every time I think about 349 00:34:04.809 --> 00:34:16.039 it. Just one teeny tiny little compromise. See, sin always promises to 350 00:34:16.119 --> 00:34:22.599 give us the desires of our hearts. It shows us some wonderful promise and 351 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:27.429 it tells us we can have our wants or our needs fulfilled if we just 352 00:34:27.789 --> 00:34:35.349 do this one teeny tiny little thing. But proverbs one, Thousan, fourteen 353 00:34:35.510 --> 00:34:37.579 twelve says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but 354 00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:43.659 in the end it is the way of death. And who among us has 355 00:34:43.820 --> 00:34:49.739 not learned that lesson? It's sin looks like it will be sweet to the 356 00:34:49.900 --> 00:34:53.489 tongue, but when you put it in your mouth it's like gravel between your 357 00:34:53.489 --> 00:34:59.489 teeth. Oh, maybe whatever it is you're doing will make things better for 358 00:34:59.650 --> 00:35:06.170 a while, maybe you'll like it for a while, but in the long 359 00:35:06.210 --> 00:35:15.320 run sin always leads to heartbreak. But the message that Jesus reminded himself of 360 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:21.199 and that we have to remind ourselves of is that when we delight ourselves in 361 00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:24.670 the Lord, then he will give us the desires of our hearts. We 362 00:35:24.909 --> 00:35:31.630 have a sure promise and we know that he will never fail us. And 363 00:35:31.750 --> 00:35:36.860 in the end we see that Jesus is trust in the father was well founded. 364 00:35:37.539 --> 00:35:45.059 Verse Eleven. Then the devil left him and behold, angels came and 365 00:35:45.300 --> 00:35:50.489 ministered to him. Jesus resisted the Devil by holding on to the Gospel, 366 00:35:51.570 --> 00:35:59.769 and then, and only then, the devil left him and send angels to 367 00:35:59.889 --> 00:36:06.559 bear him up see whatever we want or need, or whatever it is that 368 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:13.719 that Jesus, whatever want or need that Jesus had, was taken care of 369 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:19.670 by the direct command of his father. Jesus defeated Satan by holding on to 370 00:36:19.829 --> 00:36:24.269 the Gospel and to the promises found in scripture. But I want you to 371 00:36:24.510 --> 00:36:31.750 notice that it didn't happen right away. First there were forty days of hunger. 372 00:36:34.099 --> 00:36:37.579 Then it was temptations, one after another, hitting him right where he 373 00:36:37.780 --> 00:36:45.059 was at his week is, right where he was most susceptible to air. 374 00:36:46.139 --> 00:36:52.690 And notice that he didn't defeat Satan by living a sin sinless life and being 375 00:36:52.809 --> 00:36:57.929 perfect, which Jesus could have done because he's God. Nor did he do 376 00:36:58.090 --> 00:37:05.480 it by trying harder. Rather, Jesus defeated Satan and Jesus lived to victorious 377 00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:12.360 life by holding fast to what he knew, by holding fast to the word 378 00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:17.789 of God. And so is we wrap it up this morning. Let me 379 00:37:17.909 --> 00:37:28.630 encourage you hold on to what you know. Like most of us, I 380 00:37:28.710 --> 00:37:36.500 think I've learned this lesson the hard way. Temptation is often seemingly impossible to 381 00:37:36.579 --> 00:37:43.300 resist. Our weaknesses and our failings make doubt or looking out for number one 382 00:37:43.380 --> 00:37:50.530 or compromise seem like the only choice a lot of times, but if you 383 00:37:50.730 --> 00:37:54.730 learn and hold fast to the promises of the Gospel found in scripture, God 384 00:37:55.369 --> 00:38:05.400 will provide. He just will trust in the word of the Lord and he 385 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:12.519 will always, always, prove himself worthy of your trust. He loves you, 386 00:38:13.989 --> 00:38:22.510 He provides for you, and his ways are always the ways to true 387 00:38:22.590 --> 00:38:29.659 happiness, and that is good news. Amen.