Defeating the Enemy’s Advance
Matthew 4:1-11
Our series has to do with preparing the way for Christ’s coming. He deserves the throne of our lives, to construct a lifestyle of kingdom living in us. There is a Kingdom, which God wants to happen in your life, giving you His purpose, favor, and peace.
In Matthew 4, we find Jesus beginning His mission, given to Him by the Father. His baptism has occurred. The Holy Spirit came upon Him. The Father spoke of His approval and declared His Son’s royal identity. Jesus’ purpose is in motion, but there is a battle to be fought, an enemy to be faced, a battle against Satan on the grounds of temptation.
It is one of the most monumental and mysterious spiritual battles of all time is recounted-the personal confrontation between Jesus Christ and Satan. The devil’s temptations directed at Jesus in the wilderness of Judea were observed by no other human being. He was entirely alone, and it is therefore obvious that we could know nothing of what transpired there unless Jesus Himself had told His disciples of it. He reveals the victory secret, as it were, of His momentous struggle with Satan.
If Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan declared His royalty; His testing in the wilderness demonstrated it. Here Jesus proved He was worthy to receive and to reign over the kingdom His Father would give Him.
The setting for this encounter is no accident. The wilderness of Matthew 4 has significant meaning. Eremos, means solitary place, a lonely place without the aid of friends. It implies a place, where Satan rules, a place of separation.
It has been suggested by some Bible teachers that Jesus entered the wilderness with a specific purpose of engaging Satan on his own ground, where Jesus would intentionally allow Satan to tempt Him, but without success. Jesus enters a world held captive under the curse of sin to free it from Satan’s grasp by living a sinless life yet dying a sinner’s death.
It seems that Matthew had two primary purposes in presenting Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. First, Jesus’ victory demonstrated His divine kingship, His royal power to resist the only other great ruler and dominion in the universe, Satan himself. Second, Jesus’ victory over temptation is an example, a pattern that we might follow and overcome the advances of Satan’s rule over our lives.
To prepare the way for Christ to rule in us means we must reject Satan’s attempts to rule us through temptation. To participate in the Kingdom of Christ, we must live victoriously over sin.
1. A Prepared Awareness
The first step in defeating temptation is readiness. No soldier enters the fray of battle without preparation. No athlete competes with to win without preparing. Jesus did not enter the wilderness without a prepared awareness. Jesus entered the battle completely ready.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…
Our first line of preparation is the Leading / Infilling of the Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus’ was conceived by the Holy Spirit at His birth, but we must also recognize that Jesus lived His life and engaged in ministry by the Power of the Holy Spirit. He would face temptation in the power of the Holy Spirit, as well.
v Ephesians 5:17-18 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
The Holy Spirit is our internal line of defense and our discerning guide into God’s will. His presence guards us in seasons of temptation, empowering us to live victoriously.
Temptation is “common place” in this world. Jesus did not forgo the experience. He was subject to the “tempter” as Satan is referred to in Matthew 4:3. One of Satan’s most common scriptural names is the devil, from diabolos, which means accuser or slanderer. Among the many other names given him are: the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world… Satan met Eve in the garden of Eden. He met Jesus in the wilderness. King David was tempted, while reigning on the throne od Israel. He met Peter beside a campfire. He enticed Judas, while he was still one of the 12. Ananias and Sapphira were tempted while members of the early church. There is no place in this world, where his temptation cannot strike.
Only through Jesus can we overcome. Our hope is in Jesus.
v Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Before coming to Christ, Augustine frequented 2 places; bars and prostitution houses. After surrendering his life to Christ, he passed one of the bars he often visited. A prostitute saw him coming and thought that he must have given up his religious phase. As he came closer; however, he refused to make eye contact and eventually passed her without acknowledgement. She spoke up to get his attention, “Augustine, don’t you recognize who you just walked by. It’s me!” For a moment he stopped, turned to her and said, “Yes, but it is no longer me.”
You and I were born into sin as its slaves. Temptation was a common victor. Through Christ, we have new identities, no longer relating to sin as its slaves, but through Christ, we are its overcomers.
2. A Powerful Authority
Temptation is Satan’s attempt to thwart God’s plan in your life and mine. The threat to being a godly man, a husband, a father… A godly woman, a mother, a wife… The threat is temptation. Satan’s first attack on Jesus Christ as He began His earthly ministry was designed to weaken and destroy the Messiah in an important area of His mission. The temptations became progressively worse.
Trust Yourself… Satan’s first temptation was for Jesus to doubt the providential care of His Father and to use His own divine powers to serve Himself. You have to do something now. Your hungry out here the wilderness. Take matters into your own hands. The wilderness is often the place where we try to take matters into our own hands.
No doubt, Jesus was hungry, but He was also committed to His Father’s plan. By the leading of the Holy Spirit, He fasted to prepare for upcoming ministry. His response conveys His faith… Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word, which proceeds from the mouth of God.
Temptation involves a decision to doubt God or to trust Him. Satan seeks to shatter our absolute trust in God. When we take matters into our own hands because we distrust God, we sin against Him. Jesus’ response essentially testified, I trust God to care for me in this wilderness.
Test God… Tempt means to test or to prove. Still hoping to undermine Jesus’ relation to God, the devil again introduced his temptation. “Prove to yourself and to the world that you are the Son of God and throw Yourself down.”
If God has such power – demand it from Him. Back Him into a corner and make Him dance. There are two things wrong with that kind of theology. First, it forces God to act according to our own will. Jesus never operated on His own will, for proof of His own calling as King. Every miracle was by His Father’s authority and leading.
Secondly, no matter how noble and important we may think our reasons are, to test God is to doubt God. And to doubt God is not to trust Him, and not to trust Him is sin. Faith is letting God be God.
Worship another god... The third temptation was for Him to renounce the way of His Father and to substitute Satan as His ruler. This third temptation has to do with our worship.
Money may become that God. A relationship may become that God. Alcohol can become that God. Pornography can become that God. It is up to us to renounce every other allegiance as we worship the Father and devote ourselves to His will and purposes.
Jesus faced 3 Primary Temptations, with one powerful authority. Time after time He found His authority in the Word of God.
For each temptation there is one answer… “It is written…” Jesus fully submitted Himself to the authority of God’s Word. We must do the same.
Psalm 119 is the psalm of God’s Word and it speaks of the priority it demands in our lives.
v v. 11 - Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
v v. 101 - I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.
v v. 133 - Direct my steps by Your word, & let no iniquity have dominion over me.
A prepared awareness and the powerful authority of God’s Word meant victory for Jesus. Overcoming temptation is…
3. An Uplifting Achievement
V. 11 - “Then the devil left Him…”
The victory Jesus encountered over Satan’s temptation is a pattern for our victory. Be prepared with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Seek His daily infilling. Continually submit your life to the authority of God’s Word. God promises victory.
v James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
v 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Conclusion
To prepare the way for Christ to rule in us means we must reject Satan’s attempts to rule us through temptation. The main issue in every temptation is obeying God.
Jesus obeyed God all the way to the cross. Philippians 2:8b – He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
At the great market in Mexico City, an old native named Pota-lamo had twenty strings of onions hanging for sale. An American tourist asked him, "How much for a string of onions?"
"Ten cents," said Pota-lamo. "How much for two strings?" "Twenty cents." "How much for all twenty strings?" asked the American. "I would not sell you my twenty strings," replied Pota-lamo. "Why not? Aren’t you here to sell your onions?"
"No," replied the old merchant. "I am here to live my life. I love this marketplace. I love the crowds. I love the sunlight and the wavering palmettos. I love to have friends come by and say buenos dias and talk about the babies and the crops. That is my life. For that I sit here all day and sell my twenty strings of onions. But if I sell all my onions to one customer, then my day is ended. I have lost the life I love—and that I will not do."
Jesus rose up from the place where the kingdoms of the world shimmered before him, where crowns flashed and banners rustled, and hosts of enthusiastic people were ready to acclaim him, and quietly walked the way of poverty and suffering to the cross, to gather people into the Father’s kingdom and under the peace of His rule.
When we overcome temptation, we choose the life of God’s leadership, His kingdom purpose to unfold in our lives as we trust and obey…
