Not only did Satan know what he was doing, but the Lord permitted this second tempted for various reasons. We’ve already dealt with the Lord’s response, “It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” What important lessons there are for us in that statement. The Devil knows that we are prone to think of ourselves too highly, so this is an appropriate temptation.
Along with that lesson and possibly others, I think that there is importance in the location in which it took place. I am convinced that the Lord permitted or even ordained that Satan to use the Temple for this attack. From what I understand there are cliffs and dangerous precipices out there in the wilderness. Around the Dead Sea, there are caves which are inaccessible because they are on the sides of cliffs. On the east side of the sea, Masada and other heights have vertical drops of more than 1200 feet. Satan could have taken Christ, and encouraged him to dive off heights three or four times the drop from the pinnacle of the temple. Why did the Lord permit this temptation to take place at the temple? Maybe it wasn’t Satan’s first choice, but God required it.
In the days of Solomon, a temple had been God’s proscribed meeting place for worship. While the Temple was not the predecessor of the Church, as the Tabernacle had been to the Temple, there is no doubt but that the Church and the Temple are at the very least parallel to one another. As far as I know it never occurred in this Temple built by Herod, but in the first Temple, the glory of God miraculously appeared, driving all mortal men outside. But then over time, and through the sins of Israel, the glory of God left that temple. Solomon’s temple was eventually destroyed, and its meager replacement was replaced by Herod’s. In Matthew 23 as the Lord condemned Israel for her sins, He sorrowfully said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house (including this temple) is left unto you desolate.”
The Lord’s church is not exactly the same as God’s Temple. For example, rather than a single site, the Lord has had thousands of His churches around the world. But it is still the place where God meets with His people. We are not supposed to gather at the man-made high places to worship Christ. But even those churches, approved by God in the past, can be forsaken by the Lord. Even though on that special Pentecost, the Lord filled His church with His glory and power, it is still possible for churches which were once holy and wonderful places to be forsaken. “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” The problem is not that God is fickle and likes to make changes for the sake of change. It’s that God’s people are fickle, and neglectful, and sinful. And when the members become so backslidden, heretical, sensual and sinful, God pulls their candlestick, and that church becomes only an empty husk.
And knowing this, Satan likes to make the temple – or the church – one of his favorite places to work. There can be as much sin in God’s church as there is any other place on earth. In fact there are sins committed in the Lord’s church, which may not be committed anywhere else. Satan is well aware of that, even though many Christians are not. The child of God can easily walk into the House of God, thinking that he will be protected from temptation, when in fact, the temptations intensify precisely because it is the House of God.
Basically, I’ve given to you my sermon for this evening – that is it. Now let me give you a partial list of some of the sins we might face in this place on any given Lord’s Day.
And without a doubt the pulpit is the most dangerous place in the Lord’s church. By that I mean that the pastor is in more danger of sin within the House of God than anyone else. Where is there likely to be more pride about the church – where you sit or where I stand? When a message is better than usual, and some visitor makes some glowing comments, will it be you or me who puffs up with pride? The higher the pinnacle, the more dangerous the fall. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Anyone of us can be dogmatic – overly dogmatic. We have been taught some things about a difficult scripture, and we are convinced about an interpretation. Anyone of us can become guilty of stubborn dogmatism, when in fact our argument isn’t really strong. And who is more likely to fall to that temptation – the man who spends an hour reading the Bible every week or the man who spends twenty hours of study every week? – the member or the preacher? Pastors are really vulnerable to the sin of authoritarianism. I was talking to someone the other day who was describing how her pastor lays down the law in areas where he really doesn’t have right to go. It is a common pastoral problem. Anyone can be tempted in that direction, but the more authority a person has, the more authority that person would like to have. And that can often result in the usurptation of the Lord’s authority. “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down…” “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Another pastoral temptation is to levity. Everyone enjoys being liked, and likes to be enjoyed. And with the pastor’s opportunity in the spot-light there is the temptation to do too much teasing, joking and entertaining.
Other sins of the pulpit include things like prayerlessness and doing the work of God in the flesh. The pastor is preaching through the Book of Romans and the first verses of chapter 8 are before him. He’s been preaching long enough to know how to bring three points together. But he does it without the Holy Spirit, mechanically, robotically – without prayer. It becomes a mental exercise, an intellectual exercise, rather than an act of worship.
Another sin of the pinnacle is discontentment. Yes, it is a temptation available to anyone, but the pastor’s is often temple-related. Satan says, “Hey, you haven’t eaten in forty days. Aren’t you hungry? If thou be the pastor, command that these stones be made bread. Aren’t you a just a little irritated by the backslidden, deaf, lazy people in your church?” Get thee hence Satan. If there is anyone for the preacher to be upset about it is himself. He is on a slippery slope, and the pastor could fall in either direction. He might even become dissatisfied with the Lord Himself.
As I say it is dangerous strolling around the pinnacle of the Temple. But that is not the only site in the Holy Place where sin might creep in.
I’m not pointing fingers this evening; I’m just trying to point out potential areas of temptation. Pride is not a sin or temptation which is confined to the pulpit or pinnacle. I’ve never seen it in our church, but I have seen it elsewhere – a pride about wealth and appearance. I’ve known people who were proud of their talents, as though they produced them solely by themselves. Was there any of that kind of pride among those people who visited Herod’s Temple? Look at the Pharisees, patting their backs rather than beating on their chests before God. Look at them dropping their gold into the treasury and pointing to the widow who could only give a mite. Is there ever any pride in the House of God?
And then there is the temptation to rebellion. There is doctrinal rebellion. Someone has reached a certain conclusion, then pride kicked in and an heresy has become cemented into his heart. It doesn’t matter if there are a hundred scriptures, regularly mentioned in the Word and from the pulpit. That person clings to his single-verse-misinterpretation no matter what is said against it. He rebels against the scripture of truth. And there is social or sinful rebellion. “You may say that my little eccentricity is sin, but I will not believe it. There is nothing wrong with my life-style, my music, my entertainment, my pleasures. Just about the whole world agrees with me. Who are you to condemn what I am doing in my private life.” That is what Israel said to Jeremiah and to Isaiah. That is what they thought about Moses and Elijah.
If the Devil came to you and said that prayer is really a waste of time, you’d know how to respond. “How dare you make such a suggestion. Of course prayer is important.” But how many of us pray as often as we should, and as specifically as we should? It’s another sin of the temple, actually increased because we regularly attend. Because we are religious, we tend to forget to be really spiritual. And remember too that Paul exhorted his friends to pray for the man standing at the pinnacle. Perhaps he fell over the edge because he wasn’t supported as well as his people promised.
Other temptations are thinking that we are either unimportant or that we are essential to the church. It doesn’t matter if I am faithful and regular in attendance, because I’m not important like Bro. X. Nobody really likes me; nobody cares if I am there or not. But then on the other hand there are those who think that they can make or break their church by their attendance or withholding their tithes and offerings. “That church will not survive if I quit attending.”
Then there is the sin of wearing our feelings on our sleeve, being too touchy, too thin skinned. Some people seem to come to the house of God with an expectation of being hurt. Why should I attend that church when there is no body there who likes me? The real question ought to be, why do you think that no one there seems to like you? What should be our reason for attending the house of God? Do you attend in order to be seen, to be liked and enjoyed, or do you go to worship and serve the Lord?
I’m sure that I’m just touching the hem of this dirty garment. But I hope that I’ve made my point that Satan is quite interested in what goes on in Church. He doesn’t run and hide when God’s people gather together for the purpose of worship and for the study of the Word of God. That is when he pulls out his guns and prepares to go to work. The saints of the Lord often let their defenses down, drop their swords, and expose their hearts to attack when they walk into church.
Perhaps this is why the Lord made sure that Satan’s second temptation came on the pinnacle of the Temple. Perhaps the Lord wanted us to realize that there is danger everywhere. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about (everywhere), seeking whom he may devour.”