Jesus the Alpha and Omega of Bible Study - Chapter 3-4

1:47Tonight, I'll be looking at chapter four, dealing with this principle of relationship. And this really comes down to a simple concept, and that is that obeying scripture is the expression of union with God. That scripture itself is God's words, and obeying God's words, letting the words that we have in scripture shape us, is the expression of union with God. Breaking, violating God's word is in itself an expression of being outside of union with God. And Christ himself viewed the words of Scripture as the means to be in union with his Father. In fact, it's always been that way. And so just to give you a little thought of where we're going to be going tonight, Going to be looking at how the Spirit of God works in the life of Christ. And I'm talking Jesus, son of David, how Spirit of God works in his life, how he drives him out into the temptation to be tempted. And it's the first time we really see an interaction that Jesus has with the words of Scripture, certainly at this level, certainly in detail. But what are words? Words themselves are connecting points, connecting points between people. I am speaking to you right now. You are listening to my words. And so, as one spiritual being to another spiritual being, you are hearing the words, you are taking them in, you are understanding, and because of that, we have a connection. And so, that's the way words work. Whether you write a letter to somebody, it's through those words you actually connect. Spiritual beings, we are spiritual beings. We connect through words. Yes, we connect through handshakes, but that's a very physical connection. A spiritual connection takes place by a communication. And certainly, that's the way God relates. Think about it: God is spirit, right? How does a spiritual being, how do we? Interact with God. We don't go up and just shake his hand. No, he speaks. He uses words. And as a spiritual being, as he speaks and he gives words, and I hear those words and I understand those words and I believe those words, I take those in, I am in a relationship with the one who gave those words, just much like you and I are we relate through words. And so scripture, what is scripture? Scripture is God's words. They really are the words you have on the pages are breathed by God.

5:13And they are given for the purpose of union. And where you accept, where you pick up, and you interact, you believe, you take in, you are in a union with God. That's the way it works. He's spirit. You don't see him. You hear him. You relate to him through words. Very simple concept. But that's really what Scripture is about. And when you think about Jesus, Jesus is that perfect union between God and man. We talk about the incarnation. We talk about what is the perfect union between God and man look like? It looks like Jesus. He was perfectly in union. God, who is spirit and Jesus, flesh, in perfect union through words.

6:20And so we're going to look tonight specifically at how this comes to light in Jesus' temptation in Luke chapter 4. Now, let me just give you a quick synopsis of what's happening in Luke. Luke is very interested in the work of the Spirit of God. In fact, his books, both Acts and Luke, he wrote Luke and Acts, very much an emphasis upon the working of the Holy Spirit. In Luke 2, you see Christ, well, even before that, you see the announcement to Zacharias, he's going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. John is. Then Gabriel comes and tells Mary in chapter 1 that you're going to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. And the child that will be born in you, born from you, will be the Son of God. So you have a Son of David, Son of God, flesh, and it's the work of the Spirit of God. Spirit. And then, as we looked at last time, Jesus had to grow, right? He had to grow. He had to read scripture. And so, as he grew as the perfect son, we see Jesus growing in favor with God and with man. He actually grew in favor with God. The text says he grows. And so he is a pattern of perfect development. But there is development there. Jesus in the flesh grows. And so then what happens is in Luke chapter 3, you have Jesus being baptized. Now, listen to what happens here. In Luke chapter 3, verse 21. Now, when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized. And while he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, like a dove. And a voice came out of heaven saying, You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So here's God announcing, This is my Son. This is who I am absolutely pleased with. He wants all the world to know, right? He wants, this is my beloved Son. You know what Luke does next? He gives the genealogy of Christ through Mary in verse 23. When he began, His ministry, Jesus himself is about 38, 30 years of age, being as it was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, and he goes down to the whole genealogy and he takes it all the way back to Adam. And look at where he ends. Verse 38, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. And so, what does Luke do? He wants you to be thinking about Adam as a son of God, the very first son of God. Okay, in those terms. But Adam really is disappointing, right? And then what happens very next in chapter 4 and verse 1? He takes the Holy Spirit, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness. So the Spirit comes upon him, right? He's full of the Spirit, and the Spirit leads him off, drives him off into the wilderness and leads him around in the wilderness. Okay? Now, it's interesting as the temptation happens. Let me just read to you the original temptation. Luke wants you to be thinking about Adam as the Son of God, and then he takes you right into Jesus' temptation as the real, as the Son of God, the perfect Son of God. Remember the fall. Of man. How does it unfold? In Genesis chapter 3, you're not supposed to eat of that tree, right? God told him, don't eat of that tree, right? And then what happens? The serpent says, you're not going to die, for you know, for God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So then, this is the temptation that comes to Eve. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Good for food, delight to the eyes. And it seemed wise. Okay? Or wisdom, made good for wisdom. It's interesting that Matthew does a different arrangement of the temptation. He puts things in the temptations in a little different order. Luke goes directly with this son of God, Adam.

11:38He gives, and so you have a temptation unfold in the very same sequence as was in the Garden of Eden. How should Adam have dealt with it? That's where Luke takes us, and that's where we're going to pick up tonight. But I want you to notice a couple of things here. First of all, Luke chapter 4, verse 1. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted of the devil. Now look down at verse 14. And Jesus returned in Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through all the surrounding district. So what happens? The one being led around, full of the Spirit, is going to go into the wilderness, and he's going to emerge in what? In the power of the Spirit. How does this take place? It's through the temptation. And how does Jesus respond to the temptation? By honoring the words of Scripture. And so this is the first time we really get a look into Jesus' specific use of specific scriptures. And so that's what I want to do tonight. Just walk through this temptation. And it's interesting to note that Jesus, when he was on earth, he claimed to be greater than Solomon. He claimed to be greater than the temple. He claimed to be greater than the Sabbath. But you know what? He never claimed to be greater than? Scripture. He doesn't claim to be greater than. Greater than Scripture. Why? Because the Scripture is the words of his Father. Communication of His Father. And so He loved Scripture. It was the means to connect with His Father. And so here comes, you got two powerful forces meeting in the wilderness. You have the Holy Spirit who has led Jesus in there to be tempted. In fact, language in Mark, a lot stronger, drove him. I'm sorry, in Matthew, a lot stronger language drove him into the wilderness. And so you get the idea that he is, it's a spirit driving this process. But at the same token, Satan has a goal, right? Satan has a goal. You remember the last time God in Scripture boasted about somebody he really took a lot of delight in? And Satan challenged him. Do you remember that? Job, right? You remember? God's like, have you considered my Job, my servant Job? None like him, right? And what does Satan do? Let me add him.

14:47And he'll curse you to the face. Well, God has done very much the same thing here. He has just boasted, this is my son, in whom I am well pleased. And it's like Satan says, well, let me, let me. Adam. And so he goes into the wilderness. So Satan has a goal. Satan has a goal to break the union between the father and the son. What does a good son do? A good son honors his father. You know that from Exodus 20, 12, right? Honor your father and mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord God here gives you. So one of the very first things, a good son honors his father. Honor his father by honoring his word. And just mentioned the last event mentioned was Jesus' baptism. And it's this statement: you are my beloved son, in you I am well pleased. It's this statement is going to be the point at which the devil is going to attempt Jesus.

15:51What kind of a son or what kind of a father would be pleased with a son like this? If he can get Jesus to disobey God, like he did with the first Adam, if he could do that again, he can really slander God, much like he wanted to do with Job, right? So Satan's goal, break the union between father and son, and Satan's strategy is to entice the son to act independently from the father. That's the strategy. If he could get the son of God to not wait for the father, not Not to trust in the Father, but use his power for himself, he will break the union.

16:40And that's going to be the strategy. It's the strategy back then: entice Adam and Eve to act independently from the Father. That was the goal from the beginning. Adam and Eve's sin in the garden was basically autonomy, being independent, living, thinking they know more than the Father. And that's the strategy. And so three waves of temptation happen. First, it deals with human appetite. Second, with glory, human glory, and the third, human proof. Or you can even put food, that which is desirable, and paralleling very close with what seems like worldly wisdom. And so these are the temptations that Adam faced, and these are the temptations that Jesus faced. And these are the same temptations you and I are going to face over and over again in this life. And so how does the perfect Son respond? Well, he's going to respond by honoring the Scripture. Because honoring the Scripture is an expression of union with. With his father. To dishonor the scripture is to break union, and that's going to be apparent as we go through. So, what our goal is, as we look through this, is not to chase every theological implication, but to understand the way Jesus related to scripture in this episode so that we will imitate his example. He is going to use scripture throughout this temptation. We want to look at how he uses scripture so that we will read our Bibles the way he read his. That's our goal. So, let's look at the first temptation, and that's human appetite, right? So, look at verse Luke 4:2-3. And he ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, he became hungry. And the devil said to him, If you were the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. That's temptation round number one.

19:03After 40 days, any of you guys ever gone hungry? Have you ever just skipped a meal and been hungry? You ever been hungry, just skipping a meal? You know what it's like to be a little bit hungry? Yeah, you get hungry between lunch and dinner, right? Yeah, we can get that, yeah. And think about not eating for 40 days. Everything starts looking really, really good after just a couple of days. Things you wouldn't imagine you'd want to eat looks pretty good. And then after 40 days, So here's the devil who comes up and he says, Look at you. And I'm paraphrasing. I'm trying to give some kind of a sense of what he's getting at here or how I understand his temptation. He's saying, look at you. You're the Son of God. You are hungry. This should not be the state of someone of your stature. You're the Son of God. Use your power to feed yourself. Word there, if you are, it's really probably more appropriate to translate it since. Since you are the Son of God, but it has the same effect. Basically, you're hungry. You're the Son of God. You have the power. Speak the word.

20:21This stone will become bread. What does Jesus say? Jesus answered him and said, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone. Interesting. What Jesus is saying, the scripture teaches us that life is more than physical sustenance. It's about union with God. For me to use my power to serve myself instead of waiting upon God, God knows what I need. God can be trusted. And it says that life is a lot more than physical sustenance.

21:03So, just analyzing that real quickly, what are the scriptures involved here? Jesus, he obviously quotes scripture: man shall not live by bread alone. He is referring to a scripture that has been written. And so, let's go there and understand. Well, it's in the context of Exodus 16 and Deuteronomy 8. You remember what has happened? He's going to feed them with manna, right? They're going to come out of Egypt, and he's going to give them manna. Why does he give them manna? He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Man's sustenance isn't just food that goes in the belly. And so, what Jesus is doing is he's making a connection between his situation and a similar situation that Israel faced. Very similar.

22:13Okay, and in fact, you remember just as Israel was 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus is 40 days. God led Israel into the wilderness. The Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness. God humbled Israel. And tested them to demonstrate what was in their hearts. God humbled and tested the Son in order that we might know what was in his heart. You see the parallels here. The parallels are striking, especially with the first Adam, right? The first Adam, he's in paradise, right? He's got every kind of tree out there, he's got all kinds of food. He's not even really hungry. And yet, Satan comes in and tempts him with this one tree and takes out innocent man, Adam in his strength, in paradise. And now we have something totally different from paradise. We have a wilderness. We have the Spirit of God reducing Jesus down to being without food for 40 days. He's extremely hungry. I mean, if I was that hungry, I'd be like, forget turning it into bread. I'll just eat it, right? You get that, you know, and it's he's really in a weakened state. And it's here that the temptation comes.

23:37But it's very similar to what Israel faced. It's very similar to what Adam faced. But specifically, the context, the scripture that he uses comes right out of a context that is very similar to what he is facing. So Jesus, it's like human life makes it very clear: human life is in God's hands, not ours. Own, even no matter what we do, no matter how we use our power, it's it's in God's hands, not our own. We live because He says we live.

24:11And what was God preparing Israel? He wanted to test them, He was going to take them into the land. What's going to be their success in the land? How is Israel going to be successful in the land? Do you remember by what? By milk and honey, yeah, but how are they going to be successful? Going to overtake, and what specifically what are they supposed to do? Obey, right? They were to do that. You are to remember the words, you are to obey. And, you know, he really commissions Joshua: do not let these words depart, you know, you so that you will have success. Well, Israel's success to be able to go into the land and occupy the land were going to be based upon their ability to remember and obey the scriptures, the Torah, verse 5, right? And the same was true for Jesus.

25:09His success was going to be dependent upon his ability to obey God's word. And so, Jesus' answer is very quick. It's very simple. It's a quote from Scripture. It was short. It was to the point. It was authoritative. It settled the matter. And the Discussion was over. Very simple. So, as we look at just looking at this first temptation, Jesus viewed Scripture as authoritative. It's the final word. It goes, this is what God said: Satan. This is what it says to Satan. This is what it says to Jesus. Scripture is authoritative, and what it goes, what it says, goes. That was Jesus' response. That was his view of Scripture. Authoritative. It was historically valid. Jesus doesn't have a problem with Moses writing the first five books of the Bible, by the way. He very much sees it as historically valid. He quotes scripture from an episode in Israel's history. Jesus understood that a principle revealed in scripture applied to him. He didn't see himself as above scripture. This is the perfect son who's greater than Solomon, greater than the temple, and yet he's not greater than scripture. It's incredible. He bows, he obeys scripture.

26:55The fleshly dictates are not our ultimate authority. Scriptural dictates have greater weight. Now, is it wrong to want to eat? This isn't even sin, right? To eat? No. But it's not like he's being tempted by something. What is he being tempted? He's being tempted to use his power for himself. You use that power to serve yourself. And, but it was because he was the perfect Son of God that he wouldn't use his power in a fleshly, self-serving way, even if the need is legitimate. He doesn't use his power to serve himself. He submits to scripture.

27:48And it's because he is the perfect son. And life teaches us that life is more than physical sustenance. It's union with God by obeying scripture. It's an interesting thing to point out here. Has anybody got any thoughts, questions? But it's important to understand that what would have happened if Jesus did? Could he, what if he did just, okay, I'm hungry. I'm going to go. You're right. I'm going to go ahead and turn this. Well, he would have listened to the voice of Satan. He would have demonstrated. That there is a point at which you go beyond what God wants you to do, and you use your power to serve yourself. You don't submit. He used his power to submit and wait. But could he have been somebody we could have followed?

28:46He's our example. Can we turn bread into bread? Now, I can turn bread into stone. Just watch me kill it. But can we turn bread, stones into bread? We don't have that part, right? That's right. That's right. But the point is, we couldn't really follow him. That's right. Right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. If he gives in, he's broken union. There's a principle out there, fleshly appetite warrants going against God's word. Well, yeah, well, yeah, but the point, yeah, but you see the point. If there had been problems, right? But we could not have, we can't, we don't have that kind of power.

29:42But we are tempted to use the power that we have been given to serve ourselves. And that's the nature and fundamental, that's the fundamental nature of sin. In fact, it's a lifelong process of really learning how to love like Christ loved because. It's by necessity giving up of yourself, dying to yourself for the interests of others and serving. But you see it here. But it's about, this is about a love relationship between Son and the Father. And the Son is showing us how much he loves the Father. So a second temptation. We'll go through this, try to go through this quickly. Here's the devil's temptation.

30:29And he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, I will give you all this domain and its glory, for it has been given over to me, and I will give it to whom I wish. Therefore, if you worship before me, it shall all be yours. I don't know if the devil's telling the truth there or not, probably not. But anyway, don't. But here's the temptation's real. So, in some sort of satanic rapture, he takes Jesus to a point where he can show him all the kingdoms of the world, all their sparkle, all their beautiful charm. He probably doesn't take him to the ghettos. He takes them to their pinnacle of beauty, okay? And he parades them before Jesus, and he says, If you will bow and worship me, they'll all be yours.

31:26It's like he's saying, forget the cross, use your power. To advance your own glory, let us usurp the Father's dominion together. In other words, you have incredible power, Son of God. Use that to subdue them, right? Use that in a self-serving way. Let's put that power to work, and we'll get all these nations before you. It's a be tempting, right? To see all the sparkle of the nations. This is what human flesh goes after, right? Glory. Glory.

32:12What is Jesus' response? It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. The scriptures teach us that life is not about personal glory, but union with God and His glory. That's what scriptures teach us: worship the Lord, give to Him your strength. It's not about you going and getting personal glory for yourself. It's not about using your strength to serve yourself, but using your strength to serve God. That's what life is about.

32:49So, just quickly and analyzing it, scripture involved is Deuteronomy 6:13, where Israel is commanded, you shall fear. Only the Lord your God, and you shall worship him and swear by his name, only him. And the context is, again, or a context is Deuteronomy 6, chapters verses 1 through 15, and the exhortation is to go and possess the land. He's telling him, and he's telling the nation in Deuteronomy 6, this is how you're going to go in and possess the land. First of all, verse 4, you're going to have to hear the words of God. You're going to have to hear God. You're going to have to love God. Verse 5. Verse 6 through 9, you're going to have to remember God. You're going to have to remember what he says. And again, do not forget these words. In fact, the language is extremely powerful here, what he says in Deuteronomy 6. Sorry.

34:08There in verse 12, do not forget the Lord who brought you up. You shall teach these words. This is what the whole idea of remembering, here, O Israel, the Lord, you shall love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words which I command you today shall be on your Heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk and when you lie down and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorpost. You get the picture. Don't forget these words. These words are your life because they're given by God. And when you break union with these words, you break union with God. Do not forget. Worship God alone. That's the practical outworking of what hearing, loving, remembering, and not forgetting. That is the expression of worshiping. And you know what? If you don't do these things, you know what's going to happen to you? Verse 15, you're going to be wiped off the face of the earth. He will wipe you off. For the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God, otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and he will wipe you off the face of the earth. That's the context that Jesus takes the scripture to obey. And Israel has been in the wilderness, and now here's Jesus in the same.

35:45So obeying scripture was the means to hear, love, remember, and worship God. And union is related to the words. This is how Jesus sees the scripture. And by the way, Forgetfulness will ultimately express itself in acts of idolatry. That's what's going to happen to Israel as they go in and they forget the words, then they're going to start pursuing other things and they're going to commit idolatry. And having forgot, they're going to be worshiping something else, and because of that, they're going to be expelled from the land. And that's exactly what happens in Israel's history. They forgot the words. They didn't listen to the words. They were led into idolatry and they were expelled from the land. But it all started with a breaking of relationship with God by not honoring his words. So Jesus' answer was again simply a quote of scripture. It was short, to the point, authoritative, settled the matter, and it ended the discussion. Bottom line is, Jesus didn't want to rule something that didn't come from God and with God. I mean, listen, do you want, if you want something, if you have to violate scripture, what you're doing is pursuing something that God hasn't given you and that's not coming with God. Do you want something in life? Do you want a kingdom that doesn't come from God and isn't with God?

37:16Well, that's Jesus. Jesus didn't want kingdoms with all their sin. And like, no thanks. And so, but by obeying scripture, Jesus expressed. Three aspects of his worship to God. He recognized that God loved him, cared for him, deserved his complete love, devotion, and adoration. He testified that no earthly pursuit, prize, comfort, relationship, or human accolade is worth giving up a relationship with God. And he declared that nothing is more precious than experiencing fellowship with God on the road through life that he has lined out for you, even if that involves a cross. That's what he's testing. And all this connection of scripture. I'm going to skip the conclusions here and get right to the third tempt. But it's the same, we'll summarize all this in a moment. Third, human proof.

38:13So we've looked at good for food, delight to the eyes, and now this wisdom, worldly wisdom. We've looked at appetite, and we've looked at glory, and now we're looking at human proof. Third temptation. Friends, you're going to be tempted with all of these. You already see this. But here's the temptation. And he led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you to guard you on their hands. They will bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. This is where we. Get into a little bit of satanic hermeneutics here. Satanic rules for reading the Bible. That's what hermeneutics mean: interpreting the Bible. Here's some satanic hermeneutics. And so he's quoting Psalm 91, verse 11 to 12. Interesting. Satan knows how to use scripture. But look at what he does. So I've quoted it here. There's a line drawn through the words he actually omits. Here's the text: for he will give his angels charge concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands so that you do not strike your foot against a stone. Notice the words, in all your ways are struck out. So for here he will give his angels charge of you to guard you. They will bear you up, basically, no matter what you do, kind of idea.

39:52So the devil cited a portion of scripture he wanted, twisted the meaning just enough to completely misapply the whole message of the psalm. And what a glorious psalm that is. If you've spent any time in Psalm 91, it's a psalm about trusting God, right? And what a beautiful psalm about trust. You can trust in God. And so Satan is going to use this. And what does Jesus say? So here's the temptation. Throw yourself off, prove yourself, because God's not going to let you fall and hurt yourself. And so here's the temptation. If God is really... With you. Prove it to yourself and to others by throwing yourself down from here. Make God pass our test of proof. So sounds wise, right? Everybody, you will see. Now you will know that you're the son of, maybe it's a question. Demonstrate to yourself and to others you're the son of God by throwing yourself off. And you know, the scripture, he's going to hold you up. What does Jesus said? You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

41:05He doesn't even say it's written, by the way. Basically, he says, the meaning of scripture is clear. We are to trust God in our wildernesses, not test him. That's what Psalm 91 is about, trusting God. But Jesus is going to use another scripture, and he's going to use Exodus 17, Deuteronomy 6. And one of the main messages of the Psalm, right, is protection of those who confidently trust. The devil purposely twisted and misapplied the message of the Psalm and redirects it and basically comes up with something to the effect, has God not promised to protect the righteous no matter what they do? That's the temptation.

41:50Go be reckless. Go jump, do this thing, and prove God is with you. But this is not the message of the psalm, is it? The message is simple. God takes you into the wildernesses of life, you are to trust him. He is with you, and you can confidently trust him and rest in his care. So the message of God is to trust God, not test God in such wildernesses. And so Jesus wasn't about to, well, God had a purpose for both leading Israel and Jesus into the wildernesses, and Jesus wasn't about to abandon it.

42:38The whole scripture revolves around what's happening in Genesis or Exodus 17. Israel tested the Lord. Won't get into it. They quarreled with him after coming out of Egypt. They then said, Why didn't you, you brought us out here to kill us? That kind of thing. And they're asking the question there at Meribah: is the Lord with us or not? That's what's happening in this, in the context of the text that Jesus uses. And he's basically saying, You do not test the Lord. And so he used an appropriate scripture. But wouldn't it look like a great act of faith, throwing yourself off, expecting God to Rescue you. That might look like a great act of faith. And that's what Satan was tempting him with. But it really wouldn't be, would it? It would be an act of unbelief.

43:43And so Jesus basically doesn't say it is written this time, though he cites what's written. He says, This is what says. In other words, this is what Scripture means. Singular. Scripture means this. And he says, you're not to test. So he went merely beyond citing scripture, but he gave its meaning. Scripture has meaning. And so in the spirit of Psalm 91, Jesus didn't need for God's angels to bear him up in some reckless feat to prove that God was with him. He knew who he was simply by trusting in God's word.

44:30God's word is about relationship. I believe the Son of God, as he studied Scripture, there was a period as he grew in his understanding of scripture and of himself, he started seeing and understanding himself from scripture. He started seeing himself. And yes, he is perfect son, eternal God. And yes, there's, but he. Goes through a growth process where he's learning. And sometimes we blot out the human element. He was fully human. And this scripture was a means by which he connected with the Father. Yes, he was perfect. Yes, he had a much greater insight. He wasn't stained and fallen with sin. So things worked a lot better than they do for us. But nonetheless. But just as we conclude, Jesus viewed Scripture as historical, authoritative, and applicable to him. Trusting God is expressed by obeying scripture even in the wildernesses of life.

45:49So just summarize the temptations real quick. Jesus faced the temptations that Israel faced in the wilderness, as well as the core issues of life that all people face as the second Adam, as the first Adam faced these things, so will we. So did Jesus. His union with the Father was expressed by obedience to the Word. And when faced with the choice between human appetite or God's Word, he, even when his life hung in the balance, he trusted God's Word.

46:25Faced with the choice between countless levels of human glory or God's Word, Jesus. Jesus obeyed God's word. When faced with the choice between the need for verification by some kind of human proof or something outside of God's word, Jesus chose simply to believe God's word. That's how he approached. And if you'll spend time reading this, you will connect with your father. And not only that, you will see yourself. You will start discovering who God says you are. Let that define you. That's how our perfect Lord grew.

47:06The temptations speak of a loyalty so beautiful and a relationship so deep that nothing in heaven or earth could break it. That's the perfect man. And he does all that in the wilderness, not in Paradise Garden. And you start seeing that what God has in store for man, it's not that we be pampered in some paradise somewhere, but that we there's a relationship. We can be rugged. There's a love that goes when everything else is stripped away. There's a love that is truer than all the desires of humanity, and that is connection with God. And that's what he shows us. And all of that about scripture. So I've got about one minute left, so I'm going to try to go through these six conclusions real quickly. Number one, Jesus gave priority to Scripture. We should too. Jesus preferred obedience to God's word over legitimate fleshly needs, approval of man, and need for evidence outside of scriptural revelation. Jesus viewed scripture as authoritative and historically valid. Jesus treated Old Testament texts with dignity.

48:25He honored their context. He did not rip a text from its historical context and make some wild connection that had no basis in its original setting. He knew how to use appropriate scriptures to, and the context in which he applied Old Testament texts were strikingly similar to the context of the Old Testament. He viewed scripture as providing the means to have a relationship with God, the means to hear God, love God, remember God, and worship God.

49:02Jesus understood, certainly, the dynamics of satanic hermeneutics. He understood that the mere recital of Scripture may not convey God's will. People use scripture all the time, quote it out of context, leave portions out, and end up justifying the very opposite of what it says. And Jesus used scripture to check scripture. And all that boils. Into the thought here. Jesus saw scripture, obeying scripture as that expression with union with God. And listen, if we don't spend time, I hear, if we don't spend time in the word, with the word, developing, growing in the word, God is spirit. You are not fellowshipping with God. These words are to be part of us. That's how one spiritual being communicates to another. And this is how Jesus saw scripture. And we should do no less.

50:11Well, it's time. What I'm going to do is go ahead and dismiss. And then I'll stay up here. And if anybody wants to come up and ask some questions, I'll be happy to stay up here and answer. But let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the evening. Thank you for giving us a perfect model who perfectly related to your word. And Father, help us to follow his example. Let us come under Scripture like he came under scripture. Let us have union as he had union. Let us obey and let us enjoy. The relationship cultivate in us a loyalty so deep that we would love the principles of your word and the truths they communicate more than human appetite or any kind of glory or any kind of proof that we need outside of Scripture. Father, let us settle our hearts on these truths and thank you. Thank you for another good day of being together. We thank you for all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.