347 - Desert Road

Illustrate Humor: During Superbowl XXXVII, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand.

When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you." But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was in that package after all?" She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds."

Sermon # 347 ¡V DESERT ROAD

Desert Defined: ¡§a barren or desolate place area, dry, little rainfall, extreme temperature, sparse vegetation, lifeless area of water, empty or forsaken place, a lonely place.¡¨

People God loved who walked the desert road: Moses, Abraham, David, Job, Elijah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul

Truths ABOUT the desert: God will lead you there, God will lead you out, Everyone will walk in it, You will be made stronger for it, You will be hungry in the desert, You will be tested, Your pride will be stripped.

JESUS¡¦ DESERT ROAD: Luke 4:1-2 -- Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, [2] where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

ISRAELITES¡¦ DESERT ROAD: Deut. 8:2-3 -- Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

3 TREASURES TO DISCOVER IN THE DESERT

1. TREASURE OF SCRIPTURE ¡V Learn to lean on His Word¡K

Jesus 1st Temptation: Matthew 4:3 -- The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." [4] -- Jesus answered, "It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"

„X Deut. 8:3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

2. TREASURE OF THE ¡§TRUST TEST¡¨ - In the desert you will NOT get tomorrow¡¦s bread!

Jesus 2nd Temptation: Matthew 4:6-7 -- "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " ’He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’" [7] Jesus answered him, "It is also written: ’Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"

„X Exodus 16:4 -- Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

„X Deut. 8:2-3 -- Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

„X Hebrews 3:7-11 -- So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, [8] do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, [9] where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. [10] That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ’Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ [11] So I declared on oath in my anger, ’They shall never enter my rest.’ "

3. TREASURE OF TRUE WORSHIP ¡V Before they get to the promise land¡K they must learn worship!

Jesus 3rd Temptation: Matthew 4:9-10 -- "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." [10] Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’"

„X Exodus 7:16a -- Then say to him, ’The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert.