Facing Temptation with Jesus as King

Father, we come to worship you and to lift up your name.

We come to say, God, that there's no one like you in all the earth, in all creation.

You stand alone, God. You are the one true God.

Father, when all creation falls away and fades away,

God, when the end of the world as we understand it has come,

God, you will still be eternally existing.

You will still be worshipped, God, by those that you have created.

God, you are the one true eternal God, and there's no one like you.

There's no one as majestic as you. There's no one as tender as you.

There's no one as strong and glorious as you.

There's none as merciful and gracious.

There's none so holy and set apart like you.

God, there's none so loving and welcoming.

God, we worship you this morning.

We come to align our hearts with what is true, with who you are.

Father, this morning as we pray for various churches in our city,

we want to pray for Ebsen and Trophina at Hope for All Church.

God, we really want to lift Ebsen's health before you this morning.

This young man that has planted a church, God, on the Kailun side.

Father, we know that he's gone through health challenges, and you know everything.

You know things better than we do.

We lift him up before you, and we ask, God, won't you be gracious?

We pray for restoration.

We pray for healing.

We pray strengthen his body, Lord.

We pray for a full and a speedy recovery.

We pray for him to be back preaching soon, Lord God.

God, we pray for their children and their children's health, God,

and the challenges that their children have faced health-wise.

Father, we pray for that church.

We pray for Hope for All Church, that leaders will emerge,

for there to be fruit, for numbers to increase, for people to get saved.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to be powerfully at work at Hope for All Church.

We really do lift up our brothers and sisters there before you this morning.

We stand with them.

And so, God, just as we sang, may your name be lifted up,

we pray not only in Watermark, but in Hong Kong.

May your name be lifted up, God.

And do so in that church, we pray.

Fathers, we think of our city this morning.

We pray for the orphans.

We pray for the orphan workers in our city.

We pray for Mother's Choice and other organizations like that that work with orphans.

God, we pray for children that are awaiting adoption in homes.

God, we pray, won't you draw near to them, God.

Won't you flood their hearts with your love, Lord God.

We pray for those families that are in the process, God, of waiting adoption.

God, won't you match the right children to the right families, Lord.

Pray, God, for Christians, God, that are obeying your command

to look after widows and orphans, Lord God.

We pray for financial support and blessing for those organizations.

And we ask, God, that your church really will be a light in our city, in this area, God.

That young children that are without parents and without families

will find families and find homes, God.

God, help us as Christians to know what to do and how to respond, Lord.

Give us courage, we pray.

Father, pray for Watermark, for opportunities to witness and to share our faith, God.

We pray, God, for conversations to start.

We pray that as a church we'll be more courageous.

We pray for people to come to know you, people that are not Christians,

to come to find the wonder of Jesus and to find grace, Lord God.

We pray for you, Holy Spirit, to draw people closer to yourself.

We pray for those in our midst that are starting to have conversations

with neighbors and colleagues and friends and family.

Oh, God, won't you be with us, we pray, God.

We pray the gospel go forward in Hong Kong.

And then, God, lastly, we pray for the Holy Spirit to be deeply at work in our church.

God, we pray not so much for the blessings of the Spirit,

but for you, Holy Spirit, yourself.

We so often feel your absence.

We find ourselves acting by our own spirit, our own initiative.

God, even this week in my own preparation, I confess I've been so self-reliant,

not reliant on you.

Oh, God, we need you.

Save us from being content with only a little measure of the Spirit, God.

Make us uncomfortable with how little we walk with you.

And teach us to know the fullness of your Spirit, we pray.

We pray these things in your wonderful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's listen to God's Word being read to us this morning.

The scripture reading comes from Matthew 4.

Please follow along.

Your bulletins are on the screen.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after fasting 40 days and 40 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,

Men shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him 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 stone.

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.

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,

angels came and were ministering to him.

This is the word of God.

Great, thank you.

Echo.

Okay, well,

this morning we are looking at this

fairly well-known passage of Scripture,

the temptations of Jesus.

And we do so

as we continue to work through the book of Matthew,

Matthew's Gospel.

Matthew's Gospel is all about Jesus,

the King,

and His Kingdom.

And it's a book about the upside-down kingdom of Jesus.

Jesus came to inaugurate His kingdom,

but it's a kingdom which is so different

to the kingdoms of this world.

It is a kingdom which is true.

It is a kingdom which is eternal,

and its king is the one true king.

Now, last week,

we saw just before this,

the passage that precedes this

is Jesus getting baptized.

And He gets baptized by John the Baptist,

which was an unusual event.

It wasn't what John was expecting.

And yet,

at the end of this,

Jesus gets baptized.

He comes out of the water.

The heavens are opened.

The Holy Spirit descends upon Him.

And a voice is heard.

Jesus hears this voice.

And it's the voice of His Father.

And it's the voice that says,

This is my Son,

with whom I'm well pleased.

And as the Father does that,

He's affirming Jesus and His calling.

He's affirming Him as the Messiah King,

the one before whom one day

every nation will bow down,

all people will bow down.

But He's also affirming Him

as the suffering servant.

He's saying,

One day all nations will bow down before you,

but first you will go to the cross.

And so,

just having encountered this

out-of-this-world experience,

the Holy Spirit coming down,

this voice in the heavens,

this commissioning moment,

you'd expect that the next thing that happens

is Jesus gets on His horse and says,

Right, now's the time to bring in the kingdom.

Now's the time to get on the throne.

Now's the time to throw that victory party,

to nominate my cabinet,

announce my key positions in government.

Let's go.

But He doesn't.

He does something very unexpected.

The next thing that happens

is He gets led into the wilderness

for a time of testing.

The word there, testing,

could be temptation or testing.

And here's the Messiah King,

the Savior of the world.

Jesus is called to be the one true King,

and His call and His mandate

and His commissioning

as Son of God,

as Messiah King,

as suffering servant,

is put to the test.

Now, right up front,

or let's actually read the first verse.

Look at verse 1 with me

in Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

It says this,

Then Jesus was led up by the Holy Spirit

into the wilderness

to be tempted

or to be tested by the devil.

Now, straight away,

we learn two things here.

First thing is this,

it's worth noting

that what happens to Jesus here

is very often the pattern

for what happens with His followers.

Very often,

those of us that are followers of Jesus

have some kind of spiritual high,

or maybe you make a bold decision

to a step of obedience

or a step of faith.

You decide to follow Jesus.

Maybe you decide

that you're going to start witnessing

to a neighbor at work

or a colleague or a friend.

Maybe you decide to step up

into some position of leadership,

or you take a step

of great faith and obedience,

and you'd expect

that the next season after that,

after saying,

Okay, God,

I'm willing to trust you,

that God will pour His Holy Spirit

upon you,

and the next season

is one of ease and comfort.

God carrying you along

with His Holy Spirit.

But actually,

what happens is what?

Very often,

the life of followers of Jesus,

as we say,

Okay, God,

I'll trust you,

that call

is then tested.

We go straight into a season

of testing that call.

We see this with Adam and Eve

in the Garden of Eden.

God commissions them

as His agents,

image bearers of God,

and what happens next?

Satan comes along

and says,

Huh,

let's just talk about that.

Has God really asked you to do this?

Has God really said that?

We'll think of the people of God

in the Old Testament.

They are delivered dramatically

out of Egypt.

The Passover lamb is sacrificed.

God dramatically saves them.

There are signs and wonders.

They get to the Red Sea.

They're in trouble.

The Red Sea opens.

They walk through,

and as they enter

the other side,

they're about to enter

the promised land,

what happens?

They experience a season

of testing.

And they test it

in the wilderness,

and they experience

some challenges.

Will they trust God

to feed them

and give them what they need,

or will they trust

their own devices?

Will they trust God

to look after them

and protect them,

or will they take matters

into their own hands?

Will they love and serve

and worship Yahweh,

the one true God,

or will they start

worshiping the gods

of the nations around them?

And friends,

this is true for the life

that Christ follows well.

You come with some

spiritual high,

you've just seen God

work dramatically,

God has done

something spectacular,

and the next thing,

Satan comes up,

and he sidles up next to you,

and he starts asking you questions,

filling your mind

with doubt,

or maybe putting

half-truths

into your mind.

Maybe for those of you

that are new Christians,

this has been your experience.

When you first become

a follower of Jesus,

you decide,

okay Christ,

have your way in my life.

You can have it all of me.

And the first six months

are just wonderful.

It feels like you've come home.

It feels like you've finally found

what your heart has been longing

for all your life.

It feels like you've found

a family,

and the first six months

are just wonderful.

And then what happens?

Suddenly you have questions,

and you have doubts,

and you wonder,

is this thing true?

Maybe it was just

a psychological phenomenon.

Maybe I was just emotional

at the time.

What's happening in that time?

I've seen it time and time again.

Your call to follow Jesus

is being tested.

Your newfound identity

as a Christ follower

is being tested.

Your obedience to Jesus

is being tested,

just like 1 Peter says.

He says our faith

gets passed through the fire

just like gold

is passed through the fire

to test the genuineness of it.

And that's what's happening

to Jesus here.

He gets baptized,

the heavens are open,

the Holy Spirit comes upon him,

the voice of God

affirms him

as the Messiah King,

and what happens?

The same Spirit

that anoints him

two verses before

now leads him

into the wilderness

for a time of testing.

But,

it's not God

who does the temptation.

Who causes the temptation?

What does it say?

It's the devil, right?

Look at what it says.

Jesus was led

by the Spirit

into the wilderness

to be tempted

by the devil.

And there's the second lesson

we learn.

And this is a two-fold lesson.

On the one hand,

we mustn't blame God

for temptation.

Temptation to sin

and sin itself

is always repulsive to God.

It's contrary

to His holiness.

And so,

when we face temptation,

we don't say,

oh, well, God's, you know,

the one that's causing me

to be tempted.

But at the same time,

we mustn't credit the devil

as if he is equal to God

and yet just opposite.

In other words,

God doesn't cause temptation,

but He does allow it

to come our way.

The devil's not equal to God,

but just opposite.

Even what the devil does

is within the bounds

of what God permits.

Now, I understand

that this is a mystery

to some extent,

and it's not always

that easy to understand.

But when I'm tempted

to sin,

when I'm tempted

to indulge myself,

when I'm tempted

to hold a grudge

against someone else,

that's not God tempting me.

That's my own sinful heart.

That's the devil

at work inside of me.

And yet,

I take great comfort

in the fact that God says,

even the temptation

I face is not,

or God never allows me

to be tempted

beyond what I can bear.

Even my own temptation,

God has allowed

and He knows what's going on

and He's carrying me

and He's saying,

Kevin, my grace

is sufficient for you

in the time.

Do you see that?

Jesus is led

into the wilderness

by the Spirit,

and yet,

it's the devil

that comes

and tempts Him.

Now,

let's dive into

these temptations

and see what they are

all about.

What's happening here?

So,

look at verse 2

with me.

It says this,

after fasting

for 40 days

and 40 nights,

Jesus was hungry.

Just possibly

a little bit hungry.

Okay,

you and I

would also be hungry

after 40 days

of no food.

The tempter came to Him

and said to Him,

if you are the Son of God,

why don't you command

these stones

to turn into bread

and satisfy your hunger?

Now,

let's think

what's going on here.

Who here thinks

that eating bread

is sinful?

Who here thinks

that eating bread

when you're hungry

is wrong?

No,

I don't think so either.

So,

what's going on here?

What's this temptation about?

Why is this a temptation

to say,

come on,

you're hungry,

eat some bread?

Well,

look at first

what He says.

He says,

Jesus,

if you are the Son of God.

Now,

the devil is not here

actually questioning Jesus.

He's not saying,

listen,

I don't think you really

are who you say you are.

If you are,

prove it to me.

That's not what He's saying.

All the commentators tell us

the grammar here

is such that

the devil is saying,

listen,

if,

as is the case,

you're the Son of God,

since you are the Son of God,

well,

that means something.

It means that

you are entitled

to ABC.

It means that

you can use your powers

as the Son of God

to do X,

Y,

Z.

Jesus,

since you're the Son of God,

why don't you just

indulge your flesh

a little bit

and please yourself?

And so what He's saying here

is He's coming up to Jesus

and saying,

Jesus,

since you're the Son of God,

since you have this

special privilege,

why don't you use

your privileges?

Why don't you,

you're entitled

to satisfy your own desires,

but satisfy them

in your own way,

according to your own pleasure.

Satan isn't coming

and tempting him

to,

you know,

make food

in an improper way

or to use a miracle

to prove that He's God

or to just think selfishly

without thinking of others.

This is a temptation

to pursue His desires

that are centered

on self,

on me.

What pleases me

completely devoid

or divorced

from what is God

saying about this to you?

See,

later on,

Jesus,

how does Jesus respond?

He says,

He doesn't say,

no,

the Messiah is not

allowed to eat bread.

He doesn't say that.

He says,

it is written,

man shall not live

by bread alone,

but by every word

that comes from

the mouth of God.

See,

Satan's coming saying,

Jesus,

you've got this natural life here,

you've got this spiritual life here,

just keep these two separated

and you,

one,

just satisfy yourself,

your own way,

your own desires,

your own pleasure.

And don't worry about,

you can deal with that

when you go to synagogue

on Saturday.

And Jesus is saying,

this life,

divorced from relationship

with God,

is contrary to how God

has organized

organized

and called me

to live my life.

Man shall not live

just by desires alone,

but by every word

that comes

from the mouth of God.

Friends,

isn't that exactly

what Satan comes

and did to Adam

and Eve in the garden?

He says,

look at this fruit.

You have needs,

you have desires.

God's put you in charge

of all the stuff.

You're entitled

to satisfy your desires.

It's just a little dragon fruit.

Dragon fruit's not going

to harm anyone.

I'm sure it was dragon fruit

in the garden of Eden.

Friends,

isn't that how Satan

comes and tempts you and I?

For most of us,

the temptations we face

are not going to be

to rob a bank

or to start

an international drug cartel

or something like that.

How's he going to come?

He's going to say,

you've got desires.

You've got sexual desires.

It's natural.

It's part of your body.

That's just dissatisfied.

You've got financial desires

and needs.

It's natural.

There's nothing wrong

with a bit of wealth.

Come just indulge

in that a little bit.

You've got relational desires

or whatever it is,

leisure desires.

Just indulge in that.

Friends,

is it wrong

to pursue a relationship?

No,

not at all.

Is it wrong

to work hard?

Is it wrong

to save money

for the future?

Is it wrong

to eat bread

when you're hungry?

Of course not.

But what Jesus

is saying is this.

He's saying,

the life of a Christ follower

rejects the idea

that I'm entitled

to whatever pleases me

in whatever way

that it pleases me.

A Christian is someone

who lives by faith

that God himself

satisfies me

and all my pleasures

and all my desires

come off filtered

within the channel

of God,

what is your will

for my life?

You see that?

Man doesn't live

by bread alone,

but it's God.

What is your word saying?

What are you saying

about this area of desire?

What are you saying

about this relationship?

What are you saying

about my relationship

to money?

What are you saying

about my relationship

to everything in life?

Jesus is saying,

the decisions I make

aren't based on

what I feel,

what I desire,

but what aids

my relationship

with God.

And so he says,

it is written,

God has spoken,

God has said,

I do not live

by pleasure alone,

but that which comes

from God.

See friends,

what Jesus shows us here

is that food

and work

and relationships

and overseas holidays

and university degrees

and children

and promotion

and mobile phones

and fashion.

These things aren't wrong.

They're gifts from God.

He's made them.

He doesn't denounce them

as evil.

He's not opposed

to these things.

Later on in the Gospels,

Jesus will make food

and feed 5,000 people.

Jesus will turn water

into wine.

He can turn stones

into bread.

But he's saying

that every pleasure

of God

is approached

through the filter

of God.

What aids my relationship

with you?

I do not live

by relationships alone

or work alone

or overseas holidays alone,

but my relationship

with my heavenly Father.

Does that make sense?

Okay.

Let's look at the second thing.

Let's look at verse 5 to 7.

Now,

the devil comes

to Jesus again

and he takes him

up to a high point

of a building

and he says,

Jesus,

since you are

the Son of God,

why don't you

throw yourself down?

For God has promised

to always look after you.

God has promised

that nothing

will go wrong with you.

God has promised

that not even

your small baby toe

will get a tiny scratch.

He's promised

to look after you

to make your life

go comfortably

and to always

be there at your side

and why don't you

test him?

Check if he's good

for his word.

Now,

the devil's

learning something here.

He's learning

that Jesus

doesn't just respond

according to desire,

but he always says,

what has God said?

And so the devil here

quotes the scriptures

and says,

remember what God said

in Psalm 91,

that every one

of your needs

he will take care of.

Now,

of course,

the devil is quoting

the scriptures

out of context,

right?

Jesus calls him

the father of lies.

The devil will take

God's word

and he'll slightly

adjust it

or twist it

or put it

in a certain context

to make it say

something other

than what it means.

And so what's

the devil saying here?

He's tempting Jesus

with a kind of

prosperity gospel.

He's saying,

Jesus,

God has promised

that nothing

will go wrong

with you.

Your life

will be blessed.

Whatever difficult

situation you find

yourself in,

you find yourself

falling from a building,

you find yourself

in trouble,

whatever difficult

situation you find

yourself in,

he will deliver you.

He will look after you.

He'll never let

anything go wrong

with you.

Just test him.

Throw yourself down.

See what I mean.

And what he's doing

is he's tempting

Jesus with the belief

that God owes you

a safe life,

a comfortable life,

a blessed life,

a life without inconvenience.

Friends,

have you and I

bought the lie

that God promises us

that nothing will ever

go wrong with our lives?

That whatever situation

we find ourselves in,

that God will just

suddenly swoop us up

and pick us up

and that he won't

let us scratch

our baby toe?

Friends,

have we bought the lie

that God is only good

and he's only trustworthy

because he makes our lives

comfortable,

convenient,

and he doesn't allow

any difficulty

to come our way?

Friends,

have Satan convinced us

that God is only good

and trustworthy

and worthy of worship

if nothing goes wrong

in your life?

That every time

you face a challenge,

God must surely

save you from that challenge,

otherwise he's not

worthy of worship.

Friends,

if we're a Christian

because God did something

good in our life

once upon a time,

like he healed our child

or he gave you a job

or he gave you a child

or he saved your marriage,

if that's the reason

why we're a Christian

because God did some

good thing,

like we felt like

we were falling off

the building

and God suddenly

swooped up

and caught us,

then maybe we're not

actually a Christian

because we love God

but because we love

ourselves.

And we're asking God

to serve us

rather than us

serving him.

In fact,

we may just be using God

and not worshiping him

and we may not be

Christians at all.

What's Jesus' response

to this?

Well, he quotes

Deuteronomy chapter 6

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

which recounts the way

that the Israelites

were in their own wilderness

and they're grumbling

and they're moaning

and they're saying,

God, we thought

you were good.

We thought you were

meant to look after us.

Where's our food?

And then God

gives them food.

And they say,

where's the water?

And God gives them water.

And then they say,

where's the meat?

We're tired of bread.

And every step of the way

they're moaning

and grumbling

because things aren't

going their way.

And they start to wonder,

God, are you really good?

Are you really trustworthy?

Should we really worship you

when things don't go our way?

And they're saying,

God, it feels like

we're falling here

and we're your angels

to save us,

to pick us up.

And what does God say?

He says,

why are you testing me?

Why are you checking

whether I'm still

worthy of worship

just because things

aren't going the way

that you expect them to be?

Don't you know

that I know what I'm doing?

Why are you putting me

to the test

as if I'm only honest,

good or trustworthy

when things will go

the way that you want them to?

And so Jesus responds

to Satan.

He says,

Satan, don't give me

your nonsense.

I'm sure that's what

the original Greek says.

He says,

God is good

and he's trustworthy

and I will not

put him to the test.

What's Jesus saying?

He's saying,

the life of a Christian

rejects the lie

that I deserve

God's blessing

and protection

and lives by faith

that God is good

all the time

and he knows

what he's doing

not just when he does

miracles that benefit me.

Okay?

Does that make sense?

Okay.

I hope so.

Let's look at

the third temptation.

Look at verse 8

with me.

Satan now comes

and he brings

the final temptation

and he says this

verse 8.

Again,

the devil took him

up to a very high mountain

and he showed him

all the kingdoms

of the world

and their glory.

And he said to him,

all these things

I will give you

if you fall down

and worship me.

Now,

what's Satan saying here?

What's going on here?

Remember

the passage

just before this

that we spoke about

last week.

Jesus is baptized,

right?

And as he comes out,

we said it earlier,

this voice comes

and this voice

from the heavens,

which is God's voice,

speaks to him

and says,

this is my beloved son,

which is a quote

from Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

And it's a quote

that speaks about

how Christ is

the Messiah King.

He is the one

who will one day

rule the whole world.

And then he says,

this is my son

with whom I am well pleased,

which is a quote

from Isaiah 42,

talking about how

Jesus is the suffering servant.

And what God is doing

is he's commissioning

Jesus saying,

you are the one

true king,

the Messiah king,

but the way

that you will

get to glory

is through the cross.

You're the king,

but you're the suffering servant.

In other words,

this is a road

to glory,

but the road

to glory

passes through Calvary.

Okay?

What's Satan

saying here

when he says,

Jesus,

I will give you

all the kingdoms

of the world

in all their glory,

if only

you'll worship me.

he's offering him

glory

without the cross.

He's offering him

the end result.

He's saying,

Jesus,

that cross

is not going to be

very nice.

I will organize

a shortcut for you.

I will allow you

to get to the end goal

without needing to suffer,

without needing

to humiliate yourself,

without needing

to go through

the painful,

humiliating experience

of the cross.

Jesus,

I'll offer you glory

without Calvary.

Friends,

is this not

one of the most

subtle and sinister

and yet pervasive

temptations we face?

Satan comes to us

and says,

I'll offer you

control of your life.

I'll offer you glory.

Why don't you

just be lord

of your own life?

Why don't you

be lord

of your own kingdom?

Without any cost

involved,

all you have to do

is just make a deal

with me.

Without any cost,

you can avoid

the cost of the cross.

You can avoid

the cost of humiliation.

You can avoid

the cost of humbling yourself.

You can avoid

the cost of repentance.

I'll give you

what you want.

Just make a simple deal

with me.

Except the problem is,

whenever we make

a deal with the devil,

it does come

with a price.

In fact,

one of the things

about the devil

is that it always

comes with a price

far more

than we're willing

to pay.

I don't know

if you've ever

had this experience

where you've bought

something

and it's something

really expensive.

You thought you've

done all your homework

and you've checked it out

and you say,

okay,

I'm going to do it.

Maybe it's

whatever it is.

Then only later,

afterwards,

you realize

there are all these

hidden costs.

There's this service cost

and there's this fee

that's been added

and there's this

small fine print

and because you did it

in this way,

there's this extra fee.

Has that ever happened

to you?

You feel the sense

of regret.

You feel like,

oh my goodness,

if I'd known

how much it was

going to cost me,

I would never

have done that.

And you feel this

like sick in your stomach

feeling that actually

cost you far more

than you bargained for.

Do you know that feeling?

Friends,

when you make a deal

with the devil,

it's like that

but only a million

times worse.

In your mind's eye,

you think,

okay,

I know how this works.

Yeah,

it might cost me that

but I'll get all this benefit.

Friends,

it always,

always,

always,

costs a million times

more than you

bargained for.

And that's what the devil's doing.

He's coming and he's offering

Jesus that

and he offers it to us.

He offers it to us

every single day

to have all the kingdoms

of the world

and all their splendor,

all their glory.

And he says,

you won't even have to

humble yourselves.

You won't have to admit

you're a sinner.

You can avoid the humiliation

of repentance.

Just come and listen to me.

And really,

in essence,

this is what the whole

of the passage is about.

It's about

who are you going to serve?

Are you going to serve yourself

or are you going to serve

the one true God?

And so Jesus' response is this,

it is written,

you shall worship

the Lord your God

and him only

shall you serve.

And this really is the essence

of the entire passage.

Who are you going to serve?

Yourself

or the one true God?

Friends,

there's only one person

that is rightly,

that can rightly occupy

the throne of our lives.

There's only one person

who is worthy of our worship.

There's only one being

that is worthy

and trustworthy enough

for us to give our lives

to him,

the one true God.

You shall worship God

and him only

shall you serve.

Jesus tells us

that Christian faith

rejects the delusion

that self-glory

and living for ourselves

is the way to go,

but that serving

the one true God,

he alone is worthy

of our worship.

No matter what

the cost.

No matter

what the cost.

Now,

how do we respond

to this?

How do we respond

to temptation

and testing

when temptation

comes our way?

I want to suggest

two responses

from this passage.

Well, this passage

gives us two ways

to respond.

Two ways to stand

against the schemes

of the devil.

The first is

be ruthless

with temptation.

Ruthless means

be extreme.

Don't compromise.

Don't make any deals.

Be ruthless

with temptation.

And secondly,

rejoice in Christ

your king.

Look at verse 10

with me

if you've got your Bible

on the bulletin.

Satan comes and says,

Jesus,

I'll offer you

all the kingdoms

of the world.

I'll offer you

all their glory.

Just bow down

and honor me.

And Jesus says,

what does he say first?

He says,

Satan,

be gone.

Get your bags

and get out of here.

Be gone.

And friends,

remember,

Jesus says the same thing

just before he's about

to be crucified.

Peter comes up to him.

Jesus tells his disciples,

listen,

the Son of Man

is about to be crucified.

He's about to be nailed

to the cross

for the sins of the world.

And Peter comes up to him

and says,

never, Lord.

Never.

It shouldn't happen to you.

He says,

you are the Christ.

You are the Messiah.

You shouldn't have to die

on the cross.

And then Peter comes

and he's starting to

persuade Jesus

not to go to the cross.

And what does Jesus say?

He doesn't say,

Peter,

let me just explain this

to you one more time.

He says,

Satan,

get behind me.

And friends,

sometimes we need to do that

with temptation.

We can't coddle it

and just say,

okay,

well,

let's see if I can make a deal.

Sometimes we need to be ruthless.

Be gone.

Get out of here.

Pack your bags

and go.

Friends,

sometimes we need to get angry

with temptation

and the devil.

He's lying to you.

He's deceiving you.

He's the father of lies.

And Jesus has come

to give you life

and life to the full.

And Satan

has come to rob you of life.

He's come to destroy your life.

He's come to destroy

your relationships.

He's come to destroy

your self-worth.

He's come to destroy

your relationship with Jesus.

He's coming to kill you.

And sometimes,

let me put it this way,

1 Peter says that

the devil's like a roaring lion.

He wants to devour you.

He wants to tear you apart.

He wants to take your marriage

and strip it.

He wants to take

your dating relationship

and destroy it.

He wants to take

your reputation

and leave it in tatters.

He wants to take

your self-worth

and your confidence

and rip it to shreds.

He wants to kill you

and devour you

like a roaring lion.

Except,

he's very sneaky.

He'll come to you

and pretend

to be a kitten.

He'll ask you

just to stroke him.

And you'll look very cute

and very appealing

until he grows up

and he kills you.

Friends,

can I ask us,

what sin

or what temptation

are we holding on to?

What sin

or temptation

have we made a deal with?

Maybe you feel like,

I've given in so many times,

what's the point in fighting?

Maybe you feel like pornography.

It's like,

I just can't beat this thing.

I've given in so many times,

what's the point?

Why do I even fight

one more time?

It's just going to happen again.

I might as well

just go with it.

Friends,

you fight.

Get some fight.

Get some steel.

Get some backbone

and kick that thing.

You tell the devil,

get out of here.

Pack your bags and go.

Maybe it's offense.

Maybe it's bitterness.

Maybe somebody's let you down.

Someone's hurt you.

This is probably

one of the biggest temptations

for me.

It's so hard

to let that thing go.

I just play that situation

over and over in my mind.

I play what they said

and I play what I said

and then I remind myself

just once more

what they said

and then I just remind myself

how sorry I feel for myself

and how unjust it was

and how unrighteous they were

and how I don't deserve that

and I just remind myself again

of just how badly

I've been treated.

Woe is me.

Friends,

self-pity is a form

of self-glory

because it's all about me

and I want to be king

and I don't want to be treated badly.

Friends,

is there bitterness?

Is there unforgiveness?

Is there offense

that you're holding on to?

Friends,

be ruthless

with temptation.

You kick that thing

out of the house.

Be gone.

Sometimes the best response

we can give to Satan,

his lies

and his temptations

is be gone.

Get out of here.

But then

there's a second way

to respond

and this is

rejoice in Christ

your king.

Now,

in some ways

this is one of the most

important things

and so I want to land

with this

but it's one of the most

important things.

I want you to listen

and take careful attention

to this.

The thing of standing

against temptation

is probably not new

for any of us.

I doubt there's anybody

here that has never

thought about the concept

of I should stand up

against temptation.

I mean,

we all know it, right?

We all know that we

should serve Christ

our Lord.

We all know that we

probably shouldn't give in

to our natural desires.

We all know that we

shouldn't test God.

We all know that there's

one true God

and he alone is king.

These are things

that we know

and we know that we

shouldn't use God

for ourselves.

We know that we

shouldn't wallow

in self-glory

and yet we still do it.

We still give in.

We still mess up

time and time again.

We buy the line.

We make a deal

with the devil.

We pay the price.

We abandon restraint

and we give in to pleasure.

Why do we do it?

If we know these things,

why do we still do it?

Well,

the answer is not

because we are ignorant

of the truth.

We probably know

and understand the truth.

The answer is

because there's something

going on in our hearts

at our deepest,

most fundamental level,

our hearts love ourselves.

We love self-worship

and self-glory.

Notice all of these

temptations are about me,

my desires,

my security,

my glory.

And what that means,

friends,

is that we're in deep,

deep trouble

because what we need

is more than just

more teaching

and more than just

more knowledge.

What we need

is a savior,

someone to rescue,

someone to change us,

someone to change

the disposition

of our hearts.

We need someone

to come alongside us

in that moment

of temptation

and to pick us up

and to put his arm

around us

and to carry us

over the finishing line.

There's a story,

1992,

the Barcelona Olympics.

Some of you might know

the story,

very famous story.

There's a British runner

called Derek Redmond

and he has made it

to the Olympic Games.

He's a 400 meter runner

and he's obviously

mid-20s.

He's been training

for decades

since a young boy

running at school,

got to high school,

running in all the competitions.

There his talent

was noticed

and people said,

hey,

you've really got

something in you.

And so even

as a high school student,

he starts making sacrifices,

getting coaches,

watching his diet,

starts training,

getting fitter,

stronger,

goes to college

and spends thousands

if not millions

of dollars

on coaches

and training exercises,

regimes,

extremely disciplined,

becomes a professional athlete

and makes it

to the Olympic Games.

And so it's 1992,

he's at the Olympic Games

in Barcelona,

his first heat's coming

and he smokes it.

Does brilliantly.

Gets through to the next heat.

The next heat comes

and he does fantastically

and he gets through

to the finals.

And now it's the finals

of the 400 meters,

the Olympic Games

and he is pitted

to be a medalist.

They think he's probably

going to finish

in the top three

if not get the gold medal.

He's one of the favorites.

And his race comes up,

he goes to the starting line,

does the whole thing,

gets ready,

goes down,

the gun goes off

and he's out of the blocks

and he's giving it his all.

He goes past

the first 100 meters

and as he gets past

the 100 meters,

I think we've got a picture,

as he gets past

the 150 meters,

he feels his hamstring going

and he's out.

And he falls to the ground

and everyone else

just comes sprinting past him

and leaves him

in the trail.

And there he is

on the greatest world stage,

he's lying on the floor,

he's grabbing his hamstring,

he's in absolute agony.

But it's not just the agony,

it's the pain

of decades of training.

Everything he's given his life to

in one second is gone.

And it's all done,

it's finished.

He's fallen,

he's on the ground.

And the crowd,

I don't know whether

to watch him

or to watch the winners,

right?

And the guys go past

and they finish the race.

And the crowd starts

to get on their feet

and they're cheering him

and he gets up

and he tries to hobble

and he hobbles about 10 meters

and he falls down

to the ground again.

He can't hobble anymore.

And at that moment,

a man,

an older man,

jumps over the barricade

and he runs onto the track.

And the security guards

try and stop him

because he's not allowed

to do that.

And he's fighting

the security guards off

and he's saying,

let me get to him,

let me get to him.

And he gets to him

and Derek Redman

tries to push this guy away

until he realizes

who it is.

And it's his dad.

And his dad picks him up

and he puts his arm around him

and for the next 250 meters,

they hobble to the finish line

and he crosses the line

with his dad holding him.

Friends,

you and I don't just need

a good instruction

how to beat temptation.

We don't just need

three ways to get better

at getting through life.

Friends,

if you and I have sinned this week,

like you and I have,

if you and I have done

something wrong this week,

what we don't just need

is someone in the crowd

saying,

get up,

get up,

sort yourself out.

What we need

is a savior

who will come alongside us

and pick us up

and will come

and carry us

over the finishing lines.

Friends,

have you sinned this week?

Have you messed up?

Have you fallen?

Maybe you've fallen spectacularly

and you're embarrassed about it.

Maybe even ashamed.

Friends,

have you wallowed

self-pity

or self-glory?

Have you bought the lie

that you're entitled

to gratify

and fulfill

your own fleshly desires,

your own ways

on your own terms?

Friends,

if you're a Christian this morning,

you have a savior

who came to forgive you

and cover you.

But you have a savior

who did more than that.

He came to pick you up

and to carry you

over the finishing line.

You have one

who has ultimate compassion

and tenderness.

You have one

who has gone through

every trial

that you've gone through,

who's been tempted

in every way

and a million times more

and he knows

what you've gone through

and yet you've got one

who is uncompromised,

who then not a single accusation

can stick to him,

one who is spotless

and trustworthy

and he's come

to bring you to himself.

Friends,

if you're not a Christian

this morning,

do you know what that means?

It means you're on your own.

It means that you carry

your sin all on your own.

It means that the crowds

may be shouting

that you stand up,

pick yourself up,

but you do not have a Savior

who has come to do it for you.

You come to Jesus

and he has come to do it for you.

He's inviting you

not just to become religious,

he's offering to come

and pick you up

and carry you over the line.

And that's what Matthew's telling us.

What Matthew's showing us here

is that Jesus faced

the temptation

that Adam and Eve

faced in the Garden of Eden

and they failed

and they fell.

Jesus is facing

the same temptation

that the people of God

faced in the wilderness desert

and they failed

and they fell.

Jesus is facing

the same temptations

that you face

and I face

every single day

and friends,

we fail

and we fall.

But here is one.

Here is a true Israelite.

Here is a true Adam.

Here is a true son of Adam

that went through

every temptation

that you and I

could ever go through

and is absolutely spotless.

Not a single accusation

has stuck to him.

And as he does that,

he's serving notice

that he came

not just to show us

how to be better

but to defeat sin

and evil

on its own grounds.

He came to dismantle

the work of the devil

by exposing its lies

and ultimately

he would do so

by ending up

on the cross.

I want to read

a quote to us

by William Collier.

Listen to this.

It says,

Jesus' temptation

in the wilderness

does not primarily

sketch a moral story

providing helpful hints

on how we too

with a bit of Jesus'

inspiration

can conquer temptation.

Jesus' hostile standoff

with evil

was a reprisal

for all that humanity

had lost

in the Garden of Eden

or that we could never

on our own regain.

When Jesus emerged

from the wilderness

at Victor,

his triumph

signaled evil

was doomed

to obliteration.

Humanity was destined

for joy.

In other words,

Jesus did not merely

wink and make evil

disappear.

Rather,

he walked into

the bowls of evil

and defeated evil