(Luke) 14 - Concl of the Temptations — Ed Miller

This is supposed to we had a little problem with our welcome again to our little Bible study. Again, you know already, but I don't tire of reminding you That we gather to see the Lord and it's so much fun to use the word in order to behold him.

And so I'll invite you please to bow with me. We'll commit our time unto him. Our father we thank you again for your precious word and for the privilege we have to gather here and trust the Holy Spirit to Focus our hearts in a living and in a fresh way upon our Savior.

We thank you for every part of the Word of God. But in a special way this morning, we thank you for Luke chapter 4. We'd ask you to minister in our deepest hearts. We just appreciate so much the Holy Spirit giving us light and we pray as we fellowship together around your word as We look devotionally at these precious things that you would apply it to our lives and hearts.

To this end we give our study unto you and thank you in advance For meeting with us where you'd have us. We ask in the all-prevailing Name of our Lord Jesus. I'll ask you again, please to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 4.

Jesus as the Son of All Mankind

Luke chapter 4 the message of Luke's gospel is That it presents our Lord Jesus as the son of all mankind. Not just the son of the Jews But the friend of sinners the son of all mankind son of everybody.

In our look at the first four chapters we've been discussing what we've called in our outline the advent and the preparation of the son of all mankind and in the first 13 verses in chapter 4 the temptation of our Lord Jesus in the wilderness.

We call this the final preparation of our Lord before his ministry. In other words right after this He began his wonderful ministry and began with Jubilee, which we'll look at Lord willing next time. As you know Our Lord Jesus was tempted all 40 days the Bible tells us that not just at the end and not just three temptations.

But the Holy Spirit selected three of the many we don't know the other temptation but he selected three of the many in order that we might have a Comprehensive look at all temptation. In other words every temptations included in these three temptation their representative temptation.

The First Temptation: Doubting God's Love

I told you last week that I felt like Satan what he really wanted to do. His real intention was just to bump Our Lord Jesus to get him off, but he came trusting his Holy Father God. He came and lived in a relationship With God he said it was his meat.

It was his desire to do the will of his father and Satan hated that if he could just at the beginning before he Started his ministry if he could get Jesus to act independently to stop trusting God To turn away from the Lord then he would have some kind of a victory and I think through the temptations.

We see that that's exactly what he's doing. The first temptation we looked at last week chapter 4 verse 3 Satan begins if you are the Son of God. This is the temptation to doubt God's love by turning those stones into bread.

In other words Satan was saying If you're really in this relationship with God if you're really who you claim to be. Then why does God allow you to be in this adverse circumstance? Judge you the love of God by your circumstance and if you're in this awful Circumstance you're in the wilderness.

You're being molested or at least Afflicted by all these wild beasts and this hunger and all why doesn't God rescue you if he loves you? And so he was trying to get our Lord Jesus to doubt his father.

The Second Temptation: Ambition and God's Sufficiency

That brings us this morning to the second temptation and verses 5 to 8. Now before I read that I'm going to give you again the words that summarize all three temptations. We gave these three words last week number one the word doubt.

Doubt was the first temptation to doubt the father's love. The second is ambition or you could also use covetousness their ambition and then the third Word that summarizes the temptation is the word presumption.

But let me give you the same three temptations in terms of his relationship with God because that's what it's all about. The first temptation is to doubt God's love. The second temptation was to doubt God's sufficiency and The third temptation was to doubt God's faithfulness.

And that's what Satan was trying to get him to do. If you look please at verse 5 to 8, we'll read those together chapter 4 verses 5 to 8 and He led him off and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And the devil said to him I will give you all this domain and its glory. For it has been handed over to me and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if you worship before me, it shall all be yours. Jesus answered and said to him it is written.

You shall worship the Lord your God and him only. Shall you sir? Let me begin by reminding you by way of background that this temptation along with the others is Full of mystery in other words. There are things that there's no way we can understand.

For example, he took him to a high mountain. Oh high mountains or that would be called high in that particular area in the wilderness and especially high enough to See all the kingdoms of the world. Some people think this was more of a vision than a literal taking him to a high mountain again.

That's mystery. I don't know the answer to that and then in verse 5 it says that he showed him all the kingdoms of the world. And in Matthew's account of the same story chapter 4 in verse 8 Matthew says and all their glory so somehow Jesus was presented with all the kingdoms of the world and All their glory whatever that means.

And we don't know did Satan literally pick up his body and transport him to some mountain. We don't know about that and then look at this in Verse 5 in a moment of time see that also adds mystery to it.

Going up to a high mountain seeing all the glories of the kingdoms all the kingdoms of the world. And in a moment of time, I have an idea by some Miracle if you can describe a miracle to the enemy. He just in somehow in a panorama everything the world had to offer was passed.

Before the eyes of our Lord Jesus all of its dazzling beauty and unparalleled charm and and all of that kind of thing. And then he saw it all in a moment of time and then there's also a little bit of mystery.

I think in verse 6 Satan says it's been handed over to me and I can give it to whomever I will. Well, we know Satan has some kind of delegated authority. In other words, he's the god of this world and he has some power.

But he's also a liar. So I wouldn't doubt that he exaggerated here. I think as you go through the record, you'll see how limited he was. Later on Jesus is going to deal with some of the demons and that's one of their things.

Have you come to torment us before the time? And of course his answer to that was yes, and and every time he delivers he does sort of torment him before the time. But he's my point is there's a lot of Mystery in this.

I don't know what power Satan has to give what I know this much. He can't give us anything beyond that. His whole power is limited to that which passes away and he can't give anything that deals with the spirit all that mystery.

Let's look at the temptation as it's recorded here. To appreciate this temptation, let me just give you a little bit of background. And sort of pull on your Bible knowledge. I'm not going to try to do this all of us haven't had the same background.

And so I'm not going to try to embarrass you, but I'm just going to bring up some stories. You may or may not know King Solomon David's son great King Solomon the Bible says he was the wisest man That ever lived on the earth and the record shows that he was probably also the richest man That ever lived on the earth.

Well, this is not a question to be answered. But just think do you know the three books wrote in the Bible? He wrote Ecclesiastes and He wrote Song of Solomon and those three books if you take them together Proverbs Presents two ways to live you can live wise or you can live foolish look like if I live foolish Ecclesiastes that's why he wrote that to illustrate what happens if you live foolish.

What will my life look like if I live wise? Song of Solomon and so he wrote those three books in order to illustrate foolish living and wise living. In his book of Ecclesiastes he describes Foolish living perhaps you're familiar with the term.

He uses over and over again Vanity, can you finish it? That was his conclusion after this richest wisest man that ever lived. By his experience and by his observation and he was king so he had a lot to observe.

When it was all over he put his stamp on the world. Vanity of vanity all is vanity and then he added this and Vexation of spirit, it's not only vain. It's vexing it wears you out and That was his conclusion of this whole world system.

Now if I told you doesn't satisfy. You could look me in the eye and say how do you know? Have you ever tried it and I'd have to say well, no, but I you know, I've read a lot and I hear it doesn't satisfy.

Solomon said It doesn't satisfy. He knew say he God chose him on purpose. So that this wisest man that ever lived who experienced every pleasure. He said for seven years he went out and Tried with all of his resources.

Every pleasure he could think of in order to find satisfaction and Ecclesiastes gives the list of all that he tried. It's amazing to read what he tried and at the end. He just said vanity vanity a great big zero.

There's no satisfaction in it whatsoever. Now, let me just sort of summarize you say I thought we were doing Luke not Ecclesiastes. There is a tie in here Luke. I mean Solomon made three conclusions number one.

When he looked at this whole world system, he pointed out in Ecclesiastes that it's all a show. It's all for these eyes. It's just to behold that there's no substance to it in the end of the New Testament in first John and chapter 2 in verse 16 John describes the world in the same way.

He said all that's in the world and then he said the lust of the flesh. That's pleasures the lust of the eyes. That's riches and the pride of life and that's honor and dignity. He said all that's in the world is vanity.

It's like a bubble. It just doesn't it's not real a bubble will have 10 ,000 colors in it. But it's a false light. It's not in in the bubble itself. And if you grab it it bursts and so on all the glory of the world is invented.

It's imaginary. It's not real glory and we decide or somebody decide this is valuable. And so it becomes valuable so Enlightened people go to a savage people and see that they have gold and say we'll give you our glass for your gold we'll give you our beads if you give us those and They have they hold our gold and contempt they don't think our treasure is worth anything fine.

We love this sparkling glass. The point is who determined to them that their glass was valuable who determined to us that our gold was valuable. We did it's just a rock. That's all in the world. It is but it's so it's not real.

It's all imaginary and Solomon pointed out that there's nothing in the world. That's real. It's all imaginary and invented and so the only purpose for it. Someone wears beads and someone wears bracelets and someone wears jewelry the purpose of that and it works.

It's show that's all it's for. It's just Appearance, it's just to show and and that's the whole purpose of this world. And it has no other purpose and if you reduced everything down to its naked element to its first principle.

Then if we could really see how vain the whole world is silk just the excrement of a worm. I mean the food that we eat is dead animals and dead plants and so on. That's all in those like he prepared in a beautiful way.

So Solomon showed that the whole world was just show and he also showed that it was all vexation. It was all deceit and to to give your life to go after this vanity. It's such a waste of time. There's great vexation in getting it and all of the Effort to go after pleasures and honor and all that and then you get bored with it.

And it doesn't satisfy and then there's great vexation and trying to keep it after you get it and to hang on to it. And to guard it and all that kind of thing losing it is the grief. You know, it's not worth anything because if you had the whole world the toothache well Doesn't mean anything the toothache is big enough to destroy all the pleasures of the whole world.

If you had all of these treasures and riches and you got a stone in your shoe. You can't enjoy no matter how much it is. It just shows how vain this whole thing is. And then Solomon showed the third thing.

That only that was the conclusion of Ecclesiastes only God can satisfy. Because we're created with this Spiritual nature to know God and so the world is vain. It's all vexation and only God can satisfy.

Why do I bring that up here? If Solomon knew that by experience and observation. Don't you think our Lord Jesus knew that? Do you realize what Satan did. He takes this bubble and he dangles it before the Lord Jesus.

I'll give you all of this. Jesus knew what that was he saw to the elements to the Foundations of all of that and Satan is trying to get our Lord Jesus to say. Oh, wow. You give me all this. Jesus knew what it was and how transient it was and it was going to pass away.

And so this whole temptation to our Lord Jesus. It's just so amazing that Satan would try to do this notice in verse 7 and 8, please. Therefore if you worship before me It will all be yours. Jesus answered and said to him it is written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only.

Shall you serve. See what Satan is trying to do is to bump the Lord Jesus as in the first temptation. He was trying to get Jesus to say does your father really love you. Trying to get Jesus to say. Is your father really enough?

Is he adequate. Is he sufficient. I can give you so much more Than this. Now remember our Lord Jesus was alone in the wilderness. With the devil now I speak as a fool. The we don't see it in the original I mean in the English, but in the Greek when he says fall down and worship me the Greek word means Just this one.

I don't know wilderness. It's private. It's secret. I'll never tell and if you just do it one time that shows the malice of Satan. Yeah, it's so proud he was he just wanted it one time. But he's trying to get his eyes off of his father God.

In verse 8 Jesus couldn't be moved. He said thou shalt worship the Lord God and him only. Shall you serve. You notice in that verse the relationship between worship and service? Said worship it begins with worship it ends with service and the only thing in between Worship and service is the Lord thy God and him only it starts with worship and it ends with service and Jesus knew Who you worship?

You serve. Satan just said just worship me one and Jesus said yeah and be your servant forever. Who you worship you serve. I'm not going to to worship you and so our Lord Jesus was So victorious for us in our behalf because he saw right down to the core Of this whole world system, and how vain it was and he also saw that his father was sufficient.

There's something pretty wonderful in Matthew's account of this temptation that we don't see in Luke before Jesus said. It is written You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve before he said that.

He said something else to say. Luke doesn't tell us but Matthew does anybody know what that was? Just before he said it is written. What he said was King James says get thee hence Satan. The my new American standard here says be gone.

I like that be gone Satan it is written the Lord your God and him only Shall you serve probably one one thing that means is that Matthew's order is correct? Because see in other words. This is the second temptation in Luke.

It's the third temptation in Matthew and after that he said be gone. So he that was probably Matthew's order is probably the order of chronology. But I also see it as sort of a prophecy you see Satan was saying.

I'll give you this whole world if you worship me and Jesus said Begone, I'll take the world by driving you up. And I think it's sort of a prophetic thing of what's going to happen you see the reason God came to the earth in the person of the Lord Jesus.

Was to reclaim the inheritance back to the world everything Satan offered him. That's why he came to get and Satan was trying to get him to shortcut the will of God. I'll give you all this. You don't have to go all the way to the cross.

You don't have to die to win all of this. All you have to do is one time bow the knee to me, and it's you. And he was trying to get him to shortcut the will of God. Said all of this God promised you I'll give it to you if you do it my way.

And he said no, I'm going to do it my father's way. Worship the Lord your God in him only. Shall you serve? Satan would love to get Jesus to look away from his father and to look at the prize. Look at the inheritance instead of God himself now.

It's important for us. To end up in the will of God. But the way to end up in the will of God is to go after God. If you go after God you can't miss God's will if you try to shortcut and go after the will of God.

Many times you can miss it. So that's the second temptation. Discontent God's not enough. There's more beside God ambition go after this. Now as we did last week in order to make this intensely practical.

Let me take it out of what our Lord Jesus Experienced and sort of bring it down and apply it several ways to our own heart. How does Satan sometimes tempt us on the mountain with all of the world? One way I think is in verse 5 again.

I said there's mystery here. I don't know what this means. He showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Has that ever happened to me? The closest I can come to that in my life is daydreaming.

I don't know if that's what happened to the Lord Jesus. But I'm a great daydreamer and sometime I'll just be in a trance. And what I'm thinking of a lot of times is vanity and it just come and I'm always the hero in my daydream.

And all this vanity comes through and I think Satan can take advantage of all that kind of thing when we just Meditate on those things that are going to pass away. There's a movement. I don't know if you're familiar with it because every Christian group they sort of cluster together, but in the big Christian world there's a movement around now called name it Claimant have you heard it name it and claim it and the idea is visualize sit down in a chair and just think and Meditate and picture what you want and and if it's a car picture what color it is and how big it is just picture it and Then claim name it claim and God will give it to you and it's his whole.

I think it's nothing more than he just passed all this in front of his face. I think it's a dangerous thing and I just sort of give you a warning on that in advance. A Second way Satan can tempt us with this second temptation.

Of course is the most obvious way by the sin of covetousness. Just this idea the folly of setting our heart on what the Bible has already stamped as Vanity now the Bible says God has given us freely all things to enjoy.

He's not against us having things. In fact, he's given it to us to enjoy and that's the purpose of all things. But to set your heart on. Some people have just gone after it as a goal rather than a byproduct.

Or let me just test your Bible knowledge again not to embarrass you. Don't answer just think I'm going to name a bunch of Covetous people in the Bible think if you can recall their story Aiken the story God Solomon, of course Judas and Sapphira, you don't need to know those stories because it all illustrates the same point.

They went after this world and crashed. They this they thought that was the whole thing. The Sunim bottom of life was just thing. In fact the first record of covetousness in the Bible Is in the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve part of the sin was God is not enough and there's more and you can have more if you try to get beyond what God has Has commanded you and so on. It's true that this world is vanity and it's a bubble and it's a shadow and it's a dream.

And it's transient and it's passing away. It's called deceitful. Isn't it amazing what a high price some people put on. I got a phone call two days ago it just shook me to my socks. A Christian son was suing his Christian father for $450.

And all the relationships that are being crushed by this thing. People who work their heads off to get what's going to pass away people kill for it. It's an amazing thing and it's so so vain Colossians 3 to warned us set your affections on Things above not on the things of this earth.

And then finally, of course the great temptation here is discontent to ever suggest That your God is not enough. He is adequate. He is enough and Jesus was saying I'll choose God or nothing when he chose God for nothing.

He got everything you don't lose by choosing the Lord. No one ever loses by choosing the law. Satan loves to get us to think that there's satisfaction in something else. Jesus Was. Satan was trying to get Jesus to believe that if you went after it was God's will that Jesus have the world.

So they can said I go after go after the world and he said no go after God not after the world if you go After you're gonna lose the byproduct and we go. I think I've used this story in another connection, but it's so powerful.

I'm gonna just tell you again stir up your mind. And he said I'm coming back to Newport and I'm gonna find the will of God no matter what he said. I bought a bunch of books and I'm going to find. So he stopped in South Carolina to see a friend of mine and he had all these books brand-new books never cracked piled up and My friend said what are you doing?

He said I'm gonna find the will of God for my life. And then he said to my friend, where do you think I should start? So he went over and he looked at the books and right on the top is Naves topical Bible.

You familiar with that? It's a Bible that just has topics. You look up topics and it gives you all the Bible reference. So he looked at that Naves topical Bible. He said once you look up guidance. He said once you start there, so he looks it up and you know how books cross-reference.

If you take Naves Bible look up guidance it says see God. It was over he put those books down and he came up and he's doing beautifully now in the Lord. But it just said his heart to see God. You want guidance.

See God see God and that's what Satan was trying to do. He said stop looking at God go after the. The treasure. Jesus said no. No, I'm gonna worship the Lord my God and then all these things will be added unto us.

The Third Temptation: Presumption and Testing God

I'm gonna ask you to look at verse 9, please. Final temptation. He led him to Jerusalem had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple said to him if you are the Son of God. Throw yourself down from here for it's written.

He'll give his angels charge Concerning you to guard you on their hands and they'll bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone. Jesus answered and said to him you shall not put the Lord your God to the task.

We've used the word presumption to describe this particular temptation. Notice in verse 9. He led him up to Jerusalem. Well, you know, that's the Holy City. That's a spiritual place and then he led him up to the temple.

Well, that's a spiritual place and then he led him to the pinnacle of the temple. You couldn't get higher Than Jerusalem the temple and the pinnacle of the temple. I call attention to that to remind you that some of your greatest temptations and mine Will be spiritual temptation not only to run after this world.

But in the temple in the Holy City and on the pinnacle of the temple. Now, let me back off and remind you of what Satan was attempting to do now. Remember, he's trying to bump Jesus. Jesus is in union with his father.

He's trying to upset that to get him off balance. And so To get him to doubt God he said doubt God's love. He wouldn't allow this hard time if he really loved you and Jesus said in effect, I will trust my father.

And he said but your father's not enough. There's this whole world. I'll give it to you one minute just bow down just for a second and he said I will trust my father. So in this temptation. If Satan can't keep you from the will of God He'll drive you beyond the will of God.

If he can't keep you off the horse He'll push you off the other side of the horse. And so that's what he's doing here. Satan says in effect you won't trust God. You insist on trusting God? Okay, trust him.

Let's see how great your faith is. Let's see you trust him now put your faith on display. Let's see how absolute your faith is. So Satan goes into Psalm 91 and He quotes Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12. He's given a promise to you.

Jesus your father said That if you were to fall down his angels would protect you and they would catch you. Is your father faithful? Did he mean what he said? Trust him. Throw yourself down from this pinnacle of the town.

You see Satan here quoting scripture how subtle that is. Now do you realize you have to read Psalm 91 to see it? But if he quoted one more verse see he stopped short if he quoted one more verse He would have quoted his own doom because the next verse says and thou will Allow him to tread upon the adder and that was a prophecy said he's going to crush the head of the serpent.

He'd stopped short of that. He didn't want him to hear that at all. This whole idea of Satan quoting the Bible can you can get the Bible to prove anything? Anybody can quote the Bible dip in there and make it mean this and make it mean that.

Sometimes you just move a comma around or something and it'll mean something else. You know that verse in Colossians let him that stole steal no more. Rather than let him labor with his hand. That's a good word.

Just move the comma let him that stole steal. No more, let him labor with his hand. All I did was move the comma and so you can get the Bible to mean whatever you want it to mean and Satan loves to do that.

Satan Is saying Jesus your father has given you a promise. Now, let's see if you can trust him. Venture on your faith do something heroic here. You are on the pinnacle of the temple and the people are down in the court beneath.

Thousands of people you want to prove your Messiah. What an opportunity you've got a promise in the Bible claim the Word of God. Leap off from the tower. The angels will come and catch you up. You'll be on display.

Everybody will see it. They'll all applaud you'll be famous and they'll all know that you are truly the Messiah. That was the temptation that he was trying to give him here. Just picture the Lord Jesus standing on that high pinnacle.

With the people below and this whole idea of prove your faith show that God is faithful and so on. In verse 12 Jesus answered and said you shall not tempt. The Lord your God put your God to the test that Satan was saying in effect.

Prove your faith and Jesus said if I have to prove it. It's not faith. But if I have to demonstrate it, it's not faith. My father's faithful and I don't have to prove it. I rest in it. I don't have to prove it by putting myself in a circumstance that forces God to do a miracle.

Just in order to prove my faith Satan was saying challenge God see if he's really as faithful as he said he is. Satan was really trying to get Jesus to take his eye off the object of his faith and Put his eyes on faith, you know, it's a terrible thing to have faith in your faith.

What Jesus was saying is I am going to and Satan said he put the emphasis on trust. We do that in our Christian life too as some poor Christians struggle. So with faith and it's because they're not looking to the object of their faith and everyone says trust.

You know, I don't know how to trust. I want to trust. I want to have faith. I don't know how to have faith. It's easy if you trust God. If you think of the object of your faith, it's easy to trust a friend.

I can trust Lillian. I can't trust a stranger if I can trust Lillian. Because that's who she is. And so Satan was trying to say get your eyes off of God and put your eyes on faith. And Jesus said if you do that You're tempting God.

Not Trusting God and he made the difference between Tempting God and trusting God between presumption and faith. Now, what is presumption? Webster says it's to to assume to dare to venture to encroach upon.

When I try to without a word from God. To put God to the test. To needlessly put myself in a place of danger on my own accord. When duty doesn't call me to that place of danger and then expect God to rescue me.

If I have to go out on some limb or take some daring public Display of faith in order to prove God. I'm really only testing God. Jesus proved Psalm 91 By not jumping. He didn't prove it by jumping. He proved it by not jumping now.

Practical Applications of Presumption

Let me try to bring it home to our own hearts and apply it several ways. How does Satan tempt us in the temple and the pinnacle of the town? Well, the first is obvious I think in spiritual place the place in the world.

One of the things I love in Leviticus 16 in the day of atonement when they had to sprinkle the blood with the hyssop branch. And God said you gotta sprinkle the sinners and so that makes sense sprinkle the sinners with blood and then he said sprinkle the altar and then he said sprinkle the the Piece of ferns.

Why does that need to be sprinkled? Now I'll tell you why everything needs the blood of the Lord Jesus and my prayers need to be sprinkled with the blood of the Lord and my when I take communion that needs to be sprinkled and when I study my Bible this whole idea.

In spiritual places Satan can can really tempt us a lot. It's a high place and it's a dangerous place. He dangles before us our privileges and God said this and God said that and let's see if you have faith claim it and so on.

And it just is a terrible temptation. Let me get home a little closer to it. Satan attempts tries to tempt us. By causing us to act apart from a clear word from God. And I think this is the essence of the temptation.

One thing that's helped me so much is numbers 14. Where God uses the word presumption and he actually described it. It was that Kadesh Barnea where Israel failed in unbelief. They said we're all there's giants over there.

We can't go into that land and they're going to get us and Caleb said trust God. He can take you and he can get those giants and he said oh, but we looked at the giants and we were like grasshopper and he said well look at God and then they'll be like grasshoppers and trust God just look to the Lord and They said no, we can't believe God.

And so God said, all right, you're not going in. And then they felt bad about it. They said, all right, we'll believe God. We'll go up and God said don't go up I'm not going with you. It's all yeah, we're gonna have faith.

We're going up. Anyway, we'll show you that we really mean it and it says they went presumptuously up the hill and oh. They got slaughtered and they came back and it was off and then you know, the rest 40 years in the wilderness and so on.

What is presumption? It's it's putting myself. It's Putting myself in a place of danger. When duty hasn't called me there this idea that faith neglect duties is so wrong incurring danger. Let me give several illustrations from my own life a brother come to me one time said it's a sin to buy insurance.

These exigencies you don't need insurance. I have a dear brother. I Love this guy. He has some mental limitations and so all things and I mean seriously he is he's retarded and. But he's trusted in the Lord and he's done some squirrely thing.