The Temptation of Jesus, Part 2

Let's pray together. Father we are grateful for today and the opportunity you give us each and every week. Lord we can't thank you enough for what you've done in our lives to save us from our sin.

We can't thank you enough for being with us day by day for you have said you will never leave us nor will you ever forsake us. We ask that today as we understand your word that Lord you'd help us to live this year like never before. Understanding how we can overcome temptation and live a life of victory in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We pray in Jesus name. Amen. If you have your Bible turn with me to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4 as we continue our study through this great gospel understanding who Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us.

This chapter as we embark on it is going to be a key chapter for your life this year so you might understand how to live victoriously. How to overcome temptation week in and week out. And I promise that this week and next week and the week after that you're going to learn some principles that will enable you to live a life this year that is completely different than last year.

That's good news right? And so we are anticipating what God's going to teach us through the temptation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Now as we have made our way through Luke chapter 1 chapter 2 and chapter 3 and now embarking on chapter 4 we have been studying what others have said about who Jesus Christ is. Chapters 1 2 and 3 describe to us the identity of Jesus Christ our Lord.

And we saw that through the testimony of Zacharias and Elizabeth the parents of John the Baptist. And how John would be the forerunner to the Messiah. And the testimony of Zacharias, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Mary, Joseph, the angel and the angels.

The angel Gabriel and the angels that appeared to the shepherds. As well as Simeon and Anna have all come to testify to us as to the identity of Jesus Christ our Lord. And Luke is recording to us what they have said and how they have responded to the Messiah.

We have also seen the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 3 to help you understand that he is son of David speaking of his royalty. He is son of Adam speaking of his humanity. He is son of God speaking of his deity.

We also saw the baptism of Jesus Christ where you heard the voice from heaven that this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So Luke goes to great efforts to help us to understand who Jesus Christ is. That he is the Messiah.

That he is the Son of God. That he is the coming King. And that he is the Savior, the only Savior of the world.

Now all that is great. But what makes the ministry of Christ even greater is what happens in chapter 4. Because you see 1 John 3 says that the Son of God appeared for this purpose that he might destroy the works of the devil. If Jesus Christ loses on the Mount of Temptation in chapter 4 he cannot be the Savior of the world.

So he must prove himself the victor over Satan and the victor over sin. If he can't prove it in chapter 4 he cannot be the victor over death after he dies. And so we need to understand what takes place in chapter 4 because it gives the messianic credentials to prove that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

He is the only one who can save us from our sin because he is the sinless one. He is the Holy One of God. And if you were with us last time when we talked about Matthew chapter 4 we introduced to you this whole topic of the sinlessness of Christ.

How he is the Holy One. In Hebrew it's called Kadesh. In Greek it's called Hagios.

It is the Holy One, the sinless one. And we told you that that means that Jesus Christ is utterly distinct, unique, and separate from his creation and from corruption. That there's nothing in him that would ever cause him to sin.

This becomes pivotal for you and I to understand who Jesus Christ is and what makes him as great as he is. Yes he is fully man. Yes he is fully God.

But inside of him is different than what's inside of you and me. Remember John chapter 14 verse number 30 Christ said that Satan has nothing in me. Meaning that there is nothing in Christ that Satan could indict him for or that Satan can accuse him of because on the inside of Christ he is perfect.

He is sinless. He has a nature that is deity. He has a divine nature.

We have a depraved nature. And so when Christ says that what defiles a man is not what comes from the outside but what comes from the inside. Mark chapter 7. Remember our discussion about that? It was about what happens on the inside of man that defiles him.

That's why James says that a man is tempted when he's drawn away by his own lust and enticed. It's what's on the inside of us that causes us to succumb to temptation to fall prey to Satan's devices that we might turn away from God and sin. But Jesus Christ does not have a depraved nature.

He has a divine nature. And theologians call it the impeccability of Christ. And yet there are fewer and fewer theologians who believe that Christ was impeccable.

In other words there are many theologians who believe that Jesus Christ, yes he's God, yes he's man, but he could have sinned. He just chose not to sin. Most theologians take that view.

I'm here to tell you that that's not the right view. That's the wrong view. How do we know that? We spent time last time talking to you about the fact that Jesus Christ is impeccable in his nature.

He is impeccable in his character. He is the sinless one. He is the holy one of God.

He is totally separate from us. Anything and everyone he created making him totally separate from corruption. We told you last time he's not a better version of us.

He is completely different than us. We need to come to grips with that. And then comes the question we asked and answered last time, well if he is completely different than us, then the temptation for Christ could not have been real.

It could not be like it is for us. It could not be as forceful for him as it is for us. If Christ is not able to be tempted, okay, then that temptation must not be real.

We told you that's not true. In fact, it's more real than you ever realize. John Wolvert, former president of Dow Seminary, who's now gone home to be with the Lord, wrote a book entitled Jesus Christ Our Lord.

If you don't have that book in your library, you need to go out and buy it. It's the best book written on the identity of Jesus Christ. It's a great book.

And I would encourage you to get it. But in there he has a section on the impeccability of Christ. That is that Christ is not able to sin.

Theologians, the medieval theologians called it non passe peccare. As opposed to passe non peccare, able not to sin. He is not able to sin.

Why? Because of his impeccability. Because he is completely holy. In that book, John Wolvert writes these words.

He says, the question is simply, is it possible to attempt the impossible? To this all would agree. It is possible for a rowboat to attack a battleship, even though it is conceivably impossible for the rowboat to conquer the battleship. The idea that temptability implies susceptibility is unsound.

While the temptation may be real, there may be infinite power to resist that temptation. And if this power is infinite, the person is impeccable. It will be observed that the same temptation, which would be easily resisted by one of sound character, may be embraced by one of weak character.

The temptation of a drunken debauch would have little chance of causing one to fall, who had developed an abhorrence of drink, while an habitual drunkard would be easily led astray. The temptation might be the same in both cases, but the ones tempted would have contrasting powers of resistance. It is thus demonstrated that there is no essential relation between temptability and peccability.

In other words, Christ is omnipotent. He is all powerful. And because he is all powerful, he is not able to be tempted to fall into any sin, because that would mean there would be something more powerful than him that would cause him to fall into sin.

So when you say that Christ, yes, he could have sinned, he just chose not to sin, is really hitting at the core and character of the identity of your Messiah and mine. And my friends, I take great offense to that. I really do, because I truly believe that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, is completely impeccable, because he is omnipotent.

He is the omnipotent holy God who was not able to sin because of his holy nature. The Bible says this in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 48, verse number 17.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer. Yahweh, Jehovah, is your Redeemer. He says, thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the holy one of Israel.

Whoever Yahweh is, he is the Redeemer. Whoever the Redeemer is, he is the holy one of Israel. He is the unique one.

He is the separate one of Israel. In Acts chapter 3, Peter says this, verse 14. But you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

Peter is calling Christ the holy one of Israel, the righteous one of Israel. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. He is impeccable, because he has a divine nature.

He does not have a nature like yours and like mine. You with me? Good, because last time we covered one introduction and two questions. The question centered around the reality of Satan and the impeccability of the Savior.

Today we embark on point number three, and that is three temptations. And we're only going to get to the first one this morning. But from there we're going to go to four conclusions, and that's either next week or the week after, depending on how far we get next week, okay? But we're going to cover three temptations, three vital temptations, listen, that happen to Christ and will never happen to you specifically.

Categorically they will, but specifically they won't. Now why do I say that? It's because you're never going to be tempted to turn stone into bread. That's not a temptation for you and me.

You're never going to be tempted to jump off a 450-foot precipice and be tempted to die, okay? That's not going to happen to you and me. And we're not going to be tempted by looking at the kingdoms of the world and saying, okay, I can be the ruler of those kingdoms. That's just not you and me.

That's not where we're at. But those categories centering around the will of God for your life, the worship of God for your life, and the work of God in your life, well, we're going to talk about that and show you that although the temptations specifically don't apply to you, the categories they fall in affect you every single day. And we'll show that to you.

But let me read to you verses 1 and 2 and we'll set the stage for these temptations, okay? Luke chapter 4 verse number 1 and verse number 2. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they had ended, he became hungry.

Now, the very first thing I want you to know, you need to get this. If you missed verse 1, forget about the next 12 verses, okay? You got to get verse number 1. That's why it's verse number 1 and not verse number 13, okay? And that is this, and Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is 100% man.

He is 100% God. In his manhood, he lived a life completely dominated and controlled by the Spirit of God. You must understand this to understand the temptations.

You must understand this to overcome the temptations. Are you with me so far? You see, Luke is really big on this. Remember back in Luke chapter 1, Zacharias was full of the Holy Spirit.

Remember Elizabeth? She was full of the Holy Spirit. Remember John the Baptist? He was full of the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. Luke is really big on the controlling aspect of the Spirit of God in your life.

And now he gets to this place and says, and Jesus, being full of the Spirit, was led into the wilderness. Mark's testimony is this. He was driven into the wilderness.

God's Spirit drove him into the wilderness. You see, God had a plan, and that plan for his son was to come face to face with Satan and deal with him. Satan did not find Christ.

Christ sought him out in the wilderness because he was going to prove at the outset of his ministry, when the ministry is now launched because of his baptism, he's going to prove from the very outset that Satan has nothing in him. Satan cannot defeat him. He is the conquering one.

He is the victor over Satan and sin. But you must notice, he was filled with the Spirit of God. If you read Luke's account of the book of Acts, Luke is big in the book of Acts on the filling of the Spirit of God.

Now, listen, you need to get this because this is going to help you all throughout the year, throughout the rest of your life. And that's this. People say to me all the time, you know, I just wish I knew God's will for my life this year.

If I knew God's will for my life, boy, that'd be so great to be able to go through this year knowing what God would have for me. I got news for you. I know God's will is for your life this year.

I do. All I got to do is read the Ephesians 5, verse number 17. It says this, and be not foolish or be not unwise, but understanding to the will of God.

Okay? I don't want to be a fool. I want to be wise. So what is God's will for my life? Verse 18 says this, and be filled with the Spirit of God.

And be not drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be controlled or filled with the Spirit of God. You see, God's will for your life is simply this, that He wants you to be dominated by the Spirit of God. He wants you to be controlled.

The word plerao in Ephesians 5.18 means to be controlled, means to be dominated by God's Spirit. And when you are, you will be able to sense when temptation is before you, and you will be on your way to overcoming that temptation. That's why Galatians 5.16 says, if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

You won't. But if you're not walking in the Spirit, if you're not controlled by the Spirit, if you're not taking every step in the spiritual realm, that is being controlled by God's Spirit, you will succumb to temptation. And you must understand, I must understand that this is what God's will is for my life.

Because you see, when you are controlled by the Spirit of God, if you read Ephesians 5.19,20,21, you begin to understand the effects of what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God. You see, Christ was always filled with God's Spirit. He was always dominated by the Spirit of God.

There was never a time that He only had part of the Spirit, or was not filled by the Spirit of God. John 3.34 says that He had the full measure of the Spirit of God. So everything about the Spirit of God was filling Him, was controlling Him, was driving Him, and that's why in Mark 12, they attributed His works not to God, but to Satan.

That's what we call the unpardonable sin, because they attributed God's work in Him to Satan. But in reality, it was the Spirit of God working in and through Him every part of His life. Now listen, when Christ became a man, He set aside divine attributes.

He willingly set them aside. That's His condescension. That's His humiliation.

And so He set those attributes aside that He might live the life of a man completely dominated by the Spirit of God. And that's how we are to live our lives, controlled by the Spirit of God. The problem with us is, is that we're not always filled with the Spirit of God.

We're not always controlled by God's Spirit. That's why Paul uses that illustration in Ephesians 5.18. He says, and be not drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be controlled by the Spirit of God. That's why that illustration is so important to understanding the control of the Spirit of God.

It's like when you drink. If you drink, I hope you don't, but if you do, when you drink and you get drunk, you don't stay drunk. You've got to keep drinking to stay drunk.

Because once you stop drinking, you begin to sober up. In order to stay drunk, you've got to keep drinking and keep drinking and keep drinking so that you're continually drunk. And Paul says, don't be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be controlled by the Spirit of God.

The illustration is very unique because we just don't wake up one day and say, today I'm going to be controlled by God's Spirit and expect Him to control us every moment of every day for the rest of our lives. It is a continuous thing. That's why it says, keep being filled with the Spirit of God.

And we have to depend upon God's Spirit day by day by day, or we are not going to be able to function in the spiritual realm. And so the Bible tells us at the outset that Christ was filled, dominated, controlled by the Spirit of God. It drove Him into the wilderness.

He left the water and went to the wilderness. Now, this place that Christ went to, I've had the opportunity to be there in Israel. It is absolutely a place of devastation.

It's a 35 by 15 square mile area that is completely desolate, that is completely filled with ravines and rocks. It's hot. There's no way you're going to grow a garden there.

There's no way there's any possibility of having life there. It is the most unbearable place, unbearable place you've ever been. It is completely, as the text says, a place of devastation.

In fact, back in Deuteronomy chapter 8, there's a description of it for you in Deuteronomy 8 verse number 13. It says this, I'm sorry, in verse number 15, and He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there is no water. So there's no water there.

It's filled with scorpions. It's called the terrible wilderness. It's a place of terrible devastation.

And that's where the Spirit of God drove the Son of God. He was there for 40 days, all the while being tempted by the devil. Until at the end of that period, Satan sensing his vulnerability and brings him to a point where he has to face three incredible temptations.

Now, folks, listen. Satan doesn't like to lose. Satan doesn't want to lose.

He wants to win. If you want to win, you do everything you can to win, right? You don't pull any punches. You make sure that you don't leave anything on the table.

You want to make sure you unturn every stone. You do everything you possibly can to win because you don't want to lose. Satan doesn't want to lose.

And so he is going to throw the whole kitchen sink at Christ. He's going to make sure that he doesn't leave anything undone. He has tempted him through 40 days.

He's been tempted throughout his entire life because the Hebrews 4.15 says that our high priest is tempted in all points like we are yet without sin. And so his whole life has been filled with temptation. The rest of his life will be filled with temptation because verse number 13 says that when Satan left him, he left him only for a while because he would come back at another opportune time.

And so we know that Satan has him in his mind right where he wants him. He's got him to a place of great vulnerability. He's brought him to a place where he truly believes he can win.

And when he gets Christ at that place, he sets everything against him. Now remember, Satan was created by Christ. Remember Colossians chapter 1? He is the firstborn of all creation.

And Christ is the one who has created everything both visible and invisible. Okay? He is not the brother of Satan as the Mormons teach him. He is not Lucifer's brother.

All you got to do is go to Colossians 1.15 and 16 to disprove the Mormon argument. He created Lucifer. He created Satan.

All right? And Lucifer was that chief musician. And he was the one who wanted to be like God. Satan was the first Mormon.

He was the one who wanted to be like God, be as God. All you got to do is read Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. He's the one who wanted to take God's place.

And he was cast out of heaven. And a third of his angels—excuse me—and Satan has been bitter ever since, and will continue to be bitter as he burns in the lake of fire throughout all eternity after the millennial reign of Christ in Revelation chapter 20. But at this point, he really truly believes he can win.

The devil is Diabolos, the slanderer, the accuser. He is the accuser of the brethren. Revelation 12.10 says that he is before the throne of God day and night, accusing people like you and me.

But Jesus Christ is that great high priest, that one who intercedes for you and me so that he can present to his Father in heaven the fact that we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. And yet, at this point, Satan, I believe, truly thinks he can win. I mean, why would he go through this if he didn't think he could win, right? What's the purpose? But you see, we know that he loses in the end.

We know he doesn't win. But see, Satan is a master deceiver, so much so he's deceived himself into thinking that there is a possibility he can win. And ever since the beginning of time, he has set his efforts to destroy the plans and purposes of God.

He cannot, but he does all he can to do so. And you know what? Satan's device is to do all he can to destroy God's plans and purposes for you as well. And he will do everything he can to destroy you personally, to destroy your marriage, to destroy your family.

You got to know, if you're here today, you got marital issues, you got family problems. Let me tell you something. It's not about your husband, your wife, or your kids.

It's about how Satan wants to destroy your family, divide you, and conquer you. The question is, will you fall prey to that temptation and allow that to happen, or will you stand strong for Jesus Christ, and will you stand strong in the Spirit of God that you might be able to withstand the wiles of the devil? And so, there's much that God wants to teach us through Luke chapter 4 as we begin to understand and unravel the temptation of Jesus Christ our Lord. So, let's begin with temptation number one.

It centers around the will of God. Let me read it to you. Verse 3, And the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.

Now, we read that, and it really doesn't seem too much of a temptation. But you got to ask yourself, number one, are you hungry? Probably not. You had a good breakfast this morning.

It's not even close to noontime yet. So, you're probably not hungry. But it's not about being hungry.

That is the essence of the temptation. Here is the essence of the temptation, and here where it fits in your life and mine. And that's this.

Before I say that, let me ask you this. Is it wrong when you're hungry to eat? Answer, no. Is it wrong if you had the power to create bread to create it? Answer, no.

Is it wrong to turn stone into bread to satisfy your hunger? Answer, no. In and of itself, that's not wrong. That's not evil.

So, where does this come to play in the temptation of Christ, and what makes this temptation so powerful that at the end of the 40 days after being hungry, Satan would come to Him and tempt Him to turn stone into bread? Simply this. Notice the text says, if you are the Son of God. It should literally be read, since you are the Son of God.

Theologians call that a first-class conditional. Therefore, it's not presuming that He's not something. It is affirming that He is something.

That is, Satan is affirming that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You see, it's only the liberals who think that Jesus is not God. Satan believes that Jesus is God.

Did I say that right? Yeah. And the demons believe that Jesus is God. I mean, if you just turn over to Luke chapter 4 in verse number 34, what's it say? Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

The demon knows that Jesus is the Holy One of God. The demon knows, listen, the demon knows his ultimate destiny. You've come to destroy us? Is now the time? Now's not the time, is it? They know, you see, and they know He is the Son of God.

Read any account of Christ's dealing with demons, and you all, they all recognize that He is Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy One of Israel, the Messiah. They know that. Satan knows that.

Satan knows that Jesus is God in the flesh. So he says, since you are the Son of God, it's a fact, Jesus, you are the Son of God, you are God in the flesh. I know that, Satan says.

And since you are the Son of God, what I want you to do is I want you to turn that stone into bread. Now, the essence of the temptation is this. Satan is getting or trying to get Christ to distrust the provision of His Father, to distrust the provision of His Father.

Like I said, you're not going to be tempted to turn stone into bread, but you will be tempted to distrust the provision of your Father in heaven. How do I know that? Well, have you ever thought that God doesn't really truly love you enough? Because if He did, you wouldn't be in the situation you're in today. You ever thought about that? That God has not provided for you the best.

And after all, you should have the best, right? You are a child of the living God. You are a Christian, so you should have the best. If God really loved me, I wouldn't have this disease.

If God truly loved me, I wouldn't have a bad marriage, I'd have a good marriage. If God really loved me, my children would be obedient to my life. If God really loved me, I'd have a great job.

If God really loved me, I'd drive a nice car, not a clunker. I'd live in a nice house, not a dump. If God truly loved me, is that not how Satan tempts you and me? Sure it is.

Satan comes to Christ and says this, look, you're the Son of God. You don't deserve this. You shouldn't be hungry.

What is that? And maybe he says something like this, you know, you're the Son of your Father in heaven, and here you are in the wilderness starving. Do you know that your Father in heaven would feed the unbelieving, rebellious Israelites while they were in the wilderness, but yet you have no food? It seems to me that maybe your Father doesn't love you as much as you think he loves you. Because if he did, and you're the Son of God, then you should have everything supreme, everything pristine.

You shouldn't have to go through this hunger state. You deserve better than this. Isn't that how Satan tempts you and me? You deserve a better marriage than that.

I mean, after all, you've given and given and given, and you've got nothing in return. You say, wait, I deserve better than this. And Satan says, you sure do.

You sure do deserve better than that. You're a better person than that. And you are a child of God, and God expects his children to be happy.

God expects his children to always be blissful. And you know what? You'll never be happy in that marriage, so get rid of that clunker. You don't need him.

He's dead weight to your family. He's dead weight to your ministry. Get rid of him, because there's somebody else out there that will take care of you.

There's somebody else out there that will love you and will cuddle you and take care of you. You go to them, and you'll see how happy it is to follow your own desires. Satan tempts us like that all the time, all the time, that what we have isn't good enough.

And we begin to distrust God's provision for our lives. Now, folks, this takes on huge ramifications, huge. Think about Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve.

Think about that. What does Satan say? Satan says to them, you know, God has given you all this, but there's one tree. Why would God withhold that one tree from you? That just doesn't seem right.

I mean, he created you perfect. You have no sin. You're wonderful people.

You have communion with God day in and day out. You walk in the cool of the garden with your God every single day, and yet He has deprived you of something. And it's not right for God to deprive you of something.

So, therefore, why don't you eat of that tree? It's going to be okay. And the reason you can't eat of that tree is because God's afraid you're going to become like Him, and He doesn't want any competition. So, go ahead.

It's okay. Eat of the tree. So, you know the story.

We are where we are today because Adam and Eve succumbed to that temptation. But he tempted them to distrust God's provision for their lives, that God will take care of them. You see, Satan knows that Jesus came to do the will of His Father in heaven, right? John 4, 34.

We've got John 4, John 5, John 6, John 8. It's all about, I've come to do the will of my Father who is in heaven. My food, he says, is to do the will of my Father, right? His whole life was taken up with pleasing His Father in heaven. That's what he came to do, to honor His Father.

Satan knows that. And so, Satan's temptation is to get him to distrust the provision of that Father that he really doesn't love Him as he says he does, because if he did, he wouldn't be as hungry as he is. So, here's the point.

Listen very carefully. Satan is saying, you can act independently of your Father in heaven and do what you want to do, and you won't be hungry anymore. You don't have to wait on Him.

Why wait on Him? Why do that? You had the perfect opportunity to take that stone, turn it into bread, and you can satisfy your hunger. And so, Satan's temptation for Christ was to get him to act independently of his Father in heaven. You ever been tempted to do that? To act independently of your Father? To just go off and do your own thing? To make your own decision? To stop waiting on God because God is just not fast enough.

He's not quick enough. He never answers in my time, and I always got to wait on the Lord. I'm not waiting on the Lord anymore.

God's given me a brain. God's given me wisdom. God's given me the ability.

I'm going to make my choice and do my thing and act independently of my God. I don't have to wait on Him anymore because God has gifted me in that area. We fall into sin because we act independently of our Father.

We don't depend upon Him to supply our needs. We say we will supply our needs on our own. We don't have to wait for Him to give us a job He wants us to have.

We're just going to go get a job. Let's go get one, because it looks good. It sounds good.

Got a good retirement plan. Got a good insurance plan. Got a good paycheck.

I can get a cell phone. I can get a car, company car. It sounds good.

I don't have to pray about that. I'm just going to go do it. Just go off and do it and act independently of God, thinking that I can make a choice in and of myself because Satan has tempted me to think, you know what? Why wait? Take it now.

Now. We do. And we fall into sin because whenever you act, listen, independently of your Father in heaven, that's called disobedience.

And disobedience is sin. And that was the temptation that came the way of our Lord in Luke chapter 4. Verse number 3 and verse number 4. Now, listen to how Christ responds, because this is so good. Now, you know how He responds.

You pretty much have the Scripture memorized. What's He say? He says, Jesus answered him, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone. Matthew quotes the whole thing.

Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That was His response. And that response is out of Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse number 3. Turn back there with me, if you would, for a moment.

Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse number 3. Christ quotes Scripture. He reiterates the law of God. And it's found, listen, this is so important.

It's found in the context of a very unique passage of Scripture in Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse number 3, that talks about Israel, listen, and their future. It's all about Israel's future. But the way they are assured of a great future is obedience in the present.

If you're disobedient in the present, it will affect your future. If you are obedient in the present, it also will affect your future, but it will be blessing and not cursing. Listen to what it says in Deuteronomy 8, verse number 1, all the commandments that I am commanding you today shall, you shall be careful to observe, you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land in which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers.

All these commandments, God says to Moses, are for you today. They're for your life. All you've got to do is obey Him.

That's all you've got to do. And it will be a great experience for you. If you don't, well, there's a flip side to this.

Verse 2, and you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. God led you through the wilderness.

He tested you. He humbled you and He fed you. And all He asks is that you listen to everything He says and that you obey the words of Christ.

That's it. That's all He asks is that you obey Him. The temptation in Luke chapter 4, Christ goes back and quotes this because Satan doesn't understand that man lives not because of bread, but because of obedience to God.

That's why Christ said in Matthew 6, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you. What things? Your food, your clothes, everything you need in life, God will take care of. But the key is you need to obey Him.

You seek Him first, His righteousness. And God is saying to Satan in Luke chapter 4, listen, it's not about bread. That's not what life is about.

You, Satan, might think that that's what life is. You might think that this bread will sustain my life. Let me tell you something.

Bread does not sustain your life. God sustains your life. I know a lot of people who have a lot of bread and die, right? Because bread doesn't keep them alive.

Their life and the quality of that life is all centered around obedience to God Himself. So what does Christ do? He quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 8 that says, listen, way long ago with the children in the wilderness, God fed them, they had bread, and did they die in the wilderness? Yes, they did. And why did they die in the wilderness even though they had bread? It's because they lived in disobedience to God.

Here is Christ in the wilderness. He could turn the stone to bread, but He doesn't because He's going to live through the wilderness experience, because He's going to be obedient to His Father in heaven no matter what, because that's the only thing that matters. That's it.

Nothing else matters. The only thing that matters is whether you will be obedient to God and trust Him to provide for your every need. That's it.

That's what it's all about. And that's why in the book of Deuteronomy, the 28th chapter, remember the whole issue between Israel about the cursings and the blessings of the people of God? Remember what Christ said in chapter 1 of chapter 20, verse 1 of chapter 28 of Deuteronomy? Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All you got to do is obey Me.

That's it. See, it's not like God asks us to do a whole bunch of things. He just asks us to do one thing, follow Him, obey Him.

That's it. He says this, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you. Not shall they just come upon you, they're going to overwhelm you.

These blessings will overtake you. All you got to do is obey My word. That's it.

If you will obey the Lord your God, blessed shall you be in the city. Blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, and the produce of your ground, and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd, and the young of your flock.

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you.

They shall come out against you one way, and shall flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you will keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in His ways, so all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.

And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body, and in the offspring of your beasts, and in the produce of your ground, and the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand, and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow. And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail, and you only shall be above, and you shall not be underneath, if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today to observe them carefully.

And do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after the other gods, to serve them. But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe, to do all His commandments and His statutes, with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you, and they will overwhelm you. You see, God has always said, live in obedience to Me.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. If you love Me, obey Me. That's it.

That's all I ask. Just follow the Word of the Lord. Here is Christ.

Here He is in the midst of the temptation in the wilderness. And Satan comes and says, you know what? You don't need to wait on your Father in heaven. Just do what you know you can do, because you are the Son of God.

You don't have to wait on your Father in heaven. You are God in the flesh. You are the omnipotent Creator of the world.

In other words, He says, you created Me. If you created Me, you can take that stone, and you can make it into bread, because you are the Son of God. You don't have to wait on your Father in heaven.

After all, He doesn't love you that much anyway. If He did, you wouldn't be in the situation you're in today. So act independently of Him.

You don't have to wait on Him any longer. Today you can do what you want to do. That was the temptation in Luke chapter 1—4, excuse me—the first temptation, to distrust the provision of God.

And what does Christ say? You just don't understand, do you, Satan? Man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. My life sustenance, my food, is to do the will of my Father in heaven, and I will wait for Him to do what He will do in His time. And isn't it interesting, in Matthew chapter 4, that the Bible says that the angels came and they served Him.

They served Him, and it was all said and done. What did they do? They gave Him bread. I'm sure they did.

Took care of His physical needs. Took care of Him. Because, you see, He was always looking to obey His Father.

How about you? I told you, if you want 2007 to be better than 2006, it begins with understanding how God wants you to trust Him for all of your provisions and all of your needs. He'll take care of you. He says, seek Me first, My righteousness, My kingdom, and everything else will be added unto you.

I'll take care of your needs. I'll take care of what you eat. I'll take care of what you wear.

I'll take care of where you work. I'll take care of all those things. What you need to do is seek Me first.

Trust Me, and I'll take care of you. Because I want you to be obedient to Me. And when you are, when you're obedient to Me, no matter what your friends say, no matter what anybody else around you is tempting you to do, you realize that when you're obedient to You will be blessed.

And that blessing will be so great that it will not only come upon you, it will envelop you, it will overtake you, it will be the essence of your life, and every other nation will see that you are Mine. Why does God want to bless you? Why does God want you to be obedient to Him? Because He wants everybody else to see that you are God's, and you are sold out to God. And I trust that that is you today.

It can be, if Christ is in your life, and you're committed to being controlled by His Spirit, and following His Word, no matter what the temptation that comes your way. Let's pray. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Word of God, and the truth that's there.

We thank You, Lord, that we come today, once again, to thank You for Your pure and holy nature. Because You are unable to sin, You never did sin. And You proved Yourself once again, the only substitute for man's sin.

For You are the spotless Lamb of God, the unblemished Lamb, that would bear in Your body our sins, and take upon Your body the wrath of Almighty God, so that we could be free from that enslavement and that eternal judgment. And for that, Lord, we will be forever grateful. In Jesus' name, amen.