August 24, 2025 -- Matthew 4:1-11 -- Enduring temptations to the point of victory in Jesus
/People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Matthew 4:1-11 ESV
Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ realize the temptations of Jesus are so foreign precisely because your heart and mind and affections are used to the perversions of the world. The reason believers gather for church is to hear the word of the Lord, to recognize the standard of His glory and to realize how perverseness and compromise have infected all their thinking.
Recognize you are trained in compromise, something as simple as “how are you doing?” is not properly answered with “I’m good”. That is a common perversion of speech that is so widespread the correct response is now jarring. The correct response is “I am doing well”. When presented with the word of God, we are presented with a jarring response which goes against the widespread misunderstanding of what is good.
The fact that Jesus withstood the temptations of Devil proves His great power as your Savior. One commentator, preaching on this passage, noted that one marathon famous to Australians goes right past his house. The runners go out by his house and then return near the end of the race past his house once again. He saw one runner who’d run out but was being driven back in a car. He’d been defeated by the race. He succumbed to the temptation to quit. He knew some of the power of temptation, but he didn’t know how bad and how powerful temptation could be, because he yielded before temptation was at its worst. Many Christians fall early into the cycle of temptation. The full might of the tempter and the awful mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional toll of temptation is unknown to them because they have not fully resisted. This makes Jesus your mighty Captain of Salvation. He Who has withstood the onslaught of the evil one to the very end, knows the wiles and schemes, the battle plan and the persistence of the enemy and He resisted Him. Therefore, He is Your shield of faith. Therefore, His is the One Name you can call upon and find salvation. When temptation hits you up, you can cry out to Jesus because He fully understands the weight of it and its undertow threatening to send you into the waves of chaos and shark-infested waters. He is the Rescuer from the present evil-age, sent by the Father to gather to Himself weak and wounded and weary sinners. Do not be ashamed to go to Him. While there is time, now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to cry out to Him and find help in your present hour of need.
To worship the Lord is, among other things, to give Him
your time. Read the Bible. Pray. Spend time talking with other Christians about what is important. Share with your family members, in your ordinary, daily conversation, the perfections of the LORD.
your money. But it is my hard-earned money. Not so fast. The commitment required of those who belong to the LORD is 10%. Why? Think of how generous He has been to you—your very life and eternity are in His hands. You are now, yes today, adopted as His beloved sons and daughters. People pour out their treasures without thinking about it for themselves. Clothes. Concerts, Games, toys. Your wallet proves your worship.
your praise. Sing to the Lord. Tell others of His greatness. As you tell others about your favorite book or movie or concert, with greater enthusiasm speak to others the wonders and the blessedness of your God.
Prayer:
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Prayer is Psalm 19:13-14 ESV
https://youtu.be/zmt5VNnrJIM?si=hoOfNnAFtB6K7Ddl I Stand Amazed
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