Gtcotr/ss011820
Today
we will be taking our text from Luke 4. Before
we go there, allow me to read a couple of my favorite scriptures from:
Deuteronomy 8
2 And you shall remember that
the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to
humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether
you would keep His commandments or not.
3 So He humbled you, allowed
you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your
fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread
alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the
LORD.
Personal
Story
- In June of 1980 God told me that He would make me rich …
· I believed the word I
received was from the Lord, but I did not understand what He meant by rich nor
what I would go through in my making.
o In time I came to realize
that anyone who ends the day with more bread than they have hunger, or more joy
than they have sorrow is truly a very wealthy person.
o Rich is what we are
when we have more than enough for ourselves so that we are able to share a
little of our abundance with those in need. This is the definition of an
abundant life … (John 10:10)
o I finally saw that
when God said that He would make me rich … He did not say that He would give me
riches. The giving of riches can be instant, but the making took time; and hard
work; and trust on my part; and much patience and grace on His.
· Soon after God spoke
to me about making me rich, He told me to sell everything we owned and give the
money to a Church – it was a Church I had never attended. He told me that He
did not want me to be able to say that my hands had gotten me anything but only
that “The Lord had provided.”
o We had completely
furnished our house with things we had bought and brought back from Europe. We
sold our living room furniture, dining room table and hutch, kitchen furniture,
stereo, pictures, bedroom furniture, nursery furniture, and even our clothes
and children’s toys … we even sold both of our cars, my 4-wheel drive Dodge Ramcharger
and her Volkswagen.
o We prayed, heard from
God, knew His will, believed and acted on His Word, and we expected His
abundant provision … He was going to make us rich and we really expected He
would do it immediately.
o However, our initial
expectations were a little off …
o In fact, we moved into
an unfurnished apartment with not even a folding chair.
o After 2 months we
bought our first piece of furniture. It was a $5 bean bag which we were proud
to own. That was the only piece of furniture we had for 7 months.
o We graduated from that
empty 2-bedroom apartment and moved into a borrowed 23-foot camper trailer.
o We didn’t own a car
for 2 whole years. During those 2 years the Lord gave us the cash to pay for 2
cars and told us to give them away to other people, one of which was a hitchhiker.
o Although I didn’t
know, I am certain the Lord knew what He was doing.
· Now, 40 years later, I
can truly testify that the Lord has kept His word above and beyond anything I
could ever have imagined. He has made me rich.
· You see … the devil
would love for us to have trust issues with God however, the truth is:
The Lord humbles us, and allows us to hunger, and feeds us with
manna, which we knew not, neither did our fathers know; that He might make us
to know that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out
of the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:3 Paraphrased)
Let’s
turn our attention to our text for today.
Luke 4
1 ¶
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 being tempted for forty
days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they
had ended, He was hungry.
The 1st
Temptation:
3 And the devil said to Him,
"If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
4 But Jesus answered him,
saying, "It is written, ’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word of God.’" (Deuteronomy 8:3)
5 Then
the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the
world in a moment of time.
6 And
the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their
glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I
wish.
The 2nd
Temptation
7 "Therefore, if You
will worship before me, all will be Yours."
8 And Jesus answered and said
to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ’You shall worship the
LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’" (Deuteronomy 6:13 & 10:20)
The 3rd
Temptation
9 Then he brought Him to
Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You
are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
10
"For it is written: ’He shall give His angels charge over you, To
keep you,’
11
"and, ’In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash
your foot against a stone.’" (Psalms 91:11&12)
12 And Jesus answered and
said to him, "It has been said, ’You shall not tempt the LORD your
God.’" (Deuteronomy 6:16)
13 Now when the devil had
ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
The
devil had grown used to seeing people fall for the subtle, sneaky snake
approach. He is a crafty tempter. The devil knows what God has promised you in
His Word and the devil wants to cunningly create trust issues in your head.
Subtle seeds of distrust. It worked with Eve, the perfect daughter of God,
maybe, he thought, it will work with the perfect Son. What were the temptations?
Just as a reminder … these are the same temptations we will face in life …
The Three Age-Old Temptations to not trust God …
1.
Provide for Yourself
a.
Don’t wait on God …
b.
Get everything you can and can everything you
get.
c.
Nobody loves you like you do … and it’s all
about you.
2.
Promote Yourself
a.
You deserve it …
b.
You’re right and you work hard …
c.
Out of time and Out of place – Out of Order
d.
Promotion comes from the Lord …
e.
A man’s gift makes room for him …
3.
Prove Yourself
a.
People don’t respect me enough …
b.
People don’t treat me right …
c.
People don’t know who I am … I’ll show them …
That
subtle-serpent … that sneaky-snake … that crafty-coward … he is trying to get
you to not trust God and take matters into your own hands.
I
can’t count the number of times I was tempted to take the short-cut, do it
myself, or make it happen. Thank God for good friends and trusted companions
who continued to point me to the Word of God. If God said it, He will do it …
If He spoke it, He will make it good. (Psalms 89:34b)
It
was difficult at times and at times I was challenged to jump ship, but praise
be to God who continually reminded me that it wasn’t all about me. He had a
plan for my life far beyond anything I could comprehend, and I simply needed to
trust Him to provide; to promote; and to prove me in the eyes of others. He
makes all things beautiful in its time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
The
greatest temptations we face in life come straight from the devil. Satan is constantly trying to get us to make things about us.
He uses the same tactics on us today that he used on both Eve and Jesus. It
might be different situations but it’s the same issues … trust issues.
These
issues are Trust Issues … the Age-Old Temptations
· Can I trust God with
my right now?
· Can I trust God with my
destiny?
· Can I trust God with my
eternity?
If
the devil can get you to doubt God and make life all about you, he will do his
best to get you to:
· Provide for yourself
o here in this world
o in the world to come
(by works which can never save)
· Promote yourself out
of time or out of place or out of order
· Prove to the world
that you are somebody … then he has you right where he wants you and he can
control your life.
“If
you are the Son of God …” – Subtle conversations of seducing spirits
questioning God’s character and commitment – Golden coins of twisted truth … When
we have nothing to prove …
We
can trust God with our today, with our tomorrow, and with our forever.
Here
are 3 things that will defeat these Age-Old Temptations:
· The Word of
God will supply your daily bread.
· Worship and
Service to God will secure your destiny.
· Relationship
with Christ will assure your eternity.
Let
me encourage you to increase your intake of Word, Worship and service to the
Lord. And …
It’s hard to trust God for your eternity if you won’t trust Him with
your today!
God
wants to save your soul and the devil wants to destroy it … who are you going
to trust?
40
years ago I began a journey of learning how to trust God one day, one step, one
issue at a time. I can truly say that the Lord has been faithful to me. He has never
failed me or forsaken me, and I know you can trust Him today.
What
will you trust God to do for you right now?
