LIFE OF CHRIST
Matthew 4:1-11
HE DID IT! 6/19/05
Life of Christ #6
To me, one of the most remarkable things that Jesus did
was live a sinless life. And as we
continue our study in the Life of Christ, we move from the ministry of John the
Baptist and the baptism of Jesus to the temptation of Christ. In this true story we see the victory of our
Lord Jesus Christ over the temptation of the Devil.
I have entitled this message, HE DID IT! I mean He did what you and I can’t do. He had
total victory over sin. And I want us to
think of the significance of that.
HE DID IT! –
BUT WE HAVE SINNED
Before we talk about the temptation of our Lord, let’s
put things in perspective by talking about ourselves.
The Bible is very clear that all of us are sinners.
We have all failed God.
We have all missed the mark.
We have all wandered away from doing the truth. Isaiah
64:6, Romans 3:10-12, 23
Our sins actually fall into three categories, according
to
1 John 2:15-16 - Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any man love the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. [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.
In this verse the word
“world” does not refer to the earth, nor does it refer to the people on the
earth. It refers to the “world system”
or the world’s evil way of doing things.
The three categories of sin found in the world, are
·
The lust of the flesh
·
The lust of the eyes
·
The pride of life
Lust is desire. Not all desire is wrong. If we didn’t desire
food we wouldn’t eat.
If husbands and wives don’t
desire each other there would be no children.
If we didn’t desire rest we wouldn’t sleep. If we didn’t desire liquid we wouldn’t drink.
The “lust of the flesh” is
when these desires get out of hand.
The one who lusts after food
is a glutton.
The one who lusts after sex
is a fornicator, an adulterer, or worse!
The one who lusts after rest
is lazy!
The one who lusts after the
wrong kind of liquid is an alcoholic!
Whenever I allow my own
physical desires to get out of hand, I am guilty of “lust of the flesh”.
The “lust of the eyes” is
when I desire to please my eyes more than I try to please God.
Most of us would not argue
that pornography is wrong! It is when I allow my eyes to feast on things that
are sensual.
But anytime we look at a
member of the opposite sex with the wrong motives, we are guilty of the lust of
the eyes. Matthew 5:27-28
Lust of the eyes often allows
us to enter a fantasy world of entertainment that distracts us from the love of
God.
Americans love their sports
entertainment, their video entertainment, their television entertainment and
their World Wide Web entertainment. And
when these fill us with visions and thoughts contrary to God’s holiness or rob
us of time that should be devoted to God, they are wrong!
Another way the “lust of the
eyes” affects us is through our wanting what other people have. We want to “keep up with the Jones”. We want the car, the house, the gun, the
dress that we really don’t need, but we want it more than we want to please
God!
When these things rob us of
our commitment, love and loyalty to God, they are wrong!
“Lust of the flesh”, “Lust of
the eyes” and “the pride of life”.
There is nothing wrong with
taking pride in your work or in your appearance.
Pride is wrong when you think
yourself better than others and even say so!
Pride is what often keeps us
from admitting we are wrong, or apologizing, or asking for forgiveness.
Pride is wrong when it tries to make oneself more
important than God.
These three categories of sin have been around since the
Garden of Eden. When Satan tempted Eve,
the temptation covered three areas – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life.
Genesis 3:6 - And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired
to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Lust of the flesh - good for food
Lust of the eyes - pleasant to the eyes
Pride of life - a tree to be desired to make one wise
Mankind has struggled with these areas of sin ever
since.
HE DID IT! –
AND SHOWED HIMSELF
Vs. 1 – Notice when Jesus was tempted it was after a great
act of blessing and obedience. He had
just been baptized and had heard His Heavenly Father’s approval This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
Why was Jesus tempted by the devil, just as Eve was in
the garden?
As the Union Pacific Railroad
was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large
canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with
enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was
then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One
worker asked, “Are you trying to break this bridge?” “No,” the builder replied,
“I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t break.” In the same way, the
temptations Jesus faced weren’t designed to see if He would sin, but to prove
that He couldn’t.
Today in the Word, March 14,
1991 http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1542
Vss. 2-3 – Jesus was weak. Jesus was hungry.
The Devil comes in this moment of physical weakness and encourages the
Lord Jesus to prove Himself the Son of God by taking matters into his own hands
and making some stones into bread.
Why would this have been wrong?
·
God did not tell Jesus to do this.
·
Jesus taking matters into his own hands would have indicated impatience
with and lack of trust in God.
·
Jesus would have been accepting the leadership of God’s enemy, Satan,
instead of God Himself.
Vs. 4 – Jesus answer is brief, to the point, and directly
from the Word of God. This
a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3.
Man does not survive simply by food, but by the directions
and provision of God at the speaking of His Word.
Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was good for food and
succumbed to the lust of the flesh.
The Lord Jesus was tempted to make stones into bread to
satisfy that same lust of the flesh. He
refused and proved Himself superior.
Vss. 5-6 – Please note that Satan can quote Scripture and
will. He is quoting Psalm 91:11-12. When Satan quotes it, he will quote it out of
context or only part of a verse, so it will suit him in his efforts to tempt us
to sin.
Satan wanted Jesus to tempt or test God by jumping off
when God didn’t tell him to.
Satan would have us do things to test God, to presume
that He will take care of us no matter how badly or foolishly we behave.
Vs. 7 – Jesus answers Satan’s Scripture quote with a better
Scripture quote. “Don’t tempt the Lord thy God.” Deuteronomy 6:16
When Eve saw that the fruit of the tree would make her
wise, she succumbed to the temptation of the pride of life.
When Jesus was tempted to jump and didn’t, He resisted the temptation to satisfy His own pride. Jesus again proved Himself superior.
Vss. 8-9 – What was Satan offering Jesus?
He was offering Him a kingdom without a cross.
Satan, as prince of this world could have fulfilled this
promise temporarily.
All Jesus had to do was become a traitor. Instead of
worshipping his Heavenly Father, he was to worship Satan.
Think of this – any time we make something more
important to us than God, we are worshipping something else and have become
traitors.
Vs. 10 – Jesus finally discharges Satan. Again, he quotes Scripture from Deuteronomy
6:13. God is to be worshipped, nobody
else, and nothing else!
When Eve saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes she
succumbed to the temptation of the lust of the eyes.
When Jesus saw the kingdoms that he could rule over if
he worshipped Satan, he did not succumb to the temptation of the lust of the
eyes.
In all three areas of temptation Jesus was victorious.
He showed Himself superior to Adam and Eve.
He showed Himself to be superior to you and me!
HE DID IT! –
AND BECAME OUR SAVIOR
It is important that Jesus was tempted and did not sin.
It is important that Jesus did not sin, because that
qualified Him to become our substitute for sin.
Someone has to pay for our sins. God is a righteous God who demands payment
for sin. Logically speaking, we should
be punished for our sins. Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 6:23a
God, in His love sent to us a sinless substitute, His
very own Son, who did not have to pay for His own sins. He had none. Instead,
Jesus could and did die for our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:21,
Romans 5:6-9
It is now possible for you to be rescued or saved from
the wrath of God’s judgment.
Jesus died for your sins.
Forgiveness and everlasting life does not come through
good works, baptism, going to church, keeping The Ten Commandments, or any
other man made effort.
Forgiveness and everlasting life come from accepting by
faith the death of Christ on the cross for your sins, by receiving Him as your
Savior. Ephesians 2:8-9
HE DID IT! –
AND GIVES US HIS STRENGTH
Some people have the wrong idea that all a person needs
to do is trust Christ as Savior and then they can live any way they want.
This, of course, is not true.
Not only do we have Christ as our savior, but He is to
be the very strength of our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 2:20 - I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live – When Christ died on the
cross, because I have believed on Him, I died with Him.
Because He was buried, I was buried with Him.
Because He rose from the dead I rose with Him.
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me - The very Son of God lives inside me, and as I allow
Him to, He will control my life.
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
It is through faith in Him that I will allow Him to
control my life.
As I do this I will be able to have victory over
temptation.
He is ever present to help and strengthen. Philippians
4:13
We have access to Christ’s help anytime we need it for
anything, especially with help in dealing with temptation. Hebrews 4:15-16
Now that we have Christ in our lives, we can have
victory over temptation. It is promised.
1 Corinthians
10:12-14
Because Christ is victorious over temptation, we can be
too.
He did it! Jesus Christ was victorious over temptation.
Because He is victorious, we can have forgiveness and
eternal life and victory in this life.
HE DID IT! – BUT
WE HAVE SINNED
HE DID IT! – AND
SHOWED HIMSELF
HE DID IT! – AND
BECAME OUR SAVIOR
HE DID IT! – AND
GIVES US HIS STRENGTH