1 00:00:06,490 --> 00:00:09,340 Any Father we come before you and again we thank you for this 2 00:00:09,350 --> 00:00:11,700 time. We thank you for our chance to 3 00:00:11,710 --> 00:00:14,000 give you the praise and worship you deserve. 4 00:00:14,070 --> 00:00:17,730 We also come before you and we thank you for the offerings that 5 00:00:17,740 --> 00:00:19,960 have been made. We thank you that you are the 6 00:00:19,970 --> 00:00:23,880 one who gives all to us, the one who is the great provider. 7 00:00:23,930 --> 00:00:27,210 And we just pray these offerings that are given will be used for 8 00:00:27,220 --> 00:00:29,320 your glory. May they be used to honour you. 9 00:00:29,330 --> 00:00:32,940 Give wisdom to those that distribute them Lord, and we 10 00:00:32,950 --> 00:00:35,620 bring them to you as part of our worship. 11 00:00:35,670 --> 00:00:37,260 Well, we thank you for our children. 12 00:00:37,270 --> 00:00:39,610 What a blessing they are to us as a church. 13 00:00:39,700 --> 00:00:42,570 You know the congregation, we just pray for them now as they 14 00:00:42,580 --> 00:00:44,910 head out to Sunday school and team class. 15 00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:48,230 Lord, we just pray that their hearts will be open to the word. 16 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,750 Lord, we just pray that each 1 and in time will come to know 17 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,110 you as their own personal Lord and Saviour. 18 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,320 We thank you for our Sunday School teachers. 19 00:00:56,330 --> 00:00:59,410 We thank you for the blessing that they are to us and to our 20 00:00:59,420 --> 00:01:01,260 children. We thank you for the willingness 21 00:01:01,270 --> 00:01:04,349 to share your word or we pray the words that you've laid on 22 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,130 their hearts will sink deep into the children's hearts or in 23 00:01:08,140 --> 00:01:10,600 Father, we thank you for daring as he's prepared this message. 24 00:01:10,610 --> 00:01:14,540 As we continue our our walk through book of Luke, we'll just 25 00:01:14,550 --> 00:01:17,490 pray that you will give him clarity of thought in mind as he 26 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:21,190 brings this message to us. We pray for our own hearts that 27 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,460 they will be open to hearing the word and not just hearing that 28 00:01:24,470 --> 00:01:28,460 Lord, we pray that we will let it affect us and change us and 29 00:01:28,470 --> 00:01:31,480 grow closer to you. So we commit Dan into your hand 30 00:01:31,490 --> 00:01:33,160 now and we just thank you for this time. 31 00:01:33,170 --> 00:01:38,840 We share in Jesus name, Amen. Good morning. 32 00:01:39,980 --> 00:01:42,650 Hey, we're gonna start this morning with a video clip. 33 00:01:43,890 --> 00:01:47,110 Alright, That is hilarious. That was, I just cut that down 34 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,260 to a highlight reel. If you go to YouTube and look up 35 00:01:49,270 --> 00:01:51,340 marshmallow test, you can watch the whole thing. 36 00:01:51,350 --> 00:01:54,330 It it is hilarious. But a couple of things about it 37 00:01:54,340 --> 00:01:56,780 that you you might not know. It's actually a very, very old 38 00:01:56,790 --> 00:01:58,760 clip. Most of those kids are sort of 39 00:01:58,770 --> 00:02:01,200 middle-aged now, but what's interesting is that they 40 00:02:01,210 --> 00:02:03,040 followed them through their lives. 41 00:02:03,170 --> 00:02:06,760 And there is a very, very strong correlation between whether they 42 00:02:06,770 --> 00:02:10,539 were able to with stand that temptation with the young and 43 00:02:10,550 --> 00:02:12,600 how well they did through life and sort of the different 44 00:02:12,610 --> 00:02:15,780 outcomes through their life, you know, which is interesting. 45 00:02:15,850 --> 00:02:18,390 The other thing though, there's kind of a caveat in there. 46 00:02:18,450 --> 00:02:21,150 Some of the kids knew the teacher that was was saying it. 47 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,050 If you wait, I'll give you a second marshmallow. 48 00:02:23,060 --> 00:02:26,250 And they had a sort of a, a good sense of trust in that teacher. 49 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,470 Some of the kids did not know. And that also had a huge bearing 50 00:02:29,540 --> 00:02:32,560 on whether they were able to wait, right? 51 00:02:32,570 --> 00:02:34,670 If they trusted the teacher, they knew the teacher, then the 52 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:36,230 teacher said, I'll come back with the second one. 53 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,910 And they believe that was the case, then they were more likely 54 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:41,120 to be able to resist the temptation. 55 00:02:41,310 --> 00:02:43,980 So we continue our series this morning through the book of 56 00:02:43,990 --> 00:02:45,720 Luke. This one's called a time to 57 00:02:45,730 --> 00:02:49,470 pause dealing with temptation. That'll make sense as we go. 58 00:02:49,510 --> 00:02:52,460 Now we're going to be in Luke chapter 4 where that takes 59 00:02:52,470 --> 00:02:53,680 place. But we're also going to spend a 60 00:02:53,690 --> 00:02:56,900 lot of time in Deuteronomy. So if you also want to put a 61 00:02:56,910 --> 00:03:00,100 finger in Deuteronomy 8 or a bookmark or something, and we'll 62 00:03:00,110 --> 00:03:02,440 flip backwards and forwards quickly between them a lot 63 00:03:02,450 --> 00:03:05,080 during the service. We got a lot of cool stuff to 64 00:03:05,090 --> 00:03:06,400 look at. So I'm going to do that quite 65 00:03:06,410 --> 00:03:09,620 fast. When it comes to temptation, 66 00:03:09,940 --> 00:03:11,270 there's a couple of things about it. 67 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,530 They're very similar to what we saw in this marshmallow video, 68 00:03:13,540 --> 00:03:15,590 right? When it comes to temptation, 69 00:03:15,660 --> 00:03:19,150 there's always more at stake than what we think. 70 00:03:19,420 --> 00:03:22,490 And even with the marshmallow test, right, it was just about 71 00:03:22,500 --> 00:03:24,810 marshmallows, right? But it did, it was kind of a 72 00:03:24,980 --> 00:03:27,430 foreshadowing of how things were to go for them through their 73 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:29,580 life. And the second thing is our 74 00:03:29,590 --> 00:03:34,690 ability to resist temptation is strongly linked to our trust in 75 00:03:34,700 --> 00:03:36,690 God. When we're in the middle of 76 00:03:36,700 --> 00:03:40,600 temptation, if we could pause and we could kind of bring those 77 00:03:40,610 --> 00:03:45,370 two things together right into focus, maybe we could gain some 78 00:03:45,380 --> 00:03:48,770 traction when it comes to dealing with temptation. 79 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,030 If we can go, I'm facing this temptation, am I going to trust 80 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,650 God? We can connect those two things. 81 00:03:54,660 --> 00:03:58,130 It it makes a difference to us. Now, maybe you can't see a link 82 00:03:58,140 --> 00:04:01,340 between your particular temptation and your confidence 83 00:04:01,350 --> 00:04:04,550 in God, but we're going to develop that more as we go this 84 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,070 morning. So I'm going to be in Luke 85 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:12,160 chapter 4 verse #1 and it says this says and Jesus full of the 86 00:04:12,170 --> 00:04:14,360 Holy Spirit, right? Is that that phrase again that 87 00:04:14,370 --> 00:04:16,540 we've seen throughout Luke right under the influence of the Holy 88 00:04:16,550 --> 00:04:20,100 Spirit full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was 89 00:04:20,110 --> 00:04:25,590 led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days being 90 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,760 tempted by the devil. Now just just a quick point. 91 00:04:29,770 --> 00:04:33,210 Remember you know Andy took us through this last week Jesus 92 00:04:33,220 --> 00:04:36,290 baptism, right Remember he comes up out of the water Spirit of 93 00:04:36,300 --> 00:04:39,060 God descends on him like a dove and this big booming voice from 94 00:04:39,070 --> 00:04:43,330 heaven says this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. 95 00:04:43,410 --> 00:04:47,090 So this is like God giving him some applause, right well done, 96 00:04:47,420 --> 00:04:49,050 well done. This is my beloved son whom I am 97 00:04:49,060 --> 00:04:51,170 well pleased. Then he's straight from there. 98 00:04:51,220 --> 00:04:55,390 The Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness to be tempted by 99 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,880 the devil. So it's important to understand 100 00:04:57,890 --> 00:05:00,230 that this was not some kind of punishment. 101 00:05:00,300 --> 00:05:03,490 When we're facing presentation. It's not some kind of punishment 102 00:05:03,550 --> 00:05:06,400 from God because that's not what we see there in the pattern here 103 00:05:06,410 --> 00:05:08,720 in Luke. I think it looks as this second 104 00:05:08,730 --> 00:05:11,180 part of that verse. And he ate nothing during those 105 00:05:11,190 --> 00:05:14,350 days when they were ended, He was hungry. 106 00:05:15,100 --> 00:05:17,150 So a month and a half without any food. 107 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:19,990 And Luke tells us at the end of that he was hungry. 108 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:21,990 A little bit of an understatement there by by Luke, 109 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:23,730 I think. But, but in the following 110 00:05:23,740 --> 00:05:28,370 verses, Jesus is going to be tempted in three specific ways 111 00:05:29,150 --> 00:05:31,580 and his confidence in God is going to be tested. 112 00:05:31,590 --> 00:05:33,580 This is a very common story, right? 113 00:05:33,590 --> 00:05:36,060 Very well known story. And if you you grew up in church 114 00:05:36,070 --> 00:05:38,790 or you sometime in Sunday school or something like that, you 115 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,140 probably have heard some of the story before. 116 00:05:41,190 --> 00:05:46,020 But every temptation that we face falls into one of three 117 00:05:46,030 --> 00:05:47,970 categories. It's a 3 categories that we're 118 00:05:47,980 --> 00:05:50,610 going to see here. And as we look at how this 119 00:05:50,620 --> 00:05:53,940 works, hopefully we'll gain some insight into how these things 120 00:05:53,990 --> 00:05:56,080 come about and how to win against the temptation. 121 00:05:56,830 --> 00:06:00,160 As we look at these temptations that Jesus face in the the 122 00:06:00,170 --> 00:06:03,480 desert, you'll probably never be tempted to jump off a building 123 00:06:03,540 --> 00:06:06,100 to get God to catch you. You'll probably never be offered 124 00:06:06,110 --> 00:06:08,320 all of the kingdoms of the world. 125 00:06:08,370 --> 00:06:12,220 You know, it's unlikely. So the specifics of these 126 00:06:12,230 --> 00:06:16,040 temptations are not what's important here, not, you know, 127 00:06:16,090 --> 00:06:19,730 not what's the key here, right? The value of this is that on 128 00:06:19,740 --> 00:06:23,700 three different occasions, Jesus is tempted to do something on 129 00:06:23,710 --> 00:06:27,160 his own rather than trust in God. 130 00:06:27,410 --> 00:06:30,240 So it's more the sort of the categories that are important to 131 00:06:30,250 --> 00:06:33,980 see rather than the specifics of the of the temptation that Jesus 132 00:06:33,990 --> 00:06:36,380 faced here. That'll make sense in a second 133 00:06:36,490 --> 00:06:38,620 as well. Just a quick question, right? 134 00:06:39,090 --> 00:06:43,080 What was at stake when Jesus faced these temptations? 135 00:06:43,830 --> 00:06:48,160 If he gave into temptation and he signed what was at stake? 136 00:06:48,230 --> 00:06:50,560 A lot of things actually. But one of the one of the big 137 00:06:50,570 --> 00:06:55,220 ones is you and I. Because if Jesus sinned, then he 138 00:06:55,230 --> 00:06:58,760 couldn't die in our place because he would have to die to 139 00:06:58,770 --> 00:07:01,760 pay for his own sins. And so there would be no 140 00:07:01,810 --> 00:07:05,120 salvation for us. And so, as we said, there's 141 00:07:05,130 --> 00:07:09,920 always a lot more at stake than we think when we face a 142 00:07:09,930 --> 00:07:13,330 temptation. In effect, when we face 143 00:07:13,340 --> 00:07:16,840 temptation, 3 things are at stake. 144 00:07:16,900 --> 00:07:20,570 Every time you attempted, there are three things at stake #1 145 00:07:20,620 --> 00:07:24,260 your future is at stake again, Yo, it was just marshmallows, 146 00:07:24,270 --> 00:07:26,810 but it actually had a bearing on what happened down the track. 147 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:28,770 And we'll see that as we go in a minute. 148 00:07:28,980 --> 00:07:31,610 Almost always somebody else's future is at stake as well. 149 00:07:32,990 --> 00:07:35,900 If you're an employee an you attempt a new fall into send 150 00:07:35,910 --> 00:07:38,300 you. If you're an employer and you're 151 00:07:38,310 --> 00:07:41,360 attempted, you fall into send, your employees will be affected. 152 00:07:41,510 --> 00:07:44,280 If you are a husband, you attempted, you've fallen to 153 00:07:44,290 --> 00:07:45,440 send, your wife will be affected. 154 00:07:45,450 --> 00:07:47,500 If your wife, your husband will be affected. 155 00:07:47,510 --> 00:07:50,880 If your parents, you fall into sin, your kids will be affected. 156 00:07:50,950 --> 00:07:53,520 And so it goes on. One of the things at stake when 157 00:07:53,530 --> 00:07:55,490 we attempted is somebody else's future. 158 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,800 The thing is though, you know, sometimes I think we think it's 159 00:07:58,810 --> 00:08:01,090 all about us. But every time we fall into 160 00:08:01,100 --> 00:08:02,940 temptation, there's more at stake than we think. 161 00:08:03,670 --> 00:08:08,120 But also it's worse than that, because giving into temptation 162 00:08:08,310 --> 00:08:09,880 is a sin. Bible makes it very clear that 163 00:08:09,890 --> 00:08:13,690 it's not a sin to be tempted, but giving into temptation is a 164 00:08:13,700 --> 00:08:15,970 sin, right? So every time we sin it, it 165 00:08:15,980 --> 00:08:19,330 affects the kind of relationship that we have with God because 166 00:08:19,340 --> 00:08:23,390 what's at stake is your confidence in God and in God's 167 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,830 presence in your life. God hasn't gone anywhere, but 168 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:29,990 your trust in him has when you give in to temptation. 169 00:08:30,060 --> 00:08:33,030 So really your faith in the sense of your trust and your 170 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:38,530 heavenly Father is at stake because every time we face 171 00:08:38,539 --> 00:08:41,390 temptation, every temptation is really a question. 172 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,900 And the question is this, can God be trusted? 173 00:08:45,670 --> 00:08:48,580 Can God be trusted? And we've given, when we're 174 00:08:48,590 --> 00:08:52,470 given to a temptation, we answer that question, No, no, we can't. 175 00:08:53,210 --> 00:08:58,220 And so if you are very young. You have a lot of future at 176 00:08:58,230 --> 00:09:01,800 stake. If you are very old, you have a 177 00:09:01,810 --> 00:09:04,580 lot of legacy at stake. And if you're somewhere in 178 00:09:04,590 --> 00:09:06,680 between, you've got a lot of boats at stake. 179 00:09:06,730 --> 00:09:09,530 Every temptation is about your future to potentially somebody 180 00:09:09,540 --> 00:09:12,700 else's future. Or, you know, maybe your parents 181 00:09:12,790 --> 00:09:16,180 gave into temptation and you paid for it and it wasn't even 182 00:09:16,190 --> 00:09:19,200 your sin or, or your weakness or your addiction or your failure 183 00:09:19,210 --> 00:09:22,190 or whatever that you paid the price every single time you 184 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:23,940 attempted. Not only is your future and the 185 00:09:23,950 --> 00:09:27,660 future of others at stake, but your confidence in God is at 186 00:09:27,670 --> 00:09:29,180 stake. And so here's kind of a bottom 187 00:09:29,190 --> 00:09:31,820 line this morning, right? Temptation is always a test of 188 00:09:31,830 --> 00:09:34,160 our faith, right? Of our in the sense of our trust 189 00:09:34,170 --> 00:09:36,990 in God, not just our self-control. 190 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,830 Temptation is always a test of your faith, not just yourself 191 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,680 control. So remember that as we go on. 192 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,090 And so when we face the temptation, we really want to 193 00:09:47,100 --> 00:09:50,510 pause and that's why the title that misses this morning pause. 194 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,490 We're in a really want to pause and ask these questions. 195 00:09:53,500 --> 00:09:57,310 Is God big enough to address my whatever it is for you right my 196 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,250 loneliness, whatever the temptation is. 197 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,870 Is God big enough to meet my need for intimacy? 198 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,310 Is God big enough to meet my need for progress and 199 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,810 professional confidence? Is God big enough to drop into 200 00:10:08,820 --> 00:10:12,650 my world and help me provide for my family has got big enough to 201 00:10:12,660 --> 00:10:16,840 do something in my marriage is, you know, can I pause and wait 202 00:10:16,850 --> 00:10:20,340 on God or do I have to continually make things work and 203 00:10:20,350 --> 00:10:23,060 keep things happening? So that's what's at stake every 204 00:10:23,070 --> 00:10:28,020 time we face temptation, because we don't trust God, we don't 205 00:10:28,030 --> 00:10:31,250 obey Him, and eventually we just stop doing anything. 206 00:10:31,260 --> 00:10:32,230 He says You. Know. 207 00:10:32,460 --> 00:10:35,960 Every time you tipped and your confidence in God is tested. 208 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:38,930 So we want to try and connect these two ideas. 209 00:10:38,940 --> 00:10:42,250 I, I, I'm being tempted, do I trust God? 210 00:10:42,260 --> 00:10:45,590 I need to link this to Ken, God be trusted and bring those two 211 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:47,630 things together. So let's see how this works. 212 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:52,500 Luke chapter 4, verse #3. Jesus devil comes to him, Jesus 213 00:10:52,510 --> 00:10:55,450 in the wilderness after 40 days of of, you know, a month and a 214 00:10:55,460 --> 00:10:57,790 half not eating anything. Devil said to him, if you're the 215 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:02,750 son of God, command this stone to become bread right now. 216 00:11:03,420 --> 00:11:07,090 This turned water into wine. You know, he could probably do 217 00:11:07,100 --> 00:11:07,610 this. We will. 218 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:09,790 We wouldn't even blink. It's like, ohh, yeah, that's he, 219 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:11,650 he's Jesus. That's what he does, right? 220 00:11:11,740 --> 00:11:17,390 But Jesus understands that the issue isn't his hunger or his 221 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,510 self-control, but the issue is, can I trust God? 222 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,930 And we know this because Jesus flashes back to a story from the 223 00:11:25,940 --> 00:11:28,850 history of his people, the Jews when they were wandering in the 224 00:11:28,860 --> 00:11:32,470 wilderness in in the Sinai, if you remember that story right, 225 00:11:32,540 --> 00:11:36,190 Everyday God would come, they would wake up in the morning and 226 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,200 there would be this stuff called manner on the ground was kind of 227 00:11:38,210 --> 00:11:40,170 like honey puffs. And God would provide it 228 00:11:40,180 --> 00:11:41,590 everyday. And if they if they tried to 229 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,670 store it up, it would rot. So they just had to trust that 230 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:48,220 it would be there everyday. And they were learning that God 231 00:11:48,230 --> 00:11:50,790 could be trusted. So flick back to Jeromy chapter 232 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:56,190 8 and we'll, we'll have a look at this number 2 and Judah only 233 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:57,630 82. Moses. 234 00:11:57,640 --> 00:11:59,860 This is at the end of this 40 years in the wilderness and 235 00:11:59,870 --> 00:12:03,290 Moses reflecting back on this and what's happened and he's 236 00:12:03,300 --> 00:12:06,810 giving doing this big long sort of speech to the to the Jewish 237 00:12:06,820 --> 00:12:10,060 people. And he says that Jeromy ate too. 238 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,610 He said, and you shall remember the whole way that your Lord God 239 00:12:13,620 --> 00:12:16,630 has led you these 40 years in the wilderness that he might 240 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,690 humble you, testing you didn't know what was in your heart, 241 00:12:19,740 --> 00:12:21,650 whether you would keep his commandments or not. 242 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,030 And he humbled you and he let you hunger and he fed you with 243 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,370 manna, which you didn't know or your father's didn't know that 244 00:12:28,380 --> 00:12:30,950 he might make. You know that man does not live 245 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,980 by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the 246 00:12:34,990 --> 00:12:37,470 mouth of God. And so if you, if you look at 247 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,180 that whole speech, what, what Moses is saying is, look, God 248 00:12:41,190 --> 00:12:44,170 provided this manner for you, you know, everyday, except, you 249 00:12:44,180 --> 00:12:46,310 know, on the Sabbath, but everyday for 40 years. 250 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,050 He provided this for you so that you would learn to trust him. 251 00:12:49,060 --> 00:12:52,950 And he connected it with his laws and his precepts so that 252 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,490 you would understand, you know, is God's these laws and 253 00:12:56,500 --> 00:12:58,660 precepts? Is God trying to keep me from 254 00:12:58,670 --> 00:13:01,020 getting good stuff? Is God being a killjoy? 255 00:13:01,030 --> 00:13:03,010 Is God, Can I really trust God on this? 256 00:13:03,020 --> 00:13:04,770 This was the whole Adam and Eve thing, wasn't it? 257 00:13:05,010 --> 00:13:06,960 You know, say and said, ohh, you know, God's holding out on you. 258 00:13:06,970 --> 00:13:08,810 That's why he doesn't you need that cause he knows you will be 259 00:13:08,820 --> 00:13:11,570 like him then. And so God was trying to teach 260 00:13:11,580 --> 00:13:14,500 you, look, you can trust God and you know that because he 261 00:13:14,510 --> 00:13:15,980 provides the money everyday, right? 262 00:13:15,990 --> 00:13:18,940 And he connected those those two things together. 263 00:13:19,010 --> 00:13:21,080 And so you know, he doesn't have a hidden agenda. 264 00:13:21,130 --> 00:13:25,680 Guy can be trusted and Moses, look, if you lose sight of that 265 00:13:25,790 --> 00:13:28,900 and you, you, you, you fail to trust him, here's what's gonna 266 00:13:28,910 --> 00:13:30,640 happen, right? Drop down to verse #11 they're 267 00:13:30,650 --> 00:13:32,680 in denomy. He says this. 268 00:13:32,830 --> 00:13:36,460 Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his 269 00:13:36,470 --> 00:13:38,960 commandments in his rules and his statues which I command you 270 00:13:38,970 --> 00:13:41,480 today. Let's when you've eaten and are 271 00:13:41,490 --> 00:13:44,030 full and have built good houses and you live in them. 272 00:13:44,070 --> 00:13:46,610 And when you're here and you're flocks multiply and your silver 273 00:13:46,620 --> 00:13:50,300 and your gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied. 274 00:13:50,430 --> 00:13:54,000 Then your heart be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who 275 00:13:54,010 --> 00:13:57,440 brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the the out of the 276 00:13:57,450 --> 00:14:01,050 House of slavery. So he says, look, my concern is 277 00:14:01,060 --> 00:14:02,910 that when you get into the promised land and you're doing 278 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,090 well for yourself and you've got plenty of stuff that you're 279 00:14:06,100 --> 00:14:09,570 going to start to think that you're going to fail to remember 280 00:14:09,580 --> 00:14:11,550 that you need to trust God for your needs. 281 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:14,710 And you're going to start to think I need to I need to do 282 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,510 this. I need to do everything. 283 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:18,680 Look at look at what it sees in this number 17. 284 00:14:18,690 --> 00:14:22,680 If we drop down to verse 17 kind of sums of stuff he says beware 285 00:14:22,690 --> 00:14:26,710 lest you say in your heart my power and the might of my hand 286 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:30,170 have gotten me this wealth. You shall remember the Lord your 287 00:14:30,180 --> 00:14:35,090 God, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth, that he 288 00:14:35,100 --> 00:14:38,500 may confirm his covenant that He swore to your fathers as it is 289 00:14:39,190 --> 00:14:42,490 today. He says, look, don't forget, 290 00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:44,610 yes, it's important to have enough to eat, right? 291 00:14:44,620 --> 00:14:49,190 But more important than that is understanding who gave it to 292 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,040 you, right? Where it came from, that God 293 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,590 gave it to you, right? So flip back to Luke, keep your 294 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:56,570 finger in Jeromy, because we'll come back here. 295 00:14:56,580 --> 00:15:00,560 But flick back to Luke, Luke chapter 4, and so sentences 296 00:15:00,570 --> 00:15:01,810 look, turn these stones into bread. 297 00:15:03,060 --> 00:15:06,070 And Jesus answered him, It is written. 298 00:15:06,570 --> 00:15:08,830 What he's saying is that God's already spoken about this. 299 00:15:09,300 --> 00:15:11,110 Similar things happened before, right? 300 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,810 And God spoke to us about how how, how this works through 301 00:15:14,820 --> 00:15:16,690 Moses. And here's what he says. 302 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:21,000 It is written man shall not live by bread alone. 303 00:15:21,370 --> 00:15:24,760 Jesus just referencing that passage that back there in in 304 00:15:25,090 --> 00:15:28,780 Germany, you saying look, the real issue isn't my physical 305 00:15:28,790 --> 00:15:31,300 need. The real issue is am I going to 306 00:15:31,310 --> 00:15:33,500 trust God? Am I going to trust God? 307 00:15:33,570 --> 00:15:36,600 This is a moral and an ethical issue, not a physical one. 308 00:15:36,830 --> 00:15:39,470 Now we break and we bend God's rules because we don't believe 309 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,400 that that's the case. But every time you attempted, 310 00:15:43,410 --> 00:15:46,000 your confidence in God is at stake, not just yourself 311 00:15:46,010 --> 00:15:48,320 control. We see that again with the next 312 00:15:48,330 --> 00:15:49,640 one. Just before we get to the next 313 00:15:49,650 --> 00:15:51,500 one, just kind of explain this a little bit. 314 00:15:51,610 --> 00:15:56,500 If you are a particularly goal oriented, future oriented person 315 00:15:56,810 --> 00:16:00,860 or you're that kind of type A personality really driven to 316 00:16:00,870 --> 00:16:07,260 achieve, then you could be set up easily for a very specific 317 00:16:07,270 --> 00:16:11,240 and subtle kind of temptation. And the reason is this, right? 318 00:16:11,250 --> 00:16:15,200 Because you are so focused on that thing that you were born 319 00:16:15,210 --> 00:16:17,480 for, right? That you have studied for that 320 00:16:17,490 --> 00:16:19,950 you have been educated for that you've tried to expand your 321 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,460 skill set in and, and, and maybe it's even a thing that God has 322 00:16:24,470 --> 00:16:26,780 called you too, right? And this is a thing that you've 323 00:16:26,790 --> 00:16:28,680 prayed for and you know, this is what God wants you to do. 324 00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:32,860 And you become so focused, become so focused on achieving 325 00:16:32,870 --> 00:16:36,700 that goal that at some point, and this will happen, if it 326 00:16:36,710 --> 00:16:40,110 hasn't already happened at some point in your life, you're going 327 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,540 to have an opportunity to take a giant step, step forward towards 328 00:16:43,550 --> 00:16:47,620 that goal. However, to take that step is 329 00:16:47,630 --> 00:16:51,100 going to require you to have to compromise. 330 00:16:51,430 --> 00:16:55,290 Just kind of put your ethics aside for a minute. 331 00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:59,550 Put your values, just check your values at the door for a minute. 332 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,230 Put aside everything that you know that God teaches you is 333 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:06,150 right and good. Just put that aside. 334 00:17:06,220 --> 00:17:07,990 And here's the trick, right? Here's the trick. 335 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:13,900 Not forever, just for a minute, just temporarily, just for a 336 00:17:13,910 --> 00:17:17,270 moment, right? And we think, yeah, but you 337 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,490 understand, right? In the culture that I live in, 338 00:17:19,619 --> 00:17:22,750 in the, in the industry that I work in, right? 339 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,500 In the world I live in, the only way to get where I need to be, 340 00:17:27,819 --> 00:17:29,870 you know, I I need to play by their rules. 341 00:17:30,340 --> 00:17:32,210 But here's the thing. Right in the moment of that 342 00:17:32,220 --> 00:17:36,440 decision, you're gonna discover 2 incredibly important things. 343 00:17:37,510 --> 00:17:39,310 And the moment there, the decision you're. 344 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:44,990 Gonna discover who you are? And really, you're going to 345 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,640 discover whose you are, right? Listen to how this temptation 346 00:17:48,650 --> 00:17:53,100 goes down, right? Luke chapter 4, verse #5 And the 347 00:17:53,110 --> 00:17:56,190 devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the 348 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:00,810 world in a moment of time, And he said to him to you, or give 349 00:18:00,860 --> 00:18:05,190 all authority and their glory. For it has been delivered to me, 350 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,480 and I'll give it to whom I will. If you will then worship me, 351 00:18:09,220 --> 00:18:14,860 it'll all be yours. Why I I will give you control 352 00:18:14,870 --> 00:18:18,830 over everything you see if you just submit to my authority. 353 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:20,430 No, we're not talking about forever. 354 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:21,650 Jeez. We're just talking about just 355 00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:22,770 for a moment. We're in the desert. 356 00:18:22,780 --> 00:18:27,490 No one else is gonna see this. You know, just for a SEC now the 357 00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:29,890 question is, why don't you think about you trying to put 358 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:33,560 yourself, you know, in this place and think, why was this 359 00:18:34,110 --> 00:18:37,820 such a great temptation? Why was this a big temptation? 360 00:18:37,830 --> 00:18:40,460 So we gotta do a bit of a theological sidebar here, right? 361 00:18:40,470 --> 00:18:41,800 We'll just do this very quickly, right. 362 00:18:41,810 --> 00:18:46,140 But when when God created Adam and Eve, right at the creation, 363 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:48,900 he gave them authority over everything, right? 364 00:18:48,910 --> 00:18:50,810 They're good old fashioned word dominion, right? 365 00:18:50,820 --> 00:18:52,470 Over everything. He gave them authority. 366 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,050 You're in charge. Go and name all the animals. 367 00:18:55,060 --> 00:18:58,890 You're in charge. When sudden Cayman tempted and 368 00:18:58,900 --> 00:19:02,210 right, the the serpent said, look, you can't trust God. 369 00:19:02,220 --> 00:19:04,080 He's holding out on you. He just knows you'll be like 370 00:19:04,090 --> 00:19:05,190 him. That's why he doesn't want you 371 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,370 to eat this fruit. And they went, you know what? 372 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,710 Yeah, we're going to trust, we're going to trust this the 373 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,370 serpent, right? And so they went with him, and 374 00:19:13,380 --> 00:19:16,710 so they shifted allegiances. Guess what went with them? 375 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,510 Their authority, right? So say has this authority. 376 00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:23,470 A lot of the Bible, and particularly as we get into the 377 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,210 New Testament, starts to point to this idea that when Jesus 378 00:19:27,220 --> 00:19:30,090 died on the cross and rose again, but he died to pay the 379 00:19:30,100 --> 00:19:32,530 sin debt that mankind owned. Ohh. 380 00:19:32,540 --> 00:19:36,680 The big goal of that was to gain back that authority that was 381 00:19:36,690 --> 00:19:40,450 lost, which is why you see all these verses all the time like 382 00:19:40,460 --> 00:19:43,550 the Great Commission right It starts off Jesus says all 383 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,250 something has been given to me in heaven and earth. 384 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,400 Anyone know what it is all authority. 385 00:19:49,410 --> 00:19:52,470 Yeah all authority in heaven and earth being given to me. 386 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,310 I've won it back and therefore it starts delegating his 387 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,030 authority right now to to his truly through the Great 388 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,000 Commission. Satan stands that they with 389 00:20:01,010 --> 00:20:04,470 Jesus and Luke chapter 4 and he says I want you to see it. 390 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:08,270 I want you to feel it. I want you to to kind of bask in 391 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:13,790 the potential power and glory that you could have and. 392 00:20:14,170 --> 00:20:19,960 You could have it now. No cross, no blood and gore, no 393 00:20:20,270 --> 00:20:24,830 floggings and crowns of thorns and had a 9000, all that 394 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,430 horrible stuff. Think about your poor mother 395 00:20:27,500 --> 00:20:30,810 who's going to have to watch her son be tortured to death on a 396 00:20:30,820 --> 00:20:32,710 cross. Think of how that that will make 397 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,700 you feel. I can give you that now without 398 00:20:35,710 --> 00:20:37,870 you having to go through all of that. 399 00:20:38,730 --> 00:20:40,490 It was a very real temptation, right? 400 00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:45,200 It was a big part of the reason that he came, and it was God's 401 00:20:45,210 --> 00:20:47,210 will and it was God's destiny for his life. 402 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,460 Now, this is going to happen to you, and this is going to happen 403 00:20:52,470 --> 00:20:54,390 to me again. At some point, it's going to 404 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,850 happen that you're gonna be locked and loaded on that very 405 00:20:57,860 --> 00:21:00,270 thing that maybe, you know, God put you here for. 406 00:21:00,380 --> 00:21:06,780 And you'll be tempted to take your eye off what you value and 407 00:21:06,790 --> 00:21:12,040 temporarily get under someone else's authority or potentially 408 00:21:12,050 --> 00:21:15,780 gain a lot of authority. And the illusion is there's just 409 00:21:15,790 --> 00:21:19,220 for a moment, look, I'm just gonna put this aside just now 410 00:21:19,370 --> 00:21:21,960 and I'm just, once I get through this thing, this firewall, 411 00:21:21,970 --> 00:21:24,140 whatever it is, then when I get on the other side of it, I'm 412 00:21:24,150 --> 00:21:26,890 going to pick the stuff back up again and I'll just carry on, 413 00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:28,180 right? And we'll be fine. 414 00:21:28,450 --> 00:21:32,180 That's what we think. But what we find is when we get 415 00:21:32,190 --> 00:21:35,270 to the other side of that moment, when you get what you 416 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,180 win, after, you know, you close the deal, you get the girl, you 417 00:21:38,190 --> 00:21:40,750 know what, whatever it is, the moment you get to the other side 418 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,250 of it and you get the, then there's this kind of sense of, 419 00:21:44,050 --> 00:21:48,120 but I'm not sure that I can trust that God's on my side 420 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,750 anymore. And the next time a similar 421 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:55,970 temptation comes your way, I'm gonna think, yeah, I need to act 422 00:21:55,980 --> 00:21:59,010 in a similar way as I did before, because I don't know 423 00:21:59,020 --> 00:22:02,460 that God can be trusted in these matters. 424 00:22:03,170 --> 00:22:05,180 Like we said, right? Temptation is not just a test of 425 00:22:05,190 --> 00:22:09,980 your self-control, it's a test of your trust in God and for the 426 00:22:09,990 --> 00:22:13,730 people who who here, who who really like to love to take 427 00:22:13,740 --> 00:22:18,710 things forward, just just really goal oriented, just those kind 428 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,320 of people, right? The issue is, it's not the deal, 429 00:22:22,330 --> 00:22:25,400 it's not the scholarship, it's not the competition, it's not 430 00:22:25,410 --> 00:22:29,830 the game, the team, whatever the issue is, do I trust God? 431 00:22:30,620 --> 00:22:33,560 Do I trust God? So Jesus did what he did. 432 00:22:33,570 --> 00:22:36,610 Every time he was tempted, He goes to the Scripture to where 433 00:22:36,620 --> 00:22:38,350 his people were tempted the same way. 434 00:22:39,750 --> 00:22:43,800 And so before they entered the promised land again, Moses in 435 00:22:43,810 --> 00:22:46,540 the book of Deuteronomy is, is reflecting back on their time in 436 00:22:46,550 --> 00:22:48,820 the, in the 40 years. And he's giving them, you know, 437 00:22:48,830 --> 00:22:50,700 he's praying for them and giving them advice. 438 00:22:50,950 --> 00:22:53,240 And he says, whoa, whoa. Right before you enter the 439 00:22:53,250 --> 00:22:56,500 promised land, before you, you, you start building cities and 440 00:22:56,510 --> 00:22:59,980 homes and houses and you state your own economy before God 441 00:22:59,990 --> 00:23:01,900 makes you great in the eyes of other people. 442 00:23:01,970 --> 00:23:05,000 I want you to remember who got you here. 443 00:23:05,290 --> 00:23:08,430 I want you to remember who got you here because you'll never 444 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,030 accomplish the will of God by abandoning the principles of God 445 00:23:14,030 --> 00:23:17,960 and you'll never maintain the blessings of God by abandoning 446 00:23:17,970 --> 00:23:21,280 the values of God. And sort of a key point that 447 00:23:21,290 --> 00:23:22,680 he's making. We're gonna be in judo only 448 00:23:22,690 --> 00:23:25,050 Chapter 6. If you wanna flick back there. 449 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:27,070 So let's have a look at it right? 450 00:23:27,300 --> 00:23:31,070 Jeromy chapter 6 verse #10 Here's what he says. 451 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,080 This is Moses reflection on these things he says. 452 00:23:33,090 --> 00:23:35,240 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he 453 00:23:35,250 --> 00:23:38,650 swore to your fathers, to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob to 454 00:23:38,660 --> 00:23:42,050 give you, with great and good cities that you didn't build, 455 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,020 and houses full of all good things that you didn't feel, and 456 00:23:46,030 --> 00:23:49,290 systems that you didn't dig, and vineyards and olive trees that 457 00:23:49,300 --> 00:23:52,610 you didn't plant. And when you eat and are full, 458 00:23:52,940 --> 00:23:56,900 then take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of 459 00:23:56,910 --> 00:24:00,340 the land of Egypt, out of the House of slavery. 460 00:24:02,170 --> 00:24:05,320 What does that mean for us? It means when you're tempted to 461 00:24:05,330 --> 00:24:09,200 abandon God and you think I need to do this thing just to get 462 00:24:09,250 --> 00:24:11,190 further along to get towards the goal. 463 00:24:11,990 --> 00:24:14,520 Stop, right? Pause, pause and think. 464 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:19,960 Who got you this far? Who gave you this ability to to 465 00:24:19,970 --> 00:24:22,800 get where you've got right? Who got you through their last 466 00:24:22,810 --> 00:24:25,020 exam? Who provided when you were in 467 00:24:25,030 --> 00:24:29,080 crisis last time? So why would you abandon him? 468 00:24:29,090 --> 00:24:31,940 Now? Look at drop down verse 13. 469 00:24:31,950 --> 00:24:32,700 Look. At what he says. 470 00:24:33,660 --> 00:24:37,250 It's the Lord your God. You shall fear Him, you shall 471 00:24:37,260 --> 00:24:40,250 serve, and by his name. You shall swear. 472 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:43,530 So this is the verse that Jesus basically sort of paraphrases in 473 00:24:43,540 --> 00:24:45,550 Luke chapter 4. He kind of puts his own spin on 474 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,910 it. So let's go back to Luke chapter 475 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,080 4. Who's number 8? 476 00:24:50,970 --> 00:24:53,500 Saints showed him all the kingdoms of the earth and said. 477 00:24:53,670 --> 00:24:55,020 I'll give you authority over those. 478 00:24:56,220 --> 00:25:00,370 And Jesus answered him, said it is written, you should worship 479 00:25:00,380 --> 00:25:04,170 the Lord your God in him only. Show you serve. 480 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,440 You know what Jesus wanted more than all the kingdoms of the 481 00:25:09,450 --> 00:25:14,110 earth? Unbroken fellowship with the 482 00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,420 Father. You already got it in the end. 483 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:27,460 Ohh, he got both, yeah. You know you and I get when we 484 00:25:27,470 --> 00:25:30,040 want the kingdoms of the earth, and we're willing to sacrifice 485 00:25:30,050 --> 00:25:32,680 unbroken fellowship with the Father in order to get them 486 00:25:34,540 --> 00:25:38,420 neither. We don't get either, but in that 487 00:25:38,430 --> 00:25:41,880 moment, right when you can feel it and you can see it and you 488 00:25:41,890 --> 00:25:47,020 think, but if I don't, it won't. And if I don't, he won't and and 489 00:25:47,030 --> 00:25:48,860 all of that. And it seems like this is the 490 00:25:48,870 --> 00:25:52,070 only way forward. Who is it or what is it that you 491 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,970 want so bad? And it may not even be a bad 492 00:25:54,980 --> 00:25:57,350 thing that you want. You know, it may not even be a 493 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,110 simple thing that you want, but what is it that you want so 494 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:04,750 badly that you're ready to trade what's important in order to get 495 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,060 it? And that thing is going to be 496 00:26:06,070 --> 00:26:07,850 different for each of us. But what is it for you? 497 00:26:09,260 --> 00:26:13,170 Because the other thing here is if you bow and break and you in 498 00:26:13,180 --> 00:26:17,120 this moment, right you, you miss the opportunity of knowing what 499 00:26:17,130 --> 00:26:19,790 God would have done in this situation. 500 00:26:20,130 --> 00:26:24,030 Don't trade what's important for what's immediate, because if you 501 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:29,190 do, you'll never know in what way God might have shown up on 502 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,760 your behalf. And the next time it comes 503 00:26:31,770 --> 00:26:35,620 around, you'll be in even more tempted to compromise for 504 00:26:35,630 --> 00:26:37,470 whatever the next step is that you think you need. 505 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,130 Your God can be trusted. You know. 506 00:26:40,140 --> 00:26:43,030 That was great part of Andy's message last week. 507 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,530 He's the God who wants to intersect in the details of your 508 00:26:46,540 --> 00:26:50,370 life, because in that moment you discover who you are, and in 509 00:26:50,380 --> 00:26:53,890 that moment you discover whose you are and who he is, right? 510 00:26:53,900 --> 00:26:56,450 The God who is faithful. So big question, right? 511 00:26:56,460 --> 00:27:00,970 What is that you want so badly you'd be willing to compromise? 512 00:27:02,190 --> 00:27:04,780 But instead, would you be willing to trust your Heavenly 513 00:27:04,790 --> 00:27:07,430 Father in and through those details? 514 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,030 Okay, so last one, right? Satan tries a different tack. 515 00:27:11,990 --> 00:27:17,180 Chapter 4 verse #9 says, And He took him to Jerusalem and he set 516 00:27:17,190 --> 00:27:20,470 him on the pinnacle of the temple and he said to him, if 517 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,220 you're the son of God, throw yourself down from here. 518 00:27:24,290 --> 00:27:26,370 Now this is where Satan gets pretty slick, right? 519 00:27:26,380 --> 00:27:29,290 The devil gets pretty slick here because previous two right sides 520 00:27:29,300 --> 00:27:32,580 come to him and see the devils come and said do this and Jesus 521 00:27:32,590 --> 00:27:35,240 is gone. No, he's just quoted a an Old 522 00:27:35,250 --> 00:27:37,180 Testament passage. God's already spoken about this 523 00:27:37,190 --> 00:27:38,290 right. So no, I'm not going to do it. 524 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:41,060 Any quotes Scripture to him. And so he says again, we'll do 525 00:27:41,070 --> 00:27:43,400 this. No, Scripture says this right. 526 00:27:43,450 --> 00:27:47,200 So this time say that says do this and he quoted Scripture 527 00:27:47,350 --> 00:27:49,530 right. He grows Scripture. 528 00:27:49,630 --> 00:27:51,640 He says even the son of God. It's very yourself down from 529 00:27:51,650 --> 00:27:57,550 here because this number 10 for it was written, he will command 530 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:02,120 his angels concerning you to guard you and on their hands, 531 00:28:02,310 --> 00:28:04,920 they will bear you up. At least you strike your foot 532 00:28:04,930 --> 00:28:06,920 against a stone, right? Couple of quotes from the Old 533 00:28:06,930 --> 00:28:10,940 Testament there from the Bible. He says, look, do this because 534 00:28:11,010 --> 00:28:14,180 Bible says this. What's going on here? 535 00:28:14,550 --> 00:28:18,790 Satan is subtly suggesting that it's going to be a very 536 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,910 difficult for Jesus to convince people that he is the Messiah, 537 00:28:23,100 --> 00:28:25,110 right? In the previous 50 years before 538 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:28,090 this, there's been several people had risen up claiming to 539 00:28:28,100 --> 00:28:30,970 be the Messiah, the the the promised one of of God. 540 00:28:31,860 --> 00:28:33,870 And so say, instead of saying this is going to be really hard 541 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,070 for you to to prove to people that you're the Messiah. 542 00:28:36,260 --> 00:28:38,310 So they're up on the pinnacle of the temple. 543 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,390 The temple was the largest stone structure in the world at that 544 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:43,750 time. It's about 13 storeys tall, 545 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,050 which is about the same height as the tallest building in town. 546 00:28:46,180 --> 00:28:48,480 So next time you little town have a look that's about the 547 00:28:48,490 --> 00:28:50,490 temple, right? So the standing on there and 548 00:28:50,500 --> 00:28:52,850 says, here's what you need to do, right? 549 00:28:52,940 --> 00:28:55,540 Throw yourself off, right? So all these people down below, 550 00:28:55,550 --> 00:28:57,290 right in the courtyard and whatever they be looking at, 551 00:28:57,300 --> 00:28:59,640 they look this dude right on the top of the table. 552 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,400 What's going on there? And then it's like, wow, man, 553 00:29:02,410 --> 00:29:05,260 he's, he's jumped off and you'll be falling down. 554 00:29:05,590 --> 00:29:10,080 But God will be forced to intervene because Scripture 555 00:29:10,090 --> 00:29:12,620 clearly says that he's not going to allow you to get busted up 556 00:29:12,630 --> 00:29:15,320 here. And so God's going to have to, 557 00:29:15,370 --> 00:29:17,520 to do this. So why don't you right, just 558 00:29:17,530 --> 00:29:21,060 come up with this great plan, pull the trigger on it, and then 559 00:29:21,070 --> 00:29:23,170 waiting for God to come and bail you out. 560 00:29:24,220 --> 00:29:27,650 And because He has to, right? He's on a bound by Scripture to 561 00:29:27,660 --> 00:29:32,300 do so. Now, you may not realise this, 562 00:29:32,390 --> 00:29:36,720 but we do this all the time. We do this all the time. 563 00:29:36,910 --> 00:29:41,560 It's the temptation to take a bunch of ideas and launch a plan 564 00:29:41,570 --> 00:29:44,600 and then say, well, God, you're going to help me, are you? 565 00:29:44,850 --> 00:29:48,060 After all, you know you're going to bless me, right? 566 00:29:48,070 --> 00:29:53,020 Because you're a good God. It's the temptation to presume 567 00:29:53,110 --> 00:29:57,230 and assume on God. It's kind of like a bunch of 568 00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,590 teenagers, right? Getting in a car and one of them 569 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,440 saying, hey, saying to the driver, just drive as crazy as 570 00:30:03,450 --> 00:30:05,270 you want. My dad is a lawyer. 571 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,300 He'll get us off. That's kind of what what what 572 00:30:08,310 --> 00:30:10,200 this is like. It's like not studying for a 573 00:30:10,210 --> 00:30:14,120 test, but then thinking God is forced to make you pass or just 574 00:30:14,130 --> 00:30:17,680 being reckless with money and then think that God has forced 575 00:30:17,690 --> 00:30:21,760 to to act on your behalf. Now, in the church world, we 576 00:30:21,770 --> 00:30:24,400 often cover this up with some clever technology, our 577 00:30:24,410 --> 00:30:26,880 technology terminology. We cover this up with some 578 00:30:26,890 --> 00:30:29,420 clever terminology and it goes like this. 579 00:30:29,490 --> 00:30:32,390 We're just going to step out in faith and trust God. 580 00:30:33,170 --> 00:30:36,340 Now that's a real thing, right? Without faith, it's impossible 581 00:30:36,350 --> 00:30:38,000 to please him. Anything you do in service to 582 00:30:38,010 --> 00:30:41,760 God, you're gonna have to step out in faith in a, in a certain 583 00:30:41,770 --> 00:30:44,120 way. But what we really mean when we 584 00:30:44,130 --> 00:30:48,580 say that is we've come up with this idea that it's not very 585 00:30:48,590 --> 00:30:51,750 well researched and it defies common sense. 586 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,210 In fact, it defies, just defies wisdom. 587 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,810 In fact, we haven't actually sought any wise counsel on this. 588 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,170 And the 1 old guy that we kind of casually mentioned it to 589 00:31:02,180 --> 00:31:04,390 really raise some eyebrows. So we just didn't mention it 590 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,280 again. But we are going to pull the 591 00:31:06,290 --> 00:31:09,180 trigger on this idea and we're going to step out in faith and 592 00:31:09,190 --> 00:31:11,930 we're going to trust God. And God is going to have to bail 593 00:31:11,940 --> 00:31:14,750 us out because they're verses that say things like, my God 594 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,010 shall supply all your need according to his riches and 595 00:31:17,020 --> 00:31:19,490 glory. And God is faithful and God is 596 00:31:19,500 --> 00:31:21,770 rich in mercy and God is a God of grace. 597 00:31:21,780 --> 00:31:24,150 So we're just going to launch it and then we're going to wait for 598 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:29,870 God to bail us out. That is not faith, that is 599 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,970 presumption. And then when the miracle 600 00:31:31,980 --> 00:31:36,240 doesn't happen, we blame God. Because here's the thing, right? 601 00:31:36,530 --> 00:31:40,140 God is not your genie. God is not your genie. 602 00:31:40,190 --> 00:31:41,920 He is God. He's not a genie in a lamp. 603 00:31:41,970 --> 00:31:46,430 He is merciful and he's full of grace and all of those things, 604 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,570 but before he's all of those things, he is God. 605 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,160 You don't play him, you don't manipulate him, you don't force 606 00:31:52,170 --> 00:31:55,420 his hand. That's not faith, right? 607 00:31:55,430 --> 00:31:58,030 Faith is not coming up with an idea, pulling the trigger on 608 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,060 that idea, and waiting for God to bless it, right? 609 00:32:00,070 --> 00:32:02,800 That is not faith. Faith is simply responding to 610 00:32:02,810 --> 00:32:06,410 the promises of God. Not our bad ideas. 611 00:32:07,350 --> 00:32:09,680 So that's exactly what this temptation was. 612 00:32:09,730 --> 00:32:12,880 Now listen to what Jesus says. Now Jesus, because he knows his 613 00:32:12,890 --> 00:32:15,480 people's history. He did like he did with the last 614 00:32:15,490 --> 00:32:17,600 temptation, right? He reaches back into the history 615 00:32:17,610 --> 00:32:21,410 of Israel and he remembers this story where they face the same 616 00:32:21,420 --> 00:32:23,580 temptation, right? And so the story here is about 617 00:32:23,590 --> 00:32:26,520 to come to this place in the area of reform and in in the 618 00:32:26,530 --> 00:32:29,090 Sinai, and they run out of water and it's a very rocky desert, 619 00:32:29,100 --> 00:32:29,940 right? It's pretty dangerous. 620 00:32:29,950 --> 00:32:32,500 And there's, there's a lot of them and there's no water. 621 00:32:32,730 --> 00:32:35,840 And so, but then they started to taunt God and they start to 622 00:32:35,850 --> 00:32:39,180 taunt Moses as his representative and saying, is 623 00:32:39,190 --> 00:32:42,000 God trustworthy or not yours representative? 624 00:32:42,010 --> 00:32:45,130 You, you, you need to access Moses. 625 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,480 And so let's just jump into the middle of that story. 626 00:32:47,490 --> 00:32:51,640 Exeter 17 Just really quickly, and then we'll go to Jeromy and 627 00:32:51,650 --> 00:32:53,530 look at Moses reflecting on it later. 628 00:32:53,780 --> 00:32:55,310 But here's what happened at the time. 629 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,510 Exodus 17 Two, therefore the people quarrelled with Moses, 630 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:00,590 and they said, give us water to drink. 631 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,190 And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? 632 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:07,370 Why do you test the Lord? But the people first did there 633 00:33:07,380 --> 00:33:10,150 for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, 634 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,150 why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us? 635 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,060 And our children, our livestock were first. 636 00:33:14,900 --> 00:33:18,610 Now God was very merciful to them that day, and he and he 637 00:33:18,620 --> 00:33:20,540 provided water for them. And I'll let you read that for 638 00:33:20,550 --> 00:33:25,340 yourself, but drop down to 1st #7 it says, and he, Moses called 639 00:33:25,350 --> 00:33:27,740 the name of the place Massa and Miraba, right? 640 00:33:27,750 --> 00:33:31,000 Which means testing and arguing because of the quarrelling of 641 00:33:31,010 --> 00:33:33,820 the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying, 642 00:33:33,830 --> 00:33:37,670 is the Lord among us or not? If God was here, he did what we 643 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,050 want. Yeah. 644 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,810 So Exodus is the story of what happened to the Jerome is the 645 00:33:42,820 --> 00:33:44,890 speech where Moses is going over those events. 646 00:33:44,940 --> 00:33:49,050 Listen to the way Moses recounts those events in from Exeter 17 647 00:33:49,060 --> 00:33:53,990 in his speech. So Jerome chapter 6 verse 16, he 648 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:58,750 says you shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you 649 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,430 tested them at Mesa. Yeah, don't do that again. 650 00:34:02,100 --> 00:34:04,470 Don't do the In other words, when you get to the promised 651 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:08,250 land and you begin to settle in in there, don't talk, taunt God 652 00:34:08,260 --> 00:34:10,900 like you did back back there in the desert and say why I thought 653 00:34:10,909 --> 00:34:14,750 you loved us. You have to act so Jesus is 654 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,270 standing there on the highest point of the temple, 13 storeys 655 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:18,090 up. Satan's going. 656 00:34:18,100 --> 00:34:21,250 I got a good idea. You jump, God will save you. 657 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:24,469 It'll be great. Jesus reaches back to the story 658 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:26,630 in in in Luke chapter 4 verse 12. 659 00:34:27,449 --> 00:34:30,739 Jesus answered him either said right, it's written, you shall 660 00:34:30,750 --> 00:34:32,760 not put the Lord your God to the test. 661 00:34:32,940 --> 00:34:37,110 He's quoting Moses here. Jesus reflects on this story and 662 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,969 he says, I know what it is you're asking me to do. 663 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:43,960 You're asking me to test God. I don't test them. 664 00:34:43,969 --> 00:34:45,420 I don't assume. I don't presume. 665 00:34:45,810 --> 00:34:49,840 I don't manipulate. I'm here to cooperate with my 666 00:34:49,850 --> 00:34:52,719 Heavenly Father. I know what you're up to. 667 00:34:52,730 --> 00:34:56,219 And no, I'm not gonna jump. I'm not gonna try and force his 668 00:34:56,230 --> 00:34:57,580 hand. I'm just not gonna do it. 669 00:34:57,730 --> 00:35:00,570 Now, it's very subtle, right? But if we were to, to condense 670 00:35:00,580 --> 00:35:02,520 this down into one phrase, it would kind of be this. 671 00:35:02,570 --> 00:35:05,380 As Christians, we have been called to cooperate with God, 672 00:35:05,430 --> 00:35:09,680 not manipulate God. The men and women who are the 673 00:35:09,690 --> 00:35:14,790 most disappointed with God are people who who believe in God, 674 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:19,030 but rather than cooperate with him, they spend all of their 675 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,270 sort of religious and Christian time trying to manipulate God. 676 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,140 That is, they had a plan for God's life and it seemed like 677 00:35:26,150 --> 00:35:27,840 God was cooperating with that plan. 678 00:35:27,850 --> 00:35:32,680 And then God takes a left turn and then they go, well, that's 679 00:35:32,690 --> 00:35:34,640 not the plan. They just couldn't believe that 680 00:35:34,650 --> 00:35:35,710 God would do something like that. 681 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:39,300 Or circumstances take a right turn and they go, well, I just 682 00:35:39,310 --> 00:35:42,530 can't believe that God would allow something like that to 683 00:35:42,540 --> 00:35:44,500 happen. And the whole Christian 684 00:35:44,510 --> 00:35:47,880 experiences experience has been trying to get God to cooperate 685 00:35:47,890 --> 00:35:49,860 with him. God will always. 686 00:35:49,870 --> 00:35:54,430 God will never, you know, if I will, then he's got to do this. 687 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,340 You know, God of grace. I found this verse in the book 688 00:35:57,350 --> 00:35:59,560 of Ezekiel. I'm not really totally sure what 689 00:35:59,570 --> 00:36:02,810 it means, but I think it means that God has to do what I've 690 00:36:02,820 --> 00:36:05,490 said about to do. So they've never really come to 691 00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:09,000 the the place in their life where where, you know, arms wide 692 00:36:09,010 --> 00:36:12,080 open my deal before your deal. I'm here to cooperate. 693 00:36:13,350 --> 00:36:16,720 But instead, the whole angle has been let's take on Gold. 694 00:36:16,730 --> 00:36:20,100 We're trying to manipulate him. And that when we do that and we 695 00:36:20,110 --> 00:36:26,010 all do that, it just sets us up to face disappointment on the 696 00:36:26,020 --> 00:36:27,700 flipside, right? If you've been around someone 697 00:36:27,710 --> 00:36:31,250 who's just gone through some incredible tragedy and they just 698 00:36:31,260 --> 00:36:34,530 never lose their confidence in God and they trace their their 699 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,750 trust in God. And when you around people like 700 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,760 that, you know, you just feel dwarfed, you know, by their 701 00:36:40,770 --> 00:36:44,080 faith. Think, man, I don't know that I 702 00:36:44,170 --> 00:36:47,320 you don't. And yeah, I don't know. 703 00:36:47,330 --> 00:36:48,780 I'm just thinking one of those right now, right? 704 00:36:48,790 --> 00:36:51,260 Gets you quite emotional when you think about it, when you see 705 00:36:51,270 --> 00:36:56,570 that that kind of faith in God. Where they just can kind of go. 706 00:36:56,580 --> 00:36:59,400 Look, if that's God's choice for me, I don't know what he's 707 00:36:59,410 --> 00:37:00,490 working. I don't know what the plan is, 708 00:37:00,500 --> 00:37:01,840 but I'm just gonna stick with him. 709 00:37:02,750 --> 00:37:04,310 Yeah, that, that's an amazing thing. 710 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,300 And but these are not men and women who got there in a moment. 711 00:37:08,110 --> 00:37:10,420 There were people who lived their lives with no intention of 712 00:37:10,430 --> 00:37:13,630 trying to manipulate God. And so even in the middle of 713 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,400 devastating circumstances, they don't come away disappointed 714 00:37:16,410 --> 00:37:18,830 with God. The other thing with people 715 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:21,810 trying to manipulate God when we when we do this is it's really 716 00:37:21,820 --> 00:37:23,350 hard to get an answer to this question, right. 717 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:25,580 It's really hard to get an answer to the question, what's 718 00:37:25,590 --> 00:37:28,960 your will for my life when you don't ask the question because 719 00:37:28,970 --> 00:37:32,190 you want to say, here's my my will for my life. 720 00:37:32,340 --> 00:37:35,320 Please get with the programme. Yeah. 721 00:37:35,410 --> 00:37:38,170 And so you you don't get sort of the guidance from God that you 722 00:37:38,180 --> 00:37:41,350 need, but also right, you're not really aware of the breeze on 723 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:42,740 the beach until you face into it. 724 00:37:43,450 --> 00:37:47,960 What I mean by that is God speaks loudest to the soul that 725 00:37:47,970 --> 00:37:52,790 is most surrendered to Him. So where are you on this one? 726 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,130 Right? Listen to your prayers. 727 00:37:54,140 --> 00:37:55,930 Your prayers are a key thing here. 728 00:37:55,940 --> 00:37:58,900 What's your response to critical or negative elements? 729 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,010 Listen to the thoughts that come to mind when you attempted to 730 00:38:02,020 --> 00:38:04,670 sin. Are you tempted to make excuses 731 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:08,600 for your sin? All right, three questions for 732 00:38:08,610 --> 00:38:12,490 this week we conclude. First one, is this where am I 733 00:38:12,500 --> 00:38:16,390 tempted to meet a legitimate need in a way that's not 734 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,700 pleasing to God? Companionship, intimacy, 735 00:38:19,710 --> 00:38:22,720 progress, financial goals, friendship, something to do, 736 00:38:22,770 --> 00:38:27,400 whatever It is because that that particular area of your life is 737 00:38:27,410 --> 00:38:31,880 where God would like to show up in an unmissable and even maybe 738 00:38:31,890 --> 00:38:34,370 tangible way if you would let Him. 739 00:38:35,190 --> 00:38:38,570 What's at stake is my confidence in God's willingness to show up 740 00:38:38,580 --> 00:38:41,140 in my world. Second question, where am I 741 00:38:41,150 --> 00:38:45,240 tempted to try and leverage and use God's power for my own ends? 742 00:38:45,770 --> 00:38:49,080 Where do I presume on God? Don't put God to the test. 743 00:38:49,090 --> 00:38:51,530 God's not your genie. I work for him, not the other 744 00:38:51,540 --> 00:38:54,300 way around. But how much and what areas am I 745 00:38:54,310 --> 00:38:56,230 trying to manipulate God? God, I'm going to do this. 746 00:38:56,240 --> 00:38:58,220 You need to bless it, right? You need to do this. 747 00:38:58,670 --> 00:39:01,720 And thirdly, where am I tempted to take a shortcut and do the 748 00:39:01,730 --> 00:39:03,050 right thing but in the wrong way? 749 00:39:04,410 --> 00:39:07,580 And so you know, my prayer is that we'll always be men and God 750 00:39:07,590 --> 00:39:11,650 are men and women of God who wake up everyday ready to 751 00:39:11,710 --> 00:39:14,200 cooperate and pray like Jesus taught us to pray. 752 00:39:14,290 --> 00:39:17,680 You know thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, 753 00:39:18,670 --> 00:39:21,640 because to be a manipulator rather than a cooperator. 754 00:39:21,650 --> 00:39:25,280 Just as just to set yourself up. For disappointment when God does 755 00:39:25,290 --> 00:39:28,680 what God's gonna do. So what we want to do in the 756 00:39:28,690 --> 00:39:30,990 middle of temptation is just pause, right? 757 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:35,070 Just pause and go, here's my temptation. 758 00:39:35,140 --> 00:39:38,310 Do I trust God and just try and bring those two things together? 759 00:39:38,620 --> 00:39:41,610 Alright, so that we're able to say, OK, I'm not gonna let this 760 00:39:41,620 --> 00:39:44,010 steal my future. I'm not gonna let this steal my 761 00:39:44,020 --> 00:39:47,750 family and I'm not gonna let this steal my faith, my 762 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:51,670 confidence in God, because the temptation is to act on my 763 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:54,310 behalf, right? And therefore say to God, I 764 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:56,910 don't trust that you will act on my behalf. 765 00:39:58,490 --> 00:40:01,680 Are you willing to pause? Am I willing to pause? 766 00:40:01,690 --> 00:40:05,280 Are we willing to pause? Let's pray. 767 00:40:06,090 --> 00:40:10,080 Father, we thank you for this incredible narration of the 768 00:40:10,090 --> 00:40:14,120 events that happened 2000 years ago with Jesus in the desert. 769 00:40:14,130 --> 00:40:15,840 And we thank you for the things that we can learn. 770 00:40:15,850 --> 00:40:20,290 Lord, please help us to to be able to pause and Tim and times 771 00:40:20,300 --> 00:40:22,360 the temptation. Lord, thank you that you're a 772 00:40:22,370 --> 00:40:23,880 for giving. God, we don't always get this 773 00:40:23,890 --> 00:40:26,070 right and we thank you for your forgiveness, but we also don't 774 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:28,040 say that lightly. Lord, thank you for the 775 00:40:28,050 --> 00:40:31,660 instruction in your word and the love and the grace that it was 776 00:40:31,670 --> 00:40:34,020 given to us. Thank you in Jesus name.