 | CLM 597 Defeating the Oldest Enemy |
From: Wayne Dobratz
Fri, 27 Mar 1998
Clergy/Leaders' Mail-list No. 597
LUKE 4:1-13
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Defeating the Oldest Enemy
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- Wayne Dobratz
It is not the favorite memory of those who have served their
country in the Armed Forces. It's called BASIC TRAINING. We've all seen
movies about it and some of us wonder if we could have stood the
pressure of it. Sooner or later the soldiers realized that the combat
training and physical conditioning were designed to save their lives.
Our instruction in God's Word is for us what combat training is for
the soldier. Our survival in battle with the enemy depends upon it.
We have an enemy whose sole purpose is to destroy us for time and for
eternity. Today's text shows us Jesus at age 30; his ministry career
is beginning. He has just been baptized in the Jordan River.
Right after that, the Spirit led him out into the wilderness. It
seemed to be a completely desolate place with no one else there. But
one very interested party was watching. We can almost hear his
thoughts. Oh...so this is God's Anointed One; This is the One who is
supposed to destroy my work. Well, we'll see about that. Let's see if
we can derail him right from the start.
Since no one else was there, Jesus had to teach the disciples how
the battle was fought and won. You might say that this was their
basic training. By reading the Gospels they wrote you and I can learn
how to defeat the evil one. Jesus shows us by example how we go
about:
DEFEATING THE OLDEST ENEMY:
1) BY RECOGNIZING HIS TACTICS
2) BY SWINGING THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
Deceit is one of the oldest tactics in warfare. It's called
DISINFORMATION today. When an enemy agent is discovered spying, they
might not even put him in jail. They turn him against the enemy
government and then they feed him lies which he dutifully passes on to
them.
Our enemy is pretty good at DISINFORMATION too. We need a refresher
course in how he operates. Only then will we be prepared to fight off
his attacks. Let's listen and watch as Jesus, combat veteran and Master
Teacher, shows us what to do.
Luke writes: 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days
he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at
the end of them he was hungry. Here's the first attack from the evil
one: 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this
stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not
live on bread alone.'"
As many an enemy will do, Satan starts the attack by raising a cloud
of doubt. When our first parents were attacked in the Garden, the
enemy raised doubt about just how deadly sin really was. Here the
enemy questions the word of the Father who had just told the world
This is my Beloved Son.
Jesus is now supposed to prove that He is God's Son by turning
stones into bread. Don't forget how hungry he is here in the desert.
For 40 days, the Father had supported his son in the desert. The real
temptation is, in this moment of physical weakness, to use his power as
God TO AVOID SUFFERING. He would have to fight off this temptation often
in the next 3 years. He was to suffer this and much more for our sins.
To give in to this temptation would have been shipwreck for our
salvation. Had this precedent been established, he could later have used
his power to keep from being captured, to come down from the cross
instead of making full payment for our sins there.
Jesus conquers this temptation by acting as the Father's faithful
Son. He gives a beautiful answer: Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. To get the full
gist of what Jesus did for us here, you have to remember how many
times Israel disobeyed God in the desert. Jesus came to obey the law
where our disobedience shattered it. When Jesus swings this sword of
the Spirit he is reminding us that it is in God that we live and have
our being. Trust is the counter- tactic here; trust in the God who
speaks with authority and truth.
Luke continues: 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed
him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to
him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has
been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you
worship me, it will all be yours." 8 Jesus answered, "It is written:
'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
Do you see what's going on here? First the enemy sows seeds of
doubt; now he tells an outrageous lie. We would expect that from him,
since he is the father of lies. He claims for himself the authority
that only God has. He shows Jesus the Kingdoms of the world and all
their splendor. He says that these are his to give and that he will
give them to Jesus in exchange for one act of worship. Jesus would
have to acknowledge Satan as lord, which was what the battle against
God was about in the first place.
Wow! What arrogance! Jesus, why would you want to walk that terribly
long and bitter road of suffering when you can take the short-cut and
get it all, just by bowing down to me? It reminds you of the first
temptation: Adam, Eve--Eat from this fruit and you will be like God.
Power--that's what he's offering and that's what so many fall for
today. Young people and some not so young who are into occult practices
are after power--power to know the future, power over rivals, power to
change things. Just last night on one of the cable channels there was a
story about people using a Ouija Board. The power is real but it comes
at a terrible price--slavery to evil and to the evil one. It's an
awfully high price to pay.
Instead of receiving the power the enemy promises, we become his
slaves. After all, we are in one Kingdom or the other. Paul writes in
Col. 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and
brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus set us free from this slavery through his death and his rising
from the dead. Now he shows us how to claim this victory on an everyday
basis. Again the answer comes from the clear words of Scripture. "It
is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
Satan promised Jesus the glory of these earthly kingdoms if He would
only worship him. He uses the same advertising campaign today. He wants
us to worship things, the created things rather than the Creator. Most
of all, he wants to give the illusion of power. It is an illusion
because to go over to Satan's kingdom is to be under his control, as
teen-age Satan worshipers find out. They get into deep water and for
many of them, it's too late before they know it.
One teen-age devil worshiper followed the common practice of keeping
a diary, called THE BOOK OF SHADOWS. This was the last entry in his
diary:
Upon reading this you will know that I am dead. I have started the
lonesome journey to the bowels of the earth. I travel that twisted road
that winds its way down to the forsaken pit! It is time to meet my lofty
maker! My destination will be at the foot of the throne , where I will
kneel and greet my father...my father will spread his wings over me and
welcome me to my real home.
His parents found his body slumped in their car in the garage. He
had died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
By dying for our sins, Jesus made it possible to worship the Lord
and serve him only. He freed us from the control of the Satanic
slavedriver. Only in Him do we have true freedom--freedom from sin,
freedom from temptation's power, freedom to serve God in peace and
joy.
The final temptation is much like the previous one. Luke writes: 9
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point
of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself
down from here. 10 For it is written: "'He will command his angels
concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in
their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the
test.'"
This enemy knows what he is doing. He is a combat veteran and it
shows. Jesus had defeated him twice by using the Sword of the Spirit.
So Satan tries now to use it too, to his own advantage, of course. He
takes Jesus to the highest point of the Temple. Since Jesus had used
Scripture against temptation, the Devil will use it too. God promises
to protect us from danger through his angels, but not when we live
recklessly.
Jesus overcomes this one by using one simple sentence from the Holy
Book. Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
Do not underestimate the appeal of this offer to Jesus. Jesus was
destined to receive worship and praise as the Promised Savior, but only
after the cross, only after Satan's head had been crushed in the rocky
soil of Golgotha. Satan offers an alluring alternative. Jump down safely
from the high point of the temple and all that adulation will be yours,
full, free and clear. Forget the cross; it won't be necessary. You
think this didn't appeal to Jesus?
But Jesus knew that his kingdom was not of this world and that the
glory he would receive would be that of the Lamb who was slain, not as
some cheap magician.
Praise God, we see here when we resist the Devil, he will flee from
you. Luke finishes the story by writing: When the devil had finished
all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
The news reports tell us that another war may have been averted. You
and I can't avoid fighting though. To refuse to fight is to surrender to
the enemy. This enemy of ours looks for opportunities to sabotage our
earthly lives and our eternal life. I hope that you have learned some
survival skills from Jesus and that you will be ready to swing the sword
of the Spirit when the time comes.
During the early part of the last century, a great chess player who
was also an artist painted a picture of a chess game in progress. The
players were a young man and Satan. Satan was playing the black pieces,
of course. The game had high stakes. If Satan should win, the young man
would be his slave forever. If the young man would win, he would be free
from evil forever.
Apparently the artist believed in the power of evil over good,
because his picture shows that Satan was the winner.
In the picture the devil has just moved his Queen and has announced
that there would be checkmate in 4 moves. The young man's hand hovers
over his rook and then stops. There was no hope. The devil wins and the
young man would be his slave forever.
Then one day, the great Chess Master Paul Morphy came to view the
picture. He studied the board for more than 30 minutes. He lifted his
hand as he studied different moves. Finally his eyes blazed with the
vision of an unthought of combination of moves. Suddenly, he shouted:
Young man, make that move. That's the move!
To the amazement of all, the old master had discovered a combination
the artist had not considered. The young man defeated the devil.
So do we, when we follow Jesus' directions, the Grand Master of
victory over the evil one. After all, The reason the Son of God
appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
In His name, Amen.
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