Tempted by the devil

Matthew 3:7-4:11 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; ⁹ and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³ Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him. ¹⁶ After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

It is important in our lives to recognize the difference between temptation and sin. The fact that we are tempted by various things does not exclude us from our faith. Temptation to do unrighteous things does not make us unrighteous. Being tempted is part of what each person must deal with as long as we are human.   James 1:13-16 summarizes the real problem that we have with temptation.          Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.             In John 10:10 Jesus says:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.     It is the thief, the devil, the deceiver, who tempts us, just as he tempted Jesus in today’s text. Verse 14, in James 1 is critical to our resisting and overcoming temptation. It says:  But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. The devil will not try to tempt us with things that we have no desire or lust for. But each of us do have areas of weakness, for some it could be addictions to drugs or alcohol. For others it can be behaviors such as pornography or other sexual perversions. There are those who are tempted to lie or steal, obviously the list goes on. The bottom line is that we are all tempted in some way or ways. What may not have any attraction to me may be a source of real difficulty to someone else and my temptation might seem like nothing to that person.  

Looking back at the James 1 verses again, vs 15 says: “ when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”   There are basically two ways we can deal with temptation in our lives. We can take on the philosophy of our current culture and deal with temptation by eliminating the concept of sin. Our culture says that each one has the right to live however they want and do whatever they want. Our culture deals with temptation by giving license to unrighteousness. If there is no longer sin, if whatever your preference is, then there is no need to resist or even acknowledge temptation. Each one can simply do as he or she chooses as long as according to society no one becomes a victim of another’s behavior. James 1:16 speaks to this mindset in our culture.    Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. “when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”     “ the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) Our culture, our society and all those who buy into its philosophy regarding temptation and sin are deceived. There is always a victim of sin because sin causes death to someone or something.

What then is the answer to temptation? 1 Corinthians 10:13 offers us this encouragement:  No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.      Whatever the things are that we struggle with, whatever the areas of our personal lust and temptation, God is faithful to provide a way of escape and endurance. There is escape from the immediate and short term temptations. James 4:7 says:  Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. We see this model demonstrated in today’s text as Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil by submitting to God. We also need the endurance that is promised in the Corinthians verse in order to overcome and resist the things we are continually tempted by, those things which appeal to our own personal lusts.  James 1:2-4 says: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  Romans 8:28-29 says:   And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.      Even the temptation we endure and overcome is used for our good as we are conformed to the image of Christ.

We saw in today’s text that Jesus overcame the temptations of the devil by standing on the truth of God’s word. We also saw that the devil knows God’s word and will try to twist and distort it to cause us to fall into temptation. This has been one of his strategies from the beginning when he tempted Eve. Our best and only defense against the lies of the enemy is to know the truth. People who are trained by the government to recognize counterfeit currency are not trained by studying all the counterfeits, they are trained to recognize what is true and real. We need to be the same way when it comes to the word of God. We need to know the truth so that we will not be deceived by the counterfeit.

There is one other vital element in our battle against temptation. Today’s text says:     After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”    If Jesus Himself, God on earth, needed the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit to live in a human body, how much more do we need His presence and power.

There is one final thing we too can have, like Jesus, in order to stand and resist temptation. If we will submit to God, if we will keep our eyes fixed on Him, we too will hear what Jesus heard: the voice of the Father, saying: “This is My beloved Son/Daughter, in whom I am well-pleased.”  

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit for Your example, Your word and Your presence and power in my life to overcome temptation. Help me to remain fixed on You, submitted to Your will and strengthened by the truth of Your word. Thank You that I am Your beloved in Christ.     Amen.