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YIELD NOT TO TEMPTATION
LORD’S DAY, APRIL 20
Luke 4:1-13

1 John 2:15-17

 

“Being forty days

tempted of the devil…”

 

YIELD NOT TO TEMPTATION
 
Satan tempted Jesus for 40 days and nights. During this time, Jesus fasted. This made Him all the more physically vulnerable to the devil’s temptations.
 
Why did Jesus have to go through this time of temptation or testing? It was because He had to earn the righteousness His people needed to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is part of His redemptive obedience. Just as Adam had to be tested in the Garden of Eden in order to secure life eternal through obedience, Christ as the greater Adam had to go through such a test to secure our salvation (Rom 5:12-21).
 
In the garden, Adam failed to obey God’s commandment by yielding to Satan’s threefold temptation (Gen 3:6; 1 John 2:16). The threefold temptation consists of (1) the lust of the flesh, (2) the lust of the eyes, and (3) the pride of life. Having been tempted by Satan, Eve partook of the fruit because it was (1) “good for food,” (lust of the flesh), (2) “pleasant to the eyes” (lust of the eyes), and (3) “to be desired to make one wise” (pride of life). By so disobeying God, Adam and Eve plunged themselves, and the whole human race, into the condemnation of sin.
 
But Jesus, in the desert, successfully resisted the same threefold temptation. He was tempted (1) to turn stones into bread (the lust of the flesh), (2) with the kingdoms of the world (lust of the eyes), and (3) to jump from the pinnacle of the temple (the pride of life). Jesus was victorious. He defeated Satan with the Word of God quoting (1) Deut 8:3, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God;” (2) Deut 6:13, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve;” and (3) Deut 6:16, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17). It is a very effective weapon against Satan’s fiery darts of temptation. Jesus conquered Satan. By perfectly resisting temptation and obeying the commands of God, Jesus secured “righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10:4). Therefore, we are not only saved by Jesus’ death; we are also “saved by his life” (Rom 5:10).
 
THOUGHT: “Flee also youthful lusts…” (2 Tim 2:22)
PRAYER: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matt 6:13)

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