2-02-20 IT is written! it IS written! it is WRITTEN!

Scripture    Matthew 4:1-11

As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West.  Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, "Are you trying to break this bridge?" "No," the builder replied, "I'm trying to prove that the bridge won't break." In the same way, the temptations Jesus faced weren't designed to see if He would sin, but to prove that He wouldn't. 

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 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.'"

Deuteronomy 8:2-3     Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers 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.

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.'"

          Psalm 91:11-12     For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 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.'"

          Deuteronomy 6:16     Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. Ex17:2 the people argued with Moses about no water and Moses called the place “Massah” meaning testing? “Why do you test the Lord?”

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.'"

          Deuteronomy 6:13-16      Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah.

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

          There was a PHYSICAL, MENTAL, & SPIRITUAL temptation. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13     So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

How does God help us stand against temptation? The same way Jesus did. How did Jesus stand against Temptation? With God’s word.

Jesus responded to the Physical temptation with “It is written.”

Jesus responded to the Mental temptation with “It is written.”

Jesus responded to the Spiritual temptation with “It is written.”

How was Jesus able to do that? He read and studied God’s word and was able to recite the proper scripture to stand against the specific attacks of Satan. What does that mean for us? We need to read and study and memorize God’s word to use it as a sword to cut down Satan’s temptations.

Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Hebrews 4:12a For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword.

          So we have this Temptation Weapon - but what if you were in a sword fight and you had never learned to use a sword before and you are in war with an expert swordsman? You would lose - Well let me tell you, even Satan known’s how to use God’s word as a weapon against us so we better be more practiced than he is.

          But there is an even greater principal at work here that is not immediately seen. Jesus didn’t resist these temptations, like each of us face simply by quoting the appropriate scripture. He resisted temptation by knowing God - and the fact that he knew these specific scriptures shows us that he knew God by spending time in His word. It was that relationship, even more than the word that gave him the ability to fight off temptation - the specific scriptures were the weapon, but that close relationship was the wisdom and the power to use that weapon.

          Notice, he did not go looking for a fight - the fight found him and he simply resisted. Stop picking a fight with the devil because you will lose. But when the Devil comes to you, and he will, stand up and resist. James 4:7  Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

          Resisting is more than just having the temptation removed - you have to know Jesus to stand strong:

Toad baked some cookies. "These cookies smell very good," said Toad. He ate one. "And they taste even better," he said.  Toad ran to Frog's house. "Frog, Frog," cried Toad, "taste these cookies that I have made."

Frog ate one of the cookies, "These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!" said Frog.

Frog and Toad ate many cookies, one after another. "You know, Toad," said Frog, with his mouth full, "I think we should stop eating. We will soon be sick."

"You are right," said Toad. "Let us eat one last cookie, and then we will stop." Frog and Toad ate one last cookie.  There were many cookies left in the bowl.

"Frog," said Toad, "let us eat one very last cookie, and then we will stop." Frog and Toad ate one very last cookie.

"We must stop eating!" cried Toad as he ate another.

"Yes," said Frog, reaching for a cookie, "we need willpower."

"What is willpower?" asked Toad.

"Willpower is trying hard not to do something you really want to do," said Frog.

"You mean like trying hard not to eat all these cookies?" asked Toad.

"Right," said Frog.

Frog put the cookies in a box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

"But we can open the box," said Toad.

"That is true," said Frog.

Frog tied some string around the box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

"But we can cut the string and open the box." said Toad.

"That is true," said Frog. Frog got a ladder. He put the box up on a high shelf.

"There," said Frog. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

"But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box," said Toad.

"That is true," said Frog.

Frog climbed the ladder and took the box down from the shelf. He cut the string and opened the box. Frog took the box outside. He shouted in a loud voice. "Hey, birds, here are cookies!" Birds came from everywhere. They picked up all the cookies in their beaks and flew away.

"Now we have no more cookies to eat," said Toad sadly. "Not even one."

"Yes," said Frog, "but we have lots and lots of willpower."

"You may keep it all, Frog," said Toad. "I am going home now to bake a cake." 

          “IT IS WRITTEN IN RED” Man will not live by cookies and cake alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of Jesus/God!