It is written

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Focus Verse

Luke 4:4 KJV 1900

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Culture Connection

FOMO

One of life’s greatest temptations is represented by four letters: FOMO . Known as the fear of missing out, it is one of the highest-octane fuels for temptation . Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University, conducted an experiment on two capuchin monkeys to evaluate the power of FOMO . In the experiment, de Waal rewarded the monkeys when they completed a simple task . All they had to do was hand a rock to the researcher . When they handed him the rock, he handed them a cucumber . When he gave the same reward to both monkeys for completing the same task, they were content . But when he gave one monkey a grape while giving the other a cucumber, he saw markedly different results . The monkey who was perfectly content only seconds earlier with earning a cucumber began shrieking, baring his teeth, thrashing in his cage, and pounding on the table to show his anger . He was enraged because he wanted what he did not have . The enemy of our soul is no kinder . He fills up his five-gallon jar of temptation in hopes of filling us with discontentment, envy, jealousy, covetousness, and resentment—a deadly cocktail of emotions . In our day FOMO is still a formidable foe . It still lures us to the bar and urges us to open wide and drink up this deadly cocktail . But we are not missing out on anything in this life when we are living the abundant life Jesus gave His life to give us . So fill up on the precious Word of God, and when the tempter tempts you to drink his cocktail, be ready to say, “It is written .”

Focus Thought

Jesus showed us how to resist Satan and overcome temptation by the power of God’s Word.

JESUS WAS LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS

In the Book of Matthew, we receive insight into two of the most significant events in the life of Jesus . These occurred at the beginning of His public ministry . First, Jesus was baptized by John . Then Matthew shared the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness . Over the course of a lifetime, we learn there are times when temptation follows closely on the heels of great spiritual experiences . After a great worship service where God has blessed us, even temptations we have long forgotten can resurface . The key is to stay as led of the Spirit on Monday as we were on Sunday . Interestingly, the Bible tells us Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness for the very purpose of being tempted by the devil . The Spirit directed Him to a place of aloneness and separation . In some ways this can be difficult to understand . Why would God lead someone to a place where He knows the person will be tempted? Would it not be better to keep the person in a spiritual environment where temptation would have little to no power or influence? No doubt God can do that . But there are times when He will lead us to places in our lives where our spirituality can be tested, proven, and strengthened, so we must stay close to Him and His Word . Many people fall into temptation because they do not practice the necessary spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and reading the Word .

The First Battle

The first battle that Jesus had to face was that of temptation. Saint of God, lover of Jesus, there is a daily battle that we all must fight.

Paul describes this war in Romans 7:14-25, and he says in Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The first battle we must win when our day begins is that of temptation. Before the narrative of Jesus’ earthly ministry launches in full swing, the Bible gives us this key insight. HE WAS LED BY THE SPIRIT.

We will all fight this battle.

FOMO

When Satan tempted Eve, he got her to focus on the one tree that God instructed them not to eat from. (expound on they had everything)

He was able to get Eve to doubt what God said.

We must know what God has said

Jesus was able to fight off the tempter by declaring what was written.

If we are going to be able to fight off temptation, we must have God’s word in our hearts and minds.

King James Version Psalm 119

9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed thereto according to thy word.

10 With my whole heart have I sought thee:

O let me not wander from thy commandments.

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart,

That I might not sin against thee.

12 Blessed art thou, O LORD:

Teach me thy statutes.

13 With my lips have I declared

All the judgments of thy mouth.

14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate in thy precepts,

And have respect unto thy ways.

16 I will delight myself in thy statutes:

I will not forget thy word.

Years ago there was a preacher known as the walking Bible. He had the entire Bible memorized. While most of us may not accomplish this. We can still know the scripture enough that we know where to go for help in time of need and we can commit the principles of it to memory.

If we are going to fight with what’s written, we must know hat is there.

Fasting

Fasted for Forty Days The very word fasting may cause some to cringe . We do not like the idea of not eating or drinking anything for any period of time . Our flesh craves to be satisfied with natural things and rebels against being denied . For some, the thought of giving up even one meal for spiritual reasons is a formidable undertaking . Imagine doing what Jesus did and fasting for forty days . For almost six full weeks He denied His physical appetite . He refused to give in and take nourishment into His body . It was a time of spiritual warfare . Such a season demanded the spirit be strong and ready for battle . The only way to accomplish this was to deny the flesh and feed the spirit . Prayer and fasting were critical to Jesus overcoming the temptations He would face throughout His ministry . Without preparing the spiritual man, surely He would fall in a weak moment . In His humanity, He may not have known all He was about to encounter . Yet, in His spirit, He was well able (just as we are) to recognize when a spiritual struggle was taking place .

Bro. Huntley will be preaching about a word that we have tried to remove from scripture. Here is another one. Fasting.

We have replaced fasting with breaking bread. Fasting is good when it’s done corporately but is just powerful (more so at times)when it’s done privately.

If Jesus being the God-Man practiced it, be assured that we must also. The Bible gives us this principle: (Paul and thorn in flesh) If we can weaken our fleshly nature we can become more spiritually in-tuned.

Rhema and Logos

Fasting brings to this point of our lesson about it is written.

Rhema: an utterance

Logos: something said (including the thought)

When I communicate (writing vs speaking)

Someone said it like this:

The logos is the general word of God that communicates his ability to do something or his general will on a matter while a rhema is the word the Holy Spirit quickens to a specific person for a specific situation. – the logos is a well of water while the rhema is a bowl of water from that well, the logos is piano keys while the rhema is a single key playing, a logos is the entire body while the rhema is one part in operation. The logos & rhema are always in alignment with one another. Rhema could be a scripture or a word spoken to you by someone or quickened directly into your heart.

God is not fallible as us, so His word whether logos or rhema will always be perfect, but the problem lies with the processor!

1. Rhema will never contradict logos.

2. When you don’t have a fresh word, go by the last thing that was said.

Overcomers by the Word

OVERCOMERS BY THE WORD OF GOD

We must never underestimate the value of the Word of God in our lives . God’s Word is our wellspring of hope and encouragement . During times of temptation, His Word is a source of supernatural strength in fighting off the enemy . II Corinthians 10:4 lets us know, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds .” David knew this lesson well . He realized that hiding the Word in his heart would help him not to sin against God (Psalm 119:11) . He also knew the Word was a lamp to his feet and a light to his pathway (Psalm 119:105) . On the battlefield with Goliath, David boldly declared the power of the name and the Word of the Lord (I Samuel 17) . Because he did so, God gave him a great victory .

INTERNALIZING THE MESSAGE

When we commit ourselves to regularly studying and applying the Word of God in our lives, we are fortifying ourselves for our wilderness experiences . We can overcome the temptations of the flesh and spirit by standing and declaring the Word of God to the enemy we face . Whether it be our physical appetites, our spiritual struggles, or being challenged in our worship, the Word of God remains our best defense .

Related Media

Related Sermons