Luke 4:1-15 The Second Adam

[0:00] Let's then please to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, we're going to consider these first 15 verses together of Luke chapter 4. It's a very well known account, of course, of the temptation of Jesus.

[0:13] The temptation of Jesus in Luke chapter 4. And the first 15 verses together this morning. Luke chapter 4, I'm beginning to read at verse 1.

[0:35] This is the word of God. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil.

[0:51] And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

[1:05] And Jesus answered him, it is written, a man shall not live by bread alone. And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

[1:16] And said to him, to you, I will give all this authority and their glory. For it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you then will worship me, it will all be yours.

[1:31] And Jesus answered him, it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you.

[1:52] And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered him, it is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

[2:03] And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

[2:18] And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. Amen. This is the reading of God's inspired and inerrant word.

[2:30] Let's turn in our Bibles then please to the Old Testament, to the book of Genesis. Of course, the first book of the Bible in Genesis chapter 3. As we've been thinking about, we're going to see how Jesus is the second Adam.

[2:44] The Adam who succeeds where the first Adam failed. And of course we see that most clearly in Genesis chapter 3 with the temptation and fall of mankind into sin.

[2:58] Genesis chapter 3, again we'll read the whole of the chapter. Genesis chapter 3, I'm beginning to read at verse 1, this is the word of God.

[3:10] Now, the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

[3:25] And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. But God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

[3:37] But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

[3:50] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of his fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

[4:04] Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

[4:17] And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you?

[4:27] And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. He said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

[4:41] The man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate.

[4:54] The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field.

[5:05] On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

[5:19] To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it.

[5:38] Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground.

[5:53] For out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

[6:05] And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever.

[6:20] Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, And at the east of the garden of Eden he placed a cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

[6:40] Amen. This is God's inspired and inerrant word. Let us join our hearts. Friends, let's turn in our Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 4.

[6:51] Luke chapter 4 in these first 15 verses. Luke chapter 4, verses 1 through 15. It will be helpful for us if you have it open in front of you, so that we can see what God is saying together through his word this morning.

[7:06] There's been a lot of talk recently about the rise of internet trolls. Now some of you may not know what an internet troll is, but basically there are people who are on social media, Facebook, Twitter, who will post nasty, hurtful things about people, but they'll often do it behind a cloak of anonymity.

[7:23] They won't show who they really are, but they'll do it behind this cloak of anonymity. It came to the fore recently because of the racist abuse that some footballers were receiving, particularly on Twitter and Instagram.

[7:35] But people just sort of said, well, it is what it is. What can you do about it? How can you stop it? One of the proposed solutions was to not allow anonymous accounts on social media.

[7:50] Whoever was setting up the account would have to show their passport, would have to show their driving license, would have to show some form of identification, and then once that process was complete, they would be responsible for everything that was posted from that account.

[8:05] They had to prove who they were. They had to show their real identity. And as we come to Luke chapter 4 this morning, that's the central question that the devil is posing to Jesus, isn't it?

[8:19] Show us who you really are. Are you really the Son of God? Are you really who you say you are? If you are the Son of God, if you are who you say you are, then prove it.

[8:36] Then do this, and I'll believe that you're the Son of God. If you are who you say you are, then prove it. We want to see three things as we come to Luke chapter 4 this morning.

[8:49] We want to see three things together. Firstly, we want to see how Jesus is taken by the Spirit. And it surprises us perhaps where Jesus is taken by the Spirit. Because he's taken by the Spirit into the wilderness.

[9:00] He's taken by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Secondly then, we want to think about how Jesus is tempted to sin. Tempted to sin. We see these three temptations that the devil sets before Jesus.

[9:14] These three temptations that are recorded for us that the devil sets before Jesus. And then thirdly, finally, we want to see how Jesus is the teacher of the synagogue.

[9:25] How he returns again to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. And begins teaching in their synagogues. We see these three things.

[9:35] How Jesus is taken by the Spirit. How he is tempted to sin. And how he is the teacher of the synagogue. So firstly then, we see how Jesus is taken by the Spirit.

[9:46] We see that in verses 1 and 2. Verses 1 and 2 of Luke chapter 4. We need to remember where we are in Luke's Gospel. We need to remember where we finished thinking about last week.

[9:58] Last week we saw how Jesus had been baptized by John. The Holy Spirit had descended and remained upon him. The voice from heaven had declared that this was my beloved Son.

[10:09] With you I am well pleased. Jesus had that assurance from God the Father. We have Jesus beginning his ministry at about 30 years old. Luke chapter 3 verse 23.

[10:20] Luke gives us this genealogy to show who Jesus is at the very end of Luke chapter 3. He reminds us ultimately of course that he is the son of David. That he is King David's greater son.

[10:32] He reminds us of course ultimately that Jesus is the son of Adam. Verse 38. The son of God. He was the second Adam who would succeed where the first Adam failed.

[10:49] So bearing all that in mind as we come to verse 1 of chapter 4 then things look quite promising don't they? We've had the voice from heaven. We've had the assurance of the Spirit resting on Jesus. We've had the genealogy of Jesus.

[11:00] We think things are going to go pretty well. Jesus returns full of the Holy Spirit from the Jordan. And if we were writing the narrative what would we say?

[11:12] Jesus returned full of the Holy Spirit and preached wonderful sermons. Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and cast out demons. Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and healed all their sicknesses and diseases.

[11:27] Jesus returned from that mountaintop experience of hearing the voice. Jesus returned from that mountaintop experience of knowing the Spirit rest and remain on him.

[11:42] And was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus' baptism didn't usher in a preaching tour.

[11:52] Jesus' baptism and the coming of the Spirit didn't usher in a wave of healing. Instead the Spirit took him to the wilderness.

[12:06] Took him to the wilderness for this confrontation with Satan. Took him to be tempted by Satan. I'm sure I've told you this before but I think one of the most amazing charities that is in the UK today is the guide dogs for the blind.

[12:24] The work they do in training dogs to guide people is simply amazing. But the person with sight loss places all their trust in that dog.

[12:35] They trust that the dog has been trained. They trust that the dog will keep them safe. And Jesus here puts his trust, his confidence in the Father and in the Spirit.

[12:48] He's led by the Spirit. He is. But he's led into the wilderness. To be led into temptation. Now this is where we need to be slightly careful and make sure that our thinking is right.

[13:04] Make sure that we've got things right this morning. The Holy Spirit did not tempt Jesus here. God did not tempt Jesus here.

[13:15] God is in no ways the author of sin. But the Holy Spirit did take Jesus into the wilderness. To be tempted by the devil.

[13:25] He did take Jesus to be into the wilderness where this temptation was coming. And we need to be careful friends in our own lives.

[13:37] I think we can fall into one extreme or the other. We can think that being a Christian gives you an immunity from temptation. That having the Holy Spirit indwelling us means that temptation won't come.

[13:48] But Jesus here is full of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. And he was tempted by the devil. Maybe that there are times in our lives when we are tempted by the devil for our good.

[14:06] God may allow the temptation to come to show our progress in sanctification. God may allow times of temptation to come to show the genuineness of our faith.

[14:18] God may allow times of temptation to come in order to call us to himself. To cast ourselves upon him. God allows temptation to come our way.

[14:29] But when we give in to that temptation. The fault is ours, not God's. When we give in to that temptation. The fault is ours. But we do need to note here however that temptation.

[14:47] In itself is not sin. That to be tempted to sin is not the same as sinning. We can be tempted and not sin. Here is Jesus, the perfect spotless Lamb of God.

[14:58] And he's tempted by the devil. But it's not the same as to sin. He had nothing during those days, we're told.

[15:13] And obviously by the end, Jesus was hungry. It's another reminder to us. It's another little brick in the wall reminding us that Jesus is indeed both fully God.

[15:23] And fully man. That having not eaten for this period of time, he was hungry. So that's Jesus then taken by the Spirit.

[15:37] Secondly then, we want to see Jesus tempted to sin. And this is where we'll spend most of our time this morning. Thinking about Jesus being tempted to sin. So we've already said then that he's come to the end of these 40 days.

[15:51] He hasn't had anything to eat. And he's hungry. And it's then when he's weak. It's then when he's physically weaker than he would normally be. We're told, verse 3, the devil comes to him.

[16:03] The devil said to him, verse 3. And what is it the devil said to him? If you are the Son of God.

[16:15] Now I confess to you that before writing this sermon, I'd never made this connection before. This was something that God showed me afresh, perhaps even in a familiar passage. Notice what the devil does here, verse 3.

[16:27] If you are the Son of God. Now think about the context. Think about all of the things that we've just heard. The voice of God has just come from the heavens saying, You are my beloved Son.

[16:39] The Holy Spirit has just descended and remained on him. And against that, the devil comes to him and says, Well, if you are the Son of God. He doubts God's Word, doesn't he?

[16:53] He causes Christ to perhaps doubt. What God had said to him. And it's a familiar tactic that we've seen the devil use time and time again. That's why we read Genesis 3 together.

[17:05] What is it that the devil says to Eve? Did God really say? It doesn't sound like the sort of thing God would say.

[17:16] Did God really say that? And here the question is almost, well, did God really say that you were his Son? If you are the Son of God.

[17:30] Look, if you are the Son of God, then command this stone to become bread. You might think this morning, well, what's the harm in that?

[17:43] I mean, what's the temptation there? Jesus is hungry. He has the power. He has the authority. He can command this stone to turn to bread. And eat it. I mean, there's nothing perhaps sinful in that.

[17:57] Quite simply, it would have been Jesus using his power and authority to settle his earthly needs. It would have shown a lack of trust in the providence and care of his Father. And that's what Jesus reminds the devil of.

[18:10] Look, it's written, Man shall not live by bread alone. Jesus reminds the devil that the most important thing is to be trusted in obeying God.

[18:20] That the most important thing is to know God. It's not to have his earthly needs settled. It's not to have his earthly wants met. But it's to trust and obey God.

[18:33] To know where true food comes from. Jesus picks up, of course, a similar theme in John's Gospel, doesn't he? I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger.

[18:53] The temptation to use our earthly power and prestige to achieve our own ends is as great as ever, isn't it? We live in a wealthy nation. We live in a nation with a large disposable income, if you like.

[19:07] The temptation is there to use our earthly means, our earthly resources to achieve our comfort. We see it in our politicians. Vote for me.

[19:18] And I promise that you'll have a universal basic income. Vote for me. And I promise a 10% pay rise for all. The temptation to use earthly power and earthly means to achieve comfort.

[19:33] But yet, friends, this morning our greatest need won't be met until we realize that we don't live by bread alone. We can be so caught up in the comfort of here and now.

[19:46] We can be so caught up in the temporal nature of the here and now that we forget there's an eternity stretching out in front of us. Suzanne was doing the story of George Muller with the kids a few weeks ago.

[20:05] Now there was a man who knew what it was to not live by bread alone. We all know the story, I'm sure, of George Muller. He cast all his cares upon the Lord and the Lord richly provided for him.

[20:20] Occasions when he needed milk and miraculously the milkman would show up. Occasions when he needed bread and the baker would miraculously show up. In the providence of God upon whom he relied.

[20:32] Our deepest need is not to have our physical needs met. Our deepest need is to have our spiritual needs met in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

[20:45] Our deepest need is to have a right relationship with God this morning. So that's the first temptation. The devil says, turn these stones into bread.

[20:56] The second temptation then is a temptation to worship. It's a temptation to take a shortcut. We see that in verse 5. The devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

[21:09] And he says to him, look, all of these will be yours. All of this could be yours. If you would just worship me. Now what's the temptation here?

[21:23] Well the temptation here is to take the shortcut. You see, Jesus knew that the Messiah was the chosen king. Jesus knew his Bible. Jesus knew Psalm 2 that we're going to sing in just a few moments time.

[21:36] Jesus knew that that promise for the Messiah was that one day all the nations of the world would worship him. But yet he also knew that the road to that enthronement was paved with suffering.

[21:49] Jesus knew his scriptures. He knew that Psalm 2 came after Isaiah 53, if you like. That the enthronement of the king comes after the suffering of the servant. He knew what it was to be the Messiah.

[22:03] Was to be despised by men. To be rejected. To be the man from whom everyone hides their faces. And so as the devil comes here in verses 5 and 6 and says to him, Look, all these kingdoms, they can be yours.

[22:17] If you just worship me, what he's encouraging Jesus to do is to take the shortcut. You can have the rule.

[22:27] You can have the exaltation. You can have the worship and adoration. But you don't have to have the suffering. You can be the king without the crucifixion.

[22:42] But notice again what the devil actually says. Verse 6.

[22:53] The devil said to him, To you I will give all this authority and their glory. Why? For it has been delivered to me. And I give it to whom I will.

[23:09] Now there are certain things that we need to keep in tension here. There are certain things that we need to be aware of. Aren't there? We've been thinking about Ephesians on Sunday evenings. And we're reminded there.

[23:19] Paul reminds us in Ephesians that the people who don't know Christ follow the prince of the power of the air. People in this world are ruled by the power of the prince of the air.

[23:32] Ruled by the devil. Peter reminds us that the devil is like a roaring lion walking around seeking those to devour. But of course ultimately the book of Revelation reminds us that while the devil is powerful.

[23:47] While the devil is real and powerful in this world. He has a limited authority. He's that great beast who has a mortal wound.

[23:58] A fatal wound on his head. He has authority and power. Yes. But it's a limited power and authority. This world is ultimately of course God's.

[24:09] It's the one to whom it belongs. It's God's world. Not the devil's. Again. We see that in the book of Job. The devil comes to God in the opening chapters of Job.

[24:22] And seeks authority from God. The world and all in it are God's. What does Jesus say to him?

[24:36] This temptation to take the shortcut. This temptation to be the king without the crucifixion. To be the ruler without the suffering. Jesus answered in verse 8.

[24:47] You shall worship the Lord your God. And him only you shall serve. It's a reminder to us friends that our God is a jealous God.

[25:00] You shall have no other gods before me. That's the commandment. The worship and adoration of our hearts must belong to God alone.

[25:13] He will allow no rivals. Third temptation we see then in verse 9. The devil takes Jesus to a high place.

[25:24] Takes him to the pinnacle of the temple. And he says, Look, if you're the son of God, throw yourself down from here. Why? For it is written, He will send his angels to guard you.

[25:35] And on their hands they will bear you up. In case you strike your foot against a stone. Notice what the devil does here. He shifts slightly the tactic. He's heard Jesus quoting scripture to him.

[25:47] He's heard Jesus saying, Well, man shall not live by bread alone. He's heard Jesus saying, You shall worship the Lord your God. And he thinks, Well, maybe this is the way in. Maybe this is the way to get him.

[25:58] And he quotes scripture to Jesus. He thinks, Maybe I can catch him out by quoting scripture myself. And how we need to take this to heart, Friends, This morning.

[26:11] How we need to take this to heart, This morning. Knowing and quoting scripture, Is not a sure evidence, That we are saved. Sharing quotes of scripture on social media, Is not sure evidence, That we're saved.

[26:27] The devil here could quote scripture, The devil here, Knew scripture, But he didn't, Understand it. He didn't believe it. Reading the Bible doesn't make us saved.

[26:41] Knowing bits of the Bible doesn't make us saved. It's believing scripture. It's believing on the Christ of scripture. It's believing on the one whom scripture reveals to us.

[26:53] That shows that we're saved. Jesus again answers him from scripture. You shall not put the Lord your God, To the test.

[27:06] Each time Jesus refutes the claims of the devil. Each time Jesus puts down, The temptation of the devil, With the word of God. And again, Let's go back, To Genesis.

[27:18] Let's see that account in Genesis 3. The devil said to Eve, Did God really say? And what did Eve do? She doubted the word of God.

[27:28] Well, Well, God said that we can't eat of the fruit of the tree, That's in the middle of the garden, Nor can we touch it, Lest we die.

[27:41] As that temptation came to Adam and Eve, In the garden of Eden, They doubted the goodness, They doubted the word, And the revelation of God. As the temptation comes to this second Adam, He believes, And lives out, The word of God.

[28:04] Having said what I just said about scripture, It's important that we do know scripture. Knowing scripture doesn't make us saved, Of course it doesn't, But knowing scripture enables us to overcome temptation.

[28:20] Having that rock of scripture within us, Will enable us to overcome temptation. When we see the temptation rise in our hearts, To put anything in the place of God, We must remember that commandment, You shall worship the Lord, Your God, Him only you shall serve.

[28:41] When we see those temptations rise within us, We need to know the Bible well enough, To know what the Bible says about it. It's not for nothing that the Bible is called the sword, It's our means of attack, It's our means of defeating the wiles of the devil, It's our defense, When temptation arises, To know ourselves, And to know God, So Jesus then is tempted to sin in these three ways, He's tempted to misuse his power, He's tempted to take a shortcut, He's tempted to test God, Thirdly, Finally then this morning, We want to see Jesus, As the teacher, Of the synagogue, And we see that in verses 14 and 15, Jesus as the teacher, Of the synagogue, And notice that in many senses, This section finishes how it started, Verse 1, We're told that Jesus, Full of the Holy Spirit, Returned from the Jordan, What do we read in verse 14?

[29:42] Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit, To Galilee, Being tempted by the devil, Being tested by the devil, Hasn't dampened the power of the Spirit, Hasn't dampened the ministry of the Spirit, Inside him, Instead Jesus goes, Teaching in their synagogues, Being glorified by all, He was the preacher, Everyone wanted to hear, He was the preacher, Who they flocked to the synagogues, To hear this report, Went around about him, Everyone wanted to know, What he was all about, He taught, In their synagogues, He taught as one, Who had authority, Not, Not as their scribes, As we conclude this morning, Friends, We need to remind ourselves, That temptation is real, That the devil will constantly be looking,

[30:42] Constantly be testing those, Who claim to follow Christ, None of us, Are immune, None of us, Have outgrown, Temptation, And when temptation comes, What will be our hope, When we give in to temptation, What will be, Our hope, Well it's that we have, A great high priest, Who is tempted in every way, As we are, And yet is without sin, Our hope is, That it's he, Who sits at God's right hand, This morning, It is he, Who intercedes for us, It is he, Who pleads our case, It is he, Whose blood has been shed, When we give in to temptation, The natural response, Is what we see, In the garden of Eden, The natural response, Is what we see, Adam and Eve doing, Running, And hiding from God, To cover,

[31:43] To cover, Ourselves, Instead this morning friends, When temptation comes, And when sin arises, Let us be those, Who flee to Christ, To admit, Our sin, To confess, Our sin, And come to him, For forgiveness, Because he knows, He understands, The power of temptation, He understands, The power of the devil, And he's faithful, To forgive all of those, Who confess their sin, Indwelling sin, Will be a reality, For each of us, Till the day we die, Or until Christ returns, So with that, Indwelling sin, Let us run not, To the bushes, To hide ourselves, But let us run, To Christ, Who forgives all,

[32:45] Who confess their sin, Amen.