Temptation and wilderness experience

Sermon by Dibin Sam
The preacher spoke about the temptation and wilderness experience that Jesus faced after His baptism (Matthew 3 and 4) and before His public ministry (Matthew 5). He said that if we have a ministry to fulfil in God’s kingdom, we’ll be tested and tempted.

God said to Jesus that you are my son and then led Him into wilderness. When we go through testing, let us be assured that the same happened with Jesus. It’s a good reminder that if we have heard God’s voice, we too will have this experience as a proof of God’s loves for us. 

Jesus defeated the devil at the cross publicly and during the temptation, He defeated the evil one personally. Both Old Testament (OT) and Matthew begin similarly: We see God and then the devil enters.

The following are the other similarities in both the books:

• Temptation to eat something.
• Identity as sons/the sonship was clearly established and then challenged.
• The devil wanted them to disobey God.
• The protagonists were lured in becoming like God/owning everything. 
• Angels arrived at the scene. In OT, angels came after the sin and in Matthew, angels came after the temptation.

When to expect a spiritual attack

• When you have an incredible spiritual experience/are closely walking with God: The heavens opened at the baptism of Jesus and He was anointed. We take baptism and believe that nothing can touch us. But subsequently we realize we are weak and backslide and there are more intense spiritual attacks. We need to be alert at such junctures in our life.
• Expect the temptor to come when you are at the lowest point of your life: When we fast all day, we will know how tempted we are with the slightest smell of food. The devil uses our weakness to attack.
• When you desire to obey and follow: When you want to heal people, go out, and proclaim the kingdom, you can expect an attack. 

When no one watches, there is a private battle where we have to overcome temptations; these set the tone for our public battle. We need to heed our battles with money, pride, and so on. All of God’s people in the Bible had their spiritual battles and temptations and even God’s beloved child Israel faced 40 years of wilderness.

The preacher shared his experience of the mission in Bellary. The pastor of the church uprooted himself and his entire family from their city and moved to Bellary without any savings. Despite the extreme climate and other challenges, the pastor and his wife were actively serving. Within 6 months of starting ministry, there was back-to-back defeat in the pastor’s personal life. His wife’s existing tumour worsened and proved fatal, plunging the pastor and the children into depression. Despite these trials, the pastor refused to take a break from serving God and said there’s no turning back. He’s still continues and God is healing and comforting him and the family. Today, the church at Bellary and the ministry is growing.

We have three levels of temptation: Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life (1 John 2:16). The preacher also described in detail the three temptations that Jesus faced and what we can learn from Christ’s experience and the way He dealt with these temptations.

First temptation (Matthew 4:3-4)

The devil’s words may often seem like he cares for us (he talked about the bread when Jesus was extremely famished); he may even sound insightful and beneficial. The tempter works at the level of our wants, the lack of house/car/marriage, and God-given desires to plant ideas like God isn’t caring and providing. This casts doubts in our mind that our wants are not been taken care of by God. He makes us doubt God’s word and goodness. 

When tempted, we are to quote God’s word like Jesus did (Deuteronomy 8). He conveyed to the devil that God had a purpose to take Him through the wilderness. Even we must learn to depend on and trust God. It’s important to know, understand, and learn the scriptures. 

Second temptation (Matthew 4:5-8)

The devil quoted scripture back to Jesus (Psalm 91:11-12) but omitted the part about “to guard you in all your ways”.  He is an angel and knows scripture well. Satan wanted to create a situation where God would have to prove Himself. He uses God’s word for personal advantage by twisting and manipulating it. 

Jesus too used scripture (Deuteronomy 6:16) and reminded the devil. Paul’s instructed Timothy to handle the truth of the word of God and have an inner life that’s approved by God (2 Timothy 2:15). Similarly, we need to handle and balance the word of God; we must stop asking God to show signs to prove His love. This isn’t required because even when we were sinners, Christ died for us. 

Third temptation (Matthew 4:8-10)

Satan wanted Jesus’ worship. Per Isaiah 14:13, the devil wanted to ascend to heaven and raise his throne. All temptations are to bring us to this point where he will give us all so that we worship him. If we are willing to compromise and worship evil, he will give it to us. He lays all the traps for his ultimate objective: Our worship. 

The tempter pits us against our creator. By offering instant gratification, he makes us feel that we don’t have to go through perseverance. He wants us to take the easy path that doesn’t have a cross. Imagine if Jesus fell for the traps… Mount Calvary wouldn’t have happened. 

After Mount Calvary, Jesus came on a mountain and met the disciples for the Great Commission (Matthew 28:17-20). The devil had promised power and authority to Jesus but here Jesus declared that He has all authority. And, how did He get all this? By walking obediently as a son! If we are God’s children, all the battles/wilderness is the journey on which God takes us before we reach the promised land. 

Jesus said worship God and serve Him only. You can’t worship without serving the Lord with humility; the devil had no heart of service and humility. Remember that we have a journey (of suffering, humility, perseverance) like the cross was for Jesus, and we need to be alert when the devil comes. We need to remind ourselves that God loves us.