Sermon in Rockford 26.02.2012

For the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Let us unite our hearts in thanksgiving and prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, we have come this morning to praise and to thank You for all that You have done on our behalf. Father, You have given us the gift of life, and with that gift of life You have given a gift of living faith, hope for eternal life in heaven one day. When we no longer battle against the temptations of this world, but we can, with joy, leave this old portion behind and be gathered to give eternal thanks unto You, Father.

Father, as we gather this morning, we come with prayerful hearts that You would feed us with Your Word. We cannot journey of our own power or strength, Your Father. You know our trials. You know our temptations. You know our failures. And yet, You love our undying soul. You continue to lead us to those green pastures where we can gather around Your holy and undying Word, where we can be strengthened in faith through that preaching of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins in the name of Your dear Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We enclose our prayer with that which You have taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Today is the first Sunday in Lent. And the theme for our service this morning is Jesus, the victor over temptations. And when we think about this topic, we have to say, as we gather this morning, is there any one of us here who has not had to battle against temptation? Is there any one here who can say that they have not been wounded in those battles? That they have not fallen into sin? We are. We are sinners who are gathered here. We are not the strong ones. We are not the whole ones. We are not self-righteous ones. But we have gathered here feeling our own weakness, our own corruption, our own failures.

And when we have come together even this day around God's Word, whether it's here in our services, here in the building, in the church, or if it is there listening around the Internet to the Word of God, we have come with that prayer in our heart that God would feed us today. Give us strength to battle against those temptations that come from the threefold enemy. And give us, most importantly, strength to go to that grace altar and to believe our sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

The text for this day, the Gospel text, is found in the Gospel of St. Mark. It's found in the first chapter in the 12th and the 13th verses. And the words are in Jesus' name as follows. Amen. "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." Amen.

Amen. We have a good God. He is our Father in Heaven. He is our Creator. He knows everything about us. He knows when we will be called from this life, that very last moment. He knows how this life on earth will end for each and every one of us. And He loves us. He wants us to reach Heaven. And He sent His only begotten Son to fulfill that promise that He made to Adam and Eve in the garden.

When they fell into sin, when the enemy of souls came and tempted them, they fell into sin. They heard that sermon of the enemy of souls when he asked that question, "Did God really say so?" And Eve began to reason with her mind. And she listened to that kind of sermon from the enemy that said that certainly God didn't want you to eat this because then you would be wise. You would have that knowledge even as He. Could there come any harm from simply eating from fruit in the middle of the garden? Eve, she listened to that sermon. She fell into that temptation. And she fell into sin.

And when she did, she also then brought that fruit to Adam. And he also ate, even though he had been given that instruction from God not to eat of that fruit. Even though he had that kind of understanding that it was he who had told Eve not to eat that fruit. And yet he also ate of it. And through that fall of Adam and Eve in that garden, sin came upon each and every one of us. That inherited sin, that flesh which we carry, that can do no good, that warfare is against the spirit which God has given us, that spirit that lives forever, that has two possibilities awaiting at the end.

That soul has the possibility of eternal life in heaven, that which God hopes for each and every one of us, that which God has opened the way through His only begotten Son. Or that other option is there for eternal death and damnation, eternal suffering and pain. Suffering and pain such like is not experienced even on earth.

And we can say that there are certainly those people who have lived on this earth who have suffered tremendous pain of their body, and perhaps we could say even inward pain. And we know that those sufferings have certainly been painful. And yet, those sufferings pale in comparison to that suffering of eternal damnation.

So, God wants to encourage us this morning to continue to cling to those promises, to keep faith and a good conscience. And if there would be one who is traveling on the outside of God's kingdom, it is also God's hope this morning that you would put away that sin which has caused you to stray from God's kingdom, to stray from that gift of living faith, to suffer that spiritual death which has caused you pain and suffering, not in an outward way but in a spiritual way, that which causes you to fear death, to be restless, be seeking and searching for peace in your life.

Today is a good day, for God has brought you to the hearing of His word. And perhaps we could say even in this way that your prayers have been answered. When you have been in your heart praying to God for relief from that suffering which you have, He has brought you to the hearing of God's word. And here you can hear that precious gospel message that freely flows from God's kingdom, that you can even now at this moment uplift your heart to believe all your sins, your unbelief forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

The temptations of life, they are what they are. The enemy of souls is there tempting us in many different ways. He also tempted our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ here in this gospel which we have read. We read two short verses of Jesus' temptations. This happened in Jesus' life before his ministry began. And it was immediately after he had been baptized by John the Baptist.

If we read the few verses prior to this verse 12: "And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straight away coming out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And there came a voice from heaven saying, 'Thou art my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.'"

So Jesus also was baptized. He wanted to be obedient to that instruction of the heavenly Father. He wanted to fulfill all to the last letter. He was a perfect traveler. He was the Son of God and is the Son of God. He is sitting there on the right hand of God, awaiting that second time when He will come to the earth to judge all people.

But here we see how Mark records of this baptism and how when Jesus came out of the water, the heavens were opened and that voice was heard of the heavenly Father when He said, "Thou art my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

And here also in this message, we see how it is the Spirit that reveals and understands the voice of the heavenly Father. There were many there at that baptism of Jesus, and it is recorded also in scripture how those who traveled in unbelief, who reasoned with their own mind when they heard that noise, they reasoned that it was just a thundering, that it didn't make any sense, it wasn't something they could understand.

And isn't that so true? When one is traveling with a hardened heart, that message of the word of God sounds only as rumbling. It is not understood. But on the other hand, when we allow God to prepare the soil of our heart, when we seek for His word with our prayers, when we want to travel as a child of God, when we want to reach the shores of heaven and eternal life with our Lord and Savior and our Father and those brothers and sisters who have reached the destination through the gathering of the blood drops of Jesus, when that is the prayer in our heart, God opens our ears to hear and He opens our hearts to understand.

I remember one brother relating of his own conversion from the world. He remembers how his soul was tormented, how he knew God had revealed to him in this way that he had this time of visitation, and he knew that he was not acceptable. He knew something was missing in his life. He knew that there was not that promise of eternal life awaiting him. And he was seeking and he was searching for God's kingdom.

But he said also when he came to services, he was hearing with his own reasoning and his own understanding. He was trying to find God's kingdom with his own knowledge and his own power, and he did not find those answers when he listened there in the sermons.

But when he was able to come, when God humbled his heart so that he could come with that kind of knowledge that he knew nothing, that he needed to put his trust in God, that if it would be God's will that He would open his ears to hear and his heart to believe, God heard that kind of prayer and God opened his ears and God opened his heart and he was able to ask for the gospel and to put his unbelief and his sins away.

And then he said later he marveled how when he came then to the services of God, he said every time he heard that message of the gospel that to believe his sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood, and he realized that that same gospel message had been preached in all of those sermons.

But when God had put the stoppers in his ears, or we could say that the enemy of souls had put the stoppers in his ears, he did not hear that message. He tried to reason it with his mind and God hit it from that kind of a position of seeking.

But when he came in humbleness, when he came desperate, knowing that there was nothing he could do, that he had to put his whole trust in God, then the stoppers were taken from his ears and God gave him that grace opportunity to be a child of God.

The message is the same in all the sermons. It is like that manna that fell in the wilderness. It is the same manna. It is the same Word of God yesterday, today, and forever. It doesn't change. But the child of God wants to gather that same manna each time we come.

And why is that? Is it not because we have been fed? Is it not because it has been that kind of manna that has preserved us in living faith to this moment? It is good food for our soul. And our soul, our undying soul, yearns and longs for that few crumbs of grace.

We travel with temptations. The enemy is souls. He is not idle. He is a foe that is strong and he tempts us. He especially works on the children of God, for the end of time is drawing nigh.

There is a small flock here on earth endeavoring to believe according to that instruction and teaching of the heavenly Father, taking all three parts of that Triune God into our hearts: the Father, our Creator. When we look around us, there is no doubt that there has been a God who created all these things and who has given life.

And we also believe in Jesus Christ, our Savior, the Redeemer, Father of our sin, the one who died on that middle cross in Golgotha, the one who suffered those temptations there in the wilderness journey from which our text is taken.

We also believe in the Holy Spirit, this living congregation here on earth, this Mother which guides us on the way in the journey.

There are many who would have God in their life. There are many who would have Jesus in their life. But this third part, this congregation, this Holy Spirit, is one that many find a stumbling block.

See, they look at the children of God. They look at me. They look at you, brothers and sisters. They see that outward portion. They see our failings and our lackings. They see our failures and our sins. They say, "How could God's Spirit be found in such an earthen vessel? Surely it is found in those upright ones, those ones who never fall into sin, those Pharisees."

As the people in Jesus' time, so many of them follow those Pharisees who attempted to live an outwardly good life, who knew the Scriptures, who could recite first and chapter of that Old Testament portion in the Law. Outwardly, they did not appear to be sinners. They tried to live a perfect life.

But we remember when they brought that woman who was caught in the act of adultery to the feet of Jesus and asked Him what He thought should be done. They wanted Him to condemn her.

And Jesus asked these outwardly good people, these men whom the people looked up to, who appeared to have outwardly good vessels, He said, "He who was without sin cast the first stone."

And what happened? One by one, from the oldest to the youngest, they departed from that woman. They could not hide from the Word of God. That light of God shone into the very corners of their self-righteous heart and they saw they were sinners.

Their pride even was so strong yet that they could not ask them for the gospel, even though they were there standing next to our Lord and Savior Jesus.

But this woman, she was the poor one. She was the fallen one. She was the one who had no hope under the law. She was to be condemned. She was to be thrown out of the city and stoned to death. She knew it. She was a grace beggar there at the feet of Jesus.

And when Jesus looked up and all of those self-righteous ones were gone, He asked her, "Where are your accusers?" And she answered in this way, "No man accuses me."

Then are left to accuse. But she still felt her own sinfulness and her own lackings. And Jesus gave her that comforting message of the gospel when He said that neither do I condemn thee. Go thy way and sin no more.

She was freed of her sin death. The weight of that sin fell from her shoulders and she was able to rise up from that place of suffering and sorrow and to continue on her way in her journey. She had that promise in her heart to do no more sin.

But yet she was like us. I am guessing the Bible doesn't record but I would think that she probably experienced the same as you and I have so many times experienced that we receive forgiveness from our sins and it is such a good feeling. It is so sweet. It is so refreshing. It is so uplifting.

And immediately those promises come to our heart that I don't want to fall into those sins again. I don't want to have that kind of suffering and pain on it.

It is our trial. It is our cross in life. It is that flesh which we carry. It is the result of that fall of Adam and Eve. And Jesus was tempted just like you and I.

And if we turn to that Gospel of Matthew in the fourth chapter, we could read of those three temptations that came to Jesus.

So there in this time when God was praising and telling the world, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased," then immediately came this trial in Jesus' life.

When He was 40 days in the desert, in the wilderness, without water and without food, He was fasting there those 40 days.

Many have been, I think, in the desert. Many have seen pictures of the desert. There is not much there to sustain life. And the heat of the day burns down on our body.

Perhaps even initially for some of us from the northern climates, when we are in those desert climates, that sun might even feel good. It feels good to be warm.

But as we are in that desert, day after day, hour after hour, on our own, as even some of those early pioneers experienced when they tried to cross the desert, they had no water, no food. The sun burnt down upon them. It blistered their skin. They suffered. And many of them didn't make it all the way across.

So Jesus was in this kind of wilderness, all alone, for 40 days. And then, at the end of those 40 days, came the enemy of souls. He didn't come in that first day. He came at the end. He came in the weakest time of Jesus' life.

And I think this is also how He comes to us. He comes in those times when we are the weakest. Perhaps He has been tempting us in some ways. But He waits, oh, for that time when it is our weakest moment.

Maybe it is that moment when we are all alone. He comes and He says, "Who would know? You are all alone here. No one will see what you are doing. Nobody will know what you have done. Why would you even need to worry about that?"

And even when the fall has taken place and the enemy has been successful, He still preaches that message that nobody knew. It was done in secret. It is not anything that you need to care for. Go on your way.

But that peace does not come from that kind of a sermon, does it, brothers and sisters? Isn't that why we even come to the hearing of God's Word? Because our soul is restless from those falls which have taken place. We know the enemy has won a victory.

And we take comfort and we take strength in this portion of Scripture when we know and we understand how our Savior Jesus also suffered those same temptations that we suffered here on our journey.

But we know one big difference and that is He did not fall.

When we read of those temptations, when the enemy of souls wanted him to turn that stone into bread, Jesus answered with God's Word, "Man shall not live by bread alone."

All those temptations that we have for this everyday life, don't we, brothers and sisters? We want to pursue the bread of this world, the good life, the comforts.

And many times, those pursuits get in the way of our faith. Perhaps even sometimes preventing us from coming to the hearing of God's Word or even now when God has made it even easier for us to hear His Word through the Internet.

Even when we are away from services, perhaps even all alone, and we could listen on the Internet.

And yet even in those situations, many times the enemy comes and he tempts us that our everyday bread is more important. We need to get the work done. We need to accomplish this. We need to support our families. And we don't have time to listen to God's Word.

But we take comfort here when Jesus was successful over those kind of temptations and was able to say to the enemy of souls that man needs the Word of God. That's where our strength comes. That's what's important. That's where I want to be.

And the enemy gave up on that temptation. He said, "Okay. I'll give you that."

But He was not idle. He came again then immediately. And what did He do? He said, "If you're the Son of Man, jump down from the pinnacle. And I want to see the legions of angels come and catch you before you hit the ground. Surely, your Father would send those angels, wouldn't He? And you wouldn't die from that fall."

We cannot tempt God. The enemy of souls wants us to tempt God.

I think of my own life and my own experiences. It seems that the enemy comes this way, that he would tempt this way, that, "Well, just go ahead and do it this one time. You know, you can go to a believer then and ask for the Gospel. All you need to do is even just next Sunday go to services. The Gospel will be preached there and you can believe that it's forgiven. So, go ahead and do it now. And then just, you know, make a promise to go to church and hear the Gospel."

We cannot begin to toy with sin, brothers and sisters. There have been those who have listened to that sermon of the enemy. They have jumped from that pinnacle thinking that God would save them. Surely He would not let them die. Surely He would not let them fall.

We cannot tempt God or Jesus. We cannot say we will go into the world and do sin and then return. God knows our hearts. He knows our intentions and our purposes. He knows when our hearts have become hardened by sin. He knows when we are tempting Him.

And He sends this message as He brought to us through His dear Son when He said to the enemy of souls there when He was being tempted, "Get thee behind me, Satan."

I do not want to tempt God. I do not want to live in the pleasures of sin even for a season, even for a short time. The consequences are great. The consequences could be eternal damnation and death, eternal suffering and pain.

Get thee behind me, Satan. I want to travel as a child of God.

So the enemy of souls gave up on that battle, gave up on that tack. Then He brought Jesus to a very high mountain.

And now we see how cunning and sly the enemy of souls is. For what does He do? He tells Jesus to look out upon the world here. Look at all of this as far as you can see and I will give you all of these blessings. I will give you the world.

Have you been tempted by the world? It looks pretty good, doesn't it, when we look out there. And it's such a dangerous place to look. Only if only we could look towards the center of the flock where our Lord and Savior Jesus is there on that cross on Golgotha.

Just as the brazen serpent was there on the pole in the middle of the settlement there where the believers were. When the serpent bit them, when they were able to look upon that brazen serpent on the pole, they were healed.

If only we could keep our gaze there. But the enemy of souls, he takes to take our gaze to the outside of God's kingdom, beyond the borders and what's there.

And he brought those same kind of temptations to Jesus. And he offered him the whole world.

And wasn't that a cunning move when we stopped to think about it? Who is the Creator? God is the Creator. God created this world, everything that is in it that we see.

Now the enemy of souls was trying to give to Jesus that which was not even his to give. He is so sly and so cunning. Offers those temptations in so many unique ways.

And as we have often visited in our discussions, how he makes those little spider webs so fine in our day. Those nets, those webs are so fine you can hardly see those strands that could catch us.

When we think of the internet and we marvel at how the word of God is able to go out over the internet to all kinds of places.

And as we said that none would not need to be away from God's word. Almost anywhere you are you can pick up a sermon on the internet.

But yet, also the enemy takes that tool which God has given and he uses it to offer to us the world.

Even in those, we could say, wholesome type websites, or those sites that we would say appear to be good websites, even the opening page that we see when we go, if we're even going to a sermon, we go to a home page.

And I don't know if you have noticed, maybe it's only my flesh that sees, but so many times, when I even link or open that home page, already there the enemy has put some kind of an ad that popped up onto that screen, that tempts one to go to other places.

And so oftentimes, those kinds of enticements, they're not just the fixed, dull type of words on the screen, but they're the ones that are moving and catch your eye and draw you in.

What's that movement? Because our eyes naturally go to where there's movement. And we see that movement and we're like, "What is that?"

And the enemy of souls offers us the world. Come and see. Come and see what I have to offer.

He uses those things which God has given to man through that knowledge that he has given us.

The enemy of souls offers his world to draw us out of God's kingdom.

But yet, we can take comfort this morning when we read of these three temptations that Jesus was given there in the wilderness at the end of those 40 days.

And Jesus, he did not fall. He was perfect in every way. He battled against that threefold enemy, those temptations that the enemy of souls gave to him.

He battled against them with God's word and with God's power and with God's strength so that you and I would be able to have our failings and our sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

God, if He was not successful, if He was not perfect, there would be no hope for us. If Jesus had not died on that middle cross in Golgotha, the way to heaven would not be opened for us.

But Jesus, he had those trials. He had those temptations. But he overcame them because he was God's only begotten Son. He was that promise that God made to Adam and Eve. And he fulfilled that promise to the very last letter.

And so as we gather today around God's word, when we think of the battles and trials that we have, certainly there are many trials in our lives.

Last evening we gathered here together with many sisters and we talked about contentment. We talked about the way and the journey.

And we heard through many of the sisters that certainly there are many trials that children of God are experiencing.

Sometimes we might ask, did these trials come upon me because of my many sins and my poorness and my feelings?

And oh, the enemy of souls, he brings that kind of a message, doesn't he, when matters come that there are trials in our lives.

And he says it's because of your sin corruption and God has turned his back on you and you have this suffering now in your life and it's because of your evilness and there's no hope for you. Give it up.

But what does the scriptures teach about trials? That God allows these trials in our life so that our faith might be purer than gold, that we would remain humble travelers on the journey, that we would not begin to journey of our own power and strength, but we remember that we are dependent on God for all things in our life, that we would gather around his holy and undying word.

God allows trials. That's how it is so that we would reach the shores of heaven. He does not give us any trials that are greater than we can bear.

They seem sometimes, I'm sure, like they are too overwhelming, that there is no hope.

But as we experienced last night and as we experienced so many times on the way in journey, how God sends angels, how God gives moments, oases in the journey, finds those places where the living waters flow, the gospel is preached for our many doubts and our many worries, our many questions, that, "God, have you forsaken me?"

And through that preaching of the gospel, our doubts and our sins are washed away.

Even for a short moment, our burdens are lifted from our journey of faith and we can rejoice and we can be happy.

But the temptations now, these come from the threefold enemy. These are the battles against our own flesh. They are the battles against the enemy of souls. They are the battles against the world.

And how do we battle against these, brothers and sisters? Is it not first even with that prayer in our heart, when those sighs rise to the Heavenly Father, that God preserve me in living faith, bring me to the shores of heaven, keep my gaze fixed on the Lord and Savior Jesus, the author of my faith?

And where is Jesus found? He is there in heaven.

And so it is, we travel with our gaze heavenward and our hearts in heaven, our hope to reach eternal life in heaven.

But our feet are on the ground. We continue to do that work which God has given to do, to sow the seed, to preach His word, to preach the gospel one to another, as we have needed that gospel in our own life.

Oh, how so freely we want to preach that gospel to others around.

We have been forgiven a great debt, one that we personally have realized we couldn't get removed, no matter how many good things we tried to do, no matter how we tried to change our outward life.

It always came to this God's grace and God's love, His gospel that freed us from our sins.

And so, this morning, brothers and sisters and all listeners, be encouraged to pray.

Don't let the enemy of souls preach that sermon that it doesn't even pay to pray.

But continue to pray in your heart. Pray to God for your own undying soul. Pray for those who travel in sickness and affliction. Those who have those heavy trials in life. Pray for your neighbors and friends. Pray for those enemies that may torment you and persecute you.

And pray most of all for strength to gather around the grace altar to hear the gospel of forgiveness of sins and not only hear, but to believe.

I remember so many times on my trip to West Africa with my dear brother from Finland, Esco, so many, many times in his sermons, he encouraged those listeners in this way that the gospel has been preached that your sins are forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

And he said, "And believe. Don't let the enemy of souls come and pluck away that seed which God has sown. But you have permission to believe that all your sins are forgiven in Jesus' name and blood."

And so it is even here in America. This same gospel is preached. And this same encouragement is given.

Dear brothers and sisters, don't let the enemy of souls pluck away that seed. But believe all your sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. And be of good cheer and be of good comfort.

And I also long to hear that same gospel. Can you preach this gospel to me for my many sins and my many doubts?

We have a good God. He wants us to reach heaven.

When we promise to believe our sins forgiven and make those new promises, even this morning, to endeavor in faith to battle against that threefold enemy, to keep faith and a good conscience, when those stumblings and failings occur, be emboldened to come to that grace altar, to put away all sins in Jesus' name and blood.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Let us unite our hearts in the closing benediction.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen. Amen. Amen.