Episode 26: The Wilderness II

Alright, welcome to episode 26 of the plan. We have been going through the story of the entire Bible from beginning to end ever since September. When we started in Genesis. And today is our second Sunday in the New Testament. Last week. We talked about, John the Baptist and the ministry that he began and we just Jesus just enter the story of the very end. And so today, we're going to pick up where we left off. But before we get into that, you get into the story. Let me remind you of the story that we've been telling. The Bible is the story of God's plan, to establish a Place full of people who live out their purpose in his presence. That's God's design for the world. That's his desire for the world. That's how he made it. He put, He made the world and he put people in it and he gave him the job of ruling on his behalf. And then on the 7th day, he came down to live with them and then we messed it up. It would cut messing it up in the Bible is the story of God putting that right again, the normally, at this point. I I retail some of the points in between to catch us up to the story. But I'm asking you to do that a little bit later with visual aid. So let me just skip real quickly to where we were last week. The Jews have been in Exile and and they've been trying to get back into God's plan and and they've been trying to get dog to return to them by keeping the law meticulously. And last week. We looked at the ministry of John, the Baptist came out and said that repentance looks different than what God is looking for, is for people to choose to follow him, to choose to adopt his character. And so John, the Baptist started inviting people to be baptized as a way of choosing this other way of being Israel, until the end of the story. Jesus get baptized not to say, hey, I've let a terrible life. And now, I'm, I'm going to leave those bad things behind a start, a new thing. But as a member of the people of Israel to say, I'm going to be a part of this. Returning to God, this path forward for Israel. And we finished with his baptism, which is where we're going to pick up today because is that some very profound things happened in his baptism. So I'm going to read that passage again. And as I read it, remember the coordinates that we use to keep track of the story. We've looked for who people, who was the story about, who is this? Who is God's who are got people at the time, and who is God using? Then there is, where is their home, where they meant to be, and what is their relationship with their home? Because the location of their home, has it changed in a while but their relationship with their home has changed quite a bit. Third is the present. How can I meet with God? How do they have access to God's presence? And finally, the fourth part is, what did God tell them to do. What is their purpose at this stage in the story? And we're going to see that the baptism marks a turning point in most of those parts of the plan. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water at that moment heaven was opened and he saw the spirit of God descending, like a dove, and a lighting on him and a voice from Heaven said, this is my son, whom I love with him. I am. Well, pleased. The brief story, but a lot happens there and it changes the answer to three of the four questions that were looking at. So who was the story about?

When the voice of God says, this is my son about a specific person. You're pretty, you can pretty well bet that there now the main character in a story, right? So Jesus is the leader of God's people. Now that God's people at this point is 3, still the Jews and he's working through the juice. He said he was going to save the world through the Jews. So there is people Jesus is pretty clearly their leader now, And we'll see more evidence of that in the second. Where is there home at this point? They're still waiting to be restored to control over the promised land. Because right now, we would refer to it as Galilee and Judea which are two Roman provinces. One of them is headed by a Roman governor. And the other one is headed by a Jewish King who works for the Romans, but the Romans, get to decide where the borders are they get to decide who's in charge. They get to a point, the high priest, the Jews don't have control over their own home. How can they meet with God?

Well, where is the holy spirit? Now? Where is the presence of God? It's in Jesus. Now course, if you're familiar with Christian, do you know that we say that Jesus is also God himself, but as we're looking at the story, that part isn't clear to people, right? That has been proclaimed that has been understood. So but what will you do know, is that the spirit of God, the presence of God has descended on Jesus instead of the temple. It's now on him. And so the place where anyone could encounter God? Now, if you want to encounter the presence of God, you got to go find Jesus, but whenever you find Jesus, you found the presence of God. Now the last question is, what is their purpose? What is the job that they're meant to do? Cuz you may not have noticed it because we weren't reading it in the original languages and we didn't have like five bucks in front of us. But if we did, you would be able to tell that the voice that spoke from heaven was quoting the Old Testament twice. And the word that the spirit that the heaven used to speak to Jesus were giving instruction. They were setting his purpose for what he was supposed to be doing. Remember the voice said this is my son, whom I love and him I am well pleased or the first reference that that's making this is quoting song chapter 2 years. What song? Chapter 2 says I will proclaim the Lord's decree. He said to me you are my son today. I have become your father asked me and I will make the nation's your inheritance, the ends of the Earth, your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron. You will Dash them to pieces like pottery. Hear something we get wrong about the Son of God. We typically think of the phrase, the Son of God, as a Divine title telling us, that Jesus is God. And for the Romans, that is what it would have meant. It would have meant to say that Jesus is partially, at least partially Divine, but to the Jews, the Son of God is not a Divine title. It's a royal title. To say that this because this is a song written by David is talking about the appointing of a king over Israel because an ancient Jewish culture and and in in the near East they assumed that whoever was the King was was the adopted son of the God who was in charge of that Nation. So to say that that Jesus is the son of God. In this case is to say that he is God's chosen. Okay, I'm not questioning anything that we know about the identity of Jesus. He is God. But what's being said here? When they say when you, God says, you are my son. He's saying You Are My Chosen King who's going to end up ruling over the nation's?

But he doesn't just say this is my son. He says, this is my son, whom I love in him. I am. Well pleased and that second phrase is also a quote from the Old Testament. But this one comes from Isaiah. 42:8. 42. It says, here is my servant whom I uphold My Chosen One in whom I Delight. If you take that phrase in whom I delight in Hebrew and you translate into Greek, it'll be the same words as what we saw the voice say in the gospel of Matthew. The quoting chapter Isaiah 42, which says, here's my server to my opold, My Chosen One in whom I Delight. I will put my spirit on him and he will bring Justice to the Nations by the Lord have called you in righteousness. I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and make you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles to open eyes that are blind to free cap is from prison and to release from the dungeon, those who sit in darkness. Now there's a lot that we can unpack from song to and Isaiah 42, especially if I read you the whole thing, there's tons of things that we could unpack for what this means for Jesus's mission. But what you find in common in both of these passages is they are identifying an individual who is going to take on the mission of Israel. Remember, the mission of Israel's for the sake of the nation's and in this, in one case, you have the Son of God, the king who is Tate. He was going to rule over the nation's and in the other case you have this servant who is going to be a covenant and an to to be a light to the Nations. And in both cases was being described is the job that all of Israel is supposed to be doing. In fact, Isaiah 42 is so closely maps onto Israel's job as a nation. That Jews will say that the servant isn't an individual. It's the Jews as a people because it is the he's just describing what? You doing. And so what we find in these passages along with everything else. Is it essentially what's being said, is that Jesus's job is to fulfill the mission of Israel.

He supposed to fulfill the mission is right. Now. This is where this visual aid comes in. I made this when well, okay. I bought this and my wife painted it for me. When I was a youth, pastor to help explain this pattern in scripture. There's this is the last move in that pattern of scripture that's been going on throughout the story. God, created everything in the world and he loves it and he enjoys it. He wants to. Everybody wants to be in relationship with him. So in order to actually be able to have nature be more than just a machine, God, chose one creature out of all of creation and appointed them to be the leaders, the rulers of creation, right? So, out of all creation. God has chosen

Humanity, we're supposed to lead God's people or lead lead Creation in worship of God, right? That's our job. As we rule over on rule, over the world on his behalf, but human beings. And we kept messing it up and soaked in Genesis 12. God committed to out of all of humanity. He chose one family, one nation. And he said I'm going to do, I'm going to fulfill my plan through this nation Israel, and when they get it, right, it will somehow filter back into the Nations and the Nations will be restored to my plan in which humanity is restored. My plan of creation will be restored to my plan. But the Israelites couldn't get it done any better than the nation's, right. They kept messing up and kept messing up and through a variety of things that happen throughout the history of Israel. They end up being whittled down to one or two tribes and just really, just the survivors of those two tribes whom we call the Jews and the Jews are supposed to be carried forward. God's purpose, isn't there supposed to be able to do what Israel was supposed to do? So as to fulfill God's plan, what is real that you have been failing for 400 years. And so here is the move. This happened right now is the goddess said. Alright, Humanity couldn't do it because our lights couldn't do it. The Jews couldn't do it fine. If one of you can do it. I will choose one Jew. To take this whole thing on his shoulders. And if one, Jew can take this on and fulfill the mission, then that will fulfill the mission 4 is for the Jews, which will fulfill it for Israel, which will fill it for Humanity, which will be the path to restoring creation. As we go through the story of the New Testament that we're going to hit each of these beats as as the work of Jesus filters out into the world and transforms everything. But at this point in the story, we are at the point where God has said, all right, if this one person that I have chosen will take on and fulfill the mission of Israel, that could be the turning point, that will be where everything turns around and things start to get restored. But the question is, if you mad and he couldn't do it and he Israelites couldn't do it and the Jews couldn't do it after everything that they've all been through. What makes us think that this one person will be able to do it any better than all the other people Moses couldn't do. It. David couldn't do it. Why should we think that this person will do any better? That is what Matthew chapter 4 is about.

So, now we go into the story of the aftermath of Jesus's, baptism says, then Jesus was led by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be tempted by the devil after fasting. 40 days and 40 nights. He was hungry. Now. That's an understatement. All right, one of these, I really like about the series and why, I know we spend a lot of time in the Old Testament, but here's the payoff, is that, as we read the story of Jesus, in the light of the Old Testament? We start to see the connection. Let me ask you this. You remember a time when God said, these will be my people. And then he put his Spirit among them and the Spirit, Led them out into the Wilderness for 40 periods of time. Does that sound familiar? This is exactly what happened to Mount Sinai, right? God, made a covenant with Israel said, you're going to be my people. And then the spirit, his presents came down into the Tabernacle. And then the Tabernacle LED them into the Wilderness for 40 years. And I do reading the story of Jesus. That should be, you should be picking up on those connections. Like, that's the goal is that, that it's you hearing the news of Jesus for the first time would be saying, oh hey that sounds familiar. And for a Jew, reading, the story, The Wilderness was the place where Israel was tested and who they really were was revealed and it didn't go. Well. You may remember what we talked about the Wilderness the first time and things do not go. Well and so when Jesus has led out into the Wilderness by God, it's for a period of testing. As scripture tells us the word for attempted can also mean tested and I think that's person. I think that's more accurate for what's going on. But why is he being tested? Well, we're going to notice a link between the test that is Minister to Jesus and the thing that and what the what the word Voice just said over Jesus which is the voice that you are my son and say he's going to come and say are you really? What time it is God, let Jesus Into the Wilderness to prove that he was worthy to fulfill Israel's mission to prove that it was that there is hope when the whole plan is put on the shoulders of one man.

So that's what's happening at this stage in the story. Is it proven that this was the right move? I'm saying proving because if I say test, it might make it sound like God doesn't know, God knows but he's proving to everyone that this is the right move that Jesus can and carry it and he chooses. So notice that this is God's choice to lead him into the world of this and it's God's choice of who administers the test. And you may be surprised to find out that it is. Now in episode 26 of the plan that we first, meet the character of Satan you weren't here for our sermons on Genesis 3. We talked about the fact that Satan does not appear in the garden. With snake is not Satan. There is nothing in scripture that says that he is the servant imagery that's connected with Satan in scripture is actually pointing to the Leviathan, don't need to get into. So forget. I brought it up. The point is Satan enters. The story prominently at this point in the story and he plays a slightly different world. We normally associate with saying we we think of Satan as the serpent in the garden. We think of him as his corrupt, who has it in for God's plan and wants to mess everything up and want to introduce semen into the plan. That's not really what Satan does in the Bible, Satan, a three times in the Old Testament and the common thread in what he does. Has to do. His name is name means the accuser. It's actually a title. It's not a name. The Satan is the Accuser. And the accuser is a member of God's Court who serves as the district attorney or the attorney general, or the prosecutor, his job. Whenever you see him in the Old Testament is to point out when people have disobeyed God or point out the flaws in in Humanity's response to God. He is the accuser that that reminds God of how messed up we are. And actually the last time that we encountered Satan in the Bible before the last of those three times, he's in the Old Testament, is really gives you a clearer idea of his role in the plan and end of the story of Israel. So we rewind to Zacharia Zachariah was a prophet during the when they were rebuilding the temple. And God didn't come back to the new Temple and and they weren't there. There was no question of is God done with the Jews? Or is he going to give us a second chance and Zachariah has a vision? And in this Vision, it says, the Angels showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing in his right side to accuse him. So Joshua is the person isn't that their re-establishing is the high priest. Also, in Greek. His name is Jesus and name, interesting point, but he has his vision of the high priest standing before in God's court on trial, representing the Jews and Satan's job is to stand next to him point out everything that he's done wrong. And if they look the Jews do not deserve a second chance. Look at how much wrong they done. Look at how many chances you gave them. And how many times they failed? Look at all. All, how old? How the metaphor dirty clothes on the represent? All their failures. Just look at how filthy this guy is. Look at how wrong is when they do not deserve a second chance. That's been Satan's role in his relationship with Israel. And that's what makes him. Their enemy is that he is opposed to their second chance. He's opposed to their restoration. And that's why he's the person to Face Off With Jesus, when God is using Jesus to restore Israel. So, the test was administered by Satan, who was a spiritual prosecutor who was opposed to Israel's restoration. He's the one who's going to say. No, this whole thing is a failure. You can't work with these people. They aren't, there are up to it and it's never going to work. Just forget them move on to something else. They don't deserve it. That's his, that's his wine. Not so much for introducing into the equation as to point it out, and make sure we never forget it. We all get punished to the fullest extent that we deserve. That's what Satan does.

And so, it's important for us to make that connection be to remember that Jesus. This is not just a test of an individual person. This is a test of an individual person who is taking on the mission of a whole people who are in a broken Covenant with God. And so, the fate of the nation is at stake and then and then the fate of humanity is at stake in the fate of the nation. So everything is is all falling on Jesus and you can tell that that's what's going on because of the kinds of tests that Satan chooses. You guys would only end up happening, is Satan tested Jesus in the ways that had defeated Israel in the past. He's going to choose significant ways to test Jesus there. A 613 Commandments that he could test Jesus on. There's all kinds of things. He could use to try and get to try and test Jesus. But what he's really doing is he's testing is Jesus better than Israel is. Can he do any better than they did? This is what we're going to do is we're going to first. We're going to look at the questions on the test. And then we're going to look at Jesus's response at 8. So I'm not going to go through a verse by verse where to look at the questions first, and then Jesus has answers. So, here's the first, the first test question after fasting, 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus was hungry. The tensor came to him and said, if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Alright, so here's the test. The test is to prove that Jesus is the son of God and Satan says, alright, I'll believe that you are the one that God has chosen. If you use the power he's giving you to turn these stones into bread. That'll be evidence the gods with you cuz you can't do that. Unless God is with you. So that'll be I'll be the proof. The question is, why is this the temptation? Jesus isn't going to do it. He is not going to answer the test in a way that would prove that he's a son of God. Why doesn't he do that? Because Jesus recognizes what's going on? He recognizes how this connects with the story of Israel. Because if you talk to a Jew about spending 40 periods of time in the desert and then talking about bread. They're going to think about manna. When the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years, God fed them with bread that just showed up like you do on the ground.

But he is, your lights weren't content with that. That wasn't that wasn't enough of a balanced breakfast for them. And so they wanted cucumbers. They wanted meet, they wanted all these other things and so they complained they weren't satisfied with what God has given them. And it's not lost on Jesus that the testes being given would just happen to also give him an opportunity to end his fast. Hey, you're going to end up with some bread. You wouldn't want it to go to waste. Maybe you should, maybe you should make some food so you don't have to fast anymore. While you're proving this to me, prove to me who you are.

What's the question at the base of both of these stories is, can you be content with what God has given you? Because at this point in the story. God has given Jesus a fat.

And Jesus has his opportunity to use the power God's given to relieve that fast to get more food than he's been given. And this is a temptation to Israel faced over and over again to just take a little bit more than we've got to give him or to take control to ensure that they had more than what God had given them. This is even what's all did when saw it took you was supposed to be supposed to destroy everything after a battle and he took some of it for himself. It's not just in the wilderness. It is real fell to this inpatient happens over and over again. That they aren't content with what God has given them. Until they do ungodly things to take control of their fate or taking control their fate, leads them in a Godly directions, to the question that Jesus is really being tested on his. Can you be content with what God has given you? For the second test, the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, he said throw yourself down. For it is written. 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. Two things that are interesting. Here, number one, for the second time, the test that Satan, the questions that Satan proposes is not a sin. There is no rule that says Thou shalt not turn stones into stones into bread. There's also no rule that says Thou shalt not jump off the temple or jump off. A high place is expecting to be caught by Angels, but he's not trusting him on whether or not he's going to break Commandments. The sender thing is that notice in the first question. The question was, can you prove to me that you are the son of God? In this case it and you prove to yourself.

Because the proof is if he jumps off and he gets caught and he's the son of God, if he jumps off and he's not caught. He's not the Son of God. This is probably also dead. But here's the thing say a Jesus knows his mission. Do you knows what's in store for him? And if there is any question of whether God is going to be there with him, if it were me, I would rather find out hurtling towards the ground, then hanging on the cross. The God's Not with me, right? There is a hard path ahead of Jesus and be better to find out. Now that God is not going to be with him. Which is the same thing that happened with the Israelites when they were in the wilderness. In the wilderness, they were just leaving from when they had just left from The Parting of the Red Sea. And they saw this miraculous thing that God had done. They go a day Into the Wilderness and they start getting worried about where the weather is going to be enough water where they're going. I got the Thursday. They demanded the God. Give us water now before we get into the Wilderness where we can't get to a good water source. We need to know. Now that you're going to be with us and providing water.

Do the question here is, do you trust God protect you when it matters? Because in both cases, they want to down payment. Satan is basically trying to get Jesus to ask for a down payment on God's protection to know that it'll also be there when it matters. He doesn't need God's protection. If he doesn't jump off the temple, not yet, but it would show him it would prove to him that God is going to take care of him. So, do you trust God to protect you in a Mathers?

Final question on a test is the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their Splendor. All this I will give to you. He said, if you will worship me, if you will Bow Down and Worship me. Okay. So this one is the first one, that's obviously a sin. There's no circumstance under which you were supposed to worship anyone other than got, so that's obvious. But the difference here is that Jesus gain something out of this temptation. There's something on the table, there's an offer on the table. What is that offer? That offer is a shortcut to fulfilling his mission that bypasses. The three years of preaching around in the sticks and the going into Jerusalem and getting rejected by God's people and being crucified. Just remember the goal. The mission that he's taking on is to reach the nation's and to rule over the nation's. That's what song to was all about. And Satan says, hey, I'll give them to you right now. Just just worship me, you know, just a little bit later and I'll give you the whole thing.

Now we know that worshiping anyone other than God is, is not. What is it is against his command. It's against his design. It is the complete opposite of the plan where we are supposed to rule on his behalf, right? But doing this one little obviously ungodly think we'll accomplish so much good so quickly, so easily, It'll be so much harder to do things God's way. So the question is, will you follow God's plan even when it's hard. And if you remember as we looked over the story of Israel, this was a huge thing that is real struggle, but they were constantly trying to do things and easier ways. They're trying to protect themselves and easier way they literally worship other gods. As a way to protect themselves with Solomon, did remember the Solomon worship. These other gods as a way to maintain his alliances with other nations because I was an easier way to protect his Empire than actually trust in God. Do all of these tests are tests that Israel failed at over and over again, which makes it likely that the ones we fail at over and over again to write.

The question then becomes. How does Jesus respond to these?

Go to the first question of making stones into bread. Jesus answered. It, is written man. Shall not live on bread alone. But on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Notice that verse is not really a direct response to the Temptation and it doesn't quite explain why it would be wrong to turn the stones into bread. But it what it shows is the Jesus is tracking with the story. That's being told because that is a quote for you. Remember? What was the book that I told you? It would be nice if we all had memorized. Deuteronomy, it's a story that gives the purpose for the book that gives the purpose for Israel that they were held to for the rest of the reading. Jesus is quoting from. Around me. Moses says in Deuteronomy 8 and he humble, you got humble, you causing you to hunger. And then feeding you with Manna which neither you nor your ancestors had known to teach you. The man does not live on bread alone. But on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus is tracking with the test, that's happening here. Do you knows that he's being tested? The way Israel is being tested and he knows that taking food for yourself. Is it pulls you away from the purpose of God? It's not that there's a command of his being held that he's being tempted to break a command. And so he cites the command to show why he's not going to, he's recognizing God's purpose for his people. And that what Satan is telling him to do would not be the way God wants Israel to behave. It's not the purpose that he has for them. Not so much a command issue. Is this a design issue? It's a purpose issue, the same thing happens. When they when Satan tells him to throw himself off the temple, Jesus answered. It is also written, do not put the Lord, your God to the test. While he quoted that from Deuteronomy. The original says, do not put the Lord, your God to the test as you did at Masa Masa is the place where they demanded water. Who is tracking with the story of Israel? And recognising at how Israel departed from God's purpose in that moment? They departed from God's design for how he wanted his people to behave at that what it meant to follow God. And finally, when Jesus response to the temptation to worship. Satan he says away from me, Satan for his written. Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. One more time. It's a quote from Deuteronomy fear, the lord, your God, serve him only and take her older than his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. That was the biggest issue that the Israelites had throughout their history. Was worshipping the gods around them as a means to have alliances and to protect themselves and to get what they wanted. That was their biggest Temptation and Jesus, it's is quoting scripture that shows that that is not according to the purpose of God for his people. It's a lot of times. We think that this is about Jesus, knowing the rules and recognizing these rules that are meant to be that, he's not supposed to break, but it's not as simple as it's not, that simplistic. What's actually happening, is a Jesus refuse, Satan's prompts because they violated God's purposes for his people, because that's not what it looks like for us to be God's people. Is more than just having rules memorize and not breaking those rules? Sometimes I feel like that's what I want. Right. I want a list of rules and I can just focus on keeping those rules and not to worry about anything else, right, but that's not what we're called to do. We're called to fulfill God's purposes and Jesus is aware of that and he is dedicated to God's purposes rather than his own.

Who says that the devil left him and the angels came and attended him from that time on, Jesus began to preach repent. For the Kingdom of Heaven, has come near.

The really important thing that just happened to Jesus is going to refer to it later. He's going to say that his ministry a lot. Like the reason he's able to drive out demons is because their Master is tied up. You going to refer back to this moment in a couple of ways. But something really important just happened. Jesus passed. The test of the person who was the obstacle to spiritual being, who was the obstacle to Israel's restoration. The one that had the case against and he had the case File and all the reasons why Israel couldn't be restored. And Jesus took him on head-to-head and passed the test and left. Same with nothing else to say.

And then he goes out and he starts telling people, repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is has come near. I was thinking of having to come near what's different now. Well, they've been, they've had the court case pending against them for 400 years to resolve this whole Covenant breaking in Breaking of the Covenant issue. They've been waiting for their court case to finally be resolved, and Jesus is taking it on and he has passed the test, which means that now Jesus is able to start the work of restoring everything. Because he is able to resist the test. And so Jesus passed that test and went out to announce that the renewal of Israel was finally here. There's a way in which it's because he passed his test because he's been chosen by God to be his son and then proven that he can do it that he can now go out and tell everybody things have changed.

Israel is being restored. Next week, we're going to, we're going to dig into what Jesus was actually preaching to people for those 3 years and why his message was to the to the Jews of his time. And I blew my mind. I don't want to come over promise. It blew my mind, putting together really. All those pieces of what is involved in that, Proclamation, but you're not to wait till next week for that for. Now. What I want to do is I just want to reflect on what we learn from this stage in the story. There's three things that we learn number one. Is that a temptation is anything that draws us away from the purposes of God. If not just a rule that can be broken. It's not like breaking a law. It's, it's anything away from God's purposes. I'll confess to a Temptation that I experienced this week, this last week cuz it's Sunday. We had dinner with Corbin student who used to be in my youth group and she mention the fact that Corbin has is in need of adjunct professors to teach theology.

Am I my eyes lit up? Like that would be if you don't know I want to be Professor for a long time and I I love to teach and I would love to do that. There's nothing wrong with doing adjunct teaching except that. I know. I know God's purpose is for me. Involve being a husband to my wife, being a father to my children and being a pastor to the church. And I know that I could not do those away. Call me to do do them if I took on that job as well. I want to do it. It's a good thing but I wouldn't be able to fulfill the purpose of God has given me and I find in my life that good things are the hardest Temptations. Right. Really lower the bar for what counts is Temptation and I'm guilty of that. Like we've all done that haven't been like we've all falling into temptation. Yes, you're right. In fact, that's the next point for the sermon is that every one of us has failed a test and followed our own purposes. Instead we all do as part of the point of scripture is to make us aware of the fact that we all put our own plans. First. We all end up tempted, to take on thing, two things that are outright sinful or also just things that satisfy us, but don't satisfy God's mission for our lives. We all fall into that every single human being who has ever live. Except one.

As we just saw, Jesus Christ, who was completely dedicated to God's purposes for his life ended. So many Jesus is going to pray, not your will, but mine be done but his whole life. Is that prayer?

and that matters for us, because You ever feel like there is some Divine being up there, who is keeping track of everything. You've been doing wrong, and pointing out everything wrong with you. And knows, every reason why you shouldn't be given a chance. And just, you know, just this oppressive feeling that somebody knows everything that's wrong with you and why you're not worth anything.

Diabetes.

But that being is not God. Is Satan the Accuser? And it matters that Jesus defeated the accuser because he did it on behalf of this whole system. That's why in Revelation. We have this amazing song that says now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before, our God day and night has been hurled down.

Satan is the one. Who knows everything. You want. Knows everything. But seems the one who's keeping track of everything. You've done wrong and it's thinking this person does not deserve a second chance.

And everything say nose is probably right. But the whole point of this story is for us to recognize that Jesus defeated the accuser and when Satan throws, all that stuff back in our face. Jesus says, I don't care bear with me.

If you think you don't deserve a second chance, you're very likely right. By the way. We tend to analyze things. By the way, the logic of Satan. Yes. You messed up. You gone your own way. You probably have not confessed everything. You've done wrong. They're probably a lot of things out there. You haven't even acknowledge. But Jesus has defeated that accuser. It's a Jesus can look him in the face and say they're with me. In fact, in Zachariah, God responds to Satan, by saying I rebuke you. Toby, find a the biggest takeaway in the story is that Jesus has defeated our accuser and opened up the path for us to rejoin God's plans for the world.

Yes, there's a list of things in your past that you've done wrong. And yes, there's a list of things ahead of you that you're going to do wrong and there is no set that with the word. Isn't that you? You aren't? You? Haven't done anything wrong. The good word is that Jesus has defeated the accuser on our behalf and is opened up the door for all of us to follow him.

Notice, that's different than saying what you did wrong doesn't matter. Or that it doesn't matter. If you do wrong things in the future, because the door that is being opened. Leads us into the purposes of God, that leads us into doing what we were always meant to do, but it is opened because Jesus opened it for us. It's why we close. I'm going to ask you to consider. What step is God calling you to take next? It was obvious. That is if you haven't given your life to Jesus, if you still are standing on your own in front of the Accuser. Today is the best day to give your life to Jesus to say I'm with him.

If you haven't done that, today is the best day to do that. You can come forward during our final song. You can talk to all the ministers after church. If you're watching online, you can contact the church office or you can just talk with a Christian that, you know, and trust. But today is the best day to give your life to Jesus and figure out what it means to live, God's purposes for our lives. And to pass our own tests that are ahead of us. That's why do we need a small group for a service team can be. So valuable having people to go through life with you until you can check that box on your connect card. And, and we can put you in with one of our small groups or our service teams like our facilities team.

One other thing you may want to consider is whether you want to get more deeply connected with his congregation. We offer a connect class where it, which we do on a Sunday afternoon. After church, we have food and we talked about who this church is what we do, and how you can be a part of it. If you're interested in becoming a member here. That's a great step for step. So you can check that box in your connect card as well, singer final song. I encourage you to be open to what God may be saying to you. Let's sing together.