Matthew 4:8-11

Matthew 4:8-11, a Scripture we all know well, Jesus has just finished 40 days of fasting and amongst the temptations given to Jesus from the devil this is the last one.

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 temptations that Jesus faced are the same temptations that we face today.
There are many places that ignore the existence of the devil and demons altogether.
The devil that tempted Jesus, does he consider me as he considered Jesus?
What do you think sir?
Do I have faith that is considered like that of Jesus’?
Do you?
The devil who tempted Jesus, what do you think he thinks of you?
What does the devil think of you?
He may think that you are not even bad food.
He may think of you as not even worth trying for.
We have fallen into the trap, we have eaten the food he has given to us, thinking that we are better than Jesus, and therefore we think that there is no temptation in our lives.
“The devil cannot tempt me!” we say.
We say,”There is no reason for me to fall into that trap!” in pride.
Because we have fallen into the trap we do not see that sin that we are in and have no thought about it.
It is because we do not realize that we have fallen into the trap.
The devil has deceitfully come into us but we refuse to face the truth.
This is hard to understand is it not?
Especially for those who are second generation because the terms I am using are bit difficult.
Many pastors speak about authentic versus fake.
Nowadays there are many fake products that are almost better than the authentic products.
Other times there is an over stock of the material that the company is using so that they make the same products but do not label it with their logo.
Otherwise it is the same.
Likewise, each of us tries to understand the Word of God and apply it into our lives, but the one who believes does so with the strength of the Spirit, for the glory of Jesus, through His blood, in joy for the redemption of their soul, being led by the Spirit and revealing it in their lives.
The devil, also reveals the Word of God, but does so only in knowledge of it, in formality, which makes it hard for even true believers to differentiate between the authentic believers and the fake.
Why?
From a knowing point of view, we know that to follow Jesus we are to surrender ourselves completely and let go of all that we think is the way to do things.
We are to die to ourselves, and accept the Word of God and reveal it through our lives, but the devil teaches us in a manner which fits our way of thinking and it seems more proper to us.
We think “Of course, that is the way the Word of God is to be revealed!” so the devil teaches us in a manner in which it is much more easier for us to accept.
Do you understand what I am saying, if not ask me.
I can explain it again.
For example, if I have fruit like that of the fruit of knowledge and it is poisonous, if you eat of it you will die.
But I am starving, and being led by the Spirit I am told to eat of eat, because if I do not eat it I will die.
If the Lord tells me to eat of eat and says I will not die, then am I to eat of it or not eat of it?
If I have truly received the word from the Lord whom we serve, then I must eat.
But from a knowing standpoint, if I eat it I will die, so I would rather starve and die than eat of it and die.
So we put forth our knowledge before the Spirit.
This is an example of how the devil interferes with the work of the Lord.
I have told you this example before of the time when I was in seminary school.
I met another seminary student who was influenced by the power of the devil and drove his car into the middle of a desert.
Then the devil left him and he came to his senses.
He realized that he had no gas in his car.
There was no way for him to go any further.
He searched his car and in his trunk he had water.
He prayed in faith saying that though he was led by the devil into the desert, he must now live to do God’s work so he was going to put the water in the tank and asked that the water be like fuel.
So he put the water in the gas tank, what happened next?
That car, the one I have ridden in myself, whenever that person would drive around to do God’s work, there was no consumption of fuel.
This is happening in today’s time.
But can you only be doing God’s work all the time?
Whenever he went to school, or to church meetings and worship meetings hardly any fuel was used.
But whenever he would need to run personal errands like shopping, or deal with some personal issues, then the fuel in the car would go down just like any other car.
One person is driving the same car, but depending on what his purpose is for driving the consumption of fuel is different.
I have ridden that car and seen it for myself.
The result of faith is beyond our understanding.
If the path that you are going on, is the path where you decide what you will do, then like the example of the car, you will be uselessly using fuel.
But if you go the path where the Lord is the standard, then you will not be using your fuel.
By whose standard are we to drive?
Whose standard are we to speak and act?
I am saying that it is not to be by our standards.
In today’s Scripture we see that the devil came to Jesus to tempt Him.
He knows who Jesus is.
The devil knows the purpose for which Jesus came.
That same devil, who tried to tempt Jesus with the desires of the flesh, heart and mind, if you think that the devil is not trying to make you fall, then you are standing in the place of pride above the devil himself.
Do you realize this?
You do not.
Often I go out and work on in the garden and my room is by the window and because we are next to a big street I hear the sound of motorcycles even late at night.
I hear it all through the day and especially when they are stopped at the signal and when they take off I imagine in my mind what kind of motorcycle it maybe.
There are some motorcycles that have a nice sound, some sound like they are going fast, and other that sound loud, but do not seem to be going fast.
I am always wondering what kind of motorcycle is passing by.
Yesterday, as I was going through the garden, I heard a loud motorcycle but it did not seem to be going fast, so I looked over the wall.
Do you know what kind of motorcycle it was?
It was very unique sounding.
It was a scooter.
I laughed to myself for a while.
That sound had made me think of motorcycles often but seeing it, it wasn’t even a scooter you sit on, it was one of those which you stand on and a motor was attached.
I listened to it and laughed to myself.
I do not want to talk about scooters, but in our lives as we put our faith in Jesus we make a certain sound.
Without looking at our hearts others may see how we sing, pray and all that we do and think that we are good believers but if we reveal the heart of the person they may have only the engine of a scooter in them.
Do you understand what I am trying to say?
I go around showing others how great a believer I am.
I boast in myself.
Though they make claims about what Jesus has done for them, but when you look at their hearts they are not motorcycles and not even a scooter but they are only a toy with a motor attached to it.
I am saying that the devil may look at us as such kind of believers.
I realized that it was not the first time I had been tricked and thought to myself how many times I must have been tricked and laughed about it.
Recently the weather has been unreliable.
It gets hot and then cold.
Do you know what happens because of the weather difference?
One of the first things I do in the morning is to go around the garden and pollinate the plants that need it.
There are few butterflies and bees these days to have it done on its own.
Without someone doing the work we will not be able to eat of some the vegetables that need to have it done.
I must be diligent.
Normally the flower of the squash open up early and about 11 AM closes and loses strength.
But due to the erratic weather, the flower at times stays open until late in the day or even the next day.
No matter how diligently I pollinate those flowers those flowers eventually die.
Why do I tell you this?
Is it about the flowers?
This past month there have been countless flowers that I have not been able to pollinate that have died.
You can see many of them on the ground even now.
Like these flowers we may have an appearance of beauty calling out to the bees and the butterflies, and though we are bloomed, like the apostle Paul has said, though we have watered the plants, it is the Lord who makes them grow.
But like the flowers if we are unable to receive properly the warmth of the sun, and the temperature fluctuates drastically, we cannot grow.
And though we may grow there will be no fruit.
Like flowers that are pollinated but do not grow, if we put on an appearance of faith and sing praises, and pray, dress in nice clothes, come to church, and do things in the name of the Lord, but if my relationship with the Lord is not right, there will be no fruit.
You are already dead.
No matter what is done to the flower it is already dead.
This is what nature teaches us as we apply the truth of God’s Word to our lives.
Unless my relationship with God is right, all the Bible reading, singing praises, and all the time I spend in prayer, if there is no fruit in my life, then I am dead.
The squash must bear fruit so that there can be seeds for the next season and also to please the owner by being food on the table.
But a dead flower is useless.
Seeing that no matter how diligent I am to the flowers that are already going to die, no matter how I live my life by praying, singing praises and crying out to God, without a right relationship with God and a life of obedience, then I am only wasting my time.
Let us not live this kind of life.
Go see for yourselves.
The pomegranate tree has flowers that bloomed.
It did so a little late this year.
I was diligent in watering it.
There must be at least a thousand flowers on it.
Out of the thousand there are only two that will bear fruit.
The other 998 are useless.
There will only be two pomegranates fruits.
The rest will die off and there will be nothing.
It seems that there are going to be many but in truth it is just a couple.
If our lives of faith are like this, then what will you do?
Yesterday, we attended a funeral for a pastor.
Of all the funerals I have been to, it was by far the largest gathering for someone who had died that I have attended.
In that large chapel, there were more people standing outside who could not come in.
The cars that people drove there were by far much more luxurious than the average person’s car.
All the people who sat in the row with one of our pastors had name brand designer bags on their laps.
People of great position came to pay their respects.
Then did the person who passed away sow good seeds or did she sow bad seeds for all these people to come to her funeral?
What do you think?
This one person had done much for all these people to come say goodbye which is what we were shown by the outcome.
In Korean history, there was conflict between two sides, one side lost and was removed from authority, but the one in authority died and the person who was removed came into power. When they took power they convicted the dead of crimes?
What happened afterwards?
They dug up the dead and punished the body of the dead.
This is history.
Are you aware of this?
Though someone has died, they committed a crime worthy of punishment and even though they are dead they must be punished.
So they dug up the grave and punished the dead.
Though I may live my life as though it seems good but the result is otherwise, then I will be punished in the end.
I am speaking about myself.
If I may have lived a life that helped many people and they would all later come to pay their respects at my funeral, but ultimately I did this all for my gain, then in the end when God calls me to judgment at the resurrection and he raises me up from the dead to punish me, then what will happen to me?
In the end we will all be raised up from the dead.
At that time if I am raised up to receive judgment and sent to Hell, then we must reconsider our lives.
We must consider how to enter in the God’s glory in the resurrection.
Depending on the result of my actions today, if I live a life that is acknowledged by God and the people, then in the end I will be guaranteed eternal life.
But if not, what will happen to me.
Today if I am filled with the Spirit and led by Him, and doing my work diligently.
But who am I as diligent as?
1 Samuel 10:9-11
Samuel has met with Saul and anointed him with oil as king of Israel.
After he was anointed...
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
God gave Saul a new heart and everything the Lord desired was fulfilled that day.
And in order of the events Saul has now become king of Israel.
Saul had received a new heart.
In today’s term he was redeemed.
He was filled with the Spirit and with a new heart he became the king of Israel and then what happened?
He disobeyed God and then rather than repenting before God, he fell into the trap of the devil, and thinking that he had come into the position of king on his own, he tried to maintain that position by trying to kill David.
1 Samuel 19:23-24

23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

How powerfully he was filled with the Spirit, that the king lay naked all day and all night prophesying?
Would you too be able to prophesy naked for a day and night while naked and being in the Spirit?
No matter how filled we are with the Spirit, we feel we must wear our clothes, cover the parts we must cover, and this reveals our will.
The king who wants to keep his position and is on his way to kill David his enemy, the one who is anointed by God, but when the Spirit of God came on him, he let go of everything, took off his clothes and prophesied.
He was filled with the Spirit.
But what did he do after he got up?
What did he do?
Until the day he died he was constantly interfering with God’s work.
Is being filled with God’s Spirit and prophesying important?
Yes, it is important.
But to the degree in which I prophesy, if I do not die to Jesus and reveal Him through my life, then it is all pointless.
Luke 10:17:20
The Lord gave authority to cast out demons and to preach the good news about the coming kingdom of God.
This is what they said.
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

They were filled with joy because they were able to cast out demons and that they were doing something, but the Lord replies, “do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
What we are truly joyful about is not about casting out demons or healing the sick, but that our names are written in the book of life.
I thought about this yesterday, whether Judas Iscariot was among the 72, I do not know.
If we consider that the 12 were among the 72 then even Judas Iscariot had his name written in Heaven.
But in the end, because he was unable to live a life of obedience that revealed Jesus that name was erased from heaven.
If we today speak about prophesy, then Judas was not to have done what he did.
Even before this time the disciples had been given power.
They all claimed Him to be the Savior.
The called Him Lord and followed Him.
It is not important that they followed Him around, nor that they did things in His name, and though it is important that my name is written in Heaven, but I must live a life that bears fruit so that my name is not erased from Heaven.
Like Jesus who rebuked the devil with God’s Word and overcome the temptations, if I am unable to live a life that bears fruit, then like the flowers that are pollinated but are dead because there is no proper relationship between it and the sun, it will not bear fruit and die. Likewise a tree that has thousand of flowers but none of it bear fruit then all those flowers are useless. It is all the same.
God and I, Jesus and I, the Holy Spirit and I, unless I offer myself in obedience to the Word, and live my life according to what I think faith is, then our lives will be a life without fruit, no matter how much we pray, how much we read the Bible, no matter how much we sing praises, no matter how much power we display, then like Jesus said in Matthew, if on that day Jesus says that He does not know us, who is He saying that too?
Is it a nonbeliever or a believer?
Who is he telling “I never knew you.”
Lord, Lord, in you name I cast out demons and displayed power.
In your name means I am a believer.
I believe you yet why do you not know me?
I did these things in your name.
Like the 72 who cast out demons and were filled with joy.
They returned and were excited.
When I prayed things happened.
What importance is this?
I have told you repeatedly, these are only signs of God’s existence to you.
The joy of being saved by Jesus, the Spirit shows you these things to reveal God, that is why through your life you are to reveal Jesus by living a life of surrender.
But when I see myself, I realize I still want to live.
When I look at myself, the devil who tempted Jesus tempts me with the same temptation and me not having been victorious, am found fallen down in the trap.
When other see me they may see a pastor who seems to be righteous but when I look at myself in light of the Word, I see one who continues to fall into the trap.
Truly the devil disguises himself as an angel of light and tirelessly attacks us to make us fall.
The one word we speak, the one thought we have, whatever it may be in the brief moment that these things fly past our eyes, the devil throws more things at us in order to tempt us and make us fall.
The devil comes looking for me endlessly.
It will be a sudden thought, a sudden vision, it may seem like it is from the Lord, but when I take it one more step, I am worried, anxious and fearful.
My thoughts have entered and I stumble and fall.
When I fall then I decide how the story will end.
In the circumstance I no longer trust God to lead me, but I decide what I will do and have already fallen into the trap.
It is a cunning trap.
A student is about to take an exam but has not studied.
He starts daydreaming out the things he must do to get a good grade and calculates things in his mind without studying.
He decides how the story will be written out and what the end result will be.
He is not dependent on God.
Another example is a fight between spouses.
The spouse decides how they will resolve the issue in the what manner and what they will do.
Rather than ridding oneself the evil that is within, they try to undo the wrong by using the methods in their heads.
You fail to realize that you have already fallen into the trap of the devil.
You do business.
You get a customer.
Rather than serve them in obedience, you start calculating what you will do when you meet this person and what you will do when you meet that person.
You will make this deal, you will do this, and you have calculated all the scenarios in your head and then met the person, you have already fallen into the trap of the devil.
It is severe.
When we pray during the week as we are faced with trial we pray saying what is it Lord that you desire I do for your glory?
We are asking the wrong question.
Whenever we ask the wrong question we will always get the wrong response.
We think that God has sent us here to do something through us.
So we think we need to ask God what it is the He desires that we do with our lives.
What did we read in the quiet time.
God has already laid out the plans for His will.
If for His will I have been placed here, then we are to ask how do You want to use me?
But we do not ask to reveal God’s will, but we ask to do something for Him for ourselves.
We have fallen into the trap.
We are asking the wrong question.
If the devil tempted Jesus, then we are going to face greater temptations and far more every time we open our eyes, every time we open our ears, every time we think, whenever something arises from with in us, we must realize that the temptations of the devil are right there trying to take us down, and unless we remove them, with the Word of God, we will fall.
We must realize this, so that we can use our strength not to fall.
Unless we examine ourselves we will never be victorious.
When we examine our lives, we must be able to stand before God.
How you will stand in what manner is your decision that you must make.
You must decide for yourself and live that life.
By whose standards?
By the Word given to us by the Lord.
Determined to do so in obedience.
The devil who came to tempt Jesus, tempted Him all the way to the cross.
If you think that the devil is trying to tempt you until the point you die, then what kind of life should you be living, what kind of thoughts should you be thinking?
Re-examine your life and make the decision to do all that pleases God in obedience to His Word and living according to His will.
May this time be the time you decide to do so.