His Temptation

We open the Word of God to Matthew chapter 4, reading the first 11 verses, the account of the temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ. During these evening messages, we're looking at the milestones with the Master, his birth, his baptism, and now his temptation. The Lord willing, our next message will deal with the transfiguration.

Why was Jesus transfigured, and what does it mean to us today? Matthew chapter 4. Notice the first word in the chapter, then, meaning immediately after this tremendous experience of baptism. Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested or tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 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. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple.

And saith to him, If thou be the Son of God, 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 a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the test, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 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 saith unto him, All these things will I give thee. If thou wilt fall down and worship me, then saith Jesus unto him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

All of us are interested in victory over temptation. Perhaps someone is here just now who looks back over the past week with shame and disgust and discouragement because you gave in to a temptation. Or if you had a week of victory, at least you know you were tempted.

And none of us enjoys being tempted, but we know that temptation is a part of the Christian life. For one thing, temptation builds character. The only way to have spiritual muscles is to exercise them, and you can't exercise your muscles resting.

There cannot be victories without battles, and you're not going to have battles without temptations. And so temptation builds character. From God's point of view, temptation ought to bring out the best in us, that which he has put into us.

From the devil's point of view, temptation brings out the worst in us, that which belongs to our first birth, not our second birth. Of course, temptation, when we get victory over it, brings reward. Blessed is he that endureth temptation, for he shall receive the crown of life.

And God has a reward for those who endure temptation and get victory. Even our Lord Jesus was ministered to by the angels when three times he got victory over Satan. Of course, if we yield to temptation, it means not reward but regret and remorse and discipline from the hand of our loving Father.

I think most of all, enduring temptation and getting victory over temptation brings glory to God. This is the thing we want more than anything else. Totally apart from any reward or even the building of character, which is a wonderful thing, we want to glorify God.

And when we get victory over the tempter, it advances the cause of Christ and it brings glory to God. You may say, well, my little life that I live can't mean much to the cause of Christ. Oh, yes, it can.

If you're saved and you're a part of the body of Christ, if one member becomes weak and infected, it affects all the members. And your victory helps to advance the cause of Christ. And so all of us are interested in temptation.

What is temptation? Well, temptation is simply an opportunity to satisfy a legitimate need in a wrong way. For example, it's not a sin to be hungry. Hunger is a sinless infirmity of the flesh.

But to satisfy that hunger outside the will of God, that's sin. And so a temptation is an opportunity to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. There's nothing wrong with passing an examination.

That's a legitimate thing. But to cheat to pass an examination, that's sin. There's nothing wrong with getting a promotion.

But to lie and push and politic to get a promotion, that's wrong. So temptation of itself is not sinful. It is not a sin to be tempted.

Our Lord was tempted, and yet he was sinless. It is a sin to yield to temptation. A temptation is simply an opportunity to satisfy a legitimate need in a wrong way outside the will of God.

You see, we were created with certain basic needs. We have needs for food, and eating is a legitimate thing. Gluttony is sin.

There is a need for the satisfaction of love. People want to be needed in love. There's a desire in our hearts to succeed.

But all of these things are opportunities for the tempter to lead us to satisfy these needs in the wrong way. Now, in this particular passage, Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 through 11, our Lord is facing Satan, the devil, the accuser, the slanderer, the enemy, the adversary. As you know, you and I face temptation on three fronts, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

The world wants to entice us. The flesh wants to lead us astray. The devil, of course, wants to lead us out of the will of God.

Now, I'm going to make a statement that at first may shock some of you, but I believe it's scripturally true. When a person first becomes a Christian, he fights tremendous battles with the world and the flesh. Then as he grows in the Lord and learns to get victory over the world and the flesh, that's when the devil starts to move in.

The devil can use the world and the devil can use the flesh. But may I say this? The temptations that we face from Satan are on a different level from the temptations of the world and the flesh. In fact, there are some Christians who have so yielded to the world and the flesh, the devil doesn't have to pay much attention to them.

They are tempting themselves. They are leading themselves astray. When Satan came to face the Lord Jesus Christ there in the wilderness, he brought to the Lord Jesus the kind of a battle that I wonder if many of us have really faced.

You see, it doesn't take much for us to sin. Satan doesn't have to bring all of his armies against most of us. We have a way of being so weak and giving in.

Our Lord Jesus was not attracted by the world. Our Lord Jesus was not infected in the flesh. There was nothing in him that could succumb to fleshly appetites.

When Satan came to face the Lord Jesus Christ, he was working, if you'll excuse the term, on a much higher level. This is why, my friend, as you grow in the Lord, you fight more difficult battles. You're not just fighting the appetites of the flesh or the ambitions of the world.

You're fighting the attacks of the devil. You come and say, Pastor, what in the world is going on in my life? I've never faced this kind of thing before. My first response is, congratulations.

It's wonderful that you have graduated out of the ABCs of Christian conflict. Satan realizes now that your Christian life is so important and so strategic, he's got to fight you on a higher level. That's what he does here.

So our thinking tonight is not going to be in kindergarten. I want you to ask the Holy Spirit of God to quicken my mind and your mind so that we might garner from these verses the help that we need. Now, as I read this passage, I see that there are three basic essentials for victory over temptation.

Essential number one, we must realize our position in Jesus Christ. Now, someone may look at me at this point and say, what in the world are you talking about my position in Jesus Christ? Exactly that. You see, when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the wilderness to face the tempter, and he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and he had just come up from that baptism experience with the Holy Spirit of God coming upon him, with the Father speaking to him and saying, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

This is the setting and the background of all of this. Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the wilderness, he was fulfilling three Old Testament types that describe to us our position in Jesus Christ. Let me say that again.

I don't want you to miss it. When our Lord came into the wilderness, he was the last Adam. When our Lord came into the wilderness, he was Joshua.

When our Lord came into the wilderness, he was David. You see, these three men in the Old Testament, Adam, Joshua, David, are all identified with this experience. Let's take them one by one.

Adam, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 45, tells us that Jesus Christ is the last Adam. The first man, Adam, was from the earth. The last Adam was from heaven.

Now, Adam was the head of the old creation, and as such, he was tested. Jesus Christ is the head of the new creation. He's the last Adam, the head of a whole new humanity.

If you're saved tonight, you are in Jesus Christ, and you are in a whole new creation. Now, the picture here is one of contrast. The first Adam from the earth, the last Adam from heaven.

The first Adam tested in a beautiful paradise. The last Adam tested in a lonely wilderness. The first Adam completely surrounded by all the blessings of God available to him.

The last Adam hungry. The first Adam failed. He had everything going for him, and he failed.

The last Adam succeeded. He had everything going against him, and he succeeded. The first Adam was a thief and was cast out of paradise.

The last Adam ultimately turned to a thief and said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Now, when Jesus Christ faced Satan in the wilderness, it was the last Adam facing the old serpent who had tempted the first Adam. But this time, the news report was victory.

And when Jesus Christ won that victory, he established himself as the last Adam, the head of a new creation, when he climaxed that victory on the cross and then took that victory up to heaven. He established a whole new humanity, the body of Christ. You've heard me say this many times.

When you were born the first time, you were born in Adam a loser. When you were born the second time, you were born into Jesus Christ a winner. Now, if you face Satan's temptations on your own, you'll fail.

There's nothing that the old Adam gave you that'll ever help you succeed. Oh, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. It's only what we have in the new creation.

And so you dare not face Satan in your first birth. You've got to face Satan and identify yourself with Jesus Christ in the new creation. That's why I say the first essential for victory is to realize your position in Christ and say to Satan, you are talking to one who is in the new creation.

I am in Jesus Christ. He has ascended far above all principalities and powers and every name that is named. And he has defeated you.

This is what the theologians call identification with Christ. When Pastor Smith and I were at the NRB convention in Washington, D.C., I had ducked into my room to get some material to duck out again and punched on the television just to see what was going on in Congress. And Hubert Humphrey was on the screen.

I may have told you this. And they were interviewing some of the appointments for the new administration. And I was just there long enough to hear Senator Humphrey make a profound statement.

He said this to the appointee. Where you sit, referring to Congress, where you sit determines how you stand. And I was all alone in my room, but I said, hooray, Hubert Humphrey.

I'll use that in a sermon, but it's true. Where you sit determines how you stand. If you're sitting in death row, you'll stand one way.

If you're sitting behind that desk in the Oval Office, you'll stand another way. Now, we are in Jesus Christ, seated in Christ, ascended in Christ. That's the way we face the wicked one.

Now, the second type was that of Joshua. Remember now, years and years before, the nation of Israel led by Joshua had come into the Jordan River, come out of the Jordan River from the wilderness to enter into their inheritance. They had experienced death, burial, and resurrection to get into their inheritance.

Jesus Christ had just gone in to the Jordan River. He had experienced death, burial, and resurrection. Then he goes into the wilderness to do what? To claim the inheritance.

Israel, led by Joshua, came out of the wilderness to enter into their inheritance, and God gave it to them. Jesus Christ came into the wilderness to defeat Satan to claim his inheritance. In other words, when Satan tempts us, we do not face him as those who are losers.

We have entered into our spiritual inheritance through our Joshua, Jesus Christ. Now, to some of you, this means nothing, because you have no spiritual concept of what it means to have an inheritance in Christ. Then you ought to read Ephesians.

Just saturate yourself with Ephesians. Six chapters. Read it and read it and read it and realize that you have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, and Satan cannot offer you anything.

What is he going to offer you? In Jesus Christ, you have died to the old life. The wilderness is behind you. In Jesus Christ, you have been raised to walk in newness of life.

In Jesus Christ, you have entered into your inheritance. Jesus is our Joshua, Jehoshua. Jehovah is salvation.

He has led us through the Jordan into our inheritance. What can the devil offer you when you've got all spiritual blessings in Christ and everything else that you'll ever need? For Satan to come and tempt a believer is like a Clark Street hobo going up to the president of the bank and saying, I've got something I want to give you. What could he ever give him? And so we realize our position in Christ.

We're in the new creation. We are in our inheritance. Now, David was also there.

David is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. They were both born in Bethlehem. Both were rejected by their brethren.

David was chased. He was not slain, but they would like to have killed him. Jesus was.

But the interesting thing about David is one day he stepped out into the wilderness and there was a giant. And for 40 days, that big mouth giant had been challenging the army of Israel. And so David, which means beloved, the good old Hebrew name, beloved.

This is my beloved son. David steps up, he gets five stones. He chooses one of them and he slings it at that giant.

He stuns him, down he falls. And then David takes the giant's sword and cuts off his head. David met the giant in the wilderness and defeated him.

Now, our Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, steps into the wilderness and meets the giant of giants, Satan. He too has five stones, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. You know where he got them? Hebrews chapter 10.

I delight to do thy will, O God, thy law is within my heart. Our Lord didn't carry a strong's concordance with him in the wilderness. He didn't have a little scripture memory packet.

When he came into this world, sacrifice and offering wouldest thou not, a body hast thou prepared me. I delight to do thy will, O my God, thy law is within my heart. He had five smooth stones, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

He chose one of them, Deuteronomy, and let the enemy have it. In other words, we are in the new creation. That's Adam.

We are in our inheritance. That's Joshua. We are in the place of victory.

We are in his kingdom. God used David to establish the kingdom. Now, my Christian friend, when you face the devil, don't let him fool you into thinking you're working from a position of defeat.

We are working from a position of victory. We're in the new creation. We are in the inheritance.

We are in the kingdom. Paul got a hold of this. I'm thankful Paul did.

I've been reading over in Colossians. I want to do a series of sermons on Colossians sometime. It's one of the most dangerous books in the New Testament.

People don't really believe it. Colossians chapter 1, verse 12. Giving thanks unto the father who has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.

There it is over in chapter 2 of Colossians and verse 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly. Triumphing over them in it, in the cross.

That's what David did. David made a show of Goliath publicly. He made a fool out of him.

So when Satan comes to tempt you, you must realize your position in Christ. You are in the new creation. Don't send the old Adam to answer the door.

Send the last Adam to answer the door. You're in the inheritance. Say, Satan, what can you give me? Anything you've got, I've got better.

We are already in the kingdom. Not the millennial kingdom, obviously. We are in his spiritual kingdom and he has delivered us from the power of darkness.

He's translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. The reason we fail is we don't really believe what our position is in Christ. Now, there's a second essential.

Not only must we realize our position in Christ, but we must recognize Satan's tactics. And once again, oil the machinery of your soul, because what I'm going to feed into the computer will take some time for understanding and meditation. We must recognize Satan's tactics.

Now, what are his tactics? Number one, he wants to break your fellowship with the Father. Now, just look at this situation in Matthew chapter four. Our Lord Jesus had been baptized.

He entered into the waters. When he came up out of the waters, the Holy Spirit came down like a dove. And the Father spoke and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

Now, in that baptism, three crises occurred. Think with me now. Number one, Jesus said to John the Baptist, baptize me.

John the Baptist said, oh, I have need to be baptized of you. And Jesus said, permit it to be so now, for in this manner, death, burial and resurrection, we God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit, we are going to fulfill all righteousness. The baptism of Jesus Christ was an evidence, a picture, an illustration of what he came to do.

He came to experience death, burial and resurrection to bring about righteousness. In other words, his baptism was a declaration of his call. I have come.

I've been sent by the Father. We are going together to bring about righteousness. Crisis number two, the Holy Spirit came down.

And from that point on, the Holy Spirit of God is going to guide and empower our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

This was not the first occasion for the Holy Spirit to have contact with the Lord Jesus, obviously, for he was the perfect son of God. But he was beginning now his public ministry. And it's as though the Spirit of God is saying, all right, let's remember now together we are going to do this.

Crisis number three, the Father spoke and assured him of his love. Now, here are three important factors. The work that he had to do, the spirit who was going to guide him in this work, the will of God, the work of God, the will of God, and then the assurance of the love of God.

This is my beloved son. Do you know, my friend, that nowhere in the four gospels does God call anybody else beloved? But when you get to the book of Romans and the church epistles, he starts calling the saints beloved. Accepted in the beloved.

You see, when you're in Christ, you're in the beloved, and so you're beloved. Now, what was Satan trying to do? He wanted to break the Lord Jesus' relationship with the Father. Think with me now.

The Father had said, this is my beloved son. What did Satan say? He loves you. I heard 40 days ago from heaven that he loves you.

How come you're hungry? Has the devil ever said that to you? How do you know God loves you? You know God loves you because the word of God tells you. How did Jesus know God loved him? By circumstances. The circumstances were against him.

By feeling he was hungry. How did Jesus know that his Father loved him? The Father said so in the word. How do you know God loves you? Oh, you say, things are going so great.

Just wait till Tuesday. God won't love you on Tuesday. This is where the devil trips up the saints.

Oh, God loves me. I can feel it in my heart. Then you have one of those black days when you feel like you haven't even got a heart.

Oh, I know God loves me. Things are going so well. And then the rug is pulled out from under you and you start to topple and fall.

That's where saints get bitter. They say, I'm through with the Lord and I'm through with the church. I'm through with God's people.

I'm through. Satan says, I got another one. You see, he wants you to believe God doesn't love you.

He'll use circumstances to do it. How did Jesus know God loved him? The word of God told him. How do you know God loves you? The word of God tells you.

Now, the devil wants us to break our relationship with the Father. And each of these temptations that he brought had something to do with our Lord's relationship to the Father. Oh, the Spirit of God is guiding you.

Why don't you jump off and see what God will do? Don't live by faith, live by chance. Oh, so you're going to bring righteousness in. Ah, but if you do that, you have to go to a cross.

Why don't you just fall down and worship me? That'll take care of it. By the way, the Greek verb there means just to do it once. Just worship me once.

Not all the rest of your life. Just do it once. How many times people have heard Satan say that? Just do it once.

He wants to break your relationship with the Father, and so he attacks the word of God. Now, some of you think I'm a fanatic, and in this respect I am. If you mean by a fanatic, an enthusiast, I'm a fanatic.

I'm a fanatic for the word of God. Quite frankly, I get a little bit disturbed when I find the saints of God having time for everything but the word of God. What are Satan's tactics? Number one, he wants to break your relationship with the Father.

He doesn't love you. He won't guide you. He won't take care of you.

He's asking you to do a hard thing. Go to the cross. I've got an easier way.

He does this by attacking the word. Satan loves to attack the word because this is your only connection with the Father. Well, you say, I have the Holy Spirit.

Yes, we'll talk about that. And the Lord's up in heaven. That's right.

But this is what gives you your connection. Jesus said, the words that I speak, they are spirit and they are life. And so if I neglect the word of God, the devil's got me.

Now, Satan knows how to use circumstances. He's no dumbbell. Our Lord Jesus had just experienced a tremendous mountaintop experience.

Heaven had opened. God the Father had spoken. The spirit came down.

A tremendous hour of victory and obedience. And right after that, the battle begins. I've noticed in my Bible that many times after the mountaintop comes the valley.

Somebody here tonight is floating on cloud nine spiritually. Oh, you're saying I've arrived now. Boy, this is wonderful.

Watch out because Satan is just waiting. Now, our Lord didn't make that mistake. He was ready for the devil when he came.

Essential number one, we must realize our position in Christ. Essential number two, we must recognize Satan's tactics. He wants to break your fellowship with the Father.

He does this by using the word. He attacks the word of God. Oh, if God loves you, why are you hungry? He takes away from the word of God.

When he quoted Psalm 91, he left out some of it. Then he substitutes his own lie. Oh, he says, fall down and worship me.

You see, God, the father had promised all the kingdoms of the world to God, the son. Read Psalm 2. Read Psalm 22. God, the father had said to God, the son, because of your death on the cross, your resurrection, you will one day bring righteousness to the world and I will give you the kingdoms of this world.

Satan said, oh, I got a better offer for you. Now, here's the way he attacks the word. First, he questions the word.

Oh, God loves you. You're hungry. Then he denies the word.

Jump off and see if God will keep his promise. And then he substitutes his own lie. Fall down and worship me.

By the way, there's nothing new about that. He did the same thing to Eve. When he came to Eve, first he questioned the word.

Yea, hath God said. Then he denied the word. You shall not surely die.

And then he substituted his own lie. The day that you eat, you'll be as God. Have you ever fallen for that? I have.

When he's caught me at that moment when I really wasn't recognizing what he's doing, then I've paid for it. I wouldn't tell you that except you've done the same thing. There's a third essential.

We must realize the resources that God gives to us and utilize them. Now, there are three of them. There are three tremendous spiritual resources that you can use when you fight the devil.

You know what they are. They're right here in the passage. Number one, the spirit of God.

The indwelling spirit of God. Then was Jesus led up by the spirit into the wilderness. I was reading one of the commentaries on this passage, and the commentator made a long to do about the fact that when Jesus went into the wilderness, he was alone.

He wasn't alone. He wasn't. Oh, there were no humans there with him, but he wasn't alone.

The spirit was with him. The blessed third person of the Trinity was there, and God gave the spirit to Jesus Christ without measure. Filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now, the spirit of God fights the devil. As you read through the gospels, you discover that it was in the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ fought the devil. You're in Matthew chapter 4. Just turn a few pages to Matthew chapter 12.

Our Lord cast a demon out, and they said he was doing it in the power of Satan. And the Lord answered them in verse 26 of Matthew 12. If Satan cast out Satan, he's divided against himself.

How then shall his kingdom stand? Satan's got a kingdom. And if I by Beelzebub, that's one of the names for Satan, cast out demons by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

What's he saying? Oh, this is so important. The first word Jesus spoke to the devil was not God. It was man.

If thou be the son of God, since you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread. Use your divine power to satisfy your own needs. And Jesus answered and said, man, not God, man.

Now hear this. The Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan using the same spiritual resources any man or woman can use. I've had people say to me, now, Pastor, don't tell me about Matthew 4. That was God.

I mean, he was the sinless son of God. He was perfect. You can't expect me to defeat Satan when I'm not sinless and perfect.

But Jesus didn't say, hey, Satan, I'm coming to you as God. He said, man. You like to use that as an excuse, don't you? I do, too.

Well, Lord, you can't expect me to do any better. I'm just a man. God says, I know that.

I know things you don't even know. But Jesus didn't face Satan as God. He used the same divine resources that you and I can use.

And the first one was the indwelling spirit of God. It was through the power of the Holy Spirit, because he used, secondly, the inspired word of God, and the word of God is the sword of the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit of God fills us, then the Spirit of God can take the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, and we can fight the devil.

Let me tell you one way you can know when you're filled with the Holy Spirit. You find scripture coming to your heart and mind in a remarkable computerized way. When you find yourself in a situation and you've yielded to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit brings the word.

That's his job. He's the great reminder. He shall teach you all things.

He shall bring to your remembrance what I've taught you. He won't remind you what you haven't learned. Don't expect the devil to teach you something you've never studied, the Holy Spirit to teach you something you've never studied to defeat the devil.

No, the Holy Spirit of God reminds us. And when you're filled with the Spirit, one of the evidences, among others, is your mind and heart become like a spiritual computer. And the word of God just comes to you.

That's what happened to the Lord Jesus. In Ephesians 6, Paul says, now, you want to defeat the devil? Here's how to do it. Put on the armor and then take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Now, Jesus chose to use Deuteronomy. I must confess to you, I've not memorized too many verses out of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy was Jesus' favorite book.

He quoted from Deuteronomy more than any other Old Testament book. And yet, I must confess to you, I've never really used Deuteronomy to fight the devil. But Jesus did.

I should, too. And Satan said to him, turn these stones into bread. And Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy and said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

In other words, Satan was saying, hey, separate the spiritual from the physical. I mean, live your physical life and separate it from your spiritual life. Jesus said, oh, no, I'd rather be hungry in the will of God than full out of the will of God.

But a man's got to live. Who said it? Whoever said a man had to live? What does it say in the Bible that a person has to live? We're better off dying in the will of God than living out of the will of God. And so Jesus just took the sword of the Spirit and used it on Satan.

Now, the devil says, OK, two can play at that game. So he quotes scripture. You notice that? He says it is written, I don't ever pit your Bible memory work against his.

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. Of course, the devil is such a shrewd one. He misquoted.

Psalm 91 says he should give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. When the child of God is in the will of God, he has the protection of God. But don't you tempt God.

And you know what Jesus did? The most important word in verse 7 is again. Jesus said to him, it is written again. You see, our Lord had said up here, man shall live by every word.

You know, if you just take verses out of their setting, you can prove anything. Every one of the false cults is based on scripture. Many of the messes that Christians have gotten into, they can find Bible verses to back it up.

You know why? They don't see all of the scripture. And my Lord says, again it is written, you've got to balance scripture with scripture. That's what separates the men from the boys.

An infant Christian doesn't know how to balance scripture with scripture. And so our Lord uses the sword once again. Then Satan says, well, let's go up and I'll show you all the kingdoms.

And he shows them all the kingdoms. Did you ever notice that geography is no guarantee of victory? In the wilderness, turn stones into bread. On top of the temple, jump off.

On a high mountain, getting closer to heaven, here's all the kingdoms. Geography has nothing to do with it. I have faced some of the worst temptations from Satan I've ever faced.

While sitting in my study, praying over and studying the word of God. And I've had some of the greatest victories in my life in areas where you'd think Satan was really in control. Geography has nothing to do with it.

It's the heart. Satan says, here are all the kingdoms. And once again, the sword comes out.

He quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 13, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. And Satan said, I didn't say anything about service. I just asked for worship.

And Jesus said, whatever you worship, you serve. You worship money, you'll serve money. You worship the devil, you'll serve the devil.

The indwelling spirit of God, the inspired word of God. Now, there's a third resource that we have, and I must hurry to a conclusion. Jesus didn't have this resource that we have.

He was making it possible. The interceding son of God. Do you know why Jesus was tempted, among other things, that he might know exactly what you're going through? He knows what we're going through.

When you're discouraged and Satan comes and says, hey, pull some kind of a trick. Why don't you take a shortcut? Why should you be crucified? You can come to him and say, Lord, do you ever feel like this? He says, yes, I felt like that. Don't get the idea that Satan finished all the temptations at that point and our Lord was never tempted again.

These three temptations cover each area of testing, but our Lord faced temptations all during his earthly life. He said to his disciples, you are those who have been with me in my temptations. I would better look quickly at a couple of verses in Hebrews, just to encourage us as we go our way.

Hebrews chapter two. Verses 16 through 18. For verily, he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

He came as a Jew. Wherefore, in all things, it behooved him to be made like his brethren. Why? That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation or propitiation for the sins of the people.

Now look at verse 18 for in that he himself has suffered being tempted. He is able to help those that are tempted. And you turn the page over to Hebrews chapter four.

How many times we've had to look at verses 15 and 16, for we have not in high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly, not timidly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. That little Greek construction in the time of need is an idiomatic expression in the nick of time to find grace to help in the nick of time.

You see, you want to store up your grace for next Thursday. Oh boy, next Thursday, I'm going through something. Don't store it up.

It won't be there. God gives you the grace when you need it. And so when we're tempted, we can come to the interceding son of God and we can say, Oh, the blessed Lord Jesus, you know what I'm going through.

You've been through this furnace. You've been through this battle. And he says, I know just how you feel and I know how much you can take.

And I'm going to give you the grace and the mercy that you need. And he will. These then, I think, are the essentials for victory over the devil.

Victory over the flesh and the world. That's something else. But when the devil comes and even uses the Bible to try to lead you astray, here's how we face him.

We realize our position in Christ, in the new creation, in the inheritance, in the kingdom. We recognize his tactics. He wants to break our fellowship with the Father and he does it through the word.

God doesn't love you. God won't care for you. God's asking too much of you.

And we must utilize the resources God gives to us. The indwelling spirit of God, the inspired word of God, the interceding son of God. In other words, if we fail, it's not God's fault.

If we fail, it's our own fault. We choose not to lay hold of all that God has for us. Which leads me to conclude with this brief but important word.

You don't get ready to fight the devil when he jumps at you. Always be prepared. We don't have time when that temptation comes to pause for three hours of prayer.

We don't have time to get out our concordance and find a verse. Every hour of the day, we are preparing for that time when he assaults us. He's waiting for that time.

He's watching for that time when we think we're the strongest. And then that battle comes. Which means be prepared.

Know the word of God. Put it in your heart. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.

Be yielded to the Holy Spirit and keep contact with your intercessor, your wonderful high priest in heaven. Then when Satan comes, with all of his diabolical subtleties, you won't be alone. You'll have the victory.

Gracious Father, we're thankful that in Jesus Christ, we already have victory. Forgive us when we have desired defeat. Forgive us when we have disgraced your name and denied you of glory.

Help us, Father, to grow in our discernment, to know when the old serpent is about to attack. May we so know our Bibles and be so filled with the Spirit and so prayed up that we'll recognize when he's working. Oh, Father, I pray that you'll help those of us who are a part of this Moody Church family to have victory over Satan.

Lord, if someone here tonight is defeated, help that one to claim victory in Christ. If someone here is unsaved, speak to that heart. May that one come to believe and be born into the family of God.

I pray in Jesus' name, amen.