Jesus WINS and so shall I!

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

(Mark 1:12-13, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 17, 2018)

[12] The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. [13] And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Jesus and Spiritual Warfare: (Mark 9:19,29, 15:37) This is where it begins.

The Spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness.

Paul tells the church in Rome that “all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). What did the Spirit of God do after descending upon the only begotten Son of God like a dove? He “immediately drove Him out into the wilderness.” The desert is a place of deprivation and testing, and this is where the Spirit sent Jesus.

When we think that we are being led by the Spirit to go somewhere or to do something, we can be mistaken. Later we may decided that we were wrong. This was not the case with Jesus. The Spirit thrust Jesus out of a place of relative comfort and into the desert. He must have had some good purpose in this plan.

And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals.

Consider what Jesus went through. This was not an easy experience for our Lord.

First, it was more than a minute. The Man who would save us began His ministry by spending forty days in spiritual warfare in a very harsh environment.

Second, a murderer was nearby. Satan, the leader of fallen angels, an adversary of God, and the accuser of God's people was doing what He does. As Jesus informs us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” And in John 8:44 we learn about the devil that “he was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Satan is a formidable adversary who must be resisted. As Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:8-11, “[8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” So, a murderer was nearby...

Third, there was the matter of wild animals. Young David testified to King Saul, “Your servant has struck down both lions and bears.” Hungry animals are a part of this dangerous world, but what if one of them might even be demon-possessed? After all, that was what happened with the serpent in Genesis 3.

In this challenging environment, a battle for our souls took place that would go all the way to the cross. What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good. The devil wanted to tempt our Lord in order to derail Jesus' ministry and life. The Father was testing His Son with an eye toward His great purposes of growth. (A challenging concept, but Jesus was not only fully God, but also fully human. See Luke 2:52 and Hebrews 5:8.)

And the angels were ministering to him.

In the midst of this Spirit-led, God-ordained contest, good angels were near at hand. We are told that they were “ministering” to Jesus. The word is “deaconing.” They were doing what deacons do. They serve God by seeing a need and then entering into trying situations with actions that help and heal.

Though we live in a world of fallen spirits and dangerous predators, God also created holy angels who are ministers to the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). This is the world that we live in, whether we realize it or not. There are hostile dangers and powerful allies in nature and in spiritual realms. (Story of our missionary and MBBs.) In this environment in which you and I also live today, the place where we ask God to “lead us not into temptation,” Jesus passed the test that was before Him. His victory over sin in this world was foundational for our secure hope of eternal life. What if Jesus had failed?

The first Adam and the second Adam.

This experience was not the first time the Lord tested the metal of a man. The first Adam failed in a world of bounty. The second Adam, Jesus, passed this test at the inception of his public ministry. He would obey the Lord in a far more difficult accomplishment at the close of His mortal life. In His human nature, the desert prepared Jesus of Nazareth for the cross. We can expect a life of testing and learning.

Jesus' temptation and ours.

Why did God the Holy Spirit lead the beloved Son of God into a place of testing and deprivation? How is this experience of our Redeemer unique to Him? Why is Jesus' wilderness trial essential for us to understand correctly as we encounter our own temptations?

In Romans 12:1-2 we learn that our costly service to the Almighty helps us to understand the will of God better in our lives. We offer our bodies as “living sacrifices,” but God teaches us how to obey Him faithfully through such struggles, by showing us His “good and acceptable and perfect will.” Jesus' challenge was only for Him, but now God is also teaching us many valuable lessons through trials (James 1:2-5).

The Bible teaches us the truth about the spiritual warfare faced by Jesus and by us. We need to trust in Him and resist the devil in the strength of our Savior's victory over every evil enemy.

Two thoughts for us as we face various tests from our God's Fatherly discipline:

1. Declaring truth, living lovingkindness, and offering up God-dependent prayer are essentials and not a menu of choices. We need a balanced diet and so do others.

2. Far above our wins is the towering fact of Jesus' victory over evil. We rest on Him.

Sermon Point: Jesus' passage through a God-ordained period of testing is an essential foundation for our own victory over every evil.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 62 – God Alone

New Testament Reading—1 Peter 2:11-3:12 – The War Against Your Soul