Bible study opening message.. Luke 4 - The Temptations- 3-3-21

Lord , We thank you tonight for all prayers answered for us.. We ask this evening that we have your blessing as we go forward and consider careful your word. We thank you for the scriptures as it is not just our guide but is our defense against a sin-filled, shallow life full of misery and frustration. As we welcome all congregations into our humble study we ask for your help Lord so that we can sift through the doctrines of man and be of one accord ..be of one spirit ..

We ask these things in Jesus name..

Amen

Luke 4

     Then Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordon and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. By reading just the first verse it sounds like the rest of the chapter is going to be peaceful..doesn’t it? Jesus filled with the spirit then led by the spirit out into the desert..its like ahhhh it sounds like its going to be just a great, wonderful, peaceful chapter….And we might even think by reading the first verse



Great!!!! Jesus will make some wonderful connections here and get some rest… Maybe he will be going what may have been the Palm Springs of the ancient world..

Well, far from that…. Jesus is walking into oppression, affliction and conflict.. We find out, that as soon as Jesus is baptized, which we read about in the last chapter , he goes out into the desert and for 40 days he is tempted by the devil. Also, wherever we read when our Jesus comes in contact with Jewish leaders, as in the synagogue in Luke 4, there is conflict. Eventually even with the Roman leaders all stemming from Satan himself….

But by just reading the first verse it sounds like its going to be a smooth skate into the future…Instead He is going into the wilderness and will face the temptation of his arch enemy ;the devil…We are going to see not only “that” but we are going to see Jesus in the synagogue where he is opposed by his own countryman .. Not only that but we see him in another synagogue where he is opposed by a demon possessed man and the demon speaks out of this man in the synagogue service. More of Satan’s handiwork…

We will also uncover or discover, in this chapter, the power of punctuation used by Jesus as he read his sermon in the synagogue…As it turns out it was the power of a coma that made all the difference…We’ll come back to this..

So Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness during which time he ate nothing… and afterward , when he had ended, he was hungry…

Never think that because you are filled with the Holy Spirit that you will not be afflicted by the devil…Never think that if you are led by the spirit that you will not be lambasted by the devil..I think its safe to say that if you are led by the Holy Spirit you are going to experience attacks by the enemy… It is no get out of jail free card.. It fact it puts a target on your back.. The devil likes nothing more than to see the faithful fall…

So Jesus, filled by the spirit..

Jesus led by the spirit, will face extraordinary opposition.. We cannot assume that being a child of God or thinking “ I love Jesus” its going to keep us safe from all of that evil and all of that temptation ..And here is the example of just that.

Not only is he tempted but it is a protracted endeavor by Satan.. By protracted I mean its for a “season”..Its not like a day.. Its not like its over the first week even..There are 40 days of this..almost 6 weeks of unrelenting assaults by a power far greater than ourselves; Satan …

That’s the season of temptation that Jesus is walking into. Regarding the timing of it all I think that its important that we recognize when our Lord is tempted..What was the context of it.. It was after he was baptized,,When he was baptized a miracle happened.. The affirmation of the Father happened at his baptism. The heavens opened, they parted , the spirit came down like a dove and there was an audible voice that said…”This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”..And immediately after that he is tempted….Is there something to be learned in that ?

YES…Every time God gives you a blessing, your enemy, the devil, would love to steal that blessing.. Just some food for thought and to be aware of…We don’t have to be frightened of it we just have to be aware of how he works…”We are not ignorant of these devices” the bible says…

Think of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, The 3 disciples Peter, James and John saw that.. What a remarkable experience that was for them! They were probably thinking Wow it doesn’t get better than this! Maybe they thought they were now living at a plane above the rest of the disciples?.....But as soon as they got that blessing they went down the mountain and the first person they met was a demon possessed boy who challenged their authority. ( the authority of the disciples ) We asked the disciples to cast them out and they could not”Can you imagine how much those demons love this action? .. Now emotionally , Peter, James and John, plummeted from a great spiritual and emotional height , feeling empowered in the glory of the Lord , to the depths of confusion and disappointment..In a flash !

So..thats the pattern of the attack…God gives a blessing and the enemy would love to rip it off…When you’re in the will of heaven expect the wrath of hell…You’re a target… but we need not be afraid.. If we are ready for the will of God in our lives we can say bring it on… I am ready and unafraid…”Greater is He who is in me than is he who is in the world” But be aware,, these things happened even to our Lord…

You know, Sometimes Satan is more active in church than anywhere else… Just think of the times you’ve come and heard or received just the thing that you needed through his word..through the scripture…Even in a modest gathering like this one….Only to be undercut thereafter by something or someone that seeks to rob your spirit of that very thing…

Well Jesus was being tempted for 40 days by the devil and in those days he ate nothing.. I can tell you that I have fasted from 1 day to 1week several times… There comes a point, if you go on long enough that you lose your hunger or your craving for food.. But I am told this and I don’t know this from experience that when you feel hunger again that you better eat or you will die.. that would be your final warning… But Jesus fasted for 40 days.. That’s a real long time !!!

That’s was the point that Jesus was at at the end of 40 days… So physically deprived that he was starving ..

Fasting is used as a way to tune out the flesh and tune in the spirit…

Acts 13 as they worshiped the Lord they fasted…The Holy Spirit said, separate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I’ve called them.. There are 3 reasons in the scripture for fasting , Morning, Repentance, and dependence…. That would be dependence on the Lord and not on things of the flesh…

Getting back to Jesus….

And the devil said to Him “ If you are the son of God command this stone to become bread..Now that makes sense..that would be the first temptation…If He is weak physically the devil is counting on him being vulnerable emotionally as well… You know how that works… When your weak physically….You’ll try anything to cure what ails you… You’ll do anything to get your strength back…So capitalizing on His physical weakness and hopefully on his emotional vulnerability is this first temptation…In this first temptation Satan is questioning God’s provision.. If you are the Son of God command this stone to be bread..Notice the little word “if”..If you have the power use your power to satisfy yourself…Why is that a temptation? Its really a slur ..its really a slam..its really a question on God’s provision..Hey since you’re the promised one , you’re the Son of God,Since that’s true why isn’t your father providing for you out here. Why would he let his son, The Messiah starve to death? So use your power to satisfy yourself…right??

We find the same kind of temptation in the Garden of Eden ;do we not? There’s the tree There are many trees. Satan comes along and says..Why don’t you eat of this tree? Eve says we can eat of all these other trees here.. this is the only one we cannot eat of..Thats what God said.. And the devil said..Has God said that you will only eat of that tree? Now he is questioning God..why would he keep something good from you..What kind of God do you serve? Or what about Abram and Sarah ? God promised them a son but it seemed like years went by and their not getting any younger ..They weren’t spring chickens to begin with..So Sarah suggests its not going to happen..Take my handmaiden, Lets help God out a little bit..Really questioning God’s ability to provide what he said…So its questioning God’s provision.. Jesus said..” It is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God.. he is quoting Deuteronomy , chapter 8.. How many times have you thought.. hey I’m a Christian, a believer,, Why isn’t God taking care of me??

2nd temptation verse 5 ..This is now questioning God’s promise..

Then the Devil taking him to a high mountain showed him all of the kingdoms in a moment of time..And the Devil said to him”All this authority I will give you and their glory for this has been delivered unto me,” He is called the prince of power of the air…the God of this world…”and I will give it to whomever I wish”.

Therefore if you will worship before me all will be yours…” This is questioning God’s promise…paraphrased this means ..Jesus I know why you’ve come..You’ve come for the whole world..You’ve come to rule the whole world..You know that one of the promises of the Messiah is that he would have world domination ..Psalm 2 is your key verse for that and you can reference that later…Psalm 2 The Lord speaks “ You are my Son this day I have begotten you ..Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your procession. The bible says one day Jesus will rule and reign over the whole earth , first he came to redeem it on the cross. Satan is suggesting this..why go at it the hard way..Why do it the painful way? You came for the earth. I know why you’ve come..I know what the promise is..If you will just worship me now we’ll make a deal..I’ll give it to you.. No fight involved…No cross involved.. Just indulge me …(Its what he always wanted)…Satan’s thinking..’ I will be like the most High”..Just the satisfaction of having the Son of God bow before me..ahhhh Its yours..I’ll give it to you…You don’t have to do it the painful way!!

Take a short cut.. Take the easy way out…. We all know this thinking…For us it is immediate gratification..are you familiar with that term? If you just give in you’ll be happy. Do something for yourself !

But Jesus said ‘get thee behind me Satan for it is written You shall worship ,the Lord your God,and him only shall you serve” ..It is written? Where? This come out of Deuteronomy also…chapter 6…is a passage from Moses where he warns the people of Israel “When you get into the land the Lord your God is giving you don’t think that your there because your such a great group..and don’t forget the Lord your God but you will bless the Lord and depend on the Lord, thank the Lord ..It was a warning chapter…

Verse 9 ..Then he brought Him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple…and said to him..”If you are the Son of God throw yourself down from here. Now this is the third temptation..He is questioning , I believe, God’s protection over him..Throw yourself down for it is written ..Now Satan is quoting scripture ..Now the devil throws out a few verses of his own… You know that Satan knows the bible better than we do. He attended the best bible study ever.. In heaven….and he’s had a long history with humanity ..so he knows the bible and he knows what to bring in and what to leave out..Now he’s going to quote but he’s going to take it out of context…He’ll leave out a very crucial part of the verse..You’ll see it…It is written..He shall give his angels charge over you , to keep you and…… and this is where he missed out….because the original text says..”He will keep you” Here's the rest of it..”In all your ways….What Satan was suggesting was not the way of God…It was not the way the scripture predicted….Its just your own person protection… “ He will keep you and in their hands He shall bear you up , lest you dash your foot against a stone..’ OK ..Your the Son of God ..God the Father protects his son sending him into the world; Prove it !! Lets give a chance to fulfil what he promised ..For it is written you can jump and you won’t and you won’t even stub your toes..I’m paraphrasing….God’s angels will bear you up..

Any text of the scripture taken out of context can become a pretext…You can prove just about anything you want with the bible simply by taking it out of context…That’s how cultures are started.. That’s how people use proof text for the craziest , wildest, schemes…They quote a verse in a way that suits their agenda.. I read it a lot and every time I do I think “ nope..out of context. It makes all of the difference…So in verse 9 He was set on the pinnacle of the temple in the southeast corner of the Temple mount.. It is said that the measurement from the top of the wall to the bottom of the valley below was 450 feet…If Jesus were to jump off of this and have Angels protecting him it would be known through the ancient world…The Devil is saying.. Do something incredible to prove the God will protect you ..Thats the idea here in the 3rd temptation….The reason that Satan brought Jesus here is because The Rabbis predicted when the Messiah comes that he will show himself on the Temple Mount.. A place where all could see his majesty…They widely believed that .. they said it even before Christ ..Theres a text of scripture from Malachi , chapter 3.. It says “ and the Lord who you seek , will suddenly come to his temple.., even the messenger of the covenant . So there was this belief among some of the Rabbis that the Messiah will revel himself in this area where there are throngs of people and a road in the valley below..That there would be some demonstration .. So probably capitalizing on that interpretation of Malachi 3 is where Satan came up with the 3rd temptation location… In seems consistent….He said in essence. Lets make a show out of it….And Jesus answered and said unto him” It has been said “ now quoting scripture again; “ You shall not tempt the Lord your God ‘! Again he quotes Deuteronomy ..

Now when the Devil had completed every temptation he departed from him until an opportune time..Notice that he ended his temptations for the moment… He ended the temptations for now but there will be more times..and when will that time be? Just the right time..Its is as if the devil looks to find the weakest moments, the right time, an opportune time..

Jesus said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God…. I am wondering something.. it’s just food for thought…(Now I know I’ve used that food 4 thought phrase twice tonight but somethings, I think, we need to just tuck away in our minds and ponder over them later…)

We may test the Lord our God all of the time..When we exceed the speed limit or break one of the rules of the road then have the audacity to pray that we won’t get a ticket…Especially true of foreigners since we are a target anyway.. We may walk into a bar and say Lord please don’t let me drink…We watch porn and say Lord help me with my lust….You cannot expect to willfully, knowingly walk into temptation and then ask Lord deliver us from evil… ( which he will) ..Stay away from it…Don’t deliberately test the Lord your God.. to place yourself in that kind of position….

What are the 2 ways that Jesus handled temptation? Number one ..Stand your ground…Stand up to him…the bible says in James 4 “resist him”..stand your ground… Number 2 ..sudy your bible…Stand your ground and study your bible..Those 2 things will help you during times of temptation…You can face it head on and know the scriptures. Do you realize it is so great that you’re here. We have an advantage.. We’re learning God’s word. I pity those who have become so biblically illiterate that in times of temptation they have no reference point.. no point of authority ..Remember what Jesus said to the religious leaders,,”You do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God..You’ll never know the power of God until you understand the scriptures. Stand your ground ..study your bible….

I can’t possibly conclude this chapter the way I would like tonight… I can address some aspects independently of our bible study upon request regarding Christ’s sermon in the synagogue.. Just contact me around that aspect of the chapter if you like…

We are tempted daily in our lives even in a more restricted environment which prevents us from coming and going as we please… Sinning is a fluid and extremely pliable entity.. As creative as Satan himself and he can work through us also, if we allow it. If we give in to the call of temptation and don’t stand our ground as did Jesus.. If we fail to understand the word of God that we also fail to know and benefit from the power of God…

Dear Lord. We pray tonight that your word in Luke 4 will come to our aide in our daily lives as we do battle with the evil one. We know Lord that Satan is powerful and cannot be defeated by mere human strength without you guidance, your support, your word and your love. With you we can accomplish all that is required of us as nothing is impossible for you. Guide us each week, through each chapter of the scriptures, so that we may glean from it enough so that we may have the light of Jesus shining through us and we also can be a light in this dreary world…

We pray for all in our bible study this evening, those in attendance and those who are not. We ask Lord that everyone be moved and motivated to have the fellowship that is necessary to sustain us over the long haul. Thank you Lord for all of the blessings that has been bestowed upon us. Help us to use them wisely and with grace.. We understand Paul when he tells us that his thorn was to prevent conceit ..to keep him humble in spite of his greatness in your eyes..We strive to embrace humility as is from your grace as is all of your gifts for us..Our hearts tonight are full of gratitude for peace and contentment in spite of our daily tribulations. Remember all those in need tonight we pray.

We ask these things in Jesus’ name…

Amen