"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’"
5 Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’;
and ‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”"
7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my privilege to have you
here with us today. We are especially grateful for those of you who have
been sharing the ministry website with all of your family and friends.
Your faithfulness and commitment to share God's Word with others
continues to bring about tremendous results. People are responding to
God's Word! This is all so amazing. We ask you to pray that God will
continue to give us boldness to speak the truth in ministry in the face
of adversity in the coming days! As you may have noticed, it's becoming
more and more challenging in the day in which we live.
I
want to let all of you know how grateful I am for all of you. We are so
thankful your prayers and continue to pray for all of you. Prayer is
such a powerful tool, and a mighty weapon against the adversary. And
through your sharing, God continues to bring a number of people to faith
in Jesus Christ. Praise God! May He continue to use you and this
ministry mightily to effect change in even more lives. Let's give God some praise for all He has done!
I've noticed many Christians often lay claim to the Spirit’s leading. The person often making such a claim for himself is defending abrasive speech or attitudes, that most would consider anything but Christian. I certainly do not deny that the Spirit of God leads those who are submitted to Christ, however, it would seem their being lead by the Spirit is little more than an excuse to unleash a bad temper. The temptation that Jesus endured is recorded for the benefit of all of us.
In I Corinthians 10:13, Paul writes "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Jesus, did not succumb to the tempter’s allure. Let us be encouraged in our weakness. I believe that if you have trouble keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ in the midst of temptation, then, you haven’t learned how to live the Christian life. The key to the Christian life is focusing on the conscious presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should never take our eyes off of Him. The Christian life is lived one moment at a time with the focus upon Jesus Christ. We must keep our focus where it belongs, on Christ! Nor should we take our eyes off the adversary.
In I Peter 5:8, Peter warns "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Having seen Jesus in His temptation, I believe we're going to see the possibility of victory in our own lives, as well as learn to keep our eyes on Christ. I do not believe that Christ went into that wilderness on defense, I believe He went on the offense. Jesus Christ went into direct confrontation with Satan, in order to establish His victory over Satan. Jesus understood what Satan was doing. He does the same with us, just as he did Eve in the Garden, he tempts us to doubt.
Satan knew that Jesus was God’s Son, yet he still began with a seed of doubt. If he can create doubt, he’s got his foot in the door. If we will understand what was about to take place, if we will understand what we can expect at different points in our spiritual journey, like Christ, we can experience mighty spiritual victory.
Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4. Matthew 4:1-11. I believe the Holy Spirit is contrasting the temptation of Eve with that of our Lord. Adam and Eve had no lack of food or water in the garden, and they fell by choosing to eat the one forbidden food. Jesus had no food, and yet He resisted Satan’s temptations. Matthew endures to illustrate to us that our Lord withstood Satan’s temptations, and so he focuses on Jesus' victory during His weakest moment rather than at His strongest moment.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read, to set the text in our minds, as we prepare our hearts for the Spirit of God is saying to each of us. Matthew 4:1-11. Listen for the voice of our Lord.
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’"
Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and *said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’" Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’" Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." Then Jesus *said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’" Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him."
Notice that in verse 3, Matthew refers to Satan here as "the tempter," rather than calling him "the devil" as he did in verse 1. Here, instead of describing who he is, he's describing his nature and his character. The tempter is who Satan is; tempting is what he does. It's worth mentioning here, that if he is successful, he then becomes "the accuser." He finds his pleasure in tempting, deceiving, and ultimately destroying the souls of men. I'd like you to notice the manner in which Satan presents himself when he tempts us, he comes alongside the object of his scheme, and presents himself as the "helpful friend." He makes it appear, as though he himself, has nothing to gain. Then comes the temptation itself. As a reminder, if all there is to this temptation, it’s no sin.
As a footnote, some of the very worst counsel you will ever receive will be from well-meaning friends. In Matthew 16, Peter was well-meaning, when he thought he was being a friend to Jesus when he rebuked the Jesus for talking about His death on the cross, but Jesus makes it clear where Peter’s well intended counsel was coming from, none other than Satan! Verse 23, "But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s."
Let's pick up where we left off, at verses 3-4. "And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’"
If the only temptation was the temptation to eat bread, there’s no sin involved. Let me illustrate what Satan is really doing here, he saying "Did God say, ‘You shall not eat’? Would He really deprive You, His beloved Son of food? Of course not! You have the power to turn these stones into bread, if God fed His people manna in the wilderness, surely He wouldn't let His own Son starve! Haven't You suffered enough?" Satan's temptation sounds very logical for Jesus to command stones to become bread. The problem with the temptation is not the feeding Jesus' hunger, but to cause Jesus to exercise selfish authority to do what would satisfy His own wants and needs. Jesus was hungry; the temptation was to be selfish.
Verse 4, But He answered and said, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’" And, Jesus replied " It is written," to resist Satan's temptation, Jesus relied on Scriptures. Jesus is saying, "God determines whether you live or die, not bread. If God wills that I live, bread or not bread, I will live!" What a tremendous statement of truth. That’s the whole key. God's will, not ours.
Paul writes in Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your needs." Satan tempts us to think, "My circumstances are terrible, God's not meeting all my needs. I need to do something for my self!" How many times has Satan tempted us to run ahead of God? Listen to me, the end does not justify the means! That’s the sin of lust of the flesh. The lesson here is this; In God’s time and in God’s way, He will supply what we need.
I want you to notice, how Satan always builds on the first temptation he hits with. The second temptation comes in verses 5 through 7. "Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’"
Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’"
Satan is really sly, He really knows what he’s doing. Satan's scheme is "If Christ will not prove His messiahship by performing a miracle to save Himself, to keep Himself from starving to death, then maybe He’ll prove His messiahship by letting God work a miracle. The first temptation was trying to get Christ to perform a miracle independently. And, He wouldn’t do it. Now, Satan comes back with, "Then why don't You just get God perform the miracle Himself?" Notice what Satan did here, he eliminates the issue with the first temptation, by putting God to the test. Which is a far worse sin. Jesus be tempting God, by putting Himself in a position where God had to get Him out of that situation.You don’t ever use God’s power to test God! That isn't faith at all. So, Jesus refused to put God on the spot.
Then, Satan comes back with a third temptation in verses 8-9. "Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." Jesus came to save the world, so Satan says, "I’ll give You the world. Here it is."Satan was tempting Jesus to compromise. So many churches and Christians compromise with the world today, trying to change the world by becoming like the world, that's flirting with the devil. That's a very dangerous position!
So, in verse 10, Jesus responded, "Then Jesus *said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’" Jesus refuses to take a shortcut to the kingdom. So often, Satan tempts us to shortcut God's commands to get what we want. He’ll tempt us to bypass the will of God. And, he continues to tempts us until we yield. Giving in to sin.
Satan's way is pride. God’s way is to be humble. Notice verse 11, "Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him." Victory over the temptations thrown at the child of God is possible only when we are in Christ. Those who attempt to be godly without God’s presence are engaged in a fool’s work, and will surely fail. The Holy Spirit's perfecting work is being revealed as you win each succeeding victory. Jesus was tested for our sake; He shared our temptation. He is able to help us when we are being tempted. The divine author of Scripture encourages us by pointing out that because our Lord suffered just as we suffer. Blessed be His Name!
In Closing..
How often do we allow ourselves to become sidetracked by the first temptation? When,in the end, it is not really the issue, the temptation is to take matters into our hands, rather than obeying God's will. Instead of trusting in God's provision, leading us to disregard and disobey God. Submitting to our will rather than God's. Not only disobey God, but to act independently of God's purposes and plans.
The lesson we can learn from this is, if you can just bypass a temptation, in God’s time, He will minister to you, every need you have in this world. How foolish to take up your own problems. Jesus dismisses Satan. He’s defeated, but not destroyed. All the temptation ceased. But believe me, he will be back, again and again. That's Satan’s way. That's why nearly 24 hours a day, my brain is crammed full of biblical truth. Because as soon as I stop, other thoughts start coming into my mind.
You have to start the day with God's Word. And, as soon as you see Satan coming for you, pray!
May it be so..
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen