Skip to content Resisting Temptation: Lessons from Christ's Wilderness Experience in Matthew 3-4 Jun 12 · 16 min ...more
Resisting Temptation: Lessons from Christ's Wilderness Experience in Matthew 3-4
June 12, 2025 · 16 min
Join us on day 2 of our spiritual journey through Matthew, learning how the Word sustains us beyond earthly bread and leads to true repentance.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand June 12, 2025 · 16 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Join us on day 2 of our spiritual journey through Matthew, learning how the Word sustains us beyond earthly bread and leads to true repentance. ...more Show the full description Show less Join us on day 2 of our spiritual journey through Matthew, learning how the Word sustains us beyond earthly bread and leads to true repentance.
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The Call to Repentance and Identity in Christ 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word and day 2 of our 21 day family bible challenge as we look at Matthew's chapter Matthew chapters 3 and 4 verse 4, chapter 4.0:22 Buddy answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In chapter 3, we find John the Baptist, the 1 that was actually written about in the book0:34 of Malachi as preparing the way. He is preparing the way for the Messiah. Verse 1, chapter 3. In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent, for the kingdom0:46 of heaven is at hand. Notice what he calls for. He calls for repentance, which means, in the Greek, the word metanoia means to change your mind, change your thinking. But a mind0:58 or a heart that's truly changed will result in what he says in verse 8. Look at verse 8. Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. If we repent, it's going to show. If we change our mind, if we1:09 change our thinking, our behavior is going to follow. Verse 13, then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized. Verse 16, when he1:21 had baptized, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly, a1:32 voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. We'll look at this in greater depth in, when we go to the book of Luke,1:45 but 2 observations here. The power of the holy spirit came upon Jesus as his public ministry began. You know, our work for the Lord needs to be in the power of the Holy Spirit.1:56 In at the in Matthew chapter 28 at the great commission, you know, Jesus instructed his disciples to to wait in Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit had come upon them. We need2:08 the power of the Holy Spirit to live out the Christian life and to advance the kingdom of God. Now number 2 is the power of the Holy Spirit was ignited here, as we see in this passage, by the2:20 blessing of the father. Jesus the son and God the father, I think, model for us the need and the power of the affirming words of a father. Alright. We'll maybe say2:32 more about that later. But in chapter 4, we have a season of preparation and a series of temptations. Let's look at 1 verse 1 chapter 4. Then Jesus was led up by the spirit2:44 into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Now don't miss this 1 critical detail right here. Jesus, the son of God, a member of the trinity, God the father, God the son, God the holy spirit, he's led2:56 by the spirit. Now what we see throughout the gospels in is that the life of Jesus, right, is a model for us. He encountered3:08 life on this earth for our benefit. So when we look at what Jesus is what he did on this earth, he is a model for us. And so if he was led by the spirit, the son of God was led3:20 by the spirit, how should we be led? Let me give you a hint. By the spirit. Alright. Verse 2. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward, he was3:31 hungry. Now when the tempter came to him, that is Satan, he said, if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread. 40 days, no food, and Satan comes and saying, hey. If you're really3:43 the son of God, then turn these stones into bread. I mean, I'm sure that was a bit tempting. But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that3:55 proceeds from the mouth of god. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself4:07 down for it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands, they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him,4:19 it is written again, you shall not tempt the lord your god. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Verse 8. Again, the devil took him up on a exceedingly high4:31 mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.4:43 Then Jesus said to him, away with you, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. Then4:55 the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. Okay. What can we learn here from Jesus on how to resist the devil? Now5:07 there's 4 elements of resisting the devil we see here in this passage. And just by a way of reminder, Peter wrote in first Peter chapter 5 verse 8 that our adversary,5:20 that is the devil, he is our adversary. He's not passive. Look what it says. He's walking about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. I'll just tell you, we need something a little5:32 stronger than bear spray to keep him away. Alright. So 4 elements here that we see in Jesus's encounter with Satan that we can learn from. Number 1 is the power of identity.5:44 Notice what Satan questions. If you are the son of God Now 2 significant actions we just mentioned in chapter 3 that took place at the baptism5:56 was the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the affirmation by his father. You see, Jesus knew who he was. We need to know who we are. You know, 1 of the6:07 crisis we have in this country today is that we have a quarter of the the children under the age of 18 in America today are growing up at home without a father. And without a father, many of them lack identity, and6:19 there's even more who do not have fathers that are engaged in their lives. We gain our identity in the natural from our father, and we have an identity crisis in this country. This is a part of6:31 the the whole issue of, gender dysphoria. Is there's a lack of identity in this country. But, look, I'm gonna talk spiritual identity here. Galatians 26:43 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and6:55 gave himself for me. See, Paul understood his identity. It was now in Christ. Second chronicle second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, which Paul also wrote in his letter7:07 to the second letter to the Corinthians, second recorded letter. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Alright. So7:19 someone needs to hear this this morning. If you are in Christ Jesus, right, if you have accepted the lord Jesus Christ as your savior and as your lord, you have a new identity. The old7:31 things are passed away. So when Satan comes to you and questions your identity, who are you to do that? Look what you did. Look at your past. Look where you came from. It is7:42 written. It's written. Point to this. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. That's your identity. Your identity7:54 is in Christ. Right? Secondly, we see from this, from Jesus, our example, the power of purpose. Jesus knew his purpose. He knew what he8:06 was here for. Look at Luke, chapter oh, let me just read it for you. Luke chapter 4 verse 43, but he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to8:18 the other cities also. Listen. Because for this purpose, I have been sent. See, he knew what his purpose was. It's what took him to the cross. He knew his purpose. When8:30 people tried to even his disciples tried to talk him out of it, he knew his purpose. We we, you and I, must know our purpose as well. And by the way, as as a8:42 family, I would encourage you to to, to pray through and develop a purpose statement for your family because we we have 1. We've had 1 for years. We we have a purpose statement,8:54 and and and it it it gives definition to to the purpose of our family, and and and I would encourage you even individually to have a purpose statement. Alright. Colossians chapter 39:06 speaks to this. If you if then you are were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth9:18 where Christ died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And then on on the first Corinthians chapter 6 verse 24, you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in9:30 your spirit, which are God's. In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the first question is what is man's chief end? Right? What is man's purpose? Man's purpose is to glorify god9:42 and to enjoy him forever. That's our purpose. Our purpose is to glorify god and to enjoy him. So Jesus knew his purpose. We need to know our purpose. The the third element we see here in9:53 Jesus' response to Satan is that it's the power of the spirit. Jesus walked in the power of the spirit. Luke 4 1, then Jesus10:05 being filled with the spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness. We we, as followers of Jesus Christ, must walk in the power of the spirit. So how do10:17 we do that? Well, when we're saved, we, I believe we receive the spirit when we are saved, and then we choose. Alright? We choose by our habits10:29 and our actions what we are filled with. Paul, he says in Galatians 5 16, I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the10:41 flesh. See, we choose to walk in the spirit. We choose what we fill our hearts and minds with by what we read, what we listen to, what we think about, and what we10:52 say. Our words are powerful. We need to be careful what crosses our lips. David said, the psalmist, put a guard at my lips. We need to have a guard at our lips. And then fourth, we see the this11:04 is this is why we're on this journey. This is 1 of the most important elements, the power of the word. Jesus used the word. It is written. Jesus didn't try to reason with Satan. He didn't11:16 debate Satan. He didn't try to find common ground with Satan. He simply hit him with the word of God. Now here's something we need to know. We must know the word of God to use the word of11:28 God. Alright? Psalm 1 19 11 says, your word, I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Now the word of God will not do you any good if it's in your drawer on your shelf.11:40 You know? I mean, you're not gonna be able to say, alright. Hold on, Satan. Let me go get the let me go find that. But what is that passage that needs to be in our heart? A number of years ago when I was, in law11:51 enforcement as a police officer, we went to we would go to these officer survival schools and just learn we would do these case studies on, you12:03 know, studying previous situations where things did not go right and behavioral or responses were incorrect. And 1 of them was, is a 1912:14 86, goes way back to FBI shooting in Miami that left 2 agents dead and 5 others wounded. The the incident, that particular incident fundamentally changed law enforcement in America. It was a it was12:26 a it was a big deal. It was a pivoting point. And it it led to several reforms from communications to ammunition to to weapons. But what struck me and remains with me even to this day was that there was an12:39 agent, FBI agent. He routinely placed his gun on the seat of his car where he would get to it if he needed. He didn't wanna carry it. You know, it's Miami and used to. It's a little easier now they've with the automatic12:51 weapons. They're, semiautomatic. They're they're they're the the pistols are a little easier to carry than the old revolvers we used to carry. But in the pursuit of a heavily armed13:03 bank robbers, his gun, he was chasing him. His gun got lost in his car and ended up there was a gun battle, right, when they stopped these guys, but he couldn't find his gun. He was in13:14 a battle without a gun. I wouldn't wanna be there. When the temptations of Satan are upon us, that's not when we need to be looking for where we put our13:26 sword. Right? We need to have our the word of god with us. It needs to be in our heart and our mind. We need to be in the word of God so that we know the word of God so that we can use the word of God.13:38 To resist the devil and make him flee, we need to know who we are in Christ, our identity. We must understand and know our purpose in Christ. We must be filled with and walk in the13:50 power of the spirit. We must be equipped with and know how to use the word of God. 1 final thought. Look at verse 17 of chapter 4.14:02 Look at this. It says, from that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So Jesus is baptized. He's go goes off for 40 days into the wilderness, tempted by14:14 Satan, comes back empowered by the Holy Spirit. What's his message? His message is repent. Now what does that say? It's the14:26 same message that John the Baptist had. What does it imply? It implies that we're wrong and we need to get right. Jesus did not come to affirm us in our sin. He came to save us14:38 from our sin, and we must repent and turn to him, meaning changing our hearts, our minds, which leads to a change of our behavior as we come in alignment with the14:50 word of God, believing in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead as we confess him with our mouth. Alright. Next time, we're gonna take a look at the Sermon on the15:01 Mount. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. And I pray, father, that we would learn as we walk in the steps of Jesus, how Jesus walked on this earth,15:13 that he is an example for us, a model. And may we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, lord, may we be sanctified and transformed in into, lord,15:26 a greater alignment with your word and following the example of the lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the holy spirit. And, father, we thank you for your love for us, and we pray this in the15:37 name of Jesus. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. Until next time, keep standing on the word.15:47 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you15:59 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot o r g slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Call to Repentance and Identity in Christ
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