Tempted of the Devil

Tempted of the Devil

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Matthew 4:1

Christ is the Great Example of His People. Whatever we may encounter, He has already encountered. What we may yet face, he has already faced. He is the Altogether Sympathetic and Utterly Empathetic Savior. Our text today brings us to consider the temptation of Christ. We plan to dwell here for the next few days. We ought to consider, first, the occasion of the temptation. When did Satan tempt Christ? By considering that, we may come to some knowledge of when he may tempt us. For us, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. This will take us back to the third chapter of Matthew. Notice that Satan tempted Christ at the beginning of Christ’s public ministry. So may we expect Satan to tempt us at the beginnings of any great undertaking for the glory of God. How often do we find ourselves tempted at the outset of some holy project? Also, we find that Satan tempted Christ after He had been recently baptized. So also, we may expect that Satan will tempt us after we have sought to follow the Lord by engaging in some signal act of obedience to His Revealed Word. Another aspect to consider is that our text declares that Christ was, ‘led up of the Spirit.’ It was at this point that Satan brought his temptation. We may expect that when we are most closely following the Lord into some previously unencountered situation, that Satan will seize the opportunity to tempt us. Notice, please, that he was alone for a prolonged period. We may find ourselves, for one reason or another, isolated from human company for a lengthy period. This affords Satan an opportunity to prey upon our minds. We also see that Satan brought his temptation when Christ was hungered and weak of body. How often does Satan take advantage of our physical weakness to drive home his temptation to induce us to sin. These are all circumstances which are worthy of our consideration. ‘We are not ignorant of his devices.’  Today, let us dwell upon these things, that we may be well-informed when Satan comes to call.

Our Most Gracious and Holy God, Our Shield and Our Defender.
We pray fervently, today, that You would,
‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.’
You Alone can keep us as Our Great Shepherd of the Sheep.
We trust in You to be Our Ever-Present Shield.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning