The Temptation of Jesus by the Devil Part 3

Luke 4:9-13 (NKJV) ⁹  Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰  For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ ¹¹  “and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” ¹²  And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ” ¹³  Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

We have been studying the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness.  Jesus was tempted in three areas which I believe represent the basic ways all temptations work.  We have looked at the first two and how to deal with them.  I want to take some time to study the third and final temptation today.  We find this account in Luke 4:9-13.  We immediately see a major difference in how this temptation is worded.  Jesus has answered the devil in both the previous temptations with, “it is written.”  The devil is very cunning.  When he sees how we overcome him, he will change his tactics.  In this case he comes at Jesus with the same statement, “it is written” and quotes a scripture.  You need to be aware that the devil is well versed in the Word of God.  He will use it against us if he can. 

Jesus was not deceived for two reasons.  Most important is that Jesus knew the Word of God intimately.  The better we know the Bible, the less we will be susceptible to the devils attempts to use it to deceive us.  Jesus immediately had an answer that revealed how Satan had twisted the meaning of the scripture in a way that would lead Jesus to do something that was not what God was saying in the verse quoted.  No one knows the Bible so well that he can answer every possible use of scripture to deceive, but the more we give ourselves to the Word of God the less vulnerable we will be. 

There is another way in which we can discern when it is the devil speaking the Word of God or the Lord himself.  Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit before he went into the wilderness.  We have the Holy Spirit within as we navigate the wilderness times in our lives.  Many times, we do not know that the devil is involved.  Temptation can come through people or even our own flesh.  When we hear something or feel something that might be based on a scripture but somehow doesn’t seem quite right, look within.  The Holy Spirit has a way of nudging us in the right direction.  Yield to his guidance and you will not be deceived.

Let us look at this third deception itself.  What was Satan trying to do?  One commentator said that Satan was trying to tempt Jesus into becoming his own murderer.  I believe this is true.  The scripture Satan quoted to Jesus was Psalm 91:11-12.  This is a wonderful promise of protection to the people of God.  It tells us that when we make our dwelling place in him, we will be protected from all kinds of evil.  Indeed, the quote by Satan is accurate.  I have stood on this promise myself many times.  What is wrong with what Satan said.? 

As in the first temptation, Satan begins by say, “If you are the son of God.”  In the first temptation, “if” carries the idea of “since.”  “Since you are the Son of God, why not turn these stones into bread.”  In the last temptation,” if” is used to bring doubt into Jesus as to whether he really is what God says of him.  Remember, it is Jesus the son of man being tempted not Jesus the Son of God.  The son of man was just as human as you or I.  It was possible for him to doubt.  He had been through a time of fasting followed by testing and trying by the devil.

We can understand why he could have been prone to questions.  “If I really am the Son of God, why is this still happening?”  When we are facing trying times, that is often what we feel.  “God, I know you love me, and I know you have given this promise in your Word, but I don’t understand why I am still in this situation.”  We might hear things like, “If the Bible is true, why hasn’t anything changed.”  If God loves me, wouldn’t he have moved by now?”  “Maybe I am just too unworthy for God to move in my life.”  The possibilities are endless.  You may hear these things as thoughts in your mind or you may hear them from others.  You may even feel you have been led to a Bible verse that seems to confirm the thoughts of doubt.  How do we fight this?  Just as Jesus did.

Jesus had a ready answer from scripture.  We may have one as well but sometimes we do not.  However, we may have that “uneasiness” inside that says something is not right.  Ask yourself the question, “Does that really sound like the voice of God.  Is that how he speaks to me?”  If it is a voice of condemnation or confusion, it is not God’s voice.  Often God will bring another verse to mind.  That is what happened to Jesus.  He did not allow the devil’s deception to move him away from how he had won every other temptation.  He came right back with another scripture from the written Word.

Deuteronomy 6:16 (NKJV) ¹⁶  “You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.

Jesus does not argue with Satan.  He quotes this verse and that is the end of the temptations.  In Jesus’ answer we see the nature of the third temptation.  Jesus quotes the first part but with the understanding of the whole verse.  How did Israel tempt God in Massah.  This was the story of when Moses was instructed by God to bring water out of a rock.  The people of Israel were once again complaining and threatening Moses.  They said, “Is God among us or not!”  They tempted God by demanding that God prove himself.

That is exactly what Satan was trying to get Jesus to do.  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple.  Force God to prove what he said is true.”  Why was this “tempting God.”  Remember this word can also mean testing.  The idea is similar to assaying gold in order to determine its quality.  Just as the people of Israel were testing the presence of God in their midst, Satan was telling Jesus that he could not be sure he really was the Son of God.  If he cast himself down that would force God to prove it.  This is the direct opposite of faith. 

The people of Israel questioned that God was with them and demanded that Moses prove it.  They had seen God do so many things over the years leading to this point, yet they wanted proof.  Faith does not work that way.  There are times in our faith life when God will lead us to act on his promises.  However, we do not act to force God into our timetable or because we require proof that the promises are true.  We act because God has directed us to act.  We do not act to force God to move, we act because we know God is moving.  We do not act to prove to ourselves or to anyone else that we have faith.  We act because we have faith and are following God not trying to lead him.

In his response to Satan, Jesus has settled that he will not be tempted to use the power of God or his own abilities to accomplish the will of God.  He has settled that he will worship God and God alone.  There is no shortcut that he will take to obtain a counterfeit of what God is working in his life.  And he will not tempt God by questioning his presence in every situation.  He will move as God directs.  He will act as the Lord leads and God will always do what he promises. 

We cannot in one encounter forever eliminate the temptation of the devil in our lives.  However, we can use the pattern Jesus reveals in his time of temptation to be better prepared to overcome the temptation, testing and trials that come to us.  This will help us win every day and go into the world in the power of the Holy Ghost.

For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.

The Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness: Part 2

Luke 4:5-8 (NKJV) ⁵  Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶  And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” ⁸  And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

As we look at the idea that it is possible for us to win every day, we realize it is impossible to do that if we do not know how to deal with trying times.  We are currently looking at the trying times Jesus went through in the wilderness at the very beginning of his ministry.  Although the word translated temptation in this scripture can also mean any test or trial, temptation is a major tool of the devil in our lives as well as in Jesus’.  James tells us that temptation never comes from God, and that when we are tempted we can overcome it.  Temptation is not sin, although the devil would like us to believe it is.  If we resist temptation as Jesus did, we can overcome it and James also tells us that will lead to the crown of life.  How did Jesus deal with temptation?

We found that the first temptation was to turn bread into stone after a 40 day fast.  Hunger had returned in Jesus’ body.  He was at the point of starvation.  He was the son of God, but it was the son of man being tempted here.  He could have done what Jesus suggested.  His answer was, “It is Written.”  If God had said, Son, turn these stones into bread and eat” that would have been fine.  Since the devil said it, Jesus knew it would lead only to bad things.  The first temptation is to follow the voice of the devil or the world.  It may seem logical.  It may seem right, but if the devil is the source, pain is the end.

It was also a temptation to take care of the problem in our own strength and not to trust God.  When we are faced with trying times it is easy to fall into this temptation.  We know something must be done.  We do have a part to play, but it is important for us, as believers, to take a step back and ask God what we should do.  Sometimes a decision has to be made and an action taken, but do your best to make that decision by faith in God.  That way, you will find that if it is the wrong one you will quickly know to pivot in the right direction.

The written Word of God is key in overcoming this temptation.  The more we know the written Word the more clearly we will hear the voice of God.  The writing Word provides the principles and boundaries that should guide our decisions.  It is also food to the spirit of man which will strengthen that part of us that is vitally connected to God.

In the next temptation Satan tells Jesus that he has been given authority over the whole world.  If Jesus will worship him, all this authority would be his.  This is interesting on two points.  Did Satan lie to Jesus?  He did not.  It would not have been a real temptation if he had.  At the fall of man, the authority God had given to Adam in creation was put in the hands of Satan.  This was the case because man’s sin had put him in Satan’s hands.  It was Satan’s to give to anyone who would worship him.  What is even more interesting is that this power was part of what Jesus was going to obtain in his death, burial and resurrection. 

Matthew 28:18 (NKJV) ¹⁸  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

This is a statement Jesus made after the resurrection.  Do you see the similarity to that with which the devil tempted him?  The temptation was not so much having the authority over all the earth, it was to bypass the cross in order to obtain it.  In trying times we are usually tempted to compromise our faith in God to get what we want or need without having to go through what we must deal with to receive it God’s way.  There are no shortcuts to the will of God.  In Jesus’ answer we find out something important.  “Get behind me Satan, For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” 

When compromise to get what we want, need or thing we deserve, we always end up serving other gods.  In Matthew 6:24, Jesus points out one of the false gods we may end up serving if we trust in money.  He says, “You cannot serve both God and mammon.”  What is mammon.  According to Strong’s concordance it means wealth personified and greed deified.  Mammon is not just greed or wealth.  It is the God of greed and wealth.  Mammon is one God we may end up serving.  It could also be the god of pride and ambition.  It could be the god of fear.  There are many things we could put here.  Whatever is driving you to compromise your walk with God or your integrity to get what you need or want will lead you to serving another God.  Not all at once of course, but the first compromise makes the second easier.  In the end you will be serving another god and, no matter what the name my be, it will be him.

Jesus’ response gives us the answer to this temptation.  Notice that he uses the written Word once again.  “You shall worship the Lord you God and him only you shall serve.”  What is worship.  The Greek carries the idea of doing reverence and to adore the one you worship.  Reverence means to treat someone with deep respect.  To adore, or course, means to love but also to admire.  When we compromise to obtain something, we respect something else more than we do God.  We admire the easy way more than we do God.  Jesus flatly refuses because he understands this truth.

I am laying out what happens when we give in to compromise, but that does not mean I think every time we give in to the easy way we are terrible people who worship the devil and do not love, admire and respect God.  We give in to compromise because we do not understand that that is the devil’s trap for us.  If we fall into that trap, all we need to do is repent and God will help us out of it.  If we understand the plan of the devil we are less likely fall into the trap in the first place. 

Worship is an attitude of the heart.  It is also an action.  We love the Lord, but the act of worship reinforces what we believe.  It puts us in a place where our focus is upon him.  We focus on how wonderful and awesome he is.  We focus on what he has done for us and how much we can trust him.  When we view this temptation from a posture of the worship of God, we will se the temptation to worship the devil through compromise for what it is.  It is foolishness.

The act of worship that does not begin in the heart of worship is just religious form.  However the act of worship is very important in keeping our heart of worship in control.  Do not think that the times of praise and worship in church are just what we do before the preaching of the Word of God.  Understand that they are a very important part of keeping our inward worship.  When you feel the temptation to compromise, actively worship God.  Worship does not end in church.  It is reinforced in our corporate time together, but worship is a lifestyle.  It is one of the keys to winning every day.

Let me close with one more key to overcoming this temptation.  As we saw in Matthew 28, the thing offered by Satan to get Jesus to worship him was going to be his anyway.  He had to go through the cross to get it, but he ended up with what the devil offered him without having to bow down to evil.  There is nothing the devil tempts you to compromise for that God cannot provide in a better, fuller and purer way. 

Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV) ²²  The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.

You may have to go through a journey to get there.  You may have to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, but in the end, you will have what God wants for you.  However, you will have it with no pitfalls attached.

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The Temptations of Jesus in The Wilderness Part 1

Luke 4:1-4 (NKJV) ¹  Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ²  being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. ³  And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” ⁴  But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ “

We have been looking at the thought, “how can we win every day.”  To win every day means we can be in a place where we are confident that God is in control and working on the issues we face.  If we are going to win every day, we must know how to deal with trying times.  That is why we have been looking at the temptations of Jesus.

Today I want to begin looking at the three specific temptations Jesus faced.  We will find that most of what the devil brings against us is to get us to fall in the way he was trying to get Jesus to fall.  In truth, he has very little new.  These are the same temptations that Adam failed to overcome in the Garden of Eden.  Jesus did not fail and, among other things, he leaves us a pattern for success to follow when we find ourselves in trying times.

We will be looking at the end of Jesus time of testing.  He had been in the wilderness for 40 days during which he was fasting.  In verse one it said that the 40 days had ended and he was hungry.  Very few of us know what it means to be truly hungry.  When we have not eaten for an extended period of time, we will feel hunger pains.  Most of us know what that is like.  In a time of extended fasting, the hunger pains will leave after a while.  When they come back it is generally because we have come to the point of starvation.  The body is sending emergency signals to us that it must have food soon.  That is where Jesus was when the devil came with this first temptation.

It is not that much of a temptation to turn stones into bread when you have plenty of bread at hand.  However, if you are a the point of starvation you will do most anything to get something to eat.  I know people in the nation of Liberia who, during their civil war, were truly starving.  As of the last time I was in that country some 5 or 6 years ago, there still were no livestock.  They had all been killed and eaten during the conflict.  People told me that they were eating leaves off the trees just to stay alive.  All of their thoughts and energy were channeled into finding enough food for themselves and their loved ones to live one more day.  I cannot imagine that kind of hunger, but that is what Jesus was feeling.

When the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread, it could have seemed quite reasonable.  Jesus was the Son of God.  He had taken on a physical body to redeem man, but would God want him to starve to death before he could do that?  Logic would tell us no.  John 1 tells us that he was with God in creation and indeed was God.  Why not use the power of God to turn bread into stone.  However, it was not the Son of God that was being tempted, it was the son of man.  Jesus was both.

In another place we read about a wedding in Cana of Galilee where Jesus turned water into wine.  It was not out of the realm of possibility for him to change one thing into another.  Why would it have been wrong to do that in this instance.  There are a number of reasons.

First, we must understand that the devil will never suggest something that is the will of God.  Even if it is possible, if it suggested by the devil, it is always going to lead to sin.  Often what the devil suggests is quite logical to the natural senses.  However, if it comes from the “word of Satan”, it will always be rooted in evil and against God.  In this respect Jesus response is very telling.  “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word of God.” 

When Jesus changed  water into wine, we know that his mother asked him to do something for the people holding the feast.  He gave her a gentle rebuke, but he did what she asked.  That tells me that even though he told her it was not quite time for him to be fully revealed, he had the “OK’ from his Father to proceed.

John 5:19 (NKJV) ¹⁹  Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

Had God said turn the stones into bread, it would have been just fine to do so.  Since it was Satan that said it, Jesus flatly refused.  We must understand that whatever we hear from the devil, it is not God.  It will never lead to a real solution but only to more problems.  Unfortunately, we usually do not hear the devil the way it seems Jesus hears and sees him in this scripture.  He is far more subtle than that.  He speaks through our emotions, through other people and worldly counsel or logic.  In Mark 4 Jesus said to be careful about what we hear.  Proverbs 14:12 says there is a way that seems right to a man but it always ends up in death.  How can we discern the difference between the voice of Satan and the voice of God.

There are two factors here that enabled Jesus to readily reject the temptation before him.  One was the fact that he had just spent 40 days in the presence of God.  The more time we spend in prayer, praise and worship, the easier it is to recognize the word of the world.  Paul said pray without ceasing.  I believe it is good to have times set aside to pray.  I also believe it is possible to keep God in the center of all our days.  I talk to him all the time.  He is always there and always interested in me and my life. 

The second thing is what Jesus said to the devil.  “It is written man does not live by physical bread alone but by every Word of God.”  It is written.  The written word of God is a source of life to us.  The more we know the written Word of God the more we will discern the difference between the voice of God and the voice of Satan.  The Word of God is the bread of life.  It is food for our spirit just as natural bread is food for our bodies.  It reveals to us the principles that God has put in place in the world, but it also strengthens us in the part that has been born again into the image and likeness of God.

Finally, the temptation in this encounter is to solve the problem with our own strength instead of trusting in God.  That does not mean that we do not have our part to play.  For instance, the Bible is clear that if we want to eat, we should be willing to work.  However, when we choose to “help God along” even when it seems we may be within the letter of the Word of God, are we following the spirit of the Word.  We must trust God himself above all else. 

When we think we must solve our problems on our , we are in a place of temptation.  The root of this kind of thinking  is that we do not believe God will take care of us.  The power of God flows according to the will of God not our own will.  Jesus knew it was the will of God for him to live until the time came for him to redeem mankind.  He did not need to turn stones into bread.  He knew God’s will and he knew God’s nature.  He knew that God would take care of him.  If turning stones into bread was how God wanted to do it, he would have said so.  He did not, so Jesus simply had to trust in him. 

It was not easy.  He had been through 40 days of fasting and was starving.  Our times of testing, temptation and trial are not easy either.  Nevertheless, do not try to help God.  Trust in him.  Believe in his written Word and make place for it in your heart.  Do not give in to the temptation to “do it yourself.”  That never ends well.

For Audio Messages Visit: https://anchor.fm/bill-kiefer or search Practical Wisdom from the Word of God or Bill Kiefer on Spotify or where you listen to podcasts.