The Exposition of Matthew, Matthew 4:3-11

Part III

June 23, 2020

(The Temptation of Christ)

“If I were the devil, to the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘square.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington…'” – Paul Harvey 1965

Questions to be answered in this study

1. What are the three ways Satan tempted Jesus?
2. What does it mean to walk in the flesh?
3. What does walking in the flesh include?
4. What does walking in the Spirit include?
5. What exactly does the pride of life mean?
6. How high is the pinnacle section of the surrounding wall of the ancient Jewish Temple?
7. What is the proof of our faith and our love of God?
8. How do we know that the prosperity gospel is unbiblical?
9. Why do some of the world’s richest and most evil people live in luxury?
10. What is the only way we can defeat Satan?

Introduction

In part II of our study of the Temptation of Christ, we talked briefly about the three categories, which Satan used to tempt Jesus. Today we are going into detail concerning the three ways Satan tempted Jesus:

• First: The Lust of the Flesh
• Second: The Pride of Life
• Third: The Lust of the Eyes

Last week, we read in 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” As we learned last week, there are three categories by which all the world’s sins are classified. Satan’s first temptation, the lust of the flesh, was to entice Jesus to turn stones into bread to prove He was the Son of God. In this, Satan was attempting to draw Jesus away from His fast and therefore be disobedient to God. Of course, Jesus was obedient to the Father and resisted Satan’s temptation. Satan got his idea for this tactic from the book of Exodus, the miracle of manna. Jesus also knew that miracle and quoted, “man does not live by bread alone but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” In other words, Jesus is saying it is more important to obey God’s words than to satisfy the desires of the flesh.

Jesus did not yield to Satan’s temptation to turn stones to bread to prove He was the son of God, but instead, he was obedient to the instructions of the Father. The lesson is that it is not in our best interest to trade our obedience to God for our fleshly desires. Our allegiance to God’s eternal values is far more important than the temporal things of this world. 

Satan’s First Temptation of Christ: The Lust of the Flesh:

Matthew 4:4-7, “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

For Christians, “the flesh.” is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Bible. The confusion is, when the Bible speaks of the flesh is it talking about the body? Does it refer only to the body, or is there a deeper meaning? It is essential to understand what the term flesh means and how we respond to it? It goes beyond the body. It means living according to how the flesh directs rather than the Spirit. Paul warned us that there would be a struggle between the Spirit and the flesh. Galatians 5:16-18 (KJV), “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”

Walking in the flesh includes impurity, immorality, anger, idolatry, disputes, strife, and another enticement to dishonor God. On the contrary, walking in the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In contrast, a life lived in the flesh is characterized by defilement and degradation; The life lived in the Holy Spirit is a life rich in spiritual fruit that honors God. “Flesh” refers to the inherent nature and the residual desires (Leftover from the old nature) that lead to living an ungodly life. Which of these two lifestyles glorifies God and produces the very best way of living? In Romans 12:2 (KJV), we are commanded not to live by worldly standards: – “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” A believer can never be content living in the flesh away from God.

It is easy for a Christian, time after time, to fall into Satan’s trap of fleshly sin. The idea that you can discipline, improve or change your flesh through personal development or by any other means to meet God’s standard is a false premise. We cannot change the fleshly nature; it must be replaced. Only God can do this at the point of salvation and through the daily process of sanctification. God wants to make us into the person He created us to be if we only commit ourselves to Him.

Knowing God’s Word is vital for the Christian to understand the flesh’s lust and overcome it. Here is what Scripture teaches:

• Matthew 5:27-28, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” The first step to overcoming the lust of the flesh is knowing what sin is according to the Bible and not what our culture teaches, norms, Mores, or what logic might tell us, or any other means.
• Job 31:1, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? “Even before the temptation came, Job made a covenant with his eyes, for he knew his response to give already based on the Word of God. It also behooves believers to make some firm decisions on how they will respond under certain circumstances. For example, when in a situation where it would be better to tell a lie, which way will I go? Have I predetermined to say to the truth and let the chips fall as they may?
• 1 Corinthians 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 impossible to resist Satan in the flesh. We must depend on the faithfulness of God to provide an escape.
• Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” It requires self-control to resist the temptations of Satan, and that is one of the Characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. When we walk in God’s Holy Spirit and live our life according to God’s Word, we will have the upper hand over the lust of the flesh.
• Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Don’t live according to the world’s standard or what culture may teach; let God change your way of thinking and your actions.
• Psalm 119:9-11 “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Satan’s temptation on young people today is prominent. How can they resist the lust of the flesh? They can only do it by seeking God first and knowing His Word.
• Romans 7:24-25, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our LORD. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. “Paul is not talking about serving the law of God and the law of sin simultaneously. He says that if you walk in the Spirit, you serve God, but you serve sin if you walk in the flesh. Matthew 6:24 KJV: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (mammon is the things of the world). I know that is a lot to consider. If we had to sum it up in one sentence, what would it be? Jesus   Christ, our Lord, is the answer; through a personal relationship with Him, we receive forgiveness, grace, and strength to overcome the lust of the flesh.

Satan’s Second Temptation of Christ, the Pride of Life:

Matthew 4:5-7 – “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 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. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Satan transports Jesus from the wilderness to the “Holy City” to the pinnacle of the temple (whether Satan transported Jesus to the temple or whether it was a vision is unclear). Nevertheless, the temptation is real. This time Satan uses the pride of life to temp Jesus. What exactly does the pride of life mean? Pride is considering ourselves worthy of honor and seeking others to look upon us with that sort of view. It is an inflated opinion of our worth and a denial of our sinful Adamic nature. It is identified with fishing for compliments, maneuvering to be the center of attention, attempting to be recognized as unique, and seeking admiration for our processions and accomplishments. Some fail to realize that all is vanity outside of God, as King Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastics. When pride rules in our life, we follow in Satan’s footsteps, trying to usurp the authority of God.

My wife Margaret and I went down about 60 feet below the surface, through a tunnel along the west wall of the temple in Jerusalem, to reach the section of the base of the wall designated as the wall of the pinnacle; this was the same level where Jesus walked nearly 2,000 years ago. It was quite an experience. The pinnacle section of the temple is the highest point on the southeast corner of the city wall. The wall at this point was about 170 feet tall, 17 stories. Down below were the rugged rocks of the Kidron Valley. A jump from there would have certainly been fatal.

It was from here, the pinnacle of the temple, that Satan temps Jesus, once again using the same method, questioning Jesus’ identity, “If you are the Son of God.” The point is, Satan knows Jesus is the Son of God, but he wants to trick Jesus into disobeying God and committing a sin. Once again, Satan uses the Bible, misquoting and misapplying Psalm 91: 11-13 (KJV), “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”

I might add that the foolish act by some religious groups, using this reference in Psalms and the one in Mark 16:18 to defend their unbiblical practices of drinking poison and picking up poisonous snakes as a test of faith is testing God. Jesus says, “Thy shall not tempt the Lord thy God.” Psalm 91 is a promise from the Father that no harm would prevent Jesus from fulfilling His mission on earth; as we see in verse 11, the angels would protect and guard Jesus. Again in v.12, Angels would protect Jesus from stumbling on a stone. Satan proposes to test the Heavenly Father’s promise. He told Jesus if he cast himself down from the wall, the angels would protect Him if he were the Son of God. Satan uses God’s Word out of context to bring about his deception. Psalm 91:14 (KJV) says, Jesus will be protected from harm “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.”

The proof of our faith and love of God is not picking up poisonous snakes to test God or prove our faith; it is our obedience to Him. 1 John 5:3(KJV), “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” The reason Jesus was protected was that He honored the Father in all things. If Jesus had agreed to Satan’s demands, He would have been testing God. Jesus says in verse 7, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Satan tempts Jesus using the pride of life as his tactic, using God to fulfill a personal desire. God is not our servant to cater to our wishes and priorities. God is not our servant to obey our every demand; He is not someone we can manipulate to do our will; the honor belongs to God, not us. He is the creator and we are the created. The pride of life causes us to want to steal the honor and glory that belongs to God. We are to serve Him and honor Him in all that we do and not the reverse. We are to do His bidding and not expect Him to do ours, which is the pride of life.

Pride may very well be Satan’s most potent tool of deception. Today, we see a perversion of the true gospel of Jesus. Millions today believe the prosperity gospel, that God wants to make us rich and free of any discomfort, and that we are entitled to these things based on the promises of His Word. The error in that way of thinking is that God serves us instead of the other way around. The pride gospel emphasis self and not God. It is a gospel of greed and gain, urging God to meet our desires rather than us submitting to His will; “just name it and claim it.” The “Name it and claim it” theology is the same thing Satan uses in his misrepresentation of Psalm 91. We name it, and God shows up to sustain it. In other words, he is trying to force God to fulfill our will instead of submitting to His will. 

God is not our servant, quite the opposite. The Greek word for servant is “duolos,” literally meaning slaves of God; we are His servants, not the reverse. Our relationship to God is an entirely different perspective than the pride gospel or the prosperity gospel. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are redeemed and bought with a great price, the shed blood of Jesus. 1Cor. 6:20 (KJV), “For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.” We belong to Him to do with as He pleases. It is not His responsibility to satisfy us with riches and comfort.

Having been purchased by the blood of Christ, we are now obliged to glorify God with our body, with our lives, and with our reasonable service. The pride of life compels us to believe we have certain rights that God must meet while we forget our sinful nature, which God sent His Son to die to atone. It is a misconception to think that we have the right to things that God in his wisdom has not determined that we should have, whether it is personal possessions, honor, or anything else. Listen to what Jesus’ instructions were to His disciples in Luke 17:7-10 (KJV), “But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” Those dedicated to the Lord know that God alone is worthy of glory and honor. He deserves our praise.

Satan’s Third Temptation of Christ, the Lust of the Eyes:

Matthew 4:8 – “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;” And said 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 left him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”

Satan again moves Jesus for his third temptation or shows Him a vision on a very high mountain, the highest mountain in the wilderness. According to tradition, this mountain is one next to Jericho. We viewed this desolate place from the ruins of Old Jericho. Today there is a monastery partway up the mountain and a ski lift to take tourists up to visit.

Satan gives Jesus a vision from this high point of all the kingdoms of the world. He tells Jesus all this can be His if he will worship Satan instead of God. The world is presently Satan’s kingdom, of which he has control. He rules over unbelievers, and it is in his power to delegate portions of this world to them. If you want to know why the world’s most evil people live in luxury and have power sometimes over millions, the answer is, Satan gives it to them. Satan was offering Jesus the kingship of this world, under him, of course, without having to die. However, Jesus came to die and to redeem sinners from the clutches of Satan. Jesus was not about to make the same mistake as Adam and Eve, who fell to Satan’s temptation, and gave up their dominion of earth, and glorified Satan instead of God. Jesus would die an ignominious death on the cross to correct Adam’s sin.

It is true that Satan presently rules the world, but his kingdom is temporary, according to the Bible. One day Satan will be cut down and destroyed forever. Ezekiel 28:19 (KJV) “All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” God the Father offered Jesus, His Son, an eternal Kingdom: “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations,” Psalm 145:13 (KJV). Jesus will set up His kingdom at His second coming, and we will share in it.

Satan’s second temptation of Jesus included both the pride of life and the lust of the eyes. The pride of life may be the most powerful temptation we face; nevertheless, the lust of the eyes is probably the most common. A man who owned a great deal of land was once asked how much more land he wanted? He replied, just what joins mine, in other words, everything. No none can ever appease the lust of the eyes. The more a person gets, the more they want. We all have experienced that. When we get that one thing our heart desires, it is not enough to satisfy our wants. The lust of the eyes leads to sin, and when sin is complete, it leads to death.

Quoting once again from Deuteronomy, Jesus declares that we worship and serve the Lord only. As I mentioned in the previous study, our works don’t save us, but they glory the Heavenly Father. No one can claim allegiance to God and serve Satan at the same time. The Bible tells us we can’t serve God and mammon simultaneously; we will either love the one or hate the other. Don’t be fooled; when this world’s desires distract us from obeying God, the results are always less love, joy, peace, and less happiness.

Finally, in verse 10, Jesus responded to Satan by telling him to get away. The Bible tells us to resist the devil, and he will flee. James 4:7 (KJV). “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

The Apostle Peter had his struggles with Satan, and he tells us what to do under inspiration: 1 Peter 5:7-10 (KJV), “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

In these verses, Peter acknowledges the power of Satan; we must not underestimate that power, but at the same time, we are able, in faith, to defeat his evil intentions by resisting him as our Lord did throughout His temptation. The devil can’t make you do anything you don’t agree to do. Satan is a defeated enemy. Jesus defeated him when he died for our sins on the cross. Therefore, he can do nothing but flee when we resist him and rebuke him with the Word of God, as did our Lord Jesus.