The Temptation of Jesus Christ - Part 3

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Now, as we study the temptation of our Lord, there are a couple of critical implications that you need to keep in mind; let me just remind you of them. Number one, you need to remember that “All temptations are common to man.” 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 13, “No temptation has overtaken (or laid hold, or seized) you, but such as is common to man.” Now, don't misunderstand, that doesn't mean that everyone experiences every temptation, nor does it mean that everyone gives in to every temptation. But temptation is common to humanity; whatever it is you are tempted by, you are not alone. Jesus was tempted “in all things as we are,” the writer of Hebrews says. It doesn't mean He experienced every single temptation; it means that He experienced every kind, every category of temptation, even as we're seeing in this wonderful passage.

Secondly, don't forget that “Temptation is not sin.” Some Christians think that temptation is the same as sin, and so frankly, they just give in and give up. They say something like this, “Tom, you just don't know how many times I'm tempted to do this.” Well, my response is, as caringly as I can say, “Who cares? Christ was also tempted, yet without sin!” So being tempted to sin is not the same as sinning–don't equate the two.

Thirdly, “You will never be without temptation in this life.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it was true for Jesus. In Luke, chapter 4, verse 13, it says, “When the devil had finished (these forty days of) every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.” Jesus was tempted His entire life. In fact, in the Garden of Gethsemane, there is a temptation. And so, you need to understand that reality. Like Jesus, you will be tempted to sin your entire life. Listen carefully, “Spiritual maturity is not the absence of temptation; rather, spiritual maturity is consistently, with increasing frequency, saying ‘no’ to temptation.” 

A fourth implication that we're learning together is “Our Lord's responses to His temptation provide a wonderful pattern for us to follow in the temptations that we experience.” Because in His temptation, Jesus undeniably demonstrates His own supremacy over both sin and temptation. And from that, we see who He is, and we learn from Him how to respond ourselves. 

Now, Matthew's account provides several essential insights into the temptation of the Lord. We've considered in verse 1, “The Circumstances of Jesus' Temptation.” Last time, we began to consider “The Climax of Jesus' Temptation,” which is the heart of this passage, verses 2 through 10. Matthew, along with Luke, record three temptations that are representative of the temptations that Jesus faced during those forty days of temptation. And these three, recorded in both of these Gospels, are climactic. They are temptations that come at the end of that forty-day time period. Last time, we looked at Satan's “First Temptation” of Jesus. It was a temptation “To Meet Legitimate Physical Needs Contrary to God's Will and Word,” to meet legitimate physical needs contrary to God's will and Word. If you weren't here last time, I encourage you to go back and listen because that is one of the main categories in which you and I experience temptation. 

Today, we come to the second temptation of our Lord. Let's read it together, Matthew, chapter 4, beginning in verse 5. 

Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON THEIR HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ”  Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’ ”  

Now, in the second temptation, we're going to see that it's complex. And so, I'm going to give you the theme of this temptation, and then I hope to develop and show you that that is the theme as the message unfolds. So, in this second temptation, we learn that Satan tempted Jesus, and he tempts us “To Pursue Personal Glory Instead of God's Glory Alone,” to pursue personal glory instead of God's glory alone. 

Now, let's look then at this “Second Temptation” in verses 5 and 6; of course it's the temptation “to leap from the Temple.” Notice how it begins in verse 5, “Then the devil took Him into the holy city.” Now, clearly, that's a reference to the city of Jerusalem; that name is given to Jerusalem in chapter 27 of Matthew, where it's clearly Jerusalem. It's called ‘the holy city’ there in 27:53. It's also the only city where the Temple was. So, we know we're talking about Jerusalem. Now, for the forty days following Jesus' baptism, Jesus has been in the wilderness of Judea. That's to the east of Jerusalem and depending on exactly where He was in that large area that's called ‘The wilderness of Judea,’ He was somewhere between ten miles and forty miles from the city of Jerusalem.

The question is this, “Did Satan take Jesus physically to Jerusalem or did these events occur in a vision?” Well, we can't be absolutely sure. We can be sure of this, whichever way, it was a real temptation. But if Jesus and Satan went into the city, as certainly it appears in this text that they did, it's possible they got there one of two ways. That somehow, they were miraculously transported there, or they got there the normal way by walking. I think that's implied because the Greek word for ‘took’ here is the same word that Matthew uses for Joseph ‘taking’ Mary and Jesus to Egypt, and for Jesus ‘taking’ the disciples with him to the Mountain of Transfiguration. It means ‘to take with’ or ‘to take along with.’ I think that's the implication, that they physically went into the city of Jerusalem. 

Verse 5 goes on to say, and Satan “had Him stand on the pinnacle of the Temple.” The English word ‘pinnacle’ is from a Latin word, which is ‘pinnaculum.’ And that Latin word means literally, ‘little wings.’ And the Latin word is just a translation of what the Greek word here means that's translated ‘pinnacle.’ It's the ‘little wing.’ Now, we can't be absolutely certain where this was, but we can be fairly certain because most commentators point to one particular spot. Herod the Great built a large artificial platform over Mount Moriah. It was like an upside-down shoe box. And the top of it, the scale is a little unclear here, when you see this model that I have on the screen, but the scale is huge. That flat area on the top is thirty-six acres. That was the size of what is called the ‘Temple Mount.’ That's where the Temple itself rested in the center of the Temple Mount.

Now on the east side of the Temple Mount was the Mount of Olives, on the east side, away from the Mediterranean. And between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount ran the Kidron Valley. That meant that the eastern wall of the Temple Mount was above the Kidron Valley. On top of that platform, that is the Temple Mount, on the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, stood the Royal Porticoes, you can see them pictured there in the model on the screen behind me. And the top corner of the Royal Portico was called ‘The Pinnacle.’ So, from the top of the Royal Porticoes down to the Kidron Valley floor below was a drop of some, and this is staggering, one-hundred-fifty yards. So, a football field and a half, was the drop from the top of the Royal Porticoes to the Kidron Valley floor below. Josephus, the historian, writes this:

The height of the Portico standing over it was so very great that if anyone looked down from its rooftop, combining the two elevations, he would become dizzy, and his vision would be unable to reach the end of so measureless a depth.

It was from that corner, tradition says, that James, the brother of Christ, was thrown to his death. But the point is this, this was the highest, most visible place in the entire ancient city of Jerusalem. And I think that is key to understanding this temptation. So, file that away, Satan didn't choose a high place in the wilderness; instead, he chose Jerusalem, the largest city in Israel, and in the city of Jerusalem, the largest city, he chose the highest, most visible public place really in the entire country, as far as visibility and spectacle. It was there that Satan said this to Jesus, verse 6, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” From that high pinnacle, Satan lays out this temptation.

Now notice, for a second time he says, “If you are the Son of God.” Satan is not questioning that as I noted for you last time. Satan, uses here, Matthew quotes Satan, is using a conditional construction that assumes the condition is true, whether the speaker believes it or not. And in this case, we know the speaker believes it–both Satan and Jesus know who Jesus is. So, we can therefore translate it, the sense of it, this way, “Since we both know You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.” Now, if you're thinking with me, and I hope you are, that should raise a question, and that is, “Why would Christ even consider doing that?” I mean, “Why would that be a temptation?” You know, we've all had that sort of passing urge, when you're standing on the top of something high, “I wonder what it'd be like..?” That's not what's going on here. Satan explains, and let's watch it unfold, okay? Stay with me because we're going to get to the bottom of what this temptation is. 

First of all, consider “The Argument” of Satan's temptation. Essentially, Satan says this, “Listen, God has promised that He will protect the righteous, and certainly He will protect You, God's Son, since you are perfectly righteous.” That's his argument. Let's look at it, verse 6, “Cast Yourself down,” he says, verse 6, “for (because) it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON THEIR HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ” Satan actually quotes two verses from Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12, a Psalm that promises God's protection, not just to the Messiah, but to all of those who are His, to all of the righteous. That's what Satan quotes. 

Now, this second temptation shows us just how crafty Satan really is. Remember Jesus' first temptation? In his response to that first temptation, Jesus did two things. One, He quoted the Scripture; and two, He affirmed His trust in God's care for Him. Guess what Satan does? He uses both of those against Jesus in the second temptation. Satan essentially says this, “So, okay, you trust in God's care for You. Alright, well then prove it. Go ahead and jump. I mean, the angels are not going to let You even stub the toes exposed in Your sandals.” Satan is arguing that if Jesus is the real Messiah, that means He is the perfectly righteous One, and since God promised that He would protect the righteous, then God isn't going to let the smallest injury happen to the perfectly righteous One. By the way, notice, in passing, it says, “He will command His angels concerning You.” Angels is plural; there is no basis in scripture for the idea that there's one guardian angel assigned to each person. Just FYI. Now, that's the argument of Satan's temptation. 

Let's move on to consider “The Means” of Satan's temptation. “He misinterpreted and misapplied the Scripture.” Don't miss, folks, that Satan used Scripture to tempt Jesus our Lord. Of course, He misinterpreted it, He misapplied it, but don't miss the big point. If he did that to tempt Jesus, then guess what? He's going to do the same thing to you. In fact, I would argue he's already done it to you. I think if you're honest with yourself, as I am with myself, you have to admit there have been times that you have misused a verse of Scripture in order to do what you wanted to do. That's the temptation. Matthew Henry writes, “Is Satan so well-versed in Scripture as to be able to quote it so readily? It seems he is.” And then he says this, don't miss the change here, he was talking about Satan, but now he's talking about people. Note, he says, “It is possible for a man, a person, to have his head full of Scripture notions and his mouth full of Scripture expressions, while his heart is full of reigning enmity toward God and all goodness.” In other words, the fact that somebody knows the Bible and can quote it, the fact that they act like they love the Scripture doesn't mean they really do. So be aware. This is still one of Satan's most effective tools. He convinces people to misuse the Scripture to their own advantage. Many times, I have heard spouses twist and distort the passages that provide legitimate biblical grounds for divorce, twist and distort them so that they can follow through on their own unbiblical decision to end their marriage. I've heard people confronted about their sin quote Paul and justify themselves by saying, “Well, my conscience is clear.” Well, guess what? Paul also said that doesn't really matter because your conscience could be wrong. So don't miss the means. You have been and you will be tempted to use the Scripture, a distorted understanding of the Scripture, to make choices that are sinful and wrong. 

That brings us to “The Crux” of Satan's temptation. What's this temptation really about? Let me tell you what it's not about. This temptation is not a way to prove either to Jesus or to Satan that Jesus really is God's Son. They're both already convinced of that, or they wouldn't be there having this conversation. This is not merely a test of whether God will protect the life of His Son. Jesus already confirmed that He believed that by the first temptation, by not turning stones to bread when He was about to die if He didn't get something to eat. He said, “No, I trust the Father. He'll provide for Me in His time; He'll keep Me alive in whatever way He chooses.”

This temptation was not primarily about finding a high place and urging Jesus to jump to see if God would rescue Him. You say, “Tom, how do we know that?” Well, in the mountainous wilderness, where Jesus was being tempted, there were dozens of high places. Some of you have had the chance to visit Israel. You know that the Judean wilderness is filled with high places. In some places, even cliffs with long falls, that would be more than enough of a test. So, Satan didn't take Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem because he was just looking for a high place. There's more involved. The pinnacle of the temple was the most visible place in the entire city of Jerusalem. In fact, it would have been visible to a large part of the ancient city. It would have been visible to many of those on that thirty-six-acre area called the Temple Mount. And it was especially visible to those entering the Temple because most of the people who visited the Temple entered by way of what's called the ‘Southern Steps’ that you see circled here on the model slide, which is right there with the pinnacle of the Temple in full view.

You see the heart of this temptation is about being seen. A rabbinic tradition read this way, “When the King Messiah reveals Himself, He comes and stands on the roof of the Holy Place.” You see, for Jesus to ascend to the top of the royal portico, and then to jump and to be rescued, would have potentially proven, to many Jewish people, that He was, in fact, the Messiah. I said ‘potentially’ because miracles don't always convince–the resurrection didn't convince. It takes the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart to open a blind person's eyes, spiritually blind, to see.

John MacArthur writes, “For Jesus to have followed Satan's suggestion, would have been, in the eyes of many Jews, sure proof of His Messiahship.” That's the temptation. Jesus' second temptation is a temptation to jump from the Temple to confirm His Messiahship to a large crowd of people. Alfred Edersheim writes this, “Now then, let Him descend, heaven-born, into the midst of the priests and the people. What shouts of acclamation would greet His appearance! What homage of worship would be His? The goal can be at once reached.” And then he adds this, “The goal might indeed have been reached, but not the divine goal, nor in God's way.” That's the temptation. What Satan was urging Christ to do was just the kind of sign that many in that century were hoping for and expecting from the Messiah. In Matthew 12, verse 39, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign.” In chapter 24, verse 24, He warned that “false Christs…will arise and will show great signs and wonder, so as if possible, to mislead even the elect” (Paraphrase). And that began in the first century. 

In fact, there are several examples from the time of Christ of such false messiahs looking to do something spectacular to attract a following. For example, a man named Theudas led a group of people from the Temple to the Jordan River, promising to, like Moses did, split the waters. Of course, he failed, and he lost his following. An Egyptian promised that he would flatten the walls of Jerusalem, and of course, that never happened. Tradition says Simon the Magician, from Acts, chapter 8, did the very thing that Jesus is here tempted to do. He jumped off the top of the Temple. Guess what? He lost his life and his following. 

Now, don't miss the context here. After Jesus' baptism, rather than lead Him immediately into Jerusalem to show Himself publicly to Israel and her leaders, the Spirit drove Jesus where? Alone, into the wilderness. That was how Christ could best bring glory to God; that was the design of the Spirit. Satan, here, tempts Him to do something very public and spectacular instead. So, this temptation, at its heart, was an appeal to self-promotion and personal glory, masquerading as a way to supposedly accomplish God's purposes–that's what Satan is really appealing to, self-promotion, personal glory. For Jesus, this was a temptation to advance His Messianic mission through personal fame. He would get a following, but it would be to substitute a supernatural spectacle to gain a reputation for God's plan, which was what? God's plan was for Him to develop a following by teaching the Word of God. Jesus said in Mark, chapter 1, verse 38, you know, the disciples said, “Hey, stay around Jesus, they want You to perform more miracles. This will be great big crowds developing.” Jesus said, “No, we're going to leave and go elsewhere so that I can preach, because that is why I came” (Paraphrase). You see the substitution going on here? Do something big; do something spectacular, substitute a spectacle for the Word of God. Sadly, many in today's church have given in to this same Satanic temptation–signs and wonders, that'll do it, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.” If Jesus had given in to this temptation, He would have embezzled the glory that He was supposed to bring to God. 

Now, none of us have been tempted to jump off of the Temple in order to prove who we are. So, what is the heart of this temptation for us? What form does this temptation take with us? Well, let me explain it this way. Each of us was created to bring glory to God. We exist for this purpose. You exist for that purpose. The shorter catechism of the Westminster Confession begins with the first question, asking this question, “What is the chief end of man?” In fact, let's ask it more personally, “What is your chief end?” Here's the answer, “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” That's why you exist; that's why I exist. So, what happens? Well, sadly, our flesh, now we're talking about us, Jesus didn't have a sinful flesh, His was an external temptation. But in our case, our flesh takes that God-given design that we exist to bring glory to God, and our flesh naturally perverts and warps it into a desire to substitute our personal reputation and our personal glory for God's glory. It's what John the Apostle calls in 1 John 2:16, “the boastful pride of life.” It's, “I want the glory; I don't want God to have it.” And if Jesus had acted on this temptation to bring personal glory to Himself, even under the masquerade of bringing glory to God, He would have failed. 

But there's another part of this temptation for Jesus, and there's another part of this temptation for us, and that is to test God. We see that in “The Biblical Response” in verse 7. If Jesus had acted on this temptation to throw Himself off the temple, it would have been testing God. And that's why He says what he says in verse 7. Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written.” Now, this is really important. In all three temptations, Jesus responds with Scripture, specifically from passages in Deuteronomy 6 to 8. And He quotes from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, which by the way, is Jesus' stamp of approval on translations. But by quoting Scripture in response to Satan's use of Scripture, our Lord teaches a really important interpretive principle–don't miss this. By quoting Scripture to respond to Satan's misuse of Scripture, our Lord teaches us that we are obligated to interpret one passage in Scripture in light of the other passages in Scripture that address that same theme, comparing Scripture with Scripture. It's an argument for what's called “The Analogy of Faith.” That simply means the Scripture interprets the Scripture. You can't take a passage out of its larger Scriptural context. You have to look at that passage, comparing it with other passages that are commenting on that same theme. It's really also an argument for Systematic Theology. Trench writes this:

There lies in Christ's words the secret of our safety and defense against all distorted use of isolated passages in Scripture. Only as we enter into the unity of Scripture, as it balances, completes, and explains itself, are we warned against error and delusion, excess or defect on this side or the other. (And then he says very insightfully, he says.) What very often are heresies but one-sided exaggerated truths; truths torn away from the body and complex of the truth without the balance of counter truth, which would have kept them in their due place. 

That's brilliant. What he's saying is when you rip a text out of its context, out of the context of the larger Scripture, that's where heresies are born. That's what people like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons do, or even the Roman Catholics in terms of salvation. They rip a text out of the whole context of Scripture and make it say what they want it to say rather than comparing Scripture with Scripture. He (Trench) goes on to finish, “So, because all such checks are lacking, it is not the truth anymore, but error.” You realize the Scripture can be error–now don't misunderstand me, not in its original authorial intent, not as the Holy Spirit meant it, but it can be error because it can be misused, misinterpreted and misapplied. So be careful.

Look at Jesus' Scriptural response to Satan in verse 7. He says, “it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’ ” Now as you can see, that's a quotation from the Old Testament. It comes from Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 16. But Deuteronomy 6, verse 16, refers back to an earlier incident during the wilderness wandering. And to get the context of what Jesus says, I want to go back there. Go back to Exodus, chapter 17; Exodus 17, and verse 1. It says:

Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD,” (Don’t miss that. They are where they are, the circumstances they are in because God wanted them there.) And they camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Verse 7) He named the place Massah (which is ‘test’) and Meribah (which is ‘quarrel’) because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel. (Now don't miss the end of verse 7. Here's how they tested the LORD.) They tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?” 

That's how they tested the LORD. Essentially these people said this, “If the LORD is truly among us, then let Him prove it by doing what we're demanding of Him.”

Now read the previous chapters, from the time they left Egypt, God could not have demonstrated more clearly that He was present among them. Remember the Pillar of Fire by night and the Pillar of Cloud by day? Remember the destruction of the Egyptian army, the parting of the Red Sea? On and on it goes. God is among them. He promised to be among them, and He clearly was. But now they say, “I don't know if we can trust God's word. Let Him prove it by doing what we demand of Him.” Again, sadly, this is a temptation that many particularly in the contemporary charismatic movement struggle with, but even in evangelicalism, we can distrust God's Word and say to God, “Prove it!” Instead of taking Him at His Word. That's to test the Lord.

Now back in Matthew, chapter 4, Jesus' temptation was a temptation that was the same as what was going on back there in Exodus 17. Satan was tempting Christ in this way, “If you really are the Son of God among us, with us, then prove it by demonstrating it to them with this miracle, by doing what I say.” And the temptation was a test of God by distrusting His Word, but it was also a choice to promote Himself in a way that was of His own choosing rather than God's. So, it was both. This second temptation is really both; it's a test; it's doubting God's Word and basically saying to God, “I don't care what You said, prove it to Me.” And at the same time, it is a temptation to promote ourselves. If Jesus had given in to this temptation, He would have been embezzling the glory of God. Sadly, this temptation is very common for every one of us. It's the temptation, don't miss this, it's the temptation for us to self-promotion, selfish ambition, to pursue what John calls the “boastful pride of life.” Every time, either in our minds or in our speech to others, we're tempted to promote ourselves in any way, it's this temptation. 

What does it look like? What does this temptation look like? Well, it's taking pride in and promoting yourself because of your birth, your family, your influence, the number of followers you have on social media, the people you know, the club you belong to, the university you attended. This temptation can be about wealth. It can be about power and position. It can be about clothes, personal appearance, physical fitness. It can be about the car you drive, the house you live in, the neighborhood in which that house is located. It can be pride in education, in intellect, in culture, in honors received. It's a craving to show off before others, your possessions, your abilities, your achievements, to make much of you. That's this temptation. 

Now, this ambition, to be greater than others, expresses itself in countless ways. It can stay in the heart and just be pride where you look down on others, you never let on, you never say anything, but every time you look around you, you see people that are beneath you. Occasionally, it can be overt boasting. This doesn't happen very often because it doesn't go well for most people. There are very few people walking around like Muhammad Ali saying, “I am the greatest!” Normally, it's subtle self-promotion. It's like throwing out comments in a conversation just to help the other person realize how great you are. It's filling your social media posts with humble brags. 

How does Jesus' response to this second temptation help us in dealing with the boastful pride of life, which is our version of this? Well, behind Jesus' response to His temptation were “Two Crucial Convictions,” two attitudes that we should cultivate in response to every temptation we have to self-promotion and self-exaltation. You want to overcome, like Jesus, this temptation? Here it is. Number one, remind yourself of this, “I exist to promote God's glory, not my own.” I exist to promote God's glory, not my own. And Jesus could not have been clearer about this. Turn over to John; John, chapter 5, and look at verse 41, Jesus says, “I do not receive glory from men.” Jesus says, “Never in my life have I sought the glory of men.” Imagine that! Compare that with your heart or with my heart. Jesus says, “I never have sought glory from people.” Turn over to chapter 8; chapter 8, verse 49, they had accused Jesus of having a demon, verse 49, Jesus says, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father and you dishonor Me.” And in verse 50, “I do not seek My glory.” Imagine that–never once in Jesus' life did He seek to elevate Himself; did He seek personal glory, self-promotion, self-exaltation! 

Turn over to chapter 17. In His High Priestly Prayer, the night before His Crucifixion, He says in verse 1, “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son.’ ” You say, “Aha, there it is!” No, read the next phrase, “in order that the Son may glorify You.” That was His heart. When He contemplated that hour, the hour of His coming death for sin, and He realized all that was coming, that was when He would be most glorified. “If I be lifted up, I will draw men to Myself.” That was the Father's glorification of Him when He accomplished the victory over sin. But even in that moment, Jesus' heart wasn't for His own personal glory. It was so that “I may glorify You.” Look at verse 4, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” Folks, Jesus lived to promote the Father's glory, and He always, always, always refused to pursue His own glory. And like Jesus, that's how you and I have to live. 1 Corinthians 10:31, it's in the context of using our Christian liberty, but he says, “Whether, then (therefore), you eat or drink,” whether you choose to exercise it or not, exercise it or how you choose to do, and in “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” That's why you exist. That's why you're here. It's not to promote your own glory. It's not for me to promote my own glory. It's so that we can promote the glory of the One who created us, who gave us life, who sustains us, who redeemed us by His Son, who will glorify us one day, and whose presence we will forever bring glory. That's why you live. 

Number two, a second crucial conviction is, “If–for His glory–God decides to exalt me, He will do it in His way and in His time.” I don't have time to turn there, but in Luke, chapter 14, beginning in verse 7, Luke recounts the story of when Jesus was at a dinner at a Pharisee's house, and He noticed that they were all, when they got there, seeking the best seats, the highest seats. And He says, “Don't do that. Don't promote yourself. Go sit in the lowest seat. And then if the master of the feast wants to invite you to a higher place, that's His prerogative” (Paraphrase). But you know how Jesus ends that? He ends with this universal statement; He says, verse 11, “Everyone (whoever) who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” That's how we have to think about it. If God chooses to give you some measure of exaltation in this life, let Him do it, and let Him do it in His time and in His way. But you and I must never pursue our own personal glory. We need to rehearse these convictions every time we're tempted to self-promotion, both in our own minds and with others. And again, don't miss the fact that we all have given in to this temptation. There isn't one of us here who hasn't given in to the temptation to self-promotion. We've given in; but Jesus never did!

That brings us back to the Gospel. That brings us back to the fact that we need a Savior from our sin because we live for our own glory rather than the glory of God. And by the way, friend, if you're here without Christ, you need to understand that. You think, “You know, I'm not that bad. I mean, I don't do a lot of things other people do.” Listen, your greatest sin is that you have lived your life for your own glory rather than the God who created you and who deserves glory from you. And that alone will be enough to condemn you forever. Jesus never did, and because He never did, He's the only one who's qualified to stand in your place, to die in your place on the cross, to absorb the wrath of God against your sins so that God could forgive you. And that's offered to you if you'll repent of your sins, and you'll put your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That's the only way. He's the only sinless one. What a Savior!

Let's pray together. Father, we are overwhelmed by Your goodness to us. We thank You that You have given us this record of Jesus' temptation, not only so that we can see Him in His glory, we can see His supremacy over sin and temptation, that He is qualified to be the Savior, the Redeemer, the Mediator who can bring us to You. He's the only One ever who hasn't sought His own glory. 

But Father, we thank You as well that we learn here how to respond to temptation ourselves, help us who are in Christ to remind ourselves often that we exist for Your glory, not our own. And that if you choose to exalt us in some way on this earth or in Your presence, we're going to wait and let You do that in Your way and in Your time and with the heart that points back to the first, and that is, that we exist to bring You glory. Even as Jesus did in the moment of His greatest glory, His heart was to bring You glory. Father, may that be our heart as well. 

I pray for those who may be here this morning who don't know You. Lord, help them to see their sinfulness. Help them to see the wretchedness of embezzling Your glory for themselves. And may they run to Jesus Christ, the only sinless One, the only righteous One, the only One qualified to stand in the place of sinners on the cross, and to absorb Your wrath against the sins of everyone who would ever believe so that You can forgive their sins. Lord, may they run to Him, even today. We pray it for the glory of Your name, Father, and for the glory of Your Son who deserves the reward of His suffering, Amen.