Encountering the Enemy
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Last week we began talking about Jesus going into the wilderness
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Jesus has just been baptized by John, is full of the HS and heads into the wilderness to be tempted
This is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and notice that He was full of the HS
As we talk about spiritual warfare this morning, we need to understand that Jesus was empowered by the HS to address spiritual warfare
We saw this last week when we talked about acts
After Peter and John heal the the lame beggar and is arrested, we saw
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!
So Peter is filled with the HS as he is speaking to the rulers and elders
After they tell them stop talking about Jesus and threatens them, Peter and John go back to the disciples
They are talking to the disciples and they begin to pray about the spiritual warfare that they are facing
We get down to verse:
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
So enable us to speak the word boldly and
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Embolden us to preach your word and do signs and wonders!
So, in the context of spiritual oppression and warfare, they pray for boldness, and God honors them!
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
So, God fills them with the Holy Spirit and they continued to speak the word with boldness!
I know that I am preaching a lot of what I preached last week again, but I think that it is important to clarify a few things!
There is a difference in being led by the HS and being filled with the HS!
Being led by the HS is the instructions or directions of what to do, when to do it, and how to do it!
Being filled with the HS is the empowerment to do so!
Jesus gave the instructions to the disciples to go and make disciples
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
But Jesus empowered them to do so when they received the HS and were filled with the HS
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
He leads them and instructs them to make disciples and He empowers them when they are filled with the HS
Likewise, Jesus was instructed or led by the HS to go into the wilderness and then He was empowered by the HS to do so!
We are continually to be led by the HS. There are specific moments when we are filled or empowered with the HS
In the wilderness, Jesus is being both led and empowered by the HS!
This is important for us to understand when it comes to spiritual warfare and confrontation with the enemy
As we read earlier, Jesus is in the wilderness and has fasted for 40 days at this point.
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
So the enemy comes to Him when He is physically weekend because of fasting.
And, so the temptation is a physical one because He is hungry
If we look at the temptation of satan in the garden, we see that there was a physical appeal to what he was tempting eve with
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Now, I don’t think that Eve had been fasting for 40 days, but the temptation of food was still there. So notice that enemy is using the same trick
Secondly, satan questions the identity of Christ!
“If you are the Son of God” He says…
In the garden, he tempts eve by questioning the validity of what God said
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Satan questions what God says in the garden and then the identity of Jesus in the wilderness
He then uses scripture to tempt Jesus
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the three accounts of the temptation in the wilderness and none of them note a response by Jesus
Maybe it is because Jesus ignore him, or rolls his eyes at him, we don’t know but there doesn’t seem to be a response
So then the devil leads him to the temple, at least in Matthew’s version. Probably Luke reorders the temptations as he wanted to end in Jerusalem, so we will stick with Matthew’s account as this is where we are
So, they are in Jerusalem now at the top of the temple and satan says
6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
notice again, the attack is the identity of Jesus…if you are the Son of God and then he misuses scripture again…
In the first temptation, satan was going ofter the flesh of Jesus, in the second one he is hammering down more on the identity of Jesus and notice His mic drop response
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Jesus doubles down on His identity here! He refers to Himself as the Lord and God!
Essentially saying “I am not just the Son of God, I am the Lord, your God!”
So, when the enemy came at Jesus, even with scripture to attack His identity, Jesus doubles down on who He is!
Maybe, when the enemy comes at our identity, we need to know who we are in Christ and come at Him with the Word of God!
Not today, satan, I will not be shaken because I am a child of the most high God! I am a coheir with Christ, seated with Him in the heavenly places, far far above you!
So, no, don’t question my identity!
That doesn’t work for satan so he then takes Jesus to
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
What the enemy is hinting at here is that he is in charge of the kingdoms of the world and this fallen earth.
Though he is not completely wrong, Jesus doesn’t bite because He knows the future!
And, Jesus knows that it is more important to worship God only in the moment of temptation. And he knows that what God has in the long run is so much better than what could happen in the temporary.
Jesus says:
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Get away, because I will not worship you and whatever trick you have up your sleeve!
Maybe this is the response that we should have when the enemy tempts us with a temporary good time.
Though sin can often seem fun or pleasures in the moment, it pales in comparison to what God has for us!
How do we respond to satan in the moment, well, unlike Eve in the garden, we say away from me satan! I will not worship you! Everything you offer is nothing compared to what God has for me!
I will worship and serve Him!
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Though I sacrifice in the moment, I will only worship God!
Maybe we resolve to live the lyrics of the song “I have decided to follow Jesus”
“I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.
I have decided to follow Jesus
no turning back, no turning back”
So, when the enemy comes, we understand that the flesh is weak, but our soul is strong in Christ!
We can stand against the schemes of the enemy when we resolve that what God has for us is so much better than what satan can offer!
When we are empowered by the HS, we can stand against the enemy!
