Temptation of Jesus

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Philippians 4

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

Matthew

We are starting a new sermon series today, and for the next 11 weeks, we will be in the book of Matthew going through certain passages

And since there are 28 chapters in Matthew and many of them, lengthy

We wont be able to cover every chapter - but we do believe that every word of every line of every sentence of every paragraph, of every chapter, within this book of matthew is important

Yes, even the geneology of Jesus

And so we will either be reading or touching on sections that may not be expounded upon - just like we have done today

Because when we come to church on Sunday to worship and give glory to God, we praising and proclaiming that Jesus is King!

Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

And this is exactly what we find in the book of Matthew

Matthew writes this account of Jesus’ life and ministry in a way that magnifies Jesus being the King of Kings

Matthew, who used to be a tax collector, writes in his own account in Matthew 9 that he was one who is lumped in with sinners

That the King of Kings - the one who is to fulfill all of the old testament prophecy

The one who comes from the line of King David

He is a different kind of King

He is not the king that everyone - including his own disciples thought he would be

He didnt come to conquer and overthrow the roman empire

Rather he came to conquer sin and death

And this King Jesus is different in the way he talks to people, teaches people,

He is different in the ways that he responds to unconventional circumstances

While Jesus did hunger, he thirst, he got tired, he bled, he sweat

He was diffent because he wasnt fully man - born from Adam with dead spiritual state

Rather he was fully man and he was fully God

He was man and he was divine

In Romans 5:12-21 we find the death in Adam but life is in Jesus Christ

And Romans 5:18-19 says this, 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

We see a difference that were Adam fell and brought condemnation for all people

Jesus came, lived and died, so that all can be justified through him

And today we are going to see the difference betweens Adams disobedience and Jesus’ obedience

As we look at the temptation of Jesus, we will see major differences that magnify Jesus as the King of Kings

Tension Point

And as we look at the temptation of Jesus - it is my hope, prayer, and exhortation for us that we have a true and sincere desire to follow Jesus

Jesus who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords - is worth following

There is a novel series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians

It was one of my favorite series to read growing up as it pertained to adventure and greek mythology

And the Premise is that Percy Jackson is a demi-God of the greek god Poseidon

That Poseidon had Percy because Percy’s mom was human

And so the books go through how he discovers this, and that he has power, and that there is a camp where demi-gods train

And in the course of the book - Percy embarks on a mission with some friends to recover Zeuses stolen lightning bolt

And Percy only had a certain amount of days to recover the lightning bolt before a war started amongst the gods

And in Percys adventure - he is looking for a pearl that is suppossed to be in the Lotus Hotel and Casino

When they enter the hotel and casino - they see all of these cool games, rollercoasters, and other activities

And they are offered a “lotus flower” to eat

Although Percy sensed that something was wrong, against his better judgement, he and his friends each ate one

And as it turns out, the lotus flowers puts them in a trance where the games, rollercoasters, and other activities are so appealing that they say “I think we have time for one game”

And one leads to another - and being constantly fed the lotus flower from the hotel staff - Percy and his friends stay there

And Percy started noticing something weird about the place - that there are people in there who believe that the date is some day in the 1980’s and as he starts to come out of the trance - Poseidence voice gets in his head not to eat the flower

Percy fights to not eat anymore flowers, finds the pearl, and has to get his friends out

And when they do - they find out that although they were only in there for three hours - 5 days had ellapsed in the outside world

And now they only had a limited time to complete their mission

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ - we have a mission

And as we are on mission - there is one who stands to oppose us

And while he may not be able to snatch away your salvation

His aim is to get you off mission - and to get get you enthralled with the ways of the world

To get you enthralled with the ways of man

He does not want you following or being obedient to the King of Kings

And so he will say and do things to entice you away from Christ

Away from his likeness and image

He does not want you to look and act like Christ

And as we go through todays sermon - I want to encourage you to look at yourself and examine in what ways have you been living off mission

In what ways have you not followed Christ?

In what ways have you been enticed, deceived, and lived outside of Christs likeness and image?

Because we know, that at the end of the day Jesus has done the hard work,

Jesus has done what we have failed to do

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,

Matthew 4:1–11 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “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 bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall 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 glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 4:1–11.

This is the Word of the Lord - You may now be seated

Dismissing God

Immediately we find a key difference between the temptation of Adam and the temptation of Jesus

When Adam was tempted in the garden, he was living in abundance

God had said you can eat from any tree except one

You have all that you need

Jesus on the other hand, has been fasting for fourty days

Jesus is hungry and is coming from a place of physical lacking

And yet, while these two are experiencing temptation in different ccircumstances, the temptation itself is still the same

God gave a specific command - “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

And what Satan starts off doing is casting doubt on God

When the serpent approached Eve, the serpant said “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

Did God actually say this? Is this actually true?

In the same way, we see in the baptism of Jesus that God audibly spoke and he said this - “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

And Satan approaches Jesus and tries to cast doubt on what God had said

Satan starts off by saying, “If you are the son man”

Satan is trying to cast doubt in order for the doubt to lead to questioning and testing

Satan tempted Adam and Eve to test God by eating from the tree and seeing if what he said is true

And Satan looks at Jesus and says lets test and see if its true, lets see if you really are the son of God

And even though Jesus is hungry and Jesus had the power to turn the rocks into bread - he understands what Satan really means here -

Satan is telling Jesus to break his fast, to show his power, take control and authority as the Son of God

Satan tempted Adam and Eve to be like God, here is outright telling Jesus to take over for God

Satan is telling Jesus to disobey God and to distrust in his plan, take matters into your own hand

And Jesus responds: “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

Deuteronomy 8:3 - The Israelites are wondering in the wilderness and now they are being exhorted to trust in God

Is this not the response of Jesus’ life!?

Willful submission and trust in the word of God and in the plan of God the Father

Jesus tell Satan that we do not need to test God because we trust in every word that comes out of his mouth

We trust in his promises, we trust in his warnings, we trust the word of his plan!

Testing God

What we the find with Adam and Eve, is that they were promised knowledge

Satan said 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.”

And in the same way - Satan tempts Jesus to have knowledge over faith

Ok Jesus, I know you trust in what God says

I know you trust God for your substanance and protection - well God says “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

So since God has said this, go ahead and throw yourself down and lets know for sure that you are the Son of God

Jesus you dont have to display your power, but lets see if God will display his power and keep his word

And Jesus responds “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’

As we look at this, what makes this a sin is not living by faith - but living by knowledge and using knowledge to control

Satan took God’s word and tempts Jesus not to live by faith but to live by knowledge

Jesus knows that if he were to jump, it would be a jump to force God to act

It would be a jump for God to prove that he cared for Jesus

But then the people will see and believe in Christ - not becuase of who he is

But because of the wonder that had occurred

Not because of faith, but because of knowledge

And because of this knowledge, Jesus would be lifted on a pedistool and exalted with prestige

And this is directly contrary to the entire reason as to why Jesus came

Jesus didnt come for prestige - he came in humility to love, serve, and give his life for the very people that would say cricify him

When Jesus says do not put the Lord your God to the test - He is saying do not test the glory of God

Dont try to know everything - rather, to have faith is to humble yourself to the glory of God

Jesus is not about to test the Father or test his glory - Jesus knows and understands why he came and he is sticking to his mission

Round 3 -

When Adam Eve took Satans deception and weighed it against God’s word, they were essentially becomming the judge

They were already elevating themselves over God’s word

They bowed to Satan when believed Satan over God’s word

And in the third temptation Satan takes Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. and he said “ “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

And on the surface, this doesnt even really seem like a temptation

Like these dont even belong to you

Jesus is promised the earth by God the Father already

How is round 3 any harder than the first and second?

Can’t Satan do better?

But in reality - what Satan is telling Jesus - Is that Jesus can have the world now, without having to die on the cross

Jesus you do not have to be spat on, you do not have to endure the full wrath of God

Just bow down - worship me - and save yourself from death

And in the humaness of Jesus - knowing what he has to go through - what he will have to endure

Just this one shortcut can save him from all of that - that is the temptation

But Jesus responds with a command “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’

And I love what happens next

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Application

Distrusting God

What happened in the garden in Genesis 3, what happened here in Matthew 4, happens to us today

If you have professed faith in Christ Jesus you are under attack

It could be subtle, it could be glaring, but nothing would please Satan more than for you

A person who believes in Jesus

Who follows Jesus

Who proclaims Jesus - to stumble - to distract you from your mission

He wants you to live in a trance that justifies your sin

And it always starts with “did God really say”?

Do you really believe and trust in what God has said

Matthew 5:28 “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Did Jesus really mean that? Is it really adultery?

Philippians 4:6–7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Does he really give a peace that surpasses all understanding?

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Is God really going to supply my needs?

Satan would have you distrust everything God says, to distrust his plans, to distrust his perfect and holy attributes

And when we question God - we tend to try to take things into our own hands

Well its not like I’m sleeping with that woman - its just a peek and a thought

Well God hasnt answered my prayer the way Iv’e wanted, why should I continue to pray?

God you will understand if I dont tithe, right? you know my financial situation right now?

We are tempted in so many ways to distrust God and to take matters into our own hands

To try to take control away from God - and rather than following Christ - to try to lead in our own way

And then we try to justify it - we assume that God will be ok with it and by that very assumption

We assume that we are righteous - that we are glorified

Knowledge Over faith / Control over God’s glory

Second, be on guard to not seek knowledge that leads to control or glory

When we seek knowledge it can bring a false security where we are less dependent on God

This false sense of security leads to a person thinking they have control

This false sense of security leads to a person thinking that they have prestige

This false sense of security leads to a person taking scripture out of context and applying it for personal gain

We follow God by faith - God doesnt follow us by our knowledge

Our faith is testament to our submission to him and his glory - never should the glory be directed to us

There are no Shortcuts

There are no shortcuts or tricks to following Christ

Let go of any ambition to advance yourself past humility, servanthood, and love

There is temptation to take sin and make it less severe than what it really is

There is temptation to justify

There is temtation to ignore, to reject,

What did Jesus do when faced with temptation? He quoted scripture!

There are no shortcuts with the word of God

There is no level of ambition that allows you to disregard or lessen anything that the Word of God says

Rather we are called to the mission of daily, sacrificial, faithful, living.

We are called to obedience in following Jesus

Salvation

In the same way - there are no shortcuts to get to heaven

There is no amount of personal glory or gain that you can do to deserve heaven

Rather - it is the the conplete and total faith and trust in Jesus alone for salvation

Jesus is the one who has done what we could not

Jesus is the one who lived a perfect life

Jesus lived, loved, served, to the point of death on a cross for you and me

Jesus conquered sin and death by arising from the grave

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through faith in Jesus

If you are not following Jesus - there will be a time to give your life to Christ today

If you are following him - I encourage you to pray and ask where you may be falling into temptation

To ask for forgiveness of your sin - The word of God says that God is faithful to forgive the sins of his people

We believe that - ask for forgiveness - turn away from that sin - and follow the glory of Christ