Devil in Details; Messiah on Mission

Intro

The devil is in the details!

This is a common phrase that we say. I am specifically think of scammers today. So many out there today.

I received a call last week with someone saying we didn’t pay our CMP energy bill for the church and that they would be shutting off our power today. It was a voicemail. I immediately went into a semi panic. I called Jen who is the treasurer and said “hey, have we been paying our CMP bill?” She said she was pretty sure but she would look into it.

Now, the thing with scammers is the details. And there are small red flags along the way. If you talk to people who have been scammed, they will sometimes say “something didn’t seem right.” or “this one thing made me question everything.”

In the meantime, I called the voicemail number back. It was odd it wasn’t a CMP number. Maybe it was a third party billing department? Just so you know, this is critical mistake number one. I should have called CMP directly and checked on our status. I called them anyway just to see. But the extensions number that was left for me didn’t work. Hmmm...Odd. When i finally got through to the main call center, They said yes, you haven’t been paying your bill. And you would think if someone was calling to settle the bill, they would get you right to the department you needed to go to. But I was transfered three times in just a couple of minutes. Odd. I didn’t give our personal information, I wanted them to give it to me, it seems like they didn’t have it. Odd. Then they told me they had been sending multiple letters to tell us that our bill was still outstanding. I check the mail regularly here, and we never received anything like that. Maybe it got lost in the mail? But all of these small details let me to believe it was a scam. I figured i would hang up and wait to hear back from Jen.

Jen said we were all paid up. Probably a scam.

The problem is the details. They attempt to temp you and pull you away from truth with small deceptions.

This is also how Satan attacks Christians. He attempts to pull us away from God and get us off mission. We must be careful to assess the details in our lives and ensure we are trusting in God’s reign.

You will remember last week we assessed God’s reign, aka, the Kingdom of Heaven, and how John’s message was a message of repentance and submission to God’s reign. We look at a different aspect of God’s reign today. What does it look like to submit to God’s reign in our lives when temptation comes our way? What does temptation look like? How can we overcome it?

When we wonder about Temptation, we look to Jesus for the ultimate example of How we can overcome temptation in our lives.

MAIN POINT: Through temptation, we can trust in God’s reign, we fulfill God’s mission in our lives.

I. Adherence in Physical Details v1-4

First today, we Adherence in the physical details. In adherence, we stick firm to God’s commands and promises. We see this in verses one through four.

We begin this chapter with Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness for the purpose of being tempted by the devil. We remember that this is the Spirit of God that came on him at his baptism in the previous chapter.

Now he is being led by God’s spirit to be tempted? This is odd. But God is able to use temptation for his purposes. God certainly doesn’t tempt people, but he uses temptation for our testing.

Tempting happens from the Evil one, Satan, the Devil, the tempter. He has all of these names given to him in scripture.

He is the supreme enemy of God’s people. He stands to oppose God’s plans and oppose God’s people. He opposes God’s plans by tempting God’s people.

The devil is not an impersonal force behind hot issues like racism, wars, and abuse. He is a person who seeks the demise of God’s people. He roams the earth like a lion, seeking to devour souls.

Let’s talk about temptation a little bit.

It comes from the greek word πειράζω. While we often think of it as enticement to sin, it also means testing worth and character.

This is two sides of the same coin. Think about Job. Satan is tempting, God is using Satan’s tempting to test or prove Job’s character. What Satan attempts in evil with temptation, God uses it for our good.

This is temptation for us, and it is for Jesus as well. In the wilderness, Jesus is going to be tested as God’s son, by the temptation of Satan. God will use Satan’s temptation to prove that he is God’s son.

I want to be clear about temptation. Temptation is not sin. Temptation is the enticement to sin. You do not have to feel guilty about being tempted. The scriptures clearly teach that Christians following God will be tempted. You can follow God, be tempted, and not sin.

Practically, what does this look like?

Maybe you overhear Gossip, and you are tempted to join in in the moment, or share what you heard at a latter time. This is temptation. It would be sin to join in the gossip, or share what you heard with someone else. But for you to overhear and be tempted is not sin.

Maybe consider bitterness. You have been extremely wronged by someone. To work through the intricate emotions of how you are wronged in some level of frustration and even possible anger is not wrong. But to hold onto it, and to not forgive, would be sin.

It isn’t wrong for you to enjoy food or drink, but when they are good, you might be tempted to over induldge into glutany and drunkenness. Is it wrong to eat and enjoy food? No. Is it wrong to drink? No.

Maybe consider finding someone attractive. Is it sinful for you to find someone attractive? No. If you found someone physically attractive, you have not sinned. But this is where temptation can start. You might be tempted to consider this person more, and begin longing for this person, in your heart, having spiritual, mental, emotional, or physical adultery with them. This would be sin.

Jesus is tempted in everyway we are, yet without sin is what Hebrews says.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

This is one of the most encouraging verses to me. To know that trials come and go, and though the trial in my life, the testing, the tempting might seem awful and unbearable, I am not alone. Others, including Jesus, have faced these same things I go through. But God will not let you be tried beyond what you are able, and will give you the strength to resist the Evil one who he has already conquered and is conquering through you. He will make a way so you can endure it, and have success through the Spirit in temptation.

We all know that we will sin though. We all stumble and fall. But we are glad that we can because of Jesus, approach the throne of grace bodly for grace and mercy Hebrews 4 tells us. And as 1 John says, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous one who cleanses us from all sin. We confess our sins and he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us.

Enough of the detour on temptation.

Jesus going into the wilderness is not an anomely in the scriptures. You guessed it, he is fulfilling Old Testament allusions for us. Matthew is setting up an elaborate throwback.

To show you this elaborate throw back, I made this chart.

God’s children, Israel, was his original son, and they spent time in the wilderness. However, the book of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy focus on how they didn’t act like God’s children. They were tested, and did not prove that they were following God. They gave into their temptations. They fail to live up to their name as children of God. But Jesus is different. Israel was meant to be a typolocial sign or prophecy that points forward to Jesus being God’s true son.

But, there is another connection as well. In the temptation of Jesus, we also see a throwback to Adam and Eve in the garden. Adam tested in the bliss of Eden, Jesus tested in similar ways but in the hardship of the wilderness.

Then John discusses how believers conquered Satan through these three temptations. There is a parrallel being set up for us here.

Verse two we see that 40 days and nights that Jesus has been in the wilderness. One author says that this idea of 40 days is pregnant with meaning. I love it when authors say this. And this phrase really is. Think of Elijah, Moses, Israel, Noah, David, Jonah all have ties to this idea of 40.

You are meant to think of Jesus being the picture fulfillment of Israel being in the wilderness.

Jesus has been fasting for this period. While Jesus does command fasting, this 40 day fast is not intended to a practice that Jesus mandates for his followers, but something that was specific for him in the mission of God. But, we are intended to know that Jesus was hungry.

You are ready to chow down after a few hours without a meal, Jesus is really ready to chow down after 40 days.

Jesus is hungry and doesn’t feed himself with his own power, but later uses his power to feed the people. He won’t turn stones into bread for himself, but later, he would be the broken bread for his people.

We can quickly dismiss temptation and say “well, it’s not bad for me.” But we should critically assess our own actions and desires behind what we do and why we do it.

In verse three, we see the tempter come to him and say “If you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread.”

This isn’t the greatest translation in English. Sometimes we get the idea that Satan is testing Jesus to see if he is the son of God, asking for proof. But this is not the way the original language is. Satan is not questioning if he is the son of God, he is assuming he is the Son of God. He is asking what kind of Son of God Jesus would be. How will he fulfill this role as the Son of God? A more clear translation would be “Since you are the son of God, command these stones to become bread.”

The Son of God is a link to 3:17 when God the Father speaks from heaven to declare Jesus to be his Son. Now Satan wants to divert Jesus’s mission. He wants to drive a wedge between God and his son. The devil is in the details.

But Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, responds with the scripture. God’s words.

“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Jesus begins this statement with the words “It is written.”

This is a reminder for us that God’s words are sure, we can trust them, and they are continually relevent for our lives.

We can sometimes thing that God’s words are static and written in the old dusty past. But we remember that God’s words are alive and active, working continually in our lives. These are words that we need for everyday life just like we need bread to sustain us.

God’s Word is for our souls what bread is for the body.

But adherence to trusting God is not always convenient for us. Trusting God to provide for us in one of the most challenging tasks of all. It is an area of my life that I am often weak in.

Of course, God’s word does not fill up our stomachs, but it is a question of priority.

Obedience to God is what we hold as our highest priority. Not meeting our needs. Not fulfilling our desires. Not self-gratification, not even essential gratification.

Before all of this, I am obedient to God. If my needs appear to come before obedience to God, I change my priorities and put obedience to God first and primary.

Rather than trusting God, Israel demanded bread and died in the wilderness. Jesus denied himself bread, retained righteousness through his obedience to God, and faithfully submitted to God’s reign to fulfill his mission.

This is a question of what we think we need for our lives to be happy, blessed, and content. If only I just had ____________ fill in the blank. If i only had this one thing, my life would be better. If I only could keep this one thing, my life would be better.

Rather than considering what we think we need, we trust God and that his word is sufficient for us. And we trust in his word for our contentment.

II. Assurance through Deceptive Details v5-7

Next, we see the assurance through deceptive details. We see this in verses 5 through 7.

In verse 5, the devil takes him to Jerusalem, and to the pinnacle of the temple.

Then the Devil, seeing Jesus’s power in using scripture, decides to try his hand at using scripture.

He tells Jesus to jump from the height of the temple, because of Psalm 91 which states YHWH will have his angels rescue God’s son so that he is not harmed.

What is behind this odd request from Satan? A few things.

First, in Jewish tradition, the Messiah would be able to jump off the temple and not be harmed.

More significant was that the temple was a place where God had manifested himself to his people. Now he can manifest himself through his son. If Jesus jumps off the temple, God would be revealed.

Again, Satan is not asking if he is the son, rather, is he seeing what kind of Son of God Jesus was. How would he conduct himself.

The connection to the Children of Israel in the wilderness is found in Exodus 17.

Rather than being content and trusting God, the people saw God as a means to their fulfillment in life. They saw God as the one who was serving their needs and wants. So they tested him.

Jesus responds by telling Satan that no one should put God to the test.

Sin tests God’s promises and his goodness to take care of us.

The scripture Satan uses is not bad. It is a passage about those who live in the shelter of the most high. Certainly applies to Jesus as God’s son.

Satan does not misquote or twist the scripture, he misapplies the scripture.

Forcing God into our will instead of submitting to God and his will.

Is God there to serve the Son or is the Son there to serve the father?

And this is a question we ask of us as well. Do we see God as the one who is there to meet all of our needs or do we exist to fulfill his mission for our lives?

Do we have a God centered view of life or do we have a ME centered view of life? Do we fit God into our lives or am I trying to fit into God’s mission for my life?

We can see God as an addition to our lives. Something we add on. Another charm on the bracelet.

This is not the correct view of the creator and sustainer of the universe.

We can sometimes see God as the sky daddy who we run to in times of need, and ask for blessings and gifts.

This is not the correct view of the one who has given us life and authored our outcome.

Life is not about us, it is about God and his reign. Will we submit to it?

What does it look like to have God at the center of our universe rather than ME? It looks like submitting to his will for us and trusting him.

When things in our live are not going perfectly like we like them to, do we force God to make everything better in our lives, or do we trust him to supply our needs?

Do we attempt to manipulate God to our plans or submit to his as we trust and obey?

III. Allegiance to the Mission v8-11

Last today, we see the allegiance to the mission. We see this in verses 8-11.

The devil then takes Jesus to a high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

The word kingdoms is emphasizing territories, not systems of government.

He says all Jesus has to do to obtain them is worship Satan.

This seems like a sham offer. Some sort of play, doesn’t Jesus already own these kingdoms?

Kind of?

Paul is 2 Corinthians says that Satan has blinded the eyes of people from the gospel. 1 John discribes the whole world under the power of Satan. Ephesians describes Satan as having actual authority and dominion in the World.

Satan is the ruler over the kingdoms of Earth.

John 12:31 states that part of Jesus’s mission is to drive out the ruler of the world, aka, Satan. Only After the cross and the resurrection, Jesus states that all authority over heaven and earth has been given to him.

Satan has been ruling the kingdoms of the earth, and Jesus is here to take it back from him.

So what is Satan’s offer? It is an offer to side step, take an alternative rout that what God’s plan for Jesus was. It is an offer to have what he came to obtain without the going to the cross. This is a shortcut to his mission.

The would be a “the end justifies the means” type of argument. Jesus could quickly obtain the nations and the kingdoms of earth by simply complying to Satans wishes.

But Jesus tells him that worship and service belong to God alone.

Many who claim Christ have obtained things for themselves, through giving their alligence to the evil one.

I do not mean that someone bows down to worship Satan to get what they want. But what I mean is that they compromise their morals and beliefs to obtain what they think they need.

If wouldn’t be that bad if I just...The outcome will be okay. Its just a little sin.

Notice Jesus’s word “alone” or “only.” We worship God alone, with nothing else that compares.

When we think about our priority list, is God and other stuff equal with the things that are helping us make decisions or do we worship and serve God alone?

Satan is not here to tell us to stop being Christian, Satan is here to distract us from being Christian. He wants to pull us off mission through temptation.

If you belong to God, you belong to God, he can’t have you. But he can still attempt to do his worst on the plans of God by distracting you from God’s plan for your life.

Temptation doesn’t have to be wrong, it can simply be a distraction.

One very specific example might be money. Money is not an evil. We need money. We can use it for our lives and our families and others.

But when money becomes a distraction for us, when we are prioritizing it, and serving it, rather than God, this is when it is wrong.

Think about video shorts. Sometimes they have great content and great entertainment. But do we always have time for them and not always time for God’s word?

Phone conversations with people are great! But are they replacing a conversation with our Father through prayer?

Community events and family time is great! But are they keeping us from our church community?

These things are not wrong, but they can certainly be a distraction from what God has called us to.

One verse for us to consider is Psalm 37:4

Psalm 37:4 ESV

4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I love this verse. We should be asking ourselves with the decisions we make, is this what God wants for me or is this what I want? Am I delighting in God or am I delighting in other stuff? AKA, Am i worshiping God or am I worshiping other stuff?

Ask yourself today, what is stealing your worship of God? What is distracting you from worship and service to God?

Can we truly be whole and joyful if we are lacking this one thing in our lives? Jesus is an example of Yes. He waited on God, trusted God, to bring about his plans in his time. He obeyed his father and was not distracted by temptation meant to get him off mission.

And the last verse is a relief verse of encouragement for us. Temptation is not forever. It does not last eternally. The powers of evil will leave us and temptation will end.

Jesus has victory because of the power of the Holy Spirit. And the same Holy Spirit that was on Jesus is also given to believers today.

I want to encourage us as a whole, that we can have victory over sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Beyond the Walls

Those of you getting baptized today, we are so excited for you to go public with your faith, committing to Christ and his people in front of everyone. But know, just as Jesus encountered temptation after his baptism, you will as well. Just because you have declared Christ does not mean Satan will not try to distract you from mission. But, just as Christ has achieved a relationship with God, he is with you to help you towards victory through temptation.

There may be some here who have struggled with acceptance their entire life. How can I be accepted? What do I need to do to earn God’s acceptance? I am not here to sugar coat it, you can’t.

Our sin has kept us far from God. It is impossible to please God, to be made whole, to have a relationship with God, to be accepted by him, because of our sin that has removed us far from God. But there is hope for you.

Jesus was the perfect child of God who achieved what we could not. He was accepted by God. And not, by attaching ourselves to him, we now can have forgiveness of sins and acceptance from the father. Not achieved by what we have done, but only achieved by what Christ has already done.

If you are here and have not yet made a decision to follow Jesus with your life, talk to us today.

For all of us today, temptation is hard. And while the devil left Jesus after his victory, the devil was not done with him.

And just because we are believers, does not mean the devil is done with us.

But Jesus has shown us victory because of two things. The power of the Word of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Are we in the Word? If we are not, how can we expect to fight temptation with the Word if we aren’t in the Word? Let us seek the word of God this week in our lives. Do you seek to know the word to battle temptation?

Are you living by the Holy Spirit in your mission to God? Do you seek to follow his leading in your life?

Let’s take a moment to respond to the text corperately together.

First, thank God for accepting us because of Jesus living righteously.

Second, thank Jesus for his example in battling temptation.

Third, ask the Holy Spirit to help you live out God’s mission in your life this week.