January 19, 2011 Temptations 3

The devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Him. "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for all has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only"'.

Good Salvation Wednesday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. You know we have our work cut out for us telling others about Jesus, it is not enough just to pray that people get saved, we must "Put some feet on the prayers" (Pamela Bower) and get to work bringing people to the feet of Jesus.

Let me tell you about four young men, Nicholes Bryson, John Griffith, Cody Hollinger, DeVaught Lee, all were students at Manheim Central High School (Lancaster County Pa.) All the young men between 15 and 17 by all accounts were yet "kids" which is why I referred to them as young men. All were good in school, played sports together and hung out together. On Sunday Morning they were at a sports breakfast and after the breakfast borrowed a friend's car. Then it happened, the mistake was made and they went out speeding and they are looking into the fact they were making a video to place on the computer and were going over a hump in the road which would of course put the car in the air... They crossed into the other lane, all were killed. Now first let me ask you to pray for the families as the funerals are starting and the families lost one of their loved ones. Now I do have a few questions and I am going to use it in the message so please, please read it today. So let's get going. Remember to pray for the unsaved, help work to bring in the lost by "Putting feet on those prayers".

The Big Trip 6-3: Temptations 3 - Luke 4:5 The devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to Him. "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for all has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours." 8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only"'. (NIV)

What nerve, what nerve the devil had trying to tell the One whose Father made all the things that it was he who had the control over it. I know that Jesus could have just walked away and not have been "Led" but Jesus wanted to show all of us some examples out of this. Let's look at just a few of them.

There are a lot of non-believers out there who do not believe that God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it. They believe it just happened and as far as I am concerned they might as well be thinking the devil made it for someday those non-believers are going to face him face to face. So there stands Jesus and the devil on a high place and looking out over as far as the eye could see. And the devil telling Jesus, I will give you control over it if you worship me. Now how many people have been promised things by people who cannot make it happen? Think about it, folks, it is very, very deep and maybe you have been one who has made a promise to someone that you just knew before you made it you just could not do it. I am not talking about a promise that you made in good faith and then the bottom fell out of things and you messed up on the promise, I am just saying maybe you have been on the making the promise or having it made to you.

Maybe you went to the bank and were promised a loan by a manager who did not write the loan and then the board turned it down. The manager should not have made a promise that he could not back up. It happens... Maybe you were promised a car at a price, maybe it was even in an ad, but you find that promise was not made in good faith. It happens daily. And if you don't think the devil is still making promises, think again. He makes those temptations really look good sometimes but the master of evil could not make a fool out of Jesus and I pray you will not let him make a fool out of you.

Now let me look at some of the temptations of today. Let's look at these four dear young men who on this past Sunday morning were all killed in one crash due to speed and maybe a video being made. In a borrowed car they went out and got killed. The temptations of making a hit with friends and then posting them... Folks, we see it all the time on those famous home videos how people do stupid things to try and win a few dollars. Yes, I am calling it temptations, and folks, we all get them. I have seen it over and over again where kids, good school kids are wiped out in car crashes, and folks, I have not called it an accident because in my mind when someone is really setting out to break the law it is not an accident, it is a crash waiting to happen. I want you all to pray for the families of these kids, but I want you all to take your teens aside and talk to them. EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT A DRIVER, tell them not to get into cars of other kids without your permission and even at that you are taking chances.

Now I want to go off the subject of temptations for a few minutes and just talk to you about a few other things... First of all right now people in the area are going to churches for prayer about these kids, these young men, school officials are asking for prayer. Now here is my question. Why did they have a sports breakfast on a Sunday Morning? What if all these kids would have been in church? Now that might not have prevented the accident for a few years back in Palmyra, Pa., there were teens and I think maybe two or three that were killed when they were speeding and pulled out to pass a car and hit another head on. They were on their way home from a church teen meeting. Just recently in our school district there was a head on crash on kids going to school. Speed, yes. And I want to take you way back to when I was about 11 and one of the youngest kids in our group from church. Our advisor who was young took a group of us to another church for a party. On the way home and there were six of us in a 1946 Plymouth and I was in the front set in the center, I was the little guy... It was fall, the leaves were on the ground and it was raining, and you know what wet leaves do in the rain, or you should. No seat belts back then. On the way back to our church which was on one side of a park with a lookout where the lovers went and the church we were at was on the other side we came through the park. Our advisor and youthful man had a spotlight on or in his car and was shining it into the parked cars of those lovers. One started his car and the chase was on... Short story we went off the road and hit a tree dead center. No one was hurt, the driver remarked his brakes would not hold. Right, sliding on wet leaves on wet grass after the car left the road. Put that same crash into a car of today and even with seat belts people would have been hurt or killed as the cars are smaller and lighter (the trees are about the same).

You pastors on line who have teen groups, please, please take time to sit your teens down, not just the drivers but all of them and talk to them about driving and the temptations of speeding, and if you are local and want a good safety person to come and talk to them... CALL ME. Yes, you can tie it to the Bible because speeding is a sin!

If you are on the line and your pastor is not, please this is one time I ask you, in fact, I plead with you to talk to them about safety in the teen groups. I don't care if the church is big or small, get to those teens before it is too late. In fact a good safety course about driving could be tied nicely into an evening service.

To save money in schools a lot of them have dropped the subject of Driver Education or at least the on the road part. Folks, I must be getting old for I am going to say this, a teen in school of school age, no passengers except for parents. None, zip... But what about a date? The parents could drive or hire a limo. We must get to our children and grandchildren and talk to them about temptations. And you are right if you say, well, Dan, you did not always set a good example... That is right, but after teaching safety for years and years and years, I have changed my thinking.

Ok, back on subject... It is salvation Wednesday and that makes me ask this question, did the four young men, who by all accounts were really good kids, did they know the Lord one on one? I don't know and I will not judge, but I do know this, if one or all did not know the Lord they according to OUR BIBLES will not make it into heaven. That is very, very clear and that is why it is so important to get the word out and not just to old folks, but to all folks. And just because someone comes to church it does not mean they are saved. Ok, I went on very long today, but it needed said... let's pray.

Oh, Lord, please be with the families who lost those loved ones, not just in this one crash but all families who lost loved ones. And Lord, help us to get the word out about You and Salvation through Jesus. And Lord, help us to get the word out about what can happen on the roads. Please, Lord, protect our kids and help us get the message out... In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now folks, I am going to say this... I am ready and willing to "put some feet on my prayers" when it comes to helping get the word out to those teens... now it is time for me to say, please share your blessings. Love ya, Pastor Dan.

Carry The Light Ministries Inc.
16 Dewalt Drive
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17050
Phone 717 691 8200
Cell 717 991 0754
And it is ok to call....