Mars Hill Baptist Church

Does it seem as if there is never any good news? Turn on the TV, the radio, your computer and all you hear and read is bad!

Maybe we are looking in the wrong place. There is good news: King Jesus is alive and well, and is still on his throne, and has it all in control! Praise his holy name! That is the best news this world has to report on right now. Look up to Jesus for your healing; look in your heart for complete and perfect peace and joy.

If this world troubles you to the point that you cannot worship and serve our Lord Jesus, then look out, you may need a heart check-up!

We are constantly being tempted by Satan, and he knows his days are growing shorter, and he also knows that he can never take God’s place in heaven. However, that does not stop him from trying to trick all of us poor souls here on earth. Be alert to his wily ways, stay tuned into Jesus and resist him!

Bro William Short’s message this Sunday was taken from Luke 4:1-13. 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.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, ” It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

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.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get thee behind Me, Satan! For it is written, that you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve.” 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.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

When we are tempted, it seems to always be at our weakest point. Notice in scripture that Jesus had nothing to eat for forty days, and it is the first temptation the devil brought before him; turn the stone into bread!

Jesus was and is the Son of God, sent to earth as a baby, walked as a man, and experienced life on earth as we do. He was tempted and we are tempted. The difference: Jesus did not give in to temptation; over and over he answered the devil with “It is written.”

How do we respond to temptation? I would be willing to say its not the same way that Jesus resisted! To often in our daily lives, we rationalize our actions with excuses: If I don’t someone else will, or who is going to know, or the most used one of all, it won’t hurt just this one time. These are all lies, lies, lies, perpetuated by the devil!

We cannot live our life by bread alone, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us, by the written word of God, the Holy Bible. We have a physical life, and a spiritual life. One will die and one will live forever. We feed our physical bodies with food.

Our spiritual bodies are fed by our belief in Jesus as the Son of God, by reading his word by worship and praise to him alone.

Our physical bodies will wear out, we will die; our spiritual soul will live forever somewhere, heaven or hell. As we grow older in years, our physical bodies grow weaker, but our spiritual age should grow stronger. Spiritual strength comes not from a gym, pumping iron, but by reading and studying God’s word.

Think of yourself as a world champion wrestler: fighting the devil everyday, building spiritual muscles and winning battles for our Lord! Does it not matter if our physical bodies are weak, puny, and sickly; inside we can be a muscle bound giant for Jesus!

Scripture does not say that the devil left Jesus never to tempt him again, it says he left for a more opportune time. Same goes with us, resist the devil today, he will be back tomorrow, to attack from another point in our life. Could be through our children, our job, and our marriage. The trick is to tell him to get out, get behind us, and really mean it!

Jesus was tempted with power. This world is power hungry. But praise God, the power belongs to Jesus Christ, our Lord. It may seem as if the devil has the upper hand right now, but if you read the book, the Bible, turn to the Book of Revelation. The devil does not win. Jesus will come again, not as a helpless baby in a manger, but in power and great glory! To rule this earth with peace, is to choose for yourself whom you will serve; the devil or Jesus. Pile up all the riches you can while on earth, but know this; you won’t take them with you when you die, so live it up now. Choose Jesus, live forever, live in a mansion, walk on streets of gold, enter through gates of pearl, walk by the rive of life, see and hear the prophets of the Old Testament. Meet real heroes in Daniel, David, Sampson, Abraham, Issac, Jacob. Just writing these things excites me, makes me want to go! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Do not be deceived by Satan, my friend. Choose Jesus. Choose him now, while there is life. Don’t die in your un-repented sins. Store your treasures in heaven. The devil tempts us with everything we ever want, or dream about; power, fame, money. Jesus gives us free will, to choose him and life everlasting. No, we cannot live by bread alone, we need spiritual food. We cannot live on power alone, we need Jesus to guide us. When we really realize, deep in our heart and soul that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, then God will begin to feed our spiritual souls. Amen.

Next Sunday, our adult choir will present their Christmas Cantata at 11 a.m. Sunday evening, beginning at 6 p.m. our children will present their play, followed by the Youth with their play. Come out and worship Jesus with us in song, we welcome you to Mars Hill. Jesus is Lord of All!

Please continue to pray for our pastor, his family, our church, the sick, the lost, the hurting, our children, our teachers, our schools, our military, the missionaries at home and abroad, our government, and the peace of Israel. God is good, all the time! Amen.