passage that Aaron was just reading,
Cyrus is the man that the Lord stirred up to send the people
in captivity back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. And when
the Lord spoke of Cyrus, this was 200 years before this took
place. Cyrus had not yet been born,
and yet the Lord speaks of what he will do. Everything's like
that. I'm glad it's that way. Chapter four, verse one, Matthew,
then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to
be tempted of the devil. Then. After he had come up from
the waters of baptism, after the heaven was opened to him,
after God the Holy Spirit descended in the visible form of a dove
and lighted upon when the voice came from heaven, this is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Then was Jesus led up
of the spirit into the wilderness a desert place. Mark's account
tells us he was with the wild beasts at this time to this 40
day fast. I love the way it says Jesus
was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness. Now we think
a lot about the relationship between the father and the son.
I love to think of the father beholding his son the son of
his love. Everything about the Lord Jesus
Christ pleased the father. I love to think of the father's
acceptance and well love to his son. I love to think of the son's
love to his father. But we don't think as much about
the son's relationship with God, the Holy Spirit. But we read
of God the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon the Lord. And the Lord was filled with
God the Holy Spirit. Now, I don't even know what all
that means, but I know it's so. He was filled with God the Holy
Spirit. I love what John the Baptist
said concerning him. He said, the Father giveth not
the Spirit by measure unto him. You and I have a measure of the
Spirit. He had the fullness of the Spirit of God. And it was the purpose of God
for him to be tempted by the devil. After all this was done,
I have no doubt Satan Watch the Lord Jesus Christ all the time.
He knew who he was. I have no doubt that Satan was
there at his baptism. He's not an omnipresent creature. Only God is that. He can't be
two places at once, but he can be in a whole lot of different
places real quick. And I have no doubt that he was
there and he heard that voice come down from heaven. But what
I love about this is God initiated this, not the devil. Look at the language. Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit, God the Holy Spirit, into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil. Question. Did the devil believe
he could entice Jesus Christ to sin? You know, I don't know
if he believed that or not, but he tried it anyway, didn't he? Perhaps he did, but remember
the devil is God's devil on God's chain doing God's will accomplishing
God's purpose and this was God's purpose for the Lord Jesus Christ
at this time to be tempted of the devil and the Lord was doing
this for us. Remember when he said in verse
15, Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness Well, this
is the fulfilling of all righteousness for the us in his dealings with
the devil. Now, I got a question. Could
Christ be tempted to commit a sin? Some believe he could have and
I believe that to be blasphemous and sacrilegious. Jesus Christ
could not sin. Now let me show you why. Here's
the next question I want to ask you, is Jesus Christ God? In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God. Can God sin? No. He's holy. He cannot lie. He cannot act contrary to any
of his attributes. Jesus Christ could not sin. When the devil was tempting him,
understand this, he could not sin. Holiness cannot sin. You know, when the believer is
born of God, born of the Spirit. The new nature cannot sin. Listen to this scripture from
1 John chapter 3 verse 9. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. For his seed, the seed of God
given in the new birth, his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin. any more than God can sin, the
believer cannot sin because he's born of God. You see the seed
being the seed of God given him in the new birth. John says once
again in 1 John 5, 18, we know that whosoever is born of God
sinneth not. Now, if he could sin, he's not
God, but he's God and he cannot sin. Well, somebody thinks, well,
why was he tempted then? That's a good question because
we are, that's the reason because we
are. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter two, verse 16, for verily, He took
not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Wherefore, in all things, it
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." Are they
tempted? He's going to stand in their
place. He's going to be tempted. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor. He is able to help them
that are tempted. You know, just our ability to
be tempted is sin in and of itself, that we could be that way. Look in chapter four, verse 14,
seeing then that we have a great high priest, Hebrews chapter
four, verse 14, seeing that we have a great high priest that's
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, just like us, like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Now with me and you, even being
able to be tempted to sin speaks of a sinful nature, but Christ
didn't have that. He didn't have that nature that you and I, that
sinful nature you and I have. So what does it mean he was tempted
in all points like as we are yet without sin? Second Corinthians
5.21. I seldom preach a message without
quoting this passage scripture, but listen to it like you've
never heard it before. For he, God the Father, hath made him,
God the Son, to be sin. Who knew no sin. Now you and I know sin intimately. Every time we breathe, we know
something about it. We know sin intimately. He didn't. He knew
no sin. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, made higher than the heavens. He knew no sin. What happened to him who knew
no sin? For he hath made him to be sin, who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." Now, he'd never experienced sin. He knew no sin,
and he never committed a sin. When he was made sin, he never
committed a sin, yet he experienced everything else about sin when
he was made sin. He experienced the feeling of
weakness before temptation, He experienced the feeling of the
shame of yielding to temptation. He experienced the feeling of
guilt and uncleanness and separation. There's nothing you have felt.
And you know what it is to feel your own weakness and sinfulness
and separation and He felt that much more acutely than you or
I could possibly feel when he was made sin. He experienced
everything about sin except the commission of it. And that is
why when we feel weak, abandoned, separate, sinful, he is touched. with the feeling of our infirmities. He has felt it much more acutely
than you and I have, and he is touched by those feelings. Not looking down at us and thinking,
well, why are they like that? What's wrong with them? No, he's
touched by the feeling of our infirmities. What a great high
priest. Now, after 40 days of fasting
in the wilderness, and as I said, Mark's account, says he was with
the wild beasts. Turn back to Matthew 4 if you're
not already there. Think of the weakness it would
create in you if you'd gone 40 days without eating. The Lord
actually went 40 days without eating. And I can't imagine how
emaciated he was at this time, how much weight he had lost,
how he must have felt the weakness of his physical flesh. He was
a man just like you and I are, and he would have felt just as
weak as you and I would feel going 40 days without eating. And in this temptation, the devil
tempted him with the lust of the flesh. You're hungry. There's some stones. You can
do this. Command that these stones be
made bread. He tempted him with the lust
of the eyes. You say you're the son of God?
Let's go to the temple, the highest pentacle, 200 feet high. Now,
if you're really the son of God, show us something to prove it.
Jump off this pinnacle because the devil studied the scriptures.
He knew what Psalm 91 says. It says, "...he shall give his
angels charge over thee, lest at any time that you dash your
foot against a stone." If you're really the Son of God, they'll
catch you. Now prove it and give us a visible Demonstration that
we can see with our eyes that you are who the voice from heaven
said you are. If you're the Son of God, do
that. And then he tempted him with
the pride of life. He took him into an exceeding
high mountain and all at once he could see all the kingdoms
of the world, the glory of them, the power of them, the kingdoms
no one had ever heard of even. All the kingdoms of the world.
He says, I'll give you all of this. And in Luke's account,
he said, it's mine to give. This is delivered to me. Now
we realize he was just renting it and that the Lord had given
it to him just for this purpose, for him to accomplish his purpose.
But he said, I'll give you all of the glory of this if you will
just fall down and worship me. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, the pride of life. Turn with me to 1 John 2, all
three of these are mentioned. 1 John 2, verse 15. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. Now, when John says this, obviously
he's not saying don't love this planet. We love this planet. I was looking at a bird today,
and I was just thinking, that's the Lord's creature. Belongs
to him. He made it. This is my father's
world. We love the glory of the great creator in making this
planet. We love the blessings of life.
This is not saying, hate these things. Aren't you thankful for
a home to go home to? air conditioning, and heat, and
friends, and family. He's not saying don't love those
things. He's talking, when he says love not the world, he's
talking about that world that has no love for him. He was in
the world, the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. did not recognize Him, did not
love for Him, had no love for Him, and as a matter of fact,
they hated Him. That's the world He's speaking
of, the world that has no love for the God of glory. Now let's
go on reading. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. That's strong language,
isn't it? Now, when he's talking about
love for the world, somebody says, well, I love a nice car,
nice clothes. Well, all those things you know
are overrated, but that's really not what he's talking about.
He's not talking about even a love for material things. But, you
know, material things, we realize that they're not near as important
as we think they are. But he's not speaking of that. If any man love the world, this
world that hates Christ, the love of the Father is not in
him, for all that is of the world, the lust of the flesh and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life." That's what he's talking
about when he's talking about the world. The lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of Life is not of the Father,
but is of the world. And the world passes away in
the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth
forever. Now, the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eyes, the pride of life, what are meant by those
things? I know it's what Adam faced in the garden and we know
he was defeated. He was in the garden of paradise
and he was defeated. The Lord was in the wilderness,
in the desert, and he won. He was given the exact same temptations. But what is the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life? Well, the lust
of the flesh is the desire of fallen nature. The lust of the
eyes is being concerned about what other people see. The pride
of life is self-righteousness, a desire for power, a desire
for authority. You think about this. You could
summarize it, the lust of the flesh, pleasure, the lust of
the eyes, popularity, the lust of the pride of life, power. Why does the scripture say the
love of money is the root of all evil? Because people think
money can buy pleasure, it can buy popularity, it can buy power,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
Now you think when Adam fell, before he fell, I love thinking
about this, the last thing said before the fall is they were
naked and they were not ashamed. The reason they were not ashamed
is they didn't have a sinful nature, they had an innocent
nature. It was not an issue to them. There would be no sinful
thoughts or lustful thoughts that would come in their heart
because they had an innocent nature. But what's the first
thing that's said about them when They fell and they ate the
fruit and their eyes were open and they knew they were naked.
And now they have a sinful nature. This is where lust and covetousness
and greed and anger and all the passions of the flesh come from. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of fallen nature. Somebody says, but it's natural
for us to feel this way. That doesn't make it okay. It
is natural because we're naturally wicked. And the lust of the flesh. The lust of the eyes. Let me
tell you what the lust of the eyes is. You remember in Matthew
chapter six when the Lord said, don't do your alms before men
to be seen of them. Don't blow a trumpet before you
so everybody can see what you're doing. They're doing this to
be seen of men. That's the lust of the eyes.
When you pray, don't go into the temple and stand and make
sure everybody sees what you're doing. You're doing what you're doing
to be seen of men. That's what your motive is. When you fast,
don't disfigure your faces so everybody can see you're fasting
and you're fasting and you're doing that to be seen of men.
That's the lust of the eyes, wanting to be seen of men. Loving
the praise of men more than the praise of God. The lust of the
eyes, the pride of life. Pride, think about pride. It's
so evil, it's so groundless. What do you have that you didn't
receive and to be proud of it? This lust for power, this lust
for power over your fellow creatures, a desire to be recognized, self-righteousness,
the pride of life. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
three for a moment. We can see where the serpent
used all these in the garden. Verse 1. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. You can't
help but wonder what this serpent looked like. He wasn't crawling
around on his belly at this time because that was part of the
curse. Maybe he was the most beautiful animal in the garden,
and he could talk. Can you imagine conversing with
this subtle, beautiful creature? I have no doubt that this creature
was beautiful. It didn't repel Abiny. They were attracted to
it, a beautiful creature. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast in the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, you shall not eat of
every tree of the garden? Well, you know as well as I do,
God never said that. He said, there's one tree you're
not to eat of, the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil.
And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree, which is in
the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of
it, neither shall you touch it. lest ye die." Now I don't know
what the significance of the touch part is because it's not
in the original command, don't eat. He didn't say don't touch.
Could Eve have, it's already gone wrong. She's already questioned
what God has said. She's already slightly modifying
and changing it. Maybe touch not, taste not, handle
not came out of this kind of thinking. But But of the fruit
of the tree, verse which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, you shall not surely die. A direct contradiction of what
God said. You shall not surely die. For
God does know that in the day you eat thereof, Then your eyes
shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil." God's holding out on you. He knows that if you eat this
fruit, you will now have the ability to choose the good over
the evil. Right now, there's no merit in
your life because you're just obeying your nature. You're just
doing what you've been programmed to do, and there's no merit in
that. But if you eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, You will be able to choose the good over
the bad, and that's what's going to make you like God. You will
be as God's. Now, the temptation is free will. You see, if you have a free will,
that means your will is independent of God's will. And men think,
well, that's a good thing. Well, yeah, men do think that's
a good thing, but it's an evil thing. Now, let's go on reading.
Six, and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, the
lust of the flesh, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, the
lust of the eyes. and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, the pride of life. She took of the fruit and did
eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat and the
eyes of them both were opened. They now saw they were naked
and the first thing they did is try to make themselves a covering
for their nakedness. But we see when Satan comes to
them with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride
of life, they are thoroughly defeated. How about you? How have you done with the lust
of the flesh? with the lust of the eyes being
more concerned about what men think, the pride of life. Every one of us have fell before
these temptations. Now, turn back to Matthew chapter
four now. You know that when they ate of
the fruit, they fell, they died. And the Lord said that, didn't
he? In the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. They died.
And you and I died in them. That's why we're born with these
evil, sinful natures. Listen to this scripture from
1 Corinthians 15, verse 22. For as in Adam, all, what? Die. Everybody Adam represented
died. Died spiritually. They became
sinful, evil. subject to every wickedness.
As in Adam, all die. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 about the last Adam. In the first Adam, all die. In
the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the way he says
it, even so in Christ, just like everybody in Adam, everybody
Adam represented died. Everybody Christ represented
lives. The gospel's in that, isn't it?
Now back to Matthew chapter four. Then was Jesus led up of the
spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days
and 40 nights, he was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter
came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that
these stones be made bread. Now, if you're the Son of God,
you're hungry, take care of it. Command that these stones be
made bread. Now, here's one question. Could
the Lord have commanded them to be made bread when they've
been made bread? Absolutely. He's God. Would He have been
wrong in eating that bread? No. If He wanted to satisfy His
own hunger? No. Why didn't He do it? Because me and you can't do it.
That's the reason. Because me and you can't do it.
He had to trust his father for his next meal the way you and
I have to trust the father for our next meal. Or to trust him
for everything. Because we couldn't do it, he
did not do it. And I love what he said to Satan.
How did he answer Satan? It is written. I want us to see
the high view the Lord has of the scriptures. There's all kinds
of things he could have done. I know what I would have done.
I would have tormented him or tortured him or something like
that, but not the Lord. He gives and it is written. Now, Satan knew who he was. I
don't know how much he knew, but he knew who he was. Even
the minor demons knew who he was. We know thee who thou art,
the Son of God. Have you come to torment us before
the time? Suffer us to go in thy heart of swine. They knew
they couldn't even make a move from one place to another without
his permission. They had some understanding of who he was,
and I kind of feel like Satan was probably kind of cautious.
When he came into the presence of the Lord, he had some idea
who he was. Now, I know you're hungry. Command
these stones to be made bread. And how did the Lord reply? He
answered verse four and said, it is written, this is a quotation
from the book of Deuteronomy. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The
Lord said the words that I speak unto you. their spirit, and their
life. You can't separate Christ and
his words. He's not known apart from his
words. And man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God. Verse five. The devil taketh him up into
the holy city, Jerusalem, and setteth him on a pinnacle of
the temple. There he is. I don't know how that took place,
but they're up on the top of that pinnacle, a 200 foot drop. That's the highest part of the
temple. And he saith unto him, now he realized the Lord was
using the scriptures. So he thought I'll use the scriptures
too. And I think it's interesting how those Devil knew that this
passage from Psalm 91 was a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. He
knew that. He's been studying the scriptures for thousands
of years. And probably if you ask the average person, where's
the scripture at? He'll give his angels charge
over thee and so on. They'd say, well, it's somewhere
in the Bible. Devil knew exactly where it was. And he quoted it
exactly, but he applied it wrong. Look what he says. Verse 6, and
he saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, there that is
again, 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
the stone. Now, if you're really the Son
of God, jump off. Let's see how much faith you
have in God. It's written about you. Prove
it to us. Jump off so we can all see. The angels will come
in and they'll catch you before you hit the ground. Everybody
will know you're the son of God. I love the way the Lord answers
him. Verse seven, Jesus said unto him, it's written again. It's written again. Oh, the high
view the Lord has of his word. You see, you cannot separate
him from it is written. You can't view the Bible highly
enough. It is written again, thou shalt
not tempt the Lord thy God. Now, what is to be believed? That if he jumps off, he'll be
caught by the angels. That's to be believed. Prove
it's true. That's tempting God. God is to
be believed. Whatever he says is so. And if
I say, well, do something to prove it, I'm tempting him. I'm putting him to the test.
It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Everything
God says is to be believed, believed. If God says in his word, I believe
it. I believe it. The Lord thy God. Verse eight. Again, the devil taketh him up
into an exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms
of the world and the glory of them. And he saith unto him,
all these things will I give thee. if thou will fall down
and worship me." That's all I want. That's all I ask. You fall down
and worship me and all of this is yours. Now, I can't help but
think of what the Lord is thinking at this time. It's mine already. I've given you a little rope
to hang yourself with, thinking that all the kingdoms of the
earth are yours, but they're mine. You giving them to me wouldn't
mean anything to me. I think of those people in John
chapter six where they tried to take him by force and make
him a king. And what did he do? He left. Listen, if you can make
him king, there's nothing to that kind of kingship. He already
is king. He already is Lord of lords and
king of kings. Now, how does he answer? Satan. Then said Jesus unto him, get
thee hence Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God and him only shalt thou serve. He worshiped his father. He served
his father. Can God worship God? Oh, I think
of the Trinity in unity before the foundation of the world.
What worship of one another was going on between the three blessed
persons of the Godhead. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God in him only. Shalt thou serve then the devil,
leaveth him. Behold, angels came and ministered
unto him at that time. Did the Lord struggle with these
temptations? Was he tempted to sin? Committed
sin? No. No. I love the way the Lord said,
the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. He has
nothing to work with. Satan could come. You think of
how much in you he's got to work with. In the Lord Jesus Christ
there was nothing to work with. Now look in verse 15 of Matthew
chapter 3. This is the Lord speaking to
John the Baptist and Jesus answering said unto him suffer to be so
now For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Now,
the Lord's fulfilling all righteousness is seen right here. His perfect obedience, fulfilling
all righteousness, which He did as in us. Now, if you know yourself,
you know how easily you've fallen before temptation, time after
time after time. He never did. He had no desire
to. And that perfect righteousness
that he worked out is yours. That's the righteousness of Jesus
Christ given to every single believer. How we admire the Lord
before temptation. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
obedience, how we thank you for being pleased to fast 40 days
and brought into the wilderness and to be tempted by the devil.
and how we thank you for your complete victory over him, crushing
him, and how we thank you that that perfect obedience that you
demonstrated even at that time is the personal righteousness
and merit of every single person you died for. How we thank you
for him. We pray that you'd bless this
word for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray,
amen.