The King Who Overcame
Notes
Transcript
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “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 on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand 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 will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took Him to a very 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 fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
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How do we overcome temptation? We live in a world full of stumbling blocks and snares that try to grab our attention? We have fickle hearts that tempt us to believe the lies we tell ourselves. We have an abundance of ordinary goods that we can be tempted to turn into gods if we’re not careful. It’s a part of being in this world. It’s a part of being in the church. It’s apart of being human even as holy saints on this earth. There is no running from temptation. It’s an important and fair question I want to get to this morning, but as much as I mention it here at the start we can’t start there.
Jesus’ overcoming temptation in the wilderness is not primarily an “Overcoming temptation manual”. Primarily, this passage is a declaration of Christ’s overcoming sin and the devil that we might find our hope and life in Him! There’s a very real sense in which we should get to the end of this passage and rejoice! Before we ever implement a strategy to overcome our own temptation we need to rejoice for what Christ accomplishes here. We need to set our faith in Christ our victorious King walking away from a passage like this. I’ll say it from the beginning, the primary application point for this morning is to believe. The call to believe and to trust are legitimate points of application. As we walk through the passage this morning pause before you come to ask, “How can I do that?” We’ll get there, but first do you believe that this victory is yours in Jesus Christ? Before we enter the battle that we might overcome sin and temptation, it’s important we stand on that solid rock that is Christ.
John reasons along these lines. Let’s see that briefly from the start.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
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When we see the power of the devil in the world and temptations that work against us, our hope isn’t primarily in a good example to follow. It’s in that simple confession, “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, He is from God as we saw in His Baptism last week, and He is greater than he who is in the world.” Christ has overcome the devil and all his devices. He accomplished a righteousness that Adam nor Israel did, both of whom did not overcome their temptations. Our hope today is not the fact that we are any better than Adam or Israel. Our hope today is in the fact that Christ in us is greater than he who is in the world.
Christ overcame temptation where Adam and Israel failed, and because Christ has overcome, we have life in Him, and can live like Him.
Christ overcame temptation where Adam and Israel failed, and because Christ has overcome, we have life in Him, and can live like Him.
Life by the word of God. “Is the Word really enough for you?”
Life sustained by faith in God. “Is God really with you?”
Life devoted to the worship of God. “Can service of God really deliver you the kingdom?”
Life by the word of God
Life by the word of God
If there is a verse that ought to tell us this is no mere example it is verse 1.
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
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Jesus has explicitly instructed us to pray that we not be led into temptation. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Jesus is not acting as any ordinary man who stumbles across temptation by simply being in the world. Jesus is doing something none of us should do that is intentionally isolating ourselves so as to be assaulted by the evil one. Jesus isn’t on a journey from one town to another and just so happens to encounter the devil along the way as we might. This is very intentional and a unique work of Jesus the Messiah. Before His ministry begins there’s an enemy to overcome. There’s a score to be settled if you will - a victory to be won for the people of God, but you have to admit it doesn’t exactly look like Jesus is preparing for a battle.
2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
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That seems a bit counterintuitive doesn’t it for someone knowingly and purposely entering into battle. Before we enter a major competition of any kind we make sure there’s energy in the tank. Why is Jesus depriving himself of common goods as he goes out?
Before Jesus begins His ministry and begins to lead people out of the wilderness of sin into righteousness he’s going to become the righteous overcomer that Adam and Israel never were. He’s going to subject himself to all the rigors and difficulty of the wilderness, deprive himself of all earthly goods that he might overwhelmingly succeed where Israel failed.
Adam was never subjected to a wilderness, quite the opposite and he still failed. He was given everything he could ever need or desire with a righteous heart, and yet he failed to overcome.
Israel however was led out into a wilderness before they approached the mountain of God.
1 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.
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It was there in that wilderness where Israel too failed. They sinned against God in their hearts and with their words.
2 The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
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Jesus is going back to a very similar place - deprived of all earthly goods - that He might be subject to an even greater temptation and therein accomplish an even greater victory. A victory that declares to all the powerlessness of the devil and his devices, but also a victory that fulfills all righteousness for the people of God.
No one is going to be able to tell Jesus that he doesn’t know what it’s like to be tempted.
No one is going to be able to say that Jesus’ righteousness had the benefit of this or that earthly provision. “It’s easy if you have everything you need.” Some may say.
In laying aside every earthly strength and common good, Jesus puts on full display the fullness of His righteousness - a righteousness grounded by faith in the Word of God.
Just as Jesus couldn’t be any weaker in an earthly sense, he’s gone without food for forty days in a wilderness. From my understanding most people are dead by that point. It’s at this point that the devil comes to tempt Him. He’s done this before. He knows we’re more prone to sin when our bodies are weak.
3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
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It seems rather plain doesn’t it? There’s nothing explicit or profane about it on the surface. What’s so sinful or wrong about turning a stone into bread? If I may put this temptation another way,
“You have the power and means, Satisfy yourself!”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
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“Use your freedom and means to satisfy yourself with what God has not provided.”
Where is our life and abundance really found? Is it found in our own ability, our own freedom, our own power to sustain and satisfy ourselves?
Jesus hasn’t come out into the wilderness to live like any ordinary man and live in dependence upon Himself.
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
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Adam was very literally brought to life by the breath of God in the beginning and in truth nothing has changed. Apart from the word of God giving us life through the gospel of Christ we’re left to our own devices to sustain ourselves.
Jesus in the fullness of His righteousness shows us what it truly means to be alive and to overcome. Two things we know nothing about apart from Christ.
From a worldly perspective Jesus is as good as dead. This is the scene in the movie where the vultures begin to circle, and yet this is the moment where He overcomes. This is the moment where He shows us His church what it means to be alive.
Life is never found in living for ourselves.
Life is never found in self-preservation by our own means.
Life is never found in using what we’re entitled to for our own advancement.
Life is found in God and how He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. Not even Jesus relied upon Himself, even He depended on the Father and His Word to sustain Him. Jesus went to the cross knowing he could have delivered Himself with legions of angels and yet he entrusted Himself to the Father who would raise Him from the dead. In all of Christ’s suffering and endurance He accomplished something very real on our behalf.
Let’s step back for a moment and remember we need to be united with the overcomer before we can venture to overcome ourselves. We need to be given life before we can hope to live a life abundant.
When we see what Christ is doing here I hope we might humbly realize, “That’s not me!
I’m a little more like Adam and Eve who with blessings upon blessings still chose to believe that we can provide for ourselves better than God can.
I’m a little more like Israel in the wilderness wishing I had the comforts of Egypt instead of the narrow, difficult path to the promised land.”
Even if we recognize that reality to the smallest degree, it’s enough to show us we cannot overcome apart from Christ. We cannot live apart from Christ. We cannot hope to have strength in the wilderness apart from Christ in us.
But that’s the good news, we can hope because we do have Christ in us through the Holy Spirit. For my brothers and sisters in Christ here this morning, we can read of this victory in these two simple verses and say together with boldness, “Greater is He who is in me, than He who is in the world!”
It’s when we realize that we have Christ Himself, we have life in Him, we have His righteousness through faith, we have strength in Him by the Spirit, it’s then that we can begin to consider, how do I walk in the footsteps of my Savior?
Firstly, let’s address the temptation. Don’t let the devil, the world, or your flesh tell you what you’re missing.
Adam and Eve believed the devil’s lie that they were missing something in the garden; They weren’t.
Israel believed their flesh and thought they were better off in Egypt thinking Egypt could provide what God could not.
The devil tried to convince Jesus he was lacking what was necessary for life. He wasn’t.
So much of our sin begins with the desire of something we’re lacking that we don’t actually need - the belief that our life can’t really be abundant without this amount of money, this kind of work, this kind of fulfillment, this kind of relationship so on and so forth.
It’s when we agree with the lie that we need something that God hasn’t provided or promised that things really start to get ugly. We begin to justify the pursuit by our own means or simply start complaining.
Do we find ourself upset or frustrated or complaining? Do we find ourself thinking, “If only I had...” “If only this person did that...” “Moses this is your fault, why did you bring us out here?”
There’s a good chance we’ve given the world our ear and believed the lie that we’re missing something when we’re really not.
What’s the antidote?
Move away from the letting the world, the flesh and devil tell you what you’re missing and move to letting God tell you what you have and what he’s promised (x2). God’s provision and promises. That’s the nature of God’s word in a nutshell. All that Christ has done for us in Christ and all that Christ has promised to do. Sometimes that means we have reason to celebrate together in thanksgiving. We sing together every Sunday for what Christ has done for us undeserving sinners. We offer prayers of thanks together. Sometimes it means we’re waiting for the Lord to provide.
Just because it feels like a wilderness doesn’t mean we’re dead or lacking anything necessary to an abundant life in Christ. Even in the wilderness. Even as exiles and strangers in a strange land we have wonderful provisions to rejoice in, we have wonderful promises to hope in. When we diligently focus on those two things we take huge steps toward battling with sin and walking in the abundant life God intended for us.
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The devil is persistent and presents Jesus with another temptation.
Life sustained by faith in God.
Life sustained by faith in God.
5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand 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 will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”
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Again the nature of this temptation seems hard to grasp at first. When I visited the grand canyon I had no temptation whatsoever to launch myself from the edge, but look at the devil’s words. He actually uses Scripture to tempt Jesus. He’s using truth and twisting it to encourage an unbelieving behavior.
He quotes Psalm 91 this wonderful Psalm of trust in the Lord our refuge and fortress. Aren’t we supposed to trust in God to protect and preserve us His people? That’s the premise of the devil’s temptation. Aren’t you the Son? “If You are the Son of God? If God really is faithful to protect and preserve his own...” Rather than tempt Jesus with a lie this time he begins with a truth, but it’s the invitation that proves to be the temptation. “Throw Yourself down.”
If I were to put it this way, The devil is demanding Jesus prove it. If this is what you are, if this who God is, prove it!
Look at Jesus’ response. There’s really an explanation of the temptation in his response.
7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
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Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.
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If you turn back to Exodus 17 you can see the sin that the verse is warning against.
7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
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That old question that brought Israel to stumble and test the Lord is the same question the Devil presents to Jesus just nicely packaged. “Is the Father with you, or not? Wouldn’t it be nice to know? Prove it!”
In response Jesus again proves to be the righteous man of faith that He is.
Faith is not demanding of God His promises when we want them. Faith is not being foolish in order that God may show Himself faithful. Faith doesn’t test God with His own words as the devil does.
Faith is willing to take God at His Word, attend to the ordinary work we have been called to, and wait for His provision. If Christ had demanded the Father’s deliverance rather than waiting for the appropriate time He would have never gone to the cross. Instead he attended to the humble work of the cross and entrusted the Father’s deliverance to the Father. It was in that trusting of God and not testing Him through to the very end that righteousness was accomplished and with that: our salvation.
You might say in the end that because Christ entrusted Himself to the Father so we can entrust ourselves to Christ. He not only teaches us dependence and faith He is the object of our dependence and faith.
Again, it’s often necessary to be reminded of where we stand.
When we recognize the discontented heart within us which believes the lie that God is not with us. We repent of our sins and believe in the one who trusted the Father’s will and trusted the Father to deliver in His timing.
In that recognition we pray!
“Father forgive me of my heart which tests you. Forgive me of my complaining and demanding your provision. Thank you for a Savior who overcame through faith where I have failed.”
Hopefully you can recognize the pattern here.
We honestly recon with our condition and our weaknesses.
We repent and find our life and strength in the person of Christ.
Then we attend to walking in that strength we have in Christ.
As disciples of the kingdom of Christ we will certainly find ourselves tempted in the same way. What does it look like for us to overcome with the strength we’ve been given in the Spirit?
Let’s begin with the heart of the matter.
We test God when we expect God’s timing to be our timing. We might presume that testing God means pursuing or desiring some explicit sin, and that simply is not the case. Israel simply wanted bread and water, and yet they tested God. Jesus no doubt longed for the fulfillment of God’s deliverance. “He will not let His holy one see decay.” But He was willing to submit to God’s timing! “Not my will but yours be done.”
It’s when we believe the lie that our timing is better than God’s timing that we begin to behave in sinful ways.
Here we can begin to see the symptoms.
We can go all the way back to Massah and see the first symptom. It’s discontentment. It’s complaining. Testing begins with the posture of our hearts that accuses God of being late. Before we say, “I’ve never done that.” We may not realize we’ve accused God of anything. Israel directed their complaining against Moses, but what did Moses say?
“The people quarreled with Moses...” (Exodus 17:2)
“And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?”
If we want to overcome this temptation we need to admit we’re not going to be taken to the top of the temple and asked to jump.
More often than not we’re going to be asked to wait for some earthly good that we depend on others to provide.
It’s when we’re unwilling to wait, or our asking turns to demanding, our humble request turns to quarreling and all of a sudden the symptoms get really bad and we think about doing something foolish.
“Let’s go back to Egypt!” “We’ll fend for ourselves.” We abandon the church.
Or the other foolishness
“Cast yourself from the temple.” “God will provide for my needs right now in my timing while I actively seek my own harm.”
Both are foolishness, but at the root of it all is an unwillingness to wait for God’s provision. An unwillingness to believe that God is indeed with us even while he asks us to wait.
Overcoming this temptation boils down to believing that God is God and He is indeed with us. He’s faithful to His promise even while we wait for greater goods - Even while we wait for God to provide for us using faulty saints. Do we believe God is greater than the weaknesses of those around us?
6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
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20 and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
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Just because we have to wait doesn’t mean God is not with us.
Just because we have to wait doesn’t mean God’s timing isn’t perfect.
Just because we have to wait doesn’t mean it’s someone else’s fault.
Believing that God is with us and faithful in our waiting is how we overcome so many of life’s greatest temptations.
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The devil throws one more temptation at Jesus in the wilderness, and he takes a new line of attack like before.
The devil promises what only God can provide in exchange for worship.
Life devoted to the worship God
Life devoted to the worship God
8 Again, the devil took Him to a very 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 fall down and worship me.”
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I’m still reading through Little Pilgrim’s Progress with Caleb at night, and we’ve just read the portion where Christian and Hopeful come by Bypath Meadow. The road that Christian and Hopeful are on is rocky and hard and tiring, but right next to their path is a beautiful meadow running right next to that narrow way to the Celestial City. At first it seems to be the easier way running in the same direction as your own path. Why not take the easy way if it ends in the same place?
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And that’s where the deception comes in. It may promise the same ends in the beginning, but Bypath Meadow never delivers on its promise. It only brings destruction.
The devil comes to Jesus and offers him the kingdom that Scripture has been speaking of for hundreds of years.
13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
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14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
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The devil is quite the salesman. He brings him up to that display window and shows Jesus all the glories of the earth. The earth which will one day be made new and given to Christ the King in complete submission to His rule. The devil essentially says, why not have all the glory now? Why wait? Why endure that hard road of the cross when I can give it to you now? All you have to do is worship me. Look at this fine meadow. Wouldn’t it be easier this way?
Again we’ve seen this before haven’t we?
1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
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We were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. We don’t like this road that we’re on. Let’s find another god who will get us there in the way we want. They fell for the lie of Bypath Meadow. And whatever difficulty they had already underwent was multiplied because they had abandoned God. They abandoned the narrow way of the cross in exchange for glory and they met destruction.
Thanks be to God Christ did not forsake that narrow way.
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
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From the beginning to the cross Christ was faithful to the first commandment, and in that He was faithful to fulfill them all. Even as Jesus went to the cross His concern was not for his own comfort or self-preservation but for the glory of the Father.
1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,
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In giving Himself, He would offer the most pleasing sacrifice of worship. There is none to compare with that perfect sacrifice. In that sacrifice He would perfectly fulfill the will of the Father. It was through that perfect offering, that holy act of worship to God alone, that rugged cross that Jesus would ultimately be glorified and be raised to sit at the right hand of the Father.
It’s in that faithful act of worship, that perfect sacrifice on the cross untainted by sin that we have life eternal and life abundant. Christ overcame by devoting Himself to the worship of God alone.
If we are to overcome, if we are to endure in that life abundant we have in Christ we must do the same no matter how appealing bypath meadow may appear. We ought not expect to have a path different from our Lord. Christ died to deliver us from sin and death not to deliver us from difficulty and trial.
That’s what the devil would like us to think though. He’ll feed us the same line He gave to Jesus. You’re headed to glory eventually right? There’s a kingdom waiting for you anyway. Why not have a little glory now for the cost of a little infidelity? Forget that “pick up your cross.” business.
You can serve God and wealth.
You can serve God and power.
You can serve God and pleasure.
You can serve God and success.
Put simply there is no “and”. There is only God. “We serve Him only”
Might we be found worshipping our God and proclaiming Christ to the end of our days no matter how hard the road is. It’s in that life of endurance by faith that we will find a great reward and real everlasting glory.
All the glories that this world offers are just cheap substitutes for what God has in store for us in glory.
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
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Part of overcoming this temptation is knowing with certainty, there is a glory that will be revealed to us. Christ has paid for it with his own blood. That is secure! It’s not going anywhere.
Speaking practically, how often do we talk about heaven? How often do we talk about eternity with Jesus? How often do we talk about being with Christ in glory without tear or suffering? I don’t know that it’s common to think that far ahead.
Perhaps we might benefit to pray for a deep seated hope in the glory of heaven? “Father give me hope that my glory is secure in heaven so that I might persevere well on that narrow way.”
Paul goes on to say:
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
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If we surrender that hope, if we let it fall from view, we’re all the more likely to try to secure some knock-off of that glory today. Some idolatrous glory that the devil will probably try to sell us.
At the end of the day overcoming this temptation is more than just saying no to idols or saying no to lesser glories. It’s about being so completely convinced of the greater glory that awaits us that nothing can substitute for it. Nothing is so good that it can tempt us from the narrow way to that glorious day.
Christ goes to the cross assured of the glory that awaits him. He knows the throne that will be His. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross.
Let’s be counted with the hopeful for the sake of our endurance and perseverance.
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I believe when we truly cling to that hope we come to better understand what Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The burden is still there. The cross is still there, but we won’t carry it alone because Christ is indeed with us.
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As we close I pray we would not easily forget that it is Christ who has overcome! It is Christ who endured the cross without sin that we might know forgiveness in our sin. When we recognize before Jesus’ victory that we have not overcome, there is still hope for us because Christ is our salvation. Christ is the overcomer. Christ is our merciful redeemer who takes away the sins of the world.
It’s in Christ that we now have the promises of Scripture for us; We have the presence of Christ with us, and we have the hope of unfading glory. As we go out into a dark world and face the temptations of the world, the flesh, and devil let’s be found clinging to all this we have in Christ.
When we cling to His promises.
When we cling to His presence.
When we cling to that hope of glory we will indeed persevere, for greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world.
Let’s Pray
Koinos Christian Fellowship
Jim and Debbie Tuttle
