Matthew 4:1-4 KJV Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (2) And when he had
fasted
forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
(3) And
when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread. (4) But he
answered and
said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Notice the reasons God gave regarding the 40 year wilderness period of
wandering before Israel entered the land of Canaan.
- The initial reasons given the very day Israel doubted God
when they feared the giants in the land, are only part of the overall
reason.
- That day God said the doubters provoked him to anger.
- But after the 40 years were over God revealed more reasons
He could not relate to them before the 40 years began, since in order
for them to be effective, they could not be fully known then.
- These reasons involved more than provoking God to anger.
SUB-TEXT:
Numbers 14:2-3 KJV And all the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto
them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we
had died in this wilderness! (3) And wherefore hath the
LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives
and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return
into Egypt?
Numbers 14:26-38 KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto
Aaron, saying, (27) How long shall I bear with this evil
congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of
the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. (28)
Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in
mine ears, so will I do to you: (29) Your carcases shall
fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according
to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have
murmured against me, (30) Doubtless ye shall not come into
the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. (31)
But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring
in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
(32) But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this
wilderness. (33) And your children shall wander in the
wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be
wasted in the wilderness. (34) After the number of the days
in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year,
shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my
breach of promise. (35) I the LORD have said, I will surely
do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together
against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they
shall die. (36) And the men, which Moses sent to search the
land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against
him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, (37) Even
those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the
plague before the LORD. (38) But Joshua the son of Nun, and
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search
the land, lived still.
Deuteronomy 8:1-6 KJV All the commandments which I command thee
this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go
in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
(2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God
led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to
prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep
his commandments, or no. (3) And he humbled thee, and
suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest
not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that
man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (4) Thy raiment
waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty
years. (5) Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that,
as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
(6) Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy
God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
God said "all the way" or the manner in which God dealt with Israel for
forty years, along with the WORD OF GOD, the LAW, given to them, was to
see them successfully dwelling the land and fulfill their purpose in
ever getting there to begin with.
- He humbled Israel in the wilderness.
- He led them into situations that would force them to depend
upon God.
- He allowed them to hunger and allowed them to go through
times when they would thirst, where no water was.
- He actually led them into circumstances in which they were
brought to their knees to depend upon God.
- There was the pool of bitter waters when they were thirsty.
- There were the feelings of Korah who wanted to be leader as
well as Moses.
- There was Moses' marriage to a non-Israelite Ethiopian
woman.
- There was every kind of situation arose.
He chastened them as a father chastens his son.
- If fathers did not want their sons so succeed in life, they
would never chasten them, and leave them with their naturally spiteful
childish tendencies and so on.
ALL of this was PREPARATION, according to Deut 8:1, before they would
enter Canaan.
God's will for them in Canaan was as follows:
Deuteronomy 8:1-6 KJV All the commandments which I command thee
this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may
live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the
LORD sware unto your fathers.
Why did God want them in the land?
- Just to fulfill a promise to their fathers to bring them
there?
- No.
- God wanted to AFFECT and INFLUENCE THE ENTIRE EARTH by way
of these MONOTHEISTIC, ONE GOD, worshipers of Jehovah!
- God wanted to showcase miracles and wonders and blessings
to the world He would bestow upon a people, and show the world HOW to
know this one true God.
- Jesus was going to come through this nation and in time the
Gospel would go forth.
- He had to get a people prepared for all of this use before
they even entered, so they could start doing those things and NOT BE
HINDERED.
Deut 8:1 mentions words similar to God's words about Adam's purpose.
Deuteronomy 8:1-6 ...that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and
possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
Genesis 1:28 KJV And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
So we see Israel's story and the land of Canaan is a MINIATURE model of
God's design for the whole planet way back when God put Adam in the
Garden.
- Fill the earth with what?
Isaiah 6:3 KJV And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy,
holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isaiah 11:9 KJV They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as
the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 40:5 KJV And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and
all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken
it.
Habakkuk 2:14 KJV For the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
But in order for this to occur -- mark it down -- God's WORD was given
to ISRAEL so that all of this might be accomplished!
I have come across instances in every place I pastored and worked for
God, having specifically been given a teaching ministry, where people
cannot understand why the Bible teaches some things.
- They do not see the use for it in the Bible, since those
things are not directly related to what they think is the whole point
-- winning souls and affecting the world.
- So they are impatient with the time taken to teach those
things to the church.
- They feel they need to "get with it" and go and win souls
and affect their world.
- They don't want you to teach them any details in the
chapters of Romans, for example.
- And such aspirations and desires to win souls are indeed
worthy of honour.
- However,
without the understanding provided in everything found in the Bible, in
efforts to circumvent their need for learning those things, and
bypassing 99% of the writings of the Word, the scripture is so true,
and this they never realized, "My people are destroyed for a lack of
knowledge."
- The
very influence they yearn to give to the world, and the effects they
wish to have upon the sinners, to win their souls for the Lord, are all
ruined and brought to a halt since the things they felt they did not
need to know were the very things that would ALLOW THEM SUCCESSFULLY
WIN SOULS WITHOUT BEING DESTROYED IN THE PROCESS!
The way in which Moses told Israel they could not live by bread alone,
but by every word of God, was in the context of speaking of the forty
years in the wilderness, when they hungered and thirsted and were
humbled by God.
- When Moses used that phrase about more than bread alone, he
was actually trying to say, YOU PEOPLE LEARNED THROUGH THE WILDERNESS
THERE IS MORE THAN EATING BREAD TO SIMPLY EXIST, AS THE ONLY
REQUIREMENT TO WIN SOULS AND BEING USED OF GOD IN A PROMISED LAND.
- How?
- So many think the only need they have in order to win souls
is to eat food and live, and just get at it.
- What else is there if there is no need to study and learn?
The
philosophy that proposes we need not indulge our time and minds in
certain studies in the bible, but instead win souls, would recommend
the only thing you need to do in order to win the world is SIMPLY EAT
AND FEED YOUR BODY so you can live and just tell people about Jesus.
- That is what both Moses and Jesus addressed when they said
there's more to this thing than eating bread.
- So many believers feel we do not need to spend time in
bible studies.
- It's
a veritable plague of such false thinking today!
- They do not need to come to every church
service.
- But every service gives another lesson on something you
need to know so you do not fail in serving God and reaching this world.
- However, so many think "Just stay alive and healthy,-- eat
your food -- and do it!"
- "What else is there to do to win souls other than breathing
air and keeping your body alive by food?"
- That must be their thoughts since they see no preparation
required at all.
Jesus Christ was in the same wilderness, perhaps in the same close
proximity to where Moses rehearsed the law to Israel just on the border
of Canaan, when the Spirit of God led him to be tempted of the devil.
- God led Israel into various situations where problems would
arise.
And look at what happened.
Matthew 4:1-4 KJV Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (2) And when he had
fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
(3) And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son
of God, command that these stones be made bread. (4) But he
answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The devil tempted Him to PROVE HE WAS SON OF GOD.
- Do not allow this most important detail to slip from your
thoughts.
- He said, "IF THOU BE THE SON OF GOD."
There is something the devil will try to thwart and ruin in your life
in order to stop you from ever doing anything the Lord wants you to do,
and perhaps what you are so impatient to do as well!
- IF HE CAN GET YOU TO QUESTION YOUR OWN SALVATION, THEN HOW
ARE YOU EVER GOING TO AFFECT THE WORLD AROUND YOU FOR JESUS?
- And if you believe you do not require these teachings of
preparation, you will fall for this temptation and lose your own
salvation.
- And so many people have experienced this very thing..
The whole basis upon which all our hopes and dreams in serving God and
working for HIm are founded, is we are saved and born again children of
God, who are in the Kingdom to lead others to Him.
- And if the FOUNDATION BE DESTROYED WHAT CAN THE RIGHTEOUS
DO?
- What influence can you have with sinners if your own
foundation is destroyed and ruined?
- If you cannot even have confidence in your salvation how do
you think you are going to win a world to Him?
But the SLY THING ABOUT THIS TEMPTATION was that it had an underlying
twisted way of thinking the devil was trying to instill within the
humanity of Jesus Christ.
- If the devil can convince you that of some foolish manner
of proving your salvation, and something you base your salvation upon,
then you will try to live by that false notion.
- And if you seek to prove to yourself you are a believer due
to this insane means of proof, when you try to do so it will fail and
you will be convinced YOU ARE NOT EVEN SAVED.
These questions had an obvious point.
- Prove you are a Son of God.
- However, there was an undermining point beneath it all.
- The underlying slyness was an awareness that such things DO
NOT prove anyone to be a true son of God.
- And if the person can accept the challenge and not even
notice that such things do not prove a son of God -- and that in fact
such things are absolutely the opposite of proving what a son of God is
-- the person will be led to attempt it and will wind up seeing the
proof fail, and lose all confidence in their salvation.
If you told me that I will prove I am a preacher by painting your house
in less than two hours, I am going to respond by stopping the whole
process of your reasoning, and inform you that painting a house in less
than two hours has nothing to do with being a preacher.
- In this same manner, turning stone in to bread has nothing
to do with proof of being a Son of God.
You see, Jesus had humanity as much as you and I have humanity.
- Yes, He was God in the flesh, and would not exist had not
God incarnated Himself in Mary's womb, unlike you and I.
- We are Christians because AFTER we were conceived and born,
we believed and obeyed the Gospel.
- Not so with Jesus.
- Jesus is not completely like us.
- And so there was humanity in Jesus which He had to deal
with.
He had to learn:
Hebrews 5:8 KJV Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by
the things which he suffered;
He had to GROW in knowledge:
Luke 2:40 KJV And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
And this part of Him was what the devil tried to take advantage of.
- It was not a game to Jesus at all.
- He really WAS tempted!
- It affected Him!
- It was no water off a duck's back.
And if the humanity of Jesus could be sidetracked to base His Sonship,
in His thinking, upon such false principles, HOW COULD HE MINISTER?
- The devil sought to mess his human mind up about being Son
of God.
- What if the devil succeeded?
- You claim he could not have succeeded, but even if he could
not succeed with Jesus, what about you and I?
- What if he used those temptations on us and we did not know
enough about God's word to do what Jesus did?
IT IS WRITTEN, Jesus said.
And he quoted the very verse in Deut 8 we read.
Here is one reason you need to study these old testament scriptures,
even though you think they do not apply to winning souls.
- THEY WENT THROUGH EXPERIENCES IN THEIR LIVES THAT ARE ON
RECORD FOR THE DISTINCT REASON FOR YOU TO LEARN FROM THEIR ERRORS AND
NOT TO REPEAT THEIR MISTAKES.
- If you fail like the devil wants you to fail, you will not
win any souls, and will not affect the world around you.
- And these TEACHINGS that you do not think directly relate
to winning souls, and are therefore unnecessary to come to bible study
and learn, are the very things that KEEP YOU STRONG AND OUTSIDE OF
FAILURE so when the devil tries to stop you from winning souls he
cannot do it!
THEY ARE PREPARATIONS FOR YOUR SOUL WINNING!
- FOR YOUR INFLUENCING THE WORLD!
He tempted Jesus in the same way.
- If you are the Son of God.
Moses gave the reason why Jesus used the scripture "Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
- (3) And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger,
and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy
fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by
bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the
LORD doth man live.
Moses said God brought them through situations where their own FLESH
would stir up and cause problems, and where the devil would stir up and
cause problems, SO THAT THEY WOULD KNOW THAT THERE WAS MORE TO LIVING
IN A LAND OF CANAAN AND AFFECTING THE WORLD TO KNOW GOD than eating
food to be alive and just getting "to the task at hand".
- There is more than just eating bread to live... to continue
to minister... to affect the world.
- MAN CANNOT SURVIVE AND CONTINUE TO BE GOD'S MEANS OF
REACHING THIS WORLD WITHOUT HAVING LEARNED THE WORD OF GOD.
- MAN NEEDS TO BE READY FOR TWISTED LIES FROM THE DEVIL THAT
SEEK TO ATTACK OUR OWN SALVATION TO RUIN US FROM EVER REACHING OTHERS.
- WE NEED TO BE READY TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE TIMES WHEN OUR OWN
FLESH IS STIRRED UP, BECAUSE MORE PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR SALVATION OVER
THEIR FLESH CAUSING THEM PROBLEMS WHEN SOMEONE HURT THEIR FEELINGS OR
SOMETHING HAPPENED AT HOME.
- Israel saw many situations arise that God LED THEM INTO
WHILE IN THE WILDERNESS, to prepare them to do what was right to solve
it, so that WHEN THE REAL PROBLEMS COME ONCE THEY ARE IN THE KINGDOM IN
THE FACE OF THE WORLD WITH ALL HELL TRYING TO SILENCE THEIR WITNESS,
AND GIANTS SOUGHT TO EXTRACT THEIR BLOOD, THEY WOULD NOT BE
HINDERED AND KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT ALL.
THE WILDERNESS AND THE WORD GIVEN TO THEM THEN WAS BOOT CAMP FOR THE
KINGDOM WORK.
Jesus knew turning stone to bread had nothing to do with proving you
were a Son of God.
Matthew 7:9 KJV Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask
bread, will he give him a stone?
I prove I am a SON OF GOD by HAVING FAITH IN MY FATHER TO GIVE ME THIS
DAY MY DAILY BREAD, NOT A STONE TO TURN INTO BREAD!
That is just like some lies I saw other people believe.
- Unless they feel goosebumps in a service or at the altar
during prayer, they feel they have not been in church, or that God has
left them.
- WHAT HAS THAT GOT TO DO WITH GOD BEING WITH YOU?
- He already said he'd never leave nor forsake us!
- BUT THAT WAS A WORD OF GOD, and THESE FOLKS DO NOT SUCCEED
IN REMAINING SAVED by the words of God.
- So these thoughts enter their minds from the enemy, though
they think they're their own thoughts, and slay them.
These teachings show us how GOD WORKS and in what manner we should
approach Him.
- Salvation depends upon OUR FAITH in what Jesus did in dying
as our sacrifice for our sins on the cross.
- And if you try looking for OTHER proofs, you will never
find them, and think you are not saved, when in reality those proofs do
not PROVE salvation at all!
- God only responds to FAITH.
- You were saved by FAITH in His death as you on the cross,
and your obedience to the Gospel by repenting being baptized in His
name to enter into His death, so that it can be considered your death
and answer for your sins.
- And you must CONTINUE IN THAT FAITH.
Notice what the Father told Jesus before the devil came.
Matthew 3:16-17 KJV And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto
him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting
upon him: (17) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Jesus heard that WORD.
- And when the devil tried to tempt Him to see if He was Son
of God, Jesus STOOD ON THE WORD.
- That is all He needed!
- God's Word tells us that faith in the gospel and obedience
as a result according to Acts 2:38 makes us sons of God.
- We need to stand on that word.
- I did not see Jesus die on a cross.
- I did not even see Him buried and resurrect and go to
heaven.
- The Word, though, told me and it was preached to me.
- I believed that IN FAITH.
- And I believed that if I would appropriate that gospel to
my life and identify with it by repenting and turning from sins, being
baptized in water into Jesus ' death, and receiving His Spirit, I was a
Son of God.
- You can tell me to do a million and one things.
- But I will not fall for any of it, since I KNOW WHAT MAKES
ME A SON OF GOD, and turning stone into bread to prove it goes against
everything the Bible says about knowing I am a Son.
- Had I not know the WORD, though, I might fall for those
lies.
Jesus quoted Moses' words about having to know God's LAw to enable
Israel to live or continue on once they get into Canaan and touch their
world around them.
- They learned the hard way in the wilderness.
- They learned through experiences and object lessons.
- And the generation that made it through had well been
taught you will not survive in Canaan reaching out to the world just by
eating bread.
- YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW GOD WORKS AND WHAT TRULY ARE WAYS IN
WHICH WE APPROACH HIM AND DEAL WITH SITUATIONS, whether they regard our
own fleshly carnality or attacks from the devil.
People naturally think too much of themselves.
- And in the land THAT WOULD MEAN THEIR DOWNFALL when the
right temptation arose.
- SO GOD HAD TO HUMBLE THEM TO HELP THEM REALIZE THEIR NEED
OF GOD.
God's law showed them what lifestyles are repulsive to Him, in His
word, so that He would not be driven away from them once they get into
the land, and not help them when the enemy would come to stop their
witness to the world.
- God is holy, and He is not going to come to your rescue and
stop the enemy from defeating you if you are allowing the devil into
your lives by living common law lifestyles, or homosexual lifestyles.
- He is not going to fight your enemies, if you are inviting
your enemies in!
- He is not going to answer your prayers if you regard
iniquity in your heart.
Psalms 66:18 KJV If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will
not hear me:
So all these things are FOR THEIR GOOD.
Deuteronomy 6:24 KJV And the LORD commanded us to do all these
statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might
preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
Isaiah 3:10 KJV Say ye to the righteous, that it shall
be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Matthew 6:33 KJV But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you.
Romans 6:22 KJV But now being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Israel could've come to Moses and said what so many christians have
either said or thought,
- "Why all these laws?
- "Let's get into Canaan and stop wasting valuable time, and
get the word out so the rest of the world can come to know who the true
God is and be blessed.
- Let's get on with the kingdom!"
Moses actually said in Deut 8,
- "We all want God's kingdom to shine forth from the promised
land, and our occupation in it, to all the world.
- We all want to see Israel rise and be blessed and touch the
world.
- But there is a force in this world, and there is a force
inside your very own flesh.
- It will mess you up and drag you down and ruin you so you
cannot continue to serve God and be that light the world so desperately
needs to see.
- God led you forty years in the wilderness to teach you
these forces can devastate you, and how easily you would fall to them
without awareness of how to handle them.
- Recall how fast you joined Korah when his pride rose up and
he wanted ot lead as well as me?
- Remember how quickly you threw the towel in when your
stomach got a little hungry and thirsty?
- God humbled you and allowed you to see these things come
out of your own lives.
- He then gave you His word to stay holy.
- God cannot even come near unholiness and unrighteousness.
- If you want God to use you, you need to know you have to
live holy and not allow your flesh to rise up and ruin you like you did
in the wilderness.
- The wilderness was the little leagues, boys.
- The Promised Land is the real thing!
- Had not God done that, you would entered Canaan to affect
your world, and the first problem that appealed to your selfishness and
self centredness would wipe your servitude to God out.
- Your little feelings would get hurt so easily and quickly
and you'd throw in the he towel and never be the witness you so much
want to be right now.
- Or else you'd assume some nonsensical so-called religious
rite, and think it would enhance your relationship with God, and
actually draw demons into your souls.
- And drive God a million miles away from you.
- Every word God put in this law I am about to rehearse to
you one more time, to make sure you know it, is meant to handle
something you will have to know when the hindrances to stop your
witness start coming at you, or else YOU WILL NOT REACH AND AFFECT
ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
- THEY MAY NOT BE DIRECTLY RELATED TO WINNING SOULS, BUT
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM ARE PART OF PREPARATIONS THAT COVER EVERY
POSSIBLE HINDRANCE AND TRICKS OF THE DEVIL AND WEAKNESSES OF YOUR FLESH
THAT WOULD OTHERWISE STOP ANY WITNESS TO THE WORLD FROM YOUR LIVES."
God wants HIs glory to go to all the world.
- He want you to be fruitful and multiply BY GETTING SOULS
SAVED.
- But he had to talk to Adam about something that had nothing
directly to do with multiplying.
Genesis 2:15-17 KJV And the LORD God took the man, and put him
into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (16)
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Adam could have been impatiently shuffling his feet on the ground, and
saying, "Come on God, let me multiply and overrun the world with this
Garden!"
- But like so many people today, the very words of God we do
not think we need, are the very things that WOULD HAVE PREVENTED
SOMETHING FROM DESTROYING THE VERY THINGS YOU WANT TO DO... serve God
and touch another life!
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