Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came (Matthew 4:1–3a, esv).
Faith is as practical as you can get. It’s not ivory tower, abstract, feel-good thinking. Faith is for real life in the trenches. Let’s look together at the life of Jesus and see how Christ Himself used faith at the point of temptation to gain victory.
Some people argue that as God, Jesus couldn’t experience true temptation to sin. False. The Bible teaches that Jesus was severely tempted. Hebrews 4:15 reassures us that Jesus gets it: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” When facing temptation, Jesus didn’t use His divine powers to say no. Within the confines of His humanity, He was victorious by faith. In fact, using His deity is exactly what Satan was tempting Him to do, but Jesus refused. “And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’” (Matthew 4:3). Satan appealed to Jesus’ hunger, since He hadn’t eaten for forty days, and tempted Him to prove Himself, but Jesus said no: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (4:4). Jesus exercised faith in the Word of God to repel the attacks of the evil one.
Think how vulnerable Jesus was. He had been fasting in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. Undoubtedly he felt hungry, tired, and lonely. In His humanity, He was facing off against Satan.
Satan crafted three, appealing temptations: turn stones into bread, throw Yourself down from the temple, and receive the kingdoms of the world from me if You worship me. Upon inspection, that last temptation appears to be a weak one, yet in it lies a lesson for us: In the heat of temptation, the offer may appear attractive, but when you stand back from it, you can see how ridiculous it is. In desperation to ruin Jesus’ perfect, sinless track record, Satan offered Jesus everything He had made and already owns. In His humanity, Jesus was susceptible to that temptation, yet He saw through the façade and realized it was not a part of His Father’s plan.
As each temptation presented itself, Jesus used only one weapon to fight it: faith in the Word of God.
Temptation #1: “Command these stones to become loaves of bread,” said Satan (Matthew 4:3).
Jesus said no and quoted Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Temptation #2: “Throw yourself down,” suggested the evil one (Matthew 4:6).
Jesus said no and quoted Deuteronomy 6:16: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Temptation #3: “Fall down and worship me,” Satan invited (Matthew 4:9).
Jesus said no and quoted Deuteronomy 6:13: “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”
Three temptations. Three biblical answers. A perfect example of the power of faith in God’s Word.
Notice that this isn’t faith in faith, that cultic, deceptive message of faith in the power of faith itself. The Bible doesn’t teach that there’s any power in what you say simply because you say it with confidence. That would be blind faith. The power of faith is in the object of our faith: God’s Word. If what we say is from God’s Word, and in the depth of our being we believe it, then we will find incredible power. Like Jesus, we can have faith in the promises of God’s Word.
Journal
Pray
Father God, thank You that Your Son knows the full human experience. Jesus gets it. He knows what it’s like to be human and to face temptation—yet He never sinned. I’m in awe of Him. And I want to be like Him and to face off against the enemy of my soul armed with faith in the powerful Word of God. I want to store “up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). Make me more like Jesus, I ask, and it’s in His name I pray, amen.
The Eternality of God
Psalm 90
Our finite minds often struggle to grasp the truths about God. He is greater, more powerful, and more present than we can comprehend. The God of the universe is infinite and eternal.
That’s why we must anchor ourselves in the Scriptures—and I’m glad we can do that together today. So open your Bibles to Psalm 90 and join us as we explore The Eternality of God!
New Power for the Destitute | John 21:1-14
What To Do In A Crisis | 1 Chronicles 20
Have a problem you can’t figure out? Frustrated and unsure of where things will end up? Where do you turn? Pastor James’ preached this never-aired message to a couple thousand fired up men at the Act Like Men Palooza – and goes hard into the matter of responding to a crisis. Watch it now, for yourself or someone close to you who may be facing more than they can handle and needs this truth!
More Biblical Evidences of the Holy Spirit
John 14:16-18
Non-Evidences of The Holy Spirit | 1 Corinthians 12
Would your life be more manageable if Jesus was right beside you?
While that may seem implausible, experiencing the presence and power of Christ is far from impossible – if you are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Are you? How can you be certain? Let’s learn together from God’s Word…
Game Changing Faith
We were thrilled to welcome our dear friend Ted Barrett to speak to the men at Rock Bottom. Ted spent years working as an MLB umpire, he humorously told us, “Jesus loves umpires—because no one else does.“
His journey is truly inspiring, as he shares his path from salvation and learning to follow Jesus, to his time in Major League Baseball, and ultimately answering God’s call to ministry. He even founded a motorcycle club in Phoenix!
Join us to hear Ted Barrett’s powerful testimony and discover how God wants to use each and every one of us!
Reject Rejection – First This
Matthew 5:25
WE ALL EXPERIENCE REJECTION – and its scars can remain a heavy burden. But if, in dealing with it, your solution does not leave you closer to God, it was not God’s solution for you.
You must continue on in faith! If you believe that God’s blessings are for other people and not for you, if you believe that God is secretly somehow angry with you over the things that you regret, then you need to know a lot more about the Lord!
Join us in faith as we continue learning to handle this difficult subject. Open your Bible to Matthew 5:25 and get ready for Rejecting Rejection – First This!
When It’s Hard To Trust | John 2:23-25
Ever have so many bad days it seems everything’s going wrong? When your life is finally going in the right direction, when you’re focused on following Jesus, struggles and roadblocks still appear.
When you feel hard pressed and trapped, it’s time to stop and turn to the Lord.
Even Jesus had bad days and faced rejection and betrayal.“…Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” 2 Corinthians 4:10 When you’re backed into a corner, He is there. When you don’t understand, He is there. When you’re under attack, He is there. As John Wesley declared in his final breath, “Best of all. God is with us.“
Join us for this powerful new teaching – What I Think When Things Go Bad.