Life is Better Together - Part 2 (2)

Last week, we started a two part series called “Life is Better Together.” We said that there are three things that are always true when it comes to temptation.

When it comes to temptation there is more at stake than you realize.

There is a direct correlation between every temptation and your confidence in God’s Word.

It matters who you surround yourself with.

We said last week that with every temptation what is really at stake is

Your Future

The Future of Someone You Love

Your Faith

We saw this vividly played out with Eve and Satan in the disguise of a Serpent in the Garden. We saw that all Satan had to do was ask one Question to give Eve to show her hand. To show that she

Loosely Knew God’s Word

Loosely Believed God’s Word

Loosely Thought Much was at stake.

Remember last week, I showed you the Marshmallow test with the aim of showing how the test results proved their was more at stake than just did they eat or not eat the marshmallow. What was at stake was their future.

This week we are going to see how temptation is not just about your self-control, there is more to it than that. The issue in every temptation is can God’s Word be trusted? Can God’s Word really help me, can it be trusted?

Ha-Foke-Ba

De-Cola-Ba

Ha-Foke-Ba

Mashiach-Ba

Turn-it and turn-it everything you need is in it. Turn-it and turn-it the Messiah is in it.

Matthew 4:1–11 TLV

Then Yeshua was led by the Ruach into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are Ben-Elohim, tell these stones to become bread.” But He replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on the highest point of the Temple. “If You are Ben-Elohim,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written, ‘He shall command His angels concerning you,’ and ‘upon their hands they shall lift you up, so that you may not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Yeshua said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put Adonai your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Yeshua says to him, “Go away, satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship Adonai your God, and Him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil leaves Him. And behold, angels came and began to take care of Him.

Matthew 4:1-11

Remember last week, I showed you the Marshmallow test with the aim of showing how the test results proved their was more at stake than just “did they eat” or “did they not eat” the marshmallow. What was at stake was their future.

Now at the Vowell house, we have never done the Marshmallow test but we have another test. It is the wait to be seated and eat until your Mom is seated and served her meal test.

I will tell you all three of my kids are very hungry when it is time for dinner. And though it only takes a matter of minutes for Lauren to be seated and be served for the kids, it can feel like an eternity. Now, two of my kids are very, very reliant on the example that I set for them. In other words, there might be a time or twenty that in the waiting for my bride, I might just slide me a warm french fry out of the bowl while I am standing and waiting. What is the harm, after all I am Abba (when my kids say, “hey Abba” I always tell them that is who I am and what I do), and I believe I have solid Scriptural rational (after all Abraham had Sarah cook while he sat with his visitors and ate and so) and after all this is just a momentary breach of my command to “stand and not eat” not meant to be a permanent injunction.

The problem is two of my three children will follow suite. And, they will take this one time moment of compromise - failure to resist the temptation of yummy french fries covered in parmesan, rosemary and sea-salt - as a source to validate all their future infractions of my law.

My children’s ability, at least two of them, to withstand temptation, their confidence to stand firm in God’s Word to honor their mother - that is where this all comes from - gains traction and confidence because of my example.

It is not just about my self-control, there is more to it than that. What is at issue is, “Should we really trust God’s Word to the point of obedience to it?” Or,

Do I get special privileges because of some special status or title I have?

Do I get to manipulate God with His Word to get what I want?

Do I get to momentarily sidestep my allegiance to God’s Word to go further, faster?

Temptation is not just about your self-control, there is more to it than that. The issue in every temptation is can God’s Word be trusted? Can God’s Word reliably help me and be trusted.

This is not just about your self-control, there is more to it than that. The issue in every temptation is can God’s Word be trusted to the point of obedience, even when it is difficult? Can God’s Word reliably be trusted?

Today, we are going to examine the three tests Yeshua faced in the wilderness and as a result I hope we will gain more confidence to stand firm in God’s Word and to also align our lives with other people doing the same.

The Insecurity Test

The Manipulation Test

The Success Test

Matthew 4:1–4 TLV

Then Yeshua was led by the Ruach into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are Ben-Elohim, tell these stones to become bread.” But He replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Do you really believe God’s Spoken Word?

The Background: In the background of this text, is the immersion of Yeshua where the Bat Kol “voice of God” came from heaven and said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” ()

The Temptation:

Satan comes to Yeshua at his weakest moment to tempt Him. Here is the temptation, “Will you get a legitimate need met in an illegitimate way?” Do you really believe that “You are His Son, that is well loved, and He is pleased with” given that you are starving of hunger. Shouldn’t you be able to side-step this whole thing?

Here is the temptation, “Will you get a legitimate need met in an illegitimate way?”

Hunger is a legitimate need, it is not wrong to hunger. What Satan wants to do is to see if Yeshua doubts God’s word about being the Son that is loved and the Father is well pleased with.

Remember in the Garden, last week, we said Eve loosely knew, believed and thought much was at stake when it came to eating from the tree of knowledge. That is why she said, “maybe you will die.” She doubted God’s Word and Satan immediately seizes upon that doubt and says, “Surely you will not die. God knows you will be like Him.” In other words, “Eve you are right to doubt that whole dying thing because really God is not treating you like a daughter, He does not really love you, and is surely not pleased with you.”

The Response

What He does not Say: Satan I command you to leave now! He has authority to do this but he does not do this.

What He does say:

The Scriptures are the Sword of the Spirit: It is Written. The Scriptures are not a support for His authority they are the authority He surrenders himself over to. (cf. ).

The Scriptures are Living and Active: The Scriptures wash us up into its story line. Yeshua reaches back to to say that He is the Son of God but so was Israel God’s Son. And if God’s Son Israel had to learn discipline (training) to trust God’s Word so the Son of Israel would also voluntarily be trained by suffering and sacrifice to trust God’s Word.

The Scriptures are Still Speaking: “But by every single Word that comes pouring out of God’s mouth.” The compound present participle—“pouring out” (ekporeuomenō̧)—is exciting: it pictures a God in constant conversation with his children.

What does it mean: The Word of God is so sure to me that I am His son, it satisfies my hunger at a level human food just cannot satisfy. I will not try to get a legitimate need met in an illegitimate way.

But by every single Word that comes pouring out of God’s mouth.” The compound present participle—“pouring out” (ekporeuomenō̧)—is exciting: it pictures a God in constant conversation with his world. (“God spoke to the fathers, prophets, and apostles; He still speaks (adhuc loquitur) to us through Holy Scripture,” The Second Helvetic Confession, chap. 1.)

Illustration: Anyone who has ever been through a hardship, a hard-time or a sacrificial moment knows this temptation all too well.

For some, this is the moment when right after they lay to rest that loved one that passed away to soon. For others, this is is that moment when you come undone with life. We have a tendency to overestimate our standing and think we are beyond the need for training, discipline that stretches our faith and imagination.. This phenomenon is most likely to occur on hard tasks, hard items, when failure is likely or when the individual making the estimate is not especially skilled. Overestimation has been seen to occur across domains other than those pertaining to one's own performance. This includes the illusion of control whereby a person overestimates how much control over objects they have because of their position.

Football Players who do not want to do Spring Training.

My Illustration from Canada.

Another Illustration from Canada, the car.

Application: The issue is not hunger or self-control.

The issue is so much larger than that. It is, “can I continue to trust my heavenly father to meet my most basic needs? Do I trust His word or will I bend, break and distort His Word.

If you really have become convinced that God’s Word is trustworthy, it does not really matter much whether you have physical bread to eat, since God will preserve your life as long as He wants so you can do what he wants. You trust him in that even if it hurts or calls for sacrifice. See, what does matter is whether you believe God’s word implicitly or not. If you should doubt his word, even for a moment, what does it matter if you are a “Son of God.”

We are all tempted to rely on our unique standing with God to sidestep the training, discipline of God. Yeshua could have used his status as the Son of God to just tell Satan to "go" and he would have had to obey Him. He does not rely on his unique standing because He knows he is in the hour of training, testing to see if His confidence is in God's Word or in Himself.

It does not really matter much whether I have physical bread to eat, since God will preserve my life as long as he wants so I can do what he wants. I trust him in that. What does matter is whether I believe God’s word implicitly or not. If I should doubt his word, even for a moment, all is lost

We are all tempted to rely on our unique standing with God to sidestep the training, discipline of God. Yeshua could have used his status as the Son of God to just tell Satan to "go" and he would have had to obey Him. He does not rely on his unique standing because He knows he is in the hour of training, testing to see if His confidence is in God's Word or in Himself.

Solid application of the Word of God nourishes our deepest hungers. Application requires creativity and courage: creativity to imagine the battles of daily life fought with the truths of God, and courage to see myself as part of the storyline of Scriptures and not above the storyline, their story is my story on a personal level.

We have a tendency to overestimate our standing and think we are beyond the need for training, discipline that stretches our faith and imagination.. This phenomenon is most likely to occur on hard tasks, hard items, when failure is likely or when the individual making the estimate is not especially skilled. Overestimation has been seen to occur across domains other than those pertaining to one's own performance. This includes the illusion of control whereby a person overestimates how much control over objects they have because of their position.

Matthew 4:5–7 TLV

Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on the highest point of the Temple. “If You are Ben-Elohim,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written, ‘He shall command His angels concerning you,’ and ‘upon their hands they shall lift you up, so that you may not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Yeshua said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put Adonai your God to the test.’ ”

Do You Really Believe the Written Word?

The Temptation:

The Devil raises the stakes and raises the risk by taking Yeshua to the top of the temple. Where the first temptation smelled like a bakery, the second has the aroma of an Orthodox liturgy. Where the devil in the first temptation tried to reach Yeshua through his weak spot, his hungry stomach, he now tries to reach Yeshua through his strong spot, his faith in God’s Word, by which faith Yeshua had just warded off the first temptation. If the evil one cannot make us carnal, perhaps he can make us fanatical; if he cannot make us super-secular by seeking wonder bread, perhaps he can make us super-spiritual by suggesting leaps of faith.

I want you to notice something about the strategy of the enemy. Do you notice that he first aims at your weak spot, your insecurity “Are you really the Son of God? Do you really have a relationship God because after you are starving and how could a loving father let you starve? “ Then he aims for where you are the strongest, so that you will lean into your pride and not your faith.

Where the first temptation smelled like a bakery, the second has the aroma of an Orthodox liturgy. Where the devil in the first temptation tried to reach Jesus through his weak spot, his hungry stomach, he now tries to reach Jesus through his strong spot, his faith in God’s Word, by which faith Jesus had just warded off the first temptation. If the evil one cannot make us carnal, perhaps he can make us fanatical; if he cannot make us super-secular by seeking wonder bread, perhaps he can make us super-spiritual by suggesting leaps of faith

Satan now tempts Yeshua by asking him to prove that he really has faith in the written word of God. Whereas the first temptation was primarily about the spoken word of God at his immersion, the second one picks back up the first but then adds to it a test: “Since you are so sure that you the Son of God, then you must be confident in the written word of God.”

“If you are the Son of God, … throw yourself down” (v. 6). The truth of God’s word lies behind the next temptation too. Yeshua had rejected the devil’s first temptation by quoting Scripture. So the devil got into the act himself, saying something like this: “Well, I see you are a student of the Bible, since you’ve memorized that verse from Deuteronomy. But, of course, I am a Bible student myself, and not long ago, when I was reading Psalms, I came across , which says, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, … and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Do you believe that? I believe it. In fact, I believe it so much that I am going to make this suggestion. Let’s go up to the highest point of the temple, and then you can jump off. God will save you, and the people who see the miracle will realize that you are the Messiah and follow you immediately. It will make a great impression and will get your ministry off to a rip-roaring start.”

The Response:

Once again, Yeshua reaches back to Deuteronomy but this time he goes to

Deuteronomy 6:16 TLV

“You are not to test Adonai your God, as you tested Him at Massah.

Remember, Yeshua sees himself as part of the story because he understands the Bible is more than history, it is the Word of God that instructs and guides. He reaches back to which is like a memoir of where the people of Israel tested Adonai when they got thirsty. They had already been receiving God’s manna but there in Re’phi’dim they said, “If God was among us, like you have said Moses, then He should give us water.” They were trying to force God’s hand by citing Moses’ words that God “was among them.” Moses names the place “massah” which means testing or fighting.

Deuteronomy 6:16 TLV

“You are not to test Adonai your God, as you tested Him at Massah.

Matthew 4:7 TLV

Yeshua said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put Adonai your God to the test.’ ”

The verb for “test” is the compound ekpeirazō, which means literally “test out,” which we could paraphrase as meaning “You shall not force the hand of,” or “You shall not try to manipulate,” or even, “You shall not play around with.”) Here Yeshua exercises sound biblical interpretation against the Devil. He says in essence Scripture interprets Scripture, you can’t just rip one Scripture out of context. Or as Rabbi Freeman says, “When the overwhelming majority of Scriptures support a biblical doctrine it cannot be overturned by two or three seemingly contradictory verses.”

Exodus 17 TLV

All the congregation of Bnei-Yisrael journeyed from the wilderness of Sin in stages, according to the command of Adonai, and camped in Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Adonai?” But the people thirsted for water there, and they complained against Moses and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? To kill us with thirst, along with our children and cattle?” So Moses cried out to Adonai saying, “What am I to do for these people? They are about ready to stone me.” Adonai said to Moses, “Walk before the people, and take of the elders of Israel with you, along with your staff with which you struck the river. Take it in your hand and go. Behold, I will stand before you, there upon the rock in Horeb. You are to strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people can drink.” Then Moses did just so in the eyes of the elders of Israel. The name of the place was called Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of Bnei-Yisrael, and because they tested Adonai saying, “Is Adonai among us, or not?” Then the Amalekites came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men, go out, and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses said, and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. But when he let down his hand, the Amalekites prevailed. Moses’ hands grew heavy, so they took a stone, put it under him, and he sat down. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands were steady until the sun went down. So Joshua overpowered the Amalekites and his army with the edge of the sword. Adonai said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the hearing of Joshua, for I will utterly blot out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.” Then Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Adonai-Nissi. Then he said, “By the hand upon the throne of Adonai, Adonai will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Temptation to Presume on God. If he won’t, I will force His hand.

The Temptation he resists is to Presume on God: If he won’t, by faith I will force His hand.

Illustrate: Let me explain what I mean. Imagine a son who has a Father who is a lawyer. Forcing the father lawyer to have no option but to rescue the child. The financially irresponsible couple with wealthy parents, they make stupid financial decision and then push their parents into a corner to bail them out. In religious space, “we will just step out on faith” but we have no research, no wisdom, no counsel and God is going to have bail us out. That is not faith, that is presumption. Faith is not pulling the trigger on an idea and then saying God back me. That is not faith. Remember the “think quick” game. Throw something up in the air and “think quick” that is what Satan is tempting Yeshua to do.

Illustrate: There was a man named Jim Baker. I am not sure if you remember him, but he was one of the forerunners, pioneers of the prosperity gospel and sat at the head of a mega-christian empire. An empire that was built on a gospel that said if I can claim from the Scriptures and have faith to believe it, then God must do it. His empire crumbled around him in sexual scandal and financial corruption. He was sent to prison and after he got out of prison he wrote a book called “I was wrong.” It is a thick book over 500 pages. I guess he was wrong about a lot of things. One of the things he said in this book that I found interesting is he said, “When I went to prison I started reading the Bible for the first time. Reading the Bible not to get God to support my endeavors but for me to submit to Him.”

Apply: You cannot force God’s hand and say, “If he won’t, by faith I will make Him.” You cannot force God’s hand and put him to the test. There is only one place in all of Scriptures God says, “now test me” () and it is funny that those who don’t take this word seriously get mad at those who actually test God in this (). Apply specifically to chavurot and the need to be in a community that can hold you accountable to God’s Word, to interpret it correctly.

Matthew 4:8–10 TLV

Again, the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Yeshua says to him, “Go away, satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship Adonai your God, and Him only shall you serve.’ ”

Will you sacrifice what is ultimate for what is immediate?

The Temptation:

This was a very real temptation because Satan could offer this and this would have pulled on the heart string of Yeshua. Imagine what Satan is showing him. All the kingdoms, the kingdoms that are going to attack Israel. The kingdoms that could help Israel.

What it means is Satan gave Yeshua a vision of its glory. What Satan was trying to do was trying to enflame in Jesus his imagination. He wanted his imagination to be captured by the glory and the beauty of all the power of all the kingdoms of this world. If Yeshua had done that, notice what he’s saying. “I want you to see and love the kingdoms of the world so much that you’ll sidestep God’s plan for what what is immediate.

Look at verse 5. He doesn’t just say, “Listen, Jesus. You know I’m the Devil. Therefore, I own the kingdoms of this world, and I can deliver them.” No, the Devil led him up to a high place in verse 5 and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of this world. That’s an extremely interesting verse, because there obviously is no place high enough to literally, physically be able to see everything in the world.

What it means is Satan gave Jesus a vision of its glory. What Satan was trying to do was trying to enflame in Jesus his imagination. He wanted his imagination to be captured by the glory and the beauty of all the power of all the kingdoms of this world. If Jesus had done that, notice what he’s saying. “I want you to see and love the kingdoms of the world so much that you’ll want them with or with God.”

The first temptation, Satan worked on Yeshua’s weakness (his hunger), the second he works on his strength (Faith), in this third one he go deeper, because Satan always goes deeper.

What Satan does is he takes a good thing, and he seeks to enflame your imagination so it becomes the ultimate thing, so you want it more than God, with or without God, so it becomes more important to your identity, more important to your happiness, more important to your meaning in life, more important than God. When that happens, that good thing becomes a vehicle for demonic force in your life.

ame out when he was on the cross at the moment of the greatest possible pain?

It paralyzes you with a fear if something threatens it. You can’t say, “Well, that’s bad, but I can live.” You can’t live. It paralyzes you with anger if someone blocks it. You can’t say, “Well, I can forgive that person.” You can’t because this is the most important thing in your life. Satan creates idols, and as you see, Jesus Christ deals with Satan by quoting the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Matthew 4:8–9 TLV

Again, the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

Matthew 4:9 TLV

And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

How does Jesus respond? Scripture. What’s interesting about this is notice Jesus doesn’t say, “Well, now give me a Bible. Let me show you.” It’s not just that Jesus has memorized it. Jesus knows the Scripture so well instinctively he brings up exactly the proper answer. The most wonderful example of this is when Jesus Christ was on the cross, at a moment of the greatest possible pain, what did he do? What did he say?

When you’re in pain, you don’t sit around, saying, “What should I say?” What comes out is whatever is in you, whatever is instinctive, the real you, the real core. Whatever is really enflamed in your imagination, whatever you really have spent most of your life thinking about, the real you comes out. What came out when he was on the cross at the moment of the greatest possible pain?

Yeshua is not asked to spend his whole life at the devil’s feet. He is given a real bargain: one momentary bow—the verb is aorist, suggesting a single act. And the promise is breathtaking: the whole world in the bargain. What is one gesture when the planet is in the balance?

He doesn’t say to Yeshua, “Worship me forever.” He says just momentarily pay homage to me and “Look at this. Don’t you want this without a cross? Don’t you want this without all the pain you will face and future generations will face? Don’t you want the end so bad, the kingdom so bad that you could do this one little thing? ”

How does Jesus respond? Scripture. What’s interesting about this is notice Jesus doesn’t say, “Well, now give me a Bible. Let me show you.” It’s not just that Jesus has memorized it. Jesus knows the Scripture so well instinctively he brings up exactly the proper answer. The most wonderful example of this is when Jesus Christ was on the cross, at a moment of the greatest possible pain, what did he do? What did he say?

When you’re in pain, you don’t sit around, saying, “What should I say?” What comes out is whatever is in you, whatever is instinctive, the real you, the real core. Whatever is really enflamed in your imagination, whatever you really have spent most of your life thinking about, the real you comes out. What c

I want you to understand something very important but overlooked. Satan is still trying to get Yeshua to break with the Word of God. This is the only temptation that does not refer directly to the words “You are my Son.” They are still in the background, however, since they come from , where the Father promises his Son precisely these kingdoms as his inheritance:

Jesus is not asked to spend his whole life at the devil’s feet. He is given a real bargain: one momentary bow—the verb is aorist, suggesting a single act. And the promise is breathtaking: the whole world in the bargain. What is one gesture when the planet is in the balance?

Psalm 2:7–8 TLV

I will declare the decree of Adonai. He said to me: “You are My Son— today I have become Your Father. Ask Me, and I will give the nations as Your inheritance, and the far reaches of the earth as Your possession.

today I have become your Father.

Ask of me,

and I will make the nations your inheritance,

the ends of the earth your possession.”

This is what Satan was offering to Yeshua —but in the world’s way, that is, by an alliance with Satan and evil rather than by the cross.

Yeshua has not forgotten for a second that he is the Son. He does not doubt for one minute that because He is the Son, the Father will give him the kingdoms of the earth.

How does Yeshua respond? Scripture. What’s interesting about this is notice Yeshua doesn’t say, “Well, now give me a Bible. Let me show you.” It’s not just that Jesus has memorized it. Jesus knows the Scripture so well instinctively he brings up exactly the proper answer.

When you’re in pain, you don’t sit around, saying, “What should I say?” What comes out is whatever is in you, whatever is instinctive, the real you, the real core. Whatever is really enflamed in your imagination, whatever you really have spent most of your life thinking about, the real you comes out.

What come out of Yeshua is not an inflamed imagination but a mind filled with the Word of His Father. And so Yeshua reaches back one more time to and says that you cannot sacrifice what is ultimate for what is immediate.

Matthew 4:10 TLV

Then Yeshua says to him, “Go away, satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship Adonai your God, and Him only shall you serve.’ ”

Any false god is also a substitute father. Do you know what Yeshua wanted more than all the kingdoms of the earth. He wanted unbroken fellowship with the Father. Do you know what he got in the end? Both.

He did not want a substitute father “even if” the cross had to come before the “glory.”

Apply: There is more at stake here than you can image. What is at stake is “who you really are?” and “whose you really are?”

Addicted to Progress, never quite satisfied with the way things are. You are all about the future. You are very ambitious and your kids have to be doing and doing and doing. You got everything planned out. Maybe it is goals for your husband. Maybe you are in that large/medium corporation and you are wanting to climb the ladder.

We can be so goal oriented but we can become so focused on that thing you will do anything to get it. Our quest for progress to take shortcuts. You will have an opportunity to take a giant step forward but you will have to compromise something you value. Not forever but just for a moment you will do this thing. It is not an abandonment of values, just a sidestep for a moment.

In that moment decision you discover “who you really are” and “whose you are.”

This is the very reason, Yeshua came. He never argues with Satan about him being able to give this power.

The moment you compromise what is ultimate for what is immediate, you will loose your confidence in your heavenly father. Yes, you will get what you want but you will have that sense of “I am not sure that God is really with me.”

The moment you compromise what is important for what is immediate, you will loose your confidence in your heavenly father. Yes, you will get what you want but you will have that sense of “I am not sure that God is really with me.”

You will never accomplish the will of God by abandoning submission to God’s Word.

You are high-school kid and your thinking if “I don’t, he won’t” so I am going to cheat on …. But who got you there.

You are x and thinking x but who got you there.

Do you know what Yeshua wanted more than all the kingdoms of the earth. He wanted unbroken fellowship with the Father. Do you know what he got in the end? Both.

What is it that you want so bad that you will trade what is ultimate for that which is immediate?

It should be obvious from this week and last week that there is more at stake in our temptation than we realize. If Yeshua would have caved to temptation at any point, all hope, all hope would have been lost for human history. He faced the temptations and overcome them in a stunning victory against Satan. You are saying, “But He was the Son of God.”

Is there any hope? Yes, all the hope in the world, because the central character is Yeshua. Yeshua triumphs here, and He is the key to you and me surviving and triumphing over the same tests in the same situations. You’ll be able to handle all this awful stuff if you see Yeshua as, first of all, your example.

Is there any hope? Yes, all the hope in the world, because the central character is Jesus. Jesus triumphs here, and Jesus is the key to you and me surviving and triumphing over the same tests in the same situations. You’ll be able to handle all this awful stuff if you see Jesus as, first of all, your example. Look at Jesus handling the temptation as an example, and you’re going to learn a lot. Here’s what you see.

Yeshua had already processed his death and resurrection with Scripture, which means Satan could not find a foothold in him because his imagination was already enflamed. It was already saturated with the clear hope and command of Scripture.

Look at verse 5. He doesn’t just say, “Listen, Jesus. You know I’m the Devil. Therefore, I own the kingdoms of this world, and I can deliver them.” No, the Devil led him up to a high place in verse 5 and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of this world. That’s an extremely interesting verse, because there obviously is no place high enough to literally, physically be able to see everything in the world.

What it means is Satan gave Jesus a vision of its glory. What Satan was trying to do was trying to enflame in Jesus his imagination. He wanted his imagination to be captured by the glory and the beauty of all the power of all the kingdoms of this world. If Jesus had done that, notice what he’s saying. “I want you to see and love the kingdoms of the world so much that you’ll want them with or with God.”

This is how Satan works. If you want to know whether Satan is working in your life, this does not mean, “Well, I go to church. I don’t cheat on my income taxes. I’m faithful to my spouse, and I’m doing all these good things.” Look beneath the rules, please. Go deeper, because Satan always goes deeper.

What Satan does is he takes a good thing, and he seeks to enflame your imagination so it becomes the ultimate thing, so you want it more than God, with or without God, so it becomes more important to your identity, more important to your happiness, more important to your meaning in life, more important than God. When that happens, that good thing becomes a vehicle for demonic force in your life.

He doesn’t say to Jesus, “Worship me.” He says, “Look at this. Don’t you want this without a cross? Don’t you want this without God’s program? Don’t you want this with or without God?” If any good thing in your life, being a father, being a mother, your art, your work, a good political program, a good political cause, if anything becomes more important to your life, to your emotions, to your volition, more important to your identity, more important to your meaning in life, that good thing turns into a demonic force. It enslaves you. It drives you.

It paralyzes you with a fear if something threatens it. You can’t say, “Well, that’s bad, but I can live.” You can’t live. It paralyzes you with anger if someone blocks it. You can’t say, “Well, I can forgive that person.” You can’t because this is the most important thing in your life. Satan creates idols, and as you see, Jesus Christ deals with Satan by quoting the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

How does Jesus respond? Scripture. What’s interesting about this is notice Jesus doesn’t say, “Well, now give me a Bible. Let me show you.” It’s not just that Jesus has memorized it. Jesus knows the Scripture so well instinctively he brings up exactly the proper answer. The most wonderful example of this is when Jesus Christ was on the cross, at a moment of the greatest possible pain, what did he do? What did he say?

When you’re in pain, you don’t sit around, saying, “What should I say?” What comes out is whatever is in you, whatever is instinctive, the real you, the real core. Whatever is really enflamed in your imagination, whatever you really have spent most of your life thinking about, the real you comes out. What came out when he was on the cross at the moment of the greatest possible pain?

He quoted the Scripture, , “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He processed even hell with Scripture, which means Satan could not find a foothold in him because his imagination was already enflamed. It was already saturated. You can’t get any water into a sponge that’s already lopping over full. It was filled with the truth and beauty of God. There it is. Maybe we should close the service because you see how Satan comes at you and you see what Jesus did.

Now I should close in prayer and you could all say, “Now I know what to do,” but on the way out some of you would start to say, “Wait a minute. If Yeshua is just my example, I’m cooked. I can’t do that. If I look at Yeshua in order to handle this as an example and say, ‘I see now what Satan does, and what I have to do is I have to so fill my heart with the truth of God and the beauty of God.’ I can’t do that. I’ll never do it. I have been tested,” you say, “and I’ve been selfish. I have been tested, and I’ve lied. I have been tested, and I’ve failed. I’m going to keep on failing.”

Notice Satan does not come after Yeshua, saying, “I’ll try to get him to lie. I’ll try to get him to kill. I’ll try to get him to steal. I’ll try to get him to commit adultery. That would destroy his power as an example,” but Satan doesn’t go after his power as an example, because Yeshua didn’t primarily come as an example. Yeshua is not going through these temptations perfectly as an example but as the loved Son who would give His life as our Savior so we too could become sons and daughter of our Father.

Notice Satan does not come after Jesus, saying, “I’ll try to get him to lie. I’ll try to get him to kill. I’ll try to get him to steal. I’ll try to get him to commit adultery. That would destroy his power as an example,” but Satan doesn’t go after his power as an example, because Jesus Christ didn’t primarily come as an example. Jesus is not going through these temptations perfectly as an example but as Savior.

When I see Yeshua only as an example resisting temptation, it just encourages me, and when I see Yeshua as passing the test so I can be accepted though I fail the test, that’s what I need to enflame my imagination. You can’t just simply think, “If I memorize Scripture, that will keep me safe from Satan.” It doesn’t help unless you know what Scripture is about. What is Scripture about? All of Scripture is about what Yeshua did. Why is he letting himself be pummeled? Why is he letting himself be assaulted by Satan? Why?

He was under incredible stress to disobey, and yet he says, “Father, I’d rather not go to the cross, but thy will be done.” Why did he go through all that? To be a good example? No. He comes as a Savior, which means he came to live the life we should’ve lived and die the death we should’ve died. He came to live the obedient life we should be living but we don’t. He came to die the penalty for the disobedient life we shouldn’t be living but we do as Savior, as substitute.

In other words, he’s doing this in my place. He’s doing this so when I receive him, I can say, “Father, do not accept me because of my record but because of his record. Put my sins on him and give me the reward he has won.” That’s what the gospel is, and do you know what that means?

When I see Jesus Christ only as an example resisting temptation, it just discourages me, but when I see Jesus Christ as basically passing the test so I can be accepted though I fail the test, that’s what I need to enflame my imagination. You can’t just simply think, “If I memorize Scripture, that will keep me safe from Satan.” It doesn’t help unless you know what Scripture is about. What is Scripture about? All of Scripture is about what Jesus Christ did. Why is he letting himself be pummeled? Why is he letting himself be assaulted by Satan? Why?

He understands more than anyone else exactly what is at stake in this temptation: you future, the future of someone you love and your faith.

You can say, “That’s not true. I’m something because of what Jesus did. So this good thing isn’t going to become my ultimate thing, and you have no part in me.” If I see Jesus Christ as an example, it just discourages me. If I see Jesus Christ as passing the test for me so I can be accepted even though I fail the test, that makes me able to pass the test. That makes me able to say when the temptations come, “I will be like Jesus.”

There’s no invocation. In other words, he never rolls up his sleeves and says, “Stand back, everybody,” and says, “In the name of …” He never does that. What does he say? He just says, “Get out.” Why? Why doesn’t he ever call on a higher power? Because he is the higher power. If he’s in your life, you have nothing to fear. There was no room for him so we could be dwelling in the house of the Lord forever. Let’s pray.

Last week, I said it and meant it The electrifying promise and hope that blows through all the pages of the Bible is this, if you have confidence in God’s word you can overcome Satan.

Life is Better Together - Part 2 (2)

Scripture Introduction

Sermon Introduction

The Insecurity Test -

The Manipulation Test -

The Success Test -

Conclusion