Is the Lord Among Us?

Date: July 25, 2026 Key Text: Luke 4:9-12

Central Proposition "We test the Lord whenever our disbelief causes us to deny His presence or disregard His promises, despite the evidence He has already given."

Intro

Can God be among us and we fail to recognize it?

Illustration: A man in Turkey was reported missing. A search party was formed, and after drinking heavily, the missing man unknowingly joined the search for hours before realizing they were looking for him.

As amusing as that story is, there is a spiritual danger that is far more serious.

Sometimes we spend our time searching for evidence that God is with us while ignoring the evidence He has already given.

And Satan delights in convincing believers that God has abandoned us.

Read Genesis 28:15-16.

Context: Isaac sends Jacob away from the Promised Land.

There were two reasons for Jacob's departure:

To find a wife from Rebekah's family instead of marrying among the Canaanites.

To escape his brother Esau, who intended to kill him after Jacob deceitfully obtained the birthright.

As Jacob journeyed, he stopped for the night at "a certain place."

Jacob renamed this place Bethel, meaning "House of God."

During the night, God gave Jacob a remarkable dream.

In the dream, Jacob saw a ladder (or stairway) reaching from earth to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending upon it.

This vision revealed that although Jacob had left the Promised Land, he had not left God's presence.

The Lord met Jacob in an ordinary place and reminded him that His covenant promises remained unchanged.

Jacob awoke and said,

"Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not."

There are two things of note here:

God's presence was never absent.

Jacob simply failed to recognize it.

Our awareness changes.

God's faithfulness does not.

Many believers judge God's presence by feelings rather than His promises.

The question is not merely,

"Is the Lord among us?"

The greater question is,

"Will we believe that He is?"

1. Satan Tempts us to Demand Proof

Read Luke 4:9-12.

The pinnacle here is probably not as we would imagine. Not the peak.

It was probably the area of the temple called Solomons porch that overlooked the Kidron Valley.

This drop in Christ’s day would have been about 450ft.

Satan gave Christ an easy way out of His coming suffering and torturous death.

Jump and if the angels catch you, then you have proved the Father is with you.

You don’t need to go to the cross. Here’s a shortcut.

Either jump and force God’s hand or jump and die. Both are better than being tortured and humiliated.

Satan was appealing to pride. But he failed to realize that in Christ was no pride at all.

In the second temptation, Satan supposes that He has met the second Adam upon his own ground. The wily foe presented in the temptation the words that had proceeded from the mouth of God. He had come to Christ as an angel of light direct from the courts above, and he makes it appear that he is acquainted with the Word of God, and understands also the import of what is written. Christ was tempted to answer the “if;” but He knew that there must be no presumption manifested by Him; that He must not imperil his life to give the evidence for which Satan had asked. He withheld Himself from the slightest acceptance of the doubt with which Satan so artfully sought to overcome Him. Bible Echo December 1 1893

It was about forcing God to prove Himself.

"If God is really with You... Make Him prove it. If you truly are the Son of God, Make Him prove it."

Satan again demanded of Christ, if He was indeed the Son of God, to give him evidence by casting Himself from the dizzy height upon which he had placed Him. He urged Christ to show His confidence in the preserving care of His Father by casting Himself down from the temple … But Christ knew that by suffering and sorrow and a cruel death he was to bruise the serpent's head. The giving of his life was to be the price of the world's redemption. Truth About Angels 173

Jesus immediately answered,

"It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

What does it mean to tempt the Lord?

2. Jesus Points Us to Massah

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:15-17.

"Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah."

So what happened at Massah?

Turn to Exodus 17:1-7.

They had just eaten manna from heaven for 40 years.

They had just come form a spiritual high.

Immediately, they begin to chide Moses due to lack of water.

Moses says why do you tempt the Lord?

Verse 3: Was this an unfair characterization?

What does it mean to tempt the Lord? Notice verse 7.

Israel asked,

"Is the LORD among us, or not?"

This is the why Christ chose this to counter the Devil’s temptation.

Satan was tempting Christ to disbelieve that the Father was with Him.

He was tempting Christ to ask is the Father with me or not?

In Gethsemane Christ prayer that if it were possible the cup pass from Him.

Even given the option, He did not take it.

Israel had already witnessed:

The ten plagues

The Red Sea parted

Manna from heaven

The pillar of cloud

The pillar of fire

Every single day they saw the evidence that God was with them.

Yet one trial caused them to doubt everything God had already shown them.

They tested God, not because they lacked evidence,

but because they refused to trust the evidence they already had.

Jesus refused to repeat Israel's failure.

Where Israel doubted, Jesus trusted.

Where Israel tested, Jesus obeyed.

3. Disbelief is Never Harmless

Read Numbers 21:5-9.

The people complained.

Our soul loatheth this manna.

Notice this is coming directly after the victory in verse 3.

These were not easy victories, these nations were strong.

After great spiritual highs often come the greatest spiritual lows.

They despised God's provision.

They rejected His promises.

They met with snakes as a result.

The fiery serpents remind us that disbelief is never harmless.

Read Numbers 21:8-9.

But even through this, God gave them a way out.

All they had to do is look at the bronze serpent on the pole.

Christ says in John 3:14-15 that this is a figure of Himself.

No one had to perish at the hands of the snakes.

Even though they brought it on themselves.

Read Deuteronomy 9:23.

What happened at Kadesh-Barnea?

Israel would not enter the promised land because

"ye believed him not."

Disbelief always leads to failure at the point of trial. And never is harmless.

Faith always produces obedience. And never fails us at the point of trial.

Application

How do we test the Lord today?

1. By disregarding His revealed commands.

When God has spoken plainly, but we choose our own wisdom.

Example:

God promises blessing upon faithful stewardship.

If I knowingly withhold my tithe because I think I know better, I am not simply withholding money.

I am saying,

"My judgment is more trustworthy than God's."

That is testing the Lord.

2. By trying to force God to prove Himself.

"If God really loves me..."

"If God is really with me..."

"If God wants me to..."

Demanding miraculous confirmation after God has already spoken is not faith.

It is unbelief.

3. By asking for signs while ignoring Scripture.

Many ask God for guidance while neglecting the guidance He has already revealed.

Many things God will not show us because they are clear in the Scriptures.

God gives greater light to those who faithfully walk in the light they already possess.

If I know something to be true, I must take action on it.

We must not presume upon the Lord.

4. By interpreting circumstances instead of God's promises.

One unanswered prayer.

One hardship.

One disappointment.

Suddenly we begin asking,

"Is God among us or not?”

But God's presence has never depended on our circumstances.

His promise is more certain than our perception. Genesis 28:16.

Conclusion

I believe one of Satan's greatest strategies in the days ahead will not simply be persecution.

It will be persuasion.

He will use influential voices to convince believers that the Lord is no longer among them.

That His promises have failed.

That obedience is unnecessary.

That compromise is wisdom.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Did it seem wise to the Greeks that the Messiah would die of Crucifixion?

Did it seem wise to the Jews that the Messiah would die of Crucifixion?

Satan packages compromise as the logical route. The wise route.

Often the reasoning is hard to ignore.

We must guard against skepticism.

The Church must answer exactly as Jesus answered:

"It is written."

We must refuse to interpret God's presence by our circumstances, both individually and corporately.

We must interpret our circumstances by God's Word.

Read Joshua 1:8-9.

God did not tell Joshua to seek signs.

He told him to meditate on the Word day and night.

Confidence in God's presence grows from confidence in God's promises.

Many times we struggle in our devotions because we struggle with believing God’s promises.

Final Appeal

Israel asked,

"Is the LORD among us, or not?"

Jesus answered that question and gave us an example of faith.

Now the same question comes to us.

Will we trust God's promises when life becomes difficult?

Will we trust that God is leading His church? Or will we abandon it?

Will we obey when obedience costs us something?

Or will we test the Lord by living as though He has abandoned us?

Let us settle the matter before the trial comes.

The Lord is among His people because He has promised to be.

Therefore let us believe Him, obey Him, and never tempt Him by acting as though His Word were not enough.

Main Takeaway:

"We test the Lord whenever we live as though His promises are less certain than our circumstances."

How many of you want to obey the Lord? Resolve it in your heart today.