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morning everyone welcome to free grace baptist church any visitors out there with us this morning we welcome you to our church it's always a joy to have new faces in the pews if you have any questions after the morning service feel free to ask away just a couple of announcements before we begin worship this morning just a reminder pastor Butler and Rebecca are still traveling they returned Wednesday I believe there will be no bible study though on wednesday they arrived late and so the next Bible study will be not this upcoming wednesday but the one following we can keep them in prayer as they travel home also for nursery workers and helpers just a helpful some advice to help with the logistics of managing the nursery schedule if you could please check the schedule which is always a helpful exercise if you're going to be away please trade with someone it's something that certainly helps rather than having us scramble on the day if you're able to check the schedule know the schedule and if you are unable to come or if you're going away if you could arrange a trade with someone that would be terrific thank you well let's begin our worship please if you'll turn in your Bibles with me to Psalm 91 Psalm 91 that will be our call to worship this Lord's Day morning psalm 91 the Word of God he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my god in him I will trust surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the Fowler and from the perilous pestilence he shall cover you with his feathers and under his wings you shall take refuge his truth shall be your shield and buckler you shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor of the arrow that flies by day nor of the pestilence that walks in the darkness nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but it shall not come near you only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked because you have made the Lord who is my refuge even the most high your dwelling place no evil shall befall you nor shall any plague come near your dwelling for he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone you shall tread upon the lion and the Cobra the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot because he has set his love upon me therefore I will deliver him I will set him on high because he has known my name he shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him with long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation amen will it stand and sing together our first hymn is going to be 109 him number 109 this is my father's world let's stand and sing that together Oh Oh please be seated well now have a time of prayer we had our prayer meeting again this Lord's Day morning there was much that we are able to pray for in the span of an hour but now in this worship service for a few moments we go before our triune God let us bring our prayers our supplications with Thanksgiving to our great God let us pray Heavenly Father we rejoice in this opportunity now to gather as the Saints of Christ in this place to rejoice in you and sing the praises of your most holy name we do pray that this would be the case that by your Holy Spirit you would give us aid to have our souls stirred on too high in heavy praises of the triune god of heaven and earth we do pray Lord God that you would give us much grace and strength that we would properly hollow your name we pray that your gathered Saints in this assembly this morning would be marked by that reverential awe that is befitting the Lord of glory we do pray Lord God that we would render unto you praises and Thanksgivings and we come to you now in prayer with supplication mingled with Thanksgiving we do pray Lord God that you attend unto us knowing that we have that remaining corruption we need that grace from on high in order to endure in order to navigate this lower world the valley of the shadow of death we do pray that you would help us and wash us a fresh in the blood of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we know that in him and in him alone is there salvation we know that you did send him in the fullness of the times born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those who were under the curse of the law we rejoice in those blessed words of the Apostle Paul that Christ Jesus came into this world sinners to save and that that is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance we thank you for the gospel of so great a salvation knowing that we are not saved by deeds of righteousness which we have done but rather were saved by the perfect and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ we know that you have called us forth from darkness to light from deadness to life by virtue of Amazing Grace and by virtue of the perfect work of our Savior we thank you that he lived a life of perfect obedience unto your law that he died upon Calvary's tree is a perfect substitution ery sacrifice for guilty sinners we thank you that he rose again victorious on the third day that he has ascended unto your right hand where he ever lives to make intercession for his people we rejoice in our Christ and we do pray that you would cheer our hearts this day by a knowledge of him we would ask God that you'd help us to that we would be in prayer and not only now but throughout the week for those whom we prayed for this morning those suffering with sickness and disease there are many Lord God in those whom we love in this congregation who do suffer daily with these things and we would ask yet again that you would lift each and every one of these up that you would strengthen them tending to their bodies attending to their sicknesses as the great physician we know that healing is in your hands and we do pray that you would bring much strength to your suffering people we do pray that in the midst of physical affliction you would stir their souls too high and glorious thoughts of their Lord God and that they would find comfort in you and comfort in the promises of your word we would ask again God that you would be with our cherished brothers and sisters around the world who do suffer for their profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ those who are persecuted in many nations Lord God for the cause of Christ and truth we do pray that you would be near to them we would ask yet again father that you would be to them their God of all comfort lifting them up in the midst of de-stresses we pray that you would give them endurance that you would give them that grace of strength in the midst of opponents in the face of those who oppose them and persecute them that they might lay hold fast that confession of faith without wavering we pray Lord God that they would remain faithful to you and that even in the midst of such violent opposition they would bless the name of the triune God we do pray that you would deal with those who persecute them we would ask God that they would come into contact with the proclamation of the gospel that they would by your grace bend a knee to the king of kings and Lord of lords our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ that they would turn from the madness of idolatry and false religion and that they would own the name of Christ we do pray Lord God yet again for those who oppose you even unto their dying breath that those prior to this day those who remain and in in opposition to you that you would take them out of the way we longed to see peace among the nations where there are no longer those who oppose the people of Christ and so we pray that you would enact a temporal justice taking those out of the way who would seek to bring violence against your people and we would pray again for the government those who rule over us that they would rule over us in righteousness and truth and equity that they would cast off the sanctioning of abominations that they would cast off the wickedness that is so often fostered in the name of government and then in the name of progress and we do pray that they would uphold righteousness in the land we would ask yet again father that you would watch over pastor Butler as he travels we know that you and you alone provide providential and traveling mercies and we do just pray that you grant this on to Jim and Rebecca that they would enjoy the last few days of their vacation and that you would return them home safely we pray that you would bless them as they worship down south in Idaho might this day in that church be a day of rejoicing and might your saints in that placing the praises of your name we would ask God then that you would be with us now we know that we require the aid of your Holy Spirit to lift us up properly unto worship we pray that we would not be stolen away by thoughts of the past week by our lingering minds and thoughts of this upcoming week but that you would by your spirit keep us attentive keep us awake keep us focused that we might worship you rightly and that you might be the recipient of all honor and praise we do pray that your name would now be blessed that you would bless this worship and we do pray this in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen well let's stand and sing then our second him if you'll stand with me let's stand as a church will sing him 60 God the Lord a king remaineth him number 60 Oh please be seated can turn to the book of Matthew our New Testament scripture reading we do read each and every Lord's Day morning consecutively through the New Testament the Old at the evening service now we're in Matthew 13 we did finish at verse we finished at verse 43 last lord's day so we pick up in Matthew 13 at verse 44 Matthew 13 verse 44 once again the word of the living and true God again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden of field which a man found in hid and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it again the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind which when it was full they drew to shore and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels but threw the bat away so it will be at the end of the age the angels will come forth separate the wicked from among the just and cast them into the furnace of fire there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth jesus said to them have you understood all these things they said to him yes Lord then he said to them therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old now it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables that he departed from there when he had come to his own country he taught them in their synagogue so that so that they were astonished and said where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works is this not the carpenter's son is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James Joseph Simon and Judas and his sisters are they not all with us where then did this man get all these things so they were offended at but jesus said to them a prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house now he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief amen well we see among many other things that the Lord Jesus Christ counted a high thing the kingdom of God and the glorious gospel of the Blessed God he likens it unto three separate things one of which is this pearl of great price verse 45 again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it do you treat the Lord Jesus Christ this way do you treat the gospel of God's blessed son in this way that you would sell all to own nothing save for the Lord Jesus Christ this is the language of the Apostle Peter in his First Epistle to those who believe he is precious the preciousness of Christ you see all else is blackness when held up to the glory of the king of kings and the Lord of lords our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ it is Christians who are to be like this one who sold all to buy the pearl of great price might that be true of us Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we thank you for your revelation to men we thank you for what it discloses concerning the glory of our Christ the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior our Redeemer our King we do pray that you would help us to own him as the man in this parable that we would be such as who would sell all that we would own save nothing for that we would own nothing save for Christ Jesus the Lord our blessed Redeemer might we glory in your gospel might we glory in your grace might we rejoice in your mercy extended to us and all those perfections that are yours might you continue with us now in worship that we might return to you the praise do your name we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen well let's stand in our final him before the preaching is one more in the Train hymnal we're going to sing hymn number 81 a mighty fortress is our God him 81 let's stand you you please be seated can turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 4 Matthew 4 in fact when you arrived at Matthew for you can back up to Matthew 3 and we're going to pick up reading in Matthew 3 at verse 13 the occasion of the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ and continuing through chapter 42 verse 11 so this is Matthew 3 verse 13 the word of the living and true God then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized with him excuse me by him and John tried to prevent him saying I need to be baptized by you and are you coming to me but jesus answered and said to him permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness then he allowed him when he had being baptized Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were open to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights afterward he was hungry now when the tempter came to him he said if you are the son of God command that these stones become bread 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 then the devil took him up into the holy city set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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 jesus said to him it is written again you shall not tempt the Lord your God again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him all these things i will give you if you will fall down and worship Me then jesus said to him away with you Satan for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve then the devil left him and behold angels came and ministered to him amen well let us open with prayer Heavenly Father we rejoice in this your word we rejoice in our champion Christ we thank you for this occasion this event this blessed narrative that sets forth to us a victorious Christ and a vanquished devil and we do pray that you would help us to gain much cheer much joy and much instruction from this passage of your Holy Word might you bless it now might you blessed might you bless Lord God the preacher in the pulpit may you bless those in the pews this morning might this exercise of worship worship through the preaching of the word be unto your glory might you strengthen sinners and save them from the darkness of sin bring them forth from the madness and the darkness of sin unto life and light in Christ and Lord God might you encourage might you lift up might you instruct your people in the things concerning their blessed Christ and it's in his name that we do now pray amen well we're going to look at the wilderness testing of the Son of God here is Matthew the Evangelist sets it forth to us in his gospel here one of the things we should note if we can by way of introduction is that over a thousand years prior to this event over a thousand years prior to the testing of the Sun here in the wilderness there was that occasion with David and Goliath you remember what happened on that day the blasphemer Goliath of Gath that beastly giant would march out for 40 days and 40 nights and taunt Israel blaspheming the the God of Israel interrupting the Shema as they would declare it morning and evening and David comes and he is the hero of faithless and fearful Israel he comes and he goes alone our merliss tow to duck toe-to-toe against that blasphemer doing single combat in the desert here a thousand years later or over a thousand years later the greater than David Christ goes toe-to-toe against the more wicked than Goliath devil and he vanquishes that blaspheming beast in a great victory he is well Christ goes our merliss into the wilderness and comes out victorious and that for his people we want to look at Matthew 4 12 11 under simply three considerations the prelude to the battle the wilderness battle proper and then the post victory report notice what we find first in the text regarding the prelude to bat to battle vs 1 and 2 then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights afterward he was hungry we want to comment first on the nature of this episode what is it what is going on here the language that we have in verse 1 is that Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil now is this simply an instance where we have the devil seeking to solicit sin or seeking to elicit wrongdoing from the Lord Jesus Christ that is there to be sure but it is much deeper than that this language of tempted this language of tempting is used by Matthew end by others with the meaning of a testing that is a probation there is a testing going on here ultimately by God through the through the second cause agency of the devil in order to show forth Christ as the victorious substitute for his elect this is France on this particular text it is precisely that total commitment to god that this wilderness experience is designed to test perhaps more to the point for the whole emphasis of the story is on the testing of Jesus reaction to his messianic vocations as the Son of God so we go through this temptation that is a testing we want to explore the depth of that reality that this is much more than the devil seeking to solicit wrongdoing from Christ but it is a testing in order to show forth the Messiah the mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus this is again a testing will get to Deuteronomy 82 in a moment but before we get there we want to note as well divine sovereignty in the wilderness battle divine sovereignty in this wilderness battle noticed the language of the text then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil this wasn't an occasion where Christ goes off a wandering into the wilderness without any particular purpose undergirding it and the devil just happens to take advantage of that sort of random wandering of course not there is divine sovereignty in the wilderness battle it is God it is the Lord God by the Spirit leading Christ up into the wilderness in order for the express purpose that he would be tested by the devil there is divine purpose there is divine sovereignty there is sovereign divine plan in this wilderness testing we must note that this is something that sees the devil on the one hand with wicked intention seeking to elicit seeking to solicit wrongdoing on the part of Christ but you see over and above that it is the wise and holy and the just and the righteous intention of God in order to show forth his tested one his champion the lord jesus christ as the redeemer of men and we get to verse 11 and that's exactly what we have we have success in this plan Christ comes through the testing we don't necessarily want to get to the victory yet we want to go through the narrative rejoicing along the way but we know the end Christ is victorious we know the end Christ is majestic in his vanquishing of the father of lies it is the wicked intention of the devil to solicit wrongdoing on the part of Christ but it was the sovereign and pure intention of God to show forth Christ as the champion of God's elect through a test of his obedience both to the law and to his messianic mission lastly under the prelude to the battle and we'll open that up as we move along but notice with regards to the preparation for the wilderness battle in verse 3 now our excuse me verse 2 and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights afterward he was hungry there is much significance wrapped up in that single verse again it's not this this narrative concerning Christ is not isolated as an instance of its own where Christ is in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights fasting and and he was hungry there is rich Bible in the background hopefully when you hear 40 days and 40 nights the language of 40 with respect to years and with respect to days and nights is brought to your mind in multiple instances in the biblical narrative we go to the Old Testament and we find that theme of 40 rate at the outset with the story with regards to Israel there in the wilderness for t-day or excuse me 40 years we have the reality of Moses before he delivers the law upon the tablets he is fasting and he is hungry in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights we have elijah prior to going out on a rien erated prophetic mission fasting forty days and forty nights he is strengthened and ministered to by angels just like Christ is here in verse 11 and he goes about a prophesying the riches of the kingdom and the glory and the power of God there is rich there is rich Bible in the background here when we read he fasted forty days and forty nights afterward he was hungry what's going on here in this preparation or why would we call it preparation well it is God putting him up God bringing him into the wilderness according to divine purpose and if you if you'll allow the the comparison stripping him of armor in order to show forth that Christ as a solitary hero with no attendant armies with no attendant aid is able to vanquish the devil and remain steadfast in his messianic mission God is preparing him by this fasting episode and by bringing him to the place of absolute hunger in order that he might all the more show forth Christ's glorious power victory and the steadfastness of his mediator ship it's there is so much wrapped up in that one verse but we move on we will come back to it and the stuff of the 40 days and 40 nights as we do move on now moving on then to the wilderness battle in fact not yet moving on what can we learn from this very often application comes at the end but it is good as well as we move along to bring forth things that can help us with regards to application from in this case this desert narrative one thing that we can gain from that is trials do not come according to the random coursing of time it's human it's human to be confronted by trial to be confronted by affliction to be confronted by things tragedy those things that affect us and it's human to resign unto a woe is me a woe is us attitude and to think as if and atheist that things happen to us according to the random coursing of time Christ goes into and we haven't explored the depths yet but Christ goes into a very trying time Christ goes into a testing period of great affliction of forty days and forty nights with no food and drink where he is brought to the place of absolute hunger Christ not only is Christ and we didn't mention this during this testing or during these 40 days and 40 nights it isn't the case that the testing or the tempting by the devil starts after the 40 days and 40 nights okay it isn't that Christ was fasting forty days and forty nights and then the devil came to him in the last 10 minutes and then we have the desert battle no look at Luke 4 for a moment Luke chapter 4 if you have your Bibles and your you got your fingers at their ready you can navigate to Luke for where we see the parallel text we'll come back to our application there's a point in doing this Luke for one then Jesus being filled with the holy spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness being tempted for 40 days by the devil and in those days he ate nothing and afterward when they had ended he was hungry so you see what's going on here it isn't the case that he fasts 40 days and 40 nights is brought to hunger and then the testing and the temptation occurs but rather throughout the course of the 40-day forty night trial in the wilderness Christ is being tempted by the devil we have then this sort of culminating moving back to Matthew for this culminating episode then where the enemy thrice attacks Christ and Christ thrice responds victoriously but all that to come back to the point Christ is tried for 40 days and 40 nights and this affliction this trial the suffering that he undertook was according to the purpose and foreknowledge and predetermined plan of God so we come back to this trials do not come according to the random of coercing of time so wonderful if you if you're ever afflicted if you're ever down if you're if you're ever in that place of the the spiritual doldrums the clouds have come the rains have come figuratively you're in a bad place whether it's because of your own sin the neglect of the means of your preservation whether it is the fact that trial has come to you affliction those sorts of things no this this is the summary given in our confession of faith on divine providence the most wise righteous and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations in the corruptions of their own arts to chastise them for former sins or to discover unto them the hidden strengths of corruption and deceitfulness of their own hearts that they may be humbled and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin and for other justin holy ends so that whatever befalls any of his elect is by his appointment for his glory and they're good you see what's going on here then in this particular desert episode with regards to Christ he's sinless he's holy he's blameless he's undefiled and yet God is setting this predetermined episode into action for his glory and his own and Christ's good with regards to us we count trial and we count affliction not as the mind of an atheistic human but as with regenerated hearts with our Christian minds knowing that the good in the bad comes from on high for a holy end that God might receive all glory and that we might be all the more grown in our strength in our walk with Christ in this lower world fret not be anxious in nothing the Apostle writes be anxious in nothing but with prayer and supplication mingled with thank giving make your requests known to God trials come from the hand of our Blessed sovereign and they come with a holy and an intended purpose let's move on then to the wilderness battle the wilderness battle proper notice beginning in verse 3 we have the enemy's first attack and then the champions first response notice the enemy's first attack now when the tempter came to him he said if you are the son of God command that these stones become bread of course we know when we read in verse 3 the tempter we know that to be the devil that just preceded in verse 1 that is the devil the tempter is the devil later called Satan now when the tempter came to him he said if you are the son of God command that these stones become bread when he says here when the tempter says if you are the son of God we can take that in the thrust of meaning since you are the son of God then do this the fresh in the years of the father of lies was this glorious declaration from heaven in verse 17 of Matthew 3 and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased so from that the devil goes to Christ in the wilderness and he speaks these words in his tempting if you are or since you are the son of God command that these stones become bread now what is the devil doing here is he simply trying to come to Christ and to appeal to his hungry belly in order that he might you know command the stones to become bread and fill himself it's not simply an exercise in cita in having Christ soliciting Christ to sin after the hunger of his belly but that is the vehicle or the means by which the devil does come to Christ comes to him in his armor lyst hunger but what the devil is doing is he's trying to steer Christ away from his messianic mission heesta he's trying to divert the Son of God away from the proper course of his media his mediatorial his messianic that is simply his saving mission he's trying to steer away the king of kings and Lord of lords from that particular mission how do we get to that understanding how can we say that well look at another example in Matthew 16 no doubt you know this verse well the language of verse 11 or the language of verse 10 in Matthew 4 is here in Matthew 16 notice what we find in Matthew 16 beginning in verse 21 from that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying far be it from you lord this shall not happen to you but he turned and said to Peter get behind me Satan for you are an offense to me for you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men you see the comparison here Peter says far be it from you Lord this shall not happen to you the devil here in Matthew 43 says if you are the son command that these stones become bread what he's doing is he's steering Christ away from the proper course of his mediatorial task trying to if you will give Christ a shortcut to glory a shortcut unto the acquisition of the kingdom similar to what he does with Adam and Eve in the garden isn't it what is the serpent animated by the devil in the garden do with Adam and Eve he brings forth the doubt he brings forth the wicked doubt has God really said such and such concerning eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and well instead of Adam and Eve sitting under the the lordship of the triune God being instructed according to righteousness and holiness and all the good things that the triune God brings they rather try to skirt or do an end-run around things and eat from the null of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil here the devil comes to the second Adam to the glorious anti type of Adam the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ and seeks to exercise the same sort of wickedness if you are the son of God command that these stones become Brad notice the champions response the response of our glorious champion verse 4 but he answered that is Christ and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God the first thing we ought to note here is how does Christ answer the Lord Jesus Christ excuse me how does the Lord Jesus Christ answer the tempter the devil he doesn't say go sit on a tack three times and stay there he doesn't with joy in his heart dance around and say Satan go sit on a tack he goes to the word of the living and true God he goes to divine revelation and brings the answer by wielding the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God in order to crack the first blow back at the father of lies it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God it's instructive Christ gives us instruction here if we can move down the line to perhaps number you know four or five in the application we go to the Word of God to answer the wickedness of our own flesh the world and of course the tempter the devil what is our rule of faith and practice it is not the the wandering waters of time it isn't nature it isn't what we see around us the answer to all that ills the answer to all that man the answer to all that opposes the Christian the answer to all that opposes God is the word of the living and true God it is written Christ opens his return blow with man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God now what does that mean what is Christ doing there we must note the words themselves to be sure man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God there's an easy exercise in observation that we can do here man is to know to read to love to avail of the word of the living and true God we aren't as Christians to simply survive and to sustain on bread alone to the exclusion and neglect of reading our Bibles there is that in the passage to be sure but that is not what Christ's first purpose here is Christ isn't just offering up a general and universal ethic of making sure that we're not just focused on the self gratification of ingesting food that we also need to have morning devotions he's not he's not saying here you know you need to do morning devotions with your morning toast though that is good you open up your spurge and open up your Bible when you're throwing back that toast and and avail of the word of God while you eat bread there's something peculiar that Christ is doing here and to see what he is doing you can turn back to the book of Deuteronomy and chapter 8 remember what we said when we opened up the sermon this morning in exploring the depths of this just beyond the surface of a wilderness battle where in Christ is victorious we want to see how Christ is being obedient Israel the perfect Israel the true Israel of God in a manner that the first Israel failed to do or in a manner where we see the first Israel had failed in their dealings with their covenant Lord in the Old Testament notice in Deuteronomy 8 and notice as we read this is very important the language of hung the language of wilderness the language of testing the language and the language that Christ brings to the fore with regards to his own obedience notice in Deuteronomy 8 beginning at verse 1 every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your father's and you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to Humble you and test you to know what was in your heart whether you would keep his Commandments or not stop there for a moment it was Israel successful in that of course they weren't you read the history of Israel what do we know God gives them the commandments and time and again they fail God is gracious in restoration renewing the government the covenant terms and compacts and yet time and again Israel's notice again the language of testing with regards to Commandments and you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way now what did the spirit do lead Christ into the wilderness led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to Humble you and test you what did the spirit lead Christ into the wilderness to to have or to do to be tested to know what is in your heart whether you would keep his Commandments or not God is doing the same with Christ leading him up into the wilderness to know if he will keep his Commandments or not the humbling is seen in the fasting forty days and forty nights brought to the place of absolute hunger humbled in his humiliation and he stands before the devil and the devil brings the same temptations if you will allow that he brought Israel in the desert when they broke God's holy Commandments you see Christ isn't just setting forth a principle of of doing morning devotions with your morning toast he is saying I am the true Israel who is obedient to the covenant Lord Israel failed they our covenant breakers but I am the Covenant keeper who came to keep the Covenant covenant for my people that I might afford unto them a righteousness not their own but my own that avails with God and die upon Calvary's cross for their sins there is a blessed deep and rich theological theological exposition going on in the desert battle if you're still in Deuteronomy 8 to notice what follows immediately after what we just read so he humbled you allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your father's know that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone but by but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord you see Christ is answering here no devil no tempter God has given me a commandment that I must come and keep his covenant for my people all those whom he has given to me and I'm not going to do an end-run around that by self-gratifying me now by turning these stones into bread because I would be just like Israel of old who complained that God was not sustaining them in the wilderness it's absolutely rich Christ is using the word of God using it to blow back against the devil a strike in order to show for that he is resolute in his messianic mission in his saving mission to come into this world sinners to save Israel of old is more concerned with belly satisfaction than obeying God who delivered them out of bondage in Egypt but Christ comes as the Covenant keeper obeying God and upholding the principle of being holy resigned to his will notice in Exodus 16 and this does help us brethren as we explore the depths of christ's victory over the father of lies notice in Exodus 16 in Exodus chapter 16 and let's just set the stage for a moment here God had God had redeemed Israel from out of bondage in Egypt they were in bondage in Egypt God redeems them from out of Egypt he brings them into their wilderness wanderings remember very soon after before we read from Exodus 16 very soon after the victory over the Egyptians when they were chasing the Israelites and the water collapsed back upon the Egyptians we noticed in Exodus 15 Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and spoke saying I will sing to the Lord for he haves he has triumphed gloriously the horse and it's rider he is thrown into the sea the Lord is my strength and song he has become my salvation he is my god and I will praise him my father is God and I will exalt him we get to Exodus 16 and what do we find notice verse 1 and they journeyed from Le manned all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of sin which is between elements sinai on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and the children of Israel said to them oh that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we SAT by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the to the full for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger you see the connection here the perfect and glorious Israel the Christ is brought to the position of hunger in the wilderness and the devil seeking to take advantage wants to do what was done to Israel wants to solicit out of Christ coven ental failings and disobedience but Christ with valiance answers it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that seeds from the mouth of God the very thing that Israel should have said didn't they failed Christ upholds he speaks it and he is perfectly successful the champions first response is glorious notice the enemies second attack and the champions second response verse 5 then the devil took him up into the holy city set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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 Otis the devil the enemy's second attack he now shifts things a little bit Christ replies with scripture and so now the devil brings the Word of God to bear against Christ but what's the difference of course the devil absolutely miss applies Psalm 91 we read the psalm at the outset the enemy here the tempter misuses Psalm 91 in 2 to run completely against the glory and the weight of that song but nevertheless he employs the scriptures in order to elicit or in order to solicit the Son of God to tent the father he brings he prays if you will upon the Lord Christ's hunger the fact that for forty days and forty nights he went without sustenance he preys upon that he preys upon his weakness and his weariness and seeks to elicit Christ to tempt the father but the Lord Christ replies valiantly again in verse 7 jesus said to him it is written again you shall not tempt the Lord your God it's it what did it what are we to take just backing up for a moment and verse five was this we call this the wilderness battle the battle in desert the wilderness battle between the son of god and the father of lies but we noticed here verse 5 then the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple is this an instance where they are transported you know locomotive Li not by train but you know in time and in space to the pinnacle of the temple or it is is it similar to some things that we find in the Old Testament where it is a vision of the place where it is by a supernatural bringing if you will a disclosure of a thing in order to do such and such well there are good arguments either way but what we do know is that the devil shows Christ from the pinnacle of the temple or brings him there in a manner and seeks to have him tempt the father by saying cast yourself down because the angels will help you now we know this for a certainty that the power was there for Christ to command angels to come to his aid the devil seeks to prey upon that reality since you are the son of God throw yourself down as it is written he gives his angels charge over you Christ himself in Matthew 26 remember what happens there it's the betrayal in the garden and the betrayer had come that is Judas to betray Christ to deliver him up into the wicked hands of those who would ultimately crucify him and Peter unsheathes his sword and goes to chop does chop the ear off of Malkis that that servant Christ heals them you see in that instance the the Savior brings to bear the reality that we are not to seek after events we are not to seek after an avoidance of the messianic task Christ says don't do you not know that I that if I asked the father he would have sent twelve legions of angels to my aid but what does he say after that he says but that the mich that but that the Scriptures might be fulfill old let it happen thus that's what Christ is doing here he need not answer the devil to tempt the Lord to bring him deliverance from his present distress by this miss application of Psalm 91 but rather it is written again you shall not tempt the Lord your God the power of God relative to the redemptive purpose of God is seen here Christ does not avail of any divine prerogative to call angels to his aid but is steadfast in his messianic task let's just pause here for a moment I know I am hot and stuffy up here so i'm not sure you guys are probably got a fan here actually it's blowing away from me so I don't have cold air it blows the pages and that sort of thing so it can and mess things up but let's just pause here for a moment see if we can shake our bodies to a little bit of attentiveness and revel in something revel in something it's so easy for us as men as children boys and girls as men and women to follow after heroes of this world to follow after those who are set before us as the the champions if you will of their various mill use of their various environments their their crafts and those sorts of things and people flock with tears in their eyes after people who all they do is grab a microphone hold it like this and belt out little ditties and there they're heroes to people and there's heroes that can do amazing things with with soccer balls and people will flock by the thousands and even stop stampede people to death over a little white ball being kicked atop mowed grass just to worship these these men of sport can follow after so many heroes and after so many champions and all that to the neglect into the exclusion of this Christ who is the true and only champion ultimately and highly and exalted ly speaking why would we see after any champion any heroes save for this one I mean you can watch I'm not saying don't you know watch a soccer game but it can so often be the case that our our faces are alighted and our interests and our wallets are all are all focused after everything else while the hero of Heroes and the champion and champions is left neglected in the dust of the desert kids find a champion in Matthew for everyone in this room find a champion in Matthew for this if we compare David and Goliath for a moment you know we think this beast of a man Goliath you know nine foot 6 or whatever he was ten feet tall maybe even taller decked out and you know 500 pounds of armor spear and javelin and sword and shield and all of these things David comes up against him knocks him down in the desert cuts off his own head with Goliath sword which is great victorious against that beast in the valley of ayla I think we can sort of sort of let our you know let our the keen eye of seeking after heroism land and stop there and not think that this desert and wilderness skirmish this wilderness battle isn't infinitely greater than that one you see we think about that battle in the valley of a line it's quite amazing their swords there's you know there's a single combat toe-to-toe battle where two warriors comma cheese delivery shepherd boy and a mass of a man but the greater than David Christ comes up against a more beastly than Goliath Satan and Christ vanquishes him this is the stuff that we ought to flock after not the sinners who tilt a microphone and belt out a little ditty modified by computers so that their voice sounds a little bit better king of kings and Lord of lords vanquishes the father of lies let all Christian eyes and Christian ears land upon this and there find exclusively a hero exclusively a champ back to the attack then back to the attack and to the response Israel doubts divine provision in disobedience in their wilderness episode cries out tempting the Lord demanding him to prove himself but Christ does not doubt and is obedient what where is the connected Old Testament text in this hopefully this isn't an exercise that finds you you know man went you know we have to flip around in our Bibles can we can we just get to the the meat and potatoes or can we get to the end and and that sort of thing let's go to the old testament to see the richness and the depth of what's going on here turn to Exodus 17 Exodus 17 again as you're turning there this is what I just said with regards to Christ the perfect and glorious Israel vs. the disobedient covenant breaking Israel of old Israel doubts divine provision and his disobedient cries out tempting the Lord demanding him to prove himself but christ in his wilderness episode proves himself strong no doubt and his obedient notice in Exodus 17 in Exodus chapter 17 notice what we find there let's this is a bunch of reading but let's pick up in verse 1 we're moving towards verse 7 though Exodus 17 1 then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the wilderness of sin according to the commandment of the Lord in Campton redeem but there was no water for the people to drink there for the people contended with Moses and said give us water that we may drink so Moses said to them why do you contend with me now notice why do you tempt the Lord and the people thirsted therefore water and the people complained against Moses and said why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt to kill us in our children and our livestock with thirst so Moses cried out to the Lord saying what shall I do with this people they are almost ready to stone me and the Lord said to Moses go on before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go behold I will stand before you there on the rock and horab and you shall strike the rock and water will come out of it that the people may drink and Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel so he called the name of the place masa and Meribah because of the contention of the children of Israel and because they tempted the Lord saying is the Lord among us or not is the Lord among us or not you see the devil preys on Christ in this wilderness battle on the on the sort of the hope if you will the demolition satanic hope that this Christ would have the mind of is the Lord with me but what does Christ do instead of crying and complaining and and asking God to prove himself by calling angels to come and bear him up he says it is written you shall not tempt the Lord your God absolutely glorious his specific illusion is no doubt the languages in Ezekiel 17 but his specific illusion is to Deuteronomy 6 and verse 16 where we read the following words you shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him in massa the Lord Christ responds to the devilish tempting with a victorious simple phrase it is written you shall not tempt the Lord your God thirdly then the enemy's third attack his last attack in the Champions third response his last response notice what we have in beginning in verse 8 again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to them all the things i will give you if you will fall down and worship Me then jesus said to him away with you Satan for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve what do we find first off well actually before we get there with the enemy's attack and opening that up a wee bit this is Chris Chris awesome and I love what he says here regarding introducing the third attack by the devil it's wonderful language he says this for as pugilists if anyone doesn't know what a pugilist is that's what they used to call boxers back in the back in the day a boxer is a pugilist for as pugilists when they have received deadly blows real about drenched in much blood and blinded even so he to that is the devil darkened by the first and second blow speaks at random what comes uppermost and proceeds to his third assault chrysostom is saying the devil the devil is scrambling the devil is not victorious the devil is gaining no ground against the Lion of the tribe of Judah I like what Spurgeon says when he describes this battle he says it is the the lion of the pit and the mighty lion of the tribe of Judah who go toe-to-toe in the desert the lion of the pit is not making any advances the lion of the pit is failing and so he scrambles such that in his second attack he he throws out or he speaks at random what comes uppermost he uses the word of God and just throws it out there in miss application hoping that citing the scriptures might land Christ here again is victorious but first notice what the enemy seeks to do he takes Christ on this exceedingly high mountain shows him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory and he said to him all these things i will give you if you will fall down and worship Me now some have noted here and I think rightly what the devil is trying to do is he's trying again to solicit Ron wrongdoing on the part of Christ in this case trying to appeal to Christ wanting an ex edition of kingdom glory in other words ushering in the glory now giving it to Christ now what does Christ do what is the way to glory for Christ what is the way to glory for Christ it isn't writing valiantly on a steed and just proclaiming loudly a message of divine glory and then riding back up into heaven but it is the misery and the ignominy the shame of the cross so the devil is offering the kingdom all the kingdoms of the world we know from our Bibles that Christ is the inheritor of the kingdoms of the world by virtue of his crucifixion and his victorious rising again from the grave his exaltation what's what does Christ say himself post victorious cross work he says all Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth here the devil is only offering the kingdoms of this world and their glory it's even it's a lower Kingdom reality that the devil the the Prince of Darkness the the Lord or king of this world if you will refer to in John 12 30 31 he's offering him the kingdoms of this world Christ is going to be the inheritor of heaven and earth the devil is trying to tempt Christ to now gain the kingdoms of this world rather than going through the trial the afflictions the sufferings of the cross Christ answers again beautifully then jesus said to him away with you Satan for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve again Christ brings to the fore virtuous and right and divine commandment but also is harkening us back to the disobedience of Israel in their wilderness episode what did they do God redeems them from out of Egypt God redeems them physically from out of that bondage the glorious covenant Lord brings them from out of that places them in the wilderness for their testing and immediately they fail erecting a mold an image time and again what do they do instead of serving the Lord your God fearing and worshipping him and him only serving they erect graven images and they follow after the gods of the Gentiles here Christ answers again boldly and with great valiance you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve for your interest this is as well in Deuteronomy 6 in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and we're going to open up a little bit more of this tonight as we look at the theology of this particular passage in greater detail but notice in Deuteronomy 6 and verse 13 the language that Christ is referring to you shall fear the Lord your God and serve him and shall make O's in his name you shall not go after other gods the gods of the peoples who are all around you you see what Christ is doing here Israel failed in the wilderness they followed after other gods they disobeyed the commandments of their Lord but Christ in setting forth the reality that he is the Messiah he is the resolute king of kings and Lord of lords who will execute the task of redemption he answers with these glorious words you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve Israel of old makes a mold an image in an act of idolatrous covenant breaking but Christ is obedient but we want to load it notice lastly then as we lead to a close the post victory report notice the post victory report verse 11 then the devil left him and behold angels came and ministered to him it's a very short post victory report but hopefully can gain much from just a brief examination notice first the defeated foe then the devil left him this is instructive just for a brief vacation brief vacation from our exposition here this is instructive for us in answering the attacks of the devil in other words when the devil attacks us and I know it's not he doesn't appear to us as he did with Christ here it may not be as apparent as this biblical narrative reports concerning Christ but when we are tempted when the devil comes to us the answer is not too ridiculously say go sit on a tack three times the answer is the word of the living and true God in fact the answer comes from the Word of God the Lord rebuke you first of all the devil can't sit on a tack ease in corporeal but secondly what is the answer to all which comes in opposition to us what is the answer for for all things what is our rule of faith in life and obedience it is the word of the living and true God and among many other things this passage passage instructs us then the devil left him Christ thrice answers from the word the devil leaves this harkens back to the words of Christ and got in the Gospel of John with regards to the devil being the king of this world the ruler of this world there we read this in John 12 30 jesus answered and said this voice did not come because of me but for your sake that is God's word from heaven now is the judgment of this world now the ruler of this world will be cast out and I if I am lifted up from the earth will draw all peoples to myself you see what's going on here Christ is victorious now the devil will return that passage in John is ultimately speaking of the crucifixion but nevertheless in this desert this wilderness skirmish the Lord Christ is victorious and the devil departs notices well then the valley in champion and we'll close with prayer the simple language here but there is still much and behold angels came and ministered to him hopefully you can see the weight of what's happening here angels came and ministered to him there's an Ezekiel connection that we can't really draw out right now but what we have here is this Christ receives according to God's timing and purpose the things the devil tempted him to expedite the very three things that the devil offered Christ Christ is gaining here first off this language of the angels came and ministered to him connects2 1st Kings 19 where Ezekiel is tended to by the angels after what or actually before what before fasting forty days and forty nights the angels come and attend to him they Minister him by the giving of bread this ministering here isn't just angels popping down and playing some harp music so that Christ soul would be lifted you know by the harp this is angels coming and feeding him bread so the very thing that Christ offered excuse me the very thing the devil offered to Christ to skirt the timing and the the plan according to God and feed himself right away is now according to wholesome divine timing given unto him the lesson is obvious we wait and we rest upon God's timing not our own we don't lament we don't complain we don't call upon God to give but rather we wait and God does bless according to his character and his promises notices well Psalm 91 is fulfilled the very Psalm that the devil miss applies is now fulfilled angels came and ministered to him that's what the Satan was tempting Christ with and now having gone through the probation having gone through this divine testing to make it known that this is the Christ the one who is the perfect messiah who would save guilty sinners from their sins now Psalm 91 is fulfilled according to its wholesome and divine intention angels now come and minister to him and this giving of the kingdom's this giving of the kingdom's Christ waits the devil is for a time vanquished and notice what we have in the following narrative in verse 17 from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand the very things that the devil was tempting Christ to expedite Christ waits as the patient resolute Messiah and they are given according to the plan of God according to divine purpose and timing what a glorious account of a victorious Christ against a wicked devil we're going to open up in this in greater detail tonight but I want to close because it is hot and I want you guys to leave but not without a holy and Christian consideration of the weight of this passage I want to close with a quote from Spurgeon hopefully if this preacher can't then Spurgeon bringing this out from the word with regards to our champion Christ will have you guys leaving with a Christian smile seeking to own one champion and that Christ let us remember him in the wilderness whither he went straight from his immersion oh I have often thought of that scene in the desert when Christ weary and wayworn SAT him down perhaps upon the gnarled roots of some old tree forty days that he fasted he was hungered when in the extremity of his weakness there came the evil spirit perhaps he had veiled his demon royalty in the form of some aged pilgrim and taking up a stone said wayworn pilgrim if thou be the Son of God command at this stone be made bread methinks I see him with his cunning smile and his maliciously r as he held the stone and said if blasphemous if if thou be the Son of God command that this stone shall become a meal for me and V for both of us are hungry and it will be an act mercy thou canst do it easily speak the word and it shall be like the bread of heaven we will feed upon it and thou when I will be friends forever but jesus said and oh how sweetly did he say it man shall not live by bread alone oh how wonderfully did Christ fight the tempter never was there such a battle as that it was a duel foot to foot a single-handed combat when the champion lion of the pit and the mighty lion of the tribe of Judah fought together splendid sight angels stood around to gaze upon the spectacle just as men of old did sit to see the tournament of noted warriors there Satan gathered up his strength here apollyon concentrated all his satanic power that in this giant wrestle he might overthrow the seed of the woman but Jesus was more than a match for him in the wrestling he gave him a deadly fall and came off more than a conqueror Lamb of God I will remember thy desert strivings when next I combat with Satan when next I have a conflict with roaring diabolus I will look to him who conquered once for all and broke the dragon's head with his mighty blows brothers and sisters children people what a champion is our Christ what a champion leave with these words with bring import to this passage from the book of 1st Samuel remember what we said that our desert champion Christ the greater than David conquers are greater than Goliath in that David and Goliath account we have this language when David goes out to Goliath then David said to Saul let no man's heart fail because of him your servant will go fight with this Philistine Christ the suffering servant goes and fights with that Philistine tempter the devil the worse than Philistine Goliath the tempter the devil he vanquishes him let no man's heart fail because of the devil if you're in Christ let not your heart fail because our champion has gone before us to vanquish the devil and to save us from our sins and if you're here outside of Christ don't leave don't leave you know shutting your ears don't leave blocking out the word of God delivered today by a fallible preacher but the infallible word disclosed opened up don't leave without resting upon the truth of God's Word as it shows forth God's glory your own sinfulness in the only way of salvation through this champion this one who vanquished the devil the Lord Jesus Christ look to him and you will have him as your all in all and in him you will have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your time and worship this time in worship we thank you for your word we would ask that you would help us to reflect much upon our champion Christ that we would rejoice in him as that one who perfectly carried out your law who was the perfect covenant keeper in our stead who died upon Calvary's tree that we might have the forgiveness of sins we thank you that he rose again the third day and that he is in that even higher regard in the resurrection exaltation following a victorious crucifixion a great champion we do pray that you would help us to honor him to praise him to see in him as our all in all the pearl of great price and might we seek to live in light of that and to tell others of this glorious champion we do pray that you'd go with us now in the name of Christ Jesus our Savior we pray amen well let's stand with a singing of the doxology if you'll stand with me as we close with a singing of the doxology that's roman numeral 16 in your hymn books let's stand and sing together now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel in the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith to God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever amen please be seated there will be a brief time of Prayer when the piano has finished you may leave you