In this sermon, Jason Dohm explores the account of Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, as described in Matthew 4:1-11. Dohm draws parallels between Jesus' temptation and the temptation of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, highlighting the ongoing spiritual conflict between God and Satan. Jesus, as the second Adam, successfully resists temptation under severe conditions, unlike the first Adam who succumbed in Eden. The sermon emphasizes Jesus' role as a sympathetic high priest who understands human weakness because he experienced temptation himself. Dohm explains the distinction between God's testing, which aims to reveal and purify the heart, and Satan's tempting, which seeks to lead into sin and destruction. The sermon outlines three categories of temptation: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which are consistently used by Satan. Jesus' method of resisting temptation by relying on Scripture serves as a model for Christians. Dohm concludes by stressing the importance of vigilance against temptation and the comfort of having Jesus as an intercessor and sympathizer in our struggles.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and nights afterward, he was hungry. Now When the tempter came to him, he said, if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. And he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said unto him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He shall give His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone.

And Jesus said to him, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Again the devil took him up on an exceeding high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these will I give you if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him." Father, these are holy moments when we are gathered before You in Your name, and we open up Your Word, And we try as best as we know how to acquire the things that You put there for us.

So now, God, we call out to You that You would be among us, that You would send the Tudor, the Holy Spirit alongside us to help us to acquire the things that are in this text. God, we are so happy to put ourselves under the authority of Your Word, acknowledging that Your ways are higher than our ways. Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And how good it is to be informed by You, be corrected by you, be rebuked by you, whatever it is that you would decide would be good to happen among your people today. We would welcome that with open arms, at least we desire to, Lord.

God, please help us. Please bless this time. In Jesus' name, Amen. So last week on Easter we were in the text about Jesus being baptized. And this begins a theme that actually continues today.

And the theme is this, that Jesus was made to be one of His brethren. As He came to do a redemptive work and purchase of people, He was actually taking on human flesh and becoming a man so that he could be a sympathetic high priest to us. And this theme has really continued with great strength today. Also, last week we saw that the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove, and it remained on him. And then the heavens opened up and there's this pronouncement by God the Father, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And it's so significant that that pronouncement follows Jesus' baptism.

Because in our baptism, we put on Christ. This is what it says in Galatians 3. When we're baptized, it's actually an act of putting on Christ. And that ties in with what we saw last week in Ephesians 1-6, that God the Father made us accepted in the Beloved. So that those who are in rebellion to Him actually can be clothed with Jesus Christ, can put on Christ.

And even though we were at enmity with God, then we're accepted because we're accepted in the Beloved And Jesus Christ is the Beloved. So what a significant pronouncement from heaven. We got an opportunity to look at last week. Now right on the heels of this mountaintop experience that Jesus has, where the love for Him is expressed by His Father, where the Spirit is descending on Him like a dove, where He's being obedient to God through baptism. A baptism that was a baptism of repentance that He didn't need other than he desired to identify with his people, and he desired to be made sin on our behalf.

So on the heels of this mountaintop experience, now he's being led in this week's text into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. There's lots of useful and interesting information in today's text. And that's good and bad for the preacher. It's good for me in the sense that it's easy to demonstrate that I've done my homework. Because there's lots of useful information and I'm going to bring it out and you'll say, wow, he really studied his Bible this week.

That's good that we have a preacher who studies the Bible. It's bad in the sense that a text like this makes it easy to get hung up in the little tidbits that are interesting so that you miss the main point of what is being communicated. So what I'd like to do to head that off this week is just to give you what I think are the two main thrusts of this passage, the two critical points that this passage is about. And I'm going to try to go as we go through to just keep hooking points that I'm making to these two critical points in the passage. The first is this.

The circumstances in Matthew 4, 1 through 11 are in the flow of history of a conflict. So there's a great conflict that starts in Genesis 3 between God and the accuser of the brethren. And it's a conflict that at this point in time has been going on for 4, 000 years. And we need to see what's happening in Matthew 4 in the flow of that conflict. And so actually we're going to take time to go back to the Garden and see all the parallels between the temptation of the Garden in Genesis 3 and what's happening in Matthew 4.

The Garden in Genesis 3 where this conflict started was the first Adam. And the first Adam, by not passing the test, by succumbing to temptation, opens this Pandora's box. Forever changes the nature of human beings. And then the status quo has been maintained in this state for 4, 000 years. And now Jesus, the second Adam, comes onto the scene to do business in this category.

And he's coming to do a redemptive work to overturn the things that happened in Genesis 3. Here's what the Expositors Bible commentary says, Adam, who though tested in the bliss of Eden, yet fell, and Jesus, who was tested in the hardships of the wilderness yet triumphed." And this is what we're going to see. That Adam under the best of circumstances couldn't fend off temptation. But Jesus under the greatest hardships because he was sent by God for this purpose to redeem the people to himself, does pass the test. And so we have the first Adam set against the second Adam.

And their works and the end points of their works are very different. So that's one of the two major heads of what we'll be talking about today. The second is that Jesus in this text provides a template for how we deal with temptation. He gives us the example of how we ought to handle temptation. He teaches how we conduct ourselves in the middle of temptation.

And in doing so, he gives us the assurance that in Jesus Christ we have a sympathetic high priest. And this is really ground on which we can stand and resist the devil. That we have a high priest who's not just a disconnected critic of the human race. Although as God, he has every right to be a disconnected critic of the human race. But this is not who Jesus Christ is.

He is one who has come, who has tempted in every way as we're tempted, and He now stands at the right hand of the Father to be our sympathetic high priest. So those are the two mountaintops that I'm going to try to just keep bringing points back to. One, that this is in the flow of history of a conflict, a mighty conflict. And two, that we have a template for how we deal with temptation. Hebrews 4, 14-16 says this, Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find help in time of need." So that really is a great summary statement of where we're headed. So open your Bibles to Genesis 3. We're going to actually look at the words of what happened in the Garden. And we are continually coming back to Genesis 3 in these first weeks.

But as we start the Gospels, if you don't understand what happened in the Garden, you don't have a context for understanding the Gospels and the need for Jesus Christ to come to earth. So here we are back in Genesis 3 again. Genesis 3 verses 1-7 tells the tale that is set in opposition to what will happen in this week's text in Matthew 4. Genesis 3. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And He said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to 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 it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made for themselves coverings." So Here we have the first temptation that's recorded in the Bible. And the main thrust of that temptation is what the serpent says, has God indeed said? And we're going to find when we go to Matthew 4 that the tactics of the devil have changed in Matthew 4. In Genesis 3, the nature of the attack is challenging and spreading doubt about the Word of God.

In Matthew 4, it will be more towards twisting and misusing the Word of God. But regardless of the fact that the tactics have changed, the categories are exactly the same. And so in verse 6 of Genesis 3, we get the three justifications for sinning, for giving in to the temptations. And they are this, the woman saw that three things. One, that the tree was good for food.

Two, that it was pleasant to the eyes. Three, that it is a tree desirable to make one wise. So now what I'd like you to do is put your pinky in Genesis 3 and keep it there, and then turn to 1 John 2. And as we look at 1 John 2 and what John is writing, and we consider Genesis 3, we're going to see that John almost had to have had Genesis 3 opened in front of him as he was writing 1 John. Either that or the exact same God was inspiring both, I think.

And probably both are true actually. But 1 John 2 actually teaches us a lot about the nature of temptation. And so we'll be reading 1 John 2, 15-17. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in 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 is passing away in the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever." So a couple of things I want you to file away in your brain that will be important as we go through the sermon. There are three things that are spoken of. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We're going to see that in the garden and we're going to see that in Matthew 4.

So just file that away. Lest of the flesh, lest of the eyes, pride of life. The second is that John is setting those things in opposition to the will of God. So On one hand we have the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. And on the other hand we have the will of God.

One passes away and the other is forever. So that when Adam fails the test, when Adam sins in Genesis 3, that the nature of mankind is forever changed. Paul speaks to this repeatedly, but I'll go directly to two places. Paul speaks of it one time in 1 Corinthians 15, where he says, By man came death. And the man he's talking about there is Adam.

And later, one verse later, he says, In Adam all die. So here we are on planet earth and we have a representative head. And our representative head is Adam. And Adam introduced death through his sin. In Adam all die.

Paul says the same thing in Romans 5 verses 18 and 19. Through one man's offense, judgment came to all men. Through Adam's offense, judgment came to all men. And then in one verse later it says, by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So this is what happened in Genesis 3.

And when we go look at the subsequent verses, the ones that we read in Genesis 3, we see that Adam and Eve feel guilt and shame for the first time and they hide from God because they know that they're naked. And that sin actually ushers death in the world. If you go to Genesis 5 you're going to read the genealogy and the genealogy is going to be punctuated by, and he died, and he died, and he died. Sin is in the world and now as a result of that so is death. And God curses the serpent, He curses Adam, he curses Eve, and God sends them out of the garden, and fellowship is broken.

Not completely broken. There will continue to be fellowship between God and man. But before the fall in the garden, they were walking with God in the cool of the day. So the nature of fellowship between God and man has radically changed. We go from walking with God in the cool of the day toward our fellowship with God being right in the middle of all this conflict between the accuser of the brethren and God with the accuser always coming to sow discord and always trying to bring destruction upon us.

And so we have Genesis 3, then we have 4, 000 years of history, And all the history is about this conflict that's going on. And there's the status quo. There's the man who's born with his representative head being Adam who introduced sin into the world. And so he finds that every man, woman, and child find that they have this bent towards sin and rebellion against their God. So that brings us in history to Matthew 4.

And we've gone from the garden, lush, perfect, and Now we're in the wilderness where Jesus has been led out by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. There are two parallel passages to this. One is in Mark 1 verses 12 and 13. It's just a two verse summary of what we have today. And then the other is in Luke 4, 1-14, which actually has a lot of detail which we'll be pulling in to talk about this passage.

So let's get back to our text for today in Matthew 4. So in verse 1, verse 1 says this, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Mark actually in his two verse summary uses much stronger language. Mark says, Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.

So that gives a little different sense. When we go to Mark, we find that the Spirit is actually driving Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus is under compulsion. He is under orders. And He is sent by God through the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness.

He is compelled. And the first thing that we ought to notice is that the temptation of Jesus is actually initiated by God. This is not initiated by the devil. The devil plays a key role. The devil is here, but Jesus was led out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And so Jesus isn't on the defensive here at all. Jesus is on the offensive. And the purposes of God are being served here as Jesus is led out into the wilderness. So the purpose for Jesus being in the wilderness and for the 40 day fast is that Jesus would be tempted by the devil. And here's what J.C.

Ryle says, Let us learn in the first place What a real and mighty enemy we have in the devil. He is not afraid to assault even the Lord Jesus Himself. This is He who for nearly 6, 000 years has been working at one work to ruin men and women and to draw them to hell. The disciple is not greater than his master nor the servant than his Lord." Don't miss the point that J.C. Ryle is making here.

The devil has been about one business for 6, 000 years, and that is to destroy men and women. And so that he wouldn't even stop short of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't even afraid to assault the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Ryle says, you're not above your master. If Satan is not afraid to assault even the Lord Jesus Christ, how much venom and hatred will he direct towards you who are just the student of the Master.

Peter says this in 1 Peter 5, 8, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. If we get nothing from the text this morning, it should be that the very facts that there is a devil who is not afraid to attack the Lord Jesus Christ should make us sober. It should make us vigilant. And I just have to confess my carelessness to this and how much I need a text like today to actually raise my awareness that we have an enemy that is on the prowl with one business and my destruction is his business and so is yours. And so Peter says, be sober, be vigilant, and we should heed his exhortation to us.

Now at this point in the text, A critical distinction needs to be made. God tests Satan's tempts. God tests Satan's tempts. God is a Father who is directing circumstances to teach and to disciple and to reveal what is in the heart of a man or a woman or a child so that What is in that heart can be dealt with. There are so many things in our hearts that need to be dealt with.

And that's what God's doing. He is bringing testing so that these things that are in our hearts that need to be dealt with would be flushed to the surface so that we would deal with them. It is discipleship when God tests. Satan is a seducer who is enticing, who is drawing and leading into sin for the purpose of destruction. Testing and tempting are so very different.

One is the discipleship of a father. The other is an enticement of a seducer into destruction. And actually we see both of these in play. God has a purpose which is a discipleship purpose for His Son. And Satan also has a purpose in these things and it was to entice, to seduce for the purposes of destruction.

But on this point we need to be clear. James 1.13 says, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.'" So God tests all. He tests all. No one will escape the testing of God for the revealing of what's actually in their heart, but God does not tempt.

He is not seducing to sin. He is not enticing to sin. But He is discipling and He is revealing the hearts of men. And there is a very important distinction to be made there. Verse 2.

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward, he was hungry. He fasts forty days and forty nights and at the end of that period he's very hungry. Luke 4.2, the first part of Luke 4.2 says this, being tempted for 40 days by the devil. That Jesus was, quote, being tempted for 40 days by the devil. This really gives a different sense than the sense that we get out of Matthew 4.

Matthew 4, it's almost like the 40 days is just a lull and then there's this active aggressive tempting of the devil. But Luke recounts it a different way. That the 40 days was actually part of the temptation of the devil. Where the whole period of time, this whole 40 plus, 40 days plus whatever hours I guess, is a mighty wrestling and struggling that involves the devil. This is not a passive time.

The time of fasting being described here is not a passive time at all. It is part of the time of tempting. Forty days of fasting. And in this, Jesus is in good company. There are two other men who are recorded in the Bible who have fasted for forty days.

In Deuteronomy 9, Moses fasts for forty days, actually twice. In verse 9, he fasts for 40 days and actually has no food or water. So this is supernatural. People without the intervention of God cannot fast, cannot go without water for 40 days. But Moses does it.

And then, this is when he's receiving the Ten Commandments. He goes down. He's mad because he sees what the people are doing. He casts down the stones and then he has to go back up again. And he fasts for another 40 days in Deuteronomy 9.18.

So Moses fasts 40 days twice back to back. And then Elijah and 1 Kings 19 fast for 40 days when he is fleeing from Jezebel. Isn't it fascinating that when we get to the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17, when Jesus goes up on the high mountain with Peter, James, and John, the three figures that are there are Jesus Christ, Moses, and Elijah. This is the 40-day fast club. And there they are on the Mount of Transfiguration.

I don't know what to make of that, but there's definitely a connection here between these men who have fasted for 40 days. How hungry do you get in 40 days? Those of you who were alive and conscious of current events in 1980 and 1981 will remember the hunger strikers from the Irish Republic Army in Northern Ireland. These men had been imprisoned and they covenanted that they would starve themselves to death. And ten of them actually, in 1980 and 1981, ten of them actually starved themselves to death.

So of these ten men who starved themselves to death, The least amount of days of fasting was 46 days. And the most was 73 days and the average was 60. So around the 40 day mark you start doing irreparable damage to your body. And then you'll die around 60 days. So 40 days is two-thirds the dead, or maybe even more further along.

This is just to give you a framework for what does it mean to fast for 40 days. That's what it means. At the 40-day mark, irreparable damage starts happening to your body. Even if you start eating again, there are functions that you'll never regain after that point. So 40 days is a lot of days of fasting.

Verses 3 and 4. Now when the tempter came to him, he said, if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So Satan here is actually given a title. Given a description.

We had John the Baptist. Now we have Satan the tempter. John is called the Baptist because that is His work. That is what He is consumed with doing. Satan is called the tempter for the same way.

That is His work. That is what He is consumed with doing. He does it so much that He's known by it. He's actually called the tempter quite a few times in the New Testament. I forget how many times, but I looked it up and it was six or seven times in a number of different books across a number of different writers.

This is his work and he has a reputation. It's a well-earned title. We should notice about this first temptation that it came during a great time of vulnerability and a time of weakness. This is after 40 days of fasting and the first temptation involves food. Is this any surprise?

But the devil here is probing for weakness and vulnerability and opportunity. And this is how the devil operates. And as we are made sober, as we are made vigilant by the exhortations of Peter, because we have a mighty enemy who is on the prowl, we should understand that the devil is always probing for weakness and vulnerability and opportunity. And when you're hungry, he comes with food. And this is the nature of his temptation.

And he says, if you are the Son of God. Now, the devil knows who is before him. So this is not to establish who Jesus is, but Jesus is being goaded. He's being baited to prove something. And we actually see the exact same thing happen as Jesus is hanging on the cross.

And this is something that is recorded in Matthew 27, verses 39-40. And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down off the cross." So this is not the last time Jesus will hear this. He'll hear it again when He's off the cross. So why doesn't He come down off the cross?

He could have come down off the cross, couldn't He? He did not want to come down off the cross. The cross was His mission. In the same way, Jesus isn't hungry because He's a long ways from food line. Well, I'm out in the wilderness.

I'm hungry because there are no groceries nearby. Or that there had been a lapse in God's care for him. Actually, he is there because God sent him there. He is on mission, just like He is when He's on the cross. He's not about to come off the cross.

He's not about to call stones to become bread because His current circumstances are not a hole in the mission, a failure of the mission. It is a part of the mission. His hunger wasn't a shortcoming of the plan. It was the plan. And so he doesn't need to make bread.

So if this is part of the plan, what is God accomplishing? I want to take us to a text that we actually spent a little bit of time in last week, but now as I look at more of that text, it actually probably even better applies this week. So please turn to Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 explains how the sufferings of Jesus, this being one of them, relates to the plan of God.

And it tells us how it fits. So Hebrews 2, starting in verse 10, and reading through 18. Hebrews 2, verse 10. For it was fitting for Him, Jesus, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren.

In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to you. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, here I am in the children whom God has given me. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. For indeed, He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

Therefore, in all things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. So verse 18, that last verse is the punch line. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are being tempted. So the plan was to bring many sons to glory.

And being in the wilderness, being hungry, fasting for 40 days, being tempted by the devil is part and parcel to bringing many sons to glory. The plan is to make the captain of our salvation perfect through sufferings. The plan is to raise up a sympathetic high priest who has partaken of flesh and blood. The plan is to lay down His life to destroy Him who had the power of death. That is the devil.

See how this relates? Jesus is actually attacking the devil here. Not the other way around. Jesus is actually attacking the devil here. Because Jesus is on mission, being led out by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

He is exactly where he ought to be. And he is in this stream of redemptive history so that the devil would be destroyed. So it looks like from a surface reading of this that the devil is attacking Jesus. But actually When we go to Hebrews 2, actually the reverse is true. Jesus is attacking the devil.

And maybe this is some sort of little minor counter-attack. But Jesus is on the earth to destroy the devil. That's what Hebrews 2 says. Jesus was not on planet earth for ease and comfort. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to lay down His life as a ransom for many.

And That's what the devil finds him doing. On earth serving not to be served. Now back to the first temptation in Jesus' response. Satan actually makes an appeal to the lust of the flesh, doesn't He? You're hungry.

It's been 40 days since you've eaten. Make these stones into bread. So this is just like the garden where Eve saw that the fruit was good for food. This is an appeal to the lust of the flesh. Paul in Philippians 3.19 talks about those whose God is their belly.

And then immediately after that it says who set their mind on earthly things. That's exactly what's happening here in this text. The devil is trying to get Jesus Christ to set his mind on earthly things, to make his belly into his God and he will not do it. And the examples through Scriptures of a successful appeal to the lusts of the flesh, like Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of lentils. The examples go on and on and on.

And the reason that the devil keeps doing it is because it keeps working. We're not that sophisticated. We pride ourselves on our ability to fight off our temptations until we lose a couple hours of sleep or skip a meal or two. And then we're curled up into the fetal position. This is why the devil does this.

It's because we're so frail that an appeal to the lust of the flesh works time after time after time. And so the devil keeps coming back to that play in his playbook. So Jesus in response to this quotes Deuteronomy 8.3. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And he begins this response by saying, it is written.

And that will be the theme of this, Jesus' response. It is written. It is written. It is written. And now I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the value of knowing the Word of God.

How can we follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and fend off the attacks of the devil in the way that Jesus did if we don't know the Word of God. That's how Jesus fended off the attack of the devil. It is written. How shall we do this if we aren't familiar with our Bibles? If we're not opening it up?

And it's not fresh in our mind. The psalmist says in Psalm 119, 11, your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. And this is true of Jesus. And actually we should just apply this to ourselves. It's less applicable to Jesus because He had the whole Bible memorized.

He actually dictated the whole Bible. He is the Word made flesh. But the exhortation to us is the exhortation of the psalmist. To hide the Word of God in our hearts that we might not sin against God. So, please turn to Deuteronomy 8.

I want us to see together exactly how this text relates to what's happening in Matthew 4. Jesus quotes the part of one verse, but when you look at the verses around it in the context that Deuteronomy 8 is actually said in, it really illuminates things. Deuteronomy 8, starting in verse 1. We'll read 1, 2, and 3. Deuteronomy 8, 1.

Every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." You see, there's been this testing in the wilderness before, but instead of being 40 days, it was 40 years. And One was a picture of what the other would be. And it's that God the Father was testing to know what was in the hearts of His people.

And He allowed them to hunger. He actually wanted them in the wilderness, hungering, and depending on the manna that he would send from heaven. So that people would realize that their greatest need isn't food. See, that's what Jesus knows. That is what is sustaining Him.

The greatest need of mankind, and Jesus here is man and He is God. He's hungry, So he has those same impulses that we have, and yet he knows that bread is not our greatest need. And John 4.34 says this, Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. And Jesus is teaching this to His people.

That food is important, but knowing the will of God and embracing the will of God is more important. By a factor of what? By a factor of one zillion. We need food, but we must have the Word of God. Because true food is to do the will of our Father and to finish His work." Verses 5-7.

Back to Matthew. Verses 5-7. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, sat him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He shall give His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." So in the second temptation, the devil actually wants in on the it is written game. Not on the first, not on the third, but on the second one, he knows that Jesus is going to go there anyway, and so he tries to preempt him by saying it is written.

And he quotes Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12. Here's what John MacArthur says. Note that Satan also quoted Scripture, but utterly twisted its meaning, employing a passage about trusting God to justify testing Him. So that's what's happening here. He's quoting it, but he's not using it accurately.

He's not handling the way Scripture ought to be handling. So he takes a passage about trusting and attempts to use it as a way to justify actually tempting God. Not trusting God, but tempting Him. So it's a misuse of the passage. And so this is an appeal to the pride of life.

The first temptation was an appeal to the lust of the flesh from 1 John 2. The second, and we saw that in the garden, the second is an appeal to the pride of life from 1 John 2. It was also in the garden. Jesus, You're special. Use your divine prerogative to show that you are special.

And it's an appeal to pride. The Scripture is full of just ironies that just make you laugh. One of them is associated here. Does anybody have any idea what verse 13 says? Satan quotes Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12.

Does anybody have any idea what verse 13 is? Here's verse 13, which Satan does not quote. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra. The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. Isn't that just amazing that Satan quotes this verse and he stops short?

Verse 13, you shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent, you shall trample underfoot. And this just takes us right back to Genesis 3. It's this circle that we cannot get out of. And Jesus counters with Deuteronomy 6.16, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. The context of Deuteronomy 6.16 is the people of Israel being at Massah.

And Exodus 17 has the account of this. And this is where the people grumble against God because they don't have water. And here's what Exodus 17.7 says. So, he called the name of the place Massa and Meribah because of the contention of the children of Israel and because they tempted the Lord saying, Is the Lord among us or not? And that's exactly what's happening in Matthew 4 when Jesus says go up to the pinnacle of the temple and throw yourself down.

It's probably more than 100 yards in height. Because it's not just the temple, but it's sitting on the temple mount. And so the pinnacle overlooks not just ground level, but the drop off to the bottom of the Kidron Valley. So it's probably 100 yards from the pinnacle to where you would hit ground. And that's the question that's being asked.

Just like at Massa. Just like what's being quoted. Is the Lord among us or not? If He's among us, throw yourself down off the temple. And this is what the people of Israel are rebuked for in Exodus 17.

The Expositors Bible commentary says this, Jesus recognized Satan's testing as a sort of manipulative bribery expressly forbidden in the Scriptures. And that's exactly what it is. It's manipulative bribery. Jesus, if you're the Son of God, throw yourself down. And that's just the kind of manipulation that is forbidden in the Scriptures.

In comparing the Scripture that Satan quotes to the Scripture that Jesus counters with. Here's what Matthew Henry says. And this is so important. That is a promise. This is a precept.

And therefore, that, the promise, is to be explained and applied by this, the precept. How important it is to understand this concept that the promises of Scripture are bounded, are given their boundaries by the precepts of Scriptures. Oh, that evangelicals would understand that the promises of Scriptures are bound by the precepts of Scriptures. Joel Osteen would never sell another book. The prosperity gospel would officially be out of business if it was understood that the promises of God which are wonderful and which are abundant, but yet which are bounded by the precepts of Scripture." And Jesus, the Satan, is trying to take a promise and say it's an unbounded promise, but Jesus says no.

This promise of God is bounded by the precepts of Scripture. If we learn nothing else from this temptation, it's this, that Scripture can be used to say anything if there's not a commitment to handle it properly. You can go make an argument for anything in this world that you want to out of the Scriptures if there's no commitment to handle it properly, carefully, in context. So there's a Scripture to back up what you want to do may not be the point. And it needs further investigation whenever we find ourselves with a proof text that allows us to do something, that might be a little questionable.

Verses 8-10. Matthew 4, 8-10. Again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship Me." And Jesus said to him, Away with you Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. Every time I read this, I end up asking myself the same question.

Can Satan really offer this? Is he really in a position to offer what it seems like he's offering here? The parallel passage to this, Luke 4, in the second half of verse 6, gives a little more clarity on exactly what's being offered. And here's what's said. Satan says this, All this authority I will give you and their glory, for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish." So Satan says, it is mine to give, and I'll give you the authority, and I'll give you the glory associated with the nations.

So I just want to take you to a number of New Testament passages that actually would suggest that Satan has something to offer here, but that it might not be as advertised. In John 12-31, Satan is called the ruler of this world. John 12-31, the ruler of this world. 2 Corinthians 4-4, he's called the god of this age or the god of this world. That's 2 Corinthians 4-4.

In Ephesians 6-12, demonic forces are called what? Powers and principalities. So there's a hierarchy and they have a place in the hierarchy. 1 John 5-19 says this, We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the devil, of the wicked one. We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

So Satan in some sense has jurisdiction over the world, but not in the ultimate sense. When we go to Job, we see that Satan is coming and asking permission to do things on the earth. So in whatever sense that He is the ruler of this world, that He's the God of this age, that those who report to Him are powers and principalities, that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. Whatever sense that is, that in the ultimate sense, the boundaries are set by Almighty God and God is the King. Satan is trying to get Jesus to grasp, to reach.

But Jesus came to be a servant. He's not a grasper. He's not a reacher. This is an appeal to the lust of the eyes from 1 John 2. See all these kingdoms and all their glory.

It wouldn't be nice to have all these kingdoms in their authority and their glory. It's an appeal to the lust of the eyes, just like the garden. So here, now we're full circle. John talks about the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. In the garden we see the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.

In Matthew 4 we see The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And the tactics might change, the application might change, but the categories always stay the same. And we're always getting attacked on these three fronts. And it was that way in the garden, and it was that way in the garden and it was that way in the wilderness. Matthew Henry says this, God casts down that He may raise up.

The devil raises up that he may cast down. Therefore, they who would take heed of falling must take heed of climbing." Did you catch that? That is brilliant of Matthew and Henry. Therefore, They who would take heed of falling must take heed of climbing." In other words, there's a poison pill in greatness. We should be careful about greatness.

We should be careful about desiring it. We should be careful about when we attain it in any measure to be on the lookout for the poison pill. God casts down that He may raise up. The devil raises up that he may cast down. And at this point, Jesus has had enough.

He says, away with you, Satan. And the conversation is over. He's going to continue his reply. But He's ready to rebuke the devil now. Away with you, Satan.

In Deuteronomy 13, it talks about what ought to happen if someone comes to you and says, let's go worship other gods. Which is what the devil is saying here. Let's go worship me, I guess is what he's saying. But he wants to be worshiped. And in Deuteronomy 13, 6-9, it says, if your brother or your son or your daughter or your dearest friend comes to you.

So Deuteronomy 13 is as comprehensive about this as possible. If your brother or your mother or your father or your son or your daughter or your wife or your closest friend comes to you and says, let's go worship other gods, and here's what it says, you shall not consent to Him or listen to Him, nor shall your eye pity Him, nor shall you spare Him or conceal Him. And so what Deuteronomy 13 says is if An offer like this ever gets made to you, you should not even listen to it. Not for one more word, and that's exactly what Jesus does. Away with you, Satan.

You're not even to listen to it. We've been taught to be polite, haven't we? I have a mother here who taught me to be polite. But there are certain circumstances where we shouldn't just politely listen. And this is one of them.

Where we're not at liberty to entertain the offers that are being made or the things that are being said. And so Jesus doesn't. When Jesus hears this outrageous offer in accordance with the Scriptures, He says, away with you Satan and He will not listen to another word of it. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6.13. You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.

And here, as with the others, when we look at just a little bit of expanded context, we learn a lot more. Here are the other things around it. Now, by the way, Deuteronomy 6.16 has already been quoted with the temptation. And now Deuteronomy 6.13, just three verses earlier, has been quoted. We might think that this is a stretch of Scripture that's sort of important.

Here's the expanded context of what Jesus quotes. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you, for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you. Lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth." So the context around this supports exactly what Jesus is saying. That God alone is worthy to be worshiped and that we should beware those who want to draw us to the gods that are around us.

Because God is a jealous God and a consuming fire. All three of the Scriptures that Jesus quote are within a three chapter stretch. Deuteronomy 6-13 to Deuteronomy 8-3 is the range. So all three of His responses come out of this narrow range within Deuteronomy. And they're actually all part of Moses' exposition of the first commandment, you shall have no other gods before Me.

Because that's really the issue that's on the table. Satan wants there to be another God before him, and the commandment of God is that we have no other gods before us. And so that's where Jesus draws his responses from. Verse 11, Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. How sweet it must have been having rightly refused the help of the angels and not throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple so that he would be rescued by angels to now having stood firm against these temptations to be ministered by them." Matthew Henry says this, "...Behold this, it is worth taking notice, that there is a world of wicked, malicious spirits that fight against Christ and His church and all particular believers.

So, there is also a world of holy, blessed spirits engaged and employed for them." We see both in play in this passage. Here is the devil, the wicked spirit, doing what the devil does, tempting, desiring to destroy, and yet also there are holy, blessed spirits engaged and employed also for his help, which is what we see in verse 11. A few final comments on the passage. James 4-7 serves as an excellent summary of this text. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." It's worth pointing out that you cannot do one without the other. It's pointless to say, I'll resist the devil, but neglect submission to God. Or to say that I'll submit to God, but neglect resisting the devil. These things go part and parcel. They go hand in hand.

And they both need proactive attention on our part. That we would proactively submit ourselves to God, acknowledge that we are under His authority, and also proactively resist the devil. Be sober. Be vigilant knowing that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. Jesus is the Son of God and without question capability was not at issue in any of these three temptations.

Satan says turn these stones into bread, and both Matthew and Mark are going to have the accounts where Jesus takes essentially nothing and turns it into food for 5, 000 people for 4, 000 people. Food was not a problem for Jesus. Capability was not at issue. Satan says throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple and the angels will save you. And then in Luke 4 verse 29, Jesus is about to be thrown off the edge of the cliff for the things that He said, and He just ends up inexplicably just walking through the crowd.

Just walks right through them. Safety was not an issue for Jesus. Satan says, fall down and worship Me, and All this I will give to you." Read Ephesians 1. Read Colossians 1. Read Hebrews 1.

And you find out that all things were made by Him and through Him and for Him that in all things he may have the preeminence. He doesn't need for Satan to give him anything. Authority and glory were not a problem for Jesus. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords.

But He came to earth to redeem the people. And that's what he's busy doing in chapter 4. And he is like a dog on a bone. He will not be pulled off of his mission to redeem the people. He will not be set off stride by anything because His food is to do the will of His Father in heaven and to finish His work.

Praise the Lord that Jesus was so fixed on the work of redemption that none of these things could pull Him off course. Applications. I have three. Number one, there is a conflict. And it's been raging for at least 6, 000 years.

And Jesus was in the flow of this conflict and you and I are in the flow of this conflict. Are we sober? Are we vigilant? Or have we become careless? Is it a good thing that we're in this passage so that we start thinking in terms of a devil that has been working one work for 6, 000 years, and that is the destruction of men and women.

Awake, church, to the reality that there is a mighty enemy that is probing us for weakness and opportunity so that He might destroy us. God is greater and God is faithful, but if we are blind to this and we are not sober and we are not vigilant, What will this mean for us? We need to shake off our slumber and stop being careless as if there were no enemy prowling. Number two. There are two templates that are set before us in this text.

One is the template of the devil, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These are always the categories that are the area of attack. That is His template and He will stick with the plan. And you will be attacked in these three categories. The second template though is the template of holiness that is modeled by Jesus Christ.

And that is knowing and speaking and doing the will of His Father. So we should be aware of the one template that the devil has this playbook that he's been working with and perfecting for 6, 000 years and we should be informed by that. And we should understand that we have also another template, and that is the holiness of Jesus Christ, that He knew and spoke and did the will of His Father. And that caused the devil to flee from Him. This is what it means to resist the devil.

You say, submit to God, resist the devil. How do I resist the devil? This is it. Know, speak, and do the will of God. As revealed in the Word of God.

That could go without saying. Lastly, consider your sympathetic high priest, Jesus Christ. Consider your sympathetic high priest, Jesus Christ. This is Romans 5, 18-19. Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation.

This is the first Adam. Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life." This is the second Adam in his redeeming work. For as by one man's disobedience, Many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. We have been given a sympathetic high priest who is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us right now while you are listening to an overly long sermon. Jesus Christ is interceding for you at the right hand of the Father.

Not as a dispassionate, disconnected critic of His people, which He has the right to be, but as a sympathetic high priest who has been made a partaker of flesh and blood so that He could be tempted in every way as we are. And He would sympathize with us. Here's what J.C. Ryle says. I'll close with this.

The sympathy of Jesus is a truth which ought to be peculiarly dear to all believers. They will find it a mind of strong consolation. They should never forget that they have a mighty Friend in heaven who feels for them in all their temptations and can enter into all their spiritual anxieties. Jesus Christ can enter into all your spiritual anxieties. Are they ever tempted by Satan to distrust God's care and goodness?

So was Jesus. Are they ever tempted to presume on God's mercy and run into danger without warrant? So also was Jesus. Are they ever tempted to commit some one great private sin for the sake of some great seeming advantage? So also is Jesus.

He is just the Savior that attempted people require. Let them flee to Him for help. And spread before Him all their troubles. They will find His ear ever ready to hear and His heart ever ready to feel. He can understand their sorrows.

May we all know the value of a sympathizing Savior by experience. There is nothing to be compared to it in this cold and deceitful world. Those who seek their happiness in this life only and despise the religion of the Bible have no idea what comfort they are missing." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You that You set before us in Matthew 4, 1-11 a sympathetic high priest, one who is tested in every way just as we are, but without sin. God help us to flee to You for help in time of need.

Help us to be sober and to be vigilant, understanding that we have a mighty enemy but a mightier friend. And We would be vigilant and yet we would be unafraid in this world knowing that He who is within us is greater than He who is in the world. And that Jesus Christ through His work on the cross has purchased a victory, a mighty and eternal victory on our behalf. God, we thank You that You have given us this high priest who has offered Himself as a substitute for our sins that we could know you. In Jesus' name, Amen.