Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 4] Blessing Is Fearing God And Serving God (Matthew 4:1-11)
(Matthew 4:1-11)
“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.”
The
righteousness of God that saves us from our sins is that Jesus was
baptized by John the Baptist and that He bled and died on the Cross to
save us from our sins once and for all, and that God testified that He
was the Savior. Today’s Scripture passage is about an event that
happened right after the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River.
After
Jesus was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil. And because He was hungry after having fasted for
40 days and 40 nights, the devil tried to tempt Jesus with three
temptations.
First Temptation
The
first temptation of the devil is written in verse 3: “Now when the
tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that
these stones become bread.’”
How
hungry could Jesus have been after fasting 40 days and nights? When
Jesus’ body was extremely hungry, the devil tempted Him with food. “If
you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Then you
can eat it! Command them to be bread. Then you can live! Aren’t you
hungry to the point of death? If you want to live, you can live that
way. You fasted for 40 days, and you must be starving to death, how much
do you want to eat? But what would be out here in the wilderness? If
you are the Son of God, you can command them to be bread and eat, can’t
you? So eat. Eat.”
Obviously
the devil was tempting Jesus because he knew Jesus was the Son of God.
But the devil tempted Him with food. In other words, he was testing Him
in His life of the flesh. “Rather than dying from hunger, you should
make these stones into bread and live. If you want to live now, you need
bread of the flesh! If you are the Son of God, you can make bread to
eat. You will live then. So, do that. Do that.” He tempted Jesus when He
was extremely hungry as if He would live only if He had bread. However
Jesus refuted this by saying: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Dear
fellow Christians, in essence, what do the body and soul of a person
live on? Can a person live eternally on bread for the flesh? The devil
was tempting Jesus with bread for the flesh. Truly, what should we
believe in to live? The Lord said: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,’”
and this is true.
When
a person is hungry, he thinks that he has to eat bread to live, but, in
fact, a person’s life is dependant upon the faith in God’s Word. A
person’s life of body and soul depends upon the Word of God. If God’s
Word were not in the world, our spirit and flesh would be destined to
die. God said that our body and soul would live by the faith in the Word
that comes out of God’s mouth, and that is so. Because the written Word
of God is the Truth, our souls can live on the Word of God through our
faith. Because of the Word of God that is food for life, the bodies and
souls of yours and mine can live to their fullness.
God
has given His Word to people. Through the Word, He feeds, forgives
sins, and lets people live. The Word of God created all things in the
universe, and permitted everything humans needed in this world. Also,
because there is the Word of God, our souls can receive the remission of
sin once and for all through faith. The Word of God is the kind of Word
that thoroughly wipes away all of our sins. Also, God’s Word is the
Word of Truth that leads us to the Light, and therefore only those who
believe in it can live. We also need to believe that we can only live by
believing in the Word of God. This is true. We must know that humans
live by believing the written Word of God rather than living because we
have bread for the flesh. Our Lord talked to us about the Word of God.
As
we live in this world, we fall in our own temptation at times because
we are captivated by our own greed. People think that if we have a
certain amount of money, we can live in plenty in this world. Of course,
this is understandable. However, what is it that a person truly lives
by? On what account does a person live? A person can live by believing
the written Word of God. If there were no Word of God, it would not be
possible for us to believe in God or meet God.
A
person cannot live by bread of the flesh alone. Especially, the
righteous can live only if they can hear the authentic teachings on
God’s Word. And a person is not made of body alone, but also made of the
soul and spirit as well. Therefore, only if we hear the true Word of
God, can we resolve the problems of the soul as we live. By reading and
hearing the Word of God, our soul and body gain weight and we live in
abundance. Only if we hear the true Word of the forgiveness of sin can
we receive the purification of the sins of our soul. This is why
everyone who heard the true Word of God can live in body and soul by
believing in it.
The
devil often tempts everyone with words such as these: “If you are the
Son of God, command these stones to become bread. Make these stones into
bread and eat them. If you were the Son of God, wouldn’t it be
possible? Hungry, aren’t you? Do it. Do it. If only you have bread, you
will live, won’t you? At any rate, a person would live if he eats three
meals a day, and has enough food in storage for 365 days a year times
about 70 or 80 years. Wouldn’t a person live and not die if only he has
food?” This is what the devil tells us.
The
devil tells people this, and many people are fooled and fall for this.
There are people, who fall for this, thinking, “That’s right. I can live
if I only have this.” We are not necessarily talking about money only,
but the thought that we can live if we have a few of the worldly
materials that we want. We think, “I can live and not die even without
the Word of God.”
However,
that is a big miscalculation. In reality, our body also dies without
God’s Word. Truly, a person does not live by bread, the abundance of
worldly material, or the sexual desire that the world can gratify. This
is why we need to listen carefully to what Jesus said, when the devil
tempted Him, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.” The devil tempts us when we have become
weak, when we are starved and hungry, and when our soul is exhausted.
He asks people, “You would live only if you have bread, won’t you?” and
confuses them. Many people consider what they have, and think, “Oh, I
have sufficient possessions to sustain my life! Then, I would live and
not die even if I do not hear the Word of God.”
But,
fellow Christians, even when the devil tempts us like that, we do not
live by bread alone, but by believing every word that proceeds from the
mouth of God. I hope we keep this in mind. I hope we keep in mind that
we cannot live if we do not have the Word of God.
You
can live only if God’s Word is in your heart. Dear fellow Christians,
is this so? Or is it not so? It is so. Don’t forget the fact that we can
live because there is God’s Word. The reason that mankind has existed
until now also is because God’s Word exists. When the gospel of the
water and the Spirit is spread to the end of the world, our Lord will
come back, and when He comes back, He said He would end this world and
start a new world. All these will be completed according to His Word.
Dear
fellow Christians, the Word of God is the Truth. Jesus beat off the
first temptation of the devil by saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God.’” When the devil heard this, he was astonished. However, the devil
was not someone who would stop at this.
The Second Temptation
The
second temptation appears in 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.’ Jesus said to
him, ‘It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
The
devil tempted Jesus by taking Him up on the pinnacle of the temple and
told Him to throw Himself down. He turned God’s Word against him when he
said, “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.’ Earlier you refused my temptation because you believe in the
written Word, didn’t you? Then, you should do as it is written. You
believe in these words, right? Throw yourself down, and according to the
written Word, God shall give His angels charge over you in their hands,
they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone when
you throw yourself down. Try it now.” Then Jesus said, “It is written
again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
Dear
fellow Christians, the devil sometimes tempts people using the written
Word of God. However, Jesus said not to tempt the Lord our God. The
devil said to Jesus, “Surely, you shall not die. Why? That is because
you are the Son of God.” This is true. Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Therefore, He would not have died. Jesus is different from us, the
humans. However, the devil tempts. But the written Word of God says “not
to tempt” God. In other words, we must live by believing the written
Word and God rather than tempting God.
Often,
people tempt Jesus. There are too many times that people tempt God, “I
did it like this, but why did God treat me this way?” But if we just
believed in God there would be no need to tempt Him. We do not have the
qualifications to tempt Him, and we must not tempt Him. God is not
someone who should receive temptation from us. The reason we are tempted
is because we are dragged by our greed, and it is not because God
tempts us that we are tempted.
Some
one might raise an objection against God, taking Abraham as an example:
“What was it all about that God had Abraham offer his son Isaac? Is
this not God tempting Abraham to see whether or not he believed?” But
that was not the case. It is not that God tempted Abraham. Rather, it is
that God permitted the process to show us how surely Abraham had the
faith that truly believes the Word of God in his heart, and how he
became the father of faith by his faith.
Dear
fellow Christians, we must believe in the Word of God. Even though God
is not visible to us, we must believe in the written Word of God as the
Word of God that God spoke. We experience by believing in the Word of
God that the Word of God is fulfilled in its entirety. Therefore, we
must believe. If that is how the Word of God is, we must believe it as
it is, and not be swayed regarding our faith in the Word no matter how
the circumstances and situations shake and change.
If
that is how the Word of God is, that is the truth. And if it is not
fulfilled as the Word of God says, then the problem lies on our side. It
is because we do not have faith, or our faith is not strong enough,
that is, our faith is shaking, sometimes we seem to have faith, and
sometimes we do not. In short, it is because of the problem of our faith
that it is not fulfilled as the Word says rather than because there is a
problem with the Word of God.
God
works His miracles for those who truly believe in God’s Word. However,
God said those with shaky faith should not even think to gain (James
1:7-8). No matter how small our faith is, whether we believe or not
believe is what is important. We must believe and not tempt God. If we
believe in the Word of God, we receive the remission of sin, and it is
fulfilled to us as the Word is. Dear fellow Christians, do you believe?
―Yes.―
To
you and me, it is a faith that believes in the Word of God that is
important. It is because God sees the heart of a person rather than the
outward appearance of a person. God sees whether he really believes,
behaves according to the faith, and lives by the faith. However, it
doesn’t mean that you have to show God your strong faith right now. Even
if your faith is as small as a mustard seed, you have to confess your
faith in His Word, saying, “I believe. My faith lacks, but I believe. I
do it because I believe. I wait Your reply because I believe in You. I
follow You because I believe Your Word of promise.” God sees such stable
and firm faith in our hearts. When the devil tempts you and me, we must
fend him off by believing in the written Word.
The Third Temptation
Thirdly,
verse 8 tells us: “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 to Him
and ministered to Him.”
“For
it is written: you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you
shall serve.” What we, the people, have to do is only worship God and
serve Him. What is needed between God and us? How should we live before
God?
We
must fear God, worship Him, believe in, and follow Him if it is His
will, and because God is a God of the Word and He exists as the Word, by
believing in Him, we believe in the Word, and obey Him according to the
Word, and worship Him and follow Him with such faith. This is how we
must live before Him―“You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only
you shall serve.” This is the duty that you and I and all of mankind
must do in God’s eyes. There is not much else that we, the people, have
to do. There is not much else we need to do throughout our lives other
than acknowledging God, believing in the great God, and obeying, bowing
down, believing, following and serving God the Creator. This is our
solemn duty and this is so.
The
devil took Jesus up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all
the kingdoms of the world and their glory. What is the highest mountain
in the world? Mount Everest. The mountain is 8,848 meters high. It is
very easy to memorize, isn’t it? Dear fellow Christians, perhaps the
devil showed the world on top of Mount Everest. The devil said to Jesus
that he would give Him all, that as they looked at the world from the
top of the highest mountain, if Jesus would worship him. The devil said
that if Jesus would believe the devil to be God, and serve and obey him,
he would give Him the whole world.
But
what did Jesus say? Jesus said: “Away with you Satan, for it is
written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall
serve.’” The One I need to bow down and serve is God the Father and not
you. What I should bow down and serve is not the glory of this world.”
That is what Jesus said.
Bowing
down before God and serving God are our joy, our satisfaction and our
fulfillment. Worshiping and serving God is everything to a person. This
is what we have to do, there is nothing else to do, and there is nothing
more valuable and nobler than this. Bowing down before God is
acknowledging every word of God, and serving God is acknowledging God
Himself. What better things are there than bowing down before God who
made us as His creation? What better life could there be than that? What
better glory could there be than that? We only worship God humbly. And
we thank God for all His blessings and everything in Him.
What
is a blessing to us is that we can worship God, and God anoints us with
heavenly blessings when we bow down before Him, obey Him, believe in
Him and spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because God is
the one who gives everything to us, He is our all. Because He is our
all, because He is everything to those who have been born again, I hope
you know that bowing down before God is a blessing.
Even
now, because God is alive, we are joyful and glad, and we are living,
receiving all blessings. Because there is God, and we have a heart that
fears God, we can glorify Him in His blessing.
Did
the devil say that he would give everything if we worship him when he
showed all the kingdoms of the world? There are many magnificent things
in this world that we do not know about, we may be captivated by its
splendor momentarily. However, we cannot worship the devil even if there
are many things that could dazzle our eyes.
If
the devil tempts us with worldly material and says he would give us
everything in the world if we serve him as God, we must fend him off
with the written Word of God: “Away with you Satan, for it is written:
‘you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” We
must fend him off this way. And in reality, the devil cannot give us
many things. The devil bluffed to Jesus as if he was God and said: “If
only you bow down before me, I will give you all this,” but in reality
who is the owner of everything? It is Jesus.
Dear
fellow Christians, to whom does everything in the universe belong? It
is you, the righteous. To whom does everything in the universe belong?
It is the sons of God. This is why God called us the ones who would
inherit Heaven. He calls those who are born again the ones who will
inherit Heaven. This universe is the heir’s, then whose is it? It
belongs to the righteous.
However,
the devil says: “Bow down before me, if you don’t believe in God, but
believe in me and follow me, I will give you everything in the world.”
This is a method that the devil often uses. The devil once thwarted me
that way as well. It is a method that he used to use on me as well even
before I believed in Jesus. By the way, the devil was knocked out in the
third round.
Dear
fellow Christians, how should we live in God’s eyes? We need to live a
life that worships God, and only serve Him throughout life. God forgave
our sins, all the sins by the water and blood, wiped us clean and made
us His children, and gave us the blessing that we can worship God and
serve God. We must thank God who gave us the blessing of salvation, and
worship Him by faith and serve Him throughout life.
Carefully
consider the Word of God that wiped our sins clean. The Lord wiped us
clean by taking on all of our sins upon Himself through His baptism,
being crucified on the Cross and receiving judgment of the sins for us.
The Lord gave us the blessing that we can worship God and serve God by
wiping us clean and pure with water and blood and taking us as the
people of God.
What
kind of temptation is pressing on you and me? How do you fend off these
temptations? Jesus gave us the correct answer through the three
temptations He experienced in today’s Scripture passage. He had fended
off the devil’s temptations with His faith in the Word of God. If we
understand this answer, and live our lives, believing in it, we can also
fend off these temptations. Although worshiping God is a blessing, we
do not know it very well.
Dear
fellow Christians, do you think it is better to be served than to serve
Him unconditionally? But, it is a very good thing that you and I are
serving God. Dear fellow Christians, worshiping God is a great blessing.
It is a great blessing that we worship someone who is at a very high
position. Is it so or is it not so? It is so. At any rate, we have to
serve somebody in this world, and cannot live without serving anyone. If
we do not serve God, we serve the devil. Surely, if we do not serve the
devil, we serve people. In any case, we have to decide whose servant we
will become. Dear fellow Christians, under this circumstance, is it not
a great blessing that we serve God? However, because we live without
knowing this, Jesus received the third temptation and told us the
correct answer: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you
shall serve.”
Dear
fellow Christians, we must believe in the Word of God. As we hear the
Word of God we think: “Oh! Jesus told us the correct answers, and living
this way is right, as I worship God, it is righteous to worship if it
is the Word of God. Even though I am sometimes like a moron, an idiot, a
fool, and an imbecile, I am someone who has received a huge blessing. I
thought I should live to my heart’s content without being restricted by
anyone, saying ‘it is my life’, but that was not it. Now I know it is
strange to live that way. It is righteous to attend the Lord as my
Master and live as the servant of God.” We must comprehend the truth of
the gospel of the water and the Spirit and have faith that believes and
live by being blessed. Although sometimes we look a little stupid when
we look at ourselves, but in reality the fact that you and I can worship
God and serve God—you must know that this is a great privilege and a
righteous way of life for you.
I
wonder what I would be serving if I have not been serving God now.
Surely, I would be serving the gods of this land, which could give me
the pleasures of flesh. I would be drinking and eating everyday,
worrying about how to live, and serving the gods of this land. Every
kind of beverage might be my god. I would be living, holding onto these
things.
Dear
fellow Christians, Jesus had us be born again, and told us what kind of
life we should live and what kind of faith is the true correct faith.
Although we are lacking and weak, we are not what we were before. I hope
you thank the Lord who gave us the blessing that we can be saved,
acknowledge God and worship God. You have a thankful heart to the Lord,
do you not? Yes. It truly is a blessing that we are greatly thankful
for.
Jesus
gave us this faith by fending off all three temptations: Believing that
a man lives by the Word of God. Believing that we must not tempt God.
Believing that it is righteous to worship God and serve the Lord
throughout life. God gave us the faith that it is a great blessing. We
must have faith and live as we worship and serve God throughout life.
This
is how we must live. Dear fellow Christians, do you believe? ―Yes.― Do
you believe that this is righteous? ―Yes.― We must believe in our hearts
that this is the righteous way of life.
What
a blessing is this that we, the righteous, can worship God even though
we fall short? How big of a blessing is this that we have the God of the
Word? We give thanksgiving before God. God gave all of us this
righteous faith, and we hope that God gives everyone in the world this
righteous faith. I hope that the souls of yours and mine receive a
constant blessing from God by believing in the Word of God.
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