Testing vs Temptation

Text:  Genesis 22:11-13:  11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."  12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."  and Mark 1.  13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.  INTRODUCTION: My dear Friends in Christ, The movie "Rent-a-Kid" starring Leslie Nielson has an opening segment that shows a dream sequence. [Video]  Little Molly is an orphan who just gets adopted. Her new family is extremely wealthy and has everything a child could want materialistically speaking. They even have their own merry-go-round in the house. The new parents tell Molly she can have anything or go anywhere in the house she pleases. She's just not allowed to go into this one room. It's off limits! Molly let's curiosity get the best of her and opens the door. On the other side she finds it is an exit to the outside with her new parents standing by a car waiting to take her back to the orphanage. Her parents are taunting her with phrases about how she just couldn't listen and do what she was told. It's back to the orphanage as she screams and then wakes up. Here we see both a temptation and a testing.  Over-all it’s a test, but opening that door when told not too is a temptation. But sometimes it is hard to distinguish between temptation and testing.  One way to distinguish the difference, for our purposes, is to note who’s doing the tempting or testing and the purpose of the tempting or testing.
I. First let us look at testing
	A. When God told Abraham to offer up his only son on Mt. Moriah as a sacrifice, He wasn’t tempting Abraham to sin, He was testing him. So God tests.
		1. And it’s for His purposes and for Abraham’s good.
			a. The first thing God tells Abraham to do is "Take your son," Isaac is the focal point. And that's the problem. Isaac was not only Abraham's pride and joy, Abraham had begun letting his love for Isaac push his love for God out of the center of his life. And if God was going to raise up a great nation through Abraham, then God had to remain the central focus in Abraham's life.  b. You could look at it like this: Many years ago some missionaries were going into a remote corner of Africa to work with a primitive tribe. The missionaries were uncertain about how they would be received, so they decided to give the tribe a gift as a sign of goodwill. As they flew over the area a bright, shiny new plow was parachuted down to the tribe. The plow would help the natives as they farmed. At least that was the missionaries’ intent. They were unprepared for what they found a few days later when they arrived at the encampment. The natives had never seen a plow before. They hadn’t a clue as to what this strange-looking instrument which had dropped out of the sky was used for. Not knowing what to do with it, they had put the plow on a pedestal and were worshiping it!  The plow was designed to help them farm. It was designed for use in the fields, not to be revered. But the members of that primitive tribe didn't know that, so the plow became an ornament, rather than a tool! God didn’t want Isaac to be an ornament, an idol.  He didn’t want to take second place. That would not be good for Abraham.
		2. .God was taking that Spirit-wrought faith which is reckoned as righteousness and putting it through the refining fire to show Abraham and all of us what it means to trust God’s promise.
			a. The harder the test got for Abraham, the more he focused on the promises of God. b. This text is really not about what you must do to strengthen your faith, but about what God has done so that your faith might be strengthened; c. The Lord puts our faith to the test and then he strengthens our faith in his promises and all this is done out of love.
	B. .And with testing there’s always comes a way out. God isn’t into breaking faith but building it.
		1.. For Isaac the way out was a ram caught in the thicket-- A substitute sacrifice.
			a. This is the Jesus-point. That’s where all of God’s testing of faith, in all the trials and pains and sufferings of this life are intended to bring us, to the Jesus-point. b. “God will provide,” faithful Abraham said. God did provide.
		2. The Lord who gave Abraham a strong faith strengthened that faith. The Lord further strengthens Abraham’s faith by providing a ram that he could use for the sacrifice.  He took the ram and offered it to the Lord in the place of his son Isaac.  He also called that very special place, “The Lord Provides.”
II. And we are brought to see that there is a vast difference between testing and temptation.
	A. God tempts no one. James is clear on that, and we need to be clear on that too (James 1:12-18). God does not dangle sin in front of our eyes and then dare us to disobey. That’s the work of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.
		1. Temptation begins with desire, the heart unbuckled from God. The heart that does not “fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”  The heart that is self-curved in on itself. Desire births sin, and sin matured gives birth to death. But don’t blame God for that. It’s in you.
				a. And the result is like what happened when they were renovating the Queen Mary. This gracious old vessel was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War this ocean liner served its owners well. Then it was retired to Long Beach, California where it is anchored as a floating hotel and museum. During its conversion to its present status, its three massive smoke-stacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock these massive pieces of steel crumbled. Actually that is not quite true. There was nothing left to crumble. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away. b. Is that not an analogy of what happens to some people's character? They give into temptation time and time again, until their inner moral fiber is eaten away.
		2. Subjected to temptation, we daily sin much.
				a. You are tempted. Some temptations you identify, fight tooth-and-nail, and still give in. b. Others come so naturally that you've sinned before you know it, or perhaps don't know it.
	B. And we are brought to realize that Jesus does not endure and resist temptation to set an example, to show us that it can be done. Too often this is how this text is preached: "Jesus did it, so can you."
		1. But born in sin and constantly plagued by the devil, the world and our sinful flesh, there is no way that we can resist temptation perfectly.
				a. If the point of Jesus' temptation is that we must perfectly imitate Him to be saved, then we will only find despair. We can't do it. b. That's why Jesus did it for us, and gives us the credit for His perfect work.
		2. He does this on the way to the cross, where He sheds His blood for us; and by His death our lives are won. Now, the Father looks upon His repentant people and says, "When I look upon you, I don't see your sins-the many times you gave into temptation and followed the devil's whispers. I don't see any of that because My Son has switched with you. He's taken your load of sin onto Himself, and He's given you the credit for His resistance to temptation. You're forgiven, because I see no sin on you."
III. So the answer to both testing and temptation is… Jesus.
	A. First there’s a parallel between what God does and with our OT text because what Abraham almost did in his offer of his only son on Mt. Moriah is exactly what God Himself would do on Mt. Calvary.
		1. And the parallel goes further.  Abraham saddles a donkey for the journey...Jesus rides a donkey toward Jerusalem and the cross. Abraham takes two men, his servants, with them...Jesus is placed between two men on Golgotha. Abraham laid the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac...the cross was laid upon Jesus for Him to carry. It was a three-day journey to Mt. Moriah...Jesus was in the tomb until the third day. Abraham bound his son to the wood upon the altar...God’s Son was bound to the altar of the cross. 2. And yet no angel called from heaven to put a stop to Jesus’ sacrifice. No ram was offered up as a substitute in place of Jesus. Instead, Jesus was offered up as the Lamb of God as the substitute for you. “Where is the lamb?” Isaac asked his father as they journeyed together. The answer is seen as Jesus bows His head and dies. He is the Lamb. He is the one who is sacrificed for Isaac, for you, and for every sinner
	B. And second in our Gospel Jesus is tempted. Jesus takes our humanity in its most weakened state – hungry, thirsty, alone, vulnerable – and faces the full blast of our temptation, He emerges victorious.
		1. He conquers in weakness, not strength. The secret power of the cross is revealed here.
				a. This Jesus conquers the devil’s might with strength hidden in weakness, in total reliance on the Word. b. God, who spared Abraham’s son, did not spare His own Son in order to save you.  So Jesus resists temptation for you, so that He might give you the credit for His work.
		2. The Gospel includes the joyous truth that Jesus gives you His righteousness even as He takes away your sin: so when God looks at you, He sees you as His holy child.
CONCLUSION:  There will be times when you must walk as Abraham did for those three days, trusting and obedient to God’s Word even when it seems to make no sense at all. He may be testing us to strengthen our faith.  There are times when we are like that little girl who did not resist temptation and her conscience kept on saying “it’s your fault.” But you know that in either case the Lord is with you. You know that He has delivered us. You know this because you know that Jesus resisted temptation for us.  And God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up at the cross for our redemption. He is the Lamb whom God provides to save, who took our place on the cross and for His sake we are forgiven all of our sins.  Amen.

TITLE: Stay in the Water by Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Mark 1:24-26 24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One of God."  25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!"  26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, When the movie, “Jaws,” was released some years ago, it had the effect of keeping people out of the water.  A number of vacationers changed their plans that summer.  Instead of traveling to the   oceanfront, they traveled inland, well away from “shark-infested” waters. This is why: [Video] Jaws was a scary movie, but the horror of it was largely erased by avoiding those places where the great white shark lived.  If today’s text, on the other hand, was made into a movie (and it has been somewhat with exorcism films), viewers would be haunted by nightmares and there would be no escape.  To avoid sharks, one must simply stay on dry ground; but where does a person go to avoid the horror of demons?  Hollywood knows this, and that’s why some of the scariest films ever made have to do with demon-possession.

I. A man in Capernaum was plagued by such a possession.

       A. He came to the synagogue where Jesus was teaching and he began to mock Him:  “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?”  It was the demon speaking.

           1. No one caught this scene with a video camera, but if someone had, we would be just as amazed as the people there were.  The exorcism was performed in front of them all.  “Be silent,” Jesus commanded the demon, “And come out of him!”

          2. And this scene would forever be etched in our nightmares—as the demon obeyed, it convulsed the man’s body twisting him into something which looked unhuman, and with a scream, enough to curdle your blood, the demon came out of the man and flew off looking for another body in which to live.

      B. Which brings us to you and me. As unsophisticated as it may sound to our ears, the devil is still alive and well today, a roaring lion or maybe even like a prowling shark, looking for someone to devour. He’s real (not like this): [Video: Fake Shark]  But He’s on a leash now and restrained.  But that doesn’t mean he can’t work great mischief. And the greatest mischief he can work is unbelief, doubt, despair.

         1. And if Hollywood got their hands on this particular text, the haunting questions they would be leaving the theater with would be:  “Am I next?  Is there a demon looking for me?  Where can I hide?  Where can I go for safety?”  Hollywood may create the questions, but the Christian Faith gives us the answers.

            a. It may sound a little strange to your years, but you need to go into the water.  To avoid great whites, Jaw’s moviegoers stay out of the water; [Video: Jaws 3] but to be safe from demons, into the water is exactly where we must go.

           b. It may have been long ago for many of you, but your Christian parents brought you to that very water when you were baptized.  We were helpless, just like the man in Capernaum.  Satan had his way with him, and he also had charge over us.  Demon-possession is not something that the people in Capernaum ran to the local drugstore to find a cure for.  No one could master the devil then, and none of us today can either.  In some ways it’s like this: [Video: Bigger Boat] When Jesus cast out the demon in Capernaum, the people saw in Him the power and authority of God.  He had the bigger boat.

       2. But at a time not that long after our text it would look like he had no authority when He was dragged like a fish out of water to a hill called Golgotha and nailed there upon a cross for you.

           a. But Jesus’ death on the cross is the exorcism of the world. It has all the same marks of an exorcism. You might even picture it this way: Jesus was going around collecting all the unclean spirits, as well as all the diseases, the maladies, the death everything and drawing them all into Himself so He could take them into His death.

           b. And because He did this on your behalf; and because He rose triumphantly from the dead; and because He now lives within His Word and Sacraments for you, there is forgiveness for you. He put into the waters of Baptism what we get out—forgiveness and life.

II. And for that same reason your Christian parents brought you to the water of baptism because Jesus is in that water with the power of God destroying the works of the devil.  “He (Jesus) delivered us,” writes the Apostle Paul, “From the domain of darkness.”  In your baptism, Paul goes on, “He disarmed ‘Satan.’”

       A. You belong, not to the devil, but to Christ for this reason—you are baptized in Christ Jesus.   You do not need to fear demon-possession.  Jesus, within the water of baptism, has claimed you for His own, and His power is greater than the power of the devil.

       B. Why then do we foolishly venture out of the water?  In Jaws, after the shark claimed a victim, no one dared to leave the safety of the beach…at first.  But then when the danger appeared to be over, a few, and then many swimmers went back into the ocean.  And you can guess what happened.  The great white soon claimed more victims.

          1. For Christians it’s just the opposite.  Our safe haven is in the water.  To leave the water is not brave…it’s foolish.   We would have an easier time battling a great white shark than doing battle with Satan.

            a. As a shark never stops to rest, so the devil never stops seeking you and me.  His jaws are always open to devour us.

            b. He never shows himself to us.  He remains hidden in the guise of temptation so that we leave the safety of our baptism and walk foolishly into his trap.

          2. You and I do that when we bite and devour each other with our angry words; when we see after our own will rather than Christ’s will; when we hold a grudge and refuse to forgive those who hurt us or our loved ones; when we live as though God’s Word did not matter.

            a. When you and I neglect the Lord’s body and blood we put ourselves in danger of walking away from our baptism.

            b. Our Savior urges us to partake of His Sacrament often because through bread and wine He enters us in order to fight against the works of the devil for us.

            c. To pass up the privilege of coming to worship, over and over again, puts one in danger of walking away from their baptism.

        3. But our life should be like this:

               One pastor tells a story of something that happened to him many years ago during the Korean War. The pastor was aboard a flight from New York to Los Angeles. The flight attendant seated a girl in her early twenties beside him.  Obviously this girl had never flown before. Over the loudspeaker, the flight attendant said, “Fasten your seatbelts.” The girl didn’t even know what a seatbelt was.

               The Pastor helped her and asked, “You’ve never flown before?”

She said, “No, this is my first time.” As he spoke to her, she opened her pocketbook, and there was a picture of a handsome young GI.  The pastor said, “You’re going out to see him?” “Yes,” she said, “he’s coming home. I’m going to see him.”

She went on to explain that they had gotten married a year and a half before. They had a honeymoon of just a few days, then he had gone to the coast and left for Korea. Now he was coming back home; she was going to see him. The pastor could tell that going to see her husband meant more to this young woman than anything else. He was her bridegroom; she was his bride and she was going to see him. Later the pastor said, “You wonder sometimes why Christians live as they do and make the choices they make. They are on their way to see their bridegroom, yet they go right out and live in the world as though it made no difference in their life at all.”

And that’s true, isn’t it? One day we are going to see the Bridegroom, our Lord and Master. “Man does not live on bread alone,” Jesus says, “But by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  The words, the forgiveness of Christ given here are life itself, and are your safe haven.

III. Fish are born in water and they live in water.  How foolish for a fish to jump out of the water onto dry ground.  It will die unless someone puts it back into the water.

      A.  And so with us.  Christians, like fish, are born in baptism’s water.  We live in that water within Jesus’ church.

         1. To stop hearing His words and partaking of His body and blood is to jump out of the water.  It’s to reject our baptism.  It’s to part ways with our Savior.

         2. And then like a fish out of the water, we are easy prey for the devil.  We will die unless our Lord, through a parent, or a Christian friend, or a church member or pastor, puts us back into the water.

     B. Jesus knows full well that you and I often give in to Satan’s temptations; that we do not daily live as His dear possession; and that we struggle with guilt because of this.

        1. So we are called to never forget we are like fish in water.  As fish swim in a lake, the water is full of life for them.  With every gulp of water that goes in and then out through their gills, life-giving oxygen enters them.  Fish live within this rich water.  Wherever they go in the lake they are always immersed in and surrounded by this life-giving water.

      2. This is like our lives within the church.  As lake water is full of oxygen for fish, so our baptisms are full of forgiveness for us.  As fish take in oxygen from the water, so our ears, week after week, take in Jesus’ life-giving words and our mouths takes in His precious flesh and blood.

CONCLUSION:  Yes, Jesus is your Savior.  He is life and salvation for you, and He urges each and every one of us to remain and abide with Him in the water.  So remember who you are—you are possessed by Jesus, through baptism, out of grace and mercy toward you.  You are His fish, living in His water, within His church, where there is always forgiveness and life for you.  Amen.