Battling Satan Matthew 4.1-11

Temptation is a fact of life.  We face it from cradle to grave.  Some temptations are fleeting; some are struggles that rage constantly.  Some temptations we easily overcome; others attract us to thoughts and actions that greatly appeal to us.  These vary person to person and stage of life to stage of life.  Being tempted is not a sin; giving into temptation is.  Christ was tempted as we are but without sin (Hebs. 4.15).  Jesus was the Son of God but was also human and lived his human life in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, we should look to his battle with temptation for insight into how we can battle our own temptations.

A.       Times of Attack--While it is true that we face temptation daily, we must be aware that there are times when we are more likely to be attacked and when we are must vulnerable.

1.       Right after great spiritual victories and experiences—Jesus was tempted after being baptized and proclaimed the Lamb of God publicly by John the Baptist.  He has just spent 40 days fasting and praying in preparation for his ministry.  When we have felt especially close to God or have seen/experienced great works of God, we have attacked the Kingdom of Satan.  Therefore, we should expect a counterattack.  Indeed, our spiritual pride might open the door of our defenses.  Christ is tempted to do great spiritual or divine acts.  “You are on a roll here spiritually; God is really working in your life—let’s take it to the next level.”  Christ understood the need to wait on the timing of God.

2.       When we are emotionally and/or physically weak—when we are going through great stress and anxiety; when we have a sense of a great need in our life, Satan will tempt us to not trust God or to take shortcuts.  The temptation was to make bread out of stone—could Jesus do it? Yes.  Then what was the temptation?  To not trust God to provide. The temptation was to focus on the needs of this kingdom instead of the Kingdom of God.  This same type of thinking is what led Abraham and Sarah to use a shortcut (Hagar) to acquire a son instead of trusting God’s plan—to devastating effect.

3.       When we are on the verge of a movement of God—Christ was about to launch his ministry.  Satan was aware that the battle for the future of the universe and eternity was about to begin.  Satan knew that God the Father through God the Son empowered by God the Holy Spirit was about to unleash the Kingdom of God into the world.  He is attempting a pre-emptive strike here.  When Satan senses that God is about to do something through an individual or a church, he will attack with temptation in hope of derailing or limiting the movement of God through that person or church.

B.       Our Weapons of Defense—How did Christ respond to the temptations?  What weapons of defense did he use?  It is important for us to know this because these can be our weapons as well.

1.       Scripture (v. 4)—Jesus responds to the temptation to meet his physical need on his own, apart from trusting God by declaring that the spiritual bread of the word of God is as necessary as physical bread.  By this, Jesus means listening and obeying the commands of God.  We already have those in the scriptures.  Note that Jesus responds by quoting scripture to each of the temptations. In Psalms 1.1-2, David tells us that the man who does not give into wicked advice and temptation delights in the law of the Lord and meditates in it constantly.  We will either listen to the voice of temptation or the voice of the Lord.  By dwelling in the Word of God, we can drown out the voice of Satan. Psalm 119.11 says “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  Paul tells us in Ephesians 6.17 that the armor of God includes “the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  We are disciples.  The word “disciple” means a student.  We are to make disciples by teaching them to obey all that Christ taught.  We are to be students of the word.  Churches are to be schools of the word.  Pastors are to be teachers of the word.  Otherwise, we are all defenseless against temptation.  Why is there so much sin and disobedience in so many churches?  Because our people are not taught the scriptures.

2.       Submission (v. 7)—Satan challenges how much Jesus trusts God.  “You think you are the Son of God, you trust this God to keep his promises?  Prove it!  Threw yourself off this high pinnacle and let him rescue you.”  Jesus responded that you do not test God.  Testing and trusting are not the same thing.  Indeed, testing is lack of trust.  If I believed my students were doing all their work and knew everything, I would not give tests.  You give tests because you do not believe they know everything and you have to evaluate how much they know and how much they do not know.  Trusting God means to submit to whatever he does or does not do, when he chooses it to do it.  The call is to wait upon the Lord, not to force his hand.

3.       Service (v.10)—When tempted to accept a “better offer” from Satan, Jesus declares that we should only worship and serve God.  In scripture, worship and service are always connected.  We separate them—service is what we do outside of church, worship what we do in church.  However we cannot properly worship him who we do not obey and we cannot obey him whom we do not worship.  Paul tells us in Romans 12.1-2 that not being conformed to the world but being transformed combines worship and service when he uses the root our English word liturgy as the term translated as “acts of service.”  When we worship God through service and serve through worship, our focus is so squarely on him that is hard for Satan to distract us with temptation.

A life devoted to the Word of God, to trusting God, and to worshipful service of God is a life that can stand strongly against any temptation.  Note that after the temptation, the Father did provide what Christ needed (v. 11).  His patience in the Lord was justified.

Remember the promise of I Cor. 10.13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”