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.”
