The Third Temptation

Luke 4:9-13

Luke 4:9-11And 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, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Method of Attack 1 John 2:16

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possess-ions (life, NAS)—is not from the Father but is from the world.

This Is The Sum of All Temptations

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

“To Make One’s Way, Progress; To Make Due Use Of Opportunities”

“To Swallow up, Destroy”

Luke 4:9-11And 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, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Point To Ponder• Satan Challenges Jesus’ Sonship

For The Second Time (v. 3)— “If You Are The Son of God”

• He’s Attacking the Son of God With The Method of “The Pride of Life”

• He Was Not Able To Slay Jesus With The Lust of The Flesh or The Lust of the Eyes.

• It Will Be “Pure Unadulterated Pride,” But It Will Be Pride With A Twist.

Luke 4:9-11And 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, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

• Satan Sought To Exploit What He Considered Might Be A Weakness. Jesus Had Quoted Scripture, So Satan Quoted A Verse As Well. Let’s See How Jesus Handles This One!

• Satan Quoted From The Psalms 91:11-12

Points To Ponder

Points To Ponder• Satan Sought To Exploit What

He Considered Might Be A Weakness. Jesus Had Quoted Scripture, So Satan Quoted A Verse As Well. Let’s See How Jesus Handles This One!

• Satan Quoted From The Psalms 91:11-12

• It Spoke Of The Security Of The Faithful Under The Protection Of God. He Will Provide Angels To Protect And Defend.

Part of Satan’s Attack Is Based Upon Undermining Jesus’ confidence in God—Think About The Other Temptations If Your Father Really Loved You He

Would Not Allow You To Be In This Deserted Place To Starve (Lk. 4:3)

Remember, He’s Not Only A Liar, But He Is Insidious

Part of Satan’s Attack Is Based Upon Undermining Jesus’ confidence in God—Think About The Other Temptations Surely, If Your Father Cared About You

Like I Do He Would Let You Bypass The Sufferings—I’ll Give You The Kingdoms Without Pain—Just Worship Me (Lk. 4:7)

Remember, He’s Not Only A Liar, But He Is Insidious

The Last Temptation Smacks A Similar Note As The Evil One Tries To Undermine The Truthfulness of God’s Word, Which Would Undermine Jesus’ Trust In God The Heart of Satan’s Temptations Are

Designed To Erode Our Confidence In God And His Word.

Remember, He’s Not Only A Liar, But He Is Insidious

Genesis 3:4-5 “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Remember, He’s Not Only A Liar, But He Is Insidious

Satan Paints God As Unloving, Selfish—A Tyrant Placing Unfair Demands On

People

Adultery

“You Shall Not Commit Adultery”

“God Doesn’t Want You To Be Happy”

Drugs

Don’t Commit The Works of The Flesh

“God Doesn’t Want You To Experience True Enlightenment”

Abortion

“Do Not Murder”

“Your Lifestyle Will Be Encumbered With The

Responsibility of a Child”

Stealing

“Do Not Steal”

It’s Unfair Not To Have What Others Have

Points To Ponder“As a true son he rested this trust of his on God’s Word. Satan aims his assault at both points. If Jesus is such a true and trustful son of God, let him demonstrate that fact by something that is more decisive than just continuing patiently in hunger. That, the devil implies, is a cheap way of showing real trust. Yet, like the liar that he is, this cheap way was the very one he assailed first of all when he sought to entice Jesus to give up that trust by

Points To Pondernot waiting for bread from God but by rushing to provide it himself. The heroic way to prove trust, Satan says, is to test some special promise of God to the limit and on the instant. Let Jesus throw himself down from this great Temple height and prove that God’s promise stated in Ps. 91:11, 12 is true.” R.H. Lenski

Luke 4:12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

Deut. 6:16

Jesus Doesn’t Deny That Those Who Trust In God Have Security

(Psa. 91:11-12)

Jesus Does Not Set One Scripture Passage Against Another. Jesus Places One Scripture Passage Beside Another, Each Casts Light On The Other.

‘He will com-mand his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

‘Deuteronomy 6:16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”Jesus Thus Establishes The Great

Principle Of All Correct Interpretation: Scripture Is Explained And Must Be Explained By Scripture.

The Philadelphia Confession of Faith

Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body. (p. 24)They being the root, and by God’s appointment, standing in the room and

The Philadelphia Confession of Faith

stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed, and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free.

The Philadelphia Confession of Faith

From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgress-ions. (p. 24)

Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The right-eousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

Ephesians 2:3 “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Ezekiel 18:20

The soul who sins

shall die. The son

shall not suffer for

the iniquity of the

father, nor the father

suffer for the iniquity

of the son. The right-

eousness of the

righteous shall be

upon himself, and the

wickedness of the

wicked shall be upon

himself.

Ephesians 2:3

“among whom

we all once lived

in the passions of

our flesh, carrying

out the desires of

the body and the

mind, and were

by nature

children of wrath,

like the rest of

mankind.”

It Pits Scripture Against Scripture

Ephesians 2:1-2, 4-5 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—…4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Tempting God“This word of God rests on the incident recorded in Exod. 17:7 when the people demanded that God furnish them water with the challenging cry: “Is the Lord among us or not?” Their sin was that they were testing out God, trying or tempting him. Instead of praying and trustfully relying on God and leaving the fulfillment of his promises of help in need to his abounding grace the people chided and challenged God. They did it in the bad situation in which they found themselves. They did it by presumptuous lack of trust. They said virtually:

Tempting God“If God does not do what we demand as help, then there is no God among us, then his promises amount to nothing.” In this negative way they tempted or tried him out. And this was their sin.” Lenski

Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time..’ ”

He’s Not Done

“a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for. 2B opportune or seasonable time.” Strong

Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time..’ ”

He’s Not Done

40 DaysIn The

Wilderness

Gethsemane Points Along

the Way

Mark 1:13 13And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Do You Think This Might Be A Fulfillment of Psalm 91?