Sermon Resources - Dr. Toby Holt
What happens when the devil sets out to break the Son of God, and fails? In this expository sermon on Matthew 4:1-11, Dr. Toby B. Holt preaches Jesus alone in the wilderness, fasting forty days, assaulted three times by Satan, and answering each assault with Scripture. Where the first Adam fell in a garden of plenty, the last Adam stands firm in a wasteland of want. Reformed theology sees here our federal Head winning the victory we could never win. To every temptation Jesus replies, "It is written" (Matthew 4:4, NKJV), wielding the Word as the sword that drives the enemy away.
0:00 — Can the Devil Defeat the Son? Satan's pride (Isaiah 14) drives him against Christ (Matthew 4).
9:34 — The Last Adam in the Wilderness. Where the first Adam fell in a garden, Christ stands firm in a wasteland.
10:13 — The Three Temptations Begin. "Command that these stones become bread" (Matt 4:3).
14:47 — "It Is Written." Jesus wields Scripture against every assault (Matt 4:4, 7, 10).
27:44 — Resist, and He Will Flee. The believer's stand rests on Christ's victory (James 4:7).
Questions This Sermon Answers:
1. What is Matthew 4:1-11 about?
Matthew 4:1-11 records the temptation of Jesus Christ in the wilderness. After His baptism, "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil" (Matthew 4:1, NKJV). Satan attacks three times: turn stones to bread, leap from the temple, worship him for the kingdoms of the world. Jesus answers each with Scripture, the devil departs, and angels minister to Him. The passage reveals Christ as the obedient Son who overcomes where humanity failed.
2. Why was Jesus led into the wilderness to be tempted?
The text is explicit that this was no accident: "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil" (Matthew 4:1, NKJV). The Father purposed this confrontation. As the Westminster Confession teaches, God ordains whatsoever comes to pass, yet is not the author of sin (WCF 3.1; 5.4). The Spirit led Christ to face the tempter so that the Son might be proven the faithful covenant Head, conquering the very enemy who had ruined Adam.
3. What does it mean that Jesus is the Last Adam?
Reformed theology, following Paul, reads Christ as the second representative man. Paul calls Him "the last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45) and contrasts the disobedience of the one with the obedience of the other (Romans 5:19). The first Adam was tested in a garden of abundance and fell; the last Adam was tested in a barren wilderness, hungry after forty days, and stood firm. Where Adam plunged his race into ruin, Christ secured righteousness for His people.
4. What were the three temptations of Christ?
First, Satan urged the hungry Christ to "command that these stones become bread" (Matthew 4:3, NKJV). Second, he set Him on the temple pinnacle and dared Him to throw Himself down, even quoting Psalm 91. Third, he offered "all the kingdoms of the world and their glory" in exchange for worship (Matthew 4:8, NKJV). Each temptation pressed Jesus to seize provision, protection, or glory apart from the Father's appointed path of suffering and trust.
5. How did Jesus respond to each temptation?
Jesus answered every assault by quoting Deuteronomy. To the first He said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4, NKJV). To the second, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God" (Matthew 4:7, NKJV). To the third, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve" (Matthew 4:10, NKJV). Scripture itself was His weapon and His defense.
6. Why does Jesus keep saying "It is written"?
The repeated phrase "It is written" (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10, NKJV) shows Christ submitting to the written Word as final authority. He does not debate, negotiate, or rely on bare divine power; He stands on Scripture. The Westminster Confession affirms that the Holy Scripture is the supreme judge in all controversies (WCF 1.10). If the sinless Son met temptation with the Word, His people have no greater weapon for their own warfare.
7. Could Jesus have actually sinned?
Confessional Reformed theology answers no. Because Christ is one divine Person with a true human nature, He could not sin; this is His impeccability. Yet the temptation was genuine, not theater. Hebrews testifies He "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15, NKJV). The fire was real, the pressure severe, but the outcome was certain. His unbreakable holiness magnifies, rather than diminishes, the reality of His ordeal on our behalf.
8. Was the temptation of Jesus real if He could not sin?
Yes. Impeccability secures the result but does not remove the struggle. Hebrews insists Christ sympathizes with our weaknesses because He "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15, NKJV). A bridge that cannot collapse still bears genuine weight. Christ felt hunger, faced Satan's full craft, and endured forty days of testing. The certainty of victory does not cheapen the conflict; it guarantees that our Champion would not fall.
9. How does Christ's victory help tempted believers today?
The believer's stand rests on Christ's finished triumph, not on personal strength. James commands, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7), and Matthew 4 shows the ground of that promise: the devil already fled from Christ. United to Him, His people fight from victory, not merely toward it. We resist by the same Word He used, trusting that the One who overcame the tempter now intercedes for those He represents.
10. What is the significance of the angels ministering to Jesus?
After the conflict, "the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him" (Matthew 4:11, NKJV). The departure of Satan marks Christ's total victory; the coming of angels marks the Father's care for His faithful Son. The same God who ordained the testing also provided for His servant. It is a quiet picture of providence: heaven attends the One who honored heaven's Word in the hour of trial.
Key Theological Points:
1. Christ the Last Adam, Our Federal Head
Matthew frames the temptation as a covenant contest. The first Adam, placed in a garden and given every tree but one, fell at the first assault. The last Adam, driven into a wilderness and weakened by forty days of fasting, stood. Paul makes the link explicit: "as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). Christ's wilderness obedience is reckoned to all who are His, the active righteousness of our representative Head.
2. The True Humanity and Sinlessness of Christ
Jesus was genuinely hungry, genuinely pressed, genuinely tempted, yet He never wavered. The Westminster Confession confesses Him as one Person with two natures, truly God and truly man (WCF 8.2). His deity meant He could not sin; His humanity meant the temptation was real. Hebrews holds both together: He "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15, NKJV). This is the qualification of our High Priest, able to sympathize and yet wholly without fault.
3. Scripture as the Weapon Against Temptation
Three times Satan struck, and three times Christ answered, "It is written" (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10, NKJV). He met deception with revelation, citing Deuteronomy against every distortion. He did not improvise; He obeyed the Word already given. The Westminster Confession names Scripture the supreme judge in all controversies of religion (WCF 1.10). If the sinless Son of God leaned on the written Word in His hour of trial, His people are armed for their own warfare with the very same sword.
The Scripture Text: Matthew 4:1-4 (NKJV)
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.' But He answered and said, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."'"
Continue studying: explore the full Gospel of Matthew sermon series, or browse the complete Reformed Sermon Archive.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online Reformed theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
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