Sacred Season, Communion 2024
Satan Tempts Jesus
Luke 4:1-13
Satan Tempts Jesus
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
2 Being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days, He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’
9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’
11 and, ‘In their hands, they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Verse 13 says the devil departed from him, but it was just for a season. The devil came to personally handle the temptation, not some demon. When he left, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t be back; he didn’t find any sin, thus he promised he wasn’t done.
And this is the reason for our Sacred Season. Our time to come apart, to fast, pray, examine our hearts, repentance, make vows to God, and purity of the inner man.
This morning, we are having communion as part of this sacred season. We have come before God to offer our hearts as the thresholds to our souls.
Jesus, I want my heart to be a door you alone can walk through—a heart that seeks refuge and fellowship with our savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
Our hearts cry, “I want more of you, Jesus.” Will you say it with me? “Jesus, I want more.”
Last year’s sacrifices have left the ashes under our altars, and symbolically we have cleaned out from our hearts the ashes of past sacrifices and made room for new sacrifices.
Today we come to present the Lord the altar he can be glorified at. Our life of sacrifice on the altar, the altar of prayer, the place we offer ourselves to him.
Today, corporately, we offer him our lives—a place where his fire can burn in our hearts.
Not just some religious ritual, we have come today to offer God, but rather a heart willing to bow, a heart with room for him. I ask you now to make room for Jesus.
Right now, will you bow in your heart? Will you bow in repentance and receive his grace, forgiveness, and the fire of his presence in your heart?
As we take communion, we do this. Jesus, on the night before the crucifixion, took communion with his disciples, and symbolically today, we have come to the table with Jesus.
Altars and fire go together. When we become the sacrifice, he will send his fire. It’s a mark of fellowship with Jesus—the fire of God.
In a few minutes, we are going to gather here in the front and turn this whole area into an altar where his fire will fall in our sacred season.
It was John the Baptist’s heart’s desire to have the fire of the Holy Spirit, more than the comforts of the flesh.
One of the marks of ministry is holiness unto the Lord. Today, by faith, we offer him holiness of the heart. He is holy, and anybody he lives in is holy.
At this point, I want all the sound people to come and join us. Can we thank God for the sound team? We have them because of their sacrifice!
The bread
1st Corinthians 11: 23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
The juice of the vine.
25 In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
We want to pray for one another. I feel the fire of God is going to fall in this house.
It’s this preacher’s heart his fire will fall afresh in our hearts.
Tell Jesus, John wanted your fire. And it’s my heart to have this fire afresh.