Overcoming Temptation: Strength in Christ's Faithfulness
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Sermon Summary
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"I encourage you, you've got an outline on the back of your bulletin where we're going in this third week now that we've been looking at the temptation of Jesus as told to us by the good doctor, Luke. We were told about this account in Luke chapter 4, and it's an incredible scene because it happens right after Jesus had been baptized by John in the Jordan River, and then Luke tells us he was led by the Spirit, and Luke's not the only one who tells us this. Matthew tells us this, Mark tells us this, Jesus led by God himself into the wilderness where for 40 days he fasted, after which the devil himself comes at Jesus, trying to tempt him to take a shortcut, trying to tempt him to doubt who he is, trying to deter him from the course that God would have him be on. Now, I know we're wrapping it up this week because after three weeks of talking about temptation, I've realized that it is sufficient. You guys are all really good Jesus followers, and so now all of your temptation problems have been solved, and you will never be tempted again. Yeah, right." [00:00:01] (69 seconds)
"And there's a great quote from Luther in his large catechism that we've looked at each week, and I want to point it out again. It's on your bulletin, because I really want you to have this in front of you, because Luther says it this way. He says, great and grievous indeed are these dangers and temptations which every Christian must bear, and we bear them even though each one were alone by himself. And now look how he says it. He lays it out there. So every hour, we are in this vile life. We are attacked on all sides. We are chased down. We are hunted. We are moved to cry out and to pray to God that he would not allow us to become weary and faint, and to fall again into shame, or sin, shame, and unbelief. Otherwise, it is impossible to overcome even though." [00:01:48] (46 seconds)
"Faith is based on what God has already done for us. We're not going to say, Lord, I'm going to believe in you if you do this. That's hope. It's nice to have hope, but that's not faith. Faith is based on the past promises of God where he has been faithful to his people, has been faithful to his promises. Jesus shows us this in spades when he's tempted by Satan and the devil in the wilderness here. God is faithful to his people and faithful to his promises, but we want to take a step back to the edge and pray not just simply lead us not into temptation, but there's another good prayer we pray in that Lord's Prayer. It's all good, but another one that relates, I think, to temptation." [00:18:20] (42 seconds)
"And so in Exodus 17, verse 1, we hear this. The entire Israelite community left the wilderness of sin. It's good to leave the wilderness of sin. Moving from one place to the next, according to the Lord's command. And they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So the people complained to Moses, give us water to drink. Why are you complaining to me, Moses replied? Why are you, here it is, testing the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. And they said, why did you ever bring us up out of Egypt? To kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? I mean, talk about passive -aggressive behavior, right? These guys got it down. Then Moses cried out to the Lord, what should I do with these people? In a little while, they will stone me. And the Lord answered Moses, go on ahead of the people." [00:13:20] (52 seconds)
"The temptation that Israel failed on, and the temptation that Jesus is not going to fail upon, is a temptation to presume upon God. To make him respond to our demands. And I know what you're saying, Pastor, I never do that. He's God, I would never do that. Oh, friends, we do this all the time. We do this all the time. The temptation to presume on God. And sometimes, friends, sometimes we're even like the devil. And we've got verses, right? The devil's got Psalm 91. Well, we've got Jeremiah 29, 11. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you future and a hope." [00:15:53] (49 seconds)
"But I think the other way, especially in our culture today, where we hear and find God's will is when we pause, when we stop talking and we spend a moment simply to listen and to be still. The psalmist tells us to be still and know that I am God. And for most of us, finding a time of stillness in the midst of crazy, hectic, busy, loud days seems almost impossible. So I want to give you a resource today. To help you in the midst of your own loud, crazy world around you. And there's a resource I just recently got acquainted to it. There's a QR code on the back of your bulletin. It's also available in app stores as well. It's the Pause app." [00:20:53] (56 seconds)
"And this Pause app is a blessing. It's been a blessing to me. I've only known about it for about a week or so, but I've got it on my phone. And what it's designed, it's the one -minute pause app that a couple times during your day, and you can control this, it'll go off and it'll just remind you to be still, to pause. And just for one minute, listen. There's some guided prayers with it if you want a guided prayer. But there's power in the pause and in the stillness where we can remember that we are not God. That He is God." [00:21:48] (39 seconds)
"He's given you the assurance of that identity as a beloved son and chosen daughter of the king of kings in the water of your baptism. He's fed you with that body and blood of his son to strengthen your faith and to once again declare to you, you are forgiven. You can go back out into this world knowing that you are going not alone, but that Jesus is in your corner, ready and willing to fight your battle with you. You know, this gospel lesson ends in Luke chapter 4. 4, telling us that the devil, after he does this third temptation, leaves Jesus, but looks for an opportune time to put him to the test again. Friends, that's the devil against Jesus, and that's the devil against you and against me." [00:24:01] (51 seconds)
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"And there's a great quote from Luther in his large catechism that we've looked at each week, and I want to point it out again. It's on your bulletin, because I really want you to have this in front of you, because Luther says it this way. He says, great and grievous indeed are these dangers and temptations which every Christian must bear, and we bear them even though each one were alone by himself. And now look how he says it. He lays it out there. So every hour, we are in this vile life. We are attacked on all sides. We are chased down. We are hunted. We are moved to cry out and to pray to God that he would not allow us to become weary and faint, and to fall again into shame, or sin, shame, and unbelief. Otherwise, it is impossible to overcome even though." [00:01:48] (46 seconds)
"Faith is based on what God has already done for us. We're not going to say, Lord, I'm going to believe in you if you do this. That's hope. It's nice to have hope, but that's not faith. Faith is based on the past promises of God where he has been faithful to his people, has been faithful to his promises. Jesus shows us this in spades when he's tempted by Satan and the devil in the wilderness here. God is faithful to his people and faithful to his promises, but we want to take a step back to the edge and pray not just simply lead us not into temptation, but there's another good prayer we pray in that Lord's Prayer. It's all good, but another one that relates, I think, to temptation." [00:18:20] (42 seconds)
"And so in Exodus 17, verse 1, we hear this. The entire Israelite community left the wilderness of sin. It's good to leave the wilderness of sin. Moving from one place to the next, according to the Lord's command. And they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So the people complained to Moses, give us water to drink. Why are you complaining to me, Moses replied? Why are you, here it is, testing the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. And they said, why did you ever bring us up out of Egypt? To kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? I mean, talk about passive -aggressive behavior, right? These guys got it down. Then Moses cried out to the Lord, what should I do with these people? In a little while, they will stone me. And the Lord answered Moses, go on ahead of the people." [00:13:20] (52 seconds)
"The temptation that Israel failed on, and the temptation that Jesus is not going to fail upon, is a temptation to presume upon God. To make him respond to our demands. And I know what you're saying, Pastor, I never do that. He's God, I would never do that. Oh, friends, we do this all the time. We do this all the time. The temptation to presume on God. And sometimes, friends, sometimes we're even like the devil. And we've got verses, right? The devil's got Psalm 91. Well, we've got Jeremiah 29, 11. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you future and a hope." [00:15:53] (49 seconds)
"But I think the other way, especially in our culture today, where we hear and find God's will is when we pause, when we stop talking and we spend a moment simply to listen and to be still. The psalmist tells us to be still and know that I am God. And for most of us, finding a time of stillness in the midst of crazy, hectic, busy, loud days seems almost impossible. So I want to give you a resource today. To help you in the midst of your own loud, crazy world around you. And there's a resource I just recently got acquainted to it. There's a QR code on the back of your bulletin. It's also available in app stores as well. It's the Pause app." [00:20:53] (56 seconds)
"And this Pause app is a blessing. It's been a blessing to me. I've only known about it for about a week or so, but I've got it on my phone. And what it's designed, it's the one -minute pause app that a couple times during your day, and you can control this, it'll go off and it'll just remind you to be still, to pause. And just for one minute, listen. There's some guided prayers with it if you want a guided prayer. But there's power in the pause and in the stillness where we can remember that we are not God. That He is God." [00:21:48] (39 seconds)
"He's given you the assurance of that identity as a beloved son and chosen daughter of the king of kings in the water of your baptism. He's fed you with that body and blood of his son to strengthen your faith and to once again declare to you, you are forgiven. You can go back out into this world knowing that you are going not alone, but that Jesus is in your corner, ready and willing to fight your battle with you. You know, this gospel lesson ends in Luke chapter 4. 4, telling us that the devil, after he does this third temptation, leaves Jesus, but looks for an opportune time to put him to the test again. Friends, that's the devil against Jesus, and that's the devil against you and against me." [00:24:01] (51 seconds)
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