Turn back with me to Mark chapter
1. John the Baptist was sent to
prepare the way of the Lord. He kept the focus on Christ.
That's what we're about to do. He was sent to preach who he
was and what he would accomplish. He preached his sovereignty. That's what he told everybody.
And he preached his majesty. He said, This is God Almighty
and I'm not worthy to stoop down and unloose his shoes. The God-man is coming. That's what John preached. Verse 9 says, And it came to
pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized of John in Jordan, the river Jordan. The same river
that the end of verse five says, men and women went into confessing
their sins, that same river. Jesus of Nazareth, he went into
the same river and he was baptized. What was he doing? He was God,
right? I mean, He was God. So what was He doing? He was
doing the same thing that we do when we are baptized. He was
confessing something. That's what He was doing. When
we are baptized, we are confessing union with Him. We have talked
about baptism a few times now. It's just been in the scriptures.
And we're confessing union with Him. We're confessing union with
his holiness and union with his righteousness and union with
his life. And when he was baptized, he
was confessing union with us. He was confessing union with
our sin. And we're confessing life through
His death, His burial, His resurrection. He was confessing union with
our punishment. Union with what we
deserve through His death, burial, and resurrection. He united with us in death, therefore
we have united with Him in life. Verse 9 says, And it came to
pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee,
and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out
of the water, he saw the heavens opened, John saw the heavens
opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending on Christ. And there
came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. While I was studying this, I
realized that every sinner who has been united with Christ,
every single one who has been united to Christ is going to
hear the exact same thing. Every single one. Union with
him means adoption into his family. Adoption. And every sinner who
is united to Christ in his death and in his life is going to see
heaven opened. I love talking about that subject.
The trump shall resound. It shall resound. And the heaven is going to be
opened. And every sinner that is united to Christ, God's Spirit
is going to descend on that sinner without measure. We pray, Lord,
send us your Spirit today. Lord, give us more of your Spirit.
Well, it's going to descend without measure. And every sinner who
is united to Christ is going to hear his Father say, Thou
art my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. Every single one. The glory of what Christ has
done for us cannot be told and it cannot be entered into. It just cannot be entered into.
This morning, I want us to look a little more deeply into what
He did for us. And it's holy ground. It is holy ground. I approach this very fearfully
and very reverently. I almost fear even acknowledging
this, but it's holy ground. I want us to look at the God-man. That's what I want us to look
at, the God-man, and I hope that the Lord will help us send his
spirit, prepare our hearts, open up this word, All of our hope
is built on the fact that God became a man. All of our hope
is built on a man's substitute. Man needed a substitute, someone
who could die for him. We are clinging to a man. If we could ever get a hold of
that, we're clinging to a man. God is spirit, yes. But our God
became a man. And we're clinging to a man.
A man hung there on that cross for this man. A man satisfied
the demands of God. That's the glory of the gospel.
If you think about that, a man, a man. There was one man who actually
satisfied the demands of God. God said, these are my demands.
One man was able to do it. And that's why God will let a
man enter into his presence. The wonder of this whole thing
is God became a man. When the day comes that I finally
get to see my God face to face, There's going to come a day and
I'm going to get to walk up to his throne. I'm going to walk
up to my God who is seated on his throne and I'm going to walk
up to a man. There's going to be a man there,
a real man sitting there. And this does not diminish his
glory one bit. This magnifies his glory in what
he was able to do. And we're gonna see that. If
God will help us, I flew so high, Brother Caleb called me Monday
and we had about four conversations that, it's just amazing. It's just
amazing. This magnifies what he was able
to accomplish. Now let's look at this holy thing
with fear and trembling. Go with me over to Luke chapter
two. This is where our Lord was not
in the company of Mary and Joseph, and they got scared, and they
went looking for Him, and they found Him in the temple. He was as supposed to be 12 years old. Luke 2, verse 46 says, And it
came to pass that after three days they found Him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking
them questions. He was sitting there hearing
them and asking them questions. The same one who made man. The same one who made all the
parts, all the organs, every individual fingerprint. was sitting
listening to the doctors, he was hearing them, and he was
asking them questions. Why did he do that? Was it because
he was humoring them? No, it's because he made himself
to be a man. He was a man. I thought that
he knew everything. You know how we have verses of
scripture that says Jesus knowing their hearts, right? Knowing that Judas was coming
with the mob, he went out and met him. I thought he knew everything. I thought he was God. He did. He is. But at the exact same
moment in time, he was a man. Explain that one to me. Look
at verse 52. It says, And Jesus increased
in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. I looked all those words up and
they mean exactly what they sound like. He increased. The one in whom all the fullness
dwells grew. He grew. It says in wisdom. Proverbs tells us that he is
wisdom. When we see wisdom, we can just
put the word Christ right there. But this says that he increased,
he grew in wisdom that meant heavenly wisdom, earthly wisdom,
and skill. He was a carpenter. And Joseph taught him some things. And then he got good at them.
And then Joseph taught him some more things. Now this is the
same one who built the framework of the solar systems. He hung
the sun right there, moon, stars. He made every bit of that. And
he's going to learn how to frame a wall? Is that not amazing? He became a man. It says he increased
in stature, that means size and age. And he increased in favor
with God and with man. Favor means graciousness. It
means divine influence of the heart. It means gratitude. He grew in gratitude. It means liberality. He grew
in liberality to God and men. It means thanks. The older he
got, the more thankful he became to God and men. I don't understand that other
than to say God became a man. Go with me back to Mark chapter
one. Our Lord confessed his union
with sinful man. And as soon as he did that, look
at verse 12, it says, immediately the spirit driveth him into the
wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness
40 days tempted of Satan and was with the wild beast and the
angels ministered unto him. 40 days he was tempted. That's all Mark tells us about
our Lord's temptation. Matthew and Luke go into a little
bit more detail on it. And this is what I want us to
look at now for the rest of our time this morning. Our Lord's
temptation as a man. As a man, this is marvelous. 40 days he was tempted. What does that mean? He was tempted.
Think about that. He was tempted. How was he tempted? Why was he tempted? The reason
is glorious. It's so glorious. Verse 10 says,
straightway coming up 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'm well pleased. And immediately the spirit driveth
him into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness
40 days tempted. God sent his spirit And immediately
he was tempted. And first I want us to understand
that's what happens to every believer. If God opens a sinner's eyes,
he does not need to think he's finally made it to easy street. You just left easy street. When God sends his spirit, immediately the temptations start
coming. Tempted means tried, proven,
tested. What's being tested? The work
of God's spirit. God sends his spirit on purpose. Spirit doesn't work. When God
sends his spirit to a person, God brings to a center and God
produces in a center faith. That's the work of God's spirit,
faith toward God. And as soon as that faith is
there, the trying of that faith comes. Our Lord, as a man, as
soon as God's Spirit descended on him, he was tried. Now, 1 Peter 1, don't turn, just
listen to this. 1 Peter 1 says, We're kept through the power
of God, kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness through
manifold temptations. Right now God has sent his faith.
And a believer understands this heaviness through manifold temptations.
These weaknesses. that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." The trying of
this faith is vital for a believer. Absolutely vital for a believer. This proving of faith. And that's
why the man, Jesus Christ, was tempted. That's why he was tested.
It was for his people's sake. All right, now go with me over
to Luke chapter 4. We're going to look more deeply
in Luke at our Lord's temptation. Knowing that our Lord is God
Almighty. I mean, He's God Almighty. I
can't even fathom some of these things, but I know this is so.
God said it Himself. Luke 4 verse 1 says, And Jesus,
being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was
led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the
devil. And in those days he did eat
nothing, and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. A man
ate nothing for forty days. A man. By the end of that 40 days, he
was hungry. I mean, he was hungry. We skip one meal and think we're
hungry. And we'll get to the following
meal and say, I'm starving. A man did not eat for 40 days
and 40 nights. They used to fast. Elijah was
a type of Christ, and these different ones. Moses, and they fasted
40 days in the daytime, but they could eat at night. He didn't
eat for 40 days and 40 nights. No food. He experienced a hunger
like none of us will ever know. What that hunger means is he
felt an emptiness inside. He felt emptiness. He felt lack as a man. He experienced lack like none
of us will ever know. This is not just talking about
food. This is about the emptiness that this flesh is prone to.
Every believer knows that emptiness. This flesh constantly feels the
emptiness inside. And as soon as we do, we start
reaching for things to fill it. Not him. Look at verse 3. It
says, And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God,
command this stone that it be made bread. The tempter said
to him, Fill that emptiness. Grab something and fill what
you haven't been given. If God won't give it to you,
fill it yourself. And verse four says, Jesus answering
him saying, it is written that man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word of God. I'll wait on my God. I'll feed on his word. I'll trust
him, knowing that he's going to give me all that I need. We
don't have that, do we? We just don't have that. That's
faith. In the lowest depth of emptiness, to be able to say,
he is all I need. That's faith. Strong faith. Tried and proven faith. Verse
five, the devil taking him up into a high mountain showed unto
him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the
devil said unto him, all this power will I give thee for the
glory of them, for that is delivered unto me. When I read that, that's
the first time I've ever seen that in that verse of scripture.
Let me read it again, verse six. The devil said unto him, All
this power will I give thee, and the glory of them, for that
is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will give it. All
that power. Verse 7, If thou therefore will
worship me, all shall be thine. Our Lord was a man, and when
he came into this world, he was despised and rejected as a man. His own received him not. He
was hated as a man. He was persecuted. He knew that
he was going to be crucified. As a man, he had no earthly possessions. He had nowhere to lay his head
as a man. And as a man who knew the feeling
of emptiness, the tempter said to him, you can have it all.
You can have it all. You can have the glory of this
world. You can have the praise of men as long as you don't worship
the true and living God. You ever been there? Have you ever been there? Don't you see how much more you
would be loved and liked by this world? Don't you see how much more time
you would have for yourself, the things you want to do, if
you didn't worship God all the time? Spend a lot of time doing
this. You could be fishing. Don't you see how much more you
could spend on yourself if you didn't give it all to the gospel,
for the sake of the gospel? This is what was told to the
man. He said, if you worship God, it's going to cost you everything. Verse 8, And Jesus answered and
said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve. That trying produced faith. That's
what it produced, faith toward God. Verse 9, He brought him
to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto
him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence,
for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee to
keep thee. And in their hands they shall
bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a
stone. The tempter said, Take your life. That's what he was
telling him. Take your life. Be done with
this place. That is the whisper of Satan. Be done with this place. The Spirit of God causes his
child to be content with wherever the Lord would have him to be.
But the tempter said to this man, you feel your emptiness.
You see you're never going to have this world. Be done with
it. End it all. God said you're going
to be fine, just end it all. Verse 12, And Jesus answering
said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God. Thou shalt not test him. Wait
on him, trust him, but don't test him. Verse 13, And when
the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. Just for a season. They were
going to meet again. The man had to face the adversary one
more time. And he knew where it was going
to be. We know where it is. It was on the cross of Calvary.
He had to face him one more time. And the man, Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, knew that he was going to defeat the enemy. But he knew
what it was going to cost. And when this time came, we've
read before where it says he became troubled in spirit, this
man and exceeding sorrowful. And
the man begged God to take this cup away. If it was his will,
let this pass. But I want to show you something
in Hebrews 11. Go with me over to Hebrews 11. Verse 17 says, By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that
in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able
to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received
him in a figure. Abraham in his own heart killed
his son. It was done. He killed his son,
fully believing that if God wanted to, God was able to raise his
son from the dead. That is the same faith that brought
Jesus of Nazareth to the cross. That's the same faith. He went
as a man. He went as a man. He went trusting in God. Can you imagine that? He went
to the cross believing God in full assurance that he was able
to raise him from the dead. Believers hear that and they
think, I wish I had that kind of faith. You do. Go over to Galatians 2. Galatians 2 verse 16 says, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. And not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." When
we received Him, we received His faith. His actual faith. Faith is not of ourselves. It's
a gift, right? A gift of God. We just saw the
faith we have been given. Every bit of that. His tried,
tested, proven faith. God looks at the faith of Christ
And he says to every sinner that's in him, well done. Well done. And here's the sweetest part,
okay? Go with me over to Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 verse 18 says, For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. What that means is he knows our
frame. He knows our frame. We come to him saying, Lord,
I feel so empty. Do you ever feel empty? Do you
ever feel like God's spirit is not in here? Do you ever feel
that way? You wish it was, but it's just
not. And if I could will it to be in there right now, I would,
but I can't. I don't feel anything. The word
doesn't speak to me. It doesn't feed me. I'm not blessed. I just feel empty. Because he
was tempted, we can go to him and say, Lord, I feel so empty.
And he'll say, I know. I know. I was there. Lord, I just feel like I can't
go on. I don't have the energy. I don't
have the ability. I don't have the will. I don't
have anything to keep going in Christ. I know. My faith, my spirit, it's on its way. Here it comes. He is able to succor. My word is about to light up
in you. All right, now, this is what
we close with. Go with me to Hebrews 4 and look
at verse 15. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin,
let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. If you need some help, If you
need some help, then you can go right to the throne of grace.
Every temptation you have suffered, as that word goes forth, that
seed is thrown, and our Lord said some of it goes right by
the wayside. That's when this enemy right here reaches up and
grabs it and steals it away. But we can go right to that throne
of grace and say, Lord, I missed the seed. He'll say, here's more. Here's more. You can come boldly
and find mercy and grace to help in time of need. Thank God for
the God-man. Everything he endured for us,
he made plenty for us through his temptation. All right, let's
stand together.