Worship Call 0601 Jesus 1; Satan 0

Matthew 4:4 (NASB95) — 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”

this is so important here when it comes to testing.

the first thing we note is the aloneness of Jesus in the wilderness being tested. others may encourage and pray for us, even do what they can to lighten the load if possible. but when it comes down to it, the suffering is ours alone and the decisions that we make are our responsibility before God, whether we remain loyal to God or if we seek another way which might bring quick temporal relief that is outside of God’s will.

Secondly, Satan will offer attractive “outs” to the suffering.

Make no mistake, The devil will offer some very attractive alternatives contrary to God’s plan. He will offer a door out. and when you take that door you might walk away from the suffering and get some temporal relief, but you will also walk away from the blessing.

when the Lord showed up to speak to Job in chapter 38, how did the Lord come?

Job 38:1 (NASB95)

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,

That’s right, a storm.

Maybe Job could have ran from the storm. Maybe Job could have said that this tempest is just too powerful for me, and ran off, but he would have also distanced himself from the one who was standing beside him and counseling him while going through the storm.

Third point in suffering the trial is that Jesus does not give it back to God in some kind of dissociation from the problem. when we come into the battle it is the battle we must fight. God gave it to us. we do not necessarily give it back to God.

Jesus does not fall down and pray, “Oh Lord take it away!” this was purposeful suffering. Jesus was facing the trial for reason, He must suffer well.

what did Jesus do which is the only recourse to the testing that He faced?

He went to the word of the Lord that was resident within His human heart.

As God, Jesus knows all the knowable and all wisdom is His. but in his humanity our Lord had a time within the obscurity of life in those thirty years to learn the Word of the Lord as well as other lessons as one would learn growing up under the subordination of his earthly parents.

Luke 2:51–52 (NASB95) — 51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Jesus’ Coming was not only to save man from his sin, but also to serve a model to how we are to suffer well. It was pronounced that Jesus is the Son of God in whom God is well pleased. There would be the cross examination. The trials and tribulations would be part of the wounding of the heal. We are the body of Christ. God’s will for us is our Sanctification. Inside the boundaries of that sanctification our lives become a witness for Christ as he was a witness for His Father. In Sanctification we are consecrated to service to God and not to the Lord of this dark world.

2 Timothy 2:21(NASB95) — 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

Oh yes, we will be cross examined as Jesus was cross examined.

1 Peter 4:12–19 (NASB95) — 12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? 19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

Revelation 2:8–11 (NASB95) — 8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: 9 ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

Suffering is as much part of the Christian life as ministry is.

Jesus recieved and grew in wisdom prior to this event.

In being followers and imagers of Christ, we must know that our battles are ahead if in fact we are not already fighting in a battle. Faith is the victory.

How does faith come?

Romans 10:17 (NASB95) — 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

One cannot apply what he or she does not know.

It is through wisdom which is the right application of God’s word that brings victory.

If anything that we give back to God, it is His word that God loves so much being reflected back to the Lord.

Jesus In this testing did what the woman should have done and did not do.

first what did the woman do when faced with the doubt?

Genesis 3:2–3 (NASB95) — 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

The woman added to God’s word. She polluted the Word with her own understanding which left her vulnerable to the serpent and further exploitation of her heart.

Jesus as he did with some many examples reverses the bad decisions of those recorded in the bible but using God’s word.

Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy which is the second Law.

Deuteronomy 8:1–3 (NASB95) — 1 “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. 2 “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Can you see the Parallel? Can you see the lesson? can you see how Jesus demonstrated the perfect way to handle any issue?

Jesus had done his Homework. So must the believer be diligent in his own homework.

I was that little boy who never had his homework assignments. My dog was fat with all the homework that it ate. we have the grace of time to do our homework. we have the freedom to feed upon God’s word and to grow in wisdom just the same as our Lord growing up did.

there is coming a time when we will face the challenge and how well we face the challenge to the Glory of the Lord will be decided upon if we were faithful in learning God’s word and learning to live by it.

suffering is a part of the maturing within the believers life.

intake of God's word

Application in a time of testing

Passing the trials though the use of God’s word puts muscle on faith and creates momentum in the Christian life.

opens doors for

greater ministry

greater work

greater ways to serve the lord

greater challenges

greater opportunity to glorify the Lord

witness to others

1 Peter 3:15 (NASB95) — 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

Jesus was worthy to be tested and therefore honored God in victory over the test by the use of God’s word.

Enters challenge number 2

Yes, there is a second challenge. this is a reminder, do not get so cocky as to think that you are victorious because you have overcomes a challenge. Satan often uses a one two punch, and often the christian will be busy patting himself on the back and get hit by the second blow that will knock you out.

Matthew 4:5–6 (NASB95) — 5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and 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 command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”

this becomes a pride of life issue.

The question that we might have is

How can The Devil take Jesus anywhere?

I will have to let you ponder that.

But here is the opportunity for Jesus to show first hand who he is. why have to go through all the doubt about who and what Jesus is. In fact to do this in the sight of the people they would certainly hail Jesus as their messiah, bowing to him. calling it the fulfillment of Scriptures.

Malachi 3:1 (NASB95) — 1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.

by doing this, Jesus can avoid all the hatred and attacks leveled at him. He can take his place. His adoring crowds would receive Him. and he could take the glory that was to be directed to God in heaven and receive it for himself.

‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”

Let’s go to that verse

Psalm 91:11–13 (NASB95) — 11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. 12 They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

Now between these two verses, between what Satan said and what the word of God does say, what does Satan leave out?

or He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.

The way of the Lord is God’s way. there is no biblical presendence to test God to handle snakes, to jump from high places to test your fate. There are dangers in the world, that we are protected from. we could probably say that if we knew how many close calls that we had that we would be too paranoide to go outside. we are rescured from danger, but yet we do not flirt with danger simply to put God’s word to the testt.