The Tempter's Mission

Introduction: A Text the Modern World Dismisses

"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." (Matthew 4:1)

Our subject is The Tempter's Mission.

To all who have been brainwashed by atheism, the idea of a devil, the idea of Satan, the idea of an enemy of souls, the idea of a personal tempter is simply regarded as absurd. That is the result of years of conditioning: there is no God, there are no other powers, there is no devil, there is no evil.

Yet it is a confusing scene, because society at large often seems to be two things at once — atheistic and unbelieving, and yet holding a strong measure of ill-considered belief. Vast numbers of people believe in some sort of God, some sort of creator. There is an instinct within them, and they give the game away constantly.

When people die, others talk about "him up there" or "her up there." Something in them senses that this is not a life that can be explained away in purely materialistic terms. And yet, at the same time, they think largely as atheists. Society in general is a walking contradiction — the intellectual mess created by years of atheistic programming.

Who Christ Is

To set the scene, we must remember who Christ is. He is the eternal second person of the triune Godhead. God is one, and yet, mysteriously, he is disclosed to us as three divine persons in one Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The second person of the Godhead has entered into his own creation. It was by his power that the world was created — the entire cosmos, everything out of nothing at all. (Atheism isn't sure about that either; it doesn't know whether it believes in a material universe that has always existed or which somehow came into being. They argue among themselves about these things.)

But according to the revelation of God, all was made by the everlasting God. And yet the Son, Jesus Christ, enters into the world in order to redeem it.

A Fallen World in Need of Reconciliation

The human race has rebelled against God, sinned against him, and disobeyed him. It is now under judgement, alienated and cut off from God. It does not know God naturally, and it is against him.

Christ came into the world to make a way of salvation. How did he do it? By becoming truly man, as well as truly God, so that he could take our place — go to Calvary's cross, be falsely arrested and tried, knowing exactly what would happen, and be nailed to a cross.

This is what everyone needs to understand: God the Father could put upon him — the eternal Son of God, the God-man, truly God and truly man — all the guilt of those who would ever be forgiven in the history of the world.

How could sinners be reconciled with God? How could their sin be overlooked by a holy God who cannot overlook sin?

Only by God coming himself, entering into time and into flesh, and taking that guilt upon himself — suffering the eternal weight of punishment somehow shrunk down into the space of six terrible hours. In body and soul the Saviour suffered all, cancelled the debt, and opened the way whereby we could turn to God, be related to him, and know him.

The Purpose of the Temptation

Here he is. He has come into the world, embarking upon his three-year earthly life and ministry. At the very beginning it is the will of God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — that he should suffer temptation.

He is taking our place. He is going to live a life of perfect righteousness with all the temptation of the enemy of souls hurled at him. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit." He knew this was part of the plan; he must allow himself to be subjected to great hostility and temptation.

These temptations would prove that he is utterly holy, the infallible Son of God made man.

"And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred." (Matthew 4:2)

That was a great understatement of biblical narrative. He was to be in the weakest possible human condition, and then the devil would launch his temptations. We will glance at three terrible temptations — what they were, what their objective was, and how they relate to us. This may be the most important message you have ever heard.

Who Is the Devil?

"And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." (Matthew 4:3)

"If thou be the Son of God" — he was, of course. The devil has his doubts.

The word in the Greek, literally translated, means slanderer or accuser. He is otherwise called the adversary, the enemy of humanity and human souls. Scripture tells us he is a very powerful and amazing fallen angel who rebelled against God and was cast down.

He hates mankind and is intensely jealous of man, because man is the chief object of creation. The world and the animal kingdom were made, but man was the last to be made and the most special of God's creation — for God made man with a soul, capable of relating to him and walking with him.

But man soon fell, disobeyed God, and turned against him. Now the enemy is set to keep man away from God, to keep him down. The Son of God has come to save — but the devil doubts. He thinks he can drive a wedge between the Father and the Son.

Temptation One: Use Your Powers for Yourself

The Son had come to carry out the divine plan, devised in eternity past by the entire Godhead acting as one. It is as though the Father said to the Son:

"If you will go into this world and become incarnate, be the representative and the redeemer of fallen man, suffer and die for millions of them and take their punishment and their sin, then there will be a people to reign over eternally in glory."

And the Son of God said, "I will go." And now he has come — and this is his first great temptation: turn the stones into bread.

Depart from the plan. You can do as you like if you're the Son of God. You don't have to work in accordance with this plan. Now you've entered into a human body — use your powers for yourself, without suffering, without this starving hunger.

But Christ answered:

"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

Every command, every plan, every promise, every instruction — man needs to obey God. The divine Son of God could have been sustained in that fast until he returned to the town and ate in a perfectly normal way. He didn't need to abuse his powers; he could look to the Father to provide for him in his humanity. And the temptation failed.

How It Comes to Us

If the devil would tempt Christ with a temptation doomed to fail, don't you think he will use it on you and me?

Use your gifts, your powers, your brains, your energy, your talents — whatever they may be — for yourself. Don't think about God. Don't think about anybody but yourself.

• Think what you can achieve.
• Think of the money you can make.
• Think of the fame you could know.
• Think of the power you could wield.
• Think of the pleasures you could enjoy.

If the devil tried it on Christ, how much more will he try it on you and me?

"But it isn't all for me," you say. "I love a wife and want to get married and have children." And the voice comes back: do it for you, so you can have fun, be proud of your family, and have many pleasures through them. Still selfishness comes in, and pride, and number one.

The temptation is always there, coming at you all the time. You've got powers and abilities — forget that God gave them to you. Forget that you're accountable. Give him no praise, no study time, no thought, no obedience, no service. It's all for you. Isn't that the reality?

The Saviour resisted that temptation so he would be qualified to be our Redeemer and purchase heaven for us. He was pure and holy. We don't resist it — we accept it.

Temptation Two: Presume Upon God

"Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple." (Matthew 4:5)

How this happened I cannot begin to explain — we are only told the bare bones, and there are great mysteries here. Christ took every step in the Spirit of God. The Spirit permitted him to be led to the highest point of the temple, onto the very terrace at the southwest corner, overlooking the Kidron Valley, where the historian Josephus records there was a 450-foot drop.

Once there, the devil with maximum power injects into his mind: cast yourself down. And then the devil quotes Scripture — Psalm 91:

"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." (Matthew 4:6)

Depart from the plan in another way and demonstrate that you're in divine care. Throw yourself off, and the crowd will see you land safely — a miracle of miracles — and they'll follow you and believe in you. You can do this the easy way, without pain, without dying for people. Let them perish, but you will have adulation and recognition and be the wonder man.

But Christ said:

"It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." (Matthew 4:7)

He would not be tempted at all.

How It Comes to Us

If the devil tried this on Christ in vain, don't you think he tries it on you? What's the equivalent?

You are not such a hardened atheist. You kind of believe in God; you vaguely believe there is something in creation and God. So what do you do? You ignore him anyway and say to yourself, "Well, if he's there, I shall be all right."

What presumption! Like the man on one of these Saharan car rallies who wasn't equipped — he didn't have the right reserves of water or the things you need. He got lost and stuck and was only just rescued. What a fool. Or like some youngsters who go off in a car without a licence, uninsured — what fools, because they'll get caught, and then it's the worse for them.

You're no different. "Yes, I kind of believe in God, but no, I don't think about it." You take a great risk — you're going to live out your life without him and assume it will somehow be all right in the end.

"He's all right up there. She's looking down from heaven." She's probably nothing of the kind. That's your equivalent of what the devil tried with Christ: throw yourself down, depart from the plan, all will be well. Let life take its course. I'm going to live for me — respond to temptation number one, spend all my powers on myself, and just hope for the best.

Hope for the best? This is eternity. We are sinners in his sight. We have abused Almighty God, slandered him, and ignored him. Just hope for the best? We are such fools, friends.

Temptation Three: Worship Anything but God

"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them." (Matthew 4:8)

How this would be done, I certainly cannot explain — I would have thought there was a vision involved, and both Christ and the devil are admitted to it. It is beyond our explanation, but Christ, though truly man, is enabled to see all the kingdoms of the world — not just those existing then, but in all time. He sees all world empires and kingdoms in their glory, at the pinnacle of their power and riches.

And the devil makes an offer:

"All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." (Matthew 4:9)

Just bow down and worship me once — acknowledge me as an equal — and you can reign over everything just as you like. You can have a physical world brought to wealth and perfection, unredeemed, and have all the glory.

It meant nothing to Christ. It was a disgusting and obscene proposition, quite beyond the devil's accomplishment, and he rejected it immediately.

How It Comes to Us

If the devil tries that on the Lord of Glory, will he not try it on you? Here is how it works. "If you just honour me," says the devil, "do as you're tempted, honour me — then I will do all I can to give you power and prosperity and fame and glory. Just ignore God and worship the things of this world."

This third temptation is all about worship. As a human being you are created to be a worshipping being. You are made to worship. The temptation says: worship, yes — but don't worship God.

• Worship this world.
• Worship money.
• Worship possessions.
• Worship appearances.
• Worship flattery and admiration and pride.

The devil coaches us to do it. What a tragedy that enjoyable, skilful games — be it football or whatever — become objects of worship. There are thousands whose entire emotional being is devoted to something; they'll spend no end of money, time, energy, and pursuit on it. Worship anything but God is the temptation, and the devil will fix your mind on something in this world to be your object of worship.

It is an act of stupidity to fall for this. That thing we worship, those people, that field of learning, whatever it might be —

• It cannot hear you. You cannot speak to it, and it cannot speak to you.
• It has no feeling for you, no affection for you, no plan for you.
• It has no real, lasting help to give you.
• It is costly and burdensome to you.

What fools we are to worship alternatives to Almighty God — sometimes inanimate things, sometimes people.

The Tragedy — and the Hope

The three great temptations are these:

1. Spend your gifts to get yourself fame, fortune, happiness, and thrills.
2. Presume upon God — live without him and hope it'll be all right.
3. Worship anything but God.

These three big temptations knock us over completely. We spend our lives away from God, and we'll die without him and under his judgement. What a tragedy — when it could have been so different!

For God is a living God, a feeling God, a caring and loving God. A God who would go so far to forgive and save us that he sent Christ, the second person of the Godhead through whom all things were made, into the world — to be rejected, to suffer violence and insult, and to die on Calvary's cross, taking the punishment of all who rely on him and come to him.

Oh, what Christ would do for you if he converted you to himself! He would change your life, renew your character, and make you a different person. He would give you joy and peace, hear your prayers, be with you each day, comfort you in distress, strengthen you in every need, and lead you into his plans and ways — so that you would know him and feel his love and his touch day after day.

How foolish we are to listen to the temptations of Satan and to succumb to them.

Appeal

Read chapter 4 for yourself and ask: Have I fallen to these three areas of temptation? You have — badly, totally. We all need the love of Christ and his saving, changing power.

We need to come to him, repent of sin, trust him with all our lives, and give ourselves to him. And the difference made from that day forward — we never look back.

Let Us Pray

O God our gracious heavenly Father, we pray that this night the terrible stranglehold of Satan over our lives may be broken, and that we may seek and find Christ and know him. O Lord, we thank thee for him and all that is done for our needy souls. Open our minds and touch our hearts and bring us safely to him, for now and forever. We ask it in his name, for his sake. Amen.