Matthew 4: Resisting Temptation Like Jesus in the Wilderness

Introduction

"Where are you under pressure to disobey God this morning?" That is how Leonard opens his message at Trinity Cheltenham, in the series "Fit for Fight." He is not talking about the next storm, a cold or a late parcel. He is talking about the thoughts, words and actions that leave you less than the person the Lord wants you to be. In other words: where are you struggling with temptation?

A few weeks earlier, in a small restored theatre in Yorkshire, he watched a play by Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan. One character delivers the famous line: "I can resist everything except temptation." The audience laughed. But the question remains: does it matter that we resist the urge to follow our own path and our own desires?

To answer it, Leonard turns to Jesus tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). He shows the enemy's strategy, then five resources that Jesus drew on and that are within your reach too.

Outline of the Message

1. A Culture That Sings the Praises of Temptation

Our society sets very few limits. Advertisers turn temptation into a selling point, whether for a car, food or clothes. Leonard recalls a British food advertisement shot in slow motion: in the trade, they talk about presenting a product in a way that makes it irresistible.
Temptation is in songs, often about infidelity, in reality TV where couples are invited to leave their partners, and in films.
The prevailing slogan: do or say what you want as long as nobody gets hurt. It forgets the harm done to the person who lives only for self-fulfilment. "That is what the sirens of our culture sing today."
Since Genesis, the temptation to serve our own interests, to protect ourselves and to exalt ourselves at the expense of God's best has been with us. The devil's strategy has not changed. Jesus faced it throughout his ministry, and especially during the forty days in the wilderness.
Leonard quotes the theologian Tom Wright: temptations do not only seek to draw us into this or that sin, they seek to turn us away from the path of service and trust to which Jesus has called us. Sometimes subtly, sometimes like a roaring lion prowling around, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

2. The Disciple Is Engaged in a Battle

Following Jesus means being engaged in a battle that goes beyond what we see in the physical world: spiritual warfare.
The preacher asks frank questions: is this news to you? Are you trying to avoid the battle? Have you surrendered in some area of your life? Or do you want to get involved and look to God for the resources to "fight the good fight"?
He mentions controversial remarks by the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who wanted to remove many categories of people from the army, including bearded men and people who are overweight. "That rules me out on two counts," Leonard smiles.
In God's kingdom, nobody is excluded. Everyone is welcome, whatever their origin, age, background, opinions, past, size or even beard.
There are only two conditions: trusting in Jesus' saving work on the cross, which restores our broken relationship with God, and opening ourselves to the power of the Spirit who shapes us into the likeness of Jesus.
That is why the Lord's Prayer contains this request: "Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13).

3. The Three Temptations of Jesus in the Wilderness

Context matters. Jesus has just been baptized and the Father has declared: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). It is with these words in his ears that he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
Many see in the forty days an echo of Israel's forty years in the wilderness. Jesus' faithfulness contrasts with the failures of God's people.
The account is brief, but it was no easy victory. For nearly six weeks, the very identity of the Son of God was tested to its core: "If you are the Son of God..."
First temptation (verses 3 and 4): self-satisfaction. "You are hungry, use your power to serve yourself."
Second temptation (verses 5 to 7): self-preservation. "God will take care of you whatever you do."
Third temptation (verses 8 to 10): self-exaltation. Here is a shortcut to power and authority.
The Bible tells of God's great plan to save his creation, but it also contains many temptations that people gave in to: Adam and Eve, Cain, the tower of Babel, Israel in the wilderness, David and Bathsheba, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira, the Corinthians, the legalism of the Galatians.
Tom Wright again: "If we have heard God's voice welcoming us as his children, we will also hear the whispered suggestions of the enemy."

4. The Battle Begins on the Inside

Leonard quotes Martin Luther: you cannot stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair. You cannot stop temptation from passing by, but you can stop it from taking root and leading to sin.
We will never go through exactly what Jesus went through. But self-satisfaction, self-preservation and self-exaltation reach us every day: feeding our minds and bodies on unhealthy things, "looking after ourselves first" when others need our presence, making it a way of coping with a crisis, or giving in to despair by thinking that God is not there or does not care.
It is likely that Jesus' temptations began in his heart and thoughts, as inner assaults on his identity and calling. "The greatest battle is often the one you cannot see."
The voice that questions your identity: "Are you really a disciple of Jesus? How could God love you? You do not have what it takes to carry on, not after what you have just said or done."
The voice that questions your calling: "Aren't you being a bit fanatical? Give yourself a break. Be a Christian, but keep your convictions to yourself. Does prayer really change anything?"
When we lose the inner battle, the outward consequences are almost always negative, and we end up sinning.
The good news, "wonderfully liberating": you are not alone. Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin, and we can approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:15-16). There is always a way back into God's grace.

5. Your Identity and the Spirit Who Fills You

Jesus' life shows us what it means to be fully human. The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is not the character of the world, it is the character of Jesus, and it is what he desires to form in us.
First resource, your status. What sustained Jesus was knowing he was deeply loved by the Father. It is true for you too: "See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1).
Leonard tells the story of Charles Colson, President Nixon's right-hand man, imprisoned after the Watergate scandal. In prison, this hard man turned to Jesus. His identity changed, his life was transformed, and he founded Prison Fellowship, one of the most remarkable ministries to prisoners.
Whatever your past or your present failures, you are chosen by God, holy and beloved (Colossians 3:12), because God so loved the world (John 3:16). God's love has been poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) and nothing can separate you from it (Romans 8:38-39). When the whispered questions come, you stand on this certainty, as Jesus did.
Second resource, the Spirit. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:1 and 4:14).
That same Spirit, the Helper (John 14:16), is there to help us in every situation. Paul calls us to be continually filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and to walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).
A practical request: ask God every day to fill you with his Spirit, sometimes several times. As someone has said: "We need to be filled because, as Christians, we leak." Good habits shape character, and that takes time and effort.

6. Solitude and Scripture

Third resource, solitude. Leonard does not think the Lord asks everyone to go off into the wilderness for forty days. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray (Luke 5:16).
In our increasingly frantic lives, withdrawing to seek God can only be good. It is easier for some than for others, but it is a discipline to cultivate.
For him, it is an armchair in his study. Find your place: outdoors, at a retreat centre, at home. And there, wait on the Lord, praise him, confess your sins to "keep short accounts" with God, and perhaps fast and pray as Jesus did.
Fourth resource, Scripture. Each time, Jesus answers with the Word, and all his quotations come from Deuteronomy, the book of Israel's time in the wilderness.
God's word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Paul calls it the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). It reveals the true nature of people and situations.
Scripture tells us that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us (James 4:7), that with every temptation God provides the way out (1 Corinthians 10:13), and that we can stand firm, clothed in the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-13). It also helps us tell God's voice from the voice of the evil one.
Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy, went to Lebanon to secure the release of hostages. He was himself captured and held for nearly five years, four of them in solitary confinement. He said that the psalms, the passages of Scripture and the prayers he had memorized sustained him in the hardest moments.
Leonard's challenge: read, meditate on and, if possible, memorize one new verse each week until Christmas. You will build a treasure for the whole year.

7. Service, and the Horizon of the New Creation

Fifth resource, service. Jesus answered Satan by reaffirming his calling: to worship God and serve him alone (Matthew 4:10). He did not let himself be diverted from what God called him to be and to do for us.
Worship involves the whole of life: offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1).
When you are actively engaged in God's plans, you are far better placed to face temptation. David was not where he should have been, at the head of his armies, and that led to his fall with Bathsheba.
The big picture: with God's help, our character is shaped into the likeness of Jesus so that we will be ready on the day God renews all his creation. The world will not be thrown away.
God's ultimate purpose is for his children to worship him and reign with him. "They will reign forever and ever" (Revelation 22:5). "If we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12). "That is what we are fighting toward."
Living a fully human life means refusing to live for ourselves, to seek power at any price or to exploit the weak. It means following the servant Messiah, who took the road of the cross to give life. If we want life, we must lose our life for Jesus.
In conclusion, Leonard invites everyone to respond: to rejoice, to receive the Father's forgiveness, to confess where we have given in to temptation, because God is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9), to ask for more of the Spirit, to take root in Scripture or to answer a call to service.

Key Takeaways

Following Jesus means being engaged in a spiritual battle. Temptation is one of the enemy's main strategies to turn you away from your calling.
The temptations of Jesus, self-satisfaction, self-preservation and self-exaltation, are also ours every day.
The battle is fought first in the heart and the mind, against the voices that attack your identity and your calling.
Jesus was tempted as you are, without sinning. He understands your weaknesses and there is always a way back into his grace.
Five resources to stand firm: knowing you are God's beloved child, being filled with the Spirit, taking time for solitude, feeding on Scripture and staying engaged in service.

Personal Application

Where are you under pressure today to disobey God and follow your own path?
Which inner voice most often questions your identity as a child of God or your calling? Which verse can you set against it?
Have you made it a habit to ask God each day to fill you with his Spirit?
Where is your place of solitude with God, and when will you go back there this week?
Which verse will you memorize this week to take up the challenge of one verse a week until Christmas?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4?

For Leonard, the first temptation pushes Jesus toward self-satisfaction: using his power to feed himself. The second pushes him toward self-preservation: God will protect you whatever you do. The third pushes him toward self-exaltation: a shortcut to power and authority. These same temptations reach us every day.

Where does the battle against temptation begin?

The preacher believes that Jesus' temptations were first of all inner assaults on his identity and calling. It is often the same for us: the greatest battle is fought in the heart and in the mind. When we lose this inner battle, the outward consequences are almost always negative.

What resources help us resist temptation?

Leonard draws five from the account in Matthew 4: knowing you are God's beloved child, being led and filled by the Holy Spirit, taking times of solitude with God, being nourished by Scripture and staying engaged in God's service. He also reminds us that Jesus was tempted as we are and that there is always a way back through his grace.