tempter – Praying Pint

30.h. “And the tempter came”

Matthew 4:2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him 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 command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again 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 I will give you, if you will 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 him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

When the tempter (Satan) came and the circumstances that preceded the temptation of Jesus is something we should make a special note of. Jesus had just engaged in an act of obedience to His Father, He had been shown to be the Son of God, He was filled with the Holy Spirit, He was separated from crowds or people. Scripture does not tell us the happenings during these forty days when Jesus separated Himself, went into the wilderness, and fasted forty days and nights. It was at the end of the special time with God, He was tempted. This is very important. When we have determined and committed to serving God when we have separated ourselves from earthly passions when we seek and desire leading by the Holy Spirit when we have set our heart, mind, and soul on things above when we are intentionally choosing to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we say, think, and do, it is in this deep-rooted and holy committed humble surrender that the tempter will come at us hard. We will be tempted with pride, lust, greed, anger, fear, power, self-reliance, self-worth, self-importance, etc……. Paul tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion seeking to destroy our communion, commitment, worship, and our witness to Jesus Christ. I fear that satan does not have to tempt far too many Christians today. They are already following after the lusts and passions of this world and need no tempting because they so easily give in to their sinful nature due to their complacent commitment to humbly surrendering, following, obeying, studying, trusting, and relying on and to Jesus Christ. This is so sad. It is sad and disappointing that far too many can’t even discern temptation from either self or satan.

We honor and glorify Jesus Christ when we are daily deeply grounded and rooted in His Word and are able to discern and fight against temptation.

26.o. “Serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind”

Galatians 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

1 Thessalonians 3:5    For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

Romans 1:28    And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

1 Corinthians 1:21   For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom,

Ephesians 4:18   They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

1 Chronicles 28:9  “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

Legalism caters to and recognizes our flesh by putting the focus on what we achieve for God, not on what Jesus did for us. We can have a living, free, relationship with God as a loving Father based on what Jesus did for us and who we are in Him. Or we can try to please God by our best efforts of keeping the rules, living in bondage as slaves, not sons. Living that way makes the whole gospel in vain. Such is the battle we all face. We lean more toward what we can do to make ourselves right before God rather than what He has done through Christ, thereby resting, relying on, and trusting in this alone. It is when we recognize, take captive, and discard these thoughts of self-reliance we will truly be able to honor and glorify Jesus Christ through faith in Him alone. If there was an equation, to sum up, this type of thinking it would be; My works + the work of Christ = eternal life. This way of thinking literally says Christ’s sacrifice was not enough. Anything added to Christ’s sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin = nothing, zero, failure. In Christ alone, there is forgiveness, salvation, redemption, and eternal life. Don’t be tempted or allow your mind to be tricked into thinking you can in any way add any benefit for your soul other than through Jesus Christ.

1.h. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them. And Joab said, Jehovah make his people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel? Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them; for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

Job 1:6-12 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

Matthew 4:3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

John 13:2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Satan is very real. Satan temps us and is able to see weaknesses within us. Satan is able to temp our lust for sex, want of and reliance in wealth and intelligence, and exploitation of our anger, pride, honor, and need for recognition, and a host of other self-seeking, self-centered fleshly and earthly desires. Do we think we are immune to these attacks? Do we even know when we are being attacked? Is it possible that we give in so easily to our sinful nature that we don’t even need to be tempted?

If God’s word is not in our heart, mind, and soul there will be a good chance that we will yield to our sinful natures’ desires rather than needing to be tempted by Satan. If God’s word is in our heart, mind, and soul then we need to be mindful of Satan’s temptations. Satan’s attacks and temptations are to get us to yield to our sinful nature. The only way we will know these attacks, is by knowing God’s word and testing our thoughts, actions, and words against it. We need to seek to be filled with the wisdom and understanding of God’s word through time in it and yielding to the indwelling and filling and leading of the Holy Spirit.

God’s word within our heart, mind, and soul will strengthen us to be courageous, empower us to be victorious, and give us hope and faith to rely on, cling too, and trust in Jesus Christ. Do not yield. Do not give in. Stay in His word and learn what is sinful nature and what is tempting to it. Combat it with the word of God and an intentional choice to live humbly serving, honoring, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.