THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST AND ITS RELEVANCE TO US

Text: Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mat 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.
Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

To you, alone, I make my prayer.
None other can give me victory
and lift me from my worldly care
and make me what I ought to be.
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Jesus had just fasted for forty days and Satan chose this time of physical testing to tempt him. The response and defense of Jesus was, in every case, the Word of God.
The challenge of the devil to change the stones into bread brings a question to mind. John the Baptist had not yet made the declaration, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.". In fact, his own testimony was,
John 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

When Jesus came up out of the water, he had been carried away immediately into the wilderness and only upon his return, did John make the public announcement concerning Christ. Christ had not yet called one single disciple to follow him. No miracle had been done. How did the devil know He could? We can only come to the conclusion that perhaps Satan had some inside information which men would only receive later. He did indeed have such knowlege and knew this was the one he must fear.

Christ had been present in that far distant past, as Satan had tried to usurp God's throne and had been cast as lightning from heaven. Jesus had been present as the angels which kept not their first estate were reserved in chains of darkness against the day of judgment. [Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.]

Satan remembered how, after he had deceived Eve and caused the fall of the entire human race, God made man a promise,
'Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
He also knew that in all the history of the human race, this was the only one who had been born, not of the seed of man but the seed of the woman. Yes, the devil knew about the virgin birth! He might try to deceive men about it, but he knew that this was the one he should fear.

The men of that day had seemingly forgotten how, thirty years before, the praise of the angels had rung out, "Glory to God in the highest. Satan had not forgotten. He had tried to head off the inevitable by inspiring Herod to order the slaying of the infants of Bethlehem. He had failed.

Satan had recognized Christ just as the demons of the land of the Gadarenes would know him later and cry out in terror,"Thou Son of the Most High God!" There was no doubt at all in the mind of Satan as to the identity of this man.
However, his tactics have always been to try to place a question in the mind of others. He doesn't change his ways, even on this occasion. "IF thou be the Son of God-" is his opening sally. How absurd! The very fact of his approaching Christ with the remark, is proof that he knew this was the Christ.

Another thing worthy of note, is the fact that though the devil had known for the thirty years of the Lord's earthly life that He was the Christ, he had not tried to tempt him until he had begun his ministry. Satan knew that Christ would begin His Church which would preach the Gospel to all creatures. He also knew that the Lord's ministry would end with his death for the redemption of the souls of men and the resurrection from the dead. In desperation he tried to head off all this. Another of Satan's tactics is made plain here; He never really bothers any child of God until that Christian begins to serve God!

It was upon this occassion that the devil began a campaign of temptation that would bring all the forces of evil to bear upon Christ. He would truly be "tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin."

What the devil did Not offer is worthy of notice. He DID NOT offer to give food to Christ, himself. Since man is created in the image of God, Satan hates him and seeks only his destruction. The devil's only offerings to the fleshly desires of man are those which will destroy him. He holds out to man drink, drugs, excesses of all kinds and while promising great pleasure, never warns of the destruction to man's body, morals and perhaps even the final damnation of his soul. Even those things which are necessary for man's well-being are presented in a way which will dishonor God. He entices man to sell liquor or drugs or cheat in his business and take every unfair advantage over his fellow man, then offer the excuse,"I'm just making a living for my family!"

If everything else fails, he will get you a job which will keep you busy on the Lord's Day and away from the House Of God. Then he is right there with the ready made excuse, "I've got to eat".

What God's people must remember is,
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
However pleasant an offer appears to be, if it interferes with your relationship with God, then GOD WAS NOT THE GIVER. God doesn't provide men with with jobs or opportunities which will degrade their fellow man or separate them from Himself.

Neither does God provide the boats, campers and all the other recreational facilities which take so many away from his service. What he did do, was to provide our nation with all manner of abundance and they, instead of thanking God for the bounty, used those very things as opportunities to turn away from Him. It was for this very reason that Jesus taught us to pray,"Give us today our DAILY bread.".

Another thing the devil did not do on this occasion was, he did not try to take Christ's life and then offer to save it for a price. Instead he merely took him up to a pinnacle of the Temple and urged him to jump. The reason he did this was really very simple. The devil knows the Bible and he knew
Deu 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

When God allowed Satan the power to torment Job, he refused to allow him to touch his life. The devil can really make man miserable and even cause him to destroy himself, but ONLY IF MAN WILL PERMIT IT.

You do not have to be in bondage to Satan, and you don't have to destroy mind and body with his enticements. He can have only as much power over you as you allow him to have. The same source of strength is open to you, that Christ used on this occassion. The answer to temptation is still, "It is written--" David had expressed this truth many years earlier in
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

In addition to the power of the Word, we have another source of spiritual strength;
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
If Christ is your savior and is in you, then this promise is yours.

What a great lesson to us, as we consider the answers of Christ to Satan. Not one time did He did he base his answers on personal desire, feelings or opinion. He never considered what society might have said. A poll might have said that if we want something bad enough and it doesn't hurt anyone else, then go for it. Jesus never used such rationalization. He never entertained the thought that since no one was watching, it wouldn't matter.

His thinking, according to human logic, might have gone something like this, "These stones don't really belong to anyone else and there is certainly nothing wrong with eating, and besides, it won't hurt anyone else. I'll just use my power for miracles to ease my hunger a bit." There would have been a terrible flaw in this kind of reasoning: He would have been using for his own gain, that which was to be used for other things. In succumbing to the enticement of the devil he would have been doing great harm to the entire human race. Even though there was no other human being present to see whether he yielded to Satan's pressure, it was the all knowing, perfect and Holy Father who must be satisfied with the perfect sacrifice. Remember, what YOU do also has an effect upon others for;
Rom 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Experience also teaches us that our every act has some effect upon others.

Then there are those who base their action and beliefs upon their feelings. Never did Jesus even hint at the commonly used excuse for his actions, "I just have a feeling that it is o.k." In every case, His response was, "It is written ---" On this alone He based his actions. God grant us the Grace to do the same.
We often hear statements such as, "maybe the Bible says what you say, but this is what I think---" Really, it doesn't matter what you or the whole human race think about a matter. The only thing which carries any weight at all is, What is written? What does God say?

The admonition of the Scripture to those who have been saved by the Grace of God, is to 'be ready to give an answer to those who ask a reason for the hope that is within us'. This can only be done through constant and diligent study of the Word of God.

A Christian must study the word until his reason for acting in any situation, or in refusing to participate in any action, is an automatic, 'It is written." This and this alone must be our authority. It is a weapon against evil which all hell cannot oppose. Jesus made us the promise that 'heaven and earth shall pass away but my Words shall not pass away'.

Still another great truth to be learned from the answer of Jesus is that there is more to life than meat, drink and material things. God has promised to provide for the needs of our bodies, but even more important is his promise to provide for our spiritual needs also.
1 Pet 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1 Pet 2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

A healthy christian will desire spiritual food. We can feel sorry for the church member whose biggest concern is,"What shall I wear to church today?" Or the one who brings away only the latest tid-bit of gossip instead of spiritual uplift. The Apostle Paul said of these weak christians, who never seem to advance beyond the 'milk stage',
"1 Cor 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able."

John records in the sixth chapter of his epistle, how there were 'many who turned back and walked no more with Jesus' because they would not accept, and could not digest the truths he spoke.
One of the ways to recognize a weak christian is that he easily becomes upset about ANYTHING. He'll get mad at his wife because he got mad at his boss and he'll take out his anger on the children or even the family pet. This, however, pales into insignificance when compared to the anger he expresses against the preacher, if the Word of God should condemn and convict him for his weakness.

The strong meat of the Word belongs to working, growing christians.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Every young man remembers the thrill of being told for the first time that he needed a shave. Every young person can recall the excitement of being treated as an adult for the first time. These experiences are as nothing when compared to the joy of growing in grace and the knowlege of the truth. If the greatest thing in your life has been the acquiring of a new possession or the experiencing of a new pleasure or seeing a new sight, then let me point you to the ultimate thrill! You can acquire and possess eternal life. You can know the excitement of learning new truths and new promises as you study His Word. You can have the pleasure of walking with Christ each day. You can have the exhilaration of having prayer answered. All this and more can be yours as you study the Word and walk in its precepts.

The answer of Christ to Satan also teaches us that there is nothing unimportant in the Word. He said "man should live by EVERY WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". God doesn't deal with trivialities. Man often categorizes Scripture into that which is vital and that which is of lesser importance. Not so with Christ. Every word is inspired and every word is important.

Astronomers tell us that there are stars out in space which make our sun look like a dwarf and make it pale into insignificance as to brightness. On the other hand, there are those things surrounding us which are so small they can't be seen by the human eye. The difference in size is mind boggling but which is of the greatest importance to our everyday life; The huge stars or the small bacteria which changes milk to cheese and the yeast which makes our bread rise? Some of these 'small things' make the penicillin and other medicines upon which we have come to depend. Remember, it is EVERY WORD which is to feed the soul of man.

Perhaps you are one of those who have tried to read the Word of God like a newspaper and when you came to the accounts of the lineages of the Israelites in the Old Testament or of Christ in the New, you became 'bogged down in the begats' and decided there was nothing there for you. These things are important to one who searches for the truths to be found in Bible History and in prophecy.

If these studies are still off in your future growth, you can learn now some great truths. Every person named in these lists of people, were individuals who were important to God. This helps to show us the value of the individual to God. He did not say, 'there were a certain number of patriarchs before the flood. He named each of them and told of their families. Neither did he say there were a bunch of Israelites who went into the promised land. He named each head of each family. When Israel returned from the Babylonian captivity, He again didn't just number the returnees, He told us who they were. I may learn a lot about the detail with which God keeps his promises from a close study of these lists. By far the more important, though, is the fact that though men may relegate you to an account number or a statistic, with God you are still an individual with a name, feelings, needs and a future.
John 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
I can feast upon this great truth and many others passages which others might consider unimportant.

As we live by 'every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God', let us not overlook the importance of every doctrine and every tool the Lord provided us. They are all given that we might lead a life that is pleasing to Him and that we might be fruitful in His service.

His Church is not, as some think, an outdated and unnecessary adjunct to christianity. It is only in His true New Testament Churches where the preaching and teaching of his divine will is to be found. These are the things essential to real, meaningful christian living. Don't try to weed out or categorize those things which God has given you for your spiritual welfare. Learn to live by 'every word that proceedteth out of the mouth of God'.

There are some things that God has not seen fit to reveal to us. There are great mysteries which perhaps we shall never know, but he did reveal everything we need to know for victorious and fruitful living.

The most vital truths to those who are lost, are those which point out man as a lost sinner. That Christ died for such sinners. If you are such a lost sinner, here is a truth which can change your eternal destiny fron hell to eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.