The Devil’s Temptations Luke 4:1-13 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
In Lk 4:1-10 we see the devil’s temptations of Jesus. He was tempted with bread, with the power and glory of the kingdoms of the world and with protection upon jumping off the temple.
Remember that the devil is a liar and a deceiver. So, by studying these temptations we can learn some practical things about his temptations that should help us stay out of trouble. When the devil tempts, he appeals to man’s desire for:
Sensual Gratification – Bread – the devil appeals to man’s desire to have the physical blessings of God more than his spiritual blessings – what the devil offered Jesus was a “physical replacement for a spiritual necessity” – so men are going to be easily tempted by physical things that have a greater spiritual counterpart – when Jesus fed the 5,000 they came back for the food, not for the miracle working bread of life – by contrast, the woman at the well took the spiritual water of life – so men have been tempted by “crowd” pleasing entertainment and have left off the bible and prayer – they have sought money instead of faith – Christian books instead of the Bible – modern bibles instead of the Spirit-inspired words of God – health remedies instead of spiritual remedies – since the devil is the god of this world, when you emphasize the physical over the spiritual you are working in the devil’s realm instead of the Lord’s – the temptation is a lie – you end up with a loss of spiritual power [Rev 3:17].
Impatient Ambition – Kingdoms – the devil appeals to man’s desire to have now what God has provided for him later – what the devil offered was kingdoms that were coming to the Lord, eventually, anyway – the temptation was, therefore, based on “ambition” and “convenience” – he was offering to move the time up when Jesus would be ruling over those kingdoms by 2,000 years – that appeals to man’s ambition and impatience and desire for convenience – there was nothing ambitious or convenient about the cross – and there is nothing impatient about waiting 2,000 years to rule – when the devil succeeds in tempting you with ambition you are, in essence, worshipping the devil not the Lord no matter how spiritual you may sound – the devil did the same thing to Eve – the statement, “Ye shall be as gods” is true in the millennium – God’s timing is God’s timing and God’s way [suffering first, then glory] is God’s way – you are to worship God and serve him – to be tempted away from these by ambition is to be deceived by the devil – he will ruin you because you are under his rule when you step out of God’s timing!!!!! You’ve gone after another god – the temptation is a lie – your ambitious dreams are destroyed not accomplished.
Lofty Spirituality – Temple – the devil appeals to man’s desire to prove that God is with him – the devil was tempting Jesus to do something extreme or super spiritual to prove that God was with him [since the angels were going to keep him in all his ways] – look at the cross-references in Deut 6:16, Ex 17:2, 7 – the Jews wanted proof that God was among them – people do goofy or impractical or hyper-spiritual stuff to prove that the Lord is among them – that’s what is behind charismatic tongues and healing – extreme spirituality – the temptation is to show off – to say, “See God is really doing something in my life” – when you do that you tempt the Lord and it is the devil that shows up among you not the Lord – God is not in that stuff – the temptation is a lie – you end up going down, not up.
Conclusion: Stay away from these three things; the devil is in them. Power with God through prayer is better than $1,000,000 in the bank. Wait on God’s timing; he is very precise and his plans don’t take your ambition into consideration. You are clay and your spirituality is common to all Christians.