There is an infamous cult of quasi-Christians living in the hills of West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Every once in a while they pull out their stash of rattlesnakes and play with them in their church services.
They pet them, they carry them, they even hold them up to their faces, taunting and teasing them.
These people believe that the promises of Mark 16 apply to them:
In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.”
But some of these cultists have died from the poison of their snakes.
I don’t know how you define snake-handling, but I call it “playing with fire,” and I don’t recommend it.
I don’t believe that Mark 16 is giving anyone the authority to tempt those snakes to bite.
Nor does that scripture give anyone the authority to tempt the Lord to heal the person once he’s bitten.
And that is perhaps a good definition for the old adage “playing with fire.”
It is playing with fire to try to BLACKMAIL JEHOVAH into doing things for sinners like us.
We are going to come back to this in a few minutes,
But a critical part of Satan’s temptation of Christ actually involved tempting God the Father.
Satan suggested that the Lord Jesus do things that would have forced the Father to react.
But Jesus’ reply was, “Thou shalt NOT tempt the Lord thy God.”
This morning we looked at this scripture in Acts 15 and called it the “Theology of Peter.”
I didn’t really address verse 10, but I’d like to correct that oversight this evening.
But I’m not going to call this a part of Peter’s theology.
In fact, I’m not sure that when he said, “therefore why tempt ye God” he wasn’t just using an old figure of speech.
But even if he was, it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is therefore profitable for doctrine.
What’s more, it’s also profitable for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness.
I say that because I’m basing the premise of this message on supposition that YOU sometimes tempt God.
To tempt the Lord our God is “playing with fire” and eventually we are going to be burned.
Well then, let’s make a brief survey of the scriptures which talk about this subject.
Maybe you’ll be bold enough to say that they were hypocrites and not truly born again,
THEY were not trusting their Jewishness,
What I am trying to point out is that even children of God can commit the sin of tempting the Lord.
In fact, if the Lord Jesus COULD have sinned, EVEN HE could have tempted the Father.
He could not be induced tempt the Lord, because that was sin and He was sinless and impeccable.
Weren’t they trying to usurp the authority of God?
Weren’t were telling Paul that what the Lord had taught him was not correct; that it was unbiblical?
THEY would admit that only PAUL was wrong, not that GOD was wrong.
But Peter when heard Paul’s testimony and added it to the instruction that he had received from the Lord,
Have you ever thought, “I will never love that person – because of what he did to me.”
Have you ever said, “I refuse to submit myself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him.”
How many people have sat in those chairs and heard me read scriptures which spoke about sovereign election, but they said that they would never, never, ever believe those verses?
Every time we read Paul’s words and we refuse to believe them or practice them, we are tempting God.
Because the words of Paul, as found in the Word of God, are the words of God.
Have YOU ever tempted the Lord by rejecting or despising His Word or His authority?
“And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD.”
And they pitched their tents in Rephidim: but there was no water for the people to drink.
They could all see the pillar of fire as it leaned away from the Tabernacle and started to move forward,
Nevertheless the people blamed Moses for the lack of water in their new campground.
“And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?“
The names “Massah” and “Meribah” mean TEMPTATION and CONTENTION.
And Exodus 17 is not the only place we find them in the Word of God.
Judy knows a lady who has suffered a terrible tragedy in recent months.
Apparently this lady is not a child of God, but this is not something that is confined to the unsaved.
Like so many people this woman is angry with the Lord for permitting this loss in her life.
“God, what logical reason is there for leading us to an oasis without enough water?”
“Lord, what RIGHT do you have to bring us into this desert?”
The man who has 20/20 eye-sight can only see only so far down the road, even on a clear day.
Those of us with astronomical myopia, can’t see much beyond our noses without help.
But even with perfect vision no one can see into the future with any real clarity.
Israel could only see that their children were thirsty;
They couldn’t see that Rephidim was on the road to their intended destination.
They couldn’t see that God had ordained a solution to their problem.
So they began to murmur and complain against the leadership of the Lord.
Beloved, that is like holding a loaded rattlesnake up before your face.
Have YOU ever been unhappy with the leadership and providence of God in your life?
Nine times out of ten we have inserted sin somewhere into the fabric of that quilt,
But even when sin is not directly involved, things may not go according to our myopic perspective.
And when we display displeasure against the leadership of the Lord, we have then inserted sin.
And then we are playing with fire.
But, as you know Joshua & Caleb told everyone that the Lord could be trusted & that His promise was true.
“Let’s go and take the Land.”
But the sinners of Israel were adamant:”We’ll be gobbled up by the Anakim giants.”
Please turn to Numbers 14:11 –
“And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”
When we refuse to take God at His word; when we refuse to believe the Lord, we are tempting Him.
Before we get there let me remind you that just about every time the Bible recounts the history of Israel, they reach back to Massah and Meribah or one of their related incidents.
For example in Psalm 78:15-21 we read:
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel.”
They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.”
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies.”
“Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”
How often do you lust for things that God has apparently not wanted you to have?
How often would you rather have the leeks and the garlics of Egypt over the manna of God?
How often do you wish that God didn’t require holiness so that you could join the ungodly for a little while?
Even Christians need to be reminded that sin is a matter of the heart, not just the commission of some crime.
And thus, even to yearn for forbidden fruit is bring the serpent before our faces.
Matthew 5:27-28: –
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.”
As my old pastor used to say, “Orthodoxy creates orthopraxy.”
When a person believes correctly, it produces proper behaviour.
Ananias and Sapphira never learned or believed the doctrine of the omniscience of God.
They somehow thought that they could lie to the church, and lie to the Holy Spirit and their lies would never be discovered.
I won’t belabor the point again this evening, but that kind of idea is wrong – dead wrong.
The cultist Ananias picked up a rattlesnake and held it up to his face defying it to strike him, but it did.
“Be sure your sins will find you out.”
Now please turn to Matthew 4:1:
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”
The One Who multiplied the bread and fish to feed 9,000 people could certainly have commanded a few stones to become bread to feed Himself.
It would have been an act of idolatry.
So if He had hurled Himself off the pinnacle of the temple, angels would have been sent to catch Him.
But creating a situation that would have forced God to react would have been sin.
And once our car leaves the road and crashes into a tree, to pray that God would spare our life is to tempt the Lord even farther.
Romans 13 says: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”
When someone breaks laws designed to maintain the public good, that law-breaker had better not tempt God by praying that he be spared from the penalty of the Law.
Have YOU ever sinned and then besought the Lord not to punish you?
The Bible calls that “tempting God.”
That is playing with fire.
Usually when we use that word, we think of it as a temptation to do something evil or sinful.
But obviously God cannot be tempted to do evil.
James says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
God cannot be tempted with evil.
But all these verses that we’ve been looking at say that God CAN be tempted.
When we tempt God, what are we tempting Him to do?
What did Ananias and Sapphira tempt the Lord to do? To take their lives.
And what was it that Israel tempted God to do when they refused to believe Joshua and Caleb?
That is about which we need to constantly warn ourselves.
Put the serpents down and pick up the Word of God.
Put your lusts down and pick up the promise of God.
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God and live to laugh about it.