The Temptation of Our Lord Jesus Christ - Part 2

4. The Climactic Attack #2 in the Battle (Matthew 4:5–7)

     The second great climactic attack or temptation had to do with God’s protection of Christ. If Satan cannot defeat you in one area, he will attack another area.

The place of the temptation. “The devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple” (Matthew 4:5). The place of this temptation had two advantageous for temptation,

• First, it was a holy place. Attacking Christ in a holy place (“holy city”) gave the advantage of disguising temptation in holy apparel—that fools many folk. Using the sacred to do evil shows that Satan has no respect for anything sacred. He will defile the sacred if he can which explains why you will find such things as booze, gambling (bingo and cards), dancing, and rotten music in some churches.
• Second, it was also a high place. (“pinnacle”) High places are often places of strong temptation. Satan has used high position to corrupt many good people. We need to remember the exhortation given Baruch, a helper of the prophet Jeremiah, which said, “Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5). Do not covet high position or envy those in such places.

     The proving in the temptation. “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 thy shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash they foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:6). As with the first temptation, so in this one, Satan tries to motivate yielding to temptation to prove Christ’s identity. We do not need to do the unnecessary, the unusual, or the unwise to prove our faith. And jumping from the Temple was unnecessary, unusual, and unwise. We can prove our faith by our daily walk that honors God.

     The perverting in the temptation. “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). Christ had used Scripture to defeat the previous temptation, so now Satan will counter by also using Scripture; but he perverts matters by not quoting Scripture accurately. The text is Psalm 91:11. Satan left out “in all thy ways.” Protection promised by the Scripture was only “in all thy [God’s] ways.” Satan is like many cults and other evil philosophies who quote Scripture but do it inaccurately and out of context to justify their perverted creed. One of the great needs in our churches today is the knowledge of the Scripture. Many sermons reveal that even preachers do not know the Word well. If churches did learn the Word of God well, it would change their programs, creeds, standards, and attitudes dramatically.

     The power over the temptation. “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7). Christ defeated this temptation the same way He defeated the previous temptation, namely, by the Word of God. This can be seen in two ways.

• First, Christ was cognizant of the Word. “It is written” (Matthew 4:7). This text comes from Deuteronomy 6:16. Christ was cognizant of the Word and so could use it to defeat temptation. Most church programs do little to help folk know the Word well enough to conquer temptation. Entertainment has replaced exhortation and this has led to ignorance of the Word and increased succumbing to evil.
• Second, Christ was compliant to the Word. “Thou shalt not” (Matthew 4:7). Christ would not worship Satan. He obeyed the Word of God. That will always give you victory over any temptation.

5. The Climactic Attack #3 in the Battle (Matthew 4:8–10)

     The strongest of the three climactic attacks or temptations was the temptation regarding a crown for Christ—it was an offer give Christ the rule over all the kingdoms of the earth. This temptation is recorded as the second of the three in Luke with the second temptation of Matthew being the third in Luke. This climactic attack or temptation was the strongest of the three because it offered more. The first climactic temptation simply offered to satisfy the desire to eat, the second climactic temptation offered protection in jumping from the Temple, but this third climactic temptation offered Christ a high position with much power and prestige in the world.

     The place of the temptation. “The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain” (Matthew 4:8). Once again Satan uses height to enhance temptation. As height can make a person unstable physically so height can make one unstable spiritually. Satan knows this fact and has used height in position to ruin many a good man. Promotion in this world is often the means of polluting the promoted.

     The perverting in the temptation. “Showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (Matthew 4:8). The perverting here is in the fact that Satan showed only the “glory” of the kingdoms. He did not show Christ the guile of the kingdoms, and history reminds us that kingdoms have more guile than glory. Satan habitually shows only one side of evil in tempting. He shows the pleasures of sin but not the pain of sin. He shows the splendor of evil but not the sorrow and suffering of evil. But men are so easily deceived today by this appeal of sin. Liquor ads show expensive cars and houses but do not show the loss, the divorce, the broken homes, and the crime. Gambling talks about how it will help the economy when it really hurts the economy of the society where gambling is permitted. Smoking is advertised by macho men and beautiful women but it does not tell you that it debilitates the strength of men and destroys the beauty of women.

     The promise in the temptation. “All these things will I give thee” (Matthew 4:9). The promise of gain causes many folk to do evil. Folk sell their soul for gain in this world. That is all that Satan can promise, however. He can promise no gain in the world to come. He has nothing appealing to offer for eternity. Check all the promises of temptation. The gain they promise is only temporal.

     The price in the temptation. “If thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). This price says that you can get gain by doing evil. Many have embraced that philosophy. But it is a corrupting philosophy that will extract a far greater price than what Satan appears to require. And it is also a God dishonoring price. Any price that results in dishonoring God (and doing evil certainly dishonors Him) is too high to pay.

     The pleasure in the temptation. “All these things will I give thee” (Matthew 4:9). This temptation would eliminate the pain of the cross. All the kingdoms of the world are going to be given to Christ anyway. “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). But Satan’s offer would give the kingdoms to Christ without Christ having to experience the suffering on the cross. Satan would give Christ the crown without the cross. Satan does not want the cross for it is his doom. He is the author of every religion that leaves out the cross of Christ for salvation. This shortcut for Christ is typical of Satan’s temptation. He is always tempting us to take his shortcut to pleasure. He says do not wait for the cross for the kingdoms. Do not wait for marriage to have sex—have it now. Do not wait in labor for money—gamble or steal it. Do not study for good grades—cheat instead. These temptations all exhibit the same principle found in this temptation.

     The power over the temptation. “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). Once again Christ demonstrated the power to defeat the devil. The power here is found in both separation and the Scriptures.

• First, there is power in separation. “Get thee hence, Satan … then the devil leaveth him” (Matthew 4:10, 11). Separation from evil gives power over evil. Mixing evil with righteousness weakens righteousness. Much emphasis today in our churches seems to be on mixing, not separation. Most people do not like the idea of separation. But separation is necessary to overcome evil. So Christ commands Satan to leave.
• Second, there is power in Scriptures. “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). Christ knew the Scriptures and they gave Him power to defeat the devil. This text is from Deuteronomy 6:13. If we honor Scripture, as Christ did here, we will have much power to overcome evil. This particular Scripture reminds us that whom you worship you will serve. Worship well and you will serve well. Our service reveals how well we have worshiped God. That exposes a lot of church members as not doing well in worship.

6. The Comforting After the Battle (Matthew 4:11)

     “Behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matthew 4:11). After His bruising battle with Satan, Christ experienced heavenly comforting. Scripture does not say what the angels did for Christ; but whatever it was, it was comforting and helpful. This comfort from God comes to those who have been faithful to Him. You will not get angels’ help, if you have not stood true to God and His Word. Many want solace from heaven but will not be steadfast for heaven.