Matthew 4:1-11 (Teaching)

[0:00] ... Congratulations I want to thank you The most beautiful I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you Thank you

[1:04] I've got a heart to leave I've lost it all Please don't leave me I can't come back I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you Just I love you I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you I'm just gonna lie to you

[2:04] I've been waiting all day, waiting all day, Now that you've come home, I'm just waiting For you to come home, I'm just waiting For you to come home, I'm just waiting I was thinking only that you can belong to the right mind.

[3:39] I was thinking only that you can belong to the right mind.

[3:51] Hey man. Y'all turn over and book a Matthew with me in chapter 4.

[4:07] Matthew 4, I'll do, like I do most of the time when I preach I like to give a background of what's led up to where I'll be.

[4:20] Where I'll be teaching from tonight. There ain't a whole, well there is a whole lot to be said. I shouldn't say there ain't a whole lot to be said but we've only got three chapters led up to this.

[4:32] Three chapters of the New Testament no less. That's led up to Matthew 4. What's happened? Well there's been a genealogy given in Matthew chapter 1. You can find a very similar reverse genealogy in the Gospel of Luke.

[4:48] However that takes place in the third chapter of Luke as opposed to the first chapter. But anyway there's a genealogy given then we have the birth of Christ. Then we have some adolescence of Christ and then we have the announcing of John the Baptist we should say.

[5:08] The baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist which is the beginning of Jesus Christ's ministry.

[5:19] I will say but that leads us into Matthew chapter 4. We'll read the first 11 verses of Matthew 4 here in just a moment. This is the temptation of Jesus Christ.

[5:30] We should all be very familiar with that. But something we need to remember though and there's a reason I said what I did. Jesus when he was born into this world he was born as king.

[5:44] When Jesus Christ even as an adolescent even as a young man which we have very little record of in the scriptures.

[5:55] As far as his adolescent years go. But even then he was king and even when he was baptized by John the Baptist he was baptized as king.

[6:07] But when we get to Matthew chapter 4 which we'll be reading here in just a moment in these first 11 verses. He was tempted as a king and we need to keep those thoughts in mind.

[6:20] We think of him as a baby in that manger and we think of him as just a baby folks. He was king before then. He was king before he was conceived. He's been here since the beginning and he'll be here in the end of this thing.

[6:36] And he's been king the entire time. His kingship has never been revoked. It has never been removed. He's been king the entire time. So as we read this let's keep that in mind.

[6:49] Jeannie after what you said tonight needing a little boost I hope this helps you tonight. It should help all of us truth be known. But anyway Matthew chapter 4 beginning at verse 1.

[7:02] Now remember this is right after the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist. So Matthew 4 verse 1 says then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

[7:17] And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter came to him he said if thou be the son of God command that these stones be made bread.

[7:29] 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. We'll stop right there for just a moment.

[7:40] So in the first verse that we read it says then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Why then? Why right after this baptism was this done?

[7:56] I mean you don't really read about anything else that happened between the baptism and Jesus being led up of the spirit to be tempted by Satan.

[8:07] It seems kind of strange to us. Folks again he was baptized as king and he's being tempted as king. But something we need to pay attention to is he says he was led up into the wilderness of the spirit of God to be tempted.

[8:25] He was led by the spirit of God to be tempted by Satan. So what does that tell us? That tells us that our temptation is going to be no different. If you're born again child of God you will be led by the spirit to be tempted off Satan.

[8:41] Now there's two different uses of the word tempt in Scripture. And there's two different uses of the word out in the world. One of those uses is to be seduced, to be tempted to do evil by Satan.

[8:59] The other use of that word is to be tried, to be tried of God. That's the other use of it. The Bible says in the book of James it says that God cannot be tempted and neither tempteth he any man.

[9:14] That is to be tempted to do evil, to be seduced into doing evil. That verse in James is referring to God cannot be tempted to do evil.

[9:28] However we can try our faith with God, can we not? And God will try our faith but he will not tempt us to do evil. He will not throw us into an evil situation or an evil circumstance.

[9:40] God does not work like that and people will say that. The Bible says that God tempted Job. The Bible plainly states that God tempted Abraham. This says that in plain black and white in your Bible.

[9:53] If you're using the same type of Bible that I am. It says that God tempted Abraham but it means that he tried him. He tried his faith and God will try your faith and he will try our faith.

[10:05] But when we are tempted of Satan as Jesus was here. We will be led by the Spirit of God in such a circumstance.

[10:16] Jesus Christ was led by the Spirit up into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan. So anytime that we're tempted, anytime that we're tempted you remember that the Spirit of God is leading us in this thing.

[10:32] And if we follow his leadership, if we follow his guidance, we will overcome that temptation. Now Jesus Christ was being tempted here as king of the entire universe.

[10:45] King of the entire universe was being tempted here. Now my question to you, and be careful before you answer it. My question to you is could Jesus Christ have failed in these temptations?

[10:59] He was tempted three times in these 11 verses that we're going to go through. Could he have failed? I will give you a big fat undoubted no.

[11:10] He could not have failed. Now that being said, was it real temptation? You better believe it was real temptation. But he could not have failed.

[11:21] Folks the point of these scriptures, and I've seen preachers use these 11 verses. I've used them one temptation at a time, using all three temptations.

[11:32] I've used them to drive the flock down into the ground. Now folks remember this, we are not Jesus Christ, and we are nothing like Jesus Christ.

[11:44] He was tempted more within these three verses than you or I have ever been tempted in our entire lives. And this isn't the only time that he was ever tempted. In fact, in Luke chapter 4, when you read this same account, at the end of this it says that Satan departed from him.

[12:01] Here in Matthew's account. And Luke chapter 4 says Satan departed for a season. He just departed from him for a little while. I promise you Satan was around every corner.

[12:12] He was in every room. He was there day time and night time at every meal throughout the days of Jesus's life. I guarantee you Satan was there tempting him.

[12:24] We only read about three real temptations here. But I guarantee you this was not the only three times that Jesus was tempted throughout the course of his life here on earth.

[12:37] Satan was trying to destroy him from the very get-go. If you all remember when the Magi came through the wise men as we call them, when they were on their way to see Jesus, they were stopped by a man named Harry.

[12:53] He said, where are you going? He said, we're going to see this boy that was born. He said, well, when you see him, bring me word. Bring me word. Tell me where he is. They didn't return, did they?

[13:05] According to the scriptures, you back up just a chapter or so. According to the scriptures, just a chapter, chapter and a half, you'll read that account. And they didn't return under Harry to let him know that.

[13:16] So what did Harry do? He said, I want every kid in this kingdom killed. Every kid that's two years old and less, I want them killed. Why? Because that stepped on his pride.

[13:28] That got in his way. That got in his way. He was the ruler of this entire region. And he didn't want anybody coming up, anybody worshiped, anyone thought of more than he was.

[13:40] So there was an attempt put out on the life of Jesus Christ then. But thankfully, the Spirit led Joseph, led Mary and led Jesus down into Egypt before that ever happened.

[13:51] It took him down to Egypt while all that was going on. And then word came a little bit later on. Hey, it's safe to go up. That ruler's dead. It's safe to go back home.

[14:04] But anyway, Jesus was led up in the spirit and the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Yes, it was real temptation that Jesus Christ was facing. And it was more temptation than you or I either one could have dealt with.

[14:18] The difference between Jesus Christ and you or I either one is once so much pressure is put on us. Once so much temptation is laid out there, you and I both will yield to whatever the temptation is.

[14:32] Once so much of it is put up there. Jesus Christ did not. That's the purpose of these scriptures. This shows the perfection of Jesus Christ. Yeah, it shows our weakness.

[14:43] It shows our weakness because I guarantee you if I had been up in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights fasting as hungry as Jesus Christ would have been, I would have used my power to have turned those stones into bread.

[14:56] Jesus Christ didn't though. Jesus Christ was here for one purpose. What was it? To do the will of the Father. He was here to do the will of the Father. That's what these temptations were doing.

[15:07] It was Satan trying to get Jesus to go around the will of the Father. It wasn't just trying to make him perform some huge miracle and turn stones into bread or to fling himself off from the top of the pinnacle and survive at the bottom.

[15:25] It wasn't nothing to do with that. It was trying to get Jesus to go around the will of the Father. Jesus Christ did not go into that. So you remember that whenever you're being tempted, regardless of the temptation, whenever you're being tempted it is trying to get you to go around the will of Almighty God.

[15:46] That's all that temptation there is for. It's trying to get you to go against the will of God instead of with the will of God. The temptation was no different for you than it was for Jesus.

[15:57] It was no different for Jesus than it was for Eve over in the garden. The exact same things were sought out as far as Eve goes as were sought out with Jesus and are sought out with you and with me.

[16:10] The process has not changed the way that he practices. You know why? Because it worked in the garden. And if it worked in the garden, why wouldn't it work with you and why wouldn't it work with me?

[16:21] The process has not changed. The temptation has not changed. So when he fasted 40 days and 40 nights and afterward, of course, yes, he was in hunger.

[16:33] But it says, the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Now listen, he wasn't questioning Jesus' deity when he said, if thou be the son of God.

[16:46] Satan knew exactly who it was. He knew. Remember, Satan was an angel. Satan at one time abided in heaven. And you know what?

[16:57] Jesus Christ was there when Satan abided in heaven. He knew who Jesus was. He knew who he was dealing with. So when he said, if thou be the son of God, he was not doubting the deity of Jesus Christ when he said that.

[17:11] He said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that preceded out of the mouth of God.

[17:24] Jesus Christ retorts the temptation with what? With Scripture. With the word of God. He says, it is written. And if you notice the other two times, he comes against Satan after the temptations, after these other two temptations, he answers in the exact same manner.

[17:41] It is written. He answers with the word of God. What does that tell us? The more of this word that we know, the better off we're going to be in this world. The more of this word that we know, the better against temptation we'll be able to fight.

[17:58] And the better we'll be able to recognize temptation when it comes our ways. How many times have we fell in to a blatant sin of some kind and look back in hindsight and saw all these little sins that we were committing leading up to?

[18:13] It's happened to me and I know it's happened to you. It's happened to every one of us. Those little sins will roll up into a big blatant sin of some kind. And folks, the more we know of this word, the more we'll recognize the temptation when it's still in the little sin stage.

[18:31] For it ever leads up to those big sins. And listen, in God's eyes, there is no big sin in little sin. In God's eyes, the most quiet Gossiper in the church is just as much of a sinner as the murderer sitting out here on death row.

[18:46] Sin is sin is sin and the eyes of a holy and righteous God that has never committed sin. So we need to remember that. But on the human level, we got our big sins and we got our little sins.

[18:58] So remember, every time we fall into deep sin, there's been a whole trail of little sins that led up to that. A whole trail of. You look back in hindsight and see if I ain't right when it's happened in your life.

[19:12] But Satan tempts Jesus Christ and we'll look at him and we'll say, well, what kind of temptation was that? I mean, he was the Son of God. He is the Son of God.

[19:24] He was God himself, praise God. What kind of temptation was it for Satan to say, just turn these stones to bread? The temptation was getting Jesus Christ to go outside the will of the Father, not to feed himself.

[19:39] Folks have to natural urge when I get hungry, what do I want to do? I want to eat. Jesus Christ was no different when he was baptized by John the Baptist in the chapter right before this in Matthew chapter three.

[19:50] He was associated with us. That was the purpose of his baptism. It wasn't nothing to do with baptism for the remission of sin. The man that can never commit a sin. So he was being associated with us.

[20:03] He was being aligned with us, not as a sinner, but as a person. As a human being. He was being associated with humankind in that baptism.

[20:16] It associated something that was holy, something that was God, something that was completely and totally righteous and sinless with a bunch of sinful people.

[20:28] It aligned him with us. That was the purpose of the baptism of Jesus Christ. So he was just like us when he was being tempted here.

[20:40] He was a human being. But he answered and said, it is written, Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that precedes out of the mouth of God. Jesus, of course, quoting from Deuteronomy here, but how was this effective?

[20:58] What was he saying to Satan in these few words that he spoke here? Well, what would God tell the Israelites? What did God tell Moses? He said, you go down there, you get my people, you get them to the promised land, and I'm going to be right there with you.

[21:13] You listen to what I say and I will get you to the promised land. That was the word of God. That was the words proceeding out of the mouth of God. And when they got out there in the wilderness, they got out there in the middle of absolutely nothing.

[21:28] No food, no this, no that, no water. We know the story, we know the account. God said, I'll feed them with manna from heaven. I will feed them miraculously, but I will take care of my people.

[21:41] That's the words that Spencer's paraphrasing of it, yes. But that was the word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. So when Jesus says, it is written, Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that precedes out of the mouth of God.

[21:58] Jesus knew exactly where that manna came from in the wilderness. Jesus was the one that sprinkled that manna. Jesus was the manna, according to the New Testament, that sprinkled down to the people of God.

[22:10] He was the bread of life that was given to them. He was the bread of life that was given to the people in the New Testament era and the Gospel era. And he's the bread of life that is given to people now. That is the word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.

[22:23] Hebrews chapter one and verse one says, God who was sundry times and diverse menors. And the old days spoke unto his people by the prophets. But these last days have spoken unto us by Jesus Christ, by his son, Jesus Christ.

[22:39] That's the word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Jesus Christ knew what he was telling Satan here. And it dealt a major blow to Satan.

[22:51] And I said, just skimming through it, it don't seem like he really did much. But when you really think on it, and you think of the other scriptures that pertain to this, folks have been a whole lot, a whole lot.

[23:02] Verse five, then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. And saith unto him, If thou be the son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone.

[23:25] So Satan takes him up into the holy city, what's the holy city? It's Jerusalem. Satan takes him up and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple, very high place, and saith unto him, If thou be the son of God, cast thyself down.

[23:40] Again, he was not questioning whether Jesus Christ was indeed the son of God or not. He knew who Jesus Christ was. He was not saying that. He's tempting Jesus Christ, though.

[23:51] He's tempting him out of the will of God to become basically a religious leader by performing this miracle. Because he knew if he was up there on that pinnacle in the middle of Jerusalem, that there were going to be people watching him.

[24:06] And there would have been people watching him fall down to what should have been his death. But Satan quotes Scripture to him. And this is what got me thinking about this, because Orville brought this up this past Sunday.

[24:17] And when he said he thought he was going to be teaching about angels, he quoted Psalms 91, 91. And this is Psalms 91 and 11. However, Satan threw a little bit of verse 12 in there as well.

[24:29] He misquoted the Scripture. Now listen, Satan quotes Scripture, if the Word of God is forever settled in heaven, and it is according to Psalms 119, Satan was there when it was written down.

[24:40] Satan was there. He knew what the Word of God said. And it does. It says, he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. That's Psalms 91 and 11.

[24:51] Satan didn't mention that part. He said, doesn't it say that he'll give his angels charge over you to hold you in their hands? Let's say, dashed off foot against the stone.

[25:02] In other words, he'll give his angels charge over you to protect you. But nothing about keeping you in those ways, keeping you in thy ways, in your ways. And what are our ways of saying born again people?

[25:15] Those are the ways of God to keep thee in thy ways. He is trying to get him around the will of God, trying to get him to take a different route, other than the cross, anything other than going to that cross.

[25:28] He's trying to get Jesus to give in to the glory of God, or to get the glory of God without going through the trials, and without going through the suffering, without going through the cross and the crucifixion.

[25:44] He is trying to get Jesus around the will of God, just like he does us. Just like he does us. If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee.

[25:58] And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone. I don't read nothing about to keep thee in all thy ways. But that's exactly how Psalms 9-111 ends.

[26:09] He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. He doesn't say anything about that. He was tempting Jesus Christ. He was tempting Him, just like he did Eve over in the garden.

[26:22] He tempted Eve into the original sin, taking of the fruit. And then what did Eve do? Eve turned around, basically told her husband, hey, it's fine.

[26:33] I took of the fruit, you do the same. This is a spetcher paraphrasing. The one that was tempted became the tempter. Satan didn't need the tempt anymore. His job was done.

[26:44] Eve became the tempter for her husband. However, however, folks, men, that don't let us off the hook. Because the Bible, and it talks about the first Adam, not the first Eve.

[26:56] It talks about the first Adam. And then there was a second Adam, which was Jesus Christ that came along. The first, by the first Adam, the world was condemned. The world came to no sin through the first Adam.

[27:09] Eve wasn't even in the picture when Paul was saying that to the Corinthian church. So, man, we're not let off the hook just because Eve committed the original sin by giving in to the temptation.

[27:20] But remember that the one that was tempted, Eve, she became the tempter for her husband. We've got to remember that. Because, folks, we let sin in.

[27:31] We'll let sin in our lives. I'm talking even born again children of God. We let sin into our lives a little bit. We're going to become tempters for those around us. Well, it must be okay if they're doing it. They go to church.

[27:42] They worship God. They pray. They talk to me about Jesus Christ all the time. And I saw them sinning. I heard what they said. I know what they did. And if it's okay for them, then it must be okay for me.

[27:54] Us, we who were tempted, we will become the tempters for those around us. Just like Eve became the tempter for Adam. We've got to be careful in our walk. We walk as straight as we can.

[28:05] Yes, we're going to stumble. Yes, we'll fall flat on our face. But yes, we have liberty in Jesus Christ to go to the Father and get forgiveness for that. And just as Jesus Christ told that woman that was brought to him in adultery, He said, neither do I condemn thee.

[28:19] Go and sin no more. Folks, when we get forgiven, that doesn't give us permission to go out and redo what we got forgiven for. It does not give us permission for that.

[28:30] But we should have a remorse within us. Even after forgiveness, we should have a remorse for our sin. And that should serve as a tool to keep us from going and getting that, or sinning again.

[28:44] If we ain't got remorse for it, we need to be checking up to see if we actually got salvation or not. If we got salvation, we should have remorse for our sin. Jesus said to him, verse 7, It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

[28:59] Oh, Jesus said, Jesus, Satan quoted part of verse 11 from Psalms 91, part of verse 12 from Psalms 91.

[29:10] Two verses, Jesus simply says, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. I like Jesus's attitude there. Jesus don't have to throw out a whole bunch of stuff.

[29:21] He throws out a little snippet out of the Word of God. The Word of God is a thousand, million, trillion, billion times more powerful than anything Satan can throw at us.

[29:33] You know why? Because God spoke it. God spoke it. God speaks it. It means something. Jesus said, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

[29:44] Why did he use this as his retort to Satan? Remember, Satan set him up on a high pinnacle of the temple and basically dared him. Fling yourself off of here.

[29:56] The Bible says, you know, God will give his angels charge over you. They'll protect you. Well, Jesus knew that. Jesus knew good and well what that was. It's just like, let's revert back to the woman again that was brought before Jesus, the one who was caught in the very act of adultery.

[30:13] Those men said, Moses said, the law says she should be stoned. She was just caught in the middle of this blatant, nasty, ugly sin. According to the law, she should be killed.

[30:26] What say you, Jesus? Again, that's Spencer paraphrasing, but that's basically what they were saying. Jesus said, he was without sin, let him first cast a stone.

[30:37] First cast a stone. That was Jesus's way of telling those folks. I know what that law says. I'm the one that wrote that law. I'm the one that I'm God manifesting the flesh.

[30:49] My finger etched that on those tablets before Moses broke them. I know what that law says. Who are you, a measly sinful man to interpret to me what that law means when I'm the one that put it in place?

[31:02] That's what Jesus was telling them when he said, he who is without sin, let him first cast a stone. He just said it in a lot fewer words. Here Jesus says, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God folks.

[31:15] We don't tempt God. We don't need to tempt God. We don't need to try God. We don't need to ask God to try our faith. If God thinks our faith needs some trying, he'll try us.

[31:26] He will try us. We don't need to invite it into our lives. I don't want no more trial than what I've already got. And you shouldn't want any more trial than what you've already gotten in your life.

[31:37] If God sees we need a little bit more trial, a little bit more trial by fire, a little bit more attempting from him, I'm not saying attempting to do evil. I'm talking about trying our faith.

[31:49] If God thinks that necessary, so be it. Folks, that's what I mean when I say that I will be done in earth as it is in heaven. If that's God's will for my life, so be it.

[32:01] If he gets glory out of it, so be it. If I get sick and I'm laying in a hospital bed for a month or two months or six months or a year, and I'm dying for that long, if Jesus Christ gets glory out of it, so be it.

[32:16] But it's for his glory, not for mine. I'm not going to tempt God to do those things to me. If it's not in his will, don't ask for it.

[32:27] Like I said, if God thinks that we need more trials in our life, He'll see to it that we get them, whether we want them or not. Whether we want them or not, He'll do that. Again, the devil taketh him up to an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship her in any way.

[32:51] Now, the age-old question here is, did Satan have any right to tell Jesus Christ, I have these kingdoms, and I'll give them to you.

[33:04] He could. Yeah, he could. Absolutely he could. What's the Bible say about Satan? He's the prince of the power of the air. Right. He's the prince of this world. He's the prince of darkness. He is absolutely... Now listen, God owns this world.

[33:19] God owns this universe. He owns all the planets. He owns every moon around all the planets. He owns it all. The Bible says he owns the cattle and the hills that they walk around on, graze on, and they find their pasture on. He owns it all.

[33:36] But Satan has limited control. I'll say limited control of this world. You know how I know? You read the newspaper.

[33:48] You listen to the news. That ain't God. That ain't God. God is still sovereign, and Satan still cannot do anything without Almighty God's permission. But Satan had every right in the world to tell Jesus Christ, I will give you all these kingdoms, and the glory thereof, if you'll do what?

[34:08] Fall down your knees and worship me. That's what Satan wants. Satan wants to be God, and he cannot be God. All he wants is the worship of men. He wanted the worship of Jesus.

[34:22] He wants your worship. He wants my worship. He wants to be God. And he was tempting Jesus here, saying, If you'll do nothing more and bow down and worship me, go outside of the will of God.

[34:38] If you'll do nothing more and bow down and worship me, I'll give you all these kingdoms and all the glory that comes with them. What does that tell me? Even now in 2021, what does that tell me? That the kingdoms of this world and their glory are going to Satan.

[34:53] They go to Satan. If Satan was telling Jesus that all this glory from the kingdoms of the world was his, and he was willing to give it to Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ to bow down and worship him, folks, it is no different now. And when we say kingdoms, we're talking every city, every state, every country, everything that you read about in the news that's negative, everything that you see on the news that is evil.

[35:22] Missy was telling me just this evening when I got home from work, there was some video footage, I think she said from Kingsport, about some people that took a dog in a church parking lot, tied it to the rear end of their car, and dragged it around the parking lot. And she said, everybody in the Tri-Cities is looking for whoever it was right now. Folks, that ain't God.

[35:43] I don't care if it was a church parking lot or not, that was evil. It was evil and people will do that to a dog, don't you think for a second, they won't do it to a human being.

[35:54] It was evil. God had nothing to do with that. But yet people will look out and they'll say, where was God when that was going on? Where was God when that was happening?

[36:05] Folks, God's still on the throne and he ain't left. I don't say Jesus Christ was king. He was king before his birth. He was king during his birth, after his birth, he was king being tempted right now.

[36:18] Satan said, I'll give you the kingdoms and the glory of this world, folks. If there's a king, he has to have a kingdom. If there's a prince, he has to be prince over the kingdom. And unfortunately, it's a lot of kingdoms in this world that he's prince over.

[36:32] But again, he tempts Jesus, taking him to an exceeding high mountain and shows them all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and says unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou will fall down and worship me.

[36:46] Then it says, Jesus unto him, get thee hence Satan, for it is written. And once again, all three times he said, it is written. In other words, God's done said it. It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.

[37:02] Boy, how much of a kick to the shins do you think that was to Satan? When all he's wanting is to be God and to be worshiped like God is. Folks, you read about Nasea and you read about him in the book of Ezekiel.

[37:15] That was Satan's main concern. That was Lucifer's main concern was he wanted to be exalted above the throne of God. He wanted to be God. He wanted to overtake God and he wanted the worship of God.

[37:30] And God would have no part of it. That's why he was ousted. That's why he was kicked out of heaven along with a third of the angels from what I can read in Revelation of my interpretation of that scripture is correct.

[37:43] But says all these things will I give the if that will fall down and fall down and worship me. Folks, that's what Satan wants out of you and he wants it out of me as well.

[37:54] He wants our worship. He wants our attention. He wants our acknowledgement. He wants us to treat him as God.

[38:05] The lost folks is already doing it. They're already treating him as God and most of them don't even realize it. But they are. But he wants the same thing out of the children of God.

[38:16] And that's why he tempts us the way that he does. Folks, if we can retaliate the same way Jesus does, it says, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.

[38:28] Now listen, this is Jesus quoting Old Testament scripture to Satan. He says, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. He says, thou shalt worship the word thy mean in this old English.

[38:42] It means your. He's saying that to Satan. He's saying, thou shalt worship the Lord your God. He's saying that to Satan. In other words, he's saying he's still Lord over you Satan.

[38:56] That's what I'm getting out of this. He says he's still Lord over you even though you're sitting or tempting me. Even though you're doing that, even though you've got these kingdoms, you've got their glory and you can tempt me with them and give them to me.

[39:10] If I worship you, he is still Lord over you. That's why I've said that people or that Jesus Christ will either be Lord and savior of our life or he'll be neither.

[39:22] Actually, he's still Lord. He's Lord over all and over everyone. Whether the lost people will admit it, acknowledge it or whether they even like it or not, he is still Lord over their lives because God can use lost people for his glory.

[39:39] Just like he can use save people for his glory. Don't believe me. Read what he done to Pharaoh in the entire Egyptian army. Pharaoh never was saved. Not that I can read in scripture. Never did acknowledge God for being God of his life.

[39:55] As far as I'm concerned, as far as the scriptural account goes, Pharaoh is burning in hell right now. So God can use those lost people for his glory because he said that he had raised Pharaoh up just for that purpose, for his glory.

[40:11] For his glory to show not only the Egyptians but to show the Israelites, God's chosen people, that God was God, that Jehovah was God of his people.

[40:22] So he rose him up for his own glory. He said, Get the hints Satan, for it is written, that I shall worship the Lord of God and him only, shalt thou serve. Him only, shalt thou serve.

[40:34] So when we're tempted, what was he tempted with here? Power, glory. The very things that he had anyway.

[40:45] What does Jesus say at the end of this gospel? The end of the gospel of Matthew. So all power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. All power. That includes what power Satan was tempted in him right here.

[40:57] But what had happened when Jesus said that? The crucifixion had done happened. The suffering had done happened. The cross had done happened. The death had done happened. The burial had done happened.

[41:09] And blessed God, amen, and hallelujah, the resurrection had done happened. When Jesus said those words that all power was given unto him in heaven and in earth.

[41:20] Satan was tempting him. You can have this glory without the suffering. You can have this glory without going to the cross. You can have this glory by going outside again the will of God.

[41:35] But Jesus Christ came here to do one thing, to fulfill the will of God. Satan was tempting him to not do that. Satan was tempting him to go outside that will.

[41:47] And Jesus Christ said, that's all I want to do is the will of the Father. Then the devil leave with him and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

[41:58] Folks, they'll be ministering for us after the temptations and after the trials. After God has allowed Satan to tempt us. Satan will tempt us with sin.

[42:10] God will try our faith himself. He don't need Satan to do that. God will do that himself. But after every trial, I promise you there is ministering to happen. There's ministering of angels. There's ministering of the Holy Ghost of God.

[42:23] Hey, if I'm born again, that Holy Ghost is right there with me through the entire process. You better believe he'll comfort me. He will minister unto me. After, after, and what happens when we overcome a temptation?

[42:35] Whether it's a simple temptation or whether it's a trial, almighty God. But what does that do? It strengthens us and it strengthens our faith. It strengthens our faith in Jehovah God.

[42:47] It strengthens our faith that he'll never leave us nor forsake us. It strengthens our faith that he is God over this universe, regardless of what Satan thinks. God is still in control. It strengthens our faith in all of these things.

[43:00] There's a purpose in our trials. There was a purpose in Jesus' trials here, in his temptations here, and it wasn't, like I said, Jesus Christ could not have failed.

[43:11] At any of these temptations, it was impossible for him to fail, because he was perfect as Alpha. He'll be perfect as Omega. He was perfect being tempted here. He was perfect born as a baby in Bethlehem. He could not fail.

[43:25] It shows his perfection, and it should strengthen our faith in his perfection, because we are not perfect, but he is. My faith is in him who is perfect, not in myself who isn't.

[43:39] He was perfect being tempted. He absolutely, positively could not have failed in these temptations. If he could have, he wouldn't have been who he said he was.

[43:50] If he could have, when Satan said, if thou be the Son of God, there might have been some substance to that if Jesus Christ could have failed. But there was zero substance to it with Satan asking that question, because he was the Son of God.

[44:05] He was dealing with perfection, and because he is perfect, one day he can present me perfect before God. I can't present myself that way.

[44:16] Only Jesus can do that. It says over in the book of Jude, that little one chapter book right before Revelation, says to he that is able to present us spotless and blameless and holy before God, to he who is able to do that, not to me, to he that's Jesus Christ that it's speaking of.

[44:37] Only he can present me perfect because he was and is perfect. This shows our weakness. These 11 verses, yes, they show our weakness. The folks, that's really not the purpose of these.

[44:50] It is to show the perfection of the one who could overcome that. It's to show the perfection of Jesus Christ. He overcame these temptations because he was perfect, because he was God.

[45:04] Like I said, he was perfect in the beginning, he'll be perfect in the end of this thing. He is perfect Savior for me, and that's what I'm depending on is his perfection and not my own.

[45:15] We cannot walk this walk perfect. Even born again, I cannot walk this walk perfect. I'm depending on the one who could. I'm depending on the one who quoted the scriptures here.

[45:26] Not the fact that I can quote some scripture. Hey folks, I showed, I believe it was just this past Sunday night, my imperfection. Some of my favorite scripture completely left my mind.

[45:38] It didn't leave my heart praise God, but it left my mind. It left my mind, and I couldn't remember it for a few minutes. That shows my imperfection. But Jesus Christ here knew exactly what to quote, and he knew how to quote it.

[45:51] And he even knew Satan's misquotings of the scripture when he was quoting out of Psalms 91. He knew what Satan was trying to do. And Satan will try the exact same thing with us. He tried it with Eve and it worked.

[46:05] Why would he not try it with us? He tried it with, hey, he tried it with a perfect creation. Adam was perfect when God made him. There wasn't no sin, and Adam when God made him, that would be God creating sin, would it not?

[46:20] If Adam had been simple when he was created, God didn't create sin. God didn't create that. He didn't create evil. I understand the Bible says that he creates a lot in the darkness.

[46:33] He created death, and he created life and all these other things. I understand that. But God did not create sin. Sin began with pride and Lucifer in heaven.

[46:46] God didn't create that. He may have created Lucifer. Lucifer was a creative being, just like the rest of the angels were. They were created for God's glory. But sin came from Lucifer. It didn't come from God.

[46:59] It came from Satan himself. The devil leave with him and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. I say, if you read Luke's account of this, and it's the fourth chapter of Luke, it says that Satan departed for a season.

[47:12] For just a little while, folks. We make it through one trial. It ain't going to be long for them demons right back on us. It will not be long. I don't know how long a season was according to Luke's account.

[47:23] It could have been a few minutes, could have been a few hours, could have been the next day. I have no idea. But I guarantee you it was for a very short season, and Satan was right back at it.

[47:34] Now we say all the time, and I've said it too, we say all the time, the devil just ain't leaving me alone. The devil's been on my heels, devil's been on my back, devil's been doing this, devil's been doing that.

[47:47] Folks, I ain't important enough for the devil to mess with. I am not important enough. You know who the devil messes with? God's most reliable, God's most faithful.

[47:58] And folks, the devil is not omnipresent like my God is. We say that all the time. We say the devil's here, the devil's there. The devil can only be one place.

[48:09] He can only be one place at a time. He was a created being. He is not a spirit like my God is. He was a created being. He's got all kinds of little helpers here.

[48:21] Like I said, a third of the angels fail with Lucifer if my interpretation of Book of Revelation is correct. So he's got all kinds of little helpers here on earth.

[48:33] But we make it out like he is omnipresent like God is. What is that doing? It's exactly what he was tempting Jesus to do, to treat him like God, to treat Satan like God.

[48:46] And Satan is not God. He is not omnipresent. He is not omniscient. He isn't any of these things that my God is. But when we do that, we're treating him the way he wants to be treated.

[49:00] Because only God is omnipresent. Only God can be everywhere at the same time. And praise God that he is. Otherwise, when I go home and God's with me tonight, y'all wouldn't have a chance to be with God tonight.

[49:14] You wouldn't have a chance to be if he couldn't be everywhere at once. And he's with you and he's with me. He was born again people by way of the Holy Ghost. And I thank God for that. I know I've used the example before.

[49:28] When Jesus was here and he was in his earthly ministry, he couldn't be on one side of the Sea of Galilee and on the other side of the Sea of Galilee at the same time.

[49:39] It was impossible. He was a human being. That's why he said, I must go away. It's expedient that I go away. Otherwise the comforter shall not come. He said, I will go to the Father and I will pray that he send me the comforter.

[49:53] That was the Holy Ghost. And that's why you can go home and pray. And I can go home and pray. And we can both pray in the presence of God. Everybody in here can pray in the presence of God because of the Holy Ghost.

[50:05] The cause of him. And that's the only reason we can do it. The folks, Satan cannot be everywhere at once. He can be one place at a time. That tells me he is on the most important person that God's got on this earth right now.

[50:17] And I don't know who that is, but I promise you it ain't me. I can guarantee you it is not me. But that doesn't mean demons don't bother me. It don't mean that the helpers leave me alone.

[50:28] Anyway, God bless y'all. I hope that was a help to you.