Bill Johnson - How to Win Your Battle in the Wilderness
Whenever the Lord leads us into a conflict, it’s only because He has equipped us to win. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Does your Bible just say what I just read? The Holy Spirit, the kind, wonderful, generous, gentle, merciful, compassionate Holy Spirit, led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. When the Lord leads you into a conflict, it is never punishment for you; it is always punishment for the devil. Listen to me carefully: there is no contest between God and the devil.
It is not a contest; it is not worthy of mentioning the two in the same breath. There is no contest, as with a word He can completely demolish and obliterate all powers of darkness. He has chosen to keep them here because they serve as a training ground for you and me, who will reign with Christ for eternity. And whenever the Lord leads us into a conflict, it’s only because He has equipped us to win. The enemy’s only chance is to get us to question what God has said or who we are. Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil.
In those days, He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. I don’t get that at all; I’ve done 40, and I was hungry all 40 days. In fact, I was hungry before it started, and I was hungry after it ended. This is amazing! Afterward, when the 40 was over, He got hungry, and the devil said to Him, «If you’re the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.» Jesus answered and said, «It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.»
Now listen carefully: we are alive because He talks. We live because He speaks. The Bible says He spoke the worlds into being. «Let there be light,» and there was light. He spoke things into existence. Secondly, the Bible says that all things are held together by the word of His power, so His abiding, prevailing word actually holds every molecule in place; it’s the glue that binds everything. Thirdly, we know that He sustains us and brings life to us with His voice. Again, back to the only book you can read where the author shows up when you read it. He sustains us with His word.
Paul said in Romans, «Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.» It doesn’t say faith comes from hearing the word of God. I’m not saying that’s bad or wrong; I’m just saying it’s not what it says. If faith came from hearing the word of God, we should all get Bible apps on our phones and just play scripture 24/7, and we’d be like Wigglesworth by Friday or like Father Abraham or somebody. Many people hear the word but never hear it in a way that impacts them. They hear and can quote it, but there is no effect because the living Word has not pierced their souls. It says faith comes by hearing; it doesn’t say faith comes from having heard. By implication, it’s a present-tense encounter, an abiding relationship.
Faith comes from hearing. It’s this abiding in Christ, Him abiding in me, His word abiding in me. That connection is what makes me available for faith. I don’t need faith for tomorrow’s problems today; I have enough challenges today. The abiding relationship is what keeps me current in faith to address the issues I face now. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word of God. I’ll tell you a secret for hearing the voice of God: just come back next week, and we’ll say yes before He commands. If there’s a willingness to obey before He speaks, you will attract His voice. And by the way, Him speaking to us five, six, or seven times about a matter, audible voice, writing on the wall—all these external things—are not a sign of our maturity; they are a sign of our immaturity. He wants to lead us, listen carefully, not just with the still, small voice, but the Bible says with His eye, which we give attention to.
So the enemy comes to Jesus, and the first temptation, now that He’s hungry, might appear to be to turn a stone into bread, but that wasn’t really the first temptation. The first temptation was, «If you’re the Son of God.» There’s nothing the devil could do to persuade Jesus He wasn’t the Son of God. What he was trying to do is to get Him to prove His identity out of insecurity. We do foolish things; all of us do foolish things when we feel insecure. It may look really bold; it may look very powerful, but if it comes out of insecurity, it has too much flesh to attract the hand of the Lord. Many things go unfulfilled in our lives because we function out of insecurity.
So what was the last thing the Father spoke to Jesus before this wilderness experience? If you look back just a few verses before, the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy. Just a few verses before, Jesus is baptized in water; He comes up out of the water, and the Father speaks: «This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.» The enemy will always try to attack the last thing God said to you. He can’t change who you are; he can just alter your confidence in who you are.