“In a moment”.

Do you recognize this as a quote from Scripture?

If you recognize this familiar phrase, do you also have an idea of what these words in Scripture refer to?

If your first reaction is that it has to do with the resurrection, you would be right. This phrase refers to how long it will take for our earthly bodies to be raised and transformed into heavenly glorious bodies. It will be instantaneous. The phrase is found in I Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,” and so on.

Now, this “moment” just mentioned we will, for convenience sake, call Christ’s moment (the moment in which His resurrection power is revealed.) But Scripture also makes mention of another moment, the Devil’s moment. In connec­tion with a revelation of the Devil’s power, the phrase “In a moment”, is used also. Do you know where and in what connection? It would not be surprising if you did not. This phrase when used in connection with the Tempter is not so familiar. If you are curious, you will find it used in Luke 4:5. You find the phrase used in connection with the last tempta­tion of Christ by Satan in the wilderness. Only the last temptation did not take place in the wilderness, it took place on a high mountain. And from that vantage point, the Devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world and their glory “in a moment of time”. The Devil’s moment is the moment of temptation.

As tempter, the Devil has been given great power. He took Jesus into a high mountain. There he was able to show Christ all the mighty kingdoms of man and their glory in one stupendous vision. The Devil’s purpose was to overwhelm Christ by the sheer impact of it all. Thrones, principalities, powers, kings, and princes, honor and glory, crown jewels dazzling in their beauty, wealth beyond compare, science and learning, art and culture, music, songs of praise, armies and warlike steeds; all this confronted Jesus in a moment. Satan sought to take Christ’s breath away, to stun Him with the magnificence of it all. Who would not be impressed and attracted by it all? The Devil was preparing Christ for the temptation, namely, all this could be Christ’s for the small price of bowing down before Satan. All Christ had to do was touch His knees to the ground and do obeisance, and Satan promised “all shall be thine”. To think, all this could be Christ’s without His having to go to that terrible cross. That way meant self-denial and impoverishment. What a bitter way. Christ would not have a place to lay His head. Satan could change all that in a moment. Men would stumble over each other in their haste to offer him their palaces and luxuries. God’s way meant that Christ had to be a servant on the earth. The Devil’s way meant that he could be the one all would call “Your Majesty”. How appealing.

For this reason, the Devil brought Christ into a high mountain. Which mountain this was, we know not. It makes little difference. There is of course no mountain on earth high enough anyway from which to see all the Kingdoms of the earth – not even among the mighty Himalayas. My own opinion is that this was a special mountain fabricated by the Devil especially for this temptation. Whatever, the Devil takes Christ into a high mountain to support his temptation. Mountains represent power and majesty. They are creation at its most magnificent. So the mountain location fit the tempta­tion. The Devil was suggesting that this majestic creation with all its glory and wealth and fame and magnificence could be Christ’s now! Why endure the shame of the cross in order to receive the rule of creation, when he could attain the same goal so much more quickly and easily in the mountain? Such is the temptation. The way of the cross would be bitter. The Devil’s way seemed sweet and pleasant in comparison, did it not? He did not succeed with the Son of God, but one failure does not prevent him from using the same strategy when he deals with those Christ redeemed.

The manner in which we are tempted today is becoming more like unto Jesus’ temptation all the time. It may not seem that way at first glance. The Devil is not permitted to whisk us up into a high mountain to tempt us, but do not forget that does not prevent him from taking his mountain to us. For at this, the end of the ages, great power is delivered into his hands once again. More and more the Devil is able to “show us all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them”. The ‘moment” in which the Devil flashed everything before Christ was a marvel of instantaneous communication by an audi­ble, visual means. And the “moment” was what made the temptation such as powerful one. The Devil strives to attain that power once again. He is a communi­cations expert and is delighted with man’s progress in the field of communications – especially in the last fifty years. Of course, the Devil is not interested in means of communication simply because discovery of ways to send and receive electronic impulses is in itself exciting. We had better believe there is a whole lot more involved than that. Ultimately, the Devil is always concerned with himself – with avoiding his own destruction. To avoid destruction, he must defeat God by defeating the cause of God. And he seeks to do that by leading the church astray. To that end, he uses every channel of communication for the purpose of tempta­tion. He delights in every technical advance that makes his temptation more powerful and effective. What he is seeking is the means to bring to us more and more of the glory of the world in a briefer and briefer segment of time. He seeks to approximate more closely the “moment” of temptation on the mountain. Thus he hopes to overwhelm us and to cause us to stagger and fall under the impact of all the world’s glory.

You sense by now what I am pointing to, the Devil’s mountain of the modem day – television. With this he brings to us the whole world of man’s glory. He displays before our dazzled eyes the power and glory and wealth of this world in living color and in stereo. And I have an idea that the Devil is more concerned with the impact of the commercials than the actual entertainment. The entertainment is bad enough – deadening our spiritual moral sensitivities, hardening our spiritual consciences to the evils of sin. But never forget that Television is deadly sixty minutes to the hour. The Devil having our attention is not going to give us six to eight minutes of rest per hour. In fact, I am more and more of the opinion that he entertains us for fifty minutes exactly to display the glorious trinkets of this world before our eyes the other ten minutes.

A few months ago, I was listening to an interview on the University of Wiscon­sin Broadcasting Station. Being interview­ed was a Television Producer. The interviewer asked why the quality of T.V. programs was getting so bad – both as to the plot and the moral standard. The answer was most enlightening. One ought always keep in mind, said this producer, that Television was primarily a sales medium, not an entertainment medium. That, he said, is what he was required to keep in mind when producing a show. It’s the world’s manufacturers that sponsor Television. Whatever attracts audiences to view the goods they have to offer in a few minutes, is what they want on the screen. The whole of Television is pointed toward its commercials and that includes every­thing from soap operas to sport spectacu­lars.

You understand then that the Devil intends Television to be lethal sixty minutes in the hour. The commercials themselves are dangerous. Their whole intent is to make you earthly-minded. Your prestige in the society is determined by your order, complexion, muscle tone, hair style, car, clothing styles, etc. The Devil is suggesting that all this can be purchased at a price. The temptation is: sacrifice a few principles – (bow down to Satan and mammon), and purchase all the glory and power money can buy. Why live a life of self-denial, servitude, and repentance? That’s not what life is all about. LIFE is self-gratification or if you will; carnal pleasures. If you forget about supporting the Kingdom causes, then you will have that much more money to buy yourself a high place in society. Such is the Devil’s temptation through that mountain of iniquity – television. How convenient for him to have us bring his “mountain” into our homes, rather than him having to take us to his mountain. In a few moments, he flashes before us all that the world has to offer. How impressive! You say you’re not affected? How many commercial ditties can you recite at the drop of a hat? Do not kid yourself – the Devil knows you and I better than that. There is only one way to oppose temptation – that is by fleeing it – not be challenging the Devil, imagining we will not be influenced. Do I have to remind you that the Devil’s moments of temptations through advertisement steps up around the Christmas season? Leave it to the Devil to turn our thoughts to earthly luxuries when we should be contemplating the poverty of the babe born in Bethle­hem.

Is this all an insignificant thing? Hardly. Remember, the Tempter’s mo­ment is directly opposed to Christ’s final “moment”. Satan uses his “moment” in hope of preventing the Church’s grand and glorious moment, namely the resur­rection, which will fulfill all our hopes and fervent expectations. In the end, he who yields to Satan’s temptation, and does not repent and turn, will have no part in Christ’s “moment”. What are you doing about the Devil’s temptations at the moment?