The Temptation to let Go of What God has said
PPT 1 Series title Overcoming in a Season of Temptation and Testing
PPT 2 Reason for this series
In discussing the last days Jesus said:
Mt 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mt 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (KJV)
Mt 24:12 "And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.
Mt 24:13 "But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. (NAS & NIV - most)
Most means more than half.
My job as your pastor is to work to make sure this body and you in particular are not part of the most of Mt. 24:13.
I want to give you some shocking research from Barna:
PPT 3 Graph of church attendance
13% of devout Christians have dropped out of attending church or watching online!
Barna reports 32 percent of people who identify as Christians have stopped attending church in person or online.
Pastor you are being so negative. I'm not being negative. Look at how God at one time described His watchmen:
PPT 4 text
Isaiah 56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
I am not being negative, I am barking because the thief, the devil is at the door. We are in a season of unusual
So this series is geared at overcoming temptation, and testing, which is the season we are in. In the first message I advised everyone to make sure they are wearing their spiritual mask.
Batten down your hatches, store up spiritual energy. Consider fasting along with your prayer life.
Fasting brings breakthrough and blessing.
Nehemiah fasted and then a breakthrough came to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Esther fasted and the plans of Haman to kill the Jews were completely turned around and he was hung on the gallows he had set up for the Jews.
Fasting needs to be a growing part of our daily lifestyle.
What is different about this generation than others which have gone through far worse things.
World Wars, 1918 flu killed 35 million, the great depression. In those times of testing people turned to God, in this one the facts are showing the opposite is happening.
PPT 5 Message title
So I started this series on temptation, and today I want to talk about the temptation to let go of what God has said. We will deal with other subjects in future messages.
I am starting with this one, because it is in point of fact the first temptation of man recorded in the bible.
PPT 6 Genesis 3:1
"Yeah, hath God said?" (Genesis 3:1)
Sometimes that is a good and legitimate question to ask yourself. Did I really hear from God?
When human emotion is involved it is quite easy to become spiritually compromised and your ability to hear accurately can be skewed but what your heart desperately longs after.
I have seen this mostly in the area of romantic relationships.
Illus: I met a woman who fell in love with a man, but had no actual relationship with him. He was in love with and married someone else. She told I am believing God for him to divorce her and marry me. She was believing God for him to commit adultery!
So it is a legit question that should be considered, but the when the devil asks it, the root of it is always the same:
To alienate you from God, to mess with your faith in Him, and to shake your confidence in His word.
Here are questions that "modern" Christians are struggling with:
Is homosexuality really a sin?
What's wrong with living together?
What's wrong with a couple beers?
What's the big deal if I don't go to church?
What's wrong with abortion? It's just a few cells. It's part of the mother's body.
Basic biblical truths are under assault, not in the world, they always have been, but in the church.
These matters have been settled, but the devil is asking people to abandon the bible and make the ideas of the cultural above the plain teachings of scripture. You cannot sustain a faith that has not accepted the bible as the unchangeable word of God.
Let's look at an example from the life of Jesus. Where satan asked, "Yea has God said?"
PPT 7, text
Mt 3:16 And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him,
Mt 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
Please note very carefully what God had said to and about Jesus. You are my beloved Son, I am well pleased with You.
My title was the temptation to let go of what God has said, and in your mind you went back to Genesis 3 the temptation of Adam and Eve where the devil tried to get them to doubt God's benevolence and why and what He had said to them.
But that is not where I am going with that.
In Matthew 4 it talks about the 3 temptations of Christ.
Lust of the eyes
Lust of the flesh
The sinful pride of life
I want to suggest to you there is a 4th in that passage, and it was perhaps the most critical Jesus faced. The temptation to let go of what God had said. To abandon what God had said. To surrender His spiritual identity unless proof miracles were done. God's word is true if no miracle ever backs it up!
PPT 8 text
Mt 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Now lets look at the nature of that temptation
PPT 9-11 text
Mt 4:2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
Mt 4:3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
Mt 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'AN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'
Mt 4:5 Then the devil *took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
Mt 4:6 and *said to Him, "If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'E WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE CONCERNING YOU' and 'N their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'
Mt 4:7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'
Mt 4:8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory;
Mt 4:9 and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."
Mt 4:10 Then Jesus *said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'
So those are the three temptations, but the 4th is there also did you catch it?
What had God just said to Jesus at His baptism?
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
Now what had the devil said twice in these three temptations?
PPT 12 text
Mt 4:3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God...
Mt 4:6 and *said to Him, "If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down...
The devil's repeated line of attack had to do with Jesus' identity and what God said about Him.
When did this happen?, almost immediately after God said it to Him.
Why was the timing critical? Because the devil knows it is easier to pluck a seed than a full gown forest.
PPT 13 me and the giant sequoia, and a small plant.
BTW satan wants to steal God's little seeds, because of what they can become, he also wants to plant his little seeds because of what they can become.
Little slips lead to big falls.
I don't know if you are aware of it, but the first parable Jesus taught is called the parable of the sower and the seed.
Do you remember that parable.
In the parable the seed is the word of God, the soils represent the human heart, and then there is a little part in the parable, actually at the very beginning where the birds of the air come and gobble up the seeds.
PPT 13 text
Mr 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
Mr 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
Jesus would explain that the fowls of the air is symbolic of the activity of and is very explicit in his description of what and how they came and gobbled it up.
PPT 14 text
Mr 4:15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Note the word was sown in their hearts and immediately satan came to steal it out of their heart.
Lets go back to Jesus temptation, God speaks and tells Him who He is and how much He is loved.
Then what happens? He is immediately led to the wilderness to be tested/tempted. What did satan ask twice? If You are the Son of God..
I am convinced Jesus had His own personal experience in mind when He taught the parable of the sower and the seed, as His first parable. Whenever God says something to you, know that the devil will come as quickly as possible because he knows the seed of God's word can become a great mountain.
Our fight with the devil on a personal level often involves things God has said. When God calls someone into ministry he will sow doubts. When God prompts someone to share Christ he will sow doubts. When God leads you to step out in faith and do something he will immediately come and demand visible proof by a miracle or something it is true.
PPT 14 night light
Don't let go in the night what God said to you in the light. Repeat.
Whatever God says to you in this life will be quickly and repeatedly attacked to prevent what God plans on doing.
You are who God says you are, you are not what others call you, how your circumstances try to define you.
That was satan's biggest temptation to Jesus, to let go of what God said about Him.
That is the root cause of Christians struggling with assurance of their salvation, satan is simply calling God a liar. Don't let go in the night, what God said to you in the light.
Close: I am struggling with who God says I am, I am struggling with what God has said about my life.
Perhaps you are in a wilderness season of special testing and temptation and your faith is under serious attack. Get in the word, the more you listen to that the easier you will fend off his attacks, because faith does not come by arguing or reasoning with satan, It comes by hearing, and hearing by the world of God.
May God keep your love from growing cold.
Close; prayer
