Fighting the devil’s temptations with the sword of the Spirit
- The temptations of worldly comforts
- The temptations of worldly glory
- The temptations of presuming God’s mercy
That the devil is at work in the world today is not the least bit shocking to you. Afterall, his works of darkness are quite apparent to any of us, and there’s no need to describe the devil’s evil ways since unfortunately we often experience his darkness in our own homes, let alone throughout the world. Regardless of how obvious the devil can be, what’s more dangerous to us is that he often disguises himself as an angel of light, and his temptations appear to be righteous and pious. And so it’s easy enough to figure out that it’s wrong to kill babies, but it’s far more challenging to recognize the devil when he’s quoting the Bible.
To show us the devil’s tricks, Jesus fights the devil by battling against temptations. “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.” What Jesus experiences here is nothing unusual for the Christian. In fact, we see this very thing happening regularly throughout the Bible. Adam was created and was God’s son, living not in the barren desert but the lush garden, and he fell to the devil’s temptations. Israel, after being led out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea, wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and always gave into temptation. But here is our champion Jesus, who crossed through the waters of baptism and was declared God’s Son, now triumphing over the devil’s temptations with ease. As such, today our Lord demonstrates for us how we must fight the devil’s temptations by use of the sword of the Spirit, that is, the Word of God.
That you must face daily demonic temptations should come as no surprise to you. Afterall, you follow in Jesus’ footsteps. You have been reborn as God’s own child through waters, not the Red Sea or the Jordan River, but the waters of Baptism. In baptism God has declared you to be His child. In baptism the Holy Spirit entered into you and is now leading you in the chaotic desert of this life. Just as the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, so has He led you in this desert. Take comfort in that fact, because you do not traverse this barren land alone, but the Holy Spirit is leading you and guiding you throughout this entire journey. You are facing temptations, but the Spirit is with you.
While there are many different temptations that you must face, remember that “no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Your trials and temptations may appear unique to you, and perhaps some of them are difficult to categorize, nevertheless, your champion Jesus has already faced them and through Him you will endure. Don’t get me wrong, your temptations are serious, and without the Lord’s help, without faith in God, you would most certainly succumb to temptation and be damned forever. But just because your temptations are eternally serious that doesn’t mean that you must despair, rather I want you to face your temptations with courage, since Christ has gone before you and the Spirit is with you right now.
Jesus faced three temptations. Through these three temptations let us learn to recognize the devil’s temptations in our lives, and thus how we may combat him right now. The first way in which the devil tempts us is with worldly comforts. “The devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
At first glance this doesn’t sound sinful at all. Jesus has been in the desert, fasting for 40 days, and He’s fully human and therefore very hungry. The Lord promises us that He satisfies the hungry and thirsty and gives them all good things. It’s a good thing to eat good food. Afterall, we believe in God the Father almighty maker of heaven and earth, and we pray to Him to give us this day our daily bread. All good things come from the hand of the Lord, and He opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. He feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, heals the sick, and warms the cold. It is good to be comforted by the Lord.
It’s only logical that if the Lord gives us these good things, I should take it into my own hands and make sure that no matter what I have every good thing I want and am perfectly comfortable. At least that’s the devil’s temptation. He tempts Jesus to turn a stone into bread to fill His belly. Jesus could do that, He is powerful enough to do that, but just because He could doesn’t mean it’s right. The Spirit led Jesus into the desert to fast and be hungry. It was not the Lord’s will to bypass a period of temporary hardship by using stones in a way for which God did not design them.
How often are we tempted to gain worldly comforts by any means possible, even if that means disobeying God’s will? I want money and stuff, so I rip off my neighbor, or I neglect my family and my faith, I refuse the gift of children, and I tell myself God wants me to be happy so this is just the cost of doing business.
Dear Christian, take up the sword of the Spirit and fight this temptation with the word of the Lord! “And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”” Of course God wants to give us bread, but He wants to give us much more than bread! The Lord preserves us not just for worldly comforts, but for everlasting comforts and an eternal kingdom. Fight the devil with the Bible, with the word of God, and declare the word of the Lord that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. You may not have every comfort now, but hold onto the faith, and in time all things shall be given to you.
The second temptation Jesus was faced with was the temptation of worldly glory. “And the devil took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to Him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If You, then, will worship me, it will all be Yours.””
This one does admittedly sound much worse, since I can’t imagine many Chrsitians admitting that they would sell their soul to the devil for anything. However, Christians do this all the time, just without admitting it. For this scripture passage teaches us that all of this world’s glory belongs to the devil, and when the world is offering us its glory in exchange for something, we’re frankly making deals with the devil.
The world’s glory is little more than the approval of man, and who among us doesn’t like man’s approval at least a little bit? How often do we say things, or not say things, so that other people like us more? Or how often do we do things not because they’re right, but because they gain us approval? I know it’s tempting for me not to say certain things, so that more people will like my sermons and like me. If that’s true about me in a sermon, it’s also true about all of us in our conversations. Isn’t this how social media works, we post things that get us more likes? This isn’t just an internet temptation, but it’s a temptation common to us all.
Fight against this temptation like Jesus: “And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”” Jesus was rightly accused of being no respecter of persons. That should describe us, too. Not that we’re jerks and try to say mean things that hurt others, but that we would worship and serve only the Lord our God. Who cares what man thinks about you? People have all sorts of dumb opinions about all manner of things, and their opinions change with the wind. But the Lord’s judgments are eternally true, and His mind towards you is worth far more than all of the glory of man.
The third temptation is to presume on God’s mercy. “And the devil took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’””
Here the devil gets very tricky! Firstly, he’s quoting the Bible! How can you disagree with the Bible? Secondly, he’s focusing on God’s promises to care for, provide for, and protect His people. God is very merciful, how could we disagree with that?
First off, the devil is misquoting the Bible. False prophets do this all the time still. It’s easy to be tricked by this strategy if you don’t know the Bible or you only know it in a very simple and cursory fashion. The devil is misusing the Bible to make it sound as if it is saying something other than what it actually says.
Secondly, we do fall for this temptation frequently, to presume on God’s mercy, and it’s very dangerous. How often do we behave sinfully, think nothing of it, and just presume that God will forgive me? We figure it doesn’t matter how we live, because God will forgive us anyway. We thus think nothing of our sins, and we don’t feel bad for them even for a moment, because we presume on God’s mercy. Fight this temptation with the simple words of Christ: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” God is merciful and forgiving, but don’t test His mercy and presume things will go well for you.
The Lord Jesus, unlike us, fought these temptations and was victorious every step of the way. The devil repeatedly returned and fought against Jesus, just as the devil will repeatedly return and tempt you. But take heart that the devil returned at what he thought was an opportune time, and presumed to have defeated the Lord by killing Jesus on the cross. Yet, the devil’s pride proved to be his undoing, and in crucifying Jesus,q the Lord crushed the devil’s serpentine head and silenced that liar’s tongue. For us here in the wilderness of this earth the devil is still in the throes of death, uncreatively throwing the same temptations at us as he threw at our Lord. Be on guard against these temptations, but do not despair, for the hero Jesus is victorious and the same Spirit will lead you with Christ across the battlefield and into His kingdom.