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three great temptations, and it is significant that
these three great temptations come along the specific
avenues against which we have heard the Apostle
John so constantly warn us.
The lust of the flesh, and the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life,
selfishness, presumption, compromise.
The first temptation has as its bait Christ's
own personal need, selfishness.
The second temptation has as its bait the
Jewish nation, presumption.
And the third temptation has as its bait
the whole wide world, compromise.
And there is surely some probability that the
third temptation, which is the last in this
trilogy of temptations, using as its bait the
world and all its gilded glories, was the
strongest temptation of them all, because surely the
devil would hold his strongest weapons till the
last.
And if that be so, the last temptation
that he uses is the temptation of the
lure of the world.
Once again, let me read the text.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an
exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the
kingdoms of this world, and the glory of
them, and said unto him, All these things
will I give thee, if thou wilt but
fall down and worship me.
There is the record.
Our Lord was tempted, really, particularly, severely, intense,
agonizingly tempted to grasp at this present evil
world.
And we must constantly remind ourselves that this
temptation was a real thing.
This isn't just a piece of dramatic action
that's introduced at this particular point of our
Savior's life.
Some kind of shadow show temptation.
No, our Lord himself is severely and sharply
and bitterly tempted, and all the most fury
of Satan and of hell itself rise against
him in this hour.
And as I say, and I repeat, the
third and probably the most severe is the
lure of the world.
The glittering prize, the worldly acclaim and glory
are, as the evangelist has it, the kingdoms
of this world, and the glory of them.
While that is so, while it is true
that our Savior was most really tempted and
that gloriously he overcame, it is also true
that all this is written for our learning,
for our understanding of heavenly things, and for
our growth in grace.
And this we must continually therefore remember, that
behind the world is the God of this
world, and that it is his business to
turn the eyes of the children of God
from their God and to make them unfaithful
to the Lord, the Redeemer.
Very well then, having noted these things, let's
move nearer to our particular passage, and let's
try and note the lessons that are here
written so clearly for our admonition and for
our help.
Some lessons that the Church in our generation
must never forget.
I want to suggest, first of all, that
the Church must never forget that behind all
the pull and pressure of the world is
the Prince of this world, that behind all
the glory of this world is the God
of this world.
And this the temptation narrative makes most clear,
because here is Satan, here is the devil,
here is the accuser, the diabolos, and he
takes our Savior up into an exceeding high
mountain, and there on that exceeding high mountain
he shows to him all the kingdoms of
this world and the glory of them.
And he says, all this will I give
thee.
The evangelists tell us that our Lord was
led into the wilderness to be tempted of
the devil.
Here, as we study this record, we see
that the gift of the world and the
gift of the glories of this world are
in the hand of Satan, that they are
in the power of the devil, who is
the Prince of this world.
Let me speak to that for just a
moment.
Our authority is, as always, the New Testament
and the entire Bible, because all Scripture is
given by inspiration of God and is profitable,
and Scripture is its own best commentary, and
it is in the light of Scripture that
we understand Scripture.
That is our position here, in this pulpit
and in this church, that we look not
to any man.
We look to the Word of God as
our sole and single and sufficient authority of
revelation.
And the New Testament is very emphatic about
this.
The Bible does not theorize about the origin
of evil, or about the fact of a
personal power of evil.
But this the Bible does.
The Bible affirms it.
Consistently and continuously the Bible affirms it.
And I say that it is impossible to
study the New Testament and not recognize that
a personal power of evil is continual in
its vision.
This, for example.
Our Lord is speaking to his hearers, and
he says this kind of thing.
Ye are of your father the devil, and
the works of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there was
no truth in him.
And it is this same evil power that
is spoken of as the prince of this
world.
Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, and
he speaks to them about the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience.
And again he writes to the Corinthians in
2 Corinthians 4, 4.
And he says, In whom the God of
this world hath blinded the minds of them
that believe not.
The God of this world blinding man's mind.
How all this means, that Satan is not
only the object of the world's worship, he
is also the moving spirit of his godless
activities.
And when a soul is converted, when a
soul is born again of the Holy Ghost,
regenerate by divine grace, the New Testament describes
that as a deliverance from the power of
darkness, and a translation into the kingdom of
God's dear Son.
It's a translation from one kingdom into another
kingdom.
It's a deliverance from one ruler into the
blessed liberty of another throne.
And all this the church must never forget.
In some circles, I know as you know,
that it is popular to spell the word
devil with the D left out, thus denying
his religiousness, and to speak of evil instead
of speaking of the devil.
And so often in church fellowship, we can
forget that our adversary the devil goth about
like a roaring lion.
So often we can forget what our Savior
reminded Simon Peter about.
In that day when our Lord looked into
the eyes of his servant and disciple Simon
and said this, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired
to have thee, that he might sift thee
as wheat.
But then he went on to say, But
I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not.
As the church faces the world, she must
ever remember that behind all the pull and
pressure of the world, there is the prince
of the world.
And that he is the spirit of disobedience,
the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience.
Now that may seem very elementary, but nothing
is too elementary in these days.
It's the first thing to note.
Behind the pull and pressure of the world
is the prince of this world.
And here's the second thing that the church
must never forget.
To love the world is to worship the
God of this world, and thereby to come
into bondage to the devil.
Let's be very particular here.
Let's note what the devil said to our
Lord.
All these things will I give thee, as
they stand upon that exceeding high mountain, and
all the kingdoms of this world and the
glory of them are there presented to the
gaze of our Redeemer.
The devil says, All these things will I
give thee, if thou wilt but fall down
and worship me.
Here's a gift and here's a condition on
which the gift may be received.
The gift is the world and the condition
is the worship of Satan.
Now that again is very simple and very
clear.
Yet at the same time it's extremely vital
that you and I should know it.
Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world, says John.
For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh and the lust of
the eyes and the pride of life, are
not of the Father, but are of the
world.
And the world, part of the way, and
the lust thereof, but he that does the
will of God abideth forever.
You see, there is this absolute dichotomy between
the God and Father of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, and the God of this
world.
And to love the world and to go
after, to get the things of this world,
is to come into bondage to the devil.
Because he says, I will give you these
things.
Perhaps the most outspoken of
all the New Testament writers is James, brother
of our Lord.
As he writes concerning this and he says,
Ye ask and ye receive not.
Ye ask and ye receive not because ye
ask amiss that ye may consume it on
your own lusts.
Ye adulterers and ye adulteresses, know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity
with God?
Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this
world is the enemy of God.
And can anything be more emphatic than that?
Whosoever will be a friend of the world
is the enemy of God.
Because if he is seeking the world, he
is bowing down before the God of this
world.
Yet so many modern Christians fail to see
this.
So many dear Christian people in this city
are failing today to recognize the true New
Testament pattern of things.
So many there are who think they can
get the best of two worlds.
Think they can get some of Christ and
some of the God of this world.
Do you know what James called this?
Listen again.
Ye adulterers and ye adulteresses, don't you know
that the friendship of this world is enmity
against God?
When this happens in a man's heart, when
he thinks that he will just keep one
foot here and one foot there and try
the ocean of experience and get part of
Christ and part of the devil, when this
happens, there is this result.
There is a man with no joy.
There is a man with no vital testimony.
There is a man with no radiant life.
And the reason?
He is a man who has let himself
become bound by Satan.
Satan has shown to him, as he shows
to us all, all the glories of this
world.
And Satan says, I will give them to
you if you'll only come into subjection to
me.
And that man says, give them me.
And when he says that, immediately he is
bound.
He loses the joy that once he had.
He loses his first love.
The thrilling and the glorious and the splendid
vision that was once before him of a
Christ that died upon the cross for him
and whom he vowed he would follow forever
and wherever he leads.
And he finds himself engaged in a continual
conflict with himself.
And a sense of guilt complex develops within
his own heart.
And there is no release.
And there is no victory.
And every day he goes down to defeat.
And why?
Because he hasn't cut the lines that really
separate him utterly unto God.
Here is the reason for so many lackluster
Christians today.
They haven't faced the issue.
Or if they have, they've refused to accept
the implications.
I wonder if I'm speaking to some of
you this morning.
Oh, men and women.
The times are too tragic.
The night is too dark.
God's sorrow is too great for you and
me to be content with anything less than
a whole obedience unto the Christ.
For this the vision tarries.
Because the church has not been purified as
with fire.
And is it not time for judgment to
begin at the house of God?
Let's recognize what the Bible is saying.
You can have the world.
But you will only have it by suffering
yourself to be bound to the God of
this world.
And that kind of action, says the Bible,
is enmity against God.
Well, there are two things that you must
never forget.
You must never forget that behind the pull
and pressure of the world is the prince
of this world.
You must never forget that to love the
world is to worship the God of this
world.
And thereby to come into bondage and to
go down into defeat.
But a third thing that the church must
never forget is this.
That her Lord has overcome the prince of
this world.
This he did here.
He was led into temptation, but he was
delivered from the evil one.
When the devil offered unto him all the
kingdoms of this world and the glory of
them, he answered and said, Get thee hence,
Satan.
And through this word he conquered and triumphed
because God was there at the center of
all his life.
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and
him only shalt thou serve.
He overcame.
And the devil left him for a season,
but only for a season.
Because all through his ministry he was assaulted
and tested by the evil one.
Continuously all the stratagem and ingenuity of the
powers of darkness were leveled against him.
But all the way through the conflict he
went to victory.
And at the end of his life, before
the cross, he was able to say, The
prince of this world cometh and shall find
nothing in me.
Nothing.
Thank God for that.
Though assaulted at every point, yet he never
failed because he came to destroy the works
of the devil.
And he did.
And the story of the life of Jesus
is the story of absent victory over all
the powers of darkness and over the devil.
The prince, the God of this world.
He came to his Calvary, the end that
was made inevitable when he refused to bow
down and worship Satan in the wilderness temptation.
And on Calvary, you remember and recall, he
cried, It is finished.
And it was the shout of a victor.
It was that way all the way through,
all the journey through.
Conquering and to conquer he moved on.
Do you remember how he said, as he
sent his disciples out and they came back
and told him, He said, I beheld Satan
as lightning fall from heaven.
Do you remember when the Greeks came and
said, Sir, we would see Jesus?
And our Lord answered, 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.
It is in the judgment of the devil
that all men are drawn to the Christ.
Whether it be to him as to save
or to him as to judge, this is
the revelation.
But the devil is a defeated foe that
unto Christ every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess that he is Lord to the
glory of God the Father, always victor.
And for this cause the Son of God
was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil and that he might deliver
them who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage.
Christian friends, prince of this world is a
defeated foe, operating only with divine permission and
within prescribed limits, suffered still to tempt and
to allure, but by faith we meander into
the victory that is Christ's, because he is
overcome forever.
Forever, there are three things that the church
must never forget.
She must never forget that behind the pull
and pressure of the world is the prince
of this world.
She must never forget that to love the
world is to be in bondage to the
God of this world.
She must never forget that Christ has overcome
the prince of this world.
One final word.
The church must never forget that in this
victory she may share, for this is the
victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.
What faith?
The faith that Christ is Lord.
The faith that he is sovereign.
The faith that he is the Son of
God and the only Savior of our souls.
The faith that he is Lord.
The faith that God's word is true.
The faith that God's word is mighty.
The faith that God is true according to
his promise.
The faith that if we rest upon this
promise, we too shall be delivered.
We too shall be ransomed from the power
of the devil.
We too shall be made to walk continuously
in victory, never in defeat, but constantly in
victory in Christ led in the train of
his triumph.
We too sharing his victory.
How do we do that?
By faith.
You resist the devil and you find he
flees from you because God's word has said
that he will resist the devil and he
will flee from you.
Flee you for lusts.
You do that and you find that you
flee right into the arms of God.
Flee from all things that are unclean and
uncertain and unsure and you discover that the
Lord himself is walking with you.
By faith you refuse to continue in sin
because that which is born of God sinneth
not, does not continue willfully to sin and
you reject all the works of the devil.
You set the Lord always before you, always
before you.
And as you do that by faith, you
enter in, into victory and you begin to
share the triumph of the Son of God.
And just as he overcame the world, you
too overcome.
My, what a message this is to stand
and to declare.
What a message it is to take to
one's own heart.
To know that in Jesus Christ our life,
there is absolute and final deliverance from all
the overthrow of Satan and that in him
we too may share the victory.
My, speaking to some of you this morning,
your life has just been a life of
continual defeat.
I wonder, some particular point you've just been
going down continually and you're almost in despair
this morning.
Oh, I want to tell you that there
is victory in the Lord and that there
is victory for you this morning.
That he can do something for you today
that he has never done before just because
you by faith will enter into it, possess
it and from his hand receive.
But you see, you have to be prepared
to bring him even your defeat, to bring
him yourself in your utter helplessness and to
lay all that before him and say, Lord,
I have nothing to bring you, just this,
this sorry mess of myself.
But if thou canst do anything, have compassion
upon us and help us.
Do you know, I tell you, when that
kind of prayer and that kind of attitude
are seen, there is joy in the presence
of the angels of God.
There's one thing else to add.
Every victory won and every life brought into
a place of complete victory in Christ is
another pledge that others are going to be
won.
So let us bring ourselves today.
Will you bring yourself, your all, your need
to the Savior now?
You can't face the devil.
You need to be delivered from his bondage.
But Christ is able to do just that
and he will.
He'll do it now.
You prepared for all his perfect will this
morning.
God grant unto us all the victory of
faith.
It overcomes.
I wonder if...