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[0:00] Take out your Bibles with me, please, and turn to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4.

[0:16] We are celebrating the coming of Christ announced to Mary with the distinction about his holiness.

[0:32] And so it's appropriate that we come to Luke chapter 4 today because we see his holiness, his purity displayed as he overcomes every temptation.

[0:44] Which no one else has ever done. Especially face to face with the devil himself. So, I want to read the text.

[0:56] If you're able, please stand as I read from Luke chapter 4, verse 1 through 14. Verse 1 through 14.

[1:30] If you are, or literally actually, since you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered to him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.

[1:48] And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And said to him, To you, And set him on the pinnacle of the temple.

[2:29] And said to him, Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, He will command his angels concerning you to guard you.

[2:41] And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, It has been said, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

[2:57] And when the devil had ended every temptation, He departed from him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.

[3:11] And a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. So it reads. Let us pray. Father, Guide us this morning with your text.

[3:24] Help us to see Jesus. Help us to see him. The Holy One. The Righteous One.

[3:37] Who did this for us. This we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. Does God lead us into temptation?

[4:01] Well, He taught us to pray that, didn't He? Why do we pray it? Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[4:13] Does God lead us into temptation? Yes. I got one yes. Clearly, God does not lead us to do evil.

[4:27] But He does lead us into testing. Yes. He led Adam to be tested. It was certainly not out of God's hand that the serpent showed in the garden, was it?

[4:44] Scripture explicitly said God tested Abraham. Yeah? Kill your only son. He tested Job.

[4:55] You read the first two chapters of Job, you cannot get around the fact that God sent Satan to test Job. Severely. Severely.

[5:06] Now we read in the opening of Luke 4, that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was being led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the devil.

[5:21] So, does God lead us into temptation? Still quite okay. So, here's the kicker.

[5:34] The word in the Greek for temptation and for testing, same word. Same word. Just depends on the perspective.

[5:46] Testing is also temptation. God does not tempt us to evil. God cannot be tempted by evil. James tells us.

[5:59] But he leads us into testing where we will be tempted. Not by God, but by the evil one. Right? Does that make sense?

[6:11] God directs our lives and our situations to prove us, to test us, to purge us, to train us, and purify us, conform us to the image of Christ.

[6:23] Correct? Temptations to do evil are driven by the devil. He lures us. He entices us. He seeks to snare and deceive us by our own weaknesses.

[6:40] Notice that he tempts Jesus when he's what? Hungry. Hungry. He attacks our weakness. So, James defines it.

[6:51] James chapter 1. James says, let no one say when he's tempted, I'm being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by what?

[7:09] No, not by the devil. By his own desire. I know. It's right. It's like, wait a minute. You just said. Each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by his own desire.

[7:24] See, Satan works on our desires. Lures us with those desires. And James says, then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin.

[7:38] So, desire itself is not sin. But when it, but at some point it becomes sin. And then sin, when it is fully developed, when it is fully grown, or when it is done, when we have acted the sin, then comes what?

[7:55] Death. Death. Separation from God. Right? So, first I want you to see in Luke 4, I want you to see the big picture. Jesus is being tested in the wilderness as well as tempted by the devil.

[8:11] He is led by the Spirit here. And I want you to notice again, Luke frames the story. To use, to use my friend Dan Claussen's terminology, he makes a sandwich.

[8:24] Okay? So, verses 1 and 2 is the top part of the bread. And verses 13 and 14 are the bottom piece of the bread. And in the middle is all the meat. Okay? But on the outside is kind of just, he's just framing it.

[8:36] That's the outside. So, he talks about verse 1. He's full of the Holy Spirit. He's being led by the Spirit. Look at down in verse 14. Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.

[8:48] So, he's framing the Spirit. Jesus is led by the Spirit and afterwards he's in the power of the Spirit. Which implies in the middle during the temptation what's going on? Still full of the Spirit.

[9:01] Right? Spirit is leading. Spirit is helping him. Okay? And then also, verse 2, for 40 days being tempted by the devil. Verse 13, the other end of the story.

[9:12] When the devil had ended every temptation. So, again, begins and ends with the Holy Spirit. Begins and ends the next framing, next slice. But say, that's the cheese, maybe, is the devil's temptation.

[9:24] The devil's temptation. He's just framing it. So, the real story is in the middle. Okay? The real story is the meat of the sandwich is in the middle. I want you to note the setting.

[9:38] We're told at the end of verse 1 that he's led, being led, which is a continual process. He's being led, not just was led at one point, but he's being led.

[9:50] He's continually being led by the Spirit in the wilderness through that whole time. But note that the setting is wilderness. Why wilderness? Why lead him to the wilderness? Is the wilderness significant in Scripture?

[10:05] Are there other wilderness situations going on in the Old Testament? Yeah, one very significant one, not for 40 days, but for 40 years. Israel was being tested in the wilderness for 40 years.

[10:20] How'd they do? Not so good. Right? Not so good. In fact, God said in Deuteronomy 8, which Jesus is going to quote.

[10:32] I can find my right marker here. So Deuteronomy, remember, this means the second law, the second giving of the law. So Exodus is the first time when they go to Sinai.

[10:43] That's where God gives the law in Exodus. 40 years in the wilderness, then we come to Deuteronomy right before they go into the promised land. He's reminding them of the law. So chapter 8, he says, the whole commandment that I command you today shall be, you shall be careful to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.

[11:07] And you shall remember, now, what? You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness. That he might humble you, testing you you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

[11:34] That's why they were led in the wilderness, that they might be humbled, that God would test to see what's in their hearts. Does he do that with us today? Absolutely.

[11:46] Absolutely. And in fact, the New Testament says we rejoice in our sufferings, right? Because it proves, right? And then the next verse in Deuteronomy 8, that's where Jesus quotes, he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know.

[12:09] Why? Why did he humble you and let you hunger? That he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

[12:26] And that's what Jesus quotes. Okay. So wilderness, in other words, this is about testing. Okay. The Holy Spirit is leading Jesus into the wilderness, just like he led Israel into the wilderness.

[12:39] Israel failed at it, Jesus will not fail. Jesus will not fail as he's tested over and over and over again. And the language that Luke uses is he's being led by the Spirit for those 40 days and he's being tempted by the devil for all those 40 days, not just at the end.

[13:00] Okay. So what is he giving us here in these verses? It may be the three temptations that were the biggest last ones, the biggest guns at the end of the 40 days, right, maybe.

[13:12] Or maybe Luke is summarizing what all the temptations were like. I don't know. He doesn't clarify that. But it's clear that he was tempted for the whole 40 days.

[13:24] But here comes the big ones. The other thing I want you to notice is the context. So Luke chapter 4 follows what? Luke chapter 3.

[13:37] So, tough, right? What happened in chapter 3? Remember chapter 3, 22, Jesus was baptized, right? And at his baptism, right, the heavens opened, right, the Spirit came down in bodily form as a dove rested upon him.

[13:53] He's anointed by the Spirit. He is now given the Spirit is upon him, right? So, next verse in Luke is really with the parenthesis of the genealogy that he's led by that same Spirit as soon as he's baptized.

[14:09] He's led by that same Spirit into the wilderness, okay? So, but at this baptism, what's he called? What does the Father call him? My son. This is my beloved son.

[14:20] So he's the Son of God. What did Luke tell us at the end of the genealogy, at the end of chapter 3? Who is Jesus the Son of? Son of God and Son of Adam.

[14:34] He's Son of Adam. Why is that significant? Was Adam also tested? Yeah. And how did he do?

[14:47] Not so good, right? And, so we're giving, we're getting a comparison with Jesus dealing with temptation and Israel being tempted and failing temptation.

[15:00] We're also giving a comparison of Jesus as the second Adam compared to the first Adam who failed. And when you really compare the settings, Jesus is being tempted where and when?

[15:12] Right? In the wilderness, 40 days. Adam is tempted when? Where? In the garden. In the garden. Pretty rough, right? Yeah, right? He's got all that he needs.

[15:24] So what kind of comparison are we dealing with? Okay? Our Savior went through a harder, harder temptation. Okay? They're both the same in terms of their, in terms of their nature.

[15:39] Right? They do, neither of them have a sinful nature at that point. Right? Adam did not have a sinful nature yet. Right? Right? He has, he does no, he has no baggage, no stain in his heart.

[15:50] And yet, he's lured by the, by the dragon and he fails. Jesus also, born of a virgin, right? Has a holy nature, as a man.

[16:02] So facing it the same way. Okay? That's why he can represent us. So, what is this about? This temptation of Jesus?

[16:14] It's about a lot of things. It's about temptation. It's about how do we overcome temptation. It's about the devil. The devil's mentioned several times there. We could focus on a number of things. But what's it really about?

[16:30] My, when I first look at this test, text, I'm, I'm, my, my nature is to look at it and say, okay, what can I learn? What can I grab? What can I, you know, what can I apply out of this?

[16:40] Well, I want to learn how to deal with temptation. So that's how I want to focus on it. Is that why Luke wrote it though? Is that why Luke recorded it? In the context in which he did? In the way in which he organized it?

[16:53] He's the son of Adam, led into the wilderness, full of the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, he leaves full of the Holy Spirit. Who's it about? It's all about Jesus. Yes, it's also about temptation.

[17:06] It's a, it, we can learn applications about temptation and handling temptation. That's definitely there, but that's not the primary purpose that it's there. It's about Jesus.

[17:18] Let us not miss that because we want to get to the application. Let us not miss that. It's about who he is, about what he's done and why, as Luke said, it gives us certainty about the gospel.

[17:35] It gives us certainty because we have a Savior who is righteous, who has been tempted in every way like we are, yet, without failing.

[17:52] And he offers himself to us as our help when we're tempted. That's better than how do I do this? Because in the middle of the battle, I may forget about, oh, what's the strategy again?

[18:09] How do I put the armor on? In the middle of the battle, I might just need to say, Jesus. Okay, if you get nothing else.

[18:23] But don't leave yet. Okay. So, we'll look at this in two applications. One, a primary application is about Jesus, okay? It's about Jesus experiencing three temptations.

[18:35] And because he has experienced temptation, he has suffered temptation, he is able to help those who endure temptation. Okay? Because he's been there.

[18:46] And then the second application we will look at is that practical one, the one about Jesus' method. method. How does he overcome? How does he resist?

[18:57] How he models then for us how to overcome temptation. We talk about Luke. Luke has sources, right? How does he know what he writes, right? We know that he talked to Mary.

[19:09] That's how he knows all the early stories. We know, you know, that he's talking to disciples, that kind of thing. So, who does Luke talk to about this experience of temptation in the wilderness?

[19:21] It's just, did he talk to the devil? No, we're not going to, you know, can't trust that source. Couldn't talk to Jesus because Jesus was already gone. Who did he talk to?

[19:32] How did he know? Right? See, well, Jesus must have told his disciples this whole thing. Certainly, he trained them about who he was and how he overcame this thing.

[19:44] So, that's why it's there. So, let's look at the primary application. Why is Jesus tempted by the devil? In being tempted or because he suffered temptation, Jesus is merciful and able to help those being tempted.

[20:02] Because Jesus was tempted himself, he is merciful and able to help those being tempted. That's the first application we get out of this. He understands.

[20:13] some people think, right, that's Jesus. You know, Jesus was the son of God so he's not tempted. Was he really tempted?

[20:24] I mean, he's God. God can't be tempted. Can Jesus really help me? Does he really understand temptation? What the New Testament tells us is absolutely he understood because he endured it not as the son of God but as the son of man.

[20:40] He endured it as a man. So these temptations were real for him. He was truly enticed by these things.

[20:52] Okay? So he had three temptations. We'll look at these just kind of in order. Verse 3, there's a temptation that appeals to the flesh, right?

[21:07] what John might call lust of the flesh. It's about hunger, right, and satisfying hunger. Second temptation, verse 5, is about seeing the kingdoms of the world so we might call that about coveting.

[21:21] We might call it lust of the eyes because he shows him these kingdoms and that might be appealing to him and that might be driving him. And then the third temptation, verses 9 to 11, is an odd one, you know, right, where he's throwing, cast yourself off the temple.

[21:35] It's kind of weird. I don't see that as a temptation for me, but maybe for Jesus. But maybe it was about a pride issue. Maybe what John, you know, John has those three things, right?

[21:46] Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Remember? John 2, love of the world, there are those three things. And so maybe those all relate, but maybe not.

[21:58] First one is about craving, though, isn't it? Jesus is hungry, verse 3. Just verse 2, it just said he was hungry. Verse 2, then the devil comes when he's hungry, right? If you're the Son of God or since you're the Son of God is the way the Greek would actually read.

[22:15] It's not potentially the Son of God. It's the indicative voice so that it means that he truly was. Since you are the Son of God, speak to this stone to become bread.

[22:31] So the temptation is attacking him at his weakness. And it's attacking him or tempting him, enticing him to satisfy his craving. In a way, it's saying, you know, why deny your need?

[22:44] Why deny your urge? Take a shortcut. It's a legitimate need. We might say, well, he's hungry. Is there anything wrong with feeding your hunger?

[22:59] We get up in the morning and we break our fast, right? We eat. So why is this a temptation?

[23:12] Well, one, notice it's aimed at him as an identity. Since you're the Son, since you're the Son, you shouldn't be suffering. Why are you suffering? You're the Son.

[23:25] You're hungry. Just turn to bread. Just turn the stones into bread. Just speak. I know you can just speak it. I saw you way back at the beginning. You just speak it. So use your power.

[23:40] Gratify your urge. Fulfill your want over your need. So often we're tempted because it's a want and not necessarily a need.

[23:56] I want to eat. Has anybody ever fasted 40 days? No? I know, brother. Anybody fasted for three days?

[24:10] Okay. Well, you already got, you know. How about one meal? Right? Right? That's like, okay, I'm hungry now. Okay.

[24:21] I have no concept of 40 days. I have no concept of an extended self-denial for the purpose of seeking God alone.

[24:35] And that's what Jesus was doing. It wasn't sinful because he was hungry. It was sinful because he had already decided to not eat because he was led by the spirit to hunger for something deeper.

[24:53] And so the temptation was to distract him from focusing on God. Got it? Second one, easier to see, right? Verse 5, he takes him and shows him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

[25:07] So that's a clue in the moment of time, not literal, okay? In a moment of time. It's like, okay, see, it's a vision. Okay? He's showing him somehow, showing him all the kingdoms of the world.

[25:21] Letting him see it. So it's to his eyes and says to him, I'll give you all this. I will give you all this authority and their glory. So there's the temptation. There's the enticement. And here's all the kingdoms.

[25:34] I'll give you their authority and glory. The enticement is power and glory. If, if, there's a catch, if, if you worship me, I'll fast track you.

[25:53] So I'll call it coveting because it's, maybe it's a temptation to the eyes. He sees it, right? And there is an enticement to have that authority and that glory.

[26:06] Now we can sit back in our pew and say, yeah, but Jesus was going to get that anyway. Why would that be a temptation, right? He knew he's already, he's going to rule everything. Why would he do it?

[26:19] Well, he's in a state of weakness. And maybe it sounds pretty appealing to just, this suffering's not so fun. This self-denial's not so fun.

[26:31] Maybe, maybe this whole walk to the cross isn't going to be so fun. Maybe I could just shortcut it. I don't know, do you think Jesus thought like that? Do you think he was tempted with that?

[26:45] It says this was a temptation. It must have crossed his mind. We know certainly when he got to the cross, right? Let this pass. Right?

[26:55] He really didn't, so there was part of his human nature to not want to suffer like us. to not want to deny, to not want to go the narrow road which, you know, gets there but it's longer, it's harder, not as fun, not as many enjoyments, not as many pleasures.

[27:21] What if I could just jump over that bridge and get to that side and have what I deserve? By the way, did the devil have this right to give it to him like that?

[27:32] No. No? Yes, he did. The right thing. Does he have that authority? Yep. He said, I can give it to whoever I want. No. He does. No. No.

[27:43] No. No, why not? No. No. Because he was never given it. He said he was given to it. He lies. No. Okay, so we have a liar.

[27:54] We have, okay, we got to go. Okay, all right, no. We don't want to get into the debate here. We'll have a discussion about that later. According to Revelation, he has it. He's the dragon. He's been given to it.

[28:06] Been given it temporarily. He's not ultimate sovereign. It's been given to him. He didn't, right? The dragon can give it to whoever he wants and he does. Right?

[28:18] He rules this world. He is the prince of the power of the air. He is the God of this world. So I understand what you're saying, but yes, he does have authority. Not ultimate. He knows his time is short.

[28:28] Well, he knows after Jesus ascended his time is short because he got booted out, right? Okay, I didn't mean to start a little. I just want you to think.

[28:39] I just want you to think because we read that, go, is he lying? Is he twisting it? He could be because he's a twister and a liar, right? But Jesus didn't argue with him.

[28:51] Jesus didn't argue with him. It was a real temptation for Jesus. If he didn't have that authority, Jesus could have said, get away from me, you liar. He said, no, he recognized what the temptation was.

[29:07] False worship for fast accomplishment. The catch was, you know, if you worship the devil. In other words, shift your allegiance, Jesus, from God to Satan.

[29:24] Defect. I'll give you the short. Yeah, like we do. Like we do. Absolutely. So it's idolatry.

[29:37] And we're all tempted by idolatry. We're not tempted by little things that are bad at work. But we have idols. Power, glory, success, right?

[29:49] Pleasure, whatever it is. Family. We can make good things into idols because they put them above God. Right?

[30:00] Right? So we see a third temptation in verse 9. I'll get to his responses next. But we see a third temptation. This one's a little strange.

[30:11] And it takes him to the temple, puts him up on the pinnacle of the temple and says, since you're the son of God, throw yourself down. And now Satan's real clever, right?

[30:21] Oh, you're going to quote scripture. I can quote scripture too. I can quote scripture too. So you want to have a little scripture quiz here? All right, Jesus. Here's what the word says. He's quoting it.

[30:33] He's quoting Psalm 91. He will command his angels concerning you to guard you. On their hands he will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone.

[30:44] That's what it says. Claim the promise. Name it and claim it. Which I think is close to testing God. This is God's promise.

[30:58] Since you're the son, you're protected. You know what this reminds me of because he's quoting scripture so he's questioning what God has said. Remember in the garden? How did he start his temptation with Eve?

[31:12] With a question, right? Has God said? Has God really said? Have you thought about what he said? Because this is a different version of it.

[31:25] That one, it's questioning what God's holding back from you. This one might be kind of questioning holy, you know, go get what you get. Go claim it. That's a weird one. It took me a while to get my head around this and I still don't think my head's around this one.

[31:42] Throw yourself off the temple. And most scholars think he's talking about the temple that's on the east side, right? So it's overlooking the Kidron Valley which would be about a 450 foot drop.

[31:58] So it's not just a, you know, still off the temple would be like 180 feet I think. So it'd still be a good drop. Unless you're repelling right down.

[32:16] Throw yourself off because here scripture says God will protect you. God has promised. And Psalm 91 is about God's protection for the godly person.

[32:30] He will guard you. He will, in fact, it talks about other things that take you through the fire. So when does he do that?

[32:42] How do we see that fulfilled? How do we trust God for his promises? So if he's tempting, Jesus cast himself off to test the promise or to claim the promise or to see if God's really there.

[33:06] Why is that wrong? When is it wrong to claim God's promises? Why would this be wrong?

[33:21] Well, is it, well, yeah, Jesus nails what it is. He says it's testing God. Why? Yeah.

[33:35] It's a challenge. It's a challenge. It's not an understanding. How to gain understanding. He's challenging God.

[33:46] So when God promises for the godly person to guard them and to keep their foot from stumbling, does he mean when you jump into a fire?

[33:57] does he mean when you go into the middle of the gang with guns and start preaching about hell to them?

[34:10] Would that be, you know, he'll protect you, right? Does it mean that you never go to a doctor? There are people that do that. Is that testing God?

[34:24] I don't know. I'm not going there. But for me, I think. Because I don't believe that. I believe doctors are legitimate. Good old Luke.

[34:40] So what does it mean? So here, let me summarize it this way. I think the temptation is this. It's to presume on God's promise when it's not needed. when it's not needed.

[34:53] When I force God's hand. When I demand him to prove himself. It's one thing to walk by faith, right?

[35:06] It's one thing to walk by faith. It's one thing to not lean on my own understanding. It's another thing to jump into that fire.

[35:20] It's one thing for Paul to reach into the stack of wood and get bit by the serpent and not die because of that.

[35:32] It's another thing to take those deadly serpents and hang them around your neck like some preachers do. We're not commanded to do that.

[35:44] I know the end of Mark is about that but the end of Mark is also not authentic. Okay? It's not an early manuscript. It's a later manuscript.

[35:55] So I'm not going to take that as a way of proving God speaks through me. Okay? I think that's testing God.

[36:08] We'll get more to it in a sec. So those are the three things. An appeal to quickly satisfy my need. An appeal to quick power and then force God's hand.

[36:24] Make God prove himself in my life for me. See, it's not about God then, it's about me. Since you're the son, do this. Prove it. Prove it.

[36:35] Show it. that had to be some, a real enticement for Jesus to do. I don't understand how because I can't, I'm not him, right?

[36:49] But these were real temptations. That was a real enticement. And what's amazing is he recognized the nature of each one of these. And he had a scripture for each one.

[37:01] So what's this all about? Let me get to that again. It's about Jesus. It's about how he overcomes every temptation for us. This is what Hebrews 2 says.

[37:13] Listen to Hebrews 2, 14 to 18. The writer says, Since therefore, the children share in flesh and blood, since we're regular human beings, okay?

[37:24] Since we're all regular human beings, flesh and blood, he himself, speaking of Jesus, excuse me, he himself likewise partook of the same things. Because we're flesh and blood, he became flesh and blood.

[37:39] Why? That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. Okay? He took on flesh and blood so that he might destroy the devil. Okay?

[37:52] And deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. He's also delivering us. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Adam.

[38:04] Everyone who believes like Adam does is also rescued by him. Therefore, watch this now. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect.

[38:15] The word had there. Therefore, he had to is a very, very strong word that means obligation, debt, absolute necessity.

[38:27] he owed it. Did he owe it to us? No. He owed it to the Father. Because the Father loves us.

[38:43] So that he sent his son to do this. Okay? He had to be like his brothers in every respect. Why? What's the result?

[38:54] So that he might become a merciful, and faithful, high priest in the service of God. One, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Okay? He saves us on the cross.

[39:05] He becomes a man, flesh and blood, so that he might be holy and become a holy sacrifice for us. He might satisfy the demand for justice. And for because he has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

[39:24] Did you get that? because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are in the process of being tempted.

[39:41] As you are being tempted, he's able to help you because he's been there. He can sympathize.

[39:52] sympathize. Because he can sympathize, draw near to the throne of grace, cry out for mercy and grace in the time of help that you need help.

[40:06] As a man, he was tempted in every way. He understands how difficult it is. He understands he gets our weaknesses. He was weak. God had never experienced weakness before.

[40:18] Do you understand that? God the Father does not know that. God the Father has never been tempted. God the Spirit has never been tempted.

[40:30] God the Son has. only because he took flesh. Okay? It's why he became flesh.

[40:45] Why he humbled himself as a man to endure all the trials that we endure and overcome them. To win them for us.

[40:57] all right, who took all my clean-ups? I got it. I got it. Thank you, Sheila.

[41:12] I can't even see. There's something wrong with my glasses. I can't see. He did this to become, the Hebrew writer says, to become a merciful and faithful high priest, to become a merciful and faithful.

[41:30] Faithful high priest in that he kept righteousness. Merciful in that he gets it for us. It's for us.

[41:41] So that when we're tempted, we can cry out. When we can't think of the verses, I can think of his name.

[41:57] I remember when I was deep in my depression years ago, I was going to counseling, and when I first experienced depression in Illinois, I used to recite and pray through Psalm 139, not the whole thing, but a good portion of it, and that helped me bolster against this struggle.

[42:20] And when the depression got more overwhelming, I was too weak to go through Psalm 119.

[42:35] That was just too much for me. And I told the counselors, I got the strategy. I don't have the strength. He asked me a simple question.

[42:55] He said, could you say Jesus? Yeah? Try that. Right?

[43:08] I made it complicated because it worked before. And it still works. Psalm 119 is wonderful.

[43:19] I still pray it a lot. But if you make overcoming difficult, we have a spirit of heaviness among us, don't we?

[43:34] A lot of us lately. We're in a season of that. I think the church is in a season of that. What do you do with that? When you're losing heart and you're weary in doing good.

[43:49] What do you do then when you just don't have the, I'm not Jesus. Well, he was weak too. What do you do? Well, he's given us an even easier help.

[44:03] Just cry. Romans 8 says we don't even have to use words, right? I mean, we just groan. Right? Well, he'll never understand.

[44:14] Yeah, he does. He understands my groaning, doesn't he? Okay. Let's move on. So, first application. Most important thing.

[44:25] Because he's being tempted. Because he has suffered temptation. Because he's been there. He is merciful and able to help us as we are being tempted. So, I want us to re-look at these temptations.

[44:37] But not the temptations, but Jesus' answers. Because here's the other thing that we learn. The other thing we can apply is it's not just about Jesus.

[44:48] That's the primary thing. But it's also about how he dealt with it. And we can learn from him how to fight temptation. Okay? So, building a strategy. Maybe in those moments of great weakness, all I can do is cry out to Jesus.

[45:01] But there's other times. I want to start getting over this temptation. I want to start getting over this struggle that I'm having. And so, what strategy can I build? And Jesus shows us a strategy.

[45:12] Jesus models for us how to resist temptation. In his resisting. In this passage.

[45:23] He shows us. He models for us how to resist. How does he do it? What does it say each time? So, look at verse 4. He's tempted.

[45:34] Verse 4. Jesus answered him and said, what? It's written. Okay? All right. That's one strategy. Verse 8. Second temptation. Jesus answered and said, it is written.

[45:48] Sounds like the same strategy. Verse 12. Third temptation. Jesus answered and said to him, it is said. What's his strategy?

[46:00] Do you know? Do you know what a... When the scripture talks about the sword of the spirit, you know what the word is?

[46:14] The Greek word? Makaira. You know what a makaira is? Yes, right. I was going to do the crocodile dundee thing.

[46:25] You know, pull out a little knife. Say, that's a knife. He said, no, that's a knife. Ow. Two-edged.

[46:38] Damascus steel. This is Damascus steel. It's not made in Japan. Not made in China. Not made in Taiwan. This is made in Damascus. Which is what the steel they used in the first century.

[46:50] This is the size of it. Can you imagine Peter going around, right? Peter had one of these. Simon the zealot. We know he had one. Right?

[47:03] That's what he means. That's what he means. Always wanted one of those.

[47:17] But I already had one. So, let's, I want you to recognize how Jesus recognizes the issue at stake in each of these temptations.

[47:33] Because he comes with a different sword, different word from God each time. Okay? He recognizes the nature of each temptation. So, I put it into questions.

[47:44] So, the first temptation might be summarized as, what do you hunger for? What do you really hunger for? Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

[47:59] What do you hunger for? What do you really hunger for? Things that satisfy you in the moment or for what Jesus says, what will really satisfy you?

[48:11] The living word of God. Right? What do you serve? What do you serve? Who do you serve? What's your idol? What is it that you really live for?

[48:24] What is it that you value more than anything else? Jesus talked about treasures, right? Where's your treasure? What do you treasure in your heart? You can't have two masters, right? And your eye is really important.

[48:36] What's your eye looking at? Because if your eye is full of darkness, what happens, right? How Jesus talks about that? And then, finally, the third one, what do you trust?

[48:49] So, throw yourself off the temple. What are you trusting in there? Do you trust God to keep his promises as you walk in a normal life doing the things he calls us clearly to do?

[49:06] Say, what do you trust? So, what are you hunger for? So, he quotes Deuteronomy 8. Man shall not live by bread alone, just a physical existence, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

[49:27] So, what is this temptation really about? It's not wrong to feed your hunger. But remember, why is he in the wilderness? The context is he's in the wilderness. He has chosen not to eat for those 40 days, which means he's fasting.

[49:39] He has chosen to fast. Why is he chosen to fast? Why did he choose to fast? Well, he's led by the Spirit, so it must be a leading in the Spirit.

[49:51] It must be. He's full of the Spirit. He's led by the Spirit for those 40 days. So, the Spirit is still saying, don't eat. Well, he's not saying, maybe he's saying different. Focus, focus on the Word.

[50:02] Maybe he's thinking through these Deuteronomy texts. Maybe he's thinking about the wilderness for Israel, and he's thinking about all the ways that they failed, and how he should, he's the new Israel, and must not fail.

[50:16] I don't know what he's, but he's there not to eat. Not to eat. Like I said, I can't go very long.

[50:29] I've never really tried that. But I have noticed, I'm of the conviction that you don't so much choose fasting, but fasting chooses you.

[50:40] There are times when you just don't eat, right? I mean, you're in grief when you're sick, when you're preoccupied. I mean, there's a lot of days I realize, I forgot to have lunch today.

[50:53] I must be hungry. Then I overeat for dinner. But Jesus was led to do that.

[51:05] He's not easing for a reason. So, when he was hungry, that was, was that a need or a want? See? In his context.

[51:18] And what it is, is it involves self-denial. Are there things, so here's the question for us, are there things in our lives where we sacrifice other things for God?

[51:37] Do we sacrifice our time for God? Do we sacrifice our treasures, our money for God? Do we sacrifice basic needs for God?

[51:51] Are you led in any way to do those things? And if you're led in any way to do those things or God convicts you about doing that, what if you don't?

[52:05] What if you don't? There's something to think about. I can't tell you what that needs to be. That's the work of the Spirit.

[52:16] So, I won't be the Spirit for you. That's the work of the Spirit. If you're seeking God, He will let you know what He wants you to do. So, look at the second one.

[52:26] This one's about temptation of the world, right? He goes and shows them all the kingdoms of the world. The temptation is to see that and want that, right? The authority and the glory.

[52:36] Jesus put it another way. The temptation is to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul. Right? What does it profit you to gain everything and lose the eternal soul?

[52:50] To get the quick thing now. That's a real temptation for us. I know it is for me to want to have those things, to want to have, you know, those pleasures or that next new thing.

[53:06] Or, you know, my old trucks are old. I need to get some other nice things with that. I don't know.

[53:20] Jesus says, you can't serve two masters. And so, this temptation is driven by covetousness, by envy, jealousy, a lust to have what I don't have.

[53:36] I want it now and I want it fast. And so, I sacrifice God in some way to get it. I serve the idol instead of God. I serve the other master.

[53:48] Remember what Jesus says about you can't serve two masters. If you try to serve two masters, what? You're going to love the one and hate the other one. So, if I start serving the world, I'm going to start hating God.

[54:00] Right? Because God's going to nag me. My conscience is going to nag me. Right? There's always a cost.

[54:13] Right? When we are tempted in those things. And the last temptation Jesus deals with is this casting off the temple, testing God.

[54:27] Jesus recognized this as testing God. It's interesting. He recognized the nature of this temptation as testing God. I mean, it's an odd temptation.

[54:40] It's one, I think, that was nuanced for him. Because he says, again, you know, since you're the son of God. Since you're the son. I mean, this will be tempting for you since you're the son.

[54:56] You know, prove it in some way. Push God on this a little bit. You deserve to be protected. So, what's testing God?

[55:07] So, that's what I went back to look at. Because that's what Jesus recognized it is. What's testing God? Testing God is questioning God. Mistrusting his plan.

[55:19] Mistrusting his goodness. It's the very thing that Israel did many times in the wilderness. And there is one scene that is portrayed this way over and over in Scripture.

[55:35] And that's in Exodus 17. So, let me read it to you. Because this helped me understand what it means to test God. Because what is that? Okay. So, Exodus 17.

[55:48] They're in the wilderness wandering through, right? This is toward the beginning of the trip. Exodus 17. All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim.

[56:04] But there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore, the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me?

[56:16] Why do you test the Lord? They're quarreling. Grumbling. Complaining. Is that testing God?

[56:28] But the people thirsted there for water. And the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?

[56:39] Remember now, these are the same people that walked through the dead sea on dry land. These are the same people that saw the plagues.

[56:50] These are the same people, right? That saw these miracles of God. And now they're thirsty. Everything's forgotten.

[57:03] When my tummy is thirsty. Or my throat. So Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with this people?

[57:15] They are almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, Taking with you some of the elders of Israel, Taking your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, And go.

[57:26] Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, And you shall strike the rock, And the water shall come out of it, And the people will drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

[57:38] And he called the name of the place Masah and Meribah, Because of the Masah-bing quarreling the people did.

[57:52] And because they, Meribah, tested the Lord by saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Testing God is asking the question, Is God among us or not?

[58:10] Testing God is pushing God to prove himself, When he's already proved himself. Testing God is doubting God. Testing God is not trusting God.

[58:22] When I'm in the heart, When I'm, So I get thirsty, I'm suffering thirst. What do I do? Do I complain? Or do I trust God to give me something?

[58:33] Provide what I need. Right? As basic as that. When I'm in the middle of discouragement, When I'm in the middle of heaviness, When I'm in the middle of a season of difficulty, It's natural for me to question, How is this good?

[58:56] How is God planning good out of this? And yet the promise is, Right? He will always make good out of it.

[59:09] Do I trust that? Okay. Verse 13 tells us, When the devil had ended every temptation, He departed from him until an opportune time.

[59:25] Both Peter and James tell us, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Jesus resisted the devil and he departed.

[59:36] He withdrew. He flew. He fleeted. Flooded. Until another opportune time.

[59:48] How can we withstand in temptation? How can we learn from Jesus' model? It's nice to have a pretty sword, isn't it?

[60:00] Wouldn't it be nice? Wouldn't it be nice if I could just see the devil and, Yeah. Or like Peter, grab him and just cut his ear off, right?

[60:12] That's how Peter did it, right? Right? That edge will do it. But our weapons are not physical weapons.

[60:26] That's just a picture. So how do we withstand temptation? How do we stand when we're weak? Paul gives us a strategy.

[60:38] Ephesians 6. You know the text. Armor of God, right? Listen carefully to how Paul says it. Because he's giving us a strategy. And he's giving us a methodology. And he's giving us a picture.

[60:52] Of how to be able to stand against the devil. And to withstand his attacks. Here's what he says. Finally, be strong in the Lord. Not in yourself.

[61:03] Be strong in the Lord. In the strength of his might, not your might. Put on the whole armor of God. Not some of the armor put on the whole armor of God. Why? That you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

[61:18] Interesting. The schemes of the devil. That's all he can do with you, folks, is bring schemes. He cannot control you. He cannot make you do anything. But he will try to deceive you.

[61:32] He will bring schemes. And he is very wily. He knows your weaknesses. He knows what buttons to push, doesn't he? For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

[61:55] Does Satan have control today? Absolutely. Okay? That's a whole list of authorities and powers. Okay? Rulers. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.

[62:14] And having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore. Doing what? Now, he's going to list, he's going to list the pieces of armor for us.

[62:25] The first four he's going to list are things that we need to have on all the time. Because he says, having put on the belt, having put on the breastplate, having shod your feet, and having taken up the shield.

[62:38] And then the last two he's going to say, with a new command, to take. Take. Take. In other words, I think when the battle comes, when the battle comes, then that's when you put your helmet on, and that's when you take out your sword.

[62:56] You don't have your sword out all the time. But you always have your belt. You always have your breastplate. You always have your shield. You always have your shoes.

[63:07] So what are each of those things? The belt of truth. What does it deal with? What does the belt of truth deal with? What does truth deal with? Fights lies, right?

[63:19] Deception. Breastplate of righteousness. Where's that from? It's Christ's righteousness, not mine.

[63:33] Remember, this is God's armor, not my armor. I'm putting on God's stuff. I'm putting on God's truth. I'm putting on God's breastplate. I'm putting on Jesus' breastplate. So when Satan tells me, you ain't cutting it, boy.

[63:49] That's right. I'm a big time failure. But it's not my breastplate. It's his. He already dusted you, dude.

[64:01] Breastplate of, and actually, it's the breastplate of the righteousness. It's Christ. Shoes for your feet.

[64:13] Shod your shoes. Shod your feet with the readiness of the gospel of the peace. The peace. Not external peace, but internal peace. What gives me peace that passes understanding in the battle?

[64:26] When I'm anxious, what do I do? Pray without ceasing, right? And with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which passes understanding, will guard my heart. Peace because it's from the gospel.

[64:38] What about the shield of faith? Oh, that's a big one because he talks a lot about this one. Having put on the shield of, or having taken up the shield of the faith, by the way. It's not the shield of just any kind of faith.

[64:50] It's the shield of the faith. Of the faith. Shield of the faith. What God has said to us, what we believe that God has entrusted to us, all of his promises. Trust what he's said.

[65:02] Trust what he's promised. He has promised he will never leave you or forsake you. He's promised. He will be with you through the storm. He has promised that he will guard you.

[65:15] And then, when the battle comes, you take up the helmet of the salvation.

[65:27] So what's that? In another place, Paul calls it the helmet, which is the hope of salvation. So salvation is about hope. It's about something future. We already have salvation.

[65:39] But sometimes, in the middle of the battle, I need to put my helmet on and take the long view. Because my eyes have been focused on all the stuff going on. And I get discouraged and I start to lose heart.

[65:49] I need to put the helmet on and take a bigger view and remember, oh yeah. Oh yeah. He's got this. He's got this. That's where I'm going. It's not about now. It's about then. Put on the helmet of salvation.

[66:01] It gives me the long view. It gives me hope. So that I don't lose heart. And then, of course, you take out the sword. The sword of the Spirit, which is a word of God.

[66:16] Not the logos of God, but a rhema of God. A specific word for a specific action. So Jesus has three different words for the three different temptations.

[66:29] He takes out one sword word for bread. Man, shall I live by bread alone? He takes out another word, another specific word to deal with the worldly temptation.

[66:42] And he takes out a whole other different word for this testing God. Do you have different words? In the moment that you're tested, if you don't have those swords ready, that swords or words, I get it.

[67:00] Cry to Jesus. But when you're out of that, take some time and look at your life and say, what am I tested on regularly?

[67:11] What do I keep failing at? What do I keep failing at? Okay, let me find some words so that I can fight that.

[67:23] Have you done that? Do you have that? Do you have a word for worry? Do you have a word for lust? Do you have a word for anger?

[67:34] Do you have a word for those things that get you? So that you can just pull it out. It's not a long word. It doesn't have to be Psalm 119.

[67:45] These verses. It's just one verse. Maybe just a part of a verse. Guys, for lust, what do you do? What do you do?

[67:57] It is written, flee immorality. Can you remember that? Is that short enough? Because that works. Might have to say it a few times.

[68:09] It works. And by the way, you say it out loud. Satan can't read your thoughts. Say it out loud. Notice in the text, Jesus said to him.

[68:22] Jesus said to him. He didn't think it. He spoke it out loud. Because this has power.

[68:35] It's not because you say it. It's because it's God's word. And you say it is written. Or God has said. Flee idolatry. Really?

[68:46] That simple? Look what Jesus did. The devil moved on. Okay. Okay. Failed at that one. Okay. Can't argue with that. Are you with me?

[68:59] Does that make sense? This is about strategy. But this is why I say this application is secondary to the first one. The first one you can claim anytime.

[69:11] This one, I got to do some little homework and preparation. I got to have a strategy. Right? Right? And I can't do that in the moment of weakness. Okay?

[69:23] But for a long walk, I want that strategy. I want that strategy. If the Holy Spirit keeps leading me into this issue over and over and over again, he's going to hear me when I cry.

[69:46] But he may be saying, time to get some battle armor. Okay? Put on the whole armor of God. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil to withstand in the evil day.

[70:02] And by the way, you see the last verse of Ephesians 6. It's still part of the same sentence. Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Verse 18 is not a new sentence.

[70:16] Verse 18 says, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication.

[70:28] In other words, I'm convinced the way that you have that armor on and you take it all on is by praying at all times in the spirit. Because this is spiritual armor.

[70:42] I need the Holy Spirit to put it on. Help me put on that breastplate. Help me have that truth today, Lord. Help me. You might focus on one piece of the armor because it relates more to what you're struggling with.

[70:56] Right? Okay. That's enough. Let me end with this. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

[71:07] But one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.

[71:20] That we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let's pray. Father, cause your name to be set apart.

[71:34] Cause your kingdom to come. Cause your will to be done. Give to us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

[71:50]  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Oh.