I heard some people don’t want to be very really very happy on a certain situation, you know why? because they are afraid of what will come after next. Some people believe that some sort of tragedy will come after. Have you heard about this line of thinking? After a victory or success… after an important milestone… bad news or frustration follows. They say that the louder you laugh now, the more you will cry later. Some people, they just don’t laugh too much. Sounds to me like a superstitious belief right? Some people have this fear that after they have achieved something significant in their live, something bad will happen. Have you heard about the sword of Damocles? Sabi nga ng mga Americans… Damokels! Well, it’s a Roman anecdote which means that there is an impending danger like a sword hanging over your head. So some people fear that after achieving something so significant or wonderful, there is what seems to a hanging sword of Damocles and frustration is ready to happen anytime after.
But believe it or not, the Bible has to say something about this matter. This is not superstitious belief. It happened to no less than to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Isn’t that amazing to know? Some people thought it’s a baseless fear but it’s not. It’s biblical. Strong temptations tend to follow a major triumph. Trials seem to come after a spiritual victory. I know some of you have experienced the same.
There was a tradition in Rome that after a military commander returned from a victorious battle, he would parade the streets of Rome and with all the cheering and accolades from the people, and he would proudly ride on his chariot --- tradition states that he has a companion in his chariot who continues to recite the phrase “memento mori” which is a Latin phrase meaning… “you are only a mortal” or “you are going to die.” So every one else is cheering for the general but there is always someone to remind him that he is, after all, human and a mortal – and it keeps his head "leveled" to the ground!
I think that is how we should take a look at our message today. That yes, we may have achieved success left and right, we should not forget that all these things come from God and that after any triumph, temptation, trials & tribulations may come.
I call this the T&T&T after T, i.e. Temptation, Trial and Tributation after Triumph.
We are reading from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, verses 1 to 11. It’s funny because you have same chapter in Luke, chapter 4, dealing with this same story.
Our reference verses for today is a good example for Hermeneutics wherein we need to apply interpretation using the immediate context. If you notice, Chapter 4 starts with the word “Then” … just like the word “Therefore” if you see the word “then” it is a signal that you should look at the preceding chapter.
So what was in the preceding chapter, chapter 3? It’s the baptism of Jesus. We all know how significant the baptism of Jesus is. The Bible did not say much about the life of Jesus here on Earth from the time He was twelve when He disappeared for three days and has been found in the Temple. You can read that in Luke Chapter 2. Jesus was discussing with the teachers of the law in temple courts. The Bible says “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. In other translations, it was said that Mary kept these things in her heart – what are those things? The fact that Jesus was the Messiah and that He has this incredible wisdom with Him. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Then Jesus’ next appearance in the Bible was His baptism. He was already thirty. So His baptism is considered His entrance to the ministry. This is also the reason church why here in WCCC we want to make sure that before you serve in the Ministry, you have been baptized. We emulate what the Lord Jesus Christ did. John the Baptist told Him ‘Lord, How can I baptize you? You should be baptizing me?
And what did Jesus say to John? LET IT BE SO NOW in order to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus was teaching us the value of humility and obedience.
Do you think you are ready for the challenges that lies ahead? Jesus said if you want to be my disciple, you have to take up your cross and follow me. We know that it’s not an easy task, we know that there are sacrifices involved.
LESSONS:
The Bible tells us that in our life here on earth -- our battle is spiritual. The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Our true enemy in this world is not our mean boss in the office, not the unfair teacher in school, not our spouse … our true enemy is the god (small letter) of this world - the devil, aka Satan and his minions of evil.
I always tell people who accepted Jesus for the first time or even those who got baptized or those who just responded to God’s calling to join the ministry --- be watchful! The enemy is now double time with you. Of course, when you have not surrendered your life to Christ, the enemy does not bother you at all. He will not exert any effort, why? Because you belong to him in the first place. BUT, if you are a child of God… if you start sharing the Gospel.. if you start preaching His word, if you start serving in the church, if you start talking to your officemates and schoolmates about Christ, if you got baptized, if you started joining the Home Groups, anything you do that will make you grow in the Lord… the devil is very much against that!
So be very watchful. The enemy is like a roaring lion waiting for someone he can devour. He’s got the eye of the tiger, dancin’ through the fire… and you’re gonna hear him roar!
Did you experience that? Try to start reading the Bible every day… you can feel the devil’s scheme trying to prevent you from doing that. Your eyelids will get heavier and heavier. Sometimes, you will teach in a Bible Study… tapos, you will have an argument with your spouse. Who among you – you’re on your way to church, that’s when you have an argument with your spouse or child? That’s why sometimes --- we try to ask the Lord. LORD bakit naman kung kailan kami naging Christians, saka ako nalay-off sa work? Lord, ba’t naman kung kailan kami nag-start umattend ng WCCC saka nagka-leche leche flan ang buhay namin. Now you know the answer why.
Our enemy pays closer attention to us after a spiritual triumph.
So listen to Paul’s warning. He said:
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!.” 1st Corinthians 10:12 NIV
You will notice in the beginning of verse 1, our passage tells us that the SPIRIT led Jesus in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Did you notice that?
Did you see that? So was the temptation permitted by God? The answer is YES!
God, in His sovereign permissive will, sometimes allow the enemy to tempt us for His greater purpose. Do you remember the story of Job? In Chapter 1, it says there In the Land of Uz, there was a man named Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. Who among here ang pwede nating sabihing blameless? Wala no? Meron, humble lang. But Job, according to the Bible, was blameless. And yet, what happened. One day, Satan came to the Lord. The Lord asked him, Satan… “Where have you come from?” Taning, San ka galing? Wala lang, patambay tambay lang sa earth. Pa-walk walk lang. Pa-fly fly lang. He said “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” So obviously Satan is not in hell, with a giant fork, tormenting and poking the sides of poor souls. He roams the earth but he is not omnipresent. Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” Then Satan said to the Lord, you know, yang si Job, the reason why he is like that, faithful and blameless, e kasi you have put a
hedge around him You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But try to take out everything away from him and he will curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” So Job became a subject of what we call “cosmic battle.” It’s a battle between God and Satan. We know what happened in the end. Hindi napahiya ang Diyos kay Job.
What about you? If God tells Satan… hey Lucy, Lucifer -- have you considered my servant Felix? Take away his job from that architectural company, Or my servant Rommel – let his business lose money or my servant Ralph, take him out of clearly contacts – let us see if they will continue to serve me despite all those things. Mapapahiya po kaya ang Lord kay Lucy?
From this story alone, we learn an important truth -- God sometimes allow the enemy to tempt us.
However, it is equally important to know God’s promise in relation to temptation. Most of you know this verse:
“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. 1st Corinthians 10:13a NIV
So even if God allows Satan to tempt us… God knows na yakang-yaka natin ang temptation. God will not allow us be tempted beyond what you can bear.
This is the reason why temptation comes in different forms to different people because we are unique individuals. Some people seem to have a much difficult temptation than others but that doesn’t mean God is not fair in allowing temptations. He looks at our capability to bear temptation and He will not let us be tempted beyond our abilities.
So we cannot say – Lord why is it that my temptation is soooo difficult compared to the temptation of Bro so and so. His temptation is just food, while me -- its much bigger! But you know there is another angle into that. Maybe you don’t learn from simple trials and difficulties in life that is why the Lord allows a more difficult temptation for you. Baka matigas din ang ulo mo?
The third point that I would like to make:
You know when I was studying this passage, even in the past. One thing stands out between the conversation of Jesus and Satan. Did you notice something between the conversation? Let us look at it again…
In Verse 4, He said: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Then Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Jesus quoted Deut. 8:3
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. Verse 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.’ The devil quoted Psalm 91:11,12. Verbatim, word for word, just like ETS.
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]” Jesus quoted Deut. 6:16
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.’ Jesus quoted Deut. 6:13
First of all, please don’t make the mistake of assuming that Jesus only received three temptations from the devil during these 40 days. The Gospel of Luke explains it well. It says there in Luke 4:1-2 “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. So forty days siyang kinukulit ng devil. Parang asawang nagger na nangungulit for 40 days. Can you imagine that? Jesus was in the wilderness, praying and fasting… tapos mayat maya – heto si Taning.. Just turn that stone into a cheeseburger… you’re the Son of God, remember?
Bible Scholars classify these three temptations of Christ as those listed by John in
1st John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Tell these stones to become bread – lust of the flesh (he was hungry)
Jump from this temple and the angels will rescue you – lust of the eyes
All these kingdoms I will give you – the pride of life.
What amazes me in this conversation is the fact that the devil himself is quoting the scripture. He quoted Psalm 91:
“‘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.’
So church, I know we are memorizing Scriptures and that’s good. It’s very important to memorize Bible verses. But the devil is not impressed nor scared if you memorize Scriptures. Why? He knows the Bible from cover to cover. Remember I told you before the Latin terms “ascentia” and “fiducia?” He knows the Bible but he does not trust God. He only has mental acknowledgement. That's ascentia. But believers have more than ascentia. They have fiducia. It's more than mental acknowledgement. It's a belief that Jesus is the Messiah and a complete trust that He is our savior.
Do you know when the Devil is scared? If we memorize the Scripture and we start to follow it, when we start applying the Scripture in our lives…that’s when the devil is more afraid. The apostle Paul said:
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:16-17
You see that Jesus Himself quoted scriptures to resist temptation. Quoting scriptures is not enough, we know that Jesus is living a blameless life. He was full of the Holy Spirit as what Luke said. That is the best weapon against the temptation of the devil. The Word of God – that we know by heart because we obey and we practice it.
CONCLUSION:
Last week we had Men and Ladies fellowship here in the Centre, we were talking about the temptation of Adam and Eve. One of our brother who is a new Christian brought up the question why the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil – this is the tree which God prevented Adam and Eve from eating. Why was the tree in the middle of the garden e bawal pala yun. Why didn’t God just place it at the far end of the Garden. Do you know why? I don't. I wasn’t really explained in the Bible. Only God knows. It’s the same thing why our nose is here and our ears are on both sides of our head. We don’t know. God obviously in His divine power is the only one who knows.
But there is one thing we need to know and learn from the temptation in the Garden of Eden. The forbidden tree was in the middle. Temptation is like that. It always comes handy. Temptation is always easy. You don’t need to exert too much effort to be tempted. Nandiyan lang yan sa tabi mo. That beautiful lady who sits beside you in the office. That young man that you always meet in the gym. The money that is entrusted to your possession. If temptation is really hard to get – We will all be super holy, right?
According to Bro Cesar, if Adam and Eve daw were Filipinos, they will not eat the fruit. They will cook the serpent instead. Just kidding!
I would like to leave you with some of these words:
But God will always provide a way out.
The Bible says:
But when you are tempted,[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
It did not say “IF” you are tempted. It says “WHEN” you are tempted. It’s a certainty. I will happen. Its only a matter of time. So lets not be to stressed about it. It will happen anyway, whether you like it or not but just remember the promise of the Lord. Paul said “HE WILL ALSO PROVIDE A WAY OUT so that you can endure it.” So we cannot say “Lord, tao lang ako, mahina ako…” No, Bible says you always have a way out.
Prayer
Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:
Father God, I confess all my sins to you today. Please forgive me. Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Him in my life as my Saviour and as my Lord. May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be. In Jesus Name, I pray. Amen.
The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC NW and Burnaby during its service on Sunday, January 31, 2016
I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologize if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any. as it is purely unintentional.
If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:
www.wordchristiancommunity.com
No comments:
Post a Comment