Matthew 4:1-11 Worship and Serve!

Matthew 4:1-11  Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.  “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.’”  Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan!  For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”  Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

In the above passage, both Jesus and the devil use the word of God, wielding the sword against each other and revealing clearly that the powerful dynamics of the scriptures should be evident in our lives.  Jesus locked the door on the devil’s use of scripture by quoting the essential aspect of all scripture: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.  This statement is the essence, the foundation, of every covenant God made with man.  The Creator does not tolerate any other belief in his creation.  Judgment will fall on those who reject his absolute authority.  There is no other God to serve but him.  Jesus would serve only his Father no matter what the devil offered him; no kingdoms, no bribes, no rewards could deter him from serving God.  Jesus said, By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:30)   Only God must be obeyed, lifted up, honored, and worshipped.  No other human, deity, lifestyle, imagination can be substituted for the Creator of the universe.  In today’s society, as with the ancient societies, substitutions for God and for serving him alone have always been sought.  This basic error of Adam and Eve is deeply embedded in the genetics of mankind.  People elevate philosophies, ideologies, religions, and manmade assumptions above the Creator.  These exceptions to God’s divine authority inevitably promise peace, prosperity, health, longevity, and the like.  We see much of this propagated on our televisions.  The purveyors of these different approaches to life display their discovery of a better way to live outside of serving God.  At best they are as hawkers in a carnival, promising you a tantalizing experience if you will only pay your fee.  In the different tents you will find the tallest man on earth, or the half monkey half man specie, or the fattest woman on earth, or the sword swallower, and so on.  But if you enter one of those tents, you will be disappointed by the shabbiness of it all. The tallest man in the world will appear unhealthy.  The snake woman looks like someone who has faced ridicule and abuse all of her life.  The smell of the environment and the dirtiness of the sawdust on the ground reeks with failure and unhappiness, an errancy from the goodness of the world.  The allurement of the hawker’s spiel, all of his promises of excitement and amazement, turn to disappointment after viewing what is inside.  The hawkers are men of deception, deceivers of life’s realities, painting a  false and impermanent picture.  Yet the world chases after people who promise a better life than serving God.  These false prophets sell their books and their snake oil to the dissatisfied with life who seek to buy a panacea for a better, more purposeful existence.  This constant seeking for a reality other than God denotes the rebellion in the heart of mankind: I will find a better way than serving God.  Jesus’ words shut up the master hawker, Satan.  Jesus knew: God is the only authority.  He alone makes life worth living: He is the excitement, the peace, and the prosperity in life.  HE IS AND HE ALWAYS WILL BE EVERYTHING!  He deserves COMPLETE SERVICE.

The temptations that Satan offered Jesus, the man, centered on this world.  The tempter came, saying, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered in his hunger for He was in the midst of fasting 40 days and nights, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  This quote comes from Deuteronomy 8 where we read how God tested the Israelites by letting them go hungry for a while.  He tested them about whether they would remain his people or let hunger separate them from their allegiance to him.  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  (Deuteronomy 8:3)  We see Jesus responding to Satan with these inspired words while He experienced the condition of hunger.  The lack of food and strength in his body was not going to separate him from serving his Father God.  Then the devil used another temptation of the flesh: Jesus’ safety, protection.  If you are really God’s own, you will be protected by him.  “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.’”  If you are truly the Son of God on earth, God will make your life secure, comfortable, and at peace.  Test God by throwing yourself off this mountain.  If you are his Son, He will protect you.  His angels will come to your rescue.  Jesus responds: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test."   How often do we Christians hear those words of uncertainty in our ears?  If you really are a child of the Most High would He not come and deliver you from this perilous situation?  Why, if you are God’s cherished child, does He not send an angel to rescue you?  You testify of being a child of the Most High, where is your God now?  Of course, these words are often heard in difficult times, but Jesus has the appropriate words to repel them.  Do not put God to a test, he if faithful to the end, put your trust in him for He is trustworthy.  As Paul wrote to the church, But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:19)  

Nonetheless, Satan never leaves us alone for long.  His favorite angle of attack tempts us to serve our own fleshly desires—his way of living.  Eat, drink, and be merry; build, work and strive, then you will be happy.  The world will be yours if you abandon the idea of serving God, accepting his role for your life.  Serving God and his purposes keeps you in a rut, forbidding you to participate in the activities that bring joy to the flesh.  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  If you allow me to direct your life, the world will become your oyster; people will be knocking on your door, wanting your favor.  You will be one of the world’s elite, attractive and wealthy with the kingdoms of the world open to you for the taking.  You will rise to the top in life as the next millionaire, the next famous singer or actor.  You will be the renowned artist, athlete, or composer.  “Just serve me,” remains the devil’s beseeching words.  Serve me day and night, serve me with disciplined intent.  I will make you famous.  Serve me, and all you ever dreamed of will come to your life.  You will have the splendor of life.  Of course, chasing this wishing star of the night will be a wasted effort even if you have everything you ever wished for.  Satan fails to tell you that it will all turn into dust when you die.  Rather than eternity written on your souls, you will have darkness, despair and death as your inheritance.  The devil’s ways of living never end happily. There are many pitfalls along his path.  He is a liar!  You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman.  For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.  (Genesis 3:4-5)  But you will die, and judgment comes after that.  Will your alabaster jar of life have perfume in it to anoint Jesus or will it contain the stench of a wayward life?  Satan’s ways are always consistent, attacking the Creator himself.  As Eve was influenced by the devil to question God’s authority, Satan used this tactic with Jesus. “You will gain so much more if you only open your heart to one other than the Creator.  With Eve, the devil said, “All of creation is at your hands if you serve other than God."  With Jesus, he said, "You can have all the kingdoms and notoriety of the world if you serve me.”  These temptations are alive and well in our day.  They tempt us because Adam’s DNA is embedded in us.  Because of our strong fleshly desires, we want to win the world, become significant, change to the fast lane in life.  We often desire to uniquely supersede God’s ways, rejecting the words obedience and servanthood, words that will cause us to lose our lives, not to win life.  But, if we serve our selfish, worldly desires, real peace, security, and love will always be a little beyond our reach.  Peace, contentment, and love are not over the next hill, somewhere in the future in the carnal life as the devil promises.  No, real peace is found by living IN CHRIST by faith.  Home is IN HIM NOW.  We use God’s word to combat the devil’s lies.  We are children of God: no greater honor can be bestowed on us.  The devil knows that, but he will always try to knock us off the path that leads to heaven.  Dear friends, no matter what the trial, you are on the road that leads to eternity in the chariot of Christ your Savior.  

Note: Dad is wondering if anyone noticed that last week he wrote John 3:11-17 rather than Matthew 3:11-17 as the scripture reference for the study.  I normally do not check that part of the breakfast, but I will from now on.  We are just curious about whether you are reading the breakfasts and if so, whether you catch our mistakes.  You probably were just being nice not to point it out.  Thank you.