The Temptation on the Hill – Matthew 4:8-10

 I know we have already touched on this third temptation, but there is still material here which we didn’t cover. For example, we’ve said nothing about the various names and titles of Satan. You may think that this unimportant, but such is not the case. Those eighteen or twenty appellations all reveal the evil character of this fallen angel. All of them expect one – “Lucifer” – which originally was something good, but has come to mean evil. No one on earth would think to call his child “Lucifer” unless that parent was particularly demented. But originally the name meant “light-bearer”– which apparently Satan was before his fall into rebellion. The Bible calls this one who tempted Christ “Abaddon” (destruction) and “Apollyon” (destroyer). He is “Beelzebub” and “Belial” (worthless or wicked). He is called “murderer,” “tempter,” “serpent,” “wicked one,” and several more just like these.

What brought this to my mind is the way that he is addressed here in Matthew and again in Luke. Our Spirit-directed historians both tell us that it was “the devil” who tempted our Saviour. The word “devil” could be translated “slanderer” or “accuser,” but instead it has been transliterated. In both gospels Satan is called “the devil” four times, and neither writer calls him anything else. But then when the Lord Jesus’ words are quoted – “Get thee hence,” and “get thee behind me,” He calls him “Satan.” The word “Satan” can be found in both testaments, and it means “adversary” in both languages. Whether it is a name or a title, Christ looked upon the devil (“slanderer” ) – as His “adversary.”

So Christ has an enemy – a specific, powerful, unholy, wicked opponent, who has every intention of bringing our Saviour down. And if you make any kind of profession of allegiance to Christ, then Satan is your adversary as well. In his on-going effort to defeat Christ, he is not above bringing you into the realm of sin. It might be in the area of doctrinal error – heresy. It might be in the area of selfish, flesh-pleasing, wicked living or evil thinking. It could very well be in open rebellion against the authority and sovereignty of God. And that is precisely why it is important for us to carefully consider what Satan, “the adversary,” was attempting to do with our Saviour.

As I say, we have considered some of this before, but let’s review and then move forward. My points this morning are: Satan’s power, his authority, his temptation and his foolishness.

Once again remember Satan’s POWER.As we have seen, these temptations began in the wilderness, with an attack upon the sinless flesh of Christ. When that failed, “the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple.” It was with divine permission that Satan had the ability to transport Christ from one place to another. If either God the Father or God the Son had refused, then that temptation would never have occurred, or it might have taken place at a different venue. But as I tried to show last Wednesday, this temptation took place in the temple for at least one reason. You need to know that our “adversary” is not ashamed to tempt you to sin right where you are sitting at this very moment – the temple – or the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. After his attack upon Christ at the temple, Satan again moved Christ to an exceedingly high mountain.

I have enough faith in God and trust in the Bible that I don’t have to be able to identify this mountain. Furthermore I am not concerned that no matter how high the mountain, it would have been impossible for anyone to physically see all the kingdoms of the earth. I noticed that some commentators worry about this impossibility and really work hard to make it disappear. For example, one of them said that Christ was taken to a northerly mountain, which overlooked the junction where there were several highways linking Rome to the Far East and also to Egypt and Africa. They say that through watching the wealthy caravans moving back and forth, the glory and power of the world was placed before the Saviour. Sorry, but that is not the same thing as what our scripture suggests.

Something else brought up by some of the experts, is the fact that “kingdoms of the world” in Matthew is not the same as “the kingdoms of the world” found in Luke. In Greek, Luke tells us that Satan showed Christ “the kingdoms of the inhabited earth.” Matthew tells us that what was shown were “the kingdoms of the cosmos.” The “cosmos” goes far beyond kings and kingdoms, borders and national boundaries. I’ll come back to this in a few minutes.

I am convinced that Satan was given permission to physically transport Christ to some remote site. But then through some other semi-miraculous, demonic means the Devil paraded before Jesus the world which was and is under his control. As Luke tells us, all this was done in “moment of time” – in an instant. This vision of the cosmos was given to the heart of Christ more than to the eye. Can I explain it? No, I cannot. But that is not a problem as far as I am concerned – because I have what the Bible clearly says.

My point is this: Satan, Christ’s adversary, is extremely powerful – almost miraculously powerful. I will not grant him omnipotence, and I refuse to grant him divine or true miraculous power. But just as psychedelic drugs and television aren’t miraculous, Satan most likely had means of bringing all his dominions before the heart of Christ. He has more ways to influence you than you have to influence your closest loved one.

And with that we that we come to Satan’s AUTHORITY.There are some commentators who question whether the Devil had the right to make this offer to Christ. But it seems to me, despite my ignorance of the Divine decrees of God, that Satan did have this right. “The devil taketh him up … and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Luke expresses the temptation just a little differently – “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.”

One of the titles or descriptions which has been applied to Satan is “Prince of this world.” And it is none other than the Lord Jesus, in every case, who used this term. John 12:31 – “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” John 14:28-30 – “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” And John 16:7-11 – “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” In each of these references, Christ calls Satan, “the Prince of this kosmos.” He is the governor, the prince, the king of this world order.

Here is where my weak mind falls short, and I begin to stutter and stammer…. While perhaps I understand why, I can’t fully understand how, the sovereign God, permits the Devil to have so much power in this world. The leaders of world government and power sit upon their thrones through a confusing relationship of Satanic power and Divine permission. I believe that Jehovah ordained which kings were to sit on the throne of Babylon, Media and Persia in the days of Daniel and his successors. I also believe that Herod ruled in Israel, and Nero in Rome, because Satan was permitted to seat them. With the permission of God, Hitler was chancellor of Germany, and Stalin was premier of the U.S.S.R. I don’t understand how the will of God can blend with the wishes of Satan in the rule of Idi Amin in Uganda and Mao’s slaughter of millions in China. I can’t explain why God permits Satan to give such power over the lives and souls of men, through the Pope in Rome and leaders of Mormonism and Mohammedanism. And I’m also convinced that he has made similar bargains with U.S. Presidents, Canadian Prime Ministers and plenty of heathen kings. There are wicked leaders on political and religious thrones because Satan has put them there.

I am convinced that the offer that Satan made to Christ that day was genuine, and that he meant it. I don’t hear our Lord denying the claim and calling Satan a liar. Satan had the authority to make this offer of power to Christ, but he had no power to bring Christ under his authority.

Now we come to the TEMPTATION itself.There are many parallels and contrasts between Satan’s temptation of Eve and his temptation of Christ. Perhaps I should bring a lesson on that, but I don’t have any plans to do that at this time. If I did, I’d point out that the Devil came to Eve disguised – hiding his hideous wickedness. And even though our Saviour was not deceived, you might say that Satan veiled himself in the first two temptations. But with this third temptation, he makes no attempt to hide anything. Why didn’t he say, “If thou be the Son of God?” Because the gloves were off. There was no sense pretending anything at this point. Both parties knew exactly who their opponents were. Wouldn’t it be nice if we always did.

The Apostle John gives us some very important advice, relating to temptation, in his First Epistle. “I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world (kosmos), neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

John exhorts us – “love not the kosmos.” And Satan came to Christ with the temptation, “all this kosmos will I give thee, if thou wilt worship me.” John went on to say, “For all that is in the kosmos, is not of the Father, but is of the kosmos.” And in a way which describes that “kosmos” he refers to “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Satan’s temptation that day, and in the way which he so often approaches us is with “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” He showed to Christ all the kosmos under his control – appealing to his eye. And then he attempted to create some sort of sinful pride – “Wouldn’t you love to own and govern all of this? He stirred the imagination of the Lord, and as you probably know, this can be very powerful.

Now let me draw a distinction between how this temptation might be applied to us and to Christ. The ordinary man might hear the promise of world power, and think of fame, wealth, control, and pleasure. But actually this appeal to our Lord Jesus may have been meant in an entirely different way. He might have been lying, but wasn’t this Satan’s offer to abdicate his throne? John tells us, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” If Satan vacated his earthly throne, wouldn’t this have resulted in part of Christ’s purpose? With the righteous Son of God, in control of the universe, what might the Lord be able to do against crime, poverty, war and general human misery? There is a sense in which the Millennial Kingdom could have begun that very evening.

There is an interesting struggle between two words when comparing Matthew and Luke. “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the GLORY of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Luke says, “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this POWER will I give thee, and the GLORY of them.” Not only was Christ Jesus shown and promised the wealth, pleasure and glory of the kosmos… He was promised all the authority of the kosmos – all the “exousia” that the Wicked one possessed.

So what exactly was the nature of this temptation? Among other things, it was an offer to short-circuit the eternal plan of God. It was a suggestion to take a short-cut to the Millennial Kingdom. Time and time again, this is the way that sin is offered to us – short-cuts to what we think ought to be God’s will for us. Sexual immorality, gambling, cheating on tests, lying on applications, stealing and a hundred other sins. “God wants me to happy, satisfied, wealthy, and in a comfortable position in order to serve Him. He would love for me to be king of the world, so this little compromise of mine won’t hurt much, it will just hurry His plan on a bit.” Time and time again, this sort of thing works against us – but Christ is not exactly one of us.

And that brings us to the Devil’s FOOLISHNESS.I am of the opinion that there was no way for Satan to entice the Saviour sufficiently to make him sin. I am firmly convinced in the impeccability of Christ. Because Jesus Christ was fully God, it was impossible for him to sin – He was, and still is, impeccable. Satan was a hopeful fool in thinking that this temptation would succeed.

And specifically, he was a fool in thinking that Christ would bow His knee to this wicked suggestion. He did not understand the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. How could he think that the Son would betray the Father, by for one moment giving Satan divine honour? “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” That will never happen. “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

There was something else which Satan foolishly misunderstood. There was no possible way that Christ was going to take a short-cut to eternal glory. As a general statement, the United States doesn’t need a new and better President – we need a Saviour. We don’t need more laws, better laws or even less laws; our nation needs salvation from sin. We don’t need the removal of Satan and the installation of Christ – as King of the world. We need the installation of Christ – as Saviour and king of human hearts. Satan either misjudged the purpose of the Lord, or misjudged his own ability to tempt the Lord.

Let’s say that the most honest, self-denying, loving and even the most godly ordinary person became king of the kosmos. If he had the intention of doing everything in his vast power to eliminate poverty, hunger, crime, disease, famine, tornados and hurricanes, he might be able to accomplish a great deal. Perhaps he could depose every wicked king, dictator, senator, congressman and governor on earth. But that noble king could never correct the true root of most of humanity’s problems.

As long as there is sin the heart of man, there will never be true or complete peace in God’s creation. And sin cannot be removed by nurturing, legislating, punishing and executing all the openly wicked. This means that even if the Son of God himself, sits upon a universal throne, creation would still be in trouble. In other words, the blessings of the Millennial Kingdom cannot be enjoyed by skipping over Calvary. The primary purpose of Christ’s incarnation was not to sit on David’s throne or Satan’s throne. Matthew 20:28 – “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto (as King of the kosmos), but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Satan’s temptation was to by-pass the cross and the salvation which we so desperately need. Satan was a fool in even suggesting the thought. The idea was doomed to fail.

But it has not been foolish for him to think that he could convince people like you and me to bypass the cross and expect to move straight into the Lord’s Millennial kingdom or into Heaven. After his failure against Christ, Satan has been “blinding the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” If he can’t force Christ to sit upon a corrupted throne, then he’ll try to force Christ to be served by corrupt followers. He denies that you need to be born again. He wants you to think that you are in line to inherit, or at least to enjoy, the kosmos forever. But unless you are saved by the grace of God, the only thing that you’ll ever inherit is a place in Hell. Ye must be born again.