We are looking at how to fight against the temptations that our enemy, the devil, is using to attack our faith. In last week’s lesson we observed the first step that the devil uses against us is doubt. 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 first temptation which is recorded in verses 3-4.
The Temptation (Matthew 4:3)
I want to remind us what we are told in verse 2. Jesus has been fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. To make sure that we do not forget the humanity of the Son of God, it is recorded for us at the end of verse 2 that Jesus is hungry. Jesus is experiencing life as we would experience life. Jesus is not getting any shortcuts. Jesus is not getting any physical advantages so that he cannot relate to us and be our great high priest. Jesus is hungry and he is in the middle of the wilderness.
So the tempter comes to Jesus with a very simple temptation. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Now we must consider what is the problem with this temptation. Why wouldn’t Jesus be able to feed himself in the wilderness with his powers? Sometimes the answer that is given is that Jesus should not use his power for selfish purposes. I do believe that this is a true answer. But I want you to consider that Jesus’ answer to the tempter is not to quote scripture about not being selfish or doing things for your own desires rather than God’s desire. How Jesus answers the devil must inform what the temptation is all about. So let’s spend some time understanding Jesus’ answer to the temptation and this will help us see what the devil is trying to get Jesus to do. Look at verse 4.
The Filter (Matthew 4:4)
Jesus’ answer to the enemy’s temptation comes is a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3. Jesus quotes the scripture that teaches that a person does not live on food alone. A person lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Now I want us to consider this statement for a minute. If you have grown up in the pews then you have probably heard this statement. You might have even sung the song that includes this truth. Jesus says that a person does not live by eating food only. A person lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The words that comes out of God’s mouth are what sustains us, not just food. We need to go to Deuteronomy 8 and read the context of this quotation to feel the weight of this truth. Turn to Deuteronomy 8 and listen to what Moses told the people of Israel about their wilderness experience.
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. (Deuteronomy 8:2-5 ESV)
We considered Deuteronomy 8:2 last week. The reason the Lord brought Israel into the wilderness was to humble his people, testing what was in their hearts, to see if they would keep his commands. The Spirit was led Jesus into the wilderness to test his heart, to see if he will keep his commands or not. But notice in verse 3 what else Moses tells the people. God humbled the people and let the people hunger. Why did God bring the people into the wilderness and let them hunger? Have you ever thought about that? God did not need to have them move in the wilderness for a month, letting them be hungry. God could have fed the people with manna and quail from the very first day. Why did God wait? Why did God let the people experience hunger? Why put them in the wilderness? Why not make the lives of the people easy? Keep reading what Moses answers in verse 3.
God let the people hunger to make them know that you do not live on food alone but you live by every word that comes from God’s mouth. This is why their clothing did not wear out. God spoke and their clothes did not wear out. Their feet did not swell because God said so. The reason they were in the wilderness was for discipline. Please do not think of discipline as merely negative. Think of discipline as God’s instruction. God let you hunger to teach you. God brought you in the wilderness so that the people would be taught a very important truth. What was the truth that the people needed to learn? A person’s life is not sustained by merely eating food. A person’s life is sustained because God says so.
In other words, God was teaching the people who takes care of them. The people thought they had to take care of themselves. Remember that they thought that they were going to die from hunger in the wilderness (cf. Exodus 16). They thought that they were not going to make it unless they were able to find their own food and their own water. They believed that they were the ultimate power and authority over their own lives. So God was teaching them. God needed to make his people know that this is not the case. The people of Israel survived the wilderness because God took care of them. The people did not survive the wilderness because they were so smart, so ingenious, so industrious, or anything like this. They made it because God said that they would make and the people simply needed to trust that. This is the message of the quotation that Jesus is using.
The Test
Come back to Matthew 4 and let’s think about this temptation. What is the temptation? If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Satan is trying to cause Jesus to doubt God’s provision. Why would you, the Son of God of all people, be hungry in the wilderness? You should not be hungry! Feed yourself. Take care of yourself. You cannot trust God to take care of you. You need to trust in yourself. Obedience to God is dangerous! You might die out here and we know that is not right. So take care of yourself. You do what you need to do for you because God is certainly not going to do it.
Do we see what a powerful temptation this is? Do we see how experience the same temptation today? The enemy tempts us in the same way today. You cannot trust God. You have needs. You have desires. You need to think about yourself. You need to take care of yourself. You need to satisfy yourself. You need to do what seems best to you and what feels good to you. God is not going to help you. God is not going to provide for you. God is not going to get you through this. God has left you to die out here. He is not going to give you what you need. So you need to do what you need to do.
The temptation is to doubt God’s provision. The reason Israel complained was because they did not believe that God would provide. They did not trust that their lives were in God’s hands. We are tempted to do the same thing. We are tempted to believe that God is not going to give us what we need. God is not going to satisfy our desires. We do not trust that our lives are in God’s hands. So we think we must choose our physical desires and needs over the spiritual. We will even say things like this. We will say that we cannot serve God because we have to take care of our things. We think we have to provide for ourselves and take care of ourselves because certainly God is not going to do it.
The test is this: do I need to take provide of me or will God take provide of me? Please test your hearts right now. If you lost your job, would God provide for you? If you lost your family, would God provide for you? If you lost your health, would God provide for you? Do we think that God is the one who provides for us and sustains us every day?
The Victory
Jesus showed us how to overcome the doubt. Jesus made it clear that if I follow God, then I do not have to rely on myself. God is going to sustain me and provide for me. My life is governed by what God says, not me. Let me ask it this way. Did God provide for you yesterday? Then why do you think he will not provide for you today? Did God get your through your last trial? They why do you think he will not provide for you during this trial? Jesus taught us that we do not have to think about ourselves first. We can seek first God and his righteousness and God will provide everything else (cf. Matthew 6:33).
What is God teaching you in the wilderness? What is God showing you through the temptations that Satan hurls at you? Are you doubting that God is going to provide what you need? Do you question that God will get you through this moment? Do you believe that God will not be enough to fulfill your needs and satisfy your heart? Friends, God holds your life in his hands. In fact, God holds the whole creation in his hands.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3 CSB)
The devil tempts you to doubt that God can sustain your life. The enemy is tempting you trust in yourself. Let me bring in an important word as we bring this lesson to its conclusion. The devil is telling you that you cannot put your faith in God. God cannot be trusted. But God is telling you and Jesus is showing you that he can be trusted with your very life. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25). God is faithful. God takes care of his people. You do not need to doubt.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:19-20 ESV)