Journey Through Matthew: Tempted in the Wilderness
Journey Through Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsOnly when we are spiritually ready can we utilize the discernment of Christ to resist the temptation of Satan.
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Introduction
Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
I hope that everyone has had a blessed day and was able to stay warm today.
Tonight we are going to continue our Journey Through Matthew, looking at chapter 4 and the Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness.
And when I was thinking about this sermon this afternoon, I started to think about the cold snap that we have experienced and all of the homeless people out there.
It is very hard on the homeless year around but when the weather turns cold we can go in, turn the heat on, and bundle up, but for many of them they are on the streets.
There are warming centers around and we are blessed to have a shelter in our community but for most homeless they are stuck out in the cold.
Which in itself should not be with all the empty buildings and houses around.
But as bad as it is here in our nation, in other places of the world being out in the elements is all that people know.
There are no charity or government run shelters and the people are left to either live off what they can find or die.
And all of this got me thinking about the harshness of the elements when Jesus spent his time in the wilderness.
And Jesus wasn’t out there for a day or two, the Bible tells us that . . .
2 After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
So, Jesus was there for at least 40 days. We think about just being out in the elements for 40 days and it is astounding but Jesus also fasted, no food, no water for 40 days.
It would have been the harshest of the harshest.
We typically consider this wilderness the desert region, which would mean that during the day it would be hot and dry and at night freezing cold.
Also, when we are thinking about the desert, there is not much in the way of shelter either.
So, Jesus would have been completely alone and completely exposed and completely hungry.
But, why in the world was he out there to begin with? What was the point?
Verse one answers that question, as it tells us . . .
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Notice the first word in verse one, then.
This is our indication that what happens in chapter four is immediately following something.
And that something is what we talked about this morning, Jesus’ baptism.
It was after Jesus’ baptism, his preparation if you will, that he goes into the wilderness to be tempted.
And Jesus did not just go to be going. Rather he was led by the Spirit into the desert.
So basically the Holy Spirit told him to go.
And not only did the Spirit tell Jesus to go, bu the also told Jesus why, to be tempted by the devil.
And when we start to look at that and examine that just a bit we can glean some very good advice from that one verse of Scripture.
#1-Before we can endure any amount of temptation we had better be spiritually prepared. Because if not, Satan will chew us up and spit us out.
The fact is, we WILL be tempted by Satan, will we be ready?
Think about what James says . . .
James 1:13
13 When tempted, no-one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Notice it says when tempted, not if tempted.
It’s coming and we had better be ready for it.
And we cannot blame God for our temptations either.
Temptation comes when Satan dangles our own evil desires in front of us and when we grab the carrot, we are dragged away and enticed.
15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
So Jesus first got ready for what was to come.
And if Jesus got ready, don’t you think it would be a good idea if we got ready as well?
#2-We had better be led by the Spirit.
In other words, we had better be living a Spirit filled life.
We had better do as Paul says and . . .
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Galatians 5:16
So, Jesus had prepared himself and by fasting had continued this preparation, and again our Bible tells us that . . .
2 After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
When Jesus was hungry and at his absolute weakest, Satan showed up.
The First Temptation
The First Temptation
And this is how Satan works.
He is not going to show up when you are at your strongest.
He is going to show up when you are at your weakest point and he is going to attack you in the exact area where you are struggling the most.
Which is exactly what he does here with Jesus . . .
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Matthew 4:
So, the first thing he does is challenge Jesus’ divinity.
If you are the Son of God. . .
Satan knew that Jesus was the Son of God but his goal was to make Jesus question this, to make Jesus doubt himself.
Which is exactly the same thing Satan does to us.
He tries to get into our head and convince of things that are not true.
He tries to tell us that all of the movement of God in our lives that we have experience was not real.
That we are just imagining things.
That we really didn’t get saved.
That all this God and church stuff is not real.
That science is the only thing we can put our faith in.
All of the lies that the world tries to tell us.
That’s all he’s trying to do here with Jesus, so IF you are the Son of God, then prove it.
“Show me a sign” type of mentality.
“Prove to us you are who you say you are.”
Honestly though, does Jesus have to prove anything to anybody?
Does God have to prove Himself?
No, but Satan here is trying to trap Jesus into this game of prove this or prove that.
He tells Jesus, tell these stones to become bread.
Or “use God’s power to serve your own self.”
It would be sort of like these people who use God’s name to build their own empire.
The “sow your seed” bunch that are just out to get rich and glorify themselves.
But Jesus wasn’t buying what he was selling . . .
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
It is very, very important that we realize exactly what Jesus is doing here.
#1-He is discerning what God’s will is.
#2-He is fighting Satan with the Word of God.
Remember that . . .
Hebrews 4:12-
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
The Word of God is our ultimate weapon of Spiritual Warfare, and according to Paul our only offensive weapon . . .
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
If we want to every be successful in fighting against temptation, we had better develop a discerning spirit in tune with God and we had better know God’s Word because that is our weapon.
Coming to church and hearing a sermon once, twice, three times a week is not going to cut it.
We have got to study and understand God’s Word for ourselves.
We have got to put in the leg work and time in learning God’s Word.
The more of it we know the stronger we can be.
And Jesus completely rejects Satan’s temptation using . . . Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Which is also another important point.
Food, clothing, shelter are physical comforts, but they will only last for so long.
All of the stuff we surround ourselves with is only temporary.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives for ever.
And Jesus’ words . . .
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
God and God’s Word is enduring and forever, everything else is temporary and will pass away.
And we have to decide whether we want to put our faith in things that are eternal or things that are temporary.
And the sad fact is that many today will put their faith in the temporary comforts and sacrifice their eternal soul in the process.
We have to decide which we will do.
The Second Temptation
The Second Temptation
And we also have to continuously be on guard.
Peter warns us to . . .
1 Peter 5:
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Don’t think that Satan is going to come once, you are going to resist him and he is just going to give up and go away.
He didn’t do it with Jesus and he’s not going to do with us.
He is going to come and keep coming.
And each time he is going to change it up and try a different tactic.
Which is exactly what he does here . . .
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Matthew 4:
Satan starts out almost the same, if you are the Son of God.
He keeps playing on that because he knows if he gets Jesus to doubt and start to question things then he’s got him.
Which is the same with us.
When doubt enters in our minds become Satan’s playground.
That is his absolute favorite tactic to use.
He tries his best to get us to doubt our place in God’s kingdom as God’s child.
He knows how flawed and messed up we are and uses that against us.
Which is precisely why we need to know God’s Word we need to stand in the promises of Jesus Christ.
This should be one area where we draw the line in the sand and do not give an inch.
Because doubt breeds fear and fear causes us to do things that would would never dream of otherwise.
And the thing Satan was trying to get Jesus to do here was again to show a sign of who he was.
He wanted Jesus to throw himself off the temple so that God’s angels would rescue Him, thus revealing Jesus to the people as the Messiah, which would have led to no cross and no salvation for all humanity.
Now, also we have to note that Satan does quote Scripture in a loose translations of concerning God’s love and care for His children.
Satan also knows the words of Malachi that say . . .
1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
The Jews had typically seen this verse as saying the Messiah would descend from the top of the temple surrounded by angels.
If Jesus would have done this, he would have avoided the suffering of the cross because they would have immediately set him us as the King of Israel.
However, Jesus wisely responds again with Scripture . . .
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Which in itself is good advice for us as well.
Yes, God loves His children.
Yes, God cares for us and protects us.
But that doesn’t mean that we can just live recklessly and expect God to deliver us from all of our bad decisions.
Even though God loves and cares for us, our decisions carry consequences.
So, again it goes back to living a life walking in the Spirit and being able to discern God’s will.
The Third Temptation
The Third Temptation
So, after trying twice and coming up empty, Satan is going to give it one more shot with Jesus.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Now, this final temptation is interesting because God had already promised Jesus the dominion of all the earth.
The difference here is Satan was offering Jesus a shortcut.
No suffering, no cross, no waiting.
Jesus could have it all and have it all right now.
The only difference is, Satan’s dominion is temporary and will not last.
If we are not careful though we could all fall into this same trap.
Instead of discerning God’s will and God’s way, we want to take the easy way.
We get the “Burger King mentality,” “Our way, right away.”
Jesus though had had enough of this . . .
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
And after Jesus commanded Satan to go, he had no choice to go because Jesus had authority over Satan . . .
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
So, all of this temptation Jesus endured and Jesus came out on the other side and . . .
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Altar Call
Altar Call
And the question for us tonight is if the tempter came could we resist the temptation?
Could we stand up to Satan?
Do we know God’s Word enough to use it in our defense?
Can we discern God’s will for us?
Are we living a life filled with the Spirit?
Or, are we still wandering in the desert?
Out in the wilderness, where we feel like we are all alone and abandoned.
God is still there.
Don’t let Satan tell you that lie.
Tonight, I think we need to all spend some time in prayer examining where we stand with God and examining the answer to these questions.
So quietly as music is playing reflect on where you are with God.