WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.200 This is the first Sunday of the season of Lent, as we said at the beginning of the service. 00:00:07.179 --> 00:00:14.759 And this period of 40 days is patterned after Jesus, who at the start of His ministry, 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:22.559 immediately following His baptism, where He is recognized as the only begotten Son of God, 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:26.260 the voice of God speaks over Him, the Holy Spirit descends on Him. 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:32.800 And immediately after that, He goes into the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days. 00:00:33.300 --> 00:00:40.939 And in Scripture, the wilderness plays an extremely important role in the lives of God's people. 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:44.660 In one sense, the wilderness is a desolate place. 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:48.980 Imagine a kind of desert where not much can grow or thrive. 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.880 But you don't have to actually go physically anywhere to be in the wilderness. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:05.760 Whenever you are stripped of your familiar comforts and routines, whenever your life feels out of control, 00:01:06.859 --> 00:01:15.520 whenever you are beset by trials and temptations, or whenever you have to face and fear the unknown, 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:19.359 these are markers of being in the wilderness. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:24.719 I imagine some of you are in the wilderness right now in your lives. 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:35.920 And being in the wilderness is a unique time in our lives when it happens because it cuts through our self-deception. 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:44.700 It's a time that really exposes the truth about us, the truth about our hearts, the truth about what we're really trusting. 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:51.920 And because of that, as hard as it is to be in the wilderness, it can also be a time of profound spiritual transformation. 00:01:53.379 --> 00:02:02.500 And so every Christian in our life, every Christian, will find ourselves in the wilderness in one time or another. 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:05.760 And if you're here and you're not a Christian, you're not sure what you think, 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:12.219 this is a way that I would invite you to make sense of those experiences in your life. 00:02:12.219 --> 00:02:16.580 Because whenever we're in the wilderness, it means God wants to do business with us. 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:18.860 It means God is trying to tell us something. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.520 So it's always a time to stop and ask, 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:27.659 what is God doing in this moment through these experiences in my life? 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:30.240 What do I need to hear and receive from Him? 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:34.800 So tonight we're going to look at this passage in Matthew chapter 4. 00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:37.360 I want to walk us through the passage briefly, 00:02:37.540 --> 00:02:43.180 and then we're going to see three things about this time in the wilderness and the temptations that Jesus faces. 00:02:43.300 --> 00:02:46.760 We're going to see the danger of these temptations, the true danger, I mean. 00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:50.920 We're going to see the meaning of Jesus' victory means more than it appears. 00:02:51.320 --> 00:02:56.660 And then we're going to see the message for us as we find ourselves in the wilderness now 00:02:56.660 --> 00:02:58.660 or at some point in the future. 00:02:58.740 --> 00:02:59.160 Let's pray. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.080 Lord, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You that, as always, 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.740 You have the power and the desire to speak to us, 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:11.180 not just through words written 2,000 years ago, 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:16.540 but through these words to us here and now in the place we find ourselves. 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:19.439 We pray that that would happen because of Your Spirit. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:20.400 We know it can. 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.120 We pray that through it we would be drawn into Your embrace, 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:28.240 that in seeing the truth about ourselves, 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:32.379 we would come more clearly to see the truth about You and Your love for us. 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:33.879 We pray this in Your Son's holy name. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:34.480 Amen. 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:38.700 So first, let's walk through this passage in Matthew chapter 4. 00:03:38.740 --> 00:03:44.020 If you have a Bible, you can open it, or a smartphone, you can open it to look at this. 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:46.520 It says in Matthew chapter 4 verse 1, 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:51.780 then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:56.699 And it's worth noting that there's something very intentional happening here. 00:03:57.419 --> 00:04:00.360 The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:00.840 Why? 00:04:02.139 --> 00:04:04.139 To be tempted by the devil. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:08.639 It's not that that just happens arbitrarily. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:15.180 The entire reason that Jesus goes into the wilderness is to be tempted by the devil. 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:17.579 And then it says in verse 2, 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.480 And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.720 Maybe the biggest understatement in Scripture, right? 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:29.120 If you wrote after fasting 40 days and 40 nights about me, it would say, 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:30.019 And He was dead. 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:33.120 But Jesus is hungry. 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:34.660 And it says… 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:36.980 And there's a reason why we need to focus in on that. 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:38.280 There's an acronym. 00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:41.300 If any of you have ever been in the addiction recovery world, 00:04:41.300 --> 00:04:44.280 there's this acronym that you will hear again and again and again, HALT. 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:47.759 Stands for hungry, angry, lonely, tired. 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:51.520 The whole idea is if I'm trying to recover from addiction, 00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:54.160 I need to particularly pay attention to any time that I'm hungry, 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.060 any time that I'm angry, any time that I'm feeling lonely, 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:58.360 any time that I'm tired. 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:01.879 Because those are times when I am particularly vulnerable to temptation. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:04.379 So those are times when you need to halt, 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:07.660 take stock, and make sure that you don't relapse, right? 00:05:07.660 --> 00:05:10.840 So after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:14.360 Jesus is extremely vulnerable to temptation. 00:05:14.500 --> 00:05:18.060 If there was ever a time when Jesus might give in, it would be now. 00:05:19.340 --> 00:05:22.200 And then Matthew tells us three ways that Jesus is tempted. 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:23.240 First, Satan says, 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:24.620 Hey, I know you're hungry. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:27.940 Why don't you turn these stones into bread? 00:05:29.400 --> 00:05:31.440 You know, there's a lot of hungry people in the world. 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:33.460 I'm sure they would really appreciate that. 00:05:34.700 --> 00:05:35.600 Jesus refuses. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.320 Man shall not live by bread alone, 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:40.580 but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 00:05:42.900 --> 00:05:45.420 Then Satan takes Jesus to Jerusalem. 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:47.900 And he puts him on the roof of the temple, 00:05:47.980 --> 00:05:48.360 and he says, 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:52.379 Why don't you jump off this roof and survive? 00:05:53.640 --> 00:05:54.760 That would be amazing. 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:57.740 Show everybody what you're capable of. 00:05:57.840 --> 00:06:00.420 Show them that you're more than you seem. 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:03.080 Everyone would believe in you then. 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:06.060 And then he quotes Scripture. 00:06:06.219 --> 00:06:07.620 He quotes Psalm 91. 00:06:08.779 --> 00:06:11.719 He's using Scripture to proof text his argument. 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:13.139 Satan loves to proof text. 00:06:14.779 --> 00:06:15.519 Jesus refuses. 00:06:15.919 --> 00:06:16.360 It is written, 00:06:16.479 --> 00:06:18.319 You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:23.659 Then finally, Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, 00:06:23.719 --> 00:06:24.039 and he says, 00:06:24.459 --> 00:06:27.579 All of this can be yours if you but worship me. 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:29.459 Jesus refuses. 00:06:29.459 --> 00:06:31.060 Be gone, Satan, for it is written, 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:32.639 You shall worship the Lord your God, 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:35.500 and him only shall use her. 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:41.500 So what's happening here in this interaction? 00:06:43.599 --> 00:06:44.819 On the one level, 00:06:44.919 --> 00:06:47.000 these temptations are temptations that I think, 00:06:47.060 --> 00:06:47.519 if we're honest, 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:49.339 are pretty familiar to most of us. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:52.199 We all face temptation when it comes, 00:06:52.359 --> 00:06:54.719 firstly, to our appetites, right? 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:00.940 Our physical desires for food or for drink or for sex or for pleasure, 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:03.220 gratification, material consumption. 00:07:03.380 --> 00:07:05.040 We all face those temptations. 00:07:06.520 --> 00:07:09.240 We all face temptation when it comes to our vulnerability. 00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:12.340 You know, that's really what the second temptation is about. 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:17.860 It's about taking measures to ensure that we don't have to be vulnerable to pain and suffering. 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:20.400 You know, safety and comfort, 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:23.740 whether it be for me or the people I love, 00:07:23.900 --> 00:07:25.400 my family, my kids, 00:07:25.500 --> 00:07:27.620 those can be great sources of temptation. 00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:31.300 And then our powerlessness. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:36.259 You know, whether you actively seek glory and fame 00:07:36.259 --> 00:07:39.860 or merely just want a sense that you have some measure of control 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:43.180 over your life and over your future, 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:44.920 over outcomes, 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:48.540 power is also a great source of temptation. 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:50.580 So, on one level, 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:51.340 these are familiar, 00:07:51.840 --> 00:07:54.140 normal temptations that every human being faces, 00:07:54.520 --> 00:07:56.340 but there's much more going on here. 00:07:57.240 --> 00:08:00.379 Notice that Satan begins his temptation by saying, 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:04.180 if you are the Son of God. 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:08.740 He's intentionally trying to get Jesus to doubt that very thing. 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:14.480 He's taking aim at Jesus' identity and purpose. 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:18.600 And then look at the nature of the temptations themselves. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.400 Make bread from stones, Jesus. 00:08:21.660 --> 00:08:23.060 You don't have to be hungry. 00:08:24.140 --> 00:08:26.420 I know you're hungry, but you don't have to be hungry. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.680 Jump off this temple and be rescued. 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:32.560 You don't have to be vulnerable. 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:35.480 You feel very vulnerable and exposed. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:36.940 You don't have to feel that way. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:39.139 Rule the world, Jesus. 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:41.000 You don't have to be powerless. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:45.940 Do you see what all of these temptations have in common 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:48.279 and where this is going? 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:51.620 You don't have to suffer, Jesus. 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:53.759 You don't have to suffer. 00:08:55.559 --> 00:09:00.139 You don't have to do what your Father sent you here to do, Jesus. 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:02.639 What kind of Father would do that? 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:06.100 You don't have to do it, Jesus. 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:09.080 You don't have to serve his purposes. 00:09:10.819 --> 00:09:12.159 You don't have to do it his way. 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:16.080 You don't have to go to the cross. 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:18.899 There's another way. 00:09:19.939 --> 00:09:22.139 There's a way that goes around Calvary. 00:09:22.139 --> 00:09:24.439 I know a shortcut. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:27.319 It'll get you there a lot quicker. 00:09:28.539 --> 00:09:32.460 You know, we're not told exactly what Jesus sees in that third temptation 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:34.799 when the devil takes him to the mountaintop. 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:38.759 It simply says that the devil shows him all the kingdoms of the world. 00:09:39.019 --> 00:09:44.439 But I think that it is entirely possible that Satan shows Jesus a vision of the future. 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:49.860 Not just all of the kingdoms that exist in the first century, 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:55.640 but all of the kingdoms of the world that will exist throughout history. 00:09:56.160 --> 00:09:59.940 I think it's entirely plausible that the devil showed him a future 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:06.200 in which everything else would play out exactly as Jesus had intended, 00:10:06.700 --> 00:10:09.720 exactly as the Father had planned. 00:10:10.280 --> 00:10:13.820 I think it's entirely possible that Satan shows Jesus a future 00:10:13.820 --> 00:10:18.060 where Jesus would go on to perform extraordinary miracles. 00:10:18.800 --> 00:10:20.620 He would establish the church. 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:24.440 He would establish the Christian faith. 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.520 He would amass billions and billions of fathers. 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:32.680 His name would be praised and worshipped all around the world. 00:10:33.040 --> 00:10:36.020 Christianity would become the greatest global religion. 00:10:36.400 --> 00:10:38.980 They would do extraordinary good in the world. 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:40.200 They would fight injustice. 00:10:40.620 --> 00:10:41.760 They would build orphanages. 00:10:41.900 --> 00:10:43.660 They would care for the poor and the sick. 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:44.919 They would liberate the oppressed. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:46.399 They would cure diseases. 00:10:46.579 --> 00:10:49.519 And they would spread love and kindness all through the world. 00:10:49.899 --> 00:10:53.019 There would be peace and prosperity for all of God's people. 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:56.100 It would be everything that Jesus had come to accomplish 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:58.459 with just one little tiny adjustment. 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:00.360 No cross. 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:20.740 He offers Jesus a chance to be Lord but without having to be Savior. 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:25.960 This would be Satan's greatest victory of all. 00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:34.539 It's nothing like the caricatures of evil that we so often see in pop culture 00:11:34.539 --> 00:11:39.960 when we might imagine a kind of satanic, dystopian future 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:44.220 with the fire and the torture and all of that. 00:11:44.340 --> 00:11:45.299 It's nothing like that. 00:11:45.299 --> 00:11:49.919 Here is this satanic, dystopian future. 00:11:51.079 --> 00:11:58.399 A Christian church doing full of Christian people doing all kinds of Christian things 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.000 but without the cross. 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:04.959 People who genuinely believe they are doing good for God 00:12:04.959 --> 00:12:08.039 who are actually in service to Satan. 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:13.579 So this is the real danger behind these temptations. 00:12:13.959 --> 00:12:18.860 Satan's plan is not necessarily to prevent Christianity from emerging. 00:12:19.319 --> 00:12:22.519 It's not to eradicate the possibility of Christianity. 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:27.579 It's to establish a Christian church that is completely impotent. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:30.939 A crossless Christianity. 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:36.760 This is what's on the table. 00:12:36.900 --> 00:12:37.680 These are the stakes. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.120 As with the temptations, 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:46.580 when we look at the meaning of Jesus' victory, 00:12:46.880 --> 00:12:49.440 there's much more going on here than meets the eye. 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:52.380 Because this, my friends, is not the first time 00:12:52.380 --> 00:12:56.200 we have seen temptations like this at work. 00:12:56.200 --> 00:13:01.960 The very first example of temptation happened in the garden in Genesis chapter 3. 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:07.540 God has told Adam that he and Eve may eat of the fruit of any tree in the garden 00:13:07.540 --> 00:13:10.000 except for the one that is in the midst of the garden. 00:13:10.280 --> 00:13:11.600 But He doesn't give a reason. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:14.940 How frustrating would that be? 00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:17.920 He doesn't give a reason for the command. 00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:20.340 They simply have to trust Him. 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:23.640 They simply have to take it at His word. 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:26.199 But the serpent says, essentially, 00:13:26.439 --> 00:13:29.259 you don't need God to decide good and evil. 00:13:29.379 --> 00:13:34.100 You can decide for yourselves good and evil. 00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:36.199 In fact, that's what the fruit is for. 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:37.480 All you have to do is eat the fruit, 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:40.899 and then you can make these decisions on your own. 00:13:41.779 --> 00:13:43.319 And then it says the woman looked, 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:44.980 and it says in verse 6, 00:13:45.139 --> 00:13:46.879 saw that the tree was good for food, 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:49.399 and that it was a delight to the eyes, 00:13:50.319 --> 00:13:53.299 and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. 00:13:53.299 --> 00:14:00.079 And we see echoes of the same temptations Jesus faced around hunger and comfort and power. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:01.120 It looks good. 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:02.319 It appeals to the appetite. 00:14:02.579 --> 00:14:05.539 And if I had the kind of power and wisdom this would offer me, 00:14:05.579 --> 00:14:07.419 then I could make these decisions for myself. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:08.279 I would be wise. 00:14:08.579 --> 00:14:13.459 I wouldn't have to be vulnerable and powerless and dependent on God anymore. 00:14:13.779 --> 00:14:16.240 We see these echoes of the same temptations. 00:14:16.740 --> 00:14:18.579 And then, of course, we know the story. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:21.200 They eventually gave in to the temptations. 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:22.740 They eat the fruit, 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:27.000 and the world falls into sin and brokenness as a result. 00:14:27.160 --> 00:14:33.360 These human beings who God placed there to rule over creation in His name, 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:35.580 in fact, turned creation over. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.180 They did the one thing a ruler should never do. 00:14:39.280 --> 00:14:41.500 They turned their land over to the enemy. 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:47.500 So then God sets a plan in motion to restore creation through Israel, 00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:52.500 and He promises Abraham that one day He's going to turn His descendants into a great nation, 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:53.659 and He's going to bless them, 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:56.539 and He's going to bless all of the nations through them. 00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.799 And then God raises up this nation of Israel. 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:02.580 He sets them free from slavery in Egypt. 00:15:02.860 --> 00:15:06.980 He brings them out into the wilderness for 40 years of preparation 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:11.420 so that they can enter the promised land and become that blessing to the nations. 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:21.620 But Israel faces the same temptations around appetite and vulnerability and power. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:26.860 They're hungry and thirsty, and they fail to trust in God's provision. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:29.180 They say, it would be better if we just went back to Egypt. 00:15:29.420 --> 00:15:33.460 We're going to starve out here, even though God miraculously provides food for them. 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:36.340 They're terrified of their enemies. 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:39.420 They send spies into the promised land, 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:42.500 and they see the enemies that they're up against, and they're terrified. 00:15:42.940 --> 00:15:45.600 And they say, we cannot possibly win. 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:49.860 And they feel so vulnerable and exposed, and they feel weak and powerless. 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:52.000 And so they build a golden calf. 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:56.560 They build a God they can worship who will make them feel strong and powerful 00:15:56.560 --> 00:16:01.100 rather than foolish, a God they can be proud of. 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:08.220 And here's where we begin to see the real meaning behind this battle in the wilderness 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:10.480 between Jesus and the devil. 00:16:12.060 --> 00:16:13.420 Listen to this parallel. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:14.940 This is no coincidence. 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:23.600 God brought Israel, who He refers to as His firstborn son in Exodus 4, 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:28.140 out of Egypt, through the waters of the Red Sea, 00:16:28.140 --> 00:16:33.720 and into the wilderness for 40 years to be tested by Him and tempted by the evil one. 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:37.040 And here in Matthew, what happens? 00:16:37.920 --> 00:16:43.580 God brings Jesus, His only begotten Son, up out of Egypt, 00:16:44.180 --> 00:16:47.440 because that's where they had been living as refugees until Herod died. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.899 And then Jesus passes through the waters of baptism, 00:16:53.420 --> 00:16:58.600 and then He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tested by God 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:01.180 and tempted by the evil one. 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:06.139 Matthew is very intentional about creating this parallel. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:12.159 He's making a very profound theological statement about the purpose of Jesus' ministry. 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:13.240 And there's more. 00:17:14.259 --> 00:17:18.879 Each time Satan tempts Jesus, Jesus responds by quoting Scripture. 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:24.059 So we could say we should combat temptation in our own lives by quoting Scripture. 00:17:24.399 --> 00:17:25.039 Absolutely. 00:17:25.299 --> 00:17:26.679 But there's more going on here. 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:32.060 Every time Jesus quotes Scripture, He's quoting from a very particular book, 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:33.640 the book of Deuteronomy. 00:17:35.820 --> 00:17:41.920 Deuteronomy is a book that summarizes all of the instructions God had given the Israelites 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:45.360 during their time in the wilderness. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:51.919 But where Israel failed to uphold what was written in Deuteronomy, 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:56.139 and they gave in to temptation, Jesus remains faithful. 00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:01.059 He quotes Deuteronomy, and then He remains true to God's Word. 00:18:02.159 --> 00:18:06.859 And so what we see is that Jesus is doing much more than merely overcoming personal temptation 00:18:06.859 --> 00:18:08.799 in His own life. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:15.559 Jesus is recapitulating the story of Adam and the story of Israel in the wilderness. 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:20.440 Jesus is succeeding where Adam failed. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:28.500 As Paul says, Jesus comes as the second Adam, the true Adam, to do what the first Adam failed to do. 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:32.379 Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. 00:18:32.539 --> 00:18:37.379 Jesus comes as the true Israel to succeed where Israel failed. 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:43.920 And so we could look at this and we could say, well, what does this mean for us? 00:18:44.020 --> 00:18:47.200 This means that we could simply take Jesus' example, 00:18:47.340 --> 00:18:50.480 and now we go out and we try to overcome temptation the way Jesus did. 00:18:50.540 --> 00:18:52.080 No, this is saying much more than that. 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:58.160 This is saying Jesus' victory over temptation stands in place of our failure. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:04.740 Where we do fail, would fail, will fail. 00:19:05.800 --> 00:19:07.720 Jesus never fails. 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:12.240 His victory stands in the place of all human failure. 00:19:13.340 --> 00:19:20.040 And then instead of forsaking the cross, Jesus fulfills His purpose by dying on the cross. 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:24.359 And then in Colossians chapter 2 verses 15, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:32.399 we see why Satan was so determined to prevent the cross by any means necessary. 00:19:33.019 --> 00:19:35.779 Paul says that on the cross, Jesus did what? 00:19:36.779 --> 00:19:40.359 He disarmed the rulers and authorities, 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:47.500 and He put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him. 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:51.599 In other words, He disarmed Satan. 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:57.720 Satan no longer has any power over those who put their faith in Jesus. 00:19:58.539 --> 00:19:59.640 Because listen to this. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:01.160 It's very important for us to understand this. 00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:03.259 Satan believes the gospel. 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:09.019 Satan knows and believes every word of Scripture. 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:13.980 Satan's doctrine is rock solid. 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:20.920 Satan knows that all human beings have sinned and fallen short of God's standards. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:25.680 Satan knows that all human beings will eventually crumble to temptation. 00:20:26.779 --> 00:20:29.039 And Satan knows that apart from the cross, 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:33.819 there can be absolutely no forgiveness of sin because God is a God of justice. 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:40.960 And so Satan is someone who stands and points to us as we crumble under temptation and says, 00:20:41.159 --> 00:20:41.839 See God? 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:45.839 I knew they would fail. 00:20:46.700 --> 00:20:48.000 You knew they would fail. 00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:51.659 Now justice must be done. 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:57.700 And so apart from the cross, the world remains under His control. 00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:03.580 So a Christian church without a cross would be a church in service to Satan. 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:04.920 It would be the church of Satan. 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:09.799 But the cross changes everything. 00:21:10.840 --> 00:21:15.100 Because of the cross, we can find forgiveness that comes through faith. 00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:19.059 Paul says in Colossians, in that same place, 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:23.279 that God takes the record of our debt and nails it to the cross. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:29.740 So when Satan stands with the finger of accusation pointed at us, 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.779 God takes that record of debt and He nails it to the cross. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:42.660 Because of the cross, we can receive all of the blessings that were promised to Adam, 00:21:42.819 --> 00:21:45.240 all of the blessings that were promised to Israel. 00:21:45.379 --> 00:21:50.099 They all are fulfilled and received through Jesus' perfect obedience. 00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:56.699 And then in that, we receive the Holy Spirit and all of the spiritual resources. 00:21:56.879 --> 00:21:58.919 You can read about that in Ephesians chapter 6. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:04.099 All of the spiritual resources necessary to confront the spiritual forces of darkness 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:09.219 that hold this world captive, to confront the temptation in our own lives. 00:22:09.899 --> 00:22:13.559 And that is the meaning of Jesus' victory. 00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:16.319 It stands in place of our failure. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:20.819 So what do we take from this? 00:22:22.159 --> 00:22:23.619 Well, there's bad news and good news. 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:27.559 If you know anything about Christianity, there's always bad news and good news. 00:22:28.679 --> 00:22:30.700 And by accepting and hearing the bad news, 00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:34.179 that prepares us and opens us to receive the good news, which is always far better. 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:36.240 Here's the bad news. 00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.799 The temptations that confronted Jesus in the wilderness 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:44.359 continue to confront the church to this very day. 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:50.839 Our desire for endless material consumption instead of caring for those in need. 00:22:51.959 --> 00:22:56.519 Our desire for a religion that is safe and comfortable, 00:22:57.379 --> 00:23:03.139 a shortcut around suffering and sacrifice, continues to tempt us. 00:23:03.140 --> 00:23:08.460 Desire for political power and cultural influence and relevance, 00:23:09.040 --> 00:23:15.200 instead of humility and obscurity, continues to tempt us. 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:17.460 You know, one might argue, 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:20.800 I've heard people like Russell Moore make this argument, 00:23:21.560 --> 00:23:25.440 that these temptations really lay behind the collapse of the evangelical church 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.280 currently happening in North America. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:31.579 I will certainly say that these are temptations that I face. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.039 Not just as a pastor, but as a Christian. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:42.119 As a husband, as a dad, somebody trying to live out my faith in D.C. 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:45.420 Every single day, I face these temptations. 00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:52.039 And of course, there's always behind all of that the temptation to have Christianity without the cross. 00:23:53.580 --> 00:23:54.160 Right? 00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:56.039 To have, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:59.160 the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:02.700 Baptism without church discipline. 00:24:03.840 --> 00:24:07.080 Communion without our confession of faith. 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:11.460 Absolution without personal confession of sin. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:16.259 Cheap grace, Bonhoeffer says, is grace without discipleship. 00:24:16.859 --> 00:24:18.379 It's grace without the cross. 00:24:19.139 --> 00:24:22.339 It's grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:26.480 That's the bad news. 00:24:26.579 --> 00:24:27.339 Here's the good news. 00:24:28.819 --> 00:24:31.279 When we find ourselves in the wilderness, 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:35.019 which we will if we don't already, 00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:38.900 whether it's because we are observing a Lenten fast, 00:24:39.240 --> 00:24:44.279 you know, Lent is in many ways a voluntary entering into a wilderness of sorts, 00:24:45.019 --> 00:24:49.180 whether it's because of that or because it's circumstances outside of our control. 00:24:49.259 --> 00:24:51.379 If you look around and you find yourself in the wilderness, 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.900 you are beset by trials and temptations and struggle and hardship. 00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:56.180 You are facing the unknown. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:58.019 You are full of fear and anxiety. 00:24:58.180 --> 00:24:59.420 Everything seems bleak. 00:24:59.619 --> 00:25:00.960 You don't know where God is. 00:25:01.019 --> 00:25:02.639 You don't know what you're supposed to be doing. 00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:07.539 If you're in the wilderness, here's the good news. 00:25:08.539 --> 00:25:11.139 We will never have to face what Jesus faced 00:25:11.139 --> 00:25:15.519 because we will never have to do it alone. 00:25:17.639 --> 00:25:23.180 Jesus, as Scripture calls Him, is our great high priest who has gone before us, 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:27.160 who has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. 00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:31.200 And as the author of Hebrews says, 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:35.720 Jesus, who always goes with us into the wilderness, 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:39.440 it says in verse 15, 00:25:39.560 --> 00:25:43.160 we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, 00:25:44.100 --> 00:25:49.940 but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:54.920 So there's nothing that we can go through in the wilderness where Jesus will not look at us and say, 00:25:55.340 --> 00:25:57.460 I've been there. 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:01.680 I've been there. 00:26:03.580 --> 00:26:08.320 And in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus strengthens us to resist. 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:14.320 And there will be times when we succeed and praise God and celebrate that. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:17.379 And there will be times when we fail. 00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:21.559 And when we fail, the author of Hebrews says, 00:26:21.679 --> 00:26:25.779 those are the times when we draw near to the throne of grace, 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:32.000 that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in that time of need. 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:34.359 Let's pray. 00:26:36.939 --> 00:26:39.059 Lord, we thank You for Your Word. 00:26:39.439 --> 00:26:40.740 We thank You for Your victory. 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:45.980 We thank You that we are not here to be told to go out and to do our best. 00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:52.180 We thank You that instead we are here to celebrate Your victory, 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:56.759 to praise You and glorify You for doing what we could never do. 00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:03.940 And then through our union with You, through our relationship with You, 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:06.240 to share in the blessings of Your victory. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:12.599 And we pray that that victory would be more and more true of us 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:15.539 and more and more realized in our lives. 00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:19.299 We pray that for all of us who are beset, 00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:22.480 who are struggling, 00:27:23.019 --> 00:27:27.700 that we would find rest for our weary souls in Your victory. 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:33.140 that everything that we put our hope in has already been accomplished for us. 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:39.019 That we are here merely to receive what You offer 00:27:39.019 --> 00:27:41.360 and then to live it out, Lord. 00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:43.640 We pray this would be true of us. 00:27:44.120 --> 00:27:45.840 We pray that this would be a blessing to us. 00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:49.160 We pray that it would help us become more the kind of people 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:51.140 who radiate this love and grace into the world. 00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:53.319 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:27:53.539 --> 00:27:53.779 Amen. 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:53.880 Amen. 00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:53.920 Amen.