Sermon

Print this Sermon

March 9, 2003
1st Sunday in Lent
Matthew 4:1-11
Pastor Ben Berger

Worship the Lord Your God

"Did God really say…that you shouldn't eat fruit from that tree in the middle of the Garden?" "Yes, that's what God said." "Did God really say…that if you eat of that tree, you will die? You won't die. God is holding out on you. He doesn't want you to be like him. Don't trust him." And so the Devil tempted Adam and Eve to doubt God. That's what temptation really is: doubt. The devil wants us to doubt God, to stop trusting in him so that we will not do what God created us to do: worship, praise, honor and glorify him. Today we'll look at how the devil tempted Jesus to doubt God and thus how he tempts us to doubt God. We'll see how Jesus overcame the devil's temptation. And we'll see how that benefits each of us. In response to what we see, I encourage all of you to Worship the LORD your God for three reasons. I) He provides II) He protects III) He gives you his kingdom.

Verse one says, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." Jesus went to the desert almost immediately after Jesus' baptism where the Father declared Jesus as his Son, with whom his was well pleased. At command of God and urged by the Spirit, Jesus willingly subjected himself to the temptations of the devil. This was not the only time the devil tempted Jesus; Jesus suffered temptation all of his life. This particular time is recorded so that we may see that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin.

First, the devil tempts Jesus to doubt God's love. Jesus had spent forty days and forty nights in the desert without eating or drinking anything. As you'd expect, Jesus was hungry. "The tempter came to him and said, 'if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'" It's not that the devil didn't know that Jesus was the Son of God; he did. What he tempted Jesus to do was prove his trust in God because he was the Son of God. "If God is your Father, why has he left you out in the desert for over a month without food? C'mon, Jesus, you're the Son of God, why don't you just use your power to take care of your hunger since your Father obviously didn't do it."

The devil tempts us to doubt God's love in much the same way. "Are you sure that God loves you? Then, why has he left you broke for so long? Why hasn't your loving God given you the money you need to pay your bills? Why hasn't he provided the job you need to provide for your family? Why hasn't he blessed your retirement accounts to give you a little cushion? You know what, you better use your abilities to take care of this yourself. Forget about personal time with God; you need to work more. Forget about giving generously to church; you need to take care of yourself and your family. Forget about God; you can't trust him. If he really loved you, he would have provided for you."

And…we fall. We give into the devil's temptations. "Maybe you're right. I do have responsibilities. I will take that second job, even though I'll have to work on some Sundays. I'll work longer hours, even though I won't have time to study God's word on my own every day." More than once the devil has convinced us to doubt God's love and to put ourselves first.

Although we have sinned, Jesus stood up to the devil's temptation. "Jesus answered, 'man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" In other words, "Tempter, don't tell me to doubt God. Don't accuse my father of not taking care of me. My body has all that it needs, and even if it wouldn't, my soul does. And God provides for my soul with his Word."

God has indeed provided for us too, hasn't he? He has blessed us so richly that our bodies really have all that they need and more. But, more importantly, God has provided for our souls. As we watch Jesus reject the devil's temptation and refuse to doubt God but rather to trust wholly in him, we see God providing for our souls. Every time Jesus resisted another temptation of the devil, he was providing the holiness that God demands from us. And though we have often given into the devil's temptations, God counts what Jesus did for us. And so God provides for our souls.

In the second temptation, the devil takes a different route. He took Jesus to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple and said, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down." Now that Jesus has proven his trust in God's love, the devil wants him to prove it. "Fine, you are the Son of God and you trust in your Father; you never doubt him. Let's see you prove it. If you have so much trust in your Father, jump. He has promised to protect you, hasn't he? So, c'mon, prove that you don't doubt the very word that you claim provides for you."

Again, the devil tempts us the same way, doesn't he? "Say, Christian, you claim that you don't doubt your God. You claim that his word provides for your body and your soul. OK. Let's see you prove it. Will you trust him when your loved one dies? Will you trust him when you find out that you have cancer? Will you trust him when you're facing your own death? How about that? You've given your life to God and he has let you down."

And…we fall. We give in to the devil's temptations, and we doubt God. Let me tell you about my cousin. This is just where the devil God her. First, her dad almost died from an aneurysm. He lived, but is now paralyzed and has spent six months of all of the past 15 years in bed or the hospital. Then another cousin shot herself, and died. Then grandpa had a heart attack, and died. And then she got into a car accident and almost died. The devil had convinced my cousin to ask one question: Why? And he provided the answer: God doesn't take care of you as he promised. You can't trust him. How many times have you asked the same question, and then believed the devil's answer.

Jesus gave a different answer, "It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test." "Even when it appears to me that God is not providing or protecting as promised, I will not question him. Never once has he not come through on his promises. Right now it may seem that way. But, I know that later God will work out all things for my God. Nor will I take God's promises and foolishly put myself in danger just to test God. Instead, I will let God be God and take him at his word." So Jesus resisted the devil's temptation to doubt God.

In doing so Jesus shows us again how God does keep his promises. From the moment that sin entered the world, God promised a Savior to take that sin away. Yes, sin has its consequences, the biggest consequence being death. We have to face the death of our loved ones and one day we will have to face our own death. Should we then question God's protection? No, because we have seen God die in our place. We have seen Jesus give up his life for us. We do not just wish that God would keep his promises. We have seen God keep his promise to protect us. Therefore, we trust him completely and without question.

Now that Jesus has proven his trust in God's love time and again, the tempter resorts to all he has left. He takes Jesus to a very high mountain and offers him all the kingdoms of the world along with all their splendor. Of course, these are not the devil's to give, but Jesus doesn't mention that. Basically the devil tempts Jesus to think that God is holding out on him. "God is going to give you all these kingdoms, is he? Well, do you really want to get them the hard way? Do you really want to suffer and die for these people? Let me give you an alternative. Worship me right here, just this once, and I'll give it all to you right now."

Sound familiar? "God promises you eternal life, does he? Do you really want to live the hard life of a Christian to get something you don't fully understand a long time from now? Come with me and I will give you the riches of this world to enjoy right now."

You know what comes next, right? We fall…and we doubt God. We doubt that God will give us eternal life. We doubt that it's worth the wait. We doubt that it's worth the trouble now. We doubt that it's worth it period. It's so much easier to give in and enjoy life today. So we do. We sin and we potentially forfeit all that God has to offer in eternity for a little fun on earth. We exchange eternal life for eternal death and punishment in hell.

Thank God for Jesus who said, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." Jesus proves that it is worth the wait. He sends Satan on his way and thus encourages us to do the same.

Worship the Lord your God because he gives you his kingdom. Take him at his Word, and if his Word isn't enough, take him at his life. Watch the next six weeks as God's own Son gives up heaven for you. Understand how valuable he knows heaven is and all that God offers you in eternity. Christian, God offers you his kingdom through the life and death of his own Son and you can be sure it is worth the wait.

Trust in the Lord your God. Resist the temptations of the devil to doubt God. Live off of every word that comes from his mouth as he provides. Do not test him as he protects. And worship him because he gives you his kingdom.