Theme: " A Portrait of the King "
Title: " The King's Metal Tested "
Text: Matthew Chapter Four A -- 4:1-11
INTRO: 1. Jesus Knows Our Weaknesses, because He
Experienced them Himself & was Tempted
Through those Infirmities as We are, but He
Never Yielded and Sinned.
Hebrews 4:15
2. Jesus Willingly Subjected Himself to Human
Weaknesses , so He Could Understand &
Identify with Us as Our High Priest.
Hebrews 2:14-17
3. Because Jesus Suffered Himself with Weakness &
Temptation, He is Able to Comfort & Sustain Us
when We are Tempted.
Hebrews 2:18
4. There are Three Basic Avenues through which
Temptation may Come to Us in this World.
I John 2:15-17
a. The Lust of the Eyes
b. The Lust of the Flesh
c. The Pride of Life
5. The Temptation of Jesus Included All Three
of these Avenues as Satan Tested the Metal
of the King .
Matthew 4:1-11
I. The King's Preparation for His Temptation
Verses 1-2
A. Jesus was Walking In Obedience to the Holy Spirit
as He Prepared to Enter Temptation.
Verse 1 c/f Galatians 5:16-25
1. There are Various Phrases which are Used in the Bible
to Describe the Spirit Filled Life.
a. "Walk In the Spirit" -- Galatians 5:16 & 25
b. Being "Led of the Spirit" -- Gal. 5:18 & Romans 8:14
c. Walking "After the Spirit" -- Romans 8:1 & 4
d. Minding "the Things of the Spirit" -- Romans 8:5
e. Being "Spiritually Minded" -- Romans 8:6
f. Being "Filled with the Spirit" -- Ephesians 5:18
2. Each of the Descriptive Phrases Regarding the Spirit
Filled Life are Referring to a Three-fold Lifestyle
before the Lord.
*** A Life of :
a. Looking To the Spirit of God for Direction &
Enlightenment in Life.
b. Leaning On the Spirit of God for His Enabling
Grace in Life.
c. Letting Go of Our Own Agenda so God's Spirit
can Rule our Life.
3. If we Choose to Live a Spirit Filled; Spirit Directed; Spirit
Dependent; & Spirit Ruled Life, We Too Can be Assured
that the Devil will Quickly Come to Test Our Metal to
see if We will Fold Up under his Assaults.
*** Note: The Metal of Most People's Committment to Walk
the Narrow Road is Really Only Tin Foil , so it's
No Wonder that it Folds So Easily Under Pressure .
4. Continual Walking In the Spirit will Continually Give
Us the Victory in Our Battle with the Flesh.
Galatians 5:16
B. Jesus Went Out Into the Wilderness to Deal with His
Temptations Alone .
Verse 1
1. There is a Sense in which We All Have to Face the
Serpent Alone to Deal with Our Temptations in Life.
2. We are Never Completely Alone as Christians when
we are Tempted, because Jesus Christ, who Con-
quereded Satan, Is There to Succor Us .
Hebrews 2:18
3. We are Also Not Completely Alone, because Christ
Gave Us the Church to Bear Our Burdens with Us
& Help Us with their Prayers.
Galatians 6:2 & James 5:16
C. Jesus Intentionally Weakened Himself before His
Temptations that He Might Be Able to Identify with Us
& Our Weaknesses when We are Tempted & Offer His
Grace to Succor Us .
Hebrews 4:15-16 & Hebrews 2:14-18
II. The King's Temptation Described
Verses 3-11
A. The Tempter's Plea : Go Ahead ! It will Satisfy Your
Desire.
1. He Appeals to the Lust of the Flesh .
Verse 3
2. He Appeals to the Pride of Life .
Verses 5 & 6
3. He Appeals to the Lust of the Eyes .
Verses 8 & 9
4. He Also Intermixes the Temptations to Appeal to
a Mixture of Desires .
a. In Verse 3 he Also Appeals to the Pride of Life
when says : " If thou Be the Son of God ..."
b. In Verse 9 he Adds an Appeal to the Pride of Life
based on Christ's Ambition to Rule in Addition to
the Appeal in Verse 8 to the Lust of the Eyes .
5. Satan Also uses a Twisted Version of the Word of
God in his Attempt at Justifying his Temptation.
Verse 6 c/f Psalm 91:11-12
B. The King's Response : I Will Not Do What You're
Telling Me, because the Scriptures Say to Go a
Different Way .
1. In Verse 4 He Refers to Deuteronomy 8:3.
2. In Verse 7 He Refers to Deuteronomy 6:16.
3. In Verse 10 He Refers to Deuteronomy 6:13-14.
C. The Resisted Tempter Leaves .
Verses 10-11 c/f James 4:7
D. The Lessons We Can Learn from the Temptation of
Jesus Christ :
1. God's Word is the Supreme & Final Authority in
Every Area of Our Life.
John 12:48
2. It Doesn't Matter What We Think or How We Feel ;
our Lives Should Willingly Conform to What God Has
Said.
Proverbs 3:5-6
3. When We are Tempted, We Should Use the Word
of God to Respond to the Tempter.
Ephesians 6:17 -- The " Sword of the Spirit ... "
4. The Devil is a Master at Twisting the Word of God
to Justify his Temptations , so be Extremely Cau-
tious of his Wiles.
I Peter 5:8 c/f Ephesians 6:11-12
5. If We'll Resist the Devil Steadfastly , he will Flee
Away From Us.
I Peter 5:8-9 ; James 4:7 ; & I John 4:4
Theme: " A Portrait of the King "
Title: " The King's Ministry Begins "
Text: Matthew Chapter Four B -- 4:12-25
INTRO:
I. The Catalyst of His Ministry
Verses 12-16 -- The Imprisonment of John
*** The Event that Brought About the Fulfillment of John's
Prophecy that his Ministry would Decrease & Christ's
Would Increase was his Own Imprisonment at the Hands
of Another Wicked King by the Name of Herod.
II. The Prophecy of His Ministry
Verses 12-16 c/f Isaiah 9:1-2
*** The Ministry of the King was Foreordained , & So Is
Ours.
Ephesians 2:10
III. The Message of His Ministry
Verse 17 c/f Mark 1:14-15
A. A Message of Repentance Toward God
B. A Message of Faith In the Gospel of Jesus Christ
C. A Message that the Kingdom is Coming
IV. The Partnership of His Ministry
Verses 18-22 c/f I Corinthians 3:9
A. We are Called to Be " Labourers Together With God . "
B. Consider What a Privilege we Have as a Christian to
Actually Work Hand In Hand With God Almighty to
Bring People Into the Kingdom of God.
V. The Focus of His Ministry
Verse 19 --- Fishing For Men
A. The King Himself was a " Fisher of Men."
B. His Ministry Also Involved Making Others Into Fishers
of Men as Well.
VI. The Method of His Ministry
Verses 23-24
A. Preaching & Teaching the Word of God
B. Bringing Healing & Wholeness to the Helpless &
Hurting. --- " ... They Brought Unto Him ... "
VII. The Influence of His Ministry
Verses 23-25
A. His Ministry Had an Influence on People In That Day .
B. His Ministry is Still Influencing People In Our Time
Today .