The 3 Nature

INTRO:

Recap

Can’t go back to the way it was before the event.

We have been looking at the baptism of Jesus

Today we are going to look at the 3 temptations

Title of the message this morning is “The 3 Natures”

Matthew 4:3–11 “And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again 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 I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, 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 were ministering to him.”

BODY:

The first temptation:

What we find, first off, is that the enemy had been lying in wait.

This is the very first time we read about satan, the enemy, or the tempter (Whatever name you want to use).

In verse 3 we read (Matthew 4:3) “And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.””

The tempter is in reference to (Vs1) “the devil.”

The “devil” is his title but “tempter” refers to the Devil by his function.

This is the first written recording, in the Gospels, of "the devil?"

We read that the enemy enters the picture

What we can assess from this verse is that the enemy was observing from outside (on the fringe) waiting, for what he believed to be the most opportune time, to come into the picture and do (what he does best) ….…tempt Jesus!

Just a side note to help us understand some of the other functions the devil is known for …..…

John 8:44 Murders and lies

John 13:2 betrays

Acts 10:38 oppresses

Acts 13:10 deceives

Ephesians 6:11 Schemes

I Peter 5:8 Devourers

I John 3:8 Sinner

and “said to Him…”

“If you are the Son of God ……?”

Does this mean the devil didn’t know who Christ was?

Of course he knew who He was.

We can conclude this by the mere fact that Satan addresses Jesus and personally tempts Him which tell us He knew who He was?

Also by the mere fact that this first temptation was to get Jesus to question who He was (his SONSHIP).

“If you are the Son of God”

The word If here is better translated “Since you are God’s Son,” “In that you are God’s Son,” or “You are God’s Son, and therefore …”

However, it is also possible to understand him to be saying “If you are God’s Son, prove it by …”

I would look at it like this, “So, you’re the Son of God! Prove it!”

He tempts Jesus by asking him to demonstrate his sonship by performing a miracle: command these stones to become loaves of bread.

What we see here is the devil tempting Jesus’ Physical nature

We know that Jesus was hungry.

(40 days and 40 night of fasting)

Quick note: Satan knew what Christ was capable of doing! He could turn the stones into bread.

He is the Son of God!

* So the first temptation was not about hunger but about the Fathers WILL.

* Christ going into the wilderness was about obedience not so much about understanding hunger.

Fasting is about obedience and not so much about going without food.

It's a spiritual discipline meant to help one focus on spiritual matters.

Satan wanted to get Jesus to focus on the physical nature of his existence and turn from his spiritual purpose. Turn away from God’s will.

This temptation is about obedience to the will of the Father

What type of son will Jesus be?

An obedient one or one of disobedience?

Lets remember the similarities we find in this wilderness experience with the one of the Israelites (Moses)

Leads them out of Egypt to the wilderness and they become grumblers and disobey the will of the father.

The Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness and he walks out of it obediently.

Lets stop for a moment and ask ourselves, “Have I been dealing with the temptations of the enemy?”

Been dealing with lies?

Been dealing with betrayal?

Been dealing with oppression/depression?

Been dealing with deception?

Been dealing with the schemes of the Enemy?

Been dealing with a sense of being devoured?

Been dealing with sin?

Lets look at how Jesus deals with this first temptation.

Matthew 4:4 (ESV) But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Jesus first response to the enemies temptation was THE WORD!

How important, how significant is the word of God then? VERY!

Matthew writes, “But he answered,”

The word “answered” in the Greek is the word Apokrinomia) which is a very generic and simplistic response. (Remember this for later)

“It is written”

Jesus shoots down this temptation from the devil by quoting THE WORD OF GOD!

Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

So what one can conclude is this, with all the stuff the enemy throws at us, knowing the word of God is our defense!

This should tell us just how important it is to KNOW THE WORD of God.

I am not necessarily stating that everyone here this morning should be able to recite by memory scripture.

I think we all should be in the word daily.

I think we all should be able to handle the word of God correctly.

I think we should all be able to expound on the word to others “in season and out of season.”

Because 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us this ….…“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Our physical adversities should never over ride our obedience to the will of God.

Don’t let our physical needs cause it to deviate from ……

…… Our Identity (Who we are in Christ)

…… Our purpose (What our purpose is)

…… Our mission (Where is our mission field is)

The second temptation:

We read in Matthew 4:5–6 “Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ””

What got my attention was “Then the devil took Him ..”

This gives an image in ones mind of a defendant being escorted out of a court room by officers.

Or someone going against their will.

But this is not what this word portrays.

When you look at the word “Took” in the Greek it literally means “led,” “went with,” or “made him go.”

One translator stated it as two people walking “side by side” into an existing location.

Why is this significant?

Jesus went willingly!

There was not a fight!

Most importantly, Jesus was not overpowered, but went on His own volition.

This is not saying Jesus looked forward to these temptations but that it was more important to obey.

We must remember that God doesn’t tempt,

Hebrews 2:18 “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

James 1:13–14 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Matthew 4:5–6“Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ””

This is the second time we read, “If you are the Son of God”

Again, this is the devil challenging Jesus Identity.

The enemy knows who Jesus is.

He is the Son of God.

One could take this to say, “So you’re the Son of God, Prove it!”

Satan wanted to get Jesus to focus on the Law of nature and turn from his spiritual purpose. Turn away from God’s will.

“throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”

This was asking God to break the Law of Nature (Gravity)

Interject into from the spiritual realm and suspend the law of Nature to reveal himself. (Theophany moment: a visible manifestation of God)

How does Jesus respond?

Matthew 4:7 “Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ””

When we look at the word “SAID” we find a different Greek word.

This should indicate to us that Jesus responds to the devil differently than the first time.

Vs 4 is translated “He answered”

Here in Verse 7 is translated “Jesus said”

This Greek word is (Phemi) which seems to be more direct (to speak or talk, with apparent focus upon the content of what is said—‘to say, to talk, to tell, to speak).

We can sense a rise in Jesus response to the devil.

He is getting a little more firm in His response

Again, Jesus shoots down this temptation from the devil by quoting THE WORD OF GOD!

Deuteronomy 6:16““You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, .…”

The Third Temptation

Matthew 4:8–9 “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 I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.””

“Took” walked side by side to the top of a Mountain.

This is where things change.

The devil doesn’t tempt Jesus with the Physical Nature nor does he ask to see if God will suspend the Law of Nature.

Satan addresses the Divine Nature.

The enemy was willing to give up all that He possessed (showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you)

Let us not forget, “all the enemy has” was given to him by us.”

Satan say’s “all I have, I will give to you ….… One condition!”

“fall down and worship me”

The audacity, the arrogance, the gull to ask “God Himself” to bow down to him.

Church this is what is out there in the world today and is trying to “still, kill, and destroy” us.

This is where, as a reader, you can sense the change in the atmosphere.

Look at Matthew 4:10 “Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ””

When we look at the word “Jesus SAID to him”

This is a different word from the first two, LEGO

It means to speak or talk, with apparent focus upon the content of what is said.

We find this word used in Matthew 1:20 “But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

With this stated, What we read next is something that should get all of our attention, “Be gone, Satan!”

First off this is a command! Not only a command but one from the SON OF GOD!

Jesus goes on to quote another passage from Deuteronomy 6:13 “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”

Secondly, we get the sense and feel that Jesus is done with these temptations.

So Christ exercised his authority ………… commanding the enemy to leave.

But here is what I want us to focus on ……

Matthew 4:11 “Then the devil left him, ……….”

The Greek word for left is, aphiemi.

You know what it means? - to send away, dismiss

The enemy is sent away. Told to leave. He is dismissed!

HE HAD TOO! He had to obey the authority of Christ.

2 things most people don’t understand about Satan.

He has to fall to the authority of Jesus Christ

He will return to try again.

What does this say to us this morning?

The enemy is persistent, relentless, consistent, and driven.

This is how much he HATES God!

He can’t touch God but knows the love the Father has for us. SO in turn he turns his attention to us and causing pain and heartache.

He knows this hurts God!

Also, we know that the enemy is not finished with Jesus.

We know by biblical facts that the enemy continued his attacks on Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

So lets recap:

Jesus is led out into the wilderness to be tempted by the Tempter (AKA the Devil)

He is first tempted by the tempter with the Physical Nature (Hunger)

Jesus refutes this by quoting scripture.

Jesus then walks with the tempter to the temple and is tempted with the Law of Nature (defy gravity)

Jesus refutes this by quoting scripture.

Jesus then walks to this high mountain with the tempter and is tempted with the Divine Nature (Worship Satan)

Jesus has had enough and commands Satan to leave.

So what is this Pericope saying to us this morning?

Jesus faced the same things we are facing today. (Temptation)

He over came by the word and His Authority

The enemy is relentless.

He will tempt us in Physical Nature, Law of Nature, and the Divine Nature

Even after He is told to leave he still will try to sneak back in to mess with us

There will not be one aspect of our lives that is off limits to the enemy.

By the Spirit that dwells in a believer, we have the authority over the enemy.

The enemy just needs to be told this.

So how do we deal with the …..…

Liar

Betrayer

Oppresser

Deceiver

Schemes of the Enemy

Sin

Exactly how Jesus showed us ……

The Word and Spirit