LENT AND THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS CHRIST

The teaching today 13th March, 2019 at The Lord of Hosts Miracle Chapel, plot 116, 5th Avenue, Beside Okiki Hall, Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos.

Theme: Lent and The temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Text is from Luke 4:1-13.

Devil tempted Jesus in three ways:
1. With Food
2. Power and Glory
3. Material Things i.e. wealth and money

1. FOOD - Jesus was famished after a long spell of fasting. Satan capitalised on that situation to ask Him to turn stones to bread. “Man shall not leave by bread alone” was the apt response from the master. The food for both the belly and the spirit is every word that comes from our father in heaven i.e. the bible.

2. POWER AND GLORY – Jesus was taken atop to see the power and glory of the world which was a beauty to behold. The devil claimed that all that razzmatazz was at his beck and call and would belong to Jesus if He would bow and worship the devil. But our Lord Jesus exhibited His true being and rebuked and renounced the devil.

3. MATERIAL THINGS i.e. WEALTH AND MONEY – Throw yourself down and you will be saved by the angels in line with the scriptures, the devil told Jesus. For the third time Christ debunked the devil and told him categorically that only God should be worshipped.

Brethren, this is the whole essence of lent. So in this Lenten season how are we faring in the spiritual warfare with the devil? Are we, by our greed and insatiable wants creating potential entrance for Satan to come into our lives? We should all strive to emulate our Lord Jesus Christ in His victory over the evil machinations of the enemy, as shown in the three types of temptations above.

Jesus left some examples as the tenets and rudiments of Lent namely:
1. Jesus received the Holy Spirit and went to accomplish His mission.
2. Jesus prayed, fasted and sacrificed His resources in the desert in order to prepare His mission.
3. He made His final decision to save humanity through His death.
4. He was in the desert for 40 days and thereafter gathered the required strength and power for His ministry.
5. He defeated and conquered the devil with all his tricks.

As children of God we should not be in a hurry to establish a church just because we claim to have been “called”. We should be ready to develop and follow the process as enunciated by our Lord Jesus Christ above. And more importantly we should participate in the Lenten season and reap the benefits it tends to offer.

As we do this may we by the power of the Holy Ghost be filled by the word of God which is life everlasting. Amen.

Sermon by Priest Evarist Ndibunwa.