The Wilderness - The Temptation of Jesus

Thanks, Greg. Hello, church. How are we doing

today? Listen, I have revised this sermon about

four times now, and I'm going to say it's very

top -heavy, but I think it just means that I

need to condense it a little bit, and so work

with me as we go through the sermon. And my father

was a pastor, and he said, if you need to say

ouch instead of amen, that's okay, too. Okay,

because sometimes it hurts so good, right? So

we've been on this series about wilderness, and

I'm sure that we've all had questions about where

that leads us and where we're going and what

wilderness we're going. So as we've navigated

the series on wilderness, we've learned that

the wilderness can be a place of testing, a place

of waiting, a place of silence. And that wilderness

seasons, they come for all of us, right? In fact,

sometimes the wilderness is exactly where obedience

leads you. And last week, Andy was referring

to the wilderness leading us to a place of solitude,

a place where we find God and where we find rest.

Pastor Greg in worship was saying, in this kind

of way that your struggle might be minimal it

might be something that can be fixed tonight

tomorrow the next day your struggle might be

one that you've been praying for for a long time

that you haven't seen god's hand move and that's

the beauty of church that's the beauty of community

it's the beauty of being around each other because

we're all in different stages of life We're all

going through different things in our life. Our

struggle might be something that's fixable and

our struggle might be something that kind of

puts a pain in your stomach and you just can't

get over it for a while and you're sitting uncomfortably

with something for a while. So I'm going to be

sharing about the wilderness being a place where

we're tested and where temptation might come

our way. And again, those temptations might be

small. They might be addictions. They might be

really heavy things in our lives. But we're not

going to focus on the problem. We're going to

focus on our identity in Christ and how we can

overcome those temptations in our life, right?

So we're going to be reading out of Matthew chapter

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

4. And the reason I said I've revised it a million

times is because I've gone 1 through 11, and

then I've gone 1 through 7, 1 through 8, 1 through

3, 1 through 4. And I'm like, okay, we'll get

there when we get there, and I should put a timer

on, but you guys beep at me when you guys are

done listening to me. So the context of chapter

4 is really interesting because Jesus was just

baptized by John the Baptist, right? They had

been talking about there's a man that's coming.

He's going to... He's going to save the world.

But he hasn't done any miracles yet. He hasn't

had multitudes of people following him yet. He

hasn't turned fish into bread and multitude or

multiplied wine and done all those miracles yet.

He really hasn't been in the practice of who

Jesus is and what we know of him in Scripture.

So in this context, we're seeing that Jesus has

just been baptized. He hasn't really been in

ministry yet. And in the scripture, we also know

that they are referring to Jesus as man, as flesh

and blood. We know Jesus as our spiritual foundation

and the Holy Spirit coming down and being our

guidance. But in this moment, in this context,

it's talking about Jesus in flesh and blood and

as man. So before I move on, I want to let you

know that Jesus has not gone through anything.

He has not. expected us to go through anything

that he hasn't gone through already. Jesus does

not expect us to go through something that he

hasn't already gone through. So we're going to

be looking at the scripture, Matthew chapter

Matthew 4:1–8

4, verses 1 through 8 -ish. So if you could please

stand with me as we read scripture, if you're

able, and if not. Stay right where you are. And

I'll be reading the New International Version.

It says, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into

the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Like,

who does that, right? 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. And Jesus answered,

I love it when there's scripture within scripture.

He says, it is written, man shall not live on

bread alone, but on every word that comes from

the mouth of God. And that's in Deuteronomy,

right? Then the devil took him to the holy city

and had him stand on the highest point of the

temple. And he said, 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 the stone.

And Jesus answered him, It is also written, Do

not put the Lord your God to the test. And we'll

end there for now. You may be seated. Father

God, I just pray that as we... dive into your

word this morning that you be with us, that you

clear our minds of anything else that is going

on, that you clear our minds of the chicken buffalo

dip and the Super Bowl and what we got to go

shopping and do after church or if we're hungry.

Father God, clear our minds right now so that

we could focus on your word and so that we could

find our identity in you this morning. Amen.

And we're done. Church is over. So in the first

verse, we see that Jesus was led by the Spirit

into the wilderness to be tempted. Jesus was

led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Andy,

you talked about this last week. God leads us

to these places, right? Matthew tells us that

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

to be tempted. In Greek, the word tempted also

means So if we look at this, that God was leading

him into the wilderness to be tested, it reminds

us that being in the wilderness does not mean

you are outside of God's will. That was a lot

of what Andy was sharing last week. Being in

the wilderness does not mean you are outside

of God's will. Sometimes the wilderness is exactly...

where obedience leads you. Imagine going to a

place where you knew God was leading you to set

you up for a test. How prepared would you be

in this very moment? Just think about that real

quick. How prepared would you be for a test this

very moment? If we think back in our high school

years, our college years, when they would do

those pop -up tests, then our hearts sunk and

we're like, boom, I'm not ready for this test,

right? How prepared would you be in this very

moment for a test? Where has your wilderness

been? We've been talking about the wilderness

being a place, a physical space where God is

leading us. Sometimes that wilderness is an event

in life. Sometimes it's a relationship or the

lack of a relationship. Sometimes it's a job

or the lack of a job. A friendship or no friends.

An illness, a prayer that hasn't been answered.

Caring for a loved one, being depleted. A place

of solitude. A place where you're just exhausted.

Where has your wilderness been? The scripture

goes on to tell us that after fasting for 40

days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry. In preparation

for this, I'm ashamed to say it. But I fasted

for the first time for three days. For the first

time in my life, I fasted for three days. And

I'm embarrassed to say that because I think that

we all need to be fasting at some point in our

lives, spiritual fasts and things that we need

to be doing to edify our spirit. Man, when I

tell you that my only focus was on my next meal

after my fast was over, like... That's all that

I was thinking about. But you know what helped

me? Realizing that this was the best thing for

me in the moment. Realizing that this fast was

a fast of food, but it was also edifying me,

purifying my spirit in preparation. Has anybody

in the room fasted for more than three days?

Raise your hand if you've fasted more than three

days. It's tough, isn't it? It's tough. I don't

know what got you through it, but I know what

got me through it was this is the best thing

for me right now, and it's purifying my spirit.

It was standing steadfast on the strength that

God was giving me that strength, right? You raised

your hand if you fasted more than three days,

more than four days, more than five days, more

than six days, right? We're talking about food.

But how many of us fast longer than that when

it comes to our spiritual bread? How many of

us fast from prayer, from worship, from being

in the word? From being in prayer with fellowship?

How many of us fast from that more than three

days? Like, why does that seem to be so easy?

Why is it easy to fast from the word? Why is

it easy to navigate away from worship, prayer,

being in the word, being in fellowship? Why is

that so easy? To walk away from that for a week,

two weeks, three weeks, a month, years. It's

easy to fast from the word. Why? After 40 days

and nights of fasting, Jesus was hungry. He is

physically weak. He's isolated. He's vulnerable.

And it's there in that moment that the tempter

comes. Temptation doesn't come when we're strong.

Temptation doesn't come when you just... have

been around 60, 50 other believers in Christ

or that support system in your life. That's not

when temptation comes. It doesn't come when you

have the best of the very best encouraging you

and telling you that you're going to be okay,

you can do this, you got this. It comes when

we're tired, when we're isolated, when we're

discouraged, when we're just looking for some

relief. When I'm just looking for a piece of

bread, I'm telling you, I walk to that refrigerator

often, and that fast, and man, I would just look

at it and just be like, just one little morsel

of cheese. You know, I do charcuterie, so I've

always got cheese and salami and grapes hanging

around. And I tell you what, it was tough. Temptation

comes when you're at your most vulnerable. It

comes when you're depleted. And the tempter came

to him and he said, if you are the son of God,

tell these stones to become bread. And Jesus

answered, it is written that man shall not live

on bread alone, but on every word that comes

from the mouth of God. He replies with scripture.

In the scripture, he replies with more scripture.

That's in Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse three.

And so, yes, I'm talking about a physical fast.

And yes, Jesus was hungry physically. But then

he referred to, nah, man, you're not going to

get me. I don't have to just live by this physical

bread. I live by the word of God and his strength

in me. So let's address the devil's strategy.

He's like trying to make him prove his identity.

Well, you say you're this person. Prove it. Prove

it. You see, the enemy often attacks what we

know to be true. He's hoping to create doubt

when we're worn down, doubt in our identity and

who we are in Christ. What we know to be true

is that our identity comes from God, not from

our past experience. So I just want to pause

there for a little bit. Because we are talking

about temptation. But the first part of this

is challenging him. If you are the man of God,

then do this. Prove it. Prove it. How many of

us have walked away from our past identity? And

we come across old friends in our new identity.

And they're like, what? You're not partying anymore?

Prove it. Here's a beer. Not that drinking is

terrible, but maybe that's what they've decided

to do, right? Not drink. And so prove it. And

so old friends and new identity, sometimes they

don't mix, right? But I'm here to tell you that

your past experiences, they don't identify you.

Your past experiences do not identify who you

are. And it is Satan's job to bring doubt into

your life about who you are, where you stand,

and where your relationship is in Christ. So

your past experiences do not define you. I always

tell young people when I'm talking to them, your

experience does not define who you are. Stop

saying who you are based on what you've gone

through. I'm broken. I'm lost. I'm hurt. Yes,

feel it, but don't stay there. Don't stay hopeless

and hurt and broken. That's Satan putting doubt

into who you are in him. Your identity is in

Christ. So your past experiences do not define

who you are. Your past experiences do not define

your present moment. Your past experiences do

not define eternal life in Jesus Christ. Your

past experiences are washed clean. Slate is white

as snow. The Word of God tells us that, right?

So Satan comes in a moment of desperation, in

a moment of solitude, in a moment of weakness,

and in a moment where he wants us to doubt our

identity in Jesus Christ. But if we stand firm

in what we know to be true, we know that our

identity comes from God the Father, and we are

his child. Right? The Father does know who you

are, and you know who he is. You have to have

this new creation mindset moving forward. Right?

You have to have this concept of, that's not

me. That's not what I do. I'm trying to move

this way. This is the direction that I'm going.

And move forward in your new identity. You know

who the Father is, and he knows who you are.

So in this verse, he said, hey, turn these stones

into bread. You're hungry, right? So prove it.

He has the power to do it. Jesus has the power

to turn the stones into bread. We haven't seen

these miracles yet, but we know. that he has

the power to do it. So nobody would blame him.

Oh, man, after 40 days, you turn bread, you turn

stone into bread. He has the power to do it.

Nobody would blame him because he's hungry. But

Jesus knows who he is, and he knows who his father

is, and he even knows what the scripture is.

So going back to that question, how prepared

would you be right now if you were going to have

a test? Would you be able to spit back scripture?

Would you be able to stand firm in faith and

know that God has got your back? So instead,

Jesus responds, man shall not live on bread alone.

but on every word that comes from the mouth of

God. So he's like, no thanks. God's got me. But

how often do we take the bait? In our wilderness,

we're often tempted to create our own way out,

our own desire path. Do you guys remember that?

We're not going in the direction that was created

for us. We're going to create our own. We're

following our own will instead of God's timing.

Our own provision instead of God's provision.

All for a quick solution. All for just quick

relief. We take matters into our own hands and

we compromise what God is doing or what he wants

to teach us. In the moment. Sometimes the wilderness

is exactly where obedience leads you. And obedience

matters more than immediate comfort. I'm going

to say that again. Sometimes the wilderness is

exactly where obedience leads you. And obedience

matters more than immediate comfort. Obedience

matters more than a piece of bread while you're

fasting. Obedience matters more because that

is what is growing your faith. See, persistence

leads to God's provision. Persistence doesn't

just lead to... This me complex, I did it on

my own. I got everything on my own. If we don't

see that God has given us the strength to get

to where we are, we're outside of his provision,

and we're just doing it all on our own, thinking

that we're high and mighty, Jesus complex, see

where I got to on my own. Well, God gives us

breath. God gives us strength. And he gives us

the persistence to see his provision. Verse 5

says, Then the devil took him to the holy city

and had him stand on the highest point of the

temple. So Jesus, the devil took Jesus to church.

And he said again, If you are the son of God,

challenging his identity, prove it, right? Throw

yourself down. For it's 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 the stone. Isn't it crazy how

Satan knows scripture? Satan is quoting scripture

to Jesus. He's saying, after all, if you throw

yourself down, the angels are going to come catch

you. So he's telling God, hey, why don't you

cause a little bit of chaos and see if God's

going to come and rescue you. When I was going

through my journey of finding out I had cancer,

and going through chemotherapy. I had some people

tell me, why are you doing chemo? Do you not

believe that God can heal you? You should try

all these natural remedies. I'm not going to

tell you that my faith wavered because I was

diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer.

My faith didn't waver in God. I believe that

God could heal me. I believe that he will continue

to heal me. But if I wanted to test God's hand

and be like, okay, I'm going to stop chemo. I'm

going to stop chemo and see what God wants to

do with my life. I think that would be a little

bit foolish. And sometimes... We want to do foolish

things to see if God's going to rescue us. I

think sometimes we test God. If I do this, let

me see if you're really there for me, God. We

want to create chaos. And we want to cause drama.

To see if God's going to get us out of this mess

that who put us in. We put ourselves in. So,

in my walk, I put all my faith in God. But I

know that God was putting his act of glory and

beautiful wonder in the hands of those doctors.

And so if you decide to get yourself in messes

that you want to see God pull you out of, you're

trying to force God's hands to demand a sign

from him. And that's very manipulative. We don't

force God's hand. We don't rush his timing. We

stay the course. We stay persistent to see God's

provision. Faith doesn't need to manufacture

drama to validate trust. Persistent means waiting

without demanding proof. How many of you have

gotten to the age and to the point where you

feel like you don't have to prove yourself to

anybody? I am who I am. I don't care what anybody

else thinks. Okay, we're like, it doesn't matter.

I don't want to be a stumbling block for anybody.

I will say that. Jesus commands us not to be

a stumbling block for anybody. But I'm at the

point in my life where people's opinions of me

do not matter, and I do not have to prove myself

to anyone other than to God the Father. who oversees

my life. Jesus resisted every temptation. He

didn't argue with him. He didn't have a 20 -minute

conversation with him about why he shouldn't

jump off of the temple. He just stood in his

truth. And what was that truth? I am the child

of a living God. This is my identity in him.

You don't get to tell me to jump off just to

see what God's going to do in my life. He stood

on this truth. He stood on business, right? He

stood on truth. He didn't panic. He didn't try

to negotiate. He persisted on standing in his

confidence that was rooted in his identity, his

relationship with the Father, and in his knowledge

of scripture. Amen? So when we're facing our

own wilderness and temptation to take the easy

way out, we'll always come. It's always going

to be there. The easy way out is easy. That's

why it's called the easy way out. It's going

to be there. It's available to everyone. Right?

This is the easy way out. But the word of God

says that the road is narrow for those who want

to follow his ways and his will. So we got all

these options, but we want to be here. Focus.

We need those horse blinders sometimes. Right?

We want to be here. So it may look like we're

compromising our values, abandoning patience,

or choosing comfort over calling. That's what,

when we face our own wilderness, the temptation

to take the easy way out will look like compromising

your values, abandoning patience. Choosing comfort

over calling. But like Jesus, we're called to

remember who we are, whose we are, and what God

has already spoken in us. If God is taking you

here, he's directed you to go here. And he's

already told you to go here. But because we want

to follow our own will, we go this way, we go

that way, we go around here, we go around there.

And we're still trying to get to here. God has

already spoken to you. He's already said, hey,

wake up. Your identity is in me. I have a calling

for you. It's over here. Hello. Hey, I see you're

over there. is around. I'm terrible at geography.

But you're supposed to be over here. Hello? And

the easy way out is out there. It really is.

The wilderness doesn't last forever. Scripture

tells us that joy comes in the morning. I can't

wait for morning sometimes. I cannot wait for

morning. Woo, and morning might not be tomorrow,

actually. Did you know that? Joy comes in the

morning doesn't mean that it really comes in

the morning, like the next day. Joy comes in

the morning is our hope that he will give us

hope, that it will come, and that our past is

our past. Scripture tells us that after the devil

left, the angels came and they ministered to

Jesus. He didn't get left there with Satan for

40 years, 40 more nights, days. It was temporary.

It was a moment. Jesus didn't leave him there.

The angels came and they ministered to his life.

They brought that joy that came in the morning.

So when we resist shortcuts and remain faithful,

God will meet us with strength that we did not

create for ourselves. He will give this supernatural

strength that allows us and helps us to overcome

any fear that we might be going through because

fear doesn't come from God. So today, if you're

in the wilderness, take heart. You're not alone.

Stand firm. Know who you are in Christ. Trust

the Father. Hold on to the word and refuse the

easy way out because God's way, though costly,

always leads to life. Your past does not define

you. Your life eternal with Jesus Christ defines

you. Amen? That's it. That's it there's more

pages, but that's it