Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2: Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3: And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4: And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5: And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6: And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7: If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9: And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12: And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13: And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. 14: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10: Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11: Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Introduction

Immediately after He was baptized and declared to be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ was attacked by Satan. We need to see in this account that temptation comes to us not necessarily because we are out of the will of God. Here is Jesus in Whom the Father is pleased, full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, right in the center of the will of God, yet faced with these temptations.

There are many things in this account of the temptation of Jesus Christ that are deep and mysterious and that we cannot explain. But there are clear practical lessons in these temptations that we can take away with us. For one thing we get to know more about our enemy and his devices. Then another thing is, we learn how our Saviour overcame Satan's temptation and that we too can overcome his temptations.

So, what can we learn from this third temptation recorded here in Luke 4? This morning consider with me the adversary, the assault, the answer and the applications.

I — The Adversary

Luke 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

We read here that Satan brought Jesus to the pinnacle, the highest point of the temple and enticed our Lord with this third temptation.

Luke 4:9 If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

As we study this account of the temptation of Jesus Christ, we are learning more and more about our great enemy — Satan. The keys to winning any battle are to know our enemy and his tactics and to know our weapon and how to use it.

Jesus knows both. He knows His enemy and the weapon against His enemy. Our Lord loves to quote Scriptures. He counters Satan's temptation by quoting the Scripture. Satan is getting frustrated. Satan is tired of hearing Jesus saying, "It is written, it is written." So Satan quotes the Bible. In this third temptation we see another aspect of our enemy's nature and devices. 

1. The devil knows Scripture

Satan knows the Bible. Here he quotes ...

Psalm 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12: They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Since you say you live by every word of the Bible, let's see if the Bible is true and what it says there really comes to pass. So, just jump and let's see if the angels will come and catch you. 

Donald MacLeod writes, "If Satan dared to use Scripture for the temptation of our Lord, he will not hesitate to use it for the delusion of men."

That means you and I had better know the Scripture. Paul said God's Word was vital in our struggle against rulers and powers in heavenly places, for it is the "sword of the Spirit," our major offensive weapon along with "all prayer at all times."

Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

2. The devil perverts Scripture

The devil knows the Scriptures but he distorts it by either subtracting from or adding to what is originally written. In this instance he subtracted from the original.

If you compare what was written in Psalm 91:11-12 and Satan said here in Luke 4:10-11, you will notice that he omitted the words "in all thy ways". Omitting these words distorts it from its true meaning.

There is a strong warning in Revelation about adding to and subtracting from the Word of God.

Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

II — The Assault

Luke 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

What Satan is saying is, "If You are really the Son of God and You really believe the Scriptures, then jump! Let's see if the Your Father cares for You! Let's see if He will send His angels to guard and protect You!"

As I pointed out earlier the devil deleted or left out the phrase "in all your ways." The devil misapplies it and makes it mean presumptuous reliance on God. It is true that God promises to keep and protect His children but only when they are in the will of God. He promised to watch over those who are in His ways. God's protection is promised only if we stay under the umbrella of His protection. God provides the umbrella but if you move outside of that umbrella, you will get wet and you are on your own.

When all our ways are in God's will, we can claim the promise of His angels guarding over us, but if we are walking in willful sin and spiritual darkness, the domain of Satan, we cannot expect God to guard us in our wayward way! 

William MacDonald adds that the promise of protection in Psalm 91:11-13 "presupposed living in God's will. To claim the promise in an act of disobedience would be tempting God. The time would come when Jesus would be revealed as Messiah, but the cross must come first. The altar of sacrifice must precede the throne. The crown of thorns must precede the crown of glory. Jesus would await God's time and would accomplish God's will."

By the way, here is another attempt of Satan to divert Jesus from the cross. He is determined to stop our Lord from going to the cross. But our Lord will not be diverted. If Satan is determined to stop Him, our Lord is even more determined to go to the cross. He has steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52: And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53: And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

III — The Answer

Luke 4:12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

The Lord knows what the enemy is doing! Jesus replied to him, "It is said, it is recorded in the Scripture." So here once again Jesus resorts to the living and powerful Word of God. 

Jesus here quotes from ...

Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

You shall not put the LORD your God to the test. He doesn't have to prove Himself to you or anyone. He will not perform miracles for people of idle curiosity.

If Jesus jumps from the Temple, He would be tempting God, not trusting God. Testing God is not the same as trusting God. Jesus does not have to jump from the Temple to prove God is faithful and able to protect.

Wiersbe on putting God to the test, "When a child of God is in the will of God, he can claim the Father's protection and care. But if he willfully gets into trouble and expects God to rescue him, then he is tempting God. (For an example of this, see Exodus 17:1-7.) We tempt God when we "force" Him (or dare Him) to act contrary to His Word. It is a dangerous thing to try God's patience, even though He is indeed long-suffering and gracious." 

Wiersbe in his comments in Matthew 4:1-11 writes "We tempt God when we put ourselves into circumstances that force Him to work miracles on our behalf. The diabetic who refuses to take insulin and argues, "Jesus will take care of me," may be tempting the Lord. We tempt God when we try to force Him to contradict His own Word. It is important for us as believers to read all Scripture, and study all God has to say, for all of it is profitable for daily life (2 Timothy 3:16,17-note)." (Bible Exposition Commentary - Matthew)

IV — The Application

Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. 

Our Lord defeated our enemy. He overcame His temptations. When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him.

Today Satan tempts us in the same area in which Jesus was tempted. This account shows that overcoming Satan's temptations depends upon knowing God's Word. Are you growing in knowledge of the Word of God? If you aren't already in a Bible study or Sunday school class, consider joining one this month. In addition to your daily Bible study, you will grow from studying the Word with other believers.

Caleb Morris puts it this way, "The history of these temptations furnishes us with the principles on which they may be vanquished. Not by fasting; for He was tempted while He was fasting. Not by retiring from the world; for He was tempted while He was alone. But by the deep indwelling of truth. Not by outward truth, but by truth in us. A man may have truth in his book, and his book in his pocket. He may have it in his creed, and have it in his brain, and yet not possess one truth that will enable him to conquer a single temptation. Christ repelled temptation by indwelling truth. Christ repelled temptation by a threefold statement: "Man shall not live by bread alone"; "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God"; "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." These words may be summed up — man by God; man for God; man according to God."

Jesus is victorious. One of the things that I find so marvelous about this story is that after Jesus withstands all of temptations of Satan and Satan leaves, the first thing that happens is that the angels of God appears and ministers unto Him.

Matthew 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

God shows the proof of His own word. The angels were there all the time. Jesus did not have to jump from the temple. And the word of God was fulfilled when the angels came and minister to Him.

AMEN!