When to Argue

Here is wonderful grid that Justin Taylor posted from Sam Crabtree's book, Practicing Affirmation. If you want to know how to put it into practice go here.

Sermon Outline: Matthew 4:1-11

Christ Church of Morgantown

6^th Sunday of Epiphany

February 13^th, 2011

Sermon: The Voice Satan and the Word of God

Matthew 4:1-11

Exordium

At His baptism, Jesus is filled with the Spirit. As any good Jew knows the Spirit has one purpose: to prepare you for war. In Judges 3:10 Othniel receives the Spirit and goes to war. In Judges 15:14 Samson receives the Spirit and tears rope like it is thread. In 1 Samuel 16 David receives the Spirit and in chapter 17 he fights Goliath. Jesus receives the Spirit to prepare him for war. And God is not slow to push Christ to the front lines. No slow march. Immediately he is cast out into the wilderness to fight with Satan. In the movies they always save the climactic battle for the end. But in the Gospels it is the beginning. Satan loses the very first time he steps onto the battlefield. It must have been pretty discouraging for him.

Exegesis

In this section Matthew is again bringing up two Old Testament temptations. First, we have the temptation of Adam, where Satan's voice drew Adam's heart away from God. His failure plunged the entire human race into the cesspool of sin. Second, we have Israel's failure in the wilderness. Two spectacular failures. Would this one turn out differently? Remember also that Adam was tempted under ideal circumstances. He was in a beautiful garden with almost no restrictions on his activities. But not so with Christ. Christ was in a desert without food, having fasted for forty days and nights.

The passage is not hard to understand. Satan offers Christ three specific temptations. Christ answers each temptation with a quote from the Scriptures. Let's look at the three temptations and how Christ answers them.

1. Verses 1-4 Do Not Trust God
   

   The appeal here is to physical comfort.
   

2. Verses 5-7 Tempt God. Make God your servant to do your bidding.
   

3. Verses 8-11 Bypass the Cross, take the easy route
   

   Satan brings pleasure just like following God does. But here is the difference. Satan gives temporary pleasure for lasting pain. God gives temporary hardship for long term joy.
   

All of these temptations have a common theme. First, Satan says to Christ be selfish. Think of yourself. Do not think of your Father in heaven. Do not think of your people. What do you need? Bread, reassurance that God will deliver you or a reign. Second, Satan says, do not trust God. God will not provide. God will not protect. God will not reward your work. Doubt God. Doubt his word to you. Therefore resisting temptation does not mean think about yourself. It means think about others.

Exhortation

1. The guarantee of temptation.
   

   We must fight. We must teach our sons and daughters to fight. We are warriors. Life is a battle. If you are not prepared for a combat to the death then find another religion. I think this is especially important as we raise our children. Often, we think the answer is to keep them from any battles at all. We assume that temptation can be removed if we just keep out certain movies and don't let them go to government schools.
   

   Calvin's comments on I Timothy 6:12: Faith is never without combats. We cannot serve God without being men of war.
   

   Often great victory is followed by tremendous temptation. We like the end of chapter 3. This is my Son with whom I am well pleased. But we are not so fond of being thrown out into the wilderness.
   

   
   

2. The method of temptation
   
   1. Satan wants you to question God's Word. "Has God really said?" "If you are the Son of God…" Another words is God speaking the truth? Does he really mean what he says? You probably get sick and tired of hearing about God's Word over and over again. But without the Scriptures, there is nothing left.
      
   2. Satan appeals to the immediate. Two the temptations go this direction: the bread and the Kingdom. Tempting us to settle for the here and now and not worry about the future. Impulse leads to sin. No man would commit adultery if he could see clearly the consequences of that sin. Would David had glanced at Bathsheba if he could see his dead child and his rebellious child? Here is why self-control is such a vital tool in the Christian life.
      
      1. Illustration of an engineer who got addicted to pornography.
         
      2. Proverbs 6 and 7

   
   

   1. Satan twists God's Word to create doubt.
      

      He uses Psalm 91 in the exact opposite way it was meant to be used. The Psalm is an exhortation to trust. The Psalm is telling us to rest in God's care for us. But Satan implies that we need to test God's trustworthiness. He is tempting Christ just as he tempted Adam and Eve. God is not trustworthy. But there is an added twist. He is using the Word of God to tear down the character of God.
      

   
   

3. The defeat of temptation
   
   1. Remember the work of Christ.
      

      All of our victorious battles are rooted in Christ's ultimate victory. Our victories flow from his victory. We know that Satan is defeated, not because we have done so well, but because He has crushed him.
      

   2. The word of God
      

      Christ could have said a lot of things to Satan. Any words he spoke would have been the word of God because he was God. But what does he do? He quotes three times from Deuteronomy. Christ is telling us how to win the battle. But it must be applied. See we will never face the exact temptations that Christ faced, but we can use the same weapon.
      

   3. Don't dialogue: Fight
      

      We like to talk things over instead of resist and run. Jesus did not rationally discuss the matter with Satan. When Satan says, "Take a second glance," You say, "Get behind me Satan."
      

      1. Illustration from LOTR with Saruman

Book Review: What I Learned in Narnia

What I Learned in Narnia by Douglas Wilson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An excellent, short commentary on the various spiritual lessons from the Narnia series. Has all of Wilson's best traits, practical and spiritual, with none of his worst, sarcasm. My eleven year old got it for Christmas and read it one day. Each chapter does not just tell you something, but challenges the way you live. If you know Narnia, then this book will be a delight.

View all my reviews

What is Love?

Here is good unpacking of what love is by Paul Tripp.

Book Review: Trials of Theology

Trials of Theology, The: Becoming a 'proven worker' in a dangerous business by Andrew Cameron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A brief book, which pull essays from men of the past and the present to address some dangers of theological study. It is primarily directed at students of theology who are in seminary or a similar setting. But it has much value for the pastor as well. I especially enjoyed Augustine's short letter about needing more time to study and pray, Warfield's essay on the religious life of theology students and Carson's essay on the dangers that come with studying the Bible. I still think Helmut Thielicke's book "A Little Exercise for Young Theologians" is a little bit better.

View all my reviews

John MacArthur

Like many of you, I have been heavily influenced by John MacArthur. His books on the lordship salvation issues greatly shaped my thinking during my college years and eventually led me to embrace reformed theology. Tim Challies asked Pastor MacArthur fifteen questions and posted his answers on his blog. Pastor MacArthur's answers are full of wisdom, grace and a love for God's Word. I was convicted and encouraged as I read. He addresses, among other things, the new reformed movement, charismatics, evolution and the need for long term pastoral ministry in one place based on the preaching of God's Word.

First Ten Questions

Second Set of Five Questions

Kevin DeYoung also posted some quotes about contemporary preachers from Hughes Oliphant Old's seven volume history of preaching. There are several interesting quotes, but the last one about John MacArthur is very insightful and shows how God chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. Here is the blog post.

May God grant the next generation many more pastors like John MacArthur who cling without apology to the Word of God.

Overview of Eschatology

Eschatology is the study of last things or the end times. Eschatology includes the study of heaven and hell, as well as related subjects. A primary way of identifying various eschatological beliefs is the use of the term millennium. This is a reference to the 1,000 year reign of Christ mentioned in Revelation 20. The question is when does this reign take place and is it literally 1,000 years. Below are the three basic views of this millennium. These are necessarily simplistic, but should give you a general perspective on each.

1. Pre-millennialism is the dominant view of the end times in American churches today. This view basically says that the world will be slowly overcome by Satan until eventually all that is left is a remnant of believers. At this point Christ will return and set up His millennial kingdom here on earth. For many pre-mils the ethnic Jews figure prominently, as Christ will return to fulfill all the OT promises to Abraham in a very literal way. Thus Israel will literally dwell in the land and the Temple will be rebuilt. The "pre" means Christ will return before the Millennium.
   
2. Amillennialism is the belief that there is no millennial kingdom here on earth. Good and evil will both grow equally throughout time, until the world ends. Christ reigns right now in the Church, but the picture in Revelation 20 refers to Christians ruling with Christ in Heaven, not to any type of ruling here on earth. This is primary view in reformed circles today.
   
3. Post-millennialism is the final position. This viewpoint sees the Kingdom of Christ growing in time and history through the preaching of the Word, suffering of believers, and discipleship. This viewpoint says that Christ will return after His Kingdom has already been established on earth. This viewpoint does not see the total eradication of evil, but does see the nations being brought to Christ and there being a glorious kingdom here on earth. Some post-mils see this as a literal 1,000 years at the end of time. Others see the 1,000 years as symbolic.
   

There are a couple of other ways of looking at this. One way is to ask does a person believe the Kingdom of Christ will eventually cover the earth. Is their eschatology optimistic about the growth of the Church in history? Or does the person believe things will get worse and worse or basically stay the same. Everyone believes Christ wins in the end. The question is does He win in time and history?

One can also use the parable of the wheat and the tares found in Matthew 13:24-30 to illustrate the three views. A pre-mil would say that when Christ comes there will be very few wheat and lots of tares. An a-mil would say it will be around 50/50, an equal number of wheat and tares. A post-mil would say that when Christ returns there will be a whole lot of wheat and a few tares.

The millennium is not an issue to divide over. The Creeds rightly put the emphasis on Christ returning to judge the living and the dead. As long as someone believes Christ is returning they are orthodox. However, one's view of these things will bring a certain tone and direction to their view of the world and the Church.

I believe that he Bible teaches that the Great Commission will be fulfilled. The nations of the world will be put under the feet of Christ before He returns. This will not happen through some sort of "social gospel" or because men are inherently good. It will happen because Christ, through the Spirit and the preaching of the Word, will bring men to Himself and raise them up to maturity.

An excellent short book on the post-millennial perspective is Why the End is Not Near by Duane Garner.

Desiring God Pastors Conference

Pastor John Piper's annual Desiring God Pastors Conference just finished up. I did not listen to the lectures, but I did read the notes. The topic this year was prayer. I have linked to the pages where you can find the audio, video, and notes. I have followed each link with a quote I liked from the lecture. All of them were helpful, but I found Pastor Beeke's two lectures especially convicting.

Joel Beeke on Cultivating Prayer as a Pastor
"We too often see prayer as an interruption to our ambition."

Paul Miller on Helping Our People Discover Prayer
"The biggest secret to prayer is helplessness. Feeling our need for Jesus will drive us to prayer."

Francis Chan on Prayer as Walking in Love
"Every time I experience answered pray, I am just in awe of God. Why do I do anything but pray? The only thing that ever differentiates between me and some other religion is that God is my God who answers prayer."

John Piper on Robert McCheyne's Prayer Life
"The key to [McCheyne's] power in preaching was his personal holiness and his communion with Christ in word and prayer."

Joel Beeke on Leading Family Worship
"Would that everyone of us would say tonight with conviction, 'As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.' It is possible for God to bless our families and our children if we have failed in this, but it is his normal operation to bless those families who are regular in family worship."

Jerry Rankin on Missions and Prayer
"One of our missionaries who gave her life for the cause of Christ had left a letter with her pastor before she had left for Iraq. In the letter, she had written, “His glory is my reward.” That is what will motivate us and our churches. That is what will motivate our relationship with God in prayer to call for the evangelization of the nations."

Panel Discussion on Prayer

R.C. Sproul on Creation in Six Days

Here is R.C. Sproul's take on the creation account in Genesis. For the record, I agree.

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-rc-sprouls-position-creation/

Bayly Brothers on Large vs. Small Families

Here is a convicting blog post where the Bayly Brothers remind us that it is not enough to have many children we must also raise them well. A very challenging post as I just had my seventh child. Five of those are boys. That means at dinner every night I gather around my table five future heads of households. Without God's grace and the promises of Scripture I would run for the door. But with his grace and his Spirit, I know that I can honor him by raising godly sons and daughters.

The Baylys also discuss some interesting logistics that are occurring in China because of its one child policy.