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Sermon:
Ascendancy
by Chris Cumming
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MP3
MP3-2021
Today is the first Holy Day of the Days of Unleavened Bread in this year
2016. This first Holy Day is a memorial and a celebration of your
calling by God and entrance into the salvation process. The next Holy
Day is the day that denotes our making it all the way through that
process.
All or most of this last week, you have been invoking the living
biblical metaphor of deleavening your homes, cars and areas where you
have control. This all pictures the putting out of sin from our lives.
Today we will be discussing one of the most powerful means in the
Universe of casting out sin as I encourage all of us to:
Take control of and manifest responsibility for your mind. Stop
temptation.
Stop temptation.
This most powerful tool is right there in your own Bible. It has been
there all along. Let me illustrate this with a story that was given to
me as a true event.
There was once a farmer who had a large ranch somewhere in South
Africa. He was a very good farmer and not afraid of working hard to
provide for himself and his family. However, his dream was to become
rich mining diamonds. He had heard that people were finding diamonds
all over the southern part of the African continent. So he packed his
bags, bought lots of mining equipment and left his family temporarily
behind to seek out the diamonds and fulfill his dreams. He spent a
number of years wandering the countryside as his family remained behind
to take care of the ranch. However, he never found a single diamond.
After several years of hardship and frustration, not to mention expense,
he returned home to his loving wife and family who gladly welcomed him
home after so long an absence. A few days later, he was walking down by
the stream that ran through his property. He stood there contemplating
and wondering what it all meant. He felt himself an absolute failure.
Just then something caught his eye there in the stream. It was a shiny
stone of some kind. He bent to pick it up. He could not believe his
eyes; it was a diamond. But then he saw another and picked it up. Then
he saw still another and another and soon his hands and his pockets were
full of diamonds. His ranch was sitting on acres and acres of
diamonds. Here he thought his fortune and success lay far from his home
when, in fact, it was right there in front of him all the time.
Such is the case with us at times when we are desperately looking for
answers. In this case, we are seeking the best way to thwart temptation
and it is right in front of us.
How many movies or television shows have we seen in our life where the
primary character is looking for the means to attain some great goal or
task and the answer was with him or her all along?
I just told you the story of the rancher wanting to find the precious
diamonds. Let us read an account from the Bible. Turn to Matthew and
chapter 4. I am going to read verse 1-11 and then verse 17. You know
this passage as the temptation of Jesus Christ. This takes place before
He began His ministry. I have referred to this passage many times in
my ministry but never as immersed as we will experience today.
Most of the time, when I referred to this passage I asked the rhetorical
question, “Did Jesus sum up the entire message of His ministry before
His ministry ever began?” Let us find out.
Matthew 4:1-11, 17
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward
an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a
pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for
it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot
against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and
sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt
fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered
unto him.
Now drop down to verse 17.
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Questions:
1] What is going on in this account?
2] Does this account cover each and every temptation Satan brought to
Jesus? I only see three temptations here.
3] What made Satan give up on one temptation and try another?
4] What ultimately made Satan leave Him? Was it just His command to,
“get thee hence, Satan”?
5] Of all the things Jesus preached, why are we given the specific
phrase, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”?
We will eventually get to the answers for these 5 questions but know
this now: The absolute best way to defeat sin and stop temptation in
its tracks is found in this passage. With this procedure you will…
Stop Temptation
The title of this sermon is, “Ascendancy.” Let us take a look at the
meaning of this word.
ascendancy [uh-sen-duh n-see]
the state of being in the ascendant; governing or controlling influence;
domination.
ascendant [uh-sen-duh nt]
1. a position of dominance or controlling influence: possession of
power, superiority, or preeminence:
---Jesus clearly was in possession of
power.
2. an ancestor; forebear.
---Jesus was the forbearer of this power
to overcome temptation and sin for us.
3. ascending; rising.
---We are ascending to the same level of
Christ. What He does in Matthew 4 is what we are ascending to.
4. superior; predominant.
---Jesus was superior to sin and
temptation. He is showing us how to be superior to sin and temptation.
God, through Christ is putting us into a position of dominance and
controlling influence. He is putting something into our hands that
defeats sin absolutely. He is showing us the path to ascendancy.
Full Immersion
It is time to fully immerse ourselves into this Matthew 4 passage and
see what is really being said.
Go to Matthew 4:4
Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
For the phrase: It is written:
Romans 15:4
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope.
Notice the meaning of two phrases here:
Through patience
This does not mean, as our translation might seem to suppose, patience
“of the Scriptures,” but it means that by patiently enduring sufferings,
in connection with the consolation [relief;
support] which the Scriptures furnish, we might have hope.
Note: In other words, when we
are in temptation and sins [part of
enduring sufferings] there is something in scripture that
gives us relief and support from the sufferings and that gives us hope.
Now notice the next phrase.
Might have hope - We may learn here,
(1) That afflictions may prove to be a great blessing.
(2) that their proper tendency is to produce “hope.”
(3) that the way to find support in afflictions is to go to the Bible.
Note: To overcome sin, stop
sin and destroy the temptation, go to the Bible. Question is, “How?”
We will answer this shortly. Here is a profound hint; a very familiar
scripture.
Ephesians 6:13-17
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having
on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Note especially the last phrasing here, "take
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Just how do
you wield this sword that is the Word of God? Clearly Jesus had a sword
with Him in Matthew 4.
Go now to the next phrase in Matthew 4:4 to see connecting verses.
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone:
Deuteronomy 8:1-3
1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to
do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which
the LORD sware unto your fathers.
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee
these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee,
to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his
commandments, or no.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with
manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he
might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Note: Jesus was quoting this
verse continually. But what did He really mean when He said “live by
every word of God”? See the next phrase and we will use the Popular
Commentary of the New Testament.
But by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God - The simple meaning is: Man is ordinarily sustained
by bread, but if it pleases God, under whose Providential care he
stands, to sustain him by other means, this will be done, and was done
for Israel in the desert, all done according to the word proceeding out
of the mouth of God.—Thus the temptation was overcome. The needed supply
doubtless came, and the hungering nature was satisfied, without the
miracle the tempter suggested. We are
here taught to overcome Satan with Scripture; to trust God
for extraordinary help in extraordinary circumstances; as He suffered
thus, sharing our needs, we may believe that we can triumph thus,
partaking of His fulness. ~Popular
Commentary of the New Testament with emphasis mine
What happens when a man is hungry? He is desirous of food. He is
“tempted” or moved to get the food, but thank God, He provides us with
food. Then the commentary says that there was a myriad of other
temptations on us but God would overcome each by words out of His mouth
and “Thus the temptation was overcome.” That is, every temptation can
be overcome by the words out of the mouth of God. Did you see that
phrase declaring the meaning of this part of the verse? “We are taught
to overcome Satan with Scripture.” It goes on to say that Jesus
suffered extraordinary temptations---lots of them in Matthew 4 and
overcame them. Jesus is commanding and encouraging us to triumph the
same way He did.
While still immersing ourselves in Matthew 4:4 let us go to the Barnes
Notes commentary:
Life depends on the will of God. He can support it in other ways as well
as by bread. He has created other things to be eaten, and man may live
by everything that his Maker has commanded.” And from this temptation
we may learn:
1. That Satan often takes advantage of our circumstances and wants to
tempt us. The poor, the hungry, and the naked he often tempts to repine
[fret] and complain, and to be
dishonest in order to supply their necessities.
2. Satan’s temptations are often the strongest immediately after we have
been remarkably favored. Jesus had just been called the Son of God, and
Satan took this opportunity to try him. He often attempts to fill us
with pride and vain self-conceit when we have been favored with any
peace of mind, or any new view of God, and endeavors to urge us to do
something which may bring us low and lead us to sin.
3. His temptations are plausible. They often seem to be only urging us
to do what is good and proper. They seem even to urge us to promote the
glory of God, and to honor him. We are not to think, therefore, that
because a thing may seem to be good in itself, that therefore it is to
be done. Some of the most powerful temptations of Satan occur when he
seems to be urging us to do what shall be for the glory of God.
Now item 4 and this is key to our understanding of what Jesus did to
defeat Satan and make him go away.
4. We are to meet the temptations of Satan, as the Saviour did,
with the plain and positive declarations of
Scripture. We are to inquire whether the thing is commanded,
and whether, therefore, it is right to do it, and not trust to our own
feelings, or even our wishes, in the matter.
~Barnes Notes with emphasis mine
Now the John Gill:
Our Lord hereby expresses his strong faith and confidence in God, that
he [God] was able to support
him [Jesus], and would do it,
though in a wilderness, and destitute of supply; whereby he overcame
this temptation of Satan. Christ, in this, and some following citations,
bears a testimony to, and establishes the
authority of the sacred writings; and though he was full of
the Holy [Spirit], makes them
the rule of his conduct; which ought to be observed against those, who,
under a pretense of the Spirit, deny the scriptures to be the only rule
of faith and practice and at the same time points out to us the safest
and best method of opposing Satan's temptations; namely,
by applying to, and making use of the word of
God. ~John Gill with emphasis
mine.
Stop Temptation
We will now go back to those five questions I gave you at the
beginning of this sermon and give them specific answers.
Questions:
1] What is going on in this account?
Answer: Satan is tempting Jesus with every possible temptation.
Jesus is countering every temptation using the Word of God.
2] Does this account cover each and every
temptation Satan brought to Jesus? I only see three temptations here.
Answer: Yes it does. Satan tempted Him in every way.
Hebrews 4:15
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.
3] What made Satan give up on one
temptation and try another?
Answer: Jesus destroyed each attempt by Satan with a spoken
scripture.
4] What ultimately made Satan leave Him?
Was it just His command to, “get thee hence, Satan”?
Answer: No, it was the spoken scripture that made him leave.
Notice what Jesus does the second after He says, “Get thee hence,
Satan.” He quotes yet another verse. It was then that Satan finally
leaves. Therefore it was both; the command to leave and quoted
scripture. You can utter both, continually.
5] Of all the things Jesus preached, why
are we given the specific phrase, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand”?
Answer: Repentance is much more than just being sorry for giving
in to temptation and sin. There must be action on our part to overcome
sin and destroy the power of the temptation. Jesus has just given us
the ultimate weapon for repentance. Repentance has always been the
central focus and message of all Godly preaching but surely it is the
ultimate conclusion to what Jesus did against Satan’s massive
temptations.
So what is the next step in all this? Easy, create an utterance
notebook. Memorize it or always have it with you to counter the works
of Satan. This is your sword; the same sword Jesus uses. Here is an
example to use against every sexual temptation:
It is written:
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but
he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God's.
Rebuke the thought with this utterance. Rebuke the temptation. In
doing so Christ is rebuking Satan.
Note: The key here is the use
of the scripture. If you can utter the verse, do that. If you can
utter it from the mind, do that. Jesus uttered it. However you utter
it, know that Christ is declaring it in and through you by the power of
the Holy Spirit.
Does it sound silly to utter scripture when you are their alone in some
room? Notice:
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Who else would be listening to your utterance?
1 John 5:14
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any
thing according to his will, he heareth us:
Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all
their troubles.
Jesus Christ has given us the ultimate weapon against temptation that
leads to sin. Jesus Christ IS the Word of God and that makes Him the
ultimate weapon against temptation. One final scripture:
Hebrews 2:18
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor
[aid or relieve] them that are
tempted.
Take control of and manifest responsibility for your mind.
Stop Temptation
Note: In the coming weeks, we
will have a Bible study on an utterance book.
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