I'm glad the Bates sang that number this morning, The Gospel According to Jesus. Several years ago, Steve Camp, who wrote it, was going through a period of struggle in his life and read the book by John MacArthur entitled The Gospel According to Jesus. As a result of reading the book, he wrote the song that we heard sung this morning and sang it for the first time at a pastor's conference at Grace Community Church several years ago. The words are indeed thought-provoking.
Let's open our Bibles together, please, to Matthew chapter 4 as we continue the series on firming up your foundation, today dealing with the theme of temptation. Susan Smith is guilty of the murder of her two children. I am sure that she regrets deeply having yielded to the temptation that led to the death of her boys.
Before we become too agitated with Susan Smith and the terrible crime that she has committed and for which she will pay, let's recognize the fact that all of us are sinners and struggle with temptation. Temptation is a universal experience. On the one hand, we can be tempted by our own indwelling sin working in our flesh. James says, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone.
Not each one is tempted when he is carried away, that is, when he is drawn out, when he is lured and enticed by his own lust. James puts it right where the blame belongs. Temptation comes out of our own sinful lusts working in our flesh. But on the other hand, we can also be tempted by the devil and his associates. We have an example of this in Acts 5 when Ananias brought to the apostles only a portion of the money that he had gained from the land which he and his wife Sapphira had sold.
The sin was the hypocrisy of it because he pretended to bring the whole amount. Peter responds, having been given information by the Lord about what had happened, by saying this, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? The word filled there is the same word as in Ephesians 5.18 for the filling of the Holy Spirit.
So Peter says that just as Ananias and Sapphira could be controlled by or empowered by the Holy Spirit, so on this occasion Ananias was empowered by Satan. And Satan was the one who filled his heart so that he lied to the Holy Spirit. Let's be clear that he and Sapphira had begun the whole process. It was they who had schemed out of their own selfish greed to keep back part of the price and to lie about it.
Their scheming, their creating this scenario gave Satan an opportunity for involvement so that he is the one who then empowered their plan. Warren and Ruth Myers writing in the Discipleship Journal say, when we say no to our selfish desires the devil gets no opportunity to gain a foothold. You see the devil has a hard time tempting us unless we give him an opportunity.
When we begin to scheme as did Ananias and Sapphira and to plan out in our minds how we might sin and fulfill our own lusts, then Satan comes and takes advantage of that beach head in our lives to further the temptation. Today I want to talk about this theme because it is relevant to all ages. There are some who because they are older may feel that they don't need this as much as the young people of the church.
Someone wrote, I have to admit to aging because now that I know my way around I don't feel like going. My forehead is getting higher and my energy is getting lower. My wife powders and I puff. It takes me longer to rest than it does to get tired. I am at the stage where my passion has turned to pensions. I can still hear temptation whispering, why not, why not? But my body shouts back, why bother, why bother? Let me tell you temptation still whispers as long as we are in this world.
I remind you of people like Noah, Solomon, Moses, Uzziah, all of them godly and great people who ended their lives poorly as old men because they yielded to temptation. The older I get the more earnest the prayer of my heart, Lord may I finish well. So as we talk about temptation, this is for all ages not just for the young people. Every day of our lives we face the possibility of sin.
And so we want to look at the foundation of our lives and see how we are doing at facing temptation and whipping it and beating it. We have no better example in this than Jesus Christ and we turn to this fourth chapter of Matthew because it talks about his temptation. It says then Jesus was let up. The word then draws our attention to the previous verses which talk to us about Jesus' baptism. And so his temptation occurred right after his baptism.
He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Many commentators have pointed out that this is one battle that Satan would like to have avoided. But it was the Holy Spirit who drove Jesus into the wilderness and forced this confrontation. And it says after he had fasted forty days and forty nights he then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.
But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then the devil took him into the holy city and he had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, he will give his angels charge concerning you. And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. The devil is here quoting scripture.
We'll talk about that in a few minutes. Jesus said to him, on the other hand it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. 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 things will I give you if you 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 serve him only. Then the devil left him.
And behold the angels came and began to minister to him. Before we get into the text itself, let's notice as I pointed out earlier that the temptation followed Jesus' baptism. Remember that John's baptism there in the wilderness was a baptism unto repentance. He was calling the Jews to repent of their sins and as token of that repentance to be immersed in the waters of the Jordan. Then there was the day when Jesus came to John to be baptized and John immediately saw the irony of it.
He said, Lord I have need to be baptized by you. You see John recognized there was no sin in Jesus of which he needed to repent. And so why did he submit himself to baptism? Jesus explains in verse 15 of this third chapter, permit it at this time for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
What he is saying there, it is necessary for him to undergo this identification with sinners by baptism so that he might eventually make sinners righteous by his death on their behalf on the cross. Why was it necessary for Jesus to be tempted after this? God wanted to prove the qualification of his Son to be the Savior of sinners. God wanted to demonstrate the righteousness that was in Jesus Christ. He wanted all to know the perfection that could be found in his nature.
And this was the way to do it. And we ask ourselves a crucial question that was settled years ago by church councils but is still being debated today by some theologians. That is could Jesus have sinned? When the devil tempted Jesus, could he have sinned? I wrote a very fine paper on that, at least I thought so, when I was in a theology class at one time in my life. And I did my best to prove the wrong position. The right position is, and the answer is no, Jesus could not have sinned.
You see there was nothing in Jesus to agree with these temptations. He had no sin. There was nothing within him to agree. You say, well wasn't he a human being? Yes he was. Fully human. And that's why he could be tempted, you see. But remember he was also fully God. In one person there was united perfect humanity and undiminished deity. And his divine nature by necessity overshadowed the humanity of him. He was one person with two natures. The divine nature overshadowed the human nature.
Jesus in his humanity was tempted by the devil. His deity was not tempted. For God cannot be tempted by evil, says James. Jesus could not have sinned. And then there are those, as someone said to me last week in the Bible conference we were in. Well, if Jesus couldn't have sinned, then his temptation wasn't real. He said, it doesn't comfort me to think that Jesus could not have sinned. And that was the response that I wrote out of years ago in Bible school. But you see just the opposite is true.
It is a greater comfort. Not tell you why. Because Jesus, as man, could feel, just as you and I feel, the power of temptation. But he had no sin within him that would respond to it, to agree to it. You don't have to have that sin within you to agree with the temptation, to feel the temptation. The temptation is still very, very real. And because Jesus was God and man, he was able to absorb the full attraction that Satan could put on him. I mean Satan gave it 100% when he tempted Jesus.
He's never done that to me. He's never had to. See, I've got this fuse in me and it blows. If I'm walking in my own strength, my fuse blows about 2.5% of temptation. I know most of you are about 25, maybe 50 or 60% you can absorb. I mean the full current was in Jesus. The whole current that Satan could throw at him passed through him. And so he knows temptation like you and I could never know it. He knows exactly what it feels like.
And as we'll say later, that's why he can sympathize with us and our temptations. The temptation that Jesus faced, however, does give us an example as to how we can deal with temptation. And as we look at this example, we want to firm up our own daily dealing with temptation. In each case, the temptation that Jesus faced was to act independently of God his Father. And if there's any bottom line to sin, to temptation to sin, maybe that's it. Temptation allures us to act independently of God.
Each temptation that Jesus faced is typical of those that you and I face. In other words, they represent categories of temptation. The first temptation was to physical appetite. An appeal to physical appetite for 40 days Jesus had fasted, 40 nights he had fasted, and now he was hungry. And so the devil made bread.
There was probably the finest baker in all of Satan's kingdom came to make that bread, to make it as fresh and hot and the smell of that bread as alluring as possible to Jesus' physical senses. I shouldn't say that it was made. He wanted Jesus, didn't he, to make the bread? He says, you Lord make this bread. And the insight that we learn here is that it was God's will for Jesus to be hungry at this time. To be filled with what would be contrary to what the Father wanted for him.
There are times when our appetites are appealed to and we say to ourselves, like this older person in the poem I read earlier, why not? Why not? Our appetites are ready. The drives are there, but it's not God's will and it's not God's time. God's will was for his son to be hungry at this point. And so Jesus responded to the devil by saying, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
And here of course he quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3. The context of that chapter is the recounting of Israel grumbling in the wilderness about manna. Complaining at God because of the manna. God had provided it for them and for their nourishment. They were not satisfied. You can read about the history of it in Numbers chapter 11. Deuteronomy 8 talks about that and then it gives this summary, man shall not live on bread alone.
We do not need to live on the level of our physical appetites. Now please understand, God gives us physical appetites. It's not wrong to be hungry. It's not wrong to want intimacy. It's not wrong to want rest. These are needs, these are drives that God places within us. But to fulfill them outside of God's plan and God's will becomes sin. Satan knows how to appeal to your physical appetites and to mine. He has had thousands of years to study human beings.
He has honed his ability to present temptation. And we live in an age when the world is shouting, it's okay. It's alright, everybody does it. Enjoy your immediate gratification. Get it now while you can. Jesus recognized the source of this appeal. He knew that it was not the Father's will and so he said no. No! Because it is written, there are some things more important than physical appetites. And that's the Word of God. Secondly the devil appealed to prideful glory.
There was an appeal and attraction to prideful glory in this vision, if that's what it was. Or perhaps it was an actual journey. Because in some way Jesus was taken to the pinnacle of the temple and there Satan tempted him to throw himself down from there. Now there's some background on this in that the contemporary Jewish understanding was from Malachi 3 that the Messiah would come from the sky to the temple. And so what he was doing was, show yourself to be the Messiah.
Come down from that pinnacle to the ground and surely the nation will receive you as the Messiah. But there was something else here in Jesus' heart. He knew that to do this might result in public acceptance, but again it wasn't God's time. To do it would be to act independently of God. To cast himself down from the temple would be to act presumptuously, with arrogance. The devil quoted Psalm 91, the only problem is he quoted it out of context.
Because in the context of Psalm 91 it's dealing with those who take refuge in the Lord. And for Jesus to have succumbed to this temptation, he would not have been taking refuge in, trusting in the Lord. He would have been acting on his own. And so his response to Satan is to quote scripture again to him. This time from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 16. The context of the discussion was Israel at Massa. When the nation was demanding a sign of the presence of God.
And the bottom line of that experience is this, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Don't challenge God. Don't challenge God. Don't act presumptuously. So there was an appeal to prideful glory. Does Satan know how to do this? Of course he does. This is part of what the world is about us. Not only the lust of the flesh, it's the pride of life. Now all of us understand that. Because that's in the world. It's of the world.
And Satan utilizes the world system with what it offers to appeal to us to put self first. To look for position and power. He appeals to our prideful glory. He sought to find that in Jesus. And Jesus said, no, no. And so he took Jesus to a very high mountain. He's getting desperate. He's putting everything on the table. So it seems. And he says, do you see all of these kingdoms and the glory of them? Now how he showed Jesus this we don't know that he did.
And he said, it has been given to me to give it to whomever I wish. Luke tells us that Satan said that. Was he right? Well, in a sense, yes. He had usurped the rule of the world from Adam. And so he says, I can give it to whomever I wish. And if you will bow down and worship me, I will give everything here to you. Now of course if Jesus had worshiped Satan, that would have put Satan above Jesus. And Satan still would have had control of everything. But he appealed here to personal gain.
You see Jesus knew that God's plan was for him to rule as Messiah. Psalm 2 says, I have sent my king upon my holy hill. But now Satan the usurper comes along and offers this kingdom now. We have an insight regarding this temptation. It is that to rule now would have been to circumvent the cross. Oh my, Satan wanted this badly. Anything to avoid that cross and the death of the Son of God. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6.13 in response to this appeal to personal gain.
The context of Deuteronomy 16 is a command not to follow other gods as the covenant people of Jehovah. An historical example of when they did this was in the worship of the golden calf. You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only says Deuteronomy. Satan offered the biggest price he could think of. Some of you may have watched it sometime in your past, the television game show that says and all this can be yours if the price is right. Satan knows the price to put out there.
He knows the bait to put out there and here he put out his very best bait. He had nothing else superior to this. And he says this can be yours if the price is right. All you have to do is bow down and worship me. Don't you think that Satan knows what your price is? But oh the deception and oh the terrible consequences when we yield. As you think about where you've been this last week and the situations that you've encountered, how have you handled temptation?
Does this area of your foundation need to be firmed up? There was an exasperated salesman who abandoned his car in a no parking zone and he left this note on the window of his abandoned car in the no parking zone. I've circled this block 20 times. I have an appointment and must keep it or lose my job, forgive us our trespasses. When he returned he found this note. I've circled this block 20 years. If I don't give you a ticket I'll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation.
All the consequences when we yield to sin. There are just two or three lessons that I want to point out as we observe Jesus' temptation. Number one, we observe that temptation is not sin. Hebrews says Jesus has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. There are some of us who have been deceived by the devil into thinking that if we are tempted we've already sinned. The consequence of that is that we go around carrying a lot of guilt unnecessarily. To be tempted is not to sin.
That first look is not the sin, it's the second look. It's when we begin to play with temptation that we begin making room for sin, for lust to be fulfilled. So don't feel guilty about temptations that you encounter, but neither indulge them because then you do become guilty. Secondly, we observe this, that we can resist temptation through Jesus Christ's help.
Hebrews 2.18 says, for since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Let us therefore draw near, the writer goes on to say later, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in the time of need. How did Jesus deal with temptation? First by discerning the nature of it. He was not deceived by it. Temptation is so often deceiving, at least to start with.
But I think we also have to acknowledge the fact that sometimes it's not deceiving. Sometimes it presents itself and we see exactly what it is and we fool around with it. It's like a piece of candy that we slip into our mouths and we just begin to work it around. We taste that sweetness and we know exactly what we're doing, we know the consequences and we sin. But so often it is deceiving. What we need to do is to discern the nature of sin and temptation that is presented to us.
Secondly, we see Jesus using the sword of God's spoken word. Ephesians 6, 8 to 17 says that it is the word of God, the spoken word of God that is the sword of God. And so we need the word of God to do battle with the enemy. That word sword is that little sword that you use in hand-to-hand combat. So you see yourself literally wrestling with temptation and using the sword of the word of God to strike it dead. And we see Jesus drawing upon the power of the Holy Spirit, which we need to do.
Walk in the Spirit, says Paul, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Unlike Jesus, you and I don't have to go looking for temptation because it finds us. And when it does, there are times when we sin. Maybe I should put it in the first person singular. Maybe you don't. But I think I know better. Because we do sin. And that's my third observation, that we have a Savior who will forgive when we fail. That's why He's appointed as a high priest.
For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Who does not need daily like those high priests of Israel to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. John writes, These things I write to you, my little children, that you stop sinning. But if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father.
See there's the reality. The ideal is that we stop sinning, that we don't listen to temptation. But there are times when all of us do, because we are still in the flesh and we still have sin as a principle and we fail to utilize the power of the Holy Spirit, the sword of the Spirit. We don't discern the temptation and we fall, and when we do, it is good to know we have a Savior who is there to forgive.
If you are one who has succumbed to temptation and you are feeling heavy with guilt because of that, I want to encourage you today that if you are one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, He stands before the Father as an advocate on your behalf. He is your defense attorney as it were, to plead the fact that the price for your guilt has already been paid at the cross and you may be forgiven of your sin. When you and I flee temptation, let's leave no forwarding address.
To master temptation means to let Jesus Christ master us. Is He mastering your life today? I hope He is. Is He your Savior at all? Have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you believed that His death and resurrection was for you? And if you have come to that understanding and you have trusted the gospel according to Jesus that we heard sung about earlier, then are you living with Him as the master of your life? Because it is when He is master that temptation comes under control.
You see, I've got a fuse that's about two and a half percent. When that current gets to that point, I can blow. But Jesus can be there with me to strengthen me in temptation and to deliver me, and He will be if He is master. Let's pray. Lord I thank you that in the temptations of life we have a Savior who understands and fully feels with us, sympathizes with us in them. We thank you that He is able to come to our aid. All of us have or will face temptation today.
Lord Jesus be the master of our lives. Replace the fuse that we have in our humanity with your power so that when the temptation entices us, we will say no as Jesus did. Give us grace, I pray, that we may handle temptation as He did in the pattern that He left for us. May the result be that we will sin less. But Father, if there are those in need of the advocacy of the Lord Jesus, help them today to understand that He is the propitiation and the only satisfaction for sin.
And may they come to the Savior today and find in Him the forgiveness that they need. In His name I pray, amen.