Temptation is to be enticed or drawn to do something wrong or unwise. It is a very real issue that we are all faced with every day. This is especially true as we try to pull away from a life of sin and draw nearer to God. Never do we leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan.
Thankfully, God has provided clear instructions as to how we can be victorious over all temptation to sin and has given us the promise,
1Co 10:13 - There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
It is Satan’s desire to lead us into temptation and sin to overwhelm and discourage us. He studies us, learns our weaknesses, and then targets his attacks where he feels we are most likely to be overcome. Satan’s artful persistence in temptation is evidenced to us in the life of Christ, who was tempted in the fiercest way by the devil during His time in the wilderness. In addition to this, we often tempt ourselves with our own lusts, for our hearts are carnal and naturally drawn towards evil.
Jer 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jas 1:14-15 - But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. (15) Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
While we are led into sin by Satan and by our own carnal lusts, God will never lead us into temptation, rather, it is God who prepares a way of escape that we may be able to bear it. We need not be overcome by evil but may overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21).
Jas 1:13 - Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
It is not wrong, nor does it indicate spiritual weakness, to be tempted. Some feel that if they are experiencing temptation, this suggests that they are not walking with God and there must be some deficiency in their spiritual experience; this is untrue. Jesus Himself experienced temptation. In fact, He was tempted in all points just as we are.
Heb 4:15 - For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Not all people are tempted in the same way. We each have our own weaknesses and are drawn toward different sins. Some may struggle with the lusts of the flesh, others with the lust of the eyes, and others with the pride of life, or all of the above (1 John 2:16). Whatever our weakness may be, it is important that we understand where our weaknesses lie so that we can guard ourselves against them.
When we consider the temptation of Christ, the first thing we notice is that Jesus did not invite temptation. He did not seek it out, neither did He intentionally place Himself in a position to be tempted. Rather, Jesus was being led by the Spirit, who guided Him into the wilderness.
Mat 4:1 - Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
We too should take care not to place ourselves where temptation can overwhelm us. We should not presume to invite temptation and expect that we will be successful in overcoming it. If a man has determined to overcome his addiction to alcohol, it is unwise that he should go to the pub or club to be tempted. Likewise, if there are people, environments, or situations in life which we know will tempt us to do evil, God expects us to avoid these things.
Mat 5:29-30 - And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (30) And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Jesus is not instructing us to mutilate our bodies to avoid sin, rather, He is instructing us in the strongest terms possible to avoid playing with temptation. Temptation comes to us through the mind. It comes by that which we can see, hear, or touch. We are not called to physically pluck out our eye or cut off our arm, but to refuse to behold, listen to, or touch that which might entice us to sin. Refusing to behold evil is as good as being blind, yet with the benefit of retaining our sight to behold that which is good. Whatever thoughts we allow ourselves to meditate upon form a habit of the mind which can be difficult to break. When tempting thoughts come into our mind, it is our duty to dismiss them. If we entertain sinful thoughts or allow ourselves to ponder temptation, we weaken our ability to overcome it. We must be resolute in guarding ourselves against those things which would lead us into sin and should remove them from our lives as far as possible. In addition to this, we know it is true that by beholding we become changed, so we must behold only that which is for our benefit.
Php 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
However, there will be times when this is not possible, such as with Christ, who was ordained to go through the wilderness temptation for our benefit, and in these instances, we must take up the same weapons of warfare that Christ took up when He was tempted.
To each of Satan’s temptations, Jesus’ response was “It is written”. His faith in the word of God was His weapon and His shield.
Eph 6:16-17 - Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Our faith is grounded in the word of God, so the promises of God’s word come to us as both a shield against the attacks of the devil and a weapon that can be used against him.
Rom 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
To use God’s word as our strength and shield, we must know it. It would not have been possible for Jesus to quote the scripture, or to know the will of God for Him, if He had not studied it.
2Ti 2:15 - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Lessons from the Temptation of Christ
As we consider the temptations that Satan brought to Christ, we can understand how Satan attempts to shake our confidence in God and lead us into disbelief and sin. It is often when strength fails, the willpower is weakened, and faith ceases to repose in God, that many are overcome. Whenever one is encompassed by clouds, perplexed by circumstances, or afflicted by poverty or distress, Satan is at hand to tempt and annoy. He attacks our weak points of character. He seeks to shake our confidence in God, who suffers such a condition of things to exist. We are tempted to distrust God, to question His love. It was in this way that Satan sought to overthrow Christ.
Satan understood that everything was on the line in his contest with the Prince of Heaven. If Jesus could be overcome, if He could be brought to distrust the love and goodness of His Father, if He could be brought to yield to temptation, the controversy would be won. Satan would come forth victorious, his claims against the divine government would be established. Knowing this, Satan himself went directly into controversy with Jesus, using the greatest temptation and deception he could in order to overthrow the Prince of Heaven.
The First Temptation
In the first temptation of Christ, we see Satan attempting to sow the seed of distrust.
Mat 4:3 - And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Immediately, Satan calls into question Jesus’ relationship to the Father. He seeks to cause Jesus to question the Father’s love and acceptance of Him by pointing to His condition of apparent abandonment to starvation in the desert wilderness. How could one in His condition truly be the Son of God? Where was the evidence of divine favour for one so beloved? If He were indeed the Son of God, it should be His right and privilege to command that a stone be made bread to meet His physical need. Yet Jesus did not parley with the Devil. He did not for a moment lose faith in His Father’s love for Him, nor His divine mission. Jesus had come to bear trial as we must, leaving us an example of faith and submission. At no point during His life did Jesus exercise divine power in His own behalf. All that He did was for the benefit of others. Jesus suffered Himself to walk through life as we must walk, trusting in the love of God to provide for our every need.
Satan attacks us in much the same way. When calamities come, he leads us to question God's love and providence for us. As he endeavoured to plant seeds of doubt in the mind of our Saviour, he intends to overthrow us. If we can be led to question God's love and wisdom in His dealing with us, we can be led to lose faith in Him altogether. Sadly, many a Christian has given into this temptation to doubt when difficulties come. Perhaps it is through the death of someone we love, through the loss of a job, or through some other difficulty that God has allowed into our lives. Yet we should not allow these things to shake us. It is through trials and difficulties that God prepares us for eternity; hardships refine our character (Job 23:10). One thing we can know for certain - God works all things together for our good.
Rom 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
God had promised Israel that while-ever they followed and trusted in Him, He would provide for them. In His temptation, Jesus now practised this principle.
Deu 8:2-3 - And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (3) And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
In the wilderness, when all other sources of sustenance failed, God sent His people manna from heaven. Jesus would now exercise the same faith in the provision of God that He had taught Israel to exercise during their wilderness wandering.
The first great temptation also presented a test on the point of appetite. It was on this point that Adam and Eve fell, and sin entered the world. The indulgence of appetite and passion has led to the degradation and corruption of humanity. People have become slaves to appetite and passion and made a god of their belly. Through sensual indulgence, Satan seeks to blot from the soul every trace of likeness to God.
Php 3:19 - Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
When tempted on the point of appetite, Jesus exercised for our sake a self-control stronger than hunger or death. He overcame where countless others have failed. It is our duty to exercise temperance in all we do, to eat and drink to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). We must remember that our body is not our own but has been bought at a great price, so we must present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.
1Co 6:19-20 - What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Rom 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Just as God promised to make provision for Israel, the promise is also given to us, that we may know that while we walk in humble obedience to God, He will ensure we have all that we need.
Mat 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Jesus provides us with the clear example that we should never question God’s goodness toward us, nor should we deviate from the path of perfect obedience no matter what difficulties we are faced with. God is faithful and we can enjoy safety only as we walk in harmony with Him. This is especially true for those of us who will live through the last great conflict. They will see every earthly support cut off and be entirely dependent on God to provide for their every need. The time is soon coming when we will not be able to buy or sell and will be faced with death for maintaining our allegiance to God. If we would have faith enough to stand through this trial, we need to learn to trust in God now.
The Second Temptation
Having failed in his first great deception, Satan proceeded to take Jesus to the top of the pinnacle of the temple and tell Him to cast Himself down.
Mat 4:5-6 - Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, (6) And 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.
Again, Satan questions Jesus' identity, but now he intends to use Jesus' own weapon against Him; he takes the word of God to tempt and deceive Christ. While Satan could solicit Christ, he could not force Him. Satan can tempt us to sin, he can present to us the greatest enticements to sin, but he cannot force us. We must choose to yield to his suggestions. Unless Christ should consent to cast Himself down, Satan was powerless to make Him.
If Christ had yielded to this temptation, He would have been indulging in the sin of presumption. Presumption is Satan’s counterfeit of faith. Faith claims God’s promises and brings forth fruit in obedience. Presumption also claims the promises, but uses them as Satan did, to excuse transgression. Presumption causes us to place ourselves unnecessarily in the way of temptation, expecting that God’s goodness will preserve us. However, when we do this, we venture onto Satan’s ground and will surely be overcome. We are bidden to “watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38). If we would do this, we would be kept from rushing unbidden into the way of danger and be saved from many a defeat.
When Satan quoted the scripture, “He shall give His angels charge over Thee,” he omitted the words, “to keep Thee in all Thy ways;” that is, in all the ways of God’s choosing. Satan is well-versed in Scripture, and is well-practised in how to twist and manipulate it. We see here another example of the importance of knowing God’s word so that we understand God’s will for us.
In response to Satan’s temptation, Jesus quoted the words of Moses to Israel,
Deu 6:16 - Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
In Massah, the children of Israel tempted God by doubting His goodness toward them and demanding He give them evidence that He was with them.
Exo 17:7 - And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Even though God had worked marvellously for them in the past, they still dared to doubt Him and this doubt led them to put Him to the test. Satan was urging Christ to fall into the same sin of unbelief, putting God to the test. At His baptism, Jesus heard the words of the Father saying, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. In this declaration, evidence had already been given that Jesus was the Son of God. To call this into question now, by casting Himself down from the top of the pinnacle, would have been to deny the revelation that had already been given. We should not present our petitions to God to prove whether He will fulfill His word, but because He will fulfill it; not to prove that He loves us, but because He loves us.
Heb 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The Third Temptation
Now that Jesus had successfully overcome the second temptation, Satan manifests himself in his true character. Taking Jesus up to the top of a high mountain, he shows Him all the glorious cities of the world.
Luk 4:5-7 - And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. (6) And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. (7) If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Here was the greatest temptation of all. If Jesus would only bow down to Satan, He could avoid a life of sorrow, hardship, conflict, and a humiliating death. Ahead of Christ was the cross. He must bear the sins of the world and endure separation from the Father’s love. If Christ would bow down to Satan, He is told that all of this suffering can be avoided. Yet Christ knew that to yield now would be to give to Satan the victory. By saving Himself, He would be dooming not only humanity, but all of creation.
When Satan offered to Christ the kingdoms of the world, he was proposing that Christ should yield up the real kingship of the world, and hold dominion subject to Satan. Seeing through the falsehood of Satan’s words, and not willing to deviate in the least degree from the path set before Him by the Father, Christ commanded Satan to depart.
Luk 4:8 - And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Christ could not be bought. He had come to establish a kingdom of righteousness and would not abandon His path. With the same temptation, Satan approaches people today and often has a great deal of success. He offers to many the riches of this world if they will only sacrifice integrity, disregard conscience, and indulge selfishness. Many live for the service of self and Satan holds them captive by the hope of riches and glory in this world. Yet what many do not realise is that Satan offers that which is not his to give. The time is now approaching when Jesus will return as King of Kings to take back what is rightfully His. The kingdoms of this world belong to our God, and it is God alone who can give it to us.
Like Christ, we must learn to resist the devil and overcome temptation.
Jas 4:7-8 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
We cannot overcome Satan in our own strength, for he has conquered humanity. If we would try to face him on our own, we would fail. Yet if we turn to God, we are provided a safe refuge.
Pro 18:10 - The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name. When faced with temptation let us send a prayer to heaven for strength to meet it. God will never leave a prayer for divine aid to overcome temptation unanswered. Yet God leaves it with us to choose to walk a path that will keep us as far away from temptation as we can manage.
Let us study God's word, that we may have an impenetrable shield and sword in our conflict with the devil, turn aside from a path of temptation, and always run to the aid of the One who was tempted as we are, yet overcame all sin. Jesus understands our plight and can sympathise with our trials. In Him we find One who can help us in every difficulty, having faced it already for us.
Heb 4:15-16 - For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
