Jesus' Three Temptations — Why Satan's Attacks Still Matter Today

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to have everybody here, and again we're going to get right back into where we didn't get to last program. I wanted to get into the temptations in Matthew chapter 4, so if those of you in the studio will turn with me to this portion, Matthew 4, we're going to start with verse 1. While you're finding that, we want to welcome our television audience again. We trust that you're doing just as we are here. Get the book and search the Scriptures with us. So I always like to make it clear that we don't expect everyone to agree with us on everything, but if I can just get folk to study their Bible and to learn to read it more carefully, because so many times things are just glossed over which are too important for that. So anyway, we're going to get right into the text this time. I'm going to let go of any announcements or anything like that, because there's so much to cover. In Matthew chapter 4 now, Christ is about to begin His earthly ministry, and as we stressed in our last several programs, it was to prove to the nation of Israel who He was. Now of course in His temptations, He's going to not only prove to the nation of Israel so much who He was, but that it carries over into the whole scope of God dealing with not just Israel, but with the whole human race, because we see in the references that are coming that the very fact of His going through these temptations is a comfort to you and I even today, and we're going to see that in just a moment. All right, verse 1, "...so then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness." Now unless you've been to the Middle East, you don't really understand what wilderness is, but the wilderness of Judea is the most awful, forbidding landscape. Yeah, some of you are nodding your heads. It's not forested, it's just barren desert, but rugged and mountainous. And so the word wilderness is probably more than what we as Americans normally think of. But He's led up into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward hungered. And when the tempter came to Him, He said, "...if..." See, now that's the way Satan likes to come, isn't it? He likes to put conditions. Now He says, "...if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Now another thing we always have to realize, Satan knows our weakest point at any point in time. Now you see, Jesus has just come out of forty days of fasting, and naturally in the physical realm He's what? He's hungry. And so what does Satan tempt Him with? Food. Now, I'm sure all of you have experienced that you may be driving down a freeway or something and, oh, you may realize you're hungry, but that appetite really isn't whetted until you see a billboard of some delicious piece of food. Isn't that right? And then all of a sudden, boy, those juices just start flowing and you just can't get something to eat fast enough. Well, that's the physiological response, you see, when we're hungry. Now Satan pulls that same thing on Christ, he's hungry, and so what does he mention? Bread. Now I don't know how you feel about it, but to me there's nothing more tantalizing than fresh baked bread. I mean, it just has an aroma that just triggers everything. And I can just bring this right into Christ's experience. Here He is, He's hungry, and so where does Satan attack Him? In that fleshly desire for something to eat. Now remember, He's God, but He's man, and He never lets the one interfere with the other. Now, He answers then in verse 4, it is written. Now what does that mean? He goes back to the Word. Now for you and I, it's no different today. How are we going to maintain our guard against the evil one? The Book. See, we have to stay in the Book. As we pointed out, I think, in our program two or three weeks ago, what is the cleansing aspect for us today? The Word, isn't it? We are washed by the cleansing of the Word. And even Jesus here now confronts Satan then by quoting the Scripture. And He says, "...man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Now, when you pay attention to, or you take heed of, the Word of God, what's the one word that covers that? What is taking God at His Word? Faith! See? That's why faith is not only the necessity for salvation, it's necessity for the Christian walk. Because how are you going to know how to walk if you can't believe what God says? And so it all comes down to taking God at His Word. And so this is the point that Jesus is making. So Satan now tries a different ploy. He didn't succeed in appealing to the lust of the flesh. Now the word lust isn't necessarily evil in itself, we've made it that way. Another word for lust is desire. So when you're hungry, what do you do? You desire something to eat. Now that isn't evil, there's nothing wrong with that. Now then, verse 5, "...the devil takes him up to the holy city," that would be to Jerusalem, in the area of the temple complex, "...and sets him on a pinnacle," or one of the highest points of the temple. Now the devil says unto him again, "...if thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written..." See? Satan knows Scripture. Oh, he can quote it with the best of them. And now Satan quotes it and he says, "...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." So he says, go ahead and jump. And then the temple complex was usually, of course, filled with Jews through one portion of the worship or another. And so what was the whole temptation? Hey, get all these people to see who you really are, that you can jump off this high point of the temple, and before you strike the ground, the very angels of heaven will just sort of bear you up and gently set you down. Why wouldn't that be the show of shows, see? And this was the temptation, appealing to the eyes of those multitudes that would have witnessed such a phenomena. And again, verse 7, "...Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Alright? Satan backs off. But he comes right back. And now he says, "...the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world." Now you want to remember that the Middle East, or Jerusalem, sits pretty much geographically in the center of really the whole planet. But at the time of Christ, it was the center of the then known world. The Roman Empire went west out as far as Great Britain, it went east as far as India, involved North Africa and Egypt and all those areas. So from that high vantage point, and of course both spiritual beings as well as now physical in the person of Christ at least, they could envision all of the great empires that had ever existed back through history, and I think even into the future. And Satan has the audacity to say, if you'll just fall down and worship me, you can have all of this. Now the point I always like to make, and I do it in a question, was it in Satan's power to give those kingdoms? Yes, absolutely, a lot of people don't realize it, because who is the God of this world since Adam fell? Satan is. The Scripture says, "...the world lieth in the lap of the wicked one." And so these kingdoms are his tonight, see. But what Satan didn't realize was that the King is going to have them one day anyway, only it's going to be under totally different circumstances. Not by bowing down to Satan, but by utterly defeating him, see. But the temptation was valid. All these kingdoms, they're mine to offer. Fall down and worship me and I'll give them to you. All right, now then, look what Jesus said in verse 10, "...get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve, and then the devil left him after Christ had admonitioned to get out." Get away. Now you know what's interesting? What does Paul say? Resist the devil and he'll what? He'll flee, see. And so this is of course a lesson for us as well. All right, now the point I'd like to make, keep these three areas of temptation in your mind, we're going to come back to that. But before we do, I want to turn with me, have you turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which of course is from the pen of the Apostle Paul. And now we're going to see a biblical truth that is, as far as I'm aware anyway, has never been revealed before. There is nothing like this in the Old Testament. There is nothing like this in the Gospels. But here from the pen of Paul, we come across what I call a basic doctrine, and that's in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and drop down to verse 45. First Corinthians 15, verse 45. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made, or was created, a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening, or a life-giving spirit. Verse 46, how be it that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural. Now stop there a second. That brings up a point. I think most of the hearers of my program have caught it. I know quite a few have shared it with me that they did. Have you ever realized that all through Scripture, that's always the process, first the natural and then the spiritual? First Adam, the natural, Christ the second Adam, the spiritual. But all right, let's go back. First Cain, the natural, and then Abel, the spiritual. First Esau, the natural, and then Jacob, the spiritual. First King Saul, the natural, David, the spiritual. And this goes all the way up through Scripture. You take it right down to the end time, in those final seven years. First comes the natural, the Antichrist, and then comes the spiritual, the Christ. In our own experience, we come on life seen as natural. We have no spiritual life. We begin as natural, and as a believer we become what? Spiritual. See, I mean, it's just a fact of Scripture all the way through. First the natural, and then the spiritual. The genealogies, every genealogy that you can read, Old Testament or New, you'll always begin with the natural, and then the genealogy of the spiritual. All right, now Paul makes the point. See, here in verse 46 again, "...howbeit that was not first which is spiritual," it wouldn't work, "...but that which is natural," unspiritual, "...and afterward that which is spiritual." Now verse 47, the first man, Adam, the first man is of the earth. He was earthy. After all, what did God make him with? The elements of the dust, all right? The second man is who? The Lord from heaven. So as Adam is the federal head of the human race back there in Genesis, now Christ is the response to that federal head because Adam fell. That's the whole understanding, that when Adam fell, there had to be some way of restoring it. And who was the one that would restore? The second Adam, who is Christ. Now, I guess I can't prove this from Scripture, but I like to think, and I don't mind passing it on, I think that Adam, before he sinned, I think Adam, before he sinned, had a body identical to Christ's in his earthly appearance. Now, maybe you've never thought of it that way before because, you see, Adam, before he sinned, was incorruptible. He could have lived forever had he not fallen. Christ, of course, as we've seen now from the Temptations, did not fall. And as they laid His body in the tomb, did it begin to decay? No. Why? Because Christ's body was incorruptible, and it never did start the decaying process. And so always hold those two in contrast. Here is Adam, the federal head of the human race, who was given dominion over everything that God had created. It was His to rule and reign over. That's what the word dominion meant. And yet, Satan came on the scene with one little temptation, and Adam, with all of that power at his disposal, under beautiful circumstances, nothing to be desired, it was all there for him, he fell. Now, in contrast, here comes Christ in His earthly ministry, not as the royal king as yet. Oh, He's presenting Himself as the king, but He is coming more as a servant, is He not? Lowly, riding upon the foal of the ass. See, and this is what threw such a curve at the Jews. They were looking for someone to come in on a white steed, like a Roman general or a Roman emperor. But here He comes as a servant. And, of course, He epitomized that when He washed the disciples' feet. You remember that? And that was why they couldn't understand how this, who was the very creator of the universe, the one who had come to be the king not only of Israel, but of the whole planet, and yet He could get down on His knees and wash the disciples' feet. All right, so now here He comes as the lowly servant, not as Adam with total dominion. He comes in a wilderness setting with absolutely nothing to enhance the circumstances, whereas Adam had it all. You see the contrast? And now Christ, under those adverse conditions, did not succumb as Adam did. And so now then, we can come back and realize that as Satan tested Him, now before you leave Romans, or is that where we were? Yeah, okay, now I want you to go to 1 John. We were in Corinthians. Now 1 John. So now Christ as the second Adam has not succumbed. He's the spiritual. And as a result of His withstanding all of the attacks of Satan, He has literally covered every area of temptation that you and I face even in the 20th century. Now think about that. In those three temptations, Christ suffered, if I may use that word, He suffered the attacks of Satan that cover everything that Satan can throw at us today. All right, now let's look at them. That's in 1 John chapter 2, dropping down to verse 15. 1 John chapter 2, verse 15, where John writes, "...love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Now the Greek word for world here is kosmos, K-O-S-M-O-S. Maybe I can put it on the board. Kosmos, from which we now get the word spelled with a C. And you add a few letters on to it, and what big long word do you come up with? Cosmopolitan. Now what's a cosmopolitan? You ever looked it up in the dictionary? The dictionary Webster's I looked up some time ago, it's a very simple definition. A cosmopolitan is a citizen of the world. Now think about that. So what is the world as this text using it? Well it's this whole world system. It's economics, it's politics, it's entertainment, see, it's pleasures, the good things as well as the bad. Now that's all wrapped up in this word world, from which we get cosmopolitan. The world, it's system. Alright, now look at the admonition. Love not this system. Now that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the good things, that doesn't mean you can't have a nice home, doesn't mean that you can't have some of the amenities of life, not at all. But you see, it's just like that statement, I think everybody has heard it since they were a kid, that the love of money is what? The root of all evil. Money isn't. It doesn't say money is the root of all evil, it's the what? It's the love of it. Now the love of money then causes people to become what? Corrupt, in order to get it. Now it's the same way here. We can enjoy some of these things that this cosmos has to offer, as long as we don't let it, well I remember when Greg was a kid, he came home from high school one time and they had a slot machine in the bowling alley, and at least I always admired the kid, he asked me whether he could play that slot machine. You know, it was only a dime or a quarter, Greg probably doesn't even remember anymore, but I do, but I remember best the answer that I gave him. I said, no, I don't care if you play that slot machine, just don't let the dumb thing grab you. You know what I meant? Don't partake of some of these things to the place where they get a hold of you and you can't let go, because see, this is what the things of the world do. And that's what the world's system is trying to do, is just literally grab us and we lose control. All right, now let's look on. Verse 16, for all that is in the world, in this world's system, the lust of the flesh. Now as I go through these, I'm going to flash back to Matthew. What was Christ's first temptation? Bread, because He was hungry. So what did He suffer? The temptation of the lust of the flesh. Now let's flash back even further without turning back to it. What was the first part of Satan's appeal to Eve? Look at the fruit. Look at the fruit, see? It was appealing to the what? To the eye. Exactly. All right, read the next one. The lust of the eye and the pride of life. All right, now we're going to have to reverse that order a little bit in the temptations. The first one, of course, is obvious. That was the lust of the flesh. He was hungry. The second one was the appeal to the eye, because, like I've already pointed out, that vast crowd that would have witnessed His miraculous plunge from the pinnacle of the temple. And it was a temptation, oh, to appeal to the things of the eye. But then the third one, you see, is when Satan says, I'll give you power over all these kingdoms. What did that appeal to? His pride. See? Oh, that's what makes politicians what they are, is that quest for power. See? And it feeds the ego. It feeds their pride. Now, again, let's go all the way back to Eve. First she was appealed into the area that it was good to eat. Then it appealed to the eye. But the basis of the whole temptation was what? You can be like God! See? Now, to be like God, what would that give her? Power! You see it? Now, it's the same way for you and I today. Every temptation. Now, let's turn to another Scripture real quickly. Hebrews chapter 4. It's just back to the left a few pages. And come down to verse 15. Because I've had people ask me after a class, well, how in the world can the Scripture say that Jesus tasted of every temptation that I'm faced with? Well, not an individual one, but in the categories He did. Because, see, you can still place every temptation that befalls you and I into these three same categories. It's either going to be the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life. I don't care what the temptation is, it'll go into one of those three categories. Now then, Hebrews chapter 4. Well, let's start at verse 14. Verse 14. Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, because He's there. Now then, verse 15. For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched. Now let's take it out of the negative and let's put it into the positive. That won't be taking away from Scripture, it'll just be clarifying. For we have a high priest who can be touched. See that? We have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, but whereas we fall, He didn't. See the difference? All right, now there's one more verse we've got to look at, and that'd be in I Corinthians chapter 10. I guess our time's just about gone again. I Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13. I Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13. I hope you're seeing how all of these fit together. We have a high priest who can be touched with our infirmities, because he's already gone through every category of temptation that we are. Now look at Paul writes to the Corinthians in verse 13 of chapter 10, "...there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man." but such as is common to man." In other words, you can't say, I'm in a unique position. No one has ever been faced with something like this before. Oh yeah, they have. Christ Himself has been. All right, read on. "...but God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted above that you are able, but with the temptation..." In other words, Satan is going to hit us. The old Adam is going to come up at us. "...but with the temptation he will also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it." Now that's a promise. So there's no need for us to fail, for us to stumble, even though we do. Yet it's not God's fault. God has made all the provisions, but it was based on the fact that Christ experienced every category of temptation that befall you and I. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, OK 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.