Tempted to Prove | Matthew 4:5-7

Matthew 4:5-7 "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

The second temptation is not as subtle as the first, but the true intention of the temptation is not obvious. Of course it would be wrong to throw yourself off of a tall building, but it's deeper than just that.

Jesus's life was predetermined to be cast down in the sight of men at the appointed time on the cross and raised up at the appointed time, three days after His death. To veer from the course set before Him and cast Himself down in the midst of all the people in the temple would be to usurp the plan of God for His life, and to be raised up from this horrible fall by the power of God in the midst of the temple would be to affirm of Himself that He was the Messiah before his time.

Taking Glory Before Its Time

There is a great sin in taking what belongs to us before it belongs to us. All glory and power and dominion belongs to Jesus, but before He was exalted He had to first be submitted to the cross. To take this glory before its time would have been deeply sinful. Notice what Satan used to present this temptation: Scripture. Many men down through the ages have misused Scripture to go on missions of ambition that glorify self and not God, all while backing themselves with Scripture.

So it is with you and I. We will be glorified in the days to come, in eternity, and perhaps we will even be vindicated in this life from time to time, but to attempt great feats of presumed faith so that we may be glorified is sinful. The heart that is right with God lives by faith to glorify God, not self. So be careful lest you go out on a limb God never asked you to for the glory of self. All of Satan's temptations are concerning self: take bread for yourself, take glory for yourself, take riches for yourself. But the Scriptures are clear we must not concern ourselves with self, but let God bring to us provision in His timing, validation in His timing, and riches in His timing. All the things Satan offers us are imposters of the real blessings that come to the child of God that waits, and they who wait receive eternal blessings that fade not away.

Thou Shalt Not Tempt the Lord

Jesus's quote shows us another horrible sin in feats of presumed faith for self-glory: it is to tempt God. The man who wants God to prove Himself to him now does not trust God to do what He promised He would do. God said that the children of Israel had tempted Him ten times in the wilderness. Each one of those temptations was when they became faithless and tempted God to work a miracle to once again prove himself. He had worked miracles in their sight willingly in the land of Egypt, and yet they continued to walk by sight in the wilderness and not by faith. Concerning Christ, God had worked miracles in His life: the virgin birth, His induction into the ministry. He had been sustaining Him now for forty days in the wilderness, and to require yet another miracle of God instead of walking the course laid before Him by faith would have been deeply sinful.

The Bible says it is an evil generation that seeks a sign, and how often do we tempt God to prove Himself to us again and again when He already has so many times before. What we ought to do instead is walk by faith, not by sight. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." So, when Satan lays a plan before you whereby you will be glorified before your time, and God will be tempted to work a miracle because of your unbelief, do as your Savior did—resist and reply: "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."