Lent 2019 - Jesus Under Attack Series

Lent 2019 – Attacking The Rock

Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …

2 Timothy 4:3-4

“The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Please open your Bibles to 2 Timothy 4:1-5

I don’t know if you know this, but, when Jesus was on earth there were some people who really hated Him! They actually wanted to kill Him.

What are some of the things the Jewish leaders actually said to Jesus?

- “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” Matthew 15:2

o This is not like your Mom saying “go wash your hands before you eat!

o There was a prescribed way to wash your hands that would make them ceremonially holy so they could be used to eat.

o But Jesus was not concerned with their traditions especially when they contradicted the Law as given by the Lord through Moses.

o What else did they say to Jesus?

- “Why are You doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Luke 6:2

o Once again this had nothing to do with the 4th Commandment but with the traditions they had invented and established as law in order to make sure everyone kept the Sabbath in a way that they prescribed.

- “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill You.” Luke 13:31

- “Aren’t we right in saying that You are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” John 8:48

- “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Matthew 12:24

- “You do not realize that it is better for you that one Man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” John 11:50

So, we can see from the Scriptures that the Jewish leaders wanted to defame and destroy Jesus.

Yes, the religious leaders of Jesus’ time wanted to kill Jesus.

There are many who have tried to destroy Him since then and there are many with that very goal in their lives today! Sadly, … many who wish to destroy Jesus and the Word of God are preaching from pulpits and are leading multitudes astray!

With that in mind let’s look at: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

May God bless the reading of His Word … (Prayer for help …)

Now, that was 2 Timothy 4 and in 1 Timothy 4 there is Scripture with much of the same message.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 says,

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”

And Jude, the brother of Jesus Himself, writes in Jude 1:3-4

“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

“Contend for the faith that was once and for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”?

Why contend? Because the faith that we live in and Jesus, the author of the faith, have been, are now and will forever be under attack until Jesus returns.

But, here is a HUGE difference between what we read about before and what Paul and Jude are writing about!

In the previous readings the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were directly attacking Jesus! They wanted Him either totally discredited or, even better yet, dead!

What Paul and Jude and many of the New Testament writers are warning us about are false shepherds who may not attack Jesus directly but want to remake Him into whatever they can use for their purposes.

What did the devil use when he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden?

He introduced doubt in God’s Word and self pride!

Just listen to what the evil one says to Eve in Genesis 3:1, 4-5

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? … You will not certainly die … For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”