Scripture Matthew
4:1-11
GETTING OUR TABLETS READY
On top of Mt. Sinai God said to
Moses, “Hew two tablets of stone!” In other words, take two rocks and shape
them for lettering, get them ready for me to write something on them. What was to be written? God didn’t say. Rather,
He said, “Hew two tablets…and I will write upon them.” You get them ready, and
I will do the writing. Moses obeyed; and the result…were the 10 Commandments.
Over, and
over again, God is saying to His people: You hew the tablets, and I will write
upon them. Make yourself ready and I will write the message, a help, a service,
a blessing. We do this when we come to
table – we say, “Here I am Lord, I’ve
done the best I can to knock the rough edges off my life. Now I am waiting for
your hand, your touch, your writing on my tablet.” When we do that, we can
count on God’s faithfulness to not leave our tablets blank.
What was
written on those two tablets that God had Moses prepare? And what was written on the next two that God
had Moses prepare? The 10 Commandments. Most people picture that looking like
this SLIDE: (1 tablet Moses) but, in light of our theme: God’s Social Network:
The Bible, we might picture it looking more like this SLIDE: (2 tablet Moses).
If you are like my son-in-law Gary who is a salesman for Apple computers, you
might be thinking something more like this SLIDE (3 tablet Moses).
The original
tablets were hewn (carved) out of stone and written on by God with the
following:
SLIDE (4 Ten Commandments)
10 COMMANDMENTS
1. Have no other gods.
2. Have no idols.
3. Honor God's name.
4. Honor the Sabbath day.
5. Honor your parents.
6. Do not murder.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal.
9. Do not perjure yourself.
10. Do not covet.
The 10 Commandments were God’s way
of setting up a system to have people live the way they were designed to live
along with the other 603 commandments God gave through Moses. Becoming
righteous before God meant keeping ALL 613 commanments. I wonder how many of us
can say we keep the Big 10? If you think you do, Jesus made it even more
difficult to keep the Big 10 - Matt 5:17-48
"Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and
earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will
by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone
who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the
same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and
teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I
tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
"You have heard 'Do not murder, But I tell
you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
"You have heard 'Do not commit
adultery.' But I tell you that anyone
who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his
heart.
"It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces
his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his
wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress,
and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
"Again, you have heard 'Do not break your
oath, But I tell you, Do not swear at all
"You have heard 'Eye for eye, and tooth
for tooth.' But I tell you, If someone
strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
"You have heard 'Love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you,
FINALLY,
vs 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
We couldn’t keep the 10 stone tablet laws – there is no way
we can keep the greater law Jesus is proclaiming. Who on earth could keep these
laws? Who could keep such laws that temp us physically, mentally and
spiritually? JESUS can!
COMPLETE TEMPATION OF JESUS
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be
tempted by the devil.
PHYSICAL TEMPTATION
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights,
he was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the
Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live
on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
MENTAL TEMPTATION
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city
and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "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.'"
7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
SPIRITUAL TEMPTATION
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9
"All
this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
TEMPTAITON CONQUERED
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came
and attended him.
Jesus shows us that resisting temptation can be done with
the right weapons 1) What is written – the bible 2) Jesus in us by the Holy
Spirit. Even with that, we still fall short so we need one thing more:
Forgiveness.
CONCLUSION
Today we come
to the TABLE(T) on which God has written in His own blood the forgiveness of
our sin when we have failed to keep His commandments by doing what we should
not, or not doing what we should. God wants us to live by His commands that are
for our own good – when we don’t we have an advocate who goes before us to the
Father. And when we do, the following becomes reality: Ezekiel 36:26-27
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I
will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to
keep my laws.
COMMUNION
Proverbs 7:1-3 My
son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and
you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your
fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
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