Matthew 4:8,9. The devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. "All this I will give you," he said ," if You will fall down and worship me." We have been studying the temptations Jesus encountered in the wilderness and how they apply to us. Today we are looking at the third and final temptation. In the first two temptations, the Devil presented Himself as an angel of light. He tried to hide his true character but Christ recognized him from the go. The Devil began with " if, " you are the Son of God. The "if " gave him away. The "if" was an attempt to get Christ to doubt His Father's Word, but Christ prevailed by saying " it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. "
In the second temptation we saw the devil trying to use the scriptures to deceive. If the devil can't get you to doubt the Word of God, he will try to get you to misuse God's Word to sin. We looked into the sin of presumption, excusing sin on the belief that God is love and forgiving. Again we saw Jesus using the shield 🛡 of eternal truth to block the tempter's assault. And now having tried and failed twice, the Devil revealed himself and his true character. Basically saying okay I see you recognize me, now let's cut to the chase. I know you have come to gain the kingdoms of the world but I am willing to offer them to you right now, without a fight, at this very moment.
The devil is willing to offer Christ what He came to get but at what cost 🤔? The devil said "all this I will give you if you will fall down and worship me." The price for achieving your goal is to worship me. How does one worship the devil ? Have you faced such a temptation before? Do people only worship the devil when they practice voodoo, santaria, Obeah, tarot card reading, horoscopes, seances, yoga or other occult practices? No friends, these are the obvious ones but you worship the devil when you try to get things in life using his principles. What is the major principle of the Devil 🤔? You can sum it up as this," doing evil that good may come."
The Devil believes and teaches that if you want something in life you should get it at all cost. If you can't get it the right way,then break God's law to get it. God forbids dishonest practices such as lying and defrauding, the devil say,"hey lie and cheat your way to success." We worship the Devil when we violate God's law in order to get something. Example: you want a promotion at your job, so you sleep with the boss, bow down and worship. You want that job badly so you lie on your resume, bow down and worship. You want that girlfriend/boyfriend so you deceive them, bow down and worship. You want money so you rob, steal and kill,bow down and worship.You want to run for a political office, so run advertisements bashing and smearing your opponents. You want people to love you at the expense of someone else, so you gossip behind their back, destroying their reputations. Any time we do things that are unrighteous in order to gain an advantage or advance in life we are spiritually worshipping the Devil. We are doing evil, hoping that good will come. And so many of us have troubled consciences because we acquire many things in life at the expense of our souls. The #Me too movement provided many such examples. While we condemned what many of these evil men did, for the men also worshipped the devil by taking advantage of vulnerable women.
A major principle of the devil is taking advantage of someone who is weaker, vulnerable. Many of the women were also guilty of sin. Many of the women traded their integrity for a movie role 🎬, traded their integrity for fame, career,money, they bowed down and worshipped. Later on regrets ate them up and so it is with anybody who use the devil's principles in order to advance in life. When we choose not to wait on God to make the way before us, the devil will come and say I will give you all that your heart desire if you will bow down and worship me. If you lie,steal, kill your way to your goal I will help you succeed and many of us fall for his temptation .
By the onset who had revolted in heaven the kingdoms of this world were offered to Christ, to buy His homage to the principles of evil; but He would not be bought ; He had come to establish a kingdom of righteousness and He would not abandon His purpose. With the same temptation Satan approaches men and here he has better success than with Christ. To men he offers the kingdom of this world on the condition that they will acknowledge his supremacy. He requires that they sacrifice integrity, disregard conscience, indulge selfishness. Christ bid them seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness:Satan walks by their side and says: Whatever may be true in regard to life eternal, in order to make a success in this world you must serve me. I hold your welfare in my hands. I can give you riches, pleasures, honor, and happiness. Hearken to my counsel. Do not allow yourselves to be carried away with whimsical notions of honesty or self-sacrifice. I will prepare the way before you. Thus multitudes are deceived. They consent to live for the service of self, and Satan is satisfied. While he allures them with the hope of worldly dominion, he gains dominion over the soul. But he offers that which is not his to bestow, and which is soon to be wrested from him. In return he beguiles them of their title to the inheritance of the sons of God.Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Conflict of the Ages Series)
Matthew 4:10. "Away from me, Satan !" Jesus declared. "For it is written: you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." Then the devil left him. Friends, we must be like Jesus. When the devil comes via your own thoughts, a friend, family member, a boss or whoever and say hey you can go ahead by doing this evil thing, tell that wicked person away from me Satan! It is written, I will worship God only and Him alone I will serve. Meaning I will only do what is right in the eyes of God in my life. I will only use the principles of righteousness in this life of mine. Away from me Satan! for I will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and the Devil will depart from you. May God help us to be faithful.
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