SermonCONCEPT
Sermon
These are written periodically for personal study. Conventionally, the
‘Text’ is taken from the relevant readings for the Japanese Holy Communion
Services. These sermons are written in Japanese and English, one of which
can be found in each language elsewhere on this web site
CHURCH OF IRELAND (TRADITIONAL RITE)
Lent Season
Reverend Ivan Cosvy
Text：Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. [Mt.4:10]
I. Christ, the Role Model
It is easy to overlook the extent to which the actions of Christ serve
as a role model for us to emulate. The most obvious example, of course,
was the selfless giving of himself on the Cross for the sake of mankind.
But, there are other instances of his serving as an exemplary model. The
manner in which He brought the woman at the well to face her sinfulness
is a model of evangelism; His handling of St Peter on the shore of lake
Galilee and of the woman caught in adultery are models of forgiveness;
the Temple discourse in John 7 and 8 is a model for handling controversy.
Here, we have an example of how to handle temptation.
II. Handling Temptation
We need to keep the following factors in mind. First, although Christ
the Son of Man is sinless and so beyond temptation, the Incarnate Christ
was as vulnerable to being tempted as any one of us. As the writer of Hebrews
wrote:
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. [Heb.4: 15]
Secondly, although Satan may be the orchestrator of temptation, it is GOD, not Satan, who is the ultimate arbitrator in dealing with sin and temptation. We are told: Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of
the devil. [v.1.] St Mark puts it rather more strongly: And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. [Mk.1: 12,13.]
Thirdly, we are to confront temptation with Scripture. Christ does exactly that, as we shall see. In the second temptation, Satan has cottoned on to this and himself quotes Scripture to support his temptation; but significantly, he misquotes it, a danger to which we must be alive. Our job is to know Scripture as thoroughly as we know how.
III. The Book of Job:
In the exemplary Book of Job, GOD allows Satan freedom to do what he can
to tempt Job into renouncing his faith in GOD, but only up to certain limits
prescribed by GOD. Unbeknown to Job, the purpose behind the temptations
was to demonstrate his righteousness and faith, but more importantly, the
righteousness of GOD's faith in Job. The lesson for us, of course, is that
when we are subject to temptation, we are not alone or as vulnerable as
we may feel ourselves to be.
GOD is watching and assessing. It is good to keep in mind that when we
are open to believing that it is alright to allow ourselves to succumb
to whatever the temptation is, like Job, we are being tested, because GOD
has faith in us. If we keep that in mind, it will encourage us to resist
whatever the temptation may be. Nowhere is it ever a case of never being
found out. Satan's purpose is to wean us away from GOD, and like Job we
are lulled into thinking that we are on our own, or that nobody will know
if we keep whatever it is to ourselves.
We sense that we are vulnerable and have to endure on our own whatever it is we are suffering, the ultimate purpose of which is to get us to reject GOD. Sometimes the temptation is just to give up on GOD. In our extremity, we need to remember, just as it was in the case of Job, GOD is there and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are capable of dealing with. Such is the fallenness of our condition; we fail to comprehend the closeness of GOD and the ease with which we may turn to him. GOD had allowed Job to be stripped of his glory, and his cries seemingly went unheard, and that GOD's own wrath was kindled against him, and that he was alone because all seemed to have deserted him, yet was Job able to say, as we all can, in our extremity when we call to mind GOD's oversight:
All my inward friends abhorred me and they whom I loved are turned against
me. My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with
the skin of my teeth. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends;
for the hand of God hath touched me. Why do ye persecute me as God, and
are not satisfied with my flesh? Oh that my words were now written! Oh
that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen
and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that
he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall
see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my
reins be consumed within me. [Job 19:19-27.]
Although, the temptations recorded in today's Gospel reading are addressed
to Christ, they are equally applicable to us in that the purpose is to
deny GOD. In the order that they are recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel,
there is a gradation of severity. The first temptation raises the question
whether Christ is actually the Son of GOD; the second lays down preconditions
for believing in the existence of GOD, and the third temptation is to substitute
GOD for another that is of Man's creation. These are the most fundamental
of temptations for all of us.
IV. First Temptation: Is Jesus really the Christ.
If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. [v.3b]
That initial phrase raises the possibility that Christ might not be the
Son of God. The temptation is to show that he is by turning the stones
into bread. We know that Christ was capable of performing such a miracle
as he did when he provided out of almost nothing bread for 5,000 people,
which on that occasion was to draw men's attention as to what their priorities
were in life.
On this occasion Christ refused to be seduced and instead refers to Scripture,
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God. [Dt. 8:3]
When we see the quotation in context we are given guidance on how to handle
temptations of this sort: First, always be obedient to GOD's commands:
All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to
do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which
the LORD sware unto your fathers. [Dt. 8:1.]
Secondly, we are to call to mind all that GOD has done for us and why: And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. [Dt. 8:2.]
Thirdly, we are to have the humility to recognize that GOD sees the bigger
picture as He did in Job's case: And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,
which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make
thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. [Dt.8: 3]
In the same way, after the Feeding of the 5,000, Christ urged those who chased after him looking for more free bread to satisfy their bodily hunger, to focus on the bigger picture:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles,
but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the
meat, which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father
sealed. [See: Jn. 6:26,27]
Fourthly, there are times when we just need to be corrected with a good
slap (whatever about current thinking on the subject in Wales*): Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. [Dt.8: 6]
V. Second Temptation: Prove the Existence of GOD.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a
pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. [vv: 5, 6]
The inference here is that if Christ is GOD, he should prove it, subject to the terms set by Satan, or set by whoever happens to be challenging that Christ is GOD. The implication is that if Christ jumped and survived, Satan would believe that he is GOD.
Judging from Satan's misquotation of Psalm 91, the implication is that
if Christ falls physically from the Pinnacle, a drop of about 450 feet
into the Hinnom Valley, the angels will catch him. The actual verses are:
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy
ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against
a stone. [Ps.91: 11,12]
Satan has omitted the underlined phrase. This becomes significant when
the quotation is seen in the context of the psalm, the theme of which is
set by the first two verses: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. [Ps.91: 1, 2]
The psalmist, using figurative speech, goes on to say that GOD will ultimately deliver him from all pestilence, protecting him like a shield so that the psalmist has nothing to fear. In a position of danger, having GOD as our refuge, no evil can ultimately befall us. GOD has designated guardian angels to protect us. Omission of the phrase to keep thee in all thy ways suggests that it is the angels not God, who are responsible for our protection.
Importantly, the reference is to the angels literally breaking a man's
fall, whereas the phrase is a figure of speech referring to the provision
of GOD's protection from evil. There are two voices speaking in the psalm.
In verses 1-13 the psalmist is reassuring the reader that he is safe under
GOD's protection. In verses 14-16 it is the voice of GOD reassuring the
believer that, like the psalmist who has chosen to love GOD, He will deliver
the believer, setting him up on high because he hath known GOD who will
answer when he calls in times of trouble, will deliver and honour the believer
with long life and salvation. In the context of the psalm, Satan's interjection
is a 'red herring.'
This second temptation is a typical example of Man dictating to GOD what are his conditions for believing, and typically, the terms set by man are banal. Compare the challenge made by passers by at the cross: Likewise also, the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders,
said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he were the King of Israel,
let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him [Mt.27: 41,42.]
As with Satan, this is Man making himself the master of GOD. Being obedient
to the prescription of men is no foundation for faith. Christ in his reply
to this temptation is to refer Satan to Deuteronomy 6:16, Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God. GOD is not to be mocked or held in
contempt. The passage from which the quotation comes states unequivocally the only way of knowing GOD is to:
(a) keep all his statutes and his commandments [v.2b];
(b) Accept: The LORD our God is one LORD [v.4];
(c)... love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall
be in thine heart [v.5-6]
VI. Third Temptation: Abandon GOD in Favour of Worldly Power
The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him
all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him,
All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
[vv: 8, 9.]
Satan seems to have forgotten that Christ is already the ruler of the World.
What is different is that the Crown being offered by Satan absolves Christ
of the requirement to endure the Cross, the purpose of which is the Redemption
of Man. In other words, Satan is offering Christ power without the attendant
responsibilities. That leads to tyranny.
The true, and only acceptable authority which God requires of men to whom
authority is delegated, is that of servant Kingship. It is to serve those
for whom one is responsible, a principle that was so clearly and unequivocally
demonstrated by the washing of he Disciples feet. The rectitude of such
authority is unquestionable. Unfortunately, the times in which we are living,
there is a preoccupation with the right to self-assertion and rejection
of authority in principle, and of men in authority in particular.
Christ's response to the Third Temptation is forthright condemnation and
expulsion of Satan and all that derives from him. Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve. [Which includes a reference to Deuteronomy 6:13: Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his
name. The context contains severe warnings if one chooses to go down the path
of the Third Temptation:
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy
thee from off the face of the earth. Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God,
as ye tempted him in Massah. Ye shall diligently keep the commandments
of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath
commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight
of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in
and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, [Dt.6: 14-18]
When St Peter, buoyed up by Christ's praise of him for his confession that Jesus was the Messiah and then rejected a factor in GOD's preordained plan for the Redemption of Man, Christ was equally forthright and uncompromising:
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest
not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. [Mt.16: 234]
Let us use this period of Lent to reflect on our own spiritual condition.
When temptations confront us, let us hold to the example set by Christ
on how to deal with temptation; let us reflect on the need to make a new
start, heeding the warning not to put new wine into old bottles. Most importantly,
let us as Job did, hold on to the conviction:
What[ever] time I am afraid, I will trust in thee [GOD]. In GOD I will praise his Word. In GOD I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me [Ps.56: 3,4] and in our LORD's last words to us all, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. [Mt.28: 20b.]
* The Welsh Parliament has outlawed parents slapping children.
- February
- 2026
