Wilderness Temptation: If You Are...

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Good morning, Christ Church.

My name is Bill Barnes, and I am part of the Bavinkian community group.

And I'm going to be reading this morning from Genesis, the book of Genesis, Genesis 3.1.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman,

Did God really say, you must not eat?

From any tree in the garden?

The woman said to the serpent,

We may eat fruit from trees in the garden, but God did say,

You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden,

and you must not touch it, or you will die.

You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman,

For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,

and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.

So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man,

Where are you?

He answered,

I heard you in the garden,

and I was afraid,

because I was naked.

So I hid.

The grass withers, and the flowers fall.

The word of our God stands forever.

Our gospel lesson today is a reading from the gospel according to Matthew.

Matthew.

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 alighting on him.

And a voice from heaven said,

This is my Son, whom I love.

With Him, I'm well pleased.

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.

The tempter came to him and said,

If you are the Son of God,

tell these stones to become bread.

Jesus answered,

It is written,

Man shall not live on bread alone,

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

Then 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.

Jesus answered him,

It is also written,

Do 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 in their splendor.

All this I will give you,

he said,

if you will bow down and worship me.

Jesus said to him,

Away from me, Satan,

for it is written,

Worship the Lord your God,

and serve him only.

Then the devil left him,

and angels came and attended him.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Well, thanks, Bill, for that scripture reading.

Good morning, everyone.

Welcome to Christ Church.

My name is Andrew,

and I'm one of the pastors here.

Will you pray with me as we open up God's word?

Our Father, we pray

that you would help us to believe,

just as our Savior, Jesus,

that we shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from your mouth.

Thank you for being a God who speaks words to us.

And in the preaching of your word, O God,

we pray that you would help us to believe them,

as our Savior did,

that we might overcome the schemes of the devil,

and the lies that he spits into our ears.

Help our unbelief, we pray.

In the name of Jesus, amen.

All right, so a few weeks ago,

I got to meet a grad student from Cal,

and this is one of the things I love about Christ Church.

We always have people coming through our doors,

sitting in our pews,

who are not Christians.

I love that about our church.

And so he came,

and it was his first Sunday here,

and he was really open with me right off the bat.

He said, you know,

I used to be a Christian,

but I'm not anymore.

I can't believe anymore,

and I'm not sure if I ever really did believe,

but I'm willing to talk to people

to try to figure things out.

I said, well, you're welcome here.

We love that you're here.

We're so excited about that.

Let's talk.

So a few days before Christmas,

we got on the phone.

I went out for a walk with my dog.

Actually, that was irrelevant,

but I did that on the phone with him.

And we talked for about an hour and a half,

and I got to hear some of his story.

And, you know, basically,

his big hang-up with Christianity was,

you know, I can believe my science and history textbooks

and the proven facts that are within them,

but I have trouble believing the Bible

and this unproven Christ.

And so, you know,

I tried to share with him

what I thought was strong evidence

for, you know,

the historicity of Jesus

and the reliability of the Scriptures,

but you know what we spent most of our time

talking about that day?

What we spent most of our time talking about

was not the evidences surrounding Jesus,

but what we talked about

was the nature of belief,

the nature of faith itself,

like how and why do we even believe

the things that we believe,

or what makes something truly believable

as true and as trustworthy.

And I tried to show him that

whether you're the most spiritual,

pious, religious, holy man in the world,

or you're the most secular, scientific,

anti-supernatural, modern person in the world,

at the very bottom,

we all have to live by faith.

We all have to live by faith,

whether faith in a personal God

who makes the world revolve around the sun

and maintains the laws of gravity,

or faith in some impersonal force,

or faith in chance,

that by chance,

somehow the sun will just rise tomorrow,

and in the next second,

we all won't start levitating

from our pews, right?

And so I challenged him to consider,

like, sure, you can doubt Christianity,

and I understand why you would doubt Christianity,

but like, why,

but like, what are the things

that you don't doubt,

and why not?

What are the ultimate things

that you're most convinced of,

the things that you can place your faith in,

is what I asked him.

And that's the question

I want to ask all of us today.

What are we placing our faith in?

What is the one thing

we are most convinced of

in all the world,

so convinced we'd stake

our whole lives upon it?

What is the one thing

that we believe about ourselves,

and about the world,

and about God,

that if this one thing were not true,

everything else would unravel for us?

You know, for the French philosopher,

Rene Descartes,

his one thing was what?

I think, therefore I am.

I doubt, therefore I am.

His one thing was that,

because at the very least,

I know that I'm doubting with my mind,

even that I'm doubting that I have a mind,

if I'm doubting,

I know that I have a mind.

That was his one thing,

that he could doubt everything.

And maybe that's where

some of us are at today.

This broken world has given us

so many reasons to doubt.

We've been let down repeatedly

by all the people

and all the institutions

and all the systems

that promised never to fail us,

our parents,

our politicians,

our churches,

our technologies.

We feel like there is nothing

and no one we can trust,

not even ourselves.

And so maybe we're like today,

you know, okay,

that's my one thing.

The only thing I can be convinced of

is that I cannot be convinced of anything.

The only thing I can trust

is that I cannot trust anything or anyone.

But you know,

even the atheist British philosopher,

Bertrand Russell,

he said that while such skepticism

is logically flawless,

it is psychologically impossible.

It is unlivable.

No one can truly live

with such radical skepticism.

So again,

the honest truth is

we all have to make calls

about what we're gonna believe,

what we're gonna place our faith in,

what we're gonna commit our lives to.

And if that sounds scary to you,

well, yeah, it is.

It's incredibly scary, right?

Because whatever we most fundamentally believe

will affect our whole life.

There is nothing more important

than assessing

what our deepest beliefs

and commitments are,

what we are placing our trust in

with our whole lives.

And you could probably guess

what I would tell you

to trust and believe.

I'm a pastor.

I'm preaching the Bible.

You know,

you might expect me to say,

believe in Jesus.

believe the Bible is God's word.

So I don't feel like

I need to do that today,

at least not explicitly.

But what I wanna do

for all of us today

is I wanna look at

what Jesus himself

placed his ultimate trust in.

I want us to consider

what, according to the Christian tradition,

this ideal human,

God himself,

in the flesh,

what he committed

and submitted himself to.

And I want us to consider

whether following him,

believing what he believed,

trusting what he trusted,

might actually be a good idea

for all of us too.

And maybe you're like,

yo,

what does any of this have to do

with this temptation narrative

that we just read about Jesus?

And my response to that

is that

we have to understand

that temptation

is not merely about behavior.

Behavior flows from belief.

Behavior flows from faith,

from our deepest,

seated commitments.

If you are tempted to,

if you're tempted by

and to succumb to pornography,

you are not just tempted

to some act with your eyes.

Deep down in your heart,

you believe,

you have faith

that there is more pleasure,

more fulfillment,

more satisfaction

in the objectification

of other human beings

than in living

and loving God's way.

If you are tempted by greed,

you are not just tempted

to the act of hoarding

and withholding your money

and your resources.

Deep down,

you believe

that God won't provide for you

and that you have to provide

for yourself.

So if we want to address

the wayward behaviors

of our lives,

if we want victory

over temptation,

we have to look at our hearts.

We have to look

at our faith commitments.

And that's why I wanted us

to hear the original

temptation account

this morning

from Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Because see, yes,

Adam and Eve,

they shouldn't have committed

the action of eating the fruit.

But do you know

what the real fatal sin was

even before that?

The sin that led them

to eat the fruit?

They stopped believing

God's word.

They doubted God's word.

Instead of crushing

the serpent,

they entertained

the question,

did God really say?

They entertained

the serpent's question

and they subjected

the creator's word

to their own creaturely scrutiny

and skepticism

and analysis.

Even doubting his character.

Entertaining the thought

that God was not truly for them.

Entertaining the thought

that God was not truly loving.

That God was not truly good.

That God was withholding

something from them.

The original sin

wasn't merely the eating

of some forbidden fruit.

But it was a lack of faith

in God's true word

and in God's good character.

It wasn't merely

a sin of the hands

or the lips

but a sin of the heart.

So again,

we have to look at our hearts.

We have to consider

our deepest faith commitments.

And this is also why

we picked back up

and read some of our passage

from last week

from Matthew chapter 3

Matthew 3:16

verses 16 and 17.

I wanted to remind us

of Jesus' baptism.

Of Jesus' ultimate

faith commitment.

His faith and trust

in the words

his father spoke to him

at his baptism

from the heavens.

This is my beloved son

with whom

I am well pleased.

See,

this was

Jesus' ultimate

faith commitment.

This is what he believed

more than anything else

in all the world.

Right before entering

the wilderness temptation,

Jesus heard the word of God

and he was anointed

with the spirit of God

crying,

Abba, Father,

within his heart.

And this word

and this spirit

who confirmed to him

that he was truly God's son,

truly loved by his father

and even truly liked

and pleasing to his father,

this was the word.

This was Jesus' one thing,

the one thing he most believed,

the one truth

he was most committed to

and convinced of.

This word from his father

about who he was.

This was his ultimate truth

against which every other truth

was tested.

And that's what this

wilderness temptation

account is about.

In the wilderness,

Jesus' ultimate faith commitment

is tested.

That's what's happening here.

This is not just

a little nice story

telling us how to

overcome temptation.

This is a story

about whether or not

Jesus will be the son of God

who saves the world.

The stakes are high.

Will the second Adam

succeed?

Where the first Adam

failed?

When the first Adam

plunged creation

into a state of hell,

will the second Adam

be able to bring us

to new creation

by withstanding

the temptation

of the devil?

Does that make sense?

All right,

now let's turn

to this temptation account

in Matthew chapter four.

So again,

this is the scene,

this is the context.

Jesus has just had

the most defining moment

of his life thus far,

right?

He is literally defined

from the heavens

by his Father in heaven

as a pleasing

and beloved Son of God.

And we are told

in verse one

that the Spirit

then leads him out

into the wilderness

to be tempted

by the devil.

And I want us to pay

really, really close attention

to what exactly

the temptation was

for Jesus here.

All right,

let's pay close attention.

So in verse two,

it says that he had been fasting

for 40 days

and 40 nights

and that of course

he was hungry.

Just imagine him,

like, you know,

unlike Adam and Eve

in their lush garden

able to eat from any tree

they want around them

except for just that one.

Jesus here is all alone.

He has no partner.

He's in a desert wilderness.

He's starving

and perhaps even threatened

by wild animals,

all right?

40 days is a long time.

This is no joke.

His body is probably

shutting down.

His muscles are probably

atrophying.

He's probably just sitting

there still

trying to preserve energy,

right?

His vision is probably

going blurry.

He probably can't think

as straight as he normally does

and it is precisely

at this point of weakness

that the devil strikes,

right?

And again,

try to pay close attention

to what the actual temptation

is here.

Read with me,

verse three.

The tempter came to him

and said,

if you are the son of God,

tell these stones

to become bread.

Now, did you catch that?

The temptation here

is not just doing

a magic trick

in order to break one's fast

and eat some bread.

Jesus' sin here

isn't breaking

his keto diet

and making some carbs

for himself

out of stones.

The devil

was questioning

his identity

as the son of God.

The devil

was questioning

God's words

spoken from the heavens

about Jesus

at his baptism.

He was tempting Jesus

to doubt

his father's words

by saying,

if you are

the son of God.

The tempter

was using

the same method

on Jesus,

the second Adam,

as he used

on the first Adam.

You can't trust

your father's words.

You can't trust

his declaration

of your identity.

You can't trust

that he loves you.

You need to confirm it

with other outside proofs.

And Jesus,

the proof

is the self-serving

transformation

of these rocks

into bread.

And you know,

I think for some of us

that Jesus is

fully God.

You know,

it makes it hard

for us to sympathize

with the reality

of his temptation.

But you know,

Orthodox Christianity

has always said

that Jesus is

not just fully God,

but he is fully man

and therefore fully tempted.

Like truly tempted

in every way

just like us.

As the apostle writes

in Hebrews chapter 4,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

we do not have

a high priest

who is unable

to empathize

with our weaknesses,

but we have one

who has been tempted

in every way

just as we are,

yet he did not sin.

So we have to understand

how tempted

Jesus actually

was here.

Imagine,

just imagine,

this is the Son of God,

right?

From all eternity,

he has always been fulfilled

in the presence

of his Father.

And yet now he's become human

and now he's hungry,

lonely,

feeling insecure,

maybe even on the brink

of death.

And in one sense,

the tempter was right,

right?

The Son of God

is not supposed

to be hungry.

No child of God

is supposed to be hungry,

right?

But if we follow

this logic apart

from the rest

of what God says,

you could start

to wonder,

well,

am I actually

a child of God?

Does he really love me?

Or is my Father

just not able

to truly take care of me?

This is what Satan

was trying to introduce

into the mind

and the heart of Jesus.

You cannot trust

the power

and authority

of your Father's Word

at your baptism.

You cannot trust

his love

and his care.

You can only trust

and believe

in the power

and authority

of your own words.

So speak,

Jesus.

Speak,

he says,

and let's see

if you really are

the Son of God.

Speak your own words.

Exercise your own authority.

Serve your own ends.

Feed and provide

for yourself

if you are

the Son of God.

I mean,

surely the Son of God

has authority

to do so, right?

And who's it gonna hurt?

Doesn't your Father

even want this for you?

It's a pretty smart

and subtle strategy,

right?

The same strategy

used, again,

on Adam and Eve

and also on all of us.

I mean, really,

how many of us

have entertained

these similar thoughts?

Tempted in times

of need

and desperation

to question

whether or not

we are children of God

loved by our Father.

Tempted to take

our own lives

into our own hands

and to stop trusting God

for our daily bread.

Maybe we don't tell

rocks to turn into bread,

but we do have

various tricks

of our own,

don't we?

Maybe we,

instead of Sabbathing,

we take that extra shift,

pick up that extra

side hustle.

Maybe we withhold

our generosity fib

on our tax returns

all to make that bread,

right?

This was Jesus' temptation

and it's a temptation

common to all of us,

the temptation

to doubt

that we are children

of a good,

loving,

caring,

and capable Father.

It's the same temptation

as always,

the temptation

to distrust God,

the temptation

that fractured

all of creation's relationship.

with its creator.

But the good news

about Jesus,

the second Adam,

is that unlike

the first Adam,

unlike all the rest of us,

he didn't believe

this lie

about his own identity

or about his father's love

and care

and capability.

No,

even when his circumstances

made it seem like

his father's words to him

might possibly be untrue,

he believed.

He entrusted his whole life

to his father's words.

Jesus had been soaking

like a sponge

in the scriptures

and every time

the devil poked,

scripture dripped out.

Reciting from the divinely inspired

Hebrew scriptures,

Deuteronomy chapter 8,

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

Moses' words to Israel

in the wilderness,

verse 4,

Jesus answered,

it is written,

man shall not live

on bread alone,

but on every word

that comes

from the mouth

of God.

Even after 40 days

with no food,

even on the brink

of death,

Jesus trusts

that he is his father,

he is his father

in heaven's beloved

and well-pleasing son.

He trusts

that somehow

his father

will provide him

with his daily bread

and that ultimately

his father's word

will sustain him.

But now the devil

doesn't give up so easily,

he launches into

a second temptation

basically saying,

will you, Jesus?

Like,

will you really live?

Look at verse 5.

Then 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 again,

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.

The devil sees

Jesus' faith,

his conviction

that he will live

by the word of God

so he takes the words

out of God's mouth

and he uses scripture

itself to tempt Jesus.

Satan basically says,

okay,

you believe you'll live

by every word

that proceeds

from the mouth of God,

how about this word

from Psalm chapter 91?

Psalms 91 · chapter mention

Let's test it.

Let's be good

empirical scientists,

right?

No offense to the scientists

in this room.

Don't you want to see

if it's true

is what he says to Jesus?

Don't you want to see

if it's true?

Now if you want to look

at Psalm chapter 91,

Psalms 91 · chapter mention

it's on page 480

in your pew Bibles,

but you'll notice

that it's a psalm,

it's all about

God's protection.

Whoever dwells

in the shelter

of the Most High

will rest in the shadow

of the Almighty.

No harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come

near your tent

for he will command

his angels concerning you

to guard you

in all your ways.

They will lift you up

in their hands

so that you will not

strike your foot

against a stone.

But very interestingly,

the verse Satan omits,

the verse right after

this passage

that he quotes

is verse 13

if you want to take

a look at that.

It says,

you will tread

on the lion

and the cobra.

You will trample

the great lion

and the serpent.

Now remember,

ever since the fall,

a war has been waged

between the people

of God

and the serpent.

And what did God say

as soon as they fell?

He said,

the offspring of the woman

will crush

the head of the serpent.

So Satan is saying

to Jesus,

alright,

let's do this.

Throw yourself down.

Let's see if God

will protect these feet

of yours

that are supposed

to crush my head,

that are supposed

to trample me.

Come on, Jesus.

Let's go for it.

Let's test it out

right now.

Let's test out God's word.

Go for it.

Let's do this.

Let's make a show of it.

Then you and me

and everyone at the temple

will really know

whether God's word

is true.

Whether you are

God's beloved

and well-pleasing son.

Whether you are

the son of God.

Whether you actually live

by every word

that comes

from the mouth of God.

But Jesus

will not take the bait.

Verse 7.

This time citing

Deuteronomy chapter 6,

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

Jesus answered,

it is also written,

do not put the Lord

your God

to the test.

Jesus says,

I know what Psalm 91

says, man.

And I already believe it.

I don't need

to test it.

I don't need

to manipulate God

or to force his hand

to assure myself

of his loving care

and his loving power.

Besides,

who are we

to demand proof

from God

that what he says

is true?

It's silly.

And I mean,

what would even

constitute proof?

How many loaves

of bread

would Jesus need

to turn stones into?

Or how many loaves

of bread

would Jesus need

to transform?

Or how many times

would he need

to throw himself

off the temple

and be rescued

by the angels

for him to really,

really be sure,

right,

that God's word

was true?

How many times?

You know,

when I was talking

to this grad student

from Cal,

I asked him,

do you even know

what it would take

for you to believe

these things

that you say

are hard for you

to believe,

just like you believe

the things

in your science books

and your history textbooks?

I asked him,

how do we even define

what a fact is?

How many scientific experiments

does it take

to make something

a verified fact

and get it

into a scientific textbook?

And is that

scientific textbook

then infallible?

How many experiments?

A thousand?

A thousand one?

A thousand two?

A thousand three?

Or how many eyewitness accounts?

Or how much

archaeological consensus

does it take

for something

to be a verified fact

within a history book,

right?

At the end of the day,

the highest standard

of truth,

it has to be

something that's

self-attesting

by its very nature.

And this is how

Jesus saw

the word of God.

This is how

Jesus saw

the scriptures.

For Jesus,

God's word

wasn't a hypothesis

to be tested,

but the ultimate

standard of truth.

And God's word

to him was that

no matter what

anyone else said,

no matter what

his circumstances

seemed to be like,

you are my beloved son

and with you

I am well pleased.

And Jesus took that

to the bank

and he lived by those words

from his father.

And you see,

this is what

got Jesus through

all his temptations.

He believed God's word.

He was utterly

convinced of who

God said he was

by faith.

And the question

for us is,

do we believe?

Do we have faith

in who God says

we are?

For those of us

who are tired

of falling into

the same temptations

again and again

and again,

maybe for you

it has to do

with your eating habits

or maybe it's

your sex life

or maybe it's

your laziness

or maybe it's

your overworking

or your greed

or maybe it just

has to do with

how you treat

and view

and think about

others in your life.

Maybe with disregard

or malice,

whatever it is

that tempts you,

the solution

is not simply

trying harder.

It's not merely

a matter of

better technique

or self-mastery.

The solution

is coming to grips

with who God

says we are.

You know,

I might not look

like it,

but every week

I go to this

exercise class

at 24 Hour Fitness

and it's called

Body Pump

and I exercise

with a bunch

of middle-aged

moms and senior

citizens

and I used

to go to

the class

out in Oakland

on High Street

and the instructor

was great.

He was really good

at inspiring us

and for some reason

he used to call me

Richard.

I don't really get that.

It's not relevant.

But anyways,

he was great

at pushing us,

inspiring us

and he would often

say this.

He would say,

come on athletes,

come on athletes

and I'd be like,

yeah,

yeah,

I'm an athlete.

Extra burpee.

Extra squat,

right?

And you know,

like,

I was able to overcome

physical limits

that I thought I had

by believing

who he said I was.

An athlete,

right?

Well,

how much truer

is what God says

about who we are?

When Jesus leaned

into who exactly

God told him he was,

he overcame

the most tempting

of temptations.

The only kinds

of people

who can overcome

temptation

is those

who believe

the word of God.

It's those

who believe

what God says

about who

they are.

Specifically,

that they are

children of God,

loved,

well-pleasing

before their

father in heaven.

A father so willing

to declare that

he rends the heavens

and speaks it

in front of everyone.

But now I say this

knowing full well

that for some of us,

this is precisely

the problem.

This is a huge problem.

I've sat with

enough of you,

tears running

down your cheeks,

desperation in your eyes,

hopelessness there.

I've sat with enough

of you to know

that even for those

of you who want

to believe,

who want to believe

in the God

of the scriptures,

who want to believe

that there is a

father in heaven

who loves you

more than you

could ever imagine,

I know that this

can seem impossible

for many of us

to believe.

Like prodigal children

who just can't seem

to believe

our father's words

of welcome home,

who can't seem

to put that ring on

or put that robe on

that he so wants us

to have,

who can't seem

to take a bite

of the fattened calf,

right,

who can't seem

to enjoy the party

that our father

wants for us to enjoy.

And while I continue

to pray that the spirit

comes upon you

and cries,

Abba, Father,

in your hearts,

just as he cried,

Abba, Father,

in Jesus' heart

at his baptism

when the spirit

ascended on him

like a dove,

I just want to encourage

you to continue

leaning in.

Draw near to God

and he will draw near

to you.

This is a promise

from God's word.

It's a promise

from God's word.

And if I could just

give you one more reason

to lean in

and draw near,

could I just draw

your attention

to this final temptation

of Jesus?

Look with me

in verse 8.

In verse 8,

Jesus is taken

to a high mountain

and he's shown

and offered

all the kingdoms

of the world

in all their glory.

if he'll just

bow down

and worship

the devil.

And notice this time,

Satan doesn't say,

if you are

the son of God.

Because he probably

knows that

Jesus' faith

is rock solid

in his own

God-given identity.

So Satan,

who Jesus calls

the ruler

and God

of this world,

he tempts Jesus

one last time

saying,

okay, fine.

Okay, fine.

You are the son of God

and thus you will

one day

inherit all the kingdoms

of the world.

This is all

going to be yours

at the end

of the age,

Jesus.

But hey man,

I've got a shortcut

for you.

I can give it to you

right now

if you'll bow down

and worship me.

And this must have been

the most tempting

temptation to Jesus

because you know

what this offer was?

It was the offer

of Jesus'

final and rightful

inheritance

yet without

suffering.

Yet without

the cross.

Satan offers

to Jesus

the crown

without the crown

of thorns.

The mountaintop

experience

without having

to go through

the valley

of the shadow

of death.

The kingdom

without the cross.

And man,

see the thing

about temptation

is that we aren't

tempted to eat

out of toilet bowls,

right?

We are tempted

by good things,

right?

Bread is good.

Security from

angels is good.

All the kingdoms

of the world

and their glory,

that's good.

And not only that,

but Jesus as the

son of God,

man,

no one has

more right

to all of these

things than Jesus,

right?

And no one is

less deserving

of suffering

than Jesus,

right?

But do you know

what Satan

was subtly offering

to Jesus

when he offered

him the kingdom

without the cross?

He wasn't just

offering Jesus

the kingdom

without the cross,

he was also

offering Jesus

the kingdom

without its citizens.

The kingdom

without us.

Satan said,

take your

inheritance now.

Come into

your own

glory now.

But if Jesus

did so,

how could he

bring many

sons and

daughters

into glory?

How could he

make fellow

brothers and

sisters

partakers

in the kingdom

of life?

How could he

pay for our

sins and

remove our

curse

without the

cross?

And see,

this is the

gospel.

That when

Satan

offered,

fine,

be the

son of

God,

take your

kingdom

without your

cross,

all you have

to do is

bow.

Jesus said,

no.

Away from

me,

Satan,

for it is

written,

worship the

Lord your

God and

serve him

only.

And Jesus

said,

and I intend

to do that.

I intend

to,

even if it

means hungering

in the

wilderness and

dying upon a

bloody cross.

I choose to

suffer and I

choose to die

not in spite of

being my

father's beloved

and well-pleasing

son, but

precisely as

the son of

God,

precisely as

a child of

God.

And verse

11 says,

the angels,

they came,

they came to

minister to him,

not by his

command,

but by his

father's.

His father's

word was

true.

And another

day would

come again

in his life

when he

could have

commanded

legions of

angels to

deliver him

from his

Roman cross.

But no,

even unto

death on a

cross,

he continued

to put his

faith in

the word of

God,

spoken from

the heavens,

declaring who

he was,

a well-pleasing

and beloved

son of God.

And rising

again,

he was

vindicated,

declared once

and for all

to be the

son of God

in power

to all

the world.

And friends,

this is the

victorious story

of the son of

God,

who against all

odds trusted

what his

father said.

And this

can be our

story too.

This can be

our victory

too,

if we

will just

trust what

this father

in heaven

says about

who we

are.

You can

be a child

of God.

Yet to all

who received

him and

believed in

his name,

he has given

them the

right,

it says,

to be

children of

God.

Let's come

home.

Let's come

home to him.

Let's believe

who we are

in Christ.

And then and

only then will

we conquer.

Then and

only then will

we be

delivered from

the schemes

of the devil.

Do you

believe who

God says

you are?

Do you

believe?

He wants

you to know

you can be

my child,

the one in

whom I'm

well pleased,

the one who

I love,

the one who

I give

everything for.

And we

know this

here because

of what Christ

has done.

Will you

pray with

me?

God,

would we

be so

convinced of

what you

say to

us?

Would you

make us a

people of

the word?

Would you

make this

church a

church that

is committed

to the word

of God?

Not as some

intellectual

exercise,

but because we

know that we

cannot live by

bread alone,

but by every

word that

comes from

your mouth.

Lord,

show us

how much

we need

your word.

Show us

how much

we need

to hear you

say that

you love

us,

that you

care for

us,

that you

are good.

God,

make us a

people of

your word.

Reading it

daily,

joining in our

scripture reading

plan,

memorizing it

together,

meditating upon

it day and

night so that

we might be

like trees

planted by

streams of

water which

yield fruit

in season and

whose leaves

do not

wither.

Make us

those kinds

of people.

Make us

like your

son.

The eternal

word become

flesh,

poured out

for us,

that we

might know

you and

love you

and serve

this world

with power

and in

faithfulness.

Do that,

God,

here we pray.

In the name

of Jesus,

amen.