1
Matthew 4 v 1-11 ( Read please)
Mark 1 v12-13
Luke 4 v 1-13
Temptation of Jesus.
Before event
Jesus is barely dry from His baptism in the Jordan river, and the devil comes
onto the scene to try and derail Jesus. Maybe you have experienced times in
your life where you have seen spiritual growth really deepen and grow fast,
often Satan tries to do damage in our lives when these times occur.
Do you think Satan plays fair?
Satan excels at reminding us about our sin. When this happens for me I usually
pray to our Father and give thanks for my sin being dealt with on the cross, and
then I remind Satan of his future, in the lake of fire with torment.
Revelation 20:10 it says
“Satan will be thrown into the lake of burning sulphur and he will be punished
day and night forever.”
It’s funny when I remind him of this he soon clams up. That’s the power of the
Holy Word of God. Jesus used the word to defeat Satan in the desert and we
can use the word to defeat Satan in our desert which we find ourselves in.
2
Its good to take Jesus lead when confronted with temptations, he went back to
the word of God the bible, and this gave him the solid ground he needed to
make right choices. This was the armour he needed to defend himself in.
Show pic of car.
( talk about weakness in the armour in car with corrugated iron belting it
with clogs and stones) finding a weakness and targeting it.
What weakness is satan trying to attack you in at the moment, or maybe in
the past he was probing for weakness in you. Have we armoured up with the
sword of the Spirit, the bible.
Matthew
V2
I’ve been thinking about Jesus temptation, and how difficult it must have been
for him. I remember fasting for about 3 days one time, I had water, but no
food. It was for a night of prayer, I wanted to prepare myself for, where a
team of guys would meet and gather around our pastor and other leaders in
the church , and just pray for them.
Leading up to this event, it was quite difficult to think of other things aside
from food. Meal times were the hardest, you can smell the food being cooked
and it makes you want it even more. I didn’t have to contend with the searing
heat of the desert, and I only fasted for 3 days. But it gave me a taste of what it
must have been like for Jesus, and gave me an appreciation of another thing he
went through while here on earth, and I am glad for it.
3
What happens when you are hungry, it really takes over your mind and its
pretty much all you can then think about it. Jesus hunger would only worsen,
and Satan did his best to exploit these circumstances, to attack him when he
was the most vulnerable and at his humanly weakest.
Look after number one Satan whispers to Jesus and use your miraculous
powers to make life more comfortable for yourselves. Turn these stones into
bread. Jesus hasn’t eaten for 6 weeks at one level Satan’s suggestion sounds
plausible yet on another level they’re questionable. The battle of the mind
begins.
V3.
The devil tempts him, by saying to him, tell these stones to become bread.
Bread, bread, bread... Jesus had smelt bread before, He knew how it tasted,
and now he hears these words turn these stones into bread, how tempting
that would be for him.
How does Jesus respond? He uses scripture. God met the needs of the hunger
of the Israelites in the desert through the supply of manna. Jesus and the
Israelites would learn that God was their provider in the midst of any
circumstances. Where Israel had failed in the desert, Jesus would overcome.
4
V10
Jesus knows the bible intimately. and what I find interesting here is Jesus
ordered Satan to leave. How does that help us? The responsibility lies with us.
Sometimes the best course of action is to remove the temptation from our
presence. God always gives us a way out, the exit doors might seem closed, but
there is one door he leaves open for us.
1 Cor 10:13 promise us this.
“The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you
can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand
But when you are tempted he will also give you a way to escape so that you will
be able to stand in it.”
Interesting OT echos in Jesus’ temptation, God looked after the Israelites in the
desert, and he is looking after Jesus in the desert. Adam and Eve and Jesus
both were tempted with food, but for different reasons, both were tempted to
sacrifice Gods plans, for their own. Adam and Eve failed, thankfully Jesus
didn’t.
Satan the serpent in the garden whispering lies in the ears of Adam and Eve.
Satan with Jesus, now whispering another set of lies.
We should not be surprised when Satan tries to whisper lies to us.
5
(Tell about time Satan visited me in my dreams and the lies he told me)
The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled, is to convince the world he doesn’t
exist.
Luke.4:13
“After the devil had tempted Jesus in every way, he left him to wait until a
better time.”
The devil doesn’t give up, he tried again to bring Jesus down, in the Garden of
Gethsemane is one example.
Jesus faced the tempter,
alone,
physically worn,
emotionally strained.
What sometimes we forget is that Jesus was tempted to,
Hebrew 4:15 “ For we do not have a high preist who is unable to sympathise
with us, with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are, yet was without sin.”
6
A shortcut.
Jesus had come to overthrow the works of Satan, and he would do this through
the cross. It had to be done through his death and resurrection. But here Satan
is showing Jesus an easier way, a shortcut that can by pass this, that would
have resulted in derailing HIM FROM His mission. Satan wanted to pollute
Jesus’ life and ministry.
If Christ had followed any one of these temptations, the immediate result
might not have seemed so great, but the overall results would have been
disastrous. He would have been a sinner, another fallen human like us, unable
to redeem anyone, and the mission would have been ruined by the devil. But
that was not going to happen, for the Father sent the Son into the world to
redeem us, and by doing that He had to conquer Satan, and he did.....
Temptation
Jesus had a real need for bread and in a way it sounded plausible. What are
some needs in our life’s that aren’t being met?
One example recently of needs not being met was Sir Robert Graham from
Lombard finance company for making false statements to investors so they
could keep finance company afloat. Now I would say that when he first went
into business years ago if you asked him would he do this, his reply would most
likely me an honest no. But over time, and having your lively hood threatened
and looking for ways out, people can have a tendency of doing all sorts of
things in illegitimate ways, justifying the end to the means.
7
Are we tempted to meet our needs in illegitimate ways? Are we willing to
trust God, where we are right now, or will we take matters into our own hands
and meets these needs through our own devices, and maybe do something
that is illegal.
I’ve seen they way satan tries to derail people, families, the church, and we
shouldn’t be taken surprise by this, he tried to derail Jesus. He tempts Jesus
with the promise of granting him and meeting his physical desires. He then
tempts Jesus with the promise of worldly power, and lastly tempts Jesus with
the promise of spiritual power.
Jesus didn’t fall for Satan’s tactics. In each case Jesus had knowledge of
scripture to repel the devil (resist the devil and he will flee from you). Dont you
think that if Jesus needed the word of God to resist evil, we need it even more
so. Our struggle won’t end until God deals with the devil once and for all.
When God throws the devil into the lake of burning sulphur, where he will be
punished night and day forever.
(Revelation 20:10).
Remember God is for you. He always gives escape routes. There a good old
saying from years ago
You can’t stop the birds flying overhead and dropping their waste on you, but
you can stop them from nesting in your hair.
8
We know how the enemy works, scripture informs us of this. He is ruthless as a
lion going for the kill. Satan’s the murderer of people’s spirit, attacking our
minds, installing doubts and fears. He dressed up his lies so they masquerade
as the truth. He fills us with fear and forces on us, a fixation with self.
Those lies I have to deal with them to, you can’t do this Martin, who are you
trying to kid, your not up for the task to be a pastor of a church, your not
worthy of his call, look at the way you use to live, you didn’t follow God the
way you should of, you will fail and people will laugh at you. As a pastor I’m not
immune from the lies Satan the father of lies tries to tell me, and either are
you.
While others in my class at University when I was studying for my theology
agree, were achieving A’s with very little effort for some, I was working my
hardest and I was getting C’s, Satan was whispering in my ear your an
embarrassment to God. How do you survive this, how do you live in this place,
this desert of the heart? I would take time out in solitude with God and asking
him what are you saying Lord. Letting the love of the Father into my being,
hungering for his words.
God was giving me scriptures to stand on,
2000 year old promises to believe in,
God was shown me that he is the rock of ages,
and I can trust on him as I build my spiritual house upon that rock.
9
After Jesus’ temptation is over he returned to Galilee after his desert
experienced refined, triumphant, energised. He was not simply spirit filled, but
spirit empowered. The Jesus of the wilderness is the human Jesus, tempted in
every way we’re tempted.
Satan tempts Jesus with the world and all the people in it. But Jesus is the
beloved, he’s focused on his father’s love and he has been strengthen and
renewed by it. Such love is as strong as death. Love for the father reigns and
from deep within a surge of strength rises up, which dislodges the debris of
doubt, and Jesus shows us the way to freedom.
I refuse to live for self
I refuse to seek popularity
I will not crave for processions
I refuse to seek power.
Like Jesus we need to be hungry, and ‘Im not talking about chocolate
marshmallow fondue here. I’m talking about, hungry, hungry for the bread of
life. We need more of Jesus. He must become greater we must become less.
Folks get into Gods word and saturate yourself in it.
Amen.
10
Lord we want our hearts to be overflowing in Christs love, and as believers we
want rivers of living waters to flow so that others can come to know you
Renew each one of us now in the power of your Holy Spirit and give us a
hunger for your word, a hunger Lord that will not only reveal more of you to
us, but a hunger which will strengthen us to our very bones, and breathe life
back into them so that we can stand, not just as Holy spirit filled Christians, but
as Holy Spirit empowered Christians, empowered to face temptation head on
and come out victorious.
Amen.