It has long been accepted that the perfect model for obtaining victory over temptation is that of our Lord after His fasting in the wilderness. At the center of His victory we find the resounding chorus, “It is written.” Christ brings to the forefront the importance of the word of God in defeating the Devil. This article will examine Matthew 4:1-11 and focus upon the Bible’s role in one’s overcoming temptation.
After His forty days of fasting in the wilderness Christ was “afterward an hungered” (4:2). “And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (4:3). One might ask, “What is wrong with eating bread? How is that a temptation?” It was not eating of bread itself that would have been sinful but it was, as our Savior’s response will show, that in satisfying His hunger through His own ability He would have expressed a lack of trust in His Father which is always an evil thing. “But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (4:4). It should be noted that in this quotation Christ identifies Himself with man. He faced temptation as a man. If such is not the case then what would have been the sense in referencing a scripture concerning man and applying it to Himself? In Jesus’ quotation of Deuteronomy 8:3 we get our first glimpse into one way that the Bible plays a role in one’s overcoming temptation: the Bible reminds one of the promises of God. Christ could have yielded to the temptation to provide Himself with food but He allowed the Bible to remind Him that God has promised to care for His children. Christ took His stand upon the promises of God and withstood this first recorded temptation. Will we follow His example? In this time of economic difficulty will we resort to dishonest means of appropriating money or will we trust in the promises of God recorded in the Bible? “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Will we withdraw support from the missionaries we support? Will we decrease our weekly contribution? Or will we put our trust in the Lord? “As it is written, He that had gatherd much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack” (2 Corinthians 8:15, cf. Exodus 16:18). Recalling God’s promises can help us to overcome these temptations.
Following this temptation the devil attacks again. In essence Satan says, “Since you trust in God’s promises why not cast yourself off of the temple? 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.” Again one may ask, “What is wrong with that? God did promise to save Him did He not?” Our Lord’s response shows that casting Himself off the temple would have constituted “tempting” the Lord. He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16 in which Moses references the doubting Israelites who required a sign in order for God to prove His abiding presence. Their lack of faith is evident in asking, “Is the LORD among us, or not?” (Exodus 17:7). For Christ to require a sign of God, such as saving Him through a miraculous intervention of angels, in order to prove His presence would have shown forth in Christ a spirit of unbelief like that of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:4, 12:39). Now what does this tell us about the Bible’s role in one’s overcoming temptation? Namely this: the Bible allows us to recognize sin when we see it. If Christ did not have a thorough knowledge of the Bible then He may have been fooled by Satan’s sly use of scripture. Just the same, a working knowledge of the Bible would keep sin out of many lives, but sadly a great number of Christians do not even know when sin presents itself. The temptation to install “progressive worship”, to join the ranks of anti-ism, or to reverse gender roles could be removed in many places simply through a better Bible education.
“Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto Him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (4:8, 9). In this temptation Christ is faced with a simple choice: will He fulfill His mission God’s way and become King over the earth through suffering? Or will He acknowledge Satan as an overlord and take a short cut to His kingship? Our Lord responds with a confident rebuke of Satan and a faithful appeal to scripture: “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (4:10). One is reminded of James’ words: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7b). It is not that there are any “magic words” in Christianity or that quoting scripture suddenly endows one with super strength. Reciting scripture does not suddenly run the devil off (as we have already seen even he can quote scripture). Christ simply allowed scripture to settle the matter. We could say, “This is where the rubber meets the road.” A Bible education will do no good if one has not already determined to allow God’s word to settle the matters of “life and godliness” (cf. 2 Peter 1:3). Remembering the promises of God will be useless unless one “purposes in his heart” (cf. Daniel 1:8) to obey God even before temptation arises. The Psalmist wrote “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid [laid up, ASV] in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:10, 11). Love for and dedication to God and His word are absolutely essential to one’s overcoming temptation.
The Holy Bible truly is a precious treasure (Psalm 119:72). It is the meditation of the righteous man (Psalm 1:2, 119:97), the adoration of the faithful (Jeremiah 15:16), the salvation of the believer (Romans 1:16), and a companion during time of temptation. Let us increase in knowledge, rest in God’s promises, and determine to live the Christian life.
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