Matthew 4:1–4Scripture
This morning. Open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 4 and we're moving right along.
And we'll just jump right in here and read 1 through 4 together. So, then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Notice that there was a goal and there was a purpose to Jesus being led. He was being led to be tempted. All right?
So, there's always a testing before a releasing.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 0:32
All right? You will always be tested before you're released. And I think that's an important thing that we miss because we talk a lot about how God helps lead us out of temptation, that he helps, he's a defender in the midst of temptation. And all of that is true, but he also God is involved in leading you into temptation.
The Holy Spirit led him into temptation. And you will be led into temptation, too, at a point of testing before releasing into ministry. There are people from all walks of life in here this morning. There are those who don't know the Lord, and you're you're you're considering whether or not you will place your faith in Christ. Then there are those in the room this morning who have walked with him for some duration of time.
You're new to the faith and the reality is you're learning and you're being discipled in the way of Christ. And then there are some who are on the brink of being released into serving him with your life. And before you serve, he will test because he's not going to release you before it's time. And so I think that's an important part.
Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. Well, anybody would be.
Introduction
Anybody would be. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
But he answered, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word."
That's the key. That's my title, right? It's right in there. Every word that comes from the mouth of God. Say it with me this morning real quick just for a second if you want to. You don't have to. I'd probably be rebellious if I was sitting there and I wouldn't say it. I would say to my head, but I wouldn't say it out loud, so it's fair, right?
Every word, right?
Not some word, not twisted words, not substituted words, but every word.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 2:48
Now, this is troublesome today in our society because we don't have a shortage of word, right? We don't have a shortage of opinions. We don't have a shortage of anything regarding people's platforms or what they have to say. If you would ask and sit would talk with somebody over lunch about their opinions on multiple subjects, everybody, regardless of whether they have anything or credentials to back up their opinion, they are free and will share their opinion.
Some people have opinions without even considering where that opinion came from. The reality is we hadn't even really done the work ourself to formulate and stand on an opinion. Many of us just adopt it and regurgitate what we heard, what we grew up hearing, what we're inundated with. And the reality is the platform that speaks to our life becomes the platform we stand on when we're at lunch with people that we regurgitate and we say this is our belief.
But the reality is many of us haven't done the hard work of forming an opinion oursel. Amen. And most people will have no they're not shy in their in the way that they communicate their opinion.
Uneducated, undisiplined, unthoughtful people are spewing words everywhere.
But where is God's word? When do believers in church stand on God's word? How often do we find ourselves talking about things we believe and not sharing what God has said? Amen. How often do we find ourselves saying things that we feel instead of saying what God has said? Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, this is our stance.
This is what we stand on. Not some feeling you have, not some opinion of men, not some thing you heard on Instagram or Twitch or whatever thing you listen to. Cuz by the time I get cool enough to find the hip thing to listen to, they find five other apps and now you're antiquated and ridiculous for using the dumb apps that you use.
And I'm just tired of switching. So I'll just stick with my Instagram. Thank you. Thank you. But Twitch and Flitch and whatever thing you're listening to. What are some other ones? I can't even Facebook is so old. It's like that's the wagon days for teens today. Like that's like the difference between driving in a car and driving in a wagon.
When you use Facebook, you're a wagon person. It's like riding in wagons when they have cars. You know what I mean? So, boy, that was a that was a little bit of a rabbit trail. But you need to understand that we formulate opinions based on what we bury oursel in. The words we bury oursel in today. So Jesus, he walks out into the desert and it's quiet.
We don't know what to do with silence, do we? We don't know how to live in silence.
And the reality is I believe that one of the techniques of the enemy is to inundate us with noise.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 6:10
But notice here there's silence in the desert. This is where and sometimes we have to create opportunities for silence to stand on his word and not the noise that we've heard.
And so he walks out in silence. It's quiet. It's empty. And the wilderness is bare. But it is not harmless. You have your own wilderness that you navigate today. For 40 days and 40 nights, he fasts. He deprivives himself of all the things that fill his life. And so sometimes in our life, we need to deprive oursel. It's not bad to say no to something.
It's not bad to say no to something because we are busy of feeding oursel with things that satisfy and those things cut us off from being able to stand on the word of the Lord.
The son of God becomes hungry. His stomach groans. His lips are dry. His body aches. But his heart is steadfast. Oh, to be steadfast in the midst of your struggle.
And here comes the enemy because he's an opportunist. He comes in your weakest point. He comes in your lack.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 7:33
The enemy comes when your strength has diminished. And this is when he attacks.
He does not come with horns or fire. He does not come with the type of things that you know you should say no to.
He comes with a suggestion. He does not come with a demand. He suggests with reason with a whisper that sounds practical.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 8:03
If you're the son of God, command these stones to become bread. Here's the thing. This sounds harmless, right? I mean, at the end of the day, what is the big deal with turning bread or stones to bread?
What's the big deal about that? What's wrong with filling your stomach if you're actually at the end of your fast? What's wrong with that? What's wrong with proving that you're the son of God, especially to Satan? What's wrong with that?
But hear me, temptation often comes clothed in reasonableness.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 8:49
The serpent does not usually shout. He suggests, but Jesus answers with words forged in the furnace of faith.
And they're not. He says, "It is written, man shall not live by red alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Not some words, not favorite words, not twisted words, but every word. That's our theme this morning. That's the lesson. That is where life resides, not death.
Point 1Every word, not our words
Number one, every word, not our words.
Just pause for a second. Christians in the house filled with the Holy Spirit. His spirit takes residence in your life at the point of belief. It is amazing how quick we think we have a word and we don't trust in his word. And we think because we have a word and because we're filled with the Holy Spirit, our word carries the same power as his word.
And it does not. It does not. Yes, you're filled with the spirit. Yes, he's blessed you. Yes, he's made you holy. Yes, he's removed sin from your life. But just because you have a word and you said it and you're filled with the spirit doesn't mean that word is his word. And be careful, ladies and gentlemen, because I've said a lot of words that I thought were his words were that I found out later were not his words.
Don't be so arrogant to stand on your word just because he resides in you and you think your word's good enough as his word because it's not.
It's not. Many pastors have said a word and realized later that the word they said was not his word. Be careful, ladies and gentlemen, to not be so prideful to think that your word is his word. He has given us his word. Stand on every word he's given you. Your word is not his word, not our words. Notice how Jesus fights.
He does not argue. He doesn't need to.
There is a final word on every subject and it's his word.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 11:28
He does not philosophize. He does not speculate. He simply says it is already written. Where is this confidence in the church? Yeah. Why is it that when we get to subjects of such tension that we cannot stand on his word and say, "It is written."
Why are we more afraid offending men than we are offending God? What is wrong with us? How come we pontificate and we wax eloquently and we stand on middle offenses and we never land? Why can't we say what we believe? Because we trust our feelings and our words, not his.
You can't ever make a stand if your stand isn't on him.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 12:20
Because you're constantly wondering if your word is truly the word. And ladies and gentlemen, it's not. It's not. He simply says it is written. He says it three times in this chapter. He says the same thing. It is written. It is written.
It is written. And that was enough for Jesus. Why is it not enough for us?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 12:48
Every word, not our words.
Every word that comes from God, not our words. We live in a culture drowning in words. Talk shows and podcasts and social media feeds and news cycles and everyone has an opinion today.
Everyone has been given a platform. That's a problem. Everyone has been given a platform to say something. Everyone has something to say.
But life is not sustained by what we say. Life is sustained by what God says.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 13:41
Amen. And words change. Our words change with moods. Our words change with our wants. Our words change with our feelings. Our words change with knowledge.
Our words crumble under pressure. Our words cave when people disagree. Our words don't last. But the word of the Lord endures forever. Yes. Amen. Forever. Christian, hear me today.
When the enemy comes, your wit will not save you. Your logic will not save you. Your cleverness will not save you. The only weapon sharp enough to cut down lies is the sword of Scripture.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 14:29
Right? It is the only thing when the enemy comes against you that will save you. Every word, not our words.
Point 2Every word, not just some of them
Number two, every word, not just some of them. Come on, man. I mean like I know I'm messing with you today. I'm messing with me. We all have issues doing this. If you get out of this and this don't hit you at some point in your life, I'm not sure you have one.
Listen carefully to what Jesus says. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Not just some of them. Not just the parts you like. That counts the Old Testament and the New Testament. Every word. Every word. Not a few of them.
Not the ones that soothe you while avoiding the ones that sting.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 16:07
Every word. I have a concern today because there are movements today that fashion their services to tickle the hearts of men and to fill seats.
I'm not against filling seats, but it is fascinating to me that while Jesus is feeding people, they're coming. When he feeds their stomach, they're coming by the thousands. But when he preaches a word, they all leave. I'm not saying this is necessarily a strategy for church growth. Just feed people, but don't preach the word.
I'm just telling you that truth has a way of dividing.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 17:00
It does not necessarily have a way of uniting. Truth that stings causes people to question whether or not they want to continue because they're good with a God who satisfies their stomach. They're against a God who comes against the flesh that he's been feeding. Are you with me today? Did that make sense? Feed my flesh. They come by the drones and then he comes against the flesh and they leave by the droves.
Not drones. Bees drowns will come. Anyway, I got issues, man. I got issues. But it is fascinating to me today. As long as you make me happy, I'll come. Pastor, just make me happy. Worship leader, just make me happy. Small group, just make me happy. Just make me happy. I'll show up if I'm happy. If I'm convicted, I'm out.
If I'm convicted, I'll find something else to do. If I'm convicted, I'll leave. If I'm convicted, I'll run. If I'm convicted, I'm out. Deuces. Bro, it's amazing to me how many people will say deuces to God and deuces to the church and deuces to community and deuces to their marriage and deuces to everything because they're out because it gets hard.
And let me tell you, if you think a life with Christ don't get hard, wrong. Wrong. Israel's history proves this. In Deuteronomy 8:3, God reminds them why he fed them with mana in the wilderness. So they would learn that man does not live on bread alone.
But Israel wanted blessing without obedience. Sound familiar? They wanted God's gifts without God's commands.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 19:11
They wanted the pleasant parts of God's word, not the hard parts, and they fell. We fall the same way today.
We treat the Bible like a buffet line. I'll take some love and comfort, but tell you what, I'm going to leave out the holiness and the repentance part.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 19:34
Because it just is. I don't like that. This is not a buffet line where you get all the mashed potatoes and the corn and all the carbs you can eat and you leave all the broccoli and the green beans.
That's not the way this works. This is a full diet. Okay? And I understand in our society we have found joy and satisfaction in processed stuff.
So that when we get the real stuff, it's bland. It does not taste good. How can we corrupt this good meal with something that will be bad for me? That's truth. We've gotten so used to the artificial stuff that when truth comes, we don't think it's truth anymore because we've made a diet of the artificial stuff and we've called that true.
So when God shows up and we hear the truth, we are repulsed by it. We turn our heads in disapproval and the reality is that's the one thing that brings health and life to you. The stuff that doesn't taste so good. Are you with me today? So, we build churches that long and crave for the stuff that kills them and they deny the stuff that redeems and saves and brings them health and life.
They push you back from the table and they say, "No, thank you." And we build movements and churches around stuff that kills people eternally.
Amen. And it does not save and it does not bring health and it does not redeem and it does not help. What are we doing in this world? What are we doing in our churches? What are we doing in our homes? We have taught our children to crave that which kills.
We pay for their entertainment. We send them to movies and it kills it. It is the thing they long for. It is that which they struggle for. That is that which they crave. And we foot the bill for their demise. Yes. We do not vet the schools we send them to. We put our stamp of approval and we pay for them to go sit with professors who indoctrinate them and things that are anti- good because we have not done our research and we foot the bill for their soul to be lost for eternity.
Where are the parents? We can sit here all day and say, "Where are the preachers?" But Christians, men and women of faith, where are you? Where are you? You cannot just come and wait and sit to hear what the pastor has to say.
It is time for you to stand on your own two feet and make a stand for what you and your house will be about.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 23:01
Notice Jesus made a stand on his own. And at the end of the day, young people, you do not get to go, well, my parents, well, my parents did this. Well, my parents did that. Well, my parents created this in my life. At the end of the day, you get to stand and you get to make a decision on what you will stand on.
And you do not get to blame your parents. And you do not get to blame your teacher. And you do not get to blame your pastor. And you do not get to blame your girlfriend or your boyfriend. At the end of the day, each of us stand and answer at a day of temptation. And that day may be often and we stand either on his word or on our word.
On his word or on part of the word. We treat the Bible like a buffet line. I'll take psalms of peace but reject prophets of fire.
But Jesus says life comes from every word, not the ones you choose.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 24:18
The easy words and the hard words, the confronting promises and the convicting commands, the gentle encouragements and the fierce rebukes.
Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, a half Bible will never build a whole Christian.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 24:42
A half gospel will not save a whole soul. We need every word.
Point 3Every word, not substitutes
Every word, not just some. Number three, every word, not substitutes. Oh man, the devil said, "Turn these stones into bread. Notice that the tactic here of the enemy is substitution. Bread instead of obedience. Bread instead of dependence. Bread instead of God's word. That's the problem today. That's the problem. If you look out into our culture, we see substitution running rampant.
It's a problem.
But bread without God's will is a substitute. It fills the stomach and it empties the soul.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 25:59
And how often we settle for substitutes.
We fill our hunger with entertainment. We drown our thirst in money. We try to medicate our emptiness with achievements, with applause, with escape.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 26:12
And yet when nightfalls, we're still hungry. We're starving. And no matter how much we feed oursel with these things, never satisfies.
I've run into men and women of all ages from young to old who spent their whole life gorging themselves on that which satisfies their flesh.
Only to see them get to the end of their life and realize they're starving because substitutions never satisfy.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 27:06
Paul said it this way, the word is the power of God for salvation.
Notice there was no substitute. That's what saves. That's what satisfies. That's what fills. Life is not in substitutes. Life is in the word.
Our generation is stuffed with bread but starved for truth. Surrounded by options but empty of hope.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 27:48
Why? Because substitutes never satisfy. Only Scripture substains, sustains. Now Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone." Not by bread, not by comfort, not by possessions, not by substitutes.
You don't just need bread for your body. You need truth for your soul.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 28:18
Every word, not substitutes. Paul's not substitutes. We started this church, see in January 11th, it'll be 15 years. 15 years. That's a long time for young people. You hadn't even hit 15 yet. So that's like that's a long time. And quite honestly, it makes me feel ancient of days to know that 15 years was a vapor.
Was a but a vapor. I know that makes me seem even older now. Like just ancient. You know what I mean? Like how is 15 years of vapor? Just wait, man. And by the way, the older you get, the faster it goes. You know why? How I know I'm getting older? Cuz every year just gone. Just gone. By the way, let me tell you a funny Let me tell you a funny Christmas I decided I had I lost quite a bit of weight and so at Christmas I decided I was going to take a break.
I'm still on break. I've been wearing that thing out and enjoying every moment of it. You know what I mean? So, I'm just my goal is to try to figure out how to get to a healthy way of living before I get back to Christmas again because I don't want to have a whole year break. But anyway, what is that about?
What am I talking about? Feeding my flesh. Anyway, when we started the church, I knew the importance of preaching truth to as to the much as my ability to preach truth as possible.
But there were a lot of things we did in the life of the church to feed the flesh. Just straight facts. And there are reasons why we do that. We thought that we were rallying people around a cause that was Christ, but soon found out, when I say soon, I mean later found out that the cause wasn't Christ.
The crowds was a multitude of things.
Pride, egos, the desires of men and seats, and we created environments that made people happy but not holy.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 30:40
Are you with me today? And not only did we care, not only did we begin to sharpen and consider what we were preaching and how we were preaching, but we began to consider what we were singing.
Because you can sing a song and make someone happy and at the same time make them stupid.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 31:09
Are you with me?
The goal of a song is not to turn your brain off. The goal of worship music is to turn your brain on.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 31:18
Give me a good drum beat and I'll feel like God has descended in our midst.
I'm not against drums. I think we can use drums. And if you're a drummer, come talk to me. But the goal is not to create a beat in such a way to make you want to charge the hill. Because once you get to the top of the hill and you see the oncoming enemy, it is amazing how many people scatter when they ran it because they were excited, not because they had a cause.
Track with me? Track with me. Let me give you an example. We had created a movement three services full with a lot more chairs that are in here now where people were pumped charging the hill then covid came and gone.
Track with me now. Just hang on for a second. You know why? Because they charged because they were happy and excited, not because they did it for a reason. And it's amazing because we have people in churches every day that are getting happy. They charge out into their Monday and they can't even make it to their Friday without almost becoming a God denier.
And they need another Sunday to pump them back up to make it through another Monday. They're not doing it for a cause. They're getting gassed up so they can go another 24 hours. And if this is all church is by Felicia, it's got to be more than that.
Did I just say bye, Felicia? It's got to be more than that. It can't just be that. It's got to be more. So, we begin to look at songs and consider what they're saying. Because words matter. And it's amazing because if the beat's good, we don't think about the words. I was in youth ministry for a long time.
And I would have a lot of people listening to a lot of Eminem cuz back in the day I'm I'm I'm old. Eminem was the thing back in the day. I don't know what the thing is now. I'm just saying. So they'd be listening to songs and they literally would have no clue what was being said. And I'm sitting there listening to words going, "Oh my goodness."
And I would ask them, "What are you listening to? What is this you're listening to? This is insane." And then they would hear it and they would be shocked. Because they separate the beat from the words. Just because it has a good beat doesn't me mean you should march to that drummer. That's right. Are you with me today?
Today, this goes beyond my responsibility to decide what worship songs come into this house theologically and are allowed in this house theologically. And the reality is there's some want there are some that I want to come in cuz I like the beat, but it's trash words. Are you with me? Yeah. I wish our library was more expansive. But the reality, if we care about every word, we cannot allow worship songs to come in here that substitute bread for stones.
It can't be allowed. I like the beat. I want to sing it. I want to sing it. The other day, I told the staff the other day, I turned on some worship music that I used to listen to.
I know this makes me seem real just what a fuddy duddy, you know what I mean? But I and I love the beat and I got excited and then I started hearing the words and I just went, "No, because substitutes are not okay."
That's right. Every word that comes from God, not substitutes.
Point 4Every word, not twisted words
Number four and last one. Every word, not twisted words. Later in this very chapter, the devil will still try again. And notice what he does. He quotes Scripture. Satan knows the Bible better than you. He knows how to twist it. He knows how to pluck a verse out of context and use it like poison. But Jesus answers again, "It is written."
Some of you, the only Scripture you could quote off hand is Jesus wept. How do you expect to stand on something that you don't know? For some of you, the only word you stand on is the word of your pastor. Track with me here. Every word, not man's words. Some of you wonder why you falter and you teeter and you can't stand in the face of temptation.
It's because you're standing on your mama's word or your daddy's word or your aunt's word or your pastor's word or somebody else's word.
You're standing on somebody else's word, but you don't know the word.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 37:12
Right. And when the heat gets turned up and the pressure's on and Satan is appealing to your flesh, you pull yourself up to the table with the wrong word.
Satan knows the Bible. He knows how to twist it. He knows how to pluck a verse out of context and use it like poison. You ever met somebody like that? Yes. But Jesus answers again, it is written. Pause. Nothing more annoying to me than somebody who quotes a Scripture but has no clue what the context of that Scripture is.
It'd be better for you to shut your mouth and do the research than pop off and say something you know nothing about. Track with me. Because every time you pop off and you say a Scripture that you think is fitting for a situation without doing background on what that means, you possibly are causing your brother and sister to stumble just because you want to impress people with a Scripture that you're using out of context.
Sorry, that too harsh. This is serious business. So, I don't care because some of us because we want to boost our ego with what we know when we really don't know it because we haven't done the work to know it are leading people astray.
And it's a problem. And when you go into your small group and it's discussion time and you're you have something to say, you best make sure that what you're saying is not what you're saying. We don't want to hear your words. We want to hear every word that comes from God. But Jesus answered again, "It is written." And this time he shows us that the word must be rightly handled, rightly understood, and rightly applied.
Not bent to serve our desires, but received to shape our lives.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 39:20
Every hot topic issue in the world today, people can grab Scripture and use it to defend their position.
And just like Satan, they're master manipulators of his word. People do this inside the life of the church. To get what they want.
Every heresy in history began with twisted words. Every cult feeds on half-truths. Every false teacher misuses verses.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 39:56
Every saint who stands strong clings not to twisted words but to true words. Every word. Church, be on guard.
Do not let the Bible in the devil's mouth confuse you. Test every word against every word.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 40:16
The whole council of God protects us from twisted fragments of God's word. Every word, not twisted words. Here's some closing thoughts and then we'll close. So, what do we do with this for your personal life?
Stop nibbling at the edges of Scripture.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 40:45
Stop treating it like a snack bar. Sit down and feast. Read whole books. Embrace every word. For preachers and teachers, do not skip the hard parts. Do not preach a half gospel to keep the crowd comfortable. Give the people of God the whole council of God. Feed them bread from heaven, not substitutes from earth. Yes. For the church.
Our survival in the wilderness of this world will not come from substitutes. It will come. It will not come from clever arguments. It will not come from opinions. It will come from one source alone. Every word that comes from the mouth of God. Amen.
Adam fell in Eden because he doubted the word.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 41:42
Israel fell in the wilderness because they neglected the word. But Jesus stood in the wilderness because he clung to the word. And how did he win? Not with bread, not with miracles, not with force. He won with every word. So hear me.
Life is not in loaf. Life is in the Lord. It's not in bread, but it's in the book.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 42:13
It's not in substitutes, but it's in Scripture. It's not in some words, not in twisted words, not in our words, but it is in every word that comes from the mouth of God. Oh Lord, let us be a people who live not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
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