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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 2, 2007 4:39:19 GMT 12.75
Didn't JOhn say that Jesus was coming to baptise in the Holy Spirit? Yep. And I can't remember where right now, but I have also read where Jesus didn't baptize, at least with water.
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 7, 2007 23:13:53 GMT 12.75
Matthew 4:1-4 (King James Version)
1. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred. 3. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
So far in our study of Matthew, we have seen the genealogy of Jesus, His birth and some of the events surrounding it, John the Baptist's ministry, and the baptism of Jesus. Today, we are going to start looking at a part of Jesus' life that most people either ignore or overlook on purpose. That is the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. The reason I believe most people ignore this part is because they refuse to accept the fact that Jesus was both God and man. They want to say that since Jesus was the Son of God that it was easy to live a perfect life. But it wasn't! He was God in human flesh, but He suffered the same temptations that each and every one of us do.
In verse 1 we find a continuation of what happened immediately after Jesus' baptism. If you will recall, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and the Father spoke in an audible voice saying that Jesus was His beloved Son. Immediately after this Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. This happened right afterwards. There was no time to get ready, nothing. This is all signified by the word "then". Notice also that Jesus was submissive unto the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led Jesus into a place where normally people didn't go. This wilderness was probably somewhere upon the banks of the Jordan River, but was a place of desolation, or few if any human habitation. It was a place of rugged gorges and bad lands. In ancient times this area was infested with wild animals. Except for a brief time during the spring rains the wilderness is arid (Baker's Bible Atlas). So you can see that this is not a place that a person would willingly go into. But Jesus, being obedient unto the Holy Spirit, went willingly. We also see the purpose of Jesus going into this wilderness. It was to be tempted of the Devil. We will get more into this later. There is one very important thing we need to learn just from this simple verse. Jesus was submissive unto the leadership of the Holy Spirit. He followed the Holy Spirit into a place where there was very little water, no food, and few if any people. Folks, Jesus set the example for us! We should be willing to go where ever the Holy Spirit leads us, ready to grow in the Lord. Now, don't get me wrong. Jesus didn't need to learn or grow spiritually. But He was God in human flesh. We are not! We should follow where ever He leads. Are we?
In verse 2 we see that Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Now, I'm not an expert on fasting, in fact, I had to do some research on this subject. I know that there are several of you that know more about this than me, but I have learned a few things. A fast is doing without something, normally food, but it could include anything, from pleasures of the flesh to other desires. A fast prepares the body for a great undertaking by cleansing it from toxins. A person who fasts normally drinks only water or fruit juice and abstains from food. Now, I have never voluntary fasted, but I have learned that after 3 days, the desire to eat fades and the body starts a natural cleansing. In Biblical times a person fasted to show piety, or repentance, or to prepare for a great task. I believe that latter is why Jesus fasted. He knew that Satan was going to tempt Him, so He prepared for these temptations. But why 40 days? Why not just a few days? It has been researched by medical professionals that after 21 days, the mind becomes clearer and thinks sharper. It is my firm belief that Jesus was spending time with the Father during this time, in prayer, and was enjoying it so much that He continued His fast until His body naturally desired food. One commentator I read said that when the body is ready to end the fast, the hunger pangs return. Jesus knew the task ahead of Him wasn't going to be easy, so He prepared for it. But what can we glean from this in our walk with the Lord? Brethren, sometimes we need to focus on nothing but the Lord. We need to forget the everyday cares of this world, and focus only on Him. Thats what Jesus did when He fasted. He focused only on the Father to the exclusion of everything else. Now, I'm not saying a person needs to go out and fast for 40 days so that they may focus on the Lord. I am saying that we need to do without somethings in our life for a while so that the Lord is our center of attention for an extended period of time. If something in your life is keeping you from serving the Lord as you should, if you fasted from it, you would probably find out that you didn't really need that in your life at all. What is hindering your service to the Lord? What is keeping you from focusing on the Lord completely?
As we look now at verse 3 we see that Jesus gave Satan every advantage. We see nothing to indicate that at this time Jesus had broken His fast, but He was hungry. How do I know this? The end of verse 2 and the beginning of verse 3 says that Jesus was hungry AND Satan came to Him. Folks, I believe that Jesus was hungry and that Satan knew it and tried to use it to his advantage. That is the way that Satan operates. He will look for a weak spot in our life and will try to exploit it. Satan knows our weakness! And knowing our weakness, he will do every thing he can to ruin our testimony for the Lord. And our weakness can be anything, that is why we have to be always on our guard. Another thing that I noticed in verse 3 was that Matthew called Satan the tempter. When I started studying this, I was reminded of a television show back in the 70's. It was the Flip Wilson show. Flip played a part called Geraldine and the catch phrase was "The devil made me do it". Folks, Satan can't make you do anything! He can lay the temptation out there and through your own free will, you can accept or reject that temptation. Look at the example of Job. He had lost everything, including his health, and his wife even told him to curse God and die. But Job refused to accept that temptation and he kept on serving the Lord. Brethren, we need to be more like Job. When temptations come your way, do you accept them or are you like Job and reject them? God will always provide a way for us to resist temptation. Are we looking for that way though? Getting back to our verse, we see Satan's first temptation of Jesus. And what a cruel temptation it was. Jesus was hungry and Satan tries to get Him to turn the rocks into bread. Can't you hear the sneer in Satan's voice? IF you are the Son of God. Folks, Satan knew Jesus was the Son of God! He had already tried to kill Him when He was a child. But Satan knew that Jesus was also in a weakened state. So he tried to use a temptation that would cause Jesus to sin. Satan called Jesus' deity into question while also trying to get Jesus to satisfy His hunger. Brethren, this is the same trick Satan used on Eve back in the garden of Eden. It is one of Satan's main ploys. To call into question the deity of God. And he is still using it today!
In verse 4 we see Jesus' answer to Satan's temptation. His answer was that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. What a profound statement! This is a direct quote from Deuteronomy 8:3. I think it would be good to first look at what is behind Deuteronomy 8:3, so that we may better understand why Jesus used this particular quotation. Now, Deuteronomy was the last book written by Moses and is his farewell address to the nation of Israel during their wanderings. They are about to enter the promised land, and, Moses, realizing he will not, is giving them his final instructions. In this wonderful book, Moses goes over the Law again, re-visits their wanderings, and challenges the people. In Deuteronomy 8:3 Moses reminds the people that in their 40 years of wanderings that God allowed them to be hungry and then fed them with manna to teach them a lesson. This was to teach the people that physical food, while important to sustain the physical body, is not nearly as important as spiritual food. Now, back to Matthew 4:4. Why did Jesus use this verse instead of any number of others? Folks, it is the same lesson God taught the children of Israel. Spiritual food is more important than physical food. Look at it this way. Which will live longer, your soul or your body? If you answered body, we need to have a talk. IT IS YOUR SOUL! So why wouldn't food that feeds your soul be more important than that which feeds your body? Your soul will exist forever while your body will die. Which would you rather feed? Another thing I want us to notice is how Jesus answered Satan. In each of the temptations, Jesus answered with Scripture. Brethren, should we be any different? Jesus set the example for us, so we should follow it! When temptation comes in your life, and believe me, it will, the best way to answer it is with Scripture. That is why it is so important to study. Satan knows the Scripture better than you or I do. He can twist it around to get people confused and to get them to sin. He did it to Eve in the Garden of Eden. And he is still doing it today! We need to study the Scriptures so we know what they teach, not what we think, or what someone tells us, but what they actually teach. And how will we know what the Scriptures teach? By study!
Today we have seen the first of Satan's temptations of Jesus. We have seen how Jesus was hungry, how Satan tempted Him, and how Jesus answered. I would like you to consider a few things in closing. Have you spent any time with the Lord lately to the exclusion of everything else? Do you know the Scriptures well enough to answer any temptation with them? If not, why not? What is more important to you, your physical body, which will die and decay, or your soul, which lives forever?
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Post by Toby Benoit on Oct 9, 2007 12:12:18 GMT 12.75
Thanks a bunch Preacher! I got a bunch here to chew on and I'll finish digesting it before I get to asking you too many questions. I'm not too confused, but you raised a point or two I hadn't considered.
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Post by Paws on Oct 9, 2007 13:29:57 GMT 12.75
Pastor, I know you got some evidence for the 40 day thing but you know what? That number has been a bugaboo my whole life. Forty of this and forty of that. Ever hear of such a thing?
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 9, 2007 13:36:30 GMT 12.75
Pastor, I know you got some evidence for the 40 day thing but you know what? That number has been a bugaboo my whole life. Forty of this and forty of that. Ever hear of such a thing? Do you mean in your personal life??I ain't ever heard of such a thing, but it would be possible. In the Scriptures the number 40 appears quite often. 40 years for the children of Israel in the wilderness is just one that pops to mind. Another is that 40 is symbolic of a generation. The average life span back then wasn't much more than 40 years, so when the Bible uses the number 40, sometimes it refers to a generation. But in this case, I think it was just the maximum days that Jesus could have fasted without doing permanent damage to His human body.
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Post by Paws on Oct 9, 2007 13:40:47 GMT 12.75
Yep in my personal life. Long long before I ever saw it in the Bible it was buggin' me.
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 9, 2007 21:34:39 GMT 12.75
Yep in my personal life. Long long before I ever saw it in the Bible it was buggin' me. Hmmm. I haven't ever heard of such a thing, but that doesn't mean it ain't possible. I doubt it is just coincidence, because all things are of God. But as to what spiritual reference it would have in your life, I have no idea. I'm stumped on that one!
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 14, 2007 21:44:58 GMT 12.75
Matthew 4:5-7 (King James Version)
5. Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple. 6. And saith unto Him. If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and In their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7. Jesus said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
If you will recall, last week we looked at the first temptation of Jesus by Satan. We saw how Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit and how He fasted for 40 days. We also saw that at the end of His fast, when Jesus was hungry that Satan tempted Jesus with a basic human desire, that of satisfying His hunger. We saw how Jesus resisted that temptation by using Scripture, something that each of us should do when temptations come our way. We are now going to look at the second of the temptations and hopefully learn something that will help us in our everyday walk with the Lord.
In verse 5 the first thing we should notice is the logical indicator "then". This means that what happens next immediately follows what proceeds it. There is no time gap or time between. These happened one right after the other. In other words, Satan didn't give Jesus any time to rest between these temptations. Satan kept after Him. And Satan does the same thing to us today. I have noticed in my life, as I'm sure you have, that if I am able to withstand one temptation, Satan is right there with another. He tries to wear us down so that we will succumb to his temptations and sin. Brethren, we need to always be on guard for the temptations that follow after a previous temptation. Those are the ones that will get you. The next thing we should notice is that Satan took Jesus somewhere. As I sat and thought on this, it occurred to me that Jesus gave Satan every advantage in these temptations. Jesus allowed Satan to take Him somewhere. Now, there are some scholars that believe that Satan never physically carried Jesus anywhere, but that this was all in Jesus' mind. That is possible, but I am of the belief that Satan actually carried Jesus to these places. While it doesn't really matter which school of thought you are in this, what really matters is that these temptations were real, whether at an actual place or not. Anyway, Jesus gave Satan the advantage by allowing him to either physically take Him somewhere, or mentally take Him somewhere. Satan thought he had control over Jesus by being able to do this, but we all know who really is in control. In the last part of verse 5 we see where Jesus was taken. It was to the pinnacle of the Temple. It is impossible to know exactly what portion of the Temple is referred to by the phrase "the pinnacle". The use of the definite article makes it plain that it was not a pinnacle but THE pinnacle. There is a lot of different opinions about this, and while we don't know for sure, a lot of the scholars suggest that this pinnacle was actually a battlement ordered by law upon every roof of the Temple. Remember, the Temple was the most imposing structure in Jerusalem. What is important is not where the pinnacle was, but only that it was probably the highest part of the Temple, and if one fell, it would be certain death. I also think that it is important to know why Satan took Jesus to the Temple. Other than it being one of the tallest, if not the tallest, I believe Jesus allowed Satan to take Him here to teach us something. Think a minute. What was the Temple? It was the house of God! Folks, just like then, Satan knows where the house of God is today. It is my firm belief that when someone comes under conviction by the Holy Spirit that Satan is there also working against the Holy Spirit. When I was under conviction to surrender to preach, Satan was telling me to wait another week, that I would mess it up, that there were too many people there and all sorts of excuses. Folks, Satan is alive and working today! Don't fall into his trap. If the Holy Spirit is convicting you of something, don't listen to Satan, surrender to the will of the Lord. You will never regret it!
In verse 6 we see Satan using another of his tricks. That is subverting the Scriptures. The Scripture quoted here is from Psalms 91:11, 12, but he left part of it out. Psalms 91:11 reads "For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. See what Satan did? He twisted the Scriptures, by leaving out what would seem insignificant, to mean something entirely different. Satan twisted this so that it would seem that Jesus could not of hurt His foot by stumbling on a rock. But, if you read the entire verse, the angels were there to protect Jesus in all the ways that was right so that Jesus could fulfill His mission. Jesus didn't come to take chances, but to seek and to save the lost. Brethren, Satan knows the Scriptures better than we do. He can twist them in such a way that they can mean something totally different. That is why it is so important to study! As I sat and studied on these temptations, I finally realized what these first 2 temptations were about. The first one was to show distrust in God, that He will not supply our daily needs. The second was to show over confidence, or presumption, in the protective hand of God. Sure, God has promised to protect me, but not from my own stupidity. I could climb the highest building in the U.S. and jump off, expecting God to protect me from harm, but that would be stepping out of the path that God has laid out for me. It would be utter foolishness to think that God would protect me from that kind of stupidity when it is against His will.
In verse 7, we see Jesus again using Scripture to resist the temptation of Satan. This time He uses Deuteronomy 6:16. Again, we see the Lord using Scripture in it's perfect context, instead of like Satan, who took the Scripture out of context. In Deuteronomy 6, Moses is going into detail about how God is a jealous God and that the children of Israel should not chase after other people's gods. The word "tempt" means to provoke. Jesus was telling Satan not to provoke Him or in other words, not to try to get Him to do something that wasn't of the Father's will. See, Satan tried to get Jesus to step out of the will of the Father by proving that He was the Son of God. God knew who His Son was and Jesus knew who His Father was, so why should He have to prove it? Folks, there is a lesson in faith right there. We should be able to look at what Jesus has done for us and accept by faith that He is indeed the Son of God. We should need no other proof than what is in the Scriptures!
Today we have looked at the second temptation of Jesus. We have learned that Satan knows the Scriptures better than we do, and that the best way to answer his temptations is with the correct Scripture. When Satan tempts you, how do you respond? Do you fall for the temptation, thus sinning and getting out of the Father's will? Or do you know the Scriptures well enough to answer with the correct Scripture? How much time per day do you devote to studying the Scriptures so that you can turn away from Satan's temptations? You may say that you don't have enough time in the day to study. Whose fault is that? God gave each of us 24 hours in the day. How you spend it is your choice. If you refuse to study, you are actually telling the Lord that you don't love Him enough to learn more about Him. So, how much do you love the Lord? Do you love Him enough to study His Word?
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Post by Paws on Oct 15, 2007 1:06:04 GMT 12.75
So where were you when I needed you? In 90 or 91 I was working in Rock Island Arsenal at a function that established manpower staffing requirements for all of the Army folk who design, manufacture, test and distribute weaponry. One of my co-workers, a reserve Major, was pretty much a devout Atheist. He like Satan delighted in testing one's faith and one of his favorite things was to dare folk to pour acid into their palms cause "If God would take care of us then there would be no ill effects." See, if you had been there I would have known how to respond to him. I know, I know what you are going to say; "If I had studied then I would have known how to respond to him."
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Post by Toby Benoit on Oct 15, 2007 7:46:18 GMT 12.75
"Today we have looked at the second temptation of Jesus. We have learned that Satan knows the Scriptures better than we do, and that the best way to answer his temptations is with the correct Scripture." There you have it Freddie; I NEED you on Sundays!
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 21, 2007 21:58:46 GMT 12.75
Matthew 4:8-11 (King James Version)
8. Again, the devil taken Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10. The saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11. Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.
This is the third sermon in a series of three on the temptations of Jesus by Satan. In the previous two, we have seen where Satan tempted Jesus with food, to satisfy the flesh, and with reckless abandon, to satisfy the ego. If you will recall, Jesus has been on a fast for 40 days and nights, and was hungry. That is when Satan struck. Satan had every advantage there was, and still failed to get Jesus to sin. First was the temptation to satisfy the flesh by turning rocks into food. Second was the temptation to satisfy the ego by jumping off a high point on the Temple and having the angels rescue Him. In both instances, Jesus answered with Scripture. Let's now look at the third temptation and see how Jesus handled it, and how we should handle temptation when it comes our way.
In verse 8 we see that Satan took Jesus to a exceedingly high mountain. Like stated previously, some believe that Satan never physically carried Jesus to a high mountain, but that it was all in Jesus' mind. And then again, some believe that Satan actually carried Jesus to a mountain. Whether or not that happened, that is not important. What is important is that Jesus was tempted by Satan when He was physically weak and hungry. Satan had every advantage. Folks, we have to be on guard for Satan's attacks all the time. Satan will take every advantage we give him and turn it into temptations to cause us to sin and turn away from God. Look at the example of Job. From the human standpoint, Job had every reason to curse God, but he didn't. Job lost everything, including his health, but he still remained true to his God. Can we say that? When things don't go exactly our way, do we still praise the Lord? Or do we look to blame God? As we look further in verse 8 we see that it was an exceedingly high mountain that Satan took Jesus to. Now, the mountain is not specifically named but as I studied this, I immediately thought of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Now, it may not have been Mount Everest that Satan took Jesus to, but that is what I thought of. Anyway, Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory. The reason I thought of Everest is that when people reach the summit, they say that they can see the entire world before them. And from pictures that I have seen, they can see alot of it on a clear day. But Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory. Folks, I have no evidence other than my own thoughts on this, but I believe that it was all the known kingdoms at that time, and all future kingdoms, including the United States. Wouldn't that fit in with the way Satan operates? He wanted to impress Jesus with his power and what better way to impress Him than showing Him the future countries of the world? Another thing that hit me is that Satan showed Jesus all the kingdom's glory. Satan wasn't just satisfied with just showing all the kingdoms, but he showed Jesus all the glory attached. I believe Satan showed Him all the glitz and glitter of each kingdom. He showed Jesus all that each kingdom had to offer.
In verse 9 we see Satan's temptation. He told Jesus that if He would fall down and worship him, all these would be His. Folks, this is the temptation of power. How many times have you heard someone say that the ends justify the means? In other words, it doesn't matter how you get to your goal as long as you get there. Well, it does matter! There is no right time to do wrong, no matter what the end result is. Satan offered Jesus a shortcut to what is rightfully His. Jesus created the world so by right of creation, it is His anyways. Satan offered something to Jesus that was already His! Jesus could have taken this shortcut and not have to have gone through all the suffering He knew was ahead of Him. But what would have happened to mankind? We would have no hope of salvation and would spend eternity in hell. Folks, Jesus loved us so much that He refused to take the easy way out!
As we look now to verse 10 we see again that Jesus answered temptation with Scripture. Folks, I can't stress enough how important it is to study so that you will be able to answer the temptations Satan sends your way properly. Without study, we will give the wrong answer thus allowing Satan to have a greater advantage than he already has. The Scripture Jesus used in answering this temptation is found in Deuteronomy 6:13. Moses is stressing the importance of serving God alone, and not chasing after other gods. Now, we may not have the other gods that the children of Israel did, meaning false gods, but there are still things in our life today that we place before God. It could be hunting, fishing, other personal interests, whatever. Anything that we place before our service to God is a false god. Brethren, we need to cleanse our life of these things, so that we may serve God as He intended us to serve Him, totally and completely.
In verse 11 we see that Satan was defeated and left Jesus. Folks, Jesus passed every test that Satan threw at Him with flying colors. Jesus was able to refute every one of Satan's temptations with Scripture thus remaining sinless.The King of Kings gave His adversary every advantage and still prevailed. Glory Hallelujah! Jesus won! Why am I rejoicing? Because if Jesus had failed He would not have been the perfect Lamb for our sins. But, He prevailed over Satan thus remaining the perfect sacrifice for our sins. In the latter part of verse 11 we see that the angels came and ministered unto Him. The word "minister" means to serve or to be an attendant. The angels came and saw to Jesus' needs. It is possible that they brought Him food to break His fast, but we don't know for sure. But what is important is that the angels, the messengers of God, we subservient to Jesus. Folks, the angels were under Jesus! Too many people today worship things other than Jesus, including angels. We should worship Jesus and Jesus alone!
Today we have seen the third temptation of Jesus by Satan. We have seen how it was of power or authority, over all the nations. We have seen how Jesus answered this temptation, with Scripture, and remained sinless. This passage demands one question. Who or what is your god? Do you serve the God of creation, or is there something in your life that you place before God? Who or what do you serve?
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Post by Toby Benoit on Oct 22, 2007 17:12:58 GMT 12.75
Good 'un Pastor! My problem is, that I recognize the temptation some time after I've succumbed. I worked in a lucrative, but crooked industry (funerals and cemetary sales)for awhile. I took advantage of peoples deepest fears in order to make a dollar off of it and I made plenty. One day though I just woke up to what I was doing and I quit. I just couldn't see myself in heaven if I were to continue. I felt dirty for what I had done and tolerated done to others in the name of a dollar. Oh yeah, I strutted in my suits and I blew money on sex and drink. I prayed for foregiveness and enrolled in nursing school. I was offered a good job in an archery shop while I continued my schooling and I still feel that God provided the work when I needed it. I miss the money, but retaining my dignity is much more valuable and I know that I'm forgiven. When I saw what was happening, I didn't hesitate, I quit and found a new road. I just regret that it took me so long to realize...
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 22, 2007 22:39:21 GMT 12.75
That's just human nature. We all have that problem. What we need to do is to recognize the temptations Satan puts before us before we succumb to them. How do we do that? By studying the Scriptures!
If you were saved at this time you would have still been in heaven, just not as close to the Lord as you might have been. Let me try to explain a little more. See, all that are saved will be in heaven, but those that are faithful unto the Lord and do His bidding will be closer to Him than those that do not. My desire is to be as close to the throne as possible. I want to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from Him personally. I believe we will all have jobs in heaven, and those that are close to Jesus will teach those who are not. I want to learn from the Master Himself!
The Lord works in ways that seem strange to us at first, but as we look back we can see that it was for the best. My accident is proof of that. Since I got hurt, I have more time to study, thus being better able to pastor Maple Springs Missionary Baptist church.
We all have these regrets. But what you have to do is to realize that you are forgiven and move on. That is another one of Satan's favorite ways to get us to stumble. By making us regret the past, and thinking that we can not be servants of God with what we have done. But we can! If you have prayed for forgiveness, then you can know you are forgiven and put this behind you, moving on, and living a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
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Post by Paws on Oct 23, 2007 13:35:13 GMT 12.75
Pastor wouldn't praying to Saints, Mother Mary, Prophets, Disciples, or lighting a candle for some dead guy be a form of worship? Am I just trying to start trouble? What about Satanists? What part of this picture do they not get?
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 23, 2007 14:28:52 GMT 12.75
Pastor wouldn't praying to Saints, Mother Mary, Prophets, Disciples, or lighting a candle for some dead guy be a form of worship? Am I just trying to start trouble? What about Satanists? What part of this picture do they not get? Yep. Anything that people worship other than God is sin. That includes prophets, saints, the pope, Satan, and a myrid of other things. Satanists are people who just want to be different, or so I think. Alot of them were raised in church and wanted to rebel. How much more could a person rebel than against God? They are also people who have believed a lie. They have believed that Satan wins, which if they would have ever been taught the Scriptures they would know is completely wrong. I pity them for the judgment they will recieve.
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Post by Mars on Oct 24, 2007 0:11:03 GMT 12.75
You don't have to worship satan to be a satan worshipper. It only takes NOT worshipping God. Anything else is worshipping satan.
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 24, 2007 1:13:47 GMT 12.75
You don't have to worship satan to be a satan worshipper. It only takes NOT worshipping God. Anything else is worshipping satan. Good point.
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 28, 2007 21:39:46 GMT 12.75
Matthew 4:12-17 (King James Version)
12. Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee. 13. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim. 14. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15. The land of Zabulon, and the land of Naphthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
For the last few weeks we have been looking at the temptations of Jesus by Satan. Jesus was in the wilderness at this time, probably along the Jordan River. We know He fasted for 40 days and forty nights, then was tempted by the great tempter, Satan. And Jesus answered all of Satan's temptations with Scripture. Today, we are going to start to look at Jesus' personal ministry, His travels during that time, and what He preached. Hopefully we will each learn something that will improve our walk with the Lord.
In verse 12 the first thing we see is that Jesus heard that John was in prison. As I started studying this, I realized that there was a time lapse between now and the temptations of Jesus. Matthew, through the leadership of the Holy Spirit, had not recorded some things in the life of Jesus. One thing I need to point out here is that the Gospels are NOT a chronological story of Jesus. Each of the Gospels present Jesus in a different light. Matthew presents Jesus as the King of Kings, while John presents him as the true light of the world. Matthew didn't record John's testimony before the Sanhedrin court, Jesus' first miracle, the first cleansing of the Temple, or His interview with Nicodemus. While all these are important, the Holy Spirit saw fit for Matthew not to write these down. Why? I believe that these were not in keeping with the general theme of Matthew which was Jesus was the King of Kings. Getting back to our verse, we see that Jesus had heard that John was in prison. Now, John had been thrown into prison for preaching to Herod Antipas that adultery was wrong. Folks, we should preach the truth no matter what the cost. John preached to the ruler of the land at that time that it wasn't right to take another's wife and it eventually cost him his life. Today, we are so politically correct that we are afraid to preach the truth because we are afraid of offending someone. Folks, John didn't worry about this and neither should we. We should preach the truth no matter what the cost!
We now need to look at part of verse 12 and 13 together. We see that Jesus left the area of where He was tempted and went back to Galilee, or more specifically Nazareth. Now don't get confused, Galilee is a province while Nazareth is a town. The best way to look at it is that Galilee is a county (or parish) while Nazareth is the town inside that county. Jesus stays a short time at Nazareth, but we are not sure how long. We do know that it wasn't very long though. Some have said that the reason He left Nazareth was because of the murderous intentions of it's citizens and the unbelief of His family. If you will recall, most of His family didn't believe He was the Messiah until after His resurrection. So, while that may have been the problem, all I can say for sure is I don't know the exact reason Jesus left Nazareth. But the fact is He left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum. Capernaum was about 20 miles or so from Nazareth, and was on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is about 2 1/2 miles from where the Jordan river enters the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was probably a military outpost for the Roman army, along the road that went from Damascus to Jerusalem. Peter had a house here, and could have been used as Jesus' headquarters, but again, we are not certain on that fact. Capernaum was in the territory that was owned by the tribe of Nephthalin (or Naphtali), and Nazareth was in the territory controlled by Zabulon (or Zebulon). This is why the Scriptures say that He was in the borders of both Naphtali and Zebulon. But why is it important that we know this? Capernaum, and the surrounding area, was where Jesus did most of His preaching. It is there that He performed many miracles and preached to the multitudes. Also it was a fulfillment of prophecy which we will look at in the next 3 verses.
In verses 14 through 16 we see that Matthew quotes from Isaiah 9:1 and 2. This prophecy was given somewhere around 735 B.C. (we think) which would make it at least 750 years old. Folks, God is not slack concerning His promises! He promised that a Saviour would come and He delivered on that promise. Notice in verse 15 that Isaiah told Israel exactly where Jesus would be raised and preach. Jesus was raised in Nazareth which is in the territory controlled by the tribe of Zebulon, and preached in Capernaum which is in the area controlled by Naphtali. Just think, 750 years earlier Isaiah preached that the Saviour would live and preach in these areas, and He did. What a glorious fulfillment of prophecy! In verse 16 we also see Isaiah giving the people of Israel hope. Isaiah uses a play on words here, and I'll try to explain it so you will understand too. First, we have to set the background. Isaiah prophesied mainly to the Kingdom of Judah but also to the Kingdom of Israel. He prophesied about the coming Assyrian invasion to both kingdoms. Since Babylon was to the north of Israel, in modern day Syria, it is only natural that the invading army would conquer those to the north of Jerusalem first and Zebulon and Napthali were to the north of Jerusalem. These regions were among the first to be conquered by Nebecazzar's army. So, Isaiah said that these people sat in darkness and the shadow of death. Doesn't that sound like what happens after an invading army rolls through? But here also is hope. Isaiah said that these people would see great light and that the light is sprung up (or dawned). Who is the light of the world? IT"S JESUS! The Light (Jesus) sprung up in Nazareth, and the people of Capernaum got to see the Light (Jesus). Folks, Isaiah preached to the people that there is hope in Jesus. I'm to preach the same thing. Are you in spiritual darkness today? Are you living in the shadow of death? Folks, Jesus is the light of the world, and in Him there is no darkness. There is only one name under heaven whereby men may be saved, and that name is Jesus. Have you trusted Him today?
In verse 17 we see that Jesus preached the same message as John the Baptist, but with one subtle difference. Both of them said the same thing, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But I believe that John's message was saying that the kingdom of heaven was coming, while Jesus was saying that the kingdom of heaven was here. While John was saying that the kingdom of heaven was on the way, Jesus was saying that the kingdom of heaven is here right now. Folks, Jesus is the kingdom of heaven, and we should start acting like it. Jesus is NOT something that we turn to in time of trouble, but He is the creator of the universe and should be given all the honor and respect due to Him.
In conclusion, we have seen the end of John's ministry and the beginning of Jesus'. We have seen the fulfillment of prophecy yet again. We have also seen that the kingdom of heaven is Jesus and that we should start acting like He is. Are we? Or do we just treat Jesus like He is our safety net?
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Post by Paws on Oct 28, 2007 23:43:33 GMT 12.75
Now boy; that's a sermon! I can see you standing there and pouring out those last two paragraphs to the congregation and hear the excirtement in your voice. Well done Pastor! Every once in a while there is something in the scriptures that jumps out and screams that God is faithful and true to His word. Usually it is in the form of a promise or prophecy hundreds of years prior. My very first confirmation came just a few days after beginning my study of the Bible when I learned that the dimensions of Noahs ark were just the right size to accomodate the right numbers and pairs/groups of animal species estimated to exist at the time. That was a big wow factor. Now the dark/North thing. This seems to be popping up and grabbing my attention here. Did you know that our astronomers have discovered a void in the North aspect of the Heavens? Yep, they say it is a corridor completely void of stars/light. They say it is big enough to accommodate some 2000 galaxies the size of the Milky Way. Interesting huh! Now about that taking another man's wife thing; nowadays they give themselves away. No need to take them. So then other than what we all think it is, just what the heck is this adultery thing. No, I'm not pullin' a Clinton; I'm serious.
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Oct 29, 2007 0:40:03 GMT 12.75
The best way I can answer that is thus saith the Lord. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:28
So you see, if you even look upon a woman and lust after her, you have committed adultery, even if the act is never consummated.
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