TRIED, TESTED, TEMPTED AND TRUE

TRIED, TESTED, TEMPTED AND TRUE

Mount Hope UMC

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Matthew 4:1-11 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Temptation of Jesus

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.  For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,

‘People do not live by bread alone,

    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you up with their hands

    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God

    and serve only him.’”

Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

                  Jesus has just been baptized by his cousin John and the Spirit of God has descended in the form of a dove and proclaimed that this is His Son in whom He (God) is well pleased and took total possession of his human form.  “Then” as chapter 4 begins, then and only then does Jesus, led by the embodiment of the Spirit that had just infilled him, retreat to the mountain for 40 days of preparation, fasting and praying to receive instruction about his earthly mission from His Heavenly Father.

                  Now the text says he was led there to be tested by the devil.  How many of you know, that part of our spiritual development is how we respond to the temptations put before us?  How we react to the struggles and challenges we face on a day-to-day basis.  How we make spiritual life or death decisions that we have to live with our entire lives?  How we live with the mistakes we’ve made because we were tempted beyond our ability to withstand?

                  We fast for a couple days, maybe a week at a time.  And we do moderate fasting – maybe fast from a favorite food or drink; fast from watching TV or a favorite program on TV that you record so that when your fast is over you can catch up on what happened; or fast from social media; maybe you commit to a 12 hour fast; some folk do the Daniel Fast during Lent for 10 or 20 days.  I’m not judging anyone who fasts from anything they feel they’re in bondage to.  But these are not the types of fasts Jesus did.  He abstained from all forms of nourishment – food and water for 40 days.  Do you know what happens to the human body when you abstain from all forms of food and drink for 40 days as Jesus did? 

                  Some research suggests you can live up to 21 days without food or water, but your bodily and mental functions will be severely affected.  Mahatma Gandhi fasted for 21 days and lost so much weight and muscle that he could not speak above a whisper.  It takes 8 hours without eating for your body to change how it operates.  After 8 hours your glucose storage is depleted.  Your body will then begin to convert glycogen from your liver and muscles into glucose.  Once the glucose and glycogen are depleted your body will begin to use your amino acids to provide energy.  This will affect your muscles and will keep you going for about 3 days before your metabolism makes a major shift to preserve lean body mass.  The body then begins to rely on your fat and it goes through a process called ketosis. Once all the fat has been metabolized the body reverts back to muscle because it’s the only fuel left.

                  Effects of a starvation fast include faintness, dizziness, blood pressure drop, slow heart rate, hypotension, weakness, dehydration, thyroid malfunction, abdominal pain, low potassium, body temperature malfunction, PTSD or depression, heart attack, and organ failure and eventually, death.

                  Jesus, in his humanity, most likely experienced many, if not all, of these symptoms.  And in his most vulnerable state, even though he was God in the flesh and the full embodiment of the Holy Spirit was in him, he allowed himself to become physically weak so that Satan would have an open door to attack.  See, Satan could have never even thought of approaching Jesus in his fullness of Spirit.  Jesus had to empty himself and become physically weak so that he could meet the enemy on a spiritual level. 

                  And Satan thought he was going to tempt Jesus because of his physical and mental weakness like he did with Adam and Eve, but he made a tactical error in thinking that Jesus’s physical incapacity would impact his spiritual capacity.  Jesus knew God’s grace was sufficient for him because his power would be made perfect in his weakness.  Jesus laid in wait for Satan, playing possum, tempting the Temptor, teasing him to the point Satan had no choice but to attack.  How many of you know that the enemy does not attack you when you are full of power and confidence?  No, the enemy prowls about – as the Scripture says - like a roaring lion seeking who he can destroy and attacks you when you are at your weakest, most vulnerable point.  When you are afraid, doubtful, distrustful and divided from those who provide you with support and encouragement.  But Jesus was ready with his Ephesians 6 war clothes!  He may have been physically down, but he was not spiritually out!  He had the shield of faith, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation and he was the sword of the Spirit, the very unadulterated and sinless Word of God.  Jesus was tried, tested, tempted and being the Word of God made flesh, he rebuked the enemy with the only thing he could not successfully defeat – the Word of God!  He remained true to his calling and obedient to his mission.

                                    Wednesday evening Dr. Bryan Fleet’s message was “Take My Life”.   He said we prepare for Easter Sunday by withdrawing into the desert for 40 days, but what he suggests is that we should be asking God to take our lives.  Take them and transform them so that He can use us to fulfill the purpose for which He created us.  He challenged us by asking what are we willing to give up?  What are our expectations for our walk with the Lord?  He said too often we look at those things that hinder us from what God wants us to be – those things that tempt us and we fall prey to the temptation - but there are some things we need to get rid of; things we need to let go of.  The most important thing is that we should ask God to take our lives.  His message was from Psalm 51 which was written after the Prophet Nathan confronted David about his affair with Bathsheba.  Dr. Fleet asked if we had been faithful because sometimes we fall off the edge and even in our wrong, God has mercy and compassion on us.

                  In all our trials, in all our sin, in all our unfaithfulness, God’s mercy does not extend to us what we deserve, but he extends to us what we don’t deserve, and couldn’t earn – his unmerited favor.  God knows well the temptations that we face.  He knows well that the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak.  He knew from the time our dysfunctional first family disobeyed and brought sin into this world that every generation afterward would be conducting a battle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and dark forces in heavenly places.  Despite the temptations we face – and sometimes overcome – He is there walking with us.  His angel armies surround and protect us – even when we don’t do what we know is right, but when we do what we think is right in our own eyes.

                  We think that when we sin and give into temptation that we’re only hurting ourselves.  We fail to realize that not only are we hurting ourselves, we’re hurting God.  That’s why David confessed “against you and only you have I sinned.”  See, temptation has a strong pull on our lives.  The enemy knows our weaknesses better than we do because we fail to acknowledge that we have them.  Ignoring them leaves us wide open to attack through temptation.

                  I love to shop.  I mean I truly love to shop.  Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I had not 1, not 2, but 4 American Express cards.  I had Visas and Mastercards; I had store credit cards – to high end, expensive stores.  I had a $10,000 limit card at Neiman Marcus.  I loved to shop.  The enemy really knew how to work me.  I would max out one card, go to another, then another and when they were all maxed out I would request a credit increase – and get it!  Then the shopping would start all over again.  I shopped every day on my lunch hour, every evening when I got off work and every single weekend.  And of course, it eventually all came crumbling down and I had to file first for a Chapter 13 and eventually a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  I swore never to have another credit card, but what did I do as soon as I was able?  I got another credit card and it started all over again. 

                  That’s how the enemy gets us.  He knows what carrot to dangle in front of us.  He dangled carrots in front of Jesus up on that mountain when he was at his weakest physical point.  The devil thought he had him, but Jesus had strength in the Spirit – two parts of the Trinity working together under the protection of the Father, and Satan - the fallen angel – could not stand up against the power of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost!  What the enemy meant for evil, God turned it around for the good – the good of mankind.

                  So, when we fall into various trials and temptations, “count it all joy, beloveds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  Then straighten yourself up, fix your hair, put on your best Goditutde and tell the enemy like Jesus did to “get thee behind me Satan.”

                  Eugene Petersen’s Message Bible reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face.  All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.” 

                  We need to take a lesson from Nancy Reagan when President Reagan announced the war on drugs and Just Say No!  Say no to temptation, no matter how great because there is nothing on this earth that you will ever be able to take with you except your good name and integrity.  Nothing on this earth that is worth more than your name being written in the Book of Life.  Nothing on this earth that is worth losing the lease on your mansion not made by man’s hand.  Nothing on this earth that’s worth losing your golden crown or your robe in glory.

                  Pray daily as Jesus taught us to “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”  Remember James 1:13 which says, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”

                  Lastly, remember that after Jesus rebuked Satan he left Jesus until a more opportune time.  That time was when Jesus hung on the cross with his body being depleted once again; his life’s blood flowing from his side; thirsting, not for physical relief, but for spiritual relief to return to his Father in heaven and Jesus asks his Father if he had forsaken him.  For that one moment when he said, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” Jesus felt the full impact of his humanity and the full weight of our sin.  Alone on the cross Satan tried to tempt him once again, but Jesus, sweet Jesus, not in defeat, but in victory, cried out to his Father – “Into Your hands I commit my Spirit.”  He was tried, tested, tempted and remained sinless and true.  Jesus told his disciples before he died that these things and more would we do in his name.  He is our example of overcoming temptation.  He has given all power and authority into our hands.  In this life we will be tried, tested and tempted…but beloveds, will we be true?

                  Will we be true to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, our whole soul and our whole mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves?  Will we be true to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners, seek justice for those who are oppressed?  Will we be true to be obedient and follow God’s Word?  Will we be true to our God and true to our native land?  When we are tried, tested and tempted, will we be true?