And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. (Luk 4:1-13 KJV)
Parallel Passage is Mat 4:1-11
The key to our spiritual fight, the key to conquering sin in our lives, is to stop loving it and start loving God in its place. Our Lord tells us that the greatest commandment of all is to…
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Mat 22:37)
We don’t love God as we should…we don’t love Him as He deserves. And we have to understand how far short we fall so that we can be provoked to strive with all our heart, soul, and mind to love God as we ought.
One of the most effective ways of growing in our love for God is to spend time with Him. Think about how ridiculous it would sound if I said that I loved my wife, and in the same breath told you that I spend only an hour with her all week. I doubt that anyone would believe that I really loved her. You see, it’s impossible to love someone you don’t spend time with.
As we spend time with God in prayer, Scripture, and fellowship with the rest of the Body of Christ, our love for God grows. And as this love grows it finds more satisfaction from God and less satisfaction from the sins that it used to hold so dear. I encourage you to make an effort, by God’s grace, to strive forward in these spiritual disciplines.
So how does the Enemy attack?
The Devil didn’t tempt Christ until He had fasted for 40 days and was physically hungry. Temptations are hard enough, let alone when we’re weak from hunger. And just look at how the Devil tried to take advantage of this with his first temptation - “command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Knowing that Christ was hungry the Devil took full opportunity to attack him at His weakest point.
That’s how spiritual warfare works for us as well. We all have weaknesses and strengths, and we need to understand those weaknesses so that we can be constantly on guard and not taken by surprise in some special temptation. If someone has a weakness for alcohol, they should stay away from bars. If someone has a weakness for stealing money, they shouldn’t be left alone with the cash register. The trouble is that we are so attracted to our sins we’ll get as close as we can to them until we eventually get sucked in.
Christ wasn’t merely tempted to satisfy His hunger, for that’s a good and reasonable thing for us to do. Rather, this temptation reached further and touched upon faith in God’s providence. It’s in God’s providence that we’re nourished and sustained in this world. God does not ordinarily act in miraculous ways, but in providential ways to sustain His creation. Whenever we focus on the miraculous to the neglect of the providential we show a lack of trust in God’s providential care of us.
Consider the blessing of being in a country that has so much access to doctors and medicine, and then rejecting these very same blessings because we’d rather have God do a miraculous work than trust in His providential care. What a sin to presume to tell God how to deal with us rather than trusting in the way that He has chosen to care for us. Jesus told the Pharisees that
…An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign [or a miracle]…(Mat 12:39)
Look at how Christ responds to the temptation for the miraculous. Even though He’s hungry and weak in the flesh, when He’s tempted to make stones into bread, He says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” You see, Christ was nourished not only by food for the flesh, but also food for the Spirit, which is to do the will of God. And it doesn’t take the miraculous for us to know the will of God, but rather the Spirit-led reading of Scripture.
What do you hunger more after, the flesh or the Spirit?
If you hunger after the flesh I can guarantee that you won’t be satisfied. Has anyone here eaten their fill and never been hungry again? Has anyone here had a hunger for drugs, and once given over to their appetite stopped craving them? Of course not, that’s how hunger after the flesh works…the appetite just gets bigger and bigger, it’s never satisfied.
If, however, you hunger after the Spirit, you will be satisfied. There’s a fullness that comes from Christ dwelling in your heart that won’t ever diminish. Consider the Scripture:
…with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Php 1:20-21)
Think about that phrase, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain”
That’s something that can only be said about Christ. Just try putting something else in His place and see what you get…
- “to live is food, and to die is gain” – you don’t gain anything from food when you die, so that’s not true.
- “to live is money, and to die is gain” – you certainly don’t gain anything from money when you die.
So we have an obligation to make a decision right here and now. Are we going to hunger after the flesh and feed its always growing appetite, or are we going to hunger after the Spirit and be satisfied with the streams of living water that take away our thirst for ever.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.(Rom 8:5)
Where is your mind set, on the flesh or on the Spirit? Dig deep to see where you really stand in your relationship with Christ. Given the choice…
- When you’re tired do you pray or do you take a nap?
- When you have free time do you read Scripture or watch T.V.?
- Do you get excited about football games and worldly entertainments and at the same time lack excitement and passion in your walk with Christ?
Allow this passage and these questions to probe the true condition of your heart.
If you find that you have neglected your walk with Christ and are satisfied with where that leaves you, be very afraid for it may be that you do not have a love for Christ. And if there is no love of Christ in your life, the wrath of God rests upon you.
If you find that you have neglected your walk with Christ and are stirred to a holy conviction and repentance, be of good courage for the Lord will give you strength by His Spirit if you ask Him. And in being strengthened by His Spirit you will once again be able to say “Abba! Father!” and walk closely with your God.
We all face temptations to walk after the flesh, but if we are Christ’s, His Spirit dwells in us. And it’s this Spirit that enables us to escape every temptation and lead a holy life. Always remember that we don’t walk in the flesh because the Spirit can’t overpower it, but rather because in some ways we still love the flesh.
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