The Temptation of Jesus Christ

When thinking about this last day of Unleavened Bread, we've been dealing with this topic of sin over the last seven days and thinking about our adversary, Satan the Devil, who attempts to move us into sinful activity. So we've been putting our minds on that. We've been putting our minds on Jesus Christ, the one to whom we know had victory over sin and victory over Satan the Devil. When you think about these things, I was thinking about that and I thought, boy, is there any place in the Bible that we can look on this last day of Unleavened Bread that would deal with all those topics, deal with Satan the Devil, his sin, and him trying to project sin upon us and then Jesus Christ who was able to overcome? And I thought of the perfect place in the Bible for us to look today. And this will be our primary passage today. Some of you might be thinking of it already. But the title of today's study, The Temptation of Jesus Christ. So let's begin by opening our Bibles to Luke chapter 4, where we find the recorded event of Jesus' temptation. It's a temptation by the Devil. Luke 4, and we're going to look at verses 1 through 13 as we do come to this last day of Unleavened Bread, turning our hearts and our minds on matters of sin, dealing with the sin in our lives, dealing with Satan's attempt to pull us away from God, thinking about Satan's tactics and our ability to overcome these things. Let's look at this. Let's read this together. Luke chapter 4, let's read verses 1 through 13.

Luke 4 verse 1, Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the Devil. And in those days he ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, he was hungry. And the Devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

But Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Verse 5, Then the Devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world at a moment of time. And the Devil said to him, All authority I will give you, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Therefore, if you will worship me, all this will be yours. And Jesus answered and said to him, Get behind me, Satan. For it is written, You shall not worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for here. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you.

And in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, It has been said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Verse 13, And when the Devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. So we'll stop there. So keep your little marker thingy here. We're going to return to this passage.

It's going to be our primary passage. So we're going to come right back to Luke 4. But before we get into the specifics as described in this chapter, I think it'll be beneficial for us to turn to a few passages in Hebrews. Beginning in Hebrews 2. Let's turn there now. Hebrews 2 in verse 17 and 18. Because before we turn to this temptation event, we can turn to a few passages in Scripture that will help us as it gives a summary, almost like summary statements regarding Jesus's temptation and the confrontation with the devil.

The first summary statement of this event is here in Hebrews 2. Again, Hebrews 2, verse 17 and 18, where describing Jesus, the writer of Hebrews, says, Therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make a propitiation for the sins of the people. Verse 18, For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted he is able to aid those who are tempted.

Stop there. Powerful statement there at the end. Being tempted he's able to aid those who are tempted. In other words, he was made like us, in this act of being made like his brethren, as it says, he suffered being tempted.

But the wonderful thing about that is, and by doing so, he's able to help you and I in our temptations moments. Because he was tempted, therein lies the foundation for him to encourage and strengthen those who are in the face of temptation themselves. Incredible summary statement there with this temptation by the devil. One more scripture here in Hebrews. Let's turn forward just two chapters to chapter 4 in verse 15.

Just one one scripture here. One more statement about Jesus as our high priest and the temptation that he allowed himself to endure. Hebrews 4 verse 15 says, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Okay? So before we begin to unravel this temptation event in Luke 4 there, just understand. You have a high priest who's able to understand, who's able to sympathize with our weaknesses, with all of our temptations to sin.

Jesus Christ is not somehow sitting far off, removed from us, removed from humanity, somehow untouched or unaware. Of the lures and pools of sin, not at all. Rather, he overcame, and therefore he's personally able to help us. He's personally willing to help us in our temptation moments.

He was tempted in every way, yet without sin. So he voluntarily put himself in the cross hairs of temptation and is able to help you and I in our temptation moments. We've got to get this clearly in our minds there, because as we move forward from these days, we need to come to the understanding that we need him. We need the one to whom, while being in our same humanity existence, was able to be victorious over Satan there.

We need him. So let's turn back to Luke chapter 4, if you will. Luke chapter 4. And if you read any commentary on this particular passage, most agree that what we're turning back to here in Luke 4 is a passage which includes some of the most sacred and profitable words in Scripture that man can find that will help us greatly in our daily struggle to overcome sin.

Very few other scriptures rise to the level of help than this passage and this account with Jesus' confrontation by the devil. And I think this would have been an extreme help to the disciples at that time.

You can imagine at that time that, and this is a little bit of conjecture on my part, that there might have been the opportunity for Jesus Christ at some point in his earthly ministry to inform the disciples of this cosmic struggle which ensued. It challenged him not only as a man, it challenged him as a Messiah. And maybe perhaps while they were busy making a fire, at the evening that night, and maybe one night, they would have turned to him and they would have said, you know, Jesus, this temptation thing, it's got us in its grips. It's really weakening us. And I wonder if you've ever faced such temptations. And he would have been then able to pull back the veil, as it were, of this incredibly dramatic event. If that happened, it would have been a great help to them. It's certainly a great help to us today. So let's think through this incredible passage.

Now, maybe the first thing to notice here is not even in this passage. Maybe the first thing to notice is the genealogy, which you will find that immediately precedes chapter 4 here. It's there in the second half of chapter 3, the genealogy. We won't read through it, but the inclusion of this family tree there of Jesus. I believe it's there purposefully.

And you notice just one verse there, chapter 3 verse 23. Now, Jesus himself began his ministry about 30 years of age. Notice, being, as it was supposed, the son of Joseph. It goes on with the genealogy. We won't take the time to read it, but you notice those words. Being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph. So Luke points out very clearly that Joseph was the earthly father of Jesus Christ. He gives this lineage then, which I believe is there purposely to establish Christ's true humanity. Why do this? Why does Luke give the genealogy of Jesus Christ in such detail right before giving the recorded events of the temptation? Well, I believe it is because it wasn't common at that time. It was actually very common. It wasn't uncommon. For many to view Jesus as not quite man. In other words, they saw him as so otherworldly that when they looked upon him, they would say, you know, he's not really man, is he? They would have been prepared to look at him and say, I believe he's the son of God many at that time. But somehow or another, they couldn't get in their minds that he was also the fact that he was very man, if he will. He was majesty and meekness. He was the son of God and man, you see. And it's imperative when you come to a passage like this, like the temptation of Jesus Christ, Luke wants to make it clear that he was in real human existence, just like ours. He had a journey just like us, from womb to tomb, if you will. Same physiology, same psychology as man. He was, in fact, the son of God, no doubt. But Luke is saying he was also human in its fullest sense. So he wasn't on the perimeter, shouting down into humanity, separated from it. No, Luke is saying. He came from the glory of heaven, from eternity, down into our existence. He determined that he would come in a moment of time, be born, live and die, so that he could identify in our true humanity. So this is Jesus Christ's real man, real temptation. And we want to underscore that fact before we begin our study here. Because if you're like me, and maybe I'm out here a little bit by myself, I would always read this story in this account. And I had the tendency to somehow think that the temptations that Jesus faced somehow had less power behind them. You know, I know Jesus Christ wasn't a sinner. And therefore, somehow the devil, I don't know, he didn't have the same leverage potential against Jesus as he has against me, let's say, or normal humanity. If you've ever had that thought, I'd like you to consider that it's just the opposite. Just the opposite. And in fact, his temptation, Jesus's temptation, far from being less in force compared to our temptations, is in fact has more force behind it.

And that the temptations that he endured were all the more striking and all the more powerful than even what we face.

Why?

Well, I believe it's because he bore the temptation in such a way that no one else has. And it's because according to 1 Corinthians 10.13, you can turn there if you'd like. I can just read it to you. It's a very familiar passage. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13, we see that the temptation that you and I experience, it actually is filtered through God's protective hand.

You can read it later. Let me read it to you. You can turn there if you'd like. It says this, very familiar. 1 Corinthians 10.13, No temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man. But God is faithful, and here it is, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape that you might be able to bear it.

So in other words, he will not suffer you and I to be tempted beyond what you and I are able. And he, God, with the temptation will provide a way of escape for you and I so that we can bear it. So the temptation that comes to you and I, for lack of better example or better words, it's put through a filtration system, if you will.

Whereby, God protects us from the ultimate onslaught of temptation.

We're not tempted beyond what we're able. God makes a way of escape for us.

However, however, the filtration system is removed when it comes to Jesus Christ. And what Christ experiences here is the unmitigated onslaught of the devil. Full force. Challenging him as man, challenging him as Messiah. Because we know in our humanity, we give in to temptation long before it exhausts its full force. But Jesus, in order to qualify as the sinless Savior of mankind needed, must be confronted with the full intensity of temptation and all of its manifold intensity.

So the summary of this long introduction is this.

Real man, real temptation. If you get that, you've gotten something today. And the cosmic struggle, which is here in Luke 4, verse 1 and 2, it's quite unimaginable as you place yourself here in the shoes of Jesus Christ.

Chapter 4, verse 1 and 2 again.

Then it says, Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil. And in those days, he ate nothing, and afterwards, when they had ended, he was hungry. 40 days, it says, tempted by the devil in the wilderness. This wilderness, from what I can see, is between a central plateau of Judea and the Dead Sea, an uninhabited place, horrible wilderness area, some 35 miles by 15 miles. Horrible place, avoided at all cost. Unimaginable place. Jesus went here for 40 days without food. He ate nothing for 40 days. The end of verse 2 is very interesting then. Did you notice that? Did that strike you? He was hungry. Why did Luke put that? That's kind of odd. Of course he's hungry. Again, I think it's for those who were tempted to say, Christ isn't fully human. He could have gone for 40 days. He could have gone for 400 days. It doesn't matter. Luke puts in here and says, let me get it straight to you. Don't make him any less human than he was. He was human in every sense. He was hungry 40 days. If we would have seen him, you can imagine this. He would have been emaciated. He'd have probably been gray in color. He would have been gaunt, just in this rejected, forsaken state. Great weakness.

And the evil one steps up and says, I'd like to talk to you about a few things.

Here we have the first temptation attempt there in verse 3. Verse 3, and the devil said to him, if you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread.

That's interesting. You know, the previous chapter in chapter 3, right around verse 22, you had the voice from heaven coming to Jesus and saying, you are my son. That was at his baptism. You are my son. And now you have in chapter 4, verse 3, the devil's voice coming and saying, if you are the son of God, it's always the way. The devil will come and say, did he really say, you know, did God really say, do you think that was really true?

Just think about this. Think about this for a moment. The sequence of events here. Jesus appears at the Jordan River. He's baptized there in chapter 3, verse 22, baptized by John. He gets baptized. The spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove. You have the voice from heaven. You are my son and who I'm very well pleased with you. Jesus Christ, I'm sure says, wonderful. This is it. 30 years in preparation. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Where?

Here we go to this horrible barren wilderness.

Whose idea is that? Whose idea is to lead in there? Well, it's God the Father, led by His Spirit. So here he is in the wilderness, not eating, doesn't eat. First day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, six days, 40 days. And in the midst of this is this cosmic struggle taking place.

I bring that up because it is in the light of that fact that Jesus heard, you know, He is my son. It's in light of that that we have this amazing struggle right at the very outset of that Jordan River experience. In light of that, God leads him to this amazing struggle. So you can imagine the devil coming. Can't you give me a little room for conjecture here? Put ourselves at this moment, this conversation with the devil, looking around at this horrible place. You know, the devil says, huh, you know, if you are the Son of God.

You know, and I say, if Jesus purposely, because I saw that happening at the Jordan River. The dove, the voice from heaven, all that. Perhaps all that happened. I'll give you that. I'm not here to question that. I just want to suggest to you, Jesus, that what you maybe thought happened maybe didn't happen. Because after all, if you are the Son of God, to whom God is well pleased, don't you think things will be going a little bit better now?

Fair question.

I mean, you come out of the Jordan, you're not a moment or two into that. And now you're in the most miserable place. No food, all by yourself, forsaken. And all you have to talk to is me. You know, it seems like you've been forsaken, Jesus. I don't know. And my suggestion is, if you are the Son of God, let's turn these stones into bread.

Now, if you put yourself there, and if I put myself there, I would respectfully say, I don't know if I have it in me, not to turn the whole place into a bakery. When I don't eat, I get particularly irritable. I know you feel that way. And I would have been so, I could just see myself getting so mad at this point. Look, devil, I'm going to deal with you. I'm going to deal with you. Have you read Genesis lately? Yeah, I'm going to crush your head.

I'll fix you. It's a great temptation here. It's a powerful temptation. So the commentators most say that this is about physical need. It's true. It's applying physical need. Maybe even a deeper essence is dissatisfaction with our Father. Dissatisfaction. What are you doing here, God? Why am I here? Impatience. Self-will kicks in. The temptation to doubt. You're in the most devastating of circumstances. Forsaken, buffeted, facing the worst of days. Tempted to say, I'm just going to take this into my own hands.

Why deny yourself Jesus, the devil would have said? You're the Son of God, supposedly. You know? Why are you submitting to the laws of humanity? You're much powerful. You're much more than this. Look at yourself. Why risk the starvation? You can take care of this in one authoritative word. So do it. We'll look at Jesus' answer here in verse 4.

So that's a quote from Deuteronomy 8 verse 3. We won't take the time to turn there, but Deuteronomy 8 verse 3. If you look at Deuteronomy 8, it's in the context of the provision of God in the wilderness wanderings. And God provides manna, but it's in this supernatural way. It's supernaturally done. So it points us to the fact that we're not ultimately dependent upon that which we see physically and taking things physically in our own hands. We must be dependent on the life giver, the supporter of life. We're not dependent upon bread, but dependent upon God, ultimately. So is this a temptation for you? What are you putting your heart on and beginning to rely on your sources solely? You know, what you can do, your resources, rather than the Heavenly Father. Is this your temptation to be dissatisfied with God? I'm in this situation, this situation. I'm in this wilderness moment.

Dissatisfied with God. I'm impatient. I don't even know if he's here.

Look at what Jesus is saying here. Essentially, what he's saying is, no devil.

I know my father promised to look after me. And think about this. In fact, it is my father, whom I know loves me, who led me in this wilderness. He brought me here. The Father brought him there.

And I'll admit, devil, this is a pretty dreadful place. I'm prepared to tell you that, but I won't listen to what you're saying, because I know that my father knew I'd be foodless. My father knew I would be famished. And to do what you're suggesting, it would be an act of insubordination, an act of lack of faith in my father. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. We must depend on God and not on our own devices.

And if God's purpose is for us to be in a wilderness, we've got to be faithful in the wilderness. Very important. If his purpose is for you to be in the wilderness, you live by his word in the wilderness. Period. And if you think this through, this would have been a great example of strength to the disciples at that time. In a relatively short period of time, Jesus would gather the disciples together, and he would say things like, why are you worrying about your clothes? Why are you worrying about what you eat, what you drink? Don't worry about that. You don't have to worry about those things. But let's suppose for a moment that Jesus Christ had succumbed to the devil, turned the stone into bread. The disciples would have legitimately said to him, that's easy for you to say. You know, you can have food whenever you want. You have presto. You have bread. You don't understand. You don't know what it is to be hungry. You don't know what it is to be in this situation. I feel like I'm on my own.

Do you understand Jesus? And he'd be able to say, yes, yes, I do. I know what it is to feel the hunger, to feel that pain. I know what it is to feel like you've been abandoned. I know what it is to be tempted to take things into your own hands, outside of God's will.

I know what it is to feel your pain.

This is the Jesus Christ we meet in Scripture.

Stands in the valleys of our lives with us. When no one else understands, he does.

So it brings us closer to the one who can help us.

Let's go to the second temptation. We're going to go through these next ones faster than the first. The second temptation is found in verse 5 through 7. So verse 5 through 7, let's read this. Verse 5, Then the devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world at a moment of time. And the devil said to him, all this authority I will give to you, for their glory, for this has been delivered to me, I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. So the devil proposes to Jesus to establish his kingdom by making a compromise with him. Why don't you bow down to me? I can give you all that you seek. You seek kingdoms. I can give you kingdoms. I can give you this kingdom. And get this. I can give you this kingdom. You can achieve it without any struggle and without any suffering. Isn't that what he's saying here? This is a powerful temptation here. In other words, I can give you a route. I can offer you a route that does not include pain and suffering. It does not include a crucifixion.

Just go this route. Why would you go the route of struggle, Jesus?

You know, in Christ's new struggle. He was there in the garden in the moments before his death. He prayed. We know. If it is all remotely possible, let this cup pass from me. Let's go that route, if possible. I'm sure he maybe remembered the devil's words at that time.

Why don't you just accept this kingdom from me without the pain?

Partnership with me. You can have this kingdom without this crucifixion stuff, without this suffering stuff. No narrow road.

No crown of thorns. You know, my crown I want to give you, Jesus doesn't have thorns.

His response. Verse 8.

And Jesus answered and said to him, Get behind me, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

So rather than go the path of no suffering, he chooses the route of self-denying sacrifice.

The route of self-sacrificing love. The narrow road. The narrow road. And if you apply this to ourselves, be thinking about this.

By going down the road that Satan was offering him, in a sense, he would be worshiping someone else. He'd be worshiping himself. He'd been worshiping... Jesus would have been worshiping his own desires.

Worshiping someone else besides the Father and his purposes and his plans for Jesus Christ's life.

So he rebuts Satan, chooses the utter way of conflict, chooses the way of suffering, chooses the way of temptation, self-sacrifice, all these things that come our way when we're walking in Christ's footsteps.

And the devil comes to us today and he says these same things. Don't believe this stuff about a narrow road. Don't believe this stuff about taking up your own cross daily, you know. Don't do that. I have a whole other way that's much nicer, no self-sacrifice, it's an easier way, none of this nonsense of self-sacrifice. You don't have to leave everything behind. You can have it all now. Now, that was the temptation of Christ. It's the temptation that comes to us today.

Christ endured it. We can too, with his help.

Again, if it's God's purpose for you to be in the wilderness, worship him and him only. Don't begin to bow to your own desires.

Now, in verse 9 through 11, he's confronted with the third temptation here. The third temptation, the devil leads him to Jerusalem, stands at the highest point of the temple. Let's read this. So verse 9 through 11. So we'll stop there. So the devil confronts him with a situation. To create a situation which would test God's love for him. To create a situation which would test God's promises. I think that's the essence of this. Create a situation whereby you're going to test God's love for you and test his promises given to you. You'll notice it's in the context of the temple. That's fitting. The temple was a place that represents God's presence and his protection. So the devil then quotes this Bible verse from Psalm 91. This is where this quote comes from in verse 6. If you read that Psalm, you'll see it starts off with, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High. So you have these images of God's presence, his protection, shelter. So verse 6 again, For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.

So what the devil does in this is recruits Christ to try to create a situation again to test God's love. Along these lines, you're trusting in God and his love for you. Why don't you just show everyone that? Why don't you show everyone how much you believe in his promises and in his love? Throw yourself from the pinnacle of the temple here. You're a man of faith, aren't you?

It's a unique temptation if you're challenged on your trust in God and the promises he made to you. So why don't you just jump, the devil says. And at this time there might have been those there at the temple that had gathered. There's maybe a crowd there for the evening sacrifice, perhaps. So in a sense, throw yourself from this pinnacle and everyone will be able to say, Aha! He's the Son of God! After all, I just saw him fall 450 feet down into the Kendran Valley just before he hit the ground. The Father swooped him up, you know. He didn't even stub his toe.

But Jesus says to him, verse 12, Jesus answered and said to him, It has been said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Interesting. You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Why does he respond that way? Jesus knew that there was no word given from the Father directing him to jump from the edge of the temple. No word was given to him in that way. And so, therefore, he knew what it was to live in the Father's will. He knew what it was to live in the Father's will. To go outside God's will is to live in a space outside of God's will in our activity we tempt or test God.

When we live in the space that we know is outside of God's will in our activity, innately we test or tempt God. And you might say, well, I would never tempt God in this way. No way. Not so fast. Not so fast. Because we take dives like this in our lives. For example, this might speak to our younger people. Diving into a relationship or diving into a marital relationship that doesn't have the approval of God's word. You're going to test God in that dive. Putting God to the test. Still expecting him to catch you.

Think about this. So what aspects in your life are you testing God? Asking God to catch us daily yet we're not placing ourselves under the instruction of God. Parents or grandparents. This one pricks my heart. Asking God to ensure the welfare of our children or grandchildren while at the same time neglecting to bring them up in the way of God.

Please guide my children into your calling or my grandchildren.

But doing nothing to bring them up and to teach them God's word.

Asking God to keep us from iniquity. Keep me from sin while participating in activity which you know feeds trash into our minds. Those are our dives, if you will. Dives which are testing God to catch us.

So in those moments when you feel your toes dangling off the edge, come back to these words. Come back to these words you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Whether he will catch you or not.

So then, the temptation ends here with verse 13.

Verse 13, Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And we know the opportune time of course comes time and time again. If you look at the Gospels carefully, you will discover these three, the essence of these three temptations over and over again. Coming to Jesus Christ in his ministry. Continually facing the temptation to take things in his own hands. To take a different route. One without suffering. Stepping outside of God's will.

And even, this is important for us, sometimes these temptations come from those who are near and dearest to us. Sometimes unbeknownst to those individuals. I'll give you one example. We won't turn there, but in Matthew 16 we find Jesus Christ saying to his disciples, now here's the deal. I'm going to go up to Jerusalem, I'm going to suffer, and I'm going to be crucified. And up steps Peter. He says, Lord, this will never happen to you.

And at that moment, Jesus is faced with the temptation.

Peter's urging him to go outside of the route of pain and suffering. Take it into his own hands. Go outside of God's will. So there's the temptation. Do I stay steadfast with my face toward Jerusalem? What my Father's will is for me? Or do I listen to Peter?

And if you look that up later, you will know and you will see Christ's response. Christ's response.

Yes, he says, get behind me, Satan.

It's Satan. All the temptations come from Satan, the devil. No matter what form, no matter who, no matter what situation. And very often we will see and we see the devil basically has three bullets in his gun. These three bullets, inspiring him all the time at us. Different situations, different occurrences. And we have to withstand them all, just like our elder brother, Jesus Christ.

So in conclusion, we know despite all the attempts to overturn the plan of redemption, Jesus Christ emerges victorious and his victory opens the door for our victory. If you may be in a season where the devil is invading you in all these dramatic ways, and you must respond in the proper way, and if you feel yourself like being attacked in that way, the first thing you got to do is get biblical in your thinking. Put away the emotion, put away the heat of the circumstance. Get biblical in your thinking. What biblical principle can I apply to this situation? Start there. That'll lead you into looking to your elder brother, Jesus Christ, for help. And then pray to God that he will give you his victorious strength to strengthen you, not to take the easy way. Say to the father, I don't want to worship myself in that way. Worship my own desires for comfort, my own desires to ease out of this situation. No, I want to worship you and your will. And you can say to the devil, get behind me, Satan. You know, we have the power available to us to resist him in this way. And if you get biblical in your thinking, and you turn to God, you lay it to him, the promise is that the devil will flee from you. Resist him, he will flee from you. And often, if you're able to resist in those moments where you're out on the ledge, you're able to resist, get just on the other side of the moment, it's almost like a tangible feeling you will feel. You'll feel a release and a relief. That's what it is. You resist, the promise is, Satan will flee from you. Christ was led by the Spirit, we must too. With his Spirit indwelling in us, we have all we need for tomorrow's temptations. All we need for tomorrow's temptations are available to us today, even in the wilderness. I'll conclude with these summary verses that we read earlier from Hebrews. Think on these things as we move out from this last day of unleavened bread. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but in all points are tempted as we are, yet without sin. He being made like his brethren, for in that he suffered being tempted and he is able then to help us in our temptations.