The Kingdom Without The Cross (Part 1)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. You know, when you think of it, physical things like bread or material possessions, they might satisfy a need in the moment.

The Limits of Physical Provision and the Purpose of Man

It might feel good in the moment. They don't really address our greatest need, though, do they? Our lives are more than just what we eat, what we wear, and what we own. Mankind, if there's one thing scripture is clear on of why man was created, it's to glorify God.

We were created for God. One theologian put it this way. He says, man is restless until we find our rest. This is a prayer to God. We are restless until we find our rest in thee. The purpose of man is to walk in God's will.

Because if you're not walking in God's will, you answer the question, whose will are you walking in? Well, your own. There's another possibility. But you're not walking in God's will. So Jesus, though, he was walking in God's will.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So what are a few takeaways from this first temptation? First, Satan takes advantage of our circumstances. Two, his temptations are often the strongest immediately after we have been highly favored.

You know, when we're feeling good, and that's when we start to feel maybe overconfident. That's when we're likely to be tempted. Jesus had just been called the Son of God, declared from heaven the Son of God back in chapter three.

Now he goes through this. Number three, Satan's temptations are often plausible. Like, this isn't the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard. Jesus is hungry. Make the stones become bread. Like, you can do that.

It seems reasonable, doesn't it? So at the time, it probably seemed like the thing to do. And that's what the devil is able to do with so many people. He convinces us that doing the wrong thing is actually right.

You know, sometimes the wrong thing, it seems so right in the moment. And then number four, what we learn from Jesus is that we are able to meet the temptations of Satan, or we should be able to, with clear and positive declarations from scripture.

See, if you read the word of God and you know the word of God, you automatically know, no, I'm not supposed to do that. Or I should do this, I shouldn't do that. So how do we know the difference between right and wrong?

How do we know? Do we go by our feelings? You know, sometimes our feelings can lead us in the right direction. A lot of times they lead us in the wrong direction. You know that. You know, the way you feel at any given moment is, yeah, that's not what you want to follow.

Following God's word for the Christian is obviously always, it's never going to lead us astray. So people will do this. They instantly might have a feeling and inclination to do one thing, but then you have the word of God.

You have the mind of Christ that says, no, you need to do something else. Look at verse five. Then the devil, this is the second temptation, the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands, they shall bury you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Now what's Satan doing? Okay, so Jesus quotes scripture. So Satan decides, okay, in the second temptation, now all quote scripture. Do you realize Satan knows the scripture? Satan knows the Bible better than you do.

Now he takes it out of context. He twists the meaning of it, but Satan, I would say this, Satan is very religious for lack of a better term. I mean, sometimes people have the idea that Satan, what he's really about is just kind of the worst things going on in society, whatever the most horrible things on earth, that that's what Satan is into.

Satan is into false religion above anything else. So Satan quotes the Bible. This is a reference from Psalm 91, a passage about trusting in God gets twisted into an excuse to put God to the test, to try to force God's hand because if Jesus jumps off the temple, then that's not the way he was ordained to die.

So God would have to do something. So this is tempting God. You say, well, this is a kind of a strange thing to ask. Why is Satan asking him to do this? Well, the idea is Jesus. If you jump, God is not going to let you die.

After all, it is written, you shall not tempt. Well, that's what Jesus says. They shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. So the angels would have to catch you. If you jump off, the angels will have to catch you.

What is this? This is a temptation for Jesus to take the path of least resistance. I just want you to think about this for a moment. Jesus has the option to do what God says and to spend the next three and a half years going from place to place, teaching, preaching, healing people.

Jesus is going to be rejected many places. But either Jesus can spend all that time and energy to where finally at the end people are convinced that he is Israel's Messiah. That happens at Palm Sunday.

Or he could take the easy way out and jump off the pinnacle of the temple. And then Jesus just kind of floats down into the crowded streets of Jerusalem as though he's being carried down by the angels.

Like he descended from heaven. You see what that would do. If people, if there's a crowd in Jerusalem and here's this man floating down from heaven with angels carrying him, what does that do? It convinces everybody he is the Christ because he just descended from heaven.

So this is a way of taking the easy path. Instead of three and a half years of ministry, you can just declare yourself the son of God by descending from heaven. So you understand what's being said. That would convince everybody.

And really from man's perspective, that would be the perfect way to do it. I mean, if you, you know, this isn't really the thing to start speculating about. But, you know, if you were the son of God, how would you do it?

If you wanted to convince everyone, yeah, you would float down from heaven. Everyone would see it. And yeah, that's the guy. We're going to make him king. So this is Satan's way of trying to get Jesus to disobey God.

Do it my way.

My way is a lot easier, a lot quicker.

It's a better idea.

Would that have been a temptation? Well, we know it is because this is what? What's the title of the message? The temptation of Christ. Everyone knows this passage as the temptation of Christ. So was Jesus really tempted?

Yes, he was. Now, was Satan, was Jesus going to listen to Satan?

No.

In fact, I'm going to say that it couldn't happen for Jesus to give in. And some of you might disagree with me on this. But this is kind of the debated thing about this passage. Could Jesus have sinned?

Right?

You've heard people talk about this. Could Jesus have given in to temptation? Like, hypothetically, in theory, Jesus in his humanity say, well, maybe he could have given in. But here's the thing.

He didn't.

He didn't give in.

And God knows the end from the beginning. So it's my position that no, Jesus could not have sinned. Jesus could not have given in to temptation. And you know what the response is back to that, right? Well, if Jesus couldn't have sinned, then how is the temptation real?

Like, it's not really a temptation if it's impossible for him to sin.

You following me?

Right?

Well, how do I know the temptation is real? Well, number one, because the Bible says it's real. The Bible says he was tempted. But really, just because a person doesn't give in to temptation, that does not mean the temptation is not real.

Some of you are going to be tempted to do the wrong thing this afternoon. And if you do not give in to temptation, does that make the temptation not real?

No.

So there's nothing about having to give in to make temptation legitimate. That's not the case. So Jesus, I believe he could not be tempted. But either way, he did not give in. Because number one, Jesus wanted to obey his heavenly father above all.

And number two, there are some things God can't do. Jesus is both fully human and he's fully divine. There are some things God cannot do. And one thing God cannot do, he cannot sin. So what's the big difference, though, with us?

Jesus is our example. He's the Lord. We go through many of the same things. We go through temptation. What's the big difference between Jesus and us when it comes to temptation? We have something that Jesus didn't have.

We have what is called the sin nature, right? This is what theologians will call original sin. Jesus, because he is God's son, because he is born of a virgin, Jesus does not have the sinful nature. Because he doesn't have that, he can not give in to temptation 100 of the time.

My friends, we simply don't have that power. I know there are people out there that say that it's possible to live a life of sinless perfection. Well, just ask their spouse if they're sinlessly perfect.

I mean, come on, get real. But on the other hand, is that an excuse? Well, you know, I just can't help it. I have the sin nature. Some people will say this. You say, I want to do the right thing. I just can't help it.

Right, you've heard this? You probably thought that. You know, I want to do what's right. I don't want to do the wrong thing. I just can't help it. Well, you know, there's some truth to that. But really, you can help it, can't you?

Why do we sin? We do it because, you don't want to admit this, but you do it because you want to. If you didn't want to, you wouldn't do it. Now, part of you doesn't want to. This is the new man, right?

Because we have a battle going on within us. If you're a Christian, there's a battle going on between your spirit and your flesh. Now, your flesh has the sin nature. Your flesh is unconverted. Your flesh just wants to do the wrong thing, whatever feels good at the moment.

The spirit, though, the new man or the new woman in Christ, part of you doesn't want to do the wrong thing. So you have this battle going on. Point is, Jesus didn't have that battle. He didn't have that battle.

The Sin Nature, Original Sin, and the Christian's Inner Conflict

Okay, look at the third temptation. This is verse eight. And again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.

I look at this, Satan is just becoming more brazen. I mean, there is no way Jesus is going to bow down to the devil. This does seem like kind of a ridiculous request. Jesus doesn't say it, but I often imagine him saying, like, are you crazy?

There's no way I'm doing that.

He didn't say that.

So how could this be a temptation?

There's no way he would do that.

Well, there's an allure to this. What does Satan offer? The kingdoms of this world. If you'll just bow down and worship me. Does Jesus get the kingdoms of this world? Yeah, he does. And how does he get it?

Through the cross. He has to die on the cross. And because he is obedient even unto death, Philippians 2 says that he has given the name above all names. Every knee will bow that Jesus is what? Jesus is Lord.

So Jesus will give, he will get the kingdoms of this world, but he's not going to get it the devil's way. Here's the temptation. Jesus, you can have the kingdom without the cross. That was tempting. You can have the kingdom without the cross.

Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 30, I and my father are one. So Jesus always lived to do the will of the father. This is something every Christian would agree with. They say amen to Jesus always wanted to obey the father, didn't he?

But there was one time where Jesus didn't want to do what the father said. Now, in the end, Jesus, his desire to please the father overcame. But what was the one thing Jesus did not want to do? He did not want to die on the cross.

What's the proof? Well, in the garden, he prayed to the father. If it be possible, take this cup from me. To be able to receive the kingdom without the cross. I submit to you. This is the greatest temptation.

Jesus is still a human being. No human being would want to go through that. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Corner Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornerChurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God, be with you.