Sermon Tone Analysis
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Critical Battles
There are some moments in history where everything stands on a precipice.
History hangs on a thread.
To go one way or the other has major consequences.
What would history be like had Churchill surrendered to the Germans after Dunkirk?
What would history be like had the Allies not been victorious on D-Day?
What would history be like without Alfred the Great?
Alfred the Great was one of the first kings of England.
At the time England was the southern half of the island.
It was composed of loosely scattered tribes.
The Danes were invading the Anglo-Saxon region in the north.
Taking land, food and whatever they could find.
Alfred was made king.
King is a questionable term.
England wasn’t an empire.
England wasn’t united.
It wasn’t even the whole island.
He was a leader of a group of English tribes.
The Danes continued to march south towards Wessex.
England grew smaller while the Danes grew larger.
England was reduced to a few square miles of swamp.
Then came the Battle of Edington in 878.
Somehow Alfred held back the Danes.
The battle was so decisive that the Danes surrendered.
The southern half of the island was formally recognized as England.
Alfred became known as Alfred the Great.
No other English monarch has had “the Great” connected to his name.
How important was that battle?
Had Alfred lost, England would probably be called Daneland.
Had Alfred lost … this sermon would be in Danish.
There are moments when history hangs on a precipice.
There was another battle with monumental consequences.
This was the Battle in the Desert.
Jesus’ temptation in the Wilderness.
Turn with me to Luke 4:1-13.
Read Luke 4:13.
Look at verse 1,
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness”
He had just been baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist and was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Not only was He filled with the Holy Spirit, but He was to lead to this location and to this event by the Holy Spirit.
What was going to happen was the will of God.
You could call this a divine appointment for the Divine.
Here Jesus would meet Satan and be tempted by Satan.
This battle would have repercussions extending beyond Alfred the Great.
They would have eternal consequences.
Luke 4:1-13 records Jesus' three victories over temptation that give you hope over your sins.
The first temptation is a Temptation for Independence (v.
2-4).
You see the temptation in verses 2 and 3.
Jesus had not eaten for 40 days.
The humanity of Jesus on display.
He had real hunger.
He had lost real weight.
He had real exhaustion.
In verse 3 Satan comes with the temptation, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
The temptation is for Jesus to doubt whether He is the Son of God.
The last words spoken in Luke 3 affirmed that very truth, and they came from God.
Luke 3:22, “and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.””
The last words spoken in Luke 3 were God declaring Jesus to be the beloved Son of God.
And now in Luke 4, Satan questions the validity of these words.
His words drip like venom, “If you are the Son of God ...”
The temptation is first to try and get Jesus to question His own relation to the Father and whether what God spoke was true.
Of course He is the Son of God.
That’s what the first 3 chapters of Luke are all about, the incarnation, the birth of God the Son.
It records:
The conception of Jesus.
The announcement of the birth of Jesus.
The first three chapters feature:
A miraculous birth
A virgin birth
Angels
Shepherds
Prophets
All affirming this Jesus is special.
And an announcement from God the Father.
The temptation was also a compromise Jesus’ mission.
Jesus was to live like a man.
He was to be dependent upon the providence of God the Father.
In this way He was also like Israel while in the wilderness.
Because Israel was in a special relationship with God as well.
God had called Israel His firstborn Son.
Exodus 4:22 God told Moses to approach Pharaoh and say, “Israel is My Son, My firstborn ...”
While in the Wilderness God provided everything Israel needed.
God rained down manna, and blew in quail for them to eat.
Yet they grumbled and complained.
They would frequently say things were better in Egypt.
Israel doubted whether God really cared for them.
They failed this test.
Jesus though was sent to depend upon God the Father to provide.
He had a mission, it was to make it to the Cross.
God would see Him through to that point.
God would provide the food He needed so that He could complete this mission.
Which is why Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
Jesus was obedient.
He rebuked Satan with Scripture.
He endured suffering.
And He did the will of the Father.
We needed Jesus on that day.
We were created to be dependent on God.
To live as children at His mercy.
But we don’t.
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