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The NASB word translated “author” is better understood as “pioneer” or “forerunner” or even “leader” or “model”: He pioneered or modeled for us in His humanity how we are to live out our Christian life while in this realm of the Angelic Conflict. He relied on the Word of God and the Spirit of God in full orientation to their authority and power. He obeyed the plan of God for His life.

How He lived in His humanity is exactly how we are to live ours!

Are we willing to humble ourselves and bow down before the authority of God’s Word over our lives?

Colossians 3:12 (NASB) So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

Are you willing?

The Angelic Conflict 276 | P a g e

The Temptation of ChristThe direct attack of Satan in the wilderness on the Lord Jesus Christ

“He is now entering on the three years of public ministry, and He meets the foe of the race in the supreme conflict of all His testing, - supreme, that is, in the fact that evil now appears before Him in all its tremendous strength and naked horror in the personality of the devil. In all likelihood never had there been such an attack before, and certain it is that it never occurred again”

G. Campbell Morgan, The Crises of Christ

The three texts:

Matthew 4:1-11Mark 1:12-13Luke 4:1-13

The text of Matthew compared with Luke

The account of the Temptation of Christ follows a different order in Matthew 4 than in Luke 4The second temptation in Matthew is the third in Luke. The second temptation in Luke is the third in Matthew.

Were they confused? Is there a proper way to understand and explain this difference between the two narratives? Often critics of the Bible will point out things like this to say that there are contradictions in the Bible and, therefore, it cannot be neither divinely inspired nor absolute Truth. Such statements are simplistic and totally misunderstand the purpose of the four Gospels. As a believer it is important that you know such things as we are about to discuss so that you will not be sidetracked and so that you can defend the veracity of Scripture.

John 21:25

Two Keys

(1) This basic and simple to understand verse is one of two keys to a correct answer to the issue of differences in the Gospel narratives.

• Here is key one: All that He said and did was not written down – only some things were

The disciples were guided by the Holy Spirit in remembering all that Jesus said and did – John 14:25-26. But to help us visualize this, let’s use an illustration.


Imagine, if you will, a scroll on which everything that Jesus said and did was written. Now, there is no such scroll, but let’s just imagine that there is for the sake of understanding the Gospel narratives and the reason for the differences.

When looking at all that Jesus said and did, the Gospel writers – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21) – each writer selected certain things to include in his writing.

In reference to the life of the Messiah, The Gospel writers were selective not exhaustive: they do not contradict, they supplement each other. With each Gospel we learn more about the life and teachings of Jesus the Messiah.

Each Gospel writer has a specific theme he develops


All that Jesus said

and did

Some of

what Jesus said and did

If each event or teaching of Jesus were sequenced into individual things, it would look like this:

Based on the writers theme, each one was selective as to what they would include as well as in what sequence they would place the events.

The basis of selection was their particular theme as to what they chose to use or not to use. Each writer put some things in the narrative that helped with his theme. The events selected and the order in which they are presented are influenced by the writer’s theme.

The writers selected different things in the life of the Messiah out of the total of all He said and did in order to develop his theme

• Matthew: A , C• Mark: B, C• Luke: A, B, C• 92% of the material in John is not previously recorded

Arnold Fruchtenbaum, in his course on the Life of the Messiah, gives us this to clarify:

“Each gospel writer had a theme as to what he wanted to develop. So Matthew had a particular theme he wanted to develop and he looks (all the events and at) point A, and this will help him to develop his theme, so he uses it. Then he looks at point B, but this point does not help him with his theme so he skips it. He then looks at point C and decides to use this point to develop his theme. Then Mark comes along with his theme for his book and he looks at point A, and it is not beneficial to put forth his theme. So where this was helpful to Matthew, it is not helpful for Mark. Then we go to point B, which was of no benefit to Matthew, is beneficial to Mark and his theme, so he pulls it out and uses it in his gospel. Then we look at point C, this was beneficial to Matthew and it is beneficial to Mark, so they both use point C in

their gospel. Now we see that Matthew and Mark may use the same point, but what will be different, is their theme, and the way they use it, and write about it will be a little different from each other because they are looking at that point from the prospective of their individual theme”

• Mark only records that it occurred


Some of

what Jesus said and did:

A/B/C /D, etc.

• Matthew and Luke record that it occurred and what occurred with each of three temptations

• Matthew and Mark record that after the temptation the angels ministered to Him; Luke does not

• Matthew and Luke record what occurred but in a different order for temptations 2 & 3

The order of the temptations in Matthew better fit his theme. He was not writing a strict sequential history although all he wrote was historical truth The kingship of Jesus is his theme so the greatest of all the temptations involves His kingship not only over Israel but also over the world the third listed temptation by Matthew.

The same point could be made if I was going to write a narrative about how the Spirit of God and the Word of God transform people. Since that would be my theme, I would not be writing a strict biography and would be free to mention some things and leave other things out. I also would not be bound to place things in sequential order unless I said I was going to do this.

The Themes of the Gospels

• MATTHEW: Jesus the Messiah the King of the Jews: written for Jews. His book contains more Old Testament references than any other Gospel. Jesus’ royalty and His relationship to the promised Messianic Kingdom are emphasized. It tells believers about how to follow Christ; it tells Jews (both believers and unbelievers) why the Messianic Kingdom did not appear even though the long-promised Messiah did.

• MARK: Jesus the Messiah the Servant of Jehovah: written for Romans (he probably wrote the book while in Rome). By emphasizing servant leadership he helps believers become disciples. Mark explains Jewish customs and words, and even a little geography of Jerusalem (13:13), for his Gentile audience.

• LUKE: Jesus the Messiah the Son of Man (humanity): written for Greeks. He writes to strengthen the faith of a Greek believer. The victory of the Son of God over both Jewish and satanic opposition is emphasized thus encouraging believers in their own discipleship.

• JOHN: Jesus the Messiah the Son of God (deity): written to the church at large. Of the four Gospel narratives, John is the only Gospel with a specific evangelistic purpose – John 20:30-31. Throughout John the key word is “believe”: be convinced that this is true. His emphasis is on the eternal life that is freely given to all who will believe in Jesus alone for that life.


Is there a way to know the sequence of certain selected events in the Life of the Messiah?

Absolutely yes! This is found in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 1:3-4 “to write it out for you in consecutive order”: Luke is the one which gives the exact order of events – but this also is not a complete history. He also selected which events and teachings to include but they are in the correct order.

For example: he could select teachings and events B-C-E-F-H-J-K-N, etc. keeping those he selected in the correct sequence.

Another example: THE GOSPEL OF JOHN does not record the temptation because his theme is the deity of Christ and God cannot be tempted.

In this study of the temptation of Christ we will follow Matthew since the sequence does not matter to this study.

The Background to the Temptation

Back before the creation of mankind, Satan rebelled against God because he wanted all the glory and worship that belonged to God alone

• Isaiah 14:14b “I will make myself like the Most High”

In the temptation of Christ he will attempt to demonstrate that Jesus is unworthy to rule as King of kings; he wants to rule God’s creation and have all that God has.

• Remember: in human history Satan has done both direct and indirect attacks

• When Christ entered into human history Satan attacked both directly and indirectly

• The Temptation of Christ is a direct attack because Satan himself confronts the Lord Jesus Christ

The Temptation Demonstrates Four Things

1. The sufficiency of God’s Word

2. The sufficiency of God’s grace


Some of what Jesus said and did in the order in which they occurred

3. The sufficiency of God’s Holy Spirit

4. The sufficiency and perfection of God’s grace plan for the believer’s life. A plan which is complete, true, trustworthy, right, and best.

These are the things Satan will attack

The Temptation was in the Plan of God

• Matthew 4:1 (NASB) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

• Mark 1:12 (NASB) Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness.

• Luke 4:1 (NASB) Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness

This was in the perfect plan of God the Father for Jesus in His humanity. Going into the Wilderness was not on His own initiative but He went into the time of testing with perfect submission to the authority of the Father. This demonstrates genuine humility!

THE TEST

• Would the Messiah and King of Israel prove himself able to win in battle with the enemy

• “to be tempted by the devil”: to have His spiritual life tested or examined

• Examined to see if Jesus could be enticed to disobedience

• Examined to demonstrate He is worthy to be the King of kings

God’s Purpose vs. Satan’s Purpose

The wilderness temptation was in the plan of God to demonstrate several things. Satan, however, had a different agenda. Here are some comparisons that can be made:

• The purpose of God the Father was to show the sinlessness of the Son

• Satan’s purpose was to get Him to sin

• The Father’s purpose was to demonstrate the Son’s authority orientation to the plan of God


• Satan’s purpose was to get Him to act independent of the plan of God

• The Father’s purpose was to demonstrate that man can live the spiritual life successfully by using only the tools provided the all believers: the Word of God and the Spirit of God

• Satan’s purpose was to demonstrate that God in His grace has not provided enough

Satan’s goal:

Would Jesus rely upon His divine powers to solve the problems presented to Him by Satan?If Jesus did it would prove that what God had provided to human beings was insufficient and that they were not worthy to rule over the universe including the angels Satan could then lay claim to victory in the Angelic Conflict.

One compromise of the human nature of Jesus Christ to the spiritual life and there would not be any spiritual life in the Church-age. To resist temptation, the human nature of Jesus Christ must not call on the divine nature for help.

The Totality of the Temptation

1 John 2:15-16

• All temptation to human beings comes through one of these three “points of attack.”

1. The lust of the flesh, 2. The lust of the eyes, 3. The pride of life.

In the Scriptures the word “lust” means “strong desires.” The desires in and of themselves are not necessarily wrong; it is the manner in which the desire is satisfied that makes it wrong. The old sin nature always wants to have the desires satisfied in a manner contrary to the will of God as revealed in the Word of God.


The temptation of Christ came in all three of these areas. Because of this the book of Hebrews gives us this:

Hebrews 4:15 (NASB) For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

This does not mean that He was tempted with every possible temptation. It does mean He faced every possible type of temptation – those within the three broad categories. Because of this temptation ion His humanity He is the one to whom we can turn when we face temptations coming from these three points of attack.

I ever been tempted to turn rocks into bread – beside, Satan know I can’t even if I wanted to! So I am not tempted by the exact same things Jesus was tempted with nor was He tempted with the exact same things I would be tempted with – but we both are tempted in the same three broad categories which cover all temptations to human beings.

The Pattern of Satan’s Temptations

The attack in Genesis on Eve reveals the exact same three “points of attack.”


ALLTEMPTATIO

N

EYES

PRIDEFLESH

Compare 1 John 2:16 & Genesis 3:1-6

• Lust of the flesh: “good for food”

• Lust of the eyes: “a delight to the eyes”

• Pride of life: “desirable to make one wise”

Now let’s compare the temptation of Christ with these same three points of attack and we’ll see they are the same:

Compare 1 John 2:16 & Matthew 4:1-11

• Lust of the flesh: v.3 “command that these stones become bread”

• Lust of the eyes: in a vision v.8 “showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory”

• Pride of life: v.5-6 “throw yourself down” show everybody in a dramatic way who you are

Jesus was not tempted to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but the points of attack as identical.

Another Key Point: Jesus had no Sin Nature Hebrews 4:15

2 Corinthians 5:21

John 8:46 (NASB) "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?

Jesus was sinless; He had no sin nature inside to respond to sin. Nevertheless, the temptation was just as real.

The word “temptation” (#3985)

• The word means to “try,” “to test,” or to “make a proof of.” Even “to find out if something is really so.”

• When God tests someone it is never to cause them to sin; it is to make a proof of their faith for the purpose of spiritual improvement and advancement

James 1:2-4 – testing for spiritual improvement and advancement


Genesis 22:1, 12

Deuteronomy 8:2

James 1:13-15

• Temptation from satanic cosmic system: the enticement to think or act contrary to the Word, the character, and the will of God (evil)

• Temptation is not a sin – v.14: believers have a sin nature that wants to respond but does not have to because of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16)

• V.15: the response to temptation that leads to sin – sin is not forced on the unwilling!

The OSN is the traitor within that desires to respond to the temptation to sin – but as a believer we have a real choice and cannot claim to be victims!

The Temptation of Jesus as the “Last Adam”

The lack of the sin nature in Jesus did not make the temptation any less severe. Adam did not have a sin nature and yet he chose to sin Jesus as the last Adam did not fall into sin.

NOTE: Jesus did not sin but He also could not sin because He was also God (doctrine of the impeccability of Christ)

The Temptation Demonstrates Jesus to be our Sinless Substitute

The temptation also demonstrated that as the sinless One He was able to die in our place, as our spiritual substitute, and thus to be able to offer to all mankind the free gift of eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:21: “Who knew no sin”: He never committed any sin – mental attitude sins, sins of the tongue, or behavioral sins.

By the means of this wilderness rest it is discovered at the very beginning of Christ’s ministry that He was the Sinless One. His perfect righteousness can be imputed to us the moment we believe in Jesus alone for eternal life

See 1 Corinthians 5:19 & 1 John 2:2 & Rev. 20:15

The Temptation and the Believer

Galatians 5:16-17 – These are the key points

• We do not have to sin

• We do have a traitor within that wants to sin


• We have to stay in fellowship in order not to sin

• We have to grow in spiritual maturity to have the sin nature become less dominate - that we make the right choices

Jesus as a Representative in the Temptation The temptation of Jesus must be seen in its full light in order to grasp the significance of this event. Jesus was a representative in three distinct areas and each impacts our understanding of the event. In the temptation, Jesus was a representative:

1. Of the nation of Israel

2. Of mankind in general

3. Of the believer

A.C. Gaebelein: “He was tempted means He was tested as to His ability to do that for which he had come.” (Matthew, p.83)

Of the nation of Israel

Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his course on “The Life of the Messiah from a Jewish Perspective” gives us the following:

• As a representative role with Israel it is to show where Israel failed

1. In both cases the term Son of God is used. Israel is the Son of God according to Exodus. 4:22-23. Here Yeshua is constantly referred to as the Son of God (Matthew 4:3, 6 and Luke 4:3, 9).

2. Both testings took place in the wilderness. According to I Corinthians 10:1-13, Israel's experience in the wilderness was a time of testing. Now Yeshua is in the wilderness experiencing a time of testing.

1. The third representative comparison has to do with the number 40. For Israel, there was 40 years; for Yeshua it was 40 days. The number 40 is prominent in both cases

4. The fourth way we see the representative role is in the presence of the Holy Spirit. According to Isaiah 63, three times it is said between verses 7-14 that the Spirit was present with Israel in the wilderness. The first verse of all three gospel accounts show the presence of the Holy Spirit with Yeshua.

5. The fifth representative role is when we see that when Yeshua quotes scripture, which He does three times, all of His quotes come from one book of the Bible, the book of Deuteronomy (8:3; 6:16; 6:13). The book of Deuteronomy is God's covenantal book with Israel.


Of mankind in general

To recover for man the right to rule as the Man who passed the test in confrontation with Satan. Mankind lost the right to rule in a direct confrontation with Satan and Jesus as a Man recovered that right in a direct confrontation with Satan.

• Hebrews 2:5-9

Joseph Dillow in The Reign of the Servant Kings:

“God intends to humble the proud and independent in a unique way. He intends that the lower creature, man (created lower than the angels and hence lower than Satan), should achieve the highest position (“all things in subjection under his feet” Heb. 2:8). Thus, the lower creature could achieve by dependence upon God a higher position than the higher creature, Satan, achieved through independence. For “it is not to angels that He has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking” (Heb. 2:5). Out of the least, God will bring the greatest. It was as MAN that the Savior defeated the enemy. It was as MAN that He silenced the principalities and powers. It will be as MAN that He will reign over the future kingdom of God upon this earth.” (p.p. 3-4)

Through Christ mankind has once again achieved the right to rule over God’s creation

The representative role and the believerHebrews 4:15: As a man He withstood every type of temptation and was victorious

Hebrews 12:1-2: He, as the completer of our faith, demonstrated the spiritual life for us. This was specifically demonstrated at the wilderness temptation. By relying only upon the Holy Spirit and using the Word of God He was totally victorious – as can we.

Galatians 5:16: Jesus maintained the filling of the Spirit perfectly – as long as we maintain the filling we also will not sin. Jesus demonstrated this in the wilderness temptation.

Remember what was stated before: One compromise of the human nature of Jesus Christ to the spiritual life and there would not be any spiritual life in the Church-age. To resist temptation, the human nature of Jesus Christ must not call on the divine nature for help.

G. Campbell Morgan, in The Crises of Christ, writes: “Not in His Deity did He resist, but in His perfect Manhood. Manhood is however never able to successfully resist temptations of the devil save when fulfilling a first Divine intention, that, namely, of depending upon God, and thus being guided by the Spirit of God” (p. 160)


The Test

Jesus was examined to see if:

• The Word of God was sufficient

• The grace of God was sufficient

• The plan of God was sufficient

• The Spirit of God was sufficient

EVEN WHEN UNDER THE DIRECT ASSAULT OF SATAN

In the Temptation there were three recorded tests. These tests were to demonstrate the sufficiency of all four points. But Jesus first undergoes physical deprivation increasing His human weakness.

The point to remember is this: even at His weakest point physically and emotionally Jesus applied the spiritual principles available to all believers.

Satan’s goal in the temptation

While the deity of Christ was united to a perfect true humanity, He was still subject to distress, weakness, pain, sorrow, limitation, and to more temptations than we will ever face

Satan’s goal was to get Jesus to fail to follow the plan and will of God the Father

John 17:4 Jesus never failed!

The mindset of Jesus compared to the mindset of Satan:

Remember Hebrews 2:6-10 - Jesus as a man achieves by submission to authority all of what Satan tried to take by force

• Jesus is humble; Satan is arrogant• Jesus is submissive; Satan is rebellious• Jesus is obedient; Satan is disobedient• Jesus is dependent; Satan is independent• Jesus glorifies the Father; Satan self-glorifies


1 Peter 1:2-4

Grace and peace are “multiplied” not added! An overabundance sufficient for every need in handling the many details of life! No matter the “stress” or pressure the situation does not have to become mental and emotional “distress” and we do not have to give in to the desires of our sin nature or the “normal” response of our sin nature.

How do you tend to respond to the pressures of life? Isn’t it time to learn a better way?

The Divine Viewpoint as seen in 1 Peter 1:2-4:

• Knowledge (epignosis): Bible Doctrine believed and applied by an exercise of our will – a clear and exact knowledge that makes a difference in (powerfully influences)our thinking and living

• Power (dunamis): the Holy Spirit provides the power for the spiritual life to the in-fellowship believer – He makes you capable of experiencing the Word as a factual reality in your life

• When we struggle in applying these things we pray for help (Heb. 4:16)

The two tools for the spiritual life of the church age believer – your spiritual assets – these are the rich treasure our loving heavenly Father has freely given to us (1:4) to provide the abundant life He desires for us in time and a full reward in eternity – when we turn to human viewpoint thinking (the thinking of the world) to solve problems in the details of life we are trading trash for treasure.

Our Rich Treasure:

• Christ is in you – John 14:20; Colossians 1:27

• The Holy Spirit is in you fully – John 14:17; Romans 8:9 and is your power – Ephesians 3:16

• He has given everything pertaining to life and godliness – 2 Peter 1:3; Galatians 5:16-17

• His grace is sufficient for every situation – 2 Corinthians 12:9

• His Word gives us all the renewing and transformation we need – Romans 12:2

But we have to choose to utilize our divine assets (resources). Your mind is the control center for your thoughts, feelings, attitudes, decisions, and actions. That is why the learning of Bible Doctrine is the most important thing – we do not need to trade our treasure for the trash of human viewpoint!


Trading Trash for Treasure

Meet Langley Collyer from a photo taken in 1946.

He and his brother Homer were sons of a wealthy and highly respected medical doctor in New York’s Harlem area. They both graduated from Columbia University.

One source I found said this: “Homer, who graduated with the class of 1904, earned an MA, LLB and LLM and practiced admiralty law. Langley took his degree in chemistry and mechanical engineering. He never worked for a living, devoting himself to music.”

When the father died the sons inherited the home and estate which gave them abundant financial security for life. The picture on the right is from 1947 when the police entered their home. The brothers, however, never lived in the lifestyle their wealth (their treasure) gave to them

They instead lived in total seclusion, all the utilities were shut off, and the doors and windows closed off, blocked, and locked.

In March 1947 the police were told someone in the home had died, so it was raided. Because the lower doors and windows were blocked, the police entered through the second story windows.

A little of what they found inside. They lived in total deprivation hording trash while they never utilized the treasures – the abundant resources that was theirs for the using. They wasted what their father had given and turned to trash.


This is exactly what believers do when they turn from the treasures of the Word (divine viewpoint) and the Holy Spirit (the power) and go to the trash of the world, human viewpoint, and the desires of the sin nature. The world, the flesh, and the devil make the trash of the world look so fun and nice.

It always looks inviting but it is still trash!

As a reminder once again, in the wilderness test the Lord Jesus Christ was examined to prove:

• The Word of God was sufficient• The Grace of God was sufficient• The Plan of God was sufficient• The Spirit of God was sufficient

WOULD JESUS OPERATE UNDER THESE FOUR EVEN WHEN WEAK, IN TERRIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES, AND UNDER THE DIRECT ASSAULT OF SATAN? If so, then so can we if we operate in the sufficiency of the above four truths.

Matthew 4:1-2

To demonstrate the sufficiency of all four, Jesus - in the wilderness - first undergoes physical deprivation thus increasing His human weakness

• Point: even at His weakest point physically and emotionally Jesus applied the spiritual principles available to all believers

• Point: The wilderness testing shows that success in the spiritual life is not dependent upon circumstances in the environment.

Believer’s can believe wrong things in the middle of testing because we can think that “under the circumstances” we cannot follow the mandates of Scripture. The temptation shows us that we can.

Jesus in the temptation

• Maintained the filling of the Holy Spirit

• Correctly quoted Scripture: Psalms 119:11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

• Correctly applied Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

NOTE: in His humanity He had studied and learned the Bible from His earliest days


Some wrong things Christians can think in trials and temptations:

Wrong: God is not good to me because He has not given me that which is best (in my estimation)Right: What God has given me is best for me though I may not understand it

Wrong: God is not able to take care of me (or he is not taking care of me)Right: God is with me; therefore I do not have to be afraid

Wrong: God is not able to meet my needsRight: God will meet my needs (in His time and His way) – but not our greeds

Into the Judean Wilderness

This is a modern-day photograph of the general area into which Christ went after His baptism. It is a very desolate area.

In this event Satan was trying to entice Jesus to disobedience to the Father: His resources and His plan

Jesus’ spiritual life was being examined to demonstrate to both angels (elect and fallen) and man that (1) God’s resources and plan is right, good, and sufficient and (2) that Jesus was qualified to do the work he had come to do.

The major temptation in all three tests of Jesus was to do God's will the devil's way.

Matthew 4:3, 6 the “if” clause – a short lesson in Greek grammar

The “if” is here in this text is a first class condition in Greek.

There are 4 classes of conditional sentences:

1. “I assume this to be true” – something is assumed true from the standpoint of the speaker "The first class condition indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. The normal idea, then, is if--and let us assume that this is true for the sake of argument--then...." (Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 690).

To use the word, in this case, with the word “since” – “since we know this to be true” – is a good handling, but this is not always the best manner of translation. One could assume something to be true and it is not (Romans 8:17 is an example) even though for the sake of argument it is assumed to be true.


Satan is saying: “If you are the Son of God” (deity), “and we know you are, then act like God and use your miraculous powers to make these stones turn into food for you – don’t they look good for food?”

• The lust of the eyes matching Genesis 3:6 a

• Satan knew that Jesus was fully God and had the power to make this happen

2. Second class condition: The Condition of Assumed Unreality

"The second class condition indicates the assumption of an untruth (for the sake of argument). For this reason it is appropriately called the "contrary to fact" condition (or the unreal condition). It might be better to call it presumed contrary to fact, however, since sometimes it presents a condition that is true, even though the speaker assumes it to be untrue (e.g., Luke 7:39). --Wallace, p. 694.

Under this condition, Satan would be saying, “If you are the Son of God, and I presume you are not, then turn these stones into bread”

The temptation was not for Jesus to demonstrate His deity – to prove who he was as Satan knew exactly who He was because he had known him before the worlds were created as we discovered much earlier in this study (Job 38:7).

3. Third class condition: The Condition of Assumed Probability

"The third class condition often presents the condition as uncertain of fulfillment, but still likely. There are, however, many exceptions to this...The third class condition encompasses a broad range of potentialities in Koine Greek. It depicts what is likely to occur in the future, what could possibly occur, or even what is only hypothetical and will not occur" (Wallace, p. 696).

“If you are the Son of God, and we do not know if you are or not – maybe you are and maybe you’re not.” Once again, Satan is not saying “Do this to convince me who you really are.”

4. Fourth class condition: The Condition of Assumed Possibility

"The fourth class condition indicates a possible condition in the future, usually a remote possibility...There are no complete fourth class conditions in the NT" (Wallace, p. 699).

“If it is true, and we really know it is very unlikely….”

4.3: There is nothing wrong with being hungry! Who created us with the need for food? The sense of hunger was created by God.

It is God’s will for all human beings to eat food (Genesis 1:29) including Jesus. However, it was not the Father’s will that the Son do the Father’s will (to satisfy hunger) in Satan’s way – hunger was not the real issue – it took spiritual insight to know this (Colossians 3:1-2)


How many of us satisfy physical needs and desires as our priority in life rather than the Lord and His Word?

To turn stones into bread would require Jesus to act in His deity to solve a human problem and thus to demonstrate that God’s grace was insufficient for humanity – and us today

V.4 the quote from Jesus: The background - Exodus 16:1-4 / the quote is Deuteronomy 8:2-3

Do we know that no matter the physical or situational circumstances in which we find ourselves that His grace is sufficient? Exodus 16:3: the Jews only remembered the “good times” and forgot the conditions under which they lived. You can almost see and hear them licking their lips! They forgot they had cried out to the Lord for deliverance because the slavery was so painful and troubling. They did not think that what God had given them – even in a time of trouble – was sufficient. They forgot that the Lord the One who had brought them out of Egypt, with a powerful display of his might, had led them to this place of need and crises. They wanted to solve the problem by using human viewpoint.

One of the great dangers for the believer is when we face trials and temptations is to remember the good, the fun, the excitement, the peace, the ‘whatever’ of the times we lived in our sin nature and forget the resulting negative consequences in time and eternity.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3

The Israelites were tested as to their loyalty and trust in the Lord. They failed miserably.

Deuteronomy is Moses’ final sermon to Israel – he is speaking to the 2nd generation since leaving Egypt. They are about to go into the Promised Land. The only ones from the Exodus generation to go into the Promised Land are Joshua and Caleb.

The Lord tried to teach the Jews in the Wilderness to rely on the Lord for all their physical needs and to put their focus on the spiritual realities involved. As we saw, He gave them manna yet later on they thought it insufficient and they wanted more. Over and over again we see this in the nation of Israel.

It is the picture of the arrogant, self-focused believer who is more concerned with the temporal things of life than the spiritual.

Will we remain loyal to the will of God and express trust in Him to solve the problems we face? Will we turn to human viewpoint? Will we know that the Lord is testing so that we learn and advance in the faith for our good and His glory?

Let’s look quickly at some situations where people did:

• 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 – physical (no healing)


• Job 1:13-22/ 2:6-10 – physical & situational (ultimate healing and restoration)• Psalm 57 – situational• Daniel 3:8-28 – situational

The God in whom all these trusted is YOUR GOD and he has not changed. “Will you trust Me? Will you rest (mentally and emotionally) and know that my grace is sufficient?”

Numbers 17:1-7

This is the first “no water” test of Israel in the wilderness. God’s will was to bring them to a place where if He did not act they would die – it was a divine lesson of trust in Him – which they failed. Moses did act in the way God commanded.

17:5: The people of Israel were characterized as those who murmured and complained – whiners not “trusters.” (see also Numbers 14:2; 27-36; 16:41; Deuteronomy 1:27).

Lessons so far

1. Feelings, desires, perceived needs, and experiences are not the throne of authority in your life

2. The spiritual is more important than the material

3. Eternity is more important than time

4. We have to solve problems God’s way (divine viewpoint) not our way (human viewpoint) no matter how serious is the situation in our opinion

5. The real issue in life is letting God solve your problems through dependence on the Word of God

6. Eternity is more important than time

7. God’s will is more important than any human desire or need

8. His grace is sufficient – He has given you enough

9. Jesus handled every temptation by quoting the Word of God – if it is not memorized how can it be pulled out and used?

Consider this verse: James 3:15 (NASB) This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

To solve problems outside of the Word of God is demonic influence, demonic thinking.


The Second Wilderness Temptation

Matthew 4:5-7

Remember: 1 John 2:15-16 (NASB) 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The first temptation – turn stones into bread – was to the lust of the flesh; an attack in the physical realm. Would Jesus trust in the Father even though He was starving and had the power to solve His own problem independent of the Word of God?

The second temptation was to the pride of life – and it was an attack in the spiritual realm. Would Jesus trust in the Father’s plan even though it meant suffering? Even though it meant delay in receiving the promises of the Father?

Remember this verse as we study the temptation of Christ:

Ephesians 6:11 (NASB) Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes [methodeias] of the devil.

In the temptation of Christ we discover the basic method (schemes, strategies, tricks, craftiness) of Satan against every believer

Matthew 4:5 (NASB) Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple


The Southeast corner of the Temple Mount walls is most likely what is being referred to as the “pinnacle” of the Temple. From this point one looked directly down into the Kidron Valley some 450 feet below.

The Jewish historian Josephus, writing in the first century, says of this SE corner, “anyone looking down would be giddy, while his sight could not reach to such an immense depth.” (quoted in The Crises of Christ, p. 178)

Below is a model of ancient Jerusalem from the time of Christ:

Why did Satan take Jesus to Jerusalem? Jerusalem: the one city on planet earth that God called his own:

Psalms 48:1-2 (NASB) 1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain. 2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King.

Mt Zion = Jerusalem: it is referred to in other places as “the holy city” - Jerusalem is central to all of God’s plans for planet earth.

• Here Abraham had taken Isaac and God had provided a ram for sacrifice • King David had taken the city in battle• Here King David brought the tabernacle and the ark to the city• Here he bought the property that would later hold the Temple• It was the capital city of Israel for generations • Here his son Solomon built the Temple


pinnacle

Kidron valley

• Here the Jews came to worship year after year• Prophecy states that Jerusalem will be the capital of the world during the coming Messianic

Kingdom (Isaiah 60:1-22; Zechariah 14:1-20) • Jerusalem was special to every Jew but especially to the God-man Jesus

Satan brought to Jerusalem, the heart of the nation and to the Temple, the heart of Jerusalem2 Chronicles 3:1; 5:1

Here the Ark of the Covenant was placed2 Chronicles 5:2-8

Here the Shekinah Glory was manifested (a visible manifestation of God) 2 Chronicles 7:1-3

John 1:14

Messiah Jesus, the God-man, was the appearance of the Shekinah Glory in a new formEvery time Jesus walked on the Temple Mount the Shekinah Glory was presentJesus fulfilled the prophecy of Haggai 2:9:

Haggai 2:9 (NASB) 'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the Lord of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the Lord of hosts."

How special was the city and the Temple to the Lord! Even though the Temple He was at – the Second Temple which had been built under Zerubbabel and remodel and enlarged by Herod the Great – never had the manifestation of the Shekinah Glory as had the First Temple, this manifestation of the Glory of God was even greater.

The Temple Temptation

Satan loves to take the things of God and use them to his advantage. Satan loves religion and religious places. (He does not like biblical truth!). It is to this awe-inspiring place that Satan took Jesus. What is he doing? He is just setting the scene to try to make Jesus more vulnerable to his attack.

He still likes to use religious looking and sounding things to turn people away from truth. Yet, all of Satan’s religions are works-based and focus on a person qualifying, in one way or another, for heaven (or whatever they choose to call the afterlife). Only Bible based Christianity is grace-focused.

Man’s religion says “do”; Bible Truth says “done.”

Matthew 4:6: “If, and we know you are..”

Satan quotes the Scripture – since he had been defeated by the quoting of Jesus, he does it also. “It is written”!!??? The quote is from Psalm 91:11-12. What is missing from his quote?


Just because someone says “It is written” does not mean it is being handled correctly and accurately (2 Tim. 2:15)! Just because someone says “It is written” does not mean it is being handled correctly and accurately (2 Tim. 2:15)

What is missing? “to guard you in all your ways.” Do not miss this, beloved: the text DOES NOT MEAN “GUARD YOU WHILE YOU DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AND DO IT YOUR WAY”: see vv.1-2! If we dwell in his “shadow” – Bible Doctrine + fellowship – then He will be our “refuge” (2, 9) – and thus He will guard all our ways; when all of our ways are His ways then He is our guard. Satan did not want Jesus to live in and apply Bible Doctrine – he wanted Jesus to be independent from it and that is why he left it out.

A TEXT WITHOUT A PROPER CONTEXT IS A PRETEXT!

Satan is misquoting and mishandling the Scriptures = He misuses them by taking them out of context. This is the exact way false teachers operate – every cult and perversion of the Bible has people quoting the Bible: “It’s in the Bible,” they say. Maybe it is, but so was what Satan quoted – that did not make it correct and applicable to this situation.

The context is about Israel in the wilderness – the “you” refers to the Jews, not to the Messiah.

Psalm 91: 9-10: the sufficiency of God for handling any situation – that is what God is communicating to the Jews of the Wilderness generation

Vv.11-13 These are the promises of His protection for the Jews while they are in the wilderness journeying. These are not blanket promises to everybody nor do they apply to the Messiah. While it is good and right to claim the promises of God be sure to study the context of the promise and make sure it does apply to you a church-age believer. Also consider any requirements for the promise to be fulfilled – such as walking in obedience to God. Every promise in the book is not yours! The mishandling of the Scriptures without the proper application of the rules of interpretation gives rise to misinterpretation of the Scriptures and misinterpretation means misapplication of the Scriptures. One of the worst practices of many TV preachers, especially those from Charismatic circles, is this exact issue. They will take Old Testament teachings and promises to the nation of Israel and attempt to apply them to the church age believer.

v.6: “throw yourself down”: Behind what Satan is saying to Jesus there seems to be ideas like these: “O.K., you say you trust God the Father so much that you will not turn stones to bread. Show me how much you really trust Him. Here are two promises from the Scripture – name and claim it! God will have to respond; just have faith! Do something dramatic! Get everybody’s attention! Show them who you are! They’ll love you! God has promised – this is His will!” NAME IT AND CLAIM IT IS THE SIN OF PRESUMPTION! The sin of presumption imposes my will onto God’s will – “If I do this, if I display enough trust and faith then God has to do what I want”“I know what is best for me”

WITH THIS GOES ANOTHER IDEA: You’ve got to reach out to their preconceived (felt) needs – they need a dramatic social savior: you’re the man, Jesus! You have to meet their physical needs


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