Gleanings from the Temptation of Christ

The 3 Approaches used by Lucifer:

-1- Intellect (materialism)
-2- Utilitarianism (using God for your own purpose)
-3- Imagination (pleasures of this world/hedonism)

1. Stones to bread

.......An appeal to LUST

2. Pinnacle of the temple

.......An appeal to PRIDE

3. Offered the world

.......An appeal to GREED

"The great leading temptations that would assail man,

Christ met in the wilderness of temptation.

There He encountered, single-handed,
the wily, subtle foe, and overcame him.
--The first great temptation was the indulgence of appetite;

And the devil said unto Him,

If thou be the Son of God, 

command this stone that it be made bread.

Luke 4:3

-- the second, presumption;

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:

Matthew 4:5,6

-- the third, love of the world."

And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain,

shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world 

in a moment of time.

And the devil said unto Him,

All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them:

for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it."

Luke 4:5,6

E.G.W.

"But 

--as to how temptation takes place 

--and how it is overcome, 

is all very beautifully pictured to us here in Christ.

--The first is the temptation of misfortune, by which man is stirred to anger, impatience and unbelief;
--the third and last, the temptation of prosperity, by which man is enticed to lust, honor, joy, and whatever is high.
--The second or middle temptation is spiritual and deals with the blind tricks and errors that mislead reason from faith."
Martin Luther

"The tempter can never compel us to do evil. 

He cannot control minds unless they are yielded to his control. 

The will must consent, 

faith must let go its hold upon Christ, 

before Satan can exercise his power upon us. 

But every sinful desire we cherish affords him a foothold.

All are personally exposed to the temptations

 that Christ overcame; 

And all must, for themselves, individually overcome."

E.G.W.

"Christ's response to his wicked insinuations was, “It is written.”
When Satan presumed to claim the ownership of the whole world, and asked Christ to worship him as God, He who with a word might have called to His assistance legions of angels, merely said, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” Matthew 4:10." 

E.G.W.