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So tonight, let us begin, shall we, by reading some verses from chapters three and four of Luke that are tributes to the person of our blessed Lord and identify him for who he is. The Gospel by Luke in chapter three, beginning at verse fifteen. And as the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether happily he were the Christ, John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water, but there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latter to whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.
He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, thoroughly to cleanse his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his garner. But the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. Verse twenty one: Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also having been baptized and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased.
And Jesus himself, when he began, was about thirty years of age, being the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli. Verse thirty eight. the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness during forty days, being tempted of the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days, and when they were completed, he hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread.
And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone. And he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority and the glory of them, for it has been delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shall all be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee to guard thee, and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And Jesus answering said unto him, it is said, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a season. Verse 16, and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and he opened the book and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began to say unto them, Today hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. And then from verse thirty one: And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath day, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and he cried out with a loud voice, Ah, what are we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no hurt. And amazement came upon all, and they spake together one with another, saying, what is this word? For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
Verse forty one. And the demons also came out from many, crying out and saying, thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. Last night, very inadequately and briefly, we discussed some of the features of the first major section of the Gospel of Luke, and found it to be concerned with the arrival into our world of the Son of God. We noticed how Luke nails the whole story down in human time.
He is talking and relating history and not myth. We noticed also how that he records the arrival of the Son of God in actual fact, but allows us to see it through the eyes of the prominent agents and actors in that glorious scene surrounding the incarnation of our Lord. His last story in that first section is peculiar to him, the story of the young boy Jesus at the age of twelve in the temple at Jerusalem, there eventually declaring his divine parentage. Eighteen years follow in the gap between the last verse of chapter two of Luke and the beginning of chapter three.
So now tonight we enter into the second major section, which comprises chapters three and four of the gospel. Why do we say that they two chapters comprise a section? Well, first of all, because chapter three verse one begins the story, as we have said, twelve years after the latest thing that we were previously told. Secondly, we notice that when you come to the end of chapter four, you have once more a general remark, having told us about his previous preaching in the synagogues. Then verse two remarks that he came out at daybreak and went into a desert place, and the multitude sought after him and came to him and would have stayed him that he should not go from them.
But he said unto them, I must preach the good tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for therefore was I sent. And now notice verse forty four. It is one of those general remarks that ancient historians and others use, where we would use a new chapter heading. It is a general remark, uh, describing what he did on several occasions without further details being given. So these two chapters, I suggest, stand together, and their theme is the, not the arrival of the Son of God now, but the introduction of the Son of God onto the public stage of history.
It forms, it is formed of two major parts. The first half is the preparation of our blessed Lord, the preparations that were made for his, uh, public ministry. The second half, uh, beginning in verse sixteen of chapter four, is the actual beginning of that public ministry. First, then the preparations that were made for it, and then the beginning of that public ministry. If we keep our Bibles in hands, we can do a little more reconnoitering of these two chapters, can't we, to see what their major contents are.
We notice then, uh, that, uh, we have, first of all, the ministry of John in the desert. Three verse, uh, two says that the word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the desert, in the wilderness. And now you have a description of his ministry that will fill the verses right down to verse twenty. And there we are told that Herod the Tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done, added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
So there's John's voice and, uh, silenced and his ministry now curtailed. We noticed last night, was it, that Luke, in, uh, recording this, does not actually tell you that it was John who baptized the Lord Jesus. You ca- could, of course, deduce it from the immediate context of verse twenty one that does describe his baptism. But whereas the other gospels tell us explicitly that John did the baptizing, and Matthew tells us what the Lord said when John demurred and hesitated to do it, uh, this in Luke doesn't tell us that.
It just takes John's ministry, follows it right through to its end, and verse twenty has him locked up in prison, and that's that. Until, of course, we hear again briefly from him in chapter seven. So the first great piece of this second section is the ministry of John, preparatory for the coming of the Messiah. Now, from twenty one we get, uh, uh, the stories about our Lord himself. And first, his identification at the baptism. John has already identified, or described rather, what his function will be in the verses that we read in seventeen, uh, sixteen and seventeen.
Now we have the identification given by the divine persons at his baptism. And what a marvelous scene that is. John isn't there talked about. We have just here the three persons of the holy and blessed triunity, the Son of God himself, the Father's voice from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descending in a dove. The three persons then explicitly mentioned, and though Trinity or triunity are not terms actually mentioned in scripture, here they are, uh, together, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with a delightful identification coming from the Father, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.
There follows the identification of him in relation to the human race, his genealogy, unlike that in Matthew, which comes forward from Abraham, this one goes backward and traces our Lord's genealogy back to Adam and thus to God. Son of God in the divine sense, Son of God also in the sense in which Adam, uh, was a human being, and Christ is verily human. Then you will notice an interesting matter, that when it comes to what has been called our Lord's temptation, you have Satan questioning, if thou art the Son of God, do certain things as evidence and proof that you are the Son of God.
So God has declared him to be his son, but now the devil demands evidence that he is his son, and therein lay the subtlety of that temptation. When that is over, verse thirteen says that the devil departed, and once more a general remark, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a fame went out concerning him throughout all the region round about, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. You notice one again, that same device on the historian's part, a general remark that, uh, it gives us good information, but now brings to an end the first part, the preparation for the ministry.
Prepared the way by John the Baptist down which the Lord should come. And John's description of what his function would be. The way prepared by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there publicly defining that he is the Son of God, and his identification as son of Adam, and therefore son of God in that other sense. And now, in preparation for his ministry, our blessed Lord is asked to submit to the testing even from the devil himself. This all in preparation. Well, with uh verse sixteen, now comes the specific example of the beginning of his ministry.
He says, verse fourteen, whilst preaching, uh, and in teaching in their synagogues, but now here is one specific example of the teaching he gave. Here he defines his own ministry as he takes the book of Isaiah the prophet, and quoting from it a description of Messiah and his ministry, uh, claims that today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. This is our Lord now beginning his ministry and identifying himself, uh, by saying that he fulfills the prophet Isaiah. And then after that, he, verses thirty one give us little thumbnail sketches of the various things that happened in sundry synagogues as he went on his way teaching, uh, in Capernaum and elsewhere.
Now tonight I have no op- uh, chance of getting and commenting upon all the detail of this second section of Luke. What I want to do is to call attention to some of its major themes and observe what Luke is doing as he describes for us the preparation for the ministry and then the beginning of the ministry itself. Here you have it. This is the preparation. I've been arbitrary, of course, in selecting certain things and leaving out details that you doubtless would like to have seen included, but this is a bird's eye view and not a detailed examination.
I ask you to notice one particular emphasis that Luke puts in this part of his gospel. Look here at, uh, the, um, uh, ministry of John. Notice he is identified, the John's identity and function through the prophet Isaiah. But then we get a passage that nobody else has. Neither Matthew, nor Mark, nor John himself, that is the the evangelist John, mentioned these detailed requirements that John the Baptist demanded of the various people that came to consult him.
He said to them, you see, as they came, according to verses, uh, uh, verses ten of chapter three onwards. When the multitudes asked him, what then must we do? He answered and said to them, he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none, and he that hath food, let him do likewise. And there came also tax gatherers to be baptized, and they said unto him, Master, what must we do? And he laid down the law to them. And verse fourteen, and the soldiers also asked him, saying, and what we, what must me do, we do? And he said to them, do violence to no man, neither exact anything wrongfully, and be content with your wages.
These, uh, individual cases, the three lots of people that came to John and said, what shall we do? This thing is peculiar to Luke, and you can see at once what is their thrust and bearing. John was demanding of the people that they repent. And when they came professing to repent, John bluntly told them that just saying they repented isn't enough. They would need to show evidence that they had repented. Let's come back to that in a moment. This thing peculiar to Luke is the evidence that John requires that the repentance is actually genuine.
Notice this too, therefore, that when we come down to what I have called part B here, first we had John in the desert and at the Jordan, and now we have Christ at the Jordan and in the desert, the identity of Christ is proclaimed by the Father and exhibited by the Holy Spirit. But then it is followed by the temptation delivered by the devil himself. And you notice the nature of it. The divine persons have declared the Savior to be the Son of God and also son of Adam. Here comes his satanic majesty demanding evidence.
If you are the son of God, demonstrate you are. That was an exceedingly subtle temptation, as we shall see, the demand for evidence. So far then, the, um, the, uh, first part, the preparation for the ministry. Let's look, uh, uh, briefly at the second part. Here the ministry begins. And here our Lord, as he stands in the synagogue at Nazareth, identifies himself by opening the prophet and reading from Isaiah sixty two and declaring, today is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
This is the programmatic statement by the Lord himself of what his ministry was to be concerned with, an exceedingly important, uh, and dramatic identification and program. But notice now this story. When he had made this claim and thus identified his ministry and laid down the program for his work, the people of Nazareth turned round, as our Lord saw, he read their hearts and thoughts, and said to them, you will say to me, doubtless physician, heal yourself. You've got your cure in your own hand, if only you will apply it. You stand there and claim to be the Messiah according to Isaiah sixty two.
Prove it. The miracles we've heard you do at Capernaum, do these miracles here and demonstrate to us that you are the Messiah you claim to be. The demand for. Luke is certainly interested in this topic, isn't he? Evidence. And then finally, when Christ came to Capernaum, we have the evidence of demons crying out in protest to his preaching, being driven out by his miraculous power of healing, and crying as they came out, we know you who you are, the Holy One of God.
Thou art the Son of God. But this evidence was exceedingly suspect, wasn't it? Or the witnesses were, and our Lord silenced them. He would not accept their evidence or allow it publicly. So tonight, in our brief time, I want to concentrate on that particular, uh, emphasis here in these, uh, two, uh, chapters, in the two parts, that is the preparation for the public ministry and then the beginning of the public ministry. We ought to notice, before we pass it by, the way Luke, uh, begins chapter three, the public ministry of the Lord, with a fine sense of history.
He now dates the beginning of the ministry. This is not myth. This is dated in the manner of Hellenistic historians by a number of synchronisms, uh, relating to us the world leaders in that part of the world, both the political leaders, the top man, Tiberius Caesar, and his governor of Judea, Pilate, and the old puppet king Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Licinius Tetrarch of Abilene. Minor people, them on the world stage, but important, uh, in that part of the world, the political leaders of the day, and then the religious leaders of Israel, verse two, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.
I repeat, Luke is not writing myths. He is writing history, and dates are, are the Lord's beginning of his public appearance and ministry by these synchronisms with the political and religious leaders of the day. He does more than date it, however, by that means. It is a sword thrust of a comment, isn't it, into the very heart of the civilization that was, with all these people high in their positions and demanding authority over the world. The word of God came to John, says Luke, the son of Zacharias.
Notice his official title, won't you? John, son of Zacharias. Like the Russians, when you're being official, you have to use all their three names. And, uh, here too, John, son of Zacharias, but it came to him in the wilderness. That is a, an acute comment, isn't it? It is by way of being a comment on the bankruptcy of the society that then was. Our Lord was not born in the, in a palace. His forerunner preached out there in the desert. So Luke begins. And now he, uh, uh, introduces, uh, John therefore, he came preaching the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins.
And his role is identified by Luke, by his quotation in verse four of Isaiah chapter forty. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make you ready the way of the Lord, make his path straighter. That is very interesting. It is, so we are told by the experts, a metaphor drawn from the practice of cities when they were to receive some honored overlord, perhaps the emperor himself. And therefore they constructed a new road, uh, that would lead from the environs into the city, filled up the potholes, lest his majesty be sh- his bones be shaken by the chariot wheels getting into the potholes and that kind of thing, and leveling out the things so there were no hills and hollows, and making a splendid road that the honored majesty might come in ease and pomp and ceremony into the middle of the city and thus be received.
So John is calling upon the na- the people to make such a road. The interesting and important thing is, who does he expect to come along this road? Who is the imp- person of importance that shall come down the road they have prepared into their city? In Isaiah chapter forty, it is called preparing the way of Yahweh, the way of the Lord, that is the way of God. It is Yahweh that's coming down this road and must be thus prepared for and received. See then the significance of John's testimony and his function in relation to the Lord Jesus. It was in fact the Lord Jesus at this time that was coming down the road.
And the Lord Jesus is that Jehovah, that Yahweh spoken of in Isaiah forty. The road was to be re- prepared by, uh, the people. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough way smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Be the road prepared properly. Then not only would the Messiah come, but the Messiah would exhibit the wonders of the salvation of God. But the preparation of the road was but a metaphor for the necessary attitude of heart, which was, of course, radical repentance.
That is surely what the filling up of the holes and the hillocks and the road is meant to represent. It was the people that had to do that and prepare the way of the Lord. And in actual fact, that metaphor refers to radical repentance. If the people were going to see the salvation of the Lord when he came, the first necessary preparation for it in their hearts was a state of repentance. No one will ever see the actualities of God's salvation who hasn't been prepared by radical repentance. It is thus, therefore, that John, uh, talked to the crowds, the multitudes, in very stern language, seven and eight of this chapter.
You offspring of vipers, he said, which is not the normal conversation and preaching style of modern preachers, who have to be user friendly. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Hmm, you'll say. Vivid matter of that, isn't it? Well, say if you should light a bonfire in your garden, oh, but no, that wouldn't be you because this is next door to paradise and you don't have any vipers. Let me think of somewhere else, Australia perhaps, or something. And if they should be lighting a bonfire, and there they should see a viper or something wiggling its way as hard as it could out of the flames, of this you could be sure, the viper hadn't repented of being a viper.
It wasn't saying, now I give up my nasty biting ways and poisoning people and all that kind of thing. No, no, all it was doing was running away from the flames, that's all. But that isn't repentance, necessarily. When they heard John proclaiming that the Lord was coming and his fan in his hand thoroughly to cleanse his floor, uh, the chaff he would burn up with unquenchable fire. Some of them might have been prompted just by sheer ordinary fear to flee from such a judgment, but that is not necessarily repentance. What John was asking was not just fear of coming wrath.
Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? But fear of coming wrath that would then translate itself into active and radical repentance. Bring forth, therefore, he said, fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And thus he urged them by thought of the imminence of judgment to bring forth works meet for repentance. We were talking the other night that where there has been forgiveness, it leads to works.
But here you notice the Baptist's emphasis that repentance, if it's genuine, will show itself in works. And repentance that doesn't show itself in works can be questioned as to its genuineness. Let me take an example from another part of scripture, an example that has troubled many people. In Acts chapter two, Peter, in the power of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven on the day of Pentecost, preached an exceedingly vigorous sermon, at the end of the which the crowds were pricked and cut in their very heart and conscience, and they came to Peter and said, what must we do?
And Peter said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. No, he didn't. What will you do? You will repent, that's what you'll do, and be baptized in the name of Jesus unto forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That order of events has troubled many people. They wouldn't like to think that Peter had got it wrong because he had not been theologically educated, but they point to, uh, the better story, as they count it, in Acts chapter ten where Peter went to the house of Cornelius and stood there and preached, and as he was preaching, the people received the Holy Spirit and with it forgiveness of sins, and then were baptized.
And they say, now that's the proper order, and that's the normal order for us who are Gentiles, you see. Uh, our normal order is that, uh, first you believe and you are forgiven, and then you receive the Holy Spirit, and then you are baptized, you see. But not for us, surely, having to be baptized to get forgiveness of sins. So what about these people in Acts chapter two then? And one solution is to say they belong to a somewhat different dispensation. I think there is a simpler explanation. Put yourself in the crowd, if you will, and in the situation, and here come the people to Peter, and they're cut to the heart. Why are they cut to the heart? Because it has been borne on them irresistibly that what Peter says is true.
They have murdered their own Messiah and find themselves in this ghastly situation. What on earth have they got to do? Peter doesn't say believe, they believed already, and it's exceedingly uncomfortable. They believe what Peter said, Jesus is the Lord. God has made him both Lord and Christ. And here they stand as men that have murdered their own Messiah. Whatever shall they do? Well, Peter says the obvious what you'll do is to repent. Repent of the murder of the Lord Jesus. And what is more, Peter adds, and if he hadn't have done, John the Baptist would if he'd been there, you will show by your actions that your repentance is genuine.
You will, uh, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. I think I can imagine a young gentleman coming up to Peter when the crowd has gone and saying, sir, could I have a word with you? Yes. Well, look here, yo- that was a very powerful sermon you preached, Peter, and I really am convicted, and I, I, I, I do admit, uh, we were terribly wrong in crucifying the, uh, Jesus. I know now his Messiah, and I want to be saved, Peter, but did you say I had to be baptized in the name of Jesus? Yes, I did, said Peter. Well, let me explain, sir. It would be very embarrassing for me, you'll see. My father is a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, and socially it would be exceedingly embarrassing if I, his son, got publicly baptized in the name of Jesus, you see.
So I don't have to be baptized really, do I? What would you say to him? Well, I know what Peter would have said. My young sir, you with others publicly stood here a few weeks ago and publicly said that Jesus was a blasphemer and should be crucified on a cross. So did your father. And if now you say you've repented of that, then God isn't prepared to take just your say so for it. If you have genuinely repented of that, you will now publicly reverse your decision and publicly be baptized in the name of Jesus.
Very, very important, isn't it? God is not always prepared just to take our say so that we have repented. He will demand works that evidence we have. And it could happen to you, ma'am, you sir. You preach the gospel, and you emphasize that salvation is by faith. And after the session, a good gentleman comes, you can tell from his dress he's a well-heeled, uh, uh, stockbroker or something. And he says, uh, could I ask a question or two? Yes. Now, have I got you clearly? You're saying it's news to me, uh, uh, uh, that salvation is by, uh, by faith and not by works.
Uh, no works are required, you say? Absolutely so, sir. Yes. Oh, he said, I'm so glad of that, you see. Could I talk to you in confidence? You see, um, I have actually misappropriated about one hundred and fifty thousand of the firm's money, and I, I can't give it back. You see, I, I, my, my wife has expensive tastes, and I got three people at uni- university, children at university, and there's a mortgage and all that, and uh, anyway, tremendous loss of faith if I paid it back, so I don't have to, do I? You just said that salvation is by faith. So I don't have to leave all sinning.
Have I got you right? What would you say? I think Peter would say, and John the Baptist would say, you can't come to God and ask for forgiveness of sins if your determination is to carry on those sins. Can you? Anyway, John, as you'll see here, is demanding evidence that people have genuinely repented. So then John had another task to do. As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether happily he were the Christ, John answered them, saying, no, of course I'm not the Christ.
And he distinguished between himself and the Messiah by contrasting his function and his ministry with the ministry of the coming Messiah. I said he baptize you with water, but there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latches of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, whose fan is in his hand thoroughly to cleanse his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. There lies the difference between John's ministry and Christ, according to John.
John baptized in water, it signified a repentance that was a preparation for obtaining forgiveness of sin. But the Messiah was to do what not John could do, and no ordinary human could ever do. The function of the Messiah was absolutely unique in two respects. He would baptize people in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, you may say, is the here the power of perhaps or the energy of the Holy Spirit, but however you describe it, just like a sun ray is part of the sun, so Holy Spirit comes from the Holy Spirit himself.
And anyone that has the power to put a human being in the Holy Spirit is not less than God. No human can place another human in the Holy Spirit. Therein is the wonder of our blessed Lord. He's not just one of the prophets. Hebrews chapter one says that God of old time spoke to us, to the fathers through the prophets. They are a group that can be identified. And though in some sense our Lord is elsewhere called the Prophet, nevertheless, in this context, he's not one of that bunch.
God spoke in time past through the, to the Father through the Prophet. When you put all those together, he stands outside them. In these days, God has spoken in the person of Son. He's not just one more prophet. He has power as son of God to put people in the Holy Spirit, as John would take people and put them in the waters of Jordan. So Christ has the power to take human beings and put them in the Holy Spirit. That is the deduction that Peter makes on the day of Pentecost, is it not? As he's explained to the Jews what the phenomenon of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is.
And he says, know this, that Jesus now ascended has received from the Father the promise of the Father, that is the Holy Spirit, and it is Jesus that has poured out this that you now see and hear. Deduction? Let all the house of Israel know that this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has made him both Lord in the ultimate sense and Christ. The fact that the Jesus of Nazareth can now pour out the Holy Spirit is part of the evidence that he is Lord and Christ in the highest sense of those two terms. Here is John then, defi- describing the ministry of Christ by contrasting it with his own.
When we remember that according to Christ, John Baptist was the greatest of all the prophets, see what an accolade this is. But more than that, there is another unique thing that Christ will do, says John, that no other person could do. He will, uh, thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his garner, while the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. This is the one who will exercise judgment at the final judgment. For the Father judges no man, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father.
When the dead are raised and stand before the great white throne, the occupant of that throne will be our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, unique in the salvation he can offer, unique in his office as the final judge. It is marvelous, therefore, to have from his lips, let me say this as an aside, to have from his lips as the judge himself, his final sentence, he that hears my word and believeth on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment. There speaks the judge, and there is no appeal from that judgment of his.
Now, therefore, with that we come to Christ at the Jordan and in the desert, and as we have already noticed, uh, Christ's identity declared by the Father, this is my beloved Son, and, uh, uh, indicated by the descent of the Holy Spirit in bodily form upon him. He is therefore Son of God, member of the Trinity. See the three persons of the tri-unity there represented. He is truly God, he is truly human, and the point of the genealogy is to make that double sense of sonship clear. But with that, he is taken into to the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Notice at once the question of evidence is raised. If you are the Son of God, twice over repeated, if you are the Son of God, well, show it. And the natural impulse for any of us would have been, yes, Satan, we can show you. But it was a devilishly cunning temptation, wasn't it? Because of the evidence that Satan suggested he should provide. First of all, if you are the Son of God, says he, do say, um, command this stone that it become bread.
Now, you know, I've never been tempted myself. I don't know about you, but I've never been tempted to make stones into bread. And if the devil were to come to me and say, Gooding, uh, prove you are a Christian and make these stones into bread, I shall say, I should say in a very polite voice and reverentially, we don't make mock of Satan. I should say, sorry, but that's foolish talk. I can't make stones bread. I haven't got that power. There's no temptation to me. I've never been tempted to do it. It was a real possibility for Christ, wasn't it? Mark the assumption.
In the very heart of the devil, he knew what the truth was. Knew Christ had the power to do it. Knew that he was, in fact, had that power because he was God's son. Ah, but... Mark with adoration the wisdom of Christ. Yes, he was son of God and had the power to turn stones into bread, but listen to his argument, to his reply. Man, man shall not live by bread alone. And as the ancient scripture added, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
He was, in that sense, son of Adam, descendant of the, uh, human race. The original pair were tempted in the garden by a similar thing, but not so severe, tempted by food. Take of the tree and eat. Grasp the food in independence of God. You will remember the story, won't you? Came Satan to Eve, and he said, my dear, with that typical exaggeration that distorts the truth. My dear, said he, um, is it right what I hear that you're not allowed to eat of any of the fruit of the garden?
No, no, said Eve, that's not right. You eat of all the trees in the garden, you'll see, except, uh, this one. Ah, yes. Thought so, said Satan. There's sure to be one, you'll see. That's like God is. He he he loves tantalizing people, you'll see. Puts a lovely tree there and then says you can't eat it. That's God. Look at it, my dear, said he. And she looked at the tree and saw that it was good for food. It would satisfy your physical appetite. It was, uh, good to look at. Oh, the aesthetics were marvelous. And it was desirable to make one wise.
You see, said Satan, physical satisfaction and aesthetic satisfaction and, uh, and, uh, uh, intellectual satisfaction. My dear, that's life, you see. That is what life is. Take it and eat. Oh no, said Eva. No, no, um, no, God has said that we, we, we mustn't take that, and the day we eat that, we shall surely die. Oh, not rotten nonsense. Grow up, woman, said he. Nobody around here believes that these days. That's old-fashioned stuff. Eat it, woman. That's life. Look what you're missing. Life.
Physical satisfaction, aesthetic satisfaction, intellectual satisfaction. That's life, there's nothing more to it. What a lie that was. That isn't the whole sum of life. Is it? There's another dimension to life. Is it? There's another dimension to life, such that if you have the other three, but you don't have this other dimension, you're already part dead. The dimension, the other dimension is God and his word. One of these days, some of you might be, uh, even moved, I can't think why, to invite me to dinner, madam.
And when I come and sit down at your table, oh, how marvelous the cooking, you see, and the artistry, how the carrots and the greens are put there to perfection to balance the color and all that kind of thing, you see. And here I sit at your table, and you have put me there, and you're sitting at the end, and I'm sitting on your right hand side, you see. Everything is to perfection. So we begin. And halfway through the soup, you think, uh, it's rather quiet, this Englishman's a bit shy. So you, uh, begin a conversation. You say, it's been a nice day today, hasn't it? I don't reply, keep on eating soup. So when we get to the main dish, who's had another go, you say, where did you go on holiday this year?
I, I, no reply. So it's odd, more odd than I thought. Eh, so then you have another go towards the dessert. So have you read any good books this year? And I at last lift up myself and look her in the face. I said, madam, I'd like to tell you something. I think this food is marvelous. Your cuisine is exquisite. Your sense of aesthetics is glorious. And as for that Rembrandt you have on the wall, Rembrandt is a favorite of mine. And that classical music you've got in the background, oh, it is aesthetically delightful, you'll see.
I'm enjoying this immensely. But ma'am, I want you to know I'm not interested in you. I don't believe you exist, but if you do exist, I wouldn't be interested anyway. I'm content with this dinner and all the beautiful things you've provided. What would you do? You'd reach for the ejector button on my seat, I imagine. That's the last time I should sit at your table. And what a consummate fool I should be, wouldn't I? For it is you that provided the meal, and provided it as a basis for my being allowed the privilege of entering into your friendship and getting to know you.
And to take the gifts and have no time for you and your friendship would be a disaster and a disastrous misinterpretation of the intent of your dinner party. Therein lay Satan's devilish temptation to Eve, a misdescription of what life really is. It's not being mean and niggardly and monkish when the word of God says that man shall not live by bread alone. The bread and the sausages on the table are God's provision. And when we sit down even to our daily bread, the host at the table is God himself, giving us these humble gifts that we might use them in order to enjoy his company and presence and to form a friendship that will last long after the sausages have have forever, thank God, disappeared.
And it is an utter misrepresentation of life, but very cunning, isn't it? And so our Lord came to, so Satan came to the second man. You are the Son of God, make these stones bread. And our Lord replied, in terms of scripture, man shall not live by bread alone. He's not being particularly abstemious. He was enunciating what true life is. The second temptation came, if you are the Son of God, now listen to this.
You see all these cities and the glory of them? To me they have been committed. And our Lord didn't challenge his statement. And I am able to give them to whomsoever I will. You fall down and worship me, and I will give them to you. What was he demanding? Well, when he said worship me, he was not thinking that Christ was going there and then to sing a few hymns to Satan. Of course not, nothing so crude. The term worship in the New Testament often means simply the adoration that an inferior will give to an acknowledged superior, a bowing down before the superior to acknowledge his superior power.
What Satan was saying is, I've been given the authority. Perhaps in some sense it is true. God has allowed Satan to amass enormous authority, hasn't he? Even his lieutenant, the beast, in the book of the Revelation, chapter thirteen, it is said of him, it is given to him to persecute the saints. That is, God allows him to do it. And the God who could dismiss Satan with a flick of the finger allows Satan to continue to exercise extraordinary power. When our blessed Lord came to earth, God didn't do a miracle there and then to consign the devil to the lake of fire, as one day he will.
Our Lord was allowed to meet him on his own ground. Fall down and worship you. And what he was saying is this, look, young man, of course you have a great evangelistic campaign, haven't you? Marvelous stuff, you'll say. You're going to teach people morality. Oh, I agree with morality, but, um, look, you have to be realistic, young man, in this world, you'll see. You are full of idealism, you know, but you have to face the facts in this world, and you'll find before you get very far that I am in fact in charge in many areas, you'll see. And so good, uh, running your head against a brick wall, young man. If you want your mission to succeed, you better come to, uh, well, shall we call it some, uh, accommodation with me, do you see?
You must acknowledge the fact, you see, I'm in control. Now, if only you would fall down and admit the fact, do you see, then we can do some deals. You could do perhaps a, well, don't call it compromise, that's a nasty word, but, um, do you see, that's the way you succeed. But you dare to oppose me outright. Young man, I've had your forerunner put in prison. And what happens to forerunners generally happens to those that come after them. Now you be sensible and do your compromise with me and acknowledge the hard facts of this world.
And I'll make you a success. That's a temptation that has sometimes come to the church, hasn't it? And our Lord, quoting scripture again, says, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Marvelous to watch him wielding the sword of the word of God. I say in my naive way how, how marvelous it was, how fortunate it was he happened to know those scriptures. Say he was the Son of God, wasn't he? Of course he knew them.
In one sense, he was the author of them. But ever since he was a little fellow in Mary's home, Mary and Joseph, being good Jews, would have taught him, like the book of Deuteronomy said, parents should do, had taught him Holy Scripture. Day after day, as Deuteronomy had it, when you rise up, when you sit down, when you go out, when you come in, you should teach the children the scripture, says Deuteronomy. And Mary and Joseph, being good Jews, had doubtless done that for our blessed Lord in his boyhood. Oh, what a marvelous privilege Mary and Joseph had, didn't they? The Jews, when they teach children scripture, they start with the book of Leviticus.
Huh. They do. They've got more courage than some Christian churches. Who believe that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, but they're not quite sure that it's all profitable for teaching. And sometimes people lose their nerves, don't they? And to keep the young people, they go easy on the teaching of scripture. That is a strategic mistake. In the battle against his satanic majesty, to send people out into this world with no knowledge of God's holy word is to send them out as though they had bare hands fighting high-powered explosives.
All for a return in Christian circles to the rigorous teaching of the word of God to the young folks, such as Deuteronomy prescribed for parents. Our Lord, of course, he authored it, and yet in another sense was taught it by Mary and Joseph, and was ready for the devil when he came. And the final temptation. He took him up to the temple and suggested to him that he cast himself down if he were the son of God, for now he quotes scripture, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee to guard thee, and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest happily thou dash thy foot against a stone.
A doubter's made it sound a very cogent argument. Oh, I see now, says he, what a very good spiritual young man you are. I can see now you're determined to live your life in dependence on the Lord. Ah, that's very few around like you, you see. You're not even prepared to use your power to make, uh, stones into bread, uh, because you are determined as a young man to be dependent on the Lord in everything. That is excellent, you know. You are a remarkable young man, you are, do you see? Very few like you about.
Now, uh, you know, why don't you, uh, go just that step further, you see? You're dependent on God, aren't you? Well now, prove it. Act on it. Step out in faith. Launch yourself off the pinnacle of the temple, and you've got scripture, haven't you? It says that the angels will bear you up, lest you, uh, strike your foot against a stone, you see. Launch out in faith, young man. What would you have done? That perhaps was the most devilish of all the temptations. It seemed to be a copy of many evangelistic addresses.
It would have been sin against God, wouldn't it? Had his father told him to throw himself off the temple? It is certainly true that when we walk in the path of God, God will send his angels to guard us as he sees fit. But it's God that's meant to take the initiative. Our Lord saw the evil of it and replied, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. God is not to be put to the test. I'm never to do something and say, look, I'm going to do it, God, and uh, you'll have to back me up.
God doesn't have to do anything. To step off the temple and put God in the position where God, to be faithful, has got to come up behind me and carry the pieces. That is not faith. That is presumption. We're not in command. We don't take the initiative. When God tells us to do something, he will give us the support that we need to see it through. But is God in charge? And we must be careful, must we not? Yes, step out in faith on his word, where his word is a clear direction to you.
But there was nothing in that psalm to say, cast yourself off the temple and God will preserve you. Once again, our Lord conquered, came through victorious. Notice by what method? By the word of God applied to his own life. When we come to the last section in chapter four, we shall find him in the synagogues overcoming evil spirits. How? By the word of God, as he preached it.
Marvelous savior, that before he started preaching God's word to other people, he overcame the devil by applying the word of God to his own life. And in that he sets us an example, doesn't he? I've written unto you, young man, says John to his, uh, converts and sheep. Written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the evil one. The preparation of the Son of God for his ministry.
Our next study will be the beginning of that ministry, but let us pray. Our Father, with awed hearts, we have listened to this story of thy dear Son, coming sinless into our world, and yet demanding no privilege, and living as a man before thee, and meeting Satan, and overcoming him by thy word applied to his life. We bless thee for his example.
We praise thee that being tempted, he never did sin. In him there was no sin. And we thank thee that now he lives to give us the succor we need when we too are tempted. Must bless thy word to us, we pray, through that same Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
