Avenues of Temptation

By Paul Earnhart

The scriptures teach that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, yet He was without sin (Heb. 4:15).  This does not mean that He faced every minute decision that we face.  He did not have to decide whether to break into a computer system or whether to go to an immoral movie.  But He was tempted through every channel that we are tempted.

In 1 John 2:16 we have described the three avenues through which all temptations come: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life.”  Jesus was tempted through all of these as we read in Mt. 4:1-11.

The temptation to turn stones into bread appealed to His physical appetite.  Doing this would have made Him feel better.  Many of the sins in which people engage today are designed to satisfy some desire of the body.  Hunger is the strongest desire of the body, and if Jesus controlled the desire for food after 40 days of fasting, He demonstrated that He could control any other appeal to His fleshly desires.

The temptation to jump from the pinnacle of the temple was an appeal to pride.  For one thing, Satan said, “If You are the Son of God.”  This was kind of dare and many a sin has been committed in response to a dare.  Furthermore, Jesus would have become instantly famous if He had successfully jumped from that high point and survived.  But Jesus refused.

When Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world, he did not just mention those kingdoms by name.  He took Jesus up on a high mountain and in some way showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.  He was appealing to man’s natural desire to have what he sees.  This was the ultimate visible prize; if Jesus overcame this temptation, He could overcome the offer of any lesser prize that might come in view.

Every temptation that we face comes through one of these channels.  Jesus is our example in resisting temptation.  Let us follow Him in all things.

Bow Down and Worship Me

By Paul Earnhart

The third temptation of Jesus is recorded in Matthew 4, beginning with verse 8: “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 things will I give you, if you fall down and worship me.’” (Mt. 4:8-9)

Our response to this is immediate.  We say, “Surely Jesus would not do that!”  But before we go further, let me ask you, “Would you do that?”

If Satan offered you the opportunity to be king of the world, would you bow down and worship him?  Maybe you don’t care to be a king; but if he offered you all the wealth of the world, would you bow down and worship him?  Think what you could do with all that money.  Jesus was all alone with Satan; maybe no one would ever know.  Furthermore, Satan only asked that it be done once.  Is it possible that you would bow down and worship Satan just once in a private place if you could have all the world for your own?  Really, we are worshipping Satan rather than God whenever we do what Satan wants us to do instead of what God wants us to do.  Most of us on some occasions have done Satan’s bidding for much less than what Satan offered Jesus.  Perhaps we have told a lie to make a sale, or perhaps we have taken a drink with the boss, feeling that we had to do that to keep our job or get a promotion.  For just a short period of pleasure, many have committed fornication or adultery.  All of this is really worshipping Satan.

Jesus had come into the world to establish a kingdom.  The road before Him was the way of the cross.  But He did not consider for a moment Satan’s offer.  He replied, “Away with you Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Mt. 4:10)

How thankful we should be that Jesus remained faithful to God.  Had He bowed down to Satan just once, He could not have been our Savior.  If Jesus resisted Satan for us, we must resist for Him saying, “Away with you Satan!”

Jumping From the Pinnacle of the Temple

By Paul Earnhart

The second temptation of Jesus, reported in Matthew 4:5-6 is instructive: "Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, 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 shall give His angels charge concerning you,' and 'In their hands they shall bear You up, lest you dash Your foot against a stone.'"

Satan had learned from the first temptation that Jesus would not act without authority from God’s word.  So, Satan quoted Bible to Jesus.  Some people think that if a preacher quotes the Bible, he is surely preaching the truth.  But that is not necessarily so.  Satan quoted scripture, but, of course, he took these verses out of their proper setting.  Furthermore, he avoided mentioning some other things that God had said.

But why would Jesus want to jump from the pinnacle of the temple? 

There may have been at least two reasons.  For one thing, since He had come to be the world’s Messiah, He needed to attract attention as quickly as possible.  If He should jump from the pinnacle of the temple and be gently delivered to earth by angels, this would be sensational enough to make Him instantly and favorably known.  Furthermore, as He embarked on His ministry, which He know would be dangerous, it would be a comfort to know that God really would protect Him.  Better to know now than later.

But Jesus was wise enough to see through Satan’s ploy.  "Jesus said to him, it is written again, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Mt. 4:7)

When scripture is quoted to us, we need to go to the Bible to see if the use that is made of the passage is in harmony with what the writer was really talking about.  Furthermore, just as Jesus did, we must be sure we consider all the Bible says on any given subject.

The First Temptation

By Paul Earnhart

It should be an encouragement to us to know that Jesus was tempted just as we are (Heb. 4:14-15).  Mt 4:1-3 says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones become bread.'”

If Satan had come to Jesus with this proposal on the first day of His temptations, it would not have been particularly tempting.  But Jesus must indeed have been hungry after forty days without food.  In fact, He must have felt that He was near death.  And if He died, what of the mission He had to fulfill?  This made Satan’s suggestion all the more appealing.

If many of us had been there, we would have said, “Lord, I don’t see anything wrong with doing this, and even if it is wrong a man has to eat.”  But Jesus did not think that way.  His total concern was to do God’s will, even if it meant death.  And He knew that the only way to know God’s will was to hear it from God’s word.  So, His first thought was “what does the Bible say?”

The Bible said nothing about turning stones into bread.  Here again, we might have advised Jesus “if it doesn’t say not to, it must be all right.”  But the very fact that God had not approved it was enough to keep Jesus from doing it.  After all, it was God’s power that He would use if He turned stones into bread, and He needed authorization from God to use His power in that way.  He did not have any word from God to do it, so He refused to do it even though His life was in jeopardy.

Jesus remembered the words of God in Deut. 8:3 and He quoted them to Satan: “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  If Jesus needed authority from God to use what belonged to God, so do we!  We must not dare to use God’s church, God’s money, God’s name or any other thing pertaining to God without His authority.  It is sin, whether it appears to be or not.

Christmas

By Paul Earnhart

This is the time of year that the world has set apart for celebration of the birth of Jesus.  All Christians should rejoice that Jesus did come into the world as recorded in the Bible.

At this time of year, there are two things which are always amazing to observe.  The first is that individuals who claim to be honoring Jesus, do so in ways that are so contrary to His teaching.  Why would a person wishing to honor Jesus do so by getting drunk and losing complete control of his own conduct?  How is Jesus honored by lewdness and immorality?  Would Jesus approve of individuals going deep into debt to purchase useless trinkets that only feed the pride of those receiving them?  The fact is that much of the celebration is no more than an excuse for doing what we want to do, rather than what Jesus would want us to do.

The other thing that is amazing is the amount of misinformation that circulates concerning Jesus at this time of year.  The Bible is the only dependable source of information about Jesus.  The story as we read there is a marvelous story (Mt. 1:18-2:11; Lk. 2:1-20).  But many people are not satisfied with that.  They embellish the Bible story with all kinds of imaginary details which are not in the scriptures and actually contradict facts clearly revealed in the scriptures.  Much of what you see on TV or the movies or hear on radio is without any basis whatever in truth.  Even the idea that Jesus was born on December 25th is without any foundation in scripture whatsoever.

If you really wish to honor Jesus, the best possible way to do it is to study carefully what the Bible says about Him and become obedient to His will.  In our media messages and in our worship, we always strive to concentrate on facts about Jesus and teaching from His lips as revealed in His word.  We welcome all to join with us as we lift up our Savior in glory and honor and praise, not just at this time but for all time.