Psalm 91:1-12, Genesis 3:1-6, 2 Corinthians 6:1-10, Matthew 4:1-11.
A). OUR REFUGE IS THE LORD.
Psalm 91:1-12.
The opening verse of this Psalm seems to state the obvious: “those who take their shelter under the Most High are sheltered by the shadow of the Almighty” (PSALM 91:1). Yet there is a reason for this turn of speech: even those who are deemed ‘the people of the LORD’ are at best rebellious children, and struggle against His parental protection. Jesus complained of Jerusalem, 'How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!' (cf. Luke 13:34).
If you are truly trusting in God, then be at peace: stop struggling to get out of the nest! Quiet faith snuggles in, and takes assurance in the LORD: “My refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust” (PSALM 91:2). This is spoken as a personal experience, and opens out into a testimony of His keeping power.
Whether understood literally or metaphorically, the examples in the middle of the Psalm stand as a testimony of the comprehensiveness of God’s protection.
The “snare of the fowler” (PSALM 91:3a) could represent the traps that people lay in order to catch Christians in their words. They did it to Jesus, and ‘the servant is not greater than his Lord’ (cf. John 15:20). We should ‘always be ready to give an account of the hope that is within' us (cf. 1 Peter 3:15).
“Deadly pestilence” (PSALM 91:3b) could be translated as ‘noisome words’ – slander perhaps?
Whichever way, God’s cover reaches far beyond that of the mother bird of PSALM 91:4. It is greater than any insurance policy that you might buy for yourself: put your trust here and His faithfulness (truth) will be your defence.
PSALM 91:5-6 speaks twice of the terrors of the night, and twice of the dangers of the day. (cf. Psalm 121:6 - 'The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.’)
“The arrow” of PSALM 91:5b could be either physical or spiritual, or both at once.
Christians under persecution have testified to the literal truth of PSALM 91:7-10 – but this does not alter the fact that Christians still do suffer. There are times when God does not deliver us FROM things, but rather delivers us IN things: 'Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us' (cf. Romans 8:37).
The important point is that our refuge is in the LORD, and that our natural habitat is in the Most High (PSALM 91:9-10).
We are assured of angelic protection: “angels” (plural) to protect “you” (singular) (PSALM 91:11).
The devil quoted PSALM 91:11-12, out of context, in his temptation of Jesus:
'And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone' (cf. Luke 4:9-11).
Had the devil cared to read the next verse, he would have seen his own doom (cf. Psalm 91:13).
B). THE TRICKS AND DECEPTIONS OF THE DEVIL.
Genesis 3:1-6.
Perhaps our first parents did not know the history of the fall of Lucifer, the day star in Isaiah 14:12-21 and Ezekiel 28:11-19. But it did not take long for the cunning serpent to draw them into his pernicious scheme to undermine the LORD who made us. How susceptible are we to the devil's suggestions?
The serpent began his enticement of the primeval couple by casting a shadow over the gracious and wonderful provision of God. The question he posed was structured in such a way as to extract a negative answer. What the LORD had told the man was that he may eat of all except one tree (cf. Genesis 2:16-17).
The tempter turned this into the negative, "Has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (GENESIS 3:1). A subtle twist, but please be aware that it is part of Satan's armoury to question the Word of God.
When we are enticed by the devil, we suddenly find ourselves leaping to defend the word of God. But the minute we begin to add to what God has said, we are on dangerous ground. Like Eve, we begin to lose sight of our covenant relationship with the LORD, speaking of Him as a "God" who is remote from our experience.
The woman refuted the devil's accusation against God, but added words of her own: "and neither shall you touch it" (GENESIS 3:3). Then the serpent began to question the certainty of death, and accused God of holding back something necessary for our human existence.
It is not wrong to want to better ourselves, but it is never the case that the end justifies the means! Adam and Eve desired knowledge, but rather than growing into it in the God-appointed way they chose rather to listen to Satan's lies about there being a short cut.
Not only this, but the tree with which they were being tempted was good for food. Despite having all the fruit of all the other trees to choose from, why should we not eat the forbidden fruit? And the tree was, after all, part of the beautiful 'all very good' creation of God.
The devil's lie concerning the certainty or uncertainty of death was taking root in their mind.
Let us beware of 'the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life' (cf. 1 John 2:16) - "when the woman saw the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (GENESIS 3:6).
Adam was the representative head of the human race, and when he partook of the forbidden fruit he brought disaster and death upon all of his descendants. Spiritual death, separation from God, was immediate. Suddenly man and his wife realised that they were naked!
Physical death became an unavoidable prospect for mankind. Without the intervention of the LORD, there was nothing between man and hell. We thank the Lord that the story does not end here, but that Jesus came to save us. Amen.
C). RECEIVE NOT THE GRACE OF GOD IN VAIN.
2 Corinthians 6:1-10.
With the once-and-forever experience of a true conversion to God-in-Christ, there continues to be the on-going necessity of being sanctified. Have we not, at times, failed God, and found it incumbent upon ourselves to repent, and to ‘recommit’ ourselves to God? Paul goes so far as to warn the Corinthians of the possibility that they might have “received the grace of God in vain” (2 CORINTHIANS 6:1).
Without being too morbid or introspective, it is necessary from time to time to give ourselves a spiritual health-check. Even in all the busyness of the Christian life and walk, are we really fully-committed to the relationship at the heart of our lives: being reconciled to God? Or does our Christian life need a shot-in-the-arm to engender a new enthusiasm?
I am not advocating a new experience, but rather a getting-back-to-the-basics of our Christian life. Time to read, and to reflect; to meditate, and to pray; and to stop, and to listen to God. We may not be able to ‘go on retreat’, but it is surely to our advantage to ‘make time’ for God - who has, after all, done so much for us.
What has He done? Well, “God caused Christ, who knew no sin, to become sin for us; in order that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God” (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). If we are going-on being-reconciled, then it stands to reason that we must be going-on-being-made-righteous. Quick pulse check: how does that show in my life?
In his earlier letter, Paul had spoken of himself and others as ‘God’s fellow-workers’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9). The word for “fellow-workers” gives us our English word, ‘synergy’, which speaks of a combined effort, a co-operation with God if you will. It is not that God lacks anything: He could create, train and grow Christians all on His own. But what a privilege for ministers to be involved in the formation of His creation, the nurturing of His ‘babes-in-Christ’ (if they will allow themselves to be nurtured and ‘trained up’ in the ways of the Lord).
In this later letter, Paul again employs the ‘synergy’ word (2 CORINTHIANS 6:1), indicating that he and others are workers-together, presumably with God, and perhaps even with the Corinthians (and ourselves?) if they (we?) will just get on board with the programme.
Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 where, in an accepted time, a season of grace, a day of salvation, Jesus is given as a covenant to the people of Israel; and faithful preachers are sent from Israel to restore the earth, so that the meek may inherit it. Whatever God may have done in our past, the word remains: “behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation” (2 CORINTHIANS 6:2).
The Apostle then does something that he has made it clear he does not appreciate in others: not for the first time, he BOASTS: “We give no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God…” (2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-4a). This is with a purpose, as earlier indicated: ‘that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:12).
The list that follows is not boasting of gifts, or accomplishments, but is a factual account of what the Apostles went through. Two lists of hardships (2 CORINTHIANS 6:4-5; 2 CORINTHIANS 6:8-10) surround a modest list of virtues in which everything which has violently been taken from them is restored “BY THE POWER OF GOD” (2 CORINTHIANS 6:6-7).
Paul exhorted the Corinthians, “not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 CORINTHIANS 6:1). Let us always be open to that grace, and to the daily manifestation of it in our own lives, and in the lives of others.
D). THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS.
Matthew 4:1-11.
The wilderness (Matthew 4:1).
When God created man, He placed him in a garden (Genesis 2:15). The world when it was created resembled something more like a garden than it does today. God created all things ‘very good‘ (Genesis 1:31), but man’s collective disobedience has ushered in the principle of death. The garden is turned into a wilderness of destruction, disaster, and disease.
It is fitting, then, that it is “into the wilderness” that the Spirit leads Jesus right at the beginning of His public ministry, to confront the devil.
1. The first temptation (Matthew 4:2-4).
Jesus had been fasting for forty days, and He was hungry.
Many centuries before, Moses had fasted for forty days, partaking of neither food nor drink before receiving the Words of God, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28). Likewise, Elijah the prophet had taken a journey of forty days into the wilderness on the strength of the food he had before leaving (1 Kings 19:8).
After centuries of deceiving man, the devil’s approach is still exactly the same: he wishes to undermine who God is, and what He has said. The devil’s approach to the woman in the Garden of Eden was, ‘Did God say..?’ (Genesis 3:1). To Jesus he says, “If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3).
It is still his method today, seeking to undermine the Word of God, the Bible, and to induce us to disobey the commandments of God. ‘Has God said..?’ ‘If you are really a Christian then…’
Given the real humanity of Jesus, the nature of the first temptation was understandable enough. ‘You’re hungry. Why not use your God-given gifts to satisfy yourself?’ (Matthew 4:3).
Jesus’ ministry was not primarily concerned with self-satisfaction. ‘For the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:45). God’s gifts are not to be used for selfish ends.
Every answer Jesus gives is based in Scripture. This too is how we must answer temptation in our own hearts and lives. Even when God gave the gift of manna to the Israelites in the wilderness, it was so they might know that ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD’ (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Later in His ministry, Jesus would teach, ‘The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world… I AM the bread of life’ (John 6:33-35).
It is important that we yield ourselves to Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. He gives us life, and His teachings help us to live for His glory. A right knowledge of Scripture enables us to overcome the temptations which so frequently assail us.
2. The second temptation (Matthew 4:5-7).
If the first temptation had to do with self-satisfaction, the second had to do with self-glory. Jesus was tempted to undermine the providence and rule of God by doing something totally irrational and dangerous, which would serve no other end than to set Himself up as some sort of wonder-worker. Or to hasten His death!
It is part of the seeming reasonableness of the devil to assert some part of Scripture (out of context) in order to justify us in doing what God has not commanded. This again is where it is necessary for us to be well acquainted with the Scripture, and to seek to understand things in the context in which they are written.
“If you are the Son of God,” he says again (6), “throw yourself down!” To you and I, he says, ‘If you are Christians, then surely this or that is permissible - after all, has God not promised to look after you?’
In quoting Psalm 91:11-12, however, the devil is only using that part which seems to suit his purpose. Had he cared to read the next verse he would have seen his own doom: ‘the serpent you will trample under foot’ (Psalm 91:13). It was as a serpent that he had first tempted Eve.
Yet Jesus does not quote the next verse, but another part of Scripture altogether, which served His purpose. “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Matthew 4:7; from Deuteronomy 6:16).
The children of Israel had tempted God in the wilderness, putting Him to the test and saying, ‘Is God with us or not?’ (Exodus 17:7). The Psalmist warns against this attitude: ‘Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as on the day in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me and put me to the proof…’ (Psalm 95:7-9). We too must be wary that we do not tempt God, nor provoke Him to anger.
3. The third temptation (Matthew 4:8-10).
The audacity of Satan is seen in its true colours in the third temptation. Unable to entice Jesus to satisfy Himself, or to tempt God, he tries promising Him comfort and riches which are really not his to give! “All this I will give you,” he says (Matthew 4:9), “if you will fall down and worship me.”
We are constantly tempted with this world’s riches, but at best they prove to be an illusive thing; at worst a snare which takes us away from God. ‘Give me neither poverty nor riches,’ says the wise man (Proverbs 30:8-9), ‘lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the LORD? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.’ Yet the devil still presents a picture of worldly wealth and comfort if we will only sell our soul to him! Much better the teaching of Jesus, who says, ‘Seek first God’s kingdom’ (Luke 12:31).
Again Jesus answers His adversary from the Bible, as must we. He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:13-15, which speaks of serving God only, and not following other so-called gods. For the LORD our God is a jealous God, and is angry at such disloyalty. Whatever enticement there may be to worship other gods, or to fall down before Satan himself, we must heed the Apostle John: ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols’ (1 John 5:21).
The sequel (Matthew 4:11).
(a) “The devil left Him.”
For the time-being, the devil left Jesus, vanquished from His holy presence by the Words of His mouth. We too may overcome the devil in the midst of our temptations as we use the Word of God, the Bible, against him.
(b) “Angels came and ministered to Him.”
Having battled with Satan and overcome him, Jesus was now ministered to by angels, strengthening Him to continue in His ministry. Thus we are strengthened and renewed when we stand firm in the gospel, and overcome the enemy of our souls with the words and acts of Jesus.
