{"id":1827,"date":"2023-02-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-26T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1827"},"modified":"2023-03-03T16:55:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T00:55:39","slug":"first-sunday-in-lent-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2023\/02\/26\/first-sunday-in-lent-3\/","title":{"rendered":"First Sunday in Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/First-Sunday-in-Lent-02-26-23.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Matthew 4:1-11<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Confrontation\u2014 with Consequences!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>1<\/sup>Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.&nbsp;<sup>2<\/sup>After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.&nbsp;<sup>3<\/sup>The tempter came to him and said, \u201cIf you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>4<\/sup>Jesus answered,&nbsp;<em>\u201cIt is written: \u2018Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>5<\/sup>Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.&nbsp;<sup>6<\/sup>\u201cIf you are the Son of God,\u201d he said, \u201cthrow yourself down. For it is written:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c \u2018He will command his angels concerning you,<br>and they will lift you up in their hands,<br>so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>7<\/sup>Jesus answered him,&nbsp;<em>\u201cIt is also written: \u2018Do not put the Lord your God to the test.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>8<\/sup>Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.&nbsp;<sup>9<\/sup>\u201cAll this I will give you,\u201d he said, \u201cif you will bow down and worship&nbsp;me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>10<\/sup>Jesus said to him,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAway from me, Satan! For it is written: \u2018Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>11<\/sup>Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. (NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been in a competition that involved one other person?&nbsp; Perhaps you were in a spelling competition or a math competition at school and it came down to you and one other individual.&nbsp; Whoever gave the last correct answer wins!&nbsp; The winner might get a gold medal or a blue ribbon or perhaps even get their name on a banner for everyone to see.&nbsp; And the other person?&nbsp; Well, they might get their name mentioned briefly as \u201cthe runner up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the consequences of being in a spelling competition or a math competition might not be anything more than someone enduring a temporary disappointment, there are competitions that are more accurately described as confrontations.&nbsp; A confrontation can easily have consequences that are far more serious.&nbsp; For example, I know two men who were involved in just such a confrontation.&nbsp; One man was a soldier.&nbsp; The other man was a police office.&nbsp; The soldier shared with me that one night he was in a foxhole when suddenly an enemy soldier jumped into that foxhole brandishing a knife.&nbsp; The soldier knew that only one of them would live to crawl out of that foxhole.&nbsp; He made sure it was him.&nbsp; The police officer told me that he was trying to arrest someone when suddenly the person started fighting him.&nbsp; During the course of that struggle the person was able to get the officer\u2019s gun.&nbsp; Just as he was about to shoot the policeman, a fellow officer arrived on the scene and shot the attacker.&nbsp; While it\u2019s not unusual for us to be involved in a variety of competitions in our life, we certainly do not want to find ourselves in any one on one confrontation that involves some kind of serious consequences\u2014 especially life or death consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we gather together here in God\u2019s house on this first Sunday in Lent, we are starting a new sermon series.&nbsp; The overall theme for this series is:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><em>Lent Reveals our Greatest Needs.<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp; As we begin this sermon series this very familiar account from Matthew chapter four reminds us that one of our greatest needs is that we need to have Someone who is willing to fight for us!&nbsp; With that need in mind let\u2019s study this text using the theme:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><em>A Confrontation\u2014 with Consequences!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our text begins with Matthew telling us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThen Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.&nbsp; After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.\u201d&nbsp; \u201cThen\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; What is Matthew referring to here?&nbsp; He is referring to Jesus\u2019 baptism.&nbsp; Jesus\u2019 baptism in the Jordan River marked the beginning of the public phase of His ministry here on this earth.&nbsp; Jesus\u2019 baptism is also when the heavenly Father proclaimed from heaven,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThis is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Matthew 3:17).&nbsp; The very first \u201ctask\u201d that the heavenly Father assigned to His Son was that as the Messiah, as the Anointed One, Jesus was to confront Satan face-to-face.&nbsp; Note very carefully, my friends, that this confrontation was not instigated by Satan.&nbsp; Nor was this confrontation instigated by Jesus.&nbsp; While Jesus was most certainly willing to enter into this confrontation with the devil, it was the Father\u2019s will that His Son should be&nbsp;<em>\u201ctempted by the devil.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; The Father\u2019s purpose for this confrontation was that His Son would overcome Satan\u2019s temptations\u2014 with the ultimate goal of redeeming fallen mankind.&nbsp; To that end Matthew very specifically tells us that&nbsp;<em>\u201cJesus was&nbsp;<strong>led by the Spirit<\/strong>&nbsp;into the desert to be tempted by the devil.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Satan saw this confrontation as an opportunity to achieve what he failed to achieve when he filled Herod with so much fury that&nbsp;<em>\u201che gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Matthew 2:16).&nbsp; Satan also saw this confrontation as an opportunity to achieve what he had achieved in the Garden of Eden where he successfully tempted God\u2019s children, Adam and Eve, to rebel against their loving Creator.&nbsp; Satan knew that Jesus\u2014 God\u2019s own Son\u2014 came into this world to do what God had promised in the Garden\u2014&nbsp;<em>\u201ccrush\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;Satan\u2019s head. &nbsp;So Satan confronts the One concerning whom the Father had just said,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThis is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;with the same temptation that worked so successfully on Adam and Eve\u2014 doubt!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Satan knew how hungry Jesus was after&nbsp;<em>\u201cfasting forty days and forty nights\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;he said,&nbsp;<em>\u201c<strong>If you are&nbsp;<\/strong>the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; By questioning Jesus\u2019 divinity he was trying to raise certain doubts in Jesus\u2019 heart and mind.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>If&nbsp;<\/strong>Jesus really was the heavenly Father\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cbeloved Son\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;then why was the Father allowing Him to suffer so much physical hunger?&nbsp; In reality Satan was suggesting that Jesus did not have to wait for His heavenly Father to take away this hunger by supplying Him with food.&nbsp; Since all things were possible for Him\u2014 if He was in fact the Son of God\u2014 Jesus could simply&nbsp;<em>\u201ctell these stones to become bread.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Problem solved, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus knew&nbsp;<strong>exactly&nbsp;<\/strong>what Satan was striving to do!&nbsp; Jesus knew that if He gave in to Satan\u2019s temptation, if He doubted that His heavenly Father would provide for Him, if He used His divine power to satisfy His hunger, He would be revealing a lack of trust in His heavenly Father.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>consequences&nbsp;<\/strong>of that lack of trust would not only be the complete destruction of the Father\u2019s Plan of Salvation for this world, but it would also be the eternal destruction of all mankind!&nbsp; Using the&nbsp;<em>\u201csword of the Spirit\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to defeat Satan\u2019s temptation, Jesus said,&nbsp;<em>\u201cIt is written: \u2018Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Has Satan ever tried to use a similar temptation against you , my friends?&nbsp; Has he ever tried to use the sufferings that your heavenly Father allows to come into your life to question or doubt the Father\u2019s love for you?&nbsp; Has he ever tried to convince you that instead of depending on your heavenly Father to take away whatever your suffering may be&nbsp;<strong>you&nbsp;<\/strong>need to find a way to take care of it yourself?&nbsp; Satan may try to convince us that while we don\u2019t have the power to turn stones into bread, maybe we can alleviate our suffering by working longer hours so that we have more money, or by using the things of this world to offset our suffering with pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever Satan tempts us like this we always need to recognize&nbsp;<strong>exactly&nbsp;<\/strong>what Satan is trying to do to us!&nbsp; His goal is to fill our hearts with doubts concerning our God and lead us to trust in ourselves.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Since the consequences of doubting our God can have an eternal impact on our soul, we need to follow Jesus\u2019 example and use the&nbsp;<em>\u201csword of the Spirit\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to defeat Satan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Failing in his attempt to use Jesus\u2019 hunger against Him, the devil confronts Jesus a second time by taking up Christ\u2019s chosen weapon.&nbsp; He challenged Jesus by quoting Scripture!&nbsp; Matthew writes,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThen the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.&nbsp; \u2018<strong>If you are<\/strong>&nbsp;the Son of God,\u2019 he said, \u2018throw yourself down.&nbsp; For it is written:&nbsp; \u201cHe 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.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe highest point of the temple\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in Jerusalem was on the edge facing the Kidron Valley\u2014 which plunged some 450 feet below where Jesus was standing!&nbsp; Satan was confronting Jesus with a temptation that seemed very simple!&nbsp; \u201cIf you are the Father\u2019s \u2018beloved Son\u2019 then surely you trust Him enough to fulfill His promise to protect you from harm, right?&nbsp; So prove it!&nbsp; Throw yourself down!&nbsp; You have nothing to fear\u2014 if you actually believe that the Father will protect His \u2018beloved Son\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once again Jesus knew&nbsp;<strong>exactly&nbsp;<\/strong>what Satan was striving to do!&nbsp; Jesus knew that if He gave in to Satan\u2019s temptation, if He consciously did something to see whether or not His heavenly would fulfill His promises, &nbsp;He would be&nbsp;<em>\u201ctesting\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;His heavenly Father.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>consequences&nbsp;<\/strong>of that&nbsp;<em>\u201ctest\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>would not only be the complete destruction of the Father\u2019s Plan of Salvation for this world, but it would also be the eternal destruction of all mankind!&nbsp; Using Scripture to interpret Scripture Jesus defeated Satan\u2019s temptation by saying,&nbsp;<em>\u201cIt is also written:&nbsp; \u2018Do not put the Lord your God to the test.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Has Satan ever tried to use a similar temptation against you, my friends?&nbsp; Has he ever tried to get you to&nbsp;<em>\u201ctest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;the promises God has made to you in His Word?&nbsp; Has he ever said something like, \u201cGo ahead and commit that sin.&nbsp; Hasn\u2019t God promised to forgive you?\u201d&nbsp; Or maybe he has tried to convince you that you can go out and sow some \u201cwild oats \u201c and then repent down the road!&nbsp; Look at the thief on the cross!&nbsp; If Jesus forgave him, Jesus will certainly forgive you, right!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever Satan tempts us like this we always need to recognize&nbsp;<strong>exactly&nbsp;<\/strong>what Satan is trying to do to us!&nbsp; His goal is to lead us to take God\u2019s grace for granted, to \u201ccheapen\u201d what Jesus has done for us (Pointing to the cross) and&nbsp;<em>\u201ctest\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;the promises God has made to us.&nbsp; Since the consequences of &nbsp;<em>\u201ctesting\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;our God can have an eternal impact on our soul, we need to follow Jesus\u2019 example and use the&nbsp;<em>\u201csword of the Spirit\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to defeat Satan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having confronted Jesus with two powerful temptations\u2014 and&nbsp;<strong>failing&nbsp;<\/strong>both times!\u2014 Satan now confronts Jesus by striking at what Satan considered to be the \u201cheart\u201d of Jesus\u2019 mission here on this earth\u2014 ruling as the King of kings over all nations. &nbsp;Using the most insidious and alluring temptation of all, Satan&nbsp;<em>\u201ctook him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.&nbsp; \u2018All this I will give you,\u2019 he said, \u2018if you will bow down and worship me.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Was Satan actually able to give Jesus&nbsp;<em>\u201call the kingdoms of the world and their splendor?\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Were they his to give away?&nbsp; No!&nbsp; But since Satan is&nbsp;<em>\u201ca liar and the father of lies\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(John 8:44) he certainly had no problem lying to Jesus\u2014 if it got Satan what he wanted! &nbsp;And what did Satan want?&nbsp; He wanted Jesus to at least consider the possibility that He could reach His&nbsp;<em>\u201cgoal\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;without having to suffer the shame and the agony of being nailed to a cross.&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)&nbsp; There was a shortcut that Jesus could take.&nbsp; All He had to do was&nbsp;<em>\u201cbow down and worship\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;Satan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While this shortcut would have been very appealing to any other ordinary human being, Jesus instantly rejected it in a very forceful way.&nbsp; Jesus knew that if He gave in to Satan\u2019s temptation, if He tried to avoid the suffering and the agony of the cross He would be rebelling against His heavenly Father\u2019s will.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>consequences&nbsp;<\/strong>of that rebellion would not only be the complete destruction of the Father\u2019s Plan of Salvation for this world, but it would also be the eternal destruction of all mankind!&nbsp; So once again Jesus used the&nbsp;<em>\u201csword of the Spirit\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to defeat Satan.&nbsp; He said,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAway from me, Satan!&nbsp; For it is written:&nbsp; \u2018Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Has Satan ever tried to use a similar temptation against you?&nbsp; Has he ever tried to get you to rebel against God\u2019s will for you and replace it with your own will, your own plan, your own idol?&nbsp; Has he ever tried to convince you that you can avoid the suffering and the shame that you encounter as you stand up for the Gospel of Jesus Christ?&nbsp; Has he ever tried to convince you to look around and see all the \u201cfun\u201d that other people are having, look at all the \u201csuccess\u201d that other people are enjoying and want the same for yourself?&nbsp; Whenever Satan tempts us like this we always need to recognize&nbsp;<strong>exactly&nbsp;<\/strong>what Satan is trying to do to us!&nbsp; His goal is to lead us to push God out of first place in our heart and replace Him with an idol!&nbsp; Since the consequences of replacing God with an idol of any sorts will have an eternal impact on our soul, we need to follow Jesus\u2019 example and use the&nbsp;<em>\u201csword of the Spirit\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to defeat Satan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what do we learn from all this, my friends?&nbsp; We learn that since Satan is a fallen angel he is so much more powerful than we are.&nbsp; We learn that since our confrontations with Satan do indeed have consequences we make sure that we&nbsp;<strong>never&nbsp;<\/strong>try to battle Satan and his temptations on our own!&nbsp; We turn to our Savior.&nbsp; We trust in our Savior.&nbsp; We ask our Savior to fight for us! &nbsp;&nbsp;Standing next to our Savior\u2014 or maybe even a little behind Him!\u2014 we say to Satan,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAway from me!\u201d<\/em>\u2014 confident that Satan has no choice but to flee!&nbsp; (See James 4:7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew 4:1-11 A Confrontation\u2014 with Consequences! 1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.&nbsp;2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.&nbsp;3The tempter came to him and said, \u201cIf you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.\u201d 4Jesus answered,&nbsp;\u201cIt is written: \u2018Man does not live on bread [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1827"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1830,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1827\/revisions\/1830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}