Reflecting on the Sermon: 7/10/11

I preached again on "Temptation and the Triumph of Christ" from Matthew 4:5-11.  I taught on the second and third temptation of Christ.  The second temptation is a pull towards living by sight instead of faith- attempting to test God to see if his words of promise are really true.  The third temptation was about a pull towards seeking the kingdom apart from the cross.  Examining these temptations, and seeing Christ's faithfulness in them encourages me.  Remember the concluding exhortation and encouragement:

Take heed- Satan will come against you, 
Take heart- Christ will come for you

Here are two quotes I mentioned in the sermon that have had a big impact on me.  Both are from Dr. Russel Moore.

“When our ultimate goal becomes security and protection, God becomes a means to that [end]. We ‘test’ him then, to see if he is able to serve as a means to our real god…As long as we see our way toward physical, emotional, financial, relational, or familial well-being, God is welcome. But when such things are threatened, we indict God with our grumbling, even when we carefully disguise this as ‘venting’ against our circumstances, not against God.  We assume that God’s love entails God’s visible protection right now. When that is absent, we grow distant and prayerless toward God. We put him to the test.”

 “Often we’re deceived into thinking self-exaltation isn’t a weak point for us because we don’t see ourselves clamoring for global power or celebrity. But kingdom and glory are always relative terms. The satanic powers don’t care what size kingdom you want or what quantity of glory is enough for you to bow the knee. They just want to see you worship something other than God to get what you want. …For some people, the self-exaltation impulse means fantasizing in the mirror about being a world-renowned musician. Others, though, seek the same kind of renown, just limited to the world of air-conditioning repair in West Chester, Ohio. Some people want to be billionaires with villas in the south of France. Others just want their neighbors to envy them because their marriage is intact… The issue isn’t the size of the kingdom; it’s what you will do to get it.”