The Word Conquers Sermon (Matthew 4)
The Word Conquers
Intro:
Today we will be in Matthew Chapter 4. Please turn with me in your Bibles there. We will be studying verses 1 through 11. I have titled this message The Word Conquers. I have done so because these three simple words completely convey the message found in this passage. These three words have a double meaning. As we will see shortly. Tonight we will discuss an important message. We will see practical applications such as how we are to overcome temptation by modeling Christ’s example. But we will see an even more important message as we see Jesus and the Devil put on the proverbial gloves and step into the ring. This is the ultimate title fight that makes the Thrilla n Manilla look like a game of hopscotch. This is the war in the wilderness, it is the Davidic King vs the Devilish Fiend, the Word of God vs the Wicked one, the Son of God vs Satan the Serpent, the Christ vs the Corrupt, the Messiah vs the Monstrosity. This battle is the ultimate showdown between good and evil. The fighters take their corners, the bell is rung, let’s see what happens.
Matthew Chapter 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
- The Word Conquers First Meaning
The first meaning of “The Word Conquers” is that when Christ was faced with temptation, He conquered it by the word of God. This is the Model that we are to follow. When we are faced with temptation, we must do the same. Now let us examine this passage so that when we are faced with temptation we can be prepared for it and by the grace of God overcome it.
Notice that it begins with “THEN”. This points us back to what has previously occurred. It says “Then (after Jesus’ Baptism) Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus’ baptism was certainly a mountaintop moment. For as He rises up out of the waters “the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus has just been anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, He has just heard the voice of God the Father, and has seen the Heavens opened! How miraculous. Yet it was after this He was tested.
The same may occur for us. We need to be aware of this. It is often after mountaintop moments that we must go through the darkest valley. Satan sees our success and desires to make us fall. After times of great victory, if we are not vigilant we can be at our most vulnerable. The reason being is we often lose our focus or we become haughty in our spirit thereby opening the door for temptation. As sinful people, we often fall into our flesh after a mountaintop moment. But this certainly isn’t what occurred with Christ. No the sinless Son of God was not led by the flesh into the wilderness but He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
Notice the purpose for this: it says He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for the very purpose of being tempted by the devil. This seems weird. Why would the Spirit of God lead someone into a place to be tempted? Well, the reasons can differ. For Jesus, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted because it was a part of God’s plan of redemption. We will examine this shortly but for now, let’s continue glancing at the surface and see what personal applications we can find. The reason the Holy Spirit would lead us into a place to be tempted is to sanctify us. A weapon must be put into a fire and beat with a hammer in order to be forged properly. In the same way, in order for you to be sanctified, forged, and formed properly you must go through fiery trials and experience the hammering blows of temptation. This process will strengthen you, which is why James says “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
Oh yes, when we go from the water to the wilderness we can count it all joy. When we go from the mountaintop to the valley we can count it all joy. When we go from triumph to trials we can count it all joy because we know that during these moments of testing we are being made more like Christ. But we must persevere. We mustn’t think in some silly way that we are being sanctified merely by the testing. As if falling to the temptation and failing in our testing somehow produces steadfastness. No, when faced with trials and temptations we must like Christ prove steadfast. We mustn’t waver, we must face down the enemy and do battle.
But how can we wage war against such a powerful enemy? How can we defeat the devil? How can we overcome the flesh? The answer is: we must wield the sword of the Spirit. The Word of God conquers.
When the dragon rears his ugly head we have the word which is sharper than any two-edged sword and with it, we must wage war. When our flesh rises up to challenge us we must plunge the sword of the Spirit into its very heart. As the famous Puritan John Owen once said “be killing sin or it will be killing you”. In order to do this, we must learn to wield the word as Christ did. We must hide his word in our hearts so that we might not sin against God.
But let me make it clear. If all this passage is about is how to defeat sin then we are in trouble. If in this passage we merely see a model of how to stop sinning as much we will never make it to Heaven. Because no one gets to Heaven by their works. No one gets to Heaven by bettering themselves.
Now as I have said many times I wasn’t always a Christian and in my B.C. days, I was a troublemaker. I was so much of a troublemaker at one time I was arrested for attempted robbery with a deadly weapon. Now imagine I stood before the judge and said “judge I know I am guilty of this crime, but I have changed my ways. I don’t rob people anymore. In fact, I am going to church, I am feeding the poor and doing community service, please can you let me go free?” What do you think the judge would say? He would slam the gavel, find me guilty, and sentence me to 5 years in prison. Why? Because justice demands that regardless of what I have done after, the crime must be paid for.
Now take this to the next level. Take this to God’s courtroom. You have violated God’s law. This is way worse than violating man’s law for you have sinned against the Almighty King of the universe. In God’s courtroom justice is always served. So if you come before Him and say “I know I am guilty of sinning against you but I have cleaned up my act” it will do you no good.
Luckily this passage isn’t merely about cleaning up our act. I titled this message The Word Conquers not merely because the word of God (the scriptures) helps conquer temptation, but also because Christ (the eternal Word of God) conquers Satan.
- The Word Conquers Second Meaning
This second meaning is truly the central idea of the text. Christ conquers where all other men fail. We will examine this in 2 parts. 1. Christ is the True Israel and does what Israel could not. And 2. Christ is the True Man and does what all other men cannot.
- Conquers As True Israel
First, let us consider Christ as the True Israel. What does this mean? How did I come up with this?
As you will see as we examine these scriptures it was not I who came up with this but it sprung forth from the very mind of God.
In order to explain this let us consider once again verse 1, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. As I previously stated this occurred according to God’s providential plan of redemption. In other words, Christ had to go to the wilderness in order to fulfill the scriptures and in order to redeem mankind.
Now let us examine verse 2. It says that Christ was in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. Numbers have a very significant role in the scriptures and if we pay attention to them we will understand what the author is trying to tell us. The original audience certainly would have understood this. Remember that Matthew is written as a kind of evangelistic gospel for the Jewish people. They would have seen the number 40 and immediately thought of their ancestors as they walked in the wilderness for 40 years. So at this point, Christ is identifying Himself not only with Israel but He is establishing Himself as the True Israel.
However, this isn’t only done symbolically through the number of days He stayed in the wilderness.Look at verses 3 to 4 it says “3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Here we see Christ Himself alluding to Old Testament passages when tempted. To modern-day western world people, we merely see this as Christ using the scriptures to defeat Satan.
But this is not how the original audience, the Jews, would have understood this. In order to understand how they would have understood this, we need to look at Jewish culture. Jewish boys began studying the Torah (the Law) around age 5. The Jewish people had such a high view of scripture that they would often memorize large portions of the Old Testament, some rabbis even memorizing all of it. Often, when teaching rabbis wouldn’t quote an entire verse but would quote part of it, and immediately the audience would be able to place the verse in its original context and see the connection that he was trying to make. It would be as if I said “amazing grace, you probably immediately think “how sweet the sound”. This way of teaching is called a “Kesher”. “Kesher” is a Hebrew word that means “connection”. So, the original audience would have understood this quotation as a connection to the Old Testament pointing the readers to that particular passage helping them see the bigger picture.
So what connection is being drawn here? Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. In order to help us to draw the connection, I am going to read verses 1 to 3.
It says : “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
So even here Jesus is drawing a connection between Himself and ancient Israel. In this verse, Matthew is showing the original audience and us that Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. The Israelites did not trust in God’s provision during the time of the wilderness. They often grumbled and complained. But the sinless Son of God trusted fully in the provision of the Father and did not falter.
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’and“‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Here Jesus alludes to Deuteronomy 6:16 this verse says “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
Massah refers to Exodus 17. The Israelites are in the wilderness and are doubting the provision of the Lord. They demanded that Moses give them water. They even asked, “is the Lord even among us?”
Once again Jesus alludes to the Old Testament and connects Himself with Israel. Here Matthew is showing us that where the Israelites tested God, Jesus would not. He knew of the plan of redemption, He knew that He was predestined to die for the sins of the world. Yet, in spite of that knowledge, He would not test God, knowing that to do so is a sin.
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
Here Jesus is referring back to Deuteronomy 6:13. I will read verses 13-15 to help show what Jesus as well as Matthew is trying to convey here.
13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
Jesus once again identifies Himself with Israel. But He shows that He succeeds where they did not. Israel had constantly gone after other gods. They set up the golden calf shortly after the Exodus, the Old Testament shows the unfaithful Israelites worshipping pagan deities such as Baal, Ashtoreth, Asherah, Chemosh, and Molech. Jesus is simply saying here “I am the True Israel. Where you did not fulfill the Mosaic Covenant I will. I will obey every law given by God. And although you Israel were unfaithful, I, Jesus shall not be.”
Perhaps you are still unconvinced. Perhaps you think these are merely coincidences.
Look back at Matthew 2:13-15
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Notice the phrase “Out of Egypt I called my Son”. This references Hosea 11:1, which is referring to the Exodus. Israel was called the Son. They were called out of Egypt but here we see the same verse applied to Christ.
Then in Matthew 3, Jesus is baptized, He passes through the waters, just as Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea after they came out of Egypt.
Then in Matthew 4, Christ goes into the wilderness for 40 days just as the Israelites go into the wilderness for 40 years.
This certainly is no coincidence. This was ordained by God to occur in such a manner and the scriptures were inspired by God to ensure that we would see the connection.
Tabletalk Magazine puts it this way
“He is the true Israel, the faithful Israel who succeeds where old covenant Israel failed. Like ancient Israel, He came up out of Egypt, passed through the waters, and was tested in the wilderness. Unlike old covenant Israel, however, Jesus passed the test. He is therefore worthy to be called God’s Son because of who He is in His deity and because of what He accomplished in His humanity."
But what is the importance of this? Why does it matter that Jesus is the True Israel? It matters because if Christ is not then all of the Old Testament Covenants can not be fulfilled.
For instance, the Abrahamic Covenant In Genesis 12:1-3 12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Notice it says that God will make Abraham a great nation and through Him, all the families of the Earth will be blessed.
Genesis 15 then shows us the covenant ceremony. During these ceremonies animals were cut into pieces and thrown on two sides making a pathway. The two individuals making the covenant would walk in between them basically saying “If I do not keep my covenant then may what occurred to those animals occur to me”. However, Abraham suddenly fell into a deep sleep and God was the only one who passed between the animals. This was God basically saying that this was an unconditional covenant. This covenant did not depend on anything Abraham did; it was a promise from God. This was God basically saying “I am going to keep this Covenant. I am going to Make you a great nation, I am going to cause all the families of the Earth to be blessed through you” and this is what He does. He comes in the Person of Christ as the True Israel and lives a perfect life, dying on the cross for the sins of the world, and rising from the grave. So now all those who believe shall have eternal life. Not just Jews but Gentiles as well. So we can truly say that all of the nations of the Earth are blessed. And Galatians 3:7 says “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” So not only did God make Abraham a great nation through the 12 tribes of Israel but He has made Abraham a great nation through the True Israel Jesus Christ.
This shows us that God is a promise keeper. This shows us that the Davidic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and all other Covenants are fulfilled in Christ!
So my friends as the True Israel the Word conquers.
But there is more in this passage. Not only does the Word conquer as True Israel but He conquers as True Man.
- Conquers As True Man
First, let us consider who Christ is. He is the God-Man. Truly God and truly man. This passage doesn’t speak much about the deity of Christ, but this passage certainly shows that Christ is fully man because it says “after fasting 40 days and 40 nights he was hungry”. So understand that when Christ conquers he does so as a Man. But not just any man.
1 Corinthians 15:45 calls Christ the “Last Adam”. So here in this passage, we see the last Adam being tempted by Satan. That should tip us off to something. Because in Genesis the first Adam was tempted as well. Now notice the setting. The last Adam is tempted in a desert and the first Adam is tempted in the Garden. The Garden was filled with beautiful plants, trees, and streams of water and it was filled with life. But a desert is a dreary hot barren place, filled with death. This illustrates Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death. Understand that Adam was the federal head not merely for all men but he was God’s representative for all of creation. So, when Adam falls the ground is cursed and all of creation is cast under the curse of death.
So this passage is showing that the first Adam brought death to what once had life but the Last Adam brings life from what once had death. The first Adam surrounded by life failed miserably but the Last Adam surrounded by death succeeded flawlessly.
That is what this passage is about:
This war in the wilderness is waged in order to win the very souls of mankind. Yet we often forget this. When giving the Gospel we talk about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, but we often forget one of the most crucial aspects and that is His life. If Christ’s life isn’t perfect then He could not be the perfect sacrifice. But the importance of the passage doesn’t stop there. Christ must win, for if He does not then we cannot be imputed His righteousness and without the imputed righteousness of Christ we cannot enter Heaven. For God does not only require a spotless record but He requires perfect obedience to His law.
The devil knowing this seeks to cause Christ to sin.
First, he says “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Notice the “IF”. Satan here is seeking to cast doubt upon Jesus’ Sonship. He is attempting to cause Christ to do a miracle apart from the will of the Father. The devil knows that if Christ does this then He will no longer be a sufficient sacrifice for sins.
Then in verse 5 at the second temptation:
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
You may notice that Satan is quoting scripture. But his application is obviously twisted. When seeking to confuse one of God’s children Satan often twists scripture. Be aware of that. But it is interesting to note what he is quoting. He is quoting Psalm 92 which is about Jesus. Specifically, he quoted verses 11 and 12.
I find it funny that he stops just before verse 13 which states
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
Now God is sovereign over all things, and He works all things together according to the counsel of His own will.
And I can’t help but think that God in His sovereignty ordained that Satan would quote from this passage in order for us to see this being fulfilled. Right in front of our very eyes Christ is trampling the serpent underfoot. Ultimately we know that Christ tramples the serpent underfoot at the cross but this is certainly the beginning of that ultimate victory.
In the third temptation, it says
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.
Satan knows the scriptures as the last temptation proves. Because of his knowledge of the scriptures, I am quite sure that he knew the reason for Christ coming to Earth. I believe that he knew Christ was coming to redeem mankind and I believe that he knew Christ had to endure the cross in order to do that. So here the Devil tempts Jesus with the opportunity to obtain all the kingdoms without having to go to the cross.
However, in all of these temptations, Christ did not falter. He did not even desire to sin for that would have been sin in and of itself. But just because Christ did not desire to sin it does not negate the significance of the temptation. For only an individual who has withstood the full temptation understands its full force.
But this was not the end of Christ’s temptations. Others would come against Him. Others would say “if you are the Christ do such and such”. Others would try to get Jesus to avoid the cross. We even see this at Jesus’ crucifixion
Conclusion:
Luke 23:36-37
The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Matthew 27:39-40
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads
and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
Matthew 27:41-44
So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders say something similar
But Christ did not come down off of the cross. He did not fall to temptation. Instead, He took upon Himself the sins of the world and He absorbed the full wrath of God on behalf of all those who would believe in Him. And three days later arose from the grave with the keys of death, Hell, and the grave in His hands confidently declaring that the WORD CONQUERS!
He then ascended into Heaven, and took His place upon the throne, waiting for the day that He will return, and cast Satan and his followers into the Lake of fire. And Saints we will rejoice at the sight saying “the Word Conquers once and for all!”.
