Luke 4:5-8 KJV
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Matthew 4:8-10 KJV
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.
Matthew and Luke both record where Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan three times, and we find that they are almost exact in their recounting the experience of Jesus.
In this lesson we will look specifically at one of the temptations that Satan offered Jesus.
Satan, as he tempted Christ in the verses above, declared that he controls the kingdoms and countries of the world and he would give Christ all power over these kingdoms, along with the glory that comes with it, if only He would fall down and worship him.
Satan further says that he has this power and can give it to whomever he wants.
I find it very telling that Christ did not dispute the claim of Satan. Christ did not say “you do not have that power” or “you do not control all the kingdoms, now countries, of the world.” And it is very important that we are aware of this and remember it.
Rather, Christ simply rejected the offer of Satan and said, “Get thee behind me Satan; for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
Our Struggle is Not Against Flesh and Blood
Ephesians 6:12 Amplified Bible
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places
We all love our country and the freedoms we enjoy. However, we must always remember that our love of country must always be subordinate to our love and service to God.
We cannot allow anything or anyone to become essentially an “idol” that we place on equal footing or before God.
Idols come in many forms. From inanimate things to animate. From people to possessions. From private to social things. Power can be a form of an idol, where people think more of, or pledge loyalty and allegiance to something, someone or some movement, in denial or defiance of what is right and Godly.
We should be very careful that we do not get carried away in following any leader of any country or kingdom or town or village, or political party, or church or civic club, whereby our allegiance and loyalty to them is greater or even equal to our allegiance and loyalty to God.
Likewise, we should be very careful that we do not get carried away in following any country or kingdom or town or village, or political party, or church or civic club whereby our allegiance or loyalty to it is greater than or even equal to our allegiance and loyalty to God.
So, the question for each of us is this. What comes first in our lives? What comes far above all other things in our lives pertaining to loyalty, allegiance and love? Is it the Kingdom of God or is it something else that has draws us away? Is it something that can “mimic” or resemble the Kingdom of God that has our loyalty and allegiance now?
We must think carefully and seriously about these questions.
Remember the experience of Adam and Eve. They had total communion with God and literally lived in what can be described as a form of “heaven on earth.” But Satan, who is the prince of darkness and of this world, cunningly convinced Eve that God was not telling them the truth and what he had to offer was better.
Obviously, if Satan can do this to Adam and Eve, who communed with God daily, he can most certainly deceive us too.
Ephesians 6:12 KJV
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Thou Shalt Worship the Lord thy God, and Him Only Shalt Thou Serve
We must always be on guard to not forget the commandments of God and teachings of Jesus, never forgetting what those red-letter words in the Gospels are saying to us.
Our loyalty and allegiance must always be to God, our Father in Heaven. Not to any man, woman, leader, political party, or even country.
When we realize we are supporting something or someone who speaks of Christian values, but their actions show us that they “only speak words”, then we must re-evaluate.
God’s Word teaches many times in the New Testament that many anti-Christs will arise, presenting themselves as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”, able to deceive even the elect (believers). When something does not feel right or we finally realize we have put something or someone above our Father in Heaven we must pray the words of Jesus saying “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
And then, place our loyalty and allegiance to God our Father in its rightful place. First and alone above all else.
Colossians 1:12-14 KJV
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
RVH