Temptations:
A Time of Preparation

Temptations:
A Time of Preparation

by Wayne Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

---

Full of the Holy Ghost

Luke 4:1
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

Jesus returned from His baptism, having been baptized in the Jordan River. When he had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost descended upon Him in bodily form as a dove, and He was mightily filled with the Holy Ghost.

Picture the time when this really was. It was a time when Jesus was being fully prepared to go forth with the great ministry God intended for Him before facing Calvary.

Being full of the Holy Ghost: This is a place to be desired by each of us. But is it enough to be filled with the Holy Ghost one time, or is there more?

Many say they have the Holy Ghost, but are they filled with the Holy Ghost?

We can look at the live of Stephen in the book of Acts. He was a man who was full of the Holy Ghost:

Acts 6:5
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch

Stephen had that power and that unction and that anointing on his life. He was a man highly anointed of God.

Being full of the Holy Ghost is important to us in doing the work of God. It's not a matter of just receiving the Holy Ghost. It's a matter of being filled and staying filled. It's a matter of continuing in the Spirit of God, of walking and living in the Spirit.

There's a great power and blessing that should be in our lives because we are filled with the Spirit.

Getting Prepared

As we look back into Luke 4, we see there was a great preparation taking place in Jesus for His ministry that was about to come forth.

Matthew 4:1
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Jesus was about to have a showdown with the devil. The devil would try his best to somehow deceive Jesus, somehow bring Jesus under his control. This was something the devil couldn't do, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

Has he tried you? Did you come forth in victory? You should have.

Luke 4:2
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered.

Forty long days of fasting, eating nothing. That's a long time for one to fast. How many times have you gone on a forty day fast? Even four days is a long time to fast. After the first day you're tempted to quit.

But here is Jesus giving Himself, laying His life down, putting Himself in the place of seriously preparing to take up the ministry God has given Him to do. A full preparation was necessary for Jesus to go forth in might and power to do the works He was sent to do.

A full preparation means that we may have to do some standing against the devil, getting ourselves into the place where we won't give over to the devil's temptations, where we're not going to surrender our soul to him.

We look at our generation where many who profess to be Christians compromise with the devil. Even many preachers compromise. They compromise away the holiness of God, compromise away the power of God and many other things found in His Word.

We've got to learn to stand and to stand fast. Know that if we're going to stand, then we're going to be tried. If we're going to make it through and be ready when Jesus comes in the clouds, we're going to be tested and tried.

And here in the gospels we find Jesus is being tested. He was led of the Spirit of God into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

And the Holy Spirit will lead us into the place where we will be tried and tested. We've got to be ready in our hearts to stand.

Out there in the wilderness Jesus surrendered His all. He prayed and fasted, spending forty days and forty nights out there.

Luke 4:2
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered.

When those days were accomplished, Jesus was really hungry. Out there in the wilderness there were no trees growing loaves of bread, no trees growing sandwiches. Many times when you fast, you find that you're not hungry. You're attention is on seeking the Lord, not on food. But when the fast is over, your hunger returns and you get something to eat.

The Importance of the Word of God

When Jesus' hunger returned, the devil seized the opportunity to come by and tempt Him to yield.

Luke 4:3
And the devil said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

Here the devil is speaking to Jesus, bring temptation before Him. Knowing Jesus was hungry after that long time of fasting, he was tempting Him to prove Himself.

A way to get bread via the suggestion of the devil! Do you want the devil to suggest to you things to do? Many are lying in the graveyard because the devil came along and suggested that they might as well end it all. You see, the devil will always suggest a way out for you.

Notice, now, the quick way Jesus deals with this temptation:

Luke 4:4
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Man shall not live by food alone. He needs the Word of God. He needs to take it within, to take it to heart. Man lives by God's Word. Bread helps our body to be sustained, but bread will not sustain your soul. It will not sustain your walk with the Lord. Man shall live by every word of God (see Deuteronomy 8:3). We have to take the entire Word of God seriously. We can't pick and choose what we will accept and what we will ignore or reject.

Revelation 22:18,19
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

I know I must live by the Word of God. It is the sword of the Spirit, given to us to deal with the devil.

Jesus took this temptation in stride and used the sword of the Spirit against it. He was living fine without bread. The last thing He wanted was for Satan to be His baker.

Make this stone bread: Jesus could have done that easily enough. Didn't the Lord use a rock to bring forth water for the children of Israel in the wilderness? He could have just as easily turned the stone into bread.

Yes, God surely has power to make bread out of stones — but at the devil's command? at the suggestion of Satan? If Jesus did this, who would He be obeying? Who would He be giving over to? He would be putting Himself into servitude to the devil.

You have to be careful about the suggestions of the devil, that you don't put yourself into servitude to him. You can't listen to every whim that he comes along with. And some things seem so simple, so insignificant, that you'd hardly realize the danger there was in doing it. You'd be serving the devil in doing that, regardless of how harmless it seems to be.

What harm would there be in turning the stones into bread? Why not try it?

Why should we try anything that God isn't behind? If the Lord is not in it, do we really want it?

We've got to see temptation for what it is: It is laying a snare before your feet. It's laying a snare to where when you step out to do what the devil says to do, you will find yourself stepping into his trap. Then what will you do? How are you going to get out of it?

Keep your eyes open when temptation comes along. Be aware of who it is that is tempting you. When there's a temptation that's haunting you and haunting you, take note that you're being tempted of the devil. You'd best beware and take fast hold of your sword to defeat the devil in that temptation.

Jesus defeated this temptation here, but that didn't stop the devil from trying again along a different avenue.

No Cross, No Glory

Luke 4:5
And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

The devil gave Jesus a panoramic vision of all the kingdoms of the world.

Now, Jesus came into the world to be the King of kings. Maybe here there's a shortcut for Him to taking up this role! Maybe there's a way to get there without going to the cross! This is what Satan had in mind with this temptation.

Luke 4:6,7
And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.

A temptation to rise up in glory while avoiding the cross of Calvary — taking this shortcut by worshiping the devil. Look at what Jesus is going to sell out to if He yields to this temptation. Look at where He would squarely put Himself: right in the enemy's camp.

Bear in mind that here is a temptation that would cause many to fall. There are certain questions which we might ask:

Does the devil ever lie? I thought God was in charge. Is He in charge? Is He Lord of all? Yes, God is in charge!

Let us understand the major point here: Jesus is being tempted. And in being tempted, one has to stop and look at what's happening. Would this offer of the devil be a temptation to Jesus? Would the same offer be a temptation to you? How many would fall victim to that temptation? How does one deal with a temptation like this?

It's clear here that all one would have to do is fall down and worship the devil, and then all of that power and glory would be theirs.

Listen, the devil will come along and play with your head. He tries to put in your heart and mind things that would tempt you: "I like this. I never had an offer like this before."

Do you want to be in servitude to the devil so you can have that which he tempts you with? Do you want to bring yourself under his power?

So, what did Jesus do when the devil made Him this great offer?

Luke 4:8
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

And Jesus said unto him, "It is written!"

Talk about courage! Talk about conviction: to be true and faithful, to walk uprightly — courage to declare that you are serving God and God alone; that you are going to walk the straight and narrow, following God.

This is where we have to be committed. We can't be given over to every little thing that comes along to throw a snare before us. We can't be given over to the things of this life where we can be in servitude to self.

What would we gain from a temptation like this? Listen, there's no gain in having the kingdoms Satan would offer. No one will fare out well in giving themselves into the control of Satan.

Here we find that Jesus did what He had done in the previous temptation. It pays to know the Word of God. That is the answer, and when you stand on it, there's nothing more the devil can do with that temptation. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." That is written in the Scriptures (see Deuteronomy 6:13).

This is a temptation that makes us know how devoted Jesus is to His Father and to the work that He was sent into this world to do. He was not going to be tempted to take any shortcuts, not looking for any other way to receive this power and glory. It was all rightfully His anyway.

Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.

Now, understanding temptation will help us all in our walk with the Lord.

Don't Talk with the Devil

Luke 4:9-11
And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Picture yourself way up on the top of the temple, and the devil tells you to prove yourself by jumping off. Notice that in this temptation Satan backs up his temptation by quoting the Word of God.

IF Thou be the Son of God. "I am the Son of God, and I don't have to prove Myself to anyone." Satan knew that Jesus stood on the Word of God, so He used a portion of God's Word to back up his temptation, quoting from Psalm 91. But he was using this out of context, trying to twist it to Jesus' destruction.

Know that Satan has been around for a long time in this world. He was around long before man was ever created. He stood ready to deceive man in the garden. He's a liar and the father of lies.

Don't get into any conversations with the devil. He's looking to get you to talk to him, like he did Eve, and then he'll proceed to trip you into believing his deceptions.

Genesis 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

See how he took what God had said (to eat of every tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and subtly twisted it: Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the next thing, Eve was doing just what God had said not to do.

This is why we're preaching salvation through Jesus Christ today: all because Satan deceived Adam and Eve, and sin was brought into the world.

Know the Word of God

Anytime the devil starts quoting Scriptures, you want to get into the Word and rightly divide it. If you're not careful, while you're staggering at what he's just said, he'll slide another one over before you. He is ever out to try to deceive us in every way he can, even by using God's Word, twisting the Scriptures and taking them out of context.

II Timothy 2:15
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

In this temptation the devil said, IF Thou be the Son of God . . . Here he is putting some pressures on: "Prove yourself."

Does Jesus know who He is? Do you know who you are? Do you have to prove to the devil who you are?

Satan was telling Jesus to prove who He was by jumping off the top of the temple. Since when does anyone have to prove anything to the devil? We're not serving the devil so we are not subject to him.

Luke 4:12
And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Stand on that which is written and you will defeat the devil. When Jesus stood on the Word, the devil could not take a step beyond "It is written."

This stopped him in his tracks. It ended the first temptation, so now he thinks perhaps he could trick Jesus by misquoting the Word.

Jesus merely came back with, "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God" (see Deut 6:16). To tempt God would be to do something that is not right, thinking He will overlook it. Don't willfully sin because God will forgive you. In other words, because you know that God forgives sin, you continue in a life of sin. If you do that, when you asked God to forgive you, you already knew you'd continue to do that thing. That is willful sin.

We want to be like Jesus, devoted to the Father and standing on His Word. I think it would be good for each of us to stop in our way and consider our daily lives to see if there might be something we're doing that tempts God.

Tempting God

You can look down the empty highway and decide to see how fast you can get your car to go. You passed three speed limit signs along the way and ended up wrapped around a tree. Would that be tempting God or just being foolish? Many are in the grave for taking such a chance. I'm bringing this out for commonsense sake.

There are a lot of temptations to go fast. Have you ever been tempted to have a heavy foot, to go down the road too fast?

Let's not be tempted to do something where just one slip, one missed turn of the wheel, one distraction could be fatal. Today many try to drive with one hand while the other is holding the cell phone. It's your life; why lose it? Why be tempted to put your life at risk, as well as the lives of others? We need to use wisdom and not yield to these subtle temptations.

Luke 4:13
And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season.

The victory lay in merely knowing the Word of God and standing on it. Jesus defeated the devil in temptation after temptation because He knew the Word of God. And you and I need to know the Word of God, and to use it as a mighty sword against the temptations of Satan.

Empowered of the Spirit of God

Luke 4:14,15
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Jesus came out of that wilderness experience in the power of the Spirit.

If you want God to use you, be willing to do whatever it takes to be led and empowered of the Spirit. It may take fasting, praying, digging into the Word of God, giving yourself over unto the Lord.

It takes a lot on our part, but understand something: Everyone would like to arrive at verse 14, stepping right out into the limelight where the Spirit of God is powerfully using your life. Oh, just overnight, you're in the limelight bringing forth so many great miracles.

But that would destroy many. Note that Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit.

Follow the road that He followed: First, we find Him at Jordan being baptized in water. When He came up out of the water, He was filled with the Holy Ghost. Then He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness, and then He came forth in the power of the Spirit. That's when a great fame of Him went out throughout all the earth.

We want revival, don't we? We want God to move mightily. Are we ready? Are we prepared? Are we in our rightful place with God?

Jesus established a pattern to follow. But look out when you start to follow that pattern! You walk in His footsteps and you may find what He found. You may find the devil tempting you to do some things that aren't right, things that would put you into his servitude.

Recognize that we want what God has for us: We want to be humble and broken vessels that can be used of God. We want to be submitted to the Lord, to be prepared to be used of Him. And, in the process, we are given a pattern to follow.

Why did Jesus go out in the wilderness?

You say you want revival, you want God to move. Remember that giving of yourself is important. It's not a vain thing to pray and seek the Lord at home and in prayer meetings. It's a powerful thing when the church will gather together in unity to pray. It's pleasing to God when a whole church will get together to seek His face. He wants us to be in that place where we're willing to humble ourselves and let Him have His way.

II Chronicles 7:14
If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It's not enough to know about the gifts of God, about the callings of God. We have to be prepared. Without our being prepared, why would God want to extend Himself to bring forth revival? He wants us to be prepared, and He will help us if we want Him to. But if we surrender up to our own way, to doing our own thing, we will bring ourselves down just because we didn't resist temptation.

Now, in following the Master's footsteps as He prepared to come forth in the power of the Spirit, I see where He got hit with some strong things. But I also see where He came out totally victorious because He knew how to stand on the Word of God.

Did you think the devil would be any kind of match for Jesus? Didn't you expect Him to come out of this victorious?

We want to stand in that holy place where we, too, stand firmly upon the Word when faced with temptations. We have to be willing in this life to walk in victory with the Lord, following Him and following the Word.