Don’t Test God…Trust Him

how many of y'all-, I'm trying to decide how I want to jump into this. I didn't do it right in the first service. Have y'all like ever watch, like binge, watched a show? Yeah, Amen, I got you.

I hope it's a good one.

I hope it was a good show, A good Christian show, like The Chosen or the David series. I don't know how good that one is. I haven't finished it yet, Not Game of Thrones or. That's better than Game of Thrones, for sure.

It's going to start with a G.

I'm gonna go with Gilmore Girls over Game of Thrones. It was funny. People like, "You got to, you got to watch Game of Thrones". And I didn't know anything about it, I just knew it was HBO.

So I was like I don't know.

HBO caught me a couple times back when I was young and I want to do that again, And so I, I, I watched it, but, but I knew there might be content. So I always watch stuff that could have content with my wife And our rule is that I look at her when there's content. And I realized after like the first or second episode that I'd be looking at her the whole time. So let's find something.

Let's find something different to watch.

But any anyone ever watch, like anyone ever binge watch, or just office fans in the room. I know there's got to be some. Y'all aren't quiet about it. I remember when I started watching The Office back in 2007.

Yeah, Yeah, It was still going back then. Y'all were barely born with some crazy, some crazy stuff. These young adults, they don't, they don't even know They watch it and they think it's like for for us it's a Napoleon dynamite or something. This is old school stuff.

It's creepy.

Nacho Libre watched that one the other day. Yeah, I know, Get that corn out my face. It was, But The Office is, is a is a fun example of it, because when I started to watch it, I started, I started kind of right in the middle of it, cuz I, I Netflix wasn't much of a thing back then, but if you've ever binge watched it or you started with the first season, you know something about The Office. If someone's going to ask you if they want to watch The Off, if they should watch The Office how many of you like, if you're real Office fans, you know, you know what to tell them, h.

How long does it take in The Office until you start enjoying it? If you start from the beginning- first season, you got to watch season two. Season two- Season two is where it starts getting good, because there's like romance or whatever in it. It's like a known thing, It's a scientific fact at this point and you have to go back and watch season one to actually appreciate it.

But if you just started with season one, you're like I don't know about this.

They actually almost didn't get a second season because of season 1. But then season two, they shifted the likability of the characters and then it became one of the greatest shows of all time according to IMDb. Right, And I started to look at IMDb TV shows because it's like I don't want to listen to randos about shows I'm going to watch. I want an aggregate score to determine what I'm going to watch And, like number one is Breaking Bad Man, I chose Arizona, not New Mexico.

You know what I'm saying.

So I just it wasn't something I wanted to watch, but I was like this: this is apparently the best show of all time according to IMDb, so let me jump into it. And so I started to watch it And after the first episode I'm like gross, I felt icky after it. And then I talked to some people who are big Breaking Bad fans and they're like, "Oh bro, you got to. You got to get to at least episode 7 before it starts to get good".

The Game of Thrones fans will be like: "You got to, you got to get to like season 4 or something like that".

I'm like "I want to, I want to do that". And- and it's funny because it's a science- You know, some of the best shows of all time take a minute to get into because I got to lay some stuff out And it's almost like we turn that scientific understanding off when we step into our faith, where, when we trust in Jesus, we have all the feels, We appreciate it, We enjoy it, But then, just like Jesus, we're led immediately into a life that requires us to take up our cross and follow him. Or, just like Jesus in Matthew, chapter 4, we're led by the spirit into the wilderness and we're like I thought it was going to be sunshine and rainbows. I'm not a big fan of this.

And you got all these Christians who are like: no, you got, you got to get to the third season and it's going to be good, And I'm just like- like some of you are probably like I don't.

I don't know It was supposed to be good. My life was supposed to be better. I was supposed to have a peace that surpasses all understanding. I'm supposed to have no issues any longer, But for some reason it feels like my suffering just elevated up a notch.

And then, as I, as I continue watching this Christian faith unfold in my life and I actually start opening the Bible, I look at James and I'm like temptation, Sorry, no, it's the testing of my faith that produces endurance.

Well, I don't know if I want endurance. And then you read the Scriptures and you said: "Oh yeah, this guy that I followed and trusted in. He told me to bear my cross and he died on a cross" [sighs]. I, I don't know about this series, you know I.

But what I can tell you as a matter of fact, not fiction like one of them, TV shows, I can tell you as a matter of fact.

When you step into your walk with God, it's cool at first, You're excited about it, pumped about it, But, just like Jesus in Matthew, chapter 4, you're immediately led into this place of wilderness where God wants to do something in you, because it's- it's almost like the story I heard one time was this guy who had carbon monoxide poisoning in his house and didn't realize it. He was just slowly dying and then one of his roommates came in and noticed something different, freaked out, called the cops and or the whoever you call with carbon monoxide poisoning, I don't know. They pulled him out and then immediately he comes outside into the fresh air and starts puking his guts out. That's a lot of times what the faith feels like And I know as a pastor this is like the least attractive introduction to the faith.

I'm just, I'm so sorry, I can't help it is.

I'm actually really disenchanted, with the way that we articulate our faith sometimes, because I can tell you on one side, as you get through it, like automatically he saves you from your sin, you get to spend eternity with God, but that's intangible, so it's short-lived in your own mind and you immediately go into this wilderness and in this wilderness it can be somewhat miserable, because there's a process whereby God refineses you and it doesn't say by feels and stuff like that, it says by fire, and I don't like refining by fire. I don't like refining by desert, unless, unless it's just this part of the desert where I get to go have fun and do stuff whenever I feel like it, cuz technically Buckeye's in the desert, right Like I enjoy Buckeye, but I don't like refining in the desert. But that's where Jesus was led. He had the fullness of God within him but the fullness of man wrapped around him And he goes into the wilderness immediately, It says, led by the spirit.

But he was tempted by the devil.

And I don't know how this works, because as God he knew what was up, but as man he felt the same frustrations we feel when we're led into the wilderness. And I don't, I don't, I don't know this, I'm just kind of guessing because I don't quite understand or comprehend what man and God fully together in one flesh makes. I don't, I don't know what that means fully. There might be some of you in here who know better than me.

I don't think you do, but if you tell me I just just know internally.

I'm like you don't know what you're talking about. I have no clue how that, how that fleshes together. But what I, what I do know is the man side of him had to have when Satan started to tempt him like be annoyed, frustrated, wonder It's like what? What's going on here?

And yes, he was way stronger than us- fullness of God in him.

But that flesh would have probably gave him some temptations of being fickle. And when Jesus is led into the wilderness, he didn't respond the way that many of us do because he knew that all he needed to do was get to the next season And then some of the things would start to play out. And even as he goes close to his death and he's praying in the garden of Gethsemane and he's praying that this cup may pass from him, even then he recognizes well, well, like he's talking to God, Maybe Satan's tempting him to get off that pathway. In his flesh He says: "Father, not my will, but your will be done".

Because even then Jesus knows that at the end of the crucifixion, three days later, there's going to be a resurrection.

He knows what happens in the coming season. And so my encouragement to you, as I break down this text in Matthew, chapter 4, and a couple other Scriptures, is this: that, whatever you feel right now- maybe you're frustrated that God hadn't shown up yet, maybe you're feeling anxious about a lot of things in your life and you're thinking, "Well, I thought peace would come in when I trusted Jesus", But you're you're steeped in anxiety because you want to control outcomes. Whatever you're feeling right now, I need you to know that it gets way better by episode 7. I, I need you to know that I didn't mean to say seven, but it just it kind of worked that way.

Seven's a number of perfection in the Bible, So you could say that was a perfect illustration.

That was a joke If I make, if I say something good about myself. Just know I'm joking, I'm not bragging. Okay, cool. The sermon title for today is very simple title.

I think you'll remember it: Don't test God, Trust him.

Don't test God, Trust him. What happens is in Matthew, chapter 4, . Last week we talked about him being tempted by the, the devil, telling him to turn stones into bread. This week we're going to talk about the second temptation and maybe dial in a little bit on Satan's tactics to deceive us.

But what I really hope to dial in on is the importance of understanding at a deeper level, daily, God's written and inspired word, Because when you understand God's word, you know what he said, And when you know what he said.

When Satan says something, you get to actually make a comparison. But many of us, we think the Bible says something. It doesn't. And it could be that what you think is God telling you to do something because you don't have an understanding of God's word, his written word, It.

It could be Satan using your brain, your chemicals, your thought process, your upbringing, your environment, your vibe desire, your desire to chase clout, to deceive you into doing the very thing that God called you out of and we miss it because we don't have a deeper understanding of the word.

You're going to see in this passage that while Satan is able to use the word to deceive Jesus, he's fully man, fully God was obviously capable of understanding the word at the deeper level and combating the lies of the enemy. So, without further ado, Matthew, chapter 4. I hope you got your Bibles today because we gonna be turning through it. Matthew chapter 4: es.

5 through six or seven, sorry.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 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. Jesus answered him: "It is also written". Do not put the Lord, your God, to the test Now in this.

I want to give you a couple scriptural points from Matthew, chapter 4, but there's something deeper, a few layers of this passage to break down for you.

And while some weeks I'm talking on man, you came in and you heard exactly what you felt like you needed And I think you're going to hear it today. This week, I do want to take you a little deeper. Tell your, tell your neighbor, tell your neighbor sitting next to you, not at your house. Tell them: I, it, it's, it's, it's time to go next level with this stuff.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, See, See. Usually I tell you to say three words to your neighbor. I gave you a full sentence. It's time to go next level with this stuff.

We're going to up our game a little bit.

How you ever gonna preach the Gospel to somebody else if you're limited to three words in a room? Come on, Hey. We're going to go next level with this stuff today, because what happens in this passage it's, it's, it's deep and it's layered, but you're going to learn about me: Depth isn'tformational. Depth has to do with whether the spirit actually inspires you or not.

Because I'm I'm t.

Don't say it, Matt, I'm going to say it. I'm tired of people who claim to be Christian hopping from church to church to church saying it needs to be more deep. All you're looking for is more information, but the fact that you keep hopping tells me you've never been inspired by the spirit to actually live the life God called you to. So going deep is actually about something that will change your activity levels.

I'm not trying to talk mess, I'm just trying.

I'm So sorry, I'm so sorry. Hey, Yeah, When I breathe like that, maybe someone will say something to make me feel a little bit better about myself, but then, you know, then I feel like I'm just going to move on to what I was going to preach. I, I need you to know, though: depth is not more information, more Greek words, more stuff that makes you get like the feels when, when you're sitting in a worship service, It is not that stuff that you are clinging to and searching for. We call that clout chasing, The stuff that I think is deep, the stuff the Bible says is deep is the stuff that looks boring on the surface.

It's that show that takes a little bit longer to get into, but once you get into it is something that actually changes every facet of your life.

Amen, . So just so you know my view of depth, I'll move on, Just so you know my view of depth. So what happens in this passage is Satan leads him out, tempts him with bread and stone or turning stones to bread, And then he tempts him by taking him to a very high place, And when I say high place, I mean in the center of Jerusalem, the old city. You've got the temple And at the temple there's a temple mount.

It is just there's several portions around it.

At the top of that it's on top of a big hill. I don't know if you knew this. Jerusalem is actually a pretty like hilly but almost mountainous city. That's why it says when Jonah went on his little boat ride to Tarsus, it says he went down to Japa, because near Jerusalem it's higher up, The elevation is pretty decent.

It's not that desert that you keep picturing.

It's actually got tons of trees, mountains. It's a beautiful location And Satan takes him there to the highest place in the old city- at the time the temple mount- Takes him to that place and he's overlooking I think it's called the valley of Kedron, I don't know. It's a valley right there in Jerusalem. I'm blanking on the name of it right now- But he takes him there.

He says: "Throw yourself off.

The Bible says that angels will not let your foot hit a stone or a stone. Yeah, Not strike your foot against a stone. That's what Satan tells him. He says the Bible says So.

He brings Jesus up there and he tells him essentially: "Hey, prove that you are who God says you are".

And I've already talked to you about how God's already affirmed him at his baptism with the spirit as a dove and a voice from heaven. He's already been affirmed. But out here in the wilderness, Satan's just trying to get at him any way that he can. So what he does when the stones to bread doesn't work is he says: "Okay, let let me try to deceive him by using the very thing he desires to listen to".

And one of the big ways that Satan's going to deceive you is by using the very thing you've chosen to trust.

He starts out maybe before you're a Christian. He deceives you in any way that he can. Maybe you trust the government, Maybe you trust social media, Maybe you trust news agencies. He'll use anything that you trust to deceive you.

It could even be blood family members, But when you step into your faith, he uses your faith in God to deceive you.

He takes the very thing that every pastor and preacher says is authoritative and tries to use it to have authority over you rather than letting you stay in the hand of God. And this is what he's trying to do with Jesus. He says: "Hey, here's what the Scriptures say: If you throw yourself down, the angels are going to lift you up. You're not going to die".

Now here's the cool thing: If Jesus would have jumped- and he felt like it- angels would have surrounded him?

Would no foot be striking a stone? That's what happened with G. But Jesus knew that sometimes you got to wait for these big peak moments. He said: "God's got a plan and I know his plan, And since I know his plan, I'm not going to be deceived by somebody's misuse of Scripture".

But I said we were going to go deep today.

So what we're going to do is we're going to take you to where the Scripture is that Satan was using, And I'm not going to offer money. I offered money in the first service and someone got it. Now I owe them 50 bucks. But if anyone just wants some good, good props, I'll I'll like give you a fist bump at the end of service.

If you know where this Scripture is without looking at your Bible, someone tell me If you looked at your Bible.

Don't even say nothing. All these cheaters in the room- No, you're not cheaters, You're just using your Bible the way that you should Praise God for using your Bible. Did you use your Bible? Do you know where it is?

Tell me where.

. I don't know. You don't know.

Just guess. Oh, anyone have it. You didn't say. Psalm 91.

So, if you have your Bible, turn to Psalm 91 really quickly and hop to verse 11 and 12. I'm going to tell you where that Scripture was In Psalm 91, 11 and 12, it says this: It'll be on your screen too. Don't stress, but you should use your Bible if you got it, For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Now, some of you who are paying attention will notice immediately that it is in Scripture, but the way that Satan quoted it missed a little phrase.

Satan skipped this part. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hand so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Now, the Hebrew word there- that that that Satan skipped- is a Greek word for d - direct, which means way.

Now, when you hear direct, it could mean just a normal pathway.

But usually, especially in the wisdom literature, which Psalms is part of the wisdom literature in the Old Testament- Direct means way of the Lord, Meaning it is this metaphorical, this idea of the way you're called to follow God. So what is this really saying? If you interpret the passage in the Psalm, it says: "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all of your direct ways as it regards the covenant that you are already in with God. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

But if I need to take you further, I will, even if I don't need to- Psalm 91: es 1 and two.

Give you the code to interpret this entire passage. Verse 1 and two says this: "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the almighty, I will say, of the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust". Let me tell you something about this passage.

This passage does not promise that when you jump off of a cliff, the angels will guard you.

That's right. It promises that when you live in the way that God called you to live, this covenant relationship with God, as the Israelites did, then God will enable you to rest in the shadow of his presence. It means God's not promising you constant protection from every physical thing that could befall you. It means he's promising you his presence no matter what happens, good or bad, in your life.

That's right. So Satan takes this passage that is about the goodness of God in establishing his presence in our lives, Regardless of how much dumb stuff we've done, regardless of the bad things that could happen, regardless of the suffering that occurs in this world. He took that passage and said: "Hey, jump off a cliff, The angels will guard you". He misinterpreted it.

Now there are some scholars who, who have looked further and further into the Greek Septaggent and the Maseretic text and they say that you know, it's possible that Satan didn't just misquote it, He actually utilized it.

But it missed something deeper. Now I believe he's pretty clearly misquing the Scripture. But say he's not misquing the Scripture. He's still missing the intent of the passage.

The intent of the passage is not to tell you that the Lord's going to protect his chosen people no matter what they do.

It's saying, within the way of God, those who have entered into covenant with God always have access to his presence. And think about it just from a logical perspective. I know there are a lot of different authors to the Psalms, but who gets the most credit for writing the Psalms?. David, A couple confident people in the room.

Hey, David, the king of Israel. Right, The line of David that Jesus came in. David gets the most credit for writing these Psalms. I actually believe it was either him or the writers under his leadership who were writing these Psalms that are inspired by God.

And in Psalm 91, I'm picturing David.

I'm picturing David saying: "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high God will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust". Now, David, I think, is probably like many of us. We consider ourselves to be logical human beings.

David would be crazy to write in a Psalm that nothing bad will ever happen to you when you trust in God.

He'd be crazy. I don't think he's crazy. I think he was a man after God's own heart. But let me tell you, if you don't know, there are a couple things that happened in David's life that are pretty significant.

We all hear about the David and Goliath moment.

See, he was protected against the enemy. There wasn't he, Yeah, Yeah, he was. He threw a stone and that that was a crazy moment. He killed the giant and then people loved him, David slaying his tens of thousands and Saul only slaying his thousands.

David is awesome, anointed and protected by God, But he was a, a shepherd who had to fight against the enemy.

He was someone who, when he was anointed, didn't get to inherit the kingdom until years later and he was chased by Saul, the present king at the time, into caves and over the wilderness. David had his own seasons of wilderness. And then David becomes king and it was some really dramatic occurrence: Saul died, Jonathan died, other people got killed in the process. But then eventually David became king after a season of him not being the actual king of Israel because there was confusion between Saul's kid and, and then David.

That that's not a good situation.

Yeah, he's protected by God, He's resting in the shadow of the Almighty, But bad stuff happens. Even David, he does dumb stuff. He gets into his kingdom and he's married to Saul's daughter, MCL. He dances too much so she gets offended by it And then she doesn't talk to him anymore.

And one day he's looking across the roofs because he's at the palace and he sees this naked girl showering And he's like: "I don't know about it, but I'm going to bring her in a little bit".

He gets with her, gets her pregnant. She happens to be married. He sends her husband, Uriah the Hitittite, out to the front lines, gets him killed and then he gets called out by Nathan the prophet. He says there's going to be consequences And the first kid that he had with Basheba dies.

And then, yeah, he has Solomon And Solomon's a great king.

But I'm just going to start with the letter A and tell you about some of the consequences and like suffering that fell upon David. Abselum Adinijah, I didn't even say it in the first service, but Amnan, three of his sons died before David ever died. David of all people- in Psalm 91, is not saying that no matter what you do, when you're in the hand of God you will be completely and utterly protected. He's saying: regardless of what bad falls upon you, you can embrace the presence of God.

So I don't know what's happening in your life, but if Satan's telling you that, that everything would be fine and good if God loved you, that's a lie straight from the pits of hell, even though he might be utilizing Scripture to tell you, because he's missing the point.

But say: Satan didn't misquote the Scripture. Jesus understands at a deeper level than Satan ever could what God's word says. It's a really cool thing that happens. It's interesting.

Jesus doesn't actually nitpick Satan's argument.

Most of us, like those of us who who who've known the Bible a little bit- you know what I'm talking about, those people who know the Bible Well, actually, it says in Psalm 91:11 and 12 that you miss this part of the verse, Satan. It says also, you miss the whole key point of it. You don't know that's an impregatory Psalm or it's a praise Psalm or this type of Psalm or whatever, And you know scholars actually say for them it would be. Rabbis actually have told us that this is what the intent of the passage was.

You totally missed it, Satan.

Not cool, you shouldn't have done that. That's not what Jesus does, though He could have. Like he inspired it. He probably could have said something about it, But he doesn't nitpick Satan's argument.

He goes to what we would call first principles.

He says: "Well, the Psalms are wisdom literature written in the greater context of the people of God who were in covenant with God". So what Jesus does is he responds with something that takes way more priority, not something that was a result of the covenant, though it is inspired by God, and Satan missed the point. He goes to the covenant itself And just for fun, how many of y'all know when Jesus responds with: "It's written: you should not test the Lord, your God". How many of you know where that came from?

What you got?

. Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy. You got it, Good job.

Deuteronomy 6: 16. I'm going to read Deuteronomy 6:16 for you. I told you I was going to go through the Bible today, didn't I? Deuteronomy 6:16-19.

Sorry.

Says this: "Do not put the Lord, your God, to the test as you did at Massa. Be sure to keep the commandment, commands of the Lord, your God, and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight". Again, the impetus is from this word, direct way: Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.

It's funny because Psalm 91 is the basis for Satan's argument.

Deuteronomy 6:16 is the basis for Jesus's argument, And the basis for Jesus's argument actually starts in Exodus 17. It's crazy, when you know a little bit of Scripture, how far and deep it can take you. Deuteronomy 6:16 references a term. It says this: "Don't put the Lord, your God, to the test as you did at Massa".

[sighs].

Massa is a place. Massa is a place called testing, And in Exodus, chapter 17, we find that Massa was the place where the Israelites decided to test God when they were thirsty. Now, in chapter 16 of Exodus, the people have come out of Egypt on dry ground and they're in this wilderness. They've been redeemed into freedom from slavery.

Literally God affirming: "This is my people" And like 10 times, "Let my people go, Let my people go, Let my people go, let my people go.

You're stuck at the Red Sea. You're standing there and you're looking forward and you see no way to get through. The people start freaking out, but then Moses puts down his staff and the waters part and you walk over and it happens to be dry ground- Dry ground, which means your feet aren't muddy either. That's a crazy miracle.

I, I want to walk through something if my feet are going to get muddy.

God even thought about that. That's a crazy miracle. On the other side, Egyptians are all dead chariot, still sitting there in the Red Sea, and they're in the wilderness and they're like: I'm hungry. It's like he just brought YOU THROUGH ON DRY GROUND.

WHY DON'T YOU GRAB SOME FISH ON THE WAY OR SOMETHING?

I don't know, But they get there and he provides them quail cuz they didn't go fishing when they could have. I'm just a joke. That's a joke, It's not. I don't know what.

Whether they could have or not, I don't know if they could have stuck their hand in I.

I don't know what they could. I bet there was some dead fish on the ground, though They didn't pick it up, They should have thought ahead. Anyways, they get there. God provides for them, quail, and he's going to provide for them, mana from heaven.

It's just going to appear on the ground.

But then they're looking around at a place- It was re ref, I think- is what they it was initially called. And then they're like: "But we need water too". It's like "You just got food, but now I'm freaking out about water". And they say: "If the Lord's with us, have him provide for us".

And Moses calls this place.

The place is called Massa and Mebba. Massa means testing, Mebba means quarreling. That was a place of quarreling and testing. And later on, when Moses is trying to give them their constitutional document as they go into the promised land, Moses tells them: "Remember Massa, the place of testing".

Verse 6:16, Deuteronomy: "Do not put the Lord, your God, to the test as you did at Massa".

Testing God is the opposite of what he wants for you. So let me zoom out for you and help you understand the whole thing that's happening in Matthew, chapter 4, because I don't want to go too long. Let me zoom out. Satan takes Jesus to the top of the Temple Mount and tells Jesus to test God by misinterpreting Psalm 91, which is a Psalm about trust.

Jesus responds to Satan by taking him all the way back to first principles in the Mosaic covenant.

That's Exodus 17, Genesis- or sorry, not Genesis- Deuteronomy, chapter 6. Takes them all the way back to the Torah. He quotes the command in Deuteronomy 6:16 that alludes to a passage in Exodus 17:7 where the Israelites had a posture of testing at a place they literally called testing. But there's a point: Satan will take what you choose to trust, like the Bible, and turn it into a test.

And what God wants for you is to trust him.

. Amen, That's right. It was the Israelites who had a posture of testing that got them into the wilderness 40 years longer, . And that's the posture of many of us who are like I will.

When God does this, We test God. When we say, "I wouldn't feel anxious if God was real, There wouldn't be pain in the world and I wouldn't experience suffering if God loved me", What we continue to say is: "God, if you love me, prove it". Right, . Right, That's right.

And he's like: "Well, kind you got. Mosaic covenant, David. David's story is written down. The prophets talked about it Even in the intertestinal period.

I provided through, first, second, Mcabes, and, and then I did send my son right. He, he, he- pretty legit- died on the cross. But then I also sent my Holy Spirit and, and then we're LIKE: "BUT, God, SHOW ME A SIGN. We're just like the Israelites.

You can see the Red Sea behind you, but you're like "Where's water".

And I know they didn't have desalinization plants, but he just brought you through the sea And for many of you. You can look back on your life if you're honest with yourself and see all of the provision of God, And even if you can't, because your life has been terrible, not just in your eyes, but we can look on it and say objectively, it's been a pretty rough life for you. We can look at that and still look back at the Scriptures and say, "I know Satan's trying to tempt you by telling you that God doesn't love you and that you need his proof, but he's already proven and validated it by his word. And his word has proven true way, more effective.

And I know you're stuck in this current season of frustration, wondering about God's love for you.

But if you can just get through the Red Sea, . If you can stay long enough to wait for quail, then you're going to see Moses strike the stone. What I'm trying to tell you is, if you stick with God long enough, trust his plan long enough, rather than trying to get him to prove to you and test you, you're going to tap into something much greater and realize that there was much more to the picture than you thought, And it's going to provide you sustenance and provision that you would have never thought you would receive. And here's the beauty.

Some of you're like: "Well, I don't know the Bible.

This dude just went from Matthew chapter 4 to Psalm 91, to Deuteronomy 6:16-19 to Exodus 17. It's like that's not in my normal Bible reading plan. I don't normally do that. Even in the bottom of my thing.

It doesn't naturally.

I don't naturally use cross references and it's so cool what happens in the Bible, But you don't have to know all of that in order to understand this. All it requires for you if you don't know, that stuff is a posture, Because most of us default to a posture of testing and requiring proof before we follow God. But what God wants is he wants you to try to trust him first. And if you start with a posture of trusting, then what you're going to see is he proves himself over and over and over Many of you.

You're in a place of massa of testing where you're saying, "I'll trust God once I feel safe.

God, if you're really with me, fix this now. I'll obey once I see how it turns out. If God cared, I wouldn't be this frustrated in life. I need reassurance before I fully surrender my life to God".

That's your place of testing.

And when you look at Israel and when you look at Jesus, you see a contrast. Whereas Israel tested God at every moment, Jesus trusted his father at every moment. Watch this. This is what happens in the passage And this is actually the full intent of the Matthew 4 passage.

The Matthew 4 passage.

It is a recapitulation of the Old Testament wilderness, with a different person-, That's right. The one who would fulfill the Old Testament covenant and enter us into a new covenant. That's right. Jesus is, according to Matthew 4, and this is pretty widely known- the new Israel.

Whereas the old Israel got stuck in the wilderness because they tested God, Jesus entrusted himself to his father, . The entire time He wasn't stressed out by the season he was currently in, because he knew what happened down the road, . So here's your big idea: Do the same thing. Trusting God helps you see God's way.

Testing God leaves you stuck in your own way. That's right. That's right.

It's. It's a posture thing, though, And. It's like I. I want you to know more about- Oh, I got really loud there.

I want you to know more about your walk with God.

Like there's something really cool about what just happened here in the passage and the more you know, the more you can combat the lies of the enemy. Right, So I can start in Matthew, chapter 4, and then I can go back to Psalm 91. We call these maybe citations, illusions, references. I call them intertexts.

I call them intertext because it not only kind of shows you how New Testament uses the Old Testament, but it also talks to you about, this idea that is pretty common in, you know, creative media, art and in a lot of film.

So what happens in a lot of films is they actually ref. An intertext is when something is included in a present day film that there's a reference or a interext to, maybe, an older film. I'll give you one quick example, as, as I get closer to the end of my message here, I'll give you an example. Anyone seen the movie Barbie?

No, Y'all y'all scared to say it.

I know you saw it. I mean, all the women were like "I'm going to see Barbie this week". Like it was. It was a good show.

I saw it, I liked it.

I don't know if it was appropriate, I liked it. I thought it was funny. Here's my point: In Barbie, there are tons of intertexts And you fail to understand the present- day media if you fail to understand the interexts that are included. So at the beginning of Barbie, for example, you got these little girls sitting there like, they see a big Barbie doll and then they start beating up on other little girls.

It's a crazy thing, right?

I guess it was some like symbol that women started to punch each. I don't know. I don't know what happened, but they saw it. Well, that was an interext.

It references another movie, 2001, a space odyssey.

Later in the film, there's a scene where a bunch of corporate elites are sitting around a table. That's shaped in a specific way, and that's also an interext. It's a reference to another Stanley Kubric film of all things called Doctor Strange Love, And I share that with you. Using popular media to help you understand that, when Matthew 4 is being written, the God-fearers and Israelites and those who had become Christians, those who were, getting the gospels for the first time, they knew the Old Testament, not the New Testament, And as they read the Old Testament rigorously, they would have understood the interext, the passages.

They would have almost immediately known what Satan was doing, that he misqued Psalm 91.

That Jesus was referring to the Torah, which every Israelite considered to be like. Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, all of them lined up with the Torah. Only some of them took the prophets seriously and the wisdom literature seriously. So Jesus brings them all the way back And, and one of the things that I desperately want for myself and I would love for you to embrace, is a life of depth and inspiration that enables you to see God in, in a more robust way, in a way that doesn't just say, "Oh, that's frilly and nice and fun, It makes me feel a little bit better, It's fun to quote in a worship song".

It's like, it's like no, that, like there is, this is layered, But in order to get there beyond basic, you got to sit with him a little bit longer than you're prone to do, And so that's my encouragement to you.

Today- And there are some people in this room you hear me talking and you're like- you're like "Yeah, that's a cool story, but God hasn't proven himself to me". Again, I tell you, trust him as a posture and he will 100% prove himself to you because, because he loves you that much, Jesus shows us in his example that trust comes before evidence, Obedience comes before full clarity. It also shows us that the presence of God is there, even if he doesn't physically or tangibly intervene in your situation. Don't put God to the test.

Try to trust him by confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, Believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead, And from that posture start living your life.

And when you live your life from that posture, I don't even feel the need to test God anymore, No matter how bad it gets. I recognize that it's the testing of my faith that produces endurance, And I'm letting that have its perfect result. Amen, Because I've learned that even in the testing in the wilderness. God makes me more complete through it, even when Satan's misquing all over the place.

I want you to understand that level of connection with God, as Jesus did, who entrusted himself to the father.

Stop making obedience to God conditional on him proving himself, because being with God doesn't mean he's going to stop all the bad stuff, but it means he's with you in it. Always with you in it. Praise God that he's with me in it. Praise God.

Praise God that that he did give us his son.

Praise God that he's proven himself faithful. Praise God that for some reason, my desire for proof was belated for a moment so that I would choose to trust in him, Maybe suspend your disbelief for a second and just make a choice. I know it's going to prove true- And the choice is to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, Believe in your heart that God raised him from the grave. Everybody would bow their heads and close their eyes.

In fact, let's stand while we do this.

We're going to pray this prayer together. It's choosing to trust God rather than testing God. You've been testing God for too long. Where's it gotten you?

To church, apparently?

So choose to trust him. Today We pray a prayer together And if that's you trusting God for the first time, I want you to really engage with this moment. Repeat after me, Say "God, I believe, that Jesus is your son. I believe he died on the cross.

It rose from the grave.

I believe he saves me from my sin. Father, forgive me of my sin, Make me new, and I will follow you for the rest of my life. Heads bowed, eyes closed, We're going to enter into a moment of communion, But before I do that, I want- I want you to identify yourself by looking at me in the eyeballs. If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, trusting in Jesus, I see you.

I see you, Man.

I'm so excited for you. And here's the truth: , . You might feel good right now, but immediately God calls you into bearing a cross and follow him. And that is hard, But, trust me, it might take a few seasons, but it's going to be worthwhile to you.

It's worth it, guys.

It's worth it. Do me a favor, In fact, on your way out, grab a card. Let us know about the decision you just made. To trust in Jesus will connect with you, and we want to help you bear your cross in a way that takes you not just one, two, three seasons into your Christian walk.

Not just moderate levels of investment, but allin behavior.

We want to help you revolve everything around Jesus.