“GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED”

Matthew 4:1-11

The explanation of Martin Luther's Small Catechism, defines the word, ‘temptation,' in two ways. The first is a testing that God uses to bring us closer to Himself. For instance, in this regard, the Catechism quotes the book of James, where the apostle writes, “ Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness,” ( James 1:2-3). So, things like sickness, unemployment, or any kind of tribulation could be matters which God allows to enter our lives which cause us to focus our faith and trust in Him. That's the good definition of the word, ‘temptation.'

Though, personally, we might not be all that favorable toward experiencing those kinds of temptations in our lives, God, your heavenly Father, knows that these things ultimately are for our good. They keep us from becoming self-reliant and compel us to rely upon God's grace. As the Scripture says , “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Cor. 12:10 ).

But the second definition offered identifies temptation as “the attempts of our spiritual enemies to lure us away from God and His ways.” And this, obviously, is the kind of temptation that we hear about in our Gospel reading for today as Satan seeks to lure Jesus away from obedience to God the Father and away from His appointed death on the cross.

One thing that you'll notice, as concerns Jesus' temptations in the wilderness, is that the manner in which Jesus repelled the devil's temptations was not through glorious miracles or awesome displays or power but, rather, by the strength of God's Word. And Satan recognized this; with the result that he attempted to misuse that same holy Word to his own evil advantage.

And this, perhaps, is one of the strongest temptations that we will ever face in our own lives—to base our choices on what we think is the Word of God; but, in the end, is nothing more than a twisting of that Word to our own selfish advantage.

For example, one of the topics today which has become so prevalent to our nation's discussions is that homosexuality. Male couples and females couples are descending upon the city of San Francisco , where the Mayor has decided to ignore state law, outlawing same-sex marriages, in favor of catering to those who advocate a gay and lesbian lifestyle. So strong has this issue become that President Bush has called for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages.

What is even more disturbing in regard to this issue, however, is that some homosexual activists have appealed to the Bible in defense of their beliefs. There are a number of groups today which refer to themselves as “gay Christian” organizations which, in support of their public announcements, quote Scripture verses such as Psalm 18, verse 20, “He brought me out into an open place; He rescued me because He delighted in me,” (Psalm 18:20).

But, the book of Psalms, as the rest of the Scriptures, is all about Christ. It is not material to be used to promote our own agendas; especially when such out-of-context quotations totally ignore the other clear passages of Scripture which condemn this, and all other sinful behavior.

Yet, this has become the battle cry of people throughout our nation today—that of “tolerance!” Which is to say, that it is totally unchristian to take any kind of stance which is intolerant or unloving of the way in which anyone wants to live his or her own life.

“He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" Translation: “Can God possibly be so intolerant and unloving that He would forbid you from tasting the delicious fruit of what obviously is a perfectly good tree?” He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Translation: “Surely God wouldn't be so cruel and unloving as to deny His starving, only-begotten Son some simple nourishment.”

And since, in most people's minds, the story of the Bible is all about love, and that God Himself is the very definition of love, it means that any opinion which is viewed as being unloving or intolerant, would be in total opposition with the most basic teaching of the Christian faith. Or, so they say. Therefore, it is wrong to say that two people who love each other can't live together without the benefit of marriage. Or, if a spouse finds someone else attractive or more understanding than their own husband or wife, it would be cruel to deny them that which would make their life more complete.

But, as was the case with Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, the devil didn't tell the complete Scriptural story. When he said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, " 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and " 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone,' " the devil was quoting Scripture. But, he carefully left out a very significant part of that verse which says, “'He will command his angels concerning you… to guard you in all your ways .” In all the ways that God the Father had ordained for His Son. Not simply in some of the ways that would seemed personally expedient at the time.

And, therefore, all the ways that God has set forth to guide our lives must be honored as we consider His institution of marriage and its sanctity. We must consider all of His Word when someone trespasses against us, knowing how He has forgiven our own trespasses. It is His pattern of service, kindness, and humility that must be followed in place of the short-tempered, opinionated, and self-serving attitudes which reason would tell us are acceptable; “because, after all, this is the way God made me or because this is my, so-called, God-given right to express myself that way.”

What we do, what we say, what we think, and how we behave “in the name of God,” or in deference to His Word, must always take into account all of God's Word; especially in light of all that our Savior Jesus has done for us—beginning with the reason why He came into this world in the first place. It was to forgive us all of our sin so that we would not have to face everlasting damnation.

Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, " 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.' Isn't it wonderful to know that Christ Jesus can speak these very same words in regard to what He has accomplished for us? For, once again, it is to each one of us that the Scriptural mandate has been given, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.' But have we done that? No. And what is the consequence? As was stated before, we deserve nothing but temporal and eternal punishment.

But look at what Jesus does for us. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, He overcomes sin, death, and the devil. “Be gone, Satan!” He says. “You no longer have the right to accuse those whom I have redeemed by my precious blood. Their iniquity has been taken away. They are pardoned. They are free from your chains.”

Dearly beloved, don't give the devil a foothold by which he can ensnare you again. Don't allow the world to desensitize you as to what is right and wrong according to God's Word. Don't allow your own sinful nature to determine what is really for your benefit; rather, heed the Lord's invitation to partake of His body and blood often for the forgiveness of your sin, for life, and for salvation.

And as long as we are trusting in what God says—in all of what God says—the devil will not be able to prevail. As the great hymn of faith that we just sang together proclaimed, “one little word can fell him.” And that Word is Christ.

Therefore, let your lives be governed by the words of our Episite: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Genesis 3:1-21

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.' "But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, " 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " Then the devil took him to the holy city and 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 will command his angels concerning you,' and " 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.' " Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.' " Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, " 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.' " Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

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