Matthew 4:1-11 continuing…

Here is a wonderful message for handling the temptations which come our way, and it is by the example which Jesus Himself gave us in His own temptation when He faced off with the ‘old serpent’ himself. The liar, deceiver, the master of disaster, would face Jesus the King, and Creator/Savior of all mankind. There are three basic temptations which we all face. Those are found in 1 John 2:15-17, and begin, “Love not the world… if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him.”, and continues in verse 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.” Verse 17, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever”. Those three things, 1) Lust of the flesh; 2) Lust of the eyes, and 3) The pride of life, are the three basics the devil uses to lie, deceive and master the lives of those who fall into temptation. Jesus did not fall, He fulfilled the desires of His Father, and the requirements of the law.

It could be said in these temptations Jesus proved Himself. He proved that He was the sinless, blemishless, spotless, holy, righteous, Son of God. This can be said of no other in all honesty.

In looking at these temptations it will be my assumption that Jesus knew His destiny and purpose was to die on the cross, and I believe Scriptures bear this out; and I will also be assuming that the devil knew a little bit of the plan, but not the whole plan, and was trying to avert Jesus around the cross, thus keeping Him from fulfilling God’s plan. Whether the devil knew about the cross or not we can know that he was trying to deceive Jesus into a shortcut around God’s plan, and offering Jesus an “Easier way”.

Here is an outline of what we will be looking at:

I. THE FIRST TEMPTATION APPEALED TO THE LUST OF THE FLESH – A DESIRE TO SURVIVE (vv. 2-4).

II. THE SECOND TEMPTATION APPEALED TO THE LUST OF THE EYES – A DESIRE FOR SECURITY (vv. 5-7).

III. THE THIRD TEMPTATION APPEALED TO THE PRIDE OF LIFE – A DESIRE FOR SUCCESS (vv.8-11).

I will say; so it will be clear to all reading this: Survival, Security, and Success are all basic human desires and they are God-given, except when they become predominant in an individual’s life and distract them from God’s plan and direction for their life. It is imperative that we receive these by following God’s guidance and direction for our lives. The devil has a way of perverting what God has given as good. When we follow God’s path; “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths”. (Proverbs 3:5-6).