MATTHEW LESSON 8


     We will begin today in Matthew 4:1 "Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."

     You can understand from the above Scripture, that this happened
soon after the Spirit descended on Jesus at His baptism.

     Most Christians do not realize that the minute you really give
your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, temptation comes from every
direction.  The Bible says Jesus was tempted in every way that we are.
Job was tempted, as well.

     You see, the devil believes that under heavy temptation we will not
be able to withstand.  He believes, that just like Adam and Eve fell to temptation in the garden, that with the right temptation we will fall, also.  He believed he would be able to tempt Job, but worse than that, the devil felt if he could make the temptation great enough that even Jesus would succumb to the temptation.

     Hebrews 4:15 "For we have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points
tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin."

     Jesus came to conquer sin and the devil.  He faced temptation
(greater than we face) and yet, He did not fall to temptation.
Temptation comes to all, and it is not sin until it is acted upon in a
negative way for self-gain.

     Before we go on, we need to take note that the Spirit of Jesus
was Godly.  It was His flesh that beckoned Him to sin.  His soul was
neutral.  The soul of Jesus, like ours, is the will.  Jesus did not
listen to the flesh, as we will see in these next few verses.

     Matthew 4:2 "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterward an hungred." Matthew 4:3 "And when the tempter came
to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones
be made bread." Matthew 4:4 "But he answered and said, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God."

      All temptation comes when we are at our weakest point, and when
 we are alone (usually).  In the case of Jesus, here, the devil
 realized that Jesus had not eaten for forty days.  He tempted Jesus
 at this point of need.  What the devil was not aware of is that Jesus
 (or anyone else for that matter) is much stronger when they are
 fasting.  God miraculously feeds the inner man.  During a fast to
 God, I seldom get hungry.  It is only when I fast to lose weight,
 that I nearly starve.

    Take note of the 40 here (time of testing).  With every test (if
we depend on Jesus Christ our Lord), there is a way out.  Notice in
verse 3, the devil approached Jesus with a question, as he did Eve.
     "If thou be the Son of God." He was trying to plant a doubt in
Jesus' mind that He was the Son of God.

     Jesus set an example for us with this answer.  He said, "It is
written."  Our answer, when the devil or our lusts tempt us, should
be, "It is written".

     We are instructed to eat the Word of God.  Our source of help in
every situation is to have the Word of God so engraved in our inner
being, that we will be able to draw our strength from the Word.

     We are instructed in chapter 6 of Ephesians to put on the whole
armour of God that we might fight the devil.

     Ephesians 6:10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might." Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
[places]." Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stand."  Ephesians 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins
girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness;" Ephesians 6:15 "And your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace;"  Ephesians 6:16 "Above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked."  Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet
of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"
Ephesians 6:18 "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints;"

     In each of these verses above, God is telling us that it is our
responsibility to prepare for the battles we will face.  It is, also,
our responsibility to stand head to head with the devil in combat.  We
must stand and fight, if we are to win over the devil.  Our weapons
are not physical, they are spiritual.  It is important to prepare and
be ready.  Our day of combat is here.  The church is being shaken.
All who have not prepared will fall to the devil.

     There must be no compromise of the Word of God.  We must make it
even more important to consume the Word of God, than to eat physical
food.  We cannot win battles with the devil in our own power and
might.  We must fight the devil with the Word of God and in the name
of Jesus the Christ.

     One more time I want to emphasize, WE MUST GET OUR EYES OFF THE
PHYSICAL FOOD AND ON THE SPIRITUAL (WORD OF GOD).

     Matthew 4:5 "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and
setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple," Matthew 4:6 "And saith unto
him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written,
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in [their] hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a
stone."

     This started off with "then".  It simply meant the devil gave up
on the first temptation, so he tried another tactic.

     Probably, "the holy city" mentioned here was Jerusalem.  Take note
that the temptation was outside the temple.  In fact, it was on the top
of the temple.

     In verse 6, the devil again asked whether Jesus is the Son of God.
He even went so far as to quote a Scripture to get Jesus to tempt God
the Father.

     So many times today the enemy will come to us, using passages
from the Scripture to make us believe that we are not of God.  The
devil never changes.  It is the same devil, and the same tactics.  In
verse 7, we see the correct way to talk to the devil.

     Matthew 4:7 "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt
not tempt the Lord thy God."

     Jesus could have thrown Himself headlong from the temple to show
a sign or wonder of who He was.  God calls people who have to have
signs and wonders, before they will believe, a wicked and perverse
generation .  You see, God is not interested in convincing us through
our mental capacity.  He wants us to believe from our hearts.

     Not every sign and wonder is from God.  The devil is a
counterfeiter.  Matthew 24:24 is printed in red , because it is the
words of Jesus, Himself.  "For there shall arise false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."  You see, we
must know the Word so well that we will be able to discern the truth
from a lie.

     Matthew 4:8 "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding
high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them;"  Matthew 4:9 "And saith unto him, All these things
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Matthew 4:10
"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

     We can see, from these Scriptures above, that Satan increased
what he offered each time.  He thought that if he offered Jesus the whole
world as His kingdom, that Jesus would jump at this.  Along with the
greater offering came an even more blatant sin.  Jesus had to fall down
and worship Satan to receive the world and all that was in it (Satan's
belief).  What Satan did not realize was that Jesus would take the
earth back for mankind.  He did not take it back by compromising with
the devil.  He took it back through the victory of the cross.

     Sometimes, it is difficult to recognize the enemy.  Jesus had no
trouble recognizing him, standing against him, and removing him.  "Get
thee hence Satan".  We should take a lesson from this.  Anything, or
anyone, who compromises with the devil in sin, has sold out to sin.  We
must not fellowship with those who continually practice sin.  As Jesus
did not stay in this place with the tempter, neither should we.
Anything that is not pleasing to God is sin.

     In the statement made by Jesus, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve"; we see we must not serve Satan or
sin.  We must walk in the footsteps of Jesus.  Of course, we are not
perfect; we will stumble and fall, but we must not be a servant to
sin.  The desire of our hearts must be to please God.

     Matthew 4:11 tells it all.  "Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold,
angels came and ministered unto him." The devil is subject to the
command of Jesus, and he had to leave.  He is, also, subject to us when
we tell him to be gone in the name of Jesus.  The Bible says, In James 4:7
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from 
you".  The angels (ministering spirits) came and saw to Jesus' needs.  The angels, encamped around Christians, will help them, also.

     Next lesson we will continue in chapter 4.

































                          Matthew 8 Questions


1.  Why was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness?
2.  The minute you give your life to Jesus, what comes?
3.  Satan had tempted Adam, Eve, and Job.  If he could make the
    temptation great enough, who else did he believe would fall to his
    temptation?
4.  What 2 things did Jesus come to conquer?
5.  When does temptation become sin?
6.  How many days did Jesus fast?
7.  What kind of doubt did the devil introduce?
8.  What did he tell Jesus to turn to bread?
9.  How did Jesus answer?
10. Man is not to live by bread alone, but by what?
11. What did the devil not realize about fasting?
12. What similarity was there between Jesus' and Eve's temptation ?
13. How should we reply to temptations of the devil?
14. Why are we to eat (consume) the Word of God?
15. What are we instructed to do, in Ephesians 6, to fight the devil?
16. Why do we need armour?
17. What 4 things do we wrestle against?
18. Loins girt with what?
19. Having on a breastplate of what?
20. What are our feet to be shod with?
21. What kind of shield?
22. What is the helmet?
23. What is the sword of the Spirit?
24. Who are we to pray for?
25. If we are to win over the devil, what 2 things must we learn to
    do?
26. If our weapons are not physical, what are they?
27. We have no power of our own.  What 2 things must we use against
    the devil?
28. What did the devil add to his argument at the "holy city" to try
    to convince Jesus?
29. What city was, probably, the "holy city" mentioned?
30. People, who have to have a sign or wonder, before they will
    believe, are called what kind of generation?
31. Not every sign and wonder is from God.  In Matthew 24:24, what are
    we warned to watch out for?
32. What was Jesus offered in the third temptation?
33. How did Jesus get the world back from Satan?
34. Anything that is not pleasing to God, is what?
35. Who alone must we worship and serve?