RESIST SATAN STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH
March 5, 2006 - LENT 1 - Luke 4:1-13
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Dear Fellow-Redeemed and Precious Saints in the Lord:
We live in a very dangerous world. It is more dangerous than we might even imagine. Of course, one can think of the danger we hear on the news or read in the news. But there is more danger than just what people see in the world around us. At times it seems as if the biological warfare threat could be dangerous as if terrorists’ attacks and bombings could be dangerous. Economic failure could be dangerous. Yet, these dangers pale in comparison to the spiritual foes that oppose the Christian.
Paul wrote in Ephesians (6:12) and said our struggle is not just against the things of this world, but our struggle is against the principalities and against the authorities of evil in the heavenly realms. In other words you and I face danger every day whether we visibly see it or not. It is that old evil foe Satan himself. Scripture points out this evident danger. In 1 Peter: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Satan wishes to devour the soul of everyone that he meets. There is a defense against the evil foe. In the next verse Peter writes: "Resist him, standing firm in the faith" (1 Peter 5:8,9a). This will be our theme this morning:
RESIST SATAN STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH.
In today’s text we are once again reminded:
I. Satan is the father of all lies; and,
II. God’s word is the whole truth
I. SATAN IS THE FATHER OF ALL LIES
In the setting of our text we find that this temptation of Jesus takes place immediately after he was baptized. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert. The Jordan River was where Jesus was baptized. You may remember that the heavenly Father spoke and said: "This is my Son whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him." We also recall how the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. Now with that Spirit and with the voice of his Father ringing in his ears, Jesus goes into the desert to face Satan. (Here again Scripture shows us the teaching of the Trinity--Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) We are told: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil." There is a continual temptation in these forty days. We do not have them all listed here for us. Satan is not going to tempt Jesus only once or twice or three times as our text points out. But day after day the devil is going to try to get the very Son of God to give up his mission and purpose in life. Satan is going to try to get God himself to sin. But of course, since Satan is not as powerful as God, he makes plenty of mistakes.
We are told that: "Jesus ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry." So Satan comes and he is going to tempt Jesus in an earthly way first of all. The devil said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Satan thought Jesus would be hungry enough that he would forget about his mission to save mankind. Satan wanted Jesus to use his divine power. That is not going to work. Jesus recognizes Satan as the father of all lies.
Satan is not going to stop there. The temptations get increasingly difficult if it were for us to resist. Satan is trying to tempt the very Son of God. Luke continues: "The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world." It is amazing that Satan thinks he has to take Jesus and show him everything in the world. It was Jesus who was at the creation of the heavens and the earth. Listen to the lies and the deceit of Satan as he makes it all sound so good. Luke writes: "And he said to him, ’I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.’" Here is Satan who takes Jesus to a high mountain. Both see all the kingdoms, the powerful forces that are there, all the people in the world, the kingdoms and their kings and their glory and splendor. Satan has the boldness to say, "It is all mine, and if you want it I will give you some."
Of course, Satan has a catch, doesn’t he? He has a catch for Jesus. He has that snare that he wants to pull Jesus into and trick him. So he says to Jesus: "I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Satan again appealing to that human nature of Jesus, "Look at these kingdoms. Look at the lap of luxury you could have, a life of ease. It is all yours. Just worship me." This is another lie--Satan did have complete authority over all of earth. Satan just made all that up.
Then they go back to Jerusalem. We are told: "The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ’If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ’throw yourself down from here.’" In this temptation, as at the very beginning, Satan tries to plant doubt in the mind of Jesus: "If you are the Son of God." You may recall that that is how Satan tricked Adam and Eve by saying, "Did God really say?" Here he says, "If you are the Son of God." Satan is very wily and deceitful. Listen to what Satan says next. Satan has caught on now to the defense of Jesus. Satan says: "For it is written: ’He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’" Satan is quoting Psalm 91. Satan wanted Jesus to put God to the test. Boldly now, even Satan deceitfully say, "Because it is written."
Lots of danger in these verses, isn’t there? Lots of danger today. We look at the boldness of Satan in this example, and we realize how dangerous he is and how deceitful he is. Here is Satan. In all boldness he goes into the wilderness where Jesus is by himself and tries to tempt him. In all boldness Satan takes on the very Son of God, God Himself in other words. Now Satan in all boldness still attacks the Christian Church and still tempts us as believers. Satan is not going to give up, ever. If he was so bold to try to get Jesus to sin, Satan is bold with us. The problem today is that Satan is not as boldly open as he was with Jesus so that we can always recognize his temptations. Satan is deceitful and uses all kinds of lies and trickery. Satan uses all the things of this world that we might forget God, that we might forsake God, in order to follow the devil. Jesus used parables to teach people lessons and to remind them of the importance of his word. The parable of the seed and sower is one of those examples God gives us the fact that Satan can try and snatch that seed away. In Matthew: "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path" (Matthew 13:19). This is the seed sown along the path that can’t take root. The seed, God’s word, sets there dormant. Satan, the father of all lies, seeks to snatch the seed.
We are reminded of the importance of hearing God’s Word. We are reminded of the importance of reading God’s Word. We are reminded of the importance of studying God’s Word so that Satan doesn’t get in and have a foothold. It seems strange in our day and age, an age of enlightenment and wisdom and knowledge, that so many would be led astray. God’s word tells us: "As the days go on and the times grow evil, many will fall away. The love of most will grow cold." Why is that? Deceitfully Satan comes and appeals to our sinful nature and appeals to the sinful nature of people around us. Satan says, "Watch out for yourself. Don’t worry about your neighbor. Love yourself above all things, not God. Love yourself more than your neighbor, not your neighbor more than yourself." So sad to say, Satan even gets a foothold in some churches. Satan gets a foothold in some modern-day churches. Many churches proclaim a message of salvation from time to time, but it is not their central of focus. They forget the central focus--Jesus never forgot you. Satan is dangerous. He disguises himself and he uses false prophets to get his way. In 2 Corinthians Paul has this warning. He speaks about the fact that he came and preached and then other people came and preached after him a different message not based on the fact that Christ lived, died and rose again. He says: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:13,14). Satan is not going to come to us and say, "You know what? I am Lucifer. I am Satan, and I am going to take you straight to hell with me." Instead, Satan is going to come around as an angel of light. We can think of the increase of books written about angels in these last few years (even TV shows and movies). Are those angels of God? Or is it just Satan masquerading as an angel of light? We need to be very careful. Anytime our focus is taken away from Christ and placed on an angel, that is Satan masquerading as an angel of light. God’s angels only want to point to and reflect God’s glory.
Not only is Satan dangerous because he disguises himself, he is dangerous because he acts like God himself. Again, these last days are going to seem like God is here and God is there and God is everywhere. The Lord says, "The kingdom of God is within the hearts of the believers." Satan has power here on earth. He has power to deceive people and to lead astray and tempt. It is God who has the ultimate power. The Lord says we are to resist Satan and stand firm in the faith, to hold fast to the truth of Scripture. Listen to this description that we are given: "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing" (2 Thessalonians 2:9,10a). Paul writes about the lawless one, Satan, deceiving those who are perishing. We would say, "There is danger, danger, danger. There is a spiritual danger that we cannot always see but that Satan uses to his advantage.
As we are told in Peter: "Resist him, standing firm in the faith." Satan is the father of all lies, but thank God and praise the Lord, God’s Word is the complete truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
II. GOD’S WORD IS THE WHOLE TRUTH
I am sure Satan thought that he had Jesus on the ropes. Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days not eating and hungry at the end of those forty days. Satan says to Jesus, "Here is a stone. Make it into bread. You are hungry." What does Jesus reply? Our Savior says the same thing over and over again every time Satan comes. "Jesus answered, ’It is written: Man does not live on bread alone.’" We are going to hear "It is written" often. Jesus goes back to the Old Testament into the book of Deuteronomy where the people of Israel are grumbling and complaining. They wanted more than bread. God says to them, "Man does not live on bread alone. Life is more important than just eating and drinking. Life is more important than having a full belly." Jesus says the same thing to Satan, "It is written." Satan has no answer to that because God’s word is the complete truth.
Then Satan says, "Look at all the kingdoms. Just bow down and worship me." Again, it reminds us how bold and threatening and dangerous Satan is. It is Satan who says to God, who should be worshipped, to worship him. Jesus’ response is very simply: "It is written: ’Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’" Again, going back to Deuteronomy Jesus reminds Satan from the beginning, "God’s Word is written." From the very beginning to the end of time God’s word defeats Satan once again.
Then Satan takes Jesus back to Jerusalem, the home of the temple. It was a holy city for the children of Israel. Satan takes Jesus to the high point of the temple. Satan says, "Just throw yourself down. The angels will protect you." Jesus replied: "It says: ’Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" True, God will protect Jesus and his believers. Jesus also knew that as the Son of God he was not to test his heavenly Father. Jesus would not put the Lord to the test. "It is written." What happens? Jesus had the power to say to Satan, "Get behind me." Satan would then be behind Jesus forever and would stop bothering him. Satan would have had to quit all temptations of Jesus. But instead, Jesus says, "It is written." Jesus used the very power of God’s word – the whole truth. Jesus gives us that example today.
We are told in verse 13: "When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." We know that Satan would come back and tempt Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Satan left Jesus for a season, but he didn’t just give up. For Satan this was his first, but not his only nor last chance to destroy God’s plan of salvation once and for all. But it wasn’t going to work.
Jesus said, "It is written." That is our boldness and confidence today. Our boldness, our confidence and our assurance today is the fact that as Scripture says, "It is written." By grace you and I know and believe and confess, "It is written." We confessed it in the Nicene Creed that Christ came and lived and died and was raised again for the forgiveness of our sins. "It is written." Sadly, many in the evangelical church, as the term is used for Protestant churches today, do not believe and know and confess that simple fact. There are many unaware of the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed, because they feel it is just too old fashioned. The creeds of the church (Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian) remind us that "it is written." These creeds remind us that Christ died for our sins. We are not good enough to save ourselves, but Christ was and did save us. In Hebrews we are told: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). "It is written" Christ has destroyed the power of death and the power of Satan.
Christ has taken away the strength of sin through his precious blood, through his sacrifice. "It is written." Now Satan is still always going to use all kinds of deceit, trickery and lies. He is going to come to us and say, "Do you really believe that?" Is that Word really what God says?" Rest assured as you study, read and hear Scripture, you can only come to the same conclusion that Jesus knew and used as the defense, "It is written." What is written? "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). We all like being in the light.
We face difficult times, the slings and arrows of Satan as the hymn says, "He is the old evil foe." But God has not left us unprepared or unequipped. Rather, we are armed with that very word of God that Jesus himself used to defeat Satan. "It is written; it is written; it is written," over and over. This word of God is our shield, our sword. In Ephesians 6: "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:16,17). If you get a chance, look at that chapter (Ephesians 6) which lists all the armament we have. Our sure defense comes from God’s word and his word alone. Our help is not from our will or desire, not from our good intentions, but from God’s word. There is the sword of the Spirit to cut off Satan at the knees -- it is the Word of God. "It is written." Satan has no answer. Satan has no defense or power against God’s word -- the whole truth.
Every day be thankful and rejoice that God in his grace has opened up our eyes to see the power of his word in our life. Thank God that as we look around us and we hear about the dangers in this world, we see they are only life threatening, but not soul-threatening. Rejoice in the fact that God has given us faith to see the dangers that threaten our souls. Satan is out there and alive and well. But Satan is also the father of all lies. Satan is the prince of darkness. We have been called out of the darkness into God’s marvelous light. We continually see that God’s word is the whole truth, the complete truth and nothing but the truth. God reminds us this morning "It is written."
James writes to us about defeating Satan. Simply he writes, listen to God and resist the devil. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you" (James 4:7,8a). God’s word says we should resist Satan standing firm in the faith. Believers have the ultimate power, "It is written." And Satan runs away. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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LENT 1 Readings: GENESIS 22:1-18; ROMANS 8:31-39; MARK 1:12-15
