Why am I talking about Jesus' temptation in the wilderness when I said I was going to teach on 'Putting on the Armor of God'? Because Paul's statement about the armor of God begins with Eph. 6:10--Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. If we are to be strong in the Lord, we need to find out how strong Jesus was while He was here on this earth. Then we have a focus point that tells us how we should be reacting during the things we face in this life.
One of the first things that we found out was that Jesus was more focused on doing His Father's will than He was paying attention to people's feelings or thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 tells us that God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Therefore, we need to pay more attention to His ways more than we do our own ways.
This was proven at Jesus' baptism. God Himself introduced Jesus to the people as His only begotten Son. Then He told Jesus to go into the wilderness to meet the devil before He started ministering. Jesus had some 4,000 year old business to take care of. He needed to set the devil straight and let him know that He was not here on earth to play.
Jesus spent forty days fasting in the wilderness. When Jesus was hungry, the devil came to him. Understand that the devil is not going to come to you when it's convenient for you. He's going to come when it's convenient for him and you're at your lowest.
When he finally showed himself to Jesus, satan suggested that Jesus turn some of the stones into bread. After being without food for forty days, Jesus wasn't worried about waiting another hour to get into town to get something to eat. In Matt. 4:4--NIV-- Jesus answered, "It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Here's what Jesus was saying. "Devil, I'm going to be running my life by EVERY Word that comes out of the mouth of God because whatever God says comes to pass." Jesus firmly believed that everything God said about His death, burial and resurrection was going to come to pass just like God said it would. And, I believe that Jesus told the devil in a firm tone of voice that told that deceiver that Jesus firmly believed what the Word of God said about him. And none of that was good. And the end result was a fiery death at the end of the world. I believe that Jesus took a lot of satisfaction in letting the devil know that from that day forward, the devil would no longer have free reign on the earth.
Listen up! Up to that point, the devil could do anything he wanted to. And he could do it to virtually anybody. When God's very presence entered Jesus, Jesus knew that He had the authority and power to stop the devil any time He wanted to. Throughout the New Testament, demons screamed when Jesus came around. Jesus constantly showed His power over demon forces by casting them out and setting mankind free. After His death and the day of Pentecost, Jesus passed on that duty to the blood-bought, Spirit filled believers who dare to be strong in Him.
In Matt. 4:5, the devil once again challenged Jesus by saying "if you are the Son of God." He will push you around by the same manner. Jesus knew He was the Son of God. He didn't need to turn stones into bread or jump off the temple to prove it. It was something He knew that he knew that he knew that he knew. We need to get our thinker running in the same vein. We need to KNOW that we are the blood-bought, Spirit-filled child of the Almighty God.
The devil dared Jesus to prove Himself by jumping off the highest point of the temple. Then he quoted the Word of God to Jesus, "For it is written, He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone."
I love Jesus' answer to him out of the KJV--Matt. 4:7--Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Jesus got right back in the devil's face and told him in no uncertain terms, "I am the Lord thy God. You were created by the Word of God, You exist by virtue of the Word of God, and your defeat and ultimate destruction has foretold by the Word of God, and I am the Word of God made flesh." Jesus knew Who He was and He knew what God had already spoken about the coming battle between the two of them. And He was not about to let His foe hear anything come out of His mouth but what thus saith the Lord. Jesus was tough with the devil.
The devil had the gall to take Jesus to a high mountain and tell Him, "Bow down to me and I'll give You all of these kingdoms." Jesus stood His ground and told the devil to leave him. But not without giving him this parting shot, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Jesus brought up the devil's evil past. The devil was created to worship God. But he rebelled and he was cursed.
How strong should we be? We should put God's Word and His Will first and foremost in our lives. Then, you may as well expect to be challenged by the devil. But, just like Jesus, know who you are and know what the Word of God says about you and your enemy. Then, stand against the enemy and wait on God to do what He said He would do.
Now, let's go on.
No comments:
Post a Comment