Learning From Temptation | Matthew 4:1-11 | Pastor Neil McClendon

Before you go to bed tonight, ask yourself, what's my real ambition?

What do I really desire?

What is the best case scenario?

Because here's the American dream.

Here's what ambition in America looks like.

I want to retire as soon as I can and then do whatever I want for the rest of my life.

And I ain't hate on either one of those.

But I'm just saying, if God and the glorification of God is not a part of that process, you will be miserable.

You'll be the guy whose wife calls the church.

You got anything for him to do?

Because he's home and on my last nerve.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Again, it's an appeal to ambition.

One of the greatest temptations we face is when we get an opportunity to act on our ambitions.

That is one of the greatest temptations you face.

Because what's nobody knows.

It's just down here, buried behind your spleen, your secret ambition.

And all of a sudden, you get an opportunity to act on it.

And I would just say this your character is most often on display when you do the things that only you and God know about.

So your ambition is a reflection of your character.

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's pray together, Church.

Lord Jesus, every time we're tempted, we get an opportunity not just to sing, but to say to the world, to our city, to our family, let me demonstrate with my life, not just my lips, what I've witnessed.

I've tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

So for me to turn around and act bad in the context of so much goodness would be an offense to the sufficiency of God.

And so every time we're tempted, it's an opportunity for us to put on display what we've witnessed, what we've experienced in our life.

Not a sermon we heard or a TED talk or a podcast.

None of that has the efficacy, the power that the Word of God has.

And so we're not afraid of temptation.

We're going to learn from temptation today, Lord.

And we know we don't want to just sing that I've witnessed it.

We want to say to everyone who watches us and how we live, hey, listen, when I'm tempted, you're going to see what I've experienced, what I've witnessed.

And so, Holy Spirit, uh, teach us today.

Lead us into the truth.

Let us set free, let us be set free by the truth so we can respond differently because of the truth.

This is our prayer.

We pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen, amen.

As you're seated, uh, if there's room around you, uh scoot to the middle if you would, so people who are arriving late can just slip in and slide in.

Otherwise, they gotta perp walk a whole family right down to the front row.

Uh, but anyway, there you go, Josh.

Welcome.

Thanks for coming.

Beat your kids and get them dressed earlier.

If there's room in the middle, just kind of scoot in so people can.

I just looked up and gave Aaron the hey.

Uh by the way, if you've got a Bible, open up to Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

It's a good problem to have.

It's hard to find a seed here.

That's a good problem to have.

Uh uh, Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

If you're visiting today, we're preaching through the book of Matthew, and I want to talk to you today about learning from temptation.

Learning from temptation.

What we'll look at is the final event that kind of launches Jesus' ministry.

He didn't just come on the scene and go, I'm the son of God, listen to me.

There were some things that kind of happened and they happened in sequential order.

Uh uh but let me just say this: in the ancient world, all sons of the king had to be tested in order to prove their right to the throne.

You didn't hear that.

Let me say over here.

In the ancient world, all sons of the king had to be tested to prove their right to assume the throne.

And nothing has really changed.

So we we we want a lot of things, but in this life, you're going to be tested.

You're gonna be tempted.

And it's not punishment, it's invitation, because God's trying to qualify you for what God wants to give you.

Okay, never mind.

I'll just go back.

Uh uh let me just say this about Jesus.

So far, he's been announced.

Uh last week we talked about it, he's been anointed and empowered at his baptism, and today he'll pass the test and prove himself ready.

And what you'll see today, I say this a lot, that Christianity is before it's historical, before it's personal.

What you'll see today is a parallel because you read about the temptations.

Most often preachers get it wrong.

They talk about this is about the power of memorizing scripture, and they launch a church program on scripture memory, which is all good, but it's not what Matthew 4 is about, okay?

What you'll see today is a parallel between the temptations faced by Israel in the wilderness and Jesus.

In the wilderness, they should have learned three things, okay?

And whatever you don't learn, this is free.

Whatever you don't learn the first time, God is going to repeat in your life.

So if your spiritual life feels like groundhog day, it's not because God's out of ideas, it's just you haven't learned the lesson God wants you to learn.

Here's the three things that they should have learned in the wilderness, okay?

Number one, not to depend on bread alone, but on God's word.

Number two, uh, and I would say, by the way, that not to depend on bread alone, but God's word is don't be ruled by your appetites, be led by your understanding.

Uh, number two, not to put God to the test.

You say, Oh, what oh, how dare they?

We do it all the time.

Uh, number three, to worship God alone.

They should have learned that.

You shall have no other gods before me.

They make a golden calf, they bow down.

Well, but it's Moses.

We don't know what happened to him.

Somebody put something in front of us we can fixate on.

Israel failed the test.

Jesus doesn't.

Okay?

Uh, and so what do you mean learning from temptation?

I'll read Matthew chapter 4, first 11 verses.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

The Bible says this, and Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him up to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 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 lest you strike your foot against the stone sidebar.

You better know the word of God because the devil does.

Verse 7, Jesus said to him, Again, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.

And then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

Then the devil left him, and behold, the angels came and were ministering to him.

What do I mean when I talk about learning from temptation?

When you're tempted, it doesn't mean you're a bad person.

It doesn't mean that you're being attacked, you're being invited into a mature uh way of living and a more mature way of responding.

So, four things from the text this morning that help us learn from temptation.

Number one, temptation comes around our biggest appetite.

Temptation comes around our biggest appetite.

You say, What do you mean?

It says right there that he was led up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.

And I just think, no duh.

Jesus is fasted, he's not eating, and fasting means you don't eat on purpose.

And so for 40 days and 40 nights, ladies, just flash back to last time, supper was about 20 minutes late, and your husband and kids were coming unhinged, like, oh my God, what's taking so long?

Uh 40 days and 40 nights.

And then the Bible makes the most obvious statement in the history of humanity, and he was hungry.

Now, people are like, well, I mean, by the way, Jesus was in the wilderness 40 days, Israel was in the wilderness 40 years, all right?

They failed the test, he passes the test.

And now, when I say what's the big deal about temptation, it comes around our biggest appetite.

Our appetites are a byproduct of our choices.

You want the things you want as you sit here in this room, the things you don't talk about at parties, Danny.

Uh, you want the things that you want because of the choices that you've made.

Now, most of the choices you've made and I've made people know about, but your deep core appetites exist because of the choices you made that nobody knows about.

So when you make choices, you create appetites in yourself.

And so a lot of you have this silent battle, a private battle going on because no one knows all the choices you make.

And so they don't know the appetites that you're trying to suppress and push down, all right?

So let me just tell you, our appetites do four things.

Number one, uh, they create opportunities.

They create opportunities.

So you gotta learn to ask this question what opportunity does this appetite present?

I asked this question in counseling a lot.

It's really, I don't call it counsel, I call it counseling for a framework, but it's really spiritual direction.

Like I asked someone recently that I said, Hey, what is the appetite that is manifesting in you the strongest these days?

And this grown adult said what it was, and I said, Okay, what's the opportunity around this appetite?

And he said, I have no idea what you're asking me right now.

Could you dumb it down?

I said, I will not dumb it down because you're not dumb.

Okay?

Don't beat yourself up in this office.

I just didn't, I didn't say it very clearly.

So let me let me just ask it like this.

Uh, when it when you have an appetite, something, a desire, this urge, it presents you with an opportunity.

So you got to ask yourself, what opportunity does this appetite present?

And he's like, I'm still not getting it.

And I say, okay, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 13, verse 13, the Bible says this that it uh that God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

But with the temptation, who provide a way of escape.

This is the opportunity.

There's always an opportunity with every appetite.

And so our appetites create opportunities.

Secondly, they remind us of our responsibility.

They remind us of our responsibility.

Same same man, he said, now I'm sorry, but uh I don't think this way.

I said, That's okay.

I have a lot of free time.

I think kind of goofy sometimes, all right?

And now he said, Well, I just thought you would tell me to give me some Bible version and tell me to try harder.

That doesn't work.

All that will do is increase your self-hatred and your self-determination, but it will not transform your life.

Your appetites they remind us of our responsibility.

And he goes, Okay, well, you tell me what is my responsibility.

I said it's real simple, do not sow to your flesh.

And he said, Do not sow my flesh.

I said, No, not like you get in stitches.

So, SOW.

Do not sow to the flesh.

And he goes, I got nothing, bro.

And I said, The Bible says in Galatians, he said, You quote the Bible a lot.

And I said, I believe good counseling is biblically based and clinically informed.

I'm heavy on the biblically based.

The Bible says in Galatians 6, if you sow to the flesh, from the flesh you will reap destruction.

If you sow to the spirit, from the spirit you will reap life.

You've already told me you sow a lot to the flesh.

You sow to the flesh, and then you pray to God for crop failure.

It doesn't work that way.

When you sow to the flesh, what does it mean?

I mean you make decisions for your fleshly appetites.

From that, you are going to reap destruction.

So your responsibility is I would just say, hey, let's maybe cut out some habits where we sow to the flesh.

Uh, where when no one's around and you're just kind of cruising around on the internet looking for something to watch, you're sowing to the flesh.

When you've had two and you need to be done, and your mind says, Oh, let's have a third one.

It was a hard week.

You're sowing to the flesh.

Here's a third thing our appetites do.

They reflect our identity.

They reflect our identity.

And here's it, real simple.

Our appetites remind us that we're regardless of how we respond to them, they remind us that we are capable of more.

And here's the last thing our appetites do.

They give somebody or something glory.

They give somebody or something glory.

And all of these are modeled in Jesus' response.

He knew that his biggest appetite wasn't food, but his biggest appetite was the glory of God.

And so you should ask yourself, do I have any appetites in me today that I should be concerned about?

Because I asked my friend at the end of the session, I said, now I want this to direct our prayer time.

So let me ask you, as you said here, do you have any appetites, any urges, desires in you that you're like, ah, that should probably concern me?

And he looked at me and he said, Yes, I want justice.

And I said, Ooh, I'm real curious about that.

And he said, There's a guy at work that has got two promotions.

He and I were both up for these the over the past like two years.

And and we were both up, and he got the promotion both times.

And I said, Ooh, and and and he's a weasel.

He doesn't do, he takes credit for other people's work, blah, blah, blah, blah.

He's just going off.

And I said, So you want, and I started laughing, goes, that's not funny.

I said, No, your self-awareness is refreshing.

Because if I asked every one of you in this section right here, you got any appetites in you that concern you?

Most of you go, No, Pastor, I love the Lord.

I vote Republican and I watch Fox News two hours a day.

I'm good.

But this wicked sinner in my office is like, yeah, I want justice.

Because that guy, he takes credit for other people's work.

He's not smart.

He I said, Is he not smart or is he not smart as you?

He there's no way he's smarter than me.

I'm smarter than him any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

I feel the same thing every Sunday, but go ahead.

And then he just kept going, and after about another two minutes, he stopped and he said, I don't want to talk anymore.

And I said, Why?

He goes, I just the more I talk, the more I sound like a bad person.

I said, No, you sound like a self-aware person.

If your appetites catch you off guard, you don't know yourself very well.

Students, if you want to bless your parents tonight at supper, just kind of say, Hey, here's an appetite in me that I should be concerned about.

Y'all are like, are you done?

Yes.

Yes.

Here's the second thing we can learn from temptation.

The enemy attacks the last thing that you believed.

The enemy attacks the last thing that you believed.

You say, well, I haven't been attacked, I hadn't felt under spiritual attack in a long time.

It's probably because you're not manifesting any belief.

Now, when I say the enemy attacks the last thing you believed, in temptation, understand this.

In temptation, the goal isn't just to get you to do something, but the bigger goal is to get you to doubt something.

James demonstrated it earlier.

I saw people on the section are like, is he writing his sermon?

Is he here?

No, I'm writing down James's name and what he said.

He said, But I used to believe I was irredeemable, unlovable, unforgivable.

This is this is the way the enemy works.

He's not gonna get you, he's not gonna tempt you to do something.

You do something as a result as a manifestation of what you believe.

But what he really wants to do is to get you to doubt something, because if he can get you to doubt the truthfulness of something, then in the future, why live by it?

Once you believed, what what you once believed is really rendered unnecessary from here on out, which is why doubt is the bigger goal than temptation.

Now, does that make sense?

Say amen.

Because we gotta stop thinking, oh, the devil's trying to get me to do this.

Remember, uh, if you're older than 60, you remember this.

There's a comedian named Flip Wilson who would dress up like Gerald Dean and they'd say, Gerald Dean, why'd you do that?

And he would say, The devil made me do it.

Yeah, the devil's not here to make you do stuff, he's here to get you to doubt stuff.

And when you doubt stuff, look at me, you'll do anything.

You will do anything because there's no restraining uh truth inside of you.

Allow me to demonstrate way back in the very beginning, Genesis chapter 3, verse 1, it says, Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

Genesis 3:1

And he said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

By the way, that is the exact opposite of what God said.

Because, see, here the in all the enemy, all Satan, the devil, how you've heard him, all he can do, because he's created and not creator, all he can do is pervert what's been created.

He distorts what's been said.

Hear it again.

Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

Actually, the truth of what God said was, you are free to eat of any tree in the garden.

But of this one tree, don't eat.

Because when you eat of that, you will surely die.

The enemy comes along and he just perverts it just a little bit.

He attacks the last thing that Adam and Eve believed.

And by the way, it happens right here in Matthew chapter 4, uh, verse uh uh look.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

If you look up in chapter 3, verse 16, it ended with this.

If you remember from last week.

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were open to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

Matthew chapter 4, our passage today, verse 3, and the tempter came to him and said, If you are the son of God.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

Every temptation begins with, if you are the son of God, if you are the son of God.

The temptation is not to get Jesus to do miracles.

The temptation is I'm not, it's not it's not what he's trying to get Jesus to do.

Don't miss this.

It's what he's trying to get Jesus to not believe, to doubt.

I want you to doubt that you're the son of God.

Because God just spoke audibly from heaven and said, This is my son, whom I love, with whom I'm well pleased.

And the enemy pounces on that and says, If you're the son of God, if you're the son of God, then do this.

See, he wants him to doubt something and express that by what he tempts him to do.

Does that make sense?

And so the first thing the enemy does is come at you and I'm just gonna get you to doubt.

Well, the Bible's written by men, he got you.

You you are on a slip, you're like the kid trying to climb up the slip, the water slide at the water park.

You're on a slippery slope with no traction, and you're surrounded by people on TikTok going, Yeah, I deconstructed my faith because Christianity endorses slavery and we can't have anything like that, and blah, blah, blah.

He's subtle.

He is very, very subtle.

He says in Matthew 4, 3, and the tempter came and said to him, If you're the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

Now, by the way, fun fact, bonus round material, if you go to the end of Matthew, Matthew chapter 27, Jesus is on the cross, and one of the things that people said to him was, Hey, if you're the Son of God, come down.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

They're still not convinced, and they still invite Jesus to doubt it.

Like, if you're the son of God, why are you hanging up there nailed to a stick on a rainy Friday, bro?

Clearly, you're not the son of God.

Nobody has the capacity to make you do anything.

You choose to do things because you the the exercise of your the volitional exercise of your will.

But people do have the capacity to make you doubt things.

And that's where the attack comes.

The enemy attacks the last thing that you believe because whatever God's trying to establish in you.

That's why Jesus tells the parable of the birds.

The word is sown, the birds come immediately and start to start eating up the seed.

The temptation here, uh, the temptations that Jesus faces are a consequence of Jesus accepting what the father said about him.

Let me say that again.

Because some of you in this room do not accept what the father says about you.

And then that's why you don't experience temptation.

The temptations that Jesus faces are the direct result, the consequence of Jesus accepting what the father said about him.

This is my son.

So his identity is the issue, not his activity.

But also then it comes how do you prove that you're the son of God?

Well, by trusting God or by trusting in yourself.

It's like, hey, if you're the son of God, do a little David Blaine magic trick here and prove to everybody.

Throw yourself off the top of a temple down here, because as the Bible says, his angels will catch you, they won't let anything bad happen to you.

Let me just say it like this.

Once you accept your identity, the enemy uses your activity to deny your identity.

This is why I'm over there just listening to James being baptized.

I used to think I was unlovable, irredeemable, and unloved.

Yeah, but all those are untrue.

Because you're nobody's beyond the pale.

Nobody's done so much that you could never be forgiven.

Nobody's done so much that God says, you know what, I'm gonna not love that person as an indication to the whole world of what kind of God I am.

Now, here's the third thing I want you to see in the text this morning.

Our response to temptation is oftentimes a test.

Our response to temptation is oftentimes a test.

By test, I mean we respond by setting up these little scenarios where we invite God to prove Himself to us yet again.

This is what happens in the second temptation.

Hey, we're up here on the top of a temple, throw yourself down, and God's already said that He will He will not let you bump your little toe on a rock, and the angels will come swoop in and catch you.

We do the same thing, but it sounds like this.

I've heard so many versions of this.

Well, I asked God to take the desire away and He didn't, so this must be God's will.

These are grown adults.

Grown adults.

Well, I asked God to take her out of my work group, and I went to my supervisor and said, Hey, can you take her out of my group?

Because my wife is kind of concerned.

Hey, your wife is not responsible for your appetites.

My wife is kind of concerned that this woman has a crush on me.

Well, I asked my supervisor, and this person threw his hands up, like, yeah, this makes all the sense to the world, doesn't it?

I'm just like, ah.

Well, I asked my supervisor.

I went through, wait, this person's been to church his whole life.

I went through the proper chain of command, and the authorities in my life said no, so I just took it as God's will.

And two months later, they began an affair.

Because I just said, How did we get here?

Well, I just want you to know, Pastor, I'm a big believer in authority.

The Bible teaches authority.

Oh, this is this is gonna be good.

Keep talking.

Yes, because we set these little tests, and here's what the test is intended to do the test is intended to make God prove himself instead of allow God just to be himself.

And so the test, hey, you you gotta come through and prove yourself yet again because you haven't done.

Now, by the way, I said Christianity is historical before it's personal.

I want to read a long passage from Exodus 17 because this is where this comes from.

When he says, you know, Jesus says it is written, uh, you know, do not put the Lord, verse 7, Jesus said to him, Again, it's written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Where is that written?

What is he talking about?

Jesus is referring to something that happened in the Old Testament, and here it is, Exodus chapter 17, verse 1.

Exodus 17:1

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Shin by stages.

Now it says, All the congregation of the people of Israel, that is a lot of people.

Some say maybe two million people.

So it is a lot of people, and they got a lot of need.

A lot of people, a lot of water.

Just file that away.

All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Shin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and they camped at Rephidim.

But there was no water for the people to drink.

Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink.

And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me?

Why do you test why do you test the Lord?

But the people thirsted there for water.

See, their appetite is manifesting, all right?

But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?

Hey, can we stop assuming we know everyone's motive?

I've heard it so much in the past 10 days.

Oh my gosh, you don't know people's motive.

Why did you bring us out of here to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?

So Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with this people?

They are almost ready to stone me.

And the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, take in with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff of which you struck the Nile and go.

And by the way, God's just being so subtle.

He's like, Hey, by the way, uh, take your staff with which you struck the Nile.

He's saying, You want me to prove myself to you again?

How many powerful, miraculous things I gotta do before you knucklehead, stop crying about every little need that manifests in your life?

No, wait, are you gonna kill us?

And you struck the Nile and go.

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Orab, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.

Now, if you're Moses, you're thinking, you want me to take a stick and hit a rock.

Now, God, we call that golf.

And God said, Hey, I'm uh I'm tired.

I don't mind proving myself because it ain't hard for me.

But y'all gotta prove yourself to me at some point by stop doubting me.

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel, and he called the name of the place Massa in Meribah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, because they tested the Lord by saying, Is the Lord among us or not?

This is what it means to test.

You say, I I don't know what you mean.

Our response to temptation is oftentimes a test.

We set up a scenario and we language it a certain way that if God doesn't do this, then clearly we're gonna take matters into our own hands.

Because here's the test prove that you are among us by never allowing us to experience need or to suffer.

This is the test.

This is why the prosperity gospel is so popular in America, because American Christians fail the test.

Oh Lord, if you're real, I've been to school three days.

I want a boyfriend, I want to know who my bridesmaids are, and the first house I'm gonna live in.

We're always setting up tests.

Always, always, always.

Here's a question: when you're tempted, does God have to prove himself all over again?

Or have you tasted enough of his goodness to trust him?

Here's the last thing from the text today.

It says, Temptation is an opportunity for God to see what you will settle for.

Temptation is an opportunity for God to see what you'll settle for.

It's verse 7 to 10.

Hear it again.

Jesus said to him, Again, his written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

And again the devil, by the way, the devil's consistent.

Again, again, again, again, then, again, then.

It's the same song, 40th verse.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to him, All these I will give you if you fall down and worship me.

And then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, you should think of the wizard of Oz.

Be gone before someone drops a house on you.

You have no authority here.

They stole that right from the Bible.

Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

Then the devil left him.

Okay?

Now, what do you mean?

Jesus, basically, here's the thing.

Uh, if you're in business, or you don't have to be in business.

If you're breathing, the appeal here is to Jesus' ambition.

See the difference in your ambition and your appetites, your ambition is secret.

Nobody can really know that.

Your appetites are obvious just by watching you.

Watch how you dress, your appetites are on display.

Look at your social media profile, your appetites are on display.

And so basically, Jesus realizes he doesn't have to die to receive the kingdoms of this world because God says, You're gonna be my suffering servant.

You're gonna come, you're gonna live a sinless life, and you're gonna die to pay for the sins of the entire world.

And Satan comes along and says, and God says, and then you're gonna be the glorified king.

Satan comes along and says, Shortcut, all this dying for the world, that's overrated, bro.

I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world, and then this phrase, and their glory.

Can you sometimes feel how much you love glory?

Hello?

I'll just talk to Landon over here.

Landon, good rest of these people, they don't, you ever just like sometimes you just no glory is a big word.

Something notoriety, credit.

Oh, let somebody take credit for something you did.

Oh, I'll tell you what.

Yeah, we love it.

We love it.

Some people have a list in their desk of all their accomplishments.

So when it comes time to get a raise, you can go to your boss and just lay it out and go, hey, in the last quarter, here's all the things I've done.

And please don't send me emails.

You work for Santa Claus.

That's how it is in the real world.

All right.

Yes.

Yes.

Jesus, here's the appeal to ambition.

Pay attention, okay?

He basically says you ain't gotta die to receive all the kingdoms of this world and their glory.

All you have to do is put Satan in the place of God.

It's an appeal again to his ambition.

Here's the problem.

Jesus' ambition was to glorify the Father and not Himself.

Before you go to bed tonight, ask yourself, what's my real ambition?

What do I really desire?

What is the best case scenario?

Because here's the American dream.

Here's what ambition in America looks like.

I want to retire as soon as I can and then do whatever I want for the rest of my life.

And I hate on either one of those.

But I'm just saying, if God and the glorification of God is not part of that process, you will be miserable.

You'll be the guy whose wife calls the church.

You got anything for him to do?

Because he's home and on my last nerve.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Again, it's an appeal to ambitious.

One of the greatest temptations we face is when we get an opportunity to act on our ambitions.

That is one of the greatest temptations you face.

Because what's nobody knows.

It's just down here, buried behind your spleen, your secret ambition.

And all of a sudden, you get an opportunity to act on it.

And I would just say this your character is most often on display when you do the things that only you and God know about.

Your ambition is a reflection of your character.

That's what I'm saying.

Here, it I I would say students are done, this is for everybody.

But parents, you should teach your kids this.

This should be your parenting mantra, okay?

I do not have to compromise who I am or what I believe in order to be satisfied.

I do not have to compromise who I am or what I believe in order to be satisfied.

I go into every encounter socially, morally, physically, with those two things.

They're like contact lenses that I wear over my eyes.

I do not, therefore, I will not compromise who I am or what I believe in order to be satisfied, accepted, included, invited.

No.

No, and no.

You you should teach your parenting, should hinge uh uh uh around these things.

And here's why, and we'll be done today.

You want to be done early?

We've been plowing deep the past couple of Sundays.

I'm gonna let you out early today just to prove miracles still happen.

Look at the Bible.

Here's why I do not have to compromise who I am or what I believe in order to be satisfied.

Here's why we we don't preach on this part right here.

Look at verse 11.

Then the devil left him, and behold, the angels came and were ministering to him.

Look at me, and we're done.

What the enemy said, hey, by the way, if you just listen to me and throw yourself down off the top of the temple, the angels will come and get you.

They ain't gonna let it happen to you.

In Jesus' mind, Jesus, like he knew, hey, I don't have to compromise to be cared for by God.

I can obey, and what happens?

The devil leaves and the angels come.

And they were ministering to him.

They were ministering to him.

Here's a question, and we'll be done today.

When's the last time you felt that God or his angels were ministering to you?

I mean, just bringing life to you.

I remember I was a camp counselor, we did day camp one one week a year, and I had like five-year-olds.

I'm like, these kids shouldn't be out of house, okay?

Uh and one of my kids was Drex, and I'm not making this up.

I said, Drex, and his mom said, Well, his real name is Drexel.

And I said, Drexel.

He says, Yeah, we were in the hospital, and his dad went to the bathroom and lifted the lid, and it said Drexel Manufacturing.

And he thought, that's a great name.

And I'm like, this kid is cursed.

I'm teaching on the temptation of Jesus out in out in the woods.

We were sitting on logs and we're all sitting around.

I said, okay, boys, you got any questions?

And Dreg said, When the angels came and ministered to him, I think the devil was trying to get him to eat devil's food cake, and the angels brought him angel food cake.

We'll go with that.

It's day camp.

I mean, they're spending the night.

It's kid camp.

Uh here, here, I'd like to ask you this question.

When's the last time you tasted the sweet satisfaction of angel food cake?

Where you had to go through a little hardship, not put God to the test.

But he's just like, hey, you know what?

Hey, I ain't gotta tell.

I've I've tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

I'm not gonna like, oh Lord, you gotta do that.

I don't have to.

Again, I do not have to compromise who I am or what I believe in order to be satisfied.

So, regardless of what the temptation is, I don't have any appetite for devil's food cake, according to that great theologian Drex, who peed his pants twice that week.

And said, Mr.

Neil, can I wear some of your boxers?

No, you can't, son.

Let me see what I can find.

Lost and found is the counselor's best friend.

But look at me.

The devil doesn't leave, and the angels don't come if you keep giving in to the same temptation.

Let me say it again.

The devil doesn't leave, and the angels don't come if you keep giving in to the same temptation.

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and what it actually says.

And then give us a space to think about it.

Some questions come up on the screen, ask for your consideration, contemplation.

Don't try to write them all down.

Just use your camera on your phone, take a picture.

But we're just gonna be still for just a minute and just ask the Holy Spirit this one question.

What have my name on it?

What do I need to walk out and think about?

What I need to write down right now before I forget it, God, during this time of reflection.

Think about that.

And ask, Lord, what are you saying to me?

When God speaks to you, it's not condemnation, it's invitation.

It's like, hey man, I know you, I know what you got going on.

Yes, Lord.

Lord, we confess today our understanding that uh you're a good, good father.

It's who you are.

You're not trying to punish us, you're not trying to disqualify us, humiliate us, or embarrass us.

You're trying to qualify and prepare us to assume our position.

All the children of the uh of the king have to qualify for the throne.

We can't just live in sin, just be mealy mouthed, backstabbing, sharpened tongue, gossiping people, and then thinking, yeah, where's the where's my throne?

I'm ready to sit down.

We got to pass some tests to get on the throne.

And that's a good thing.

And so, Lord, I pray for my people that I love that they would just experience that sweet goodness of that angel food cake.

Of when the enemy leaves, because he has no authority here, and the angels come, and the Spirit of God comes and ministers life to us, like he did to Jesus there in the wilderness.

So, Lord, I pray for anyone that's in the wilderness today, they just keep going.

They wouldn't doubt, they would just keep going.

Because it's not gonna last forever.

That's our understanding, and because of that, this is our prayer offered in Christ's name, and everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

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