Let’s notice the
environment of the temptation. In the
wilderness with the wild beasts. J.
Dwight Pentecost quotes John Shepard in a very profound statement to this
subject which will be the major theme of this message. Shepard states, “The place of the temptation was
the wilderness. The first Adam met his
temptation in the garden of beauty and plenty; The last Adam in the barren
flowerless waste, with poverty, hunger, and the wild beasts.”
Not only is that powerful imagery, it gets at a significant fallacy in Humanism
which says men just need a better environment.
Yet the truth of the matter is Adam, before sin entered, was in the
perfect place of rest, ease and beauty, and he fell. Whereas Christ, the second Adam, came to a
cursed world, and went to the harsh wilderness and He withstood the temptations
of the devil. Adam had no excuse, and he
fell, whereas Christ had every excuse and stood-fast for our sakes.
In the consideration of
Christ’s temptation we encounter a doctrine we might not have expected to see,
that is the Incarnation of Christ. If I were to preach topically and had decided
to preach on the incarnation, I might have went to the great narratives of the
birth of our Savior, or perhaps the profundities of Philippians 2:5-11. Do you think that I would I have consulted
Mark 1:12-13?! Yet here my friend, here
amidst such a sparse text we have plenty to warm our soul about Christs’
identification with us! Come and see!
Let’s consider the
language of temptation – to provoke, to
entice, to snare, to test, to tempt.
Essentially it is to prove a
matter or a man, of what quality he is.
And we have numerous examples we could consider with in the pages of
Scripture. Here are just a couple:
· Cain
tempted in the matter of a sacrifice not accepted (Gen. 4:6-8)
· Joseph
tempted by Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:7-12)
· David
incited by Satan to number Israel (1 Chro. 21:1)
In James we are
instructed on the progressive nature of temptation. Please turn to James
1:13-15, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any
man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it
is finished, bringeth forth death. ”
God is not the author
of sin, nor does he tempt any, though he does allow it for man’s sake. Remember that the purpose is to prove a
man. The very lust of a man drives him
to sin when he gives in to the temptation.
By this we can see what sort of person we are. Now someone may be in a bit of
trouble at this point – for in our text we read that the Spirit drove Christ
into the wilderness to be tempted, and doesn’t James speak to the matter of God
NOT tempting a man? This is easily dealt with, in the very next word which I
left out. Christ was to be tempted of
the devil. Let us never think that the
Lords directing us to temptations way is to harm us – He is for us. The intent of the Lord is to do us good,
showing us who we are. However the Devil
desires to persuade us to evil.
John speaks to the
matter of our temptations in 1 John 2:15-17, “Love not
the world, 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.”
Let’s parse verse 16, 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.
The world holds nothing
but that which is characterized by the 3 phrases the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life and
these are not of the Father. This is why
we are told not to love the world or the things in the world.
But we live in the
world, and we do from time to time, really daily, find ourselves tempted to hold to the world and its toys, more
than to Christ. How will we fare? How
does Christ’s temptation in the wilderness inform us as we walk in this
enticing world?
In considering the
temptation of Christ, I suspect there are more books written than I might be
able to read in a month! Terms such as peccability and impeccability are
presented. So in order to grasp the seed of what this debate is we must define
them.
Peccability
is the point of view that says that Christ could have sinned. Now, let me assure you, any orthodox view
does by necessity hold that He did not sin.
Peccability says he could have, not that He did. Impeccability
speaks to the impossibility to sin.
Adam was certainly
peccable, as are we. But – and this gets to the debate & controversy, Could an impeccable Christ (which says
that He could not have sinned) have been
properly tempted? Scripture plainly
states he was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet
without sin.
Now we are interested
in this not for discussion or debates sake, but to know rightly the teaching,
that it may do our souls’ good. To
recognize Christ was our substitute is helpful, but I want this to touch the
heart! He can indeed sympathize with our
weaknesses!
From James we see our
temptations are driven by lust – a strong desire which draws a man away. Christ, like Adam before the fall, had no sin
nature – therefore any temptation would have to come from outside the man.
It is easy to become
confused at this point. When we read in
James 1:14, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn
away of his own lust, and enticed.” We tend to read between the lines
and think that the lust itself is sin – and that it therefore sources from our
inward wicked heart and sin nature.
But though that is true
of us at times, it is not always the
case that temptations arise from within. James never states that temptation is itself
from within – but that strong desire,
whether due to an inward sin nature, or an outside temptation, overtakes a man.
We do not find that all
our enemies are from within only, it is the world, the flesh, and the devil
we must watch out for! And while Christ’s temptation was to all 3 of these –
none issued from within Him.
Temptation
is to prove or test a man revealing to him his true character. So the temptation of Christ does inform us in
our Christian walk, since many of our temptations are from without.
But does it matter to
know whether He is peccable or impeccable?
Can I tell you this – while it was interesting it was also
complicated. I really do not think it is
helpful to do a philosophical lecture on the matter. Let me simply say this, in His human nature alone, He clearly is a peccable Christ – He could
have sinned, however the human nature is not all there is of our Lord! He is the God-man, and this is where the Incarnation
informs us. God in the flesh was able not
to sin due to the presence of the divine nature – and therefore Christ is both
peccable and impeccable!
So let’s address that
one final question previously asked, which is to say, can an impeccable Christ be properly tempted? I believe we can answer that in the
affirmative. Yes, His temptation was
valid and significant to the point that He can indeed sympathize with our
weaknesses!
One of the
illustrations I read about as I studied this matter was of a vast unconquerable
army. Could such an army be attacked?
Of course! Though perhaps foolish
of the attacker, the army could indeed be attacked by a mad man who somehow
doubts the strength of it. Christ has the divine nature of God and thereby has all
the power necessary to withstand any attack, even if his human nature might
have succumbed. It could not fail for
the omnipotent power of the Almighty was his strength!
J. Dwight Pentecost
says of Christ and the temptation, “He
forced Satan to put him to the test so that His true character might be
revealed.”
At this point I’d like
to consider a comment by Andrew Murray regarding these things. “Though
now baptized himself, He cannot yet baptize others. He must first, in the power of his baptism,
meet temptation and overcome it, must learn obedience and suffer; yea through
the eternal Spirit offer himself a sacrifice to God and his will.” I
liked the way he stated it. Christ was
busy about the Fathers’ will and needed to learn obedience. Such things are particularly touching the
human nature of our Lord, and they have a direct connection with how He helps
us in our temptations.
Let me suggest to you two
helps which I see in the manner which Christ’s impeccability helps us overcome
temptation. There may be more, but these
are the two significant ways I present to you.
First,
just as Christ, the God-man, in His omnipotent deity is able not to sin, so we, as we have the Spirit and walk in Him, are able to call upon the resource of the Holy Spirit when tempted. Quench not the Spirit! (1 Thes. 5:19) Never
have we a more important application of that verse than right here!
The more we live Holy
lives and walk by the Spirit we will not be tempted by the world. We withstand -by the Spirit- the temptations of the world, the flesh and the
devil.
A bit of clarification
is necessary here. Do not think that I
am saying that we are, AS CHRIST, able to withstand all temptation. – Sometimes
we are to flee youthful lusts! In
addition, I am not saying any power to stand is automatic, but it derives from
our relationship to the Lord.
Consider Joseph in the
temptation with Potipher’s wife. Did he
stand his ground like Christ and quote Scripture?! He did indeed say, “How
can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” But this was not
his sole defense. After daily
temptations we read in Gen 39:12 that “he left his
garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out”!
When Joseph said, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
it reveals to us something of the man. It was his close relationship with the
Lord that made the daily temptations odious to him. He knew immediately that this would put a
wedge between him and the Lord, and he loved the Lord more!
The puritan Richard
Sibbes, while perhaps guessing at the fruit, says, “Satan gives Adam an apple and takes away Paradise. Therefore in all
temptations let us consider not what he offers, but what we shall lose.”
This is why when I tell
you to quench not the Spirit, and to walk by the Spirit, I said that here is
where you will find the power to stand the temptations of this world; You will
not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
It is the power of a sanctified life – a life which is made better by
the Spirit which gave Joseph, and you as
well, the wherewithal to stand, and when necessary to flee!
Secondly,
note that we do fail in our temptations from time to time. We are weak in the flesh, and the sin nature
does for now torment us. Where is our
hope then? It is found in the active
work of Christ in resisting Satan while in the barest and harshest places –
that his life is imputed to ours and we are thereby helped.
Let me reiterate what I
have just said. As we rely upon the
Spirit, we are made more able not to sin – similar to our Lord’s impeccability as
he had the divine nature empowering the human nature to stand. Secondly, when we fail – we have the great
High Priest prevailing upon the Father on our behalf, for he stood in the
wilderness, for our sakes, as a servant, which is what he came to do.
I have referenced several
passages and I’d like to close with them.
In Hebrews 2:16-18 we read, “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels;
but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted.” This
gets at all which I have been speaking about tonight! We are helped by the temptation of our Lord,
because we know that He knows our sufferings even better than we ourselves do!
And furthermore the reconciliation is our ultimate help!
In 1 Cor. 10:13 we
read, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as
is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.”
All face temptation,
but we have the inside knowledge that it is our faithful loving God who is
interested in our good. He will provide
us an escape – sometimes we do have to flee, other times we stay close to the
Spirit. In all this we are helped.
Finally in Hebrews
4:14-16 we read, “Seeing then that we have a great high
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Brothers and sisters –
we do have a caring loving God who will help us in time of need. He knows intimately
what we need, and how we feel during
the fight. And as we read here – This
ought to help us to stand fast our profession and embolden us in our
prayers. The God who spared not his only
Son for us, will he not give us all our need?!
