Dear Christian friends:

If you are following a diet, and trying to lose weight and someone offers you a delicious chocolate cake, that is temptation. Daily we are tempted to do wrong: tempted to eat too much, drink too much; tempted to cheat or steal etc. If we listen to these temptations we can get some trouble and problems, as you know. But these temptations are not the worst. The worst temptation is the one that Satan offers to Christians when he tempts them to doubt their relationship with God.

Satan is so bold that he even tempted Jesus. The story about the devil tempting Jesus is our text today. Satan tempted Jesus to doubt that He was God's only begotten Son. Satan also tempts us to doubt that we are sons and daughters of God. Satan often asks:

Satan tempted Jesus with that question. Twice he said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God." Satan meant, "Perhaps you are not God's only Son. Perhaps you are only a man like other men."

Jesus had just received baptism from John the Baptist where God the Father spoke from the cloud and said that Jesus was His beloved Son. (Matthew 3:17) God the Father said that Jesus was His dear Son, the Messiah. Will Jesus believe God's Word or doubt it and listen to Satan. Satan wants Jesus to look to other proofs than God's Word. So Satan says to Jesus, "If you are God's Son, command that these stones to become bread." Satan means to say, "Perhaps You are not God's Son, prove it! Do a miracle! Change these stones to become bread. You are hungry. You have eaten nothing for forty days. There is no other bread here in the desert."

So Satan also tempts us to doubt that we are God's sons and daughters. He says to you and me, "Perhaps God does not love you. You sin often and do wrong. Can God love a bad person like you?" Or perhaps he says, "See all the trouble and suffering you must endure. If God really loved you, would he let you suffer so much? I doubt if God is your Father in heaven."

Satan also tries to encourage you and me to trust other proofs than God's Word. Satan often tempts through other false church members. These false church members ask, "Are you saved?" Then they say, "If you are not "saved", you are not a Christian." They ask, "Do you go to church every Sunday?" Then they add, "If you don't go to church every Sunday, you are not a Christian." Or they ask, “Do you tithe?" Then they say, “If you don't tithe, you are not a Christian." They ask, "Have you accepted Jesus for your Savior? When did you accept Jesus for your Savior?" Then they say, "If you don't know the date you accepted Jesus, you are not a Christian." They ask, "Do you obey the Ten Commandments?" Then they say, "If you sin and break the Ten Commandments, you are not a Christian." They ask, "Is God blessing you with good health and good times?" Then they say, "If you do not have good health and good times, that proves God does not love you." Satan in this way tempts you and me to trust other things instead of God's Word and promise. That is his worst temptation.

We must not trust anything else except God's Word and promise.

Jesus trusted only God's Word. He refused to listen to Satan's clever temptation. Jesus remembered what God His Father said from the cloud at His baptism: "You are My beloved Son." By remembering and trusting only God's Word Jesus conquered Satan and won a great victory for us. He did not fail in His mission and became our victorious Savior. If Jesus had listened to Satan, He would have failed in His mission, and He could not have saved the world from sin. But Jesus did not listen to Satan's clever temptation. He trusted only God's Word. He is our Savior!

In the same way we must trust only God's Word and promise in our baptism. In baptism God promises that He washes away all sins; gives us new birth and new life and adopts us as His dear children. "We are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Romans 9:8) Therefore Jesus teaches us to call God our Father. He said, "When you pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven..." (Luke 11:2) Therefore look not to other things or situations or proofs that you are a child of God. Look only to God's Word in baptism which clearly says that you are His child.

Then, knowing that you are a child of God, you will be able to meet the challenges and problems that each day presents, and to live as God's dear children should live, without fear of punishment, but with thanks and love and praise to God your dear Father in heaven.

You will go to church regularly, not to prove that you are a child of God, but because you are a child of God and enjoy worshipping in your father's house. You perhaps will also give the tithe and more, not to prove that you are a child of God, but because you love to show your thanks to God and you are excited and eager to support His kingdom work. You will try to obey the Ten Commandments, not to prove that you are a child of God, but because you love God, your dear Father, and want to please Him and serve Him. And you will be happy and praise God at all times and in all places, whether good times or bad times, whether rich or poor, whether well or sick, whether living or dying. Paul says, "Whether we live or die we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8)

You are a child of God. His Word says so! Trust it! Don't look for other proof! Live as dear children of God.

Amen.