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The King Is Here (Series) | Matthew 4:1-16
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Each one of us has a common struggle that we all face—a challenge and a test. Some folks may not want to admit it, but if they don't admit it, they're lying. Whatever your struggle is, you have faced this common struggle.
I think about my own life when I got saved and started walking with Christ. I was super saved, telling everybody "Don't do that. That's a sin." But as I began the journey, this common struggle reared its head. In my early days of being single, there was a struggle I had because I was used to always using people and guys to fill voids in my life. I was always running to somebody.
In every season of your life, temptation may come looking different and dressed differently. It may not look like what it looked like in the prior season, but it's going to come. Because we are in a fallen world, we all have to deal with this struggle called temptation.
But I find comfort in something: I find comfort in our Savior Jesus Christ. He too was tempted. And I want to make something clear. Temptation is not the sin. It's the aftermath of what we do with the temptation that can potentially become the sin. Having temptations—we are human. We're going to be tempted to do things.
Thanks be to God, Jesus set the tone. He set the blueprint of what to do when you're faced with temptation. Your temptation may not be my temptation. But Jesus, he gave us an example.
Let's look at Matthew chapter 4. If you haven't been here these past series, pastor preached from Matthew chapter 3, which talks about Jesus being baptized. John the Baptist had been preaching about this soon-coming Savior, paving the way for Jesus. When Jesus came and asked John to baptize him, John said, "I'm not even worthy. You're the Messiah. Me baptize you?"
And so John the Baptist baptized Jesus. As soon as he was baptized, the heavens opened up and the spirit of the Lord descended down and said, "This is my beloved son whom I am well pleased."
Now, before he had done anything—before he had fed the 5,000, before he had cured anybody of blindness, before he had even called the disciples—God affirmed Jesus. I think that's so beautiful. He hadn't even begun his ministry, but he affirmed him. He said, "This is my son whom I love. This is my son whom I am well pleased."
Then, right after this, verse one of chapter 4 says:
Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, it says he was hungry. He just got baptized. God just affirmed him and said, "This is my son whom I'm well pleased." And then he's led up into the wilderness.
So many times, like us, we just come into relationship or God has just done a thing, and then we're met with being in the wilderness. When the Lord begins to use us, he'll sometimes take us to places and isolate us. He'll get us by ourselves. He'll strip us of a few things. We may not be in a literal wilderness, but it may feel like a wilderness spiritually.
Pastor often says that a faith untested is a faith that cannot be trusted. If you ain't been tested for anything, yeah, you're going to say, "Yeah, the Lord is good." Until you get into a dry place like the wilderness. Then you're like, "Okay, Lord, I'm going to learn you for myself."
For 40 days and 40 nights, no food—he was hungry. And here comes the enemy trying to entice him, provoke him, and tempt him.
Verse three says:
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the son of God, command these stones to come loaves of bread."
You're hungry, right? But Jesus answered:
"It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Jesus could have easily turned those stones into bread. That wasn't a thing for him. But it was the mode in which it came that was not God's plan. The enemy wanted to get his mind off of what the plan was. He tried to appeal to the lust of the flesh.
Even in that vulnerability, even in that weakness, Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word, every word that comes from the mouth of God—every word that edifies me, every word that purifies me and penetrates me—not food, because that cannot sustain me like the word of God."
Jesus confronted his adversary in his weakest moment. He was cunning. He was crafty. God's objective was to demonstrate the character of his son by exposing him to Satan's test. Sometimes God just wants you to see how the enemy may try you. You have to be aware of your temptations. If you know you're an angry person and you know you may go off on somebody, you have to be aware. If you know lust, perversion, drinking, smoking—whatever your struggle is—the enemy may try and come to test you in those places. He'll ask, "Are you really a believer? You sure that's what you say?"
Here he comes again with test number two—the lust of the eye. It says:
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle—the highest point, the highest level of the temple—and said to him, "If you're the son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, and on the other hand, they will bear you up lest you strike your feet your foot against a stone.'"
He tried to use the word against Jesus. He tried to use the same word that he knew Jesus had grown up on as a Nazareth boy. He tried to use that word against him. "If you're the son of God, you know the angels are going to take care of you, right? Show me. Prove yourself to the devil."
But remember that was inconsistent with his mission. You have to know what the plan is at hand. You cannot get off track trying to prove to other people that you're really saved. Trying to prove to other people, "Oh, I really love the Lord." You have to know the mission at hand. You have to be straight and focused on the call that God has on your life.
Here he comes back with a full word. What the enemy did was leave the first part off. He tried to mix and mangle it. What he should have said was:
"If you say the Lord is my refuge, and you make the Most High your dwelling, your safe place, your home, no harm will overtake you, and no disaster will come near your tent. For then he will command his angels concerning you."
No harm's going to overtake you, Jesus. No harm is going to overtake you as sons and daughters of the Most High God. If we make him our dwelling and we make him our safe place, he will command his angels concerning you.
But Jesus responded with the word in the Old Testament to come against the enemy. He said:
"Again, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
He didn't have to demonstrate anything to the devil. He knew who God had said he was and who he claimed to be. He already had the dominion. He knew who he was. He wasn't going to throw himself down for the enemy.
Here he comes back again. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him:
"All these I will give to you if you will fall down and worship me."
Then Jesus said to him:
"Be gone, Satan, for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only.'"
He never denied that the kingdom or the dominion was given to him. It was already given to him. But he always rejected the mold by which it was attained. He didn't need the devil. He didn't need the enemy to give him earthly things when he had the kingdom things. He didn't need the enemy.
How many times do we see people trade their souls for riches, trade their soul for fame, trade their soul for money, for jewels, position, titles, notoriety? Those things will not last in the kingdom. Those will not sustain you. Those will not edify you. I want a crown of life, not the earthly things of the world. I don't want things from the enemy because he will try and entice us and provoke us to think that what he can provide is better because it may be quicker, it may be faster. But are you willing to turn away your soul, to lose your soul?
You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.
We're not willing to trade our souls for earthly things. Jesus, being fully God and being fully man, made a decision to deliberately resist.
It says:
Then the devil left him. He left him. He left him alone. And behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Here came the angels and were ministering to him. Listen—he was totally dependent on God. And so many times Satan comes with patterns.
I want you to remember back in Genesis, Genesis 3. He came to tempt Adam and Eve, but ultimately they ate the forbidden fruit. That same way he tried to come and provoke Jesus. But Jesus used the word: "It is written." He used the word against him. He used the word to fight.
He was totally dependent on his Father. He tried to appeal to the lust of the flesh—to get him to do something apart from God's will. He appealed to the lust of the eye—to get him to do something apart from God's will and his desire. And then he appealed to the pride of life—the desire to be something apart from God's will. But Jesus was totally dependent on his Father.
When the enemy comes to tempt us—and he will—he'll cause us to doubt the calling on our life, his plans for our life. He may try and get us to rebel or disregard God's word because we're in a tough time, in a hard season of our lives. Instead of listening to Satan, we should speak to him, reiterating the word—what God has said.
For example, James 4:7 says:
"Submit yourself then to God. Submit yourself. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Submit your ways. Submit your ideologies. Submit your perceptions. Submit even your understanding. Submit all of it to God. Not just the cute stuff. Submit the real stuff. Submit the stuff that's really deep on the inside of you that you've been struggling with. Submit that thing to God. Don't hide it from him because he already knows. Submit that thing to God. Resist the devil when he tries to come at you, and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 5:9 says:
"Resist him standing firm in the faith because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kinds of sufferings."
You're not alone in this fight. You're not alone in this journey because you have a family of believers. All of us who claim Jesus Christ as Lord are undergoing the same sufferings.
You know what really began to change something in my life? I got in a squad—a small group. I remember people talking about having issues with alcohol and pouring out alcohol bottles in the sink. That's real. I remember people talking about having issues with weed and having issues with pornography or having issues just doubting and not trusting God. They started to talk about their sufferings and not keep them to themselves. Man, the enemy loses a hold of you when you do that. He loses a hold of you when you begin to expose the wounds and the temptations and the struggles and the issues, the deepest places of your heart. When you start telling people, he's like, "Oh man, she/he ain't keeping it to himself anymore."
In Ephesians, it talks about the full armor of God. It talks about the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, coming with the feet of the gospel. And it also talks about the sword of the spirit. The sword of the spirit is the word. Every time Jesus did not negotiate with the devil, he said, "It is written." He took him back to the word. He took him back to the word. We have to use that word. That sword of the spirit cuts. The word, when you get that thing in your heart, it helps you attack the wounds and the cunningness and the provoking of the enemy. When we use that word against him:
"If God be for me, who can be against me? God has not given me the spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind."
I got a sound mind. I don't care what it looks like, but I got a sound mind because that's what the word says about me.
After the temptation, Matthew 4:12 shows us the next chapter—Jesus began his ministry. That means he passed the test. When he had heard that Jesus had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee, leaving Nazareth, and he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.
Go to verses 15-16:
"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light. For those dwelling in that region in the shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."
After being tested, Jesus began his ministry. That was the purpose of going through the test.
He began his ministry to show you and I—being him, being fully God and being fully man—that we too, as sons and daughters of the Most High God, can overcome temptation. He was there for 40 days and 40 nights being tested. That's no easy feat. What does that say to me? Jesus kept going. Sometimes when the enemy comes for us, we're sitting in a fetal position. Let's be real because he's tried. He's tested us. But what this says to me is Jesus kept going to be light and darkness for the people.
He had passed the test. Satan's aim was to persuade Jesus and break Jesus' perfect trust in his Father's good care, thereby altering the course of salvation. Jesus passed the test. We too can pass the test of temptation, whatever those temptations are.
It says:
"It is for this reason that he is the example for us of one who successfully endured temptation. And it is this victory that qualified him to become our great high priest."
That means he passed the test. And if he can pass the test, and if God before us, who can be against us? We too can pass the test. He used the word to fight the wounds of the enemy and his demonic tactics. He used the word to fight back.
Temptation is going to come. No matter how you cut it, slice it, in whatever area of life you're going to be tempted. You may be tempted to lie, to do a little white lie. You may be tempted to allow people back into your life that you said you were going to keep away. Whatever your temptation is, everybody's temptation is different.
But you know, and I know: The more that we resist the temptation, the enemy flees, and then it builds muscle memory. So when the enemy comes like he did last time, coming for my faith, coming for who I am, trying to bring anxiety, depression, whatever it is back, and he tries to get us back on that old road, you're like, "Yo, you did that last time. Oh, you tried that pattern with me every time. It may be in a different fashion. It may look different, but you did that last time."
It builds muscle memory. It builds your strength and your trust and your reliance and your dependency on God's good care. Because if he did it for you last time, he can do it for you again. He will help you in your fight.
As a believer, we must understand the temptation will come. Like I said, we must not be oblivious. We must not be naive or thinking that we've arrived. We must be fully aware that he will try and come back again. He may come with something a little bit more crafty. It may look a little different. It may be dressed a little different, but he's going to try and come again.
But do not be oblivious or naive. It talks about how to be watchful and control yourselves because the enemy, the devil—he's like a roaring lion looking for who he can devour and swallow up. He doesn't want you to win this fight. He wants those temptations to kill you and destroy you. That is his desire. So we must not be naive or oblivious but be aware and watchful.
And the last one I want to encourage you with when it comes to temptation: Hide the word in your heart.
"I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against thee."
Growing up as a little girl, that was a song we used to sing, and that always stuck with me. Hide that word in your heart.
If you're sitting here and you're like, "I hear you, and I'm still trying to learn that word," I want to tell you that's okay. There's grace for that. Everybody's in different parts of their journey. But the more we begin to learn that word and regurgitate that word and stand on that word, the more we understand that Christ is our firm foundation. He's the rock on which we stand.
As we begin to stand on that word, that thing is alive. It says the word is alive and active. It is.
So you're like, "So what can I do as I try and learn the word?" You're sitting here, right? Keep coming. We are a sound doctrine church here. We don't do all that fluff. We teach you the word. And the more you sit or visit us, whichever one you are, you begin to learn that word. That word begins to permeate your heart, and you begin to walk that thing out because it's real and it's authentic. You begin to learn the Lord for yourself.
Or get in a squad. We got to put arsenal in our toolkit. Get in a squad. Get around other people that are in different walks of their life and look for accountability. When I began to find accountability, there were people that would help me, guide me in that word. So this fight was never alone.
I want to tell you: if you're sitting here, it sometimes seems easy just to gratify our flesh. But at the end of the day, it doesn't reap a reward. Our trust is in God. I encourage you today: win the test. Win the test.
We may fall. I've busted and bruised my knees many times. And there was grace for that. But as I begin to walk with God and as you begin to walk with God, and temptations come and you know that the attempt is to rob, steal, kill, and destroy, we have to win some of those tests and those temptations.
Use that word to fight back. If God be for you, who can be against you? We are more than conquerors for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So I want to pray for you as we all face temptations. But thanks be to God—Jesus, he set the blueprint so that we too can overcome the tempter.
Dear heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord God, that your word is alive and it's active. Father, we thank you that it's sharper than any double-edged sword. Father, Lord God, we thank you that we have relationship and we know you.
For those who have explored the claims of Christ, Lord God, I pray that today, Father, there will be a surrenderance. As we open our hands—that's a sign that we surrender—God, that we cannot do this on our own or in our own right or on our own agenda, but our dependence and our trust is in you, Lord God. You say the more we seek you, we shall find you, God. So I pray, Father, that as we seek you, we shall find you.
As we submit ourselves, our ways, our issues, our struggles, our temptations, the things that have tried to jolt us, the things that have tried to shake us, as we submit those things to you, Lord God, that you will teach us how to fight and resist the devil in the name of Jesus. Lord God, that you are working in the inside of us and that you are for us and that you have a good plan for each and every one of our lives.
God, we surrender. We repent and we ask you to forgive us, Lord God, of the times we missed the mark. We thank you that your grace is sufficient. Sufficient means it's good enough. We thank you that your grace is sufficient for each and every person that is sitting here in this auditorium and for those that may watch online. Your grace is sufficient. Your power is perfect. Your goodness and your mercy and your love and your kindness shall keep us all the days of our life.
Lord God, help us to walk in the assurance that you are for us and that you love us. And not only do you love us, you equip us to fight against the craftiness and every demonic agenda, every demonic strategy, every lie, every false burden. We come against it in the name of Jesus. We are more than conquerors for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are more than conquerors.
So we trust in you. Forgive us for anything that we have tried to do on our own. We lift our hands up to you and we look to you as our help and our source in our time of need. Thank you, Lord God, that you've never lost the battle. You never lost the war. You won the test. You passed the test. And if you are in the inside of us, if the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling in the inside of us, we too can pass the test. In Jesus' name.
