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slent105
We
Tremble Not, We Fear No Ill atomix 2.3 serial
Text:
Matthew 4:1-11
Date: The First Sunday in Lent 
2/13/05
For
those who are computer/internet savvy, when you “Google” (or search)
the name of our church website, “smwb.org” (which, of course, stands
for “Saint Mark West Bloomfield”), one of the sites that include
a link to our site is a “religious” page. See if you can guess what
religion is described on this site as I read it. I'll blank out
the name as I read.
“I
do not believe I could sum up such a philosophy here…but I shall
give a quick summary of the most key points. (Ours) is, above all
else, a very natural and life-loving philosophy. Most of its mores
are based around free will and strength of the individual. Every
(member) is free to decide what he believes, why they believe it,
what morals they hold, and all else that is traditionally decided
for one in a religion. There are (a) very few points that (members)
agree upon, but they are the cornerstone of the entire religion,
titled The Nine…Statements. Some you may not understand, but know
that they are all based around a central philosophy: The love of
life and the importance of the strong over the weak.” Then it lists
them:
”1. indulgence instead of abstinence!
”2. vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
”3.
undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
”4. kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates!
”5. vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!
”6. responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic
vampires!
”7. man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse
than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his divine spiritual
and intellectual development, has become the most vicious animal
of all!
”8. all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental,
or emotional gratification!
“In conclusion, I can only hope that I have dispelled
some of the myths about this philosophy. …I am merely clearing away
smoke that has too long obscured such a wonderful philosophy.” [
http://129.110.23.73:7000/23919/
]
Can
you guess the philosophy? Oh, yes, I only quoted eight of the nine
statements. The ninth one is, “9. Satan has been the best friend
the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these
years!” It is the so-called “Church of Satan.” What's hilarious
is that one of the web sites quoted is whatever used to be www.smwb.org
before we bought that name. So the biggest laugh is that if
someone clicks on the footnote, they are immediately taken to our
humble little web site, this week with a picture of the face of
Jesus and our Lenten services listed!
The
number one thing that Satan, the devil, the accuser, the deceiver
and murderer from the beginning wants you to believe about him is
that he doesn't really exist. And if “the old evil foe” doesn't
really exist, if “he” is merely a literary personification of the
quality of evil, then Christians, Martin Luther, the Bible and even
Jesus himself have been dreadfully deceived. Yet Christians, Martin
Luther, the Bible, Jesus himself and the apostles all claim that
Satan is a real person, originally an angel created by God who then
rebelled against God and his creation and was ultimately defeated
and consigned to hell, the place prepared for the devil and his
angels [Matthew 25:41].
When
the devil, the tempter came and said to Jesus, “If you are the Son
of God,” he had no doubt that that is precisely Who Jesus is. And
Jesus was not surprised by the vile visitor's existence or attacks.
They had met before, since the beginning of creation. Only now the
access of “the accuser of our brethren” (Rev. 12:10) to the throne
of God was coming to a close. And it would be the result, of all
things, of God taking on our human flesh and, by the Spirit and
the Word of God alone, defeating and binding Satan, preparing him
for his ultimate ouster from heaven when the victorious Lord would
ascend and take his rightful place at the right hand of the Father.
The
devil, as a creature, however, is not omniscient. He does not know
all things. But he knew enough that this was going to be the ultimate
test of his powers. So he tempted Jesus. The three temptations of
which the Gospel writers tell us were only the most significant
ones. The first temptation: seeing Christ suffering great hunger
after his forty days of fasting, the devil played on that very real
physical pain and need suggesting that, since Jesus is the Son of
God, he should use his power to ease his hunger. That is the temptation
our society is so wrapped up in, namely, gratifying every desire
and whim that comes to mind, or, as the so-called “Church of Satan”
said it, praising “all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to
physical, mental, or emotional gratification.” When Jesus responded
with the mighty confession, “It is written,” he witnessed to his
commitment to the good and gracious will and Word of God his Father.
“If the Father wants me to be hungry for a while, I'll be hungry
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