We are looking at how to fight against the temptations that our enemy, the devil, is using to attack our faith. Our enemy wants us to doubt God, doubt God’s love, doubt our relationship with God, and doubt that God cares for us. There are many, many doubts that the devil launches at us so that we will question God, weaken our faith, and ultimately destroy our souls. I want to remind us the promise that God has given to us regarding our temptations.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)
God is faithful. God is with you. There is a way of escape and a means of endurance provided with every temptation. Let’s look at how this promise plays out as the devil is launching his spiritual attack against Jesus in the wilderness. Open your copies of God’s word to Matthew 4 and we are going to look at the third temptation which is recorded in verses 8-11.
The Temptation (Matthew 4:8-9)
For this final temptation, the devil takes Jesus to a very high mountain and shows him the kingdoms of the world with all their glory. We read the offer in verse 9. “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” Now it is important that we understand that this is a real temptation and why it would be such a tough temptation for Jesus.
We must begin by noting that this is not an empty offer. If it was not possible for the devil to follow through with his offer then it would not be a temptation at all. For example, if I say that I will give you one million dollars if you stand up and dance like a chicken, no one is going to take me up on my offer because no one believes that I can give you one million dollars. A temptation has to be able to carry out the offer. The Gospel of Luke confirms that this is a real temptation offer from the devil. Notice how Luke records this temptation:
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 give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:5-7 ESV)
Other scriptures confirm that the devil is the ruler of this world, the god of this world, and the prince of the power of the air (cf. John 12:31; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4). The devil has authority in this world and is offering to give Jesus the authority and glory of all the kingdoms of the world. Now why is this a temptation? We need to understand the purpose and work of the Christ to appreciate what is happening here. We will summarize this for the sake of time. But the scriptures consistently teach that the Christ would be glorified after suffering. The suffering servant passage of Isaiah 53 teaches that his success would come after the Lord crushes him (cf. Isaiah 53:10-11). In John 12 we see Jesus teaching that his glorification would come by being lifted up from the earth, that is, being crucified (cf. John 12:31-33). The apostle Paul taught in Philippians 2 that the Christ would take the form of a human, submit himself to death on the cross, and then be highly exalted and glorified (cf. Philippians 2:4-11). We could continue looking at many other scriptures that make the same point. The point I want to make to you at this moment is that the Christ would receive glory, dominion, rule, and honor AFTER sacrificing his life.
So what is the temptation? The temptation that the devil is offering is to avoid the suffering. The temptation is to avoid the sacrifice. The devil is offering Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory now. Don’t go through the hardship. Don’t go through the pain. Don’t go through the suffering. Don’t sacrifice yourself. Just take what you want. Do what it takes to get what you want. Why wait for what is yours? Take the sin shortcut to glory. The temptation is to not worship God by following his way. Worship the devil by following his offer. I think we can appreciate the power of this temptation. Take the sin shortcut and avoid the suffering. In fact, the one time Jesus strongly rebukes Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan!”, which was in the context of Peter suggesting that Jesus would surely not suffer and die (cf. Matthew 16:21-23).
The Filter (Matthew 4:10)
Jesus uses a quotation from Deuteronomy to defeat this temptation just as he did with the other temptations. Specifically, the quotation comes from Deuteronomy 6:13. As noted before, the context of Deuteronomy 6 is the call for Israel to love the Lord their God with all their heart and to keep God’s commands before their eyes always (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Listen to the Lord your God and serve him. This is Jesus’ answer to the devil. He will not forget the Lord his God. He will listen to the Father and not follow his own way or will. Worshiping God alone means listening to him alone and not our own desires. Keep the Lord in front of you at all times.
The Test
So what is the test? The devil is constantly enticing us to take shortcuts to what we want. Jesus is teaching us in his answer that taking the shortcut is to no longer worship the Lord. Friends, all sins are to take the devil’s shortcuts. Sexual immorality is to shortcut God’s way through a permanent marriage relationship. Sinful anger is a shortcut to punish rather than trusting God to judge (cf. Romans 12:17-21). Drugs and drunkenness are shortcuts rather than trusting God to help us through our pain. Strife, divisions, envy, and jealousy are all ways to try to force what we want out of people rather than waiting for God and submitting to God. One of the temptation problems we experience is that we want to serve the Lord without the sacrifice. We want to be God worshipers without experiencing the suffering. Jesus knew that this was the path and Jesus knew that this would be our difficulty. Jesus said that if you want to follow him, you must deny yourself and take up your cross (cf. Matthew 16:24). The apostle Paul said that we are only children of God and heirs of God if we suffer with Christ so that will be glorified with him (cf. Romans 8:17). We think we should not have to deny ourselves. We do not want to deny ourselves. We want the shortcut and we do not want to wait for what God has for us. We want to get what we want without the sacrifice and suffering. But God is telling us and Jesus is showing us that the only way to glory is to say no to sinful ways of seeking our desires and trusting that God will fulfill them. I am particularly struck by this concern when the apostle Paul spoke to the Christians in Philippi.
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. (Philippians 3:17-19 ESV)
Paul is in tears thinking about how many are unwilling to make the sacrifices to follow Jesus. They are enemies of the cross. Their minds are set on earthly things and their flesh is the god that they follow.
The Victory
So what is the victory? The victory is found in trusting in God’s promises. The devil wants us to doubt that God is going to give us what we need, care for us, and deliver on his promises for future glory. But we see Jesus who was given authority and honor by submitting to the Father’s will. We are going to trust that God will keep his promises regarding future glory. Listen to how the writer of Hebrews spoke regarding the people of faith.
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV)
The writer of Hebrews proclaims that if we look to fulfill our desires now, then we are going to give up and return to our slavery. But the people of faith are not looking back nor are thinking about the sacrifice. The people of faith are looking forward to a better country, a heavenly one. This is also how the apostle Paul concluded talking to the Philippian Christians about those who are enemies of the cross of Christ.
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:20-21 ESV)
The motivation for making the sacrifices and going with Jesus through the suffering is understanding who we are and where we are going. We are citizens of heaven, not earth. We are looking forward to the coming of our Savior when all our hopes will be realized. But the devil wants us to doubt that our sacrifice and our suffering will be worth it. The devil wants us to doubt that what God has promised to us will be greater than anything we can imagine. The devil wants us to believe that his way is just as good or better than what God can offer to you. Jesus trusted that God’s way was better than following his own will. Friends, do we understand where we are going? We have been given very great and precious promises (cf. 2 Peter 1:4). God wants us to believe in his promises. This is the emphasis that the writer of Hebrews makes in Hebrews 6:13-20. God made a promise to Abraham and then took an oath to confirm it further.
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…. (Hebrews 6:17-19 ESV)
We fight doubt and the temptations of the devil by holding on the promises of God. God does not lie. God keeps his promises. God took an oath. So we have strong encouragement to follow Jesus and hold on to the promises of God.