“Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus” Series... 4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said,

“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word

that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the

temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of

the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

RUMBLE in the Wilderness: Winning by Worshipping!

• Reviewing Mark 1... ...vv 10-11>God IS Community (Triune God...Trinity!)      ...vv. 12-13>God the Son is led by God the Spirit into the  wilderness—COLLABORATING on a mission* to rescue you! ...v. 15>God’s Kingdom is at hand. Therefore, opposition!

“Where the first Adam failed, the Last Adam** prevailed!”

________ *Cross-referencing from Mark 1:12-13**Christ (Son of Man, Son of God)

“Q-What’s the main purpose of man/woman?A-To glorify GOD & enjoy Him forever!”  

--Westminster catechism

• “Jesus said to him, ‘Away from Me, Satan! For it is written: WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD & SERVE HIM ONLY!’...” [Matt 4:10]

MY Personal Daily ‘Vision Values’ (Winning by Worshipping...)

“Because of God’s glorious Gospel in Christ, I will daily... ...BE Reflecting His amazing grace... ...BE Real with Him & the human race... ...BE Repenting/Rejoicing before His face!”

“DOING” flows out of “BEING”, right?!

Vision Values for CrossPointe’s IN-COVENANT Members:

EXTEND God’s grace to unbelievers in OUTREACH

APPLY God’s grace to one another for 

NURTURE

REFLECT God’s grace back to Him in WORSHIP

WORSHIPPING GOD...

• Do you delight more & more in the glory of God?  Does your heart incline to glorify & enjoy God more consistently than 5 yrs ago?

            - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -• [Nurture:] Is your love for fellow believers

abounding more & more so you want to stir them up to “love & good works”?

• [Outreach:] Do you feel a greater burden for the lost? Are your prayers for them more consistent?

I. “We exist to REFLECT God’s grace......back to Him in WORSHIP” (Matt 4:10)

• What is the main truth at the 40th day of this “rumble in the wilderness”? WORSHIP!!

ANSWER: Worship means to ‘glorify God & enjoy Him forever’!

II. Worship is ULTIMATE, and other good things given by God are not... 

“Ultimate” = everything else we do is a MEANS to this END of glorifying/enjoying Him...forever! “This people honor Me w/their lips, but their HEARTS are far from Me; in vain do they worship Me!” (Matt 15:8-9)

III. How, Then, Shall We Worship? (Matt 4:10-11)

A. What happens when we WIN by WORSHIPPING? (v. 11) The “rewards of resistance”! What are these? ~Satan leaves! ~Supernatural comfort comes! ~Salvation’s grace from a Triune God is sufficient!

B. We worship TOGETHER, not just privately...[Heb 10:25]

C. PASSIONATELY, not taking Him for granted...[Rev. 3:15-16]

D. EXPRESSIVELY, not passively...[Psalm 150]

Our Problem:

It’s NOT that we want “too much”; rather, it is that we are satisfied with “too little”(Illustration: refusing a holiday-resort in favor of staying in the slums to ‘make mudpies’—C.S. Lewis)

BECAUSE God’s Son did successfully ‘rumble’ (not stumble)

with Satan......we cannot conclude He’s just another good teacher/example (like Gandhi or Mother Teresa)!...Rather, we FIX OUR EYES on Him & see He is the spotless Savior! ...RESULT? True worship of GOD!