Identity

It's so good to be together in church today. Welcome again to a live church. If you happen to be newer with us, my name is Michael and my wife Megan and I are the senior pastors here. And man, we just we're convinced we're in a significant moment, significant season as a church. And uh we're going to get into our Bibles. Before you sit, go ahead and stay standing. We're going to open our Bibles. We started a series last year um called Authentic. We're studying through the Gospel of Luke. And today we're going to be in Luke chapter 3 and Luke chapter 4. And so if you want to turn there in the scriptures, if you didn't bring your Bible, that's perfectly okay. The scriptures will be on the screens. Also, uh if you're like, I want one of those Bibles, but I have I I can't get one or maybe there's a need you have in that area. Just stop by the welcome area after church. We'd love to be able to make sure you have a the scriptures in your hand. Also a great space if there's anything else we can do to serve you or encourage you in this thing called life. How many you know sometimes you just need some encouragement in life, you know, and so I just want you to know we've got um staff and leaders that are there to just literally do that, encourage you. Luke chapter 3, we've been studying about the unfiltered Jesus, about who is this man we we worship, who is this man we serve, and what does that look like to play out 2,000 years after this this text was written. So today we'll read verse 21 and 22 of of Luke chapter 3. Then we're going to skip what's referred to in our Bibles as the genealogy. Not because it's not important scripture. In fact, there's some great potential baby names in there if you're looking for some good names. This uh see a whole generation of people who were together if you pick out all those names. But I'm not really going to preach uh preach through those today. And so you can read that on your own. Then we're going to pick back up in chapter 4. I'll read through verse 14. After that, I'll pray and then you'll be able to have a seat. It says this in verse 21. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized, too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. A voice came from heaven. You are my son whom I love. With you I'm well pleased. Chapter 4. Jesus full of the Holy Spirit left the Jordan and was by and was led by the spirit into the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and at the end of the at the end of them he was hungry. Come on, we're only fasting 21 days, not 40. So be encouraged. The devil said, "If you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written, man shall not live on bread alone." The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor. It has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only." The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand at the highest point of the temple. If you are the son of God, he said, "Throw yourself down from here. For it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus answered, "It is said, do not put the Lord your God to the test." When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. Lord, I pray this morning that we would have a revelation of you and to your word. I pray that you would speak to every heart that you would change us. Holy Spirit, from the youngest to the oldest in this room, I pray we not leave this service the same, but because you have taught us something, because you have changed us, I pray we would be better. I pray that you would make us better by your word and by your spirit in Jesus name. Amen. You can have a seat. I was a little concerned um yesterday afternoon that I wasn't going to have a voice today because coaching my sixth grade son's basketball team and um I scream a lot when I coach similar to my preaching and we had like yesterday well let me say we lost our first game back in December. It's like a developmental middle school league and they're supposed to all be developmental teams. But some of the schools, I'm just saying I don't think they're really developmental teams cuz they're like eighth graders and stacked. And if that's one of you, then just may God have mercy on your soul. But anyway, we're in that we're in this uh in this last week we lost by a ton. And and yesterday we were only down by like two or three with two minutes to go and I thought this was going to be the one. And then they went on a 6 run. They scored six points, sixth graders in like 40 seconds. And so I'm a little distraught still about that loss, but we were close. And so [snorts] be praying in faith with me that we're going to win one this year. And just, you know, these are the big things of life that we come to church for. And I just wanted you to know that. But um but I have my voice. And so that's good because I yell a lot when I preach, just like when I coach. Hey, today starts 21 days of prayer and fasting. And I say this in all [snorts] faith. the next 21 days could really change your life if you will engage, if you will go like, I'm just going to I'm going to carve out these 21 days and believe that God's going to do something in me that you may not see the full results of until the end of the year, but to say, I want to trust that God would move in my life. I want to trust that he would answer a prayer about somebody in my family, about something that's going on in in our nation, about the whatever. I'm going to carve out this time. It could really change your life. Some of you, maybe you're here today and you've never fasted. And so fasting is going without food. Some of you are are going to be like um I mean you're just you're you're so disciplined. Many people, it's a small amount, but some people they'll go liquid only for 21 days. Some people will uh do what's called the Daniel fast where you'll do fruits and vegetables, nuts and grains for 21 days. Some of you will go and maybe you'll you'll go without one meal or some of you will go without two meals, maybe you'll eat one meal. There's there's different ways to fast. uh on our app on the website we have a lot of helpful information about how to fast about why we fast and about prayer. The thing is this that when you when you fast and pray together significant things happen. Jesus said in one of the gospels the disciples are they're trying to like cast out a demon. They're trying to set somebody free and they're not able to help the person get free and they come up to Jesus and they're like why couldn't we do this? What's the problem? And Jesus says, "This kind can only come out by prayer and fasting." Because when we fast, we have a greater greater spiritual authority. When we fast, we unlock the things in the kingdom of God when it comes with prayer. And so engage in these three weeks. I want to encourage you here at the Western Branch campus, we have prayer happening every day, but Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 7:00 a.m. in this room. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at 6 PM in this room. And then Tuesday, and Thursday at noon, we'll have like an an hour of silence and solitude where you can just come sit in this space. I want to encourage you. You may have never been to a prayer meeting. That's perfectly fine. This will disrupt your life and disrupt your schedule. Watch what God would do. I This isn't about something I'm saying. I'm saying, would you take this three weeks and say, "God, I just want to believe." And it's it's not magical, y'all. It's I want to tell you something. Just before you come, sometimes you'll be in in the prayer room and you'll be like, "This is boring." If you're all like going to come and you're like, I thought it was going to be like incredible and it felt boring. It might show up. Keep showing up. Watch what God will do. How many you're like, I really want to come now. You just said it might be boring. I'm I'm like, that's a terrible way to try. I'm not a good salesperson. I'm just telling you that it will unlock things in your life and in your family and in your city and beyond. A couple things I want you to write down to help you understand why fasting matters. First, fasting helps us resist temptation. We see we saw it in the text in Luke chapter 4. We'll look at it a bit more in a moment, but fasting helps us resist temptation. Why? Because it gets the comforts out of our life. It removes some of the noise. It helps us know what is actually God and what is not. when you're uncomfortable, when you're hungry, when you're when you're focused in more on God, distractions that that otherwise you would give into, you have a greater resistance to them. By the way, in in the biblical form, fasting is about food. But as you do go without food, we also encourage you go without many forms of media. Go without social media or highly limit it. Limit the intake of any of screens and things like that if you can. whatever other things it might be in your life so that you could get what God has. Because here's the other thing that fasting does. Fasting helps you kill the things that are killing you. Fasting helps you kill the things that are killing you. Might be food, might be drinks, might be some other addiction, might be some other media. And they're not necessarily things in and of themselves. I'm not saying they're the most super sinful things, but they're things that have a grip on you. there. Like here, here's how you know you need to go without it. I can't go without it. I can't go 21 days without Instagram. Then you need to go 21 days without Instagram. I can't go 21 days without eating that. I can't go. And by the way, again, this is a starting place for some of you. So, pick pick if there's a couple things. If you're like, I'm going to drink water only for 21 days and I've never fasted anything ever. That's a big step. I would encourage you not to start there, okay? Just so that you know. Um, and again, you can see on the website many, many different ways, but step into this, stretch yourself, grow yourself a little bit about what God would do. Jesus was fasting 40 days. As I said, we're only doing 21. So, so this text today, uh, today's message, in fact, a bit more, it feels like I've taught it a couple times. It's a, it's more like a Bible study of a way because there's we're going to be in an Old Testament verse as well. Luke chapter 4 and then something in First John. There's a revelation piece in this that I do hope I mean if you'll if you'll like if you'll get what is in the scriptures today. This will help our everyday life in a really dramatic way. It starts though with Jesus showing us something about himself. I'm reading a book by an author named uh Leonardu and he he says in the beginning of this book this statement, Jesus is how we discover how to be human. Now here's why I think that's really important. We often think about Jesus being God and he is, but we don't often think about Jesus being fully human, which he is. And so if Jesus is fully human, you also are fully human. Like just so clear playing field or like we're all equal here. >> I don't know if you guys started fasting last week and you're like, I'm just so hungry and I'm have but like okay, we're all human. We're all equal here. We're all human. And so if Jesus is fully human, if we want to be the best human we can be, Jesus is who we look to. >> Not necessar we can learn from other people. We get wisdom from other people, but Jesus is who we look to. And in Luke chapter 3, we learn the aspects of Jesus in his humanity. Someone who's fully human. What is helpful for you to live the life you're called to live? That's what happens in Luke chapter 3. So Jesus goes out and gets baptized. John, we looked at last week, is baptizing. It's a baptism for the repentance of sins. Jesus is not baptized because he needs to repent of his sins. Jesus is baptized to fully enter into humanity to show that he is fully human. He's baptized. He comes up out of the water. The Holy Spirit comes to rest upon him. And then there's a voice from heaven that says three things to him. These three things in Luke 3:22 are the same three things that every one of us need to know about ourselves every day of our life. What God gives that can't be earned. He says, "You're my son whom I love. With you I'm well pleased." He gives sunship. He gives identity. You are a son or a daughter today in this room of father God as a believer in Jesus. The second thing that he says is, "I love you. I love you. Doesn't it just feel good when someone tells you they love you and like mean mean it? Means it means it. I think there's an S in that. It's not English class. We just do the best we can here. Like I I love it. You know, when when one of my friends maybe were getting off the phone or or we're parting ways, I just get that I love you. And like I know I'm a big guy and you might not think it's very manly to say I love you. I want to tell you get over that >> because if if Jesus needs to hear I love you. I just want to say whatever level of manliness I have Jesus is still greater. >> It means something when you it like it it it builds you up. It gives you that the father says hey I love you. And then he says the third thing maybe for some of us today this is what is most important. Jesus got this from the father and we need this from God today. He says with you I'm well pleased. He gave him approval before he did anything. No miracle had happened. No preaching had happened. He hadn't gone to the cross. Jesus had not done something to earn God's approval. And the father says, "I want you to know, my son, you are fully approved. I am well pleased with you." Life is not about trying to earn God's approval because you can't. You can't. It comes from identity. And identity is given, not earned. Identity is given, not earned. In fact, write it down like this today. Identity is not the result of obedience. You don't get to be called a son or a daughter of God because you checked all the right boxes and did all the right things. So now you get to. No, it's given. The truth is identity is actually the foundation for obedience. The reason you will do what you're supposed to do for God is because you're confident in your identity. If you're not yet confident in your identity, you will struggle to do the things for God you're supposed to do because you will be looking at a whole lot of other things to try to give you an identity. You'll look at it in business. You'll look at it in school. You'll look at it in relationships. You'll look at it in your bank account. You'll look at in yourself. You'll look to those things for an identity. And they will then determine what's your direction, what's your obedience look like. God gives us those three things. He gave them to Jesus. So then in Luke chapter 4, Jesus is has he's like, "All right, let's go." He's going to start what we know as his earthly ministry. And the first thing that happens is the Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness. My version of following God is the Holy Spirit leads me into comfort. The Holy Spirit leads me into an easy life. where there's no difficulty because I'm a Christian now and everything's going to just be easy. But yet the text says Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit and the first thing he's doing is going to go to the wilderness and fast for 40 days. Why? Because following God involves this process. Now Jesus fully God you and I have to understand something. We go through this process. It's called a maturing process. We get this in the natural aspect when it comes to kids, right? So, when a baby's born, you don't give them steak. Come on. I'm trying to I'm trying to get us together here, right? You're not giving them If If you're like, "Why aren't they eating that?" It's because they're a baby. Like, that's a tender filt. Like, I don't even understand. They left it on their plate. It's cuz they're a baby. But they do like milk, right? But when you're 25, it's time to enjoy that fillet and stop drinking glasses of milk. Now, some of you are like, "No, I prefer the glasses of milk." I have a whole thing about adults drinking milk. That's neither here nor there. But, but just hang with me. When it comes to following Jesus, the scripture tells us in Hebrews, man, some of you are supposed to be into the stake of Jesus, >> but you're still just drinking milk. >> The Holy Spirit will allow us to enter in, will lead us into times and seasons because we're growing up into the things of God. Because every time you grow up into the things of God through something that might be a little bit difficult, it's not just that you go through it, it's that you get the reward on the other side of going through it. So Jesus is demonstrating for us that God will actually allow you, invite you, lead you into what might be difficult, what might not be what you want. And so Jesus goes into the the wilderness. It says for 40 days he had nothing to eat. Doesn't say this in the Bible, but I'm like he he just says he was hungry. How many know there's a good chance he was hangry? Some of you are going to just need to go to your room some over the next 21 days because you're not actually mad at the person you live with. You're just hangry. We got to give each other more grace in 21 days of prayer and fasting. By the way, you don't have permission to be a jerk, but just know if you can't not be a jerk, go be by yourself. I just pray for grace for those of us who have to make food and meals for kids. By the way, it's very difficult. This is the third service today. I have a lot of things I wanted to say. I didn't say in the first two, so it's going to be a lot of fun. The devil says to Jesus in Luke chapter 4, "If you are the son of God, before anything else is going to happen, he says this question statement questioning if you are the son of God." You ever been sure of something you feel like and then somebody just asks you like, "Hey, are you sure?" And then you're like, "Uh, nope. Like, are you sure third service starts at 11:30? Actually, I don't even know if there's church on Sundays. I have no idea. Like, I thought I knew, but at this point, I have no idea. Like, who can we ask? I don't know what. It's like you can feel confident, but then all someone has to do is just ask a little question to cause a little bit of doubt. And so, the devil just comes in. This is Jesus. And he's like, "If you are the son of God, like, if this is really who you are, then you better do something." Now, I I I said this earlier. This is a Bible study. So, we're Bible studying for the next several minutes. So, get ready. If you brought your Bibles, get in your hand, and you need to stay in Luke chapter 4, and you're going to go to Genesis chapter 3. So, Genesis chapter 3, and then also 1 John chapter 2. So I want to show us today Genesis chapter 3, Luke chapter 4, 1 John chapter 2, how the devil, while he's not stupid, he only has three tricks. While he he he's not wiser, but he he's not stupid. He's got three temptations, three tricks. We're going to we're going to bounce through this back and forth a little bit today, but I want you to see how he just does the exact same thing. Genesis chapter 3. This is the creation story. If you're if you're new to Bible, God created Adam. God created Eve. He says man and woman. He created them in his image. God gives them a perfect life. [snorts] He says you get to live in honestly the best life. It's in the garden. It's of Eden. It's beautiful. You can eat every anything you want. It's like going to be incredible. Except there's just this one one fruit God says don't eat from this tree. All right, let's go live this life. Just one thing that you're not supposed to do, right? Okay, it's going to be incredible. Then the enemy, the devil, shows up and he asked this question. Did God really say, "Don't eat. Don't eat that fruit." Just a simple little question. Satan said to Jesus in Luke chapter 4, "If you are the son of God," the serpent said to Eve in Genesis chapter 3, "Did God really say?" And then look what happened after that in verse number six of Genesis chapter 3. It says, "When the woman saw that the fruit from the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and she ate it." Three things. Desirable for food, pleasing to the eye, desirable for gaining wisdom. Turn to 1 John chapter 2. I know some of you, this is total Bible study, so it's okay. You're going to get through it today. 1 John chapter 2. Now, this is John who wrote this book of the Bible. Short short book, five chapters. This is the same guy who wrote the Gospel of John. 1, second, third John, also Revelation. John says in 1 John chapter 2, verse 15, do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the father is not in them. For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the father, but from the world. The world and its desires will pass away. But whoever does the will of God lives forever. So you see a tiein of book ends here, if you will. Genesis to first John, the lust of the flesh. I'm hungry. Like your your my body and your body has natural desires. That's what a lust of the flesh is. Like I want this thing for my physical body. Drink, food, sex, [snorts] like I want. There's this natural desire. The second thing he calls it the lust of the eyes. I see it and I want it. Eve saw not just that the food was good for eating. She thought it was beautiful. Like this is incredible. The third thing we see in first John, the pride of life, to be proud. The devil told Eve in Genesis chapter 3, you'll be like God, knowing good from evil. So then Eve looks at it and says, "It's desirable to eat for gaining wisdom." She takes it on as this would make me know more than others. three things, the only same three things that he has. Lust of the eyes or lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. Exact same three things that we see in Luke chapter 4. We're going to walk through them, but he offers Jesus to eat the bread. He hasn't eaten for 40 days. Lust of the flesh, he's hungry. He takes him up on a mountain. He shows him the kingdoms, lust of the eyes, and says, "I'll give you all of these." And then finally, the devil tells Jesus in Luke chapter 4, "Throw yourself down off of this mountain if you are the son of God." So asking him to prove he didn't need God, that he was fine, self-sufficient in and of himself, pride of life. These are the three temptations that the enemy has caused us to walk through from Genesis to Jesus to John. And those are the three things that we have the opportunity to avoid or to recognize today and how we walk through them. And that's what I hope I can help us with today because there's really only one way to know how to answer these and not give into them. And that's to be secure in your identity. >> It all comes down to identity. God gives identity and the devil questions it. God gives identity and the devil questions identity. God gives identity and the devil questions identity. 2 Corinthians chapter 5:1 17 the Apostle Paul said, "Anyone who's in Christ, the old is gone. The past is gone. Behold, God has made all things new. And then the enemy comes in. Are you sure you're really forgiven for your past? Are you sure they're not really going to judge you for what you did? Are you sure God's really going to bless your life? You know what you did two years ago? Why do Why do you think you can do this? 1 John chapter 2:9 says, "We are chosen people, Christians." He declares that you're a chosen people, a royal priesthood called out of darkness, brought into God's marvelous world so that you could declare to the world the goodness and greatness of God. So he said, "You're royalty as a believer in Jesus." And the devil goes, "You're nothing. Why you think you're so special? Look at them. They have way more than you have. You're not as good as they are." Galatians chapter 2 20. The Apostle Paul is talking and he says, "Hey, there's something different for a Christian. It's no longer I who live. I have been crucified with Christ, but it's Christ in me. That's how I live. I've crucified this flesh and it's to Jesus I live for." And the enemy will come in and say, "Do you really believe that stuff? Do you really believe you're good enough? Do you really believe that this Jesus thing is actually going to work? Identity. Identity. Identity. Jesus gives us identity. He declares if you are a believer in Jesus, you are a son or a daughter of Father God, you are secure. You don't earn it. It's given. >> Here's what's interesting. Genesis chapter 3 and Luke chapter 4. While they are the same, they're something very different. Genesis 3, as I referenced, they are living the fat, dumb, and happy life. Good food, naked, hanging out. I'm just saying it feels like it's a pretty good gig. Jesus hasn't eaten for 40 days. Yet, Adam and Eve are not able to resist the temptation from the enemy. And Jesus is. What's the difference? The problem is not the conditions. The problem is misplaced trust. It's not the conditions. It's not what's going on around. It's who is my trust in. Like I, you know, I just be real. I like to I want some I want there to be somebody to blame. Do y'all know how that's how we live, right? We We want to blame somebody. Like I I don't know if this is this this is the total unplugged third service. I haven't said this before. This is just popped in my head so I don't have to use a filter to say it. You know how like especially when when you're when you're a younger kid and maybe this happens in you as adult and somebody we'll just use the correct terminology passes gas. Somebody's like who farted? You're just like I want somebody they want who do I blame for this smell that I'm in right now? That ever happened to any of you? Maybe that's cuz I have four boys and if there's even an ounce of a smell, that's not good. It's like, who can we attack right now? No, I want to blame conditions. I want to say that the reason I acted like that is your fault. If you wouldn't have done that, then I wouldn't have done this. Blame it on the rain. You know, you're like, just give me something to say that's the reason >> when actually I have misplaced trust. My trust isn't actually in God. And it shows because of the decisions I made. It shows because of the actions I took. I might say that that my trust is in God. But when I decide to give into something, it often reveals my trust is in myself. It often reveals that my trust is in someone else. The truth is this. Each temptation is asking you a question about who you trust. That is the question. When they're financial decisions, when they're human decisions, when they're future decisions, they're all questions about who you trust. >> I want to look at these three real quick and then I want to just like go to two more scriptures because we're just all up in this Bible today. The first temptation, it's about it's about provision. Where do I make sure that I have food to eat? Satan's like, "Hey, you're going to you're going to need to take care of this yourself. Tell that tell that stone to become bread." And Jesus is like, "No, that it's not by bread alone. It's by the says in a different a different um recounting of this, it's by every word that comes from the mouth of God." That's what I live from. Like we yo we aren't trying to get an identity as a follower of Jesus. You do not try you do not have to do things to get an identity. You have an identity and you live from it. It's a very different way to live. That lust of the that lust of the flesh though when I'm hungry I want it. And Jesus uses the word which John talks about the word of God being the bread of life. This this this is nourishment. Why do I tell you to read your Bible? Because it's nourishment. No. If you never eat the rest of your life and only read the Bible, yes, eventually you will die. Just for clarity. I But this is better nourishment. The second temptation, the lust of the eyes. Man, he showed him the kingdoms. We see stuff with our eyes and we go, I want that. I want that. I want that thing. I want that person. I want that whatever it is. And I just want it. Now, what the devil told Jesus in Luke chapter 4 when he showed him the kingdoms is very significant for us to recognize how the enemy will work with this temptation is he offers him a shortcut. So God God gave the devil authority on the earth until Jesus returns one day and sets up a new heaven and a new earth. The enemy has authority in the earthly realm. There's things that like that's how God stood up. I don't know why. That's how he set it up. And so the devil is offering Jesus the authority that he was given on the earth. He says, "I will give you these kingdoms on the earth if you worship me." What was he offering him? He was offering him a secondass kingdom, but he was offering him an escape. Because Jesus knew, it wasn't that he just gets to be Jesus king and it's going to be simple. Jesus knew that there was a cross in front of him. Jesus knew that in just a few years he was going to die on a cross. And the devil's going, "Hey, instead of going through that whole thing, why don't you go ahead and settle for this?" [snorts] See, that's what the lust of the eyes does. Hey, I know you think that that you got to work for that, but but why don't you go ahead and settle for this? It reveals who you worship. He's telling him this, that who you worship determines what you receive. Do we want to receive what comes from worshiping Jesus or do we want to receive what comes from worshiping ourselves? >> I don't think because to be clear, this isn't a this isn't an idea where I'm like, "Oh, I think we're all going to go just start kneeling before Satan and worshiping the devil." That's not that's not what 99.99% of people it would be. It's that I'm trusting myself. It's that I'm worshiping my job. It's that I'm worshiping my spouse. It's that I'm worshiping my kids. It's that I'm worshiping my parents. is whatever I have just elevated all those things. Well, if that happens, you can only receive what they can give you. It's when you worship Jesus. Acts chapter 16 says Paul and Silas, they're in prison for preaching the gospel and they begin to pray and worship and the prison doors open and they're set free. Why? Because worshiping Jesus brings freedom. Nothing else does. If you want to receive the life God has for you, it starts with knowing that I'm worshiping and I'm trusting in him, not in myself. Really quick, the third temptation, pride. Man, it's pride all over it. Throw yourself down to say you don't need God to prove that you can do whatever you want. I think about us. It's about being a self-made person. How much higher do we elevate the self-made person? Supposed to live your life as if you as if you don't need anybody. You can puff yourself up. Hold your head up high. I got it. I did it. [music] It's all me. And pride is one of the nastiest things that exist. But not only is that, it's exhausting. It's exhausting. Because the truth is this. There's a big difference between faith and pride. Faith rests in God's promises. Pride is always proving. Pride always feels like you got a little chip on your shoulder and you got to prove that you're good enough. You got to prove that you deserve it. You got to prove that you're better than somebody else. But faith goes, I don't have to prove anything. I can rest in what God says about me. I can rest in God's promises that I'm above and not below. I can rest in God's promises that he's with me wherever I go. I can rest in the promise that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can rest in the promise, Matthew 11:28, that when I'm weary and I'm tired and I'm worn out, I can come into the presence of God and he will give me strength and he will give me a way to live that's different than anything else. I can rest in that promise. I can rest in the promise that when I pray and believe by faith that God responds and then when two or three gather together and I pray that God hears and respond, I can rest in that promise. And guess what? That's not exhausting. That's restful. So why do we need this? Why do we need this moment where Jesus walks through these three testings? Remember, we learn how to be human by studying Jesus. Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 14 says this. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the son of God, let us hold firmly the faith we profess. So, as Christians, Jesus is our high priest, which is why we don't have to go to an earthly priest to talk to Jesus. We can talk directly to Jesus. He is our high priest. He is seated at the right hand of the father in heaven. And he says this in verse 15. We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses. We have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are. Luke chapter 4. Jesus walked through every temptation just as we do. Yet he did not sin. Which means it's not only that Jesus could not sin. It's that Jesus would not sin. Which is why as a 45year-old dude living in January 2026, all of my faith is in Jesus because he has already proven that he can overcome everything that the devil tries to throw at him. And I'm invited to seek him. And the promise is that he that then he will help me do the same. The Apostle Paul put it like this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. Now, watch this text real quick because I'm going to do a little fun play on words. Not fun joke, but I just want you to see it because nobody else has seen it before. So, rather than set you up and to be like, "That's not what it says," I'm setting you up ahead of time. So, third service, you'll be the most theologically astute payers of attention. But when you are when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can escape it. You still don't region from faces that I feel like you're like that's not the word. Maybe we'll do a remedial reading class. It's not the word, right? It's he says you will he will provide a way out so that you can endure it. Where's the class where you sign up to escape the problems? If we offer two classes on Sunday afternoons, here's a class to escape all your problems. And here's a class to endure all your problems. I'm just telling you right now, the escape class would be in in standing room only. And the endure class would maybe be struggling for attendees. But yet the promise is no, you can endure. You can endure this. It's like it's worth it. You can endure this. It's worth it. The devil has one trick in those temptations. What? Escape it. Some of you in a marriage right now and your marriage is struggling. Is struggling. And there's this escape thing in your mind that goes, "Oh, I think I think the grass would be greener over there." Listen, never forget the grass is greener over the septic tank. So deal with your crap. Endure that thing. Endure that thing and see what God would do. Some of you, you're single and you're just like, I just need a man or I just need a woman. It just make my life so much better. And so you're escaping into someone that is not what God has for you instead of enduring this season where God is doing something great in you to be the person God made you to be. He says no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to all mankind. It happened in Genesis and they failed. Jesus then stepped in and goes these people need some help. So I'm going to come and stand in the gap. By the way, you give into temptation. The beauty of Jesus, just so we're all clear, is that he doesn't have an expectation of perfection on us. When we do miss it in a moment, when we do miss it at a time, we get to repent and talk to our high priest and receive that grace and forgiveness. But we never have to give into a life that just says, "I don't need to recognize this is from the enemy and think I need this." Because Jesus says, "You don't. You can endure." It all comes to your identity. to you all. I'm telling you, when I get up in the morning and I don't think I have to prove myself as a husband to Megan and I don't have to prove myself as a dad and I don't have to prove myself as your pastor and I can just say, Lord, I thank you that I'm your son and I if I live if I'll live from that identity, man, I'll have number and this is just very real. I have a I'll have a pretty good day. I'll notice that I have more encouraging things to say to other people. >> I'll notice that I have more grace for my kids. I have more grace for for my employees. I have more grace for my wife because I'm living in what I'm supposed to live from. I teach us this, I feel like 20 times a year, but it just fits too well for today for you not to write it down. When you know who you are, you know what to do. At the end of the day, this is what this is all about. Jesus knew who he was and therefore he knew this is how I resist the temptation of the devil which he used the scriptures which just so you know the devil will try to misuse a scripture which also happens if you reference that back to first John talks about the world. People out there in the world meaning there's a lot of people that will post stuff on social media that will twist scriptures and if you're not careful you'll read it and you'll think oh that makes sense. Which is why you need to know what the actual Bible says in totality because you need to be able to fight scripture with scripture. Because just because somebody knows the Bible doesn't mean they know God. >> It's not the words of the scripture that change people's lives. It's the words of the scripture when they're united with your faith in Jesus that change people's lives. When you know who you are, you know what to do. And so I want to pray for two for two people, two groups of people right now. One, there's some of you here today. You're not a follower of Jesus. You're not confident in your identity. You trust yourself. You trust your bank account. You feel like you have to prove something to earn something. Some of you are adults and you still feel like you have to prove something to your earthly parents. And then it drives you. Some of you think you have to act a certain way or perform so that God would love you. drives you and he offers us an invitation to receive forgiveness, to receive life. So, if you're here today and you you're not a Christian, you want to become one. In just a moment, I'm going to pray a prayer and I want you to repeat this prayer after me. If you're already a Christian, you can repeat this prayer after me as well, just as a way of reaffirming your faith. I want you to know it's not that this prayer is magical, but it is a moment. See, we need a moment in our life when we know that's the time I decided to follow Jesus. That's the time I decided to trust him and not trust myself. And then after that, I'm going to lead us in a prayer for all of us to grow in faith. I'm going ask the Holy Spirit to help us have endurance for these next 21 days of prayer and fasting, to stay engaged, to stay in the moment. Just even just this service, I didn't say this the other two services, but I think about I think about you teenagers. Most of your friends aren't going to fast for 21 days. Most of your friends aren't going to show up for prayer several times a week and go to a prayer meeting. You can come to prayer for 20 minutes before school. Most people aren't going to do that. What would God do in a teenager's life? What would he do in your school? Have you just said, "I'm different. I'm going to be built different." Let's believe God to do something incredible in this season. Would you pray with me again? This first prayer, if you want to commit to follow Jesus, if you're already a Christian, repeat this prayer after me. Say, "Jesus, please forgive me. I've trusted in things and in people other than you. I surrender to you, Jesus. I believe you're for me, not against me. and by your spirit I'm convinced I can live the life that you have for me in Jesus name. Lord I pray for all of us in the room today for those of us we need our faith to grow. God we want we want to believe big. I pray for people who are weary maybe at the start of the year and talking about prayer and fasting and and Lord maybe some people would have that here we go again. Lord I pray for fresh faith. Lord I pray for an endurance for these next 21 days to overcome the the natural physical things to engage in prayer to engage with you like we never have before. Lord I pray for supernatural activity to be the norm. I thank you that that prison doors on the inside would be unlocked in these 21 days of prayer and fasting. I thank you that miracles happen in families. I thank you that wisdom is dropped into minds. I thank you that we would know what we wouldn't otherwise know but for the commitment to seek you and for you, Holy Spirit speaking to us and changing us. God, we commit our life to you and we ask you have your way in Jesus name. Amen.