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Following Jesus – Ready For the TEST! (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the January 12, 2025 sermon, “Following Jesus: Ready For the TEST!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Matthew 4:1-11

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

As one called by Jesus to “Come, follow me”, Matthew gives us great teaching on what it looks like to live life following Jesus.  As Jesus prepared to begin His public teaching and ministry, He shows us what it looks like to be ready for the . . .

  • Treat:  Matthew 4:1-4

    • As we live as those ready for the test, we learn from Jesus about being ready for what appears to be a treat.  After forty days of prayer and fasting, and tempting, the devil offers Jesus the one thing that would make the most sense — food!  The response of Jesus, as with all of the devil’s temptations, is to apply God’s Word to His current situation.  We must be very careful when we are offered that which caters to the desires of our flesh rather than the desire of the Spirit who lives within us.  We prepare ourselves to be ready for the treats of this world when we set our eyes upon the ultimate reward of life forever with Jesus.  

  • Excuses:  Matthew 4:5-7

    • Being ready for the test comes when we learn from Jesus how to overcome the excuses of the enemy designed to lead to our disobedience.  The devil tried to use scripture as an excuse for Jesus to throw Himself off the high point of the temple.  It is a similar technique he used in twisting God’s Word in asking Adam and Eve if God really said they could not touch the tree in the garden.  We are surrounded by the work of the devil in filling our minds with excuses which attempt to justify sinful behavior.  We prepare ourselves to be ready for the excuses of this world when we fill our minds daily with the truth of God’s Word.

  • Success:  Matthew 4:8-10

    • Being ready for the test requires that we are prepared with a godly response to the allure of success.  The devil offered to give Jesus the kingdoms of this world in exchange for a moment of worship.  The lie woven within this offer of success is that the kingdoms of this world are only temporarily under the rule of the devil . . . Jesus was, is, and will be Lord of all.  We can easily desire success to such an extent that we give in to the temptations of shortcuts and settling for less than God’s best.  We prepare ourselves to be ready for success when we measure true success by our faithfulness to God and His faithfulness to us.

  • Time:  Matthew 4:11

    • Being ready for the test comes with an understanding to be ready for the time at hand.  As I understand the accounts of this wilderness time in the life of Jesus, He was being tempted by the devil not just these three times at the end, but throughout the forty days of prayer and fasting.  But it didn’t end there.  Luke tells us that after these three specific temptations, the devil left Him for “a more opportune time”.  The forth temptation in this series is the temptation that we have somehow overcome to the extent that there is no more temptation to come.  We must always be on guard and prepared for the many temptations of the evil one at times when we expect it and and times we least expect it.  We prepare ourselves to be ready for time when we daily put on the full armor of God so that we can stand, and after all is done, we stand.

Today, how will you be ready for the TEST?