[Christ Our Rock] The Temptation: Shortcuts to Success (Feb 09)
Christ Our Rock Bible Church
He said he was making his first snowball of the season—"I'm using only the finest, hand picked flakes of snow for maximum cohesion and aerodynamic performance. I want this first snowball to be the gold standard to which all other snowballs come up short. People will look at every other snowball and say, 'That's pretty good, but Jason Fox made a better one.'" Disgusted, his big sister makes a disparaging remark, turns and walks away.In the last frame, Jason had just reached down, hastily made a snowball, and aimed for the back of his sister's head, and said, "I guess I can let my second snowball be the fancy one."
Oh, the temptation there can be to take a shortcut! As we move a little deeper into the New Year of 2009, we would like to get past all of the problems and heartaches, troubles and worries, and have them vanish. We live in a fast paced society, with barely taking a minute to reflect on the true purpose of life. From fast-food to throwaway-everything, we live a shortcut-life. Hardly before Christmas was even over, the Valentine's Day stuff filled the store shelves. Even right now, as we take time in this Season of Epiphany to see how Jesus manifests Himself, many wonder, "Do we really have to take the time? Can't we take a shortcut and just get on with it?" Yes, that is the temptation, but NO, we must not fall into it—we must not be hurried. Shortcuts, when it comes to these crucial things, can be devastating and tragic. Our society—and so much of the "church" today—thinks they are aimed towards true success, but it is often their own version of success. God Himself never took shortcuts, and we ought to be very glad He didn't, for He is trying to use every minute of all that we go through to manifest Himself to our hearts and lives.
Take Jesus' own temptation experience, for example. Immediately following His baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus went up into the rocky wilderness for 40 days—fasting and praying, with no shortcuts. For what? What is the purpose? Matthew 4:1 tells us, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil"…it was precisely for this purpose—Satan tried to use it to get Jesus to divert from God's path and plan. Would Jesus take the shortcut—skipping the Cross—to so-called "success?" Verse 3 reveals—"and when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Come on, Jesus, doesn't that get your ire up; doesn't that provoke you to defend your identity? No, because Jesus wasn't into shortcuts. In the Greek, the "if" can be read as "since,"—even Satan assuming He really was God's Son. Either way, Jesus wasn't about go His own way, just to fill His empty belly. He quoted the Father—we are to live by God's every Word!
You see, Satan meant it for evil—if he could get Jesus out of God's will just once, the whole plan of salvation was ruined. He would no longer be the Sinless One. Yes, Satan meant it for evil, but God meant it for good—to manifest what God can do when we are "led up of the Spirit." Satan's next try reached beyond fleshly lusts; now, it was all about the Father's faithfulness—"Surely, since You are so close to God, He will protect you—He would never let You fall and "dash thy foot." (vs.6) Prosperity preachers today pull the same lame act—God certainly wouldn't let you go through anything difficult. So Jesus cut right through the lie, getting right down to basics—once again with the Word of God—"It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." (vs. 7) Lastly, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain, showing Him all the worldly kingdoms, and baited Him—"All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." (vs. 9) Jesus was being asked to deny His Lordship just to gain the world—a shortcut that so very many today are willing to take. But not Jesus—"Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." (vs. 10)
In Oswald Chamber's book, "The Place of Help," he puts it this way—"Each of the temptations presented to our Lord by Satan had this at its center: 'You will get the kingship of men and the saviorhood of the world if You will take a shortcut—put man's needs first, and he will crown You king; do something extraordinarily wonderful, indicative of Your power, and man will crown You king; compromise with evil, and You will get the kingship of men.' Jesus could have brought the whole thing about suddenly (see John 6:15); but He did not. He withstood Satan and took the stupendously long way." Church, just meet some needs; just please some people; just do something wonderful, and all the world will love you. Well, then why did Jesus say the world will hate the true church? (John 15:19) Jesus' real message was "Repent," but many don't like that. Instead, they want to be like the world in order to be liked by the world. But that's a shortcut, and the Cross is lost.
Many want to hurry things up by man-centered revivals and conferences. They say, "The ends justify the means—numbers, numbers, numbers—give the people what they want—there's no time to seek the next step from the Lord—we have to take a shortcut." Oh, really? God never did, why should we? Oh, I know that the temptation is there, but don't fall into that trap! If we will take a little time here, we will see this clearly in the concept of the Passover. Over quite a period of time, God brought several plagues upon the Pharaoh of Egypt and his people for not letting God's people out of bondage. This did not happen over night—time was on God's side, so to speak, as He used it all to bring Pharaoh's court to the end of themselves. Finally, the tenth plague involved the death of the first-born. Israel, while dwelling in the very same land, would find protection from the Lord's Angel of Death as it "passed-over" IF they would come under the sacrificed blood of a lamb.
Paul, the Apostle, once wrote, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Cor. 5:7-8) This, my friends, is true success—no longer just trying to cope; just existing in our own strength with no power of His grace to live for Him His way, and somehow thinking that that is just fine. It isn't! It really isn't! The "old leaven" represents all of our old, complaining attitudes, which need to be crucified for there to be maturity—the "sincerity and truth"—no perversion, no fermentation. In fact, in the Greek, it is referring to an unveiled and manifested reality, something that agrees with its appearance—changed heart, changed life. Picture, if you will, the difference and distinction the blood made in the original Passover. Remember, the lamb was slain and its blood was painted onto the door posts and lintels of the homes of the faithful—and it was done by the faithful. There were no shortcuts, but, oh, the difference it made! Can you see it? On the outside of those homes, nothing but darkness and despair, grief and wailing. The first-born in every household—from Pharoah on down—dead! But what about on the inside? No death, just life—safety, security, protection, and no condemnation. Yes, you and I have a choice—a choice of maturity!
Praise God—if we are sheltered by the sacrifice of Christ our Passover, there is no condemnation simply because He alone endured our decreed death. What a resting-place for the once wretched heart and struggling conscience—a divine resting place! And it isn't just all about you—what about the billions who need this Jesus. They need to see "Christ in you, the hope of glory."(Col. 1:27)Eternal souls are at stake—yours and everybody else's. There are no shortcuts; there are no substitutes for the Blood of the Lamb—not even fancy marketing and entertainment. Thank God Jesus didn't fall for one of Satan's offers of an easier way that canceled the Cross—Jesus' and ours. Watch out for the temptation of shortcuts to success—they bring nothing but disobedience and disaster. Jesus and His ways are the Gold Standard, by which everything else comes up short. Don't reach down and form your own "snowball"—that is a shortcut, and shortcuts will only cut you short! Where do you really want to be, both now and in the end?—On the outside or on the inside? In this New Year, get into God's Word and let it get into you!
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Posted By Christ Our Rock Bible Church to Christ Our Rock at 2/01/2009 01:00:00 PM