#087 "High Places: How Satan Goes for Glory" (Matthew 4:8)

"Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory." (Matthew 4:8)

Whenever Israel was brought to a new place, they compromised. (Sound familiar?) Whenever Satan brought Jesus to a new place, He conquered.

In this episode, host Kate walks through the third temptation in Matthew 4:8, where Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

But this isn’t just about geography. It’s about high places in your life. You’ll learn: Why “setting” is one of Satan’s primary strategies, How high places in Scripture represent battles for worship, What false gods really are — and why God speaks so strongly about them, How world events, political instability, and even war connect to the long echo of Babel, Why Satan’s “masterpiece” of worldly kingdoms is already defeated, How to recognize the subtle high places in your own heart, And most importantly, how to stand firm when tempted to bow.

This episode will help you grow in discernment, stabilize your heart in chaotic times, resist personal idolatries, and see Christ’s victory with fresh clarity.

You do not belong to a fragile kingdom. Lift your eyes higher.

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Transcript

Welcome & Mission Of Abidable

Kate 0:00

Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're listening to the Abidible Podcast. I'm just a regular wife and mom who's had my life transformed by learning to study the Bible on my own. If I can, you can. On this show, I help you know and love God more by abiding in Him through His Word yourself. Whenever God brings the people of Israel to a new place, they complain and compromise. That sounds familiar to me. In fact, it sounds a lot like me for most of my life. Can you relate? Yeah, when we are brought to new places, our hearts are often filled with complaining and compromise. But Jesus is different. Whenever Satan brings him to a new place, he conquers. We are now entering the third temptation. Satan is about to change the location of his attack yet again. Three temptations, three settings. First the wilderness, then the holy city, and finally an exceedingly high mountain, where Satan doesn't point out the beauty of creation from a natural point of view, but instead draws Jesus' attention to the earthly kingdoms of the world and their glory. Interesting. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. That's today's verse from Matthew 4.8. It's safe to say that setting matters to Satan. We're seeing that it's one of the main tools in his tool belt, a favorite weapon in his arsenal. And if setting is relevant to Satan, then high places are central to satanic strategy. We have to understand their relevance. Because where we are plays into what the devil wants us to believe and do. Today is going to be all about surrendering setting to God rather than succumbing to sin and Satan in our setting. But real quick, I would love to personally invite you to be a part of what God is doing here at Abidible as we teach people to know and love God by abiding in his word themselves. You can be a one-time or a monthly supporter. It really does bless us and help us continue our mission here. The link with more information can be found in this episode's description. Now, when I say setting matters to Satan, I don't just mean physical location. While we have seen that physical location does play a part in his temptations, we're also seeing that it can be about our circumstantial settings or circumstances, our emotional state of mind or our physical well-being. There are symbolic high places that we encounter in our circumstances, in our emotions, and in our physical bodies. Satan tries to manipulate what's going on in or around us, often bringing us to quote, high places in order to elicit worship for himself and get glory for himself rather than the father. He is the ultimate glory thief. So the question for us is: who will we worship in these places? Who will we choose? Will we allow Satan to drive us away from our father and bow down before him? Or will we hold fast to our confession of faith in God alone by worshiping him alone? We must pay attention to setting. Where are we? What's going on around us? How are we feeling? What are our circumstances driving us to think and feel and do? We see setting clearly mattering in Jesus' temptations, right? Satan attempts to capitalize on Jesus' hunger after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights alone in a desert wasteland. We've seen the devil try to twist history and prophecy in promise in order to entice Jesus to throw himself down off the pinnacle of the temple, thus stepping outside the will of God by taking the shortcut. And now we have Jesus atop some unknown high mountain, either in a vision, because what mountain on earth has a view of every kingdom all at once? Or maybe Jesus is on this mountain and seeing all the kingdoms, not literally but more symbolically. Perhaps the summit has some vast, sweeping, 360-degree vista, and Satan points to all the kingdoms out there and beyond. We're not sure exactly what's happening here, but Luke's version of Jesus' temptation says that Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time. Maybe that means he did it quickly, or it might mean that he picked certain moments in the history of each past and future worldly kingdom, maybe at the height of their glory and opulence and power and dominion. I'm not sure exactly what's happening, but whether it's a literal or more figurative look at kingdoms, whether Jesus is actually physically on a mountain or having a vision of being on a mountain, we can be sure of one thing. Jesus saw God form mountains, perhaps even this exact one. In fact, the Bible tells us all things were created through and for Jesus. So this mountain, if it is truly physical, was spoken into existence by God the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Spirit. Jesus knows glory and power, Satan has only ever dreamed about. The Bible explicitly identifies God as the one who forms the mountains. That's Amos 4.13, and whose hands formed the dry land. That's Psalm 95.4. God is the eternal creator. Psalm 92 emphasizes his pre-existence, stating, before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. God is active in creation. He's described as the one who causes the mountains to stand firm by his power. That's Psalm 65, 6. Mountains are used to represent God's strength, stability, and in some contexts as a place of safety or refuge. That's Psalm 121 and Psalm 97. Mountains are often featured as places where God interacts with humanity, such as Mount Sinai or Mount Zion or the Mount of Transfiguration, symbolizing the meeting point of heaven and earth. God Himself dwells on high in the heavenly places, and he cast the devil down. Jesus said that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Based on all that, you'd think that taking Jesus to a mountaintop would be a strategic error on Satan's part, right? Not so fast. Have you ever hiked or driven to a very high place? The feeling at the top is intoxicating. It stirs your senses and your emotions and your physical being in every sense. Creation, standing at a high place in creation, should cause you to worship your creator, to compel you, it should compel you to stand in awe of the one true God who made it all. But that's not always what happens, is it? The very places meant to point you toward him can be twisted into centers of idol worship. This is sometimes known as humanity's great exchange, or I think more apt named, the dark exchange. This demonic swap is described in Romans 1, verses 19 to 23. It says, For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and here it is, they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things, idols, false gods. Where better to see the scope and scale of God's creation than from atop a mountain? And as we see here in our verse today, where better to corrupt the natural inclination to worship the creator by redirecting that worship toward that which is false, to turn our eyes down or forward rather than up and outward. Mountaintops are where our hearts are sifted, our motives are tested, and our true love is revealed. We either worship the creator or we worship created things, including demons, idols, and ourselves. High places, mountaintops, and hillsides are repeatedly depicted as centers of worship in the Bible. But the question always is: who is being worshipped? Who will God's people choose to bow down before? Will it be Yahweh, the one true God or self? Or one of the pick and play gods from the buffet of gods surrounding the nation of Israel on every side? What this is, what this mountain represents, is the battle for the high places in our hearts. Who will we worship? Let's first look again to the ancient nation of God's people. Israel continued to have mountaintop, amazing mountaintop experiences with God, moments where he revealed himself in power and might. Now, these were not always on physical mountains, though that happened too. Sometimes he would just reveal himself in the everyday ordinary or in powerful miracles on the level ground where the people dwelled. But we can call all of these demonstrations of God's power mountaintop-like experiences, right? The people would see God do something incredible. And so they'd declare their allegiance to him, they'd worship him, only to quickly forget and stray again and again and again. Stray toward what or toward who. The gods of the Egyptians appeared to be powerful and were visually impressive. They whispered the promise of order, healing, and eternal life. These were the gods of Israel's past, the ones they were meant to leave behind when they left their bondage in Egypt. Then there were the gods of the Canaanites, the gods ahead of Israel in the land God had promised for them. False gods everywhere, behind them and before them. God warned them about this in Leviticus 18.3, saying, You must not do as they do in Egypt where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. But the Israelites would repeatedly disobey, whoring, yes, that's a harsh word, after the gods of the Canaanites. Who were these gods? Well, there was Baal, the storm god, who controlled the rain, thunder, and agricultural fertility. As a nation dependent on agriculture for survival, the temptation was to test run Baal instead of Yahweh during seasons of drought or lack. It seemed like it worked for the other nations, so they saw this as a practical plus one option, maybe when they were panicked. The more gods, the merrier. The Canaanites also worshipped Asherah, the fertility goddess associated with motherhood and sexuality. Think about it. She represented deeply emotional areas for the people, life, fertility, and family security. And so she was often worshipped, even if it meant Israel had to engage in practices like cult prostitution. Maybe it was okay to blur the lines when family was on the line. Molech, or Milcom, was the third main god of the Canaanites and was most horrific of all. He promised favor, prosperity, or protection, but often at great cost, like child sacrifice cost. Murder an infant or a child in cold blood and sacrifice them in fire to get a bit of this god's favor. Worship of Molech involved extreme, horrific rituals. There were other gods that Israel encountered too, like Dagon, the agricultural god of the Philistines, and Marduk, Ishtar and Asher, the chief, seemingly victorious gods of Babylon, as well as Kemosh, the war god and protector of Moab. The list goes on and on to the Greek gods and goddesses in the centuries before Christ, and to the Roman pantheon of gods in the time of Christ and the early church and beyond. Insert, problem, concern, desire, hope, whatever. And the nations surrounding Israel shrieked, We've got a God for that. So Israel repeatedly left the God of their fathers to test run the gods of their neighbors. How did God feel about that? Let me revisit something that I shared with you in episode 84. I said, think about the high places we read about in the Bible, both good and bad. We've established that God often met with his people on mountains. But here comes Satan. He is a counterfeit. He copies everything that God does, right? What else happened on those high places? The gods of other nations were worshipped. It was the high places of these demonic gods that Israel was commanded to destroy when they came into the land of Canaan. I gave one example of a command like that from Deuteronomy 12, 2 to 3, where God said, You shall surely destroy all the high places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear their altars and dash them in pieces, their pillars, and burn their ashram with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. Is God petty? No. Is he jealous? Yes. The God of heaven and earth is jealous for you. He tells us that about himself in Exodus 25. He says, I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. God is jealous for your love and for your worship. His beautiful jealousy, this Hebrew word kana, is a protective, zealous love. It's not sinful envy or petty control. It is care that passionately guards his covenant relationship with his people. God's jealousy acts as a purifying force, preventing worship of other gods in order to protect his holiness and his people, to prevent us from going to destruction. God's jealousy is meant to ensure that worshipers find ultimate, satisfying joy only in him. God is so jealous for your love that he sent his son as a final piece of evidence, as final proof that you do not have to bow down to the gods of this world who not only cannot save you, but will drag you off to hell. Let's take a moment to hear what God has to say about the gods of this world. First of all, he says that they are demons who are not gods. Are you hearing me? God says that every false god is a demon, all of them. Ra, Isis, Osiris, Baal, Asherah, Molech, Dagon, Kamash, Marduk, Ishtar, and Asher, Zeus or Jupiter, Poseidon or Neptune, Aphrodite or Venus, Gaia, Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Buddha, Allah, all demons. I'm not making this up. This is not my opinion. Deuteronomy 32, 17 tells us they are demons. Paul affirms this in 1 Corinthians 10 20 when he says, What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. False gods are demons. Demons are the fallen, the sons of God who rebelled along with Satan against God, their creator, against Yahweh. The Bible tells us these false gods are idols. The Hebrew word for idol is stronger than our English word here. It means worthless things. It's a word that implies emptiness, nothingness, weakness. Psalm 96, 5 says, all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. Ezekiel 27 takes it even farther. Defile yourself with your idols. The word here is intentionally degrading. Some idols were basic, like cylindrical shapes that were carved from wood or stone or cast in metal. It has been suggested that the term plays off the word for dung as little round things. The word Ezekiel uses for idol implies that idols are not merely useless, but filthy, disgusting, and worthy of contempt. What else does God have to say about the pursuit of demonic idol gods? Jeremiah 2.5 says they went after worthlessness and became worthless. This Hebrew word can mean vapor, breath, vanity. It's the same word used in Ecclesiastes to convey something that is fleeting, empty, or absurd. Similarly, Isaiah 41, 29 reveals that idols are like wind or breath. They are empty and not solid. It says they are nothing, their works are nothing, their metal images are empty wind. God also calls these pillars with idols abominations or detestable things, and tells us in Deuteronomy 16, 22 that he hates them, and then he mocks them as the work of men's hands. Psalm 115. God emphasizes their manufactured origin in places like Isaiah 40, 19, when he says of an idol, a craftsman casts it. In Isaiah 44.20, he calls those that make idols confused or deluded, indicating that the worshipers and creators of these false gods are deceived and self-blinded. He refers to idols as broken cisterns or wells that hold no water in Jeremiah 2.13. And worst of all, when Israel worships idols, God describes it relationally as whoredom in Hosea 2.5 and like a wife who committed adultery in Ezekiel 16. This infidelity against God brings great shame and is a betrayal based entirely on lies. Habakkuk 2.18 says, What prophet is an idol when its maker has shaped it? A metal image, a teacher of lies. One of God's most devastating rhetorical strategies is listing what idols cannot do. They cannot speak, see, hear, smell, feel, walk, save, deliver, or answer. Answer. False gods must be carried. Yahweh carries his people. False gods must be propped up. Yahweh acts, enters covenant, and eventually comes in the flesh. False gods cannot save. Yahweh saves. This is like courtroom style, drop the mic, exposure. We must understand the overall tone of scripture toward false gods because it reveals God's heart and mind toward them. Let me be clear. God does not treat these other gods as equal rivals or minor misunderstandings or benign alternate spiritual paths to try out. He hates them. He treats them exactly as they are: non-existent, worthless, demonic, polluting, shameful, powerless, deceptive, absurd, dangerous, and deserving of their coming judgment. It's no contest. And yet the people continually contest that God alone is God. And somehow, despite their lunacy, he continually calls his people back, saying, Return to me. But they didn't. Not only did the people of Israel worship the false gods of the world, but in their continued quest to be like God and determine their own fate, they decided that they no longer wanted Yahweh to be their king. Instead, they decided they preferred to have human kings over them like the other nations. In 1 Samuel 8, Israel explicitly says, appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. God's response is heartbreaking. He says, They have rejected me from being king over them. Guys, there is a crazy intersection between the kings of the other nations and the gods of the other nations. And Satan is dead center in these two intersecting paths. Let's remember, Satan, a fallen angel, also referred to in the Bible as a son of God, fractures the household of God when he leads a rebellion against God because he wants to be like God. Revelation 12, 7 to 9 tells us in detail what happened. Now, war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Previously, in verse 4, we're told that Satan takes a third of the angels with him. These are other sons of God who joined the rebellion against God and therefore became known as the fallen or fallen angels or demons. These created spiritual beings are Satan's offspring mentioned in Genesis 3. As we've already seen, these demons manifest themselves in the form of false deities or counterfeit gods, the idols of the nations, whose entire existence and purpose is intended to continually lead the human sons and daughters of God away from their father. With his demons following close behind, Satan leads three massive rebellions against God the Father. The first in the Garden of Eden, the second in Genesis 6, when the sons of God, fallen angels, sleep with the daughters of man and create a corrupted race of what the Bible refers to as Nephilim, or mighty men of renown. Again, these are, as we talked about, false, powerful spiritual beings that prompt mankind to fall down and worship them in idle worship. And the third massive rebellion happens at Babel, where instead of dispersing and multiplying and filling and subduing the earth as God commanded, mankind unifies in one spot in a mutiny against God. They plan to build a tower to the heavens so that they can make a name for themselves, aka be like God. I've never understood how devastating Babel was until recently, though I've been feeling the effects of it all my life, and so have you. We're seeing the effects of Babel this week as the world continues to fracture, as nations war against one another, and as they war at one another from within. Nothing is new under the sun. But the state of the world is also not mysterious when you understand what happened at Babel. After our third rebellion at Babel, after telling God for a third time that we didn't want him to be our God and that we wanted to be like God and that we wanted to rule ourselves and make a name for ourselves, God gave us what we wanted and the just judgment we deserved. He divided mankind. As this just judgment for our rebellion, Deuteronomy 32, 7 through 8 tells us that God disinherited the nations, keeping only Israel for himself, because he had a plan through Israel, and he confused their language so that they would disperse and form nations. And then he gave those nations over to lesser spiritual beings to rule. We read, When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples, that means he drew the lines of the nations, according to the number of the sons of God. These are the fallen angels. But the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob, his allotted heritage. We'll circle back to Israel and what promise comes through Israel, I think you know, but we must understand that since Babel, the sons of God, Satan and his demons have taken over. Yes, the nations of this world have been ruled by human kings, but in the invisible spiritual realm, behind those human kings, demons have been ruling the world. That is why Satan is referred to as the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. That's Ephesians 2.2. And he's also called the ruler or prince or commander or chief of this world in John 12.31. We must not miss the tragic irony here. The nations they wanted, Israel, the nations that they wanted to imitate, were under the rule of rebellious spiritual beings. And Israel, God's treasured inheritance, asked to structure themselves like the disinherited nations. Israel didn't just want political stability. They ignorantly wanted to look like the spiritually compromised nations around them. They preferred visible power to invisible faithfulness. So they became, in many ways, just like all the nations around them. God gave them what they asked for. And so now here we are. Satan takes Jesus to this high place, to this mountaintop, because he is so arrogant, he wants to show off. He wants Jesus to look at all the kingdoms of the world and their quote glory because they are his masterpiece. Look at them. Look at all the kingdoms of the world throughout human history. Look at every heart he's ever turned, every pair of eyes he's deceived, all the endless centuries of deception and manipulation and temptation and incitement and promise, every murderous thought, every lustful action, every grab for glory, every betrayal and hateful bit of spite, every piece of vengeance and bloodshed and the most violent, heinous acts the mind can imagine, as well as the quiet, insidious, subtle distractions and drawing away. Look out at them. See the kingdoms of the world and every knee that is bowed before the prince of the power of the air, the ruler of this world. The author of this demonic masterpiece now looks the Son in the eye, the Son who is one with the Father, the one against whom Satan has committed all this treason, and says, Look what I have done. Isn't it something? We'll be right back after this message. The enemy doesn't just tempt us in low places, friend. He meets us in high ones. In the very spaces meant for worship, Satan whispers distortions and subtly tries to shift our focus from glorifying God to elevating ourselves or worshiping false idols. That's why Abidible Plus exists. It is a committed community of women who love Jesus and want to handle his word rightly by discerning temptation, catching twisted truth early, and helping one another stay rooted in worship instead of drifting toward idols. If you are tired of navigating these battles alone and you want to redeem your time on social media, we would love to walk with you in this Facebook group. You can learn more at the link in this episode's description. And now, back to the show. So Satan points to the kingdoms of the world, his masterpiece, looks the sun in the eye, and says, Isn't it something? Jesus says, No, it's nothing. We're gonna see next week that Jesus holds fast to what is true, and what is true is Isaiah 45, 5. God is the Lord and there is no other. This is an absolute dismissal. Jesus knows who Satan is and everything he's ever done. He knows not just through second-hand knowledge about the three great rebellions of Eden, Genesis 6 and Babel. Jesus was there. He knows that the sons of God have destroyed the nations, turning their hearts away from God in rebellion against God as they have always done. He knows of all the lies and deceit and destruction and chaos and death. Jesus hates Satan and he's come to destroy him. First John 3.8 says, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Do you understand what we're seeing take place here in the wilderness? This is a catastrophic failure on every level, on every plane, for every part of the carefully crafted plan of the crafty one. His very best effort, his centuries of planning, the vicious hold he's had with his foot on the necks and hands around the throats of all mankind, Jesus is here to destroy it all. This word destroy from 1 John 3 means to loose any person tied or fastened or bound, to set free one bound with chains, a prisoner to let go. Guess what? Spoiler. The first thing Jesus does after leaving the wilderness is unroll the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue and read: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And Luke tells us in chapter 4, verse 20, it says, And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he said to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. The masterpiece of Satan is a complete joke when held up in the light beside the masterpiece of God. Jesus is the masterpiece of God. And he will overcome this third temptation too, because he's got somewhere to be a millennia-old predestined appointment. He's headed to the cross where he will make an absolute mockery of everything Satan has ever done, of all his kingdoms and their glory. The path ahead, the one that began with the promised offspring of the woman and continued through the chosen and preserved remnant of God's people, Israel, this is a path Jesus will pave with his own blood. This time, instead of disinheriting the nations and confusing their speech, God himself will bear the weight of their judgment so that Jesus can re-inherit the nations and unify their speech. Think about what happened at Pentecost. And ultimately, so that he can make a way back for us to be adopted into the family. Mutiny has been the MO for what seems like forever. High places have been turned into centers of demonic worship. The nations have bowed, including Israel, to worldly kings who ultimately have been subject to the invisible rule of the prince of the power of the air and the other sons of God. When all seemed lost, when our debts were piled sky high and freedom from our oppressors and bondage looked impossible, when we were dead on arrival because of our sin, at the fullness of time, at just the right time, Jesus arrived and inverted the mockery. God will not be mocked. He will come for his people. Colossians 2, 13 to 15 is one of my favorites. It says, And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. And here it is. That's the sons of God, and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Here's the big idea. Satan's masterpiece was mocked, but not just mocked, put to open shame as Jesus triumphed over Satan and all his demons on the cross. The debt against God that Satan has been trying to strangle us with since the beginning has been canceled. The bonds have been loosed. We have been set free. He no longer has a hold on us. That's what Jesus is accomplishing here in the wilderness. It's just a taste, a snippet, a preview, or a trailer of what's coming. Jesus is not once, not twice, but three times here triumphantly enduring the devil's worst. It's pathetic when you see it, right? The tempter is a joke. The devil is powerless. Satan is no match for Christ. It's embarrassing that he's even out there trying. So where does all of this leave us? When wars wage around the world and when they wage within our own souls, when Satan tries to use circumstance and emotion and even our physical bodies to get us to bend a knee at the high places where he wants to twist our worship into bondage and worship of false idols and false gods instead of the one true God, Yahweh. So what does it all mean for us? Well, it means that we don't have to panic when we look at the kingdoms of the world, when nations rage, when empires flex their glory, when elections feel apocalyptic, when leaders rise and fall, when headlines scream at us and our social media feeds are full of vitriol and division and fear and hatred. None of it surprises Jesus. None of it threatens his throne. The kingdoms of this world have always been loud. They have always been impressive. They have always promised safety, prosperity, identity, dominance, control. And they've always been temporary, a vapor, nothing. We are not living in uniquely chaotic times. We are living in the long echo of Babel. The fracture is ancient, the rebellion is old, the noise is familiar, and Christ is still king. So even though we know that the world is passing away, here's the practical question. When you look out at the kingdoms of the world, at what is happening everywhere, what happens in your heart? Do you fear it? Do you idolize the kingdoms of the world or political leaders or promised future? Do you place your hope in them? Do you rage over them or obsess over them? Or do you see them for what they are? Passing structures under the sovereign authority of the risen sun. You do not belong to a fragile kingdom. You belong, if you are in Christ, to an unshakable kingdom. And now let's also come closer because the high places in your life may not be global. They may be more personal or deeply personal. Your high place of temptation is likely not a literal mountain, but it might be your platform or your position. Maybe it's success or career or influence. Your high places of temptation might be found in motherhood or your appearance or your marriage or your political alignment. Maybe you're most tempted to worship other gods, false gods, in high places of comfort or control. I want you to wake up. You are standing on a high place whenever your heart whispers, if I just had this, I would be secure. If this doesn't fall apart, I'll be okay. If I can keep this, I'll be safe. High places are where worship is decided. And here's the loving invitation of our Savior. You do not have to bow there. You do not have to exchange the glory of God for created things. You were made to worship something better, someone better. The jealousy of God is not suffocating, it's protective. He's not trying to restrict your joy, he's guarding it. He knows that every created thing collapses under the weight of your worship. Only he can hold it. So when you scroll the news this week, don't spiral. When leaders disappoint, don't despair and don't be surprised. When empires boast, don't tremble. Lift your eyes higher. And when the high places of temptation are closer to home, more personal and intimate, here's what you do: you pause, you name it, and you refuse to bow. Do not negotiate with it, don't romanticize it, and don't pretend it's harmless. Lift your eyes higher. When the high places call your name, when approval glitters, when comfort seduces, when power whispers, and when control feels intoxicating, lift your eyes higher. And when you do, here is what you'll see. You will see your Savior standing on this mountain, the devil beside him, the kingdom spread out below, the offer hanging in the air. Your savior does not bow. He stands. And in my heart I picture him turning just slightly to look at you. There's no panic in his eyes, no uncertainty, no strain, only strength and authority. And there's something else there in his eye, almost like a twinkle, because he knows something the tempter does not. Your eyes meet his and he mouths, I've got this, I've got you. He is going to conquer this mountain where you and I have so often compromised. To do that, he knows that the next high place will not be a mountain of temptation, but a hill called Calvary. And that hill won't be about refusing a kingdom, but purchasing one. He will disarm the rulers and the authorities. He will crush the serpent's head with pierced feet. The devil, friend, offers borrowed glory. Christ secures eternal victory. So when Whenever you're tempted to kneel before a false god in a high place, remember your king already stood there and he did not bow. And because he did not bow, you don't have to either. Lift your eyes higher. See him there. Your savior is victorious. The mountain does not belong to the devil, it belongs to Christ. So let's worship him and him alone. And that's it for this episode. If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share the Abidible podcast with them. Keep spreading the word so that we can make much of the word. Drop us a review, tell us what you love and what you're learning. Check out the link to learn more about partnering with us by buying us a coffee one time, by joining our Abidible Plus women's membership community for $10 a month, or by becoming a monthly supporter. For those of you following along in the workbook, go ahead and begin working on our next verse in this series, Matthew 4.9, on pages 48 to 51 in your study workbook. Ideally, you would have this section done before you listen to the next episode, number 88. In this episode, we'll see what comes out of Satan's mouth for this third and final temptation atop this exceedingly high mountain. No surprise. Our verse next week is Matthew 4 9. And he said to him, All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. There it is. What comes out of Satan's mouth reveals what he's wanted all along. This final temptation is no longer subtle, no more misquoted scripture, no more veiled suggestions, just a breathtaking offer. I'll give you kingdoms and glory, power without suffering, glory without the cross, a crown without obedience. Just worship me instead of your father. What is Satan really offering here? Did he actually have authority to give it? And why is this temptation still one of the most dangerous ones we face today? Join me next week as we unpack the final temptation and see why worship was Satan's goal all along. I'll pray for us and then close this out with our memory work for verse 8. Father in heaven, you are the one who forms the mountains. Before they were brought forth, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. The kingdoms rise and fall, nations rage and fracture, wars erupt and headlines scream. But you remain. And we confess we are so easily shaken. We are tempted by what looks glorious. We're stirred by power. We are seduced by security. We're intimidated by what seems strong. And sometimes without even realizing it, our hearts begin to bow. Lord, forgive us for the high places we have built in our own lives. Forgive us for worshiping comfort, for idolizing control, for fearing earthly kingdoms more than trusting your eternal one and for exchanging your glory for created things. We understand that you are not petty in your jealousy, but protective. You are guarding our joy. You know that what we bow to will eventually break us. And so you call us back. Return to me. Jesus, thank you that when Satan brought you to the wilderness, you did not compromise. When he brought you to the holy city, you did not test the Father. When he brought you to the mountain and showed you the kingdoms of the world and their glory, you did not bow. You stood. And because you stood, we can stand. Thank you that you disarmed the rulers and the authorities. Thank you that you put them to open shame. Thank you that the debt that once strangled us has been nailed to the cross and the oppressors that once held us captive have been conquered. Most of all, thank you that the serpent's head was crushed by your pierced feet. When wars rage around us and even within us, anchor us. When our hearts are tempted to say, if I just had this, I would be secure. Interrupt us and teach us to pause, name the idol, refuse to bow, and lift our eyes higher. Let us see you on the mountain. Let us see you on the cross, strong, unshaken, victorious, with a twinkle in your eyes that says, I've got this, I've got you. Keep us your people, guard our worship, strengthen our faith, and fix our eyes on your unshakable kingdom. We worship you and you alone. In the name of your victorious Son, amen. Let's close by doing our memory work together. I'm going to repeat Matthew 4 8 five times. Say it out loud with me or quietly to yourself. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Matthew 4 8 and Happy 13th birthday, Liam. Remember, you are able to abide in the Bible. We'll see you next time. Until then, let's abide.