The Teachings of Jesus Christ Pt. 4 The Power of Scripture over the Devil
What a Good God we serve. I hope you are learning each day how good God is, in each and every circumstance of life that we may find ourselves facing on any given day. We must follow the example of the apostles and give ourselves to prayer and studying the Word. In the world we will have troubles but in Christ we have all spiritual blessing in heavenly places!
Our Father may have given us a lot or a little to be Stewards over, but the attitude of our hearts can be happy, grateful and faithful no matter what our circumstances may be.
Our Father does use trials and testings to refine His children and purge out any dross so we can be useful servants growing in our faith. The devil brings trouble and affliction to tear down our faith and cause us to doubt the goodness of God.
He will hurl fiery darts our way at every opportunity that we give him. The key to limiting any weak spots in our armor is being immersed in the Word of God and seeking to know Him more deeply.
God in the flesh experienced things that we experience.
Remember that Jesus Christ as God in the flesh was experiencing hunger, weariness, and emotions that He had never before experienced because He did not have a human form. Now, Christ experienced the full range of human emotions, human needs and human desires. He always chose to do His Father's will and not give in to His own wishes.
The book of Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus was tempted like we are tempted yet He never sinned. He has sympathy for us because He has felt the full range of human emotions, human needs, human desires. Christ knows what we feel during trials, troubles, afflictions, illness and tough times.
Hebrews 4:14-15 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
The text below shows us that Christ was fully man and fully God at the same time. He humbled Himself in order to bring salvation to sinners like you and me.
Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
We saw that the first temptation of Christ by the Devil involved the fact that Jesus was hungry after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. Satan sought to dismiss the claims of Christ by saying "If thou be the Son of God..." and then he tried to seduce Jesus into acting independently of His Father's will by turning stones into bread.
Jesus responded by speaking the truth of scripture back to the devil. "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." The first temptation ended and Jesus Christ was triumphant because of the power of the Word of God.
The Second Temptation of Christ.
The next temptation involved the devil taking Jesus into Jerusalem and setting him on a pinnacle of the temple. Again, Satan challenges the legitimacy of Jesus Christ as the Son of God by saying "If thou be the Son of God...." This is an attack upon the Sonship of Jesus Christ and was intended to shake His confidence in the Father's character.
This is almost like a taunt saying "Well, I am not sure if you are really and truly the Son of God and so you need to do this in order to prove it to me."
In the first temptation, Satan appealed to the hunger Jesus experienced after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. Jesus defended Himself by citing scripture from Deuteronomy 8.
In the second temptation Satan also cites scripture as a reason that Christ should jump off the highest part of the temple wall. A scale model of the Temple at the time of Christ is shown above. The highest part from which Jesus was urged to jump from would have been 150 feet tall!
Let us read the text of the second temptation of Christ by the devil.
Matthew 4:5-7 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 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. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
No doubt the devil thought that if Christ jumped, He might perish and God's plan would be overthrown.
Satan sought to twist the truth by omitting key words from the text he cited.
Satan then proceeded to cite scripture from Psalm 91; however, he omitted a key part of the verses. The Devil omitted the phrase "keep thee in all thy ways." The idea here is that the angels keep Christ in all the ways of God.
Psalm 91:11-12 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.
They are committed to maintaining the holy walk of God's Son just as Christ was committed to walking a perfect, unblemished and holy walk before God and man.
This is good to know because it was a fallen angel that beguiled Eve and opened the door for sin to enter the world. Although God said His angels would not let Christ dash His feet upon rocks, yet the emphasis is not upon the physical but on the spiritual. It is infinitely more important that Jesus Christ obey the Father's will and uphold His Father's righteousness.
The text below reminds us that there is God's way and man's way and that the the path God has for us is best.
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
It was not the Father's will for His Son to take some dramatic leap off a 150 foot tall pinnacle in order to prove He was who He claimed to be. Jesus obeyed His Father and overcame this temptation with skilful use of the Word of God.
Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
You may recall that in Exodus 15 the Hebrews had a great celebration of Jehovah's victory over Pharaoh at the Red Sea. Then, they experienced the bitter waters at Marah which God healed. In Exodus 16 God began to send them manna, the bread of heaven.
The Israelites had witnessed the provision of God so many times and then when water was needed, again they sought to stone Moses instead of crying out to Jehovah who had so faithfully provided for their needs. This was the incident where the people tempted God or sought to have Him prove Himself even though He already had many times.
Jesus quoted the text from Deuteronomy which told Satan "you shall not tempt Jehovah Elohim". Jesus asserted His deity in no uncertain terms and pointed out the sin of Satan in seeking to tempt Jehovah Elohim in the flesh.
The second attempt to seduce Christ to act independently of the Father's will resulted in another failure for the devil.
Points to Ponder......
Our Father may have given us a lot or a little to be Stewards over, but the attitude of our hearts can be happy, grateful and faithful no matter what our circumstances may be.
Our Father does use trials and testings to refine His children and purge out any dross so we can be useful servants growing in our faith. The devil brings trouble and affliction to tear down our faith and cause us to doubt the goodness of God.
He will hurl fiery darts our way at every opportunity that we give him. The key to limiting any weak spots in our armor is being immersed in the Word of God and seeking to know Him more deeply.
God in the flesh experienced things that we experience.
Remember that Jesus Christ as God in the flesh was experiencing hunger, weariness, and emotions that He had never before experienced because He did not have a human form. Now, Christ experienced the full range of human emotions, human needs and human desires. He always chose to do His Father's will and not give in to His own wishes.
The book of Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus was tempted like we are tempted yet He never sinned. He has sympathy for us because He has felt the full range of human emotions, human needs, human desires. Christ knows what we feel during trials, troubles, afflictions, illness and tough times.
Hebrews 4:14-15 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
The text below shows us that Christ was fully man and fully God at the same time. He humbled Himself in order to bring salvation to sinners like you and me.
Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
We saw that the first temptation of Christ by the Devil involved the fact that Jesus was hungry after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. Satan sought to dismiss the claims of Christ by saying "If thou be the Son of God..." and then he tried to seduce Jesus into acting independently of His Father's will by turning stones into bread.
Jesus responded by speaking the truth of scripture back to the devil. "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." The first temptation ended and Jesus Christ was triumphant because of the power of the Word of God.
The Second Temptation of Christ.
The next temptation involved the devil taking Jesus into Jerusalem and setting him on a pinnacle of the temple. Again, Satan challenges the legitimacy of Jesus Christ as the Son of God by saying "If thou be the Son of God...." This is an attack upon the Sonship of Jesus Christ and was intended to shake His confidence in the Father's character.
This is almost like a taunt saying "Well, I am not sure if you are really and truly the Son of God and so you need to do this in order to prove it to me."
In the first temptation, Satan appealed to the hunger Jesus experienced after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. Jesus defended Himself by citing scripture from Deuteronomy 8.
In the second temptation Satan also cites scripture as a reason that Christ should jump off the highest part of the temple wall. A scale model of the Temple at the time of Christ is shown above. The highest part from which Jesus was urged to jump from would have been 150 feet tall!
Let us read the text of the second temptation of Christ by the devil.
Matthew 4:5-7 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 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. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
No doubt the devil thought that if Christ jumped, He might perish and God's plan would be overthrown.
Satan sought to twist the truth by omitting key words from the text he cited.
Satan then proceeded to cite scripture from Psalm 91; however, he omitted a key part of the verses. The Devil omitted the phrase "keep thee in all thy ways." The idea here is that the angels keep Christ in all the ways of God.
Psalm 91:11-12 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.
They are committed to maintaining the holy walk of God's Son just as Christ was committed to walking a perfect, unblemished and holy walk before God and man.
This is good to know because it was a fallen angel that beguiled Eve and opened the door for sin to enter the world. Although God said His angels would not let Christ dash His feet upon rocks, yet the emphasis is not upon the physical but on the spiritual. It is infinitely more important that Jesus Christ obey the Father's will and uphold His Father's righteousness.
The text below reminds us that there is God's way and man's way and that the the path God has for us is best.
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
It was not the Father's will for His Son to take some dramatic leap off a 150 foot tall pinnacle in order to prove He was who He claimed to be. Jesus obeyed His Father and overcame this temptation with skilful use of the Word of God.
Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
You may recall that in Exodus 15 the Hebrews had a great celebration of Jehovah's victory over Pharaoh at the Red Sea. Then, they experienced the bitter waters at Marah which God healed. In Exodus 16 God began to send them manna, the bread of heaven.
The Israelites had witnessed the provision of God so many times and then when water was needed, again they sought to stone Moses instead of crying out to Jehovah who had so faithfully provided for their needs. This was the incident where the people tempted God or sought to have Him prove Himself even though He already had many times.
Jesus quoted the text from Deuteronomy which told Satan "you shall not tempt Jehovah Elohim". Jesus asserted His deity in no uncertain terms and pointed out the sin of Satan in seeking to tempt Jehovah Elohim in the flesh.
The second attempt to seduce Christ to act independently of the Father's will resulted in another failure for the devil.
Points to Ponder......
- The second temptation is an appeal to vanity to make a dramatic statement by jumping off a pinnacle of the temple.
- The second temptation cast doubt upon the Sonship of Jesus Christ.
- The Devil is intelligent enough to use scripture as he seeks to lead us astray.
- The Devil will selectively cite scripture and omit key parts of it in order to tempt us to sin.
- We must know the Word and stand on it.
- We must accept what God has said by faith and not waver.
In our next post we will see the third and final temptation of Christ by the devil. There can be little doubt that Satan knew when this period of tempting was completed that God in the flesh was here and he put all his evil energies toward defeating the purposes of God in Christ.
We see in the second temptation the importance to know the Word of God well and to be ready to use it in the time of temptation. Remember that the Word of God is the "sword of the Spirit" and it is the only offensive weapon God has provided for us to use.
Eve fell into sin partly because the devil determined that she did not really know the Word of God and thus he could twist the truth into a lie and deceive her. We must be on guard to make sure this does not happen to us. "Study to show thyself approved...."
Bob
Comments
Post a Comment