First Sunday of Lent -February 10, 2008

Preached at Providence Lutheran Church, Holland, Ohio

by Pastor Dennis R. King

"Satan's Instant Success!"

(Matthew 4:1-11)

The Grace and Mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all. Amen!

Do you believe in Satan? In recent years many people have been asking themselves, and others, questions about Satan or the Devil or the Tempter, the Evil One. Questions like "Who is he?" Is he for real? Did you know that just a few short years ago the satanic movement was the largest growing movement of the day? This growing occult has caused a variety of fears and doubts and a rash of discussions about Satan, devils, witches, demons and the possessed. Books, movies and even television shows on these topics have gained and regained rapid popularity.

In looking at the Gospel this morning we see that Satan even tried to become an instant success with Jesus, the Christ. The methods he used to tempt Jesus are the same methods he used throughout history, from the time of Adam and Eve until today. His methods of "instant success" are to sow distrust, to set up false securities, and to secure the soul.

Satan tries sowing distrust in Jesus Christ. Let us not forget at this point who Jesus is and what Satan is trying to gain by challenging Him. At the end of the third chapter of Matthew, we find the account of Jesus being baptized, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and God proclaiming Jesus as His Beloved Son. Jesus is the one whom God has sent for redeeming of the world. The tempting of Jesus by Satan must be understood as a testing experience. Jesus must battle with Satan who holds captive the people He came to redeem. His success or failure in His mission as the world's Messiah and redeemer depends on how He fairs in this personal encounter. So it is our redemption that is at stake as Satan tries sowing distrust in Jesus Christ. He does that by tempting Jesus at what he feels is Jesus' weakest point. Jesus has been in the dessert fasting for forty days. He is tired, weak, and hungry. So he, Satan, tries to make Jesus believe that God has forgotten Him and is no longer concerned about His needs, His personal needs. He tries to get Jesus to satisfy His own needs without the help of God. He tries sowing distrust in Jesus' mind about whether God has Jesus' best interest in mind. This is the same way in which Satan tempted Adam and Eve. He sowed distrust by convincing them that God did care about them. He sowed distrust by raising doubts in their mind. Satan convinced them that they could be like God if only they would eat of the forbidden fruit. Satan sows distrust in us the same way today. He works at are weak points to sow distrust in God in us. He tries to convince us that God has forgotten us and that He is no longer concerned about you and me. He tries to convince us that we are not children of God even causing us to question and doubt our faith. For example during an illness he can cause us to ask questions. Questions like "Why has God deserted me?" "Why is God angry with me?" or even "Is there a God?" Satan would like us to think this way. He would like us to forget that as Christians, Jesus Christ has handled all such problems for me and you through His merciful acts for God's people.

Satan also tries to convince us that we can attain the most out of life by just relying on our own human powers. Satan offered Jesus economic power by giving Him control over the bread. It has been said that whoever controls the bread controls the world. When one controls the bread, one has the power to control the world, all people, by controlling the means by which they live. Jesus would be great among men. Satan's sowing of distrust was successful with Adam and Eve. It failed with Jesus Christ. It causes each of us to stop and think about our relationship with God. Jesus overcame Satan's temptation because of His powerful faith and reliance on the Word of God. It is written "One does not live by bread alone." Here, Jesus has showed us a powerful example to follow. He has shown us that we too can overcome the power of Satan through faith and reliance in the Word of God. However, Satan does not give up. He continues to wrestle with the Christ. This time Satan tries to lure Jesus into a false sense of security. Satan promises Jesus the instant success that only he could give. He promises to set Jesus up as a political messiah therefore freeing Jesus from His suffering by using earthly powers. He promised to make Jesus the ruler of the kingdoms of the world, giving Him all power and authority. He lured Adam and Eve by promising them knowledge of the world beyond their imaginations. Satan lures us by surrounding us with material possessions. He lures us by giving us a false sense of security. He lures us by convincing us that we should strive to get all the gusto out of life that we can get. He promises us "instant success." In some ways one might say we live in a fast moving, instant, world. Wherever we turn, we find instant products that do things supposedly better and with less effort. This fact makes it easier for Satan to lure one away unaware! Satan is constantly tempting each of us. The minute we let down our defenses, and distrust God, we begin to slip. Remember if one is not growing in his faith, he or she is slipping to his or her fate. For example as a piece of paper is swept into a vacuum cleaner so we are swept up by Satan the minute we turn from God. Then one is literally drawn farther and farther from God. For all those who give into Satan's promises of false security, they become servants of Satan and end up turning their backs on God. And they may not even realize it. Remember, Satan is dedicated to corrupting lives and keeping men and women from achieving the goals God has set for them. Jesus Christ saw through Satan's plan and again turned to the scriptures to respond, "Worship the Lord, your God, and serve only Him."

Satan is never through with Jesus. He is never through with a person until he secures not only a person soul but his dreams and all of his life for his kingdom. So he continues to tempt Christ by misquoting scripture. Knowing how much faith Jesus has in scripture he takes verses out of context and challenges Jesus to test them. Now Satan attacks Jesus on Jesus' own ground. This thing happens to us today when people misquote scripture or take it out of context to prove that it is worthless. Jesus sees what Satan is trying to do and overcomes Satan's temptation. All along Satan has been trying to tempt Jesus away from the humble, suffering, way of the cross by placing before him an easy powerful way of life. The temptation to Jesus was to gain the glory of the kingdom without the gory details of Golgotha and to gain the crown by avoiding the cross. This temptation was to take a shortcut. Who of us has not felt the temptation to take a shortcut? A temptation that we might easily give into, but thanks be to God, Jesus Christ does not. At this point one might cheer and say Jesus has defeated Satan permanently but this however is not true until later in Jesus' ministry. Jesus did win a victory in the wilderness over Satan but Satan was not through with Jesus yet. This was only the beginning of Jesus' ministry and before He was to die on the cross there would be more encounters with Satan and his powers. The final outcome we know is Jesus' defeat of Satan in His suffering death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. We also know that through faith in Jesus Christ and by His death and resurrection we have victory over Satan. However it does not mean, we are free from the temptations of Satan while on this earth. "Satan is alive." His method of success is one of sowing distrust, of setting up false security, and of securing the souls of each individual. Satan may be successful today because the trust level among the peoples of our country and the world is at a low point. People everywhere are hanging on to whatever they have for security. So Satan has found a season in which to secure souls. This instant success of Satan may seem to come and go, like other fads today. However, Satan never quits and will continue to seek out opportunities to tempt us. If we overcome him at one point, you can be sure he will be looking for another. He will continue to seek opportunities to tempt us, lure us, distract us, and even scare us. Trusting totally in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is the only way we can win the victory over Satan and His illusion of "instant success."

Because Jesus conquered Satan, we do not need to experience defeat in our temptation experiences. "Because Jesus Himself has suffered and been tempted, He can help those who are tempted." (Heb.2:18) As we let Christ be Lord of our lives, He leads us in continual conquest over sin and Satan Himself. May we never forget that Satan is always there tempting us. And may we always remember to turn to Christ Jesus for help, protection and guidance. May we, indeed, say "Get behind me, Satan in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord." Amen!