Jesus in the Wilderness:
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Good morning Last week we talk about the Baptism of Jesus Christ, and how Baptism was important. this week we are going to be looking at the time where Jesus spends about 40 days out in the wilderness, fasting, praying to God. Also being tempted by Satan. from this time we come to see that Christ also had struggle like us. as we come to know Christ this allows us as Christian’s to know who God is John 14:6-7
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
the only way to know who God is through his son Jesus Christ. this allow us to move forward with today’s sermon. this allow us to look at what is happening in the wilderness.
What is the Journey into the Wilderness:
What is the Journey into the Wilderness:
one of the few things that give us Christian’s hope is that we have savior who is very much like us. Jesus Christ knows about weakness of the flesh that mankind has to deal with. Jesus himself was tempted during his time out in the Wilderness. so let’s turn in our Bibles to Mt 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, 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 shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
One of the first things we notice about this part of Jesus Christ life is that this happen right after his baptism. the thing about being Baptism does not keep us from sinning against God. we understand that Sin is part of human nature. from this point in our life as a christian we come to understand that once we acknowledge the sin, we can therefore go to God for forgiveness, as long as we repent from the sin. we now understand that after we are baptized into Christ we under God protection as long as we live according to his standards. Lets turn in our Bibles to 1st Cor 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Once we are Christians and living according to God standards we come to realize that God provides many ways out of temptations in our daily life. We on the other must come to recognized the sin and decide to repent or change our ways in order receive forgiveness. Also as Christians we must come to understand that these temptations are trials for us to overcome. this allows to look at Heb 13:5-6.
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”
From just couple of verse here in Hebrews we come to see that the author makes it clear on how early Christians need to be content with things in this life, not covet anything out of greed. Now once we become a Christian we come to have hope, and confidence in our God, because we come understand that God never leaves nor forsakes his people. As Christians come to understand that we can go to God with our struggles in our life. Now lets focus back on Christ journey into the wilderness. this was no ordinary journey into the wilderness. this was battle between Good and Evil. this was no ordinary battle. The son of God Jesus Christ was up against the Devil, the ruler of this world. Satan job was to test Christ or induce him into sin.
13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
we come to understand that this was Jesus on trial against Satan. which leads to understand who the opponent was. Jesus was up against Satan who rebel against God the Father. we come to understand that Jesus was recently baptized. We also understand that even God had acknowledge Jesus Christ as his son. The baptism of Jesus Christ mark the beginning of Jesus Christ personal ministry. Where as his opponent had experience within the world and known as the prince of darkness. lets turn in our Bibles to 2nd Cor 4:4
2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.
As Christians we come to understand that there are two kinds of walks in this life. depending on our decisions will reflect on ourselves when we come to the throne of God. Let us turn in our Bible to Eph 2:2
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
it really comes back on us, on how we live. rather we live according to pleasure of this life, and walk in the darkness of sin, or we walk in the light of God and his teachings. one of the hardest things to deny in this life is our own desire of our hearts. which we come to understand that as Christians we are at war in a spiritual sense compared to a physical senses. Lets turn in our Bibles to Eph 6:12
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Like Jesus Christ we are in a spiritual battle for our souls. As Christians we come to understand that Satan is going to come after us hard because we chose to follow a life of righteousness. As Christians we understand that we can not win this battle without God. which lead us to the significance of this spiritual battle between Jesus Christ and Satan. this does not have by chance nor was this an accident. lets turn in our Bible to Mt 4:1
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Jesus was lead by the spirit to do this, and the Devil had to show off his power. This was part of a Divine plan. if you think about think about Jobs life for a moment. Satan went to God, and basically told him that mankind is never going to love you. God on the other hand told Satan look at my servant Job, he has been faithful his entry life. we come to understand that Satan says I can change that. Here we come to see now that Satan is going to Jesus, as he try in the past to test Job. see when it comes to the devil many people would love it if came to us in a red suit, a pitchfork, and horns. Satan has been roaming this earth since the creation, his a master at temptation. Satan will use every trick in his book in order to bring people way from God. to convict them as criminals. He does not dress up in a red suit, with a Pitchfork, and have horns. He comes to us to deceive us. Let us turn in our Bibles to 2nd Cor 11:13-15
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
Ladies and gentlemen, Satan is going try very hard to bring us away from God. even Paul warns us on how Satan appears to please the people. Satan comes as Angel of light. Christ who at this time is newly born who manages to overcome these temptations. As Christians ourselves we must really reflect on how we act in public, how we speak to each other, and how we love those who are lost in this world of darkness.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
As Christians we come to understand like Christ who had to bear everyone’s sins on the cross, we to have our own trials to face, and how we respond to them will reflect when we come to the throne of God. how we live our life according to the world standards or according to the standards of God. we all have fallen short in the glory of the Father Rom 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
As Christians we see that Jesus was very similar to us, he to had to deal with the flesh, and its weakness. Turn in your Bibles to 1st John 2:16
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
As Christians should not be seeking out worldly gain but more of Spiritual gain. if we as Christians love the world more than God, then the love of God is not in us. the things of the world are things of the flesh, and how we interact with this these will reflect on us as Christian’s. We will be talking about the three temptations that Christ had to endure, and how he overcame them next week. Learning about Christ is important for us. We have to understand who he is, in order to know who God is. John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
I may not know what your trials may be in this Life, but i do know who does, and that he will provide way to escape 1st Cor 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
From this verse here in Paul reminds Christians about how we may be tempted in this life, and that we must overcome Sin desire within our hearts, think about Cain before he murder his brother Abel, God had warn him about Sin and its desire for us in Gen 4:6-7
6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Sin is a tool that Satan uses to attack all Christians, from the old testament he try’s to prove that Mankind is faithful, then here in the New Testament try’s to tempt Christ into sinning against God. Satan is a spiritual being roams around like beast seeking out those who are weak in the faith so that he may devour them. Lets turn in our Bibles to 1st Peter 5:8
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
This is who we as Christians are up against in this life. God and Christ fought him overcome him. We as Christians must endure his taunting and trying to separate us from God. I may not know the trials you face daily in your lives, but I know being who does know. He provides for us. I also know that there is going to be day he will return, it could be any day or 100 years from now. If you are struggling in this life, or if you are wanting to come to repentance’s to be forgiven for your sins please come forward as we stand and sing.