A sermon based on Matthew 4:1-4 by Nick Nye, preached on March 5, 2017 at Veritas Short North as part of the sermon series "It Is Written."

Discussion Questions:

1 . We see in Scripture that testing and blessing go hand-in-hand, but often we believe them to be enemies of each other. Have you ever experienced blessing through the Spirit's testing? How so? Do you think that that blessing would have been as sweet had it not come through the trial of testing?

2. The wilderness in Scripture, both for Jesus and for Israel in the exodus, was a place for testing their confidence and reliance upon God. For Jesus and some in Israel, that time brought the strength that comes with a deep, intimate knowledge of God. For others, their shallow confidence was broken and, as it says in 1 Corinthians 10, "they were overthrown in the wilderness." In your experiences of testing and temptation, have you come out on the other side stronger, having tasted the real food and real drink of His presence or were you left a little wrecked without your other supports outside God?

3. The devil asked Jesus, "If you are the Son of God…". Sometimes the temptation we face, similarly, asks, "If you were really a Christian, you would do … or you wouldn’t do …". What has the devil used against you like that? Is it true? What does God’s Word say about it?

4. Pastor Nick talked about how we can either see the devil excessively, tying everything wrong in our world to his machinations or we can live as if he doesn’t exist or work at all. Nick said that temptation can be anything that vies to distract us from hearing God's voice. How do both errors in thinking about the devil (either too much or too little) distract us from hearing God?

5. When Adam & Eve were tempted they ate the fruit. When Israel was tested, they made a golden calf. When Jesus was tempted, though, His unwavering trust in God in the face of it gave us the blessing that God has always intended in the testing of His people. How does that give us hope when we face tests and temptations?