A few weeks ago we talked about how God puts us through tests at times to strengthen our faith. But have you ever been tempted to test God? I came across this story about a little boy that tested God.
It was on the first day of elementary school. New central air conditioning units had finally been installed throughout the school. The little boy said he was new to this school but he already knew he had a crush on a girl in his class.
For some reason the idea came into his head to ask God for a sign so that he could know if the girl liked him. The sign that he chose was because the AC unit was on a thermostat, it would turn on and off automatically. So, the little boy wanted the AC to come on just at the moment he predicted. That would be his sign from God that the little girl liked him. He closed his eyes and waited and waited and waited, then he said, “now.” Nothing happened. Being determined, he tried again. Again, nothing happened.
This may seem childish to us but we can still be tempted to do the same thing as adults and put God to the test. “God, if You want me to take this new job, then let the next red light be green when I get to it. Or, God if you want me to just turn around and stay home from work today, let the next light be red when I get to it.”
These examples may seem a little absurd, but many times, without even realizing it we put God to the test. But because God is faithful, we don't need to put Him to the test. We simply need to trust Him and ask Him for what we need. As we said last week, God will provide. This message today is sort of an extension to last week's message. Again, we will be using portions of the New and Old Testament. We will pick up where we left off in Matthew 4 from last week. But first, let's pray. Prayer.
Is it okay to test God ? Let's see what the Bible says.
Matthew 4:5-7 – “Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”
And there it is. Do not test the Lord your God. Last week we saw that Satan initially tried to get Jesus to question God's provision. With his second temptation, Satan was tempting Jesus to question God's protection.
When we're afraid, a lot of times we ask God to be with us and protect us. Satan would like nothing more than to use those fears to undermine our faith in God. This is exactly what Satan tried with his second temptation directed at Jesus. Jesus had no reason to doubt the Father and His care for Him, but Satan was going to tempt Him to do just that.
40 days before this temptations, John the Baptist had baptized Jesus. I mentioned last week at that baptism, God spoke and declared, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” God not only loved Jesus but was pleased with Him.
Believe it or not, Satan knows Scripture very well, and he knew Jesus had come to save His people from their sins and bring them back to God. So Satan used Psalm 91: 11 - 12 to challenge Jesus to put God to the test.
Psalm 91: 11 – 12 – “For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways.12 They will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
If Jesus jumped off the top of the temple, which represented God's presence among His people, then Satan suggested that God would miraculously rescue Him in front of all the people gathered there. The people would see clearly that Jesus is the Messiah. If Jesus wanted to be recognized as their Messiah, this was a quick and easy way to make it happen. Or at least this was what Satan was tempting Jesus to think. But Jesus saw through this plan and responded again with Scripture.
Does God protect his children? Sure, He does. God protects His people as promised, but we don't need to knowingly put ourself in harm's way to find ways to force God to act. Jesus didn't need a test to prove God's faithfulness, nor would He try to take a shortcut on the path that was laid out by God's will.
Jesus didn't need a sign, and neither do we. When we're unsure or even afraid of a decision before us, what is it that you think the Lord wants us to do? We are to pray and trust the Lord to act as He sees best. But when we ask for a sign, we're essentially saying, “God, prove Yourself!” It really shows a little bit of our unbelief. It says that God's word is not enough, and we need something more.
So what did Jesus do? Again, he responded to the temptation by quoting Scripture. He was acting on the command that was given in Deuteronomy 6 not to test the Lord. Jesus didn't need to test God. He knew that God was with Him. He didn't need to prove that to Himself, and He would follow God's Will and how He would reveal Himself to others and not be tempted to sensationalize things as Satan wanted Him to do. That law in Deuteronomy says:
Deuteronomy 6:16 – “Do not test the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah.”
The Israelites had no reason to put God to the test. As God prepared this second generation to go into the promised land, He reminded them once again of His promise to provide. God would bring them into a land with large and beautiful cities that they did not build, houses full of every good thing that they did not fill them with, cisterns that they did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that they did not plant.
God promised all this to their parents, the first generation that left Egypt for God's promised land, but remember that they put God to the test because they failed to believe. The Lord reminded them of one such moment in their history when they had camped at Rephidim on their way to Mount Sinai. Despite all the signs and wonders that they witnessed God perform against Egypt, despite watching God destroy the Egyptian army, despite the manna God provided, they still complained to Moses that they had no water to drink.
God had already performed miracle after miracle taking care of the Israelites, yet they failed to believe God could provide them with water. How many more signs would they need? What else would God have to do? They expected God to prove himself one more time by providing water. So, they tested God. Are we any different than the Israelites? So, what do we do?
Deuteronomy 6:17 – 19 – “Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes he has commanded you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land the Lord your God swore to give your ancestors, 19 by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said.”
We have no reason to test God if we trust and obey Him. Long before Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, the Israelites found themselves wandering in the wilderness for 40 years because of their disobedience to God. At one point, the Israelites began to grumble to Moses, their leader, about the lack of drinking water.
The Israelites became so distraught, they wondered if God brought them out of slavery in Egypt just to kill them with thirst in the wilderness. They could have trusted God to provide water in His own way, like through natural springs and a well, but instead they demanded God to do the miraculous. They put God to the test. Yes, God provided water from a rock, but the people's complaints and lack of trust in God led Moses to rename the place Massah, which means testing. They tested God.
I feel that there are times when we test God. We should be able to look back over our lives and see God's faithfulness to us. Time and time again, the Lord has provided for our needs, He has protected us from harm, He has sustained us during a dark season. And yet, when we face the next new crisis, we're tempted to put God to the test. We may not say it out loud, but essentially, we're saying, “Prove Yourself one more time, God!”
I remembered a time when God protected me. I WAS NOT TESTING GOD. I had a huge brush pile in the side field that I had burned. It had burned the center of the pile but the logs and brush around the edges had not gotten burned. A couple of days later I thought I would take a gas can and pour around those edges and reset it to finish burning the pile. Jeremy, was standing away watching all of this take place. I took the gas can and stepped over the logs around the edge and started pouring a circle of gasoline on the outer edges. Little did I know there were some live embers. All of a sudden, all I could see was orange as the gas ignited. I was younger then and turned and jumped over the logs and got out of the way. Not a hair on my head was singed. Jeremy saw it all happen and said, God was watching over you. And he was.
I imagine that most everyone here could recall a certain instance that was a close call for you. Maybe it was almost a wreck. Maybe something fell from above and barely missed you. Whatever it may be or may have been, God watches over us as our protector.
But God's command is simple: don't test, but instead trust. Immediately after the command of, do not test, the Israelites were told to carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God. God wants to bless us, just as He wanted to bless the Israelites. But we can only experience those blessings if we trust Him and obey His word. No test is necessary.
Deuteronomy 6: 20-25 – “When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household,
*****23 but he brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that he swore to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. 25 Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
The Israelites were to be obedient to God and they were to lead their children to faithfully follow him as well. If they wanted their children to experience God's goodness and faithfulness, they were to teach them God's word. But it wasn't enough for the children and succeeding generations to know what to do; they needed to know why they were doing it. The why is what motivates the what!
We're used to hearing children ask, why? We can get frustrated sometimes when it seems like the only word a preschooler knows is why! We should take advantage of these opportunities to teach our children, especially when it comes to matters of faith. Moses told the Israelites to take advantage of the moment when a child asks why.
I want to finish this message with Jesus's assurance to us that God will provide our needs without us having to test God:
Matthew 6:24-25 – ““No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
*****25 “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
Yes it is! We're not Israel under the old covenant, but we do serve the same God. Their history is part of our history. The story of redemption was carried out completely in Christ. God established a new covenant through the blood of His Son.
Jesus kept the law for us. He died for us. He rose again. He forgives. He gives new life. In every step along the way, it is God who took the initiative. How are we supposed to respond to this great deliverance? The Israelites were to respond to God's work for them with obedience and fear, submission and trust. It is basically the same for us.
Satan is going to do his very best to tempt you to test God. Don't fall into Satan's plan.
There's no reason for us to give in to the temptation to test God. One of the greatest promises of the new covenant that Jesus established by His blood is a new heart and God's indwelling Spirit. Here is a promise from God once you have asked Jesus to be Lord of your life: (and I will close with this).
Ezekiel 36:26-27 – “ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.”
When we look at all God has already done for us through Jesus Christ, we can trust confidently that He is there, He takes care of us, and His plans are the best for us. We experience God's goodness and faithfulness as we obey His word. No test is needed.
If you've never asked Jesus into your heart and into your life, God wants to change your heart of stone into a heart of flesh. In other words, He wants to soften your heart so that He can place His Holy Spirit in you.
I'm giving you that opportunity to respond to God's Word. In a moment, as the music begins, don't fight it any longer. Just let go and let God do the rest. I promise that you will be glad that you did.
