Testing In the Wilderness
Notes
Transcript
Intro; I don’t know about you, but one thing I always hated were tests. I never had a problem with learning in school because learning really came easy to me. Learning is all about habit. The more you practice something the more you learn about what you practice. But what I didn’t like was taking tests on what I had learned.
Test- a written or spoken examination of a person's proficiency or knowledge about something; an event or situation that reveals the strength or quality of someone or something by putting them under strain:
After Jesus was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus was tested [knowledge/put under strain] to prove who He was.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
This was very important for Jesus to be tested this way, because testing, being put under strain, is where most Christians fail when our faith is tested!
1. Mt. 4:1-11/Luke 4:1-13
1. Mt. 4:1-11/Luke 4:1-13
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’
11 and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Tempt- generally has a bad meaning such as to entice one to do wrong, or to seduce one to sin
Test- an event or situation that reveals the strength or quality of someone or something by putting them under strain:
God never tempts one to sin but He will test us to make us better or grow in our faith. Sometimes those tests allow Satan to tempt us [ref. Job]. These two words are used often as the same in scripture.
Fasted- In both accounts we see Jesus fasted for 40 days. Fasting is to humble oneself to focus on God and acknowledge dependence upon Him [Jesus knew why He was going into the wilderness]
Satan tests Jesus with three temptations; [temptation 2 and 3 are reversed in the Gospel of Luke]
The tests that are put before Jesus are the same that we are tested/tempted with today by Satan.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
2. Lust of the Flesh; Mt. 4:3-4
2. Lust of the Flesh; Mt. 4:3-4
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Lust of the flesh refers to those desires that lead one to gratify physical desires and appetites. After 40 days of fasting Jesus surely was hungry so Satan starts where Jesus is the weakest.
“If You are the Son of God”. Satan did not deny that Jesus was the Son of God, he just demanded proof. But his demand was kind of like a dare to Jesus or even planting a seed of doubt in His mind.
40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
Could Jesus have turned the stone into bread? Yes
Did Jesus have the power to come down from the cross? Yes
But to do either at the request of Satan would be to depart from God’s plan and that would have been sin!
When Satan tempts us to depend upon our own resources rather than on God, and we often do, we sin and fall to the lust of the flesh!
How did Jesus respond to this test? It is written [Word of God]
Written Word- [rhēmâ]; specific statement or spoken word. It is used specifically in a theological sense in Jewish literature.
When Jesus uses the word “rhema”, He is stating a specific scripture from God’s word.
2 And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
Not only does God provide for our physical needs, but He also provides more-so our spiritual nourishment!
3. Lust of the Eyes; Lk. 4:5-8
3. Lust of the Eyes; Lk. 4:5-8
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Lust of the Eyes is worldly ambition, authority, building your ego. Satan promises Jesus the world if He would just bow down and worship him.
Who gave Satan the authority to give Jesus the kingdoms of the world? Man did when he sinned against God in the garden.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
Satan knew Jesus would reign over the world but that would come through the path of pain, suffering and death on the cross. Satan offered Jesus the easy way out, “just worship me and you can have it all.”
Jesus again answers with a specific scripture;
13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
Satan tempts us with shortcuts in life, broad path, to obtain what one can only receive on the narrow path.
4. Pride of Life; Mt. 4:5-7
4. Pride of Life; Mt. 4:5-7
Here Satan tempts Jesus’ human nature, “pride”.
Pride of life refers to trying to attain or doing something to draw attention to oneself, impress others.
“If” You are the Son of God I challenge you to prove it by jumping off the the temple and according to God’s Word He will send his angels to rescue you!
Written- [gra-phō] written in a general sense, to write
Satan actually misquotes the scripture;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
To be the recipient of this promise is only in the condition of being obedient to God’s will. For Jesus to jump off the temple would be equivalent to me jumping off the Empire State building. Both would end in a splat because it would be out of God’s will and full of pride!
Jesus answers again with the Word [rhē-ma]
16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.
[Israel provoked God to wrath {water, food, fiery serpents} as they murmured and questioned whether God was among them in the wilderness]
2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.
10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
23 A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.
The devil leaves after he has been defeated, but that doesn’t mean he surrenders. He’ll be back at another time of weakness, Jesus’ trials/cross.
Close;
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.
When you are tested, rely on the Word of God!
