|
|
Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 25th March 2007 PMGOD IS ON WATCH Pastor Colin MeadowsMatt 6:9-13, Luke 10:27-30, 1 John 4:1-4 Ø The need – talk daily with God As the disciples watched Jesus, they could see that Jesus’ prayer life was the key to both his personal life and his public ministry. Thus they asked him to teach them to pray. In previous weeks we have been reminded that God loves, he is the almighty one, and he is holy. Thus we should approach him with great humility and reverence. He alone is God! We have learnt that his big plan is for his kingdom or rule to become a reality in people’s hearts all over the world, just as he rules in heaven. We also were reminded that he will provide for our daily needs. He will further forgive us, just as we forgive and release others from the debts they owe us. But there is one last area that we must consider in our life of prayer, the area of temptation and testing. Daily we face the struggle. Why is this so? We are not alone with God here on earth. We have an adversary who is seeking to prevent God’s purposes from being fulfilled in our lives. We thus first need to realize just who our enemy is. In this regard the prophet Job has much to teach us about Satan and his methods. We will thus consider Satan’s activities as he sought to discourage and divert Job from God’s plan for his life and from that learn about how we too can be delivered from temptation. Ø The enemy – Satan is alive and active! The Bible is very clear – the evil one is active on planet earth. Matt 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” The first part of this verse could be phrased ‘Lead me away from temptation’. We have an enemy who is very active in seeking to pull us away from God’s plan for our lives. Let’s not have our head in the sand about Satan’s presence in this world. Jesus was very much aware of the evil one’s activities. At the very beginning of his ministry Jesus was confronted with the reality of Satan. Matt 4:1 ‘Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.’ While we live on earth we will be confronted daily by the presence of evil. To deny Satan’s presence is to ignore the clear teaching of the Bible and to turn our backs on the reality of life. When we thus deny the existence of Satan we do so to our own peril. Jesus himself was certainly very aware of the presence of Satan on earth. Satan’s various names help us to understand the nature of his activities. He is the evil one or ‘the one who brings harm or injury’. He is Satan the ‘Adversary’ or ‘Accuser’. He is the devil – the one who as prince of the demonic forces slanders God’s people. We see his activity in these ways right from the beginning of the book of Job. Job 1:6-7 “One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the LORD, ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’” Satan is very active in this world, constantly moving around in his efforts to overturn God’s purposes for our lives. We need however to remember that throughout the Bible Satan is seen as subservient to the power and purposes of God. As a result of the cross, he is a defeated foe. He is still powerful but his power has been crippled by the work of Christ. As someone has said, Christ dealt with the penalty for sin on the cross, he now wishes to help us resist the power of sin until the day when the presence of sin will be removed forever. There is coming a day of final judgment for Satan at which time he will be caste into the lake of fire. Yes, we need to be aware of our enemy. Because of his constant activities there is a daily struggle for each of us… Ø The result - we struggle daily with temptation: Because we have an enemy who is seeking to thwart God’s plans on this earth, then we face daily testing. Temptation is a daily issue in our lives. That is why we need to pray for daily strength and protection. The word used here for temptation could be translated ‘to put to the test’. It specifically refers to the testing of faith to see whether such faith is real or not. The difficult question to answer is this – does God tempt us or does he rather permit Satan to tempt and test us? The word used her in Matthew for temptation has two shades of meaning. When used of God’s tempting of man, it carries a positive intention, to bring out the best in our lives. When used in reference to Satan and his activities, the word implies a desire to cause harm. A few years back a man called Ralph Nader used to be the scourge of the US motor industry. He would hear of cars that had inherent weaknesses and then put these cars through various tests to bring out their inherent weaknesses. The car manufacturers had done tests as well on their cars, but more to reveal the best in their cars. I find the book of James helpful in regard to this question of God’s testing and Satan’s tempting in our lives. James 1:13-15 “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me’. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” From this passage we see that God permits testings or temptations into our lives to reveal the truth state of affairs within. Note the progression that takes place. First there is the desire to give in to the temptation. That desire must be resisted or else it will give birth to sin. To be tempted is not to sin. Rather it is when we give in to the temptation that we sin. A small boy was found by his mother, standing on top of the kitchen cupboard and eating biscuits out of a tin. His mother asked what he was doing. ‘I just climbed up to smell the biscuits and my tooth got caught in one of them.’ The progression is there, that begins with desire and then leads to the act. The tempter is thus constantly seeking to cause us to fall. We see this in the life of Job. Job 2:6 “The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’” Such testings brings to light just how genuine our faith is. Job was very much aware of this. He struggled as he desperately sought to hold on to his faith in the face of severe testing. Job 23:8-10 “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Yes, we daily face the testings and temptations that will come into our lives. What should we do? Ø The remedy – God the Holy Spirit is with us! At times of testing it is vital to remember that we are not alone. Jesus has sent his Holy Spirit to indwell us as his children. Do musn’t try to go it alone! John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.” God will give us the strength to withstand the times of testing through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. We cannot stand and resist alone. We need to ask for his help, to learn daily to live in submission to him. He will then enable us to withstand the daily testings, but only as we submit to him. He will provide the strength to resist. 1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” The way out is to submit to Jesus as Lord, to call upon the Holy Spirit to empower us to live in obedience to God. Yes, testings will come but at such times we must remember that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. When asked about how we should overcome temptation, a little girl responded ‘When Satan comes knocking at the door of my heart, I send Jesus to answer the door. When Satan sees Jesus, he says, “Oops, sorry, wrong house.”’ Job was aware of God’s presence, in spite of the pain of testing he was going through. Job 19:25-26 “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.’” Job clung onto God, despite the testings. God is seeking to empower us also to live a life that honours Him. Allow Him by faith to give you strength to resist daily each temptation as it comes. Each small victory will give you courage and strength for the next challenge. Yes, draw strength from the indwelling presence of God in your life. That is how Job surmounted the testings that came into his life. At the end, God had some amazing words to say about Job to his so called friends. Job 42:8 “…You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.’” Talk with God about the things that matter in your life. Be aware of the enemy, Satan and of the testings that come into our lives. Draw strength from God to resist these testings. There is one final question now that needs to be carefully considered. Ø The Big Question – have you submitted to Jesus as Lord? All that we have talked about tonight is academic if we have not yet submitted our lives to Jesus as Lord and master. Where do you stand with God tonight? Why not make tonight the time when you hand over control of your life to Jesus, to bow your knee before him, asking him to forgive your sins and to empower you with his Holy Spirit to live a life that honours him. You do this by faith, acknowledging that you are a sinner, powerless to help yourself, but that Jesus is the Saviour, powerful to forgive and to cleanse. He has died on the cross so that you can stand forgiven before God. By faith, you can ask Christ into your life. Allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to live for God. Then by faith you will begin to live a life of walking with God, resisting the temptations of Satan day by day. Then the reality of what we have been speaking about will be true for you… Matt 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
|