Let me ask the question again that I asked yesterday. How did Jesus resist the temptations that are recorded in Matthew 4? Well, in the first place, He had just spent forty days in fasting and in prayer. In the second place, He replied to the devil in every instance by quoting Scripture.
I want to give you one final example of how temptation can be resisted, and the best example I can give is the account of the temptation of Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 4.
I think that at this point we must be very clear about the points that James is making about submitting and resisting. James says, "Submit... to God," and "Resist the devil." We are to submit and resist. How do we do that? What does “submission” mean? And how can we “resist” the wisdom and superior cunning of Satan? We need to answer these questions clearly, for if we are sensitive to spiritual things, we know that Satan is stronger than we are. We are unable to resist him in ourselves. We are weak beside him. Therefore, we need to know how we are to seek deliverance from the One who has defeated Satan and who will one day imprison him and his minions forever.
In yesterday’s study, we concluded by saying that the word “temptation” can have two meanings. It can denote a tempting to sin—which is what we commonly understand by the word—or it can refer to the idea of a trial, ordeal, or testing. We see this most clearly in the first chapter of the book of James.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we are encouraged to ask for God’s deliverance from the temptations that come to us from Satan. For the Prayer says, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (or, as we should say, “the evil one”).
