High And Dry

Luke 4:9,13  And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:  …And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him  for a season.

Temptation is the name of Satan’s game.  His desire is to lure us from God’s way unto the way of guilt, shame, and injury.  Many a good Christian has fallen for the designs of the devil without ever realizing it.  We never know the extent of our departure until we give in to succeeding temptations and are left at the peak of the pinnacle to fend for ourselves.  Satan is good at luring us in the flesh one little pinch at a time.  Before long we find ourselves at the peak of some diabolical temptation.  It is at this moment in our lives that Satan leaves us high and dry; highly involved in our sin, precariously perched between the unseen depths of ruin and destruction.  Such is our abject terror that we completely quell and quench the assurance of the Spirit to keep us safe.  We are suddenly aware of our precarious position, unsure of our spiritual relationship, and certain of impending doom.  Resigned to finding our own way we ignore God’s way. 

Satan begins the temptation of a saint with little things; the easy things.  With a subtle sneer, he’ll suggest a little thing that seems good on the surface but self serving in its depth.  What can be so wrong about turning stone into bread?  There was no one around to see.  Jesus was all alone with only the devil as company.  How many of us have been in a similar situation?  Have you ever gotten alone, away from everyone and all the distractions of the world, only to find yourself face to face with a great temptation of the devil’s making?  Who else would ever know?  What is the temptation of turning stone to bread; what is the sin of it?  It is in the very nature of the deed.  The scripture speaks of a forty day fast and that Jesus afterward, hungered.  (I think sometimes the written Word leaves a lot to be desired when describing some things.  After forty days he hungered?  After only a few hours many of us are hungered!)  Later in Jesus’ ministry He would speak on God’s sufficiency toward His own.  It is God’s promise to provide all our needs.  For Jesus to command the rock into bread would be self-serving, selfish, and unfaithful.  Every time we set out to accomplish our own and deny God the opportunity to provide we have become self-serving, selfish, and unfaithful.  Is God our life or just a part of it? 

After Satan is finished tempting us on a personal level he extends the scope to others.  Do you think Satan tempted Jesus simply by the power of government alone?  Imagine the good he could have done others by being king over all the nations.  There could have been innumerable decrees of love, charity, and forgiveness.  Couldn’t Jesus have won the hearts of the world through good government and the power of law?  What would have been the incentive to comply with decrees?  To be such a king, He would have come into the world to condemn it.  (John 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.)  Only the power of a king to reward and condemn carries weight with command.  God had already sent the law and many kings.  The world was still lost in sin.  If Satan can’t tempt on a personal level, he will find us on a powerful level.  If we have the ability to command obedience through power and influence, isn’t this a good thing?  Beware the temptation to take away God’s power and influence.  God seeks and saves.  God cares for the needy.  God supplies all our needs.  We must never make ourselves preeminent and interfere in God’s design for others which would bring about our own glory.  (I Cor 13:3  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.)  Charity is God and without God in us our charity is simply a demonstrative statement of parity with God.  Is there any greater sin?

Finally, we are overcome at the pinnacle of temptation.  It is at this moment we can be dashed to pieces.  After a barrage of succeeding temptations, either indulged or not, Satan will pull out all the stops and take us to the very top.  Finally, Satan tempts us with the power of God to save.  How many fall for the temptation of an abounding grace?  (Romans 6:1  What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?)  Go ahead, grace covers it all.  God will always love, forgive, and receive his own, no matter what we may think or do.  While this is true, we must not take advantage of it for our own gratification.  The very passion of God to save men, to have saved us, should preclude such an attitude.  Jesus did not go about his life and ministry in a reckless manner.  We are not to lead our lives recklessly.  Does the scripture record the saying, “Go ahead, see what this cross will gain you!”, or rather that Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”  Though I admire “Stonewall” Jackson for braving certain death to embolden his troops, to have made a habit of such an action would have diminished the glory of God in the deed.  Jackson did not habitually place himself in harm’s way, but through discretion relied on God’s promises.  I’m sure the shot through his hand was a reminder to avoid this particular temptation.  How many of us survive lesser temptations to fall for the greater?  God will not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we are able.  It is the power of God to save and keep us. 

We don’t have to dash ourselves against the stones of sin to see the glory of God’s power in our lives.  The angels would have certainly preserved the life and limb of Jesus, but the perfection of Christ would have been marred by the sin of accepted temptation.  God will certainly forgive, pick us up, dust us off, and set us on our way, if we will allow Him.  But, we can preserve our testimony, assure our service, and fulfill God’s plan by refusing temptation and relying on the power of the Spirit of God to deliver.  The devil will depart when we learn to refuse temptation through Christ and rebuke Satan by the Word of God.  Three times Satan tempted, with lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.  Three times the Word of God prevailed. 

When the devil stands with us at the pinnacle of great temptation we must never forget we don’t stand alone.  We must, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." II Timothy 2:15  Satan is the master of bending truth, twisting truth, and hiding truth.  We can find the truth of the matter every time in God’s Word. 

When we’ve come to the pinnacle of temptation and refuse the wiles of the devil we can return to stable ground in the power of the Spirit.  The power of the Word will preserve us and the power of the Spirit will lead us. 

For all the fullness in promise and power of God we must have received the power of Jesus Christ to save and keep us.

Are we simply saved from Hell and Satan?

Is temptation the instrument of demise or deliverance?

Victorious saints are the Spirit’s delight and fruitful ministers to the world!