The Temptation of Jesus Christ, Christ The KING Ministries, Rev Paul Wallace

The Temptation of Jesus Christ

A reminder, We Walk from Advent through Easter each Week focusing on these true and Important lesson and event in Jesus’s Ministry, as we Pronounce 2023 and beyond the Year we recapture the Truth Of the Gospels

Our Video Introduction can be viewed at https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cn-mTg1gjd1/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

As we approach our lesson it is hugely important to understand the temptation of Job, and for that matter with the HOLY SPIRIT’S enlightening of us we will see that the whole of the Old Testament gives us many examples of Dress Rehearsals for the Mission of Jesus.

This of course gives our Jewish friends a foundational head Start, as Jesus is their Christ of GOD too, as the Old Testament narrative is not about our successful following the law, and no the Jews are not the only “failures” especially in the Old Testament, they are indeed perfect examples of US!!!

As we travel throughout this very important foundational part of the Scripture it becomes apparent that there are a lot of true Dress Rehearsals, that will take we Humans so far, and yet not to the completion, as we could never perfectly fulfill the task set for us.

I really love this example and the space Program is still something I love and Follow, (Don’t let my Wife know but if NASA wanted to Send a Firefighter to the Moon, I would volunteer) As a kid I grew up in the most exciting time of the Space Program, as it went from infancy, to fulfilling President Kennedy’s goal of landing a Man on the Moon and safely returning them to the Earth,

Each Mission built on important steps toward completing this goal, so, in deed Mercury set the foundation for Gemini, that accomplished goals and skills needed for Apollo.

The clearest example of our lesson today is the Apollo 10, Apollo 11 as Apollo 10 ‘s full Dress Rehearsal could go only so far, to prove the equipment operated as designed, so Apollo 11 could actually complete the landing, walking on the Moon, and safe return.

In the Temptation of Job, as we will read in our first Reading, the LORD places a fence around Job, allowing Satan to only go so far, a fence that will NOT be there in Jesus’ fulfillment of the Temptation Narrative.

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Let’s run to worship

Call to Worship

Leviticus 20:7 'You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.

 8 'You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Processional

Praise To The LORD The Almighty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWuF9S4Y1Kc

St. Bartholomew’s, New York City, New York

May the Peace of Christ be with you

ALL: And also with you

Let us take a minute on Facebook to pass the Peace of Jesus Christ

Hymn

Holy, Holy, Holy LORD GOD Almighty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ZfrO0UW_s&t=94s

Royal Albert Hall, London England

First Reading

Job Chapter 1

Job 1:1 ? There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

 2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

 3 His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

 4 ? His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

 5 When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.

 6 ? Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

 7 The LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it."

 8 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."

 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing?

 10 "Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

 11 "But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face."

 12 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.

 13 ? Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,

 15 and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

 16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

 17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

 18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

 19 and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

 20 ? Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

 21 He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

(NAS95)

This is the WORD of The LORD

ALL: Thanks Be To GOD!!

The LORD’S Prayer & Apostles Creed

Matthew 6:9 ? And Jesus said "In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

 11 Give us this day our daily bread.

 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Christian What Do You Believe?

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried:

He descended into hell;

The third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;

The Holy Catholic Church;

The Communion of Saints;

The Forgiveness of sins;

The Resurrection of the body,

And the Life everlasting.

Amen.

The Doxology

Praise GOD From Whom All Blessings Flow

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Faith Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, Washington

Hymn

Spirit Of God Descend Upon My Heart

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFCI_oaX9PA

Faith Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, Washington

Second Reading & Lesson

Matthew 4

1 ? Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"

 5 Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

 6 and *said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"

 7 Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"

 8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

 9 and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."

 10 Then Jesus *said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"

 11 Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

 12 ? Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;

 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

 15 "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES--

 16 "THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED."

17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 18 ? Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

 19 And He *said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.

 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

 23 ? Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

 24 The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

 25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

(NAS95)

The Holy Gospel Of Our LORD Jesus Christ

ALL: All Glory To YOU LORD Christ!!

Lesson Matthew 1-16 The Temptation of Jesus Christ

This week we will look at the first 16 verses of Matthew Chapter 4, but we remind each other that the whole text of the Bible must be before us to understand what is happening here.

Our readings today point to two temptations

First we looked at Job, and Satan being allowed to temp him just so far, but never taking his life.

This Temptation will be significant as it points to the important contrast we will see in Jesus Temptation.

Why we ask?

First we must not look past Job’s temptation and the Hedges put around Job, and these are critically important to understand the difference between these as the speak to the intent of the Temptation of Jesus.

Next let’s look at two important phrases;

First in Job’s Temptation "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person."

This means there were limits to the temptation of Job that would increase to physical affliction but not death.

When we get to Jesus’s Temptation what do we hear Satan say;  "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." and clearly tells us there will be NO hedge around Jesus.

Next what need to be clear in Jesus Temptation, this had nothing to do with the Kingdoms of the world being offered!

Why might you ask?

Well as I use to show in an example to my Junior High Sunday School Class:

I stand 6-3 188 lbs and I would have one of them stand up at most likely 5-3 135 lbs and I would take a $20.00 bill out of my pocket and say “Offering the Kingdoms of the World to Jesus was like the Student selected “allowing” me to keep my $20.00 bill.

In other words the $20.00 was already mine, and the student posed no threat to me.

The same was true for Jesus being offered the Kingdoms of the World as they already belonged to HIM!

So we need to see this deeper, what was the Temptation offering?

Mt 4:3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

 7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

 9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

What do you see?

Look close as it as a detective should come up with the question, If Jesus was able to turn stones into Bread by a simple WORD, summons Legions of Angles by just a WORD, and already owned the Kingdoms of the world, what is HE being offered by bowing down and worshiping Satin?

Well the answer lies in what we looked at in the beginning;

Job’s life must be spared, and a hedge was put around Job.

No such hedge is around Jesus and Satan is tempting HIM with the CROSS, HIS paying OUR penalty of Hell, HIS Death. As we remember no protection of sparing Jesus life has been given.

We also remember that Pre-incarnate LORD walking in the Garden of Eden promised HE would die in the Salvation mission when HE said Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

In our 21st Century medical understanding where serpents bites are survivable, in the 1st Century this was not the case, as Dr. Luke reminds us in Acts 28:3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

 4 When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, "Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live."

 5 However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

 6 But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

Clearly after Paul was bitten what did the Maltians expect to happen, and quickly?

You are right swell up and die!

So what IS Genesis 3 telling us plainly about the Seed of the Woman, who can only be and IS the Christ of GOD?

HE was going to die, as the Serpents bit is lethal!

So Satin is tempting Jesus with the Cross!

This is just another reminder that Jesus’s eyes from the formation of the world are on our redemption and it goes through the Cross.

I hope this helps in our understanding of these two Temptations, and also helps us to know that Satan loses twice in this Temptation of Jesus Christ, as Jesus Christ does not fail the Test, and that the Cross seals Satan’s doom.

Next week we will look at the Second part of Chapter 4, and here’s a hint if you want to read ahead, Who Calls Who, and What is the Response to this Calling?

As we come to the LORD’s Table

1Co 11:23 ? For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;

 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

All Glory Laud and Honor to thee Redeemer KING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1XFQEc9BDs

Faith Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, Washington

The LORD’S Benediction

Hebrews 13:20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Let Us Go Forth As Those Who Love & Proclaim Our Risen Savior, The LORD Jesus Christ

Response: Thanks be To GOD, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen!

Recessional

Oh Worship The KING                                                                                                                           

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St. Bartholomew’s, New York City, New York

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