Today we see the convergence of two efforts to promote Christ both in your life and in our community: DNow and You’ve Got the Time. DNow’s focus has been on Engage: A Life of Worship throughout the weekend. You’ve Got the Time is a time when you are empowered to finally finish the entire New Testament in a little more than a month. Surveys reveal that many people spend more time showering and talking on the phone than reading their Bibles in a given week.
You’ve Got the Time is taking 28 minutes a day to listen to the New Testament on mp3. You’ll cover the entire New Testament in just forty days. You can listen on your iPod, your computer, as you exercise, or on your way to work. 28 minutes a day for forty days – it’s just that simple. You can pick up free mp3s at any of our exits as you leave today. Our entire church family began last Sunday but you can catch up. If you’re doing with me, just put on one of the wristbands to remind yourself. If you have questions, see anyone in the green shirts.
I’ll be preaching on selected Scriptures throughout the forty days as you listen. In addition, you can check http://www.scottmaze.com where you’ll find short articles offering encouragement along your way.
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
11 and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:1-13).
This is only the second time in all of Scripture that a human has come face to face with Satan. But unlike the first encounter with Adam and Eve, Jesus is successful. Satan throws his three best punches against Jesus and none of them land.
A 2005 survey indicated that roughly 58% of people believe in Satan. You’ve entered a church that believes in a real Satan, an evil being that is nefarious to his core. This encounter between Jesus and Satan is real. This ring of battle represents more than an inner psychological conflict. We’re going to see how to fight off temptation when it comes our way. And we’ll also see that Jesus successfully fights off temptation for every one of His followers.
Who is Jesus?
As you’re listening along later today to the beginning pages of the Gospel of Luke, you’ll find today’s story following the second of two genealogies in the Gospels. Unlike Matthew’s family tree (see last week’s message), Luke connects Jesus back to Adam – the first man to encounter Satan face to face. And unlike Adam, Jesus fends off every punch coming from Satan. Luke shows in his version of Jesus’ family tree (Luke 3:23-38), that Jesus is truly human as he connects Jesus to the original man. Whereas Matthew takes Jesus’ family tree back to Abraham, Luke goes all the way back to the first man, Adam.
Luke’s arrangement is worth noting for he wants to communicate something about Jesus’ unique relationship to the Father. Adam was God’s special creation; he was God’s son, unlike you and me. Although Adam was God’s son, he failed when it came to his time to face Satan (Genesis 3). When Adam failed the test, he doomed not only himself but also every human being along with him (Romans 5:12).
Jesus also had a special relationship with the Father as He was the virgin-born Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus is 100% God and He is 100% Human. Now God has presented another special Son to the world. Where the first son failed, the second Son would succeed for all of us.
Just one chapter earlier, Luke recounts this very public and special connection between Jesus and His Father, God: Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)
Will this Son also fail Satan’s test? No. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. Jesus’ success doesn’t just benefit Himself; every believer enjoys the benefits from the Second Son’s success. Let me show you how.
The First Temptation
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” (Luke 4:3)
Notice the language the devil uses, “If you are the Son of God.” Satan uses the same ploy in his third temptation later on in verse nine. Satan’s strategy hinges on Jesus’ unique relationship to Jesus. Satan knows history’s timeline. He knows the success he has enjoyed at the expense of every human since the first son (Adam) failed. Satan also knows what’s at stake in the life of Jesus. So his first of three offers hinges on Jesus’ special status to the Father.
Notice that Satan’s offer makes a lot of sense. Jesus is hungry after fasting for forty days (Luke 4:2). Jesus has needs just as any other human would have. And while Adam was in paradise in the Garden of Eden and could eat from any tree but one, Jesus has been denying Himself food for forty days. Adam had not fasted at all. Unlike Adam, Jesus faces Satan’s test in an extremely weakened condition. Jesus teaches us that your surroundings are not the determining factor in overcoming temptation.
Since Jesus is the descendant of Adam, Jesus must now face not only what Adam faced but also the residual effects of habitual rebellion against God the Creator. There is more pressure on the Second Adam than the First Adam. And by fending off Satan’s appeal to feed Himself, Jesus does something Adam – Jesus was a good and faithful Son who choose to obey even it when it leads to suffering.
Jesus had powers that no other human possessed. Was Jesus going to use His power for personal ends? Or, would He use His power for the good of others? Later, Jesus uses His special power as God to provide bread to others (Luke 9:10-17). By refusing the bread, Jesus is being content with what God has supplied Him.
Notice again verse one: “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” (Luke 4:1) Note the double reference to the Holy Spirit in verse one. Jesus’ exposure to temptation was not His fault; it was God’s design. Jesus is not fasting forty days by accident. Nor is He facing Satan’s best efforts in the desert by chance. Instead, Jesus’ physical hunger is God’s will. God has set Him aside for a special time of prayer before He launches His all-important three-year public ministry of teaching and performing miracles. By rejecting Satan’s offer of turning stones into bread, Jesus is saying He is content with God’s will for His life. Physical needs are important but loyalty to God is even more important.
The Second Temptation
Luke’s second temptation (the third in Matthew’s account in Matthew 4:1-11) shows Satan’s hand even more clearly:
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:5-7)
Here Satan offers the world’s most alluring and attractive enticements. Just as with the first temptation, Satan’s offer is for things all of us want. Yet, Jesus refused. This Son will ascend to power but not through the typical path of grasping after power and status. Instead, Jesus will achieve His rightful place as King of Kings by a different path – a path of suffering and humiliation. He will not use His power as God to serve Himself at this time. Instead, He will display His power through humiliation and suffering. Jesus grasped at nothing but instead accepted His eventual death.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)
By His faithful obedience, Jesus received much more than the earthly powers that were offered to him in the desert. Jesus is successful in fending off Satan’s temptation to grasp at the brass ring. The path God sets out for every one of His followers is much the same one that was set out for Jesus Himself. God calls on Christian to experience suffering on their way to everlasting happiness. First, suffering, then happiness. This is God’s way.
Jesus is the new Adam. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. Had Jesus failed, like Adam, every one would have be in the same class as we were when the first Adam failed. Much is at stake in this story. Yet, Jesus succeeds. And when He succeeds, He not only charts a new path for Himself, but He also liberates every one of His followers. Jesus achieves victory not only for Himself but for those who trust in Him. And this is the Gospel – Jesus does for you what you cannot do for yourself. Jesus accomplishes the victory over sin through the cross for others who cannot.
The Power of the Bible
This story does more than show us the utter uniqueness of Jesus Christ, it also shows us the power of the Bible. Notice when Jesus fends off each of the blows by Satan that He quotes Scriptures to do so. You’ll see this every time you read the words: “It is written” You’ll see it in verses four, eight, and ten. Luke’s version of Jesus’ reply to Satan in verse four is more forthcoming when you examine Matthew’s account: But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3-4) “It is written” basically means, “God has said it.”
Jesus responds as a Man in this story and not someone with cape and an “S” on his chest. What applies to all humans, applies to Him as well. Jesus fends off Satan with the same two tools that are available to Christians: the Holy Spirit and the Bible. Even Jesus cannot live by bread alone.
I repeat the question from last week, “Why would you take forty days and devote it to listening to the Bible?” Answer: Because listening/reading to the New Testament is unlike anything else you’ll read. You read so much in the course of a day. You read the newspaper and watch the news and yet you’ve never say of it “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of Anderson Cooper.” You read the instruction manual of your new gadget and yet you’ve never said of it “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of Steve Jobs.”
The reason is that the pages of the Bible are alive unlike anything else you’ll encounter. The Bible does something to those who listen to it and read it. It’s no ordinary book.
But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3-4)
And if all those connected to DNow 2012 truly are engaged in a life of worship… Worship doesn’t begin with a new band and the fresh emotions from listening to their song on your iPod. The crosshairs of worship is the Bible. Worship happens within the pages of Scripture. You experience Jesus here – between these pages. You experience life change here – between Genesis and Revelation.
I wonder if you faced Satan today, would you know three Scriptures by memory to fend Him off?
Note that forty is a significant number in the Bible. I’ll mention but a few for the sake of time. Forty years was how long the Israelites wandered in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:2). It rained for forty days when Noah was on the Ark (Genesis 7:4, 12,17). Moses fasted forty days alone while receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18). Jesus would later spend forty days after His resurrection with the Disciples (Acts 1:3).
These teens this morning have marked off about 36 hours to devote themselves to God in DNow. Think about the commitment it would take to mark off forty days. Just as Jesus did, I want you have forty days devoted to the Bible.
You know, there is so much “cool” when it comes to Jesus and churches. Christianity isn’t about rock stars and being seen. When the t-shirts are thrown away, and the cool worship band has disbanded, and the fog machines, blue lights, and slick media are gone, it stills comes down to the Holy Spirit and the Word.
If you are a follower of Christ, you have the same two secret weapons that Jesus had: the Word and the Holy Spirit.
Where Are You Tempted?
Notice that each of the three temptations Satan offers Jesus is to get out of suffering. Look again at the First Temptation where the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). And look again at the Second Temptation where you hear, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours” (Luke 4:6-7). And lastly, the Third Temptation, where Satan says this: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9-11). All of these offers are Satan’s suggestion to quit denying yourself, and grab life by the horns. He offered the Lord Jesus exactly the same kingdoms as His heavenly father was going to offer him, if he would just skip the cross. If he would just bow down and worship him, Jesus could win the world with no pain, no blood, no dying, no humiliation, and no cross. In other words, Satan wanted Jesus to be the shortcut Savior, because Satan is the master of shortcuts.
I’ll offer you’ll a practical way to resist shortcuts as I close. When someone asked Martin Luther in life, “How do you handle temptation?” Martin Luther said, “It is real simple. When Satan would knock on the door of my heart, I used to answer and every time I did he would defeat me. But now, when Satan knocks on the door of my heart, the Lord Jesus answers and says, ‘Martin Luther used to live here, but he moved out. I live here now and the devil flees.’” Filled with the Spirit, armed with the Scripture, and helped by the Savior, we can always know what to do when we are tempted.
Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. When you have failed, Jesus succeeds. Jesus achieves victory not only for Himself but for those who trust in Him. And this is the Gospel – Jesus does for you what you cannot do for yourself. Jesus accomplishes the victory over sin through the cross for others who cannot.
