Spiritual Battle For

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Luke 4:1 ESV
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
Luke 4:2 ESV
2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
Lured to temptation, Jesus was.... much like 40 years for the people of Israel in the wilderness or 40 days for Moses....
three types of testing.
1.People are lured to do evil. Note, God can never tempt himself this way (James 1.13)
James 1:13 ESV
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
And, not all temptation comes from Satan… often it comes from our own sinful nature as in James 1.14-15
James 1:14–15 ESV
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
2. People tempt(test) God by asking unreasonable demands contrary to faith. Israel did it in Deuteronomy 6.16
Deuteronomy 6:16 ESV
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
God tests (but does not tempt) his people as he did in the desert Deuteronomy 8.2
Deuteronomy 8:2 ESV
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
God knows all about us, but he reveals our thoughts and intents of our hearts through times of trial.
Luke 4:3 ESV
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
The devils’ seeming question is actually a restatement of a fact already given. Remember Luke 3.22
Luke 3:22 ESV
22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 4:4 ESV
4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ”
Bread is not an evil thing, it’s a necessary thing. Note that Jesus is not tempted to self gratification, to quench his hunger, rather He is challenged to act differently than His total dependence on God.
This passage directly relates back to Israel and Deuteronomy 8.2-3
Deuteronomy 8:2–3 ESV
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Note, Jesus is spiritually full but physically empty (hungry). We are usually physically full and spiritually hungry- and we fail at temptations with great regularity.
40 days of fasting and spiritual seeking… and what does Satan do? He separates the spiritual from the physical. You’re hungry. God wasn’t good to you because you are hungry.
But in separating the hunger (physical) from the spiritual (40 days of being with God), Satan was actually trying to take God out of places where He rightly belongs. (emotional, physical, financial, spiritual, etc.,)
Jesus proves it is better to be hungry in the will of God than satisfied outside of the will of God.
We need physical bread for our bodies, but we need spiritual food to satisfy our spiritual needs as well. The Word of God is what fills that need. When we read the word and feed on it, it is the same as eating for our physical bodies… that nourishment enables us to obey the willof God in our lives.
Luke 4:5–8 ESV
5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ”
This temptation is different. Jesus is shown the world, a vision of it. Satan implies that it’s his to give to Jesus, even though one day jesus will rule the world. Jesus doesn’t even challenge or acknowledge Satan’s claim. If He worships satan, in order to recapture the world, Jesus would have been “casting out devils by Beelzebub.”
Note:
If Jesus accepts satan’s offer, salvation is impossible.
He would have worshipped Statan and would no longer be a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
He would have contradicted OT scripture.
In accepting an immediate kingdom, Jesus would have avoided the cross.
This temptation allows Jesus to bypass the cross. All of scripture and tradition says that the Messiah would suffer and then receive glory. Satan just removed the suffering step in this passage.
Look at 1 Peter 5.10
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
God’s pattern is to start with suffering and end with glory. Satan’s pattern is to start with glory and end with suffering… (the garden and sin),
Satan wants us to sacrifice the eternal for the temporary and take the easy way.
There are no shortcuts in the Christian life, and there is no easy way to spiritual victory and maturity.
If Jesus had to hang on a tree before he could sit on his throne, Jesus’ disciples should not expect an easier way of life.
Go look at Luke 9.22-26
Luke 9:22–26 ESV
22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 4:9–12 ESV
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
This passage is for Jesus to be tempted to presume upon God His protection… and special favor with Him.
Satan quotes Psalm 91.11-12, and in placing Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple fulfils a tradition that the Messiah would appear on the pinnacle of the temple.
Jump from that pinnacle, Jesus. See if God saves you.
Israel put God to the test in the desert, Jesus will not.
If Jesus makes an inappropriate demand for a divine sign from His father, to be used as a display, the sign itself would be an act of unbelief, masquerading as exttraordinary faith.
A Christian can claim God’s protection and care, but when we willfully get into trouble and expect God to rescue us, we are then tempting God. A good example is Israel in the wilderness in Exodus 17.1-7
Exodus 17:1–7 ESV
1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Luke 4:13 ESV
13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

The Devil’s Defeated When Our Flesh Has Retreated

Temptation. What’s the point of Jesus’ temptation. You need look no further than Hebrews 2.16-18
Hebrews 2:16–18 ESV
16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Go look again at how this passage starts: Luke 4.1-2
Luke 4:1–2 ESV
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
Compare
Look at Genesis 3.1-6
Genesis 3:1–6 ESV
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Jesus was tempted in a terrible wilderness place, hungry, exhausted- but He wsa victorious.
Adam & Eve were tempted in the most beautiful place on earth- and failed.

The Devil’s Defeated When Our Flesh Has Retreated

temptation of Christ.
Meet His Own needs outside of the will of God.
Put another way, to put immediate needs ahead of eternal purposes.
2. Worship Satan- you’ll get what you’re supposed to get in the first place.
Put another way, here’s an opportunity for Jesus to escape the cross.
3. Test God’s word- jump off the temple.
Put another way, to test the truth of what God says.
How did Jesus overcome? He put his flesh to death and God’s Word to work. (Faith).
How do we accomplish this? Prepare for the battle.
Jesus used the “Word of the Spirit” as in Ephesians 6.17
Ephesians 6:17 ESV
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
He quoted from Deut 8.3
Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV
3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
and Deut 6.13
Deuteronomy 6:13 ESV
13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
and Deut 6.16
Deuteronomy 6:16 ESV
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

The Devil’s Defeated When Our Flesh Has Retreated

Note, Jesus is spiritually full but physically empty (hungry). We are usually physically full and spiritually hungry- and we fail at temptations with great regularity.
Lent. Deny myself of something. But there’s a positive side of this. And we often forget it. Focusing on Jesus.
Our relationship with him. so....
Read your Bible.
Pray Daily.
Seek Fellowship with other Christians.
Jesus bids us take up our cross and die. Die to self and live to Him.
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