Monthly Archives: February 2019

Resisting temptation – Matthew 4:1-11

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When Jesus was confronted by the devil in the wilderness, he might have just destroyed the devil once and for all.  Or, he might have used a bit less of his own divine omnipotence and suddenly shut the devil’s mouth.  After all, hadn’t the Holy Spirit just descended upon him at his baptism in the last chapter?  Wasn’t he ready to engage in a mighty public miracle-working ministry?  Maybe so, but those options would not have taught us the same lesson as what he actually did.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

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

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall 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 glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Instead of somehow rendering the devil powerless, Jesus, who was empowered by the Spirit and led into the wilderness by that same Spirit, confronted the devil with Scripture.  Instead of doing something that only Jesus could do, he did something that any Christian can do just as well.

When confronted by temptation, we can rely upon the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures to resist it.  That is not always easy to do because the devil tends to catch us off guard, when the Spirit’s indwelling presence is the last thing on our minds.  Arguably, Jesus also knew the Bible better than we do.

Alas, these may be real reasons, but they are not good excuses.  We should find it encouraging that Jesus did what he did in the way that he did it.  The lessons learned are to stay conscious of the Holy Spirit’s presence within us and to grow spiritually from a steady diet of the Bible.  You never know which obscure verse, say from Deuteronomy, is going to come in handy. 

Let’s continuously pray for the Holy Spirit’s help and continuously take in regular doses of God’s Word.  When temptation comes, we will be ready to resist it just like Jesus.

Matthew 3 Verse by Verse

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Matt photoAll four Gospels mention John the Baptist and his ministry of preparing the way for Jesus.  Today we look at John and the baptism of Christ.

Matthew 03.pdf

Matthew 03.mp3

A Prayer of Repentance Prompted by Matthew 3:1-2

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In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Heavenly Father,

John came baptizing with water for repentance.  At that time he knew that the kingdom of heaven had drawn near because Jesus had finally come.  He was at the start of his public ministry.  Jesus has now come and gone, so we know the unfulfilled aspects of the kingdom are nearer to us than they were for John.  And Father, we therefore desire to turn from our sins.

Help us to turn from sin in all its forms, first in those obvious ways in which we know we offend you, but also in those ways that are less obvious.  Reveal to us those ways in which we sin against you and defile ourselves.  Show us those actions, behaviors or attitudes in which our motives are impure.  Like the people of Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan who were going out to John to be baptized we confess our sins to you.

Let our lives be characterized by repentance.  Let our hearts and our minds be pure.  In every way, let us experience that change of mind that leads to a change in direction.  Let our only desire be to more fully follow you.  Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again, and it is high time that we, his bride, made ourselves ready.

Let your kingdom come,

Amen

Fruit in keeping with repentance – Matt 3:8

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When John the Baptist saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he had some harsh words for them.  He knew coming to observe him was insincere.  One thing he said that was not so harsh though was, 

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matt 3:8 ESV throughout)

This is helpful for anyone.  His point was that no birthright or position, however lofty or admirable, was going to be enough to please God.  Those with the best social standing still need to repent.  And repentance, that turning from sin toward God with a new attitude toward both, is going to be visible.  One passage that shows us the contrast of a pre/post repentance life is Gal 5:19-24.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Another helpful passage is Col 1:9-11,

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.

Finally, Hebrews 13:15 adds a bit more.

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

May our lives be full of good fruit, evidence that we have changed our minds, attitudes and hearts concerning sin and turned wholeheartedly toward God in Christ.