If he did it to Jesus (he will do it to you)

If the devil had the impudence and wickedness to treat God in such a base fashion as he did in the wilderness – what will he not do towards you?.. if it is true on the one hand that God protects you from immediate destruction by satan – is it not also a curse and the hand of satan if you fail to see where the devil has already laboured in your life, and succeeded – to seek the cure in and with Jesus, and find it?..

let us see once again what the devil came with to Jesus – so that we can see plainly what is the hand of satan in our lives

Matt. 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Number 1. "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."

The first temptation is about your flesh; your fleshly proclivities; your pleasures. If you are not a child of God, you are already sinning about food and your flesh. You deprive yourself of God's provision and seek the world for food – while the world is one of the strong arms of satan. You seek food first and, if at all, God afterwards, so that if you used to believe in God you may thus easily flow into atheism, or agnosticism, because God is not your supreme concern, nor His righteousness for that matter. There are many ways in which you may serve the devil through your flesh – ranging from food to all manner of pleasures and pastimes – all entertainment industry, for that matter. Even what one might term good enjoyments, such as enjoying your studies, scientific research, sports, some kind of serious business, may be just another way of serving the flesh, and through that the devil, if you do not do those things for God; all too often people are self-hired into different activities, or persuaded by satan, so that they by so doing depart from God and become even more dead to Him than they used to be. If you labour not for Jesus, not in His field – guess in what other field you are employed – if there are only two powers in existence?

Number 2. "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."

The second temptation is about employing what good you have for solving your spiritual, eternal, and even physical problems – all by yourself, or all by itself, that is, by what good you have – which means, outside Jesus. First of all, all too often people are altogether in the dark about what is good and what is evil – because they are not with Jesus in the first place, but receive the tempting voice of satan as an incentive to muster all the good that they have in order to overcome some incident difficulty on the way – one that appears insurmountable without throwing in something of themselves, some of their assets, into the mix; but thus people often lose much, or everything, even perish. Because outside Jesus man can do nothing good – and unless man comes to God for inspiration, enlightenment, and guidance – he will be led by satan in what the person sees to be either difficult or easy matter. Some people have developed a habit of greater self-reliance when in difficulty; others – when dealing with what they deem to be a trifle; often these are combined, or both crimes are committed, because man does not, cannot, see things properly without Jesus – without being His round-the-clock disciple who busies himself with deepening his or her intimacy with Lord Jesus.

Number 3. "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."

The last temptation is satan's exploitation of your greatest weakness. When no other measure appears to come through – the devil will present you with your greatest desire that either God has not granted yet or will not grant at all – something which is either before its time or is forbidden because of sinful connections. What but a shortcut to God's possession of the world – so that everyone comes to Him again, and God would not need to labour all the way through the cross?.. is it not just so with people – who seek careers, choices, options that bring them 'all that they want' or 'something especially that they desire'?.. With just one little 'but' – which is in fact the most glaring rising of the antichrist, and with him of the old dragon satan, who seeks nothing so much as to set his throne higher than God's – outside in the world, and inside – in you?..

The abovementioned three temptations are certainly interconnected. It will take only one temptation for satan to conquer many; at other times, an individual-specific combination of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life will work. People should study themselves in the Light of Jesus – in His revealed word – to see where they have problems today; this practice is inseparable from the personal acquaintance and relationship with Jesus. Seeing how much of the Word of God you do not know, do not understand, do not obey, even rebel against – you can see without illusions where satan is in your life – or will be, if you do not apply yourself to seeking Jesus and finding Him – in order to cling unto Him henceforward lest you drop into the pit. The devil may be traced where you do not see Jesus and where you are unlike and against Jesus. You must be on the lookout not only for gaps in godliness, but also against pseudogodliness, preconceived or acquired stereotypes whereby you think something to be good or think yourself approved like a pharisee – whereas by ascribing anything good to yourself you are again performing satanism; add to it, that too much what seems to one to be good or all right is deluded thinking – because God is infinite, and even where there has been some breakthrough or achievement with Him – it is so only to lead to the infinity of higher things that follow. One should therefore neither attribute anything good to himself – nor be sure about something being good without that kind of intimacy with Jesus where Jesus tells you so expressly – that this or that has been of Him. Such a relationship with God is difficult to attain and very hard to maintain – but indispensable for survival.

If the devil came to Jesus to deprive Him of godliness – he will most surely come to you with that same purpose – even every day until you die.

Has he not come to you yet?

If you do not know Jesus personally – he has