"The Bible: God's Reality Check"

Hi there this is on Solomon and I like to welcome you to our program today.

You know it's a tremendous honor the God is given to us to be on stations all around the nation bringing the truths of God's word as it is uncompromising and straightforward and I'm so glad you tuned in to listen and be part of that. Thanks again for your support and your generosity that keeps us on the radio and now let's get to the word of God. Talk about temptation this morning and even the word has kind of an ominous.temptation patient means being enticed to do something that you know you shouldn't do something that you know you to be sorry for afterwords and the best way to resist temptation is to have a reality check is not true – something that says women are called on to be sorry for this, don't do it.

What is the reality check to keep you from skipping work on a beautiful spring day and just going out and playing hooky. Well, the reality check is you even have to face the supervisor when you show up the next day. What is the reality check to keep you from leaving your children and going to Acapulco well is knowing the police and will be waiting at the airport when you come back right.

I mean we all need reality check. So we would go do crazy stupid thing I would. You would, and you know, God has given us a spiritual reality check for our lives. We call it the Bible and the reason is given us the Bible is to keep us from drifting in the places where we don't belong drifting in the places where we will end up getting badly hurt and getting ourselves in deep we and because of that. This morning I want to try to convince you how essential the Bible is in your Christian experience when it comes to keeping you from rolling gutter balls in the Christian life. All of us are prone to do that and left to ourselves, we would without a reality check.

I'm here to tell you that you need the word of God on an everyday basis or human rollout of gutter balls in the Christian life.

And so my let's talk about that because really use an example from the life of the Lord Jesus himself where he uses the Bible in this very same way as a reality check to temptation to doing something that he ought not do. Let's look at Luke chapter 4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. Would you notice what we pick up here is not the only time that the enemy ever tempted just the culmination. He's been being tempted for 40 days and at the end of that time. It says after he had eaten nothing for those 40 days. He was very hungry. Now for those of you been to Israel with me or with somebody else you know where the spirit led him and it's important for us to notice that the spirit led Jesus away from his baptism at the Jordan River and into the wilderness.

This was not his idea. It wasn't something he just felt like doing. It was the leading of God to lead into the wilderness and to lead him to fast for 40 days. The area where he went, is called the Judean wilderness of the land that lies between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, and it is barren. It is Aaron it is a wasteland. It is a part jagged desert and there is nothing there. There is no vegetation there's no mortar. The temperature often is well over 100°. It even looks like a miserable place. In fact, the Hebrew word for this area is you Shimon which means devastation or devastate a place that's what they thought of it, even in their day, and here Jesus than 40 days without food being tempted. The Bible says by the devil.

He said when the long hole in the second, the devil you not try to tell me you really believe there is such a person are you. I mean I always thought the devil was kinda like all the Bible's word for evil in the world or the Bible's word for all the bad things that happen you really think there is such an actual being person. Do you sure do, don't you sure the Bible says that he was an angel who revolted against God continued in his revolt against God, even to this day, and will continue all the way to the day that God destroys him in his revolt against God Bible says that he is the God of this say and in a minute. Were going to see him say to Jesus, I have the authority to give you all the kingdoms of this world. If I want to. Jesus never argued, never settle know you don't yet I believe Israel and I believe he is genuine in my days when I used to trip out I saw humorous close doing on a number of occasions, yet I believe Israel and God help you if you don't, because I believe the awful defenseless against him.

You don't think he's out there and you don't think he's at work let's see what he did. The Bible says that he was trying to tempt Jesus Christ to sin. Why, because he knew if he could make Jesus Christ sin he could extinguish God's plan of salvation forever. Why, because the Bible says that in order to sacrifice and offering for sin that offering has to be blemished with perfect and when it came to a man dying for the sins of the world. It had to be a blemish was man. It had to be a sinless man.

That's why you or I were not candidates but only God in the flesh. Jesus Christ himself, but if the enemy could get him to sin even once he wouldn't be sinless. He wouldn't be blemished list. He would no longer be a candidate for dying on the cross and paying for the sins of the world and God's plan of salvation goes down to so there's a lot at stake here. Look what happened. Verse three and the devil said to him, if you are the son of God, you can really translate the Greek since you are the son of God tell these stones to become bread. Your hungry make bread out of the stove. The first temptation focused on Jesus's intense hunger and the devil challenged him to work a miracle to relieve his hunger now folks, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making bread for ourselves. There's absolutely nothing wrong with us satisfying our physical needs as human beings, but there is more than that going on here. Remember I told you Jesus was led into the wilderness verse one by the spirit.

In other words, it was the will of God, that he was in the wilderness. At that moment and it was the will of God that he had no food. At that moment and what the devil was asking Jesus to do was to take matters into his own hands and support his physical needs. His physical desires. His physical drives in his physical cravings by head of the will of God for his life. This is the exact same thing that the enemies constantly try to get you to do and need to do.

We all have natural desires for things like sex and intimacy. We all have natural desires for money and the nice material things, it can buy, we all have natural desires for the comforts of this life and for notoriety and for success and there's nothing wrong with these desires. So long as we satisfy them with in the will of God for our lives what Satan was asking Jesus to do was to satisfy them outside of the will of God for his life, which is exactly what he tries to get you would need to do and the Bible says when we leave the plan of God for our life to satisfy our own cravings and our own appetite in our own way that that soon and look out Jesus counteracted the enemy's attack verse four Jesus answered its is written say where is it written was written right here, the Bible, it is written and is going to quote from the Old Testament from Deuteronomy chapter 8 is a what is the quote from the New Testament was written okay. He's quoting from the Old Testament, and here's what he says is written, man does not live by bread alone and is Matthew goes on to say, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. In other words what he's saying to the devil is a look.

It is more important to obey God, then it is to eat it is more important for me to obey God that it is for me to satisfy my own bodies and appetites and is worn where's me the great Bible commentator said and I quote Jesus said it is better to be hungry in the will of God than to be satisfied outside of the will of God. That's what Jesus was safe to use the Bible as a reality check against his own hunger. And let's face it, after 40 days you be hungry and hunger is an incredibly driving passion. Did you see the show last night on television 10 o'clock about that plane crash in the Andes with that soccer team you know that making a movie about this now.

What happened is this playful soccer players going across the Andes a few years ago. Crash and only a few people survive and after they ran out of candy bars and granola whatever rose have onboard. The only way they could survive. They were there. 72 days.

The only way they could survive is to eat the people who had not survived, and so they began to eat their friends that one man on the show last night said when I first put the meat in my mouth. I chewed it up and I could not swallow it. I spit it out. But when I got hungry enough. I swallowed the ether friends say I'd never do that is allowable when admitted.

If you were starving to death, and your friends already did. I'm not so sure you wouldn't do that much, but out the first bite, but you got hungry enough. I'm not so sure you wouldn't do that.

I'm not so sure I wouldn't do that. Put in that same situation. Why because hunger is one of the most driving passion of the human experience.

Jesus felt it 40 days were but he did not yield to temptation because he use the word of God is a reality check and said there's something more important than my hunger and that is that I do not depart from the will of God were to get the reality check part of the Bible. Now he does the same thing two more times in slow response. The devil led him up to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant and said to him I will give you all their authority and splendor for its been given to me and I give it to anybody I want to argue with that. So I will do if you worship me. It'll all be yours. This time Satan appeals not to Jesus is hunger, but to his human desire to avoid hardship and pain and suffering is a lot I don't see that in here where is that listen God had promised Jesus that he was going to give him all the kingdoms of the world. Anyway, he said in Psalm two he God the father said to me, the son, Jesus Christ. You are my son. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, and I will give you the ends of the earth as your possession. So God had already promised to give Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world. However, Jesus Christ, was on his way to the throne of all the kingdoms on the face of the earth, but he was on his way there by way of what by way of the cross.

He was on his way there by way of the cross and we know from looking at him in the garden of Gethsemane. The pain that the cross represented for him the agony that going through the cross represented for him. He prayed in the garden father if there's any way I don't have to go through this anyway. It all taken away from and what Satan was saying is he Jesus. How about if I can get you to the bottom line, but will skip across will skip the pain. I'll give you all the kingdom of the world right now and you'll have to deal with the cross and the pain intensity what he was offering he was offering him a different plan for his life, God had a plan for his life and his plan called for him to get the kingdoms of the world by going to the cross Satan today I got a different plan for your life. I'll give you the same kingdoms and you don't have to go to and let's all agree this is very enticing for us. If God were to give you the choice in any point in your life whether you wanted to go through pain or go around.

Pain is not a one of us would volunteer to go through pain, not less, were unbalanced crazy. I wouldn't. But you know when we want to go around pain so badly that will sell our soul and shortcut God's plan for our life.

That's a problem and that's exactly what Satan was attempting Jesus to do now look at how Jesus responded again. He counterattacked in the very same way, this time from Deuteronomy 6 he said verse eight Jesus answered, it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him.

His plan for your life only God has established the right plan for my life, Satan, and I'm gonna worship him and him and serve his plan for my life and in God's plan for me calls for me to hang on a tree before I can sit on a throne that I'm gonna follow his plan for my life. I'm not doing it your way. Verse nine then the devil took him to Jerusalem after he'd already appealed to his hunger, his bodily appetites and it already appealed to his human desire to go around pain and suffering now is going to appeal to his pride, he took him to Jerusalem and he had instead on the pinnacle, the highest point of the temple. If you been to Jerusalem, you know where this is.

If the corner of the wall of the temple mount that overlooks the Kidron Valley if you're standing on the Mount of olives you're looking right over to the corner and the drop from there is about 450 feet to the valley below, and there would've been people all around in this valley and near around at the temple worshiping and that the enemy put them up there and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here which written he will command his angels concerning you to guard you. Carefully they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Did you notice that Satan can quote Scripture to get that now he always gets it wrong and he always twisted, and he always distorts it. But he can quote the Bible don't just assume somebody quotes the Bible to you that they know what they're talking about and there from God know the enemy quoted the Bible to Jesus. The only problem is he always quotes it wrong. And Jesus said to him, wait a minute, you're right. It does say that but it also sends he took Scripture the misinterpretation of any balance sitting Caleb the right interpretation by all the Scripture what was Satan challenging Jesus to do, he was challenging his pride these is love. If you want to do a swan dive here off the pinnacle of the temple and you want to kind of down to the ground and land not crash and burn now but just in why the people they would come running over here that would flock to you, they would hail you as the Messiah. They lift you up on their shoulders. They exalt you to immediate power. You are the son of God, you deserve this kind of treatment you don't deserve the kind of ostracism and ridicule in opposition that they're going to give you why did you have to put up with that you are the son of God, throw yourself down and prove who you are, you deserve a break today, Jesus and waited. Again, it is written. Do not put the Lord your God to the test again quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 6 I like the way the King James translators it translates it you shall not Tim the Lord your God, meaning yes God does promise to protect us, but when we plunge ourselves into foolish situations aimed at only inflating our arrogance and our pride. No, that's not what the verse is talking about Satan you turned around. You missed you misused. That's not what God meant verse 13 when the devil is finished.

All this tempting. He left him until an opportune time. Satan could see was the soy retreated but he didn't retreat forever.

Never does only till he saw another opportunity to try again this is a perfect example that we just read about of what James tells us in his letter where he said in James chapter 4 verse seven. Resist the devil and he will flee from and what is it that Jesus used to resist the devil's own cunning his own wisdom, his own philosophy. His own education. No use it is written three times and I love what origin the great church father said he said Jesus routed the tempter with the weapon that we can all use the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. So learn from this passage the value of Scripture and the importance of Satan against" Jesus through Scripture in the enemy's face. That's the end of our passage, but it leads us to ask the question, so what, that's right. So I want to answer that for you and the time I have left what differences make for you and me living in the 20th century.

Satan is never coming tempted us and I've never been to the Judean wilderness and I don't plan on going there. So what did Mrs. you know our new president has been playing some in your face here at the beginning of his administration he think of the highly controversial issues of abortion and homosexual rights and he shoved them into the face of America and is not to shove them in our faith, but he shove them down our throat this past week. I like many of you been listening to some of the rhetoric out there about gay rights. I've heard people try to convince me that homosexuality is genetic and that therefore people can't help being this way, and therefore, the argument goes after that to discriminate against gay people when they can't help being that way any more than black people can help. Being black, that that's a violation of their civil rights. It is a civil rights issue, not a moral issue. Now I'm not here to talk to about homosexuality this morning. I do have a tape on it that I would invite you to pick up of in our bookstore and in our tape section. If you have any doubt where the Bible stands on this issue, and where we stand pick up the tape and listen to it and you know what the point I want you to see this morning is that there is a very fierce battle going on out there in our nation to redefine morality. There is a battle going on to redefine the values and the absolute that God is established for human society and we see that not only in the issue of homosexuality and abortion, but we seen in many other areas we seen in the area of premarital sex.

There is a deliberate movement going on to redefine what God says in the area premarital sex were given out condoms now in high school. Can you believe that what I would thoughtful of you got caught smoking a cigarette.

The bathroom expelled you boy, you believe this is a moral fight going on out there to redefine how we feel about divorce in this nation to redefine how we feel about business ethics in this nation. That's what the Milken trial was all about. It was about whether to manage stolen money or not. It was about ethics in business with computers and everything that can be done as quickly as it can be done these days. There's an effort going on to redefine personal morality and personal decency where people shot to death right down the road here this week by a random killer in the world is going on in our society people trying to redefine the family in our country and many many other things people out there are trying to redefine how you feel and how you think about every single one of these issues and many others, and friends. This is no haphazard phenomenon. This is not an accident. It is a well coordinated, skillfully calculated campaign by the devil himself, and he is leaning in and he is directing it and don't think anything different and there's a reason that he's doing is that why what's the reason the reason is he wants to destroy your life pure and simple wants to destroy your life. He wants to convince you that sin is really okay. He wants to convince you that what God says is wrong is really not that bad because he knows something something and not enough of us as Christians understand and know. He knows that what Jesus said is true when Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 34. The person who commits sin becomes a slave to sin. He knows that can stand too many of us to the thing that concerns me is that there are so many of us as Christians who spend more time reading the newspaper and we knew the word of God and then we wonder why we struggle the way we did Humana like what I'm to say but I don't think you got any business read the newspaper to you for the word of God. You spent 15 minutes in the newspaper.

Minimal I don't get any business read in the newspaper as a Christian to you read the word of God save on your against newspapers know I'm not not all for, but I'm not for them or anything else taking away from the word of God which is the only reality check.

You've got only one you've got to give it up your draft and believe me, Satan smart enough is will knock you off to spend 15 minutes a day. You spend the amount of time a day in the word of God. You spent in the newspaper, searching question. If the answer is no, I don't and you need to change for your sick family say for churches to the work of God's image, and I would ask you make the change commitment to this morning, but more thank you for speaking to our hearts.

We need stuff six days a week out there fight.

Thank you.

We got your spirit. Thank you. We got your word. May they be the weapons that we learn to skillfully wield even as the Lord wielded himself to protect ourselves stand against the temptations of the enemy make a strong as individuals make a strong as a church that we might carry out our mission to reach out and touch people's lives. This community, the love of God, and I pray these things in Jesus name been listening to that, I went with Dr. Lon Solomon said, when is an outrage and online, found in ministering to listen to today's message, or for more information visit our website. Lon Solomon ministries.org. Thank you for your support. If you would like to contact us, please visit our website or call us at 866-788-7770 and you will join us next time in line to answer one of life's mission to extend that way