Dealing With Tempation

Introduction

It sure is good to see you tonight as we continue with our subject, our theme for the week of becoming more like Jesus. This is a series that I enjoy doing. It’s challenging to speak about Jesus and are becoming more and more like him. Anyone who undertakes that is bound to feel inadequate. And yet we must do that. You know, God has made us to be imitators. He’s made us to be imaging beings. We are reflective beings. Sometimes you see that with your children, don’t you? When our daughter Alicia was five years old, and she made her way to kindergarten. At the end of the school day, she’d come in home, and she’d continue with school. Now, when I came in from school, I was done with school.

But she was not. And so she would line up her students, I mean her dolls, her students in the room, and she’d have her board in her room. And she had such a wonderful teacher that year, such a nice teacher, Mrs. G. And so we uh Linda and I would hear our daughter as she would teach school, and so it would be now, boys and girls, now we’re going to have story time. And it was always so calm and everything was so sweet. Now it’s time for show and tell. And boys and girls, and it was just it was just wonderful for that first year. And so we blinked a time or two, and then she was in first grade. And she still, when she came in home from school, lined up her students and continued to teach school.

But no longer was Miss G the teacher. Now she had Miss T, uh Coach T’s wife. And so now we we hear our daughter, our little dainty six-year-old daughter, and it was something like this. All right, you guys, sit down and shut up, or I’m going to knock your heads off.

Our children are reflective beings. She was reflecting what she saw in her teachers. God has made us that way. The truth is that what we revere, we resemble. We become what we worship. And the Bible says, be imitators of God and walk in love as dear children. It is God’s intention that we fasten our gaze upon Jesus, that we look to him, and more and more we become like him. And that’s the whole, really, in summary, that’s what being a Christian is. Making the decision to follow Jesus, becoming identified with him when you make that decision to become a Christian, but then you’re in school, and the rest of your life you’re a student. You’re a disciple. A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

We’re pupils in Jesus’ school. We’re still in training. And so after being fully trained, again, the idea is to be like our teacher. Tonight, as has been suggested, we want to look at our Lord and how he dealt with temptation that we might know how we can follow Jesus in this regard. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 4. So glad you’re here tonight. We have visitors that are here that mean a lot to me, and uh I noticed several of you embracing Josh Creel as he uh as you came in and he was here. And uh I’ve said before, Josh is one of the most highly trained young men in the Brotherhood. And so I’m always glad to be around Josh. And Bill Bynum is here tonight if you’ve not met him yet.

He’s uh, as Adam Willingham mentioned a while ago, he’s working now with the uh church in uh uh is it Edgewood at uh Lakeland, having moved there from Wichita Falls in Texas. And I’ve known Bill uh ever since he was training to begin gospel preaching. Good to have him with us and all of you present tonight. Let’s read together from God’s word. In Matthew the fourth chapter. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry. Now, when the tempter came to him, he said, If you’re the son of God, commandeth these stones become bread. But Jesus answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him up to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you’re the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning you, and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Again the devil took him up on an exceedingly 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 will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. And so this will be our text of Scripture tonight, as we as we look at these recorded cases of Jesus’ temptations. Now you will want to remember that Jesus was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. And so what you have here is not the complete number of temptations that Jesus underwent. These are just representative. These are some of his temptations. There would be many temptations. But these are some specific examples that are representative of the kind of thing that Satan tempted Jesus with, and in principle, tempts us with today. And so it’s instructive for us to look at how Jesus deals with that. To me it’s fascinating just to think about the fact that Jesus was tempted.

Do you know that if Jesus were only deity, now Jesus was deity, always. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. There never was a time that Jesus was not deity. But the Word became flesh, John 1 14, and dwelt among us. But James, the first chapter tells us that God cannot be tempted, neither tempteth he any man. So if Jesus were to continue as only deity, do you realize it would be impossible for him to be subject to temptation? But it was the Father’s plan, and Jesus, because of his love for us, was very willing to be the one to comply with the Father’s will, and it was the Father’s will that he become flesh, that he become identified with us all the way.

And so he was subject to temptation, so that it would be meaningful to say that he’s now qualified as our high priest because he was tempted and yet without sin. If he were tempted and yet without sin and not human, then that of course would beg the question. That would not qualify. But for him to identify with us to become flesh, it was necessary. And I say that because the text says, then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The wording in Mark the first chapter is that the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. The new American standard says impelled him. And you know, you think about the fact that we ordinarily would think in terms of temptation, you stay away from that.

You avoid that. And that’s right. We don’t want to put ourselves in situations where we would be tempted, and yet what we’re seeing here is that it is the Father’s will that he not be somehow isolated and insulated from temptation, that he be in some kind of ivory tower away from all that. It’s the Father’s will. And of course, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are all working together on our behalf. And so you see here the involvement of the Spirit. And so Jesus isn’t just out in the wilderness for a camping trip. And he’s not out there just because he wants to see how close to the edge he can get and dally with temptation. But this is in accordance with the Father’s will, as was characteristic of everything Jesus did.

He was here not to do his own will, but the will of the Father who sent him. And so you notice the strong wording that shows that this was God’s will. It’s the Holy Spirit’s will. And it’s not that Jesus was unwilling, but when you have strong words like the Spirit drove him, Jesus was led by the Spirit, that is certainly showing that this is the Father’s will.

And the Bible teaches in the parallel in Mark the first chapter, that he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and then it includes the this remark or this notation that he was with the wild beast. Now, you know, you’re very close to uh Disneyland right here. And people think in terms a lot of times, uh, they think in terms of wild animals after watching a Disney show. You know, that so well that’s nice. He was out there with wildlife, and he was out there, you know, with the animals. No, that’s not what it means. I want to ask you this. Have you ever been in the woods all alone at night, miles away from anybody else, and heard a panther scream? You ever had that experience?

I have. It’ll make your hair stand up. It’s scary. Now, I mean, I understand that we cannot disconnect with the fact that Jesus created all things. And there’s that aspect of his being that you know you’d think, well, the Father and the Son, the Spirit, they cannot fear anything, but Jesus became flesh. And that notation, he’s with the wild beast, that means you could probably hear lions roaring. They’re wild animals. And so it’s not a friendly environment. You see, that is the point. In fact, what you’re looking at right here in this photo is the traditional mount of temptation that standing at Jericho and looking to the west, looking, for example, toward Jerusalem, this is what you would see. And I don’t say we know that’s the place, but this is the area.

In other words, the wilderness of Judea. Now, if you’re in North Alabama and somebody says something about wilderness, you might think of Bankhead National Forest. Or if you’re up in Maine, you might think of the deep woods, the big woods up in Maine. That’s wilderness. But when the Bible speaks of Jesus being in the wilderness where he was tempted, this is what needs to come to our mind’s eye because this is what it is. It’s just barren, it’s just desolate. This is the wilderness of Judea, where for 40 days and nights Jesus had nothing to eat. And by the way, Luke also tells us in Luke 4, during this time, he is tempted. He’s tempted during the 40 day period that he’s fasting. Then it’s at the end of the time we have the three specific ones that are recorded, as we shall see.

1. Command That These Stones Become Bread

So let’s give some attention to these three temptations that are here in the text. Again, in Matthew 4, as we continue in verse 2, when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward he was hungry. Now, I’m not going to say that this is British understatement, but for me it would be. You know, I think of hunger if you had a light breakfast and it’s lunchtime and you’re running a little late, you know, you’re hungry. And if for some reason you should skip lunch and you haven’t had anything until it’s dinner time, or as we would say in Alabama, supper time, then uh it’s like, I am starving. You know, I can eat a horse. And so we we talk about uh being hungry, but few of us know what it’s really like to be hungry.

And I don’t know what it’s like to go 40 days and eat nothing. But that’s what Jesus did. And the wording uh in the New English translation, the wording there is, after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was famished. That’s also the rendering of the new revised standard version. And you know what Satan will do is when he can find you the most vulnerable, when he can find you in your weakest condition, that’s when he shows no mercy. That’s when he will design a temptation just for that moment in a time of weakness to try to trip you up, and that’s what he does here with Jesus. Fasting 40 days and 40 nights, and here’s the temptation. If you’re the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.

Now, I know that uh Brother and Sister Harkrider have seen the wilderness of Judea. Perhaps some others of you have. But if you get the opportunity to go, and you look down, I mean, you don’t have to go anywhere to find them. You just look down, and there’s stones there, and there’s just a lot of them. I brought some back, but they’re just kind of round and sort of flat and about so thick, and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination. That little biscuits, you know, little loaves of bread. That already, and it’s kind of a tan color. It almost looks like bread anyway. And command that these stones become bread. And you say, well, what is wrong with that? And Jesus is famished. He is so hungry.

And you see, uh, the real issue is can you trust God to sustain you? Because, as we said in the beginning, he’s here doing the Father’s will. Not only the part about temptation, but this matter of his fasting for forty days and nights. That is in compliance with the Father’s will. And so Satan can say, Well, look at you now. Where has that gotten you? How do you feel? Are you comfortable? Well, no, Jesus wasn’t comfortable. No, he didn’t feel good. But doing the will of God had put him where he was. Well, you don’t need to do that. Well, there’s no need for you to be inconvenienced like that. You don’t need to suffer like this. All you have to do is just command that these stones become bread.

Just say bread. And you can alleviate your pain. And see, that is the way Satan wants us to look at service to God. You don’t need to be inconvenienced. You don’t need to put yourself out. You don’t need to do something if it’s very hard on you. God doesn’t want you to be uncomfortable. And you know, a lot of times people buy that. In fact, sometimes you may be talking to somebody about something from the Word of God and looking at passages and talking about spiritual matters. Have you ever been doing that? And someone might just say, you know, I’m not comfortable with the way this is going. And as soon as somebody says that, you know what they fully expect? Well, okay, we’ll back off.

Because of all things, you must be comfortable. And so if you’re not comfortable with this, well, we’ll we’ll just stop this right now. And that is the way we look at it. I want to tell you, our service to God is not based on comfort. Our service to God should be not based on convenience. Our service to God must be based on conviction. And if doing the will of God puts us in situations that we’re not comfortable, or that it really is calling for extra effort, that we’re just having to do something when we’re tired and we don’t feel like it or whatever, then so be it. You know, Daniel was that way. His three friends were that way. Their service to God in the book of Daniel was not based on their comfort zone.

They got out of their comfort zone because they had such conviction they wanted to do God’s will no matter what, even if it cost their lives. See, that’s the way Jesus is. He’s not going to take some shortcut for his comfort. Yes, he could do that. But that would show he did not trust God, that he did not believe that God would sustain him. And, you know, what Satan is doing is not some new thing. He’s just dusting off an old trick that he had used before. I mean, it worked in Eden. Except the circumstances were a little different, because Adam and Eve weren’t hungry. They could eat of any tree of the garden. But when Satan started planting his seeds, and yeah, as God said you can’t eat of all the trees of the of the garden, is he would perhaps withhold, you know, what’s hidden in that is, is he maybe withholding something from you that would be a good thing?

Oh no, we can eat of all the trees freely, except the one in the midst of the garden. God has said you should not touch it or eat it, and the day you do so you will sure, oh, you won’t die. God knows you’ll be as God’s, knowing good and evil. And Eve looked at that fruit the more she looked at it. She thought, well, that would be good for food. It’s a delight to the eyes. It’s desired to make one wise. And she reached with her hand and took that fruit, whatever it was. The Bible doesn’t say which what kind of fruit it was. She ate of that, gave to her husband, and he ate, and that’s how sin entered the world. But it worked back then.

You know, just here, have something to eat. Here, you know, do the thing that is outside God’s will, and it pertained to food there. And what’s interesting is it worked in the Garden of Eden, in paradise, where there was plenty, and it worked there. But in the barren wilderness, in the desert, where there’s practically nothing, and Jesus had nothing to eat, it didn’t work there. We talked Sunday about having the view of Scripture that Jesus did. And we must take note of that here because look how he is answering the temptation. Jesus said, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He’s quoting from Deuteronomy 8 in verse 3. How did Jesus view the scripture?

It is what God has spoken. It is the word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and Jesus says, that’s what we must live by. That’s more somebody says, Well, you gotta eat. And Jesus is saying, Well, not really. What we have to do is to feast on God’s word. What we must do is to receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save our souls. What we must do is not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Now that’s Jesus’ view of Scripture, that when you’re reading this, Old Testament or New Testament, you’re reading what is spoken by God. It’s written by men, but it’s spoken by God. And if you don’t have that view of Scripture, you cannot be Jesus’ disciple.

That’s the view Jesus had. And we see it here. We see it everywhere. And we also see his confidence in the Father’s care in difficult circumstances. I mean, we may, I mean, I hope it, you know, I hope you’re comfortable, but not too comfortable, you know, where you’re seated. So we can read this, and you know we know it turned out all right, but I’ll tell you, when Jesus is going through all this, it was very real. And it was very difficult. And yet he trusted in God. He trusted in the Father’s care. We sing the song sometimes. I trust in God, no matter come what may, for life eternal is in his hand. Several years ago, it was in 03 and on into early 04.

One of our elders at Hansville, Alabama, where Linda and I labor, contracted cancer. It was a brain tumor. And it was terminal. And we went to see, you know, of course, we were there for surgery and all along the way we tried to be with him with that. One day when we went to the hospital and it looked like time was going to be short, this brother said, I don’t know if I’m going to live or die. But he says, I trust Jesus. I trust Jesus, whether it means life or death. I trust him. That’s the way Job was. Job was afflicted with grievous boils from the top of his head to the sole of his feet. And he didn’t understand why. He was so emaciated by the disease that he had when his friends came from the east.

At first, the text says they did not recognize him. And they sat for seven days, speechless, before they said anything. And that’s when they were wise. Because when they started talking, you know, it kind of unravels. And Job doesn’t understand, and he’s he also takes his turn at talking. But one thing I treasure is where he said in Job chapter 13 and verse 15, he said, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. In chapter 19, 25, he said, I know that my Redeemer lives. And that’s the kind of confidence that we need to have in our Heavenly Father. That we trust him no matter what. And when we can’t see the reason something is happening. And when we can’t see the other side of this, you know, if we can get somehow get beyond it, how it’ll be there.

Trust him. And Jesus did that. But I want to suggest to you one more thing before we leave this. That is, Satan wanted to pitch the battle on Jesus being the Son of God. So here you prove that. Did you notice the way he said that? If you are the Son of God, if you’re the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Do you notice the way Jesus answered that? You know what here’s how he could have answered it. He could have said, Well, I am the Son of God, and look, I can prove it. And he could have done a miracle to prove it, because after all, the purpose of miracles was to confirm the word and confirm who Jesus was. But Jesus doesn’t do that.

He doesn’t take up Satan’s line there. He doesn’t fall for that. Now, again, he could have done something to prove his deity. But he doesn’t even mention that in his response. What he says is not, I am divine, which he was. What he says is, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. He dealt with temptation as a man. And it’s not like he had left his divine prerogatives. It’s not like he had left his deity. Jesus was fully divine, and Jesus was fully human. By the way, if you ask, do you understand that completely? I would say no. But I accept it by faith, and I believe that. But his dealing with temptation is not making use of his divine prerogatives.

His dealing with temptation, well, he quoted from Deuteronomy 8 in verse 3. And who could not do that? He made use of the word of God to deal with Satan’s temptation. In fact, that’s the only weapon that he used was the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. He dealt with temptation as a man. He could have used his miraculous power. But suppose he had. Suppose in dealing with temptations, he had made some avail of his miraculous abilities. Well, we’d say, well, that shows he’s the Son of God, and I’m glad he didn’t sin. But how does that help me? If Jesus used miraculous powers to deal with Satan, where’s the example for us? Can you do the do you have miraculous powers? Can you use that in fighting against Satan’s temptation?

2. Cast Yourself Down From the Pinnacle

Well, no. So Jesus didn’t do that. He used the scripture. He dealt with temptation as a man. But Satan doesn’t give up. And so what he did was to take Jesus to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. Now, some of you may know that there are two words from which the word temple, our English word, can be translated that are very commonly used in the Greek New Testament. One is the word Huron, which is referring to the temple complex. It would include the court area. It would include Solomon’s portico, like Jesus was there in John the 10th chapter. This is the place like where the money changers would be when Jesus drives them out of the temple. He’s not driving them out of the Naos.

That’s the sanctuary. That’s the place, for example, mentioned in Luke 1, where Zacharias went into the Naas, the temple, to burn incense. So there’s that structure, you know, with a holy place, and then behind the veil, the most holy place. But that’s not the word that is used here. He’s not taking him to that temple, that is the sanctuary, but the temple complex to the pinnacle of the temple. Now what we’re looking at is a view of the temple complex from the Kedron Valley. We’re looking up there. And the New English translation, with its very comprehensive notes, its textual notes and notes on translation, makes this point on this passage. It says regarding the pinnacle of the temple, the highest point of the temple probably refers to the point on the temple’s southeast corner.

Now that’s where we’re standing right here as we’re looking up. We’re on the southeast corner, where it looms directly over a cliff some 450 feet high. Josephus wrote of this, and he said, looking down, he said, it was a dizzying height. And so Jesus is taken to the pinnacle of the temple, and now Satan says, Well, you know, you quote Scripture, I can quote Scripture. He will give his angels charge concerning you. The Bible says that. And in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. So jump. You’re one, oh, you trust in God so much. Well, let’s see how much you trust in God. Here, what jump. And so here is the setting. Here is the situation at the pinnacle of the temple.

In fact, standing below I uh a bit closer, getting another shot of that. Just imagine being right up there at that corner. Okay, jump. Cast yourself down. And so what can we learn from this temptation? Let me suggest to you in the first place that the wording here in verse 5, the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. The city of Jerusalem during this time is still called the holy city. It’s the pinnacle of the temple. I mean, this is the dwelling place of God. This is the holy city. This is the city where he had caused his name to dwell, where faithful saints would come from wherever they were to observe the annual feasts, such as Passover and Pentecost and Tabernacles.

This is where priests would offer sacrifices on the Day of Atonement. This is the holy city. And the temple, again, the temple complex, and then within that, the sanctuary and the holy place, this is where God had caused his name to dwell, and that was still the case at this time. But what is sacred means nothing to Satan. He doesn’t care. If he can get use in the process of getting you to sin, if he can use something sacred and holy that pertains to God, that’s just fine with him. And that’s what he’s doing right here in this temptation. And as I said, what you have is in his arsenal, he has lots of lots of ideas. And if one thing doesn’t work, he may turn around and use the opposite thing because he’s very pragmatic.

He doesn’t care, just so it works. See, the the first temptation we’ve already established is to get him to show a lack of trust in God. Just take matters into his own hands. But this temptation really goes the opposite direction. And it’s like, well, you trust God so much, just show us. But if he had done what Satan was tempting him to do here, it wouldn’t be showing true trust in God. That would be a false sense of trust. And Jesus, of course, knew that, and he knew, you know, I’m amazed today sometimes people will listen to something, and you can tell right away they’re they’re ignoring the context and making the wrong application. Somebody says, Well, they quoted the scripture. There’s a difference in quoting the scripture and knowing the scripture.

And Peter talked about those who rest the scripture to their own destruction. And Satan is quoting Scripture. He’s making use of Scripture. He’s misusing the Scripture because he’s wanting to get Jesus to sin. Jesus, when he quotes the Scripture, he loves the Father. He wants to do the Father’s will. His delight, his purpose was doing the Father’s will. What a difference in those who love the truth and those who do not. Now you think about this. We said it it’s the it’s it’s the opposite kind of situation. But what is the temptation here if he had done that? Well, you you think about how this would have just brought the applause of the multitudes. Did you see the fellow walk across Niagara Falls a while back?

There was a he walked across that cable. And he was willing to do that without that safety harness outfit they had on him, but that was kind of a condition of his doing that. Linda and I just before that had been to Niagara Falls. Not too long before that, on the Canadian side. We were doing a meeting trip up in Canada and got to see that while we were there. And that’s pretty amazing. I mean, have you ever been to Niagara Falls and somebody walking across a cable spanning those falls? That’s pretty amazing. And when people look at that where life is at stake, and here’s somebody succeeds in this, I mean, there’s there’s attraction to that. People will watch that. And if Jesus had gone to that pinnacle of the temple and jumped down and been like the cat, you know, just lands on his feet, no, you know, just great here.

Everybody’d be applauding, wow, did you see that? And crowds would be coming, and well, here, do it again. And so you talk about fame and and applause, that would have surely been the case. But see, Jesus saw through all that. He knows that we do not show our trust in God by jumping off a cliff. We show our trust in God by doing what he said. And that’s the only way that we show our trust in God. It’s by doing his will. And here again, Jesus is quoting from the scripture, Deuteronomy 6, verse 16, when he said, It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. What is Jesus doing here? He’s letting scripture interpret scripture. You want to stay on safe ground.

Never ever reach a conclusion on a passage that ignores the context or conflicts with other passages. Truth is harmonious. And yes, that means something in Psalm 91. He shall give his angels charge concerning that. That is talking about God’s protection, his love, his care for his people. And I believe in that and believe in the providential care of God. But that does not mean here here’s a here’s a car zooming down the road. So you just step in front of it and see if uh you can be hit and survive that, or if the car will just suddenly stop. That’s not saying that. It’s not saying, see if you can defy the laws of gravity, and let’s just see what’ll happen. Do not tempt the Lord your God.

3. All These Things I Will Give You

You don’t do that sort of thing just to see what God’s going to do. And so Jesus was balanced on that. He let Scripture interpret Scripture, and that’s what we must do. Thirdly, and finally, the Bible tells us that again, the devil took him on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Now I must confess to you, I don’t know exactly how he did that. And the text doesn’t say how he did that. We just we just know he did it. From some vantage point, I don’t know if uh some sort of vision is involved, but he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. So this would extend far beyond Israel, the land of Israel.

All the kingdoms of the world. I take that uh contextually, probably to mean uh in that again in that context, the Roman world. All the kingdoms of the world. And so here, here he says to Jesus, all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. I understand here that the air is tense is involved, and it is not linear. It is not the case you just keep on and keep on worshiping me, but it’s fall down and worship me just one time, just one act. Just fall down and worship me. All these kingdoms will be yours. I must admit that over the years I’ve uh in the past, not so much in the present, but I’ve kind of struggled with that in terms of, you know, Jesus wouldn’t do that, and he could see right through that, and really, what how would that be a temptation?

Well, the thing about it is, you can be sure that Satan is not going to put a temptation out there that’s not a real temptation. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2 in verse 11, that no advantage be gained over us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his devices. He has many devices. And so he’s very shrewd. He’s very intelligent. He’s not a joke, and he’s deadly serious about what he does. And so what Satan no doubt knew was the Jewish expectation. That’s reflected, for example, in John chapter 6, when Jesus fed the 5,000. And by the way, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle Jesus did that is recorded in all four Gospels. Several are recorded by three of the writers.

But this is the only one found in all four gospel accounts. But John tells us some information not found in the others, and that is at the end of this event of his feeding the 5,000 men plus women and children, it says that then the Jews sought to take him and make him king by force. The Jewish expectation was it’s going to be an army that would rise up and defeat Rome and overthrow that yoke. And so they were looking for an earthly king. They were looking for an earthly kingdom. They were looking for the very kind of thing that Satan here is offering Jesus right now. Just one time fall down and worship me. And not only was that the general expectation, but even Jesus’ own disciples.

When he was at Caesarea Philippi and made that wonderful promise he would build his church, and told about the apostolic authority to bind on earth what had been bound in heaven and loose on earth what had been loosed in heaven. But after that, he began to show to them that he must be crucified. He must suffer and be crucified and be raised on the third day. You remember what Peter did? He took him aside and began to rebuke him and he said, Lord, this shall never happen to you. And remember what Jesus said? Jesus rebuked Peter with the words, get behind me, Satan. He had heard that before. Because what Peter is saying is, Lord, we want you to be king, and you can be king, and you can do it without going the way of the cross.

That’s the temptation that is here. And here again, you and I know, but he came from heaven to do the Father’s will. He came to heaven from heaven to, and he knew he was going to be crucified. I understand that, and we can intellectually detach ourselves from the emotion, I suppose, and just look at it that way. But here’s the temptation. You will have to suffer unspeakably for a spiritual kingdom. But an earthly one can be yours without any suffering. Right now. Simply worship. Simply bow down to Satan, and they won’t spit on your face. You won’t be beaten. You won’t be lacerated with the scourging. You won’t be jeered at and mocked and ridiculed. You won’t be crucified. The horrors. You know, crucifixion was not designed just to execute someone.

You could execute someone very quickly if that was the point. It was designed to humiliate. And it was designed to prolong the suffering and make it as long and painful as it could be until the point of death. And if we don’t think that’s a temptation, then we haven’t really thought about what Jesus is going to have to do at the cross. And besides that, just the sheer weight of knowing the enormity of all the sins of the world that he’s going to bear as he goes the way of the cross and does the Father’s will. I mean, as that was looming before him in Luke chapter 22 and verse 44, the text says there fell from him great drops of sweat, as it were blood.

His soul was exceeding sorrowful even to death as he prayed to the Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass from me. And Satan is saying, You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to sweat those drops of blood. You don’t have to undergo that. Just fall down and worship me. But Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world. And Jesus knew that. He was clear on that. Do you remember when he was on trial before Pilate? In John chapter 18 and verse 36, Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servant spite that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore said to him, You are a king, then?

Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause was I born, and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Well, sadly for Pilate, he just says, What is truth? Turned around and walked out and tried in vain to keep Jesus from being crucified. It would be a lot more impressive to have a kingdom of the world, to ride some big stallion, to have everybody bowing down before you as you gallop along, and to run roughshod over people and have all these servants surrounding you. I mean, that would really be impressive as far as this world is concerned. And Jesus said, My kingdom is made up of people that hear my voice.

They’re attracted to truth. They want to know God. It’s a spiritual kingdom. It’s made up of people that want the truth and all of the provisions that are found in Jesus Christ. That submit to Jesus and to his will. And Jesus thought that was worth dying for.

But I want to suggest to you one other thing before we leave that. And that is, Jesus said in John 8 and verse 44, that the devil is a liar. And the father thereof. And I want to tell you something about his temptations. Satan is always promising something he cannot give. Now I know there’s a sense in which the Bible talks about Satan being the prince of this world, but that’s talking about in a spiritual sense, as people yield themselves to him in disobedience and yield to temptation and fail to follow God’s will, in that sense he becomes their ruler, and he’s the prince of darkness. But passages in both the Old and New Testament teach that it is God who rules in the kingdoms of men.

Do you remember in Daniel chapter 4 and verse 17 when Daniel there was warning Belshazzar? That the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdoms of men and gives it to whomsoever he will, even to the lowest of men. Remember when Jesus stood before Pilate where we were a while ago, and Pilate’s a little frustrated at Jesus’ answers or lack of answers like he wanted to hear. And he says, Do you not answer me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you or power to release you? And remember what Jesus said. You would have no power at all, except it were given to you from above. Who allowed Pharaoh to be on the throne, that his glory might be shown in Exodus 9 and in Romans 9, that point is made.

In the book of Revelation, it is Jesus Christ that is referred to in Revelation 19 and verse 16 as the King of kings and Lord of lords. He’s not only head of his body, the church, but he rules the nations with a rod of iron, as was prophesied in Psalm 2. Satan’s a liar. He’s promising what was not his to give. It is God that rules in the kingdoms of men. And now in this dispensation, it is Jesus Christ who continues that same abiding principle and rules in the kingdoms of men. So always bear that in mind, no matter what the temptation. It is delusional. No matter what the temptation, the thing promised, will not satisfy. It is not reality. Just like in the beginning. I mean, were Adam and Eve pleased with the results?

4. We Must Resist Satan Just as Jesus Did

Did they think this was a good thing after they sinned? Did they think they were wise? And did they think they were as gods? No, they were ashamed and tried to hide themselves from the presence of God. And it just brought heartache and all kinds of consequences. And that’s the nature of sin. Always remember that. Well, not only with these three, but with all the temptations Satan could deliver, Jesus remained sinless. In John chapter 8 and verse 46, in an you talk about a hostile audience. Adversaries were present. This is a controversial chapter. And in that context, Jesus says, which of you convicts me of sin? I wouldn’t say that with a circle of friends. And I sure wouldn’t say that to enemies. But Jesus could say that with whoever was present, and not one person could mention anything Jesus had done that was wrong.

Hebrews 4 and verse 15 tells us that Jesus in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Peter says he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. But I want to again drive home the point that though Jesus is sinless, he never availed himself of miraculous power. Each time in Matthew 4, he says, it is written, and whatever the temptation, he was mindful of God’s will. He wanted to do God’s will, he loved the Father, and it was unthinkable to him to do anything that would dishonor his father and bring shame upon his father. Once in a while I’ll see somebody that’s like that. That they’ll do the right thing not just because they might get caught, and not just because they might get in trouble, but to dishonor their parents would be so unthinkable.

It would just hurt them to think that they’ve hurt their parents, if they’ve shamed their parents. And Jesus was that way in a very high plane, of course, in his love for the Father. You see, what we must do if we are to be like Jesus is we must resist Satan. We must resist him by appealing to Scripture, just as Jesus did. Another thing to learn in this process is it’s not a sin to be tempted. I think sometimes somebody might feel guilty because they felt a temptation. Well, Jesus was tempted, but he didn’t sin. We’re just saying, yield not to temptation for yielding is sin. Now that doesn’t mean you just enjoy thinking about it and let it you know dowley about uh about in your mind with sin and you and but the temptation itself is not sinful.

Don’t yield to temptation. Always look for that way of escape. One time when Linda and I were making a trip to Russia, there was a young man that uh we had studied, I’d studied with before, and I could tell he was close, and it was, but you know, you can tell somebody’s wanting to say something, but not saying, not doing so. So I said, Is there something you want to talk to me about? And he said, Yes, there is. He said, I’ve studied with the Mormons, and I’ve studied with the witnesses, and I’ve studied with you. And he said, Now I know I found the truth. But he said, How do I know that if I were to become a Christian, that I would be faithful and that I wouldn’t just fall away.

And I asked him to turn to this passage in his Russian Bible in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13. Now, this is a passage I trust most of you know. Some of you may have memorized. There is no temptation taken you but such as man can bear. God is faithful, who will also with the temptation make uh who will with the temptation make also the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Now, have you ever I know Bill Bonum has done this a lot of times in his European work? Josh has made several trips to Russia. Brother Harkwriter’s done foreign evangelism. But have you ever had the experience of somebody seeing a passage that’s never seen it before? They’ve never read it before or heard it, and they didn’t know that it was even in there.

They had no idea. And so here’s a question. And he said, Well, look at this passage and see what it says. And you see that understanding that is taking place? That you have God’s word on it. That he will not allow there to be a temptation greater than your ability to bear. He will help you, he will enable you, he provides a way of escape. You have his word on it. Titus 1 and verse 2 says, in hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie has promised. And so the way we know that is not because we’re so strong, it’s because God is so faithful. And because of that we know that there will never, ever be a temptation beyond our ability to bear. There will always be a way of escape.

We need to look for it. And we need to take it. Satan is our enemy. I said earlier tonight, he is not a joke. You know, whatever it is, if you laugh about it, if you think it’s funny, it really takes the edge off. And people do that about Satan all the time. Oh, the devil made me do it. And even when he is caricatured, you know, he’s got the red suit on and with the pitchfork and the tail. And so he’s a joke in everybody’s mind. He’s not a reality. And that’s not true. He walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom we may devour. We have this promise resist the devil and he will flee from you. That almost sounds like a contradiction. A lion doesn’t flee from anything.

But when we say it is written. When we resist Satan as Jesus did, he will flee. So he’s a coward when this is used and when it’s used properly. But he’s our enemy. Remember also when we’re tempted, we have help in every time of need. Jesus was tempted himself that he might be our high priest and that he can help us. In fact, that’s when the Hebrew writer says, Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may find mercy and grace to help in every time of need. What we must determine to do is make no compromise with evil, no matter what is promised, and have that same resolve that our Lord did. And so, tonight we’ve just talked about one trait that Jesus had.

Conclusion

How he dealt with temptation. A disciple is not above his teacher. Everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. It is imperative that each one of us here regard ourselves as pupils that are learning from Jesus. We study him. We keep our focus on him. We want to be like Him. We want to reflect Him. And so when it comes to temptation, may God help us to be like our teacher. Tonight if you’re subject to the Lord’s invitation, Jesus died for all that we might be saved from sin. The simple conditions of gospel obedience are that we must believe in Him as the Son of God. We must repent of our sins. With a mouth, confession is made unto salvation. And on that basis, we’re buried with our Lord in baptism.

Every sin is washed away by the blood of Christ. We’re raised to walk in newness of life. If you’ve not done that, tonight would be a wonderful time, and we want to encourage you. If you have done so, but you’ve not been like the Lord in other respects, and you know you need to get off to a fresh start. If we could pray with you and for you, we’d be happy to do so as together we stand and sing.