Be not like Demas

Demas is a person of whom the Scriptures say little about. Who was this person? Where was he from? What was his background? There are many aspects of the life of Demas that we simply do not know, nor can we know. However, there are three verses in the New Testament that refer to this person named Demas (cf. Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:10; Phm. 24).

So, what can we know about Demas by looking at what the New Testament says about him? At some point in his life, we know that Demas had obeyed the Gospel because Paul refers to him as a fellow laborer.

... as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers. (Phm. 24, NKJV)

Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. (Col. 4:14, NKJV)

Demas is included with other Christians in these verses; Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke. He is referred to as a fellow laborer, so it can be certain that at some point in his life, Demas was evangelistic in nature. The question that is now asked though is: Did he remain a Christian until death?

... for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica... (2 Tim. 4:10a, NKJV)

Demas succumbed to the pressures of this present world and chose to love the things of this life much more than the things of the life to come to those who are faithful.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 Jn. 2:15-17, NKJV)

For Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Cor. 7:10, NKJV)

Demas decided to love the things of the world.  What sort of things do we decide to place our devotion in? Regardless of where we place our emphasis in this world, we will give an account.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (2 Cor. 5:10, NKJV)

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. (Heb. 9:27, NKJV)

What will our answer be?

Someday you'll stand at the bar on high,
Someday your record you'll see;
Someday you'll answer the question of life,
What will your answer be?

Sadly you'll stand, if you're unprepared,
Trembling, you'll fall on your knee;
Facing the sentence of life or of death,
What will your answer be?

Now is the time to prepare, my friend,
Make your soul spotless and free;
Washed in the blood of the Crucified One,
He will your answer be.

What will it be? What will it be?
Where will you spend your eternity?
What will it be, O what will it be? 
What will your answer be? (Song No. 714, Songs of the Church)

The Church

The theme of the letter that was written, “To the saints in Ephesus,” is the church, the body of Christ. When we think of the church, we often think of a building with walls, a roof, perhaps a pulpit and some pews, but that is not what the church is. People will say on Sunday morning, “I’m going to church.” No, you are not going to church, you are going to worship. You might be wondering what I am saying. The church is not a building that we go to on Sunday mornings and evenings and Wednesday evenings. It is just a building that for the sake of expediency, we gather at in order to worship our Lord and Savior. The church however comes from two Greek words that refer a group of people who have been called out for a purpose. In fact, the term “church” has not always had a religious connotation to it. In fact, in Greek culture, the word where our English word “church” comes from was used to refer to the City council because they were a group of people who had been called out for a purpose, the purpose of helping to run the City. So now, when we say the church of Christ, or the body of Christ, we are referring to a group of people who have been called out for a purpose, a purpose to serve Christ, a purpose to live for Christ, a purpose to do the work of the Lord. We are the church of Christ. We are not a building, we are a group of people who strive to love and serve the one true Lord. Herein lies the theme of the Book of Ephesians as found in our New Testaments today, the church: its doctrine, and its duty.

The Faithful Hall of Fame

Have you ever thought about those in times past who were faithful followers of God?

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain... -Hebrews 11:4
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death... - Hebrews 11:5
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. -Hebrews 11:7
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance... -Hebrews 11:8
By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. -Hebrews 11:11
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. -Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. -Hebrews 11:20
By faith Jacob... -Hebrews 11:21

The list goes on...
By faith Joseph (11:22)... By faith Moses (11:23, 24)... Rahab (11:31)... Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets (11:32)... 

By faith, great things were done.

The question is, who else is listed in Hebrews 11 among the faithful? Who is listed before all those listed above?

By faith WE understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. -Hebrews 11:3

By faith, WE understand!

By faith! Faith in what? Faith in the word of God! The faith that comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17) which is sharper than any two edge sword!

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12

Have we read God's word? His plan of salvation is in there. If we have heard (Romans 10:17), believed (John 8:24), repented of all sins (Luke 13:3, 5), confessed Christ as Lord (Matthew 10:32, 33), and been baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), the Lord will add us to HIS church (Acts 2:47), and then we can do great things.

Growing in Leadership Requires Patience

The other day, I read something interesting, "God prepares leaders in a slow-cooker, not in a microwave oven." (A Leader's Heart, John Maxwell)

The author of the above quote also noted how Noah waited more than one hundred years for the predicted rains to arrive (when it had never rained before on the earth). Abraham waited years for the promised heir. Joseph waited in prison because of a crime that he did not commit. Job, endured the hardship of losing everything; family, possessions, and health.

Sometimes, all the time, patience is necessary.

James 1:2-4, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (NKJV)

And let us not forget the old saying, "what does not kill us, only makes us stronger." It will not kill us to be patient, it will only make us stronger. 

Jesus Heals a Leper

Have you ever been really sick? Of course, at some point in time it seems that we all occasionally become ill. Wouldn't it be awesome if that illness could pass from you instantaneously and you could become well again?

How about bad eyesight? There are a number of people who have to wear glasses. Wouldn't it be nice if that bad eyesight could be fixed instantaneously? No more blurred vision but clear sight? Eyesight so good that you can actually see the fine print on things without a magnifying glass? 

What about the chicken pox? Have you ever had or remember what it was like to have it? I remember when I was a kid and the pox did not go away quickly. It took time. Wouldn't it have been nice if they did? 

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record an account of Jesus healing a leper. Luke's account reads as follows:

And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately the leprosy left him. And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded." However, the report went around, concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. (Luke 5:12-16, NKJV)

Jesus is about to enact another miracle. People from everywhere it seems have been flocking after Jesus for one reason or another as we have seen in previous passages (cf. Luke 5:1). Some were coming to hear the message, but no doubt some were coming because of the miracles that Jesus had been doing. These miracles lead people to Christ. These miracles were meant to lead people to Christ, and that is exactly what they did. 

With this specific miracle, we see a leper, a healing hand, and a command. 

Luke's account of the Gospel reads that this man was full of leprosy. Matthew and Mark's accounts just say that a leper came to Jesus but Luke, the physician, records that the man was full of leprosy. What does this mean? 

If you have a child with the chicken pox, you may just say that he or she has the chicken pox and it would be fairly unknown as to the extent of it. It could be minor or it could be very serious. So, if you say that a man is leprous, it could mean that this person is in the beginning stages, or in the latter stages or it could mean that the person may not have had it quite so severely or on the flip side, very severely. 

So, as we see Luke recording that the man was full of leprosy, it gives us an understanding of the severity of the disease. This man was FULL of leprosy. This man had the disease severely. This man was essentially a leper in the last stages of the disease as Luke attempts to put it here. J.W. McGarvey notes in his commentary that Luke is saying that the man is a "leper past all hope." This man is a leper beyond the point of no return. This man cannot be cured! Ah, but wait! He can! He can be cured!

Remember what we read about of Jesus' ministry in Galilee? By looking at Matthew 4:23-25, Mark 1:35-39, and Luke 4:40-44, we can see that Jesus healed all sorts of ailments. Jesus could do that which no other man could do. Jesus could heal illnesses, diseases, demon possessions, and whatever else someone struggled with. Jesus could do it, and the leper KNEW that Jesus could heal him. 

The man had fallen on his face and he said, "Lord if you are willing!" The leper knew that Jesus could heal him. He said, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Look at the words describing this man’s actions though. He fell on his face. Now, this doesn’t mean he was walking along, tripped over something and fell flat on his face, but rather gives the idea that he had gotten down on his knees, bowed down with his face down. It gives the impression that the man is worshiping Jesus here. He is at the feet of Jesus saying, “Lord!” He is saying, “Lord, you can heal me. You are able to do it, if you are willing.”

We read the words of the leper here, but these are words that should not be glanced over quickly. The leper here is appealing to the Lord’s will. The leper is not saying, “Heal me so that I can get on with my life.” Instead he is saying, “Lord, if it be your will, heal me.”

Does this not remind us of how we are to pray? Jesus teaches us how to pray in His Sermon on the Mount. Part of the model prayer that we are to model our prayers from states in Matthew 6:10, “Your will be done.” We know that we are to pray for the Lord’s will when we pray. We know that we are to think about the Lord’s plan above our desires. Yes we can still ask for that which we want, but ultimately must keep in mind that the Lord’s will be done and it is that to which we should pray for. 

Let’s stay on this topic for a moment as we turn to Matthew 26:39. Jesus and His disciples are in the Garden of Gethsemane and the time is nearing for Jesus to be taken and ultimately suffer the cruel death upon the cross. As Jesus is at Gethsemane with His disciples He prays to the Father, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then in verse 42 of Matthew 26, Jesus prays a second time, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Jesus prays for the Father’s will to be done. Jesus desired for the Father’s will to be done even though it would mean pain for Him. Even though it meant taking the punishment for the sinfulness of all mankind, He was willing to pray for the Father’s will to be done.

We can look at the example of Paul too. Paul writes to the Corinthians in 2^nd Corinthians 12:7ff, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” Paul pleaded with the Lord THREE times! Paul wanted that thorn in the flesh gone! The question is though, was that the Lord’s will? Was it the Lord’s will to remove Paul’s thorn in the flesh? Paul wanted it gone, but is that what happened? We can go on to read in 2^nd Corinthians 12:9 that the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” So Paul said, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Paul was open to the Lord’s will. Yes he wanted that thorn in the flesh gone, but when it didn’t happen, when it wouldn’t happen, when it couldn’t happen, Paul was okay. Paul trusted the Lord. Friends, I ask you, when our prayers are not answered as we would like them to be, how do we react? Are we open to the Lord’s will? Will we as Paul put it, let the power of Christ rest upon us? Or will that cause us to be angry? Paul trusted in the Lord’s will, we should too.

The fact is though, not always will things happen exactly as we think they should happen. We are talking about Jesus healing a leper this morning and we can remember the healing of a leper in the Old Testament. Naaman the Syrian was a commander of the army, but he was also a leper. We read about him in 2^nd Kings 5. Naaman went to the King of Israel as instructed by the King of Syria and Elisha the prophet sent to the king of Israel saying that Naaman should come to him. We pick up in 2^nd Kings 5:9, “Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house and Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.”

Naaman was angry! He was not satisfied with what he heard. He wanted to substitute his reasoning for that which he was told. How often is it that someone gets angry when they hear the word of truth? It happens often unfortunately. It often happens that people want to use their own reasoning to determine their faith. They know that God has said one thing, but they want to do another. They say, “Sure, baptism comes from the Greek word that means to immerse but pouring or sprinkling is fine too.” They say, “Oh I know that’s what God said on this particular topic but I just can’t follow that, I need to do it this other way, it’ll be okay, the Lord is loving, He won’t keep me out of Heaven if I do this thing differently.” The point is, yes baptism is by immersion, and yes we must follow that which the Lord says. The real question becomes, when we question God’s authority in His Holy Word, can it be said that we really place our trust in God? See, Naaman did not want to trust the word that was given to him at first. He wanted to dig into his own reasoning and do something else. He did not want to trust the will of the Lord that was given to him through the messenger of Elisha here in 2^nd Kings. 

Now, here’s another question, Isn’t it wonderful when someone has the ability or the motivation to correct us when we are wrong? Naaman’s servants did just that. They spoke to him, and said, “If the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” What a great encouragement we can have, that our brothers and sisters can correct us when we have erred. Naaman did as he was instructed and he was healed. So we know, that if we aim to live our lives according to the Lord’s will, we can have hope.

So now, returning to the leper in Luke’s Gospel in Chapter 5, he trusted the will of Jesus as he said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Can it be said of us that we truly place our trust in the Lord?

So, we see, that this leper, who was beyond the hope of being cured, placed his trust in the will of Jesus and what we see next is a healing hand. 

Was Jesus willing? Of course, He said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” He said this as He reached out and put His hand on the leper.

We wonder, in a world filled with false religions, does the Lord want all these souls to be lost? Of course not! 2^nd Peter 3:9 informs us that, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” It is the hope and will of the Lord for all to be saved. Someone might ask, “Well, what about the indigenous tribe out in the middle of some island that has never heard of the Lord.” To that the proper response would be, “Who are you talking about and what are you waiting for?” The idea here is that “if” there is a particular group of people who have not yet heard about the Lord, someone needs to be sent to them! Remember the command that Jesus gave? Matthew records it at the end of his account of the Gospel. Matthew 28:18-20 records Jesus’ words, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of ALL NATIONS baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The point is, “if” there is a group of people who have not heard of the Gospel message, we as Christians have not done our job. “If” there is a group of people who have not heard the Gospel message, we have not obeyed the Great Commission of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! Sure, it might be challenging at times, but did Jesus not also say that He would be with us always? Did Jesus not also say that He would be with us even to the end of the age?

Paul even wrote about how the Lord wants all to come to the knowledge of the truth in his letter to Timothy. We read in 1^st Timothy 2:3-4, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The point is, God desires for ALL to come to the knowledge of the truth and for all to follow in faithful obedience to His plan for salvation, even the indigenous tribe who had never even heard of Him. The question is, does the individual person have faith like the leper that we read about this morning? Is our faith like that of the leper that we read about in Luke 5? The Lord is willing, the question is: do we trust His willingness?

So, we read in Luke 5 that Jesus, “put out His hand and touched him (the leper), saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’” The next thing that we see is that the leprous man was physically cleansed of his leprosy. The leprosy had left him immediately. However, he may have been healed by the hand of Jesus, but legally he still was not cleansed.

As we see in Luke 5:14, there are two commands given: (1) The charge to tell no one; and (2) To go to the priest. The first command we will deal with in the final portion of this lesson, however the second command we’ll deal with in this portion where the leper was cleansed.

Jesus tells the man, “Go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.” In Leviticus 14, instruction was given for the day of the cleansing of lepers. We read in Leviticus 14:2ff, “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop…” The following verses go on to outline the process that is to be followed. The point is, there was a process that needed to be followed under the Mosaic Law for the cleansing of the leper. Since Jesus had not yet fulfilled the Law, the man who had been physically cleansed of his leprosy needed to be legally cleansed of his leprosy according to the Law.

The other charge that Jesus gave, the first charge, is the subject of the final part of the lesson. A command was given to tell no one.

Why did Jesus charge the man to tell no one? Didn’t He want people to hear of Him? The point is, that the message that Jesus was preaching was more important than the miracles. He wanted people to hear His message; the miracles were done so that people would believe.

We go on to read in Luke 5:15, “The report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.” People came to Jesus for two reasons: (1) To hear what He was preaching; and (2) To be healed; to have a miracle enacted upon them.

Mark records something interesting in his account of the Gospel and sheds light onto why Jesus instructed the leper who he had just healed not to tell anyone. In Mark 1:45, “However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.”

Mark gives the impression that due to the spreading of the news of the leper being healed, that so many people flocked after Jesus to the point where He could not even enter the city in which He had planned to do work. As a result, he was outside in deserted places.

The question: What was Jesus doing in these deserted/ wilderness places? Luke tells us, we read in Luke 5:16, “So He Himself (Jesus) often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”

The answer: To pray. We have seen it again and again, that prayer was an active part of the life of our Lord.

Is prayer an active part of our lives? If not, why not? 

We can note several things from this event as recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. A man who was full of leprosy, came to Jesus. As we discussed Luke is not just describing some leper, but a leper who was full of the disease, so much so that as one commentator put it, the leper was past all hope! The leper was past the point of healing but he knew that regardless of that fact, that if Jesus was willing, then he could be cleansed. He knew that Jesus could cleanse him of his leprosy. The man had faith. Of course Jesus was willing, as He is willing for all to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We must ask ourselves now, “what truth?” Jesus said in His prayer in John 17, “Sanctify them by the truth, Your word is truth.” God’s word is truth! John 8:32 says that the truth shall make us free.

The truth of God’s word has the power to free us from that which hinders us. The truth has within it the words of eternal life! Just as the leper was cleansed, the person living a life of sin can be forgiven IF they place their hope in the Lord and follow in obedience to His plan for Salvation and not the plan of men. Remember Naaman? We talked about him this morning. He wanted to reason on his own and say that there were cleaner rivers than the Jordan for him to be cleansed in. However, that is not what he was instructed to do. He was instructed to wash in the Jordan.

If we read the Holy word of God, we can see that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We can see that one must believe. We can see that one must repent of all sin and that one must also confess Christ as Lord, but ultimately these things do not get us into the church. These things alone do not save us if they are not accompanied with baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), for it is in baptism that we come into contact with the blood of Christ. It is through immersion in water for the remission of sins that we come into contact with Christ’s pure and Holy blood. Then we are cleansed. Then the Lord will add us to His church as Acts 2:47 states, “and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Then we can remember the words given to the church in Smyrna as recorded in Revelation 2:10. The church in Smyrna was told to remain faithful to the point of death, and they would receive the crown of life.

What if we stumble though? What if we fall short? Well, 1^st John 1:7 tells us “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” If we continue to abide in the light, the blood of Christ continuously cleanses us though we may stumble occasionally. We know as 1^st John 1:9 tells us, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We can be forgiven. 

There is one more question to ponder though; what is our prayer life like? Jesus prayed often. We see as Luke closes out his account of this event, that Jesus had departed into the wilderness to pray. Is there anything that we need to pray for?

AN EYE FOR AN EYE

Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also."

Far too often, when someone is wronged, the first word that comes to mind is, "revenge!" However with this idea of revenge, also comes the mindset of having to "one-up" the other person. The flaw in this is that it can become an endless cycle and the problem never really gets solved.

Where did this idea of, "an eye for an eye," come from anyway? It came from the Old Testament Law. Leviticus 24:20 states, "fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him." The idea here did not mean just because person A poked person B in the eye, that person B had to go and poke person A in the eye for payback. The idea was to place a limit so that person B could not do more than poke person A in the eye.

Besides, when talking about revenge, Paul states in Romans 12:19, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord."

It is not our job to "get even." It is our job to love one another as Christ loves us. Consider the third verse of the song, "Did you think to Pray."

When your heart was filled with anger, 
Did you think to pray? 
Did you plead for grace, my brother, 
That you might forgive another
Who had crossed your way?

Temptation

Have you ever been tempted by something on someone? How did you handle the situation? From the Garden of Eden, to when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and even in our own lives, Satan will work diligently to tempt us to do what is wrong. We must watch out for the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Those things are meant for our danger, but we do have a way to overcome temptation and we have an excellent example in how Jesus dealt with the situation when He was tempted.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. (Luke 4:1-2, NKJV)

Jesus was prepared. He was full of the Holy Spirit, He had just been baptized, and it was the Spirit that led Him into the wilderness to begin with. Satan may have faced an advantage because Jesus was there alone and Jesus was hungry. However, Jesus faced an even greater advantage because He was there to fast and pray, not to mention that He had been led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was ready. Jesus was prepared.

Then, the temptations began. One of the things that we see with Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness is that he made attempt after attempt to turn Jesus from His mission. It did not happen though, did it? Jesus was victorious. He knew how to face temptation. We can all certainly be thankful for that too, because of it, He was able to live the perfect, sinless life and die on the cross for our sins. Though we do stumble from time to time, we have the ability to know how to face temptation if we are willing to learn how to deal with it. Jesus set the example, we can follow it.

Before going any further though, let's consider one other thing. Is it not interesting that the temptation of Jesus came right after His baptism? Think back to your baptism, were you tempted immediately after? Did Satan try to attack you right after the Lord added you to His church? Let's face it, that is the time that Satan is probably the most interested in attacking us because we are young in the faith, we are babes in Christ. If Satan can get us before we begin to mature as Christians, it makes his job easier.

Let's move on to the first temptation found in Luke 4:3.

And the devil said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." (Luke 4:3, NKJV)

Satan first tempted Jesus with the lust of the flesh. He told Jesus to turn the stones into bread. Satan knew that Jesus was hungry. Think about just how hungry Jesus was at this point, He had not eaten in forty days! Satan will tempt us in our weakest areas. If there is something that we struggle with, that is most likely the area that Satan will begin to attack us in our lives. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Satan does not care about us! He wants to entrap us, he wants to devour us! He wants us to fall, and he will get us in our weakest areas if we are not careful! Satan tempted Jesus where it counted, with hunger, and how did Jesus respond? How did Jesus handle it?

But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" (Luke 4:4, NKJV)

Notice what Jesus just did! He quoted something that had already been written, He said, "It is written!" What was written?!?!? SCRIPTURE!!! Jesus quoted a line from Deuteronomy 8:3 which states that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Satan tempted, Jesus gave scripture.

What should we do when men, being controlled by Satan try to tempt us? USE SCRIPTURE!!! Man shall not live by bread alone but BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD!!! AND Scripture is God-breathed! (2 Timothy 3:16)

So, Satan tempted Jesus with hunger, with the lust of the flesh, and Jesus responded with Scripture, Satan was not finished yet though, he kept trying. Now, Satan tries to get Jesus with glory. Satan tells Jesus to bow down and worship him.


Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." (Luke 4:5-7, NKJV)

Again, Satan tempted Jesus, this time with glory, this time with the lust of the eye! Imagine, seeing all the kingdoms of the world and being told that you could have it all. Satan said that all Jesus had to do was to worship him. How did Jesus respond?

And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" (Luke 4:8, NKJV)

Notice, the first time, Jesus only said, "it is written," but now you can tell Jesus really just wants Satan to leave Him alone. He says, "Get behind me Satan!" You know, when we want Satan to leave us alone, he won't. He will keep prodding at us. He will keep trying. He did it with Jesus, and even at this point, Satan has yet to try one more time to tempt Jesus.

Jesus quotes scripture yet another time to fight off temptation. This time Jesus quotes from a line found in both Deuteronomy 6:13, and Deuteronomy 10:20. Jesus tells Satan, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him ONLY you shall serve." So, again, Satan tempted, Jesus gave scripture.

Satan is not finished yet though, he has tempted Jesus with hunger (lust of the flesh), with glory (lust of the eyes), and next with the pride of life. Satan now tells Jesus to jump from the temple.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" (Luke 4:9-11, NKJV)

We see something new with this third temptation. We've seen from the previous two temptations that we need to be ready to use Scripture to fight off the devil and his temptations, but now we see that Satan uses Scripture too! Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11-12. SATAN KNOWS SCRIPTURE TOO!!!  That makes it all the more important for us to know Scripture! That way when we are attacked and the perpetrator uses scripture, we can be ready to rightly divide the word of God, as 1 Timothy 2:15 states, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Have you ever known anyone to miss-use scripture? It happens, and we need to be ready to respond! Remember the words of 1 Peter 3:15? But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

How did Jesus respond to Satan this time? 

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" (Luke 4:12, NKJV)

Again, Jesus uses Scripture, this time He goes to Deuteronomy 6:16 which states, "you shall not tempt the Lord your God." For a third time, Satan tempted Jesus and Jesus came back at him with scripture! We need not be afraid to use scripture to keep us on the right path. Jesus did it; we need to follow His perfect example.

As a result, Jesus was able to fight off Satan for the time being. So now, after being tempted three times, with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, we see that Jesus IS victorious!

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13, NKJV)

When Satan saw that he was not going to succeed, he stopped tempting Jesus for the time being. He did not leave permanently. He ended the temptation, but only until an opportune time. Only until opportunity would allow him to tempt Jesus again. When we fight off Satan, he will depart from us, but only until his next opportunity arises. He will leave us alone, but when he sees that he can try to tempt us again, he will be back. Again, be watchful. Remember the words of 1 Peter 5:8, the devil prowls about like a roaring lion.

Jesus was victorious in enduring temptation from Satan by using Scripture, certainly an example that we can follow.

Do these three areas that Jesus was tempted in sound familiar? Let's look at another situation where the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life got the best of someone. Let's look at the temptation in the Garden of Eden found in Genesis 3.

[1] Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" [2] And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; [3] but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" [4] Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." [6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6, NKJV)

Notice, right away in the first verse, Satan questions what God really said. Satan asks Eve, "Has God indeed said..." It is interesting that this still happens today. People will question what God's word, the Bible, really says. Does the Bible really say that I cannot drink? Does the Bible really say that I cannot smoke? Does the Bible really say this or that? Friends, our bodies are the living temple of the Lord and if there are things that we would not do in certain places like the church building or in front of grandma, then we should not do those things... period! Again, we need to know how to fight of Satan!

Satan gets us to question what God said, what is written in Holy Scripture. Satan will get us to base our faith on a question mark! If Satan is getting us to question God's word, to question Scripture, then is it not logical to go right to the word that people are getting us to question in the first place? We have the words that will lead to salvation. God gave us everything we need to know and when we begin to question God, we begin to question His authority.

Eve told Satan what God said in Genesis 3:2-3, but the next thing that happened was that Satan attacked God's word. Satan's approach is to get us to doubt God's word and that is just what he did in the Garden of Eden. Satan IS the father of ALL lies! In Genesis 3:4, Satan negated God's word by saying, "you will not surely die." God had already said in Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." This was a direct command from God and God even gave the consequence, death, but Satan negated it.

Then in Genesis 3:5, we see that Satan enticed Eve, he got Eve where it counted. Satan tempted Eve with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

Look at the first part of verse 6 again:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and a tree desirable to make one wise [pride of life], she took of its fruit and ate. (Genesis 3:6a, NKJV)

Eve gave in to temptation, she did not know how to respond to temptation and Satan succeeded in tempting her. Keep those three areas of temptation in mind and consider the words of 1 John 2:16.

For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:16, NKJV)

Satan is of the world, he tempts us with worldly things and these things are NOT OF THE FATHER!

There is one more thing to notice about Genesis 3:6, Adam was with Eve yet he did not stop her. Was he deceived as Eve was? 1 Timothy 2:14 answers that question.

And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Timothy 2:14, NKJV)

No! Adam was not deceived, Eve was. Adam should have been the spiritual leader and stopped Eve from sinning, but instead he gave into sin too. It may have been easier to just give in to his wife and not rebuke her, but let's face it, sometimes the right thing to do is not the easiest thing to do. We need to be ready to fight off temptation, Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God! Be ready!

We have now looked at how Jesus endured temptation and how Adam and Eve gave in to temptation. What about our lives? We are tempted every day by various things. Will we endure, or will we give in? We are tempted in the same way that Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and by using the same methods employed on Jesus in the wilderness. We are tempted by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Satan will get us to negate the word of God, he will change it, he will completely disregard it, and he will dig into his own reasoning. We must be ready!

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV)

It is encouraging to know that God will not let Satan tempt us to a level more than we can endure. No matter what temptation we are faced with, we can handle it, God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. There is a way of escape. Think of Job, notice that when Satan inflicted all the hardship on Job, that God placed limits on what Satan could do. Satan is NOT all powerful, God is, and that should serve as a great encouragement to us all.

The fact is, we do have temptation in our lives, but God will not allow Satan to tempt us more than we can bear and there will be a way of escape. Adam and Eve gave in to temptation in the Garden of Eden because Satan negated, changed, and disregarded God's word. However, Jesus was able to fight off Satan. Jesus endured by using scripture.

We can fight temptation too, the question is, will we give in, or will we endure? We know that enduring is part of the Christian life, in Matthew 10:22, Jesus states, "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved."

Being faced with temptation is kind of like seeing a deer in the headlights as we are driving down the road at night. If we are not ready to step on the breaks, we will hit the deer. Likewise, if we are not ready to fight temptation with the Holy word of God, chances are greater that we might give in. As 1 Peter 5:8 states, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

The Power of Prayer

Have you ever been in a situation where you were on a road trip and had to continually slow down to stop and go traffic because of various accidents? The first thought that might come into your mind might be to wonder if those involved are alright, but if you have a lot of driving to do, you might start to wonder if you will make it home safely. This worry might lead to prayer and that is just what it should do. You may even be able to think of other life situations that will progress from worry to prayer.

Let's consider the words that Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

From this passage, there is a basic three point outline:

1. Panic
2. Prayer
3. Peace

The first point is, "panic." Jesus tells us in His Sermon on the Mount not to worry, He says, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body; what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25, NKJV)

I remember back in April of 2008, I was a senior at Iowa State University, graduation was coming closer and closer. I had a few months left in my apartment and then I would need to find a new place to live. I needed to find a job too, and as many people know, it was a lot harder in 2008 to find a job out of college than it was back in 2000. As summer progressed I still did not have a new place lined up to live. My lease was coming to an end at my apartment and I had no clue what job I would be going to or where I'd be moving.

What about the illustration I used to begin? Most of us when on a long road trip might start to worry or panic when we see multiple accidents taking place. It is very easy for a person's thoughts to turn to panic or worry when such events take place.

We are told not to panic, Jesus goes on to say in His Sermon on the Mount, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26, NKJV)

Let's consider this thought a little further, Jesus is telling us to consider the birds. He is telling us that the birds have everything that they need and then He reminds us that we are of a much higher value than they are. Let's think back to the creation. God made man to have superiority over all of the creatures of the earth. God made man to be important. If that is the case, and if Jesus is saying that the birds of the air have what they need, then isn't He saying that He will make sure that mankind will have everything that they need?

Besides, worrying will not profit one bit. "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" (Matthew 6:27, NKJV)

Do you remember the last time you were worried about something? How did everything work out? When I was worried about finding a job or a place to live, God provided. Worrying did not solve the problem, but trusting in God did.

Now, that we have established that there is no need to worry or "panic" let's move onto the next point, "prayer." We need to let our requests be made known to God by prayer.

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we asked of Him." (1 John 5:14-15, NKJV)

We see from 1 John, that if we ask something according to God's will, that He hears us and if He hears us, then we know that we will have the petitions that we ask for. We need to remember though, that we must be asking for God's will and we also need to remember God's timing and not ours.

We also need to understand that God knows what we need before we ask. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:8 that the Father knows what we need before we ever ask Him. The question is, are we going to trust God enough to make our requests known to Him by prayer, or are we going to try to fulfill our desires in our own way?

Jesus even provided a model for us to use when we pray. In Matthew 6, we find what most like to refer to as the "Lord's Prayer." We need to remember that Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore, pray..." He did not say, "pray this verbatim." The Lord's prayer might be found more in John 17 when Jesus was praying for His disciples. Going back to the model prayer though, we see that we need to address our Father who is in Heaven and acknowledge that He is Holy. When we pray, we exalt His name.  In the model prayer, we also read, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven." The Kingdom of God is often referred to as the church. Since the church was established on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, this part of the prayer has already been answered. When we pray, we need to be mindful of God's will and pray for His will to be done. Often times when we are praying we pray for everything that we want or desire or maybe even need with placing little consideration into what God's plan may be. Let us always be mindful of the Lord's will when making plans for ourselves. We pray that the Lord's will may be done on Earth just as it is in Heaven. When we see in the model prayer, "give us this day our daily bread," that means we need to pray for the things that we need in life. As the model prayer goes on, we see that we need to pray that our sins may be forgiven because we all fall short (Romans 6:23). In addition to praying for the forgiveness of our own sins though, we also need to pray that the sins of others against us may also be forgiven. Remember the story of the man who owed a large sum of money and begged for forgiveness? When he was granted forgiveness, he found someone who owed him a small portion of money yet wouldn't even forgive that man his debt. How can we expect God to forgive us of our sins if we hold grudges against others and will not forgive them of the wrongs that they have done to us? We also pray that we will not be lead into temptation and that when we are faced with trials, that the Lord will deliver us so that we will not be given into the evil schemes of the devil. When we close our prayer, we see that we acknowledge the Lord's kingdom, His power, and His glory. We acknowledge that He holds these attributes forever, for all eternity. We close by saying, "Amen." This is taken from the Greek which means, "truly." When we are finished praying we sign and seal our prayer by saying, amen, or truly. These words of prayer are our words of prayer and we sign them and seal them as truth. It is kind of like signing a letter before sending it on in the mail.

Now that we have examined the first two points, being anxious for nothing, and letting our requests be made known, let us examine the third and final point, which is the result of prayer; "peace."

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7, NKJV)

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16, NKJV)

In Psalm 23, we read that the Lord is our shepherd and that He will take care of our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs so that we, shall not want.

In 1 Kings 3, we see an example of how King Solomon prayed. In 1 Kings 3: 5, God instructed Solomon to ask for what he desired to have. In 1 Kings 3:9, Solomon prayed for wisdom and discernment to lead the people of Israel, he did not pray for wealth or honor, just wisdom. As a result, God granted Solomon wisdom and an understanding heart, so much so that there would never be anyone past or present quite like Solomon. We also see that God went beyond Solomon's request and also granted him riches and honor, so much so that no one could equal Solomon's riches. Often times, not only does God want to grant our prayers, but He also wants to go above and beyond granting our prayers and give us more than we originally asked for to begin with.

Now that all of the three "P's" have been examined, let's think about this a little more. There is a song that we often sing called, "Did you think to pray." Let's consider the first line of three verses of the song.

     Ere you left your room this morning, Did you think to pray? 
     This should remind us that we need to start each day with prayer.

     When your heart was filled with anger, Did you think to pray?
     This should remind us to pray when we begin to feel angry about something.

     When sore trials came upon you, Did you think to pray?
     This should remind us to pray when we are faced with trials and difficulties.

The majority of the Psalms were written by King David, a man with whom God was well pleased. When thinking about all of the Psalms that David wrote, I heard someone say, "What a whiny man." He was only making his requests known to God!

What about Jeremiah? Jeremiah had a sorrowful life too, in fact in Jeremiah 20, he cursed the day of his birth. In Jeremiah 20:14-18, Jeremiah states, "Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me! Let the man be cursed who brought news to my father saying, 'A male child has been born to you!' Making him very glad. And let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent; Let him hear the cry in the morning and the shouting at noon, Because he did not kill me from the womb, that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always enlarged with me. Why did I come forth from the world to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" Jeremiah lived a rough life and we know this in that he was around during the time of the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity. We also know that Jeremiah wrote Lamentations which describes the plight of Israel.

What about Job? In Job 3, he cursed the day of his birth. He had everything only to have it taken away. Job stated that sorrowful speech not even knowing why all the hardship had befallen him, but he let his feelings be known to God.

Jeremiah let his feelings be known to God.

David expressed his feelings to God.

We need to express our feelings to God.

I've paged through a book that Charles Swindoll wrote on the Book of Job, and he writes,

     "I think it is noteworthy that there is no blast against Job at the end of Chapter 3. God doesn't say, 'Shame on you Job.' God could handle Job's words. He understood why he had said what he said. And he understands you. Unfortunately, Job has his words on record for preachers to talk about for centuries. Yours and mine, thankfully, will remain a secret inside our cars, or in the back part of our bedrooms, or along the crashing surf, or perhaps under tall trees in a forest. God can handle it all, so let it all out. Tell Him all that's in your heart. You never get over grief completely until you express it fully. Job didn't hold back." (Swindoll, p. 71)

To sum up everything, we see that there is no need to panic. We are told to be anxious for nothing. If the birds have what they need, how much more will God give man since He created us to be superior to all other creatures? We are told to let our requests be made known to God and if we pray according to His will, He hears us. He knows our needs and desires before we even ask. As a result, the God of peace shall be with us. He will guard our hearts and minds.

What about the power of prayer in your life? Do you worry about circumstances or rather do you take those needs to the Father in prayer? We know that God will hear the prayers of His children and we know that as children of the Lord, we can go to Him with our every need.

The First of Many

This is the first of many blogs that I hope to post. My hope is to write on various Christian topics and explore what Scripture has to say. As we know from Romans 10:17, our faith comes by hearing the word of God. It is through the written words of Scripture that we can know the truth and the truth can set us free (John 8:32). This leads me to the title of my blog, "Aletheia Eleutherosei Umas." This is Greek for, "The truth will make you free," as we see in John 8:32. As I continue to learn, I hope to tackle difficult topics as well as topics that may be easily received.