Decide Beforehand

Matthew 4:1-11
I once heard about a financial adviser who’d been told by a couple consulting with her that they found it impossible to put any money aside for savings or tithe money for the purposes of God. “We have no debt, but also no savings” the husband said. “We start out by trying to keep current with our bills,” the wife added.

The financial adviser nodded knowingly. “That’s the problem,” she said. “You should pay your bills, of course. But you haven’t adopted the ‘decide beforehand’ method.” She explained that instead of starting with paying their bills, then deciding how much money they had to save or give to God, they needed to “decide beforehand” how much they were going to save and give. Then they could pay their bills and adjust their spending habits accordingly.

She said: “The best way to deal with the unexpected storms that come along is to make your decision before the storms hit.”

Today’s Gospel lesson, Matthew 4:1-11, finds Jesus facing a storm of temptation and testing from the devil. If Jesus hadn’t adopted the decide beforehand method when it came to His relationship with God the Father, He never would have stood the storm, He would have caved into sin, and you and I would still be condemned for our sin, lost to God forever. So, we can say that if Jesus hadn't decided beforehand how He was going to deal with situations like He faced in the wilderness, salvation would have become a lost cause.

Before looking at Jesus in the wilderness, we need to set the stage. In Matthew 3:13-17, which recounts an incident that happened just before the events in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus undergoes John the Baptizer’s baptism of repentance. True, Jesus had no sin for which He needed to repent, but Jesus was intent on connecting Himself fully to the sinful humanity--including you and me--who He came into this world to save. John told Jesus that it was he who should have been baptized by Jesus, not the other way around. But as Jesus explained to the reluctant John: “Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.” [Matthew 3:15, Good News Translation] Having undergone the baptism that His Father required, God the Holy Spirit descended to Jesus as a dove and God the Father called from heaven to say of Jesus: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [Matthew 3:17] It was a spectacular moment!

Like the spectacular events that happened some time later on the Mount of Transfiguration, it could have been tempting for Jesus to just stay there on the banks of the Jordan savoring the moment. But Jesus had work to do. And before He did that work, He had to get ready for it.

Turn to our Gospel lesson, please. (You’ll find it starting on page 676 of the sanctuary Bibles.) Verse 1: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”

Why did the Holy Spirit do this? If Jesus had come into the world to offer His sinless life on a cross, wasn’t the Holy Spirit putting that entire mission in jeopardy by subjecting Jesus to these temptations to sin? What if Jesus sinned in the wilderness, caving into His hunger and the taunting of the devil? Why wouldn’t the Spirit just carry Jesus from the Jordan, where He was baptized, and onto Jerusalem for the cross and the resurrection?

As a quick aside, let me give you three quick reasons why Jesus had to undergo temptation. First, as we see from His words to John the Baptist, Jesus had to undergo the same stuff you and I undergo. [Matthew 3:15] All that God required had to happen. If Jesus was never subjected to severe temptation to sin, He couldn’t be said to be sinless. Second, Jesus had to be sensitized to how hard it is for we human beings to resist sin. That way, when we come to our Father in Jesus’ name, He can be an advocate Who understands you and me from the inside out. Hebrews 4:15 says that in Jesus: “...we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Third, Jesus had to be refined for His mission. The verb, πειρασθῆναι, translated as tempted in our lesson can also be translated as tested.

The devil probably thought that he was in the driver’s seat with Jesus when Jesus arrived in the wilderness. But, in fact, Jesus was there because the Holy Spirit sent Him to be tested, refined. Here, we see that God can use the same events for His purposes that the devil tries to use for his ends.

It's not unprecedented. In Genesis 50:20, Joseph, the dreamer who had saved Egypt and his own people, forgave his brothers for selling him into slavery, telling them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…” The brothers acted from evil intentions, but God used what they did to bring good things about, including the refinement of Joseph for his mission of saving a whole region from famine.

The temptations to sin that come to us can be used by God as tests to refine and strengthen our faith and our characters. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, we’re told: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

In the wilderness, facing temptations that were tests, Jesus learned to rely on His Father to the full extent He needed to rely on Him to fulfill His mission.

If you and I are going to fulfill our missions, fulfill the promise of our lives, and live with God for eternity, we too must learn to rely fully on God when we’re tested or tempted.

So, how did Jesus do this?

He decided beforehand how He would face temptation and He learned to use the most powerful weapon in the universe to do so.

We see this in all three of the exchanges between the devil and Jesus in today’s gospel lesson. But look at just the first one to see what I mean: “The tempter came to him [Jesus] and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” [Matthew 4:3-4]

Every time Jesus was tempted, He responded with God’s Word.

He did that because He had decided beforehand exactly how He would face life’s tests and the devil’s temptations.

Way before He faced off with the the devil, Jesus had stored the Word of God in His heart. He was ready for whatever the devil or the world threw His way, because He had taken time to learn--even memorize--God’s Word.

And even when the devil recited Scripture back to Jesus, distorting it to try to convince Jesus to pull stunts to make God prove Himself, Jesus was ready.

That’s because through His study of God’s Word, Jesus not only knew the Word, He knew His Father.

Jesus was able to resist temptation, face the world’s tests, and fulfill His mission on earth for two reasons: He knew God and He knew God’s Word.

He had decided beforehand that no matter what, He would stick with God and with God’s Word.

The best time to learn how to face tests and temptations is before they happen, not just as they’re threatening to swamp you. Jesus decided before the storm hit to know God the Father and to know God’s Word.

Listen: This is a great Christian congregation.

No church I know has a deeper commitment to mission.

No church I know has a higher percentage of its members who seek after God and take prayer so seriously.

No other church I know would have payed for the salary and benefits of a staffer working at another church, which this congregation did last year.

Living Water has been tested by adversity and tempted to walk away from doing things God’s way. It has chosen God’s way, always, every time.

But we’re in our own building now. We’re growing. We’re comfortable. We feel vindicated in our faith. That’s why this is a spiritually dangerous time for our congregation.

We can expect the devil to attack Living Water. Not a frontal assault (he’s too clever for that), but a nibbling on the edges. He might incite a little gossip here, attack relationships there, create spiritual indifference, cause little disagreements over completely unimportant things. Nothing big. Just a bunch of little things which that jerk named Satan loves to turn into big things.

This is a faithful church and, other than God Himself, the thing the devil hates the most is a faithful church! This is why each of us must internalize the gospel lesson’s call to decide beforehand what we will do when storms hit, when we’re tempted, when we’re tested.

And temptations and tests are bound to come. If the Son of God, God in the flesh, Jesus, was not immune to this reality while on earth, we surely can’t expect to be immune. But even our testing can being God glory. 1 Peter 1:6-7 tells us: “In all this [that is, in your salvation and your relationship with God secured for you through Christ’s cross and empty tomb] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed [that is, the day Jesus returns].”

If we are to be all that God made us to be and if we are to have life with God, we must know God and we must know God’s Word.

I’m going to repeat that (and know that I’m talking to you, whoever you are): If we are to be all that God made us to be and if we are to have life with God, we must know God and we must know God’s Word.

This is urgent business! You never can tell when life will hit you with another storm. Decide beforehand to be ready.

Decide that no matter what it costs you, you will be committed to knowing God and His Word.

No matter what sins God demands you leave behind, you will be committed to knowing God and His Word.

No matter the effort, you will be committed to knowing God and His Word. If you’re not in a Bible study yet, join one now.

If you’re not spending time in God’s Word on your own a few minutes each day, start now. Start with the gospels of Matthew or John, a chapter a day.

And I invite you to do what I’m starting to do these days, memorize Scripture.

Store up God’s Word in your heart and get to know your Father in heaven with the intimacy that Jesus died and rose to give you. Get to know this Lord Who sent His Son so that all who turn from sin and follow Him are and will be filled with the new and everlasting life of God for all eternity.

Know God.

Know God’s Word.

Then, you’ll be ready for anything.

Amen

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

The Closer You Grow to Christ, the More Desperate Your Need of Christ!

It shouldn't come as a surprise to Christians.

But it nearly always does.

In fact, one can describe it as a predictable element of the Christian life.

What is it? Being tempted to intentionally sin against the will of God as revealed in Scripture despite a fervent faith and a heartfelt desire to live according to God's will.

As R.T. Kendall writes in God Gives Second Chances: How to Get Up, Dust Off and Be Used Again By God When You Fall:

You should know that if you are a chosen vessel, you also are a target of Satan. Jonathan Edwards said that when the church is revived, so is the devil. The closer you get to God, the more devil will be aware of you. [italics added by me]

That's why prayerful reliance on and surrender to Jesus becomes more important as you grow closer to Christ!

The closer you grow to Christ and, God forbid, the more self-confidence you have in feeling that you know what you need to do each day in order to maintain your closeness to Christ and to avoid the temptation to sin, the greater the danger you are in.

This is why, in The Small Catechism, Martin Luther says that we should remember our baptism--the moment when God crucified our old selves in order to let our new selves to come to life (John 3:3-8)--through repentance and renewal in Christ's Name every single day. Luther writes that baptism signifies that:

"the old Adam [our old sinful selves], together with all sins and evil desires, should be drowned by daily sorrow for sin and repentance and be put to death and that the new person should come forth every day and rise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever."

Don't ever get smug or self-satisfied about your spiritual progress!

Belonging to the "Christian club" is not going to save us from sin, death, or temptation.

We are saved from these things only by God's grace, given to those with faith in Jesus Christ, to be sure, but only "provided you continue in [God's kindness, given through Christ]; otherwise you will be cut off [from God]..." (Romans 11:22) Jesus says: "the one who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13).

Jesus' words to the disciples who fell asleep in the face of temptations to betray and abandon Him, apply as much to us in our everyday lives, filled with similar temptations to turn our backs on Christ: "Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41).

Peter was one of the disciples who fell asleep, didn't pray, and so, turned His back on Jesus on the night of Jesus' arrest, on the day before Jesus' execution. It may have been with this bitter experience in mind that Peter later wrote to the churches in Asia Minor: "Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

As long as Christians are living in this world, the devil, the world, and our sinful selves will hound us, striving to separate us from the new life all who believe in Jesus have. Don't ever think you can fight off those temptations your own! We can "resist" the devil, as Peter puts it (1 Peter 5:9) through daily submission to Christ. We then let Christ fight for us.

Luther in his hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God:

No strength of ours can match his might [the might of the devil]
We would be lost, rejected.
But now a champion comes to fight
Whom God Himself elected.
You ask Who this may be?
The Lord of hosts is He!
Christ Jesus, mighty Lord,
God's only Son, adored.
He holds the field victorious.

Christ fights for those who surrender to Him. We need to rely on Christ's grace and God's forgiveness as much each day we age in Christ as we did "the hour [we] first believed"!

He is the Champion, My Friend! (And You Need Him!)

Satan loves nothing better than for people to think he doesn't exist.

Don't make that mistake!

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you're engaged in spiritual warfare. And you are the spoils of war that the devil wants to take and you are the great prize God wants to save for His kingdom.

The closer you are to Christ, the more the devil wants to take you and the more temptations to sin--whether the renunciation of faith, treating others lovelessly, adultery, despair, idolatry, bearing false witness, taking God's Name in vain, or others--he will push your way.

If you aren't a follower of Jesus, you will remain blissfully ignorant of the war going on for you. That, sadly, will indicate both that the devil is confident that he has you in his pocket and that you have either never heard of the new life Jesus gives to those who repent and believe in Him--shame on the Church and on Christians, if that's the case--or that you have never opened yourself to the saving help that God provides to all who trust in Jesus.

Because we are, by nature, "in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves," as we Lutherans often say in our confessions (cf., Psalm 51:5 and Romans 5:12), we are incapable of resisting temptations to sin with our own strength of will or character.

We can't choose to believe in Christ. We can only choose to surrender and let God create both faith in Christ within us and the power to resist temptation and live as the free children of God we were meant to be.

We need to rely entirely on Christ.

In this connection, I find the second verse of Martin Luther's hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, especially comforting and empowering:

"No strength of ours can match his [the devil's] might!
"We would be lost, rejected.
"But now a champion comes to fight [Jesus],
"Whom God Himself elected.
"You ask Who this may be?
"The Lord of hosts [God's angelic armies] is He!
"Christ Jesus, mighty Lord,
"God's only Son adored.
"He holds the field victorious!"

In 1 Corinthians 10:13, you can read: "No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing He will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." I have learned the truth of this Biblical promise. Whenever I have truly wanted to resist temptation, I've been able to call on my "champion," Christ, and resist.*

Don't be fooled. Satan does exist. So does the temptation created by Satan, the world, and our sinful selves.

But Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is alive today and stands ready to fight for and empower any who are humble enough to rely on Him to give them forgiveness, life, and the power to resist temptation and keep on trusting in Him.

Jesus is the champion who has come to fight for you. Let Him.
 
AMEN!

[For more on this subject, see here.]

*Conversely, there have been times when I have conveniently ignored God's will in order to commit the sins I've wanted to commit. In such instances, I have thought that I was exercising my free will, when in fact, I was making the only kinds of choices we can make when we spurn the freedom from sin and death God only provides for those who cling to Christ: bad ones.

Never Underestimate Our Common Enemy...and Never Underestimate the Power of Christ to Overcome!

Glenna Salsbury has some great insights on dealing with our common enemy, Satan.

Satan is real and powerful...

...but he cannot overpower us. (Please be sure to read Revelation 12:7-12, while you're at it.

This seems like a good time to break into a round of A Mighty Fortress is Our God, arguably the best hymn composed by Martin Luther*:

A mighty fortress is our God,
A sword and shield victorious
He breaks the cruel oppressor’s rod
And wins salvation glorious.
The old satanic foe
Has sworn to work us woe
With craft and dreadful might
He arms himself to fight
On earth he has no equal.

No strength of ours can match his might
We would be lost, rejected
But now a Champion comes to fight
Whom God Himself elected.
You ask who this may be?
The Lord of hosts is He!
Christ Jesus, mighty Lord,
God’s only Son adored,
He holds the field victorious.

Though hordes of devils fill the land
All threat’ning to devour us,
We tremble not, unmoved we stand;
They cannot overpow’r us.
Let this world’s tyrant rage
In battle we’ll engage.
His might is doomed to fail
God’s judgment must prevail!
One little word subdues him.

God’s Wod forever shall abide,
No thanks to foes who fear it;
For God Himself fights by our sid
With weapons of the Spirit.
Were they to take our house,
Goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be wrenched away,
They cannot win the day,
The Kingdom’s ours forever!

*When inviting the congregation to join in singing this hymn last Sunday, I mentioned:

It reminds Christians that every day, we are engaged in spiritual warfare, but that in Jesus Christ, God can give us the victory; that our futures depend only on God.

"Welcome back, pastor. Watch out for the demons."

So, you're a mainline pastor, part of that group of Christians often dismissed as "God's frozen chosen." You could be Methodist, Lutheran, UCC, or Presbyterian...whatever. You've just come back from sabbatical when a woman you've never met approaches you on the church parking lot to say that she's come from far away to strengthen you against demons.

Now, demons aren't really something you talk about much in mainline circles. But this woman doesn't care about that. She holds your head in her hands and begins to shout prayers. Then, after a few words with you, she gets into her rented car and drives off.

You might think to yourself, "That was weird." And you'd be right, I guess. But if you were this particular mainline pastor, you might remember a previous encounter you'd had with someone striving to fortify you against demons just as you'd ended a previous sabbatical.

Presbyterian pastor Jan Edmiston writes about this experience on her blog and concludes:

I believe in demons. I hesitate to say this because people tend to ridicule or peg those who talk this way. Mainliners tend not to talk about Dark Forces unless we are talking about old Star Wars movies.

But I believe that when God is working in amazing ways, dark forces are going to come out and mess with us. I'm not saying that people who disagree with me in ministry are evil. Not at all. But I do know that when personal power gets in the way and people become confused . . .

So, I'm girding up against the demons confident that God always wins.

When you see God doing great things in your church or in the lives of those for whom you've long prayed, bank on it: Satan and the demons of hell will attack.

That's why Paul tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Keep Following, Even When the Neighbors Aren't Saying, "Hello"

[This is an adaptation of my monthly article for the July, 2008 newsletter of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio.]

Has anything like this happened to you?

Sunday morning worship went well on June 29. I preached on the Gospel lesson, Matthew 10:40-42, and challenged the congregation and myself to see Jesus in the people around us and to extend Christian hospitality to them, including strangers.

To tell you the truth, I was stoked to meet my own challenge by intentionally greeting everyone with whom I came in contact.

After youth group ended that night, my wife Ann and I took a walk. Logan is a friendly place and people are usually generous with their hellos. Often, the walks that Ann, our son Phil, and I take around town get “interrupted,” when casual greetings turn into long conversations with friendly strangers.

But not this night. Instead, in spite of my new inspiration, almost every person to whom I said, “Hi,” or “Good evening,” or “How ya doin’?” met me with a vacant stare and silence.

The guy in front of his house just looked at me when I said hello. So did the teen heading for his car, the kid who passed us on his bike, and the woman walking her dog.

The next morning, as I thought about it, I couldn’t help smiling. Here’s why:

I have found that the very minute you understand God’s will for some aspect of your life and you try to follow God’s will, the devil, the world, and our sinful selves will get in your way.

The devil especially likes discouraging us from living life God’s way. He loves to snuff out the God-pleasing habits we’ve decided to adopt at the very moments we make our decisions.

The habits we’ve decided to take on could be anything from worshiping every Sunday to attending an evening Bible study, from giving more to the local food bank to spending time reading the Bible and praying each day. Or, it could be, as it was in my case, to be more deliberate in extending the hospitality of God to others.

The devil just loves to prevent us from keeping our “holy resolves.” When we Christians get discouraged about the daily business of being Christians, it makes the devil’s work easy.

The Bible isn’t exaggerating when it says, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The Bible states simply, “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil…” (Ephesians 6:12).

The minute you decide to do things God’s way is the minute that the devil will try to keep you from fulfilling your resolve. Take his obstructions as proof that you’re doing the right thing.

Don’t let the devil get his way. Pray simply, “Lord Jesus, Your will be done” and keep following Christ…even when the neighbors aren’t saying, “Hello.”

Resist Satan! by Pastor Glen Vander

[My friend and colleague Pastor Glen VanderKloot of Faith Lutheran Church in Springfield, Illinois, presented this fantastic sermon during worship yesterday. Glen has given me permission to present the sermon here. And yes, I believe that there is a Satan. A look at the daily newspaper and our own "internal conversations" will prove that to be true, I think.]

1 Peter 5:8-9
Jana used to run a small temporary staffing service. The agency did background checks on all job candidates, even though the application asked them if they had ever been convicted of a crime. One day after a round of interviews, a co-worker was entering information from a young man's application into the computer. Suddenly, he broke out into uncontrollable laughter. He called Jana over to show her that the applicant had noted a previous conviction for second-degree manslaughter. Below that, on the line listing his skills, he had written, "Good with people."

Satan is real. Satan is alive and well on planet earth. Satan is charming, intelligent and astute. Every day he tempts us to sin. Martin Luther wrote in The Large Catechism:

Therefore we Christians must be armed and daily expect to be incessantly attacked. For Satan is an enemy that never desists nor becomes tired, so that when one temptation ceases, there always arise others and fresh ones.

Satan is constantly attacking us with temptation. Satan brings us right to the edge. He convinces us every way possible how good it will be to jump, but we jump all on our own.

It is a cop out to claim, “The devil made me do it.” No he didn’t. He made it attractive and luring. But we chose to sin. It is important that we recognize our sin and confess it. That is why we include confession and forgiveness in each worship service. We join with the Psalmist and pray:

I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin. (Psalm 38:18 NRSV)

We are by nature sinful. We have a natural inclination to think, say, and do what is wrong. However, through the cleansing waters of Baptism, we are forgiven and empowered to do battle with our sinful nature.

How many think that you could get to the point of being sinless here on earth? Of course not. You can’t. None of us can. We were born sinners and we will die sinners. Jesus went to the cross so that we could be forgiven of all our sins. Yet we still cannot stop sinning.

However, we can sin less than we currently do. To sin less requires that we resist the temptations of Satan. Peter tells us:

Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Resist him. You may be thinking: “Ok, I would like to resist the temptations of Satan. But how? How do I say, “No!” in the face of temptation?

To resist temptation it is important to decide that we will not give in to temptation and sin. No matter how desirable, alluring, appealing, tantalizing, or inviting the sin may be, we can resist. We do not have to get suckered into Satan’s web of deceit. We can say "no" to the tempter. We can say "no" to the temptation.

After Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, he was taken to Egypt and there Potiphar bought him to be his servant. Under Joseph’s management, Potiphar’s household prospered. So Potiphar gave Joseph more and more responsibility. In the mean time, Potiphar’s wife noticed that “Joseph was handsome and good-looking.” (Genesis 39:6 NRSV)

Day after day, Potiphar’s wife propositioned Joseph. She wanted Joseph to sleep with her. But day after day, Joseph resisted this temptation. Joseph said, “How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9 NRSV)

Joseph predetermined that he would not commit such a sin against God. That predetermination enabled him to resist. To resist temptation, it is important to decide that we will not give in to temptation and sin.

That does not mean that we will always succeed. In fact, we won’t. Sometimes we will give in. But unless we decide ahead of time, we will quickly and often fall for Satan’s traps.

To resist temptation requires power and strength far beyond what we have. Therefore, to resist temptation it is important to rely upon the strength of God. In the Scriptures, we are told time and time again to rely upon God’s strength to fight off temptation. A friend’s favorite Bible passage is Ephesians 6:10-11:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil's evil tricks. (NCV)

The Denver Post reported that like many sheep ranchers in the West, Lexy Lowler has tried just about everything to stop coyotes from killing her sheep. She has used odor sprays, electric fences, and scare-coyotes. She has slept with her lambs during the summer and has placed battery-operated radios near them. She has corralled them at night and herded them during the day. Even with all these precautions, this Montana rancher has lost scores of lambs…fifty last year alone.

Then she discovered the llama, the aggressive, funny-looking, afraid-of-nothing llama. She said, “Llamas don’t appear to be afraid of anything. When they see something, they put their head up and walk straight toward it. That is aggressive behavior as far as the coyote is
concerned, and they won’t have anything to do with that.”

When Satan attacks us with his devilish schemes, we do not have to fight him alone. Instead of a llama, we can send in the Lamb of God, Jesus, to help. Satan backs down in the presence of Jesus. For on the cross Jesus defeated sin, death and the power of the devil.

What else can we do? Pray and study God’s Word. To resist temptation and sin pray for strength from God, help from God, persistence from God. When we are tempted, we can go immediately to God in prayer and ask God to help us resist the temptations to sin.

To resist temptation and sin, study God’s Word. Jesus had read God’s Word, studied the Word, and memorized the Word. Do we? Through the Word of God, Jesus was able to resist Satan.

We are constantly bombarded with desires to commit sin.

• We are tempted to lie on our income taxes.
• We are tempted to get angry and seek revenge on our enemies.
• We are tempted to lust after other human beings.
• We are tempted to be concerned primarily about me, me, me.

All of us are flooded with temptations to commit sin.

And many times we fall for those temptations.

And then after we commit the sin, we are so filled with guilt that we run from God. Remember what Adam and Eve did after they ate the forbidden fruit?

The man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. (Genesis 3:8 NCV)

That doesn’t make much sense. It did not make any sense in the Garden of Eden and it still doesn’t make any sense today. God knows where we are whether we hide or stay in the open. Instead of running away or hiding when we fall to temptation, we can run to the cross, confess our sin and by the power of the Spirit pick ourselves up and try again.

Everyday we battle temptation, and at times we lose the battle. But we can keep fighting. The Bible tells us that we can resist temptation.

How? To resist temptation requires that…

• We recognize and confess our past sins.
• We decide that we will not give into temptation and sin.
• We rely on the strength of God to help us overcome temptation.
• We pray and study God’s Word.

Even though there are people who say it is impossible to resist temptation, they are mistaken. Although no one can be perfect, it is possible to resist sin and temptation and do all we can to live honest and decent lives. It is a matter of morals and ethics and actually knowing what is right and wrong. It is also true that it is easier to stay-out of trouble and temptation than it is to actually get-out of temptation and trouble.

Avoid the people and places that Satan uses to tempt you.

But when Satan does tempt you call on the strength of God to help you overcome that temptation.

Amen

Reflection questions:

1. Do I try to rely on my own strength when facing temptation?
2. What temptation do I face that I can decide not to give in to?
3. Am I familiar enough with Scripture to let it help me face temptation?

Action steps:

1. Decide not to give in to one specific temptation.
2. Pray for strength to over come temptation.

[If you'd like to receive Pastor VanderKloot's fantastic daily emailed inspirations, send an email to olwf1@gliq.net. Put SUBSCRIBE on the subject line. You will love receiving Glen's daily mailing!]

How to Beat the Devil

[This sermon was shared during worship today with the people of Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio.]

Matthew 4:1-11
Although thankfully, it’s happening with less frequency these days, even now the television and newspapers bring reports that some US soldier or Marine in Iraq has been wounded or killed by an IED, an improvised explosive device. A concealed device goes off just as US personnel approach it. The enemy, in the tradition of guerilla warfare, is unseen and blends in with his surroundings, only occasionally being exposed. Guerilla warfare is an example of what the tacticians call asymmetrical war because it’s typically used by those whose army or firepower can’t match a heavily-armed conventional foe.

All believers in Jesus Christ are engaged in a war far deadlier and far more destructive than the terrible conflict going on in Iraq these days. Unlike human guerilla warriors, the enemy we fight is never seen. The explosions he sets off in our lives may seem harmless or, to the unwary, non-existent; but unlike the guerilla warriror’s bombs that can only take away our earthly lives, this enemy’s weapons can, if we aren’t careful, lead to eternal separation from God. And though our common enemy is more powerful than any of us, separately or together, he nonetheless engages in asymmetrical warfare, luring us, under the cloak of anonymity, just as he lured Adam and Eve to rebel against God in the garden. Our enemy, the devil, is a vicious, heartless, miserable creature who thinks he can bring God down by destroying us, the children for whom Jesus Christ died and rose.

I know that saying this may cause some to tune me out. People may think that the very idea of the devil is an outmoded one, akin to believing that the earth is flat or that Pluto is a planet. Years ago, the Oxford University professor, expert on world cultures, and novelist, C.S. Lewis, gave a series of radio talks that became my favorite book other than the Bible, Mere Christianity. In one of his talks, Lewis told his listeners:

...someone will ask me, "Do you really mean, at this time of day [in other words, at this supposedly advanced stage of human development], to reintroduce our old friend the devil-hoofs and horns and all?" Well, what the time of day has to do with it, I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects my answer is, Yes, I do..."

And so do I. I’m convinced that there is a devil and I’m not alone in that belief. According to the Bible, the devil was, originally an angel. That word, angel, angelos in the Greek of the New Testament, means messenger. Angels are messengers, wordsmiths, great communicators meant to be God’s letter-carriers. The devil, resentful of the station God gave to His highest creatures, rebelled against God.

Ever since then, the devil—along with our fallen world and the sin inside of us--has engaged in a propaganda campaign designed to sow discouragement, division, selfishness, and death among us, hoping perhaps, that by bringing us down, he can bring God down. It’s the devil’s aim to lure us to hopelessness, to indifference to God and neighbor, and to self-absorption. It’s in that very state of isolation that he wants to keep us forever, never to experience the love of Christ or the touch of others.

Hell isn’t a party where people do naughty things for eternity. It’s a place where those who have allowed themselves to be lured away from God live in a perpetual state of absolute aloneness and constant regret. We would be fools to think that we can face such evil on our own. As Martin Luther writes in A Mighty Fortress is Our God:

No strength of ours can match his might! [That is, the devil’s might.] We would be lost, rejected.

So, what can we do in the face of this evil? Jesus shows us what to do in today’s Gospel lesson. Three times, the devil tempts Jesus to diverge from the Father’s will for His life.

First, knowing that Jesus is hungry, the devil tries to convince Jesus to whip up instant bread from the stones available in the wilderness. Food is a good thing. And God the Father certainly doesn’t want Jesus to starve. But Jesus didn’t come into our world to make Himself comfortable. He came to share our discomforts and our whole lives. He came to die for us and to rise for us so that all who repudiate their sin and follow Him will live forever.

Next, the devil set Jesus up on the pinnacle of the temple and said, “If you are God’s Son, God will surely take care of you. So, take a dive, so that God can make good on His promises to you—and to all believers—to catch us. But Jesus didn’t come into the world to do pointless parlor tricks.

Finally, the devil tempted Jesus by offering Jesus exactly what He wanted—the world and all its kingdoms. The price: Jesus would have to worship the devil.

In each instance, the devil’s temptations were perfectly reasonable things, good things that Jesus wanted. The devil was offering them to Jesus without struggle, with no need to be obedient to God, and of course, on the condition that Jesus—and all of us--would forever be his slave. His come-ons were a little like what those check-cashing services offer people these days, instant gratification with a long-term price to be paid.

Jesus met each temptation not only by reciting the Word of God, but also by knowing the character, the grace, and the will of the Father Who sent Him to us. So, how do we meet our temptations?

Martin Luther said, “When [the devil] comes knocking upon the door of my heart and asks, ‘Who lives here?’ the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, ‘Martin Luther used to live here but he has moved out. Now I live here.’ The devil, seeing the nail prints in His hands, and the pierced side, takes flight immediately.” The Bible says that Christ lives in those who let Him in. It’s only when we let Christ in that the devil can be turned away.

The devil, you know, wants to discourage you, sow discord in your marriage, cause you to hold grudges, foster disunity and dissension in Christ’s Church, consider violence as an answer to life’s problems, and make us all think that we are left to live life in our own power, with no one to care for us.

But those are all lies! Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, died and rose for us and He’s living now, just waiting for you to invite Him to help you, help your family and friends, help our Church, and help our world. Jesus promises His followers, “I am with you always!” The only way you and I can face down evil are to rely completely on the God Whose love and grace for us are chronicled in the Word Jesus used against the devil in the wilderness!

In 1861, a Shenandoah Valley farmer named Wilmer McLean saw one of the bloodiest engagements of the Civil War, the Battle of Bull Run, fought on his property. McLean cared little about the reasons for the war. He just wanted to get away from it. So, he sold his property and moved to a place he was sure the war could never find him. Four years later, General Ulysses S. Grant chased Confederate General Robert E. Lee throughout Virginia. In Appomattox County, Grant sent a message to Lee, asking the rebel general to meet and sign a truce. The place where they met to end the Civil War was an old house in Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The owner was Wilmer McLean. No matter how much McLean tried, the war that he wanted to avoid found him.

You may not think that you are a party to the war that the devil is waging for your soul, or against his greatest enemy on earth, the Church of Jesus Christ. You may think that sort of thing may have happened back in the day, but not today. Christians often think that. But that’s dangerous thinking!

One day, seminary professor Howard Hendricks was approached by a smiling student who announced, “Dr. Hendricks, it’s been at least three years since I can remember the devil tempting me to sin.” Hendricks replied, “That’s about the worst thing I can imagine hearing from a Christian.” It either meant, you see, that that student was so far from God that the devil wasn’t bothering with him or that he was so insensitive to the reality of evil that he had been sidelined as a Christian.

Followers of Jesus Christ have an enemy sworn to kill us. But we have a Savior, a God Who is greater than all our sin and death. When evil assails us, no matter what its form, we need to put on the power of God so that we can withstand all that the devil throws our way and like Jesus, at the end of our Gospel lesson, let God care for us.

And this is how we do it: We let Jesus Christ into our lives. And then...

• We pray for each other.
• We worship together.
• We take the Sacrament together.
• We read God’s Word.
• We pray for help.

Against these weapons, our enemy the devil has no power. When we use them, we can be certain that He cannot defeat us...ever!

We Are At War!

That's what John T. Brown reminds us of here. He goes on to say:

We face a daily battle, and it is not just with sin and temptation.

We have a real enemy whose desire for us is our annihilation. But, our enemy has already been conquered, and his demons stand rebuked.

So, let's keep our spiritual vitality knowing that we're not playing church, but fighting for the Kingdom, for the lost, and for our loved ones.

Read the whole thing, including the prayer.