“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 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. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matthew 4:1-11).
Introduction
The devil is the adversary of every true believer of the Lord Jesus Christ and he seeks our destruction. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Being saved does not free us from the battle, but God has equipped us to be victorious. He will use various forms of temptation to defeat us, but each one can be overcome if we have God’s word in our hearts and minds. Jesus’ encounter with Satan serves as a blueprint for overcoming temptation and the devil.
The Bible or bread?
Notice that Jesus was hungry after His forty day fast. Satan came along to supply what was needed, but at a cost. The One who would soon create bread enough to feed a multitude could easily have turned stones into bread. Why was it a temptation? The fact is that Satan suggested it rather than God. It might sound good and legitimate, but if it is not of God then it is wrong. “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). We must reject temptation no matter how decent and honest it seems.
Satan may seek to defeat us with the everyday problems of life, but we can overcome him with God’s word just like Jesus did. “Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live” (Deuteronomy 8:3). People can go to Hell on a full stomach, but they need the Gospel in their hearts to go the Heaven. God’s word is our daily sustenance; it is the sword that thwarts the devil. “The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
High and mighty?
We are always vulnerable when we find ourselves in a high place that God has not brought us to. We will then comfort our hearts with positive verses from the Bible. Satan knows God’s word too, that is why many fall for the false doctrines of the cults. Let us not forget that Satan often masquerades as an angel of God. “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
The Lord Jesus overcome Satan with the word of God again. “Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah” (Deuteronomy 6:16). The Israelites tempted God by complaining (Exodus 17:7), lack of trust (Numbers 14:22), wanting to return to Egypt (Psalm 78:41), and hardening their hearts (Hebrews 3:9). Do we not tempt God in exactly the same way? There is always a “shall not” for the devil’s tricks and temptations.
God or grandeur?
Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world from the mountain top. This was a vision of what could be if the Lord would just do a simple miracle. Jesus could instantly have a worldwide ministry without any rejection, suffering and death, but at the cost of damning the world to eternal destruction. It makes us wonder how many ministries have fallen for this temptation! All false religions are actually worshipping Satan. This temptation is swiftly sent back to where it came from by the word of God.
We are called to worship and serve God alone, not images or things. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:3-6).
Conclusion
What did Satan show Jesus? Just stones! Stones for bread, stones on the ground, and stones of the world’s kingdoms. The devil’s kingdom is made out of loose stones (sand, see Matthew 7:24-27), but the Lord’s is the solid and unmoveable rock. Therefore, all temptation, no matter how pleasant it is to the flesh, is unstable stone rather than a true foundation. The word of God is the sure foundation and the sword that overcomes our enemy.
© 16/3/2009