Deo Gloria
Sermon for March 6, 2022
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Luke 4:1-13
Theme: Next Time the Devil Tempts You…
- Remember your baptism.
- Be filled with the Spirit.
- Take your stand on God’s Word.
- Remember that Jesus’ victory is your victory.
We’ve all been there at one time or another, some of us just last week, others as recently as last night or maybe even this morning. It’s a familiar place, too familiar for some of us. It’s a place called “temptation alley.” At times we’ve ventured down that lane and escaped unharmed. More often than not, however, we’ve fallen flat on our faces. We gave in to Satan’s temptations. We fell headlong into sin. And we came away with a bruised soul and a guilty conscience. “If only I had it to do over again,” we say to ourselves, “I wouldn’t give in so easily. I’d tell that ol’ devil where he could go. I wouldn’t give him the time of day. Boy, just wait till next time.” And then next time comes, and to our dismay the result is the same. Somehow Satan got the best of us again. “Next time,” we say to ourselves. “Next time….” Yes, what about next time?
Our Savior Jesus has some words of advice for us this morning concerning “next time.” You see, Jesus faced temptation too. Luke told us about it in our gospel lesson. Permit me to reread a few of the verses.
Satan went after Jesus just as he goes after us. He started off with a “low blow,” a temptation to make some bread. I mean, come on, Jesus was starving—no food for 40 days and nights. That one was hardly even fair. Then there was the I-can-quote-Scripture-too temptation: “Go ahead, jump. God will protect you. He promised. Says so right here in the book of Psalms.” And then he tempted Jesus with glory and power and fame, as he so often does with us. The only difference is Jesus never gave in. Jesus never gave in to Satan’s temptations. He resisted Satan successfully each and every time. Naturally, we can learn a few things from Jesus and his experience, things that will help us the next time we stand at the entrance to “temptation alley.” In fact, there are four truths we can learn from this story, truths which will help us to be better prepared for “next time.” Next time the devil tempts you…
1. Remember your baptism,
2. Be filled with the Spirit,
3. Take your stand on God’s Word, and
4. Remember that Jesus’ victory is your victory.
Do you think the fans of the Los Angeles Rams will soon forget what happened a few weeks ago? I would guess that many of them are still riding a Super Bowl high. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some are still rehearsing those memories for years to come.
Jesus had an uplifting experience like that prior to this story, a spiritually uplifting experience. No, he didn’t win a medal for perfect attendance in Sunday School. He was baptized. Luke alludes to this back in v. 1, where he mentions that Jesus was returning from the Jordan River. What was Jesus doing down by the Jordan? He was being baptized. In v. 21 of ch. 3 we are told that “when all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too.”
Jesus’ baptism was one of the high points of his life. It was without question the most significant spiritual event up to this point in his life. For one thing, it marked the beginning of his public ministry. After 30 years of preparation and study, the time had finally come for Jesus to begin the work he had been sent to accomplish. As the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, Jesus had been sent to redeem people from the power of sin, death and the devil. His baptism signaled that his rescue mission had officially begun.
It certainly was no coincidence, then, that at this point, right at the beginning of his ministry, Satan came to tempt Jesus. He didn’t waste any time, did he? Satan wanted to trip Jesus up and foul up his mission before he ever really got started. Thank God he didn’t succeed!
In addition, it was at his baptism that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Remember what John the Baptist witnessed? He saw the Spirit of God descending on Jesus in the form of a dove and resting on him. This special anointing of the Spirit equipped Jesus for the task he was about to undertake.
Yet another significant aspect of Jesus’ baptism were the words spoken by the Father. “A voice came from heaven,” Luke tells us, a voice that said: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”(Luke 3:22). No matter where Jesus went, no matter how much opposition and rejection he ran into, even if Satan tried to put him through the ringer, Jesus could always look back and remember the Father’s words: “You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” What comfort and encouragement those words would give!
You and I have had a similar experience, haven’t we? Anyone who has been baptized has had such an experience. At your baptism you too were anointed with the Holy Spirit. You may not have seen it happen, but it happened. God the Holy Spirit came and took up residence in your heart. As a result, you are now a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, in your baptism you became a child of God. “You are all sons of God,” Paul says, “through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ”(Galatians 3:26+27). Through baptism God adopted you into his family. He added your name to his family registry. He became your Father. You became his son or daughter. Becoming a child of God also made you his heir, an heir of eternal life and heaven and everything that goes with it.
Thirdly, in your baptism all of your sins were washed away. You were sanctified. You were purified, through the blood of Jesus Christ your Savior. Your past sins, your present sins, even the sins you have yet to commit were all washed away in your baptism.
Remember that! Remember who you are as a result of your baptism. You are God’s son. You are God’s daughter. Remember that especially when Satan comes knocking at your door. Next time Satan tries to lure you into some sin, ask yourself a simple question: “Is this something a child of God should do or isn’t it?” If not, then don’t do it. Remember your baptism.
Remember too that through your baptism you were cleansed of all your sins. Don’t go back to wallowing in the mud. That’s the way a pig behaves. You get ‘em clean and ten seconds later they’re back in the mud hole. Through the waters of Holy Baptism God has washed away the dirt and filth of your sin. He has made you holy and spotless and pure. Make every effort to keep yourself clean. Remember your baptism.
A second thing we can learn from Jesus as to how to handle temptation is to be filled with the Spirit. Back in v. 1 Luke notes that Jesus was full of the Spirit as he made his way out into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Would you say the same is true of you? In general are you full of the Spirit? Or would you say that more often than not you’re running on empty? Why is that? My guess it’s because you haven’t taken the time to fill up. You don’t take the time each day to fill your spiritual gas tank. In Ephesians, ch. 5, Paul says, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit”(v. 18). How does one accomplish that? By eating spiritual food and by drinking spiritual water, by regularly hearing and reading and studying God’s Word, by communing regularly at the Lord’s table and receiving his body and blood together with the bread and wine. That is how you and I fill ourselves with the Spirit. That is how the Spirit of God comes to us, how he nourishes us, how he strengthens our faith and prepares us for those daily battles with the devil. So if you want to be prepared for “next time,” be filled with the Spirit.
The third thing we can learn from Jesus is to take our stand on God’s Word. Notice how Jesus responded to each of Satan’s temptations. When Satan questioned Jesus’ identity and tempted him to doubt his Father’s loving care and to take matters into his own hands by turning the stones into bread, Jesus replied, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone’”(v. 4). When Satan said he would give Jesus all the power and splendor of the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow down and worship him, Jesus replied, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only’”(v. 8). When Satan tempted Jesus to tempt God by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple and expect that God would send his angels to catch him so he wouldn’t get hurt, Jesus replied, “It is written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’”(v. 12).
Three temptations, three responses—all direct quotes from the Bible. That’s the way to handle Satan’s temptations. No wishy, washy answers: “Well, I don’t know, Satan. I’m not so sure it would be OK.” No toying around with the idea in your head: “Should I do it or shouldn’t I? No one’s around. Yeah, but what if somebody finds out? What if I get caught, then I’ll really be in trouble. Yeah, but if you’re smart, you won’t get caught.” Back and forth, back and forth. No! The way to handle it is to do what Jesus did: “Satan, I’m not going to do it, because this is what God’s Word says. End of discussion. Now scram!”
When Satan tempts you to try to swipe something from a store—a candy bar or a pack of gum, a necklace or a pair of ear rings—just tell him, “No, Satan. Shoplifting is stealing. In his Word God says, ‘You shall not steal.’ So I’m not going to do it.”
Next time Satan tempts you to go to a party where you know there will be drinking or drugs, just tell him: “No, Satan. I’m not going. It would be wrong for me to drink since I’m under age. It would violate the 4th Commandment. It would also be wrong for me to do drugs since it would do harm my body—a sin against the 5th Commandment. So forget it.”
That’s the way to deal the devil’s temptations, to use the sword of the Spirit, as Jesus did. When we do, when we take our stand on God’s Word and refuse to budge, Satan will have to slink away in defeat.
There is a fourth and final point we need to take with us from this story, a very important point. And that is this: Jesus not only showed us how to overcome the devil and his temptations, he also overcame him for us as our substitute. His victory over Satan is our victory over Satan. You see, the truth of the matter is that in spite of our best efforts and our good intentions, you and I have not always resisted the devil’s temptations. In fact, all too often we have failed. We have given in. He put out the bait and we took it. At times we saw it coming and we did it anyway. Sometimes we didn’t even put up much of a fight. We enjoyed it.
And do you think God is just going to ignore that? Do you think God is going to pretend like it never happened? You better think again. The fact that you gave in even once to Satan’s temptations is sufficient grounds for God to banish you to hell forever. Make no mistake, God is holy. And because he is holy, God can not and will not tolerate sin. In his Word he says, “The soul that sins is the soul that will die”(Ezekiel 18:4). Boy, would I be in trouble, except for Jesus!
By his death on the cross, Jesus paid for all my sins, all the times I blew it, all the times I gave in and fell to Satan’s temptations, even the times I didn’t put up much of a fight. Jesus did the same for you.
And that isn’t all he did. Jesus also overcame Satan and his temptations for us. He did what we should have done. He resisted Satan the way we should have resisted him. He defeated the devil with the Word of God and sent him packing the way we should have, but didn’t. He did that for us, as our substitute, as our Savior. And because we now belong to Jesus, because we are part of the family of God through faith, God credits what Jesus did to us.
Remember this story next time the devil tempts you. Remember your baptism and what it means. Remember to be filled with the Spirit like Jesus. Remember to take your stand on God’s Word. And finally, remember, especially when Satan happens to get the best of you—at times like that remember that he didn’t get the best of Jesus. As Luke reminds us today, Jesus won the victory over Satan. And his victory is your victory. Amen.