Testing 1, 2, 3

    Please read Matthew 4:1-11.  Satan is an excellent fisherman. He is knowledgeable – intuitively aware of the prey he is planning to lure in.  He is incredibly patient – waiting for the precise time to pounce.  He is super adaptable –to ensure the optimum experience; he is watching, with hyperfocus, the conditions to make very calculated decisions.  Satan invests time in fishing for men and women – studying our characters, looking for weaknesses, searching for areas to penetrate.  Using the lure that will best bait the target – aware of strengths and weaknesses, casting with precision at the right time – when one is most vulnerable and desperate Satan adjusts his techniques in real time- switching tactics, equipment, and location, Satan has perfected his craft.  Church, we need to keep that in the forefront of our minds.

     I titled today’s sermon Testing 1, 2, 3.  Satan tested Jesus three times.  Satan challenged Jesus’ divine strength poking at Him to change the stones to bread when he was starving.  In response, Jesus waited on the Lord confidently trusting and resting in His Father’s timing and provision.  Are your wanting God’s timing to align with yours?  God’s timing is perfect, he does not need our help – we need his.  

      Satan brought Jesus to the highest point of the temple, telling him to prove himself as the Son of God by jumping.  Jesus replied, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Deut. 6:16).  That may be the message someone needs to hear today.  We need to step up our faith instead of testing our God.  Someone once said to me, “Faith will not work until you work your faith.”  Where are we placing our faith?

      In a third attempt Satan tempted Jesus offering something that was not his to give.   Church, we need to be mindful of what we put in first place.  Is money, time, status, comfort, technology, or something else the priority?  Friends, Satan tested Jesus physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.  Satan stooped low…bullying, teasing, and stabbing at His pride.  With each test, Jesus responded with Scripture.  We can’t use it if we don’t know it. If you do not have a Scripture routine, start today.  

     Church, it is not a question of if the tempter is going to appear, it’s a matter of when. We need to be prepared! We will be tempted; we will be lured with attractive opportunities, and just like fish we can get tangled by temptation.  We need to be on high alert.  We need to be on guard especially when we are weak, fragile, drained and tired.  

     Satan put Jesus on the defensive, saying, “If you are the Son of God…”  He planted doubt, a seed that did not take root in Jesus, however it is something that can take root in us in our “wilderness moments”. We need to remain focused on our relationship with God. 

      This scene also begs us to consider fasting.  Jesus did not fast for the sake of not eating, he fasted to prepare himself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for what was to come.  Through fasting and denying our desires, we grow closer to God. The purpose of fasting is to reorient our hearts; as we fast we meet a profound dependence on God.  We should fast from anything that is a wedge in our time with God.  When we fast from that which distracts us from living like Christ, we can engage in the repentance, self-examination, and humility needed to foster a closer relationship with God.   We need to ask, “What is coming between God and me?”   We must acknowledge the lures and seek for God’s help.  

     We are all tempted…it’s how we respond to the temptation that makes the difference.  How do we resist temptation, the ringing in our ears, the unrelenting whisper, or the desperate cry?   PRAYER!  Asking for God’s help in avoiding what is not good for us.  Pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”   Church, the power of all temptation is the expectation that it will make us more content, nothing can be further from the truth since its definition is anything that influences disobedience.  We need to avoid that which tempts us.  What Satan wants us to think is that our relationship with God is ruined as we fall to temptation.  That mindset will lead us to say it’s too late now…but we know the grace and mercy of God is never-ending.  Second, Scripture says, “Resist the devil and the devil will flee from you” (James 4:7).  Jesus responded to Satan each time with Scripture.  Let’s take time each day to invest in God’s Word.  

      Friends, we cannot compromise with what tempts us, we cannot make a deal with that which baits us.  Jesus resisted the devil and the final verse reads, “Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”  When we resist the temptations we will be comforted.  

      May this Lenten season help us, you and me, to slow down, examine ourselves and live out our faith without distraction, focused on Christ and Scripture, not lured by that which tempts or distracts us from God.  And all God’s people say, amen.  

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kerry

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