The Life of Christ

WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE CONCERNING YOU’; And ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”

Satan quoted from Ps. 91:11-12.

• However, the devil intentionally left out the all-important phrase, "to guard you in all your ways.”

• The entire verse the devil was quoting to Jesus reads: For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone (Ps. 91:11-12).

• “To guard you in all your ways" included this very moment.

Mt. 4:7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”

Again, it is written , "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test" (Deut. 6:16).

• We need to be careful not to tempt the Lord by putting ourselves in foolish situations and then expect Him to bail us out.

• We remember God’s word to Adam and Eve: “Don’t eat of the fruit or touch it” (Gen. 3:3).

Jesus ’ use of the word of God illustrates His mastery of fine “swordsmanship.” • When asked to turn the stone into bread, rather than quote back a direct response, He drew out a deeper principle: “Man shall not live by bread alone.” • Rather than repeat back to the devil, “You shalt not jump from pinnacles of the temple,” Jesus once again pinpointed the underlying problem with such a jump —“You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”

• Only once out of the three temptations did Jesus directly respond: “You shall worship the Lord and only Him shall you serve.”

• The more we understand the full content of God’s word, the better able we become to extract the precise scriptural principle to address the temptation at hand.

Mt. 4:8-10 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”

This includes all future kingdoms that are also within Satan’s authority to give.

• Since Jesus didn’t worship the devil, He ended up with them anyway; Rev.15:4 says, “For all nations shall come and worship before You.”

Mt. 4:11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

After the time of testing comes the time of refreshing.

• Lk. 4:13 warns that the devil will later return: “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

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