Bible Study

A Few Points From A Well-known Passage

Published on: 18 October 2023

Based on Matthew.4:1-25

“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.” Hebrews.4:15 NKJV

The Lord had just come from a very public baptism in which, He identified with the need of man by His baptism for their flesh (Matthew.3:13-17). Even so, before His public ministry could begin properly there was still another need to be met. The Lord was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil to relinquish His submission to the purpose of God (Matthew.4:1).

In preparation for this, He had fasted for forty days and forty nights. He was pursued in respect to man’s most basic needs (Matthew.4:3). The temptation to cast off restraint and abandon His mission was put before Him (Matthew.4:6). The temptation to acquire for Himself all that worldly people could ever desire and is tantamount to demonically inspired idolatry, was put before His eyes (Matthew.4:8-9).

The devil was unable either to persuade or, cajole, the Lord away from His purpose. Which was, to make propitiation for all (Hebrews.2:17-18; 1 John.2:2). Now then, I have a problem with some folks who claim there is no such person as the devil. If that were so, then who embodied the serpent to make his intentions all the more subtle (Genesis.3:1)? Again, who was it who stood before the Lord and requested permission to blast Job (Job.1:1-12)? Moreover, for what reason do we need to be sober and vigilant (1 Peter.5:8)?

The cutest trick the enemy has is to make you think he doesn’t exist. Yet if you are not in submission to the Word of God and to the revealed purposes of God, as was Jesus, then surely you will become as a wave of the sea tossed and blown around! Conformity to the Gospel is crucially important to us because these things are at the very heart on which the Spirit-filled Church is built (Ephesians.2:21-22).

Your life and your Church must have this conformity to the Gospel at its very core, in a real and loving relationship with the Lord Jesus. Without this, the Church has no cause to bond together! When, if, the Church splinters and is divided, it is because there is something wrong at its core (Mark.3:23-27; 1 Corinthians.11:17-18). A splintered Church does not need renewal. It must have reformation first.

The heart must be restored. What does a restored Church look like? The answer to that may be addressed with another question. Are we preaching the Gospel of the Bible? The uncompromising Gospel which the Lord preached was not couched in uncertainties. In it there is a definite call to turn away from sin and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord if you are ever to enter the kingdom of God which, is now at hand (Matthew.4:17).

When the Biblical Gospel forms the heart of the Church she will not divide into splinters. Christ Himself is the foundation and the bond. Anywhere there is division, you can be sure there is self delusion and subtle deception. The call to follow Jesus is as emphatic as the necessary response (Matthew.4:19-22, 25).

When the Lord called His first team, He left them in no doubt as to what it would mean to follow Him. Notwithstanding, their response was immediate. Evidence that someone has indeed heard God’s word to them is, without doubt, in the response (Acts.2:37). To hear that there is division and that the Church is splintered should, surely, provoke a response?

In the case of a life-threatening incident, a medical team probes for a response until all that is left is a dead body. Faith is a living thing which has an outcome unless it is only the faith of demons (James.2:17-19). If the centre is rotten there is fragmentation and eventually, utter collapse. Yet when the Lord calls and folks follow Him, there indeed, is a peculiar Church (Matthew.4:23-25)!

Prayer: Oh Lord Jesus make us truly and altogether peculiar for your sake, Amen.

Roger Stone