“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7).
TEXT — Matthew 4:1-11
Message
Bartel Elshout in ‘the Banners of Truth’, listed three ways one can tempt God. One, by challenging Him; two, by putting Him on trial; three, by subjecting Him to one’s way of thinking. The writer went further to say, “To challenge God means to deliberately and consciously defy God and His revealed will, summarised in His holy law. To challenge God is to knowingly and consciously deviate from the pathway of God’s commandments”.
Satan, in today’s passage, came to tempt Jesus. He initiated this attempt against the Lord to make Him deviate from God’s plan and purpose for His life. Here, Satan attempted to put to test God’s attributes – His knowledge, will, power and wisdom. God cannot be tempted; He knows all things right from the beginning to the end. His wisdom is without limitation. Although he tried several times, Jesus never yielded.
When we doubt God’s love and mercy, and fail to realise how much He cares for us, when we disregard His grace and deliberately do what is evil, we are tempting the Lord. Anytime we go against God’s revealed truth, it is tantamount to disagreeing with His terms; this is tempting the Lord.
You must learn to appreciate who God is. He may allow some crises in your life; it is not to destroy you but to know how far you can depend on Him in the face of adversities. There may be no immediate employment after graduation or child after marriage. Yet, you must not tempt God by complaining. If you will believe and trust Him most sincerely, He will bring the best out of your most trying situations.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
I have not been able to use the app on my phone
I tempt the Lord if I have unequal yoke with unbelievers.
I tempt the Lord if I reject the message of Sanctification(holiness, purity of heart🤍)
I tempt the Lord if I worry about what tomorrow will bring and not trust or lean on the Lord.