“CUTTING CORNERS: avoiding the processes”

Luke 4:9-12 NKJV
[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.

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[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.’ “

The more I studied the Temptations of Jesus Christ, the more I got scared of the horrible intentions of the devil against every man and woman of destiny. He is the Old Serpent. Cunning and crafty and Satanically evil and Deviously Satanic.

Let us forget about how Satan brought Jesus to Jerusalem and concentrate on a more important aspect of this temptation. He brought Jesus to Jerusalem, took Him to the temple, and took Him up to the pinnacle of the temple, and told Him to “Jump Down if you are the Son of God”.

Is this statement familiar to us? Are you guessing you might have come across this similar statement of taunting somewhere before? YES.
SATAN DID NOT TAKE JESUS TO SAMARIA, TO BETANY, TO DECAPOLIS OR ANY OTHER CITY IN JUDEA, BUT STRAIGHT TO JERUSALEM.

The Ministry had not started.
He was just rounding off the fasting and Prayer that was to commence the ministry. He had just been baptized by John before being led into the wilderness for the fasting and prayers and the accompanying temptations. So the ministry was just about to start, BUT SATAN TOOK HIM TO JERUSALEM TO GO AND DIE THERE.

He had not ministered to any soul.
he had not cast out any Devils.
He had not healed the sick and raised any dead.
BUT SATAN TOOK HIM TO JERUSALEM TO GO AND DIE THERE EVER BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS MINISTRY.
So many scriptures had not yet been fulfilled.

Luke 18:31-33 NKJV
[31] Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.
[32] For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.
[33] They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

He was to raise His disciples in Galilee, He was to commission them to go and preach the gospel; He was to groom them for three and half years or thereabout; He was to hand over to them the work of the evangelization; they were to continue from where He would stop. So many prophesies of the prophets were to be fulfilled during His short term physical ministry. YET THE DEVIL WANTED TO FAST FORWARD THE TAPE AND EDIT THE SCRIPT OF HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY AND BRING HIM TO THE POINT OF DEATH, OMITTING SEVERAL SCENES AND PLOTS OF UTTERMOST SIGNIFICANCE.

May God deliver us from the Devil.
He was to be betrayed by one of His disciples,…that was already Written in the Script of Life.
He was to be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked and scourged and spit upon and insulted…according to the WRITTEN SCRIPT of Prophesies.

Isaiah 53:5 NKJV
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
BUT SATAN WANTED HIM TO JUMP DOWN FROM THE PINNACLE AND DIE WITHOUT FULFILLING ALL OF THESE SCRIPTURES.
HOW COULD WE HAVE GOT OUR HEALING IF THERE WAS NO ROMAN STRIPES THAT FELL ON HIS BACK. BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.

But the Devil wanted to Kill Him ever before the Roman Soldiers could get to Him. So that we would all be in perpetual sickness, infirmity and afflictions forever.

Ah, so many wonderful incidences would never have taken place at all: the Mad Man of Gardarene, the raising up of Lazarus from the dead, the turning of water to wine, the feeding of the multitudes with five loaves of bread and two fishes; the walking upon the Sea of Galilee; the several examples of love, of compassion, of endurance, the healing of the multitudes, etc, would never had have taken place at all.
SATAN WANTED JESUS TO COMMIT SUICIDE AND DIE EVER BEFORE HE BEGAN HIS MINISTRY.

And Now the Real Thing….
Luke 24:46-47
[46] Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
[47] and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
…..The Death on the Cross of CALVARY and the Resurrection from the Dead on the THIRD DAY.

THAT WAS WHAT THE DEVIL ACTUALLY WANTED TO DERAIL. HE NEVER WANTED JESUS TO DIE ON THE CROSS. His Death on the Cross spelt doom for the Kingdom of Darkness. Desperately, they wanted to avoid this. So, right from the start, they plotted His death.

HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE GRAVE WAS THE FANTASTIC VICTORY IN THE WHOLE OF HEAVEN AND OVER THE VAST REGIONS OF HELL.
…THEY NEVER WANTED THIS TO HAPPEN.
BECAUSE ONLY HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS COULD TAKE HIM TO THE GRAVE TO COMPLETE THE WORK OF REDEMPTIONS.
Finally, let us consider this.

Luke 4:9
[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.
Compare it to this….
Mark 15:29-32 NKJV
[29] And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,
[30] save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”
[31] Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.
[32] Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

Can you hear the people, including the Chief Priest, re-echoing the voice of the Devil? Saying exact thing Satan said to Jesus at the beginning? Were they not reading the devil’s scripts?
THEY NEVER WANTED JESUS TO DIE ON THE CROSS FOR US. THEY NEVER WANTED THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS TO TAKE PLACE.

THEY EVEN SEALED THE GRAVE.
BUT ON THE THIRD DAY…HE BROKE THE BACKBONE OF SATAN! HE BROKE THE SEAL OF THE GRAVE. HE AROSE!!!
HE RESURRECTED FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION.
SATAN FAILED IN ALL HIS ENDEAVORS. HE FAILED IN ALL HIS PLANS.

Beloved….If Jesus Christ had jumped down from the Pinnacle of the Temple of Jerusalem, He would never have gone to the Cross to die for us. And how could he have mounted the Seat of Glory in Heaven far above Principalities and Powers. How could we have ever dreamt of sitting with Him in His Glory later in eternity?
BEWARE OF TRYING TO ACHIEVE IN A HURRY WHAT THE LORD WANT YOU TO ACHIEVE IN STAGES OF PROCESS.

BEWARE OF CUTTING CORNERS AND TRYING TO AVOID THE PAINS AND AGONIES OF THIS CHRISTIAN LIFE.
2 Timothy 4:5 NKJV
But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
You want to fulfill the purpose of God in your life, but you never wanted to pass through all the processes. YOU WANT TO DIE IN JERUSALEM WITHOUT FULFILLING ALL THE SCRIPTURES.

YOU WANT TO WEAR THE CROWN OF GLORY WITHOUT WEARING THE CROWN OF THORNS.
You want to wear the Robe of Glory on the body which have not been torn with the lashes and stripes of the Roman soldiers. You don’t want your body to be battered, scourged and dragged on the ground…yet you want to be exalted far above the Principalities. NO CROSS, NO CROWN.
You hate the suffering of the cross…you enjoy the glamor of the world, yet you are a child of God.

THAT AMOUNTS TO COMMITTING SPIRITUAL SUICIDE.
BEWARE OF ALL THESE SWEET TONGUES PREACHINGS THAT DECLARE PEACE! PEACE! WHEN YOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT IN PEACE WITH YOUR GOD.
Beware of all these Bread and Butter Sermons that fail to rebuke you sinful lives and careless living. YOU ARE CHOOSING TO COMMIT SPIRITUAL SUICIDE ON THE PINNACLE OF THE TEMPLE INSTEAD OF CARRYING YOUR CROSS TO GOLGOTHA YOURSELF TO BE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST.
They said our perpetual sinful life do not matter, that Grace would cover it…and our sins are not rebuked.

Their Sermons make us comfortable in our sinful life and Heaven makes no meaning to us again because we have been too worldly to think of heaven.
THAT IS JUMPING DOWN FROM THE PINNACLE OF THE TEMPLE..IN THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM…!

You don’t want to suffer in the ministry, yet you want to be great in the work of God,…IT MEANS YOU WANT TO DIE IN JERUSALEM WITHOUT WALKING THROUGH ALL THE PROCESSES OF Healing people, preaching to the masses, crossing the sea to go and heal a mad man…healing and delivering the multitudes from the bondage of the devil…YOU NEVER WANTED TO RAISE ANY DISCIPLES TO CONTINUE THE WORK…You just want to go to Jerusalem and die ANYHOW.

To experience the Glorious Resurrections,…
NO CUTTING CORNERS…NO AVOIDING PROCESSES!

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