Mateus 4
J. Vernon McGee · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 4
Vernon McGee - Led of the Spirit The Son of God needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to meet this temptation. If He needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to be able to meet the temptation, I might as well face up to the fact—and you might as well join with me—that you and I CANNOT FACE the temptations of this world today IN OUR OWN STRENGTH. You and I are joined in a battle in which we are hopelessly outnumbered, and we will be miserably defeated if we go forth in our own strength and with our own ability. Paul could say, even as a believer after his conversion: "I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good." (Romans 7:21+) In other words, Paul was saying, “After I became a child of God through faith in Christ, with a new nature that wanted to serve God, even at the very moment when I wanted to do good, evil was present with me. When I want to do good, evil is right there.” I wonder if that has been your experience. Again Paul could say: "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:3, 4+) Paul found out that in and of himself he could not live the Christian life at all. He could not meet and grapple with the issues of life, for in his flesh there was nothing good. And even though Paul approved of the Law, he was unable to keep it because of the weakness of the flesh. But he found out that by walking in the Spirit of God he was enabled to live for God. That’s the reason he could write to the Galatians: I say then: "Walk (ED: NOT A "GOOD SUGGESTION" BUT A COMMAND IN THE present imperative) in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust [the desire] of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16+) Walk by means of the Holy Spirit (ED: CONTROLLED BY THE SPIRIT - Eph 5:18+)! You and I, as we walk out of our homes (ED: WHERE WE OFTEN EXPERIENCE THE MOST FIERCE ATTACKS!) and even out of a house of worship (ON SUNDAY) into the world, we will not live for God unless we walk in the Spirit, my beloved. If it’s going to depend upon your feeble ability and my feeble ability, we’ll fail before the sun goes down today. We cannot make it—we are unable to do it. Our Lord was filled with the Holy Spirit before He entered the wilderness. (ED: AND SO WE TOO MUST TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT [Eph 5:18+] BEFORE WE EVEN AS OUR FEET FIRST HIT THE FLOOR OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING AND CERTAINLY BEFORE WE WALK OUT THE DOOR TO WORK, SCHOOL, ETC "INTO THE WILDERNESS"!) Then we are told something else, that He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (ED: cf PAUL'S WORDS ON BELIEVERS BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT IN Gal 5:18+ AND Ro 8:14+). It’s interesting to note that Mark, in his very brief and blunt record, says that “immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12+). The word in the Greek is ekbállō, which means “to throw out.” The Holy Spirit threw Jesus out into the wilderness. It all implies simply this: He did not seek the temptation. His attitude at the time of the temptation was the same as it was yonder in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me.” Any person in the (mortal, physical) flesh today, in the battles of life, is foolish to say that he can meet temptation and come off the victor. Even our Lord prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me.” But He also hastened to add, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). May I say to you, that’s His attitude here when He’s driven, thrown out, into the wilderness by the Spirit of God. That’s the first thing for us to note. (Jesus: Centerpiece of Scripture) DEVOTIONAL BY F B MEYER - Matthew 4:1 Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Yesterday, the opened heavens; today, the burning cinders of the wilderness of temptation. Then the voice of the Father owning Him as the Well-beloved; now the hiss of the tempter. Then the teeming crowds; now the desert solitude and silence, broken only by the cry of the wild beast. Then the Spirit as a nesting dove, but now as a compelling force. Wherever there is the Christ-life, it passes through these same experiences. The Holy Spirit often anticipates coming trial by granting some great revelation of God; but He who gives the one leads into the other, that the precious bestowments of God’s grace may be rendered permanent. Would you give the bread of life to thousands? You must refuse to use your opportunity to make bread for your own gratification. You cannot use your power for others and for yourself. If you elect to use it for them, you must be content to wait till the Father sends his angels to minister to you. In the meanwhile live by faith on his words. Would you teach the magnificence of a faith that can trust God to preserve it, though it steps from the mountain brow on to thin air? You must refuse to use it for purposes of ostentation; and wait till God, not Satan, calls. Would you win the kingdoms of the world? You must obtain them, not by methods which commend themselves to human prudence, but through the death of the cross and the falling into the ground to die. There are two mountains in the Gospel: this, as it opens; that of the Ascension at its close. The valley of death lies between. But the traversing of this valley was necessary, ere Christ could say, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” Thomas Adams said "Satan, like a fisher, baits his hook according to the appetite of the fish!"
Mateus 4
Vernon McGee - Oh, Satan left out something. Satan said, “If You will worship me only for a moment, I’ll give You the kingdom.” Our Lord said in effect, “You left out something. You cannot worship without serving. If I worship you, I’ll serve you. And we are to worship God only, and Him only are we to serve.” May I say to you, this is a mistake that even some Christians are making today. They think they can serve God on Sunday, and maybe through certain Christian agencies, but that they can live their own lives to suit themselves. My friend, you cannot do that. It’s impossible. Listen to Paul in Romans 6:16: Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? Don’t you know, my friend, that whomever you obey, whatever livery or uniform you wear, you are the servant of that one? If you are serving sin, then sin is your master. Don’t fool yourself. I stood in front of my office window one day and looked across the street at the California Club. There were about fifteen chauffeurs standing and chatting. Walking very briskly, a man came out of the club. I couldn’t hear what he said, but he lifted a finger and spoke something. Immediately one chauffeur withdrew from the crowd, went over and opened the door of the car, and the man got in. Then the chauffeur went around the car, got in the driver’s seat, and drove off. So I came to the profound conclusion that he and no one else in the crowd was that man’s chauffeur because the one you obey is your master. The others didn’t obey him. My friend, today when you serve sin, sin is your master. Our Lord says you are to worship only God, and Him only are you to serve. You can’t worship Him without serving Him. And if you’re serving sin you cannot worship God. (Jesus: Centerpiece of Scripture) Jesus would not short circuit the Cross for the seductive, passing glory of the kingdoms of this world. Jesus clearly understood His mission as shown by His declaration that His glory would follow His Cross Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things (THE CROSS) and to enter into His glory (THE CROWN)? (Lk 24:26+) Go (present imperative) (5217)(hupago from hupo = under or denoting secrecy + ago = to go) means literally to lead under or to bring under and is used in this sense only once in the only use in the Septuagint/Lxx in Ex 14:21 (to translate "swept… back" - caused to recede). Most commonly hupago means to go, to go away, to withdraw one's self (e.g., of Jesus' departure from the world (Jn 8:14, etc). Hupago has the notion of withdrawing. 🙏 THOUGHT - Because Satan’s present power is only by God’s permission, when the Son commanded him to leave, Satan had no choice but to obey. Therein Christ demonstrated the very sovereign power Satan wanted Him to misuse! Now believers are a beneficiary of this truth for John writes "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." (1 Jn 4:4+). The Lord now gives all of His children the power to resist Satan. “Resist (aorist imperative)(BUT NOT THE PRECEDING CLAUSE- "SUBMIT [aorist imperative] TO GOD") the devil,” James assures us, “and he will flee from you” (Jas 4:7+). As he did with Jesus, Satan (his demons) will not long stay away from us; but we can take heart in the truth of God's Word which promises that with every temptation God “will provide a way of escape” (1Co 10:13+). For every temptation Satan leads us into, a way out is provided by our Father. We need to keep our spiritual eyes open to discern the way of escape! Steven