Satan’s Schema – Part 4

Jesus is tempted three times in Matthew 4. The third and last temptation goes something like this: “Worship me and I will give you all of the kingdoms of this world.”

This temptation is a little less subversive than the others. Satan simply wants Jesus, the Son of God, to worship him. It is no secret here that this is what Satan wants. That’s his motive for everything he does. That’s why he got kicked out of heaven (FYI: he used to be an angel). He stopped worshiping God the Father because he wanted to be like God and be worshiped.

This temptation can be broken down into two temptations: WORDLY AMBITION and IDOLATRY- yet both are linked together.

An idol is anything we worship other than God. Idolatry is not simply worshiping Satan or other gods, but can be a worship of money, sex, our boyfriend or girlfriend, our family, our job, or even our favorite Sports team.

An idol is anything we elevate and make supreme over the one true God.

If we are worshiping (talking about, praising, meditating on, etc.) anything more than God it is idolatry - which is Satan’s desire for us. As long as he takes our attention off of worshiping God (which is the only worship that is truly satisfying to our souls) he wins. There is no middle ground. There is no gray area. There is only lightness and darkness. There is the kingdom of God and kingdom of Satan. If we aren’t worshiping God as supreme, we are in the realm of Satan’s kingdom.

In Matthew 4, Satan was trying to transfer Jesus out of the kingdom of God and place him in his own kingdom.

And how did Satan try to accomplish this with Jesus? By appealing to his fleshly need for power – which is exactly what he does with us.

Here are a few examples of how Satan uses power and ambition as a temptation for us to worship in his kingdom:

• Satan: If you just put in more hours at work you’ll be a) richer and b) more powerful within your company. You won’t have time to worship God, and your family will be left in the dust, but you’ll be powerful.
• Satan: If you spend all your time studying for your classes, I will give you a wonderful job someday. A job that will give you power and prestige. Even if you don’t have time for God or time to go to church or time to serve others, you’ll get a lot of money someday which will take care of all your needs.
  

Now, I think that working hard in school and working hard in the workplace are good godly desires. However, my point is that Satan’s goal is to take good things and make them ultimate in our lives so that we worship those things and not God. If Satan gets our eyes off of God, he wins.

What are the idols in your life? What are you fixing your eyes on, thinking about, praising - that is not God Himself? How is Satan using worldly ambition to tempt you away from God?