Temptation: Satan's three-way approach

When the devil tried to tempt Jesus, as we can read from Matthew chapter 4, he used three ways as his forms of approach. We might not be too aware sometimes but these are the same ways of approach he is using to try and tempt God's people nowadays.

First approach is found in verse 3, where satan said to Jesus," If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Now, maybe almost all the preachings and teachings we hear about this verse only talks about the bread......yes it is true that a lot of times satan tempts us through our physical needs ,even today....but what we miss here is the first approach satan used and he is still using to tempt people today....notice the first line when he said, "If you are the Son of God,..."

...he actually tried to make Jesus question His own position as the Son of God... now you must have noticed that the same is true in our daily lives. There are times that satan wants us to question our "position in Christ". he wants you to question your salvation. he wants you to doubt about what Jesus did on the cross for you by saying to you the same thing ,"...If you are a child of God,..."

But I love the way Jesus dealt with him and said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

Clearly, in this verse, Jesus is showing us one great example on how to deal with temptation.

we must not live by bread alone.. this means that we must avoid trying to deal spiritual situations with carnal response. We need to use the word of God because every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Almighty God is living and powerful and is able to protect us from the fiery arrows that the enemy will try to use against us. His word is the whole armour of God... (Ephesians 6:14-17).

We need to remember who we are in Christ. Here are few verses that talks about our position in Christ..

" For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. " Ephesians 2:8.

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13.

You are a child of God. bought at a price with His precious blood. You are free! You are forgiven! You are loved.

Do not let the enemy make you question your position in Christ. He died on the cross for your sins and when you receive Him as Lord and Saviour, He has given you the right to become a child of God.

Second approach satan used is found in verse 6, he said," If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

Notice the line he used, "it is written..."

yes, satan often uses the word of God as well to try and imitate God and deceive others. Deception is like a piece of sweetie... but coated with drugs. It looks cute. But it kills.

As we learn from 1 Peter 5:8, "...our adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. "

it means he is just like a lion. He is not really the lion... because Jesus Christ is the real Lion.... "the Lion of the tribe of Judah ..." (Revelation 5:5).

I always remember telling our disciples at the church wayback when we started our pioneering that they must always be sober and watchful, and not to believe everything but to test all things.. because no matter how knowledgeable a person is , when the words he is preaching is not in line to what the word of God says, then it is still a false doctrine.

Satan uses the Bible and twists its meaning to teach wrong doctrines and deceive many.

Third way of satan's approach to Jesus is found in verses 8-9 .

"Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4:8‭-‬9

As another way of approach, satan uses the temptation of earthly wealth, success, and glory which the carnal man usually desires.

It is not wrong to desire to become successful. But it is wrong to gain wealth out of a corrupt heart and deliberately rejecting the truth from God's word ,doing something that you know would compromise your christianity.

In this verse, satan showed that he is also able to give wealth....but there's always a string attached, he wants your worship... trying to be equal with God, he tries to take people's eyes away from God through the temptations of worldliness, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1John 2:16).

He thinks that only if people will worship him, then he could be equal with God. So he desires worship so much.

Many christians today, especially when they are in an "exceedingly high mountain", living a comfortable life, everything is within reach, often lose sight of their faith in God.

Jesus again showed us the best example to deal with this kind of temptation.

Again, He used the word of God and said, "Away with you satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve."

God wants us. And He wants us to give Him our whole heart and our whole life.... because He first gave His all for us.He wants our undivided worship.

Anything that will cause division to our devotion to God is not of God.

anything that causes us to lower the standard of our faith is against His will.

These are the three ways of satan's approach that we need to be aware of.

May God bless you.