It Is Written | Luke 4:1:-15 | Pastor Micah Stephens

0:00Amen. Well, we are going to be in the book of Luke, Matthew, Mark, Luke, specifically chapter four. We're in Luke in our Anchored Reading program. If you're not following along in our Anchored Reading program, I would really encourage you to do so. Reading the Bible is really important, and reading the Bible consistently is really important. And reading the Bible and being on the same page as your fellow brothers and sisters, if you call this place home, is really important as well. And so we read through the Bible together over the course of a couple years, and I pick from the last week's reading to teach out of. And so we're going to be in the fourth chapter of the book of Luke. The book of Luke is my favorite of the Gospels. Because if Mark is the condense readers digest version of the Gospels, then Luke is the expanded, detail-oriented. Luke is a physician, and he loves the details. And I love the details. And so I always love going through Luke,

1:02and also because it is a prequel to the book of Acts, because Luke writes, acts as like a part two of the gospel, the gospel. And so I love Luke. And as we're in chapter four, some things that have already transpired that we've read this last week, Luke 1 and 2, gives us the birth of the most important person in all of history, Jesus. And we get this really cool blip on the radar, because we have Christ's birth, and then we have a snapshot of Christ at 12 years old. And it's this really cool story where Mary and Joseph, they lose Jesus. They lose them. They don't know where he is. Like, man, this guy's kind of important. What have we done? They're, they're traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem for, uh, Passover, and they go, they, they celebrate, and then they come back. And when they get back to Nazareth, they like, they're looking at their family,

2:04they're like, was Jesus with you? Like, I, I, I, I thought we left Jesus with you and like, no, we thought that you had Jesus. Like, where is Jesus? And so they go all the way back. This is a day's journey back and forth from Nazareth to, to Jerusalem. This is not just like forgetting your kid at Target or something. Like, this is a big deal. And so they're not that forgetting your kid at Target isn't a big deal. But you know what I'm saying? It's a bigger deal. And, and they're go, they go back, uh, and forth, and they find Jesus where? Where is he? In the temple, and he's astonishing, the rulers, he's astonishing, anybody that would listen to him, and they're blown away by this 12-year-old. And that's a big deal back then because the 12-year-olds were really, really, really smart. These 12-year-olds are considered men. They were, they needed to memorize and understand the scriptures. And so for Jesus to be astonishing, the teachers there was a big deal. And Mary shows up and he says, and she says, Jesus, why have you done this to us?

3:04Your father and I, we have sought you anxiously. We were anxious in this. We get the first recorded words of Christ, post-incarnation, Luke 249. Why did you seek me? It's almost like Jesus wanted to be left in Jerusalem. He's like, why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? In other words, like, mom, dad, I got one job. I'm going to honor you, but I got one job and it's the most important job in the world. It's the will of the father. Here to do the will of the father. The very next scene we get, there's no other in-between documentation. The very next scene we get is John the Baptist preparing the way 18 years later. Isn't that fascinating? There's 18 years of, there's from, you know, 0 to 12 unrecorded, 12 to 30 unrecorded decades of unrecorded ministry and unrecorded life of Christ. And I just, I hope that when we, when we die, we get like a screening of the entirety of the life of Christ.

4:05That would be really cool. But we, we see John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord. And from there, in Luke 3, Jesus steps into the waters of the Jordan to be baptized by John. The heavens open up the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove. Father speaks audibly from heaven. You are my beloved son, in you I am well pleased. The identity of Jesus is declared publicly, supernaturally by the voice of God himself. And today, we look at Luke 4 verse 1, what happens right after Jesus' baptism? What's the next thing, what's the next thing on the calendar? The wilderness. The wilderness. And the temptations in it. And we look to Christ to see how he overcomes the temptations of Satan in the wilderness. So, will you join me? Here I God speak, we stand for the reading of God's Word. And then we'll sit after. We're going to be in

5:07Luke chapter 4. Verse 1, it is written. It is written. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, return from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for 40 days by the devil. And in those days, he ate nothing. And afterward, when they had ended, he was hungry. Thank you, Luke. Captain Obvious, right? And the devil said to him, if you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread. But Jesus answered him saying, it is written. Everybody say it is written. It is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the devil, taking him on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, all this authority I will give you. And their glory for this has been delivered to me. And I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore,

6:13if you will worship before me, and all will be yours. And Jesus answered and said to him, get behind me, Satan, for everyone say it. It is written. You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written. He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you. And in their hands, they shall bury you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, it has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Now, when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of him went out through all the surrounding region, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. This is God's word. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word.

7:16We thank you for doing it first and doing it better than we could have, Lord, for fulfilling these things in our place. And we look to you as an example and as fulfillment of these scriptures. We ask that you would convict your hearts, pray that my words wouldn't get in the way of what you're trying to say to your church in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Take a seat. Before we get into the nitty gritty kind of details of the temptations, I really want us to wrap our heads around this big picture that we're looking at here. The idea and the truth that we find in scripture, that Jesus is here to do everything better. Everything. Jesus is a better fill in the blank. This is the beginning of Christ's ministry, and when we see Christ operating

8:22in this ministry, we see that everything that we could not do, everything that we can't do, everything that we're not going to be able to do, Jesus completes. This story is no different, and it's at the beginning of his ministry for a very specific reason, on purpose. Everything Christ does is intentionally completing something that was left unfulfilled. Right after what we read last week when we were looking at good counsel, we were looking at Exodus, the counsel of Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, to him. Like, hey, surely you're going to wear yourselves out, and he gives him really, really good advice after that would happen. The Israelites, they spend 40 years, 40, it's an important number, 40 years, a number of testing in the wilderness, wandering. In the same way, Christ is here 40 days in the wilderness, and when the Israelites were in the wilderness, how did they fare? They're tested in the same way, about provision,

9:24where does their provision come from, about their struggle for power, the reality of their identity, who they are, and every single time they failed, just like every single time we failed. They grumbled and they complained about bread and about food. They bowed down to idols, they worshipped foreign gods. They tested God and didn't believe him and take him at his word. And then Moses stands before them in Deuteronomy, final book of the law, and he reviews every time that they fail, all the compromises, every moment that they reached for their own solutions, instead of trusting God and taking him at his word. And now here, we have Jesus, 40 days in the wilderness, and Satan comes to him to tempt him, and all the areas that the Israelites failed, and that we failed, and Christ does every single thing that we could not do, instead of relying on his own solutions, which if anybody could rely on their own solutions, it would be the Christ,

10:28right? It would be God in human flesh. But instead, he reaches back. In all of his answers, he reaches back to Deuteronomy, the same place, the same stories, the same book Moses wrote to the people who had failed. He quotes Deuteronomy three times. Him being the fulfillment, the completion, the faithful son that the Israelites were called to be, but couldn't be without him, Christ. He's not just displaying like another miracle here in the temptations. It's more than that. It's the truth of the Scriptures, and the reality in his word, that we can now do what humanity failed to do for generations through the power of Christ in us. There were a few kind of conundrums in this first verse, that when you first read it, maybe if you're like me, it can kind of be confusing. Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. Why does God need to be filled

11:34with the Holy Spirit? Is that a question anybody has ever asked? Maybe it's just me. Like, why does Christ, why does Jesus need to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It's a valid question. It's the same reason why Christ can feel physical pain. It's the same reason that he asks the Father, if there's any other way than the cross, let this cut pass for me. It's the same reason why Jesus spent a lot of his time on earth praying. Like, why does God need to pray? Why does Jesus need to pray to the Father? It's the same reason why Jesus is baptized, the same reason why Jesus dies on a cross. See, Jesus is not just a picture of humanity. He is fully human. Remember the purpose of Christ. Remember his purpose. Jesus experiences everything, actually experiences everything that it means to be human without cheating and relying on his deity.

12:41And when you read this story, it's really easy to go like, I mean, come on, it's Jesus. Of course, Jesus resisted the devil. Of course, what kind of, how much of a temptation could it be if this is God we're talking about? How big of a sacrifice could it be his sacrifice on the cross? This is the wonder, the wonder of the truth of an essential doctrine in Christendom. And that is the hypostatic union. And that's just a fancy theological term for the truth that Jesus is fully God and fully human simultaneously. You're like, I can't wrap my hand around that. You're like, good, because if you could, then you'd be God and we'd be worshiping you, but you're not. Fully God and fully human. Not half God, half human, okay? It's very important we understand this. Not God sometimes and human some other times. Fully both always. It's an essential doctrine of

13:46the Christian faith. Why? In the, in the tension of this doctrine, we are challenged not to drift into the heresy, which might argue that Christ was fully God, but only appeared to be human. Fully God, but just appeared. It was like a hologram of humanity. The problem with that is, is that it renders Christ's suffering pointless. If Christ is just a hologram of humanity, then the suffering means nothing. It's not a real temptation. He doesn't actually know what it means to be human. No. No. He is human. He experience, we serve a God that doesn't just look human, but actually is human for the sake of knowing exactly how you feel. He has real true sympathy for you. He experiences, experiences the fullness of humanity without sin. Hebrews 4, 15. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we

14:47are yet without sin. This is what makes this different than all the other religions of the world, where God is far off, unable to fully be grasped, and he doesn't actually get you because he's not like you, but the beauty of the gospel, that God leaves his throne to not just observe humanity, like an alien coming from a different world to just kind of see how humans are doing, but actually to come down into the dirt with you, so that when you're going through pain, you're not confused about whether or not anybody knows how you feel. You know that there is someone that knows how you feel, and he's actually the only person that really, really matters. This is the gospel. Without it, it all kind of falls apart and becomes pointless. He knows what it feels like to be where you are. Whatever wilderness you find yourself in, he's been there, not just as God observing your reality, but as a human. Does that register with you? It's okay if you think it's boring as long as you understand that it's important, okay?

15:53The temptations we read about, they are real. The struggles of Christ as a human are real, which makes the victory that is experienced even more real and actually available to you. Victory in human flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is now alive in you, and it is this spirit that leads Christ into the wilderness. This is another conundrum of this first verse. You're led by the Spirit. Why is the Spirit leading Jesus into terrible places? Nobody struggles with that either? I struggle with that sometimes. Why? Why can't I thought it was green pastures and cool stuff and fun stuff? Why would the Spirit lead Jesus? If the Spirit leads Jesus here into the wilderness, I'm probably not far behind. The important nuance is that the Spirit doesn't lead Christ into the temptation.

16:58The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness where the temptation is waiting for him. God does not tempt anyone. Jesus makes that explicitly clear in James. We see the hypostatic union here in James also. You'll start to see this when you start understanding these theological terms and ideas. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil. So God can't be tempted, hypostatic union, fully God, fully human, tempted. Nor does he himself tempt anyone. Don't blame God. God doesn't tempt, but he does lead us to proving grounds. He leads us to where temptation is and it's in the whole world. It's normal. With great calling and great callings come great testing, anointing, testing. I want you to internalize the sequence of events. Directly following Christ's baptism. He speaks, the Father speaks, heavens open up,

18:02the Holy Spirit descends, the Holy Trinity is present here in one scene. It's glorious. Father's voice, the Holy Spirit descending, the sun receiving. I mean talk about a moment on parallel. And the very next thing that happens, you would think that maybe after the anointing would be something fun, something cool, something exciting, but no, it's his most difficult encounter recorded up until that point. He's not led from the anointing to the throne. He doesn't go straight to walking on water. He doesn't go straight to cleansing the temple. He doesn't go straight to the triumphal entry to Hosanna and the highest. No. Testing. Understand the patterns of God. Because when he starts treating you like Christ and you don't understand his patterns, you're going to feel like God made a terrible mistake. God, why am I going through this? I just

19:03got baptized. Lord, what's happening? The obedient, obedient and Christ will find the same pattern in their own life as Christ's life. If you're unfamiliar with the character of God, it's easy to think that God made a mistake, but no, this is the pattern of God. Joseph, in the Old Testament, he receives a dream. He's going to rule over his brothers. It's going to be epic. The very next thing that happens, is it him ruling over his brothers? No, no, no. See, his brothers throw him in a pit and then sell him into slavery. He's tested. Anointing, testing. David, he's anointed king of Israel. Samuel, the oil is poured over his head. The spirit of the Lord comes upon him, a mighty work of God. What happens next? Very next thing. He spends years running for his life, trying to be, it's always trying to kill him. He's escaping in caves and wilderness, anointing, testing. How about Paul and the New Testament? He has a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus.

20:09The voice of blinding light, the voice of Christ, radical calling. You're going to do great things, Paul. Immediately after, blind for three days, obscurity in Arabia for years before his ministry actually starts. Anointing, testing, Abraham, Job, Elijah, all of them. This is God's thing. This is not an accident. This is by design. Chances are you're there too. Don't be confused. God spoke something over your life. He did something radical for you. Calling, a breakthrough, whatever, a deliverance. Immediately, everything starts pressing in. Everything starts pressing against it by design, by pattern. An old relationship is restored. Suddenly, it's being attacked unlike ever before, even worse than it was before. Now, there's a new relationship now. It's finally honoring God and then the temptation enters unlike ever before. Addiction is broken in your life.

21:18And then suddenly, an opportunity to engage in that behavior is abundant. Can't escape it. So it happened to me after I got saved. The Lord delivered. I was like, I don't want anything to do with this ever again, any of these things. And then suddenly, it was like silver platter. Like, here you go. It's all here by design. You get baptized. Go to camp. Mountain Top experience. Everything's cool. You get home hardest week of your life. Maybe you have a ministry. It feels like, man, it's just starting to gel. Everybody, man, everybody's on the same page. Everything feels good. It feels like it's going right. And then people start to rise up in opposition. Anointing, testing. It's no coincidence. And you actually, you don't get any sympathy for me. No, I extend to you, appraise God. I extend to you a good. Welcome to the fight.

22:19I mean, what good is a faith that's not tested? How will you fare? The enemy is always most aggressive when God is about to do something radical in your life. When God has done something radical in your life. And the ministry is waiting in front of you. Something significant when when he's primed your life for great things because Satan hates the anointing. Satan hates the anointed. Don't blame God for the temptation. Thank God that you've been chosen and you've been given the power to overcome what Satan is trying to use to disqualify you. Amen? That's just verse 1. The sermon could be over. I love when that happens. Everything else is just a bonus. He hates Jesus. He does everything he can to stop him. And Christ knows this, being tempted for 40 days. By the devil. By the way, so this entirety of time he's being tempted. You just get an insight

23:20into some of them. But this is a 40 day temptation. And in those days, he ate nothing. He was fasting. Fasting. Fasting. 40 day fast. I think a lot of times when we read this story, probably not for us anymore because we learned about fasting a few weeks ago. When you read this, you think in this situation, Satan's trying to take advantage of Jesus at his weakest moment, weakest moment physically, but we know that when our flesh is weak, spirit increases. Christ, he's modeling this for us specifically through fasting. Jesus knows that as the temptation increased, the flesh needed to decrease. This is why we fast. It's not to earn spiritual brownie points. It's not to impress God. Because we do it because a body that has learned to say no to its appetites is a body that's ready for the fight in the spiritual. The flesh is decreasing significantly through fasting,

24:23resisting the temptation actually becomes more possible. How can Satan actually and how well can he actually tempt us with food when we spend over a month declaring that we don't need it? See, this is spiritual warfare. We have to be tactical with this. Let knowing that the temptation, listen, let knowing that the temptation follows the anointing, change the way the temptation is following the anointing, let the knowing of that change the way that you celebrate the anointing. Because a lot of us, something cool happens and we celebrate the anointing of God by taking our foot off the gas pedal. And when we spend all this time fasting and praying and seeking God and getting ready, he finally does something radical. He finally does the thing and we're like, God, it's just so amazing to be so close to you and it's so, and then we celebrate being close to

25:25Jesus by drifting away from Jesus. We need to start celebrating the anointing with more fasting. God, I don't want anything but to be closer to you. Why would I want anything less? I almost feel bad. Honestly, for the demon that tries to get me in the middle of the fast. Like, you should have showed up when I was fat and happy because I'm locked in. I'm ready to go. My priorities have been aligned. You got to be locked in. You got to be locked in. These temptations are everywhere. First, John 2. All that is in the world. All of it, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. It's not of the father but it's of the world. The world is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. This is Satan's age-old playbook. This is how one of these three things, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life.

26:28Lust of the flesh should be like a provision. Lust of the eyes is power, pride of life, identity. It's no coincidence that they line up with these three temptations of Christ. The temptation that you experience in your own life will fall in one of these categories more or less. And Christ beats them all. It seems overwhelming until you remember how good your God is. 1 Corinthians 10, no temptation has overtaken you except such as as common a man. God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. You think about the way of escape is you got to go through it. You actually have to do it. It doesn't say that it will pluck you out of the temptation and rescue you. It says he'll make the way of escape. You just have to choose God's way over Satan's way. Don't ever blame God. He's the one that

27:30gave you a way out. He's that good. How does Christ bear these things? First temptation could be categorized by this lust of the flesh, provision, appetite, survival. Your body wants something, your body needs something and Satan is offering Jesus a shortcut to get it. Same with you. You need something. You want something. It might even be godly. It might be good. It might be normal and natural like hunger. Desire for intimacy. Good things. Satan's offering you a shortcut. If you're the son of God, command this stone to become bread. If you are the Messiah, why are you so deprived? There's a big show at your baptism that seems like a pretty cool thing. Your father's kind of a big shot. Why are you not provided for them? Why are you starving? Jesus doesn't seem very Messiah-like. It seems really good at taking things that are true and then adding a shiny

28:34little deception to the end of it. This is his pattern. Come on. Do a little something for yourself, Jesus. Really good, successful fast. We get it, your god, whatever. Same temptation comes to us. Look, if you're a child of God, if you're actually a son and daughter of the most high, why does your life suck? Why do you go through difficult? Why is this happening to you? Why are you sick? Why why are you poor? Why are whatever it is? Why are you hungry? Why are you single? Whatever it is. God says he'll provide for you. He says he's going to give you good gifts. Why is he not providing? He is providing. He is. It just doesn't look like provision of the world. When it comes to my provision, Satan's going to offer you an illegitimate solution to a legitimate need.

29:40In that moment, it is his goal to make the illegitimate solution look so easy to attain and so reasonable, provided your circumstance, that it causes you to overlook the reality that God has already given you a righteous, lasting, good solution to that legitimate need. But it's going to require you to trust him rather than take control of a situation. What does Jesus say? He says, it's written. It is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. See, you don't know what provision is. Satan, you think that provision is the bread. Provision is not the bread. Provision is the promises of God. I want to alleviate some pressures here because notice that Jesus doesn't tell Satan the scripture address. He doesn't go, oh, it says in Deuteronomy 6, 8, 3, but blah, blah, blah. No, no. This is the, I love the reality that the simple application of

30:46the scripture oftentimes is preached or presented to you as, hey, just memorize more of your Bible so that when Satan tempts you, you just have Bible verses to just like shoot at him. And I'm like, I don't want to take away from the importance of memorizing scripture. But realize that that's not the necessarily the point here. The point is that not just using a Bible verse to, as a secret pass code, a secret cheat code that makes Satan move on to the next thing. This is about being so shaped by the word of God, being so shaped by the story of God, being so shaped by the author that everything that he's done in scripture is the first thing that comes to mind when presented with the temptation. When Satan tells you, oh, you automatically know, I know that that's not true because I've seen my God work. I've seen my

31:47God provide. It's not about bread. I mean bread, that's nothing to the Lord. He's provided self so much further and beyond bread. He's pointing back to a story when he quotes the scripture, not just the words, but the stories surrounding the words. Deuteronomy 8, 3, he humbled you. He allowed you to hunger and fed you with mana. It's not about the hunger, it's about the trust. What you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know, that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. So this does not have to do with God leaving you hungry, and you're trying to fill your stomach, your physical need with the spiritual thing. That's not it. This is a pointing back to a story of God's faithfulness to provide everything, always. Satan, I've witnessed thousands of years of God providing for his kids. When God says he's going to provide, I know he's

32:48going to provide everything. David says in Psalm 37, I have been young, now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor is descendants begging bread. Paul says in Philippians 419, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I've seen it. I trust him in it. I don't need to take your shortcut to get this thing. It's going to make me happy right now, and then leave me devastated in the end. I know that my God will provide. Whatever area in your life right now that you're tempted to take that quick fix, that the shortcut, the compromise, the thing that feels justified. Remember, the testimony represented here in the word of God. The testimony represented here amongst the people of God, thousands of years of God never once failing to provide. He humbled them, he allowed them to hunger, and then he fed them,

33:52so that they could trust him. It's an invitation to trust God, an invitation to take them at His word. The thing that you're hungry for, the thing that you're not getting, reframe it. It's God, it's not God withholding sustenance from you. It's God preparing you to receive something far better than Satan's offering. Don't give in and trade being part of this testimony. Trade it for a piece of bread that's going to leave you hungry in a few hours. He's not going to leave you hungry. The lust of the flesh. How about the lust of the eyes? Power, the devil taking up him up on a high mountain showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, this is a vision. And the devil said to him, all this authority I will give you in their glory, the people, their glory, THER, their glory. For this has been delivered to me and I give it to you to whomever I wish.

34:54Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. What a fascinating temptation, fascinating thing to offer Christ. This isn't random. What did Christ come to earth to do? Christ came to do these things, to reclaim kingdoms, to establish His rule, to reign. Christ will do these things, to turn the nations toward Him. The governments shall be upon His shoulders on earth as it is in heaven. This is His purpose. The thing is, is that to do the will of the Father, it comes at a great, great, great cost. What has to happen in order for all of these things to happen? The cross. Death. The wrath of God poured out. See, this is what's so tempting about this offer. Is that Satan is offering Jesus the outcome, what He actually came to do, the

35:57outcome of the mission without having to pay the price of the cross. No suffering, no betrayal, no Gethsemane, no sweating blood. Where Christ will later beg the Father, is there any other way? Satan is basically preemptively giving Jesus another way. Here's the look. This is what you want to do anyways, just worship me and you'll get it. Here's the thing. All you got to do is forfeit the will of the Father, no big deal. When you forfeit the will of the Father, this is where it's applicable to you, not just Jesus. When you forfeit the will of the Father, the power that you claim given to you by Satan, it may be a great power, but it is only ever, it can only ever be a temporary power. It will never last. Satan will always leave out the

37:02really, really most important part of the offer where look, although he is currently the ruler of this world. Currently, the prince of the power of the air, he'll leave out the part how this world in its sinful form will pass away and this guy will be rolled up like a scroll and Satan and his followers will be cast into the lake of fire forever for eternity. Let me show you at the end of your power, your power that you receive not doing the will of the Father. What happens when you forfeit the will of God in Revelation 21, 14 through 16, then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up. Picture this, picture being in that same moment where Christ is overlooking all of the kingdoms of the world. This is the same scene, different time. Every mountain in Ireland was moved out of its place and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the

38:05commanders, the mighty men, every slave, every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. That's the power of the world. That's the power that Satan offers you. A power that leaves you at the end of the age wishing that you would die, wishing death upon yourself. It's a cool throne, mighty man. In the end, you will beg for death. I didn't mean that to be as heavy as it was. It is. See, Satan is selling you a temporary fix and eat, turn old death and hell. They are like the myriad of side effects rifled off at the end of a beautiful pharmaceutical commercial. You're like, man, that looks okay, that seems cool.

39:06The music is nice and bubbly and the people are happy. It seems like that might be an effective forum of me. This might help with my depression and side effects. Side effects include memory loss, like, yeah, it's not really great anyways. I'm good. Heart failure, like, in some cases increased risk of suicide. Wait a second. That's what I'm paying for. I thought the point was that I was trying to avoid the whole depression thing. Death, like, whoa, what's happening here? Maybe there's another way. Maybe there's another way. See, the thing about life is death is not a potential side effect. It is a guaranteed side effect. You will die. What happens after is what's actually important. You're going to die. The temptation becomes disgustingly unattractive when the side

40:09effects are understood and when you have a clear picture of what the end of the book looks like. There is no variation of this reality that you live in and there's only one reality. There is no version of this that does not end with the reign of Christ. Philippians 2.10 says that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and those in heaven and those of earth, period, no, no, not period, comma. You cannot escape him and of those under the earth. In heaven, on earth, dead, it doesn't matter. You will bend your knee to Christ. Satan offers you a power and he's offering Christ a power. It may be comparable in scope, maybe comparable in its vastness, but it's incomparable in duration. He offers the same to you. There's this foolish notion that if you reject Christ,

41:15then you get to party with your homies and hell forever and you're like, yeah, I mean, nothing about having sounds good to me anyway, so I'll just all the things that I actually love doing. That's all in hell, right? Partying with my homies? No. That's not how this works. You don't escape the reign of Christ. Revelation 1 says, so simply this, I am He who lives and was dead and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and of death. You cannot escape Christ. Whatever power is being offered to you now is a power that will dissolve into the abyss. Should you retain that position and that throne to the end into eternity? You will die. Your throne will die with you. Instead, you have a dash. The moment of your birth is one year, a dash, and then the moment the date of your death, your life is that little dash. Like Christ, you choose the cross

42:17because the eternity that is before you at death is so much more important, reign with Him forever. This life is so, if it means affliction now and resurrection later forever, count me in. Hebrews 11, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. This is why we're here because we go through this affliction together. We don't mourn like people think we're weird because we're celebrating. We have smiles on our faces. We're going through this with hope because we don't mourn like they mourn. When they experience hardship, when they experience death and disease and pain and temptation, all they have is to hope for something that hurts a little bit less. But man, do we have so much more than that? Taking something that makes the pain go away is the closest they get to heaven. And for us, it's the closest that we get to hell,

43:21praise God. We get to experience life forever. Then to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin and oh, do they pass so quickly? So quickly. Satan is so tricky too. He's like, come on, do it, come on, do it. Come on, do it. Come on, you deserve it. It'll be fine, just do it. And then you do it. He's like, you idiot. How could you do it? Passing pleasure. Pleasure is your life is a dash. Man, the pleasure of sin is even smaller than that. It's not always this big world rule that's being offered to you. Sometimes he just shows you that the promotion that requires just a little compromise, right? The relationship that requires you to lower your godly standards, the opportunity that requires you to just bow. Just bow to this false idol,

44:24bow to this passing pleasure. Same temptation. Cost is great. Matthew 1626 says, for what profit is it to a man? If he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Christ answers the temptation. The temptation of power given to him without needing to go to the cross. He says, get behind me, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your god and him only shall you shall serve. The world now in exchange for your soul forever. Eternal perspective of what death actually looks like for the one that does not know Christ and the one that does should set you straight. This is why when we see people with incredible influence that has been achieved through blasphemy and godlessness,

45:26we have true confidence. It's the only way we can have true confidence that in the end, God wins. The God I serve wins forever. This is truth. Well, then what's left to be tempted by? Simple. Satan looks at Jesus and says, okay, well, then prove it. Prove it then to me. Prove it to those around you. He does prove it just in his own terms. He brought him up to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here. A more accurate translation would be since. Satan's not down, he knows. Look, you're the son of God. Throw yourself down from here. Prove it. This is the most sophisticated of the temptations because it's not attacking a physical need like food. It's not offering an external reward like kingdoms and rule. This goes straight for the identity. This is pride.

46:29Straight for the relationship between Christ and the Father. God just declares at the Jordan, you are my beloved son. Satan says, if that's true, prove it. Jump. Make him catch you then. Make him show up for you publicly. Prove to them who you are. Try to life. The need to be understood. The need to be vindicated. Proven. The sneaky desire to manufacture a moment that confirms your identity, which you only need to do if the Father's declaration is not enough for you. The Father is spoken. You know who you are. You know your identity. It's so subtle and it's so dangerous because it's dressed up like spirituality. Notice this. Satan begins to quote scripture. He's so smart. He's smarter than you. He catches on. He co-ops Christ's method.

47:30But for an evil end, Satan says it is written. He sounds like a theologian. He sounds like someone who knows the Bible. Satan goes like, yeah, okay. Well, to play that game, it is written. He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you. And in their hand, they shall bury you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. This is Psalm 91. Verse 11 and 12. Satan quotes it accurately. It's real scripture. It's a genuine promise of God. This is pride disguised as faith. Sometimes it sounds like trusting God. Sometimes it sounds like obedience to the word of God. But it's actually taking God's name and his word and vein for your own earthly pleasure and for your own vindication. He hijacks Jesus' own language. Quots this book, the same book. Satan knows the Bible. He knows the Bible better than you. Most of the time, he's not coming at you with

48:37these big, obvious lies. He comes at you with accurate scripture applied to the wrong situation for the wrong purpose. A wolf in sheep's clothing. That's why last week mattered. That's why the quality of counsel matters. That it's all dictated by the word of God. There is a huge difference between knowing the text and knowing the one who wrote it. Knowing what the Bible says and knowing Jesus. Why said it? Who did write it? Jesus answered and said to him, it has been said, you shall not tempt the Lord, your God. Do you catch the shift here? Jesus goes, it is written for the first temptation. He goes, it is written for the second temptation. For the third temptation, Satan goes, it is written. Jesus doesn't say it is written again. He says, it's been declared. He's like, okay, say it and I get what you're doing here. Let me one up you even further. See,

49:40it is written, it's settled, you know, permanent authoritative record of scripture. It is written. It has been said. It has been spoken. It has been declared. It is written as someone appealing to an authority that's above themselves. It is said is the language of the one who actually spoke the thing. Satan quoting the text, appealing to the document, Jesus is responding, appealing to the voice behind the document, which is himself. The one who breathed it out. The one who was there when it was written. Jesus is basically saying, look, you can quote the scripture, all you want to me out of context in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among men. I am him. What are you doing, Satan? There's an amazing scene from Narnia, the line in which in the wardrobe and in the movie,

50:46the white witch stands before Aslan and cites the deep magic written on the stone table. The ancient law, the written record, the document, and Aslan, he roars. He says, do not cite the deep magic to me, which I was there when it was written. He roars it in his voice. You can read it, all you want, Satan, you can recite it, you can take it out of context, but I said it. We respond the same way. When our identity is being challenged, prove yourself. I don't have to prove myself. The spirit of Christ is id me, crying out, obo father, I am secured my relationship with the Lord. I don't need to prove to you that I am who I know I am. It's not how many Bible verses I can quote, it's closeness to the one who wrote it, it's closeness to the author, it's closeness to the word. The context, Psalm 91, 1, tells us who this applies to. He who dwells in

51:51the secret place of the most high. See, I find you're telling me to prove myself and you're using scripture to try to get me to throw myself and tempt God to try to save me. I am absolutely confident because I dwell with the most high. The promise is for me. I don't need to prove it to you. He says, you shall not tempt the Lord, your God. The verse that Christ quotes, it's about Israel. Israel is demanding that God prove his presence. Israel is demanding, is the Lord among us or not. And so in this moment, Jesus, he's not just refusing to test the Father. He's telling Satan, not only, not only will I not tempt the Father, you are the one in violation of this command. The Lord, your God, is standing right in front of you. You've tempted me long enough. This conversation

52:51is over. I don't perform for you. What's so important to understand here is that Christ, he's not just doing this so that we can know how to win. This is not just about tactics in the wilderness. He does it to win, not just so that you might know how to win. He does it to win for you. Romans 5.19 says, as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. His righteousness on our behalf, his obedience. We wield the story of Christ's victory in the wilderness, not just as an example on how to resist Satan. But we wield it as actual victory in Christ. The battle, yes, it exists, but the war is over. What is written is that it is finished. The power of the author who defeated Satan is defeating Satan and will defeat Satan now dwells in us. Now, the devil had ended every temptation. He departed him

53:58until an opportune time. What would that more opportune time be? There's only one other place in Scripture that Jesus says, get behind me, Satan. When Jesus, he begins to explain that he asked what he has to die. I'm going to have to die. The cross is imminent. I am going to have to die, but don't worry, I'm going to be raised again in three days. It's going to be painful. It's going to feel like a loss, suffering. It awaits me. The cross, the necessity of the cross. Peter took him aside and rebuked him, saying, far be it from you, Lord. This show not happened to you. You don't have to go through this. You're the Messiah. Seize your power now. Don't go, you don't have to do all that. He turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. Same response. You're in offense to me. You're not mindful of the things of God but the things of men. You're not thinking

55:01eternally. It didn't work in the wilderness. It's not going to work here. Peter, the cross is the only way. It's the only way that this works. The other way it works temporarily, I can probably make it happen for a while, maybe hand it down through some generations, but the cross is the only way to make this final. The cross is the only way to make this eternal. The cross is the only way that resisting the temptation is going to work for you like it worked for me. It's the only way that we can make it through the wilderness into everlasting. The cross is the only way that temptation of the enemy doesn't overtake us. Jesus goes on to say, this is the same conversation. Get behind me, Satan. Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. Forever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. It's always been the cross. For what prophet is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Well,

56:05a man gave an exchange for his soul. The son of man will come in the glory of his father. This is what happens when you don't sacrifice the will of the father and you operate an obedience with his angels and then he will reward each according to his works. Peter, I get it. It looks like it's going to be hard. It doesn't make sense right now, but it will make sense. Which side of this do you want to be on at the return of Christ? The side where the plastic throes and the the castles made out of cards are abandoned and the power of this world hides in caves begging for death. What do you want to be ruling and raining with me forever? What's the result? It's the result. God has amazing, great astounding things for you on the other side of the wilderness and the power of

57:05Christ. Jesus returned in the power of the spirit to Galilee. No days off, news of him went out through all the surrounding region. He taught in their synagogues being glorified by all. Great ministry awaits those who reject the empty promises of the enemy. For those who cling to the Lord in the middle of the wilderness, those who deny themselves and follow Christ into victory, temporary affliction, eternal victory. Next week is Palm Sunday. We walk into Holy Week. Grateful for not just what Jesus does and did on the cross, but for his entire life, his ability to sympathize with you. Every single temptation that he endured, every battle that he won, all of it, they're all stepping stones to the grace of God. It is written. The spirit of the author, the spirit of the one who wrote it, is in you. Now you can resist the devil. He willfully, and in the end, his head will be

58:07crushed. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you've given us the ability, the power. God, from on high to get through this life. Lord, the temptation, the temptation to sin. In light of the cross, we reject it. In light of the cross, we follow you. The road may be incredibly narrow, difficult. God, but when we're following you, and you traverse it perfectly, all we have to do is keep our eyes on you and we won't fall. And if we do, because we dwell with you, you catch us. Lord, we love you. We thank you. We look

59:13forward to Holy Week and all the things that you have in store for us, Lord, so that we might more like you, so that we might worship you in a closer way. God, we don't let off the gas. We continue on. God in confidence that we are children of the most high. You have provided everything we need. You will provide. Would we speak your name into the darkness? In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.