Sermon Tone Analysis

Our Scripture lesson this morning comes from Luke 4:1-13:

May God bless this, the reading of His holy and infallible Word.

In our text this morning we again find ourselves in the wilderness.

Just as the children of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness, and Moses spent 40 days on Mt.

Sinai, so Jesus, the New Israel and New Moses must spend 40 days in the wilderness.

In addition, just as these wilderness experiences served to prepare Israel and Moses for greater ministry, these 40 days prepared Jesus for His public ministry which will begin in the next verse of chapter four.

This morning, I want to suggest to you that our wilderness experiences are used by God to prepare us as well.

We all go through “wilderness experiences”, perhaps you are going through one right now.

They come to us in different forms: Sometimes they come to us in the form of financial difficulties, other times in the form of health problems, at other times as interpersonal conflicts.

In all these situations, Satan is right there to tempt us unto unbelief and sin; but God is there as well—to test us.

Testing is much different than tempting.

Tempting is designed to destroy us.

Testing is designed to perfect us.

When a sword smith creates a sword, he “tests” it.

Iron in its native form is not strong enough to be a good sword, it must be turned into steel.

This is accomplished by heating iron and carbon together to create what we call steel; but this not enough, the steel must be “tested” by heating, pulling, folding and hammering the steel until it has just the right ratio of hardness and malleability to make the perfect sword.

So let us look at these three temptations of Satan, to see how God turned them into tests to prepare and perfect Jesus for ministry.

Let us also use them to see how God turns our trials and temptations into tests which perfect us for the glory of God!

The first temptation that God turns into a test is found in vss.

3-4.

This is a test of faith in God’s provision:

Testing Our Faith in God’s Provision

In all three temptations, Jesus cites Scripture, (more specifically the book of Deuteronomy), to defeat Satan and his temptations.

In His citation, Jesus only cites a portion of the passages.

He does this as a sort of shorthand to save time.

We do the same thing with familiar phrases and passages.

For example, a whole category of shorthand acronyms have come into existence because of text messaging.

So, when Jesus says, “Man shall not live by bread alone”, Jesus expected us to think of the entirety of Deuteronomy 8:3, along with its context.

Consequently, the entire verse, along with its context is important for us to properly understand Jesus’ answer to Satan.

With this in mind, let us look at Deuteronomy 8:3:

It is clear from both the context of Jesus’ temptation and the citation from Deuteronomy that the issue was provision.

We speak of the “necessities of life”.

These are things like food, water, clear air, shelter and clothing.

In recent years a whole category of TV shows has appeared—the survival show.

The first of these shows was Survivor Man, and many have followed.

In these shows a person is placed in a life-or-death predicament, and we watch them attempt to survive.

This is what this text is about—survival.

Who or what will provide for us the “necessities of life”?

According to Moses, one of the reasons that God placed Israel in the wilderness for 40 years was to teach them that they will not live by the “necessities of life” alone.

In other words, it is possible to “survive” but not really “live”.

To truly live, we need more than just food, water and shelter—we need the Word of God!

That is what this temptation is really about—living by the Word of God.

Although Jesus was very hungry after forty days of fasting, he refused to turn a stone into a loaf of bread.

He had the power to do so.

So, why did He not used His power?

Jesus chose not to use His power, because God the Father had sent Him on a mission, and a critical component of that mission according to Hebrews 2:17 was that "he had to be made like His brothers in every respect”.

Why was this?

It was because this is the only way he could be our “faithful high priest” and the “propitiation for our sins”.

He had to live His life with all the limitations and weakness we have.

If Jesus would have turned that stone into a loaf of bread, He would have forfeited His mission.

This why it was critical for Jesus’ faith and obedience to God’s Word be tested before He began His public ministry.

In the same way, this is why it is necessary that our faith in God’s provision be tested as well.

Serving God is hard, and it will quickly use up your natural resources.

At that point you will have to make a choice as to where you will turn for your provision.

Will it be to God and His Word or will it be to the empty promises Satan offers you.

Why are there so many worldly churches in America today?

Is it not because those congregations chose to turn stones into bread, rather than rely upon the bread of heaven!

This brings us to the second temptation, which God turns into a test:

Testing Our Faith in God’s Name

In this test, Satan tempts Jesus with political power without suffering and the waiting.

Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of this world now!

Have you ever noticed how many of Satan’s temptations offer a “short cut”.

Rather than waiting for marriage, enjoy intimacy now.

Rather than working hard and saving, steal.

Rather than waiting for justice, take revenge.

The list is endless, because almost every temptation carries with it the promise of “quick and easy”.

Of course, Satan’s promises are always lies.

In our text, he is promising Jesus a kingdom, but the price of not being THE King.

If Jesus gave into this temptation, he would not be the King of kings, and Lord of lords, He would simply be another vassal of Satan!

Jesus, of course, does not fall for it.

He cites Deuteronomy 6:13:

This is a text about fearing the Name of the Lord, serving the Name of the Lord, and worshiping the Name of the Lord.

Biblically, a name is more than just a word we use to identify ourselves by; a person’s name represents all that they are.

To dishonor a name is to dishonor a person.

Conversely, to honor a name is to honor a person.

What Name do you worship and place your faith in?

The answer you give to that question will set the whole course of your life.

When we come into a wilderness situation, Satan is always there with his promise of a short cut.

If we take his short cut, the “name” we place our faith in will not be God’s!

The next time you come into a wilderness situation and the Devil tempts you with a short cut, be aware of what is going on—you are really choosing who or what your god is.

When the early Christians faced persecution, they would encourage themselves with a saying preserved for us in 2 Timothy:

Isn’t it interesting that when the early Christians faced the loss of their property and even their lives, they encouraged themselves with the thought that if they remained loyal to the Name, they would someday “reign with [Christ]”.

I don’t know what “kingdom” Satan has promised you, but whatever it is, it is a lie!

We are now ready for the last and greatest test:

Testing Our Faith in God’s Presence

In a vision, or perhaps by a miracle, Jesus finds Himself standing on the pinnacle of the temple, and there, Satan tempts Him to throw Himself down to test God if He would be true to His promises.

To understand the power of this temptation, we need to once again look at the text Jesus cited to overcome Satan, it is Deuteronomy 6:16:

What happened at Massah? Let’s find out:

The people were grumbling, and we have just heard some of their complaints, but Moses saves the most important complain for the end, at vs 7:

There it is, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Isn’t this what we always say or think when we are in a really difficult situation?

It feels to us as if the Lord has abandoned us and does not care for us.

I know I have felt that way and I am sure you have too.

Let us also not to be unsympathetic towards Israel’s plight.

God had led them out into a desert, the people numbered into the tens of thousands, they had flocks numbering even higher, and now they find themselves in a place with no water!

If they did not find water soon, they would all be dead before a week had passed; and yet their grumbling was a sin.

It was a sin because they were not trusting in God’s presence with them.

God was with them every day visibly:

My friends, just because the water is not there, does not mean God is not there!

I am using “water” metaphorically, it can be anything that is lacking in our lives.

The absence of these things makes us feel as though God is absent; but this is only an illusion.

God is there, and He will provide the water when He deems it best.