Matthew 4: Wilderness Victory (4)
Pray Psalm 110.5-7.
The Lord is at Your right hand;
He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.
He shall judge among the nations,
He shall fill the places with dead bodies,
He shall execute the heads of many countries.
He shall drink of the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He shall lift up the head.
Sing Psalm 110.5-7.
(Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
The Lord is at Your right hand to execute His wrath,
and judge all kings and all lands—doomed sinners in His path.
Then, all His foes defeated, He takes His hard-won rest,
in glorious triumph seated with us, redeemed and blessed.
Read Matthew 4.1-10; meditate on verses 8-10.
How would you respond to such an offer?
Prepare.
1. What did the devil offer Jesus? What was he trying to get Jesus to do?
2. How did Jesus overcome the devil?
Meditate.
Jonathan Edwards once referred to the devil as the greatest blockhead ever, because he actually believes the lies he spreads among the peoples of the world. One of those lies was that the kingdoms of the earth—all those nations and empires that he spread before Jesus—were actually his to do with as he pleased. Had he forgotten the lesson of the book of Job? God, Augustine wrote, has Satan on a leash; and he can only do as much as God allows.
So there is something almost comic about Satan offering “the kingdoms of the world and their glory” to Jesus. They weren’t actually his to give! God permitted him temporary dominion over the earth, until the time that Jesus should come and bring the eternal Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. And that time is now. Jesus knew it, and so did Satan. But Jesus would not exchange the Kingdom of heaven for all the kingdoms of the earth, and He certainly was not about to bow down and worship the devil.
As He had done twice previously, Jesus drew on the Law of God to rebut the devil and send him packing. We don’t hear much about the Law of God in our day, and we are weaker because of this neglect. But Jesus’ example of how to resist the devil, so that he will flee from us (Jms. 4.7), offers wise counsel for overcoming temptation. The Law of God is holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7.12). The more we know of and obey it, the better able we will be to recognize the sin Satan proffers in every temptation, and to wield the Sword of the Lord in resisting him and continuing to seek the rule of King Jesus in our lives.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God did permit Satan “temporary dominion over the earth” so that human beings would have a choice to make.
Imagine how you’d feel if you knew your spouse was forced to love you—they had no choice in the matter whatsoever. There were no other options—just you. It would feel sort of pointless. In reality, a choice must be made to give one’s life to another. For good or bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. Till death.
God wants the same decision to be made by His people. He wants us to choose to love Him and obey Him. He wants us to choose to serve Him and dedicate our lives to Him and His Kingdom work—on earth as it is in heaven, to the very end.
The enemy has provided many options to choose from—gewgaws galore.
Look at all the stuff Satan offered Jesus—all things material, physical, and ego driven.
And yet we know, as Jesus did, that none of Satan’s trinkets will satisfy.
Nothing will fill us with righteousness, peace, and joy.
Only Jesus and His Kingdom will satisfy and suffice.
“…for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,
but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God
and approved by men” (Rom. 14.17, 18).
But we must choose Jesus. We must choose to follow Him. We must choose to say with Him,
“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God,
and Him only you shall serve’” (Matt. 4.10).
Joshua summed it up beautifully,
“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and
put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt.
Serve the LORD!
And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD,
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…
but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Josh. 24.14, 15).
“…therefore choose life…love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life…” (Deut. 30.19, 20).
Really, the choice is a no brainer. Who would ever choose to serve a blockhead?
Reflect.
1. We must make the choice to love and serve Jesus every day. Explain.
2. Why does choosing Jesus keep us from being blockheads like the devil (1 Cor. 2.16)?
3. Whom will you encourage today in their love and service for Jesus?
No sin of diabolical scourge could come close to the body of the Lord. Therefore the Lord withstood temptations from the enemy that he might restore victory to humankind. Chromatius (fl. 400), Tractate on Matthew 14.5
Pray Psalm 110.1-4.
Rejoice in the Lord, Who is King of all nations! Seek His Kingdom today as you go forth, one of His volunteers, to bring the grace of Jesus to the people in your Personal Mission Field.
Sing Psalm 110.1-4.
Psalm 110.1-4 (Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
“Sit by Me at My right hand,” the LORD says to my Lord,
“Until I make Your foot stand on all who hate Your Word.”
The LORD sends strength from Zion: “Rule all Your enemies.”
While those who Him rely on go forth their LORD to please.
Your people in Your power, arrayed in holiness,
like dew of morning’s hour shall serve like youth refreshed.
The LORD has sworn and never will He His promise check:
“You are a priest forever after Melchizedek.”
T. M. and Susie Moore
Merry Christmas! Be sure to pick your Christmas card, “The Birth of Jesus”, by clicking here.
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
For a closer look at what happened in the wilderness of Judea and why that matters so much, order a copy of our book, Satan Bound.
Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast continues readings from If Men Will Pray. Our Crosfigell teaching letter begins a new series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column begins a new series on the Church. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
