THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
(Chapters 3-4)
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Kevin Pendergrass.
Welcome to the second lesson in our study on the Book of Luke. Today we will be looking at Luke 4. But before we do that, I would like to recap that in chapters 1 and 2 we read of the birth of Christ, which was in fulfillment of prophecy. In chapter 3 we read of John the Immerser, including how he came to prepare the way for Jesus Christ and how he rebuked the multitudes by telling them to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. We also see the baptism of Jesus “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus was not baptized to have His sins washed away, since, as Hebrews 4:15 tells us, Christ had no sins. He was sinless. But Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Today, if we want to have our sins washed away, we must be baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins. Christ set an example of that for us in order to fulfill all righteousness.
In Luke 4 we see Satan testing Jesus. I want to examine the specific tests that came Jesus’ way. Luke 4:1-2 says, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.” We need to understand that, as far as the context of the passage goes, this is occurring fairly soon after Jesus was baptized. Shortly after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The first point that we need to understand is that trials, suffering, and persecution will come our way. If we have been baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and thus are members of Christ’s church, then trials, suffering, and persecution will come our way. In 2 Timothy 3:12, as Paul was writing to Timothy, he said, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” If you want to live a godly, moral life as you try to do what the Bible has to say, then you will suffer persecution. Bad things will come your way. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said,
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
There are a lot of preachers today who are teaching the idea of how “simple” Christianity is, and how it is easy, and how all a person has to do is believe in God, and everything from that point on will come easily. God will give you a brand new car. He will get you the house you’ve always wanted, or the house you’ve always wanted. The Bible does not teach such things. The Bible says that Christianity is, at times, difficult. Compared to eternity, as we look forward to Heaven, then yes, this life should be considered easier. But as far as a real-world life goes, Christianity can be very difficult. There will be persecution and suffering that Christians will have to face. In 1 Peter 4:16 we are told, “If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” Peter also talked about those who suffer—but because of their own wrongdoing. It is their own fault. If a person does something wrong, and then suffers because of it, that is his fault. But Peter said in 1 Peter 4:16 if a person suffers solely for being a Christian, that is nothing of which to be ashamed. If you have suffered because you have committed some sort of sin, then you need to be ashamed of it so that it perhaps can lead to godly sorrow and repentance. But if you’ve suffered as a Christian, you do not need to be ashamed of that. Some people suffer because they stood up for doing the right thing. As a result, persecution comes their way. At times, they end up leaving Christ and the church. Why? It is because they are ashamed. Peter said that in such instances people should not be ashamed, but should glorify God. People need to realize that they are living a life that is pleasing to God, and that they are doing what the Bible says. Because of that, they should not be ashamed. Christians who are living faithful lives before God can be joyful even during the worst times. James speaks of this in James 1:2-4,
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
James is saying that even in terrible times, Christians are to “count it all joy” when trials and tribulations come. Does that mean that every morning when we awake, we should say, “I’m so happy today that I just can’t wait for something terrible to happen”? Of course not. But when something does go wrong, and a person is living faithfully before God, that person still can find joy during such times. There are several instances in the Bible of such things. In Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were put in prison, and were persecuted because of their Christianity, did they say, “Enough of this! I’m trying to live to my life for God, but I got put in prison. God doesn’t care for me, and He doesn’t love me”? No. Instead, they worshiped, praised, and sang songs to God (vs. 25). Most people today would say, “If that happened to me, I’d leave Christianity altogether.” Someone who would say such a thing is a person who is not truly committed to the cause of Christ. They do not understand what it is to live a Christian life because so many people have taught that it is such an easy thing, and that nothing bad will ever happen. The Scriptures teach the exact opposite. Christians can (and should) be happy even during trials and temptations. In Matthew 10:22 Jesus reminded His disciples, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” That is something to which we can look forward. It is what makes the Christian life easier from a spiritual standpoint. We know that no matter what happens to us while we are here on Earth, if we remain faithful to God, we know that we will be saved. When, in Matthew 10:22 Jesus reminded His disciples, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake,” He was speaking in the context of what we call “the limited commission.” Today the Gospel is supposed to be taken to all people (Mt. 28:19-20). There are many more people to hate us if we live faithfully today. I once heard someone say, “Never let someone say at your funeral that you had no enemies.” That would be a terrible thing to say—to say at a person’s funeral that he never had any enemies. That is not a compliment. Some people might say such a thing to life people’s spirits, but that is not a good thing to say. Jesus said that we will have enemies. There will be people who hate us. Why will this be the case? John 3:19-21 teaches that light and darkness do not mix. Just as darkness hated Christ, Who was the light (Mt. 5:16), we, too, are to let our lights shine as Christians. In doing so, we will expose a lot of sinful deeds and the lives of a lot of sinful people—which will cause a lot of hatred. But we still should find joy during those times. In Acts 20: 19 Paul said that he had “served the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews.” There were many tears and trials in Pau’s life, but he nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord. Thus, the first point that we need to understand that there will be trials and tests in this life.
The second point that I want us to understand is that these trials and tests can come at any time. Terrible things can happen to us at any time. There is no good time for a bad thing to happen. You may have heard people say, “This is the worst time for this to happen. Why did this have to happen now?” The implication seems to be that if it had happened at another time, it would have been a lot better. But the truth is that it would not have mattered when that bad thing happened—whether it was today, yesterday, or next week, or in twenty years. When the thing happens, it will seem like the worst thing in the world. Tests and trials can come at any time. But we need to realize that God is on our side if we are living faithfully before Him. We think of terrible things such as the death of a spouse or friend. We think of someone who has a terrible illness such as cancer, or perhaps someone who has lost an arm or a leg in a car wreck. We think of people who have lost jobs. All of these are terrible things that can come at any time. In the Bible we see the example of Job. Yet Job never charged God with wrong. He realized that God was in control. Yes, there were “down moments” when Job was sad. But he realized that God was in control. Job lost his children. He lost his wealth. He lost his health. And his wife, who was supposed to be helping him, told him to “curse God and die!” As if all these other things weren’t bad enough, Job’s own wife told him to curse God and die. What a terrible mentality to have. But Job 1:22 tells us that “in all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” We can’t either. Yes, trials will come. And we do not know when they will come because they can come at any time. But if we have God on our side, then we know that we will be taken care of. It may not be in the way that we expect or like, but in the end we know that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord (Rom. 8:28).
The third point I want us to consider are the three specific tests that Jesus faced when He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Now let us see what these three tests were so we can see how He was tested. In Luke 4:2-4 we read,
“Jesus was tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 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, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”’”
The first test was tempting Jesus (Who was extremely hungry) to turn stones into bread. We know from the text that because He had not eaten anything for forty days and nights, He was hungry. If we skip breakfast or lunch, we think we are starving, and we cannot wait to eat some food. But can you imagine going without food for forty days and nights? Jesus was very hungry. He obviously had the power to turn the stones into bread. Satan was testing Jesus to see if He would do it. But how did Jesus answer Satan? He answered him with Scripture. In Matthew 4:4 the Bible speaks of this. The specific verse that Jesus used is found in Deuteronomy 8:3, which says,
“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which 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.”
There are several interesting things about what Jesus said. For example, Jesus (God in the flesh) quoted Scripture to defeat Satan. Isn’t that interesting? Today we think, “That was Jesus. He could have snapped His fingers and said, ‘Be gone; leave Me alone!” But instead He used Scripture to defeat Satan’s first test. We need to realize the importance of using the Word of God. Jesus went back to Deuteronomy 8:3, which talks about how man shall not leave by the bread alone. Is it important that man has food? Yes, people need physical food to live. But much more important than that, we have to have physical food in order to live. We must have the mindset that Job possesses in Job 23:12 when he said, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” Do we feel like that today? Do we consider the Word of God to be more essential than food? You might be saying, “Yes, of course I do!” But do you really? You may say that you do, but think about one of your normal days. Most people eat three, while others eat four or five, including snacks. Now think about how many times you open your Bible to read the Word of God. If you do that more often than you eat, that’s great because it means that you realize that the Word of God is much more important than food. But if it’s less, then you are putting the physical above the spiritual. We need to make sure that we have the mentality of craving the Word of God. In Proverbs 2:1-5 the Bible says,
“My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding. Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
This tells us that we need to search the Word of God as if it contained a hidden treasure such as silver. What do most people do with their Bibles? You may be a person who has a Bible, but who never opens it. Are you simply allowing your Bible to sit and collect dust? Or are you actually searching it for treasure? If it were silver, you wouldn’t just let it sit there. You would be searching for it. When it comes to the Word of God, we need to search for it, crave it, and use it.
The second test that Christ endured is found in Luke 4:5-8.
“Then the devil, taking Him up 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, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’”
What was the test? It was that if Jesus would worship Satan, then the devil would give Him all power and authority. God already has all power and authority. The Book of Job is just one example of how we know that God has all power. The devil tempted Jesus by telling Him to look around Him at all the wonderful things He could see. Then he tempted Jesus to worship him, and he would give those things to Jesus. How did Jesus defeat Satan? He used Scripture when he quoted Deuteronomy 6:13—“You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.” It is only God Whom we are to serve. If we want to go to Heaven, we must serve the Lord and only the Lord. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” We must make a choice. If we are going to serve God, then we must serve Him fully. If not, then we do not need to straddle the fence and be lukewarm (Rev. 3:16). Matthew 6:33 tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” In Luke 6:46 Jesus asked, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” It is vital that we understand that if we are going to say that Jesus is Lord, then we have to do what He has commanded us to do. We cannot say, “Jesus is Lord, but I’m going to live the type of life that I want to live. I’m going to do what I want to do.” We must do the things that God has commanded us to do. Joshua 24:15 contains a great principle:
“If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The principle is that we must make a choice. There are many people who attend worship services, but who still have yet to choose what they really want to do. In doing this, they are not serving God, but are serving themselves. There is no such thing as a grey area when it comes to being righteous or unrighteous. On the Day of Judgment God is not going to separate people into “those who did good,” “those who did bad,” and “those who were in the middle.” We must choose whether or not we are going to serve God. And in choosing to serve God, we must serve Him the way He has commanded rather than the way that we think we want to serve Him. We must learn the principle that used in His test with Satan so that we can be sure we are worshiping and serving God to His satisfaction.
The last test is found in Luke 4:9-12.
“Then Satan 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 bear 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.”’”
This final temptation was one in which Satan said, “If You really are Who You say You are, and You are the Lord, then you can throw yourself down and the angels will take care of You.” This time, Satan used Scripture as well. But He did not use it correctly. Just because someone uses Scripture, does not mean that he is using it correctly. Just because someone can “put a verse to something” does not mean that he is using it in the right manner. Look at 2 Peter 3:16—“As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” Satan twisted the Scriptures as he tried to out-do Christ. The principle that we need to understand is that we, too, can use Scripture in the wrong way, especially if we take it out of context. Did you notice that when Jesus quoted Scripture, He quoted it within the correct context in order to make the application? Sometimes people use Scripture in a way that is not right. But we need to be sure that we are using Scripture in a right way. For example, John 3:16 says that we must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Is that true? Yes, it is. But some people have taken it and misused it to say that believing is all a person has to do. The Bible, however, teaches in James 2:24-26 that there are other things that a person has to do in order to be saved—such as confessing (Rom. 10:10), repenting (Acts 2:38), and being baptized (1 Pet. 3:21). We need to make sure that we are using Scripture correctly within the proper context.
While we are looking at these three temptations, it is important for us to understand Hebrews 4:15, which says, “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Some people come to this verse and say, “Jesus was not tempted in every way that we were because He was not married. He didn’t have a computer. He didn’t have a car, so He could never speed.” And they try to use this to say that Jesus wasn’t really tempted in the same ways that we are today. So what does Hebrews 4:15 mean? Does it mean that Jesus went through every specific, individual sin that exists? Of course not! In 1 John 2:15-17 we read,
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
There are three categories of sin. First, we must not be engaged in “the lust of the flesh” by putting our fleshly desires before anything else. In the Garden of Eden, what did Adam and Eve do? They saw the “forbidden fruit” and wanted it. That is what Satan was doing to Jesus. Jesus was hungry, which meant that His fleshly nature wanted food. But He did not succumb to that temptation. Second is the lust of the eyes. Satan told Jesus that if He wanted the things He could see all around Him, all He had to do was bow down and worship Satan. The third temptation is “the pride of life.” Jesus was told that all He had to do was throw Himself down, and angels would attend to Him. Satan tested Jesus every way He could. But Jesus remained without sin.
So, when trials and temptations come our way, we need to be sure that we do not fall for them. If you are not a Christian, we pray that today you will obey the Gospel of Christ.
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
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1. What important event in the life of Christ is taking place in Luke 4?
2. What important message for Christians is founds in 2 Timothy 3:12?
3. What warning for Christians did Jesus issue in Matthew 7:13-14?
4. In 1 Peter 4:16, the apostle Peter addressed the matter of Christians suffering. In that passage, he offered one negative comment and one positive. What were they?
5. What comment do we find in James 1:2-4 about suffering as Christians?
6. In Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were put in prison, according to verse 25, what was their response to their unenviable situation?
7. In Matthew 10:22 Jesus told His disciples two things. What were they?
8. What does Matthew 5:16 admonish Christians to do?
9. In the book of Job in the Old Testament, we see Job suffering terribly. Yet in Job 1:22 there is an important statement made about Job during this time. What is it?
10. What important point for Christians is contained in Romans 8:28?
12. How did Jesus respond to Satan’s first temptation of Him?
13. In Luke 4:5-8 we find the second of three temptations by Satan of Christ. What was that second temptation?
14. How did Jesus respond to Satan’s second temptation of Him?
15. In Luke 4:9-12 we find the third of three temptations by Satan of Christ. What was that third temptation?
16. How did Jesus respond to Satan’s third temptation of Him?
17. What does Proverbs 2:1-5 say about “seeking wisdom”?
18. What important point is found in Matthew 6:24?
19. What important point is found in Matthew 6:33?
20. In Joshua 24:15, what did Joshua urge the Israelites to do?
21. According to 2 Peter 3:16, how do some people treat the Scriptures?
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