LESSONS FROM THE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS CHRIST – Sermon Notes for Sun Feb 21, 2010, BY PASTOR MISCHA SAFDIE'
SCRIPTURE READING: MATTHEW 4:1-11
OPENING COMMENTS: JESUS, IN DEALING WITH THE ISSUE OF PERSECUTION, SAID THAT NO SLAVE IS GREATER THAN HIS MASTER. THIS NOT ONLY IS TRUE IN THE AREA OF PERSECUTION BUT IN THE AREAS OF TEMPTATION. JESUS HIMSELF, AFTER BEING BAPTIZED, WAS LED UP BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED. IN THE SAME WAY, WE ARE NOT ABOVE TEMPTATION. BUT THERE ARE MANY THINGS OF VALUE WE CAN LEARN WHEN WE READ ABOUT JESUS’S OWN EXPERIENCE. WE CAN LEARN HOW OUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL WORKS AND HOW JESUS OVERCAME THE TEMPTATIONS. THE FACT IS, THAT JESUS “SET ASIDE” HIS DIETY IN A SENSE, FOR THE MOMENT, ALTHOUGH HE WAS GOD. HE ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE TEMPTED AS A MAN. COULD HE HAVE SINNED AND GIVEN IN? I AM SURE THERE ARE MANY OPINIONS TO THIS QUESTION, BUT BELIEVE SO OR THE SPIRIT WOULD NOT HAVE LED HIM INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED IN THE FIRST PLACE AND SATAN WOULD NOT HAVE TEMPTED HIM. LETS READ ABOUT IT AND THEN COMMENT.
VS 1 – IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE HERE THAT JESUS WAS LED UP BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL. THIS IS WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS. CAN WE ALSO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO A WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED? YES. IT IS NOT GOD THAT TEMPTS. NOTICE THAT JESUS WAS TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL…NOT BY GOD. BUT GOD WILL SOMETIMES “ALLOW” THE DEVIL TO TEMPT FOR THE SIMPLE REASONS THAT HE IS THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN AND GOES BEFORE GOD DAY AND NIGHT ACCUSING US. THIS WAS ALSO THE CASE WITH JOB. HE WAS RIGHTEOUS AND SATAN SAW THAT BUT CHALLENGED GOD THAT IF SATAN WAS ALLOWED TO STRIP HIM OF ALL HE HAD, THAT JOB WOULD CURSE HIM TO HIS FACE. SO SATAN WAS ALLOWED TO TEST AND TEMPT JOB. WHEN JOB WAS AFFLICTED, SATAN WAS ALLOWED TO BRING THIS TEST TO HIM BECAUSE GOD WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL FROM JOB AND HE FOUND IT. SOMETIMES WE ARE ALLOWED TO BE TEMPTED AND TESTED SO THAT:
1). GOD CAN REVEAL HIMSELF TO US.
2). WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT OUR STRENGTH TO RESIST AND OVERCOME SATAN IS, IN FACT, IMPOSSIBLE IN OURSELVES BUT CAN ONLY COME FROM GOD.
3). WE OURSELVES CAN KNOW WHAT IS REALLY IN OUR HEARTS AND WHERE WE STILL NEED TO GROW.
4). WE UNDERSTAND THE REALITY OF A VERY REAL DEVIL THAT SEEKS TO DESTROY.
5). GOD SENDS HIS ANGELS TO MINISTER TO US ALSO.
VS 2 – NOTICE THAT JESUS HAD FASTED 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS. WITH FASTING IS USUALLY PRAYER. IN THOSE TIMES A SPIRITUAL BATTLE IS RAGING. NOTICE I SAID “SPIRITUAL”. WE REMEMBER IN DANIEL WHERE HE FASTED AND PRAYED AND THE ANSWER WAS WITHHELD FOR 40 DAYS BECAUSE OF A VERY REAL BATTLE THAT WAS TAKING PLACE OVER THE ANSWER TO HIS PRAYERS. A WAR WAS GOING ON BETWEEN THE ANGELIC FORCES AND DEMONIC FORCES. BUT IN THE END THE ANGELS OF GABRIEL AND MICHAEL PREVAILED. THE POINT IS THAT SOMETIMES IN THE MIDST OF PRAYER AND FASTING, A REAL BATTLE WITH THE DEVIL AND HIS FORCES TAKES PLACE IN THE REALM OF SPIRIT AND THAT CAN BE WHEN WE ARE HIT THE HARDEST, BUT IT IS ALSO A TIME FOR PREVAILING AND FOR VICTORY AS IN BOTH THE CASE OF JESUS AND DANIEL.
VS 3 – WE SEE THAT JESUS’S FIRST TEMPTATION WAS “HUNGER”. IT WAS IN DEALING WITH JESUS’S IMMEDIATE NEED. HE HAD JUST FASTED 40 DAYS IN A WILDERNESS AND WAS STARVING. IMMEDIATELY SATAN APPEARED AND WHERE DID HE LAY HIS FIRST TEMPTATION OF JESUS? IT WAS IN THE AREA OF HIS MOST IMMEDIATE NEED….IN THIS CASE THE NEED FOR FOOD. IN THIS CASE SATAN WAS TRYING TO TEMPT JESUS TO MISUSE HIS AUTHORITY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS…TO USE THEM IN DESPERATION RATHER THAN TRUSTING GOD. REMEMBER HOW GOD HAD GIVEN MOSES A STAFF AND WITH THAT STAFF HE COULD STRIKE A ROCK AND CAUSE WATER TO FLOW FROM IT? BUT ONCE IN FRUSTRATION MOSES STRUCK THE STAFF TO A ROCK AND WATER FLOWED. YET BECAUSE HIS SPIRIT WAS WRONG AT THE TIME AND HE ACTED IN DESPERATION AND IN FRUSTRATION, HIS OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER INTO THE PROMISE LAND WAS WITHHELD. WHAT IS YOUR MOST IMMEDIATE NEED RIGHT NOW? IS IT FOOD, MAYBE MONEY? KNOW THAT AS YOU FAST AND PRAY TO GET YOUR ANSWERS LEGITIMATELY FROM GOD, HE MAY ALLOW SATAN TO TEST YOU AND TEMPT YOU IN ORDER TO SHOW YOU WHAT IS REALLY IN YOUR HEART REGARDING THOSE MATTERS. GOD MAY WANT YOU TO SEE WHETHER YOU ARE REALLY TRUSTING HIM FOR THE ANSWER OR NOT. WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE AND THINGS REALLY GET TOUGH, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? WILL YOU REACT IN YOURSELF…DO WHAT JESUS COULD HAVE DONE AND JUST TURN STONES INTO BREAD ON YOUR OWN….FIND YOUR OWN WAY? OR WILL YOU TRUST GOD THROUGH HIS WORD TO SUPPLY YOUR NEED?
VS 4 – JESUS HAD AN ANSWER FOR THE DEVIL AND THE PRINCIPLE IS ONE WE SHOULD ALWAYS FOLLOW. WHEN THE DEVIL COMES TO TEMPT YOU, YOU NEED TO KNOW FIRST OF ALL WHAT THE WORD OF GOD SAYS ABOUT YOUR SITUATION. JESUS RESPONDED TO THE DEVIL BY SAYING “IT IS WRITTEN”. WE MUST LEARN TO DO THE SAME.
THERE IS A SONG I LIKE IN THIS REGARD CALLED “THROUGH IT ALL”. ONE OF THE VERSES GOES LIKE THIS:
So I thank God for the mountains
And I thank Him for the valleys
I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through
Cause if I never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them
I wouldn't know what faith in His Word could do.
FAITH IN HIS WORD…GOD’S WORD. THAT IS HOW JESUS PREVAILED.
VS 5- 6 – WE SHOULD KNOW THAT WHEN ONE TEMPTATION DOES NOT WORK, SATAN DOES NOT ALWAYS GIVE UP. HE IS A DIRTY FIGHTER WHO DOES NOT QUIT AND IF HE CANNOT GET TO YOU ONE WAY, HE WILL TRY ANOTHER. SATAN NEXT SURROUNDS CHRIST IN THE MOST RELIGIOUS ATMOSPHERE HE CAN…THE HOLY MOUNTAIN AND PINACLE OF THE TEMPLE. THEN IN A “RELIGIOUS MOMENT” HE TRIES TO LEAD HIM INTO ERROR…AND ESSENTIAL SUICIDE, SUGGESTING TO HIM THAT IF HE CAST HIMSELF DOWN THE ANGELS SHOULD PROTECT HIM.
1). NOTICE THAT SATAN DID SOMETHING CLEVER. HE SAW THAT IN THE FIRST TEMPTATION HE HAD FAILED BECAUSE JESUS USED THE WORD OF GOD AGAINST HIM. DURING THIS CURRENT SECOND TEMPTATION, HOWEVER, HE COMES AT JESUS WITH THE WORD ITSELF AND TWISTS THE WORD OF GOD, MISREPRESENTING ITS TRUE MEANING AND INTENT TO TRY TO DECEIVE AND ENTICE JESUS TO FALL FOR HIS TRICK AND ESSENTIALLY EITHER MISUSE HIS POWERS OR FALL TO HIS DEATH. HE CLEARLY TRIED TO LEAD JESUS INTO ERROR…SOMETHING WE MUST ALL CONTINUE TO GUARD AGAINST. THANK GOD THAT JESUS KNEW THE WORD AND ANSWERED SATAN CORRECTLY. HE AGAIN SAYS “IT IS WRITTEN” AND TELLS SATAN THE TRUTH…THAT YOU DO NOT PUT THE LORD GOD TO THE TEST (UNLESS HE SAYS ITS OK AS IN THE CASE OF GIVING TITHES AND OFFERINGS IN THE BOOK OF MALACHI). THINK ABOUT HOW SATAN HAS DECEIVED MANY SUICIDE CULTS AND THE MEMBERS WERE LITERALLY KILLED OR COMMITTED SUICIDE BASED ON LEADERS MISLEADING THEIR GROUP THROUGH TWISTING AND MISREPRESENTING THE SCRIPTURES. BROTHERS AND SISTERS, BE CAREFUL NOT TO TAKE THE WORD OF GOD OUT OF CONTEXT AND THEREFORE MAKE WRONG PRESUMPTIONS. THERE IS A GREAT AND DANGEROUS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEGITIMATE FAITH AND THE ERROR OF PRESUMPTION.
VS 7 – AS NOTED ABOVE, JESUS AGAIN COMBATS THE DEVIL WITH THE WORD OF GOD. KNOW THE WORD, BROTHERS AND SISTERS. I COULD NOT OVERSTATE THIS FACT…THAT IN ORDER TO SURVIVE THE DAYS AHEAD OF US WE MUST BE PEOPLE OF GOD’S WORD.
VS 8-9 – FINALLY WE SEE SATAN’S PLAN REVEALED. HE IS SAYING “IF I CAN’T KILL HIM, MAYBE I CAN GET HIM TO JOIN ME.” AND SATAN WORKS VERY MUCH THAT WAY TODAY. THIS IS ESPECIALLY THE CASE AMONG CHRISTIANS, BECAUSE SATAN HAS NO POWER TO TAKE THE LIFE OF A SAVED PERSON UNLESS PERHAPS THAT PERSON WALKS OUT FROM UNDER THE COVERING OF THE LORD. YET FOR THE MOST PART I BELIEVE THAT IF WE DIE, IT IS IN GOD’S TIMING. SATAN CANNOT KILL YOU IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST. SO WHAT DOES HE DO? HE SHOWED JESUS ALL THE RICHES AND WEALTH OF THE WORLD AND SAID, “HERE. I WILL GIVE IT ALL TO YOU. IT’S YOURS, IF YOU JUST BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP ME.” AND IT WAS SATAN’S WEALTH AND GLORY TO GIVE FOR AT THIS TIME HE HAD NOT BEEN DEFEATED ON THE CROSS YET AND WAS VERY MUCH AND STILL IS THE “GOD OF THIS WORLD”. HE IS NOT “OUR GOD” THOUGH THROUGH THE VICTORY OF JESUS ON THE CROSS AND, BECAUSE ALTHOUGH WE ARE IN THE WORLD, WE ARE NOT OF IT.
SATAN OFFERS JESUS EVERYTHING. IN THIS CASE THE TEMPTATION WAS THAT OF WEALTH AND MATERIALISM. HOW MANY HAVE LITERALLY “SOLD THEIR SOULS TO THE DEVIL” IN ORDER TO OBTAIN WEALTH, STATUS AND MATERIALISM? IT STILL HAPPENS EVERYDAY. SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ALSO WALK IN THE DARK SOCIETY OF THE OCCULT AND WITCHCRAFT. THE QUESTION IS, DO WE OPENLY HAVE TO WORSHIP THE DEVIL TO SELL OUR SOULS TO HIM? PERHAPS NOT. HOW MANY BY MERE TEMPTATION, CHOOSE WHAT SEEMS LIKE THE “EASY WAY” OF THE DEVIL TO GET WHAT THEY WANT RATHER THAN THE WAY OF CHRIST? SOME, FOR INSTANCE, SELL DRUGS FOR MONEY INSTEAD OF TRUSTING GOD TO PROVIDE. SOME GO OUT AND COMMIT ADULTRY AND FORNICATION TO GAIN A RELATIONSHIP RATHER THAN ASKING GOD TO SEND THEM THE RIGHT PERSON. IS THAT NOT “SELLING YOUR SOUL” TO THE DEVIL IN ORDER TO GET WHAT YOU WANT?
VS 10 – JESUS AGAIN RESISTS THE DEVIL BY USE OF THE WORD OF GOD, STATING TO HIM “IT IS WRITTEN”.
VS 11 – FINALLY, THE DEVIL LEAVES. ONE BIBLE TRANSLATION READS THAT THE DEVIL LEFT “UNTIL AN OPPORTUNE TIME”. SO WE KNOW SATAN IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A TIME WHEN WE HAVE OUR GUARD DOWN TO RETURN AND TRY AGAIN. THAT IS WHY WE MUST BE AWARE, AWAKE AND ON GUARD. THAT IS WHY WE MUST KNOW THE WORD OF GOD.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT THE ANGELS THEN CAME TO JESUS TO MINISTER TO HIM. ANGELS ARE MINISTERING SPIRITS AND WE ALSO HAVE ANGELS ASSIGNED TO GUARD AND PROTECT US. ALL OF JESUS NEEDS WERE MET BY MINISTERING ANGELS SENT BY GOD ONCE HE HAD COMPLETED HIS TIME OF TESTING AND TEMPTATION. THIS WAS ALSO THE CASE WITH DANIEL IN THAT ANGELS CAME TO MINISTER BOTH TO HIM AND TO INTERVENE IN HIS PRAYERS. GOD USES ANGELS AND THEY ARE ON ASSIGNMENT IN OUR LIVES TOO.
CONCLUSION: WHEN TEMPTATIONS COME, THIS IS THE TIME TO GET CLOSER TO GOD AND TO BE PEOPLE OF HIS WORD. WE HAVE THE VICTORY IN THE WORD OF GOD. THE TRUTHS AND ALL THE PROVISIONS ARE THERE. WE JUST NEED TO KNOW THEM AND USE THEM. THE BIBLE SAYS, “MY PEOPLE PERISH BECAUSE OF A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE.” YOU SEE, JESUS KNEW THE ANSWERS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THE DEVIL AND THAT THEY WERE THROUGH FAITH IN GOD BY THE WORD OF GOD. THIS IS HOW HE BEAT THE DEVIL TIME AND TIME AGAIN. IT IS HOW WE WILL PREVAIL ALSO.
MAY THE LORD BLESS THIS WORD TO YOUR HEARTS.
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PASTOR MISCHA SAFDIE’
GATEWAY OF REFUGE CHURCH
