Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: Christian Living

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20, KJV

Themes

Knowing God's Word

Fasting for Spiritual Growth

Praying for the Rapture

Daily Christian Living

Sample Text Chapter Ten

Chapter Two: Sunday Morning Delusion

And the Evil at Work in the Church Today

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Matthew 4:1-3, KJV

Jesus was probably physically fragile, but He was spiritually strong. Jesus had fasted for forty days, no small feat for any man. Fasting for 40 days could lead to physical and mental distress and weakness. Satan believed he knew Jesus’ weakness, just as Satan knows the weakness of many men. Now he would test Jesus’ resolve, or so he thought. He could see that Jesus had not eaten and believed it was his opportunity to tempt Him. Temptation often comes at the most inopportune time, but in this case, Jesus might have been at His strongest spiritually.

Satan is the father of lies and the tempter of man; he is always waiting to pounce. Satan failed to understand that Christians gain strength through prayer and fasting, a lesson he would soon learn. Christians catch themselves looking at something they should not; lust often begins with the eyes. Accountability comes through conviction from Holy Spirit. Satan did not begin by offering Him the pleasure of a woman, the temptation of money and wealth, or the glamour of fame. The enemy began with a simple challenge to Jesus.

If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Matthew 4:3b, KJV

Jesus is the Bread of Life, yet the tempter himself thought he could tempt Jesus with bread. The image is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, ignorant in their flesh, were fooled. They were offered something as simple as a nameless piece of fruit for which all humanity has suffered. Christ, also called the Second Adam, would not succumb to such temptation. The result was the beginning of the correction that would offer salvation to the world.

Christ could have failed, and He could have accepted the temptation. His fast would have been over. From Christ’s birth to the day of His forty-day fast and through the beginning of His earthly ministry, Christ was without sin. That perfect life continued through His death and resurrection. Christ then ascended to heaven in perfection.