The Nature of Temptation

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But he answered, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.' Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.' Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him" (Matthew 4:1-11). Every believer is born again into spiritual conflict which will last his or her life time. This is why we must be aware of the wiles (schemes) of our common enemy. In the account of the first temptation of Jesus we learn that Satan tempts our Lord to carry out his mission in an unfaithful manner by using the powers that He had voluntarily set aside by becoming a man. The temptation sequence was real and not a vision. This temptation takes place immediately after Jesus' baptism and the declaration that He is God's Son. Satan wants Jesus to test (or prove) that declaration.The first temptation is for Jesus to trust Himself rather than God the Father to meet His physical needs. Every believer will be like wise tempted. When times of financial hardship come we must trust the Lord for His provision. Faith is living without scheming. The second temptation is for Jesus to "force" God to save Him. Jesus was wise enough to not put Himself in a place where He was tempting God. This applies to how we drive, how we care for our health needs, and how we use wisdom in protecting our lives. The Devil is the god of recklessness.The third temptation is for Jesus to avoid the cross (note Peters request Matthew 16:22-23). Many times the enemy will tempt us to avoid a painful change in our lives in order to build a better relationship with our mate. He may temp us to cheat (taxes comes to mind) in some way to avoid making financial sacrifice. To every temptation, Jesus responded, not by performing a counter miracle or showing a counter sign, but simply by quoting a relevant passage from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. We can clearly see that Jesus had enough of God's Word memorized to refute and protect Himself against Satan's best temptations. In the third temptation, Satan essentially claims the world as his dominion (Luke 4:6). This statement by Satan is neither affirmed or denied by the Lord Jesus. It could a statement not worth commenting on. In tempting Christ, Satan shows Him the kingdoms of the world in their splendor, but, as a liar, hides the sin that would be involved in gaining the kingdom Satan's way. Often Satan will, in type, present an old harlot dressed in a new gown. The evil one sugar coats sin in such a way that one cannot see beyond the "pleasure for a season." He does his best to make us forget" the wages of sin are death. "Satan's power and abilities are evident in that no earthly mountain would have been high enough for him to have shown Jesus the whole world in an instant. Having failed, Satan leaves Jesus, waiting for a more opportune time. This does not mean that he gives up all activity until a much later time. It simply means that he does not give up for good and that he is always looking for the right time to try again. We must be careful to think that that after we win one victory Satan will call off his hounds of hell. After the temptations, angels come and 'minister' to Jesus with food and comfort. Note the sequence 1. Jesus is hungry. 2. Satan's fulfillment is offered and refused. 3 God provides Jesus' needs through angels. 4.Jesus' victory over Satan at this time gives the foundation for His authority over demons in the rest of His ministry. We must be careful to avoid the trap of thinking that Satan's strategies do not change over the course of time and from culture to culture. With that warning in mind, the parallels in the two temptations are worth pointing out. Garden of Eden: 1. Question the content of God command. "Did God really say,"2. Reject the command itself. "You will not die."3. Get Eve to believe that Satan is the one who is really concerned for her. Jesus' Temptation: 1. Trust Himself rather than God to meet His needs. "Turn these rocks into stones."2. To "force" God to save Him. "Jump off the pinnacle of the temple and the angels will catch you."3. To avoid the necessity of the cross. "I will give you the kingdoms of the earth."Common to both: 1. Appeal to physical senses before spiritual ones.2. Twisting God's words.3. Questioning the character of God (testing Him)4. Offering a shortcut. 5. Goal: to break relationships.6. Theater: the mind. As we walk through life, we will be in many ways like wise tempted. We must know enough of the Word to combat the lies of the enemy. The power of Satan is in the lie. Spiritual warfare is confronting the Devil's lies with God's truth. God's Truth will trump Satan's lie every time. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Bible Doctrine Series-Jehovah-Shalom

Jehovah-Shalom—“the Lord our peace” (Judges 6:24). The specific name Jehovah-shalom is used only once in Scripture. Gideon experienced the peace of God when his circumstances told him there was no peace available. The sons of Israel had not obeyed God. As a result, He allowed Midian to oppress them for seven years. During this time, the Midianites fought against Israel, destroying their crops and their animals. The Midianites brought their own livestock with them, allowing them to overgraze the land to help devastate it. The Midianite oppression was so severe that the sons of Israel had to live in dens and caves in the surrounding mountains. This fierce oppression caused the sons of Israel to cry out to the Lord. He heard their cry and sent them a prophet to remind them that it was He who had brought them out of bondage from Egypt, and that they were not to fear their oppressors. One day Gideon was working to save a portion of the wheat crop from the marauding Midianites. Little did he realize that not far away was the angel of the Lord, observing. The angel spoke to Gideon assuring him the Lord was with him; the he called Gideon a valiant warrior. Gideon’s response was classic. He asked a question that we may have asked when things are not going as we would like. His words are recorded in Judges 6:13 “Oh my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The angel did not answer Gideon’s question. God’s prophet had already delivered the answer: they had not obeyed the Lord their God. Then the angel told Gideon he would be the one to deliver Israel from the Midianites. Gideon was concerned about the insignificance of his ancestry and that he was the youngest in the family. This did not seem to concern his heavenly visitor; He would accompany the valiant warrior who would defeat Midian. Gideon was not as confident as was his caller, and asked for a sign and prepared an offering. Once prepared, Gideon presented it to the angel of God who had him lay the meat and the bread on a rock and pour out the broth. The angel touched it with his staff; fire sprang us from the rock consuming the sacrifice. The angel then silently vanished from Gideon’s sight. By this time, Gideon—convinced he had been speaking to the angel of the Lord—became very fearful that he would die. The Lord must have known what he was thinking because He said, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die” (v, 23). That was good enough for Gideon. He proceeded to build an altar to the Lord and named it “The Lord is Peace.” He called the alter “Jehovah-shalom” (Judges 6:24). That night the Lord told Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal and to cut down the Asherah; the wood was to be used to offer a burnt offering. Because of his great fear, Gideon took ten of his servants with him to do what the Lord had instructed. The men of the city were furious when they discovered what had happened and tried to get his father, Joash, to release Gideon to them. His father wisely responded; “If Baal is god, let him contend for himself.” Meanwhile the Midianites and the Amalekites were preparing to return to the land to remove everything of value and destroy the rest. Before that came about, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, for the purpose of rallying the people. Gideon must have been unsure of himself; he twice asked for a sign in order to ascertain that he was doing the right thing. The Lord, however, honored his requests. As Gideon and his followers rallied, the Lord told him he had too many men; they could have boasted in their own ability and strength. Therefore, the Lord cut his army from 32, -- down to a mere 300! At that point, their newly appointed leader probably felt he had a legitimate reason to be afraid! That night God gave him even further confirmation that he was doing the right thing. Therefore, Gideon took his small army to confront the enemy. Gideon’s army was not heavily armed as normally they would be. Instead, they were equipped with the armament of God: trumpets, and pitchers with flaming torches inside! At Gideon’s signal they blew the trumpets, broke their pitchers, and said, “For the Lord and for Gideon.” Now don’t you just know that would bring tremendous fear to the enemy! Can you imagine the Midianites and the Amalekites being overly alarmed by hearing the sound of trumpets, breaking pitchers, and the sight of 300 torches burning in the night? Normally, that would not send any great enemy reeling. This time was different, however. As Gideon and his men were obedient to God, “the Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled” (Judges 7:22). Remember the situation. In his own eyes, Gideon was nobody. God heard the sons of Israel crying out because of their oppressors. He approached Gideon and told him to go fight an innumerable enemy. Once Gideon received his commission to confront the enemy, he built an altar to the Lord and called it Jehovah-shalom meaning, “The Lord is Peace.” The angel of the Lord had not come to Gideon during a long reign of peace; he came during a time of national crisis. This angel had required something of Gideon that no military leader in his right mind would ever consider as a plan of military action: He used the unlikely tools that God had given him—trumpets, pitchers, and torches—yet he won the war. The heavenly messenger had helped Gideon work through his doubts and fears, using him in a way that Gideon himself had never thought possible. Jehovah-shalom: the Lord my peace, Philippians 4:5-7 says, “…The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We need that message in our day as well. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

The Fruit is in the Valley

"O Lord, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed" (Psalm 30:7). Looking from a valley of adversity, its really easy to miss the hand of God. How often do we feel He has hidden His face from us? We know the grass grows greener in the valley. But when we are in the valley its really hard to visualize the fruit of the valley. The valley has the power to create change in more than our habits, it can change our very nature. The size of the valley is often an indicator of the level of our calling, and will help shape our future influence. Knowing this gives little comfort when we are in the valley. When we are lifted out of the valley we begin to see our valley experience was as much for others blessings as for our development. This is consistent with Kingdom truth. For life is lived forward, but understood backward. King David often looked backward at God faithfulness as we was walking forward. The backward look gave him confidence in the forward walk. Valley fruit is best viewed from the mountain. "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light" (Job 12:22). "And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD ." (1 Kings 20:28) Beyond a doubt our God is the God of life's valleys. Just as He proved to the Syrians He is the God of the valleys, so He will show us the same. When you begin to realize this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you know that God was in control all along. It didn't seem like it at the time, but He was. Do you find yourself in the valley? Now is the time to fully trust Him for in His time He will guide you to higher ground. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

When God Takes the initiative

"Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil" (Job I:8). Please notice it is God who brings up Jobs' name to Satan. The Lord takes the initiative knowing well the events that would transpire. The Lord calls Job His servant, Job was a godly man and a good servant. The Lord is honoring Job, pointing out the the evil one that there is no one like Job on the earth. Without a doubt He is contrasting the misery of the evil angel who so dishonorably fell with the joyful life of His servant Job. Our Lord was saying "You are the very opposite of Job." The joy of the Lord in the lives of His saints bring shame and torment to the evil hosts of hell. He asked Satan where he had been. The evil one answers "Walking back and forth on the earth." He failed to add "Seeking whom he could devour." Satan can boast but he can never triumph, for after Calvary he is a defeated foe. The evil one still walks the earth today,seeking to destroy that which is holy and good. He and a hoard of demons seek to undo that which God is doing in His Kingdom. The only thing that the adversary could come against Job with was a trumpeted up charge of hypocrisy. He says Job is a mercenary, that he only served the Lord for the blessings he received from Him. Satan asked "Does Job fear God for nothing"? The truth is no man can serve both God and mammon. Should Job have served God for the mammon he received, in time his heart would have turned to the mammon. The Psalmist wrote "When riches increase set not your heart upon them." Living an upright life does not mean you will escape the attack of the devil. Holy living can make you his target. He had been checking out Job, but God had placed a hedge around him and Satan couldn't touch him. God in His great wisdom may allow the enemy to attack us to fulfill His purposes. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, Peter was told "Satan will sift you." Job came under horrible attack from the evil one. The early church came under demonic attacks in the form of persecution. The truth is Satan is under God's control. He can do nothing without the Lord's permission. Satan, in essence obeys God. Many believers when under attack, gripe, complain, lay down and give up. James says this we are to "Draw close to God, resist the devil and he will flee from us." He will run like a scared rabbit when we are snuggled up to Jesus. How do we live through times of enemy activity in our lives. By staying close to the Lord, using the Scriptures, trusting the Lord and doing right. Oh by the way, when you are going through a difficult period of life you can count on three of Job's friends to pitch their tents in your back yard. Just as in the case of Job they have come to "Help" you. Their pithy one liners will add to your torment, hang in there this also works into the plan of God. Their time of growth is coming, they will experience their own three friends. Suffering, its part of the Christian life. Victory, its just around the corner because in Christ we are more than conquerors. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Power in Weakness

Please read II Corinthians 12:1-10. The personal experiences of the Apostle Paul as recorded in these verses have deep significance for all who are desiring to grow in grace. Paul's visions and revelations were further proof of his Apostleship. Note several results of this vision. First, a new revelation. This revelation was for Paul alone. He said it wasn't his to share "Not lawful." We can only know the character of this vision by its fruits. The fruit seen here is worthy of God. The Spirit of God may lead us through spiritual experiences that the language of mortals cannot fully express. There are precious seasons of the consciousness of God's presence and the reality of His power that are beyond expression. I remember a young mother, not expected to live, who came to Christ in the hospital. God spared her life and saved her soul. Her experience was such that she could only say "No words can express how real He is." Second, a new trial. Fresh trials usually come after new visions. Spiritual burdens often cure spiritual pride. The crown of thrones Christ wore for us make easy all the thrones in the flesh we may at anytime be afflicted with. God permitted Paul's body to be afflicted. A thorn in the flesh, could refer to a splinter or a stake, thrones come in many sizes. What ever this throne was, we know it was a messenger of Satan personified. Paul knew it was God's will that he suffer with this affliction. Paul was more anxious to preach the Gospel than to glory in his special revelation. His vision did not supersede the Word of God. God teaching us more about Himself is complementary with our being a witness for Him. Third, a new promise. The power of weakness is abundantly evident in Paul's ministry. Paul was told that God's grace is sufficient. God's strength is made perfect in weakness. His power is increased as the weakness grows. This is not the weakness of ignorance or of unbelief but that of conscious self-insufficiency. If God's strength is to be made perfect in weakness, surely there is a blessing for all of us. I have found it is much easier to be self-confident that self-emptied. Human weakness opens the door for more of Christ's power and grace to be manifested in our lives. Slowly, Paul learned the supreme lesson, that God will not give His glory to another for self display. When we humble ourselves, God exalts us. Forth, a new source of joy. Glorying in our infirmities is something far better than merely submitting to them. Sometimes God says no, to one of our prayers, out of love. It is common for believers to find joy in their gifts, but not so common to find joy in their infirmities. Paul said "That the glory of God may rest upon me." Means to cover with a tent." Here, Paul himself is the one being covered, as if the glory of the Lord was overshadowing him. Fifth, a new resolution. Paul took pleasure in every trial and hardship that made him feel more acutely his own weakness. We are told to "Glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation works patience" (Hebrews 12:11). Paul will choose to be joyous even unto death, for he has learned that when problems come he has fresh access to the power of God. The Apostle learned to glory in every trial, because they made him draw more closely to the Lord. Our trials will make us better or bitter, the choice is ours. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

The Dark Night of the Soul

"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position" (James 1:9). Have you ever been to the place where the bottom fell out of everything? You felt so low that you could walk under a snakes belly without ducking. You were in a place where everything you touched fell apart. A trial like this is designed to accomplish something only the process from the place of "Humble circumstances" can do. Job learned that "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light" (Job 12:22). Job's trials allowed him to learn things about God, himself and his friends that we all needed to know as well. He assumed things about God that he had to recant: "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know" (Job 42:3). David learned how to be a King from the humble circumstances of herding sheep. Joseph learned how to be a ruler from the humble circumstances of prison. The Apostle Peter learned how to be a follower of Jesus from the humble circumstances surrounding his denial of Jesus. The Lord will take you to the dark places of circumstances and there He will reveal something He wants you and others to know. He has sent you ahead to learn these things so that you and others will benefit from your unique experience. Remember in Act 2: how Peter was able to say "The Lord whom you denied." According to James God views this place where you receive these truths as a "High position". The world views it as a place to be shunned at all costs. Have you hit bottom? Are you sick, broke, depressed, despised, lonely, feeling hopeless. or a combination of the above? The fact is your lowly state is considered a high position by God, this is His preparation soil for revealing deep things from the dark places that He desires you to learn. The writers of old would refer often to the "Dark night of the soul." Every believer I know has experienced this very place. What should we do in the place of humble circumstances? We must listen for the still small voice of God. He will show up, we dare not miss Him. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences and local church meetings.

The Christian and Idols

"All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping (the idol) there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family" (Judges 8:27). Gideon was mightily used of God to defeat the Midianites in battle. The Midianites were oppressing Israel and God choose Gideon to lead the army against them. You will most likely remember the 30,000men being too large a number to fight against the 120,000 soldiers of of Midianites. God whittled the number down to 300, then with each man went into battle carrying a jar, a trumpet and a torch. At the given time they broke the jar, blew the horn and held up the lit torch. God used this to bring confusion to the Midianite army, they turned on each other, and Israel won the battle. If the story had ended there, all would have been well. But at the moment of Israel's triumph, Gideon stumbled. We are often most vulnerable at the moment of victory. He told the people, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." The Israelites took the gold from the bodies of the enemy dead and Gideon melted it and fashioned it into an idol. The Bible calls this idol an ephod, a word that refers to a ceremonial breastplate? Gideon probably depicted the Lord God as a warrior with an ephod of gold. But God does not allow Himself to be represented by an idol. Aaron made the same mistake when Moses was on the mountain, He melted down the gold brought out of Egypt and made a calf from it. The idea was God could come down and ride on the calf. This act brought the wrath of God down upon His people. They ground up the calf and were made to drink the power made thereby. This idol, made under Gideons direction, was an offense against God and a trap for the people. After Gideon's death, the Israelites again worshiped the pagan god Baal. They forgot the Lord God who rescued them from their enemies. Do you have an idol in your life? An idol can be anything that takes the place of God. Could be a possession, a position, a person, a false god, or yourself. Please ask the Lord to show you anything that takes His place in your life, then get rid of it. If you don't rid yourself of idols they will become a stumbling block to you and your children. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.