YouTube Link
Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Matthew 4:1-11 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 will 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.
Into the Wilderness
Last week’s sermon was on the baptism of Jesus. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. As Jesus came out of the water the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and God spoke from heaven and saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” This was the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry, a tremendous beginning, a spiritual high point. We would expect this auspicious event to be followed by something else equally impressive. We wouldn’t expect the next event to be Jesus being led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil but that is exactly what happens.
This will often happen to us also. A spiritual high is often followed by temptation. Satan can’t stand for us to grow close to God; he is always trying to lead us away from God, to separate us from God, to keep us from growing closer to our Savior.
Jesus spends forty days without food, wandering in the wilderness, pondering and praying over His mission that will lead to the cross. When He is at His weakest and most vulnerable point the devil comes and suggests ways to fulfill His mission that wouldn’t involve the cross. Satan’s ways are those of self-interest but each time Jesus answered with a way not of self-interest but of sacrificial love which did indeed lead to the cross.
Satan first attacked Jesus’ identity. IF you are the Son of God… Yes, God had affirmed Jesus as His Son but that was now forty days ago, Jesus had been fasting this entire time and is undoubtedly weak with hunger. It’s a perfect time for Satan to attack. Often his attacks come when we are at our weakest and our most vulnerable. So don’t be surprised when in a time of trouble Satan tempts you. Just as Satan attacked Jesus’ identity so will he attack ours. “You’re not good enough to be a child or God.” “God can never forgive you.” “You’re not a good Christian, why don’t you just forget about following God.” Stand firm. These words will never come from God, only from the devil.
Next Satan said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” In addition to an attack on His identity it is also a temptation for Jesus to use His power to satisfy His own needs rather than trusting in God to provide. Jesus answers Satan’s first attack by quoting from Deuteronomy 8, verse 3. “Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Jesus trusts God to provide what is needed.
Each test from Satan tempts Jesus to turn from trust in God in a different way. The second temptation tests God’s faithfulness. Satan says make God prove you can trust Him. Satan quoted scripture but deliberately distorted its meaning. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will lift you up, in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'” Jesus replies, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Jesus is not fooled when Satan twists scripture for his own use. How many times in history has the Christian message been twisted by those seeking their own ends rather than God’s purpose? It is always wise to consider the whole counsel of scripture and not just pick out the verses we like or that support our position. Likewise, do not be fooled by those who quote verses out of context or those who distort Jesus’ message. Many today who say they are Christians are not. Always look to their actions, not just their words.
For the third test, the devil offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would fall down and worship him. Satan offered Jesus a way to win the world other than the cross. Jesus knew He could not defeat evil by compromising with evil. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came to reconcile humanity to God. He would go to the cross for that was His mission. Jesus says, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.'” Jesus emerges from his trials confirmed in his identity and purified and strengthened for his mission.
Note that in each case, Jesus answers the devil’s temptations with scripture, a good strategy that we can follow but remember, we can’t answer temptations with scripture unless we have first spent time in scripture, studying it, learning it, memorizing it. Hebrews 4 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Heb 4:12) Scripture is a sword that we can wield in our battle to avoid temptation.
We all face temptations in life. Have you ever thought about how true the Lays® Potato Chips slogan is? “You can’t eat just one.” How true that can be for potato chips and many other things. We get a taste of something and one is never enough. Most of us don’t have enough self-control not to give in to temptation. We start out with one chip and one becomes two, two become five and before we know it we’ve eaten the whole bag of chips. What holds for potato chips holds for other foods and many other things. One just never seems to be enough. Temptation is real and it is hard!
How many of you know the hymn, “Before the Throne of God Above”? it isn’t new, it was written in 1863. I was surprised it’s not in our hymnal! The second verse says, “When Satan tempts me to despair, And tells me of the guilt within, Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin.” When we are tempted to give up, to despair, when our sins seem too great for God to forgive us we need to turn to Jesus, remember that He willingly went to the cross to die for our sins so we could be forgiven. Satan lies when he tells us we are guilty for in Jesus Christ we have been declared innocent, God has put our sins are far as the east is from the west, we have been washed white as snow. Conviction of sin comes from the Holy Spirit, guilt comes from Satan.
Not all temptation is about things we want. It can also be a temptation not to trust God, not to believe in His ultimate goodness. Has the devil ever whispered any of these lies to you? “God let your loved one die or He let you get sick or He let you get injured.” Then it’s followed by, “You can’t trust God, turn away from Him.” There are times in life when it can be hard to trust God. Ask a child or woman whose been abused about trusting God. The devil says, “He stood by and let this happen to you. God is not good and cannot be trusted.” It can be very easy to believe this lie when something like this is in your background. Again, stand firm. As it says in James, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Let’s look at our Old Testament text for a moment. It’s a familiar text to all of us, Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent and they give in. It’s not so much about eating the forbidden fruit as it is about trusting God. The serpent called into question God’s goodness and Adam and Eve believed it. They ate the fruit so they could be like God. The temptation was to be self-sufficient, to establish their identity on what they could do apart from God. They broke the relationship that existed between them and God. This is the relationship that Jesus came to restore.
Jesus responds to the devil by refusing to establish his own worth and identity on his own terms but instead remains dependent on God. He trusts in God. Jesus actually confirms His identity as God’s Son by His unwavering trust in God. Jesus knows who he is, by remembering whose he is. Jesus knows He is the Son of God, He remembers He belongs to God. This is something we all need to remember. We know who we are by remembering whose we are. We are the beloved children of God, We belong to God Almighty. We are given this identity by God Himself and nothing can ever take it away from us.
There is an older worship song that fits so well with this sermon titled, ‘We Will Hold On’ It says that we will be tested by the fire, persecuted and reviled maybe, either way there will be trials, we will hold on to God’s love. This is what will strengthen us the most when we face temptation. Hold on to God’s love; remember He has adopted us into His family, we are His beloved children and His love is the strongest force in the universe. Then the song includes a test that wasn’t faced by Jesus in the wilderness but is a test we all face today. “We’ll be tested by the blessing, with all the comforts of the world surrounding. We will not forget the Savior, we will hold on to God’s love. In our materialistic world we may be tested more by the blessings we have than by trials. Our world is so comfortable that one of our greatest temptations today is to forget about God, to think we don’t need a savior. Is that perhaps one of the reasons so many don’t see the need for God, so many have turned away from God and from the church?
This is a mostly older congregation. Many of you have lived through the Great Depression and World War II. You have known uncertain financial times. You remember a time before antibiotics, before vaccines, when children were at a far greater health risk than they are now. There was a time before the polio vaccine when mothers feared for their children every summer when that sickness was at its worst. I remember going to school with children who were crippled by polio, they wore braces on their legs and struggled to walk. I know my children never saw that. We thank God for the progress and ability of modern medicine but, wonderful as it is, has it made our children’s lives so comfortable that they think they don’t need God? Where are our children and grandchildren? They aren’t here in our church. Some worship at other churches but most have decided they don’t need church, they don’t need God. Why? Perhaps the reason is that they have no great need of God, their lives are comfortable; they don’t need to depend on God because they can provide for themselves. Life has become so comfortable they don’t think they need Him. Do not be fooled. We need God in our lives. When temptation comes, hold on to God’s love.
Let us pray: God of strength, your son Jesus withstood many temptations because his love for you was greater than his earthly desires. Make our love for you so strong, that we might withstand anything that threatens to stand between us and your love. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.