Sermon for March 1, 2020

This morning I'll be reading Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 through 11.

And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

This is the time in Jesus' life that we use as an example of why we celebrate Lent for 40 days. Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted and it was during this time that Jesus really began to show satan that He would be the obedient Son of God that He was sent here to be!

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand 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 give His angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.” 11 Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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As I studied these verses,,, I was amazed at the comparisons that my Faithlife Study Bible made to Jesus' temptation in the wilderness and the Israelites disobedience in the desert.

A lot of those hit close to home for me and I'm sure that as we study them,,, they might for you as well.

Lets take the time this morning to look at these verses and see how they can help us in our daily walk with God.

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The temptations faced by Jesus follows the same pattern as the Israelites’ disobedience in the desert when you compare them to Matthew's account.

The temptations faced by Jesus follows the same pattern as the Israelites’ disobedience in the desert when you compare them to Matthew's account.

The Israelites demanded bread,,, they doubted the Lord’s presence,,, and they didn't have any confidence that God would help them.

The Israelites demanded bread,,, they doubted the Lord’s presence,,, and they didn't have any confidence that God would help them.

Jesus reverses all of these acts of faithlessness in these few verses.

Jesus reverses all of these acts of unfaithfulness in these few verses.

You need to always keep in mind that Matthew was writing primarily to a Jewish audience.

You need to always keep in mind that Matthew was writing primarily to a Jewish audience.

His focus was on the Jews that were living at that time and he was concerned about them and wrote so that they could understand more of what he was talking about.

His focus was on the Jews that were living at that time and he was concerned about them and wrote so that they could understand more of what he was talking about.

That's why that his recollections seem to follow this pattern compared to Luke who was mostly writing to the Gentile believer's.

That's why that his recollections seem to follow this pattern compared to Luke who was mostly writing to the Gentile believer's.

(3:52)

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Verse 1 says: 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.

The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness in obedience to God for 40 days so that His faithfulness might be seen in contrast to the Israelites who were led in the desert for 40 years because of their unfaithfulness.

After the Israelites were lead out of Egypt,,, they were disobedient to God over and over.

While all throughout the Bible,,, we have account after account of Jesus' obedience to God.

Even in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus asked for the cup to be removed,,, He also said,,, not my will but thine.

That's our problem today when we are trying to live our life on our own.

We can't even be obedient in the small things,,, if they even cross our mind,,, much less the bigger things that God has planned for us to do.

Sometimes,,, that's why we go through the trials that we go through,,, because without them we may not realize how much we need God in our life.

And we can't be obedient on our own,,, it must be with God's help,,, through the Holy Spirit.

(5:07)

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Verse 2 says: 2 After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry.

My Faithlife Study Bible says that Jesus’ 40-day fast recalls Moses’ 40 days on the mountain which is found in ,,, the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert that is found in ,,, and Elijah’s 40 days at Mount Horeb found in .

These would have been events that the Jewish people would have known about and they would be able to make the correct connection about them.

For instance,,, the connection between Moses and Jesus can be explained a number of ways but three of the ways are,,,

1 - when Moses was a baby pharaoh gave a command that all the Hebrew boys be killed but Moses survived.

Herod gave a command that all Hebrew boys be killed but Jesus survived.

2 - While Moses is on the mountain he neither ate or drank for 40 days

Jesus was in the wilderness for the same length of time.

3 - Moses is given the Law while on a mountain.

Jesus delivers a New Law while delivering the Sermon on the Mount.

As you study this in greater detail you can see where Matthew is doing his best to keep the explanations in terms that they can understand.

It becomes important to us as well,,, especially when it comes to making the connection of the law and the prophets of the Old Testament to Jesus.

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Verse 3 says: 3 Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

If you remember from chapter 3 here in Matthew,,, Jesus has just been baptized by John and as the Spirit of God was descending like a dove,,, God spoke from Heaven saying "This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased".

So Satan tries to trick Jesus like he managed to do with Adam by using doubt.

My Wesleyan Commentary says that Satan might have meant that,,, "if you",,, (talking to Jesus),,, "really think that you are the Son of God,,, then test it by turning these stones into bread".

Or,,, he could have meant since you are the Son of God,,, serve yourself,,, why should you go hungry,,, act like Him,,, show your creative power!

Either way,,, Satan tries to use doubt to trick Jesus just like he will use doubt against us today.

And just like Jesus we need to be sure that we are ready so that our answer is based on a Biblical response.

(7:53)

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We have Jesus' answer in verse 4 where it says: 4 But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Jesus answered from .

By Jesus' example we can see that the way to defeat Satan is to be sure that we have the Holy Spirit helping us,,, guiding us,,, and we have knowledge of the Bible,,, and we also know how to use that knowledge correctly.

Just knowing the Bible isn't enough because Satan knows the Bible too!

We see that in the next two verses.

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Verses 5 & 6 says: 5 Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand 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 give His angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Satan is quoting ,,, and is known as the "Prayer of Protection".

It should be one of the Psalms that you are well aware of because of the protection that it promises to each of us as the children of God.

But the main point that I wanted to make here was that apparently,,, Satan can use the Bible when he needs to.

So we,,, as Christians,,, need to be sure that we are studying and learning so that we know when someone isn't telling the whole truth.

That's why it's important for you to check my work and be sure that what I teach is correct because when it comes time to answer for your sins,,, it won't matter if I or another Pastor led you down the wrong path,,, you will still be guilty,,, because you have the opportunity to use your Bible and check everything now,,, that's your responsibility.

Now,,, I'm not going to intentionally teach you something wrong,,, but I can make mistakes.

So I really encourage you to always check scriptures and ideas that are presented to be sure that they are Biblically correct.

I know that some of you do that now and I really don't know how many of you do,,, but I want to encourage all of you to do that,,, and I'll also add,,, that doesn't make me mad at all for you to do that because that is what we are supposed to be doing!

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Verse 7 says: 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”

Again Jesus answers him from the Bible,,, referring to .

Satan was trying to deceive Jesus into thinking that He could do as He pleased and God would still take care of Him.

So many times today,,, we have people who are going to church,,, living their lives their way,,, and they too,,, think that God will still take care of them.

I'm so afraid that when they stand before Jesus on that day,,, He will say,,, "depart from me, you who practice lawlessness."

That's why I say it over and over again,,, that a personal relationship with God is so important.

Because it's through that relationship that we know when we have made mistakes and we aren't living our life the correct way and we can be guided back into a right relationship with God immediately.

The Holy Spirit makes it all possible,,, we can't do this on our own.

(11:41)

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Verses 8 & 9 say: 8 Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.”

Satan was telling Jesus that,,, "You can have the kingdoms of the world,,, you don't have to go through the pain and suffering that you are going to go through. This can all be yours,,, now!"

But this wasn't God's plan for Jesus and He was going through with it as God intended for Him to do.

God intends for Jesus to rule the world,,, but not at this time.

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Verse 10 says: 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.”

Jesus has apparently gotten tired of this game now and tells Satan to go away,,, and he has no choice but to obey.

And again,,, Jesus goes back to the words from the Bible in Deuteronomy. (6:13 & 10:20)

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Verse 11 says: 11 Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him.

Before I leave these scriptures,,, I want to make a comparison in the scriptures about angels.

Remember when Jesus was going to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and Peter was prepared to fight for Him?

Do you remember what Jesus told Peter?

In it says: Or do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than 12 legions of angels?

Jesus knew that these angels were at His disposal if He needed them at any time,,, just like they helped Him here,,, they were available to help Him if He would have called on them at that time as well.

Angels watch out for us today also,,, but we just don't see them or recognize them like we should.

(13:49)

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As we began our 40 days of Lent on Ash Wednesday and it continues on until Holy Saturday,,, I want us to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us during the 40 days when He was tempted in the wilderness.

That's why we should make an extra effort to do something different during Lent.

Whether it's giving something up or making a commitment to read the Bible more,,, whatever it is,,, it needs to be done to show our love to God!

Remember as we look forward to our Easter celebrations that we spend time in prayer and Bible reading so that our relationship with God can grow.

That's what is important no matter what season it is!

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page - 348

Seminary - Hymn Page - ???

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Now as we come before You, Dear Lord,,, this first Sunday of Lent,,, help us to remember everything that Jesus has done for us,,, as we commit ourselves to making these days of Lent special for You!

Help us to prepare our hearts so that everything that we do will be pleasing to you.

To help us with that,,, we need to take just a couple of minutes and prepare ourselves to receive communion through prayer.

So lets bow our heads in prayer and I'll begin the prayer,,, then we will have a short time of silence,,, to give each of us a chance to speak to God silently,,, then I'll close the prayer

Let us Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,,, we come to you this morning and thank you for all the blessings that we have received. We thank you for your Son who died on the cross for our sin's and made it possible to come to you in prayer. I ask for forgiveness for my sins and I know that the Holy Spirit will put before you any that I miss. Now we will take just a few moments in silence to allow everyone to speak personally to you, then I'll finish,,,,. ,,,,

(silence)

Most Gracious and Holy God,,, again we thank you for this opportunity to come before you. Now we ask forgiveness as a church family together,,, for any sins we've committed before we take of your Holy Communion. These things and all others we ask,,, in Jesus' name,,, Amen

Service of Holy Communion:1st Sunday of Lent

GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks unto the Lord.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who was in every way tempted as we are, yet did not sin; by whose grace we are able to triumph over evil, and to live no longer unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again.

Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

We praise you that you sent Jesus to capture us with your love.

Living as one of us, baptized in the Holy Spirit, he taught us your Way.

Who, in the same night that He was betrayed, took bread; gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said,

“Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Then, after supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to His disciples, and said,

“Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the New Covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

Thank you, for the gift of this table set as a sign of your Kingdom in our midst.

Come now, Holy Spirit, and move among us

that we might perceive your presence and our union with all the saints of all times and places as we partake of this covenant meal in memory of your mighty acts and your coming again.

We offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice, devoted to following you.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at His heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever,

Amen