Life of Messiah 21 The Temptation of Jesus

[00:00:06] You're listening to Theology and Apologetics with Thomas Fretwell, bringing theology to life.

[00:00:12] So let's continue with this life of Jesus. If you remember now, we're beginning the adult ministry of Jesus Christ.

[00:00:19] We've spent a lot of time in the infancy narratives and all this young events of Jesus's life.

[00:00:25] We've looked at John the Baptist, the forerunner. Last week, we dealt with the baptism of Jesus,

[00:00:31] and we spoke a lot about that, and I shared with you my particular interpretation of that,

[00:00:35] which is that that was an anointing for kingship by the last prophet that walked John the Baptist on this earth.

[00:00:42] And then today, we're going to move on to something else.

[00:00:45] And it's very important that we understand what we're studying this morning is linked to what we studied last week.

[00:00:51] The baptism of Jesus leads immediately on to what we see here, the temptation of Jesus.

[00:00:57] And it's an interesting thought for the chronology, because we've had a public baptism.

[00:01:02] This would seem like a natural place to move on and just start speaking about the adult life and ministry of Jesus,

[00:01:09] straight to the wedding at Cana and these types of things.

[00:01:11] However, first, all of the gospel writers feel it is important, and the Lord obviously felt it was important at this time,

[00:01:18] to have this unusual episode dealing with temptation.

[00:01:22] So you could say that there is a supreme importance for all of us to understand the issue of temptation.

[00:01:29] Now, if I could ask a question to us all, how many of us have ever been tempted?

[00:01:33] Everyone.

[00:01:33] And let me ask a further question.

[00:01:35] How many of us, on occasion, have succumbed to that temptation?

[00:01:40] Everyone put their hand up the first time, should put their hand up the second time on that one.

[00:01:43] So we all understand that this is one of those critical issues for us.

[00:01:47] And that's why I believe it's interesting that we have this as the very first episode in the ministry of Jesus.

[00:01:54] It really goes before, in fact, everything else that we read.

[00:01:57] All of his dramatic displays of power, his miracles, his teaching even.

[00:02:01] What we have here is a lesson on temptation and deception, as we're going to see.

[00:02:06] So we'll be using all three of the synoptic accounts.

[00:02:10] So Matthew, Mark and Luke, if you've noticed, that's the way we're studying the Gospels, going through all three of them, four of them really at the same time.

[00:02:17] And again, we will see some differences in the accounts, which I want to just pause and explain to you and take a moment because it provides a good opportunity to talk about Gospel differences and what some people class as errors in the Gospel and those types of attacks that we get.

[00:02:33] So let's start by looking at it in Mark's Gospel.

[00:02:37] Mark's Gospel gives us a very short account of this.

[00:02:40] Mark is the shortest Gospels.

[00:02:42] Mark chapter 1, verse 12.

[00:02:44] It's only two verses and then we're dealing with the other accounts.

[00:02:46] So Mark chapter 1, verse 12 to 13.

[00:02:49] This is all it says.

[00:02:50] It says,

[00:02:50] Immediately.

[00:02:51] So that's the immediately is connecting it with the baptism that's just gone previously.

[00:02:56] Immediately the Spirit impelled him to go out to the wilderness.

[00:03:00] And he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan.

[00:03:04] And he was with the wild beasts and the angels were ministering to him.

[00:03:08] That's all that Mark gives us, you see, about the temptation of Jesus.

[00:03:11] So we're going to turn to some of the other accounts.

[00:03:13] But with each Gospel, we get a couple of details that the other Gospels don't provide us.

[00:03:19] So firstly, we get that word immediately, showing us that this is connected.

[00:03:22] It seems to imply that this happened immediately after the baptism and the anointing of the Spirit of Jesus that we see.

[00:03:29] These events then happen.

[00:03:30] And we get the Spirit mentioned in all of the Gospel accounts.

[00:03:34] We're going to see that the Holy Spirit is a very important character in this section of Scripture.

[00:03:39] So now let's read the Matthew and the Luke accounts.

[00:03:42] I'll read them back to back.

[00:03:44] So they're about 12 verses each.

[00:03:46] And I want you to try and notice where the difference is.

[00:03:49] Okay?

[00:03:50] I'm going to just read them back to back like that.

[00:03:52] And I want you to try and see if you can spot where the difference is.

[00:03:55] So we'll start with Matthew chapter 4, verse 1.

[00:03:58] Matthew chapter 4, verse 1.

[00:04:00] It says,

[00:04:01] Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

[00:04:06] And after he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he then became hungry.

[00:04:10] And the tempter came and said to him,

[00:04:12] If you are the Son of God, come on that these stones become bread.

[00:04:16] But he answered and said,

[00:04:17] It is written,

[00:04:18] Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

[00:04:24] And then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple.

[00:04:28] And he said to him,

[00:04:29] If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

[00:04:33] He will command his angels concerning you.

[00:04:35] And on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

[00:04:40] And Jesus said to him,

[00:04:42] On the other hand it is written,

[00:04:44] You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

[00:04:47] And again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

[00:04:53] And he said to him,

[00:04:54] All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me.

[00:04:58] And then Jesus said to him,

[00:04:59] Go, Satan, for it is written,

[00:05:01] You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

[00:05:04] And then the devil left him,

[00:05:06] And behold, angels came and began to minister to him.

[00:05:10] That's the Matthew account.

[00:05:11] Let me read straight on now to read the Luke account.

[00:05:14] And this is also from Luke chapter 4.

[00:05:16] So Luke says,

[00:05:17] Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,

[00:05:19] returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness.

[00:05:22] For forty days being tempted by the devil and he ate nothing during those days.

[00:05:26] And when they had ended, he became hungry.

[00:05:29] And the devil said to him,

[00:05:30] If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.

[00:05:33] And Jesus answered him,

[00:05:34] It is written,

[00:05:36] Man shall not live on bread alone.

[00:05:38] Here's the difference.

[00:05:39] And he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

[00:05:44] And the devil said to him,

[00:05:45] I will give you all this dominion and its glory,

[00:05:47] for it has been handed over to me and I will give it to whomever I wish.

[00:05:50] And therefore, if you worship me, it shall be yours.

[00:05:53] Jesus answered him,

[00:05:54] It is written,

[00:05:55] You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

[00:05:59] And he led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple

[00:06:02] and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

[00:06:06] for it is written,

[00:06:07] He will command his angels concerning you to guard you.

[00:06:10] And on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against the stone.

[00:06:14] And Jesus answered and said to him,

[00:06:16] It is said,

[00:06:17] You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

[00:06:19] And when the devil had finished every temptation,

[00:06:22] he left him until an opportune time.

[00:06:25] So there's a couple of differences there with wording and quotations.

[00:06:28] But let me, in case you missed it,

[00:06:30] the main difference that we have between those two accounts,

[00:06:33] if you didn't notice it,

[00:06:34] was the order of the temptations.

[00:06:37] Did you catch that?

[00:06:38] The order of the temptations.

[00:06:40] In Matthew's account,

[00:06:41] the devil offers the kingdom of the world to him last.

[00:06:45] In Luke's account,

[00:06:46] that comes second.

[00:06:47] And the one about the angels catching him from the pinnacle of the temple comes last.

[00:06:53] So they're in a different order.

[00:06:55] Now why do I mention this?

[00:06:56] Simply because there are many occurrences where things like this happen in the Gospels.

[00:07:01] And what you will often hear is modern day critics of the Bible using these,

[00:07:06] saying that the Bible is full of contradictions and errors.

[00:07:09] Well, which one was it?

[00:07:10] Did it come first or second?

[00:07:12] What's the exact chronology?

[00:07:13] And they extrapolate from that that the Bible is mistaken in many places.

[00:07:17] That's really one of the main reasons I want to just draw your attention to this.

[00:07:21] So how do we respond to those things?

[00:07:23] If we're thinking about it in that sort of very strict modernist sense,

[00:07:27] they can't both be true.

[00:07:28] One had to come second and one had to come third.

[00:07:31] Which one is it?

[00:07:31] If we claim that the Bible, you see, is inspired, is infallible,

[00:07:35] then we must answer this charge.

[00:07:37] So let's just have a little look at that now.

[00:07:40] Now, it's one of these things where people make massive issues of it, write books on it,

[00:07:45] people get very confused about these,

[00:07:46] but it really is just a misunderstanding of how historiography,

[00:07:50] how history was written in the ancient world.

[00:07:53] And that is really, I say it's very simple, it is very simple like that.

[00:07:56] Remember our introduction?

[00:07:57] We studied looking at the difference between the four Gospels.

[00:08:00] Every Gospel writer had a different theme that they drew out through their Gospels.

[00:08:05] Ancient history was often written thematically, not chronologically.

[00:08:09] Sounds odd to us because we very much, we like chronology.

[00:08:12] Ancient history wasn't necessarily like that.

[00:08:14] It was not unusual to take your data, select your data, and craft it around a theme.

[00:08:20] Remember, Matthew's theme was the King, Jesus.

[00:08:23] The Kingdom and the King.

[00:08:25] King Yeshua, the King of the World, was Matthew's theme.

[00:08:28] So it's no surprise that when we see the temptations in Matthew's Gospel,

[00:08:33] he sees the issue of the offer of the kingdoms of the world to the King as being the key one,

[00:08:38] and thus he saves that one for last.

[00:08:40] He was not necessarily concerned with a strict chronology.

[00:08:44] Why would he be?

[00:08:44] It wasn't how they wrote in those days.

[00:08:46] So why should we apply that standard that we have today to ancient authors?

[00:08:50] It just doesn't work when you do that.

[00:08:52] And that sounds maybe a little too simple, but it actually is in many ways that easy.

[00:08:56] And you also remember, when we studied Luke, Luke was the only Gospel writer that said to us in his introduction,

[00:09:03] I am attempting to write to you in consecutive order the things which have taken place.

[00:09:10] So if you want to actually focus on chronology, Luke's Gospel is the one that says he's trying to do that.

[00:09:15] So if you want an actual chronology, it's probably going to be the Luke one,

[00:09:19] and for that reason we're going to focus on the Luke one as we go through here.

[00:09:23] But that doesn't discount the Matthew one.

[00:09:25] It's just designed around the particular theme that Matthew had.

[00:09:29] And we shouldn't be surprised.

[00:09:30] This is actually very, very obvious.

[00:09:32] I mean, you could even have a modern day.

[00:09:33] If I asked, if you went to a church event or a party or whatever it may be,

[00:09:38] and you had three different people, three different ages, three different backgrounds,

[00:09:42] three different focuses in their life,

[00:09:44] and you asked them all to give you a brief summing up of that event,

[00:09:48] most likely you would get some similarities, the start time, certain people who were there,

[00:09:54] but you'd also get them focusing on different issues.

[00:09:56] Different conversations would stand out to them.

[00:09:58] Different things would interest them that they would then report.

[00:10:01] And thus you would have difference in the accounts too.

[00:10:03] And that is exactly what we see in the Gospels.

[00:10:06] If they all came back and they reported exactly the same thing

[00:10:09] and exactly the same wording and exactly the same time,

[00:10:12] you'd probably think they were colluding with each other to try and make it sound the same.

[00:10:17] And you ask any police, and that is exactly how witness statements often go too.

[00:10:20] You expect difference and you want difference.

[00:10:23] And when you compare, we're blessed with four Gospels.

[00:10:25] When you compare all of these differences,

[00:10:27] you get a much fuller picture than if they're all the same.

[00:10:29] That is simply what is going on here.

[00:10:31] So we don't apply 21st century hypercritical methods to an ancient text.

[00:10:36] The historiography just does not work like that.

[00:10:39] And once you understand that issue, as you read through the Gospels,

[00:10:42] lots of these things become perfectly clear and they won't trouble you at all.

[00:10:46] Now there are a few more difficult ones we'll deal as we go through,

[00:10:49] but that is a general understanding of how to read the Gospels.

[00:10:53] Okay.

[00:10:54] Because of that, we're going to focus to Luke.

[00:10:56] So let's turn back to Luke chapter 4.

[00:11:00] Before we jump into the actual issue of temptation,

[00:11:03] there's a couple of things I want to try and explain to you here,

[00:11:06] because as we've hopefully noticed already now,

[00:11:09] often in the background of these Gospel events,

[00:11:11] there's huge amounts of meaning and theology and understanding that the Jewish people had

[00:11:16] that we miss out on.

[00:11:17] And that's what I want to focus on here.

[00:11:19] In the Gospels, particularly in this event that we're reading right now,

[00:11:22] Jesus played two representative roles.

[00:11:25] He was thus the king of the Jews, but he was also the king of the world.

[00:11:29] He had a representative role to all believers, Jew and Gentile,

[00:11:32] but he had a specific representative role to Israel.

[00:11:35] That's why you see in the beginning stages of the Gospel,

[00:11:38] he is told he is only coming to the house of Israel at this time.

[00:11:41] He is trying to identify himself as their Messiah.

[00:11:44] And the way that he does that is quite clever.

[00:11:46] He does that a little bit here now in the text.

[00:11:50] In the temptation that we're about to read,

[00:11:52] Jesus was representing Israel as the perfect Israelite,

[00:11:56] the one who would not sin.

[00:11:58] If you turn just back to Luke 3, I want to show you how this connects.

[00:12:02] Luke chapter 3, it's that genealogy.

[00:12:05] Now we dealt with all of the genealogies in a few sessions in the beginning,

[00:12:09] but now I want to just focus on why Luke put his genealogy at the end of chapter 3,

[00:12:14] not the beginning like Matthew.

[00:12:16] Because if you go to the very last line of that genealogy,

[00:12:20] it traces the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah all the way back to Adam, doesn't it?

[00:12:26] And you might ask yourself, why trace it all the way back to Adam?

[00:12:29] That seems like a little overkill to go all the way back to Adam.

[00:12:32] There's a point and a purpose in this because you read that last line,

[00:12:35] it says Luke 3, 38,

[00:12:37] the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

[00:12:43] So you have Adam and the son of God in your head as you move on to chapter 4.

[00:12:50] It comes immediately afterwards.

[00:12:51] You move on to chapter 4, the temptation of Jesus.

[00:12:54] We want to have Adam and Jesus in our minds as we begin to look at the temptation.

[00:12:59] And also that phrase, the son of God, is very significant.

[00:13:03] That term is only applied to three specific people in the Old Testament and the New Testament here.

[00:13:10] One, it was applied to Adam right here.

[00:13:13] Adam was the archetypal man.

[00:13:14] And what does the story of Adam remind us of?

[00:13:18] What happened to Adam?

[00:13:19] They were tested and tempted by Satan in the garden, weren't they?

[00:13:24] Satan who was described as being more cunning than all the beasts of the field that the Lord had made.

[00:13:29] Satan tempted them to sin and they succumbed to that temptation.

[00:13:34] So the story of Adam is contextually related to the temptation of Jesus by the events and also by the words that we have there.

[00:13:41] That's the first thing.

[00:13:43] And then we see the title son of God is also given.

[00:13:46] We dealt with this a few sessions back.

[00:13:49] It's also given to the nation of Israel.

[00:13:51] Do you remember that?

[00:13:52] We've seen this already.

[00:13:53] Exodus 4, 22.

[00:13:54] Thus you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn.

[00:14:00] Israel collectively was also known as the son of God.

[00:14:04] And it's no mistake that we see a replaying of Israel's history in this event.

[00:14:10] Let's have a look at verse 3 back in Luke now.

[00:14:13] And the devil said to him, If you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread.

[00:14:19] Of all the titles that we have that could be used, you have that term son of God here connecting it with all of this history.

[00:14:27] So there is a connection between Adam and Jesus.

[00:14:30] There is a connection between Israel and Jesus that is underlying what we're about to read in this text.

[00:14:35] Now let me pull out a few of these similarities between Israel and Jesus because it will be relevant to the verses that Jesus quotes.

[00:14:43] There was a connection between the names there, the son of God.

[00:14:46] There was a connection between the concept of testing.

[00:14:49] And where was Israel tested?

[00:14:51] Where did Israel get led to?

[00:14:53] After the exodus happened, that's when the name son of God was given to Israel, Exodus 4.

[00:14:59] Where did they get?

[00:15:00] They got led out into the wilderness, didn't they?

[00:15:02] And there they were tested.

[00:15:03] How long were they tested for?

[00:15:05] You have that significant number, 40.

[00:15:07] They were tested for 40 years.

[00:15:09] Just as the same we see Jesus here tested for 40 days.

[00:15:12] That's another connection, making the connection with Israel's history.

[00:15:15] Also there was a connection in the fact that the Holy Spirit was the instigator and present in this event.

[00:15:21] This is again very significant.

[00:15:24] We're familiar with the Holy Spirit in the temptation event because it starts off by saying he led him out.

[00:15:30] Most people don't realize it was the Holy Spirit equally present in the wilderness wanderings.

[00:15:35] Now we don't get this because it doesn't get told us in the book of Exodus.

[00:15:38] You have to read one of the major prophets, the book of Isaiah.

[00:15:41] Let me read to you.

[00:15:43] Isaiah 63, verse 11.

[00:15:45] Recounting Israel's history in the wilderness.

[00:15:48] Isaiah writes this.

[00:15:49] Then his people remembered the days of old, of Moses.

[00:15:53] Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock?

[00:15:56] Where is he who put his Holy Spirit in the midst of them?

[00:16:00] Who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses?

[00:16:03] Who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name?

[00:16:07] Who led them through the depths?

[00:16:09] Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble.

[00:16:11] As the cattle which go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.

[00:16:16] And so you led your people to make for yourself a glorious name.

[00:16:20] So we see here this exact same concept that the Spirit of the Lord was present and leading in the nation of Israel.

[00:16:26] And we have that same thing again now.

[00:16:28] The Spirit of the Lord was the one who led Jesus out to the wilderness just as he led the collective Son of God, Israel,

[00:16:34] out into the wilderness for testing.

[00:16:37] That's some of the background that we...

[00:16:39] The final connection between the nation Israel and this event here is the fact that three times we're going to see Jesus quote Scripture.

[00:16:46] And three times he quotes from the book of Deuteronomy.

[00:16:50] If you don't know, the book of Deuteronomy is known as the covenant book of Israel.

[00:16:54] It is almost like the marriage contract between Yahweh and Israel.

[00:16:58] It is the covenant book of Israel.

[00:16:59] And thus I believe that is the reason why we see Jesus quote it three times.

[00:17:03] Okay, so that is some of the background that we miss.

[00:17:06] We need that in our heads before we even enter into this event, you see.

[00:17:10] Now let's do it.

[00:17:11] Luke chapter 4 verse 1 says,

[00:17:22] So we see the Holy Spirit mentioned immediately in verse 1, showing how significant his involvement was.

[00:17:32] And it's important that we see this because we're about to see Jesus, who is also referred to as the last Adam, isn't he?

[00:17:39] Remember Paul calls him the last Adam.

[00:17:41] Again making this connection, we're about to see Jesus succeed where the collective Son of God in history failed.

[00:17:49] You see?

[00:17:50] By succumbing to the temptation, we're about to see the perfect Israelite not do this.

[00:17:55] But how did he not sin, not succumb to temptation?

[00:17:59] This is an interesting point.

[00:18:00] Not simply by the use of his divine powers because of his fundamental nature of who he was.

[00:18:07] You see, this is an important point.

[00:18:09] In the incarnation, he emptied himself of the independent use of that divine power.

[00:18:15] We call this the kenosis, Philippians chapter 2.

[00:18:19] And he relied on the same source of power that was available to believers, that is still available to believers, the Holy Spirit.

[00:18:26] The Holy Spirit seems to be at front and centre in this event.

[00:18:30] He says he was full of the Holy Spirit and he was led by the Holy Spirit.

[00:18:34] Now let me just explain the term full.

[00:18:36] I know I've done this before.

[00:18:38] The idea of being full of the Holy Spirit is not so much being filled with a glass of water until overflowing,

[00:18:44] which is how we naturally think of the word.

[00:18:46] The Greek word has the idea of being controlled by the Holy Spirit.

[00:18:51] That's what being full of the Holy Spirit means.

[00:18:54] It means you are controlled by the Holy Spirit.

[00:18:56] And to be controlled by the Holy Spirit implies that you have surrendered yourself to the Holy Spirit,

[00:19:02] acknowledging that he is God.

[00:19:05] Yes?

[00:19:05] Surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit and thus you are controlled, enabled, supernaturally and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

[00:19:13] It is presented here as being of supreme importance in the events that follow.

[00:19:18] Jesus, who gave us an example to follow, 1 John 2, 6,

[00:19:22] the one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked.

[00:19:27] How did he walk?

[00:19:28] Full of the Holy Spirit, being led by the Holy Spirit.

[00:19:31] Controlled, fully submitted to the will.

[00:19:33] This is what it means to be full of the Holy Spirit.

[00:19:35] The Spirit is held out as an essential element of the Christian life throughout the New Testament,

[00:19:40] especially in the writings of Luke and Paul.

[00:19:43] It's been said that for Paul particularly, Christians are spirit people, first and foremost.

[00:19:48] Variously described, we live by the Spirit.

[00:19:50] We are to walk in the Spirit.

[00:19:52] We are to be led by the Spirit.

[00:19:53] We are to bear the fruits of the Spirit.

[00:19:55] We are to sow to the Spirit.

[00:19:56] On and on you find these terms.

[00:19:59] Galatians 5, 16.

[00:20:01] But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

[00:20:06] Now, confronted with such texts like this, the Church has really had two extremes.

[00:20:11] There are those in the Church on maybe one side of the charismatic movement

[00:20:15] who so abuse the Holy Spirit that they end up attributing all sorts of things

[00:20:20] that are not from the Holy Spirit to the Holy Spirit,

[00:20:24] that are really just from the works of man's mind,

[00:20:26] the imagination of the flesh or whatever it may be.

[00:20:28] The Holy Spirit is often just considered to be a kind of energising force

[00:20:32] that can do, almost make people do some very strange things.

[00:20:37] That is one side.

[00:20:38] And then you have on the other side of that, people who react to that.

[00:20:41] They understand that when they read about the Holy God in Scripture,

[00:20:44] some of those things do not match up with the character that they see.

[00:20:47] However, often the mistake is then you throw out the baby with the bathwater.

[00:20:51] You react so strongly against the Holy Spirit

[00:20:54] that you actually deny the need for the Spirit

[00:20:57] in conjunction with the Word of God in our lives

[00:20:59] and you go into a kind of dead scholasticism.

[00:21:02] They are the two extremes.

[00:21:03] We need to avoid both of them.

[00:21:05] We need the Spirit for the Christian life.

[00:21:07] And this is something we will continue to be learning throughout our Christian life.

[00:21:11] It says he was in the wilderness for 40 days.

[00:21:14] Back to Luke now.

[00:21:15] He fasted during those days.

[00:21:17] A 40-day fast is pretty severe.

[00:21:20] The text, as it says there, he became hungry.

[00:21:22] It's a very strong term.

[00:21:23] It almost is implying he was almost starving to death at that point.

[00:21:27] That's how strong the hunger was at that point.

[00:21:29] And the devil said to him,

[00:21:31] If you are the Son of God,

[00:21:33] if you are, it's not like a question,

[00:21:36] you could equally translate the Greek,

[00:21:37] since you are the Son of God.

[00:21:39] It's a statement.

[00:21:40] Since you are the Son of God,

[00:21:41] tell this stone to become bread.

[00:21:43] And Jesus answered him,

[00:21:48] And then Matthew quotes the rest of that verse,

[00:21:50] but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

[00:21:53] So this is the first temptation that the devil brings against the Lord.

[00:21:56] He wanted to get the Lord to sin.

[00:21:58] That was one of his main purposes here.

[00:22:01] He wanted to get the last Adam to sin

[00:22:03] in the same way he managed to get the first Adam to sin.

[00:22:06] That was his purpose.

[00:22:08] However, we know that it was the Holy Spirit

[00:22:10] that led the Lord out into this event.

[00:22:11] So he was actually the one orchestrating everything,

[00:22:13] even if the devil didn't realize that at this time.

[00:22:15] The Lord wanted to prove that his son,

[00:22:18] his beloved son, was spotless.

[00:22:20] The spotless lamb.

[00:22:21] Remember, we've just had the baptism

[00:22:22] where the Holy Spirit descended upon him.

[00:22:25] The voice out of heaven said,

[00:22:26] This is my beloved son.

[00:22:27] That son was the spotless lamb.

[00:22:30] And he needed to prove that he was sinless.

[00:22:32] That was the Lord's purpose in this.

[00:22:34] Satan appeals to a natural desire.

[00:22:36] Notice that.

[00:22:37] There's nothing wrong with wanting to feed yourself

[00:22:39] when you are hungry.

[00:22:40] That is part of our makeup.

[00:22:42] That was what Satan took advantage of, though.

[00:22:45] Just like he did with Adam in many ways.

[00:22:47] It was an issue related to food and desire.

[00:22:50] He often uses things that,

[00:22:52] by and of themselves, are not bad.

[00:22:54] But it's the purpose and the result

[00:22:56] you have to watch out for.

[00:22:58] It's the subtext of what is going on

[00:23:00] that we learn about here.

[00:23:01] His point is that since you are the son of God,

[00:23:04] this is Satan's point,

[00:23:05] what he's basically saying to Jesus here,

[00:23:07] since you are the son of God

[00:23:08] and you're out here in the wilderness,

[00:23:10] just like the collective son of God, Israel, was,

[00:23:13] why does your father not feed you in the wilderness?

[00:23:16] Why are you here starving?

[00:23:17] You're the beloved son.

[00:23:18] We've just heard that.

[00:23:19] And we've just heard that proclaimed at your baptism.

[00:23:22] Why are you being left to starve in the desert?

[00:23:25] After all, God provided manna

[00:23:27] for even rebellious Israel in the wilderness.

[00:23:29] And he didn't let them starve,

[00:23:30] but yet you have nothing.

[00:23:32] This is the kind of implication

[00:23:35] that Satan is getting at here

[00:23:37] with the background of the wilderness

[00:23:39] in all of this narrative.

[00:23:40] And again, for me, it echoes Eden.

[00:23:43] Again, he tempted Adam and Eve using food,

[00:23:46] but it was actually underneath the food,

[00:23:48] it was about doubting God, wasn't it?

[00:23:50] That was the issue.

[00:23:51] Doubting God's word, doubting God's love,

[00:23:53] doubting God's wisdom, doubting God's position.

[00:23:55] It's a subtle suggestion

[00:23:57] that your father does not love you.

[00:23:59] He was being tempted to doubt the father's word.

[00:24:01] He was being tempted to doubt the father's love

[00:24:03] and the father's provision.

[00:24:05] And he was also being tempted

[00:24:07] to use his divine abilities

[00:24:09] independent of the father's will

[00:24:11] and the spirit's control,

[00:24:12] which is exactly what he would not do.

[00:24:15] And that would give Satan the victory if he did that.

[00:24:18] So he was tempting Jesus to distrust

[00:24:20] the providential care of his father,

[00:24:22] the divine plan of his father,

[00:24:24] and to use his own divine powers to serve himself.

[00:24:27] There's all these things going on

[00:24:29] in the narrative there in Satan's mind.

[00:24:31] But we know Jesus's mission was to be

[00:24:33] perfectly obedient to the father's will.

[00:24:36] And he did this again by the power of the spirit.

[00:24:39] That is exactly what he would tell his disciples later on.

[00:24:42] John 4, 34, Jesus said to them,

[00:24:44] my food is to do the will of him who sent me

[00:24:47] and to accomplish his work.

[00:24:49] You see this concept of food being used

[00:24:51] as temptation is there again.

[00:24:52] My food is to do the will of him who sent me,

[00:24:56] who was the father.

[00:24:57] And look at how Jesus responds to Satan in this temptation.

[00:25:00] Verse 4, he says,

[00:25:01] and Jesus answered him,

[00:25:03] it is written,

[00:25:05] man shall not live on bread alone.

[00:25:07] Now, I think it is significant to notice here

[00:25:10] that these are in fact

[00:25:12] the very first recorded words of Yeshua,

[00:25:15] of Jesus in his public ministry.

[00:25:17] We looked at the first words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels.

[00:25:21] They occurred when he was 12.

[00:25:22] They were very illuminating.

[00:25:23] But these are the first words that we have of Jesus

[00:25:26] in his public ministry, you could say.

[00:25:27] And he gives those three words,

[00:25:30] it is written.

[00:25:32] The most primary thing that Jesus states

[00:25:35] in his first act, really,

[00:25:37] as the Lord identified as Messiah to the people now,

[00:25:40] is to give a statement

[00:25:42] affirming the full authority of the word of God.

[00:25:46] It is written.

[00:25:48] And this shows us where often the attack is focused,

[00:25:51] the word of God.

[00:25:52] It was the same with the garden with Adam.

[00:25:54] It was the same with the Israelites in the wilderness.

[00:25:57] Always the devil trying to undermine the word of God.

[00:26:00] So Jesus now replies by waving,

[00:26:03] you could say, the sword of the spirit at Satan,

[00:26:06] the word of God.

[00:26:07] This is why the word of God is called

[00:26:09] the sword of the spirit.

[00:26:10] And there's something, again,

[00:26:11] we need to make sure we don't separate the connection.

[00:26:14] The sword of the spirit is to be used

[00:26:16] by one who is himself controlled or filled by the spirit.

[00:26:20] That's why it's called the sword of the spirit.

[00:26:22] Those two things very much go together,

[00:26:24] which is why we have them both highlighted

[00:26:25] in this narrative here.

[00:26:27] Now, the reference, again, is interesting.

[00:26:28] Remember I said all of these references are specific.

[00:26:32] Nothing in the gospels is there incidentally.

[00:26:34] We get background and meaning from all of these things.

[00:26:37] He quotes that verse,

[00:26:38] man shall not live by bread alone.

[00:26:39] That comes from Deuteronomy chapter eight.

[00:26:41] So turn there, please, if you have a Bible.

[00:26:43] Deuteronomy chapter eight.

[00:26:45] He quotes from verse three.

[00:26:46] I want to read to you the whole context

[00:26:48] because you'll see where I'm getting this understanding

[00:26:50] of the wilderness, the 40 years, the testing from,

[00:26:54] it's exactly from this verse in Deuteronomy,

[00:26:56] this chapter in Deuteronomy chapter eight.

[00:26:58] So Deuteronomy eight verse one reads this.

[00:27:01] All the commandments that I'm commanding you today,

[00:27:03] you shall be careful to do.

[00:27:05] So you have the word of God preeminent.

[00:27:07] And then it says that you may live, you have life,

[00:27:10] and go on and possess the land

[00:27:12] which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers.

[00:27:14] You shall remember all the way

[00:27:16] which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness

[00:27:19] these 40 years that he might humble you,

[00:27:22] testing you to know what was in your heart,

[00:27:25] whether you would keep his commandments or not.

[00:27:28] He humbled you and let you be hungry

[00:27:31] and fed you with manner which you did not know,

[00:27:34] nor did your fathers know,

[00:27:35] that he might make you understand

[00:27:37] that man does not live by bread alone,

[00:27:39] but man lives by everything that proceeds

[00:27:42] out of the mouth of the Lord.

[00:27:43] So you see that is the background

[00:27:45] to what is happening here.

[00:27:46] The collective son of God had that experience

[00:27:48] and they failed.

[00:27:49] Now we're seeing the perfect son of God,

[00:27:50] the Israelite, have that very same experience.

[00:27:53] Satan is trying the very same thing,

[00:27:54] but yet we're seeing how to respond perfectly

[00:27:57] to these things.

[00:27:58] And Jesus responds as a man submitted to the spirit

[00:28:01] using the sword of the spirit, the word of God.

[00:28:03] It is the first and foundational defense

[00:28:05] against the wiles of the devil

[00:28:08] because it exposes his lies with truth.

[00:28:11] It shines light onto the darkness.

[00:28:14] And you could ask ourselves,

[00:28:15] why does the church so often seem to fall

[00:28:17] for the schemes of the devil?

[00:28:18] Now we know individually,

[00:28:19] it's our flesh oftentimes,

[00:28:21] not so much the devil, isn't it,

[00:28:23] that causes us to sin,

[00:28:24] but more as a corporate body,

[00:28:25] I would say it's because

[00:28:27] how little we know the word of God.

[00:28:28] As simple as that, really.

[00:28:30] Jesus here quotes the word of God from memory.

[00:28:33] We dealt with his upbringing as a person

[00:28:35] who would have had maybe the whole Torah

[00:28:37] committed to memory,

[00:28:38] but if not definite portions of it,

[00:28:40] most Jewish people did in those days.

[00:28:42] How little are we reliant on the spirit too?

[00:28:45] And this is the thing, like I said,

[00:28:47] because of these two extremes,

[00:28:48] because of the abuses,

[00:28:49] because of what we've seen

[00:28:50] that we don't want to associate ourselves with,

[00:28:52] we often miss the fact that

[00:28:54] in through all of these narratives,

[00:28:56] the gospel,

[00:28:56] particularly the book of Acts,

[00:28:58] and also the writings of Paul,

[00:29:00] you'll see that the spirit

[00:29:01] always has front and center place,

[00:29:03] not in front of Jesus, obviously,

[00:29:05] but pointing towards Jesus,

[00:29:06] but in the sense of our living like Jesus,

[00:29:09] the spirit is always mentioned

[00:29:11] in conjunction with that.

[00:29:13] Verse five,

[00:29:14] And he led him up and showed him

[00:29:15] all the kingdoms of the world

[00:29:16] in a moment of time,

[00:29:17] and the devil said to him,

[00:29:19] I will give you all this domain

[00:29:20] and its glory,

[00:29:21] for it has been handed over to me,

[00:29:23] and I give it to whomever I wish.

[00:29:25] Therefore, if you worship before me,

[00:29:27] it shall be yours.

[00:29:28] Jesus answered him,

[00:29:29] It is written,

[00:29:31] You shall worship the Lord your God

[00:29:32] and serve him only.

[00:29:34] So now we see the second temptation.

[00:29:36] Satan shows him the kingdoms of the world,

[00:29:38] and then he offers them to Jesus.

[00:29:41] And the idea here,

[00:29:43] we have to remember,

[00:29:44] Jesus knew that part of his mission

[00:29:47] was to come and redeem back

[00:29:49] the people of the earth.

[00:29:50] He knew that from various scriptures,

[00:29:52] places like Psalm 2.

[00:29:54] Satan also knew that too.

[00:29:56] He would have known that

[00:29:57] that was part of the ministry of Jesus.

[00:29:58] So what Satan does

[00:30:00] is he offers them all to him

[00:30:01] ahead of time,

[00:30:02] in all of the glory that they have,

[00:30:04] but just with one catch.

[00:30:06] I'll give them all to you

[00:30:08] if you just worship me.

[00:30:09] Now, a lot of people ask the question,

[00:30:11] was this a legitimate offer?

[00:30:13] Did Satan have authority

[00:30:15] over all the kingdoms of the world

[00:30:16] by which he could offer them

[00:30:18] to someone else?

[00:30:19] And this is an interesting thought

[00:30:20] to think about.

[00:30:21] And I would answer,

[00:30:22] yes, he did actually at this time.

[00:30:24] Yes, we place it all under

[00:30:26] the sovereignty of God

[00:30:27] in the grand scheme of things,

[00:30:28] but remember,

[00:30:30] he says,

[00:30:31] he actually says it right there,

[00:30:32] I'll give you these things

[00:30:33] for it has been handed over to me

[00:30:36] and I'll give it to whomever I choose.

[00:30:38] That's a very significant

[00:30:39] little statement that we have there.

[00:30:41] So when did this happen?

[00:30:42] Just think about our context.

[00:30:45] Adam, the son of God.

[00:30:46] Adam, the first Adam

[00:30:48] and the last Adam.

[00:30:49] Jesus and Adam

[00:30:49] is in the background of all of this.

[00:30:51] When was dominion given to Satan

[00:30:53] over to the world?

[00:30:54] Dominion was first given

[00:30:55] to Adam and Eve,

[00:30:56] wasn't it?

[00:30:57] Over the garden,

[00:30:58] over the world.

[00:30:59] But then in the wilderness,

[00:31:01] or in that garden you could say,

[00:31:02] not the wilderness,

[00:31:02] in that garden,

[00:31:04] Satan tempted them

[00:31:05] to fall,

[00:31:06] to doubt God's word

[00:31:07] and they succumbed.

[00:31:08] And in that moment,

[00:31:10] the kingdoms of the world,

[00:31:11] that dominion,

[00:31:12] was handed over to Satan.

[00:31:14] And that is why we find

[00:31:15] often throughout the Bible,

[00:31:17] Satan is called

[00:31:17] the god of this world,

[00:31:18] the one who rules this world

[00:31:20] in a small sense.

[00:31:21] We see this going on and on.

[00:31:23] That is what we have here.

[00:31:25] They transferred to him.

[00:31:26] So in many ways,

[00:31:27] he does have a legitimate claim

[00:31:29] to be able to offer them

[00:31:30] to people.

[00:31:31] Although it's not a kind of real

[00:31:33] in the sense of

[00:31:33] the same way God offers it.

[00:31:35] But that is what has happened here.

[00:31:37] Satan is trying the same thing again.

[00:31:39] If he can once again

[00:31:40] get the son of God

[00:31:41] to sin

[00:31:42] by offering temptation,

[00:31:43] by offering the kingdoms

[00:31:44] of the world

[00:31:45] with that one little catch,

[00:31:47] then he would really

[00:31:47] stay in charge of it.

[00:31:49] Because if he gave them to Jesus

[00:31:51] in all their glory,

[00:31:52] but Jesus had to worship him,

[00:31:53] who's at the top of that?

[00:31:55] Who's at charge?

[00:31:56] That's still,

[00:31:56] Satan would be

[00:31:57] in that place

[00:31:58] that he always wanted to be.

[00:31:59] Remember Isaiah 14?

[00:32:00] I will be like God.

[00:32:01] I will be worshipped as God.

[00:32:02] That was Satan's desire there.

[00:32:04] So you can see

[00:32:05] what's going on behind

[00:32:06] in his mind here.

[00:32:07] But again,

[00:32:09] we see Jesus respond.

[00:32:11] But Satan says,

[00:32:11] therefore,

[00:32:12] if you worship me,

[00:32:12] it shall all be yours.

[00:32:14] And again,

[00:32:14] the issue of worship.

[00:32:15] He's tempting Jesus again.

[00:32:17] What to do what?

[00:32:17] To doubt the word of God.

[00:32:19] What was the very first commandment

[00:32:20] that Jewish people were given?

[00:32:21] You shall have no other gods

[00:32:22] before me,

[00:32:23] Exodus chapter 20.

[00:32:24] It's fundamental scripture there

[00:32:26] from the Ten Commandments.

[00:32:27] He's tempting Jesus

[00:32:28] to ultimately break

[00:32:29] that commandment.

[00:32:30] Satan's offer,

[00:32:31] I believe,

[00:32:32] would have fallen flat

[00:32:33] on Jesus

[00:32:33] because he knew

[00:32:35] the nations were already his.

[00:32:37] He'd been promised them

[00:32:38] in the Old Testament

[00:32:38] as an inheritance.

[00:32:40] But he knew that

[00:32:40] the order that he had

[00:32:41] to get them in

[00:32:42] was not yet.

[00:32:43] There were other things

[00:32:44] that he had to do.

[00:32:45] Firstly,

[00:32:45] atone for the sins

[00:32:46] of the world.

[00:32:47] And then one day

[00:32:48] he would be given

[00:32:48] the nations

[00:32:49] as an inheritance.

[00:32:50] So Satan's offer

[00:32:51] through his knowledge

[00:32:52] of the word of God

[00:32:53] would have not worked.

[00:32:54] And you see that

[00:32:55] in his response.

[00:32:56] Jesus again says,

[00:32:58] it is written,

[00:32:58] you shall worship

[00:32:59] the Lord your God

[00:33:00] and serve him only.

[00:33:02] And this time

[00:33:03] he's quoting

[00:33:03] from Deuteronomy

[00:33:04] chapter 6,

[00:33:05] verse 13.

[00:33:06] And again,

[00:33:07] always look

[00:33:07] where the quotations

[00:33:08] come from.

[00:33:09] They are significant.

[00:33:10] Just as the first one

[00:33:11] was from Deuteronomy

[00:33:12] chapter 8,

[00:33:12] it replayed the issue

[00:33:13] of the wilderness

[00:33:14] wanderings for Israel.

[00:33:16] Deuteronomy chapter 6

[00:33:17] is the chapter

[00:33:18] that gives us

[00:33:19] the most fundamental

[00:33:20] creed of Israel

[00:33:21] about God.

[00:33:23] We call it the Shema.

[00:33:25] Deuteronomy 6,

[00:33:26] 4.

[00:33:26] Hear, O Israel,

[00:33:27] the Lord is our God,

[00:33:28] the Lord is one.

[00:33:29] You shall love

[00:33:30] the Lord your God

[00:33:31] with all your heart,

[00:33:31] with all your soul

[00:33:32] and with all your might.

[00:33:33] It's no surprise

[00:33:34] that Jesus takes

[00:33:35] a section of scripture

[00:33:36] from that chapter

[00:33:37] and says,

[00:33:37] you shall worship

[00:33:38] God alone.

[00:33:39] And which God

[00:33:40] is he referring to?

[00:33:41] Specifically the one

[00:33:42] revealed in the Shema,

[00:33:43] Deuteronomy chapter 6,

[00:33:44] the God of Israel,

[00:33:46] the one who is

[00:33:46] Echad,

[00:33:47] one.

[00:33:48] You shall love him

[00:33:48] with all your heart.

[00:33:50] There is only one God

[00:33:51] and we worship him alone.

[00:33:53] The point of this is

[00:33:54] there is no shortcut

[00:33:55] to glory.

[00:33:56] That is what ultimately

[00:33:57] Satan is trying

[00:33:58] to give him here.

[00:33:59] Often the lure

[00:34:00] and power

[00:34:01] of the kingdoms,

[00:34:02] riches,

[00:34:02] money,

[00:34:03] fame,

[00:34:03] glory,

[00:34:03] all these different things,

[00:34:04] they are powerful tools

[00:34:06] in Satan's hands

[00:34:07] to lead a person

[00:34:08] away from God.

[00:34:09] In moments like that,

[00:34:10] as Jesus has here,

[00:34:12] remember Deuteronomy chapter 6.

[00:34:14] The Lord is God,

[00:34:16] he is one

[00:34:16] and we love him

[00:34:17] with all of our heart,

[00:34:18] soul and strength

[00:34:19] and thus we worship

[00:34:20] no other.

[00:34:21] Let's look at that

[00:34:22] final temptation now.

[00:34:24] Verse 9,

[00:34:24] And he led him

[00:34:25] to Jerusalem

[00:34:26] and he had him stand

[00:34:27] on the pinnacle

[00:34:28] of the temple

[00:34:28] and said to him,

[00:34:29] If you are the son of God,

[00:34:31] throw yourself down

[00:34:31] from here

[00:34:32] for it is written

[00:34:33] he will command

[00:34:34] his angels

[00:34:35] concerning you

[00:34:36] to guard you

[00:34:37] and on their hands

[00:34:38] they will bear you up

[00:34:39] so that you will not

[00:34:40] strike your foot

[00:34:40] against a stone.

[00:34:42] And Jesus answered

[00:34:43] and said to him,

[00:34:43] It is said

[00:34:44] you shall not

[00:34:45] put the Lord

[00:34:46] your God

[00:34:46] to the test.

[00:34:48] The final temptation

[00:34:49] attempted by Satan

[00:34:51] and we get another glimpse

[00:34:52] into Satan's tactics here.

[00:34:53] Think,

[00:34:54] he tried to appeal

[00:34:55] to the natural desires

[00:34:56] of man,

[00:34:57] hunger

[00:34:57] and these kind of things.

[00:34:58] He appealed

[00:34:59] to the lust of the flesh

[00:35:00] you could say,

[00:35:01] our natural instincts.

[00:35:02] He tried offering

[00:35:03] something appealing

[00:35:04] to pride,

[00:35:04] glory,

[00:35:05] the desire there

[00:35:06] and now what does he do?

[00:35:08] Having failed

[00:35:09] those two things

[00:35:09] he gets religious

[00:35:10] and this is a very

[00:35:11] important lesson

[00:35:12] for us today.

[00:35:14] It shows us

[00:35:14] that Satan

[00:35:15] in many ways

[00:35:16] is a theologian,

[00:35:17] he knows his Bible

[00:35:18] and it also

[00:35:19] answers the question

[00:35:20] or shows us

[00:35:21] why so much

[00:35:22] deception

[00:35:22] in this world

[00:35:23] has a religious

[00:35:24] bent to it.

[00:35:25] You may have noticed

[00:35:27] that.

[00:35:27] And I'm not just

[00:35:28] talking about

[00:35:28] the major religions

[00:35:29] of the world,

[00:35:30] even things

[00:35:31] that are considered

[00:35:31] secular

[00:35:32] often operate

[00:35:33] within a religious

[00:35:33] structure.

[00:35:34] They have their set text,

[00:35:36] they have their rules

[00:35:36] that you have to follow,

[00:35:37] things that if you don't

[00:35:38] agree with you

[00:35:39] get kicked out.

[00:35:40] Everything works

[00:35:40] like this.

[00:35:41] The religious nature

[00:35:42] of man,

[00:35:43] Satan knows how

[00:35:44] to abuse that

[00:35:45] very, very well

[00:35:46] and he does that here

[00:35:48] by quoting scripture

[00:35:49] at the Son of God.

[00:35:51] He gets religious.

[00:35:53] He takes him

[00:35:53] to the edge

[00:35:53] of the temple.

[00:35:54] This was one

[00:35:54] of the corners

[00:35:55] of the temple

[00:35:56] where you could

[00:35:56] look over

[00:35:57] the Kidron Valley

[00:35:57] and see

[00:35:58] and just again,

[00:36:00] I believe we're

[00:36:01] kind of seeing

[00:36:01] with visions here

[00:36:02] that are things

[00:36:03] that we can't understand

[00:36:04] showing him

[00:36:04] the whole kingdoms

[00:36:05] of the world

[00:36:05] and it doesn't

[00:36:06] give us any

[00:36:07] elaboration

[00:36:07] of what that

[00:36:07] actually means

[00:36:08] but we understand

[00:36:09] what it means

[00:36:10] in the sense

[00:36:11] that it's a temptation

[00:36:12] to follow Satan

[00:36:15] and then he says

[00:36:16] I'll give you

[00:36:17] all these

[00:36:17] and then he says

[00:36:17] sorry,

[00:36:18] just throw yourself

[00:36:18] off.

[00:36:19] Throw yourself

[00:36:20] off the temple

[00:36:20] because when people

[00:36:21] see,

[00:36:21] it says in the Bible

[00:36:22] doesn't it?

[00:36:23] The angels

[00:36:24] are going to have

[00:36:24] to keep you.

[00:36:25] They'll have to catch

[00:36:26] you so you don't die

[00:36:27] and then when

[00:36:27] everyone sees that

[00:36:28] they'll know

[00:36:28] you're the Messiah

[00:36:29] and that God's

[00:36:30] looking over you

[00:36:30] and that's your job

[00:36:31] done.

[00:36:32] That's basically

[00:36:33] the kind of temptation

[00:36:34] that Satan

[00:36:34] is offering him

[00:36:36] here.

[00:36:36] And he quotes

[00:36:37] those two quotes

[00:36:38] are from Psalm 91.

[00:36:40] We won't read

[00:36:41] the whole thing

[00:36:41] but if you've ever

[00:36:42] read Psalm 91

[00:36:43] it's a wonderful

[00:36:43] psalm and it does

[00:36:44] seem to speak

[00:36:45] about the security

[00:36:46] of those who

[00:36:47] trust in the Lord

[00:36:47] but Satan's

[00:36:49] very clever

[00:36:49] in the way

[00:36:50] that he does it.

[00:36:51] He is not

[00:36:52] really using it

[00:36:53] in the sense

[00:36:53] of as a follower

[00:36:55] of the Lord

[00:36:56] you're promised

[00:36:57] security in the Lord.

[00:36:59] he's using it

[00:37:00] as a subtle way

[00:37:00] to test God

[00:37:01] basically.

[00:37:02] It's fairly clear

[00:37:03] that the psalm

[00:37:04] is not teaching you

[00:37:05] to test God

[00:37:06] in the sense

[00:37:06] that you go up

[00:37:07] to the edge

[00:37:07] of a building

[00:37:08] and you jump off

[00:37:08] and you claim

[00:37:09] a promise that God

[00:37:10] had to protect you.

[00:37:11] Although some people

[00:37:12] might have that sort

[00:37:13] of understanding

[00:37:14] of scripture

[00:37:14] we see that is clear

[00:37:15] from the context

[00:37:16] of the psalm

[00:37:17] and from the overall

[00:37:18] knowledge that we

[00:37:18] should have

[00:37:19] of God's character

[00:37:19] and the word of God

[00:37:20] that is not what

[00:37:21] that psalm

[00:37:22] is referring to.

[00:37:23] Psalm 91

[00:37:24] is about protection

[00:37:25] from dangers

[00:37:25] that befall

[00:37:26] the servants of God

[00:37:27] during their service

[00:37:28] as in God will

[00:37:30] a servant of God

[00:37:31] God will use him

[00:37:32] for his service

[00:37:33] as he wishes

[00:37:33] and make sure

[00:37:34] that is complete

[00:37:35] but it's not a blank

[00:37:36] check to test

[00:37:38] God's promises

[00:37:39] by doing things

[00:37:40] like that.

[00:37:41] Jesus again

[00:37:42] knew the word

[00:37:43] better than Satan.

[00:37:44] He answers

[00:37:45] a misuse of the Bible

[00:37:46] with a correct use

[00:37:47] of the Bible

[00:37:47] and that is a very

[00:37:49] important thing

[00:37:49] to realise

[00:37:50] that you may be

[00:37:50] called to do

[00:37:51] because like I said

[00:37:52] much deception

[00:37:53] is religious in nature

[00:37:54] and the best way

[00:37:55] to answer that

[00:37:56] is to make sure

[00:37:57] that you know

[00:37:57] the word of God

[00:37:58] better.

[00:37:58] Again it comes back

[00:37:59] to this point

[00:38:00] of the word of God

[00:38:01] here.

[00:38:01] He responds again

[00:38:03] by quoting from

[00:38:03] Deuteronomy 6.16

[00:38:04] he uses the sword

[00:38:06] of a spirit

[00:38:07] again to overcome

[00:38:08] the lies of Satan.

[00:38:09] That's what he says

[00:38:10] you shall not

[00:38:11] put the Lord

[00:38:12] your God

[00:38:13] to the test.

[00:38:14] So again

[00:38:15] the word of God

[00:38:16] has defeated

[00:38:17] the temptations

[00:38:18] of Satan

[00:38:19] and then let's look

[00:38:20] at that last line

[00:38:21] it says

[00:38:21] when the devil

[00:38:22] had finished

[00:38:23] every temptation

[00:38:24] he left him

[00:38:25] until an opportune

[00:38:26] time.

[00:38:27] Every temptation

[00:38:28] so we get a complete

[00:38:30] lesson in temptation

[00:38:31] here.

[00:38:32] Attacking all those

[00:38:32] different areas

[00:38:33] that we are still

[00:38:34] attacked through

[00:38:34] today

[00:38:35] yet the devil

[00:38:37] was defeated.

[00:38:38] However

[00:38:38] it does say

[00:38:39] he left him

[00:38:40] until an opportune

[00:38:40] time.

[00:38:42] We do not make

[00:38:42] the mistake

[00:38:43] to think that the devil

[00:38:43] won't come back

[00:38:44] and try again

[00:38:44] yes?

[00:38:45] You've probably

[00:38:46] experienced that.

[00:38:46] Sometimes you have

[00:38:47] a victory

[00:38:49] sometimes the devil

[00:38:49] will catch you

[00:38:50] when you're in that

[00:38:50] moment

[00:38:51] where you're not

[00:38:51] thinking straight

[00:38:52] you're emotionally

[00:38:53] down or something

[00:38:54] like that

[00:38:54] you've got stuff

[00:38:54] going on

[00:38:55] that temptation

[00:38:56] will come

[00:38:56] and you won't

[00:38:57] be prepared.

[00:38:58] These are the

[00:38:59] sorts of things

[00:38:59] the devil does

[00:39:00] he is there

[00:39:00] lurking

[00:39:01] that lion

[00:39:02] seeking to

[00:39:03] devour

[00:39:03] those whom

[00:39:04] he would

[00:39:04] destroy

[00:39:06] which is why

[00:39:07] we are commanded

[00:39:08] Matthew 26

[00:39:09] to keep watching

[00:39:09] and praying

[00:39:10] that you may not

[00:39:11] enter into

[00:39:12] temptation

[00:39:13] the spirit

[00:39:14] is willing

[00:39:14] but the flesh

[00:39:15] is weak

[00:39:16] which is again

[00:39:17] why we need

[00:39:18] the power

[00:39:19] of the Holy Spirit

[00:39:20] and the word

[00:39:21] of God

[00:39:21] in order to do

[00:39:22] this.

[00:39:22] Make no mistake

[00:39:23] the greatest tools

[00:39:25] we have

[00:39:25] are the same ones

[00:39:27] that we see

[00:39:27] our Lord use

[00:39:28] here

[00:39:28] it is the spirit

[00:39:29] of God

[00:39:29] and the word

[00:39:31] of God

[00:39:31] they are the two

[00:39:32] fundamental

[00:39:33] and primary

[00:39:34] things

[00:39:35] that we are

[00:39:35] told to

[00:39:36] use against

[00:39:37] deception

[00:39:38] and temptation

[00:39:39] in this world

[00:39:40] and the question

[00:39:41] on us

[00:39:42] is

[00:39:42] put this back

[00:39:43] on ourselves

[00:39:43] are they a reality

[00:39:45] in our lives

[00:39:46] because you can

[00:39:47] come on a Sunday

[00:39:48] morning

[00:39:48] you can listen

[00:39:49] to a sermon

[00:39:49] and that's wonderful

[00:39:50] it has a purpose

[00:39:51] in place

[00:39:51] in God's house

[00:39:53] but

[00:39:53] it's got to be

[00:39:54] more than that

[00:39:55] in your own lives

[00:39:56] you've got to be

[00:39:57] self-sufficient

[00:39:57] in your own lives

[00:39:58] the spirit of God

[00:39:59] and the word of God

[00:40:00] is for you

[00:40:01] available to you

[00:40:02] in that same sense

[00:40:03] as you are out there

[00:40:04] doing whatever you do

[00:40:05] throughout the week

[00:40:05] those times

[00:40:06] when the devil

[00:40:07] does come to tempt you

[00:40:08] this is what you rely on

[00:40:09] it is available

[00:40:10] to you

[00:40:11] and this is what

[00:40:12] we must seek

[00:40:12] and make a priority

[00:40:13] in our lives

[00:40:14] which is why I believe

[00:40:15] if you think about this

[00:40:17] everything we're going to read

[00:40:18] going forward

[00:40:19] the rest of the gospels

[00:40:20] every single event

[00:40:21] of Christ's life

[00:40:22] every interaction

[00:40:22] that he has

[00:40:23] every temptation

[00:40:24] that he faces

[00:40:25] every miracle

[00:40:26] that he does

[00:40:26] every show of his power

[00:40:28] every time he lays himself

[00:40:30] down sacrificing for others

[00:40:31] ultimately even the cross

[00:40:33] all of it

[00:40:34] is preceded

[00:40:35] by this little episode

[00:40:36] that teaches us

[00:40:38] about the priority

[00:40:39] of the spirit

[00:40:39] and the word

[00:40:40] in his life

[00:40:41] and that should tell us

[00:40:42] a lot

[00:40:43] as we go through

[00:40:43] all the things

[00:40:44] it says that Jesus

[00:40:45] was tempted

[00:40:45] in every way

[00:40:46] that we are tempted

[00:40:46] and what that means

[00:40:48] is in every sort

[00:40:48] of same way

[00:40:49] the lust of the eyes

[00:40:50] lust of the flesh

[00:40:50] and the pride

[00:40:51] of life

[00:40:52] as we go through

[00:40:53] all those things

[00:40:53] make no mistake

[00:40:54] we need the spirit

[00:40:56] of God

[00:40:56] and the word of God

[00:40:57] amen

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