Welcome to our Together on Mission podcast, where we seek to be with and like Jesus, as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, through scripture, prayer, and meditation, and then continue that conversation within throughout your day. Your host is Travis Twyman, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the daily Together on Mission podcast. This is Travis, and I will be your host this morning.
We will be in Matthew chapter 4, so you can turn there. We're going to look at a famous story and a profound story, a deep story, a story that maybe functions in such a way where it opens our eyes to see what we must see if we want to fight the battle well, the battle that is raging. See, we do live in a world at war. The battle is raging.
The enemy is crafty, and I don't think that we give the enemy quite enough credit, and that might sound like an odd thing to say, but it seems to me to be absolutely true, and the authors of the New Testament gave the enemy his due. They really did. I mean, they certainly were not afraid of the enemy, but as one author puts it, be sober-minded, and be on the alert, always, because the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking to take you out, and sober-minded means to think clearly and deeply about something, because that something is imminently important, and any time a battle is raging, it's quite crucial to be prepared. We know this.
And yet sometimes we are least prepared for the most important battle, and there's a story at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel that prepares us to be sober-minded in the midst of the battle, and the insights in the story are profound, and I'm not sure we've thought enough about some of these deep insights when it comes to the battle, and the enemy's plan, and sin, and our lives, and how often life and death is hanging in the balance, and what kind of shape and form does the enemy's attack take in our lives, and most of us have heard of this story, but I'm not so sure we've thought about this story in such a way where it's teaching us to be sober-minded about the enemy's strategy that is being launched against us. I'm not so sure that we have thought long and hard enough about the form that sin and temptation takes in our lives and how subtle and seductive it can be. Remember Eve at the very beginning of our story? She looked at the fruit of the tree, and she saw that it looked good, and it was pleasing to the eye, and it was desirable for gaining wisdom, yet it was death.
But as she looked at it, and as we look at it, it looks like it might just be life. And so I thought we'd spend just a few minutes this morning talking about the enemy's strategy and what it might look like to understand that strategy, to be sober-minded, to be alert, and to stand in the victory that has been won for us in Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 4, verse 1, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And you could hear echoes here of Genesis 3 when the devil comes to Adam and Eve.
After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Now, often we just read over this and maybe recognize that Jesus was tempted, maybe in general recognize that we are tempted, but because of late, you and I have not had a temptation to turn stones into bread.
We move across it too quickly. But this is one of the three forms that sin takes in our lives, meeting legitimate needs in an illegitimate way. Meeting a legitimate need, a God-given good need that God gave us and declared good, but meeting it in an illegitimate way that's actually going to bring death, although it doesn't seem like it will bring death in the moment. Ironically, it seems like it will bring life in the moment.
And this is one of the enemy's favorite strategy, if not the enemy's favorite strategy. And it's so effective, and this is why it's good to think deeply about this text and about our lives. This is such an effective temptation because the need is legitimate. It's not an illegitimate need.
It's a legitimate need that we are being tempted and duped and lured into meeting in an illegitimate way. It's a good need. It could be the need for food, like Jesus had here. It could be the need to be affirmed or complimented or encouraged.
It could be the need to move a project forward or the need to redirect a child that's moving in a direction that's not good. It could be the need for peace or the need for real relational intimacy, all legitimate needs. So when the enemy comes, you know, especially when we're weak and hungry, as we see Jesus is in this passage, right? He will come to us when we are weak, and of course, that's the time that the enemy always chooses to tempt us, when we're weak and needy in some way, shape, or form, and he will remind us of that legitimate need.
He'll simply remind us of that God-given need and then offer, and here's the point, a quick, seamlessly harmless, illegitimate way to meet that legitimate need. And this is the first form that sin takes in our lives because it's so subtle, and sometimes it's so subtle it's undetectable. And because it's a legitimate need that is being met, it's so easy to justify our action. It could be overeating, right?
Meeting a legitimate need but in an illegitimate way. It could be, you know, giving someone something or saying something kind to them as a strategy to get them to do something for us or to say something to us that we legitimately need to hear. It could be using anger or position or shame or one of those kind of tools in order to redirect a child or to move a project forward. Those are legitimate needs, but there are so many illegitimate ways to meet those legitimate needs, yet it's so easy to justify because the need is legitimate.
Or over-drinking, even if it's just a little bit, or ignoring a problem in order to arrange for a level of peace or a level of rest. It could be choosing not to be vulnerable in an important relationship when we know that honesty and vulnerability would be the good move, the right move, although the risky move. And I could go on. And, you know, sometimes just a simple question after we read a bit of scripture is the best way to go about it.
How am I being tempted or how am I in the pattern of meeting a legitimate need in an illegitimate way? How would I justify doing so? Who am I blaming so that I don't have to own how I'm meeting this legitimate need in an illegitimate way? And sometimes a good question is just all we need for the Spirit of God to come in and bring clarity and bring freedom and I need to land this plane.
But we often read scripture too quickly. You know, we rush through it to get through the chapter or two or to get to the next heading, you know, and we're often so goal oriented when it comes to scripture, better to read a little bit less and to let that less or to let that bit really seek in or soak into the soil of our soul so that we can ask some of these hard, penetrating, yet incredibly powerful questions that can bring so much freedom. And the truth is all of us in some way are meeting legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. And it may seem harmless and it may feel like we're in complete control, but that's the insidious nature of sin and the strategic nature of Satan.
So in the presence of Jesus and in the short passage, let's think about how the enemy has gained a bit of ground in our lives. Let's sit in this with Jesus. Jesus has won the victory for us. So let's not be afraid to recognize how we are meeting legitimate needs in illegitimate ways.
Let's own it. Let's repent. Let's call it out. Let's, let's, let's be sober minded and stand against the enemy's schemes.
We are in a world at war. The battle is raging. Let's fight it. Let's claim a little bit more of that victory today that Jesus has won for us.
And this is just a foreshadowing for the next podcast. But Jesus answered, it is written. We shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. We'll talk soon.
Thanks for listening to the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you were blessed and encouraged by it today. If you had any questions about the Inland Vineyard Church, our ministries, or our Sunday services, feel free to connect with us on our brand new app, which you can find in the Google Play and the App Store. And check out our social media pages like Facebook and Instagram, or even check out our website at inlandvineyard.org.