The Two Kingdoms Of Power And Glory

            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.   If  thou;  therefore, wilt worship  me,  all  shall  be  thine  ( Luke 4:5-7 ).

How many of you have ever been tempted of the devil?  To be tempted is not a sin, only when you yield to temptation, does it become a sin.

After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit.  There He was tempted forty days by the devil.
When a person comes to Christ, and is baptized, that is when their temptations begin.  The devil doesn’t like the conversion of sinners to Jesus Christ.  After our Jordans of glorifications, comes our wilderness of temptations.

Jesus fasted forty days, and was afterward hungry.  The devil said unto Jesus, “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.”

Satan began a series of satanic “ifs” to tempt Jesus.  Before the fall of Lucifer from Heaven, he used his satanic, “I wills.”

Here was a chance for Jesus to perform His miracle working power for Satan, to satisfy His hunger, and prove He was the Son of God.

Can you picture Jesus speaking to the stone,  “Be  thou  made  bread.”   I believe the stone would have instantly turned into a delicious hot cake, or hot buns.  Jesus had the power to do it; He created the world by His Word.

            Jesus was not there to demonstrate His miracle working power for Satan.  Jesus was not there to show the devil how super spiritual He was.  Don’t cast your pearls before swine.  Satan knew Christ could do it.  He wanted Jesus to give in to the temptation of natural hunger, so He would not be fed the spiritual food of Heaven.

Jesus answered the devil and said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God.”

People today, are seemingly satisfied with their fleshly hunger being met.  As long as their shelves are full of food, and there is food on the table, they are content.
Jesus said, “This was not enough, man could not live by bread alone.”  Natural bread will feed your flesh, but it will not feed your soul.  There is a spiritual hunger in man, that cries out to be fed.  The only thing that will satisfy this hunger, is the Word of God.

This does not mean we can take the pages of the Bible, chew them up, and swallow them.  Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

He is the bread that came down from Heaven.

He is that bread to be eaten, to satisfy our spiritual hunger.

He was born in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem means, “The house of bread.”

The preaching of God’s Word, satisfies the spiritual hunger of man.

Satan knows this, this is why he wants to direct you to the natural hunger of bread; he doesn’t want your soul to be fed the Word of God.

He doesn’t want you to know Jesus is the bread of life.

He  doesn’t  want  you  to  know  Jesus  was   born   in   the   “House   of   bread.”

He wants your soul to die of hunger, while  you  gorge  yourself  on  natural  food.

Satan then took Christ up to a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

“Just look at these earthly kingdoms, Jesus.”

“Look at the Kingdom of Babylon.”

“Look at it’s splendor and glory.”

“Look at it’s wealth and fame.”

“Wouldn’t you like to be King of this Empire?”

“Look at the Kingdom of Greece.”

“Look at the vast Empire, stretching to the far east.”

“Look at their conquests.”

            “Look at it’s fame and glory.”

“How would you like to be King of Greece?”

“Look at the Kingdom of Rome.”

“Take a look at it’s mighty army.”

“Look at it’s silver and gold.”

“Look at it’s great cities and roads.”

“Look at it’s fame and glory.”

“How would you like to be ruler of Rome?”

“All this power and glory I’ll give you,  if  you  will  fall  down  and  worship  me.”

Satan presented to Jesus, the allurements of sin.  He promised Jesus the fame, riches, and rulership of the kingdoms of the world.  All Jesus would have to do, was to fall down and worship the devil.

Many people today, are falling for the allurements of sin.  They are involved with the things of this world.

They love worldly pleasure.

They love worldly fame.

They love worldly riches.

They love worldly position.

They love the world, more than they love God.  They have sold their soul to the devil, and are worshipping him.

Take a  closer  look  at  these  kingdoms,  and  you  will  see  they  are  filled  with:

Lust.

Pride.

Greed.

Murder.

Immorality.

All these things bring death.  The worms of sin are eating at the kingdoms of this world.

The jails are full.

The prisons are full.

The graveyards are full.

The mental hospitals are full.

Hell is expanding for more.

The price tag for the allurements of sin, is your soul.  You gain the whole world by worshipping the devil, but you lose your soul.

What have you really gained?

You become the loser.

“Take another look at them, Jesus.”

You won’t have to die, I’ll just give them to you.”

“Take the crown without the cross.”

I  believe   Jesus   looked   at   all   the   kingdoms   of   the   world,   as   presented

to Him.

He saw the glory of Babylon.

He saw the glory of Greece.

He saw the glory of Rome.

He looked further, and saw the cross on Golgotha.

He looked beyond the cross, and saw our present society.

He saw you and me living in sin.

He saw the church.

He saw the bride of Christ.

He saw the New Jerusalem.

Jesus answered Satan and said, “Get thee behind me Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”

Jesus was not interested in the world’s fading glory.

He was not interested in the filth and sin.

He was not interested in worshipping the devil.

Jesus would not give in to the temptations of this world.

Let me tell you something, world.  I’ll tell you how to get rich.

I’ll tell you how to be popular.

I’ll tell you how to find worldly wisdom.

I’ll tell you how to succeed in this world.

Just worship the devil, and he will gladly give it to you.

You can enjoy the pain and sufferings.

You can give your soul to the flames of Hell, as Satan laughs and sneers at you.  Do you want this?

Go ahead and take the kingdoms of this world, I’ll take Jesus.

I’ll take the joy and peace there is in Christ.

I’ll take life eternal.

I’ll take the streets of gold.

I’m going to worship Jesus!  I’m going to worship Jesus!

Take your worldly kingdoms, devil!

Take your kingdoms and go to Hell!

I like what Jesus said to the devil, “It is written.”

When the devil comes at me to tempt me, I take the written Word of God, and slap him in the face with it.

Look at this, devil!

Look at God’s Word!

Look at His promises!

Look at His accomplishments!

Look at His blood!

Look at His Name!

Look at your defeat, old boy!  Look at your end!  Old Satan has to flee, as he cannot stand the Word of God, in the hands of a child of God.

Satan then took Jesus to Jerusalem, and sat Him on a pinnacle of the Temple, urging Him to cast Himself down, so angels could catch Him.

Don’t you know this would draw a crowd?

Can you just see Jesus casting Himself down, as an angel catches Him before He hits the ground?

This kind of miracle would fill the Temple in no time.  The people would come for miles around to see this act.

Jesus was not going to be tempted to be a spiritual “showoff.”  Some people today, gloat in their super spiritual abilities.  This is what the devil wants you to do.  This will drag your soul to Hell, preacher.

Jesus said to Satan, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God.”  Some people today,  try to make God do things to please  themselves.    Do  not  tempt  the  Lord,   thy God.

Seeing the devil could not get Jesus to perform miracles and worship him, he left Him.

Jesus then returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.  When you resist the devil, and his temptations, by the Word of God, you will experience the power of the Spirit in your life.

When the devil comes to you to tempt you; turn to the Scriptures, and start reading the promises of God.  Rebuke the devil, in Jesus Name.  He will turn tail and run.  He cannot stand God’s Word, and especially the Name of Jesus Christ.

He cannot stand the power of the Spirit.

He cannot stand against the child of the King.

All the devil’s kingdoms are  for  a  moment  of  time,  but  God’s  Kingdom  is  for eternity.

God has a Kingdom that is not of this world.

He has a Kingdom in the Heavens.

He has a Kingdom of born again believers.

His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom.

His Kingdom is a powerful Kingdom.

His Kingdom is a holy Kingdom.

His Kingdom is a Kingdom of never ending glory.

His Kingdom is a Kingdom of holy angels.

Hell will not prevail against it.

Death will not claim it.

Sin will not enter it.

Satan cannot stand it.

It is a holy Kingdom of holy people, holy angels, with a holy God.  It is a Kingdom that will outshine and surpass all the Kingdoms of this world combined.

Thank God, I’m a citizen of that Kingdom today.

How about you?