God's Word Is? - Sermon 3
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Power Over Temptation
Power Over Temptation
Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Introduction
Introduction
Something we must never forget regarding the Devil’s activities; the devil is always aware of God’s claims, decrees, miracles and promises. I say that because why else would the devil have showed up so suddenly after the remarkable proclaimation by the Trinity if he wasn’t present to witness it?
The last thing the devil wanted was the links in the chain of approval that extended from Heaven to remain unbroken! He was setting out to discredit Jesus from being the “beloved and well pleased Son of God.” All he needed to do was to create a hairline crack in one link of that chain.
Satan set out to push the humanity of Jesus to what he thought would be a breaking point due to the condition he found him in. The question is this, will God’s Word be enough strength for Jesus to remain qualified as the Savior of the world? Let’s find out.....
1) A Display Of Confidence In The Spirit
1) A Display Of Confidence In The Spirit
Notice the work the Holy Spirit is doing.
Notice the one who is leading Jesus.
Notice to where the Spirit is leading Jesus.
Notice to what form of sacrifice the Spirit is leading Jesus to take part in.
Question: Does the appearance of the Devil surprise the Holy Spirit?
I’ll be honest, there are some aspects of the balance of Jesus’ deity that are mysterious but not at all causing my faith to waver.
We must accept the fact that Jesus was not operating in His former omniscience and therefore knowing what awaited Him in the desert.
He did however know who was leading Him there?
Remember, God’s Word is synonymous with being the Spirit’s Word.
So, neither do we have to pleasure of knowing all the details that lye ahead of us. SHOULD THIS SHAKE OUR FAITH???
Even if you knew those future facts, they would never be able to provide you with perfect peace, confidence and joy.
The only reason Jesus went willing into the wilderness was solely due to His CONFIDENCE in the Spirit’s leadership.
Psalm 119:105 “105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.”
We live in a time when people are not so adamant to investigate the source(s) whom they are allowing to lead them.
You yourself, your children or family.
2) A Display Of Power From The Spirit
2) A Display Of Power From The Spirit
The great tempter always come at the best time for him and the worst time for you.
The devil was very much aware of Jesus’ deity. That is exactly why he thought he maybe had a chance to derail the Father’s redemption plan for humanity.
There are three different temptations presented to Jesus:
FIRST — This temptation deals with God’s love and God’s will.
There are a couple of thoughts we can extract from this first encounter.
First of all, the devil tries to pain the picture that if the Father really loved and approved of Him, He would have provided for Him already.
“Well look at you! This is what you get for serving God and always being concerned about His will for your life.”
“God simply pays you back by leaving you to starve.”
Secondly, the devil attempts to entice Jesus to allow His current needs and circumstances to shift His focus away from operating under the power of God and operate in his own power.
The devil is saying, “If you will listen to me, you can have food INSTANTLY!
By the power of the Spirit (the Word) Jesus reaffirmed His confidence to rely solely upon the direction provided by God’s Word.
Jesus quoted Deut. 8:3 “3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”
In other words, Jesus is saying, “We are not to trust the direction that stems from the connection between our emotions and our circumstances.
John 5:30 “30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
SECOND — This temptation is subtle by using scripture in effort to see if Jesus trusted what God has said.
You can always expect the devil to adapt to your defense tactics. Thats exactly what he did when Jesus starting using God’s Word to counter attack.
Listen, Satan is no stranger to using God’s Words for his own advantage. This comes with a little bit of added subtle demonic flavoring.
Satan partially quoted Psalm 91:11-12 “11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
Satan was simply saying, “If you really believe scripture, then jump!”
We must never divorce scripture from scripture.
Quote: We can prove almost anything by the Bible if we isolate texts from the contexts and turn them into pretexts. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 18.
It’s also like Satan is tempting Jesus with instant fame.
Satan seems to be hinting at that Jesus had not gained much of a following up to that point.
Nobody really knew who He was.
He needed to do something spectacular.
Jesus responded with THE WORD.
You should never put God to the test!!!
It is only when you DOUBT someone do you put them through some kind of experiment to see exactly how much you can trust them.
THIRD — A shortcut to His kingdom
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: The King’s Credentials (Matthew 3–4)
If He bowed down and worshiped Satan just once (this is the force of the Greek verb), He could enjoy all the glory without enduring the suffering. Satan has always wanted worship, because Satan has always wanted to be God (Isa. 14:12–14). Worshiping the creature instead of the Creator is the lie that rules our world today (Rom. 1:24–25).
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: The King’s Credentials (Matthew 3–4)
There are no shortcuts to the will of God. If we want to share in the glory, we must also share in the suffering
1 Peter 5:10 “10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
Jesus quoted from Deut. 6:13 “13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.”
A kingdom without the cross would be nothing more than gaining a prison!
Many today want the crown without the cross.
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