Luke chapter four. This is always an interesting passage. You know I'm saying that, but honestly, I'm not sure everybody feels that way. And sometimes, honestly, when I was sort of approaching it from afar a couple of months ago, I was like, oh boy, the temptation again. Because if you spend any time, lengthy time in a church, especially if you grew up in one as I did, You've heard this story so many times, you know, the only big problem is remembering are we talking about Matthew's order or Luke's order because there's two different orders for the exact same three temptations and the exact same three responses. And you're just sort of like, Okay, so yeah, so Jesus is like superhuman and he can fast for 40 days and somehow make it. And then, you know, the devil like preys on him with this, that, and the other thing. And he comes through, and of course with flying colors because he's God on earth. And then everything's okay. What's this story for? Why did the Holy Spirit through Matthew and Luke decide to give us this thing? Exactly. And I hope nobody's offended when I act all nonchalant about the Word of God, but I'm just telling you where I am sometimes because, again, I've grown up with these Sunday school stories my whole life. And some of you have too. And, you know, let's just be honest. I don't know. I always want to encourage us not to think of something as old hat. You know, oh, it's the shepherds again. Oh, it's Jesus in the temple when he's 12 again. Oh, it's this and that. Let's, let's, I don't know. Let's dig in. All right. That's what we're doing. Luke chapter four. Can somebody read verses one and two? I'm sorry. Yes. Okay. Moody's Pioneers Week is now instead of February, in October. And Don and I have been watching it and it is indescribable. And so now when I look at my Bible and see Jesus, He's now indescribable because I've been listening to these messages. And it's been giving me a new energy and love and delight in the God's Word. So you're saying that if we just keep hearing the Word being preached and taught, we get excited about it again? Is that what you're saying? to be reminded of that. And I won't ask how many decades you have been going through these cycles, but it's so great to have these moments when somebody says something about the Word of God and it reminds you, no, this is real. I'm living Yeah, you know, it's exciting. So anyway, yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, that's a it's a great point, you know, I don't know we got to bring up the border here people. I mean, this is the Word of God that he gave to us and he said this is important. This story is important enough. I'm giving it to you twice. All right, so we continue so kick now. and Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit of the Lord for 40 days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. All right. So, I mean, he's coming off. And I, you know, I believe that Jesus being human is a fully human being, which means he has emotions. He has feelings. Feelings like you feel, you know, just without the sinful flesh encumbering them all the time, but still, they're feelings, they're real. And, you know, he just, in front of a bunch of people in the water, in the Jordan River, was affirmed publicly by the two closest beings to him, which is to say two persons, one being, actually, in the universe in history. His father and the Holy Spirit both made appearances just to highlight for everybody around him who he was, why he needed to be there, and what this all meant. Wow! You know, I'll bet you he had a smile on his face as he walked away from the Jordan. I hope so. I hope so. I think I would, but it's hard for me to put myself in Jesus' shoes, believe me. I'm just so happy he tries to put himself into mine. That's the most important thing, right? So he's full of the Holy Spirit. And it doesn't just mean that he's excited. It doesn't just mean that he feels full of the Holy Spirit, okay? This phrase isn't used that often. It's like six times in the New Testament, not very much. And there's a few more times in the Septuagint, but basically in every case, what it really comes down to is this is a man who is completely submitted to the will of God and completely controlled by the Holy Spirit. In this moment, Jesus is doing what his father gave him to do. And the Holy Spirit is the communicating factor here because he's a human He has the relationship with his father, but part of the humiliation of his being incarnate is that, you know, the spirit that he lived with as a spirit for all eternity is now, I think, a little distant compared to the way it used to be. It's like us. Is the father real? Yes. Is he real to you? Is he omnipresent in your life right now? Yes. Can you tell? Do you know it? Do you feel him all the time? Probably not. Again, I assume you're like me in this. And there are times when I'm looking around, whether because of circumstances or just because I'm blind. Where are you? I don't know. Are you here? Do you see this? Do you see me? Because I heard. Dad? And I don't usually give in to the diminutives of fatherly connection with the father, but there's moments when you're just like, Are you as close to me, really, as my earthly father, with whom I do not speak? More than once a day, maybe? Come on. Anyway, so he's distant. In a way, he's never been, I think. I think what he did when he was speaking to the Father in eternity is really what we think of as prayer. Technically, it might have been, but when we pray, we address ourselves to someone who has revealed himself to us, but not fully, not fully. by work of our senses. You don't see God when you're talking to him, do you? If you do, I want to talk to you afterwards. Alright, anyway. But he's completely submitted to the will of God that the Holy Spirit has given to him. Just like Stephen, who was full of the Holy Spirit when he looked up just before they dragged him out and stoned him. That kind of thing. And what did the Holy Spirit tell him to do from the will of the Father? Apparently, hey, instead of going back to Jerusalem or going home to Galilee, why don't you wander off into the desert? Why don't you just sort of go down and off road here into this Breaking Bad landscape of cacti and sand and Which is, by the way, interestingly enough, kind of what Moses asked the children of Israel to do, too. Goshen was nice. You could graze flocks there. But they had to leave Egypt and wander the desert for 40 years. Jesus is sort of microcosming this thing. 40 days for him. But not even the support system that Israel had all being together, and not with Moses. Even the incarnate Son of God operated in his humanity through the Spirit's power. And for this whole story, he's not relying on his divine nature to resist temptation. I think we should be clear on that. The thing I said earlier wasn't correct purposefully. I wanted to see if anybody would yell at me. You didn't. He didn't beat temptation because he was God. I mean, he had to have beaten temptation. God has made it that way. He is, in fact, impeccable, as we say. In other words, unable to sin. But that's not what he used to take on temptation, I think. He's got something to prove here. Just not what the one who is coming to test him is going to try to prove. He doesn't rely on his divine nature. I mean, watch this story unfold. He's relying on the Holy Spirit and the word of his Father in every moment of this. I think he prayed a lot. I suspect he did. I hope he prayed a lot. I think he did, yes. Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, but honestly, remember, when Jesus prays, he prays as we do. When he prays in his life, in the Gospels, He is doing what we should be doing. How? The Jews say that, I mean, the Jewish tradition says that women don't ever have to be told to pray. Men have to be commanded to do it. But women don't. And I think, honestly, there's a little bit of truth to that because, you know, men, we solve problems. We fix things. I don't do it. We have to be told sometimes, oh, you're going to do it? How about you rely on the one who does it? Who really does everything? Anyway. This is literally 40 days, by the way. 40 days, and it is literally without eating. It's not just a word that's used for fasting. The Greek actually says, he did not eat. Is this possible? It's really hard. It's really hard. Really hard. It's not hyperbole. It's a historical fact. Again, echoing, I think, Israel's 40 years in the wilderness. I really hate this thing. I don't know how you put up with it faster. Jesus fasted for 40 days. I hate this microphone. What? Yeah, what? Am I ever a human being or what? All right. Moses had 40 days on Sinai. Elijah took 40 days to get to Sinai. And Jesus is kind of reliving Israel's history again, but there is a notable difference, right? Because where they fail, he always succeeds. He goes out there to be tempted by the devil, we are told. I think the temptation is ongoing throughout the whole 40 days. But I think it culminated, I mean, the way that the passage reads, it culminates with these three challenges at the end. But the whole 40 days, I think that Jesus is tempted actively. Wouldn't you be? Hey, you are the heir to the universe. You are the son of God. You are the king of the world, rightfully. And you're out here starving by yourself in your old Galilean carpenter clothes out here in the desert. You know, you have this great moment when your Father and the Holy Spirit commended you before everybody, and then you wandered off and nobody follows you. Nobody cared to see where you were going from there, I guess. He didn't have to chase people off. He didn't have the disciples saying, make them go away, I've got to pray. None of that's happening yet, so. Yeah, he's being actively tempted all the time. I think every moment of his adult life but the fight is always gonna be there. Why don't you just take what's yours? And we're told that he's tempted by the devil. The devil is real. This is probably the most personal moment for the devil in scripture, just so you know. He's mentioned in Job, of course, hinted at possibly in a couple of passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel, and of course a major player in the epic struggle of Revelation, but this is the most information we actually get about the devil interacting with somebody ever in Scripture, is the temptation. He's not a metaphor. He's not a personification of evil, for sure. And this is something I really always want to bring up. We are not dualists in the sense that there is ultimate good and ultimate evil in two people. God is not perfect good. Actually, he is. But that does not mean that the devil is perfect evil, because there's no such thing as perfect evil. I'm going to quote C.S. Lewis again. I keep doing this. C.S. Lewis points out that form and limit belong to good. You can have a perfect good, but you can't have a perfect evil. It just keeps getting worse. There's no limit. Form and boundary, those things belong to what is good. God is the one who says things into being and then imposes boundaries on them in creation. Let's divide the firmament. Let's bring the land up from the water. He divides the nations at the Tower of Babel. Those are good things that God does. And the devil wants to obliterate all distinctions. And evil would have no end if it were not bound by God as well. It would just get worse forever. But Satan is a created being by God. And therefore, I'm not going to say there's any innate goodness in him because it's confusing. But the fact is, his creation was good because God did it. And again, even if you're not on my side of the whole God is sovereign over all things realm, even then you have to admit that if we believe everything else about God in common, the attributes of God like omniscience, He created the devil knowing what he would do. But more to my point, honestly, He is sovereign. God doesn't do things knowing what's going to happen. God does things and ordains what will happen. He made the devil knowing that the devil would show up as a snake in the garden because God made it so that he would be there. God, not directly but indirectly, not as primary but as a secondary cause brought about the fall for his own glory, and did it without sinning, which I, you know, we can't, can we understand that? I can't, but I believe it because that's what the Bible says. All right, he's not a personification of evil. He's a real spiritual being, a fallen angel who remains completely bound by God's restrictions. Job makes that very clear. Satan has to ask for permission for everything he does to Job, every single thing. Even when the devil's taunting God, well of course Job is so awesome because you give him like everything. Okay, well fine, ruin his life. about faith, but still. All right, I'm wandering, this is bad. Okay. Anyway, Jesus, God, God determined that Jesus would be at his absolute physical, emotional weakest when the devil showed up. You know, this is not, this is not Jesus coming up out of the water and the devil immediately shows up and says, you know, I've got, I got something that, you know, let's make a deal here. You know, Monty Hall didn't show up as soon as Jesus came up out of the water. No, no. He went 40 days. He pushed his body to the uttermost limit of what it could handle, which means, and again, you know, we are all of a person here. When you're physically drained, you're emotionally drained, right? Does anybody know what I'm talking about? When you're physically drained, you're mentally drained. All of these things are happening. I mean, Jesus is at his uttermost human limits when the devil finally says, hey, buddy, you feeling bad? Somebody want to read verses three through four? The devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become dry. And Jesus answered him, it is written, man shall not live by dry water. The devil's opening line, if you are the Son of God. Now, honestly, in the Greek, It's not a doubt. He's not messing with it. It sounds like it in English. But that's not the point of this. In the Greek, this is first condition. This is the devil saying to him, look, you are the son of God. We both know it. So since you're the son of God, maybe that would be a better way to read this as far as the meaning goes. Since you are the son of God, prove it. You have the authority, man. You created the world. Use the authority. Exercise your privileges. He's attacking Jesus's identity. He's saying, you know, you can do whatever you want, right? a cook, a provider of all things, provide for thyself. What is with you? What he's trying to do is get him to act independently of the Father's will. Tell this stone to become bread. It almost seems reasonable on the surface, right? I mean, if you can do it, why wouldn't you? He's not saying, you know, you know, draw a pentagram on the ground and light candles and dance around it. He's not saying anything crazy, weird like this. He's just saying, take care of yourself, man. You have the power to create bread, create bread. It's not sinful for you to create bread, so create bread. But this is all acting independently of the Father's provision for him. Jesus has submitted himself. He is a man like us. Therefore, he doesn't provide for himself. God provides for him. This has been really important to me lately, as you may guess. You know, who provides for me? God does, because God provided for Jesus at his worst. It is much more lower than I've ever been. OK, I'm a physical wreck, but I am nothing like poor Jesus without food, OK? Obviously. All right, so the Father's the one who led Jesus into this wilderness fast. And Satan's saying, you can end this on your own terms. You don't have to keep doing this, do you? I mean, maybe. And Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy. Every quote is from Deuteronomy, interestingly enough, that Jesus makes. You know, the statement of the covenant between God and Israel, that's what he quotes every single time he speaks back to the devil. Covenant language. The covenantal framework of God and man in that book. That's where Jesus is always coming from. Jesus is like, I know my place. I know what I've been put here to do. I know who I am as a man, because that's what's being tested here, right? Not whether he's God. We already established Satan knows that and Jesus doesn't. He quotes Deuteronomy 8.3. Moses is preaching to Israel about the wilderness experience and Moses is reminding them, hey, God fed you with manna. You had no idea because you needed to know that life is from trusting God's Word. It's not just from eating. And that's what Jesus says to save you. And it reminds us too that sometimes God keeps us hungry, whether literally We keep saying, yeah, thanks, God. All right, appreciate that. I'll catch up with you next time I need something and walk away. What? What? Never walk away. You can't walk away. You need him. Your whole life is defined by your dependence on God. What are you doing, man? He provides, and God, so many times in my own life, it's not literal manna, but the way He provides for me, I say exactly what the Israelites said. What is this? Mamma, what is this? How did you provide for me? And I'm not just talking about money here. I'm talking about emotions even. I was at my lowest, and then out of nowhere, It's pretty good. And God just keeps doing it. And that's the thing, though. He doesn't back up the truck and say, here's everything you're going to need for your whole life. See you later. It's every single day. Why do you think that the model prayer says, give us this day our daily bread? Because it is a daily dependence. It is in every moment of your life, dependence on God. This is going to go two or three weeks. What am I doing? All right. Sorry. Anyway, it's a good point. I can't just walk away. All right. So Satan wanted Jesus to bypass the Father's will and meet his legitimate needs through illegitimate means. It's a real need. It's a real and not trusting God. Whatever is not of faith is sin, Romans. And yeah, this is a backdoor method of getting Jesus to say, I'm not gonna depend on my Father anymore. And if He doesn't do it, then none of us have a shot, right? If Jesus can't do it, we can't do it either. All right, so. It's so easy. I think I am going to stop after the first temptation. I have to do it. This is so sad. All right. But how often do we face legitimate needs? Or we're tempted to meet them in ways that God didn't authorize. It's so, I mean, you know, we're always looking for shortcuts. I am! I look for them all the time! Because I'm human, and I'm simple, and you know. And I think I can do this in my own strength. Just like, you know, maybe it crossed Jesus' mind. I could just turn a stone into bread, eat it, and I'd feel so much better. I'd be able to face this and do this. Maybe we're lonely. So we pursue a relationship that God didn't bless. Maybe we want to be fruitful in ministry, but We take the shortcuts and use worldly methods. You know how many pastors say, you know, I know what the Bible says about the growth and the Holy Spirit and God is the one who brings all these things in. But there's just a couple of things we could do that would bring so many more people in here. end, who are you trusting? I mean, pastors fall into this all the time. Yes. Did you just read Shepherds for Sale, the book? No. Oh, okay. Is that a connection there, Shepherds for Sale? Okay. I may have to look at it, because I, you know, yeah, because you're thinking, you're totally thinking, I'm doing this for the Lord, because He needs me. Okay, shepherds for a little, I'll have to redo it. Jesus is teaching us that it's better to be hungry and wait for God's provision. Boy, how many times, I should have been preaching this to myself like 10 times a day this week. It's so much better to wait for God's provision than it is to feed ourselves outside His will. Whether it be financial pressure, so, okay, well, you can have some of my integrity. Like I said, if you're lonely, there's so many options. There's so many ways that you can bypass God's provision for your loneliness. To connect with people you shouldn't be connecting with and have relationships you shouldn't be having. And I'm not even just talking about sex here. It's better to wait hungry for God's provision than to feed ourselves outside His will. If you trust in God's provision, you're not just believing He can provide. It's not just checking that mental box. It's waiting for Him to provide. I'm sorry, I'm gonna break down in front of you here because I keep preaching to myself. I am the target of my own teaching. Oh my goodness, I've been doing this all week. It's crazy. I'm sorry, it's just overwhelming me as I speak here. It's waiting for Him to provide in His way They're very authentic. Authenticity, that'll get people here. No, sorry. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What am I doing? OK. Anyway, I got to stop because it's crazy to keep going, especially if I ran out of time. Do you guys have any thoughts about this? Because this is the earliest we've stopped in, like, two years of meeting, anyway. Yes? Not about that, but I think it's always good to remember, and when you deal with children, especially, If you say, God says to do it this way, as soon as you say, but I, that's disobedience. If I say to the child, come here, and they say, but I need disobedience. But I. And you say that to God, too. He has provided things, told you the way to go. But I know a better way. Yeah, but God's a good father because he knows that there's times when he's got to just spank you and say, there is no but not. And there's other times where he's like, OK, let me walk with you. Let's just see how that goes. Yeah, he's a good father. He knows exactly when to hold your hand while you're being stupid and when to yank you back and say, no, we're not doing that. Anything else? Yes. When I went through rough times, the Christians around me, some even came to my house and got on their knees with such an encouragement. And Jesus didn't have that. Yeah, yeah, no other people. And he cared about people. I mean, he cried when Lazarus died. John the Baptist wasn't down there praying for him beside him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Later on, he calls the disciples his friends. That's right. Even as he's talking about the fact that one of them's going to turn on him. I think it really, even knowing everything and setting all this in motion, I think it hurt Jesus when Judas came and kissed him in the garden. I think it hurt deeply. But here, now, this is early, and he is out here with nothing. You think you got it rough? At least you're here among people who care. He's not. And still in the face of this, he's just like, well, in the end, it's just going to be me and the father. So no. I will not be making the stones into bread, because that's not All I live on, we live on God and His provision and His will. That's us too. Never set aside the fact that God, that the God in Christ has in fact been where you are. We're close enough to be recognized as a territory. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for sending him. Thank you for his being human in every way and going ahead of us and showing us how we can obey, how we can believe and trust him and from that have the obedience flow. Because even in Jesus's own life, his obedience was flowing from his knowing and trusting Him completely. And how could it be any less than us? So give us that faith. Give us that trust. In Jesus' name, Amen.