By The Venerable G. Kingsley Knowles
The first Sunday in Lent, February 21, 2021
You are my own dear son. I am pleased with youMark1:11
Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit.! Luke 4:1.
Theme:
Igniting worship: requires our response to the temptations of life.
The doorbell rings today in the Gospel (Mark 1:9-15 and in Luke chapter 4) by Satan. Satan stands at the door of our hearts too and if we cannot effectively shut the door he will not stop until he pins us to the floor! We will not be able to worship and adore, the one who we implore!
Ignition of Worship begins when we can say no to Satan’s desires and yes to what God requires. Worship is simply giving God his worth:
this word is deriving from
A combination of worth and ship, we give God his worth, due, value and glory when we come together in this church or whenever there in a time set aside for him or recall our consciousness of who he is for us.
Resisting temptation ignites worship because it gives god his due. Jesus as incarnate did it because, he wants us to follow, that is why he came so that we can maintain his action. We will cling to that which is Devine by allowing our Christianity not to engage in vanity
Power,
Prestige
Greed.
Psalm 96:8 “ascribe to the lord the honour due his name.”
St. Augustine of Africa wrote “that it is you being placed on the altar with him. so we must be conscious of self -worth and that of others because we are all created in his image and likeness. So worship depicts us as well.
So how do you respond to Satan when he knocks at your door.
Let us look at the Gospel event today and see how Jesus responds to the knock at his door.
Luke tells us that Jesus full of the holy spirit, returns from the Jordan and was led about by the spirit in the wilderness, for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days and when they had ended. He became hungry.
The saying goes that there are four time one is most prone to say yes to temptation. Or the knock at the door!
- When you have experienced a great success!
- When you are tired!
- When you are alone! Garden of Gethsemane! Mark 14:32
- When you are waiting on God. Peter said to the others let us go fishing after Jesus died. John 21:3
That is when the devil knocks.
The source of temptation Luke 4;1-2, and James 1:2-3.
My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials the result is the ability to endure. (the ability to endure.)
James 13:14 “let no one say when he is tempted. ‘I am being tempted by God’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. That is what being born in the flesh does!
The Devil knock because he knew the Formula for sin.
1.Corrupt Desire the
2 Right Bait (the temptations were timely ones)
+the wrong Response=Sin D+B+R=Sin.
Remember the story in Genesis? Eve you will be wise as him.
1.His knock God Cares: The Good shepherd?
Luke 4:3 “and the Devil said to him,” if you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread, because God cares. He would not want you to go hungry??
2.His knock (Questions God’s Wisdom) Luke 4:5-8
And he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time. And the devil said to him, “I will give you all this dominion and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever l wish.’ Just fall down and worship me. He kicks me out of heaven, to be in charge of Earth!
Friends, God is without boundaries or limits. Every attribute of God – his goodness, righteousness, graciousness, mercy, patience, love, power, faithfulness, kindness – are all infinite and beyond measure. Every one of God’s ways, we will never fully grasp or understand. A.W.
3.His knock Questions (God’s Timing) 2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance
Habakkuk 2:3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Nothing is like God’s timing.
Bottom of Form
When the Devil knocks we must remember:
A. we have a Real Adversary
B. we have a powerful resource
- Adversary
1 Perter 5:8 “Be sober spirit, be on the alert, your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom to devour as long as you know this then you know that you cannot trust anything that comes from him. Sounds good but up to no good.
- Powerful Resource: 1 John 4:4b ‘Greater is he who is in you, that he who is in the world. Remember David and Goliath(1Sam.17:42) Sampson before he died. (Judges 16:15-21).
anthem devil has one main goal: to turn us away from God and instead make us his slaves. And he will do everything he possibly can to achieve this goal. This is why the Bible commands us to “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11).
byes, temptation is certainly one of the devil’s main weapons — and it takes many different forms. He’ll try, for example, to tempt us with sins of the flesh — immorality, pleasure-seeking, destructive habits, and so forth.
c. But if those don’t work he’ll tempt us with sins of the heart or mind — evil thoughts, wrong motives, anger, jealousy, and so forth.
d He’ll also attack us spiritually — trying to fill us with doubts, attempting to convince us that God doesn’t care about us, filling us with pride, and so forth.
How can we combat his schemes?
1 The first step is to be sure that we have given our lives to Christ. When we come to Him we are no longer citizens of Satan’s kingdom; we are now citizens of the Kingdom of God! Let this great truth strengthen you every day.
2.In addition, when Satan tempts you, recognize it for what it is:
a. an attempt to turn you away from God. Then combat his lies with the truth of God’s Word, like Jesus. Which make for authentic worship here on earth.
b. Man cannot live by bread alone.
c. Worship the lord your god and serve only him
d. Do not put the lord to the test.
and with prayer, and with the help of other believersyou cannot be a Christian by yourself, we are the body of Christ the church.
The Bible says, “Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
When the devil knocks you do not have to answer and if you do send the word of God back to him as Jesus did then and only then could you validate true authentic worship to the King of Kings and lord of lords.