Temptation in the Wilderness Luke 4 Vs 1-13

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All right, well good morning and welcome. For announcements -wise, women's

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Bible study is going to be February 18 at 10 o 'clock, ladies, so you can talk to Barb when she's back, she's got, always has her handouts for that.

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Men's Bible study is the 18th at 3 .30 in the Fellowship Hall. For the biblical counseling training, pastor's going to be beginning that March 11 at 11 o 'clock in the morning.

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Be praying about that. We, as an elder board leadership team, we felt that it would be a good idea to circulate that we're having that class, that pastors have leading that class, so he's sending out letters to various somewhat like -minded type churches to make them aware of it, to spread the word, the good news, and to see if they would have an interest in joining us.

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So be praying that that would be impactful. I wanted to read just a few verses from Psalm 92, and you can listen along.

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It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your loving -kindness in the morning and your faithfulness every night on an instrument of ten strings, on the lute and on the harp with harmonious sound.

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For you, Lord, have made me glad through your work. I will triumph in the works of your hands.

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And really, that's just sharing that we are to be completely God -focused.

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You know, it's not about our thoughts, it's not about what we think, and in some respects, some of what we've been experiencing, but to bring that to the

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Lord and lift it up to the Lord, because that is who we are worshiping this day and really every moment of our lives.

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But corporately, and that's what this passage was about, speaking to the

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Hebrew church of gathering together and giving praise to God. So we're doing that on this

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Sunday, and please join with me in a word of prayer. Lord God, we thank you that you have gathered us together.

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We, as your people, Father, that you are our Lord, you are the God on Most High, and we worship you, and may we honor you this day,

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Father. God, we pray for those that aren't here today, that are sick, that have certain ailments and frailties,

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Lord, that you would bless them, Father, where they're at, that you would minister to their hearts, that they would draw close to you,

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Father, and know that you are present, even in the darkness, Lord, you are there. There's always a sliver of light,

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Father. Lord, so we thank you that we have hope in you, that we can trust in you, that we can walk with you, that we can worship you today.

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So God, be with us now, be with pastor as he shares from your word. We pray for the instruments and that you would help them as they lead us in song.

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So God, may you be glorified in everything that we do today. We praise you, and we thank you for your goodness and your love.

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May we show that to one another today, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, God's grace be to us all, and let's stand and sing.

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So this morning's scripture reading is going to be coming from Hebrews chapter 2,

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Hebrews chapter 2. We're going to be reading verses 14 through 18. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had power over death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

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For indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he gives aid to the seed of Abraham.

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Therefore things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

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For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted he is able to aid those who are tempted.

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May God bless the hearing of his word. Please turn with me to the gospel according to Luke chapter 4, the gospel according to Luke chapter 4, verses 1 through 13.

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Then Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the

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Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil.

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And in those days he ate nothing, and afterward when they had ended he was hungry.

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And the devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. But Jesus answered him, saying,

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It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the devil, taking him up on a mountain, high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

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And the devil said to him, All this authority I will give you, and their glory for this have been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever

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I wish. Therefore if you will worship before me, all will be yours.

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And Jesus answered and said to him, Get behind me, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the

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Lord your God, and him only you shall serve. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him,

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If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone.

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And Jesus answered and said to him, It has been said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

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This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we are thankful that Jesus is our

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King, and Jesus is the greater Adam who represented us better.

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He is the conquering lion who survived the temptations and held faithfully onto you.

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Father, we pray that we would appreciate him more today, and also that like him, as your children, that we would fight off every temptation that Satan throws at us.

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In Jesus' name, amen. So after Luke's genealogy, which was different from Matthew, we get to the temptations in the wilderness.

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And the order is slightly different than that of Matthew. So for example,

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Luke begins and ends the testing of Jesus' sonship with the phrase,

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If you're the Son of God. Matthew has a different order. And the reason is,

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Luke sets up his structure in a sandwich structure in which the temptation begins with,

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If you're the Son of God, and the temptation also ends with, If you're the Son of God.

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And what this structure teaches us is that at the core of Satan's temptation is the testing of Jesus' identity as the

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Son of God. It's the testing of Jesus' relationship to the Father.

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And this is really important for us in this context. First of all, right before this temptation was

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Luke's genealogy that went in the reverse order and ended on Adam, the first human, and his title was the

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Son of God. And that theme of the Son of God continues here, right?

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Jesus' genealogy does not only show us that he's the promised Davidic king and the fulfillment of the

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Abrahamic blessing, but not only that, he is the savior of all humanity because he links to Adam, the first human.

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And it is important to consider this Adamic connection in reading this text for two reasons.

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First, like Adam, Jesus will be tempted by Satan. But unlike Adam, he will faithfully obey

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God. Second, because of Jesus' connection to Adam, all of humanity can relate to the temptation that Jesus faced in the wilderness.

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Although Jesus' temptations are unique, they are not irrelevant to our walk with God.

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I'm sure none of us here have been tempted to turn a stone into bread. But at the core of it, at the core of the temptation is the temptation to depend on our own power and strength instead of leaning on God's provision.

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And as the second Adam, Jesus faces the temptation over and over and over again, and he wins.

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And ironically, Satan tempts him to prove that he is the son of God by disobeying

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God. But Jesus proves that he is the son of God precisely by obeying

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God faithfully, unlike the first Adam. And the temptations of Jesus teach us that at the core of all temptations is that there is a doubt of who

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God is and his character, and the doubt of who we are in our identity.

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And that is crucial. This morning, we might be tempted by things that we don't have.

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We might be tempted by things we could have had. And we might even be tempted by things that we need for our basic living.

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However, at the core of each temptation, what this text teaches us is that when we fall into temptation, when we actively choose to listen to the temptation, we're believing in some sort of lie about God and about us.

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When we sin against God, when we choose the wrong thing, by falling into temptation, we are innately believing that God has not provided enough.

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And that also affects how we view ourselves. We no longer view ourselves as the children of God who obey the

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Father, but someone else who disobeys the

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Father. So, the main point of today's text is, despite any satanic temptations, the true

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Son of God trusts His Father and His promises. Despite any satanic temptations, the true

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Son of God trusts His Father and His promises. There are three temptations.

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So, the sermon is divided into three parts. And rarely do

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I do this, but there is an alliteration. The first temptation regards

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God's provision. So, there are three P's, provision, prostration, and protection.

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Satan attacks God's provision, prostration, worship, and protection.

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Rarely it works out this way in the English language or, I mean, really it's not meant to be alliteration every

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Sunday. So, I don't do this every Sunday, but this text really helps us to understand this in this setting.

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And it really helps us to remember the series of temptations through this alliteration.

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First, provision. Despite Satan's temptation to distrust God's provision for His Son, Jesus relies on God's words as His source of sustenance.

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Despite Satan's temptation to distrust God's provision for His Son, Jesus relies on God's words as His source of sustenance.

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Now, the first two verses set the context for Jesus testing in the wilderness. Then Jesus, being filled with the

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Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

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Being tempted for 40 days by the devil, and in those days He ate nothing, and afterward when they had ended,

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He was hungry. So first, Jesus was not tempted because He put

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Himself at risk, right? Oftentimes we get tempted because we go to the wrong place knowingly, and then we fall into temptation.

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But that's not the case for Jesus. He did not choose unwisely to be tempted.

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He was led there for a purpose, and with Jesus, He was filled with the

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Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who verified Jesus' sonship from His baptism was the same

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Spirit who filled Him and led Him to the wilderness in order that He may be tempted.

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And in the wilderness, Jesus is tempted for 40 days by the devil, the accuser.

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The setting here echoes the two major points in God's redemptive history.

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First, the Garden of Eden, and second, Israel journey through the wilderness from Egypt to the

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Promised Land. First, just as Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan to disobey

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God's words, Jesus will be tempted by Satan to distrust and disobey

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God's words. And this helps us, the connection helps us, especially since the genealogy ended with Adam, the son of God.

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If Adam was the son of God in a sense because he is the first humanity and God created him to be the first humanity and to rule over all creation, this chapter shows us what it means to be the true son of God that Adam failed to be.

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Second, just as Israel was tested in the wilderness for 40 years,

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Jesus was tested in the wilderness for 40 days. And here,

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Jesus takes place of not only Israel but also all humanity.

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There's a double connection here. The temptation is more than just a repetition, the fulfillment of Jesus taking the place of Israel, but Jesus taking the place of all humanity.

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As I said before last week, what my New Testament professor said, in order for Jesus to die in place of his people, he had to live a substitutionary life.

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In order for Jesus to suffer the substitutionary death for his people, Jesus had to live the substitutionary life for his people.

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And here, it's for both Israel, but not only that, all humanity. Now, as Jesus fasted for 40 days,

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Satan tempted him. There's no reason to think that fasting for 40 days was an impossible task.

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There are records of people being able to fast with enough rest and water to fast for 40 days or longer.

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It's an arduous task, but it's not his first miracle here.

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And verse 3 shows Satan's first major attack. If you're the son of God, command this stone to become bread.

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The conditional phrase, if you're the son of God, challenges Jesus' very sonship.

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Satan tempts Jesus to question God's guidance as his only son.

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And this very phrase attacks Jesus' identity as God's son, which was publicly proclaimed at his baptism.

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In Luke 3 .22, you are my beloved son, in you I am well pleased.

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The temptation is to get Jesus to not depend on his father for provision and guidance, but to depend on himself.

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And that is really the source of all temptation, one of the main sources of all temptation.

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Don't trust God, trust yourself. And what

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Satan does is he twists and perverts what God has declared. His tactic has not really changed since Genesis 3.

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Did God really say that? Well, if you're the son of God, right, it is all about putting in the doubt of what

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God has clearly said. Did God really say not to eat of the fruit? Oh, you shall surely not die.

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And here, after God has specifically said, you are my beloved son, Satan attacks that.

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Well, if you're the son of God. Now, first, we need to unpack the biblical theme of sonship, which we have been doing, but it doesn't hurt to review.

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In ancient times, sonship was more than just the biological connection. Sons represented and functioned as their father.

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For example, the son of a baker was expected to become a baker himself.

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Same with carpentry, same with fishermen. And even a hundred years ago, this would have been very similar.

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If your father is a shoemaker, you're expected to be a shoemaker. And for the majority of the time, the son did what the father did.

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And in Mark, Jesus is called the carpenter, which assumes that Joseph had passed on and Jesus took over the family business.

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Hence, when we see the phrase, the son of God, we can know that the son in some way does what the father does.

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And in the Old Testament, the Davidic kings were called sons of God because in some way, the

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Davidic kings ruled on behalf of God. And he protected and provided justice and mercy toward Israel as God does.

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And in Exodus 4, even Israel as a nation is called the son of God, the firstborn.

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And this is because Israel, unlike all the other nations, were supposed to represent

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God in their holiness. They were holy as God was holy. They were set apart.

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And ultimately, Jesus is the unique son of God who fully does what his father does.

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Right? In John 5, Jesus' reason for healing on the Sabbath is this.

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I healed because the father healed. I do what the father does.

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If you're going to accuse me of breaking the Sabbath, you're accusing the father. And that's why the

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Pharisees want to kill him. He basically called himself God. And Jesus is the ultimate son of God because he is divine just as God the father is divine.

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Now, with this in mind, Satan's attack is more than about food, right?

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This is more than just Jesus was hungry. What Satan is tempting here is that Jesus, you could operate independently from your father.

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It may sound a bit like this. Oh, surely the good, good father would not let his only son to starve.

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Maybe he's abandoned you. Don't wait for him. Provide for yourself.

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You can do it. That's what it would have sounded like if we had a longer dialogue.

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It's more than just about food. It's not that God is against making, turning stone into bread, right?

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What's wrong about this miracle? That's because all throughout the gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus will have no problem feeding multiple people with bread.

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He has no problem. He feeds the 5 ,000 first and then the 4 ,000.

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He even provides wine and John, right? Feeding is not a problem. It's not a problematic miracle for Jesus.

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He did it when every, when Jesus performed every miracle, he did it in obedience to his father's will.

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He did it according to his father's plan. What this means is no miracle that Jesus has done in all his life was apart from his father's blessing.

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Now Satan is tempting Jesus to question God's very provision, questioning

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God's goodness. And the moment Jesus turns a stone into bread, he would outwardly express his inward doubt of God's provision.

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He would be showing that he does not trust

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God's goodness in providing for him. However, Jesus responds to Satan's attack in verse four by quoting a portion of Deuteronomy 8 .3.

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It is written, men shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. The context of this verse is from Deuteronomy 8 in which

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Moses is reminding Israelites of what happened in Exodus 16.

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When they ran out of food in the wilderness, they started grumbling and God provided bread from heaven called manna.

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And the reason is because Israel grumbled because they doubted God's very provision.

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And this happened almost immediately after their deliverance from Egypt. After seeing the

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Red Sea close upon the Egyptian army and they were delivered safely, they started doubting

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God's goodness. And what is striking to see here is that Jesus quotes from Scripture to fight against Satan's attacks.

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In some cultish Christian culture, you hear people trying to rebuke Satan or some sort of demon, some sort of sin, trying to rebuke it out loud with very high volume as if that would intimidate

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Satan. But that's not what we see here. Jesus, although he could rebuke

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Satan, he holds fast to God's words. Jesus' weapon of choice is

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Scripture, the very word of God, the sword of the Spirit. Jesus counters

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Satan's lie with God's truth. The best antidote against Satan's lies is

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Scripture. It's not screaming. It's not holy water.

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It's Scripture. It's the truth that comes from God's mouth. And Jesus counters

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Satan by scripturally showing what is more fundamentally necessary for life, something that is more crucial than food,

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God's very word. Deuteronomy 8 tells us that bread from heaven that God provided Israel in the wilderness was not the ultimate end for life.

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Ultimately, the bread from heaven manna pointed to the true source of life, words that came from God.

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Ironically, Jesus, although he has no bread from heaven and hasn't had bread for 40 days, held fast to the very source of life that Israel failed to see, the word of God.

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While Israel died in disobedience in the wilderness, despite the bread that filled their tummies, because they missed the true bread that the manna pointed to,

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Jesus depends on God's word despite no manna ever given to him from heaven.

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Jesus is the greater Israel. Jesus fulfills what Israel failed.

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Second, the second irony comes when we compare

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Jesus and Adam. While Adam chose to disobey

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God by eating one forbidden fruit, despite the abundance of fruit in the garden of Eden, Jesus chose to obey

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God, not relying on himself to make bread, although he could, despite his severe lack in the wilderness.

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Adam bought into Satan's lie in great abundance that he didn't have enough.

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Jesus didn't have enough and knew the great abundant life comes from God's word, and he held fast to it.

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And although none of us this morning will be tempted to turn a stone into bread, there is always temptation to question

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God's provision when we encounter some unexpected lack. I cannot meet the budget this month.

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I don't know how I'm going to go through this season. I don't know how

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I'm going to continue with ministry. I don't know how I can carry on with my marriage.

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And the temptation is always there, the temptation that Satan mouthed to Jesus.

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Rely on yourself. Provide for yourself. Do it according to your own strength.

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You don't need God, and the solution is always the same.

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Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from God. The solution is, even this morning, to go back to what

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God has to say. Lean on God's compassionate heart who provides at all times.

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Lean on God who gives freely, who provides life abundantly.

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Go to his word. Surrender to him. Don't trust yourself.

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Trust God. Second, prostration.

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Despite Satan's offer of glory and honor against God's will, Jesus devotes himself to the

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Father. Prostration, despite Satan's offer of glory and honor against God's will,

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Jesus devotes himself to the Father. Now, after failing to tempt

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Jesus the first time, Satan offers glory and honor.

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The following two verses describe the offer. Satan changes up the strategy, right?

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He's not going to go through the same temptation twice. Verse five displays the prize, and verse six spells it out.

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Then the devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

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At the very moment, Satan shows Jesus what he could have.

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He is presented with all the kingdoms. All the earthly authority and honor, fame, and power are right before his eyes.

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Jesus, a 30 -year -old man who comes from a poor background, in the moment, he could have it all.

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And verse six describes what Jesus was shown. All this authority I will give you and their glory, for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever

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I wish. There are two important aspects to consider here.

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First, in one sense, every earthly kingdom before the full restoration through Jesus Christ is influenced by Satan himself.

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It's important not to forget that, or we will be heavily disappointed by what the nations do, what our own government does.

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There has been no kingdom on earth that has not been influenced by Satan.

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And unfortunately, we don't really have to imagine this in our country. As even we saw last week, a full display of a satanic ritual on live

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TV, and they celebrated that as entertainment.

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A singer dressed up as Satan and dancing in public. And frankly, until the full redemption of the world through the gospel, through Jesus, when he comes back, there will not be a nation that is not under Satan's power.

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However, the second point is important. Just because Satan is offering something does not mean he has the authority to give it.

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It is true that Satan has power over the nations, but that's just temporary.

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Until the full redemption, the ultimate being who has the full power to give over the nations is

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God himself. In the book of Daniel, it is the ancient of days, the

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Lord who gives over all the nations to the son of man. It is not

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Satan. It is the Lord. It is

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God's prerogative to give nations to whomever he desires. God is in control.

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He is sovereign. Now, whether Satan knows this and is lying, he is known to be a liar, or he is self -delusional.

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Satan would have to be self -delusional to go against God. We will not know.

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But that's the offer. You can have all the glory, power, and fame in this world.

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It's a sweet offer. At the center of this specific temptation is

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Jesus attaining glory and honor apart from the

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Father. All throughout the Old Testament, and even through the promises of the

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New Testament, Jesus attains his glory on the cross.

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The gospel of John, the main theme is Jesus will be glorified.

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And the moment of glorification is at his utter humiliation on the cross.

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That's why before the cross, he prays to the Father, glorify me as I glorify you.

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God is most glorified on the display of utter humiliation when he died for our sin.

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Now, what Satan is tempting here is crucial. You can have all the honor and glory, just bypass the cross.

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Avoid the utter humiliation. Take the easier route to get to the desired destination.

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The deal would entail Jesus establishing his very own kingdom without the pain and suffering.

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And in fact, many world leaders have taken this bait themselves. They made themselves into gods over and over again.

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Alexander the Great, all the Roman Caesars, they deified themselves. Here, Satan dangles the same bait in front of Jesus and hides the hook.

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Now, what's the hook? Verse seven shows the deadly hook.

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Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. Jesus will be given all authority, power, fame, honor, and glory on earth only if he prostrates before Satan.

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The word here is more than just heart worship. It is an external bending down of the knee.

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Kneel before Satan and you will have it all. The Son of God will receive the glory and honor if he bows down to a mere creature.

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Remember, Satan is a created being. He's not God. This is nothing less than the utter destruction of the relationship between the

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Son and the Father. If Jesus worshipped Satan, it would be an utter treason.

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In fact, we cannot possibly imagine what would have happened if Jesus had worshipped

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Satan. The whole universe would have fallen apart because the Trinity would no longer be triune.

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Imagine the Son of God being cut off from the

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Father completely because of idolatry. What a scary thought.

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Now, how does Jesus respond? For it is written, you shall worship the

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Lord your God and him only you shall serve. Jesus again responds with Scripture.

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Despite the promise of glory and power without suffering, Jesus sides with his

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Father. His Father is his main priority.

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This is the characteristic of the true Son of God. The Son who is forever faithful to his

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Father despite the suffering and trials that are ahead of him.

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Jesus would rather suffer and obey God. Adam and Eve chose death to disobey

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God at this temptation. Jesus was promised to rule.

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From Luke 1 to 2, he is called the Davidic King. He is to rule the nation.

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He's to rule all the nations. But Satan's temptation here is that you get to the same destination with less of a hike.

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You get to the same destination by taking the shortcut. All you have to do is worship me.

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And when Jesus rules, all authority will come from the

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Father and not Satan. In fact, the theme of prostration and worship gets picked up at the end of the book of Luke.

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It is not through bowing down to Satan but faithfully obeying the

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Father by dying on the cross for our sin. The Father exalts the

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Son who obediently humbles himself at the cross. After enduring the cross, the resurrected

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Christ is worshipped by his followers in Luke 24 -52. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

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The reason why Jesus is worshipped here is not because he took Satan's bait but precisely because he refused it and decided to go on the road that his

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Father has prepared for him despite the hardship that it came with it. Jesus did not take the easy way out but held fast to God's will for him.

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Since then, all the nations have been given to Christ and we longingly wait for the day of his public physical reign.

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And this temptation is not foreign to us.

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The desire to be the one worthy of worship has been the main desire to our first parents

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Adam and Eve. Satan's quote is that Adam and Eve can be like God if they disobey.

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And Adam and Eve took the bait and that temptation is potentially the most effective temptation that Satan can throw at humanity.

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Whenever you look at a conflict, whether marital or global warfare, at the core of it is one party's desire to be worshipped and the other party's refusal.

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And this happens among the nations and this happens in the bedroom.

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This happens in the family. This happens in the church.

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Power and glory and honor through unwarranted means.

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Power and honor and fame through the route that God does not approve of.

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That is the temptation. And for Christians, we need to look to Christ who has refused that temptation.

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When we stand before Christ, what right or entitlement do we have to take the shortcut to attain unwarranted power, unauthorized honor through the satanic means?

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If our God himself didn't and he suffered the utter humiliation for our sake, we have none of that entitlement.

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We have no right and the solution still is the same.

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We acknowledge God as God and surrender any sense of entitlement to God.

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We're not owed anything from anyone. We're not owed anything from God except eternal punishment.

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But that God has graciously taken away through his son Jesus dying on the cross.

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What we do owe is that we owe God our full allegiance and that the picture of full allegiance and worship is seen in Christ when he refused to take the kingdoms from Satan.

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Third, protection. Despite Satan's temptation to doubt God's protection of his son,

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Jesus trusts in God's promises. Despite Satan's temptation to doubt

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God's protection of his son, Jesus trusts in God's promises. After failing to tempt

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Jesus twice, Satan takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. It is debated which part of the temple is the pinnacle.

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But if we consider the royal porch on the southeastern corner, it would have been about 450 feet.

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Whether it was falling, wherever it was, falling from such a height would have required a divine intervention to survive.

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No one can live after falling from 450 feet without some sort of intervention from God.

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And Satan learning from the past temptations, he himself uses scripture to test Jesus.

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Note this, Satan knows scripture too. He knows scripture really well.

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If you're the son of God, throw yourself down from here for it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against the stone.

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The location, the temple location here is significant because the temple is the dwelling place of God.

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What Satan is showing is if God were to intervene to save someone, surely he would do it from his house.

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And that's what Satan is attempting to draw out of Jesus here. Jesus, is

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God really protecting you? If he is, jump down from his very house.

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He'll save you. Furthermore, Satan uses

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Psalm 91 to justify his temptation. Psalm 91 is about God's powerful protection for his faithful people.

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Here, Satan quotes from verses 11 through 12 to tempt Jesus to test

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God's protection. And it is important to note that scripture can be abused.

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People can use scripture wrongly. And this is why

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I'm not a fan of just reading the verse of the day. If you just read the verse of the day, you get to create what context that verse is used in.

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Philippians 4 .13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can be an

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NBA star. Out of context. Scripture quoted out of context leads to debasement of God's Word.

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It leads to abuse of God's Word. When we consider the whole context of Psalm 91, is that God is utterly protecting the faithful followers.

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Nowhere in Psalm 91 are the faithful followers testing God's protection.

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They're not jumping into danger themselves. They, because they live in a fallen, broken world, and their wicked enemies out there, are getting attacked and trapped.

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But despite all that, God provides a way out. He's the ultimate source of refuge.

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Nowhere in the text is the righteous putting himself in danger's way. In fact,

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I would argue that a faithful follower would not test God's protection because testing

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God stems from the very lack of faith. Testing God would be presumptuous and distrusting of God's protection.

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It's this sort of mindset. Well, let me see if God will protect me this time.

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I don't think God will protect me as son. I will decide how he will prove his loyalty to me by protecting me in my own terms.

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It's about me, me and me. It's my faithfulness driving how

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God must act. So, if we read

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Psalm 91 in its own context, there's no way

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God would protect someone like that. That person is not faithful at all.

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He's not righteous. There's no assurance that God would save anyone from self -sought -out dangers.

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There's no assurance that God would save anyone from self -sought -out dangers.

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One of my professors said that when preaching through this. Just because you put yourself close to the dangerous line doesn't mean

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God is obligated to protect you from your sinful choices. He may because he's gracious, but that is not the promise of Psalm 91.

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Now, Jesus faithfully responds with scripture yet again. It has been said, you shall not tempt the

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Lord your God. This is again from Deuteronomy 6. Again, a very crucial point.

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Israel had the law, yet failed to be faithful to God.

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Jesus, with the same law, remains faithful to God. Deuteronomy 6 .16

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commends Israel from testing God. And the context is Moses' reminder of when

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Israel grumbled against the Lord in Exodus 17 when they started lacking water.

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It was the heart of distrust that led Israel to complain against God.

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Despite all the faithful protection and compassionate care that they received precisely from God.

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They've experienced all these miracles prior, yet they doubted

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God's protection. In the same sense, jumping off the temple's pinnacle would be an act of distrust to test

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God's protection. And Jesus refused the temptation again.

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And after failing the third time, Satan departs until the next opportune time. And this, of course, will climax in the

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Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prays, if there's any other way, please take this cup away from me.

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The cup of the wrath of God that would be poured on him, that we deserved, the wrath that we deserved, so that we may be forgiven and be adopted into his family.

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The temptation was there. The temptation to say,

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I don't want to go through this. I don't know if I will be delivered from this.

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But Jesus trusted in the Lord and his promises. And this temptation is oh so prevalent in our days.

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People seek out dangers and expect God to rescue them from facing the consequences.

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They play chicken with the line and are surprised when God does not rescue them when they cross the line.

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And phrases like let go and let God does not help us at all. They inch toward the temptations and expect

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God to rescue them from the danger. Let go and let

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God. It's okay if I go on this website because God will lead me out of it at the right time.

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Let go and let God. It's okay if I drink just one more time because God will protect me from getting drunk.

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Let go and let God. It's okay if I go to dinner with him because God will protect me from adultery.

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Let go and let God. This view of God, whenever we fall into this temptation, is to de -God

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God. It's to view God as a cosmic butler who comes after you to clean after your mess.

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It's no longer the cosmic king who deserves your worship, who deserves your full loyalty, and who deserves your trust because he has a perfect track record of careful protection.

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And we see that in Christ. Though Christ was mocked, though he was struck down, though he experienced

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God's full wrath, Christ did not stay dead in the tomb because God does not abandon his own.

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He protects like no other. He faithfully performs every promise that he has proclaimed.

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And like Jesus, we must hold on to God's promises.

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That is the only way we say no to Satan's temptation. Read God's promises out loud multiple times if you have to.

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Do not let your minds buy into the lies that Satan throws at you. Hold on to God's promises as the true son of God did.

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That's the only way in which the tempter will flee from you. Let us pray.

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Father, we're thankful that in Christ we get to see what a true son of God behaves.

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He's the true son of God that Adam pointed to. He's the true son of God that Israel failed to be.

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But in Christ we get to see what it means to be faithful. Despite the temptations that came over and over again, he remained faithful to you.

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Help us as your children to live like he did, trusting in your promises.