Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, March 5, 2017
The word devil means “adversary.” An adversary is someone who is against you and me—an enemy—a foe—a rival. An adversary wants to tear you and me down. An adversary will attack one’s reputation. An adversary will encourage and celebrate sinful and destructive behavior. An adversary will challenge faith in God. Jesus encounters the adversary in the wilderness. He meets the adversary as the Son of God but also as a human being. Jesus’ humanity is weakened by fasting. He has not had anything to eat or drink for 40 days. His body and mind has lost strength. He is not only divine but also flesh and blood. We should not dismiss the challenge Jesus had to face that day. It was a struggle for him. The adversary was doing his best to attack while Jesus was most vulnerable.
That is what evil does. There is no mercy. The adversary will attack when we are most vulnerable. He will kick us when we are down. The tempter will quote Scripture—he twist the Word of God in an attempt to lure us into sin. The devil will challenge our faith—accuse us of being a phony—and do whatever he can to discredit us. He will use the truth. He will use half-truths. He will use outright lies. What is even more disturbing is that we do not even need the devil to tempt us—unlike Jesus. “Jesus is tempted in every way as we are,” Scripture says, “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We are tempted…yet we have sinned and are inclined to sin without any assistance or temptation of the devil. Our own sinful nature tempts us every day. Our own appetite lures us into making poor choices. Our lack of self-control means we do things we later regret. We do not require a deceiver, tempter, or adversary because we are already prone to self-deceived, tempted without outside influence, and our own worst enemy. Our inward battle is not like Jesus because he is perfect, without sin and without a sinful nature. But Jesus’ outward battle with the Devil is like our outward battles. That is why Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days.
Like the nation of Israel before him that was delivered out of hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt and wandered the wilderness for 40 years, so Jesus enters the wilderness for 40 days. You’ll remember that God’s people did not do well when they were tempted. They failed to be faithful in the midst of many trials. They had many adversaries along the way—including Pharaoh, his army, other violent tribes they encountered, and even individuals within God’s people who rose up to challenge and attack Moses. Jesus is the new Israel. He is living through trial and temptation faithfully to fulfill God’s call to trust and love him above all things—even through the valley of the shadow of death. But he is also showing his church the way forward.
We will have adversaries in the wilderness of this world. Some may be spiritual. Others may be antagonistic toward the Christian Faith. Some may even be close family and neighbors. Others may be from within the Christian community. Even our own conscience can be adversarial. We can have a lack of Christ-esteem in ourselves. We may not accept the way we have been fearfully and wonderfully made—just like we feel attacked when people do not accept us with all our foibles. We may be trapped in the wilderness of shame and guilt. Maybe the devil or others have beat us down so much that we feel that we will forever be held captive to our sins. The voice that says, “You are not good enough. You are a horrible person.” This is not humility; it is the voice of the adversary.
Jesus shows us the way through the wilderness. And it all centers around the Word of God. Scripture is the gift of God that promises to deliver us. The truth of God’s Word reveals the lies of the devil, the world, and even those lies that we have been duped by. The world around us is filled with adversaries whether they are spiritual or physical—even in that secret world in our minds and hearts where we can be our own worst enemy. Once we can identify a lie or anything that does not square with God’s Word, we can reject it. We move forward in the truth. “It is written,” Jesus says. Our strength is found in the truth of Scripture. The German Reformer Martin Luther said, “The Devil fears the word of God, he cannot bite it; it breaks his teeth.”
In Christ we have a Friend, an Advocate, Someone on our side. Is there a voice saying, “You are a sinner”? He gave his life on the Cross to break the power of sin, the devil, and death itself. It is written, “He is the Friend of sinners” (Matt 11:19). Is there a voice that says, “You are not worthy”? Christ has made us worthy. He not only bring about our forgiveness; he raises us up by the power of the resurrection. It is written, “In all theses things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom 8:37). In a few minutes, William, his family, and we will all reject and renounce the devil, his ways, and his lies. Standing firm on God’s Word, we say, “Be gone, Devil!” “Away with all your accusations and deceptions.” Our eyes and hearts are fixed on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. "He holds the field (of our battles) forever." "One little Word can fell our worst demons and adversaries." "Our victory has been won; the Kingdom ours remaineth."
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