Dealing With the Devil

Jesus knows Psalm chapter 2, where he will rule over the nations. He knows his destiny as the sovereign Lord of the nations. Satan knows that Jesus knows that. But here's the bait. The Father's will for you, Jesus, is untold suffering.

It's rejection. Take the shortcut! Don't go through Gethsemane. Let's just go right on to glory right now.

You can have all these nations here and there. Avoid the cross. Seize the crown. Temptation is an enticement to sin, accompanied by a promise of pleasure or gain if we follow through. It's an enticement to sin with the promise that you'll be happier or better off if you do it. Today on Wisdom for the Heart, you're going to see temptation played out in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus was out in a wilderness, and while he was there, he had to deal with the devil.

Today, Stephen Davey launches a series called, The Ministry Begins, with this message entitled, Dealing with the Devil. Stay with us as Stephen teaches three important truths regarding temptation. Several years ago, I read the true account of an early church leader who decided that the problem with sin and his inability to deal with it daily troubled him, like it troubles you and me. He came to the conclusion that the problem was his surrounding culture, society, people, the audible and the visual temptation. So he decided to move away from his village. He found a cave where he began to live a very simple life, away from all the stimuli that bombarded him daily. His needs were simple. He grew his own garden. He hunted his own game. But eventually, he came to the realization that it wasn't working.

In fact, he moved back into his village, and he wrote in his journal, which survived these centuries, here's what he wrote, quote, Even there, all alone, I was tempted with thoughts of great pride. Worldly temptations daily knocked at my door. There in that cave, temptation found me. So what hope do we have?

If we can't outrun it, if we can't hide from it, how do we handle it? Well, we're about to be given an amazing model in the life of Jesus Christ. In fact, he's going to rely on only those resources that we have today to rely upon obedience, submission, humility, patience, and a mind that is saturated with the Word of God.

So let me show you where. Let's go back in our study of Luke's Gospel. We're now in chapter 4, and let's watch as Satan drops the line of temptation into the pond of Jesus Christ's life, heart, and mind. Notice verse 1. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, that's where he was baptized, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness. Now the wilderness here was several hundred miles of desert. It was actually nicknamed the devastation. This is the perfect place for this kind of meeting. It was described by authors that I read with rocks bare and jagged, glowing with heat like a furnace as it swooped downward in elevation some 1,200 feet to the Dead Sea.

You can't imagine a more classic setting for this battle between the princes, the Prince of Darkness and the Prince of Peace. Now we're told here, don't miss this, that Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit. What that means is he is under the dominating influence of the Spirit of God.

By the way, we're told to do the same daily. Paul wrote to the Ephesians believers in chapter 5 and verse 18, be filled with the Holy Spirit. That means be dominated by, be under the influence of the Holy Spirit. So here's Jesus in perfect fellowship under the dominating control of the Holy Spirit. And can you not help but notice these two contrasting environments? He is in the Spirit in the wilderness.

We don't normally put those two together, do we? We assume that if we're led by the Spirit, if we're exactly where the Spirit of God wants us, it won't look anything like the wilderness. It's going to be green pastures and still waters. Psalm chapter 23 verse 2, well it might be, but it also might be a season where he prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies. Psalm 23 verse 5. As hard as it might be for us to imagine, it's possible to be full of the Spirit and face to face with the serpent at the same time. We're also told here in verse 2, notice the Lord was led by the Holy Spirit in the wilderness, now notice, for 40 days being tempted by the devil.

When they were ended he was hungry. Now keep this in mind if 40 days is linked to the participle being tempted, which marks gospel account, by the way makes it clear, it links it together. What this means is that Jesus isn't being tempted at the end of 40 days. He was tempted throughout these 40 days. For 40 days it's been non-stop temptation. For 40 days Satan has been probing for weaknesses.

He's been changing the bait every day, probably several times throughout the day and into the night time. We're just told what's happening at the end of 40 days. We're not given any of those temptations, just these. So these are following his 40 days, he's exhausted, he's hungry, and now Satan, you can think of it this way, he's going to pull out all the stops. So what we find here is the three final, the three climactic, these are our three incredibly strategic temptations. Here's the first one, verse 3, the devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

These little limestone rocks about the size of a loaf dotted this desert region, just turn them into some bread. Now let me give each temptation a title for the sake of our study. I want to give each temptation a subtitle to further describe what's going on.

The title of the first temptation would be this, simply put, put yourself first. And the subtitle is, God the Father is withholding something good from you. Now I want to point this out here, when the devil says in verse 3, if you are the Son of God, this is not a denial, this is not to raise doubt.

Now the English has difficulty at times translating the original language, this is actually an affirmation. He's essentially saying this, in view of the fact that you are the Son of God, why are you hungry? In view of the fact that you are God the Son, we just heard that, I mean the heavens were ripped open, and we heard God, your Father say, this is my beloved Son. Well for goodness sake, if you are God the Son, why in the world are you hungry?

Do something about it, you've got a legitimate need as humanity, and you have the power of deity, why not use your deity to solve the problem of your humanity? Oh clever, he's asking Jesus to step outside his representative role as a man. Jesus never used his divine attributes, by the way, to make his life comfortable. He never used them to serve himself. He never said, you know, it's just a little too much rain around here, I'm going to snap my fingers and it's going to be sunshine.

I'd have done that this morning, driving over here, the fog got thicker as I got closer. Never once, never once, Peter would preach in Acts chapter 2, he did these signs and wonders to attest to the fact that he was indeed the Son of God. He was never for himself, so he wants Jesus here to use his divine attributes to serve himself. Jesus, put yourself first, serve yourself, and if Jesus does this, it's going to create this split second of time, this act of self-serving, and any split second of self-serving is sin. There is this subtle implication going on, though.

This is the subtitle in this temptation. Your Father is withholding something you need, why isn't he giving it to you? Doesn't he want the best for you? Doesn't he know you're hungry? Doesn't he know it's been 40 days? What's he waiting for? I mean, surely after 40 days, it's time you started looking out for number one.

How many of us have fallen for this bait? You're in the wilderness, it's been a long season. You're suffering without any light at the end of the tunnel. You have legitimate needs that are unmet. There are good things that God is not giving you. What's God waiting for?

Maybe it's time for me to just look out for number one. Gotcha. Instead of taking the bait, Jesus responds with the Bible. Look at verse four, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone. Would you notice Jesus does not say, man shall not live by bread, period.

No, man shall not live by bread alone. Jesus doesn't want bread at the expense of fellowship with God the Father. See, for Jesus, it was better to be hungry in the will of God than full outside the will and pleasure of God. So keep in mind now that Jesus is going to counter each temptation by quoting scripture. His mind and heart are saturated, and this is modeling for us what we're to do.

In fact, he's modeling Psalm 119 11. Thy word have I hidden in my heart that I, what, may not sin against thee. Thy word have I stored, literally stored up in my heart that I might not sin.

Well, how does that help to store up the word? Well, the word of God gives you the mind of God. It gives you the wisdom of God. It gives you the perspective of God. It gives you the moral boundaries of God. It gives you the warnings of God. It gives you the commandments of God.

It gives you the counsel of God. We can't stand, we can't deal with the devil without the mind and the wisdom and the boundaries and the commands and the warnings and the counsel of God. Temptation number one, put yourself first. Let me entitle the second temptation this way.

Take the easy way out. And the subtitle would be this, God is asking too much of you. Go to verse five. And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and said to him, to you I will give all this authority and their glory for it has been delivered to me and I will give it to whom I will.

Satan obviously has delegated power. In fact, you notice here he's able to sweep Jesus up in a moment. Matthew mentions a high mountain where they're suddenly at its peak. Luke doesn't mention that. It seems that Jesus was high.

There's some kind of elevated position. Perhaps he's showing him the glories of the Roman Empire or the Grecian Empire before this. Satan doesn't know the future so he's not showing him America or Europe or whatever. He can show him what has happened.

It was glorious enough. And by the way, he's not lying here to Jesus. Three times in the Gospels, Jesus will refer to Satan as the prince of this world.

The prince of this world. But you know, Satan slips up. Did you notice he mentions the fact there at the end of this verse, these nations, they have been delivered to me. They have been handed over to me. Oh, who handed them to you? Uh oh, you shouldn't have said that. It's delegated, it's only temporary. Ultimately they don't belong to you.

Just for a season. He's legitimately though promising Jesus that he can have all of it now. You can have it all right now. That's the bait. Now you might wonder, as I did, why would this be tempting to Jesus?

Well, there's this hidden hook. Satan is subtly suggesting the will of the father is just too much suffering. Let's take a shortcut to kingdom authority. Jesus knows Psalm chapter 2 where he will rule over the nations. He knows his destiny as the sovereign lord of the nations. Satan knows that Jesus knows that. Satan knows that Jesus knows that. Satan knows that Jesus knows that.

I mean, they're back and forth here. They know this. But here's the bait. Take the shortcut. Avoid the cross. Seize the crown. Don't go through Gethsemane. Let's just go right on to glory right now.

You can have all these nations here and now. The father's will for you, Jesus, is untold suffering and agony. It's blood and pain.

It's rejection. There's no need for that. You're God the Son. You can have the kingdoms of the world without suffering. That's the bait.

But here's the hook. Verse 7. If you then will worship me, it will all be yours.

The word for worship here means to genuflect, to bow. He wants us to take this bait. And one of his strategic methods is to drop this bait in our mind that God's will is too hard. God is asking too much from us.

Living for him is too difficult. I thought God was going to make things easier. Haven't you met individuals who said, yeah, okay, I'll pray that prayer and God's going to solve everything. We sell Jesus that way to people. He's going to solve all your problems. Then you come to faith and you realize, wow, I just got a lot more.

What happened? That's the bait. Leave that narrow, hard, uphill path. My path is broad. My way is easy. And it's paved.

And it's ever so slightly downhill. But I master those that will give their lives to that path. Temptation number one, put yourself first. Temptation number two, take the easy way out. Temptation number three, do things your own way. And the subtitle would be this, and this is where it gets very deceptive. God's word needs to fit your agenda.

So work it a little bit and make it fit whatever you want to do as you do it your way. Incredibly subtle. Look at verse nine. And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. That word pinnacle means tip, ledge.

Little wing. More than likely it was the ledge on the southeast corner of the rooftop of the temple described by Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, as that corner which could look down into the Kidron Valley some 450 feet below. And Josephus said if you were that high up it would make you dizzy to look down. Well Satan again takes Jesus and sweeps him up, notice verse nine, and said to him, if you are the son of God, again make sure you understand, in view of the fact that you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written he will command his angels concerning you to guard you, and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. Biblical way of saying, unless it's splat, he's going to take care of you. Now Satan is quoting here from Psalm 91. It's a psalm that celebrates the protection of God over his beloved people. But Satan now rips this verse out of its context and says, let's make this verse apply to you. Let's make it justify you taking this rather spectacular leap from the roof of the temple.

God said in Psalm 91 he will protect the faithful. You're faithful, aren't you? Well, I mean, come on, this is going to then apply to you. You ought to put it to the test right now. Take this verse.

It'll justify your agenda. Do the thing your way. Now, before we go any further, don't miss the fact that the devil can quote scripture. He can quote scripture too. He's heard Jesus respond now two times with scripture, and he's a brilliant fisherman.

Oh, well, I'll tell you what I'll do. You know, there's a favorite psalm of mine and there are a couple of verses I'd like to quote to you. That's the Lord. He's obviously a student of scripture. The problem is he twists it to serve his own defiance. You probably know as well as I do to this day most cults and unbelievers that I've come in contact with over the years.

I have found this similar thread. They do not necessarily reject the Bible. They reinterpret it. They they add to it.

They take away from it. They've rung my doorbell as I'm sure they have yours in the opening line. I already know what it's going to be. We'd like to interest you in reading the Bible. And I usually say I'm kind of interested in that.

So let's talk. But you know, it's one thing to talk about those cults out there and those unbelievers and ignore the passages that we might not like or that we might reinterpret in order to justify our own agenda. We use phrases like, well, God told me or the Spirit of God led me. But underneath is our own agenda. Satan wants Jesus here to reinterpret Psalm 91 to do something spectacular.

And there's something more here. There's this passage, and we won't turn, but it's in Malachi chapter 3 and verse 1 where he makes the promise that when the Lord arrives, that is a messianic phrase, when the Messiah arrives, he will come to the temple suddenly. Jesus is aware of that text, and so is Satan, though it's not mentioned here. But Satan's challenging Jesus once again to jump ahead of the divine timetable, twist the meaning of scripture, and with one spectacular descent to the temple courtyard below, announce, I'm here, and everyone will follow him. This is a way around the denial. This is a way around rejection.

Do something spectacular right in their midst. Do it your way, Jesus. Test the Father. He'll reward your leap of faith.

It'll be amazing. Jesus responds, look at verse 12. It is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. In other words, don't tell God what to do. Don't use his word to disobey his will. Verse 13, notice. And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him forever. What a great verse.

Oh, wait, I'm sorry. He departed from him until an opportune time. Satan is going to stay on the Lord's trail and track him every single moment of every single day. But listen, now, I want you to rejoice with me in the glory and the hope and the security and the confidence that we have today.

How? And that Jesus never sinned. He was in every respect tempted as we are yet without sin. Hebrews 4, verse 15. He committed no sin. 1 Peter 2, 22.

Which means he is worthy, he is capable, he is qualified to become for us the unblemished lamb, able to bear our sin, our sin. And we take the bait every day, don't we? Our sin only mounts up. He took it all. Daily we go to him, though, because we want to follow him.

And so often when we go to him, what do we do? I'm snagged. Would you relieve me of the hook?

I took the bait. Here's our model. He used only the resources we have. He's showing us how to deal with the devil.

Here are our resources in this combat. Be submissive to the leading of the Spirit of God, even if he leads you into the wilderness. Be patient with the timing of God, even if it doesn't fit your timetable. Be willing to suffer according to the will of God. And be saturated with the Word of God. Jesus is fully God, yet we're watching him fully human.

Choose to use here only those resources we have at our disposal. And here's the glory of it all. As a man, the second Adam, the first Adam failed. He couldn't handle the lore.

He took it. The second Adam, he took on the devil and he won. Thanks for being with us today here on Wisdom for the Heart. This is the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey. The message you just heard, dealing with the devil, is the first in a series from Matthew called The Ministry Begins. Be with us in the days ahead as we work through this section of God's Word. You can learn more about Stephen and the ministry of Wisdom International if you visit our website, which is wisdomonline.org.

In addition to some information, that site is filled with resources for you. You'll be able to access the complete archive of Stephen's Bible teaching ministry. We also post each day's broadcast, so if you ever miss one of these lessons, you can go to our website to keep caught up with our daily Bible teaching ministry. The archive of Stephen's teaching is available on that site free of charge and you can access it anytime at wisdomonline.org. Well, thanks again for being with us. We're so glad you joined us and I hope you'll be with us for our next Bible lesson right here on Wisdom for the Heart. We'll be right back.