NO SATAN, I WILL NOT SERVE YOU: PART TWO
MATTHEW 4:1-11
LAST WEEK WE STARTED TO LOOK AT THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST, BUT OUR TIME RAN OUT BEFORE WE COULD FINISH. WE STARTED BY IDENTIFYING THE ORIGEN OF TEMPTATION, TALKING ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE WAGED IN HEAVEN BETWEEN SATAN AND HIS ANGELS WHO WERE OPPOSING MICHAEL AND THE OTHER ANGELS. SATAN LOST THIS BATTLE AND HE AND THE ANGELS WITH HIM WERE CAST OUT OF HEAVEN TO THE EARTH.
NOW IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FALLEN ANGELS WITH SATAN WHEN IT COMES TO TEMPTATION. SATAN IS NOT OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT, NOR OMNIPRESENT AS THESE ARE QUALITITES OF GOD. UNDERESTIMATING SATAN’S POWER IS AN OPEN DOOR TO FALLING TO TEMPTATION.
SATAN IS AN EXPERT MANIPULATOR OF CIRCUMSTANCE, AND HAS A GREAT POOL OF INFORMATION ON EACH OF US, GAINED BY THE REPORTS OF THE OTHER FALLEN ANGELS. SATAN DEVISES HIS TEMPTATION BASED ON THEIR REPORTS AND DETERMINES JUST THE RIGHT TIME TO STRIKE.
SATAN STRIKES WHEN WE ARE MOST VULNERABLE. IT WILL COME AT A VERY DIFFICULT TIME IN OUR LIVES, A CRISIS TIME OF SOME KIND. HE WILL STRIKE WHEN WE FEEL WE ARE ALONE, NOT WHEN WE HAVE CHRISTIAN FRIENDS WE CAN TURN TO FOR PRAYER SUPPORT. HE WILL GREATLY MAGNIFY OUR DOUBTS SPECIFICALLY TO THE WORD OF GOD. THIS IS ONE OF THE WAYS HE WAS SUCCESSFUL WITH EVE.
GENESIS 3:1-5:
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’?” 2 THE WOMAN SAID TO THE SERPENT, “WE MAY EAT FRUIT FROM THE TREES IN THE GARDEN, 3 BUT GOD DID SAY, ‘YOU MUST NOT EAT FRUIT FROM THE TREE THAT IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GARDEN, AND YOU MUST NOT TOUCH IT, OR YOU WILL DIE.’ ” 4 “YOU WILL NOT CERTAINLY DIE,” THE SERPENT SAID TO THE WOMAN. 5 “FOR GOD KNOWS THAT WHEN YOU EAT FROM IT YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.”
SATAN PLANTS A DOUBT IN EVE’S MIND WITH THE QUESTION, “DID GOD REALLY SAY THAT?” IT’S A GOOD TACTIC. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN SURE OF SOMETHING ONLY TO START DOUBTING WHEN SOMEONE ASKS “ARE YOU SURE OF THAT?” REMEMBER IF SATAN CAN GET YOU DOUBTING ONE PART OF GOD’S WORD, THE FOUNDATION IS THERE TO DOUBT ANY PART OF HIS WORD.
THEN HE EXPERTLY MANIPULATES THE TRUTH. HE WITHHOLDS THE CHANGE THAT DISOBEYING GOD WILL HAVE IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP. HE IS RIGHT WHEN HE SAYS THEY WILL KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, FOR UNTIL THE TIME OF THE FALL EVE AND ADAM ONLY KNEW GOOD. THEY HAD NOT EXPERIENCED EVIL AND THEIR ONLY CONTACT HAD BEEN WITH PURITY.
THEY WOULD KNOW GOOD AND EVIL. THEY WOULD KNOW DISAPPOINTMENT AND DISPLEASURE AND SHAME FOR THE FIRST TIME. IT WAS KNOWLEDGE THAT WOULD NEVER LEAVE THEM.
FROM THE TIME THAT ADAM AND EVE DISOBEYED GOD, SIN HAS BEEN IN THE WORLD, AS HAS BEEN THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. ONE OF THOSE CONSEQUENCES IS THE CONSTANT PRESENCE OF TEMPTATION.
WE KNOW THAT TEMPTATION WILL COME IN ONE, OR A COMBINATION OF THREE FORMS:
1. LUST OF THE FLESH
2. PRIDE OF LIFE
3. LUST OF THE EYES
THE GENERAL CONTEXT FOR THESE TEMPTATIONS IS THAT THEY HAPPEN IN THE WILDERNESS, IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BAPTISM. JESUS IS LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS, WHERE HE FASTS 40 DAYS IN PREPARATION FOR THIS SPIRITUAL BATTLE.
AS WE CONSIDERED THE FIRST TEMPTATION WE REALIZED THAT THE “IF” IN VERSE THREE WAS A CHALLENGE, RATHER THAN AN EXPRESSION OF DOUBT. IF YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD, THEN USE THAT STATUS TO TURN THESE ROCKS INTO BREAD. THIS WAS A GREAT TEMPTATION FOR A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN FASTING FOR 40 DAYS.
SATAN TRIED TO GET JESUS TO FOLLOW HIM INSTEAD OF GOD AND TAKE AN EASIER ROAD. HE WAS TRYING TO MAKE JESUS SIN BY LUSTING AFTER HIS OWN PHYSICAL LIFE AS BEING MORE IMPORTANT THAN OBEYING GOD.
WARREN WIERSBE WRITES:
“WHEN WE PUT OUR PHYSICAL NEEDS (THINGS THAT OUR FLESH DESIRES) AHEAD OF OUR SPIRITUAL NEEDS, WE SIN. WHEN WE ALLOW CIRCUMSTANCES TO DICTATE OUR ACTIONS, INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING GOD’S WILL, WE SIN. JESUS COULD HAVE TURNED THE STONES INTO BREAD, BUT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN EXERCISING HIS POWERS INDEPENDANTLY OF THE FATHER, AND HE CAME TO OBEY THE FATHER.”.
THIS TEMPTATION TEACHES US THAT A CHOICE FOR SATAN IS A CHOICE AGAINST GOD.
POINT TWO: OVERCOMING THE PRIDE OF LIFE
SATAN THEN TOOK JESUS TO THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM. THE TEMPLE WAS LOCATED NEXT TO THE VALLEY OF KIDRON WHICH ACTUALLY MADE IT MUCH HIGHER. THE TOTAL HEIGHT WHERE JESUS WAS AT THIS POINT WOULD BE OVER 15 STORIES OR MORE THAN 180 FEET. JOSEPHUS, AN EARLY CHURCH HISTORIAN STATED, “LOOKING DOWN INTO THE VALLEY BELOW MADE ONE DIZZY.” HOW MUCH DIZZIER WOULD JESUS BE AFTER FASTING FOR 40 DAYS?
SATAN THOUGHT BY TAKING JESUS THERE THAT HE WAS AS CLOSE AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO GOD AND HIS POWER. TO DEFEAT JESUS HERE WOULD BE TO DEFEAT GOD AS WELL.
OVERLOOKING THE KIDRON VALLEY AND FROM THIS GREAT HEIGHT THE DEVIL TEMPTS JESUS BY TRYING TO GET HIM TO JUMP AND FORCE THE ANGELS OF GOD TO SAVE HIM.
HERE SATAN USES THE WORD OF GOD IN HIS TEMPTATION AS HE QUOTES FROM PSALM 91.
PSALM 91:11-12:
FOR HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU IN ALL YOUR WAYS; 12 THEY WILL LIFT YOU UP IN THEIR HANDS, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.
ON FIRST GLANCE IT WOULD APPEAR THAT JESUS COULD JUMP AND FORCE THE ANGELS TO SAVE HIM. SATAN IS A CLEVER MANIPULATOR OF SCRIPTURE, AND WHAT HE DOES HERE IS TAKE THIS PASSAGE OUT OF CONTEXT.
THIS IS A CONDITIONAL PROMISE AND SATAN FAILS TO STATE THE CONDITION BY WHICH WE CAN CALL ON V.11-12. THE CONDITION IS FOUND IN V.9.
PSALM 91:9: IF YOU SAY, “THE LORD IS MY REFUGE,” AND YOU MAKE THE MOST HIGH YOUR DWELLING,
VERSES 11-12 IS NOT A GET OUT OF TEMPTATION FREE CARD. OUR FREE WILL IS NOT TO DO AS WE PLEASE AND ASK GOD TO GET US OUT OF ANY JAMS THAT WE GET OURSELVES IN.
WHAT V.9 IS SAYING IS THAT WE HAVE TO BE OBEDIENT TO THE LORD’S WILL, BUT ALSO OBEDIENT TO THE COVENANT WE HAVE MADE WITH HIM. PART OF THAT COVENANT IS TO RECOGNIZE OUR BODIES AS TREASURES OF THE LORD AND NOT PUT THEM AT UNNECESSARY RISK.
THIS TEMPTATION CAN TEACH US SEVERAL THINGS.
1. WE CAN LOOK AT GOD’S MIRACLES AS BLESSINGS FROM GOD. IF WE ARE NOT WALKING WITH THE LORD THEN WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO EXPECT GOD TO INTERVENE WHEN OUR CHOICES LEAD TO BAD CONSEQUENCES.
2. ALWAYS INTERPRET THE BIBLE IN TERMS OF CONTEXT, AND DO NOT ISOLATE VERSES AS ANSWERS TO REQUESTS. ALWAYS INTERPRET SCRIPTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CHAPTER, BOOK, AUTHOR, AND THE ENTIRE BIBLE.
3. WHEN GOING THROUGH TRIBULATION ONE IS NOT TO TRY TO ESCAPE BY FORCING GOD TO PROVIDE ANOTHER PATH, BUT TO PERSEVERE AND TRUST IN GOD’S WILL AND THAT HE WILL DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.
4. ONE LESSON THAT IS TAUGHT IN ALL TEMPTATION IS THIS. SATAN WILL NEVER TEMPT US WITH SOMETHING THAT WE DO NOT LIKE OR DESIRE. IT WOULD HAVE NO EFFECT ON US.
POINT THREE: OVERCOMING THE LUST OF THE EYES
THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST BLUNT FORM OF TEMPTATION THAT SATAN USES AGAINST JESUS. IT IS ALSO THE MOST TRANSPARENT FORM. SATAN TAKES JESUS TO THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN AND ALLOWS HIM TO SEE THE WORLD UNDER HIM. THEN HE OFFERS IT ALL TO JESUS IF HE WILL BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP HIM.
SATAN IS TEMPTING JESUS WITH THE AGE OLD SAYING THAT THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS. JESUS KNOWS THAT EVENTUALLY HE WILL INHERENT THE EARTH AND ALL THAT’S IN IT.
HEBREWS 1:2: IN THESE LAST DAYS HE HAS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON, WHOM HE APPOINTED HEIR OF ALL THINGS, AND THROUGH WHOM ALSO HE MADE THE UNIVERSE
SATAN DOES HAVE THE POWER TO GRANT THIS TO JESUS RIGHT NOW. SATAN IS REFERRED TO IN 2 CORINTHIANS 4:4 AS “THE GOD OF THIS AGE”, AND IN EPHESIANS 2:2 WE READ:
EPHESIANS 2:1-2:
AS FOR YOU, YOU WERE DEAD IN YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS AND SINS, 2 IN WHICH YOU USED TO LIVE WHEN YOU FOLLOWED THE WAYS OF THIS WORLD AND OF THE RULER OF THE KINGDOM OF THE AIR, THE SPIRIT WHO IS NOW AT WORK IN THOSE WHO ARE DISOBEDIENT.
GOD HAS A PLAN AS TO WHEN JESUS WILL INHERIT ALL THINGS, AND WHAT SATAN IS TEMPTING WITH IS AN ATTEMPT TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS. HE WANTS HIM TO BLANTLY DISOBEY THE FATHER BY BOWING DOWN AND WORSHIPPING HIM.
THIS TEMPTATION IS WRONG AND WE CAN SHOW THIS THROUGH THE COMMANDMENTS.
EXODUS 20:3-6:
YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME. 4 “YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF AN IMAGE IN THE FORM OF ANYTHING IN HEAVEN ABOVE OR ON THE EARTH BENEATH OR IN THE WATERS BELOW. 5 YOU SHALL NOT BOW DOWN TO THEM OR WORSHIP THEM; FOR I, THE LORD YOUR GOD, AM A JEALOUS GOD, PUNISHING THE CHILDREN FOR THE SIN OF THE PARENTS TO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION OF THOSE WHO HATE ME, 6 BUT SHOWING LOVE TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS OF THOSE WHO LOVE ME AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.
WHO WOULD NOT WANT TO SPEED UP A REWARD OR SOMETHING GOOD THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM. I CAN REMEMBER HOW LONG THE DAYS WERE THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND HOW I WANTED TO SPEED UP TIME, TO OPEN THE GIFTS THAT I KNEW WERE MINE EVENTUALLY. I WANTED THEM RIGHT THEN.
SATAN WAS TEMPTING JESUS WITH SOMETHING THAT WAS ALREADY HIS. WHAT HE DIDN’T REALIZE WAS THAT THE DESIRE OF JESUS’ HEART WAS TO BE OBEDIENT TO HIS FATHER. HE KNEW THAT ONE DAY EVERYTHING THAT SATAN COULD OFFER HIM WOULD BE HIS, AND PART OF THAT WOULD BE SATAN’S DESTRUCTION.
JESUS IMMEDAITELY TURNED TO THE WORD REMINDING JESUS THAT GOD ALONE WAS WORTHY OF WORSHIP. IT WAS NOT ABLOUT WHAT HE COULD GAIN AT ALL.
WE CAN LEARN THREE THINGS FROM THIS TEMPTATION:
1. WE NEED TO SEEK THE ETERNAL BLESSINGS OF GOD’S KINGDOM. THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD CAN BE BEAUTIFUL AND ARE WORTHY OF ENJOYMENT, BUT THEY ARE TEMPORARY AND THEY WILL NOT LAST. WHILE WE CAN ENJOY THEM OUR MINDS AND HEARTS SHOULD BE ON THE THINGS THAT ARE ETERNAL AND PERMANENT.
MATTHEW 6:19-21:
DO NOT STORE UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES ON EARTH, WHERE MOTHS AND VERMIN DESTROY, AND WHERE THIEVES BREAK IN AND STEAL. 20 BUT STORE UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES IN HEAVEN, WHERE MOTHS AND VERMIN DO NOT DESTROY, AND WHERE THIEVES DO NOT BREAK IN AND STEAL. 21 FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE YOUR HEART WILL BE ALSO
2. THE SECOND THING TO REALIZE IS THAT THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS. GOD HAS A PLAN AND WE ARE TO FOLLOW IT. THERE CAN BE NO SHORT CUTS FOR TEMPORAL BLESSINGS.
3. SATAN HAS NO POWER OVER THOSE WHO DO THE WILL OF GOD. WHEN YOU ARE CONCENTRATING ON GOD AND HIS WILL, THERE IS NO TIME OR ENJOYMENT IN ANYTHING ELSE.
CONCLUSION:
JESUS’ TEMPTATIONS WERE INCLUDED IN SCRIPTURE BECAUSE THEY TEACH THE IMPORTANT LESSONS OF HOW TO OVERCOME THEM. REMEMBER WHEN JESUS WAS TEMPTED, SATAN WAS TEMPTING HIM WITH HUMAN RESOURCES, AND WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT WE CAN USE THE SAME RESOURCES THAT JESUS USED TO OVERCOME THE TEMPTATION. HERE ARE SOME OF THE RESOURCES:
1. UNDERSTAND THAT FOR THE BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN, TEMPTATION IS GOING TO OCCUR, THE ONLY QUESTIONS ARE WHEN AND IN WHAT FORM. THE ALERT CHRISTIAN IS SELDOM SURPRISED. SATAN DOES NOT WANT THE CHURCH, OR INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIANS TO BE SEEN IN A POISITVE LIGHT BY THE WORLD. HE WILL DETERMINE A WAY, BASED ON INFORMATION THAT HE GAINS FROM FALLEN ANGELS, AS TO THE BEST WAY THAT HE CAN TEMPT YOU TO WALK AWAY FROM GOD.
2. IT IS ESSENTIAL IF WE KNOW THAT SATAN IS GOING TO TEMPT US THAT WE BE PREPARED FOR THE TEST.
2 TIMOTHY 2:15: STUDY TO SHEW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD, A WORKMAN THAT NEEDETH NOT TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH (KJV).
HOW DO WE PREPARE?
A) KNOW THE WORD OF GOD. JESUS USED THE WORD TO DEFEAT SATAN. WE MUST BE STUDENTS OF THE WORD.
PSALM 119:11: I HAVE HIDDEN YOUR WORD IN MY HEART THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST YOU.
SATAN IS NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU ADVANCE WARNING OF AN ATTACK. YOU MUST STUDY THE WORD AND KEEP IT WITH YOU TO DEFEAT HIM. MEMORIZE PASSAGES YOU CAN APPLY IN VARIOUS SITUATIONS THAT CAN GIVE YOU ENCOURAGEMENT, COMFORT, AND ASSURANCE OF YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST.
B) PRAY, NOT THAT YOU WILL NOT BE LED INTO TEMPTATION, BUT THAT JESUS WILL BE WITH YOU AS YOU FACE YOUR TEMPTATION AND LEAD YOU AS YOU OVERCOME IT.
C) HAVE A CLOSE GROUP OF BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS THAT YOU CAN CALL ON TO BE WITH YOU. SATAN WILL NOT STAY IN THE PRESENCE OF PEOPLE OF LIKE FAITH.
D) REMOVE YOURSELF FROM SITUATIONS WHICH MAY CAUSE YOU TO SIN.
E) PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD.
EPHESIANS 6:10-13:
10 FINALLY, BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN HIS MIGHTY POWER. 11 PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD, SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE YOUR STAND AGAINST THE DEVIL’S SCHEMES. 12 FOR OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST THE RULERS, AGAINST THE AUTHORITIES, AGAINST THE POWERS OF THIS DARK WORLD AND AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS. 13 THEREFORE PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD, SO THAT WHEN THE DAY OF EVIL COMES, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO STAND YOUR GROUND, AND AFTER YOU HAVE DONE EVERYTHING, TO STAND.
SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO SAY, “SATAN I WILL NOT SERVE YOU.”
3. PRAY IN ADVANCE FOR GOD’S HELP. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRAYERS OF PURPOSE AND PRAYERS OF PANIC. IT HELPS US TO REALIZE THAT OUR ONLY ASSURANCE OF PASSING THE TEMPTATION IS THE POWER OF GOD.
