Church Sermon - February 29, 2004

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Epistle Lesson; Romans 10:8-13
Old Testament Lesson; Deuteronomy 26:5-10
Sermon Text; Luke 4:1-13

When my brother and I were in college, we decided to go on a two-day, weekend canoe trip, up the Minnesota River. Unfortunately, it just so happened that the weekend we had planned for turned out to be a very cold, rainy, spring weekend. It was about 40 degrees and was constantly raining, so it was miserable. But, we decided that we would go anyway.

We canoed all day up the Minnesota River and of course, did not see anybody. Other than the rain, all we saw were trees and that river. And, that was it!

As the day grew to a close, and it started to get dark, we decided we better find a place to set up our tent for the night, before it got completely dark. However, all of the riverbanks were sloped enough that we could see that we would not be able to put our tent on them. Except, there was one spot that stretched for a long ways, and it was flat level ground…but, every hundred yards, on that level ground, there were signs that said,

"Absolutely no trespassing."

Since it was getting dark, and no one was around, anywhere, and it was cold, and it was still raining, I told my brother, "Let’s camp here. The farmer, who owns this land, is never going to get out here, and see us camped out here, over night. And we will be gone, before he gets up."

So, despite the ‘no trespassing’ signs, we decided to set up our tent there, about ten feet from the river.

At about 10:00 at night, we finally crawled into our sleeping bags. It was dark, cold, and still raining. Suddenly, we heard this huge ‘sca-plush’ in the water, just about 10 feet from our tent. It sounded like somebody had taken a huge rock and thrown it in the water!

I quickly asked my brother, "What was that?"

He suggested, "Maybe a branch fell off of a tree."

I replied, "I didn’t hear any branch break."

We kind of tried to calm ourselves down a little bit, but about a half an hour later, just as we were about to fall asleep, we heard another huge ‘sca-plush’! Again, it was right in the water, about 10 feet from us!

Again, I asked my brother, "What was that?"

This time he suggested, "Maybe a stone rolled down the bank."

I replied, "Well, there is no bank here, for a stone to roll down and I didn’t hear anything rolling!"

Now, our hearts were really beating hard. Frightened, I started to think, "Its dark. It’s cold. It’s rainy. There are no trespassing signs out here. And, we are camped here, in the middle of nowhere. Something did not fall from a tree, nor roll down the bank. There must be some crazy guy out there, standing on the water’s edge with big rocks, trying to scare us half to death."

Well, we started to calm down again, but it wasn’t too long before there was another, ‘sca-plush’! Same place! Now our hearts were really beating hard. We didn’t know what to do. I was holding onto my knife in my sleeping bag, when all of a sudden there was another loud ‘sca-plush’!

Next, we heard something walking toward our tent! We heard it slowly walk all the way around our tent! My mind was going crazy. I was thinking, "There is an insane farmer out there. He has been standing out in the cold, out in that rain, for two hours, trying to scare us to death. And who knows what he is going to do next!"

Finally, we heard it walk away, back toward the river!

We had our bows and arrows along, because we were going to do some bow hunting, so I whispered to my brother, "You need to get your bow strung up and get your arrow on it. When I count to three, I am going to run out of the tent with my flashlight, and shine it all over the place. If somebody or something comes at us, you get ready to shoot."

So I counted, "One, two, three." I ran out of the tent and was shining my flashlight all over the place, while my brother was standing there, ready with his bow. However, we didn’t see anything. Nothing! We looked and looked, for five minutes, and still we didn’t see anything. The whole time, I could imagine there was somebody or something standing out there, watching us. By now, our hair was standing on the tops of our heads!

Finally, at 1:00 in the morning, we rolled up our sleeping bags, packed up our tents, and put them all in the canoe. And, we canoed away, with our hair still standing up on our heads, (and our hair didn’t go down for a long time, after that).

My point is, in the wilderness, there are things that are scary and frightening. There are creatures out there, and we aren’t always certain what they may be. Our scripture reading tells us that Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. In the book of Mark, it says that He was there, with the wild animals. Do you think that Jesus had to take precautions against the wild animals that were out there? You can imagine all the different wild animals, out in the Judean countryside - the snakes, the scorpions, and the lions.

What a picturesque setting the wilderness was for the true creature! This creature, which was prowling in the wilderness, going after Jesus, our Savior, is far more dangerous and hideous, than all of the wild animals. That creature, the enemy that I am talking about, of course, is Satan. Satan was pursuing Jesus, there in the wilderness, with deadly intent to destroy our Savior.

You and I are also living in the wilderness of this world. We have that same enemy that the Bible describes.

Satan is an unseen, unheard enemy. But he is far more hideous and far more dangerous than whatever was on the bank of the river, that evening. He has absolute deadly intent. He is seeking to devour us spiritually, for all eternity, and drag us to Hell. We know the devil is merciless. And, he will pursue us, until our life’s end.

"I walk in danger all the way.

The thought shall never leave me.

Satan, who has marked his prey,

is plotting to deceive me.

The foe with hidden snares

may seize me unawares."

That is a verse, from one of our hymns that we sing. We understand the danger of the wilderness that we are walking in.

I read a gruesome description of how at least one group of Eskimos kills wolves. They take a knife, a knife with a very sharp blade, and dip it in blood. Then they freeze the blood on there. They cake that blade with blood, so that it is completely coated in blood. Then, they bury the handle of that knife in the ground, with that blood caked blade sticking up.

During the nighttime, the wolves smell the blood, that frozen blood. And so, they go up to that blade and start to lick it. The more the wolf licks it, the more it fills his desire. He licks faster and faster, and becomes unaware that he has licked all the blood off of the blade. The blade of the knife is so sharp, that the wolf can’t even feel it cutting his tongue. And so finally, there he is, licking his own blood and drinking his own blood. And in the morning, the Eskimos find him dead. That is the way the devil is, with his temptations. He is out there, with things that look pleasing to us. But his goal, with those sins, is to get us to fall from our faith in Christ, as our Savior and destroy us eternally in Hell. We walk in that danger, of the devil, throughout this life.

So, what should we do about it? Our scripture reading for today, does two things. It gives us great comfort. And, it gives us great strength and encouragement.

First of all, I want you to see the great comfort that our scripture reading gives us today. Our Savior, Jesus, went out into the wilderness, led by the Holy Spirit, to face the same enemy that you and I have to face every day of our lives. The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every point. Whatever temptation we have had, Christ had to face. And yet, it says that He was without sin. There was only one human being, in the entire history of the world, who faced all of Satan’s temptations and never fell, and that is our Savior, Jesus. That includes the temptations He faced down in the wilderness, for those forty days, while He was there, being tempted by Satan. Jesus stood firm. He stood perfect. He stood true to the Word. And He stood holy, righteous, and just.

I want you to think about the temptations that Jesus faced perfectly. While Jesus was in the wilderness, He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights. And, He was hungry. This reminds us of all the times that we are in need. Maybe we are in need of friends. We are in need of money. We are in need of better health. Or we are in need of something else. When we are in need, Satan tempts us to worry that God is not going to provide. He tempts us to think God won’t take care of us. Then, he tempts us to try to take care of those needs in sinful ways, without trusting in God.

Satan tried to do the same to Christ. But, what did Jesus do? Jesus, who is also God, could have blown Satan away by His almighty power. But, instead He used a simple little weapon. Not grenades, not bombs, not tanks, (which really cannot do anything to Satan) but He grabbed that weapon, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, which can reach into the spiritual realm. And with that Word of God He simply said to Satan,

"It is written: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’"

With the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, He drove away the temptation of Satan.

Satan had a second temptation for Jesus.

"The devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’"

This is the picture of all the temptations we face, with the pleasures of this world and the joys of this world. How Satan tempts us with goods and money, friends, popularity and fame, fishing, swimming and sports of all kinds, and all of the pleasures of this world, to get us to give up our first love, which is God.

Again, when Satan tempted Jesus, He simply grabbed hold of the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and thrust it at Satan by saying, "It is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only.’"

And with that Word, He drove away the temptations of Satan.

And then came the third temptation. Here Satan tried to twist God’s Word. He saw that Jesus was using the Word of God. Satan is not afraid of God’s Word, as long as he can twist it. So he said to Jesus,

"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’"

Satan was now twisting the Word of God, to try to make Jesus test God. How many times does Satan do that to us, as Christians? He knows we have the Word of God, so he tries to twist it, and make us use God’s Word to somehow justify our sin. We sure see that happening in society today, whenever we witness people twisting the Word of God.

And yet, Jesus stood true to the Word of God. He grabbed that Sword of the Spirit, when He said, "It is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"

Jesus stood perfect, holy, and true. That should be a profound comfort to you and me, as God’s people. It should be such a profound comfort, because that victory Jesus won over Satan isn’t just Jesus’ victory. Jesus shares that victory with you and with me!

How can somebody share a victory that they won, with other people? A wonderful picture of that is David. In the Old Testament, for forty days, Goliath went to the Children of Israel and talked to them, saying, "Who of you will come and fight against me? If you defeat me, then the victory is yours."

And for forty days, the Israelites trembled in their boots. No one was willing to go against that great, fearsome giant. But then, on the fortieth day comes David, (who is a picture of Jesus, our Savior). David faced Goliath with a simple, little sling and five little stones. He walked up to that great giant, and trusting in the Word of God, he slings the stone. And with that, the giant falls dead.

The Bible says that Israel won a great victory that day. David defeated Goliath, but who got the victory? Israel, and all The Children of Israel got the victory.

Who defeated Satan? Jesus did. But who gets the victory? We do! The Bible tells us,

"Through the obedience of one man

(that is Jesus)

the many will be made righteous."

There, the Bible makes a promise to you. The perfect life of Jesus, His obedience, has been given to you, as your own! It is as if you have stood firm and true against all the temptations of Satan! It almost takes our breath away, when we read this section of scripture, and we see Jesus defeating Satan time, after time, after time. And, God credits that perfect life of Jesus to you, as a free gift! It is as if you were the one who stood against all the temptations of Satan and kept the Word of God pure, holy and perfect!

So, when Satan comes after you and says, "You are a sinner. You have fallen into temptation."

We can say to him, "You know what? That is true. I am a sinner. I have fallen into temptation. But, you can’t scare me. You can’t hurt me. You can’t harm me. You can’t condemn me, because God has given me the victory in Jesus, my Savior. God has declared the perfect life of Jesus who defeated you, to be mine. I share the victory with my Savior Jesus. Heaven is mine. And, I am on my way towards glory!"

That is an awesome comfort to you and me, as Christians, trusting in Jesus’ perfect life and His death on the cross for our sins. It gives us strength to go forward in this wilderness, and want to live for Jesus, our Savior. For the rest of your life, Satan is going to try to drag you away from faith in Jesus, as your Savior. And so, it gives us strength to fight against that deadly enemy, Satan.

So, how does a Christian go forward and fight temptation? We know how strong it is. We know how relentless it is. We know how powerful it is. Look at what scripture says. Isn’t it awesome that our Savior Jesus, who is God Himself, could have driven Satan away, with His almighty power, but instead, Jesus used the same weapon that is available to you and me. That weapon is the Word of God. The powerful Word of God. We don’t need bombs, grenades, and guns. They can’t do anything against Satan. But, what is available to us, at our fingertips, on our tongues, and in our hearts, is the almighty, powerful Word of God. It is the one offensive weapon (the Bible calls it the Sword of the Spirit), by which we can go after Satan, when he tempts us. We can fight him with the Word, because it is more powerful than he is.

What a comfort it is for me, as a disciple of my Savior, Jesus, to be able to arm myself with the Word of God, to arm myself with the Gospel. The Gospel tells me that Jesus died for my sins! The Gospel tells me that my sins are paid for. And when I am tempted, I am armed with the Word of God, and want to live for my Savior.

This is one of the reasons why we have our young people in Confirmation Class learn the Ten Commandments, along with their explanations. Any temptation, (I don’t care what temptation it is,) somehow goes back to one of those Ten Commandments. What a powerful weapon it is to be able to quote one of those Ten Commandments with the explanation, against Satan. It strengthens us and it drives him away. I would encourage all of us to study your Catechism. And, study the passages that are underneath each different commandment. Those passages are the Sword of the Spirit, which drive away Satan.

Secondly, not only do we have the Word of God, but we also have prayer. The Bible tells us that Satan left Jesus, until an opportune time. Satan is going to look for opportune times in your life. You may know when those opportune times are, when you are experiencing times of special weakness. But, Jesus told us to "watch and pray lest you fall into temptation". What a privilege it is that we have the gift of prayer. We can go to our Savior, Jesus, who has victory over Satan. We can pray to Him,

When times of temptation come, be with me and strengthen me. Help me to use your Word. Help me to be aware that the temptation is there.

We have the Word of God and we have prayer.

Scripture also tells us to flee temptation. A wonderful example of that is Joseph. When Joseph was tempted by

Potifer’s wife to sleep with her, what did Joseph do? The Bible tells us that he fled. The Bible tells us to flee temptation. There is a scripture passage that says, "If any of you thinks he stands, let him take heed, lest he fall." There the Bible is telling us not to think that we are so strong that we can stand up and let temptation come our way, thinking to ourselves, "That’s not so bad. I can handle this." Greater men than you and me have fallen. Far greater. We have a sinful nature, and when a temptation comes our way, let’s flee. If I am reading a book that is leading me into temptation, rather than think that I am strong enough to keep reading it, I am going to close it, put it away and flee temptation. If there is some place I go, and I know that when I go there, I am tempted, I am going to stop going there, and flee temptation. I shouldn’t think that I am strong enough to stand up under that temptation.

So, we have the Word of God. We have prayer. And, we flee temptation.

And, we have our fellow Christians, who are gathered around us. The Bible tells us that bad company corrupts good morals. There are people that Satan can use, to wear me down and tempt me into sin. But, I have my fellow Christians who are with me, who can share the Word of God with me, guide me, rebuke me, correct me, train me, and lead me in righteousness, with the Word of God.

So we have the Word of God. We have prayer. We flee temptation. And we gather with other Christians, to be strengthened in our holy faith.

There was a young lady once, who wanted to join a church, after she became a Christian. The day she wanted to become a member of that church, they called her up front and the pastor asked her, "Were you a sinner, before you wanted to join this church?"

And she said, "Yes I was."

The pastor next asked her, "Are you a sinner now?"

She looked at the pastor and said, "Yes I am."

The pastor looked at her and then asked, "Well then, what is the difference?"

She answered, "Well I can’t really put it into words, but it is something like this. I used to be a sinner, running towards sin. But now I am sinner, running away from sin."

We are walking in this wilderness. We have the victory through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Now we are running away from sin, forgiven when we fall, and running towards glory in Heaven!

Amen.

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