English Sermon Note
Today’s scripture is Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 through 11 If you are ready, let’s read altogether.
<Scripture Reading>
1. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
2. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
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.'"
5. Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
6. "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.'"
8. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9. "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.'"
11. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
The title of today’s sermon is ‘The Life that Leaps Over and Overcome the Limitation.’
With this title, I want to share two points with you. The scripture in Matthew chapter 4 talks about Jesus led by the Holy Spirit to the desert to be tempted by devil. Right before the scene in the bible, we see in earlier chapter that Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened, and Holy Spirit descended on him. But soon after Jesus was baptized, he was led to desert, and prayed a long period with 40 days of fasting which could lead men to die in serious circumstances. Jesus was facing a difficulty by praying and fasting for 40 days in the desert. When we face the difficulties in our lives, devil always want to point out the needs before the word of God and fulfill it now for your own good. But Jesus instead, chose to deal with the situation in God’s way with his word.
First, be fulfilled with Holy Spirit is the strongest weapon we use to overcome the temptation. Like in the bible, there was still a temptation even when heaven was open and Holy Spirit descended on man. In the desert without any living things around and without any help, 40 days of fasting could be the most hardship a man can experience. Within this situation, Jesus was fulfilled with Holy Spirit and held the word of God towards the temptation the devil showed. We need to know that Jesus did not have to go through all this, but because him being a good example, we learn how to overcome in situation like this. Even if we are fulfilled with Holy Spirit, do not be deceived because devil will always do his best to split us apart from God and there will be always another problem in our lives. We first need to expect that we will still face problems and temptation even when we’re fulfilled with Holy Spirit. What do we need when we face our limitation? We need to believe in God’s promise. We need to know that all of our winning powers to overcome the problems are from God and have faith in his words.
Second, through temptations, we need to prioritize our faith in God and hold God’s words. Students have tests in school to see where their knowledge level of the material they learned. We face many temptations and problems through our lives. Sometimes, we perceive the hardships as if it is bad event happening in our lives and complain. Why am
I still having difficulties in my life when I’m faithful to God? Why is it so not fair that someone’s hurting me when I’m not hurting others? We sometimes even question if God really exists. In the scripture verse 7, Jesus answers ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’. Jesus surely tell us not to question God’s promise and his words. With this scripture, we know that there are demons that are trying shook one’s life and test. But in the word of God, Jesus wants to show that having faith in Him, all the tests and problems are not just hardships but more of a foundation we will grow and be still within God. It’s like a safety belt we learn how to put on. Just like the scriptures that we read today together, satan knows exactly where our weakest point is. Let’s think about it this way. After fasting for 40 days and you’re thirsty and hungry, even feeling you’re about to die, he presents the bread which could feed you. This is the way how he tests us, with the things that we think are very important at the moment. Because with the situation like this, we want to take care of ourselves, satan wants to test us with that small hole that we have we think we are hiding well. Just like ‘Are you faithful to God?’ ‘Can you trust God’s promise more than yours?’ Please understand that tests are not just hardships, but more of the tools if we really are faithful to God and stand before Him. I really hope and pray that we all are.
