One unavoidable aspect of the Christian life is temptation. It assails everyone, saint and sinner alike. It comes from many sources – the environment we live in, our friends and colleagues, and sometimes even from our loved ones. We can fall into sin easily if we are not constantly vigilant and watchful in what we say, do or think. Temptation must be dealt with decisively. We should resist it and not yield to it.

But how can we deal effectively with the temptations we encounter daily? We can only do so through our Saviour, Jesus Christ (cf. Philippians 4:13). He alone has gone through all the different trials in this world and emerged completely sinless. And He has set the example for dealing effectively with temptation.

By paying close attention to the means which Jesus employed in dealing with temptation in Matthew 4:1-11 we will gain important insight into the way to do this. Let us first consider the circumstances that led to this event (v.1): "Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered."

The first thing we note is that Christ was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted. In other words, it was God’s will that Jesus should be tempted. Therefore there is nothing wrong or sinful about being tempted. A Puritan once wrote, "God sometimes permits Satan to assail His dear children, the more to strengthen them in His spiritual graces, and to confirm them more fully in the assurance of His love and their salvation. For, as a city which has been once besieged and not sacked, will ever after be more strong to hold out if it be assailed by the like danger…so those who are besieged and assaulted by their spiritual enemies will ever after more carefully arm themselves against them with the graces of God’s Spirit, that they may not be overcome nor foiled by them."

Because of this we can rest assured that we will never face any temptation that is too great for us to bear. The Lord knows exactly how much we can take. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to handle (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13).

The second thing we note is that Christ was tempted in the wilderness. Traditionally, this was the Wilderness of Judah on the north-western side of the Dead Sea – a very hot and desolate place. Christ spent 40 days here without any conveniences, food, shelter or companionship. Such extreme circumstances would stress and weaken any man and render him more susceptible to temptation.

It is often in times of great stress and weakness that we become most vulnerable to temptation. Like a roaring lion, Satan strikes when he perceives that his prey is weak, as this gives him the best opportunity for overpowering it (1 Peter 5:8). We therefore ought to be more careful in times when we are weak. The prophet Elijah succumbed to fear and depression after his glorious victory at Mount Carmel because he was physically and mentally exhausted. Therefore, before going through any physical and mental stress or any trying experience, you would do well to prepare yourself for it.

We will now look at the three temptations that Jesus faced.

"If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread." (v.3). Why did Jesus not use supernatural means to satisfy his hunger? The reason is found in the reply that Jesus gave: "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (v.4). Jesus had apparently received God’s command not to eat any food for 40 days. Keeping God’s Word was more important to Him than meeting His pressing physical need for food.

Have you sometimes given in to the temptation of putting your immediate physical needs above the Word of God? Sometimes, when you wake up in the morning, instead of getting up immediately to start the day with God by having your Quiet Time, do you go back to sleep? When I was a Sunday School teacher, one of the common excuses I heard from my students for being absent was that they could not wake up. Strangely when it comes to going to school or to work during the rest of the week, this does not seem to be a problem! Physical tiredness should not prevent us from spending time in the Word of God. Jesus understands our physical needs perfectly well, having experienced them before. But He will not condone the meeting of physical needs at the expense of keeping God’s Word.

Our priorities should be based on the Scriptural principle, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Obeying the Word of God is our most basic necessity. Meeting our physical needs is useful only for this present life. Meeting our spiritual needs with God’s Word is useful both for this present life as well as for eternity. Let us therefore give God’s Word greater priority.

"Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 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." (vv.5, 6, cf. Psalm 91:11,12).

Evidently Satan also studies God’s Word — to see how he may distort it to his own advantage! And if we are going to deal with a devil who knows Scripture, let us strive to know it better than he does. Satan quoted from Psalm 91 but the original context is about God’s protection from dangers we cannot avoid. It does not permit anyone to be careless or to put himself in danger.

Satan was challenging our Lord to prove God’s faithfulness by jumping down from the highest point of the Temple to force God to save Him. The implication here is that if God’s hand can be forced to do His bidding then Christ can feel that He must be someone very great and special. This was therefore an appeal to self-centred pride, exalting itself at God’s expense.

This appeal has been used by the Devil from the very beginning. When he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, he enticed her to eat the forbidden fruit by saying, "In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good an evil." (Genesis 3:5) Today, he is still convincing people that they can be as gods, especially in the New Age Movement. In the Prosperity Gospel people are essentially being taught that God is merely a means to an end — to obtain all the good things in life for oneself and to fulfill one’s own dreams and wishes.

We have no right to impose our wills upon God and make use of Him for our own purposes. To do so would be to do what Satan tempted Jesus to do, and that is to put God to the test. Always remember that we stand in a subordinate relationship to God. We are to do His will and not He, ours. Be careful when an appeal is made to pride in your life, to receive honour that is due to God alone. Remember the scriptural principle: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

We now come to the third and last temptation: "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; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." (vv.8, 9).

Here Satan promises to give Jesus full jurisdiction over all the world’s kingdoms if He would only fulfil one easy requirement — to bow down and worship him. In order to entice Jesus, he made a full display of all the kingdoms and their splendour, rich cultures and impressive cities.

What right did Satan have to offer these kingdoms to Christ? The Bible tells us that he is the prince or god of this world (see John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4). He has his own organisation of fallen angels. Some of the world’s kingdoms seem to have been assigned to certain fallen angel to influence or control (cf. Daniel 10:20). In this sense, Satan did have the right to offer Jesus these kingdoms.

But why was this offer made to Jesus? According to 1 Corinthians 15:24 the ultimate mission of Jesus was to gain the entire world for His Kingdom, so that He could finally deliver it up to God. In the process, Jesus would also destroy Satan’s power over the world. But the means that had been ordained for Jesus to do this was by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Satan was therefore offering Jesus an opportunity to fulfil His ultimate mission without having to go through all the suffering at Calvary for our sins. He was tempting Jesus to take the easy way out.

Are you sometimes tempted to take the easy way out? Perhaps you may have been offered an opportunity to gain something that you want very much but it involves compromising your standards a little, like giving a bribe to someone or overlooking an error that should be reported. The temptation to take this offer can be very great because of all the advantages and conveniences you stand to gain.

People are often caught doing something unethical just because they had an opportunity to gain popularity, wealth or power. But while many are caught, many more do not get caught, and they think that they are ‘lucky.’ This attitude is found in the rank and file of almost every secular institution and place of work.

Whenever you are tempted to take the easy way out, please remember that the end does not justify the means used to attain it. This is why Jesus refused to agree to the condition laid down by Satan. The worship that he required would grossly violate the most important scriptural principle: Worship belongs to God alone (cf. Deuteronomy 10:20).

Never do anything ethically or morally questionable or dishonouring to God, even though this might mean losing something you want very much, and though it would mean forsaking some great opportunity to gain power or fulfil your ambition. Your foremost consideration should be: "Will the Lord be pleased with what I am doing?"

Now that we have seen all 3 temptations that Jesus faced, we can understand how He dealt with them effectively. The common denominator in the way Christ handled all 3 temptations is the presence of His words, "It is written" (vv. 4,7 and 10). This refers to the Holy Scriptures. Our Lord consistently used the Scriptures to deal with temptations. By this example He teaches us about the importance of knowing the Word of God to deal with our own temptations. Christ prepared Himself well by memorising Scripture.

The key to dealing effectively with temptation is the knowledge and application of the Word of God. Unless we take time to know the Word and resolve to apply it, we will not be strong enough to resist temptation. If we neglect studying the Bible or spend only a little time reading it, we will be vulnerable and weak when faced with temptation.

The psalmist said, "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11) So important is the knowledge of God’s Word for success in our battle with sin and Satan that Paul designates it as the foundational piece of our spiritual armour, namely "the Belt of Truth" (Ephesians 6:14). The Word of God is also the "Sword of the Spirit," the only weapon that is effective enough to counter the attacks of the Devil.

Dear Lifer, the best way to deal effectively with temptation is to know God’s Word well. Let us hide it in our hearts by memorizing verses from the Scripture. Make good use of the Scripture memory programme of our church and participate in the quarterly review exercises (Today is the beginning of review exercise no.2 for this year’s memory verses which are based on the theme, The Growing Christian). By doing this you are preparing yourself well to deal effectively with the temptations that you face every day. —Pastor

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