INTRODUCTION:

1. The temptation of Christ is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mark spends only two verses dealing with the temptation of Christ, whereas Matthew has eleven (Matt. 4:1-11), and Luke thirteen (Luke 4:1-13).
2. Though his record is brief, Mark adds a detail not found in Matthew and Luke. Mark 1:13 tells us our Lord “was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him.”
3. Matthew 4:11 refers to the angels who came and ministered unto Him. But only Mark mentions the “wild beasts.”
4. The identity of the “wild beasts” is not given. Jackals? Wild boars? Wolves, foxes, leopards, hyenas, etc. – the Bible does not say.
5. The presence of these wild beasts, along with Satan’s persistent temptations, presents a picture of terrible desolation.
6. A number of years ago, Hollywood came out with a wicked, blasphemous movie called “The Last Temptation of Christ.”
7. The Bible teaches us that our Lord was tempted but it also teaches us that He never yielded to temptation.
8. Hebrews 4:15 says our Lord "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
9. Hebrews 7:26 says our Lord "is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."
10. In John 8:46 our Lord said to His adversaries, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?"
11. Second Corinthians 5:21 says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
12. First Peter 2:22 says our Lord "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth."
13. First John 3:5 says, "In him is no sin."
14. Furthermore, not only does the Bible teach that Christ was tempted and did not sin, but it also teaches that He could not have sinned. For if it were possible for Christ to sin then He could not have been God, for God cannot sin.
15. In I Timothy 3:16, the apostle Paul states that Christ is “God manifest in the flesh.” Christ was never less than God during His incarnation, and therefore He could not have sinned.
16. The doctrine that Christ could not have sinned is referred to as “the impeccability of Christ.” These temptations went on for the entire forty days (Luke 4:2), and proved that Jesus is the sinless Son of God.
17. If our Lord could have sinned, He could not have been the sinless Son of God. But if He could not have been tempted, He could not have been man. Therefore, our Lord was both not able to sin, and able not to sin.
18. The devil tempted our Lord three times and each time our Lord responded by quoting the book of Deuteronomy.

 

I. THE FIRST TEMPTATION (LUKE 4:1-4).

1. Our Lord's temptation took place right after His baptism (cf. 3:21, 22).
2. The Holy Spirit strengthened Him and prepared Him for the temptation (cf. 3:22; 4:1).
3. Matthew 4:2 and Luke 4:2 tell us our Lord fasted those forty days and forty nights. In the Bible, the number ‘40’ usually represents testing.
4. Many examples could be given. Jonah preached, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).
5. Our Lord was tempted in the wilderness (4:1). Matthew 4:1 and Luke 4:1 say our Lord “was led by the Spirit.” Mark says, “And immediately the Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12).
6. Liberals and skeptics deny a literal devil, but the Bible teaches there is a real literal devil (Luke 4:2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 13). The devil is mentioned all throughout Scripture from his entrance in the Garden of Eden to his being cast into the lake of fire in Revelation 20.
7. Despite the frequent references to Satan in the Bible, a recent Barna survey revealed that four out of ten professing Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.”
8. An additional two out of ten "Christians" (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that unscriptural position.
9. Only a minority of "Christians" said they believed Satan was real -- 26% disagreed strongly with the statement that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.”
10. Another 9% disagreed somewhat with the statement that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.”
11. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan.
12. Obviously many people are not reading the Bible, and they are not hearing good Bible teaching and preaching.
13. Satan is referred to as “the tempter” in Matthew 4:3.
14. Satan is also referred to as “the tempter” in I Thessalonians 3:5.
15. Satan knows how to tempt us. He has a lot of experience. He understands man’s natural desire is to gratify the flesh. It has been that way ever since the serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
16. The first temptation is found in Luke 4:3, "And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread."
17. In this temptation of Christ, Satan followed the well-established pattern of temptation revealed in the Garden of Eden and illustrated throughout Scripture.
18. In Genesis 3:6, we read, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
19. This pattern is seen in I John 2:16:

1. the lust of the flesh;
2. the lust of the eyes;
3. the pride of life.

20. Under other circumstances, turning a stone into bread might not have been sinful, but to do it at Satan’s suggestion would have been wrong.
21. And for our Lord to satisfy His hunger as His primary concern was contrary to the will of God. In John 4:33, the disciples said one to another, "Hath any man brought Him ought to eat?"
22. Our Lord answered them, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."
23. And here in Luke 4:4, our Lord answered Satan by saying, "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."
24. We should note how Jesus answered Satan – “It is written” (Luke 4:4; cf. 4:8, 12).
25. When the devil tempts us we should have enough Bible in us to be able to resist him. “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:11).
26. Sadly, many Christians have very little Bible in them, and so they are easy pickings for the devil. Remember what our Lord said to Simon Peter, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:31).

 

II. THE SECOND TEMPTATION (LUKE 4:5-8).

1. The second temptation was the attempted appeal to the lust of the eye (4:5-7). First John 2:16 says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes…”
2. Satan offered “all the kingdoms of the world” (4:5) in exchange for His worship (4:7). What a view that must have been (4:5)!
3. This offer seems rather incredible, but in a sense the kingdoms of this world do belong to Satan at this present time.
4. Three times our Lord referred to the devil as "the prince of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).
5. In II Cor. 4:4, he is referred to as "the god of this world."
6. This second temptation is perhaps the most outrageous of them – suggesting to our Lord that He should worship the devil – the Creator worshipping the creature! Worshipping the devil would be tantamount to acknowledging Satan as god.
7. The devil wanted our Lord to enjoy the glories of this present world and bypass the cross. This was the temptation to become King of kings without a cross and without a struggle.
8. But as we look closer, we see here another lesson. The idea behind this temptation was compromise. Satan wanted to make a deal.
9. And while true Christians would never dream of worshipping the devil, many are more than willing to compromise with him.
10. For example, churches use worldly rock and roll music to draw a crowd, even though this music is the devil’s music.
11. Some churches tone down their preaching so as not to offend the devil's crowd. But Paul told Timothy, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine" (II Timothy 4:2).

 

III. THE THIRD TEMPTATION (LUKE 4:9-13).

1. The third temptation took place in Jerusalem (“the holy city”), where Satan “set him on a pinnacle of the temple” (4:9).
2. The devil challenged our Lord to cast Himself down to prove to everyone that He was the Son of God (4:9-11).
3. Satan’s third temptation is an appeal to human weakness through spectacular “signs and wonders.” Many gullible people are being deceived by this sort of thing.
4. We must have spiritual discernment in order to avoid Satan’s tricks and snares (cf. Rev. 13:11-14; Matt. 24:4, 5, 11, 23, 24; II Thess. 2:7-12).
5. People talk about being healed and being delivered and seeing signs and miracles but they haven’t even been born again! This can only mean that they are being deceived by Satan and his demons.
6. In the Bible, they are called “familiar spirits” and “lying spirits” and “seducing spirits” and “unclean spirits” and “evil spirits.”
7. I have spoken to unsaved Roman Catholics, who would not listen to a word I said because they went to Medjugorje and saw “Mary” or were supposedly healed, etc.
8. Regarding this temptation (4:9-13), it is never right to do anything just in order to see whether or not God will keep His Word. It is not necessary to do that. We should just simply believe the Bible.
9. Let us also remember that Satan is very good at quoting Scripture (Matt. 4:6). Shakespeare said, “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose” (The Merchant of Venice).

 

CONCLUSION:

1. It has been pointed out that being led by the Spirit (4:1) and being tempted by the devil (4:2) is a good combination for character building.
2. If we are first led by the Spirit, then we do not have to worry about being tempted by the devil.
3. There is an important lesson here -- our Lord repeatedly quoted Scripture (Luke 4:4, 8, 12).
4. The Holy Spirit always uses the Word of God. Ephesians 6:17 says to take "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
5. Let us consider another great lesson -- three important words in Luke 4:13 – “for a season.” This suggests the devil came back again later on.
6. We should expect temptation. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Cor. 10:12).
7. Many Christians fell into sin because they were careless or prayerless.
8. But no matter how strong the temptation, God will provide a way to escape. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Cor. 10:13).
9. Perhaps there are some here tonight struggling with temptation. Bring it to the Lord tonight and He will surely help get you through it.