The Temptation of Jesus.

Steve Gentry

[0:05] Good morning. Welcome to Village Church. If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to [0:09] Matthew chapter 4. That’s where we’re going to be for the majority of the morning. We’re [0:14] going to be talking about the temptation of Jesus this morning. And so last week we talked [0:20] about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Probably the most victorious day of Christianity is [0:28] the resurrection as it stands as the testament to the fact that God has defeated sin, that [0:36] he has power over death. But more than that, he has it for us. And he offers us new life

[0:43] where we can be forgiven of our sins, where we can follow Jesus, where we can be his people [0:49] and he will be our God. But what often follows such a day is the realization that Monday [0:56] morning comes and life goes on as usual. And so there are some times in our lives when [1:04] the victory of faith in Jesus Christ, the glory that we experience through Jesus, does [1:11] not feel that way because of the struggles of everyday life. But the fact is that Jesus [1:19] is not detached from such a reality and instead he himself endured that type of struggle

[1:26] for us. Two weeks ago we talked about the baptism of Jesus. That was a momentous day [1:31] for him. It was kind of an inauguration into his earthly ministry. And in that, you know, [1:36] he was baptized and then he raised up out of the water and really a supernatural looking [1:41] feet. And then the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. And the Father speaks from [1:47] heaven and says, This is my beloved son, and whom I am well pleased. And that is what every [1:53] one of us wants to hear from God. And that is what Jesus experienced on that day. But very quickly,

[2:02] Matthew records a harder time for Jesus’s life when we go into the temptation of Jesus. [2:10] And Jesus experiences almost immediate struggle in the face of his victory. And here’s what [2:16] we read in Matthew 4, getting right into it. It says, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit [2:21] into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. What’s fascinating about that passage is that [2:28] while we know from the scripture that God never puts temptation into our path, right here we have [2:36] a record that says that the Father is sending Jesus into a season where he is going to endure

[2:43] temptation. And so understand that God is the one who will put you into seasons of struggle [2:51] in order for you to come out even stronger than you were before the struggle. [2:57] Then verse two, and after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry. Challenges how we think [3:04] about our temptation, because we’re tempted to think that we’re only going to be tempted with [3:09] you know, through this extraordinary event where, you know, I just wasn’t strong enough because [3:15] of this, that or the other thing. Well, the Son of God was just hungry. And that was enough

[3:22] for temptation to be a reality. And the tempter, Satan came and said to him, [3:27] If you’re the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus answered, [3:32] It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. [3:36] Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple [3:40] and said to him, If you’re the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, [3:45] He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up,

[3:49] lest you strike your foot against a stone. It tells you that not everybody that uses [3:54] scripture is telling the truth with that scripture. Verse seven, Jesus said to him again, [3:59] It is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the devil took him to [4:04] a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. [4:08] And he said to him, All these I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me. [4:16] Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God,

[4:21] and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering [4:27] to him. Number one, this morning, victory is often followed by struggle. [4:33] Victory is often followed by struggle. The issue that many of you deal with in your life [4:40] is that you are expecting tomorrow to be better today, every single day of your life. [4:46] And that is just not reality. Reality is that there are going to be struggles in this life. [4:55] Frankly, you might endure more struggle than you do a sense of victory. And so sometimes I think

[5:02] we have false advertising because we kind of have this way of just saying, OK, [5:08] just think positively about everything. You know, if you just think positively, [5:13] everything’s going to go your way and tomorrow’s going to be better today. And if you’ll just have [5:18] faith, the Lord will bring you victory every single day of your life. And on one sense, [5:25] I understand some of that rhetoric, but in another sense, it is completely unhelpful [5:32] in the face of struggle because the scripture is clear. The scripture spends more time preparing

[5:38] you for struggle than it does preparing you for victory. Because in the scriptures, there is this [5:43] reality, there is this empathy, there is this realization that this world is cursed with sin. [5:50] And because of that, the human experience can be very hard and will be very difficult. [5:57] And so the scripture prepares you for suffering. The scripture prepares you for pain. [6:04] But the scripture prepares you for that in light, that it is often the very pain that you will [6:12] endure, the very struggle that you are going to face in this life that is going to prepare you

[6:18] for the victory that God has in store for you. And so when you live your life trying to deny [6:24] struggle, when you live trying to deny weakness, when you live trying to hide the fact from [6:32] everyone around you that some days, quite frankly, many days are extremely difficult and sometimes [6:41] even difficult to believe that God is for you rather than against you. When you deny that, [6:47] sometimes you’re denying the very pathway that God has prepared for you to grow in your faith.

[6:54] Struggle exists so that you will grow in your faith. Struggle is the design of God for stripping [7:03] you of all of your worldly confidence so that you can have faithful joy and strength through the [7:11] power of Jesus Christ. But some of you are so bent on showing how great you are, how strong [7:19] you are, how powerful you are and how nothing gets you down and nothing’s going to stand in your way

[7:28] that you’re not going to grow. Because you can’t experience the power of God if you don’t need the [7:34] power of God. You can’t experience growth through the power of the Holy Spirit if you don’t need to [7:40] grow. And I feel like some people are walking through this life determined to show that you’ve [7:47] already grown all the way. I’m a full grown man. I am everything I need to be. Well, you’re doing [7:55] that and you’re having that attitude to your detriment. That is not to your benefit. What [8:01] Jesus does in his passages is that he endures a season in his life where he himself puts his,

[8:09] puts rather, temptation in his way so that he can grow, so that he can experience the power [8:16] and so that he can substitute himself for you. Jesus is going to be tempted in every way that [8:22] we are, but he’s going to show us that the reality of temptation isn’t always what we think it’s [8:28] going to be. Let me tell you the truth. This morning, I’ve never been tempted to rob a bank.

[8:35] Never. I’ve seen so many movies about bank robberies, and so I don’t understand why I’ve [8:39] never been watching one and thought to myself, huh, well, there’s an idea. I’ve never driven by, [8:46] maybe you have and you’re just terrible, but I haven’t. All right. I’ve never been driving [8:51] down 360 by BB&T and thought to myself, you know, there’s money in there. I’m going to call Nate [8:58] James. I’m going to figure something out here. Maybe we can get some of that, you know, [9:05] never in my life. I’m almost 39 years old and I’ve never had the thought I’m going to rob a bank,

[9:10] but sometimes how foolish would it be if I were to stand before you and proclaim I’m so victorious [9:16] because I’ve never been tempted to rob a bank. I was like, you need the sanctification I have. [9:20] I’ll be foolish because it’s not something I’ve ever been tempted with. And so some of us walk [9:25] through this life proclaiming an amazing victory, an amazing spiritual strength. And look at how [9:31] great we’ve grown. And the examples that you use are things that you yourself have never been [9:37] tempted to do. You’ve never been tempted to give your life into that. And what Jesus is doing in

[9:43] this passage is showing you that temptation can be a very complicated thing that isn’t always as [9:50] simple as moral versus immoral. Satan doesn’t come to Jesus and say, hey, Jesus, tell a lie. [9:58] He doesn’t say, hey, Jesus, steal something. Hey, Jesus, murder something. Now, those are things [10:02] that people are tempted with. So don’t downplay those things. But sometimes what we’re tempted [10:09] with is so deceptive that we don’t even realize that we’re enduring temptation in the moment. [10:15] Because if you look, Satan doesn’t tempt Jesus with anything that isn’t just true about Jesus.

[10:22] I mean, he looks to Jesus, finds him in his weakness. What is his weakness? Hunger. Hunger.

[10:31] Why would God want to be hungry? I mean, he’s God. So what does Satan do? Hey, didn’t you speak the [10:44] rocks and the bread? Why would you choose hunger? Just make some bread for yourself. Be God.

[10:55] What Satan was tempting Jesus with was to deny the very purpose for which he was born.

[11:02] So what Satan is tempting Jesus with ultimately in all three of these temptations [11:06] is that the gospel isn’t worth doing. Because in this passage, Jesus is identifying with you [11:12] and me. And so temptation is subtle. Temptation is scheming. Temptation is strategic to where [11:21] the enemy will whisper into your ear, why are you wanting to trust God in this moment? [11:27] There’s a better plan. I mean, why would you want to be generous? That’s your money. [11:35] You earned that. Why would you want to serve? You’re tired. You’ve worked hard this week.

[11:44] You don’t need to serve others. I mean, why would you want to commit to something else for Jesus? [11:53] I mean, you worked all week. What do they want from you?

[11:57] You see, temptation is subtle. Why would you give of yourself? Don’t you deserve others to give to you?

[12:12] Or what I think is the greatest temptation that many of us have is to look to God. [12:17] We believe this lie. You know, you don’t need others to lie to you. You lie to yourself plenty. [12:23] So we look to God and say, God, I deserve better than this.

[12:28] Because we think that we deserve so much in life, we are tempted to subvert the very plans that [12:36] God has for us in living. In 1st Peter chapter 5, Peter describes temptation this way. He says, [12:44] humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [12:48] casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded. Be watchful. [12:53] Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist [12:58] him. Firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your

[13:03] brotherhood throughout the world. But note that the passage nowhere in 1st Peter does he say, [13:08] here’s how you deal with temptation. But he gets to temptation. That’s the, he prowls around like [13:14] a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him. That is what Jesus is doing in [13:19] Matthew chapter 4. But what he starts with is pride. He says, you need to posture yourself [13:27] under God, understanding who you are in light of who he is. And when you do that, [13:33] you humiliate yourself before him. Not looking at him saying, I deserve. You give, but rather

[13:42] humiliating yourself before him saying, I submit. You rule over me.

[13:50] Because Peter understands that when you don’t submit, when you are prideful, [14:00] when life is all about you, you put yourself over God, you make commands to God. And when God [14:09] doesn’t meet your demands, you are disappointed with God. And Peter wants you to understand [14:17] when you live like that, you will be devoured by the enemy.

[14:25] But note what else he says. He says, casting all your anxieties on him, he cares for you. [14:32] Put your hand under that Almighty, put, excuse me, put yourself under that Almighty hand. [14:35] So when at the proper time, what he may exalt you. Yes, exaltation. But notice the humility. [14:45] Who chooses that time? God, not you. God, not you. God, yet every day of your life, what do you try [14:59] to do? Exalt yourself. I’m going to put myself over. I’m going to put myself over other people. [15:09] I’m going to show how great I am. I’m going to make my way. I’m going to show everyone how good

[15:16] I am. I’m going to show everyone how great I can be. And if any of them stand in my way, [15:21] who do they think they are? You think you’re better than me? [15:24] Every day is a futile endeavor in many people’s lives for self-exaltation. [15:32] And what’s going to happen if you live to exalt yourself? You will be devoured. Because when [15:40] you seek to exalt yourself, you cannot humble yourself under the hand of God. You put yourself [15:49] over God. See, this passage is about temptation. This passage is about everything that Satan

[15:58] tempted Jesus to do. Satan looks to Jesus and says, don’t you deserve better?

[16:05] Satan looks to Jesus, why wouldn’t you throw yourself off the pinnacle? [16:09] Show the world. Call down an angel army to catch you. Don’t you deserve glory?

[16:18] In every moment of the temptation of Christ, he was tempted with distrusting the path that God had [16:25] him on by trying to deceive him to believe that there was a better path than the one God had [16:31] designed. Every temptation in your life is ultimately going to be about trusting that [16:38] there is a path that is better than the one that God has designed for you. Friend, struggle [16:45] prepares you for experiencing victory. Struggle prepares you. It strengthens you. [16:53] I mean, look at what Jesus does. He goes from the baptism and enters directly into what? A season

[16:59] of fasting. For 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus communes under the power of the Holy Spirit [17:05] with the Father, preparing for his earthly ministry. I mean, the Son of God commits himself [17:12] to the spiritual disciplines to prepare him for what is in store. And so I have to ask, [17:19] what are you doing to prepare yourself for the struggle that is ahead of you? [17:24] Because number two, temptation makes you question God’s plan. [17:29] Temptation makes you question God’s plan. What’s interesting is that sin is ultimately putting

[17:36] your trust in something other than God every single time. That’s what Romans one teaches us. [17:42] This is in the Garden of Eden. What Eve ultimately and what Adam ultimately were tempted with is [17:47] that someone was giving them a better story for their lives than God was. And Romans one says [17:52] that is idolatry. That is false gods. That is worshiping false gods rather than worshiping [17:59] the real God. And all sin ultimately is about idolatry or all sin ultimately leads from the [18:06] idolatry that is going on in your life because you believe there is a better story than the one that

[18:11] God wants to tell through your life. What’s fascinating about the first temptation of Jesus [18:17] is that it is almost exactly the same words that Jesus heard on the cross in Matthew 2740 when they [18:23] said, if you are the Son of God, come down from there. And in the first temptation, he looks to [18:28] him and says, can’t you supply your own needs? Aren’t you God? So he challenges Jesus’ ability [18:35] to do something for himself, just like he would be challenged on the cross by the crowd. Then he [18:40] takes him up to the pinnacle and he says, throw yourself off, show the world your glory. But what

[18:45] always fascinates me is the third temptation. It just boggles my mind until I really think about [18:52] it. Because if you look at the third temptation, Satan, who was created by God, Jesus. Okay, so in [19:00] Genesis one, when somebody’s speaking and things exist, a little theology lesson for you. That was [19:06] okay. Jesus spoke the world into existence. Okay. And Satan looks to Jesus and says, [19:16] hey, you want me to give you the world? Hmm. And he says, if you will bow down and worship me, [19:26] I will give you the world. I’m just like, that is the dumbest temptation I’ve ever heard in my life.

[19:34] It’s like tempting me, Steve, I’ll give you a Honda CRV. I already have one.

[19:42] Quite a machine, friends. Quite a machine.

[19:49] But then you think about it and you think, why would Jesus endure this type of temptation? And [19:55] then I realized it wasn’t because Jesus had anything to prove.

[20:00] It wasn’t because Jesus is like, oh my goodness, the world? Really? I can have that? [20:09] He owns the world. It is his. He created it.

[20:14] He’s showing us two aspects of who he is for us in the gospel accounts. The first one is that [20:28] God, through Jesus Christ, has secured for us ultimate victory. Jesus is not tempted with the [20:36] world. Who is? I am. I am. I am tempted to give my allegiance to some aspect of the world every [20:45] single day. And Jesus came to substitute himself for me. And in this temptation, he is being my [20:53] substitute because I fail over and over again at this temptation. And Jesus says, I will succeed [20:59] for you. But secondly, Christ the example. Christ is our example. He’s showing us how we can endure

[21:08] temptation with victory. How we can put things into place to endure moments like this and not [21:17] obey God. Because on this moment, in 1 John 2, John says it this way. He says, don’t love the world [21:25] or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [21:30] Now, this isn’t that, you know, the material world is evil. That’s not what he’s saying. [21:34] He’s talking about the allegiance of your heart. He’s saying, if you are overwhelmed with a lust [21:41] and a love for this world rather than being overwhelmed by your allegiance and your love for

[21:47] God the Father, do not claim that the love of the Father is in you. And if you read that in the [21:51] original language, it’s exactly what it says. If this was Bible study 101, first day, you could [21:56] exegete this passage perfectly because it’s so simple. It means exactly what it says because [22:03] then it says in 16. He says, for all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires [22:07] of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is [22:12] passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. Satan comes

[22:19] to Jesus and says, Jesus, admit that I am Lord. Admit that you’re not the God of the universe. [22:28] Admit that you don’t have ultimate strength. Admit that these people should give their lives [22:33] to the world rather than giving their lives to you. And what does Jesus do?

[22:39] Jesus obeys the will of the Father. Jesus resists the devil. Jesus flees from temptation. [22:46] But look at what Jesus does to do that. Do you have a strategy for dealing with temptation?

[22:53] Most don’t. Most it’s just on a wing and a prayer. You get tempted to sin, all right, and you’re [22:59] like, oh, God, I got to find Hillsong CD. I need to go out in the ocean. Take me deeper.

[23:07] Walk on water. That’s the totality of your strategy for dealing with temptation. [23:15] And here’s the deal. It might give you the weepies a couple of times. All right. You might [23:20] experience that emotional nirvana for a minute or two. But ultimately, your strategy to use [23:29] emotional highs, and that’s exactly what you’re seeking when you do that, your strategy to deal [23:35] with temptation by seeking emotional highs will fail because you weren’t meant to do that. [23:44] Other strategy is, you know, it’s like the old show who wants to be a millionaire, the phone

[23:48] friend option. All right. You know, like I got to phone a friend, temptation, the devil won’t have [23:54] me today. So you call that friend. Well, here’s the deal. It’s going to go to voicemail at some [23:59] point because they’ve got a life. What do you do? We’ll tell you first, stop employing stupid [24:08] strategies. And do what Jesus did. Jesus, our example in this passage, he does something and [24:18] he weaponizes the word of God against the devil. All right. So here’s what he does. He first quotes [24:23] Deuteronomy 8, 3, then he quotes Deuteronomy 6, 16, then he quotes Deuteronomy 6, 13. He uses the Bible

[24:34] to resist the devil because that is what God designed the Bible to be for. But here’s the deal. [24:43] This isn’t one of those things where your strategy is to put the Bible on your console, [24:49] thinking it’s a magic relic that is going to get you out of speeding tickets. [24:53] All right. That’s not what this is. All right. What Jesus did was is he spent his childhood, [25:01] and this is what history tells us in Luke chapter two, that he spent his childhood [25:05] saturating his heart and mind with the word of God. He memorized the Bible.

[25:13] That is why I want parents to understand your chief responsibility with your children as [25:19] discipleship is downloading this Bible into their minds. Jesus knew this. Jesus loved this. [25:30] Jesus believed this and Jesus weaponized this against the schemes of the devil. [25:38] And he experienced victory over sin because of it. But he read it. He memorized it. He studied it. [25:47] He knew it. That’s why sometimes when people are dealing with temptation, they will tell me things. [25:53] They will say, you know, I’ve been praying to God. If you just give me a word, you just give me a

[25:59] revelation. Friends, if you’re not worried to memorize and learn the words he’s already given, [26:06] why would he give you a new one? If you’re not willing to saturate your life with the revelation [26:13] that he’s already given, why would he give you a new one? He doesn’t need to give you a new one. [26:17] He doesn’t want to give you a new one because the one that he has given is sufficient to equip you [26:24] for everything that you need where temptation is concerned in your life. So know the word of God. [26:30] This is a supernatural book, but so often we treat it like a burden. We treat it like a chore

[26:40] when it is a joy because it is the weapon to get me through this life resisting the schemes of the [26:54] world. I don’t comprehend very well. I don’t understand it. I can’t read. [27:03] And here’s the deal on that last one. I can sign you up for a class. All right. [27:07] We can do this for the other ones. Here’s the deal. All right. First, you can comprehend. If [27:13] you can order a drink from Starbucks, you can learn the Bible straight up, friends. I’m just, [27:18] I’m telling you, and I am an authority on the subject. All right. Both the Bible and

[27:25] Starbucks. All right. Tasty treats. All right. But the deal that you need to understand is, [27:32] is that you need to trust God to do with it what he promises he will do with it. In John 14 and [27:38] John chapter 16, he promises us that the Holy Spirit will illuminate the word to us to always [27:43] remind us of the teachings of Jesus Christ when we need it. And so if you will trust him enough to [27:48] commit to the discipline of learning this word, you can trust God to remind you when you need them. [27:56] But you’ve got to commit to the book. You have to do it. And you will experience victory.

[28:05] But understand finally this morning, Jesus endured temptation for our victory. Jesus endured [28:18] temptation. And he will fail. Why? Because number one, you have.

[28:23] You have not withstood every moment of temptation and come out on the other side obedient. And that’s [28:29] true 100% of the time. There is no exception in this room to that rule. And so you need that [28:36] victory that Jesus had because Jesus ultimately in his authority, he looks at everyone. And here’s [28:42] the awesome thing about the word of God is that any moment in any three of these temptations, [28:47] Jesus could have looked the devil and said, be gone. So why didn’t he? Because he needed to use [28:54] the devil to prove his point before he did it. That shows the ultimate power of Jesus Christ.

[28:59] And because Jesus was fully obedient in this moment, and these weren’t the only temptations [29:05] that Jesus endured in his life. These are just the ones that are displayed for us. [29:09] Because Jesus was completely obedient in every moment of his life to every command that God had [29:14] ever given and has ever given in every way. He was able to pay the penalty for all of the times [29:19] where I am unfaithful. He was able to pay the price for all of the times that I have disobeyed. [29:26] He was able to pay the price for every time I’ve given into temptation, no matter what that

[29:31] temptation is. And so Jesus was able to go to the cross and die for the penalty for my sin and your [29:38] sin because he had no sin of his own to pay for. And that’s why Hebrews chapter four puts it this [29:43] way. It says, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, [29:49] the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. See, it’s a confession because Christ is the [29:56] victor. It’s not something that we earn. It’s not something that we do. It’s something that we [30:00] confess because it’s been done for us. Verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who is unable

[30:06] to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, [30:12] yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive [30:20] mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. Friends, Jesus has done this for us. He has [30:30] substituted himself for us so that we could have redemption, so that we could be forgiven for where [30:37] we fall short, so that we can have the victory. Last night, funny thing that happened, not at the [30:46] time. You ever notice that something isn’t funny at the time and then you look back and you’re

[30:51] like, Hey, remember the time in the moment. It was terrifying. All right. All of a sudden, [30:59] my son screams out, there’s a flood. All right. Little did we know at the time he was the [31:05] perpetrator of the flood and he could have easily stopped the flood at any moment that he had [31:12] personally chosen to stop the flood. Yet he chose not to in all of his wonder. And so, [31:19] you know, there’s a hall bathroom upstairs. And so I go upstairs and they, I mean, literally water [31:24] everywhere. I’ve never seen a flooded bathroom, but I’ve avoided that for many years. And yet

[31:31] at this moment I was like, Oh, that’s what it looks like. And so, you know, turn the water off [31:38] and I’m getting the water up. And then all of a sudden I go downstairs to get some more towels [31:43] and Oh, look, it’s dripping through the ceiling. Praise God is what I probably should have said.

[31:55] And so I’m trying to, you know, and I’m so unsanctified, you know, I’m like, [31:59] why are you ruining my life, wife? I hate my children. All right. So I did not endure [32:05] temptation well. And so we’re cleaning the water up and I’m like, Oh my goodness. And so if you’ve [32:10] ever wondered what I do on Saturday nights, that. And so we get the water and then it’s dripping [32:17] and I’m freaking out a little bit. And then I get it, you know, and I’m just, I’m literally getting [32:22] ready to get a sledgehammer because I’m like, there’s more water somewhere. And so finally it

[32:28] stops. And so I go to my son, whom I had all I had said to him was, go to your room, except not [32:37] in that tone. And so my son’s in his room awaiting the execution and he’s weeping, just weeping.

[32:49] And so after we’re done, I go to him and I say, son.

[32:55] What in the world? Like, how did this happen? And so he tells me he made a mistake in his response [33:04] to the mistake was to try to hide his mistake. And just one mistake led to another mistake led to, [33:14] you know, trying to hide it all and going to his room and pretending no mistakes had happened. [33:20] And then a few minutes later, he discovered that was an error. It wasn’t going to stop.

[33:29] And so I took him and I said, son, come downstairs. So we go downstairs and I showed him the ceiling [33:34] where water had been dripping. And I said, I need you to understand something. Your choices [33:42] have consequences. I said, that could have been much worse than this. And that choice you made [33:51] wouldn’t have just affected you. It would have affected your brother and sister, would have [33:56] affected your mother and father. Your choices have consequences that affect other people. [34:03] So he’s crying. He’s like, I’m so sorry. So sorry. As I looked at him and I said, I know,

[34:10] I know, and you’ve endured the payment that I’m going to require because I could see there was [34:17] real contrition. He knew. I said, the biggest mistake you made, son, was that you tried to hide [34:26] from your problem. You tried to isolate yourself from the answer to the issue. I said, we all make

[34:37] mistakes. But what did you learn from this one? It’s my question. And I couldn’t believe he got [34:43] the answer right. And I was so proud in that moment. He just looks at me and says, I should [34:47] have come to get you. I said, yes, you should have immediately come and gotten me when you knew you [34:52] were in trouble. Always, always, always come and get me. So often when you are tempted [35:01] to fall, and you fail, and you blow it, and you know when those moments are for you,

[35:10] you hide, don’t you? You make another mistake trying to cover this sin with another sin, [35:18] and this lie becomes this lie, becomes that error in judgment. And then eventually you look around [35:26] and you’ve wrecked lives around you because choices have consequences for other people. [35:31] No one is an island to him or herself. When the entire time you’ve been hiding yourself [35:38] from the victory, you’ve been hiding yourself from the answer to every one of your problems [35:44] because you did not go to the solution, because you didn’t believe God loved you.

[35:51] In that moment, you believed if God was here, he would reject you.

[35:57] Friends, in every moment of temptation that you endure, understand you’re going to fail [36:01] at some point. None of us are going to bat a thousand. None of us. But when you find [36:07] yourself disobedient, when you are caught, whether that be by someone else or whether that just be [36:14] the Holy Spirit convicting you in your sin, the answer is never to hide. The answer is never to [36:22] do nothing. The answer is always Jesus because he endured temptation for you so that he could, [36:33] with real honesty, look at you and say, he sympathizes with your weakness. Do you understand

[36:41] the implications when the word of God says in Hebrews chapter four that we serve a great high [36:47] priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses because of the gospel. When you are his child, [36:55] his first reaction is not, I’m going to kill you. His first reaction is not, I condemn you. [37:02] His first reaction is not, it’s over for you. His first reaction is, I sympathize with your weakness [37:09] because I love you. He looks at us and he says, I literally put myself in your shoes. [37:14] He can literally say, I understand what you’re going through right now.

[37:21] When you fail, go to Jesus because he sits on a throne that the text says is defined by grace, [37:31] the undeserved gift of the forgiveness and acceptance of God. And he says, what are you [37:38] going to find there? You’re afraid you’re going to find a lightning bolt. You’re afraid you’re [37:44] going to find condemnation. You’re afraid you’re going to find hell. Jesus, through his life, [37:51] through his death on the cross and through his resurrection, has shown us that when you run to [37:57] Jesus through faith, you will find mercy and grace in your time of need. He did that for you.

[38:10] Because of the resurrection, you’re going to experience great victory in this life, [38:15] but you are also going to experience great struggle because of the curse of sin in this world. [38:20] And when you struggle, go to Jesus. When you fail, go to Jesus. When you don’t have enough [38:31] strength, go to Jesus. When you’re scared, go to Jesus. And when you go to Jesus, you will see [38:38] that every moment of struggle, every moment of temptation is preparing you for the victory [38:45] that is on the other side in Jesus. Every week, we reflect on what’s called the Lord’s Supper.

[38:54] The bread on the plates represents the broken body of Jesus. The cup represents the shed blood.

[39:03] If you’re a Christian, in just a moment, these tables will be open for you, but there may be [39:07] some of you in here, maybe you’re not a Christian. Maybe you’ve been lying to yourself that you are. [39:13] I don’t know. But the fact is that you have dealt with temptation. The fact is that you’re [39:19] dealing with sin and you’re trying to hide. You’re trying to pretend it doesn’t happen. [39:24] You’re trying to show that you have enough strength to get through this life. [39:28] But what Jesus shows us is that we can’t deny our need.

[39:33] And what this meal represents is that Jesus wants to fill every one of our needs. [39:41] And so if you are in here and you are not a Christian, I want you to understand that the [39:45] answer is to go to Jesus. The answer is to turn from your sin and to trust Jesus Christ to first [39:52] forgive you of your sin and then give you a new life through the resurrection. And He will do [39:57] that because He promises to. If that’s you this morning, I’m going to ask you to do something a [40:02] little different. Instead of eating and drinking, I’m going to ask you to go into the foyer where

[40:08] somebody can maybe explain that great forgiveness I’ve been talking about, maybe answer questions [40:14] that you might have. Friend, I can tell you one thing is for certain. The cross of Jesus [40:19] Christ and the temptation of Jesus Christ proves that God is for you. He is not against you, [40:25] that He wants to forgive you. He wants to give you eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [40:31] And if you will go to Him, He will. But if you’re in here and you’ve experienced that, [40:36] if you’re in here, you believe. If you are in here and you know Jesus,

[40:42] come celebrate the forgiveness that He gives so for you.