Today on Growing Through Grace, God's intention for His Son was to go here to go through this temptation that is personal and is kind of unrelenting and it shows to us that we need God's power of the Spirit upon our lives and we're going to have a victory. In all that I do, love will keep me strong, I'd love be in your grace. You're listening to Growing Through Grace with Pastor Jack Abilim, a Morning Star Christian Chapel in Whittier, California. And welcome to a new week as we get back to our studies in the Gospel of Luke. Today, Pastor Jack will take us to Luke chapter 4 verses 1 through 13, where we learn about that crucial incident in Jesus' ministry, where He was tempted by Satan, and always as we are, yet was without sin. It's a great moment in history where Jesus willingly becomes that perfect example for all of us. Here's Pastor Jack. Let's open our Bibles this morning to Luke chapter 4. We read here in verse 1, "Then Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." If you had a chance to go to Israel, we usually drive through this area of the Sinai, it is absolutely abandoned, it is extremely hot, there are lots of animals, wolves and leopards just roaming the grounds, it is a horrible place to go, and yet this is where the Lord was led to be assaulted by the enemy, the one who would object to every step that He would take. And being our example, we can understand as well what we face when we serve the Lord. So this morning, in Jesus' temptation, we are given, I think, some lessons about how do we, as God's people, handle when the enemy comes against us, and what should we be watching out for, and how should we respond when He seeks to hinder what God is doing in our lives? The temptation of Jesus is difficult to understand because He is fully God, and He is fully man. But for us, as sinners, I think we understand the battle. Jesus was tempted without sin, but we know what temptation is like. James wrote in chapter 1 that let no man say when he is tempted that God did it, God doesn't tempt to evil, and he doesn't tempt anyone, but we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own lusts and our desires, and we are enticed to walk away from the things of God. That's the battle, as that we fight against the enemy. Chuck Colson, years ago, he was one of the Watergate guys who got saved, but he wrote an essay called "Who Speaks for God?" And he highlighted an interview that you can still find on YouTube. It was a 60-minute interview between Mike Wallace. And here Denire was the Auschwitz survivor. He was also the principal witness at the 1961 Nuremberg war crimes trial. And he was to testify that day, and he was to come face to face after 23 years with Adolf Eichmann, the butcher from Auschwitz, that sent tens of thousands of Jews to the gas chambers. He hadn't seen him, but was face to face with him in the Hague and the court. And then he began, on the video, he begins to cry uncontrollably for minutes. He can't even catch his breath, and then he passes out. And the commentators, as they were talking to him, said, "Was it fear?" And he said, "No." He said, "Hatred then." He said, "No. How about the memories just rushing in to, you know, the ones you've suppressed for so long. There's those horrible things that you saw." He said, "It wasn't any of that stuff." He said, "What caused you to react so violently?" He said, "I realized he was just a man." Though he had been such an awesome kind of fierce figure when I was in prison, he's just a man. And I thought to myself, "But by the grace of God, I could have done that." But thank you, Lord, that he has delivered me from sin. And it was quite a testimony because we are sinners. And Jesus did come to deliver us from the tempter who seeks to take advantage of that sinfulness, and God gives us a new heart so we can overcome. That's our hope. That's our desire. So here in verse one, immediately after the baptism, Mark writes the word in media, chapter 1 verse, I think 12, Jesus is taken by the Holy Spirit and led into this unforgiving kind of wilderness where he would be tempted by the devil for 40 days. We sometimes hold, I think, to the false concept that if I yield myself to the Lord, that my life should get easier. But that's hardly the case. Jesus is here led to the wilderness. He's sinless and filled with the Spirit. He's doing exactly what the Father asked and nothing less. He's absolutely in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. And here he is in this place of tremendous trial where we can't be immune to trials just because we've given our life to the Lord, like mass or so servant. But our hope and our future and our deliverance comes from the fact that God is with us. We do have his word. We do have his power. If you want, you can look to him to deliver you from that which seeks to turn you away because this confrontation with the devil for Jesus was certainly real and it certainly is real for us as well. But look at the words, "Let of the Spirit." God's intention for his Son was to go here first as he began his public ministry to go through this temptation that is personal and is kind of unrelenting and it shows to us that we need God's power of his Spirit upon our lives and we're going to have victory. There's a good story in Second Chronicles 25. I think it's in 2 Kings 14 as well, it's told twice actually. Of a 25-year-old man named King Amaziah, he was a king in the south in Judah. At a time when the Edomites were attacking God's people and he went to battle against them though he had very little to fight with and it looked for sure like he would lose. But he turned to the Lord, helped Lord and the Lord came through. The enemy was defeated, in fact, it was such a huge victory that this young man came home not thanking the Lord but patting himself on the back. He came home very cocky, he took some of the idols of the Edomites, put him in his own house and began to mock them in his own house. And really didn't thank the Lord at all, he just kind of was filled with self-assurance and kind of a defiance to the Lord. And so full of his one victory, he writes to the king in the north and Israel, his name was King Joash. She wasn't a very nice guy, in fact, he was a horrible man. And he said, "Hey, I want to meet and fight with you, you're next." And Joash, an older guy, well seasoned guy, not a nice man, but certainly in a worldly way intelligent, said, "Look, buddy, one victory, you should just enjoy your day, but don't mess with me. Why should you meddle to your own hurt?" But that didn't turn this cocky, Amaziah, away, didn't placate him. He just said, "You know, he kept pressing on, and we're coming for you, and you know, that your day's coming at all." And finally, Joash had fought, brought his northern kingdom tribes, and the fight didn't even take place in the north. He pushed it till it took place on Amaziah's territory in Beshimis. And the fight didn't go well. The army was soundly defeated, all of Judah was running for their lives, the city was looted, part of their defensive wall around Jerusalem was taken down, hostages were taken, Amaziah was arrested. And then the question again, well, it's not exactly like this in the Hebrew, "Hey, dude, I told you not to mess around where you don't belong." You only want to face the enemy when the Lord is with you. It's okay to make faces at the devil as long as you're behind Jesus's skirt, you know? I used to pick on a kid that lived down the street from us when my dad was with me, because this kid was way too big to mess with. Jesus shows us in this, I think, our example that we need to be filled with the Spirit and aware of God's Word and stand on it, especially when the enemy comes in to try to disrupt that relationship that we have got and get us off track, which is what he wanted to do here. So we read in verse two, he was tempted, Jesus was, for 40 days, by the devil, and in those days he ate nothing afterwards when they had ended, he was hungry. 30 years of waiting, in obscurity, a public baptism that was glorious, and then immediately this trip into the middle of nowhere for nearly six weeks, he didn't eat. Now, you know if you read this, this is one of those supernatural fats, you're not going to be able to pull this off. There are only two people in the entire Bible that did it, Moses did, actually Moses did it back to back, interesting, and then Elisha as well. And both of them did so, and the Lord sustained them, if you will, and both were directed by the Lord, not too eat, 40 days of fasting, and imagine Jesus as he was miraculously cared for by the Father, having to spend every waking minute considering what the next three and a half years were going to hold. He was going to be man's substitute for his sin, he was going to be cut off from heaven and from his Father. He was going to pay the price that we deserve, he's coming to redeem man. Fasting is interesting, and the Bible is pretty clear as to why you should fast and when. But needless to say, when you do, you invariably forget about everything, but the spiritual things that you're concentrating on, because we're good at eating, but you put his food aside anyway, I'm hungry, yeah, okay, let's focus on life, we're not eating. And so I can just imagine the Lord having to just, he was aware of it, but what it must have done to his flesh. I wonder by the time we get to the garden, he is sweating great drops of blood. He's not turning away, but his flesh was on the brink of not able to handle the pressure. He was as much as you could handle. Needless to say, after 40 days, it says that he was hungry. Physically, if you're ever fast, after a week, you'll lose your appetite, usually. I don't know how, but apparently you do. But then when you're hungry, your body's telling you you're starving, you better eat again. So we are told in verse two that Jesus was tempted by the enemy during these 40 days. However, the last couple of days, and this last little confrontation is what the Lord sets in front of a Satan, is always good at trying to take advantage of us in our weaknesses. So you see it here with Jesus, he has an Eton, you know, his flesh is hungry, the attacks, intensifies, Satan's not merciful, he'd like to just see you destroyed and then some. But in these last attacks, we are made aware of three encounters between Jesus and the enemy that kind of set the stage for sin and temptation for us. Because like what John wrote in 1 John chapter 2, they all fall into one of three categories. John said in his last little letter there towards the end of your Bible, don't love the world or the things that are in the world because if you love the world, then the love of the Father is really not in you. But then he said this, for all that is in the world, the lust of our flesh and the lust of our eyes and the pride of life, they're not of the Father, they're of the world and the world's passing away, as long as it's lust, but if you do the will of God, you'll abide forever. So he gives us these three categories and really there's nothing under the sun, temptation lies that can't fall into those three categories. One other thing before we read these, from the synoptic gospels, the word synoptic just means to see together. Matthew, Mark and Luke all see the same thing with different emphasis and different vantage points. John is kind of on his own, he writes 50 years later, he writes with the intent of approving Jesus as God by seven statements and works and miracles that the Lord did, that was it. But these synoptic gospels tells very clearly that Jesus in these temptations, these temptations were internal. In other words, nobody was there to record these, the Lord had to share them, the fact that Luke who writes from eyewitnesses knows about them would tell you these were well shared and available. But this is much like you and I would have to entertain Satan's attempts to trip us up and that is, temptation is internal. You usually don't see a big red dragon with a big tail, you know, doing like this to you. These are whispers from hell that seeks to turn you away. And here's Jesus' example to us of how to deal with that internal temptation. Well, here's the first one, verse three, "The devil said to Jesus, 'If you are the son of God, then command these stones to become bread.' But Jesus answered and said, 'It is rich and man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' Couple of things, number one, the word 'if' there is not indicative, it is subjunctive. By that I mean this, Satan wasn't questioning whether Jesus was the son of God. Satan knew that. The Bible says that the demons know they tremble. It really is a statement of, since you're the son of God and you're hungry, turn some of these rocks into bread, first temptation falls under John's category to the lust of our flesh. Now this is pretty subtle, Jesus is hungry, and the temptation is real. Use your power as the son of God and get some food. You have the ability to do it, you are hungry, what's the problem? Your father has not seen fit to feed you. Go for it, Jesus, but here's the rub. He was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit like we are to be, but he hasn't been led by the Spirit to do any of those things. If the Father hasn't seen fit to feed him yet, he is only here to do the will of the Father, nothing more and nothing less, and the ultimate goal of any believer should be to walk in a way that God is pleased. Does that always mean I get what I want? Does it always mean it works out the way I want? No, it doesn't. But it does mean that I am willing to live my life in such a way by the Spirit that God will be glorified. Look, if the Father had wanted to feed his son, he could have reigned man from heaven, he's done that before, that's an old way to go. But if he has to wait upon him, then wait upon him, he will. What he doesn't want is counsel from the devil. What he doesn't need is suggestions from the enemy. Now look, from us in a fleshly standpoint, history would prove that we are oftentimes more fond of the Father's bread than we are of the Father. You might remember in John 6 when Jesus said one night fed 5,000 men plus women and children that the Lord that night got in a boat left, who actually went over to the other side of the lake. The people woke up in the morning and they go, "Where is you?" And they all began to run by the thousands around the lake, 6, 5, 7 miles. Finally found him and said, "Where have you come?" "We've been looking all over for you." And Jesus said, "Look, you're not looking for me because you saw the signs of who I am. You're hunting for me because you like the eat and I fed you." So quit working so hard for the food that is perishing, look rather for the food that will last to everlasting life with the Son of God will give to you. So there is this tendency to have our flesh be able to determine and control so often what I want. But look, if the will of the Father means more to you than your food or your comfort or what you rightfully think that you deserve, then you're in a really good spot to be because the temptation so often in the flesh is, "I make a case for what I want and what I need or what I think I deserve, but in order to get that I have to set aside, what I know God would want me to do." And that becomes that kind of horrible temptation. Look, this temptation from the devil to Jesus sounds pretty reasonable. You're hungry. I mean, who could be mad at you for eating? The other thing is this. This temptation only works on Jesus. If you said to me, "Hey, turn them rocks into twinkies, as much as I'd want to, I can't. If I could, probably would, but I can't." And that's usually the way Satan works when it comes to your flesh. He tempts you or he comes to trip you up through your gifts. If you're a person that has tremendous charm, you can use it for the Lord or you can use it to get your own way because you're so charming. If you have money, you can invest in eternal things that will last or you can spend your life filling a barn with things that you'll just have to leave behind. If you have a great mind, you can surrender it to the Lord to a service to explain to others of who God is and why we need Him, or you can use your intelligence and your selfishness to enrich yourself and really set the things of God. On the other side, the grim fact of temptation is it usually hits where we are the strongest and the most capable. And Jesus was capable to do exactly this. And being the one in power, he could have easily acted upon it, but he's my example. He's fully flesh. And in this flesh, he sets the example for me, "Trust your Father. Look to Him. Be led of the Spirit." Right in here, where Jesus used your power for your own benefit, and he kind of insinuates that God wasn't fair enough feeding him or holding back, which is kind of the very same thing that he said to Eve years early. As God really said, he knows that if you eat, you'll be as smart as he is. No, no. If God says no to something, it's because it's not good for you and try to circumvent his restrictions just to have your way because you think it's going to benefit you is to believe the lies of a liar and beheaded for disaster. In verse 4, Jesus does what he does in every one of these three examples. He reaches for the sword of the Spirit. In every case, the word of God tells the whole truth. He hear quotes out of Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3, which Moses, when he was speaking to the children of Israel, said to them, "Look, the Lord brought you through the wilderness these 40 years to humble you, and to allow you to hunger, and then gave you manna from heaven so that you might know what's in your heart." In other words, God used this to draw you close to him, and Jesus used that very scripture in answering Satan's temptation. Job said the same thing when he was going through his trials. He said, "I have not departed from the commandments of his lips. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." That's how you beat the devil. You love God more. You love his word more. You're more confident in his ways than in the promises of the enemy. The second temptation, verse 5, is a temptation that combos upon and brings you to that place of the lust of the eye. Let me show you what you could have, and then you decide what to do. Verse 5, "The devil then took Jesus up to a high mountain and showed him all of the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and then said to him, 'All of this authority, I will give it to you, and the glory of them, for they have been delivered to me, and I can give them to whoever I will, therefore, if you'll just worship me, all will be yours. And Jesus had to get behind me, Satan, it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" In a moment of time, obviously a vision in the wilderness as the enemy laid before Jesus in temptation, all of the nations of the world that were now under the control of the God of this world. I can give all of this to you right now if the price is right. The first question you might have, if you read this, is can Satan really offer this? And the answer is yes. Man had been given by the Lord dominion over his creation. We just studied it on Wednesday evening. But yet because Adam and Eve disobeyed God and turned to obey the enemy, they really handed over this title deed and this oversight to Satan himself. And so doing, they disobeyed God, and Satan became John 12, the prince of this world, or Ephesians and 2 Corinthians, the God of this world, who for a limited time by the Lord is allowed to run free. He is an interloper, God has already sent to Son, he's already redeemed and paid the price of redemption. Satan is living there on borrowed time, he's doomed for judgment. The Lord will return some day soon, hopefully, and claim what he has redeemed. But for now, he is the God of this world, right? We live in a simple, fallen world that needs to be redeemed. His offer here to Jesus, who had come for the purpose of redeeming man and giving his life for his sin so that he could redeem man, was to buy man back, right, to pay the price. Satan is here offering Jesus a shortcut. And with that thought, we'll stop there for today and pick up the balance of Luke chapter 4 verses 1 through 13, the next time we're together. This has been the first part of a three-part study taught by Pastor Jacobieland. If you'd like to get the entire message, we do have that available for you. All you need to do to order, simply contact us and ask for study number 42-44. That's always helpful for us to know the radio station that you're listening to, so be sure to mention those call letters when you get ahold of us. And as we're studying through the Gospel of Luke, sometimes it's good to be able to compare one Gospel to another. So in the month of July, we'd like to offer to you, Pastor Jack studies through the Gospel of Mark. This Gospel, as many scholars believe, was dictated by the Apostle Peter, two young Mark, who then wrote a detailed experience of the life and ministry of Jesus. Pastor Jack's teachings through the Gospel of Mark are available in the MP3 format on a flash drive, so if you'd like to get this resource or today's message, just dial our toll-free phone number at 866-88-Grace. That's 866-884-7223. 866-884-7223. You can also order by mail just to address your letter to growing through grace, PO Box 1954 with your California 90609. And for your convenience, you can find this and all of our resources online at growingthroughgrace.com. Again, log on to growingthroughgrace.com. Well, here's a way that you can view more of Pastor Jack's teachings at our Church's YouTube page. You can find us at MorningstarCC. Again, that's at MorningstarCC. Once you're there, be sure to hit the subscribe button and the notification bell to be informed when we go live and when we post new messages. Once again, be sure to subscribe to our Morningstar Christian Chapel YouTube page to stay up to date with all of Pastor Jack's messages. And that's going to wrap up our time together today. We do thank you for being with us, so until next time, as you daily walk with our Lord Jesus Christ, may you continue to grow in His grace. Growing Through Grace is a listener-supported ministry brought to you by Morningstar Christian Chapel in Whittier, California, a coverage apple outreach. (gentle music)
