LESSON #1: FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT AND LED BY THE SPIRIT



In his gospel, Luke wrote, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” (Luke 4:1) After He was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. The only way to be led by the Holy Spirit is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. King Solomon wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) To trust in the Lord with all our heart and not to lean on our understanding, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit helps us acknowledge God, and He will lead us in our lives.


LESSON #2: THE WILDERNESS OF TEMPTATION



After He was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Luke wrote, “being tempted for forty days by the devil.” (Luke 4:2) Every time we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will lead us to be in a spiritual wilderness in which we will be tempted by the devil. What is the purpose? Moses told the children of Israel, “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:2) God’s purpose in bringing us into the wilderness of temptation is to humble us and test us, to know what is in our heart, whether we will keep His commandments or not.


LESSON #3: FASTING IN TEMPTATION



The Lord Jesus ate nothing when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Luke wrote, “being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days, He ate nothing,” (Luke 4:2) It is very helpful to fast when we are in the wilderness of temptation. Why? The temptation that we are going to face in this wilderness is basically about the things of the flesh, the things of the world, and the things of the self. Fasting is very helpful to weaken the desires of the flesh and the love for the world. Fasting also helps us humble ourselves in the sight of God. King David wrote, “I humbled myself with fasting.” (Psalm 35:13)


LESSON #4: IT IS WRITTEN



The Lord Jesus was tempted for forty days by the devil. At the end of the forty days, the devil tempted Him one more time. He tempted the Lord Jesus about food, the kingdoms of the world, and testing the Scripture. The Lord Jesus overcame every temptation of the devil by speaking the written word of God to him. He said to the devil, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” (Luke 4:4) “For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Luke 4:8), and, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” (Luke 4:12) Thus, the way to overcome every temptation of the devil in our lives is by speaking the written word of God to him.


LESSON #5: THE THREE KEY SCRIPTURES FOR OVERCOMING TEMPTATION



“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4) “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” (Luke 4:8), and, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” (Luke 4:12) are the three key scriptures for overcoming temptation. We must understand these scriptures thoroughly and practice them consistently so that they have power to overcome every temptation of the devil every time we quote them. We must speak these scriptures strongly from our spirit with the full assurance of understanding, as the Lord Jesus did when He was tempted by the devil.


LESSON #6: LIVING BY THE WORD OF GOD



The first key scripture for overcoming temptation is, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4) When the Lord Jesus spoke that scripture, He was hungry. The devil told Him to command the stone to become bread so that He could eat. But, the Lord Jesus refused. Why? It was because He did not receive any word from God. He was so determined to live by the word of God. What was the result? God sent His angels to minister to Him (Matthew 4:11). It is very likely that the angels brought manna for the Lord Jesus to eat (Psalm 78:24-25).


LESSON #7: MANNA FROM GOD



Moses told the children of Israel, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) God taught the children of Israel that they did not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded from His mouth by humbling them and allowing them to be hungry in the wilderness. The children of Israel could not get food by themselves in the wilderness because there was no food there. Only after God spoke to Moses that He would rain bread from heaven, they had food to eat. God fed them with manna, the food which they and their fathers did not know. They learned that man indeed shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 


LESSON #8: FASTING AND FEEDING OUR SPIRIT



How can we practice the scripture, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4) in our lives? Unlike the children of Israel in the wilderness, most of us can easily get food in our lives. So, the only way to experience the truth of that scripture is by creating our own spiritual wilderness. How? By exercising fasting regularly. In doing so, we may also need to get away from the place where we can easily get food. We need to learn to humble ourselves by being hungry. While we are hungry, we need to learn to feed ourselves with the word of God until we experience that the word of God is indeed the bread of life. Our spirit will be filled and our body will not feel as hungry as before.


LESSON #9: WORSHIPING GOD AND SERVING HIM ALONE



The second key scripture for overcoming temptation is, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” (Luke 4:8) The Lord Jesus spoke that scripture because the devil offered Him the authority over the kingdoms of the world if He would worship him. The devil knew that the Lord Jesus came to the earth to get back the authority over those kingdoms which had been delivered to him because of Adam’s sin. (Luke 4:5-7) But, the Lord Jesus refused. He would only worship God and was going to get back the authority over the kingdoms of the world by serving God alone.


LESSON #10: A JEALOUS GOD



Moses commanded the children of Israel, “You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you).” (Deuteronomy 6:13-15) God knew the children of Israel might forget Him after they entered the land of Canaan and enjoyed abundant blessings from Him. He knew they would easily go after other gods, the gods of the people around them. Therefore, God warned them that He was a jealous God. He told them to fear Him, serve Him, and take oaths in His name alone.  


LESSON #11: WORSHIPING THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH



How can we practice the scripture, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” (Luke 4:8) in our lives? Most of us will not directly worship the devil. Nevertheless, we will eventually worship the devil if we still love the world and the things in the world. The god of the world is mammon (riches), who is actually the devil in disguise. Therefore, John the apostle wrote, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16) The only way not to love the world is by having the love of the Father in us. How can we have that love? By worshiping the Father in spirit and truth continuously. The Lord Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) We must learn to worship the Father until His love is always full in us.


LESSON #12: TEMPTING GOD



The third key scripture for overcoming temptation is, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” (Luke 4:12) The Lord Jesus spoke that scripture because the devil was trying to use the scripture to make Him throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple (Luke 4:9-11). But, the Lord Jesus refused. He understood that the scripture must not be used for selfish purposes but for the glory of God and using the scripture for selfish purposes would be tempting God. He knew that if He threw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple just because it is written, “For He shall give His angels charge over you, too keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-12), He would act from a selfish purpose.


LESSON #13: IS THE LORD AMONG US OR NOT?



Moses said to the children of Israel, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah.” (Deuteronomy 6:16) How did the children of Israel tempt God in Massah? When there was no water to drink in the wilderness, they contended with God and tempted Him (Exodus 17:2). They complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:3,7) They had an evil thought of unbelief toward God, doubting that He was with them. They provoked God to be angry with them.


LESSON #14: DENYING OURSELVES AND TAKING UP OUR CROSS



How can practice the scripture, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” (Luke 4:12) in our lives? We must learn to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). We must learn to lose our self-life for the Lord Jesus’ sake and believe in the scripture for the glory of God, not for selfish purposes. Paul the apostle wrote, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) All God’s promises are sure, and they will be true in our lives if we believe them with the heart to glorify God. Therefore, we must guard our heart with all diligence from unbelief and selfishness. The author of the book of Hebrews wrote, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12)


LESSON #15: BECOMING ONE WITH THE POWER OF GOD



When He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, the Lord Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. But, when He went out of the wilderness after overcoming all the temptations from the devil, the Lord Jesus was in the power of the Holy Spirit. What is the difference between being filled with the Holy Spirit and being in the power of the Holy Spirit? Being filled with the Holy Spirit is receiving the power of God while being in the power of the Holy Spirit is becoming one with the power of God. In his sermon at the house of Cornelius, Simon Peter said, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38) When the Lord Jesus was in the power of the Holy Spirit, He was ready for ministry.


LESSON #16: THE PARABLE OF EATING AND DOING EXERCISE



When we eat food, we receive strength for our body. When do exercise, we use the strength that we have received from the food to make our body even stronger. By doing exercise, our body will be fresh and fit. Then, we will have great power to do many physical activities. Likewise, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we receive power for our spirit. Our spirit will be strong. When we learn to overcome temptations, we use the power that we have received from the Holy Spirit to make our spirit even stronger. When we have overcome temptations, our spirit will have great power to do the works of ministry. We will be in the power of the Holy Spirit.  


LESSON #17: LEARNING TO OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS



Every time we are filled with the Holy Spirit, immediately we will experience temptations from the devil. God wants us to learn to overcome these temptations so that we can be in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the process, we will often fail. We must not give up but continue to learn to overcome every temptation by the scriptures. As we grow and become strong in our spirit, we will be able to overcome them in our lives. Eventually, we will be in the power of the Holy Spirit and we will be ready for ministry. The Lord Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)