The Temptation
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The temptation of Christ in the wilderness had no direct bearing upon our salvation, as we are saved by His Blood. However, the temptation did acclaim Christ, indisputably, as the Son of God, and a possible Saviour.
Satan's attack against our Lord began in the Garden of Eden, and continued until the Bethlehem Babe was born, and the Son of God was manifest in the flesh. Then, with increasing fury, the tempter sought to slay the Christ. After the baptism in the wilderness the great onslaught was waged. This temptation was not inaugurated by Satan, but was forced upon Him. We read, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." It was the Holy Spirit who took Christ and forced the issue between God the Son, and the devil. We have in the Word of God two statements about "forty days," which are very suggestive. We have decided to use these as the introduction to our study.
The Two Forty Days
There are two forty-day experiences in the Word of God affecting Jesus Christ: The one we have just considered, the other is recorded in the first chapter of Acts, "To whom also He shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."
In the first forty days our Lord was proving His Deity.
In the second forty days our Lord was proclaiming His Humanity.
In the first forty days, in the temptation in the wilderness, Christ was setting forth the fact that He was Son of God.
In the second forty days, following His resurrection, He was setting forth the fact that He was Son of Man.
In the first forty days, the Lord was designating to the world the fact of His impeccability, that He was God and God could not be tempted to sin.
In the second forty days He was showing His capability as the Saviour, the fact that He was able to go to Calvary's Cross and pay the debt and that it was a finished work.
In the first forty days Jesus Christ manifested the fact of His victory over Satan.
In the second forty days. He manifested the scope of His victory over Satan.
In the first forty days, when He met the devil, He established forever and for aye that He was very God of very God.
In the second forty days He established forever the fact that He was Son of Man. When we say Son of Man, we never mean that Christ was born of Joseph. The words "Son of Man" suggest Christ's relationship to man; His attitude as He moves among men; He is the Son of Man when He says, "The Son of Man hath nowhere to lay His head"; He is the Son of Man when He steps in among the sick, the impotent and the lowly; He is the Son of Man when He is nailed to Calvary's Cross; He is now the Lord Jesus Christ exalted to the right hand of the Father, but when He returns, He returns to this earth as the Son of Man, because He again takes up His dealings among men.
I. GOD'S VOICE FROM HEAVEN (Matthew 3:17)
As introductory to the temptation itself, it is vital to observe the acclamation of the Father concerning the Son as the Lord Jesus Christ left the waters of baptism. As Jesus came out of the Jordan, the Heavens were opened, "And lo a voice from Heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." God, thus, before a great assemblage acclaimed Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The promised Seed of the woman, the Heir of David's throne, and the Son of God had come. All of these things were included and established in the acclamation of the Father, "This is My beloved Son."
The great denial of today is the denial of the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The temptation in the wilderness was not waged to see if Christ would sin, but to establish forever that He was God, and could not sin.
If Satan had had any doubts in his mind as to the Deity and Sonship of Christ, those doubts were forever vanished after he met the Lord in the temptation.
If the world has any doubts as to the Lordship of Christ, a study of the Temptation should vanish those doubts forever.
Dr. I. M. Haldeman once described the dedication of a bridge in the north country. He said the new bridge was completed and a great train of freight cars was run out upon it. As he looked from his place on the mountainside, he saw the engineer stop the train on the middle of the bridge. The engineer was carelessly sitting in his cabin blowing curls of smoke from his pipe. Dr. Haldeman said the engineer had not run his train onto the bridge to see if it would fall, but in order to establish the fact that it could not fall. Thus Christ was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to show He could not sin.
II. CHRIST'S USE OF THE SCRIPTURE IN THE TEMPTATION (Matthew 4:4; Matthew 4:7; Matthew 4:10)
Three times in the temptation in the wilderness Christ repulsed the devil by quotations of Scripture. We have here three verses, because three times Christ said, "It is written."
Here is a tremendous lesson for us. The saints overcame the devil "by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." The word of their testimony was the Word of God. If we would overcome Satan we must follow in their steps, and in the steps of our blessed Lord.
1. Jesus Christ quoted the Bible as the Word of God. He manifested no doubt as to its inspiration. He knew that it had been written by God. On one occasion Christ spake, saying, "Have ye not read what [God] said?" then, He quoted from the writings of Moses.
2. Jesus Christ quoted the Bible as the Word of God clothed with power. He sought no other power or sword with which to overcome the enemy. He believed the Bible was quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, and sufficient for Satan's defeat.
3. The Lord Jesus quoted the Bible as an authoritative and final word. He said: "It is written." He made no effort to change that Word, or to alter it. He certainly had no thought of relegating it. God had spoken, and that was enough. The message of God never grows old. It is new and vital in every age.
4. Jesus Christ quoted the Bible as a final word. It was to Him a word from which nothing could be extracted, and to which nothing could be added.
5. Jesus Christ spoke the Bible as a message to be obeyed. If God had written something, He wrote it not merely to fill space, but that it might be obeyed just as it was written.
6. Jesus Christ quoted the Word that was appropriate and applicable to the occasion. The fact that the Word was from Moses did not at all bother Him. He believed in the Pentateuch, and had no sympathy with any denial that those Books were the Word of God. Yet, our Lord used the particular Scripture which met the particular need of the hour.
III. CHRIST'S DELIGHT IN THE BIBLE (Psalms 1:1-2)
The temptation is so vitally connected with the Bible, itself, that we wish to emphasize the Saviour and His love of God's Word. Our key verse says, "Blessed, is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord; and in His Law doth he meditate day and night."
We find the Lord Jesus now, just after His entrance into His public ministry. He has been baptized of John in the Jordan. He has been acclaimed the Son of God, and now He is met by Satan in the wilderness temptation. How does He meet him? He meets him with the Word of God.
There is only one other Bible picture of Christ between His infancy and His baptism and temptation, and that is His picture at twelve years of age. At that period He was in Jerusalem with the doctors, asking and answering questions. The center of His conversation at that time was the Word of God. We pass through eighteen hidden years and we find the Lord before us again, as He is meeting the devil.
Once more He is wielding the Word of God. Let us learn this lesson: We, too, should love that precious Book, and study it by day and by night. We, too, should meditate on its precepts. We, too, should seek to do all that is written therein. Then we, too, will be prosperous, and successful in our conflicts with Satan, and in our service for God.
Let us, like our Lord, delight in the Word of the Lord, and in its precepts.
IV. CHRIST'S USE OF THE BIBLE IN THE FIRST TEMPTATION (Matthew 4:4)
Satan had said unto the Lord, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." The Lord Jesus answered, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
The Pentateuch which was written by God through the hand of Moses has been, perhaps, the most maligned Book of the Old Testament. Satan has always hated it, and has sought to denounce it on every hand.
The Lord Jesus Christ forever put His disapproval upon present-day skepticism and denials of the five Books of Moses, when, with skillful hand, He turned back into the Book of Deuteronomy, and quoted from its pages.
He used the Word that men say is a compilation of ancient myths gathered from the best of story-tellers. He handled that Word, as the Word of God, and with it He met the enemy.
The enemy said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Christ, in effect, quoted the Scripture which aclaimed Him as the Bread of Life, and therefore, as the "Son of God." The quotation used by the Lord Jesus Christ spoke only of Him as the Bread that came down from Heaven. He is the Word, that "proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Christ also placed a true estimate of value upon things spiritual, as against the things carnal. He said: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Martha, Martha, thou art cumbered with many things, but Mary hath chosen that better part. Oh, yes, Martha, go ahead and serve, but don't let your slaving steal you away from hearing the Word.
Thy Word is sweeter than the honey and the honeycomb, and more precious than gold and silver. I found Your Words and I did eat them, and they were a delight unto me.
V. CHRIST'S USE OF THE BIBLE IN THE SECOND TEMPTATION (Matthew 4:5-7)
We come to the second temptation and find that Satan, also, makes an effort to use the Word of God. "The devil * * saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone."
Satan in this use of the Word, eliminated the expression, "to keep Thee in all Thy ways." Besides he failed to read the next statement: "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt Thou trample under feet."
These latter words were an inseparable part of the quotation. However, they referred with direct application to that very hour, for Jesus Christ was then about to tread upon the "lion" and the "adder," putting Satan himself under His feet.
The Lord met Satan's "abridged" quotation of Scripture with a mighty thrust from the Word of God, saying, "It is written" again: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
Once more Christ quoted from Deuteronomy. His first quotation had to do with the Bread of Life. His second had to do with the Water of Life.
It was at Massah that Israel tempted the Lord their God by crying for water. Satan had sought to disprove the Sonship of Christ. Christ in answer quoted the Scripture that acclaimed Him as God, and not only as God, but as God, the Water of Life.
Our chief need in these days of doubt and assaults on the Son of God is a knowledge of the Scripture that will prepare us to meet the enemy with a drawn sword.
VI. CHRIST'S USE OF THE BIBLE IN THE THIRD TEMPTATION (Matthew 4:8-10)
In the third temptation the devil took Christ to a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. Satan offered these to Christ, upon the condition that the Lord would fall down and worship him. The Lord immediately answered: "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
Divine worship must be offered to God alone and not to any one of God's creatures. Jesus Christ was one with the Father, therefore He was God.
Satan was casting aspersion upon Christ's Deity, and once more, Jesus Christ was asserting the fact of His Deity. Therefore He said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
We stop long enough to remind our friends of one other thing. This same offer of the kingdoms of the world, and their glory, will be made to, and accepted by, the antichrist.
We trust that no readers will bend the knee or bow the head to Satan, in order that they may obtain the world as a gift from the enemy.
Let us not forget to confess ourselves as "strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
I'm a stranger and a pilgrim, trailing through a foreign land,
I've no place to rest, or tarry, here upon this earthly strand;
Satan may harass my journey, but he can't my peace destroy,
For my Saviour walks beside me, turns my sorrow into joy;
Thorns may press my brow and hurt me, yet, His lilies round me grow;
Barren deserts here may greet me, there are roses where I go;
I'm not seeking worldly comfort, and an effervescent bliss,
I am trav'ling to a Country, that is better far than this;
Naught that's earthly can entice me; to desert my upward way,
I'm a stranger and a pilgrim to that land of lasting day.
VII. CHRIST THE ETERNAL WORD (John 1:1)
As we close our study on the temptations, we wish to emphasize particularly the fact that Jesus Christ was, indeed, the Son of God, and that the Bible was the Word of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ made a strong statement when He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The devil was seeking to put a question mark on the Deity of the Son. Christ, in establishing the Deity of the Son, sought at the same time, to establish the Deity of the Word.
We are familiar with the expression, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus Christ was the Word made flesh. He was God incarnate in flesh. The Bible is the Word made manifest unto man. It is forever established in Heaven. It is inerrant, infallible, and ever true.
In the temptation our Lord established the Word of God above all His Name. He who would slander the Lord, slanders the Word; he who would slander the Word, slanders the Lord. To knife the one is to knife the other.
The expression that the Lord used, "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," establishes the verbal inspiration of the Bible. Holy men of God wrote words, and the words they wrote proceeded from the mouth of God.
AN ILLUSTRATION
If we would meet the tempter we must know and wield the Word of God.
Down in Atlanta, one of the pastors, the pastor of the First Baptist Church, held a revival in a country village. An old lady used to come to every service. She enjoyed the meetings and had her own Bible. After two years, the pastor came again to the village. He heard the old lady was sick, and went to see her. When he arrived they told him, "She doesn't know any one at all; she has not known a person for three months. Her mind is a blank." The preacher sat down and talked to the family and prayed with them. As he was leaving he saw the old Bible Grandma used to carry. He picked it up, went back into the bedroom, walked up to the bed where the dear old saint lay, put the Bible on her chest, put her hand here on her own Bible, and then he said: "Grandma, do you know what that is that you have in your hand?" The first conscious moment in three months came to her, and she said: "Yes, I know what that is. It is my Bible." Then the preacher thought he would ask her one other question. He said: "Grandma, do you know Jesus?" "Do I know Jesus?" she replied. "I am just lying here and waiting and waiting for Him to come and get me." Yes, she knew her Bible and her Lord, when she knew nothing else.
"There's a dear and precious Book, though it's worn and faded now,
That recalls the happy days of long ago,
When I knelt at mother's knee, with her hand upon my brow,
And I heard her voice in accents sweet and low.
Precious Book, blessed Book,
On thy dear, old. tear-stained leaves I long to look,
Thou art sweeter day by day, as I walk the narrow way,
That leads at last to Heaven and to Home."
And Christ said: "It is written."