THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

(Part 8)

Matt.. 4:1-11

Morning Meditation 9/22/16

Verses 8-11 Say, “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; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 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. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”

In our last meditation we were looking at the words “All these thing will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Jesus does not argue the point of Satan’s right to make this offer. It is amazing that Satan gained such power through his successful temptation of Adam. But the fact is that Satan is the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). We learn from this, Satan desires worship. He is worshiped through idols, materialism, music and self. Self worship is ultimately the worship of Satan. Satan is the one who led man into the deification of self and the humanization of God. Most success oriented professions deal with the exaltation of the ego in order to obtain its desired ends. There are multitudes of people who will not worship Satan in the form of “Satanic Cult Worship,” who are nevertheless worshiping him in a different form. And he has the power to reward them for it in the form of money, social standing, and political power. A person in the place of political power, who uses that power to endorse the so-called gay rights issue and abortion, then in another breath talk about God, is self deceived. He is a follower of Satan and worships him because he is teaching and exalting the doctrines of devils (1 Tim 4:1). Satan has so hidden himself in the background, he is completely blind to what is going on.

We also learned that the “if” is a second class condition and this tells us that Satan knew that Jesus would not yield to this temptation. But he continued with the temptation in spite of this.. Satan knows no such thing in his temptation of us. He can cause us to fall. He can steal our testimony. He can defeat us in our Christian lives. But read this carefully: Jesus is our success against any and all temptations. Jesus did not only die for us, He is our life. As our life, He is our steadfastness in the time of temptation. If we yield and fall in the time of temptation, that is bad. It will cause the true believer much grief. But ultimately Christ’s success in this temptation becomes ours the moment we believe. Satan’s success against the believer is only temporary at the most. And bless His holy Name, He is there as a willing High Priest and Intercessor to forgive and restore the fallen. That is what the Bible calls GRACE. Grace is God giving me what Christ deserves. And Satan hates grace. She is a lovely lady and he can do nothing when she comes on the scene. Jesus sets the captive free even if that captive happens to be one of God’s fallen saints! Amen. Someone hold my mules!

Next, Matthew says, “Then saith Jesus unto him . . .” The word “then” translates “tote” and means “at that time.” The word “saith” translates “lego” and is a present active indicative verb. It is in the present continuous tense and it means that Jesus was talking to Satan. Had you come on this scene you would have seen Jesus in a natural body and it would have seemed to you that He was speaking into the air. Because Satan probably did not appear to Jesus in a natural visible form. There is another dimension that exist where life is going on as surely as it is in the natural world. Here is where spiritual beings exist. Jesus was sensitive to that world by faith.. As God He had access to that world. As man He had chosen to limit Himself to the physical world. But people in the physical world can know when spiritual beings (Satan and his demons) cross over and begin to operate in the physical dimension. He does this by planting thoughts and controlling circumstances so far as God allows him. If the spiritual dimension, could not operate in he physical, the temptation of Christ was a farce. Satan offered Christ the kingdoms of this world if only He would fall down and worship him.. Can’t you recognize when Satan is messing with your mind? Remember, as God He could not be tempted (James 1:13).

Jesus was talking to Satan. He said, “Get thee hence, Satan . . .” The words “Get thee hence” translate “hupago” and means “to withdraw oneself, to go away, depart.” It is a present active imperative verb.. The imperative mood is a command. Jesus gave an order. This is the first order Jesus gave to Satan in the three temptations. This tells us that Jesus ended the temptation, not Satan. Why did Jesus end the temptation here? Because Jesus had submitted to the Father’s will in the temptation and this is as far as His Father intended this to go.

What lesson do we learn from this? “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” (1 Cor. 10:13). God will only let temptation go so far. When we belong to God, He is there to protect and give victory through it all. Even the temptation is used by the Lord to develop His saints. If temptation is used by God to develop us, then why does Satan continue? For the same reason stated in the second class condition above. Satan knew that Jesus would not yield but he continued with the temptation. Satan is not the smartest thing that has come down the pike! We serve the God of all wisdom and we cannot lose for winning! Can we exercise authority against Satan as God’s children? James says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The word “resist” translates “anthistemi” and means “to set yourself against” and is an aorist active imperative verb. The aorist tense speaks of a point of time. Satan does not tempt continually. There are periods of temptation. The active voice means that the believer (the subject) has to take action. This is not passive warfare. We must recognize our enemy and choose to resist him. The imperative mood is a command and suggest urgency. It is urgent that we resist Satan at the point of temptation. When we do, what does James say that Satan will do? He does not say that we will have a struggle. Jesus has already had the struggle. We just simply bring the victory of Christ to bear against Satan at that point and he has no other choice but to flee. The word “flee” translates “pheugo” and means “to flee away, seek safety by flight.” Think about that. Satan has to flee for safety from the believer who knows his position in Christ. Someone hold my mules! It is not that I feel aggressive toward Satan. But instead I feel safe. In case someone takes exception to this and wants to go out and take Satan on because of his position in Christ, just remember what Michael said to Satan in the Book of Jude: “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee” (Jude 1:9).

Then Jesus uses the Scriptures once again for His authority in this command. “. . . Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” There is only One who is legitimately worshiped and served by man. God is One God and there is not another. All other forms of worship have to do with Satan and self.

The worship of God is not in forms and rituals. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. It is not just in “Spirit” but also “truth.” The truth is illustrated by Jesus in this temptation. He had what we would call a controlled response. The Scriptures are our only certainty of victory in our spiritual warfare. Jesus was successful as a Man because He trusted His Father to be infallible and inerrant in the Scriptures.

May God bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White