Knox, Port Carling & Zion, Torrance Presbyterian Charge

Sunday July 12, 2020

Sermon Series: The Ministry of Jesus “Tempted & Victorious”

Message: Armed with God’s Word

Reverend Glynis Faith

PRELUDE

Last week we read how Jesus chose to receive a sinner’s baptism that He might follow God’s will and identify Himself with those He came to save. Our reading concluded with a beautiful scene as Jesus emerged from the waters of baptism and the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove, alighting upon Jesus. As the Son stands in the Jordon river with the Holy Spirit present, the voice of God speaks ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’

In this moment Jesus is ordained into the ministry He has been called to, and before we can fully soak in the beauty of this scene, the Tempter is preparing his arsenal of weapons in an attempt to bring down Jesus, just as he had brought down Adam and Eve.

I invite you to listen as we continue our journey through the ministry of Jesus.

PTURE

Luke 4:1-13 (NIV)

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted^[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.”

⁵ The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷ If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

⁹ The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you carefully;
¹¹ they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

¹² Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

¹³ When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

MESSAGE 

Christ’s mission is to regain for us what Adam had lost. When Adam gave in to the words of the Tempter, he rebelled against God, breaking communion with God and bringing death into life.

Jesus came to bridge the communion between God and His created beings and to bring eternal life through death.

Jesus begins by identifying Himself with fallen humanity. The Son of God steps away from the glories of heaven to take on the flesh of humanity. He wraps Himself in sinful flesh and submits to a baptism of repentance.

Then Jesus faces the same Tempter Adam and Eve encountered in the Garden – Satan, the fallen angel, who tempts the flesh to destroy the soul.

I think it is important to pause for a moment and consider the fully human nature of Jesus. We can sometimes read through the temptation story like it was inevitable that Jesus would win; He was, after all, the Son of God.

It is true, Jesus is the Son of God – confirmed by the voice of God following Jesus’ baptism. It is also true that Jesus is the son of Mary. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary – fully human and fully divine.

When we consider Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, it is important we remember Jesus experienced the same human need for food, water, safety and fellowship all humans do.

Like us, Jesus’ ability to resist temptation would be lessened by hunger, thirst and threat of death. Since Jesus is facing temptation in a weakened state, I think our ministry can benefit from paying close attention to how Jesus overcomes temptation and defeats the Tempter.

One of the first ways Satan tries to disarm us is to question the truth. In the garden he challenged Eve, “did God really say you cannot eat the fruit?” It is a great tactic – make people question God’s authority and make them question themselves.

Jesus’ identity is put into question in the wilderness, “if you are the Son of God.” Did you really hear the voice of God following your baptism or was that just a dream? Perhaps you imagined it? After all, if you were really God’s beloved, why have you been exposed to hunger and thirst?

Self doubt is an easy tactic for leading people astray. It worked in the garden, but it did not work for Jesus. WHY? Because He trusted God’s Word!

Not only did Jesus trust God’s Word, but He used God’s Word as a battle shield to deflect the temptations thrown at Him. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God,” which Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 8:3.

God said Jesus was His Son and Jesus stood firmly on God’s Word.

You and I are also precious and beloved children of God, and it is important we remember this truth, because this truth is the cornerstone of our ministry – we are children of God, called to share His love in the world.

The next tactic of Satan is to get our attention fixed on the material things of this world and distracted from God. In the garden Satan ignites Eve’s senses to the beauty of the fruit and its potentially delicious taste and the possibility of gaining wisdom from eating it.

When doubt fails, go for desire. Human flesh is full of desire and if we can be distracted by flashing lights, big sales and the newest and best of things, then sin can easily work its way into our lives without us even realizing we have been stripped naked of the truth.

Satan tries the same thing with Jesus by offering Him all the splendors of the world. All He has to do is bow down and worship the ruler of the world. Fame, power, popularity, riches and lots of stuff – big stuff – better stuff – newer stuff – all yours, if you will make it your idol.

Tempting, but Jesus once again stands firmly on God’s Word, quoting Deuteronomy 6:13 “worship God alone and serve Him only.”

Adam failed to focus on God’s instructions, but Jesus kept God’s words close to His heart and top of His mind.

The third temptation is to twist God’s Word in a such a way that what we are actually looking for is what benefits us. It uses bits of truth and bits of lies. If successful, the Tempter can lead us to redefine God’s Word in ways that suit our purposes. It is a challenge against God’s truth and authority.

In the Garden of Eden, Eve clearly stated God’s command, “if you eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge you will die.” Satan challenges God’s Word saying, “You will surely not die, for God knows when you eat of the fruit your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

‘What? Oh really! I won’t die and I will gain wisdom!’ ‘Let’s eat!!!’ And we know how that turned out.

This is why we must read God’s Word for ourselves and let God, not the voices of temptation speak to us. The Tempter can make a good case for almost anything, so we have to trust God’s Word as final authority.

Satan plays on Scripture to tempt Jesus to test God. Through the Psalms God promised to send His angels to lift the Christ up and watch over Him, so Satan challenges Jesus to use this passage as a means to prove Himself.

Jesus had nothing to prove to Satan, and He knew this was not the intent of the Psalm, so once again Jesus confronts the Tempter with the truth in God’s Word, “for it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

There will be many temptations to face in our ministry. Temptations to use Scripture to further our agenda, to exclude, to doubt ourselves or even to think too much of ourselves. Temptation comes in many forms and it preys on our weaknesses.

Luckily for us the ministry of Jesus shows us how to face temptation and win.

- Where Adam failed, Jesus reigned victorious

- Adam was disobedient – Jesus remained obedient unto death

- The sin of Adam broke our communion and fellowship with God – while the obedience and sacrifice of Christ has restored it to us.

I would like to challenge you to open your Bibles daily and let God speak to you through His Word. Arm yourself with God’s Holy Word.

And I would like to remind you that you are a beloved child of God who has been called into the ministry of Christ’s church. Our ministry is to carry on the ministry of Jesus until He returns. Our greatest offence and defense against temptation and sin IS God’s Word, so lets open our Bibles and grow in God’s Word.

All praise be to God the Father, Jesus the Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN

Please pray with me:

Your Word, O Lord, is a lamp to guide us on our journey, and we thank you for Your Word. Jesus, you stood firm against temptation, showing us that we can do the same if we root our ministry in Your Word. Holy Spirit, enable us to see and hear and know the Truth in Scripture and strengthen us when that Truth is challenged. Father, Son and Holy Spirit we thank you for this ministry You have called and equipped us for. In Christ we pray AMEN