Series: Learning From The Master – A Plan to Live By

Sticking to the Right Path

INTRO: I am glad for the safe travel of our youth and several adults last week. I am glad for my mother’s attendance this morning. I guess she will only have one more Sunday with us before she moves to Tennessee.

A couple of weeks ago we started a new series. We looked at the fact that the Lord Jesus started His ministry right. He started with the approval of the Father, God. It is so important that we start right.

Today we will continue this series about the Lord’ teachings and insights in life. Although we cannot see the Lord at work almost 2,100 years ago, or witness His miracles first-hand, we can peek into the past through God’s Word. This is what I would like to spend some time looking into God’s Word and letting it reveal some special things to our lives.

It goes without saying, but I encourage you to be faithful all the time to our services. It is important that you grab something each week and build on it. May this summer be a time of getting close to the Lord and learn of His wishes for your life and His blessings as well.

Today I want to look at the Lord’s example and words about staying on track for God. We will begin by reading Matthew 4.

Matthew 4:1-25(NKJV) ¹Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
²And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
³Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
⁴But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
⁵Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
⁶and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
⁷Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
⁸Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
⁹And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
¹¹Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
¹²Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.
¹³And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,
¹⁴that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:
¹⁶ The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”
¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
¹⁸And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
¹⁹Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
²⁰They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
²¹Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
²²and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
²³And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
²⁴Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
²⁵Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

Okay, we see here just after Jesus declared His ministry’s startup (in chapter 3) that He gets with it. He puts the example before everyone, that they might see the importance of perseverance and sticking to the right pathway. Jesus knew how important it is to be consistent in service to God.

He knew wishy-washy Christianity is not God’s idea of walking with Him. He was aware that we need to have an example for the right way to walk.

Jesus was NOT a “do as I say not as I do” kind of preacher/teacher/master/Rabbi. He set the example in Matthew 4. Lets look at some of what He did…

Faced temptation – vs. 1

Not always easy

Not always our first instinct

IT IS ALWAYS BEST

Fasted for strength and clarity – vs. 2

Drew close through prayer and spiritual-based fasting

Zeroed in on the task at hand

Put His all into defeating Satan and serving God

Fought the flesh’s weakness victoriously – 3-10

Physical (hungry and weak) – 3-4

Ego (Satan appealed to a sense of pride) – 5-7

Greed (the offer of great riches was passed by)– 8-10

After all – He created the world

But our example from Him is clear – RESIST the devil in all things!

It was then, after defeating Satan He…

Found His starting place and delivered a simple message - 17

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Do you think this message has any meaning in our lives today after almost 2100 years?

Do you think He wants us to only start well or finish well also?

We see that He then…

Found those who would help Him – 18-22

Called Simon Peter and Andrew

Called James and John the Sons of Zebedee (Sons of Thunder)

Then in verses 23-25 we see that He…

Found those in need and helped them

Teaching in their synagogues

Preaching the gospel of the kingdom

Healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people

Followed His plan of ministry daily – Luke 4:13-15

Luke 4:13-15(KJV) ¹³And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
¹⁵And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Used the power of the Holy Spirit

Brought to them the Good News of the Gospel

Freed one with an unclean spirit – Luke 4:31-37

Luke 4:31-37(KJV) ³¹And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
³²And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
³³And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
³⁴Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
³⁵And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
³⁶And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
³⁷And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

He can still heal us today

He can still free us from sin today

He can still set us on the right pathway – today!

Firmly (with the future in mind) continued the plan – Luke 4:42-43

Luke 4:42-43(NKJV) ⁴²Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;
⁴³but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

Prepared for His next task

Persisted to accomplish the needful task at a hand

Okay, we have spent a good deal of time looking at Jesus’ example of sticking to the right path. Now I would like to look at more of His teachings and the Word’s direction on the matter.

After seeing his example, we can better understand His direction when we listen to His words found in Luke 9…

Luke 9:57-62(NKJV) ⁵⁷Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
⁵⁹Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
⁶⁰Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
⁶¹And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

He wants us to follow Him

He wants us to follow only Him

He wants us to follow only Him every day and every way

Try this:

Get a good safe car with good seatbelts and a working airbag

Get good insurance – really good

Drive down the road for a few miles (normally)

Vigilant

Careful

Accurate

Etc.

Now…

Drive down the road for a few miles looking out the BACK window

(You are still going forward, you are just looking backward)

You will be noticed by those around you

(you will face failure, pain, sadness, etc.)

You will fail

You will regret it

Would we actually consider this?????

Then why, using Jesus example and His words, would we do this when it comes to serving God?

Luke 9:62 ⁶²And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

James 1:8(KJV) ⁸A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

How do we apply this to our life?

How do we use Jesus’ example?

As we saw in the first message…

Start right in God

Jesus makes it clear, we need to…

Stay right - with God – hate sin and all it does

It should make us nervous

It should make us cautious

It should make us avoid it

It should make us want to flush it out and kill it from our lives

It should make us want to get rid of it

It should make us uncomfortable

It should make us yearn for the right pathways in our lives

I WILL REPEAT. Jesus makes it clear, we need to…