Sermon Tone Analysis

Prayer

Pray

I.

The Reading

A reading from Luke 4:1-13.

This is God’s Word:

[ Scripture Reading: ~2 min ]

Say Amen

If you receive this word by faith, for what it really is, the word of God and not the word of man, will you say Amen?

Amen.

II.

The Exhortation

Our recent sermons have been gathered around a shared theme of spiritual conflict.

We’ve learned that if we are obedient to God’s Word, we will be at odds with the enemy who opposes God’s Word and God’s ways.

We also know, that while the enemy may use people as conduits for his schemes, and while he may take advantage of the places people give him in their lives, in their families, and in their churches from which to operate —

We know that our conflict as Christians is not against flesh and blood, but against the real power behind people— against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).

The conflict is real.

The spiritual enemy is real.

But so is the Gospel.

So is the victory Christ won through His own conflict with sin on the cross, with death and the grave.

So is the power of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and so is the Holy Spirit that dwells within the heart of every believer by faith (Eph 3:17).

We’ve been listening to the places in Scripture where the enemy is allowed to speak.

He only speaks in three places in the Bible, and as we hear his voice we become aware of his intentions and methods - so that we might know how to resist him with greater faith and unwavering trust in God.

We look now to the Gospels, where the Devil speaks for the third and last time in Scripture.

As has been the case with the previous two speeches, the context and circumstances that lead to this speech are important to the conflict that occurs.

This experience in spiritual conflict begins with movement of the Holy Spirit.

In verse 1 the Holy Spirit leads Jesus in to the wilderness for forty days.

Jesus moves in.

But in verse 13, at the conclusion of the conflict, the Devil departs from Jesus until an opportune time.

The Devil moves out.

So Jesus enters in to the wilderness, in verse 1.

And the Devil exits out of Jesus’s presence, in verse 13.

But --

Jesus stayed.

The Devil didn’t stay; Jesus stayed.

Jesus stayed right where the Holy Spirit led Him to be.

Jesus stayed right where His Father wanted Him to be.

And Jesus did not give up; and Jesus did not give in.

Jesus did not leave.

The Devil left.

The Devil gave up.

The Devil departed from Jesus until an opportune time.

That’s a significant revelation in this text of Holy Scripture.

This means that Jesus successfully resisted the Devil and caused the Devil to leave.

Here’s something we can learn about the spiritual enemy:

The Devil flees when he is met with resistance (Jas 4:7).

If the Devil doesn’t meet resistance, he stays.

He takes up residence in whatever place he is given.

He builds a stronghold in that place.

But —

Jesus resists the Devil, so that the Devil leaves.

Psalm 1 says:

Jesus doesn’t entertain the Devil or give him place.

He dealt with the Devil so that he would leave.

How did Jesus do that?

Jesus resisted the Devil in the power of the Holy Spirit and with the Word of God.

Notice the Spirit’s presence in verse 1:

Jesus was FULL of the Holy Spirit, and LED by the Spirit, and in verse 14 —

Going back to Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit has descended, filled, led, and empowered Jesus — and now Jesus faces conflict with the Devil.

This is a spiritual conflict.

Through the experience of Jesus, this text suggests that if we pray for the Holy Spirit to move, we must also at the same time, prepare for conflict.

For when the Spirit moves, there will be conflict.

The lowest points of our faith might come directly after the highest points in our faith.

Jesus confronted this conflict when the text says of Him, that He was “full of the Spirit.”

But it was through the conflict that Jesus emerged from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit.

And as such, any spiritual conflict must be engaged in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In teaching this text, often the emphasis is placed on the Word.

Jesus responds to each temptation of the Devil with the Word.

The Word is the weapon.

The Sword.

But remember, Church, that it is the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6.17).

[ An exhortation for the Church: ]

Let us not neglect the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is more than the fruit of Galatians 5.

The essential weapons of spiritual warfare are the Spirit and the Word.

2 Corinthians tells us:

[The Exhortation for the Church]

The weapons of our warfare are in the Spirit and in the Word.

This is the context for this conflict, but the enemy is the same and his purpose is the same.

He’s not speaking here to humanity about God, as he did in the Garden:

“Did God actually say...” (Gen 3:1)

Neither is he speaking to God about humanity, as he did in Job:

“Does Job fear God for no reason?”

(Job 1:9)

But here in the Gospels, the Devil is speaking to God in humanity.

He’s speaking to the God-man, to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And in the canon of Holy Scripture, the enemy does not speak again.

(GCM).

Jesus gets the last word and silences Satan with the Word!

Take comfort, brothers and sisters, that the enemy has spoken to Jesus, and Jesus has prevailed.

We need not listen to the voice of the Devil, or give him voice in our lives, our families, or our church to speak, for Jesus proves his voice may be silenced.

Jesus gives us a better voice, a better word — God’s word, the word of truth.

III.

The Teaching

The enemy is the same, and his purpose is the same.

In Genesis, he is disguised as “the serpent” and he casts-doubt on God’s character (Gen 3:1).

In Job, he is unmasked in the presence of the Lord and revealed by name as the adversary and accuser that he is: his is called “Satan” (Job 1:6 ff, CHALOT).

Here in Luke, he’s just called “the Devil.”

“Devil” reveals another method of his opposition to God.

The word “devil” means “slanderer.”