The Tempter Assails With An "If"

Matthew 4:1-11

            Jesus entered this world under unique circumstances.  His mother was a virgin visited by the Holy Spirit.  It was the plan of God that Jesus should live among us and experience what it means to be human.

            In order for Him to reclaim God’s creation and make salvation available, it was necessary that He voluntarily put aside any special knowledge or powers that would have made it impossible for Him to fail.  In the Greek, the term is kenoo (Phil. 2:7), which means to empty oneself.  Jesus refused to use His attributes to influence or manipulate the events of His life.  For Him to be the perfect sin sacrifice, it was necessary that He only have those abilities available to any of us.  This resulted in His being tempted even as every other person is tempted.

            The writer of Hebrews helps us to understand that to be tempted is not necessarily to be guilty of sin (Hebrews 4:15).  God permits us to be tempted so that we might improve ourselves.  Just as athletic practice increases muscle and athletic ability, facing and overcoming temptation makes Christians better at what God has called us to be.

            If temptation is necessary for us to grow and God wants us to successfully face every trial the question then becomes, how do we prepare ourselves for success?

1.      By fasting and prayer – though not a guarantee of success these may be of help.

2.      Avoidance.  Staying away from the people, places, and circumstances that have caused us to stumble in the past

3.      Knowledge of the enemy and his tactics

*I.                    The Tempter Assails With An “If”

A.     Planting doubts as to God’s promises

1.      Never point blank denial – doubt serves Satan’s purpose better than denial

2.      He brings the Scriptures into question

3.      He questions God’s faithfulness – “Why are you suffering this present trouble?”

B.     Satan questions an entire lifetime of experience –“You’ve been fooling yourself all these years!”

II.                 The Tempter Supports His If With Evidence

A.     “You are all alone.  Would a loving Father abandon His child?”

B.     “You are in the desert.  Is this a fit place for a true child of God?”

C.     “You are frightened and hurt.  Would God really allow His child to suffer?”

III.               The Tempter’s IF May Serve Us Well

A.     Would he trouble himself if he did not know our true potential?

1.      He only attacks truth

2.      He only tempts children of God.  By his testimony we know our nature.

B.     Experience of testing gives us courage

1.      If I have faced the storm then I must surely be able to live for God in the sunlight!

2.      Success yields the fruit of new faith

C.     Temptations faced promises the ministering of angels

“God had but one Son without sin, but He had none without temptation.  Such is Satan’s enmity to God, that the nearer and dearer any child is to Him, the more will Satan trouble him, and vex him with temptations….”  Thomas Brookes.

Satan uses subtlety and finesse to make us stumble.  He shines the light on own insecurities and doubts so that we trouble ourselves unnecessarily.  It is like the non-believer that believed he overheard God and Satan divvying up the souls in the cemetery.        

  A young boy and an older crippled man were walking into town.  There just happened to be a revival at the local church that both had managed to avoid attending.  While passing the graveyard, they overheard two men just inside the gate divvying up the pecans that had fallen there. “One for you and one for me,” they said, until all but two nuts were accounted for.  Then one asked, “What about those two just outside the gate?”  The old crippled man beat the boy to revival services!