Worship call 0602Jesus 2; Devil 0

Psalm 23:1–3 (NASB95)

The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

There is a destination that we are being taken to. There is a place in the soul where there is rest and there is a literal home with The Lord that the child of God should be looking for.

2 Peter 3:13 (NASB95)But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

the destination is on the other side. And to get there we must go through the valley of the Shadow of death.

Jesus went first, to show us the way. we are the body, we are to follow.

This is another fine Day in the Lord. And though we may in it have to face a battle this day, we have the sword of the spirit that we win every battle with.

For the believer there is a purpose attached to the suffering and that purpose is the glorification of our Lord and savior whose victory it is.

In life, the believer will face

system Testing

mental attitude testing

disaster testing

Sin Nature testing

Momentum testing.

All testing that comes to the believer is designed to challenge the believer but cannot defeat the believer who yields the sword of the spirit, which is the word of the Lord.

what Jesus faced in the wilderness was deliberate. It was not a matter of a circumstantial whim. That is that Jesus was simply minding his own business in the wilderness and just so happens he falls into a suffering situation.

Matthew 4:1 (NASB95)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Your suffering and mine as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not circumstantial either, but are tailored to each of us personally and have spiritual implications. And while we may not know the reasons for our suffering, we glorify our Lord when we lift up His word to answer the call when the crisis hits.

The believer must be prepared for the Challenge.

Jesus grew in wisdom and in Stature. (Luke 2:52)

The believer must be equipped with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.

not only knowledge, but knowing how to rightly divide the truth which is wisdom. It is in our discipleship that we are prepared for the battles that we must face as we journey toward that place of rest.

Isaiah 49:2 (NASB95) — 2 He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.

Hosea 6:5 (NASB95) — 5 Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.

Hebrews 4:12 (NASB95) — 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Ephesians 6:17 (NASB95) — 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

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.

It is not in the classroom or in the church that we are growing in the Lord, but it is on the field of battle where we take our spiritually skills to fight the good fight of faith.

As we win victories we build spiritual muscle. this opens doors for greater challenges and with greater challenges, greater victories and greater glorification of our Lord.

Paul, who is about to die, gives his testimony in a Letter to Timothy.

2 Timothy 4:7–8 (NASB95)I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

opens doors for

greater ministry

greater work

greater ways to serve the lord

greater challenges

greater opportunity to glorify the Lord

witness to others

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

Jesus conquered the first test of Satan.

Note though.

Did it do anything to assuage his physical hunger?

No.

Did it illiterate the physical strain that He was under?

No.

Only thing that Jesus was rewarded with was another challenge. Can you relate?

So where is the victory for a believer who sticks with the word of God, Applying it faithfully and yet sees no immediate relief of worldly stress?

The victory is a spiritual victory that the believer stands firm.

Ephesians 6:10–12 NASB95

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The standing firm is in faith.

What was Job’s testimony?

Job 13:15 (NASB95)

“Though He slay me,

I will hope in Him.

Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

So even in His weakened state, and having won the first battle the Devil is quick to bring about the next challenge.

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.’ ”

Now, Let us connect this to the original challenge in the Garden when the tempter came to the woman in the Garden.

Genesis 3:6 NASB95

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

1 John 2:16 NASB95

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

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.

Here in some way the two are standing of up high on the pinnacle of the temple

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)

“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 immediately reject those crooked religious leaders. and Jesus could take the glory that was to be directed to God in heaven and receive it for himself.

the Devil figures,

Notice that in the first test, the Devil is content with leaving out scripture all together. Let’s not bring the dreaded sword into the contest. there is no spiritual defeat of the believer who properly yields the sword of the word.

While it seems that the Devil is calling the shots, it was Jesus who brought the word of the Lord into the conversation that forces Devil to fight on God’s terms.

Remember this in your challenges, when confronted with opposition in your life. Do not leave the bible and word of God out of the conversation.

The Devil partially quotes scripture and conveniently leaves out something important.

‘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 that Satan is quoting

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 precedence to test God to handle snakes, to jump from high places to test 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 paranoid to go outside. we are rescued from danger, but yet we do not flirt with danger simply to put God’s word to the test. that is a Fool’s journey.

The way of the Lord is righteousness. and in that way, there is a path that is laid for the Lord to follow. When man goes about his own way as an independent agent then he is no longer following the way of the Lord and his way is wrought in danger,

Jesus then answers again from the second Law Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:13–18 (NASB95) — 13 “You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 “You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. 16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. 17 “You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 “You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the jgood land which the Lord swore to give your fathers,

As so often the case the world loves to misquote the bible. but it is the believer who properly discerns the word of God will win each and every time.