Matthew 4:1-11, “What’s in It for Me?”, Dr. John B. Carpenter

Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 to 11 hear the word of the Lord Then Jesus were led by the

Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and after fasting 40 days and 40 nights He was hungry and the tempter came and said to him if you are the

Son of God Command these stones to become loaves of bread But he answered it is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God Then the devil took him up to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are

The Son of God throw yourself down for is written He will command his angels concerning you and on their hands.

They will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone Jesus said to him again.

It is written. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory and he said

To him all these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me Then Jesus said to him be gone

Satan for it is written You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve

Then the devil left him and behold angels came and were ministering to him

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his Holy Word Well, welcome to church.

I hope you found everything to your liking so far Let me know if there's anything that we can do to help if to make your worship experience more enjoyable

For you if there's anything at all, please let us know I know you're not gonna tell us now that would be embarrassing to you and we don't want to in any way embarrass or make

You uncomfortable and so I wonder if we ought to have feedback forms or some kind of means to give feedback

Maybe a touchscreen on the way out kind of like Walmart does so you can rate us from one to five stars

It was the parking. All right The temperature, okay How was the greeting when you enter did you like the bulletin by text?

Was it informative or without being too busy? Do you like it being by text? So you kind of get you know about an hour or two before the service you got to know what's coming or do you prefer?

The old -fashioned kind of piece of paper in your hand coming through the door. Are we dressed? Okay for your liking not too formal.

So we feel stodgy But not too informal so we don't seem unserious Were the announcements warm and inviting did you like the music or was the opening song a little too old for your taste

Does the prayer too long? It's a little too long, isn't it? Are the drums too much you think that's unspiritual or not?

Is the service just too long? Is that the problem we do understand? All of us surely we understand how important it is that you

Get what you want out of this service, right? Everyone knows that the key to any successful business is giving the customer what they ask for because everyone knows that everyone is thinking

One thing when they're considering whether spending their time or their money on on something they're thinking

What's in it for me? It would be just a silly business that kind of advertise put a billboard out there come buy our

Whatever our stuff our food because we need your money or come to our church

Because we need you to fill our seats and give to our offering. No, you have to appeal to their personal interest

You have to tell them we have the best food or cars or clothes or whatever church service

We have what you want at a better price than our competitors Businesses and advertisers just understand this or they don't have to remind themselves of it at all

They just instinctively know this and they're constantly trying to tell us that it is in our personal interest to get what they are selling

One will give us a break today Another will let us have it our way and as they are doing that they are constantly telling us

Constantly reminding us drilling it into our mind with every advertisement that the proper mindset is

What's in it for me and The same attitude is crept into our spiritual lives where you now even churches sell themselves as offering more to meet your personal desires with less sacrifice come and buy into our church and we'll offer everything you want and fewer burdens

God himself is sold as someone who exists to help our Self -esteem to give us whatever we want our prosperity our health or whatever it is

Help us achieve whatever goal is we want to achieve help us to raise our kids so that they're successful Whatever it is will give us our best life now who will help us when we need him and will be cheering for us when we're doing well and So people go to those churches and sometimes those churches that are particularly good at selling themselves and put on a really good show

I mean, they just really it's just slick and it moves quickly and it's just it's entertaining

It's engaging and it leaves you at one point amused and entertained and informed

Enlightened and then a little convicted but not too much and you go away feeling very Lifted up and inspired and and you want to come back to the show next week but And in shows that our churches

I should say they do that very well Often can grow grow very big and successful But when the people get tired

Or when they get a here that there's a something new opening up down the road That's even more engaging even more entertaining

They'll move on because even with their church attendance they're asking what's in it for me

What's in it for me Was not the question the Lord Jesus was asking himself when he followed the

Spirit's lead into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil The the fasting for 40 days we might be able to kind of understand and kind of get that Kind of like Rocky training for his big bout

We've got to understand it as an arduous regimen to discipline ourselves with Something we tough we make ourselves go through now so we could get some advantage later on Have more spiritual powers even in our day of indulgence many people understand that it's possible to afflict yourself for a while With the goal of being stronger later on It's a more powerful more successful and getting what you want later on We just the

Olympics just finished all those athletes who were in the Olympics almost all of them except for that one breakdancer I don't know if she ever practiced in it, but all the rest of them that breakdancer from Australia I don't know if she's ever practiced but the rest of them seem to have put a lot of work into there and a lot

Of self -sacrifice into their events and so athletes know they and they go through especially demanding times of workouts two days

So as to get the benefits of the training, you know The workout montage of a Rocky movie is always the best part of the movie

You see I'm sacrificing now for the payoff at the end Now some people understand this when it comes to their money that they'll have to sacrifice having things now that they would like Short -term pleasures, maybe the satellite

TV they want the nice new car They want now the luxury of eating out very often them and they understand they have to sacrifice these things for now

So that the kid can have even more later on so they can invest it now and have more later on and later on They then they're hoping for the satellite

TV and the nice new house and car and all that and so they're sacrificing kind of but they're still asking themselves what's driving their quote sacrifice is

What's in there for me So we can go through hard times, but still with that attitude All about ourselves what's to my advantage?

But that's really not what the Lord Jesus is doing here. We kind of read it that like that. This is like a rocky

Training scene montage where that he's going through here that he's he's just enduring all this so we can have it easier later on No, that's not really what's happening

He is simply being led by the Spirit The Spirit has come upon him at his baptism and the first thing the

Spirit leads him to do is To go into the wilderness to be tested. He is the true

Israel Call out of Egypt quotes from Hosea out of Egypt. I've called my son.

It's in Matthew chapter 3 I believe I have chapter 2 I think and gone through the waters for Israel That was the

Red Sea the Exodus for Jesus. It was his baptism in chapter 3. He's baptized

It goes through the waters and now like Israel. He's in the desert to see if he will succeed Where Israel has failed?

He has tempted with three things first with personal pleasure second with personal promotion and finally with personal power

Well notice that was after the 40 days was over the fast was over that the devil came

With a temptation for Jesus to provide himself food after 40 days In fact not during not in the middle of it

But after it's over now if he had tempted Jesus during the fast that would have been too easy Jesus was out.

No, I committed a 40 -day fast Can't make the stones bread now Coming to me later after the fast is over.

No, but but now between the time the fast is over And the first time he's able to get any food the devil comes and he took advantage of Jesus's legitimate need for food

Jesus is a man and He needs food to live just simple as that.

But the devil first tempts him to prove himself with if You are the

Son of God. Are you really show me? prove it to me Satan says by using your powers to turn what is useless a

Rock rocks are usually pretty useless to us Don't serve any purpose for us turn something useless into something you really need and want right now something you can consume and enjoy bread

The test is whether the Lord Jesus will use his powers just for himself whether Jesus like like the rest of us is asking himself

What's in it for me? It's the stone what's in it for me? Well, nothing I can turn it to bread now that that's in it

That's something I need and Jesus could they couldn't hate him. Well, the fast is over. I'm hungry. I need to eat

These rocks are worthless. I Have the ability Why not do it?

But Jesus fitted him off with the repudiation of the whole approach to life that begins and ends with our self -absorbed

Constant question in our heads What's in it for me? He said quoting

Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3 man Notice his man. He's talking about himself here, but he's man me as a man man shall not live by bread alone

But by every word that comes from the mouth of God He fended off the temptation by quoting scripture telling

Satan that although he as full of God Had the ability to turn a rock garden into a pastry shop

He was also a human being and human beings are not designed to live

Just for filling the stomach or just maybe in our day more likely for money But wait, you buy with money meals out nice cars nice things new gadgets

Not just for things like that notice that clearly here Jesus did not say since I'm the Son of God I am

God in human flesh. I don't need bread to live You think about some people would think that's how

Jesus should repudiate the temptation and I suppose he could have said that I suppose he Could have done a miracle and rendered himself without any need of food that he was able to live indefinitely without needing to eat

But then he wouldn't have been fully human and so able to represent us. He is fully human

He is man, and he needs to eat But that's not his greatest need and so instead he repulsed the temptation to even use rocks for what's in it for him by affirming his

Humanity man again and talk about himself. I am a man man shall not live by bread alone

And God's intention for all his humans He said here that he was a man and people don't just need bread

Don't just need food. Don't just need money. Just don't need things They don't just need physical things whatever it is to survive money and what it can buy

They don't need just that They need the Word of God I'll stop here and think about that.

This is what's so perverse About turning our spiritual life

About church or seeking God our Christian life our church attendance into something merely for meeting our

Personal interest maybe using the Bible as promises or prayer as a way

Well, some people do teach prosperity preachers how to get rich How to get stuff how to be successful Here Jesus extends his fast a little bit longer

Because remember his fast is over at this point after the fast is over But he is extending a little bit longer and he determines that as a man

He needs to hear and heed the word more than he needs lunch

But we have so many today who think the purpose of the word the purpose of religion purpose of the Bible of worship is for their personal pleasure

Or for the church or at least to get them out by by lunch It is merely if it is merely something for achieving personal peace and happiness having spiritual powers

That we can then harness to achieve whatever we want to achieve We can do better in our career.

We can be healthier We can be more successful have a better family life able to win friends and influence people all about getting what we want

Then we've taken what should not be consumed Something like a rock

We've transformed it and we've consumed it or we're trying to consume it for our personal pleasure

We've encountered this with people who leave us like they leave a favorite restaurant when a new one opens up You know, they used to go like Outback Best now, it's

Texas Roadhouse They used to like this church best now They there's a newer one slicker one down the road and then you ask them

Well, what about the other church members and they'll give you a blank stare like what who well, but what do you talk about?

It's like that it would be like the Outback manager asking them. Well, what about the other customers? They're used to eating with you

Huh? I'm here to consume. This is all about me. It's about my personal happiness

Now that's the modern attitude and it reeks of What's in it for me? Jesus was hungry.

He needed food. He had the power to turn boulders into biscuits But if he did he would show that he believed his powers existed for his own personal pleasure not for the glory of God and so he rebuffed it with I a man

Do not live for food for money Whatever it can buy alone

But by every word of God second he was tempted with personal promotion

And the devil tempts him to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple It's probably the corner of the royal porch and Solomon's porch

But there was a drop from that corner into the valley of the book Kidron. The drop was 450 feet

So it's a pretty big drop and there was a tradition in their day that when the Messiah comes

He will appear there at that pinnacle at the top of the temple so that people could know that he's the one

It was just a tradition It's not something from Scripture, but part of what Jesus is being tempted with here is to put on display

So that he would be recognized as the Messiah He would people would see him that he's a son of David and just accept him as that and follow him

But if he were to do this People would look up and and see him at the top and then just to wipe away any doubts whatsoever

He would throw himself down. He would land safely Kind of like one of these superhero movies where they come crashing down breaks the pavement

But somehow his bones are fine, and then they would all know And then they would all accept him wouldn't they that makes make sense

That would seems an easy way to go there would be no need to be rejected and betrayed No need for the lashings for the cross.

We're having to be laid in a tomb Why not do it this way? It's kind of a good idea

Satan. Not a bad idea so much easier the temptations is think What's in it for me?

Now sure, I will force God to do something for me that he shouldn't have to do

But why should I care about that? What's in it for me is that I get to avoid suffering

I will fling myself down I'll land safely I'll be a claim the

Messiah I'll be promoted So why not and Just to make the temptation that much stronger

Satan quotes scripture. He quotes from Psalm 91 to say that God will protect the one who trusts in God So if Jesus was really the

Son of God again if if you are show it then Jesus should be able to demonstrate

God's commitment to him But by doing this the stunt But Satan took the scripture out of context that is out of its proper setting the promise of God's protection is not meant as an excuse to do foolish things

Dangerous things forcing God to protect you because you just chose to do something dumb

No here the devil was proposing an artificial crisis that Jesus Purposely put himself in danger

Force God into a corner Force him to send angels to keep Jesus from being hurt by a fall

It'd be like today people take that promise from Philippians 4, you know, God will provide all my needs And so well if that's the case

I'm just gonna spend all the all I can as soon as the The check comes in I'm gonna go out and go out to eat in most expensive place to buy this or that And I'll be out of money by the first day of the month, but I'm supposed to trust

God's promise He'll provide all my needs for the for the rent and everything. No, he's not gonna do that That's trying to use

God's promise for self Self -promotion trying to force God to do

What he doesn't want to do Because we want him we want to use him for what we can get out of him

Here would be as if Jesus had taken himself hostage You know save me God or I'll kill myself and demand that God do what he wants him to do

When he wants him to do it and all that to prove something to people So he can avoid the cross avoid the suffering

For his self -promotion now many people think that religion exists for self -promotion It's where they go to strut their spirituality to demonstrate that they're one of the anointed

Some traditions have kind of very lofty titles for some of the spiritual leaders the right reverend dr.

Zoltan Cyclops, whatever they call it Some do it if they don't go to those kind of churches. They put the ultra big

Bible in formal clothing You got a dress really nice to show off how Serious, they take church some long to be the preacher.

They want to be a preacher. So They'll be looked up to as somebody After all, what other opportunities do people have where you all sit nicely and quietly and listen to someone talk to them for like 45 minutes a few weird people even handle snakes or Display themselves as supposedly being overcome by the

Holy Spirit by their outbursts of emotion But often it's about Self -promotion like what

Satan offers Jesus here use God's promises To show that you are somebody you're one of his favored ones to the one asking what's in it for me the obvious Yes, I'll do it.

Whatever it is. I want to be somebody I want God to promote me but to the one asking what does my father want?

The answer is in Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 16 You shall not Put the

Lord your God to the test You don't use God for your personal promotion

Then the third temptation for personal power beginning of verse 8 The devil shows the

Lord Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory Paul calls Satan the the God of this world

So they're all his in other words He sees Jesus sees all that this world has to offer and then

Satan tries to make him a deal It's a great deal. I will give you all this all the power all the wealth the pleasures of this world you control it

All you have to do is fall out of worship me. Satan says it seemed like an irresistible bargain It seemed like a great deal.

Why not for just one quick act of compromise you get to rule the whole world and Think of the justifications

Think of all the good that he could do is the ruler of the world all the justice he could bring The wrongs he could write the sufferings he could alleviate

Scientific advancements he could bring the world the peace and the unity the prosperity That could come on all the people living under the wise rule of Jesus.

No more wars At least that's what Satan was trying to get Jesus to believe

It's the same temptation He offers the church whenever it thinks that politics is a better way of achieving its goals than preaching the gospel

We got to get our man or woman in the White House because that's where the power is You know if churches are saying that yeah

They've taken the bait We can advance God's kingdom they think and it's also

God's kingdom and our personal power If only we bow before the altar of power

Satan still whispers that in our ears Including at election time

Satan had taken Jesus up to a high place to see all this members a high place And it was on the high places the mountaintops such as such as this where Israel itself had fallen down Before other idols and worship through most all of the

Old Testament Maybe they'll test it all over and over the high places The Kings are judged whether they're good or bad whether they destroyed the high places

But Israel Israelites were going to the high place of the mountaintops and usually worshiping idols

Now Jesus the true Israel again. He's brought out of Egypt He's followed the

Lord through water now. He's in the desert He's on a high place And he's offered the whole world in exchange for a soul

But this true Israel doesn't fall for it like the old Israel did Instead he dismisses

Satan be gone Satan Notice the authority there He just he just orders him

Get out of here with that nonsense and then he quotes scripture from Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 13 You shall not you excuse me.

You shall worship the Lord your God and him only Shall you serve? The temptation was for personal power all the kingdoms of this world all the power there is on earth to gain the world

But lose your soul So Jesus the Son was called out of Egypt through the water in the desert tempted.

He succeeds including on the high place Where the old

Israel failed? So he is Righteous. This is

Jesus's active Obedience. He was not only the true Israel He was the last

Adam who succeeded where the first Adam had failed through these temptations

Jesus kept God's law. He kept perfect submission to God's will he resisted the devil's enticements

So by successfully overcoming the temptations of power and provision and presumption

Jesus embodied the righteousness required of us But which we could not attain of our own

His obedience here is not merely an example for us to follow but is instead a vicarious

Fulfillment vicarious meaning it in our place in our place. He obeyed God's law in our place.

He withstood temptation and Never failed and so he kept the covenantal righteousness

That is the righteousness of the covenant with God that is necessary for our salvation that is he fulfilled

God's requirement for us He obeyed the law for us

He rejected the temptations for us and this active obedience then is the righteousness

That is imputed to us But you might ask

What does this have to do? with us Except that we believe it.

Okay, you understand? Okay. I can't believe it But what does is it practically have to do with me after all

I can't turn stones into bread And so I'll never be tempted to try that's not really a temptation for me turn stones into bread

It just never occurs to me. I don't presume to think that if I jump off a tall building They got us bound to protect me So I'm not gonna really be tempted to test

God that way Satan has yet to offer the whole world to me. And so I'm pretty sure he never will So I don't have to worry about that temptation either

But we each face our own variety of these temptations We are tempted to use our faith the things of God As something to be consumed like a loaf of bread again like the promise

God will provide all your needs Okay. Well, I'm gonna spit everything out and let God take care of me after that. Well, no, he won't play along with it

This is we try to use God to satisfy our desires Given to some temptation and we think well he can just excuse our sin

And so I can send as much as I want. I'll send the grace may abound Oh, no, he's not gonna play along with that either

And so we have the church hoppers of our day taking in the services They're using the church in the same way They use any other business for what's in it for them and we're tempted to not be satisfied with the

Word of God So we're constantly Discontent with it We prefer the show rather than the word looking for something else

Then then what God's Word every word of God which Jesus said we live for but have that We have the temptation to take the easy way out

Not to take up our cross Not to deny ourselves to think we we can we can have the

Lord and the world too Jesus said you cannot serve God and Mammon Mammon says you can

You can serve God and me Mammon says Mammon's lying to us. That's the deceitfulness of riches

You can live for money and you're gonna have God at the same time Oh sure, you might have to skip going to church for a few years while you make a little bunch of money

But later on you could go back to God. No, it's lying to you But God doesn't lie to you you see

There are those there used to be a lot of them in the past They're kind of the age of the Middle Ages the ascetics them monks and the nuns the monasteries and convents and all that There used to be a lot of it who would be holiness is something to be achieved for themselves

Would there be willing to go? Through a lot of sacrifice a lot of self -discipline arduous afflicting of themselves

For the benefits for the glory they can get out of it and they might be religious and strict But they are still they could even at that time they could still be constantly thinking in the back of their heads

What's in it for me And for them it was answered well if I do this I suck

I get heaven later But we see here that that is the opposite of the Christlike holiness

Christlike holiness has to do not primarily with denying yourself things and if I only

I I give more money I Pray more I go to church more. I've sacrificed this more then

I'll be holy. No, that's not really Yeah, that's not really what this patches is about It's about what's in the center of your life

Whether you are living a God -centered life

So through the temptation of personal pleasure personal promotion and personal power we see two keys to the

God -centered life the Spirit and Scripture now many Christians long for great experiences of the

Spirit Seeking the thrills the laughter of the awesome displays We should pray to be filled with the Spirit often assuming often assuming that the

Spirit will bring them a lot of Pleasure and promotion and power

Now I wonder if they really want to be led by the Spirit though. I Mean you think about it often they being led by the

Spirit means this being led but they have the power they have they can Do miracles they can they have all this joy.

Everything's great That's what they think of is being led by the Spirit but the very reason Jesus went into the wilderness in the first place because the

Holy Spirit led him to being led by the Spirit it Says and so the Apostle Paul tells us there are two kinds of people those who are led by the

Spirit Who walk in the Spirit and those who live in the flesh that is those who will live with the attitude What's in it for me?

And so often today people use talk About following the

Spirit following the spirits leading to justify doing or not doing Whatever it is they want

When someone wrote to me to say that he or she will come back to attending church when the Spirit leads them

Of course, I thought the Spirit's already The Spirit's already leading you he's already spoken about that in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25

Where he tells us not to forsake our assembling together, but that's really not what the person meant They really meant if they'll come back to church when they feel

Like it maybe when their spirit leads them to when they feel there's something in it for them

In an age of self -centered consumerism the individuals will their personal choices their subjective sense of what they want of what is right for them

Are the only thing that cannot be questioned can't question, you know, they said what they say they're not led Then what am

I supposed to say about that? That's this our attitude today if they want to do things sexually, they're immoral then then who are we to question them?

Who are we to question someone else's lifestyle choice some Christians have the same attitude They just use talk of the

Spirit to cover all that up to disguise it and disguising their self -centeredness. They'll do what they want to do

When the Spirit leads them to do it What's just really their spirit? This is the opposite of what's going on here the

Lord Jesus You can almost be guaranteed that he didn't feel like denying himself food and refreshing drinks for 40 days comfortable place to sleep

While subjecting himself to the testing of the devil, I you know, I believe in being led by the

Spirit But it's much easier to believe that someone is really being led by the Spirit when they're being led to sacrifice

When they're denying their flesh When they are doing something that's clearly for God rather than what's in it for them

Then we see here the use and misuse of Scripture three times the Lord Jesus says it is written Can you think about that?

Now? He is God in human flesh. He is the Word himself. He is the Word of God incarnate and Yet he quotes the

Word of God in Scripture Every word he spoke was the Word of God Yet even he memorized and quoted

Scripture three times he was tempted and three times he responded it is written If even the

Word of God incarnate use the Word of God in Scripture to fend off temptations

How much more do we need to do so? So we need to be diligent readers students of our

Bibles we live by every Word of God we don't unhitch from any part of it.

We don't neglect any part of it We live by every part of it and the word is the sword of the

Spirit it's our principal weapon It's the word is a lamp to our feet. It's our guide to stay on the narrow way to life. It's not good enough just to have

Have the book or have the app on your phone, whatever and bring it to church. We must actually read it

We must listen to it Sing it helps recite it Meditate on it.

That means think about it pray it pray over it must have the Word of Christ dwell

Dwell means I live constantly in us richly and that comes by regular daily attention

To what it says and this is especially important when we remember that here that Satan quotes Scripture to He's a

Bible student The devil knows the Bible he can use it to deceive Hopefully not deceive you

Colts and false teachers will usually use the Bible use it quite a lot Quoting it to justify whatever false doctrine

They're trying to foist on to you to lead even you astray if they can

So if you're not regularly in the word, you're studying it. You're learning how to read it properly then

You could you can be liable to be deceived by a misuse of Scripture Satan will come to you with it the natural appealing thought you know what's in it for me and His false teachers will come playing on that to lead you

Astray lots of examples. I won't do them now But until we've seen past what the world takes for granted that life is not all about what's in it for me

Until we see that to live life with that question What's in it for me?

What's to my advantage? What am I getting out of this? That question is the loudest thing ringing in our ears

Always looking at every relationship every institution everything. We're a part of every offer everything

Driven by that question. What's in it for me? Until we see that that is the most satanic way to live

Then we cannot understand the Christian life We can even think well, okay. I'll sacrifice some

I'll give some money get my time to study to pray maybe go 40 days without any food But if we're still doing that for ourselves

We're doing it for the glory that we will bring to ourselves We're doing like Rocky going through his training montage for the championship at the end

Doing it for what we can get out of it Maybe you think we can be knowledgeable or influential we can be somebody in the church some powerful person and then we'll we've still

Missed it We get even fast for 40 days and 40 nights and yet still after all that if we're still thinking it's all about us

We'd turn stones into bread We would if we had the power

Because whether we're strict and religious 40 -day fast or not To live with the attitude

What's in it for me is to fail to understand that life is not

For personal pleasure a personal promotion or personal power is for the

Lord your God Whom only you should serve. So here we are with the

Lord Jesus himself Who saw all of these temptations through to the very end?

He endured everything all they could throw at him who felt the full force of all temptations because he never

Succumbed to one of them who became a man like us and like we should

Live not for what could fill his belly or puff his ego or spare his suffering like we should

He lived by the Word of God Being a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross

Why? What sense Does that make to people have been shaped and absorbed in that question?

What's in it for me? What sense does it make to do what Jesus has done here?

Why would someone give up everything? because he knew him and whom he believed and knew

That he was able to raise him up And he received a foretaste of that here in verse 11

Devil laughed as he was ordered and The angels came and ministered to him

He had given up the temptations of taking the easy way to personal pleasure personal promotion and personal power.

So instead He would have the angels help him There's lots of lessons for our personal holiness here but the main lesson

Is really not about us Not us It's about how

Jesus came to love and serve the father by doing right

What we had done wrong He's the perfect man Who lived a perfectly

God -centered life? Now the father sends angels to assist him later

After he had taken our sins on himself on the cross Then we can have eternal pleasures eternal promotion and eternal power

Now he has angels minister to him later God will highly exalt him so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow to him

Not to Satan Certainly not to us in The end that question

What's in it for me? That question that dominates most of our thinking the most thinking of the people all around us that question in the end will be totally forgotten as we seek to glorify

Jesus our Lord and like the angels minister to him and then

When we've forgotten that question then we'll find to our surprise that in Christ at God's right hand our pleasures forevermore