Participants: Glenn Russell & Ranko Stefanovic (Host)
Series Code: MTBOTB
Program Code: MTBOTB00005A
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00:22 Hi, I'm Glenn Russell, welcome back
00:24 to the 'Books of the Book' special series here on 3ABN. 00:29 We're exploring the gospel according to the Matthew. 00:31 Before we go any further, 00:33 I would just want to say a word. 00:34 I'm not associated directly with 3ABN, but you know, 00:37 it's been such a joy to be here at this place, 00:40 to meet crew members and staff. 00:42 This is a place and ministry that God is blessing. 00:45 And I know they may not say it as much 00:47 so I want to say God bless you folks 00:49 for what you're doing, 00:51 and you know, they need your support, 00:53 financial support, prayer support. 00:55 Ranko Stefanovic, our guest teacher 00:56 I'm sure you would agree with me. 00:58 It's been a blessing being here, isn't it? 00:59 This is my second time coming to 3ABN here 01:03 and you have to meet people to know who they are 01:07 and what I discover here they're so dedicated people here 01:09 who are here from the morning to the evening 01:12 trying to put that message in the air, 01:14 so that many people hear the gospel message. 01:16 You should pray for these people 01:18 and support them financially etcetera. 01:20 They're doing wonderful job. 01:22 Only the eternity one day will show 01:24 the fruits for their work here. That's right, right. 01:26 And you've traveled in various parts of the world, 01:28 the people are watching, people are listening, 01:30 it's touching lives, and we know 01:32 God's been blessing, so that's tremendous. 01:35 Now, Ranko Stefanovic, 01:36 we're studying the book of Matthew. 01:38 We've gone through the first few chapters 01:39 and this time tell us 01:41 what we're gonna be exploring this time. 01:43 Actually we concluded the section 01:45 on the baptism of Jesus 01:47 with the proclamation that the Father made. 01:50 This is my beloved Son, 01:54 and then after that the Holy Spirit comes 01:58 as a dove up on Jesus equipping, 02:01 enabling Jesus now to start public ministry. 02:04 Actually these two things this is my beloved Son. Yes. 02:07 And the coming of the Holy Spirit is 02:09 exactly the beginning of chapter four. Okay. 02:13 We have the Holy Spirit takes Jesus to the wilderness 02:17 and Sonship of Jesus is now tested today. 02:20 Okay, and before we go there 02:21 we want that same spirit to help us. 02:22 Let's pray together that God will guide us. 02:25 Lord, as we get into Your word once again, 02:28 please come into our hearts and to our minds, 02:31 speak to us through Your word. 02:33 We believe that the Bible is an inspired book 02:38 and that this, these writings, these precious gifts to us 02:42 are a way for us to hear Your voice. 02:45 So we need You to speak, in Jesus name we pray. Amen. 02:50 So a high point and the experience 02:54 the baptism of Jesus, you would expect to be 02:57 a soaring success from then on. 02:59 But chapter four takes us 03:01 a little different direction, doesn't it? 03:03 You know, so many times I meet very good Christians 03:08 and they come to me they said, I'd like to be rebaptized. 03:10 They said, you know, I was baptized 03:13 and I had many problems in my spiritual life. 03:17 Would you now, I would like to be rebaptized. 03:19 I said, why? 03:21 Because they hope when they are baptized 03:24 all the spiritual problems will disappear from their lives. 03:28 Actually I've to persuade them 03:29 that baptism will not prevent the devil to tempt them 03:36 and to create problems in their lives. 03:38 Actually when you are baptized -when you're baptized, 03:41 it's a good avenue of temptations 03:43 for Satan to come to you. 03:44 This is exactly what happened in Jesus life. 03:47 Let's read a little bit of chapter four. 03:48 Can you read the first 11 actually verses? 03:50 All right. Matthew 4:1. 03:55 "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit 03:57 into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 04:00 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, 04:02 afterwards he was hungry. 04:05 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 04:08 "If you are the Son of God, 04:10 command that these stones become bread." 04:13 But He answered and said, 04:15 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 04:18 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 04:22 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, 04:25 set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 04:26 and said to Him, 04:28 "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. 04:30 For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, 04:33 and in their hands they shall bear you up, 04:35 Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" 04:38 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 04:40 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God. 04:41 And again, the devil took Him up 04:43 on an exceedingly high mountain, 04:45 and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 04:48 And he said to Him, 04:49 "All these things I will give You 04:52 if You will fall down and worship me." 04:54 Then Jesus said to him, 04:55 "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 04:58 'You shall worship the Lord your God, 05:00 and Him only shall you serve. 05:02 Then the devil left Him, and behold, 05:04 angels came and ministered to Him." What a scene. Yeah. 05:09 Right, this is a scene hidden from human experience. 05:13 Matthew only knows about this 05:14 through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 05:16 No one else is there, Jesus is alone He's in the wilderness, 05:20 the Holy Spirit is with Him. 05:22 And if we're gonna face temptation 05:23 we better be led by the spirit. 05:25 Glenn, do you remember when we mention in the beginning 05:27 about the purpose of the gospel of Matthew. 05:29 He came to save His people from their sins. 05:33 How to save them from their sins 05:34 to go through the experience of His people 05:37 in order to save them. 05:38 So let's go, just in few moments to the Old Testament 05:42 about experience of God's peoples. 05:45 They went there to Egypt. All right. 05:47 Then from Egypt they had to go through water, 05:51 to go to the wilderness how long were they in wilderness? 05:53 Forty years and then there in the wilderness 05:57 they tempted God constantly. 06:01 There after the wilderness 06:03 they went there to the mount there, 06:05 there were given the Ten Commandments. 06:07 Do you notice something? 06:08 This is exactly how the Holy Spirit 06:12 through Matthew organized the life of Jesus is. 06:15 So you're showing parallels. 06:16 Jesus came out of Egypt, you remember that? 06:20 Then the next episode is, He goes to the water. 06:25 There is announcement, this is my son by the way 06:28 the same what God said to Moses. Yes. 06:30 Coming--bring my son out of Egypt, 06:34 okay, Then Jesus went to the wilderness there 06:37 and it is we will see in the next presentation 06:40 He delivers explains the law of God there 06:42 from the mount there, sermon on the mount. 06:46 Actually Jesus how He has presented is really going 06:49 through experience of His people in order to save them. 06:51 And what understatement of scripture. Yes. 06:55 You know, He fasted forty days and He's hungry. 06:58 I'm sure He was much more than hungry. Okay. 07:01 And the devil comes to Him. 07:03 Now what do we learn about the devil in this passage? 07:06 What do we learn? 07:07 We see something about Jesus, 07:09 but we also learn something about the devil. 07:10 You know today we live in the world when Christians 07:14 out there becoming skeptic about Satan, 07:17 so we don't use the word Satan any longer. 07:20 We don't use the word demons any longer. 07:22 We are talking about physiological issues 07:25 that people have emotionally 07:27 you know, some chemicals within our body 07:29 that make us to be like this or this. 07:32 But when we read the Bible, Satan is a real person. 07:36 He is the enemy of God and he is the enemy of God's people. 07:40 By the way he was the one who wanted to defeat Jesus 07:44 at the beginning of his ministry. 07:46 So Jesus is baptized that glorious event, 07:50 the Father speaks from heaven. 07:51 Now He is at the other extreme, famished and hungry 07:56 and the devil comes to attack Him 07:57 when He is most vulnerable. 07:58 Actually in the book 'Desire of Ages' 08:01 the book that you referred already page 114, 08:05 there is something very interesting if you read 08:07 the Jesus went to the wilderness to be alone. 08:10 He wanted now--you know when we see 08:13 about any great man in the Bible 08:15 before they went to that ministry 08:17 that God appointed them to do. 08:19 First they would go to some place 08:20 to prepare themselves with God, 08:22 that's what Jesus did He went there to the wilderness. 08:25 So Jesus went there to contemplate His mission 08:28 and work by fasting and prayer, 08:31 He was to brace Himself for the blood stained path, 08:34 He must travel. 08:36 But now the sentence is, but Satan knew, 08:39 that the Savior had gone into the wilderness 08:42 and he thought this to be best time to approach Him. 08:45 When did He approach Him? 08:47 When Jesus was very hungry after 40 days 08:50 He had to be very hungry. 08:52 And you know, Ranko, sometimes in my ministry 08:54 I'm sure you've run in the same question 08:56 people kind of say, well Jesus had an advantage over us. 09:02 But really He is the biggest target there's ever been. 09:05 The devil loves to defeat you and I, 09:06 but if he can get Jesus to fail 09:08 and this was not charade or play or a drama, 09:12 this was the real possibility. 09:14 A real enemy, a real temptation 09:17 and a real victory that Jesus won. Yes. 09:19 We're not playing here games. 09:22 It was something real that happen, 09:24 Jesus confronted the real Satan there in the wilderness. 09:27 I mean can you imagine two of them 09:28 they knew each other from the heavenly places 09:31 there from the beginning, 09:32 now there was a more decisive. 09:35 By the way, the word that is used here in Hebrew 09:39 that Satan came to tempt Jesus is the same word perazzo, 09:45 that is used in the gospel of Luke 09:47 with the reference to the Garden of Gethsemane 09:50 and Jesus said, the time has come 09:52 for Son of Man to be tempted. 09:54 He's telling us you see so many times 09:56 we are talking of Garden of Gethsemane, 09:58 how Jesus was tempted. 09:59 And actually the destiny of all human beings 10:02 were at stake there in Garden of Gethsemane. 10:04 By the way, what happen here in the wilderness, 10:08 it's equal to the Garden of Gethsemane. 10:10 Actually it was the decisive point you see, 10:13 at the baptism the Father make the announcement 10:17 this is My Son. 10:19 Now the Sonship of Jesus had to be tempted. 10:22 Would Jesus use what He had as the Son of God? 10:28 Would He use that for Himself 10:32 for His own advantage when He needed-- 10:34 Let's make true we're not missing the question. 10:37 The temptations deal them with Jesus methods, 10:40 His use of His identity and who He is 10:43 and His power in His ministry. 10:46 According to Philippians okay, 10:49 Jesus had to empty Himself 10:51 of all divine prerogatives and privileges He had. 10:53 He had to become as ordinary human beings 10:56 to show us that the victory over sin is possible, 11:00 and how the victory over sin is possible. 11:03 So He came to human experience to become as one of us. 11:09 As a man living in this life 11:12 He had to depend on the divine assistance 11:16 and help as every ordinary being. 11:18 When He was hungry, He had to go through our experience. 11:22 He couldn't make a miracle to feed Himself. 11:25 If He used His divine prerogatives 11:29 in anyway for Himself, 11:30 His mission would fail and Satan knew it, 11:32 that's why he came to tempt Him there. 11:34 So first temptation deals with, 11:36 Jesus will You use Your powers for Your own benefit. 11:40 Well, Glenn, can I ask you something? 11:42 The first temptation of Jesus is the reference to food 11:45 is there something that comes to our mind 11:48 about certain temptation that comes with your food? 11:51 Aren't these the essential issues? 11:53 Actually it's the Garden of Eden. 11:57 The way how sin came 11:58 in this world came through forth. 12:01 But I'd like us Glenn to go to something else. 12:05 When we read the Book of Hebrews 12:07 and it's in close relationships with Matthew Chapter 4 12:11 and it tell us that Jesus when He came down to this earth, 12:16 He was tempted with every aspect of sin as we are, 12:21 but He did not commit sin. 12:23 And so many times I meet Christians 12:25 and when they read these texts, 12:28 they think that Jesus had to be tempted 12:32 in every detail of sin. 12:34 I don't need to remind our viewers 12:37 that Jesus was not tempted with reference to drugs, 12:41 watching porno, internet or movies etcetera that. 12:45 Then what is the meaning of this? 12:47 Actually the first temptations of Jesus 12:51 are very instructive to this point. 12:54 First we have to ask our self that question, 12:57 what are those temptations? 12:59 How does the Bible define sin? 13:01 I would like us, Glenn, first to go to one probably 13:04 crucial Biblical text to explain us how temptations, 13:08 how--actually we are tempted. 13:10 What is the nature of that temptation 13:12 and what is actually the concept of sin? 13:14 It's First John 2:16. Okay, First John 2:16. Yes. 13:20 And we're looking now at the issues, 13:23 the categories and the issues-- 13:24 Categories of sin. Okay. 13:25 In order to understand what is in Matthew Chapter 4. 13:27 "For all that is in the world.'' 13:29 He's describing wilderness now. 13:31 "Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, 13:35 and the pride of life 13:36 is not of the Father but is of the world." 13:37 So three things it says, lust of the flesh, 13:41 lust of the eyes, and the pride of life 13:42 is not of the Father but is of the world. 13:44 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; 13:47 but he who does the will of God abides forever." 13:48 So actually, all the sin condition 13:50 that human beings can summarize in these three ways. 13:54 It has to do with our eyes, lust of the eyes, 13:57 it has to do with our flesh and with the pride of life. 14:01 By the way, it is through all these that we are tempted. 14:06 You see these are three major temptations. 14:08 All other temptations at the subgroups 14:12 of this doesn't make sense. Yes. 14:15 Everything is result of the obvious. 14:18 You're also suggesting here that Jesus is in the wilderness, 14:22 but back then there was an issue in a garden 14:25 and we want to come to that in just a moment. 14:27 So we're gonna take a break right here. 14:29 We're gonna go back and look at some of the other temptations 14:31 right after the break, we'll be right back. |
Revised 2014-12-17