DESERT DUEL WITH THE DEVIL

DESERT DUEL WITH THE DEVIL Matthew 4:1-11 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; G.R. Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom of God; Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah; Richard Exley, Deliver Me; Charles Stanley, Our Unmet Needs; Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew February 22, 2004 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory Immediately following the dramatic baptism of Jesus, which as we saw last week was actually His public ministry inauguration, Jesus is sent to the wilderness for a period of testing. In fact, our scripture text says emphatically "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." (Matthew 4:1) Doesn't it almost seem predictable in your life in the Lord that a time of testing always comes along just after a moment of great spiritual triumph? Here Jesus has been honored in His obedience in being baptized by John. The Holy Spirit makes a wonderfully unexpected entrance as a dove to anoint Jesus. God the Father speaks from the heavens confirming Jesus' sonship and His pleasure in Him. Now, Jesus is led from this peaceful and satisfying scene at the river and into the desert. The gospel of Mark states it more forcefully, "At once the Spirit sent him out to the desert." (Mark 1:12) The force of that word (EKBALLO) is He was "forced out" (literally "thrown out") into the wilderness. He is God's beloved Son in whom the Father is pleased, and now, suddenly, the Father's will is that He go headlong into a difficult spiritual struggle with the devil. He is sent into forty days of fasting and temptation. There's a lesson here for us: when we are baptized into Christ it doesn't mean we've won our final spiritual battle. Satan is still very much in the picture. And actually, now that you have declared for the Lord through repentance and baptism, your more difficult battle is just beginning. Now Satan is a little more desperate over you. You've gone AWOL from his ranks and united with his enemy! The 5th century church father, Jerome, wrote: "Baptism does not drown the devil." It might serve us to pause here and make a couple of observations before we look with more detail into Jesus' temptations in the desert. We have some things to learn or be reminded of this morning concerning the role and place of temptation in our lives as well. There are a couple of initial observations I'd like to bring to our attention right off. 1. Temptation is to be expected in the Christian life. Again, just because you love the Lord, it does not mean you are immune from temptation. Until we see Jesus face to face and we begin to live out our blessed eternal hope in heaven, we still live in a sin-ravaged world, where Satan is known as the Prince of this world (John 12:31) and the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2). 2. Temptation is not sin. When we come face to face with temptations that come up out of our souls it often "feels" like sin to us. The reason for that is we are forced to consider a thought or action that we know is displeasing to the Lord, and we can't believe we could possibly consider such rebellion! We're often taken by surprise at such dark and ugly things, and they came out of our own minds and souls! It's frightening what lurks in our old sinful natures, isn't it? But, even though such temptations feel so hideous, it is NOT SIN to face them. Jesus did! In fact, He faced in His earthly life every temptation you and I face, but sinlessly. 3. God allows temptations into our lives. There are reasons why God doesn't shield us from the threat of temptations to sin. I am certain we don't know all of those reasons, but we do know that as we face trials and temptations we are purified and strengthened in our faith. The grand design of such testing is that we would become more like Jesus. Even Jesus was sent into a season of difficult testing as He encountered Satan in the wilderness. The scripture says God even led him by the Spirit! Understand these things, believers. You will face temptation, just being tempted is not sin, and God is in control of the whole process, even when it feels like Satan is winning. 4. Temptations will not cease or get easier as you mature spiritually. I want to tell you just from my meager experience that this is true. If anything, temptations become more severe when you are more mature. One reason for this is the promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13 - "God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." You don't feed corn on the cob to a newborn. He can't eat it, chew it or digest it. So God disallows Satan to bring you a temptation you can't yet handle. Every plan of the devil first crosses God's desk for approval. You'll never face a temptation that's out of your league. There is a hidden truth here. God knows what we can handle. Sometimes He wants to prove to us what we can handle. When I tested the new rope on the swing set by swinging on it, my grandson said, "Papa, you're going to break it!" I told him that actually I was proving to him that it wouldn't break. When God allowed His Son to face severe temptation in the wilderness, it wasn't to see if He would sin; it was to prove that He wouldn't. No, it is best to resign ourselves to a lifelong struggle with temptation. And I think we would be wise to plan on them getting more and more difficult. That way we are better prepared. If the prospect of temptations getting more and more severe as you grow in your faith is scary to you, good! It will force you to build your faith even more and to recognize what is perhaps the most important truth of all-you are not up to it yourself and you need to rely heavily on God to help you. That's right where He wants us! Respondents in a recent survey sponsored by Discipleship Journal, said temptations were more potent when they had: 1. Neglected their time with God 2. When they were physically tired 3. When they were emotionally drained Neglecting our fellowship with God (prayer, Word and walking in Spirit) leaves us spiritually weak, exposed, and vulnerable to doubts about God's love for us and His provision for us. By the way, I want to remind the body of Christ of something that I try to interject regularly. When you are worn out, overworked, emotionally strung out, depressed or about to have a nervous breakdown, do not make any major, life-altering decisions. I have lived long enough, experienced enough failures and walked through enough trouble with people to know-you should not make decisions that affect your future or your family while you are weak. Let's take a few minutes together to study what Jesus experienced in the wilderness of Judea as He encountered the devil face to face. [webmasters note: Matthew 4:1-11] Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "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.'" Jesus answered, "It is also written: 'Do 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 splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "If you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Jesus faced Temptation in Three Strong Waves This is a fascinating account, and I have had lots of fun the past couple weeks studying again all the interesting thoughts of the commentators and theologians as they expounded on the details and intricacies of these 11 verses. But, I have to confess, I didn't fell led to bring all that much to the lectern this morning. I decided this week I would rather make a few key observations of a more general nature and then conclude with some insights for us on how we might find ourselves strong in the face of temptation, too. There are clearly three different temptations or approaches by the devil. Jesus encountered temptation all through his 40-days of fasting and prayer in the desert. These three occur at the end of that long and arduous time. Luke 4:2, "…for forty days he was tempted by the devil…" It's not hard to imagine that spending his time with the unfriendly terrain, the heat of the day, the cold of the night, the wild animals (Mark 1:12) would have taken its toll on Jesus. And anyone who's ever fasted and had a hard time looking at a cookie jar knows that not eating or drinking for forty days and nights certainly brought its own severe temptations. So, when Jesus was at his weakest, physically and emotionally, the devil who had no doubt already been involved in making Jesus miserable for five and a half weeks shows up to taunt Jesus into a mistake. The first temptation was a simple offer of bread to a man who was at maximum hunger and dying (literally) of thirst. He had waited deliberately for this vulnerable time. The devil is smart, observant and very crafty. That's why Peter will warn the believers in the first century to be "…self-controlled and alert, . Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." [webmasters note: 1 Peter 5:8] • Jesus was tempted to take the "Me First" route While Satan was smart, he would not outsmart Jesus, even in his weakened state. He didn't just offer Jesus bread, though-because the temptation was about more than simply bread. He invited Jesus to use His own power to create bread. There is no debate about it, Satan knew who he was dealing with, because he encouraged him to work a creative miracle, turning stone to bread. What was next? Getting water from the rock, too, like Moses? This temptation had to do with self-serving. It was the temptation of taking the Me First route. It's one we deal with regularly, at varying degrees of severity. The thing is, though, with us, the devil doesn't even need to starve us first. We have much and always want more. And it doesn't seem to matter how urgent the needs are in the lives of others around us, we predictably make sure we are well taken care of before anyone else. • Jesus was tempted to resort to Sensationalism Taking a cue from Jesus' scripture-quoting, the devil offers his own passage, right out of Psalm 91, reminding Jesus that the angels are promised to be His helpers and protectors, so why didn't He just hurl himself off the temple peak and let them do their thing. It would be a spectacular show. After that kind of production, Jesus wouldn't have to worry about getting a following among the Jews. Incidentally, Mark's record of the temptations tells us that the angels had been tending to Jesus all along during his 40 days of fasting. "He was with the wild animals and angels attended him." (Mark 1:13) They had been bringing Him comfort for the whole 40 days. Interestingly, they didn't give Him bread or water, because He was obediently fasting. Nor did they in any way lessen the devastating effect of what He was going through. Why would messengers from God in any way molest Jesus' gift to the Father-his obedient fast? Nevertheless they "attended him" What Satan wanted Jesus to do was to take a shortcut to stardom-to become famous by a sensational deed. Never mind all that servant ministry talk, all that stuff about carefully selecting and training those disciples-that takes so long! Listen, do this my way, and you'll have disciples flocking to you-you'll have to turn them away! Be wary of any "shortcut" to popularity, especially in Christian ministry. Jesus dismisses the second temptation with another scripture passage from Deuteronomy 6:16 - "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." It is always a challenge to do things God's way and in God's timing. It seems to take so long, and it seems to produce such little effect, and it is definitely nothing close to "sensational". Keep this close to your heart as you witness so much sensationalism in public "ministry" today: Jesus rejected the sensational for the servant walk. And when He did He disappointed the devil. • Jesus was tempted to Worship Satan When you keep on resisting Satan and standing on the Word of God, something predictable happens. Satan starts getting desperate, and he starts reaching down to the bottom of his barrel of tricks and pulling out temptations and schemes that become more and more "obvious". Listen, you know you're looking at the work of Satan when it causes confusion or doubt. God is not the author of either. When things start happening to you or around you that are really off-the-wall weird, mark it well-the devil's behind it somewhere. We usually look at this third temptation as being the most severe. I'm not sure it is. It is the most provocative and the most brash, but it is also the most easily discerned of the three. Look at it, Satan comes right out and asks the unthinkable of Jesus-to bow down and worship him. When Jesus says, "Away from me, Satan!" You almost get the idea that He's saying, "OK, that's enough. I can't believe you are asking the divine Son of God to bow down and worship you. Are you crazy? Are you that desperate that you try to pull a stunt like that? Go on, get out of here!" Did you notice? The devil was instantly obedient to Jesus. Once Jesus had passed the temptation test with flying colors, He told Satan to leave, and, "Whoosh" he was gone. Jesus had such great authority. "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." (1 John 3:8) But, we must understand, He has granted that same authority to us, His church, that we may vanquish the enemy. Jesus faced Temptation with Three Strong Weapons His knowledge of the Word Jesus responded to the temptations of Satan with scripture. He had stored up the Word of God in His heart for 30 years, memorizing the Old Testament passages and reciting them as a boy and a young man-all for such a time as this. You never know when the seemingly silly little disciplines suddenly become weapons in spiritual warfare. How does a young man keep his way pure, asks Psalm 119? "By living according to your Word." (Psalm 119:9) "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:11) Tell me, how does a Christian keep himself from egocentric materialism and selfishness? By getting God's Word and will securely in his heart so that when the temptations come flying at him from the hedonistic culture around him, he can answer confidently. "No one can serve two masters…" [webmasters note: Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13] His certainty of His Sonship Before entering into the fray of these temptations, Jesus had received a precious gift from God the Father-the confirming word that He was His Son. At His baptism Jesus heard the blessing of the heavenly Father coming from above. "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." [webmasters note: Matthew 3:17] I don't know that Jesus really needed that kind of affirmation before he did battle with the enemy, but what an encouraging thing that God did that for Him, if not for Jesus, then for us. Looking in on this tender affirmation from the heavenly Father, we are assured that Jesus did not encounter the enemy alone. And we are assured that neither do we. Do you remember what Paul taught in Romans 8:15? "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father"". Friends in Christ, God has arranged that none of His children, neither His only-begotten nor any of His adopted children would ever face the enemy of their souls without the comforting assurance that they are His children and He is with them! The Holy Spirit and the angels Not only did Jesus receive the reassurance of His Father's voice at His baptism, but He also received a beautiful, public reassurance that God's Spirit was with Him. Not only was Jesus reminded of whose He was, but He was reminded of Who was in Him. We need that kind of reassurance when we face temptation. That's what Romans 8:15 is all about. Galatians 4:6 also teaches us, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."" But there is also the repeated mention that the angels ministered to Jesus throughout the temptations. What were they doing? We don't know, but we do know that before, during and after, the ministering spirits sent from God were taking care of the Son as He fought this spiritual battle. Let me pause long enough here to remind you that you, too, have the promise of angelic help. Who are the angels? Everybody is asking that question these days. And the book of Hebrews answers the question, at least in part: "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) You are continually being served by unseen heavenly ambassadors, before, during and after you are tempted as well. The reason we rarely take time to be thankful is that we don't know how many times we have been spared from an accident, or had some fellow Christian come our way at just the right time, or encountered even an angel. But, be assured that the promise of Psalm 91:11-12 is yours as well. Biblical Counsel for God's People as They Deal with Temptation Stay sharp in the Spirit (Word and prayer) Ephesians 6:17-18. The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is our weapon in doing spiritual battle with the devil. And prayer causes us to stand. Walk in the Spirit at all times and you will not be defeated. "…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) Be alert to your enemy (1 Peter 5:8) Be alert to the enemy (but not frightened into paralysis) You need to respect devil's power and intrigue, but not give him too much credit. He is a defeated foe. Two mistakes we can make re the devil: ignore him and be afraid of him. Avoid obvious traps (Matthew 6:13) John Piper ways that sin "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier." Watch out for anything that lures you with the promise of happiness. Doc Campbell on the TV show "Hee Haw" was confronted by a patient who said he broke his arm in two places. Doc replies, "Well, then, stay out of them places!" And if you know you are particularly susceptible to the sin of drunkenness, stay out of the bars. Resist the enemy (James 4:7) "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." There is a place in the Christian walk for plain old GRIT. Draw near to God (James 4:8-10) Be resolute to stay near to God in intimate fellowship. This is our greatest defense in beating temptation. But drawing near to God is both preventive help and emergency help. James says that we can run to Him even in the throes of temptation. Stay near the believers (1 Peter 5:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13) Scripture reminds us that we are not the only ones who are going through battle with the enemy of our soul. All believers face similar temptations. Peter tells us right after the roaring lion verse to "Resist him [Satan], standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kid of sufferings". And 1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us that "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man…" There is great comfort and reassurance in being with other believers in such  Fellowship that we are free to share our struggles, temptations and weaknesses with one another, and to pray for each other for deliverance, healing and strength. That's primarily what the James 5 passage is about.   [Back to Top]