The Power to Overcome

Bible Study – The Rev. Dr. Floyd H. Flake

Wednesday, February 21, 2012

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“The Power To Overcome”Matthew 4:1-11 (NLT)

(1) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.

(2) For forty days and forty

nights He fasted and became very hungry.

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(3) During that time the devil came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

(4) But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

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(5) Then the devil took Him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,

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(6) and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off!

For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order His angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.

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(7) Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’ ”

(8) Next the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

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(9) “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

(10) “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only Him.’ ” 7


I believe that the majority of us had to fight off temptation at some time in our lives. Someone enticed you and tried to make you do something that was foreign to your moral values. They chipped away at you, searching for your weak spot so that they could take advantage of you. They tempted you with promises that caused you to salivate with anticipation as you waited for those promises to become realities. 8


Sometimes you wake up and discover that you have been tricked by the devil. He appears when he thinks you are most vulnerable. Many people fall prey to the devil because they are looking for someone in a red costume, with a long tail and a pitch fork in his hand. That’s an image that has been created by an artist. The real devil is that evil spirit that is characterized by an evil personality that seeks to find whomever he can destroy. 9


You must be careful not to become one of his victims. He has been trying to destroy righteous, God -loving people for a long time. He tempted Adam and Eve, the first human beings that God created and placed in the safety of His garden. God told them not to eat from the fruit tree in the garden. Genesis 3:1-4 says: 10


“(1) The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

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(2) “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.

(3) “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 12


(4) “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.

When you look further in the Bible at Job 1:6-10, you see what the devil did to Job a man who loved God with all of his heart, soul, and mind. The text says “(6) One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.

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(7) “Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

(8) Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” 14


(9) Satan replied to the LORD, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God.

(10) You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!

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We learn from both texts that when the devil realizes that you have God’s favor, he will show up, and he will test you and try to wear you down.

The Devil wanted to stop the ministry of Jesus, the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world. 16


The Devil knew that he could not defeat God. In fact, God banished him from Heaven. He was frustrated, but determined that somehow, he could defeat JESUS, the one who God loved. When the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and Satan assumed that a forty day fast would have left Jesus spiritually and physically weak. 17


And so he went into the wilderness where Jesus was to test and tempt Jesus to fall away from God and lose the authority that God had given Him. He wanted Jesus to sin!

What the devil did not understand was that Jesus was God in the flesh. He was divinity wrapped in humanity – although He was tempted, He did not sin. 18


As we read in this 4th chapter of the GOSPEL OF MATTHEW: “(1) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.”

Luke says that Jesus was full of the Spirit, and was led by the Holy Spirit to go out into the wilderness where the devil tempted him for forty days. 19


The Gospel writers prove that Jesus did not come into the wilderness as weak as the devil thought he was. Their testimony is that he was filled with the HOLY SPIRIT. In the previous chapter, we see that He had been baptized in the Jordan River, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, and a voice from Heaven said: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” 20


So, Jesus had the Holy Spirit and He had God’s approval. At the end of the 40 days and nights, the devil tempted Him, but he would not give in to temptation.

The tests that Jesus had to suffer are the test and temptations that we all face in this life. 21


Satan will always test: 1. Your belief in God’s Word.

(Matthew4: 3-4) “(3) …the devil came and said to Him, ‘If

you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.’

(4) But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

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Jesus knew the Word and His belief and commitment to the Word of God made Him strong.

2. The degree of your spiritual and emotional stability (Matthew 4:5-7)

(5) Then the devil took Him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,

(6) and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, 23


‘He will order His angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ”

(7) Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’ ”

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3. The seriousness of your worship (Matthew 4: 8-10)

(8) Next the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

(9) “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

(10) “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him. 25


The Power to Overcome

Spiritual

Transcript of The Power to Overcome