Antioch Covenant Church

Hungry and Thirsty

Matthew 5:1-6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” vs. 6

Favorite Food

Can you guess the top ten foods that people like to eat? Quickly write down on your outline three or four of the ones you think might be on there and let’s see how well you do. Just remember, lists can vary and you may not agree with these but this is the list given by TheTopTens.com website. So here is their list (read from ten to one):

1. Pizza
2. Chocolate
3. Chicken
4. Ice Cream
5. Steak
6. Burgers
7. Bacon
8. French Fries
9. Sushi
10. Tacos

So how did you do? Ask how many people got. It would pretty safe to say that the taste of food is pretty subjective. But as subjective as taste is, hunger and thirst aren’t. We all get hungry or thirsty and want something to satisfy that.  We have been looking at Jesus Sermon n the Mount and the beatitudes. Today, Jesus uses food as an analogy to draw us closer spiritually. If you are able, please stand as we read Matthew 5:1-6:

Read Passage – Matthew 5:1-6

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

What Do You Crave?

We all have food cravings. BTW I know what you’re thinking; I can’t believe he is talking about food right before lunch. And, as I mentioned earlier, Jesus uses the analogy of food to get us thinking about our spiritual life and how we live.  He starts verse 6 by saying:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst…” vs. 6a

Jesus wants to challenge us in thinking about spiritual things. And that begs the question: What do you crave?  More specifically, do you or what do you crave spiritually?  As I say that, what answers pop into your mind? Share a few with me.

Craving The Right Thing

It is important not to stop there but to continue on with Jesus thought to find where he is going with this. So, let’s continue with verse 6:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” vs. 6a

The sentence structure here denotes an abnormal desire for food and drink. This is not a casual desire, or stomach “growlings” between meals, this hunger and thirst is the kind that comes from desperation. We might not know what it means to be without food or drink for days on end, and to long for just the tiniest bit of nourishment. But that’s the kind of hunger & thirst that Jesus is referring to. It’s a deep yearning or desire; what I called craving. For the people of Jesus day, depending on your profession and your means, many in the crowd might have been through those types of situations. A few times we see the people following Jesus and they haven’t brought anything with them and he provides food for them.

He emphasizes the spiritual by talking about having that deep craving for righteousness. Why righteousness? To understand this, we need to understand what righteousness is. Righteousness is “acting in accord with moral or divine law” but to put it in a spiritual context and a more simple definition is “standing right before God.” So Jesus really challenges us if we are living is a way in which we can stand right before God.

Ex. Many of us crave food that isn’t really good for us. Many of those foods we saw in that list at the beginning of the sermon.  Many of the foods that are really good for us, we have to discipline ourselves to eat. (Give example)

Our Protection

Before we look at what that means to us on a daily basis, understand that it isn’t up to you and I to figure it out on our own or to make this happen, God as given us this righteousness as a tool. We find this tool listed in Ephesians 6:14:

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…” Eph. 6:14

This isn’t a new thought.  Solomon actually wrote about this same thing in the book of Proverbs.

“Righteousness guards the person of integrity…” Prov. 13:6

So righteousness is a tool for us to protect us. To protect what? In times past many soldiers would use chainmail shirt (a shirt of metal) and they would out that on and it would cover their arms and torso. Over that they would put on a breastplate.  The breastplate covered the front and back. It was meant to protect your vital organs and more specifically it was meant to protect your heart, the most precious of our organs. So this is meant to be something that helps us, protects us, and sustains us in the midst of battle.

A Diet of Righteousness

The question is, what does this look like in our lives? What can we do to have righteousness in our lives so that we can stand right before God? Good question, here is what God tells us through his word about that.

-Belief

It starts with belief, and belief in the right thing. Notice what God says about Abraham in Galatians 3:6:

“So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Gal. 3:6

Belief starts in the head.  It’s the conscious thoughts and decisions we make to believe in God. It really comes down to one question; Do you believe in God or not and do you believe in Jesus as the only way of salvation? Really the rest of this is not important if you haven’t answered that question. Many people want to stand right before God but they want to do that based on their own ideas of what that looks like or based on a list of “good things” they have done.  Here is the bottom line, it’s what we believe, that God is real, there is only one God, and that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. Jesus says:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except by me.” John 14:6

He is not one of the ways or one option, he is the only way. Part of righteousness becomes real in our life when we accept this free gift of salvation provided by God through Jesus Christ.

-Trust

A second way that righteousness is made real in our life is when it makes its way from our head to our heart and that comes in the form of trust. Romans 4:5:

“However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” Romans 4:5

Trust is when we have that craving to see God and his way come out in every part of our life. This part of righteousness is really a work in progress.  It’s the constant awareness and decision making to continually turn everything in your life over to God and know that he only wants the best for you. When I say that don’t think that when I say the best it means easy or plentiful. The best means he is forming and molding us to be more like Jesus.

Challenge: What have you not trusted God with? This is not a one time question, it’s one that we can ask ourselves hourly, daily, weekly, etc.

Here are a few challenges: your job, your finances, truthfulness, your sex life, your children, your integrity, your emotions, etc. Realize we can turn things over to God and then take it back or even still try to do it on our own.  This can be a constant struggle.

-Training

A third area that righteousness comes out in our life is in our training. Notice what Hebrews 12:11 says:

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Heb. 12:11

Training is the constant work it takes to continually work at being better at something. Training is our faith and trust coming out in our actions. Think of this in terms of an athlete. Athletes train day after day after day and many times on their own when nobody else is around; all with the intention of refining and perfecting their performance.

Ex. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.  I was listening to a broadcast where they said that he shoots at a minimum 120 3-pt. shots a day in practice. He is probably the best 3-pt. shooter in history or at least really close to it.

Now listen to this closely: practice means you get it wrong a lot of times. I don’t know how many 3-pt. shots he misses out of those 120 but I would imagine it’s a pretty good number.  In the NBA if you are shooting over 40% that means you are good.  But realize this; that means you are missing almost 60%, that’s over half.

Training is about discipline and about striving to do better. Many players practice alone and when no one else is watching. They realize that you can only get better through training and discipline.  Think about it, most players are not just disciplined in their game but in their sleep, their food, their focus, etc.  It encompasses  more than one area of your life. Are you training yourself to be more righteous and to let righteousness be a character trait of who you are? What are you doing in private; when no one else is looking? Think about the scenario of an athlete that didn’t practice and discipline themselves; they will probably not excel in their sport.

-A Person of Peace

Finally, righteousness shows itself in our life when we are people of peace.  James 3:18:

“Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:18

The person who has peace, the peace of God, not only reaps more peace, but does that in righteousness. This is not an easy thing too.  We are at war with the world. The world is saying to believe in yourself, to trust yourself, that it’s all about you and you should take all you can, you deserve it. But remember Jesus is called the Prince of Peace and if you state that you believe in him, then we strive to be more like him.  If you can look at yourself and know you are a person of peace, you can be assured you are on the right track to being a person of righteousness and standing right before God.

Reminder: It is more important to be at peace with God than it is to be at peace with the world. The world may not like you or what you stand for but in the long run, it’s more important and fulfilling to be at peace with God. In fact, that might be the way you know you are really on the right path of following God and being a Christian, you hunger and thirst for more of him and more of him in all areas of your life.

Being Filled

The result is found at the end of verse 6:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” vs. 6

The blessing is that you will be filled.  Getting back to the food analogy, think of how satisfying it is when you eat and you are filled.  Not stuffed, not overfilled, but really filled in a good way.  It is satisfying, enjoyable, and it allows you to focus on the rest of your life.

St. Augustine – Our hearts are restless until they find they rest in You, O Lord

Augustine famously wrote, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” This statement has been conceptualized with the image of the God-shaped hole in the human heart. This image suggests that we have a “hole” in our heart that nothing else can fill except God Himself. We can attempt to fill that hole with other things — personal relationships, hobbies, stuff, etc. — but those things are incapable of filling the hole. The writings of C. S. Lewis are heavily laden with this concept, but Lewis does not speak of it in Augustine’s terms. For Lewis, this “God-shaped hole” is experienced in the universal phenomenon of Sehnsucht. Literally translated, this German term means simply “desire,” but the concept is much stronger than this English word conveys.

C.S. Lewis put it this way; We all have a God size hole in us.  He created us with that. That hole aches and craves to be filled. But it can only be filled with God. When it is empty, we are missing an important part of who we are.

Meekness Is Not Weakness

Matthew 5:1-5

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” vs. 5

Clichés and Guarantee’s?

Lately I have been watching things like the Olympics, the Superbowl, etc. and some things regarding people who have made it big in Hollywood and in the business world. I started making a list of some of the things they said that they attribute their success to. Here are some of the things I’ve heard.

Aim for the stars

If you just work hard enough and apply yourself you can do anything

If you can dream it, you can be it.

If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything

Life is what you make it

We just wanted it more

This is what we were aiming for and we wouldn’t settle for anything less

It struck me that these “clichés” sound great but for me there was a disconnect.  I started thinking about some of them and they just don’t seem to really be accurate. For example, “we just wanted it more.” I heard someone say that after a football game. There were 31 other teams that wanted that same thing, had the same goal, wanted to be standing there holding that trophy and have that feeling of being on top of the world. I tend to think that all of them really wanted it bad. I saw the disappointment on the losers face. They wanted it. Or, the Hollywood star that I heard interviewed and said, “If you just work hard enough and apply yourself you can do anything.” Sounds good.  But I know plenty of people who work really hard and maybe harder that the person speaking and have never applied themselves and just didn’t attain that same level of success.

From a worldly perspective these sound good and even might seem to be true. But what’s the real story? What does it take to really get ahead, to find your dream, attain success, really be proud of your life and how far you’ve come? We will look at Jesus’ perspective of this this morning. It’s found in Matthew 5:5. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Matthew 5:1-5

“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Jesus, The Model of Meekness

When Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 5 as a part of the Sermon On The Mount, I believe he was giving us the real story. And I think he gives us a new or different perspective of what real life is. And…he modeled for us what he was talking about. Jesus says in verse 5 “Blessed are  the meek…” and he gets what meek is because that’s who he is.  One way of translating the word meek is “humble.” Matthew 11:29:

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29

Notice that Jesus says “take my yoke on you.” He is asking us to join ourselves to him like two oxen joined in a yoke. We bind ourselves to him so that his thoughts are our thoughts, his actions are our actions. We go where he goes and stay where he stays. So what exactly does it look like to be meek? I think when the word meek is mentioned that many people hear the word weak. Today’s sermon is title Meekness is Not Weakness. Jesus shows us that meekness and that perspective of life is all about our attitude and outlook. It’s much different than some cliché that sounds good but when you dig deeper you really discover how shallow it is.

-Power With Control

First, to address the idea of weakness, Jesus was anything but weak.  In fact, he was full of power. But…his power was power with control. In John 3:13 it says:

“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God…” John 13:3

Notice that “all things are under his power.”  He was the epitome of power. With all things under his power, he could have pretty much do or say whatever he wanted. But take note of how Jesus used his power; to do good, to combat evil, and to glorify God. Most people probably use their power to build themselves up, to hold on to what they have, and to make sure they are taken care of in a way that affirms themselves. In our world, that would seem to be the correct thing to do. Jesus perspective of power is to use it to help others and to brign glory to God. That perspective is much different.

Ill. Commercial about Oral Lee brown who set aside money for children who graduated from high school in Oakland, CA and helped them with college scholarships. 136  kids helped to date.

-Submits

A second characteristic of meek is that it submits, it submits to God. Jesus also lived that our for us. Jesus words from John 4:34:

“’My food,’” said Jesus, “’is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.’”

John 4:34

Jesus always kept before him the attitude that his life was centered on doing the will of His Father. Again, from a worldly perspective this may seem weak wen in actuality it is looking far beyond the here and now and takes on an eternal perspective. Jesus kept in mind that there was a much bigger plan and he trusted God’s plan. When you and I submit our will to the will of God we are telling God that we trust him, his plan, and his will for our life. We also see this when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane and  he is facing death and when he prays he utters the words, “not my will, but thine be done.”

Meekness is the willingness to submit to God, to his plan, and to his ways.

–Builds Up Others

A third character trait of meekness is that it builds up other people.  To put it in another way, it’s putting yourself in the correct perspective and understanding that God loves everyone and everyone has value and worth in God’s eyes and we have the responsibility and charge to love them the way God does; that includes the ones that don’t like us. Luke 2:27-28 says:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.“ Luke 6:27-28

It is hard to affirm those who don’t like you, those who are against you, those who mistreat you, and those who curse you. I’m telling you right now, this is not an easy part of meekness. But even Christ said that he “didn’t come to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) This is where meek can appear to be weak. The reality is that it takes more strength to love those who don’t love you, to do good to those who mistreat you, and to bless those who curse you.

How do you do this? I’m not great at it but let give you a few ideas that have worked for me.

-Pray, pray hard. Ex. Guy speeding on James Donlon the other day. Scary, yes.

-Be empathetic.

-Random acts of kindness

-Bless: to ask God to care for and protect (someone or something)

-Forgives

Finally, a meek person displays the character trait of forgiveness. Jesus said in Luke 6:37:

“Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

In the Greek, the word “meek” also means “The humble and gentle attitude which expresses itself in a patient submissiveness to offense, free from malice and desire for revenge”. Forgiveness is a key part of being meek but it is the willingness to move past the wrongs that have been committed (maybe even against you) and restore relationships.

Ill. There is a place in Scripture where people are mocking Jesus right to his face, they are even taking things that are not theirs, their his, and messing around with them. They are even ridiculing him. It’s when he is hanging on the cross. It’s found in Luke 23:34 and let me rercall his words:

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” Luke 23:34

The Big Inheritance

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” vs. 5

Jesus is quoting a verse from Psalm 37:11.

Isn’t this just the opposite what the world teaches? The world says “Get all you can and don’t worry about others.” The world teaches that only the strong will survive. The world teaches that those who exert (overwork) themselves will reach their materialistic goals. The world teaches that you can deserve something, and a lot of people translates into “I deserve something from God.” OR, “God owes me something.”

But Jesus teaches us that the Meek inherit the earth. Some translate to the earth right now and some to the earth to come. I think it could be both.

-In The Present

People see you differently when you are meek.  There is a certain amount of respect they give you. They listen to you.

-In The Future

But it is also refers to the future, when Christ returns.  In Revelation it tells us that when Christ returns there will be a new heaven and new earth. It’s on the new earth that there will be the New Jerusalem and that is where God will live and it’s where we will reign with him.

A Simple Wave “Hello”

Show video clip of the elderly lady who took the time to wave hello to every junior and senior higher that walked by her house on the way to school.  They would wave back and she became loved by those kids and honored on Valentine’s Day for her acts of friendliness.

Matthew 5:1-4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” vs. 4

Should I Laugh Or Cry

As a pastor I have the opportunity to perform funeral services. Some services have an overwhelming sense of sadness while some seem very upbeat and more of a celebration. The problem that many people run into is knowing how to handle and control their reactions. Sometimes you just want to cry or be quite. Other times, you want to laugh, smile, feel that sense of peace; but for some reason we feel awkward about that or that it is inappropriate. It is hard to know sometimes should I laugh or cry? One of the things I try to do as a funeral starts is to give people permission to express what they feel. To realize that one is not right and one wrong, sometimes it’s just how you are feeling that day.

I think death is a difficult thing to comprehend. We know that life is a set period of time and some people are ready to face death yet we who are left are flooded with a wide range of emotions and thoughts.  Another difficult concept that goes right along with death is mourning or sorrow. We experience those emotions but it’s not easy to understand them.  They come sometimes when we least expect it.  And how do you get past them?  You can’t just take a pill, say a certain word, go to a certain place, etc. and they just go away. Another thing about mourning is it seems to be constantly on your mind.  You can’t go too long without thinking about the thing you are mourning about.  Jesus talks about this difficult subject in the beatitudes, we find it in Matthew 5. If you are able, please stand as we read Matthew 5:1-4.

Read Passage – Matthew 5:1-4

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.

Things We Mourn

What do you think of when yo hear the word mourn? I think of death and more specifically, the death of someone I know or am familiar with. But mourning is more than that isn’t it? I’ve made a list of some things that we mourn.

-Death of a Loved One

Obviously at the top of the list is death and the death of a loved one, someone we care about.

Ill. On Valentine’s Day one of my aunts passed away. A wonderful Christian woman.  Actually and interesting story, she married into the German Baptist. They are an interesting group.  Most of their churches look much like this (show picture). Pretty plain and simple and the inside goes right along with it, white walls, nothing on the walls, no instruments, they sing A cappella only, and their hymnals which come from 1867 have words but no music. They all dress the same, the women all wear the same style dress and bonnet (show picture) and the men all wear the same style suit, and most have beards but no mustaches. And they don’t wear jewelry. Anyway, as different as they are, I loved my aunt, I will miss her but know that she loved God and knew Jesus as her Savior.

-Loss of Possessions

A second thing we mourn is the loss of our possessions; things like pets, house(s), car(s), maybe pictures from our past that we lose in a fire or flood, or in some other way.   Some of our possessions are very close to our hearts and when they are gone, we struggle and o mourn.

Ill. One of the toughest things I have been through was the loss of our dog. We loved her and she meant so much to us.

–Difficulties Circumstances

A third thing we mourn is the loss of circumstances or situations

Ill. Maybe we lose a job that we really loved.  We don’t get a job we were counting on or really wanted. I remember when I was 16 and my parents told us we were going to the Philippines. We were so excited.   We ran into visa problems and passport problems and when everything fell through, we kind of mourned not being able to go.

The Character Of Godly/Spiritual Mourning

Today we want to really try to grasp the kind of mourning Jesus is talking about here in verse 4 and somehow discover his desire for our life by living it out. This mourning he is conveying to us here is a Godly or Spiritual mourning.

• Sorrow About Others Sin and Condition

The first part of this Godly or Spiritual mourning is our emotions and feeling s that come up in us when we have sorrow about others and their sin and their lost condition. Jesus showed us this kind of sorrow in his life, we see it explained to us in Matthew 23:37-38:

 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.” Matthew 23:37-38

In this passage Jesus is speaking to his disciples and the crowds and he is warning them about claiming to follow God but not living it out in your heart. He may even have Jerusalem within his view at this point. The point is, when we see others in sin, when we see them hurting themselves or hurting others, there is a sorrow (or maybe there should be a sorrow) in our heart. Jesus is seeing the people of Israel follow leaders who don’t love God, they love themselves.  They love their power, their control, their riches and they lord it over the people and they are falling for it.  They are supposed to be ready for his arrival instead they have killed the prophet, they have rejected the message, they have missed the point about their relationship with Gid and are more concerned with law keeping and rituals.

Ill. My niece. A beautiful young women, a real joy to be around and life of the party. Went through difficult times and turned to drugs and alcohol.  The pain we as a family experienced watching her go through that.  The pain in our hearts. Never stopped loving her but struggled watching her destroy herself and eventually die at only 32.

• Sorrow About Our Sin

A second part of this spiritual or Godly sorrow is the sorrow we have about our own sin. God wants us to experience full joy and peace in life by growing in our relationship with Him and doing the things that build us up.  Sin only destroys and tears down. A great example from the Bible is David.  David was a man after God’s own heart, he was  God’s chose to be king, and he was chose to have the birth line of Jesus to go through him. But…he sinned, badly, and in multiple ways .

Here’s the story, he is standing out on his deck and he can see straight into the place a beautiful woman is taking a bath.  He doesn’t cover his eyes and look the other way, no, he lusts after her and even calls for her and convinces her to sleep with him. She get pregnant and then he tries to scheme to get her husband to sleep with her so it looks like it’s his child.  When that doesn’t work he puts him in a place in war where he is sure to get killed.  Then he marries Bathsheba.  To top it off, when he is confronted about this by the priest, he won’t fess up to it. He finally does. Now we read about that in the historical accounts but we don’t really get a good idea about David’s emotions until we read the Psalms.  They are David’s pouring out of his heart. So now, listen to David’s words from Psalm 51:3-6 where he laments his sin:

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. ⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. ⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.” Psalm 51:3-6

See sin can seem innocent enough or even pleasurable for a while. But it catches up with us.  And…you know it don’t you. You know when you are doing something wrong and that you’re not in the space you need to be. Unfortunately, many times we just block it out or even think that somehow, someway, we might just get away with this one. Here’s another verse of David’s that maybe we can identify with in Psalm 38:17-18:

“For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me. ¹⁸ I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” Psalm 38:17-18

Sin is tough on us and it does cause sorrow.  Here is a little equation to take with you and think about this week:

Sin = pain = sorrow

• Godly Sorrow

And that leads us to this deeper understanding of what Jesus is saying in verse 4, it comes from 2 Corinthians 7:10-11:

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” 2 Cor. 7:10-11

There is a thing called “Godly sorrow.” Godly sorrow is the idea that we begin to look and see things through God’s perspective. See God has a much bigger picture than we do and he understand what is necessary for us to thrive, to find true peace, deep joy, and real life. His perspective of sorrow leads to life. But there is worldly sorrow too and that kind leads to death. Worldly sorrow is empty, unfulfilling, and drains the life out of us. I can honestly say that I choose life. I want life and I want it to the full (John 10:10).

We have an example of this kind of perspective in Luke 18: It’s the the story of the tax collector who recognizes the error of his ways and repents. He says in Luke 18:13:

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” Luke 18:13

A Godly perspective of life and sin leads us to repent and to beg for God’s mercy, which he freely and gladly gives to us. Now if the verse ended with “Blessed are those who mourn…” we would miss the promise that comes with it.

Moving Ahead With Strength

When we understand the promise that accompanies  “blessed are those who mourn,” we find a great nugget of

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” vs. 4

Comforted – the word implies strengthening as well as consolation. Those who bear their sorrows patiently grow in patience; those who sorrow for others grow in sympathy; those who sorrow for their own sin deepen their penitence; and those who choose Godly sorrow find comfort and new strength. The comfort comes trusting God, his guidance, his truths, his perspective, and his ways. A description of that comfort is found in Rev. 1:7 in the phrase, ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes’ (Revelation 7:17)

But wait, it gets better! Listen to Is. 40:30-31:

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹ but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31

Embracing Godly sorrow, choosing to live with God’s perspective, not only helps you live, it allows you to soar like an eagle. Wow!

Spiritually Blessed

Matthew 5:1-3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 3

“When” and “Then”

Let’s start today by being a bit more interactive.  I am going to give you a hypothetical situation by saying “when” and you respond by finishing the statement starting with “then.” Try to answer with some amount of honesty and seriousness. Let’s start with a warm-up one.

When I leave church today… (You answer then I will ______)

Okay, got it, let’s try some more.

-When I win the lottery, then…

-When I retire, then…

-When I get that dream job I’ve been looking for, then…

-When I get that car I have always wanted, then…

-When God answers my prayer, then…

Many people live in the when and then. It’s the idea that they will only be happy, content, satisfied, etc. when something happens in their life that is not there right now.  We have to be careful with that kind of thinking, it can stop us from enjoying life in the here and now. It can also stop us from moving ahead in life because we can get mired into a thinking about what we don’t have.  We are starting a series where Jesus gives those who listen a new outlook on life by giving them a new perspective.  It’s found in Matthew 5 and today we are going to read verse 1-3. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Matthew 5:1-3

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Sermon On The Mount

Matthew 5 is one of the more famous passages of Scripture and one that many people may not be able to quote word for word but one that many people have a general familiarity with. This section of Scripture is usually called the Sermon on the Mount; mainly because of how it starts in verse 1-2:

“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.”  vss. 1-2

Jesus was a master at using his surroundings to communicate spiritual truths to people.  In our passage today he uses a mountainside to communicate to a large group of people in a way in which they can all hear him and see him. It’s funny, many pictures of this scene look like this (show picture) and yet I think it must have looked something more like this (show second picture). The Sermon on the Mount includes most of Matthew 5-7.

The “Be”-attitudes

• Today we are looking a smaller section of the Sermon on the Mount called the “Beatitudes.” In your outline, I have kind of played with the words to put it in a way that is easily remember. I called them the Be-attitudes because it is the idea that Jesus is conveying to us attitudes that we can live by and/or attitudes we should have.

The word ‘Beatitude’ is not found in the English Bible. But it is derived from the Latin word ‘Beatus’ meaning ‘Happy’ or ‘Blessed’ and we see that in our Bible as each phrase is started with the word “Blessed.” Some of these phrases are the most quoted passages of the Bible. People tend to know them, if not specifically generally.

How To Get Spiritually Poor

Today we want to focus on verses 1-3 and in the next few weeks we will look at the ideas conveyed in the following verses. But for today, we are focusing on verse 3:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 3

The way I stated this is How To Get Spiritually Poor. So what exactly does Jesus mean when he says “poor in spirit?”

Caution: He is not talking about those that are destitute of possessions. Notice it does not read, “Blessed in spirit are those who are poor.”

Be careful not to misunderstand this passage just because the word poor is there at the end. It is not talking about material possessions or riches; it is referring to a condition, state of mind, or attitude. So this is statement is challenging our thinking about our spiritual state of mind, our spiritual attitude. It is also a very important way in which Jesus sets the tone for this entire section of teaching. This phrase unfolds for us in four aspects.

1. Be Willing To Open Your Mind To Truth

First, poor in spirit embraces the concept that we are willing to open your mind to truth. The word poor in this passage comes from the root word to shrink or to cringe. It is the understanding that in light of who we are and who God is, he is truth. This idea is the idea that we can be self-confident and self-promoting and we shrink back or cringe back and seek truth; the truth that comes from God. This kind of truth brings us freedom as it states in John 8:32:

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

Knowing truth, God’s truth, sets us free.  Free from the bondage of sin, free from the  having to figure it out ourselves, free from the unknown.  Let me explain how you discover this kind of truth.

• Ask God To Reveal It

First, you need to ask God to reveal it to you. He will; He doesn’t hold back, doesn’t toy with us, doesn’t make it difficult. He has given us his Son and  His Word. Ask Him. He says in Luke 11 that if we ask, we receive. This is not a game with God. He wants us to honestly and whole heartedly seek him and he will reveal himself and truth to us. So you read his Word, you spend time in prayer, and you watch and look for God’s revelation.

• Wrestle With It

But it won’t be easy, you have to wrestle with it. We get set in our ways, we feel like we know what’s best, and we feel we can do it on our own. Many times learning God’s truth is not what we expect it to be and not what is most comfortable to us.

Ex. Jacob in Genesis 31 where God calls him to go back to his homeland. He is about to meet up with his brother whom he left on bad terms with when he swindled him out of his birthright and his Father’s blessing. The night before he meets with his brother he wrestles with God. It’s a difficult thing when God calls us to something and we aren’t completely in sync with him

2. Fully Believe Who God Is

The second part of poor in spirit is the concept of fully believing who God is.  As I stated, poor means to shrink back. When we shrink back, we allow God to take control and to be who he said he is; God.  Poor in spirit is the realization that we are not God(s). It is giving God his rightful place and acknowledging his power, glory, and majesty. Micah 6:8:

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6;8

Our job is not to be God but to walk humbly with him. Notice it says “O mortal” or in other translations “O man.” We are human. We are not God but are the children of God. This walking humbly embraces that attitude of “poor” that is in the phrase poor in spirit.

Ex. Going back to the opening example, many people say something like, “When God does this, then I will believe.”

We have the privilege of coming along side God and believing and trusting him whole-heartedly. I like the way it is stated in 1 Timothy 6:16:

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1Timothy 6:16

When we fully believe who God is, we understand that his ways are not our way, his thoughts are not our thoughts, his ways and thoughts are so much higher and greater than our ever could be.

3. Look To The Son (Jesus)

A third concept included in poor in spirit is that it includes looking to Jesus and the work that he did. It is the realization that he gave it all, 100%, for us and we embrace what he did and and model our life after his by accepting his sacrifice for us and giving all we have back. Let’s look at this from a passage in Phil. 2:5-8:

“…have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Phil 2:5-8
Notice how this affirms what we saw in the previous point that we are not God and shouldn’t consider ourselves equal to him but we are co-heirs with Jesus.  We take on his mindset, his humility, and we imitate his obedience to the Father.  This is all done by keeping our eyes on Jesus and on the cross. It’s remembering he gave it all and for us, we are called to give it all as well.

4. Be Holy Spirit Led

Finally, this kind of poor in spirit attitude can only be experienced by being led by the Holy Spirit. The wonderful news is that when we look to the son and we accept what he did for us, God gives us the Holy Spirit that lives in his. We know this because he told us this in 1 John 4:13:

“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.”

1 John 4:13

Ever been left alone when you expected some guidance and direction? It’s not a good feeling an it is very unsettling. God doesn’t do that to us.  He would never do that to us. If you have the chance go to John 17 and read Jesus prayer and in it he talks about the need for him to go to the Father so we could have the spirit; and we do.

Here is another understanding of the word poor being used here. It is the idea of being without, not having something and the need to beg for it.  Not don’t fall into the trap of thinking of begging as bad.  Begging can be a good think.  It’s the idea of wanting something so bad, so desperately, yearning for it, desiring it, that you ask with all you have to get it.  Let me challenge you on this.  Many of us assume we will just get God’s direction and guidance and don’t put too much thought into it. This is the idea that you want it so bad that you are willing to plead hard for it.

The result is that we really feel the embrace of God as his children.  Romans 8:14:

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Romans 8:14

Here is why it is so important to understand poor in spirit as the first thing that Jesus says in the sermon on the Mount and in the Beatitudes; it is the base for all the ideals and statements to come.  Our salvation is based on it; fully believing in God, looking to Jesus and living by the Spirit. And from that we have the promise of what is to come.

Spiritually Confident

I called this spiritual confidence. Listen to how verse 3 ends:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” vs. 3

We are promised an incredible gift; the kingdom of heaven. The ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ is a unique title only found in the gospel of Matthew. This term is used interchangeably with ‘Kingdom of God’ in the other gospels. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Messianic kingdom promised in the Old Testament, to be established by the Messiah. (Daniel 2:44) Matthew presents Jesus as the Savior and King prophesied in the Old Testament.

The Kingdom of God (Heaven) is twofold:

• It is Already Here: Luke 17:20-21: “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
• It is Yet to Come: The Kingdom of Heaven will be fully realized and established when Christ comes back as the King and Ruler overall the earth. (Daniel 7: 13,14,27)
• What a blessed hope and promise, Jesus offers to those who are poor in spirit! “The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

We don’t have to have “When” and “Then” thinking.  You don’t have to be content or happy when ”x” happens, you can have that joy, contentment, and peace now. You are a child of God and you can walk with spiritual confidence  .

Casting A New Vision
Matthew 4:18-25
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” vs. 19

Missing The Point
Several years ago, in London, England the city was besieged with complaints about London’s mass transit system. It seems that the city’s buses tended to drive right past bus stops even though there were customers standing in line waiting to be picked up. Called upon to explain their actions, the London Transit Authorities released the following statement which has become infamous with public relations departments everywhere. It read: “It is impossible for us to maintain our schedules if we are always having to stop and pick up passengers.”

APPLY: (pause)… What was wrong with that statement?

Answer: They got their priorities confused. They were only doing half of their job. They thought their job was to keep a schedule when, in reality, their job was to pick up passengers and deliver them to their destinations. They were created to pick up and deliver people; the schedule was a means by which they do that. Can you imagine waiting for a bus or BART and watching it pass by when you have been waiting and then you are ate for work, an appointment, a date, etc. They whole idea is that the company is supposed to blend the schedule with picking up and delivering people; and that is do-able.

Today we are looking at a passage where Jesus tells us some keys things to remember about our Christian life and what we are to do. It’s found in Matthew 4:18-25. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Matthew 4:18-22
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Jesus On The Lookout
Jesus is beginning his earthly ministry and in the verses we looked at last week we saw Jesus message is; “Repent for the kingdom of God is near.” Here is where we find him now, verse 18:

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers…” vs. 18a

Jesus is walking along the shore of Galilee when he sees some fisherman. It’s exactly what you would expect to see when you are on the shore of a lake. Jesus is about to embark on the huge task of telling people about God and that God wants a relationship with them and he is here to provide a way for a restored relationship with God. So he is looking for people he can train, confide in, teach, and eventually empower to carry on the ministry when he goes back to God.

Question: If you wanted to find some good people to do ministry, where would you go?

Answer: Maybe to a Christian college, a church, etc. Would you go to the gym, the mall, a grocery store, the gas station, the local park? Probably not.

Not Jesus. He doesn’t go to the temple, synagogue, or go looking for people who have all the answers. Jesus calls regular everyday people, in this case, fisherman. He didn’t want the professional theologians and scholars of the day, the people who thought they had all the answers, who lived a “perfect” life, who thought they were gifted to do ministry. No he calls everyday people who are doing everyday jobs and live everyday lives. Jesus is still doing that today. Granted we have more avenues for training, more answers and resources at our fingertips and creative ways to reach those who don’t know God. But the story is the same, God calls everyday people to be the ones to spread the gospel.

Choosing Who To Follow
Part of the key to this story is the choice that the fisherman have to make; verse 18-19:

“They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me…’”
vss. 18b-19a

The fishermen are called to follow Jesus; it is a choice. They are confronted with having to choose if they are going to follow him or not. Theologian John Calvin noted that these men were not called to salvation, they already believed. They were now being called to a specific task. We can say we believe and trust Jesus.

They were confronted with a big call. They were being called to leave their jobs, their families, their homes, really everything they knew. This is a big choice. The real issue for those who believe is that when Jesus calls us to action; are we ready? Are we ready to drop what we are doing to do what God wants us to do. I don’t just mean a call to ministry. No, it’s more than that.
Ex. God calls you to feed the homeless, God calls you to teach the kids or youth, God calls you to help at a retirement home, etc.

What has God laid on your heart? What is stopping you from obeying God’s call?

The New Vision
Jesus didn’t just call them to follow him, he called them to a new vision of their old job. He says in verse 19:

“Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’” vs. 19

All these guys knew was fishing. Jesus tells them they are going to do something very similar yet with a new focus. Their new focus is people, not fish. They will employ similar tactics but in new ways. Applying this to us today, Jesus rarely calls us to something we don’t know anything about. He takes what we know and what we are familiar with and use it in a new way.
Ex. I had no idea that the budgeting I did at UPS, the people skills I learned, the planning ahead, etc., were preparing me for being a pastor, but it did. He takes what we know, what we have learned, our skills and talents, and shows us we can use them to bring people to God and for his glory.

Jesus Vision For Reaching People
The real issue here is that ministry is a full-time commitment for all believers. God doesn’t just call some people into ministry; he calls all people into ministry. It’s the idea that you can minister wherever you are and whatever you are doing. The bottom line, there are a lot more ministers outside the church than there are in the church.

Listen to the uniqueness and creativity of this story we are reading today. This story has some really cool analogies and meaning within it. Jesus gives them a new vision for reaching people and it could be missed if we read through this too fast. Let’s spend a moment and really see what Jesus is saying. It’s broken down in three areas of ways to reach people.

• In Crowds
The first way to reach people is in large crowds. Notice the call of James and John in verses 21 and 22:

“Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” vss. 21-22a

Jesus also calls these fishermen to follow him. They have a unique way of fishing. They are using a net that in Greek is the word “diktya.” That is the term used here. This term is a compound net of three layers, made up of five units each over a hundred feet long. This kind of net had to be used be groups of fisherman in two boats. They would drop the net in the water and have to work together to pull the net back up and gather the fish into a boat.
I.e. Televangelists, pastors in big church, musicians, churches as a whole, etc.
Ex. You don’t have to be working in a church for this to be part of your life. There is a great example of this in the Old Testament; Joseph. Joseph is a man of God who through some pretty rough circumstances of being sold into slavery and accused of wrongdoing still rises to the second in command in Egypt. He uses is authority, knowledge and common sense to save Egypt in the middle of a drought and to further the Israelites who are living in the land. He didn’t go work into he temple or sanctuary, he worked in the palace and in the trenches making the Pharaoh famous and rich and taking care of the people of Egypt and his own people as well.

Ex. 2 I had a friend that was an ex-professional football player. He had a real rapport with police and fireman. He actually resigned his position as a pastor to be a chaplain to police and fireman and minister to them because as we know, they experience some incredibly difficult things. He started it in one area, trained someone to take over, and then went and started one in another area. He is still doing that today.

• Small Groups
The second way to reach people is where an individual can make an impact on a small group of people, verse 18:

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.” vs. 18

So Jesus sees Peter and Andrew and they are fishing as well. Notice they too were casting their net into the lake. Jesus uses a different Greek word here for casting their net which is “amphiblestrom.” This term is used of a fisherman who has a circular net about 20-25 feet in diameter that has weights around the outside edge. A single fisherman uses this kind of net. He gathers it in his arms and throws it into the water, either while standing in a boat or in shallow water. The net is pulled down by the weights on the outer ring and it sinks forming a parachute like form and traps the fish. So a single fisherman is casting a net and catching a group of fish.
Ex. An example of this in the New Testament is a woman named Lydia Found in Acts 16. She is a dealer in purple cloths and also a believer in God. She is listening to Paul preach and she is so touched that she goes home and converts everyone in her family. She reached her sphere of influence.

Ex. 2 Grace Emmanuel reaching those in her apt. complex.

• Individually
Finally, people can also be reached on an individual basis. Notice the events of verse 24:

“News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.“ vs. 24

This is Jesus meeting people right where they are, dealing with their issues and problems one-on-one and making a difference in their lives. Some people need individual attention and need to specific issues in their life dealt with. Many people need that one-on-one touch from someone who cares, who is willing to show the love of God and be genuinely concerned about them. Someone who will listen, pray, or give an encouraging word. This could be your neighbor(s), co-worker, a friend, family, etc.
Ex. Nancye to share story of man at ER when Tom was in the hospital.

A Royal Priesthood
An interesting note is that 3 of these four men called. John, James and Peter were the closet friends and partners in ministry that Jesus had. Here is what it comes down to; God calls all of us to be in ministry, full-time ministry. When you give your life to God, when you accept the free gift of salvation through repentance and belief in Jesus as your Savior, you have a special calling on your life. We find the way God looks at us in 1 Peter 2:9-10:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10

Notice, circle, underline, that you, you, are chosen and that you are part of the royal priesthood. Jesus gave it all for you. He wants you to give it all. You are called to be the best teacher you can be, the best supervisor you can be, the best accountant you can be, the best little league coach you can be, the best friend you can be, etc. You get the idea. We are all called to ministry. We are all called to build the kingdom. We are all called to be fishers of men.

The Message Of Christ
Matthew 4:12-17
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” vs. 17

I Broke The Window
A few years ago I was sitting in my office one day and was studying for an upcoming sermon. I heard a noise and looked up and there was a man, probably late 20’s or early 30’s looking at me. He asked, “Are you the pastor?” I said I was and asked how I could help him. He said, “do you remember about a year ago there was a window out in the front that was broken one night and the alarm went off?” I recalled a night when I got a call and came down t church and the window in the nursery had been broken and the alarm company called me and I came down at about 2 a.m. in the morning. I said I remembered it. He said, “I was the one who broke that window and I wanted to come by and make amends.” He went on to tell me how he was on drugs and was just looking of anything he could steal but he had since gotten off drugs and was turning his life around. I was like, “Okay great, thanks for sharing that with me. I have never had anyone do that before.” I continued, “So, did you want pay for the window and repairs?” “Oh no,” he said, “I just wanted to make amends and let you know I did it.” And he turned around and walked out.

I know many of you might not realize this but our property gets broken into often, maybe as much as once a week. We’ve only caught someone in the act once, and this story is the only time anyone has ever fessed up to actually vandalizing the church. I appreciate this mans confession but I was taken back a bit by his wanting to make amends but not really wanting to do anything to make it right. I am sure he was sincere in making amends but I was left wondering if he was sorry about what he did enough to change his actions for if he just wanted to get this incident off his chest. It led me to contemplate the whole idea of repentance and forgiveness and it ties into the package we are looking at today. If you are able, will you please stand as we read God’s Word, Matthew 4:12-17.

Read Passage – Matthew 4:12-17
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

John’s Job Is Done
There is an interesting transition to take note of as we dig deeper into this passage. The first part of this transition is that John the Baptist has fulfilled his job and it is almost done. Verse 12:

“When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison…” vs. 12

John has been out preaching, baptizing, and preparing the way for Christ. He has done what he has been called to do and we can look back in retrospect and see that it is John’s time to step back and let Jesus become the focal point. This transition takes place in a weird sort of way and we see that partially explained to us in Luke 3:19-20:

“But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.” Luke 3:19-20

The history of this is really fascinating and I will try to briefly explain it to you. When Jesus was born Herod the Great was ruling and the Roman kingdom was pretty large. In fact, he was the one who issued the degree to have all the baby boys under 2 years of age to be killed. When he died, his kingdom was divided into four, a section for each of his sons. One son was Herod the Tetrarch that we see in this passage. Herod the Tetrarch was married. Another son was Herod Phillip II. Herod Phillip fell in love with his niece, Herodias, and ends up marrying her. Herod the Tetrarch seduces Herodias and has an affair with her. Herod Tetrarch ends up divorcing his wife and marries Phillip’s wife Herodias. (Boy, you think you have family problems, this sounds like something right from Woody Allen’s life!)

John the Baptist is not afraid to speak the truth. Now John had no real clout with Herod but he wasn’t afraid to confront him with the truth about his affair as well as the other atrocities (i.e. abuse, over taxation, his cruel punishment and killing of the Israelites, etc) that are part of his ruling the kingdom. For John confronting Herod he is thrown in jail. In many ways Herod was trying to shut him up but it was also that Herod wanted John to have no voice and wanted only his voice heard and he had the power to make that happen.

Jesus’ Job Is Beginning
The second part of the transition is that Jesus Job (ministry) is beginning. So, in verse 13 we read:

“Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali…” vs. 13

Jesus is in Nazareth and when he hears that John is in prison, he leaves there and goes to Capernaum. (Show map) some commentators have said that he may have done that to get away from Herod because Herod my want to imprison him as well. I think it might be a little different. Notice on the map that Nazareth is here, a little more inland. Capernaum is here, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Herod would have been here (point on map) in Tiberius which is also on the Sea of Galilee. A quick reminder that Jesus and John are cousins. Thy probably kept updated on what the other was doing. That is evident from verse 12. My theory is that it would have been easier for them to communicate living on close seaports rather than depending on the land route. It probably would have been quicker and maybe even more reliable.

Don’t forget at one point while John is in prison he sends word out to Jesus making sure tht he is the Messiah and the one they were waiting for. I’m sure John wanted to make sure he was in prison for the right person and that if he died there, Israel would have its Savior. And we see they do communicate with each other and it seems to happen quickly. Jesus assures John that he is the one that they have been waiting for and that what was promised and hoped for is now happening. John is barely heard from again before his death. He even says that he needs to take a back seat so that Jesus is the focus from this point on. John is quite a guy.

Christ’s Message: Repent
So Jesus ministry is beginning and we are told the main message of his ministry: repent; that is found in verse 17:

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” vs. 17

Interesting isn’t it? Jesus message is really a continuation of John’s message of repentance. In Matthew 3:2 we read,

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 3:2

Notice the similarity to Jesus words in verse 17: exact. The message isn’t changing but the person is. John was a man who came to prepare the way for Jesus. Jesus would now live out the words of repent and fulfill all that was promised. John couldn’t do that and he knew it. Jesus would do all that was necessary to fulfill these words.

You may have heard or already know that repentance means to turn; to turn from heading one way to heading in the other direction. (Show slide) But I think there is a little more tot the understanding of that word and I believe Jesus gives us two things to consider when we use that word and they come right from this passage.

 Light In The Shadow Of Darkness
First, the concept of light in the shadow of darkness; verse 16a:

“…the people living in darkness have seen a great light…” vs. 16a

It’s easy at times to feel that evil is wining, that those who do evil prosper, and that in some ways there is this impending doom. That might have been how people felt in Israel at this time. Herod was ruling, he had the power, he was oppressive, he was cruel, and he seemed to be getting away with it. Even when he is confronted with his evil (by John) he gets rid of the problem by throwing John in jail. He goes on living and sinning while John gets imprisoned and eventually executed. But Jesus is preaching a new message. There is light.
Ill. When I thought about this I realized that we have a saying that goes along with this concept. We say “There is light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s the idea that there is hope. That is part of Jesus message, that repentance brings hope. That evil won’t win in the end and that darkness does not. Jesus told us this very idea in John 8:22:

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

You know it seems we might feel the same about our time. It seems evil is winning. We have to really consider that we are no longer a Christian nation. Our area, East Contra Costa County, seems to be getting worse not better. I have great news. We have light. We have the light of the world with us and the darkness will not last.
Ex. The lady in therapy this week bad mouthing Antioch. I spoke up and said no, I love Antioch and I want to make it better.
Part of the concept of repent is that there is hope and light in what can be a dark and gloomy world.

 Life In The Midst Of Death
The second part is that there is life in the midst of death. Notice the second part of verse 16b:

“…on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Vs. 16b

Life in the first century was not easy. Disease and cleanliness were not very good, living conditions were tough, and the oppression from the ruling class and their senseless killing and abuse of slaves mad e it difficult to live very long. In fact, most historians believe that life expectancy in the first century was 30-40 years. Think about that, more than half the people sitting here today would already be dead if that was the life span in today’s world. That is not a pleasant outlook. Death seemed to rule.

Again, Jesus is preaching a new message. Repentance includes the idea that life is possible in the midst of death. Think about what we see in these passages, John dies in prison at right around 30, Jesus will die at 33, and there are many more examples. If there is no hope of life beyond this life, it would feel like death reigns. Jesus new message is that we have hope in life. He says in John 10:10:

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Jesus was willing to give 1000% of himself to ensure that death would not reign. In return we give ourselves back to him because he is the source of life.

Restoring Relationship
Let me wrap this up with a quick recap of how this relates to our lives now. We have relationships with other people; family, friends, etc. Sometimes there is a break in those relationships.; disagreements, lack of communication, we loose touch with people, etc. At some point one of the parties has to make an attempt to restore the relationship. Someone makes the first move. Jesus did that with his life. What he asks of us is to actively accept his step and act on it from our end. That comes in repentance. Turning from darkness and death to light and life by accepting his gift to us and to restore our relationship. Even though we are the ones who did wrong, he takes the first step and takes the blame on himself.
Lead into communion.

Communion

Facing Temptation – Part 3

Matthew 4:1-11

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” vs. 10

Biblical Fact

• Why were Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden? Common answer: for eating the for bidden fruit. The real reason: God did not want them to eat from the tree of life Gen. 3:22-23
• Which kind of Jonah whale swallowed Jonah? Jonah 1:17 that it was a big fish
• Who cut off Samson’s hair? Most common thought was Delilah. The Bible actually tells us a a man did it in Judges 16:19
• There were three wise men or Magi that visited the baby Jesus.  Actually the Bible doesn’t mention how many Magi there were only that there were three gifts. Also, they didn’t visit the baby Jesus in the stable but when they were in a house, Matt. 2:11
• Can you name the verse that says “God helps those who help themselves.” Not in the Bible, it was a proverb of Benjamin Franklin’s written in Poor Richard’s Almanac.

Read Passage

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

The Faces of The Devil

This is part three of our series on the temptations Christ faced while in the desert with the devil. It is important that we remember that Satan is a real being, created by God as an angel, but choose to go against God and to not submit himself to God’s authority. That being said, it is important to remember that Satan is active and wants to lead people away from God. He made his choice not to follow God and his sole purpose now is to get as many people as possible to make that same decision.  He cannot make it for people but he can connive and scheme and tempt people to make that decdsion.  We have spent a Sunday and on each temptations and today we look at the third temptation. One of the things that struck me as we have been looking at these temptations is the different faces of the devil. What I mean by that is that even though we can’t hear any inflection or emphasis in this written text, we can kind of feel how Satan takes on a different kind of demeanor in each of the temptations which led me to think about how Satan has been perceived throughout history.

(Show pictures)

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

We have looked at how Satan uses good and desirable things to tempt us. If he used bad things or things we didn’t like, what good would that do, it wouldn’t really tempt us.  But it is important to remember that All That Glitters Is Not Gold. Because it seems appealing and may have a desirable look to it does not mean that it is really worth our time and/or attention and, in fact, may be bad for us.

Ex. Gambling and how the casino is portrayed on commercials. (Show picture)

1. Fiction: Satan’s Word Is Truth

In our passage today three untruths about the devil stand out. We’ll look at each of those untruths and what is really real about him. The first fiction is that  Satan tries to pretend that his word is truth.  Notice what he tries to lure Jesus with in verses 8 and 9:

“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you…’” vss.8-9

This is really a pretty sneaky thing Satan is doing here.  He not only wants Jesus to believe that he has the power to give these kingdoms to Jesus, but he wants to hit Jesus where it hurts.  He knows that Jesus came to die for our sins and rise again so that we can have salvation. The very thing that Jesus came for was people and he is trying to make Jesus take a short cut. This is an outright lie because if Jesus gives in, those very nations, those very people,
then become followers of Satan without a means of salvation.

    Fact: Satan Is The Father Of Lies

That leads us to the fact that Satan Is The Father Of Lies. Listen to how Jesus stated it in John8:

“He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

It’s not just that he lies but that he is the father of lies implying that all untruth finds its origin with the devil. Jesus is very clear here, there is no truth in Satan. Knowing that should throw red flags up to us that anything we read that is attributed to Satan is a lie.

2. Fiction: Satan Is Worthy Of Praise

A second untruth is that Satan Is Worthy Of Praise. Notice his words to Jesus in verse 9: 

    “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” vs. 9

We just learned that Satan is the father of lies and that is what he speaks; lies.  Here we see that what he is trying to lure Jesus into is praise. So here’s how it might be understood a little better. In and of himself, he is not worthy of praise. The only way he gets praise is with false promises and with lies.  To praise is to say or write good things about (someone or something): to express approval, or to glorify. To be worthy of something is to deserve it or to have the qualities deserving it. So get this, if you put these two things together, Satan is saying that he is deserving of glory because of his good qualities.

    Fact: Satan Is A Prowling Lion

What?  The real fact is that Satan does not deserve praise nor does he have qualities that make him worthy of praise, in fact, it is just the opposite.  The fact is: Satan Is A Prowling Lion. Let’s look at the reality of who Satan is from 1 Peter 5:8:

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Satan character is not worthy of praise. 1 Peter tells us his character is like a lion walking around looking to devour things; to assert his will, to assert his authority and to destroy. I would even put it to you that we have a great record of his track record of doing just that.

Ex. Eve – he tricked her to destroy her and all people forever.

      Job – He tried everything he could to destroy him and ruin his faith and character.

      Judas – To betray Christ

We need to beware that Satan is not our friend. Satan is not to be trusted. Satan is not going to do anything to help you or make you better.  Just the opposite. His sole purpose is to destroy.

3. Fiction: Satan Has Unlimited Power

And, the third untruth we find in our passage is that Satan Has Unlimited Power. Notice again his words in verse 9:

      “All this I will give you…” vs. 9

Now hear this very clearly: Satan does have power. He wants you to believe that he has unlimited power. Many people like to give Satan too much power. It is true that Satan is called “the prince of this world.” Jesus says that in John 12:31.  But take note: a prince always is under the authority of a king and we serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  Satan may have some power but it’s only the power of a prince.  The king ultimately rules and we serve The King. Satan will try to deceive us into believing his power is greater than it really is. He only has the power given him by God. That was evident in situations like Job’s.

     Fact: Satan Will Be Bound

The real fact is that Satan’s reign and power will come to an end.  In Revelation 20 we see the finality of what Satan will experience; Rev. 20:10:

“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Rev. 20:10

Here we see that real freedom comes for all those who follow God.  Satan is bound forever and the power that he did have has now been stripped and he is bound forever. It will be sobering for those who choose to follow him and to realize that the father of lies fooled them and they are bound with him forever.

Finding True Contentment

Those are the factious lies that Satan promotes and the facts of the reality of who he is.  Where does that leave us? Really this is where we understand that Jesus went through the same temptations we do and we follow his lead.  The result is that we focus our lives on. Notice one more time verse 10:

“Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” vs. 10

Resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). Christ set the standard for us in the importance of the hard work of standing firm and resisting Satan’s temptations and victory will occur. First, you should say as Jesus did: “Away from me, Satan!” But you can’t just say no to the Devil. You have to act upon it as well. Now here is the real way to get Satan to flee from you: Worship! You and I were created for worship and it is to be something that we do with our lives to combat Satan’s temptations.  You can’t worship God and follow Satan at the same time! So the way is to build more worship into life; music, prayer, time in God’s Word, fellowship, etc.

And in the end, Satan will flee but God will be there for you. Verse 11:

“Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” vs. 11

There is one thing that is important to note; with enough time and enough resistance, Satan will leave. We serve a great God, a God that has more power, more authority, more wisdom and more love than we could ever imagine. We serve a God who is worthy of all our praise.

Facing Temptation – Part 2

Matthew 4:1-11

“Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”” vs. 7

Cut The Rope

There is the story of a man who was a mountain climber and went out one day for a climb. He miscalculated the time and he was still high up on the mountain as night fell. It got dark quickly and soon all he could see was black. Zero visibility, and the moon and the stars were covered by the clouds. As he was climbing only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he slipped and fell in to the air and began falling at great speed. He could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity. He kept falling and in the moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life. He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. His body was hanging in the air. Only the rope was holding him and in that moment of stillness. He knew crying out would get him nowhere but he decided to scream: “Help me God”. All of a sudden a deep voice coming from the sky answered,  “What do you want me to do?” “Save me God”. “Do you really think I can save you?” “Of course I believe You can.” “Then cut the rope tied to your waist.” There was a moment of silence and the man decided to hold on to the rope with all his strength. The rescue team tells that the next day a climber was found dead and frozen,  his body hanging from a rope.  His hands holding tight to it. They also reported that the nab was hanging only 1 foot away from the ground.

It’s one thing to believe something is true, it’s another to be willing to live it out. Today we are going to continue our study of Matthew 4 and the temptations Jesus faced in the desert.  We are taking one Sunday to look at each temptation.  If you are able, please stand with me as we read God’s Word from Matthew 4:1-11.

Read Passage

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Next!

Last week we saw how Satan tempted Jesus to stay home and watch the 49er game, I mean, to turn stone into bread. That was the first of three temptations in this passage. Notice that Satan moves right from one temptation to the next without missing a beat. It’s right away.  Verse 5:

“Then the devil took him to the holy city…” vs. 5a

Often we have an opportunity to answer questions about God to people, and, often, we feel that we can persuade people or give an answer that will convince them about God.  Often, they quickly jump to the next subject.  That should be a red flag that they really aren’t interested in learning or growing toward God but are just looking to trip us up.  That is what Satan is doing here; he is not interested in learning about God or even growing closer to God, he just wants to trip up Jesus.

Ex. The time a young man came to me and asked about Dinosaurs and why he couldn’t find them in the Bible.  When I gave an answer he quickly jumped to another subject, and then another. He didn’t want to understand, just to prove the Bible wasn’t true.

Satan Quotes Scripture

An important note about this story is how knowledgeable Satan is about God’s Word and that he actually quotes it. Notice verse 6:

“For it is written…” vs. 6

Never under estimate Satan.  He is smart and he is ready to do whatever is necessary to lead someone away from God. He knows Scripture. He can quote Scripture. And he is arrogant enough to think that he can actually trip up God himself. But Jesus is prepared. He has spent his whole life preparing for ministry and preparing to meet the resistance Satan will bring. We should also know that we will be challenged about our faith and need to prepare ourselves.

Ex. 49ers and Seahawks preparing to meet each other.

            (Joke: It’s a winner take all because the winner goes to the Superbowl and the losers got to Seattle)

A key thing to understand here is that Scripture is used. Satan used it.  Jesus responds with it. We need to prepare ourselves with it as well. Many people know Scripture, even non-believers. Most can quote some of Psalm 23, The Lord’s Prayer, Genesis 1, and a few others as well. Satan uses enough Scripture to sound right but twisted enough to misuse it. People may use Scripture to try to mislead us by quoting enough ot sound right but misused so that we are confused, lead astray, or to make us feel inadequately equipped. We need to prepare ourselves with the right knowledge of Scripture.

Temptation #2: Disbelieve God

Last week we looked at Temptation #1 where Satan tries to get us to misuse good things. Today the second temptation that Satan uses is to try to get us to Disbelieve God. Verse 5 & 6:

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down.’” vss. 5-6

This is one of the reasons Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit; to face Satan. SO the scene is Jesus and Satan being transported to the highest point of the temple. We aren’t told a lot of specifics like the time of day, if people could actually see them, etc. What we are told is that they are in the holy city which is assumed to be Jerusalem and that they are somehow perched on the highest point of the temple. This temptation unfolds in three ways.

• Know Your Enemy

First, it is important to know who your enemy is.  Jesus knew that Satan was his enemy. In fact, Jesus was always aware of who his enemies where.  Remember at one point Jesus is being questioned and badgered by the religious leaders of the day. He tells them in John 8:44:

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.” John 8:44

We are told that the devil is our enemy too. 1 Peter 5:8 says:

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

There is some strong language there; the devil prowling around (you get the idea of the sneakiness and mischievousness of that) like a roaring lion (A lion roars when it is about to devour its prey).

But here is an important thing to note about this exchange between Jesus and Satan: Satan could not throw Jesus down, Jesus would have to do that himself. Satan has limited power. Satan wasn’t trying to destroy Christ, he wanted Christ to destroy himself. Satan wants us to destroy ourselves. If Satan had thrown Jesus down he would be the perpetrator and would be in the wrong. No he wants Christ to make the decision to do that. See, Satan has already made his decision. He has chosen not to follow God and his ways. He wants to get us to change our decision to follow God but he can’t do that for us. That is your choice and my choice.

• Results of Doubt

The second part of the temptation is to stir up doubts. But let me say right up front, doubting is not a sin. Doubting is not always bad. Staying is doubt is bad. Doubt is not unbelief, but it is not faith either.  It wavers between faith and unbelief, unable to make up its mind what it wants to be.  Let me use a verse to help illustrate this point from James 1:6:

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

The caution here is not to doubt when we ask. But the illustration is like being caught in the sea and being tossed back and forth. Let me paint a picture here for you. There are two islands near each other, for our purpose let’s say two miles apart. One island is named faith and the other is named unbelief. You are bobbing in the sea between the two. Being in the middle like that is that area of doubt. You can’t stay there. You will drown. The ocean is pushing and pulling you in two directions but you know you can’t stay there. Now, James 1:6, you ask God and he directs you and leads you to (the island) faith. Move that way, don’t doubt. Satan wants to move you to (the island) unbelief. That may sound simple but think about it. You will have to work, struggle, and put out a lot of effort to make it to faith because the current will always be pushing and pulling. But you can persevere because God has given you his spirit for strength..

• God’s Way vs. Satan’s Way

The third part of temptation is to understand the difference between God’s way and Satan’s way. Again, let’s look at some verse from James 1:13-15 to help us:

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15

Here is a good way to understand what James is saying and how it ties into Matthew 4.

Satan’s Way – to tempt (to do evil)

God’s Way – to test (to do good)

A good way to put this is that Satan always tempts us to move to unbelief and away from God and God tests us to draw us closer to him.

Remedy #2: Know Truth, Live Truth

So what is the remedy? The remedy is to know truth and to live in that truth. Jesus states in vere 7:

“Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” vs. 7

In response to the second temptation, Jesus replies, “It is also written . . .”  Then he quotes from Deut. 6:16. When you looked up that reference, you find He didn’t quote all the verse. It says, “Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah.” So, what happened at Massah? It’s recorded in Exod. 17. Israel had refused to enter the Promised Land following the visit of the 12 spies; 10 who said they couldn’t overtake the people and 2, Joshua and Caleb, who said they could. They had begun their wanderings in the wilderness. They begin complaining and quarreling and even wished they had stayed in Egypt. These are the same people who had seen God perform great miracles in Egypt like the plagues to them from slavery and how He split the Red Sea for them to cross on dry land and destroyed the pursuing Egyptians. First they grumbled because they didn’t have water and He gave them water. Then they complained because they didn’t have bread and meat. He gave them quail and manna. Now, at Massah, they complain about the water again! They still haven’t learned to trust the Lord. After all they have seen, how can they ask, “Is the Lord with us or not?” v. 7 They were really testing God’s patience. They were questioning God’s Presence and care.

Here is the place that we really come to a complete understanding of this concept of knowing truth and living truth, it’s Jesus words from John 8:32:

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

God’s ways always bring life and bring freedom. Satan’s ways may bring a temporary pleasure but will in the end bring destruction and oppression.

When You Can’t See

God asks us to trust him and believe him and to draw closer to him.  He assures us that everything he says and does is for our good. Listen to Psalm 145:13:

“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.”

Psalm 145:13

Let’s go back to the story I started with.  The man yells to God for help. The man can’t see the whole picture and that he is only 2 feet from the ground.  God can see that and asks him to do something that seems to take great faith. God can see the whole picture and what he asks might seem ridiculous or even wrong but he know what’s best and he knows what we don’t.

Ex. A baby in it’s mother’s womb.

It’s comfortable, well insulated, you get fed, etc. You don’t really want to leave. From the baby’s perspective it’s cold, loud, uncomfortable, and what about the food? You can’t eat whenever you want. A baby might say, you know, I’ll just stay here.  I like it here. It’s good here. But that baby will never grow, never be a toddler, a teen or grow to maturity if it stays in the mother. Eventually what will happen? It will die.  It was never designed to stay there; but it doesn’t know that. We are like that baby. We have to trust God. He has the bigger picvture.  The things that will help us grow and mature.

Facing Temptation – Pt. 1

Matthew 4:1-11

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Happy Birthday! Open Your Present

If you are like me, opening your presents is usually an enjoyable thing is when your birthday comes around.  I think it was my 14^th or 15^th birthday and my family had gathered for my birthday. As we were sitting around our living room after dinner, people began handing me presents. I was especially curious about the present my brother Ken handed me. It was small but you never know what domes in those small packages.  This is what was in this one. (Show picture of a Hersey Chocolate Bar) I love chocolate so you would think I would have been pretty happy, I mean a candy bar is a candy bar and from my 8 year old brother that seems cute. Right? The only problem is that it looked like this (show wrapper of a Hersey Bar half eaten).

This is the situation.  My brother had bought me a candy bar for my birthday but having it in his room was just too much temptation for him. He couldn’t resist the urge to eat some chocolate so he wrapped up half a candy bar and gave it to me and said he “owed” me the rest.  I’m not sure I ever got the other half.  He and I have laughed about this over the years and we did again on Friday when I called him to ask if he minded if I share the story.

My brother Ken had a temptation; chocolate. And the chocolate won. Today we are going to have the first of three sermons on the temptations of Jesus faced in the desert found in Matthew 4:1-11. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word. 

Read Passage – Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Showdown In The Desert

Last week we looked at Matthew 3 where Jesus was just baptized by John the Baptist. We pick up that story here in Matthew 4. It says in verse 1:

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” vs. 1

Here’s the thing: Just when things seem to be going well, trouble can hit. Jesus is coming off the high of God affirming who he is and his purpose. But take a few notes on what is really going on here.

Key points:

-He is Spirit-led. It tells us that in the passage.  This is not an accident. God has led him here purposefully to be tempted. It is God’s will that he is here and that this take place.  If it wasn’t God would not have led him there.

-We are also told at the end of the verse that the devil is the Jesus’ adversary. The passage is very clear about that. This is the first recorded confrontation of Jesus and Satan since he has come to earth as God in human form.  That’s why I call this the showdown in the desert.  Satan has made appearances in the Old Testament but this is the first time in the New Testament.

Vulnerable Times In Life

Verse 2 also gives us some insight and background in helping us understand this passage:

“After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

Don’t you look at that and go, duh! He has been fasting for 40 days, of course he is hungry. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus is there to fast, to focus on God and to prepare himself spiritually for his upcoming ministry. You’d think that getting away from things, kind of secluding yourself and getting yourself focused would be a good thing and get away from difficulties. When we get away we try to go to places that are away from the everyday things of life, from work, from things like TV, news, phones, etc. Jesus had gotten away for noble purposes.  Even when we get away or try to focus our lives, some circumstances can cause us to stumble especially when we are in situations where we have let down our guard.

Ex. When a business person gets away and is alone, maybe in a hotel room on their own and they have time and the hotel has provided resources for them to stumble, i.e. alcohol, TV, movies, etc.

Temptation #1: To Misuse Something Good

So let’s look at the first of three temptations Jesus faces from Satan in this passage. It comes in verse 3:

“The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” vs. 3

Remember, temptations are not something that is necessarily bad. A temptation many times is not something that is evil but rather a good thing used for the wrong purposes.

Ex. Power, Money, Sex, Chocolate, food, etc.

Eating, and more specifically eating bread, is not a bad thing. In fact, it can be a sustainer for life.  Jesus eating bread would not have been necessarily bad. So what is the real issue? The issue is that Jesus knew God, he had a relationship with him.  He was ordained to be there and he knew God’s will and God’s law. Satan was trying to tempt Jesus to obey him rather than obey God. Turning stones to bread to eat them because Satan told Jesus would be Jesus following Satan’s plan, not God’s. Also, doing this would violate his fast. When you are in relationship with God and you are sure of God’s plan for you, you make choices and decisions to stay in that will and plan. You make choices that honor that relationship.

An example of this comes from the first of the 10 Commandments given in Exodus 20:

 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God…” Exodus 20:7

Saying God’s name is not a bad thing. Misusing God’s name is.  Look at our society today and you see God’s name being misused in alarming fashion.

Ex. How people cavalierly say “Oh my God!” I noticed it this week when I was watching a TV show where people were being surprised and the that was the response a the majority of the people.  We have shows like OMG.

Remedy #1 Knowing And Trusting God’s Word

So what is the remedy? It is actually quite simple, it’s knowing and trusting God’s word. Notice Jesus response to Satan’s ploy in verse 4:

“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” vs. 4

This is a great response (but of course from Jesus would you expect anything else?). It’s short, it’s to the point, it’s only one line, and it’s a verse and it sets everything it the right perspective.

A quick note about what our tendency is compared to what Jesus didn’t do when facing temptation:
1-He didn’t try to argue the devil down or reason with Him. That would not have accomplished anything. Reasoning will not work with Satan because he doesn’t care about reasoning nor does he want to be reasoned with.
2-He didn’t try to impress Satan with a great display of power – We tend to think we can do it on our own or that we can somehow just push make it happen ourselves. We should not try to display spiritual power by playing with or flirting with temptation – we should be running from it.

It comes down to this, we need to know and trust God’s Word. God tells us why. Notice these verses in Psalms and the Gospel of John.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105

And,

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:17

God’s word was given to us for 2 reasons; to light our path (in other words to give us direction in life and in life’s situations) and to know what truth is.

 Notice that even after quoting scripture Satan keeps coming back and he quotes Scripture too.  Just because someone knows Scripture does not mean they are using it correctly or are interpreting it correctly.  Don’t fall into the trap that if you quote scripture it will scare the devil to death and he’ll run.

You Can Get Through It

Here is what I can guarantee you: with God’s help, you can get through anything. I am not just hoping or guessing that can happen.  God’s word tells us it does and will happen. 1 Cor.10:13:

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Cor. 10:13

God gives us what we need when we need it. When we need a way out, it’s there. When we need a verse, it’s there, if we have read his word and spent time learning it. If we need strength, it there, power it’s there, love it’s there, a way out, it’s there One of the reasons Jesus went through these temptation is that he knows what we are going through. He can empathize with us because he has been through the things we have and God

Jesus’ Baptism

Matthew 3:13-17

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.” Matthew 3:13

The King’s Baptism

Back in the 5^th century there was a priest named Patrick who would later be known as St. Patrick.  While performing his priestly duties, he was approached by the King Aengus of Ireland to be baptized. Of course the priest agreed and performed the baptism.  During the baptism things seemed to go well. As Patrick dunked the king and then in the process of bringing him up out of the water, Patrick noticed there seemed to be blood in the water. St. Patrick immediately knew what had happened; he had inadvertently stabbed the kings foot. St. Patrick carried in his hand, as usual, the Bachall Isu; at the end of this crozier there was a sharp iron spike, by which he could plant it firmly in the ground beside him while preaching, or exercising his episcopal functions. Of course he had brought that into the water with him. After the baptism was over, St. Patrick looked down at all the blood, realized what he had done, and begged the king’s forgiveness. Why did you suffer this pain in silence, the Saint wanted to know.  The king replied, “I thought it was part of the ritual.” Ouch!

One of the great privileges I have as a pastor is to perform baptisms. Some people have some great stories about them too.  People are often scared about water getting up their nose or that somehow I will drop them and they will not be pulled back up.  Note: to date I have never had that happen. J I wanted to start the New Year be continuing the story of Jesus.  Typically the church spend the month of December looking at the birth of Jesus and then as the New Year begins they jump to a new series or another book of the Bible and I though it might be good to continue looking at the events of Jesus early ministry. So today, we are going to focus on the Baptism of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 3:13-17. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Matthew 3:13-17

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. ¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

The Silent Years

We have the birth of Jesus recorded for us in the Gospels and a few brief glimpses of those early days.  From there it jumps to a time where Jesus is 12 and in the Temple talking with and conversing about the Scriptures with the leaders. From there until the story we read this morning we literally have nothing. The ages between 12 and 30 we have no written record but we can make a few assumptions and remember a few important things..

• Remember that John and Jesus were related.  We are not sure they ever did anything together or that their families were close. They may have heard stories about each other, could have spent some holidays or festivals together, but we are just not sure.
• We know that when the story of Jesus in the temple ended that the Scripture tells us that Jesus obeyed his parents.  So from that point on, he was being trained and mentored in the family business.  He would have spent a lot of time with Joseph learning the trade of carpentry. They lived in an agriculture area so he probably spent time making things like plows and other tools of agriculture as well as things like chairs, tables, etc.
• We know John’s ministry started much earlier than Jesus.  John’s father and mother were much older and it is guessed that they may have died by this time.  John’s dad was a priest and John did not follow his dad’s profession of working in the Temple but was active in the ministry. By the time we reach the passage we read this morning John seems to be in full stride in his ministry and working at pointing people to God.

We can also assume that Jesus was aware of his calling and the timing of what God brought him here to earth to do, to preach, perform miracles, heal, and to lead people to his father. Jesus knew that the time had arrived. The time was now for Jesus to come forth for the task that awaited him.

John The Baptizer

For a brief moment let’s look just a bit closer at John the Baptizer. It says in verse 13:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.” Matthew 3:13

As I said earlier, John’s ministry was in full swing and he was preaching and baptizing people for them to repent and turn to God. Think about it, many people were probably pretty upset with him that he wasn’t working in the Temple and just performing all the duties of a priest. Those in charge were probably not happy about what he was doing and those that were being baptized by him were really taking a big step that would not have met approval from the Temple leaders.  He is about the same age as Jesus but he was pretty much considered a renegade that live d in the desert, wore camel hair clothing, ate honey and locust, and was living with a purpose. His purpose was to prepare the way for Christ to come. Jesus now comes to him and asks to be baptized. I think this is really significant, so much so that we call John “the Baptizer.”  We don’t call him John “the Preparer” or John “the Paver,” or anything like that.  His job was to prepare the way for Christ and I believe part of that purpose is to baptize Jesus. This is why we still refer to him as John the Baptist.  It is also important to note that from this point on John takes a back seat to Jesus. He knows it’s all about Jesus not himself.

Jesus Message For Us In Baptism

So Jesus comes to John and wants to be baptized.  Ever wonder why? Why would Jesus need to be baptized? He is the Son of God.  I say he needed to be baptized because it was important for us to understand its significance in our live and because he never asks us to do something that he hasn’t done. I also think that he was baptized to show that he was giving his all to God and he wants us to know what it looks like so we can make the same commitment. He teaches us so that we can experience what he experienced.

1. Jesus Partners With Us

There is something very significant in Jesus reply in verse 15 to John when John says that Jesus should be baptizing him not the other way around:

“Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this…’” vs. 15a

Notice and underline or circle the word “us.” Jesus says to John that is it proper for us to do this. Jesus is partnering with John in his work. As Jesus enters his public ministry he knows that his time on earth is limited. Part of what Jesus came to do was be the sacrifice for our sins but he also came to instill in us the tools to go into all the world and teach others who he was and for us to be part of the ministry.  Jesus partners with us to expand his ministry and keep it going. They way Jesus partnered with John is also the way Jesus partners with us.  He trained the disciples who in turn trained others and so on and so on so that the gospel is spread throughout the world. He partners with us. He could do it without us but we can’t do it without him. Jesus is careful to make sure that we know we should stay connected to the Godhead so that our ministry is fulfilled.  Remember Jesus words in John 15:5:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

We can work hard and try to do all the right things but if we are not tied into and reliant on God we are missing the key ingredient.

Ex. A current  example of abuse of power. So many people in our world when they get a little attention of a little power, it goes to their head and they want all the focus on themselves.  Kim Jung Un of North Korea is a good example of that.  The atrocities and things he is doing since assuming the reigns in South Korea are just crazy.  He has had many family members killed, including his uncle who was supposed to be a right hand man to him and many of the rest of his family. He is oppressing the people and doing things like developing nuclear weapons so that he can assert and gain more power and wealth.

2. Jesus Recognizes God’s Plan

The second part of the response is significant as well; Jesus recognizes God’s plan. Verse 15a:

“…to fulfill all righteousness.” vs. 15b

Jesus realizes that the time has come for him to fulfill the purpose that he was sent to us to do. He is ready and prepared to step into public ministry and fulfill God’s plan.  This phrase “to fulfill all righteousness” is his way of saying that he is now setting in motion God’s plan and he is ready to take his place in that plan.  This step of baptism is the expression that you no longer live for yourself but you live for God.  Jesus repeatedly says that he is here to do the will of the father and that he can only do and say what the father tells him. This shows us an importance of the sacrament of baptism’ to say that we are aligning our lives with the will of the Father; God. As Jesus was aligning himself with God through baptism so we, when we take the step of baptism, are aligning ourselves with God’s will and his plan and our willingness to be part of that plan by doing what he has designed us to do. In proverbs 19:21 it says:

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Prov. 19:21

The reality is that God has a plan and he is working his plan.  We have to ask ourselves if we are willing to be a part of that plan or if we are insistent on having our own way.  Part of the understanding when we are baptized is that we are committing ourselves to live in God’s plan.

3. Jesus Receives God’s Blessing

The third part of why Jesus was baptized or a result of his baptism is that he receives God’s blessing through it. Verse 16:

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” vs. 16

There is an affirmation that takes place when we publicly take the step of baptism and tell people that we have accepted Jesus as our savior and that we are God’s children. The affirmation comes in God’s blessing. Let me follow this up with a verse from Romans 10:12:

“…the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him…” Romans 10:12

Notice that it says that God richly blesses us. Try not to get caught up in defining the richly blessings as money or monetary things. Instead, reframe that thinking into the understanding that God pours out his love, his peace, his blessings, joy, hope, grace, mercy, etc. Taking the step of baptism is allowing ourselves to be emptied so that he can fill us with his blessings. In our passage we are fortunate to see this happen in the form of a dove that descends on Jesus.

Ex. The server at Taco Bell

God’s Love For His Children

This story of the beginning of Jesus ministry life has a wonderful ending (or beginning) that comes in verse 17:

“And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” vs. 17

In that moment when Jesus stepped forth, the heavens were opened to him, the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove, and he heard the voice of His Heavenly Father, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” I believe the same thing happens when we step forth. I believe the heavens open up, God looks down upon us and says, “This is my child, with whom I am well pleased.”

I believe we see this in the joy of the peoples faces that have been baptismed.  Here is a brief glimpse of that in some of the people of our own congregation that have been recently baptized. Show slide show.