Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do 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 splendour. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4:1-11
Temptation Comes To Us
- For Test: Sincerity, faith, love, patience, are put to proof.
- For Growth: It develops and increases our graces.
- For Usefulness: We’re able to comfort and warn others.
- For Victory: How glorious it is to overcome the enemy!
- For God’s Glory: He vanquishes Satan by feeble men.
We read in Hebrews 4:15 that Jesus was TEMPTED, but that He overcame the temptation and did not compromise or choose to give in to it.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Hebrews 4:15
So what are the lessons we can learn from Jesus’ example of overcoming temptation?
The devil slyly begins, "If you are the Son of God…." He’s basically saying to Jesus, "You may not be the Son of God at all. Prove it to me by doing this minor miracle." He was also pushing Jesus’ flesh buttons knowing that Jesus had been fasting and praying for 40 days in the wilderness – the enemy was tempting Jesus to satisfy the needs and wants of His flesh in ways that were disobedient to God. The second temptation is about authority and worldly glory. The devil leads Jesus up to a high place and shows Him the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Again, Jesus resists. Satan tries a third time. He brought Jesus to Jerusalem and took Him up to the highest part of the temple and told Him to jump off. He said that angels would come and lift Him up so that he wouldn’t be hurt. The devil even starts quoting scripture now, quoting from Psalm 91, "For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." (Satan left out the part about ‘to keep you in all your ways’.) Jesus answered him, "It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God’."
Satan came to tempt Jesus and question his sonship. Satan began the whole series of his temptations by casting a doubt upon Jesus’ sonship. Has the enemy tried this with you? Has he tried to cast doubt on your salvation or your status as son or daughter of God? Satan does not come with point-blank denial for that would be too startling; doubt and deception serve Satan’s purposes better than heresy. He opens with an "If" making the doubt look like holy anxiety concerning divine sonship. Yet, Jesus’ sonship is made clear in scripture (Ps. 2:7) and the Father had just pronounced him as his beloved Son (Mt. 3:17). Satan tries to make us doubt what God has told us is true. Resurgence
We see His temptation here and also in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46). In both instances, Jesus chooses His Father’s will over the temptation to pursue an easier path. But notice that He has no extraordinary weapons in his temptation; He used the same tools we have — the Spirit and the Word.
An important lesson for us is this: temptation is not sin. The enemy may tempt us by putting evil thoughts into our mind, but we can push them right out again with God’s help and our choice. Martin Luther says "You can’t help it if a bird flies over your head, but you don’t need to let him make a nest in your hair." Temptation is not sin. It is that thing that stirs within us that desire to do something we know is wrong and not pleasing to God, something that compromises the lifestyle of holiness that we live as children of God.
"Temptation is inevitable. You have to decide whether or not it’s going to connect with a lust or vulnerability on the inside of you." -Casey Doss
"For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want" (Galatians 5:17). The battle is both inevitable and necessary for you to begin to experience spiritual freedom in your life.
Note: God may test His children, a process designed to purify and strengthen them, but He does not lead them into sin. Without exception, sin results when temptation strikes a sympathetic chord in the human heart, and man has no one to blame but himself.
But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread. Job 23:10-12
Notice how Jesus responded to temptation. The devil brought truths mixed with half truths to deceive and entice Jesus. Jesus answered with the Word. Even when the devil misquoted the Bible to Jesus, Jesus answered back with the Scripture He knew.
Jesus teaches us this: answer temptation with God’s Word. We need to know Scripture well enough to answer our doubts and fears and temptations with it. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), and as we learn to apply the Word to every circumstance of our lives, we too can emerge victorious from fierce temptations.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11
Jesus trusts the Father and overcomes the temptation. He does not give in, and he never gave in or gave up on his way to Calvary to pay for our sins and the times when we give in. When tempted, we must trust the Father’s words and promises as Jesus did when he was tempted. Satan only questions truth for he is the father of lies (John 8:44). Therefore let us stand strong in the truth that we are sons and daughters of God not because of our work, but because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Resurgence
Passages on temptation:
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Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
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1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
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James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
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1 Peter 5:8-9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings
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Galatians 5:13, 16-17, 24 You are called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
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Romans 8:5 puts it like this: Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The devil will use many things in an attempt to get a Christian all caught up with self…generally he uses things that appeal to the flesh (but are contrary to the Spirit).
1) Satisfy yourself – Satan wants you to live your life like you are the only one that matters. That way nobody will ever see Christ in us and be won to him. We are told to have the mind of Christ and to "look on the interests of others" (Phil 2:4) and to show genuine love to others.
2) Show yourself – There is something in everyone to want to show "what we can do" and have the praise and admiration of men. But the moment we do things to be seen of men, all reward is lost (Matt 6) and God cannot use us because "no human will boast in the presence of God" (1 Corinthians 1:29).
3) Save yourself – Satan offered Christ kingdoms without the cross. To any ordinary human, this would have been an attractive "easy way out". Sometimes Christian life can be difficult, and Satan wants us to just give up…take the easy way out. But that again would be self serving and as Jesus responded to Satan we are to worship God and serve Him alone. He is the ONLY one who is worthy of the worship of our hearts and the service of our hands. youversion note
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