Combatting the Temptations of Satan

[Christsfreeservant]

“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”’ And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,​

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‘“You shall worship the Lord your God,​

and him only shall you serve.”’​

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“And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,​

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‘“He will command his angels concerning you,​

to guard you,”​

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and​

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‘”On their hands they will bear you up,​

lest you strike your foot against a stone.”’​

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“And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:1-13 ESV)​

Jesus Christ is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He always existed with God and as God, and he was with God in the beginning, and he is our creator God. But he left his throne in heaven, and he came down to earth and was born as a baby to a human mother but conceived of the Holy Spirit and not of man. So he was not born with a sin nature in the image of Adam as we are, so he was without sin.

But, when he walked this earth he was fully God and yet fully human (man), so he suffered like we do, and he was tempted in like manner as we are also tempted, but he did not yield to the temptation ever, and so he remained without sin, the only man to live on this earth who was absolutely sinless. And he was also hated, rejected, persecuted, falsely accused, mocked, called crazy, and eventually put to death on a cross, ultimately for our sins.

At the beginning of his earthly ministry at the age of 30 years of age he was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And this is something that God allowed Satan to do and for Jesus to experience or it could not have taken place, kind of like the situation with Job being afflicted of Satan. Satan could not do anything to him without God allowing it to take place. So God had a purpose for this in Jesus’ life.

For one, I believe it sets the example for us in how we are to respond to temptation when the devil comes after us, which he will, in many different ways. And it is usually during our times of physical or mental or emotional weakness that we are most vulnerable to temptation, too. And that is why we must be armored up with the armor of God daily so that we don’t give in to temptation to sin during our times of weakness.

And one of the ways in which Satan will tempt us is to try to get us to doubt God and to doubt who he is and his power and his word and to question if what we are following is really the truth, etc. or if God will really do what he says he will do. And he will try to get us to doubt our relationship with the Lord, too, but we must be certain that we are in true fellowship with the Lord, and that only comes if we are walking in obedience to his commands.

And the devil will lie to us and he will try to persuade us to believe his lies, and he will try to instill fear within us, or he will try to get us to believe that we have to take matters in our own hands because God is not doing what he says he will do. Or he will try to convince us that there is a better way than the way of the cross of Christ and that all we have to do is to give lip service to the Lord and now heaven is secured us no matter how we live.

And so we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their context. And we need to be followers of Christ who are living what the Scriptures teach us regarding how we are to live, and what we are to put out of our lives, and the kinds of things we are to do as Christ’s followers. And we need to be on guard against the tricks of the enemy so that we do not fall prey to his evil devices, which are many.

So, Jesus gave us a perfect example here in how to respond to temptation with the truth of God’s word and in obedience to the Lord and in refusal to give in to Satan’s temptations and with putting on the truth and faith and righteousness and the gospel and prayer, etc. For we can’t play with temptation or we will get burned. We need to be prepared in advance always, ready to counter-attack the lies of the enemy and to obey the truth.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

Hymn lyrics by Henry F. Lyte, 1833
Music attr. to Mozart, 1831/ Arr. Hubert P. Main, 1872

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known;
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heav’n are still mine own.

Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too;
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father”; I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.

Man may trouble and distress me, ’twill but drive me to Thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me; heav’n will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me, while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heav’n’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

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