Don't Tempt God. Jesus did not tempt God.

Jesus resisted the Devil.

Resist…  the DEVIL. 

Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, the Devil confronted Jesus - supposing He was at a very weak point in His human life. A very good assumption on the Devil's behalf because the Devil knew perfectly how to tempt people at their lowest points in life. It was a tried and true method for the Devil and so he decided to use it on the Son of God.  Jesus had taken on a human body and no one was more aware of this very amazing fact than the Devil.  The Devil KNEW that in human form Jesus could sin. No longer was He God with God in Heaven, no longer was He God the co-Creator of all things as yet undeclared as God's Son.

Psa_2:7  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Act 13:33  God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

Heb 1:5  For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

Heb 1:6  And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

Heb 1:7  And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

Heb 1:8  But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Heb 1:9  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Declared to be the Son of God, emptying himself to become HUMAN like us! Able to be TEMPTED LIKE US!

Php 2:5  Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Php 2:6  who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Php 2:7  but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;

Php 2:8  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.  (ASV)

God declared to be the Son of God, the decree had been made and He took on the form of a slave, emptying Himself- made in the likeness of men.

He COULD sin in that form, that very vulnerable flesh prone to sin.  He COULD be tempted in ALL ways! If He had some special flesh that could not feel the pull of temptation, He could not feel the things we feel, He could NOT be tempted like we are tempted!

Heb_2:18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

Heb_4:15  For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

ONLY ONE who could feel temptation's insidiousness could save us!

The devil KNEW in His human form, having taken on human flesh, that he could tempt the Son of God and so he set about tempting Him.

Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

Mat 4:6  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.

Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

The devil TOOK Jesus into the holy city-  JERUSALEM.

The devil SET Jesus on a pinnacle of the temple.

Imagine it if you will.  The devil using powers of his own - powers of an angel- to physically take the weakened Son of God from the wilderness and place Him on a high point of the holy temple.  Jesus wasn't held up there safely by His own power- He didn't USE His own power- not ever. Jesus was vulnerable to falling from that high perch. If God had willed, He would have fallen and yes, an angel would have kept Him from dying, but that wasn't what God willed.  Jesus stood there upon the holy temple in a place probably no other had stood and He could look down the long way to the ground, He could comprehend the graveness of His situation.

The devil decided to use God's word to tempt Jesus. In the first temptation only moments before, Jesus had refuted the devil's temptation by using the word of God and now the devil was using that same word of God.  It wasn't a lie, it is written…

Psa 91:11  For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways.

Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

The devil knew Jesus would know that it was written, so he wasn't lying to Him.

Jesus saw through the attempt to get Him to sin and He immediately replied…

"It is written again- Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

Deu 6:16  'Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God…'

Jesus WAS resisting the devil's tempting!

How easy it would have been to show off and just jump from the pinnacle, knowing He'd be kept safe. That would shut the devil up, right? That would get the devil off His back, yes? No.

Jesus KNEW giving the devil any place at all to dictate a single thing He did, would be opening a door to further temptation. He would NOT give the devil a foothold.

You don't tempt God to prove Himself at all in any way. You don't say, God, if this is true then You'll react this way. You just do NOT do that! Why? Because God has given mankind all they need to believe in Him. He will NOT be toyed with and that's what it would be. People would constantly be tempting Him- expecting Him to perform for them to prove Himself. It would be unending!  And it would NOT be a walk in FAITH, not at all!

We know that we don't like to be tempted, do we? I mean, in this way-  we do not like someone asking us to prove ourselves to them over and over again. We expect someone who claims to be our loved one to believe we love them without constantly having to go out of our way to prove it. It hurts us when we are asked to prove our love, as if it isn't believed already.  Love does not tempt. Love is by faith.  Sure, a lot of times our human love is flawed and we are hurt terribly by someone who is supposed to love us, but that doesn't change what love is supposed to be.

The devil wanted Jesus to ask God to prove His love for Him, using his guile filled ways, as if Jesus didn't have FAITH in His Father's love.  If Jesus had given in to that goading, it would have shown a lack of faith, a lack of love and there was NO way Jesus would ever do that, no way!

Jesus RESISTED the devil's tempting! Jesus had faith in His Father! Jesus use the written word of God. 

May we RESIST the devil!

More tomorrow by the grace and mercy of our LOVING Savior, Jesus Christ our LORD now and FOREVER!

Amen!