1994 issue 9 - sermon on luke 4:1-13 - the tempter in the temptation of jesus - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1994 Issue 9 - Sermon on Luke 4:1-13 - The Tempter in the Temptation of Jesus - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/6

'O Jt.e

'O .empt.er itt

tlr.e

'O .eri:tphttimt

nf W.ezuz

A

he Reality of Satan

1 he Historicity of the

Temptation and the Non-

Physical Nature

of

Satan

The temptation of jesus

in

the

wilderness by Satan has two

characteristics:

historicity

and

objectivity. Itreally took place. Some

have been doubtful at this point

because of their

failure to distin

guish

objectivity

and physicalness,

ma

terialness,

corporealness).

Satan is a real,

personal, created

being, but he isnot

physical with skin

and bones. This

factinno way takes

away

from

the

historicity or the

objectivity of the

temptation. An

encounter

between persons,

especially in the supersensual world,

can be perfectly objective without

necessarily entering into the sphere

of the corporeally perceptible. -

The reduction of all this

to

the rubric

of superstition or phychological

derangement is certainly not in

accordance with the mind of the

evangelists.

Anyone

who desires to

dissociate Jesus from all these and

other supernatural phenomena,

must do so

on

the basis of a prior

theological or philosophical

premises ... -Vos, pg. 331-332.

2. The Personality of Satan

The New Testament presents

Satan, not as a symbol or an

impersonal force, or as the 'dark

side' of the universe, but

as

a living,

created PERSON, who 'cannot be

rationalized

away

as a pre-scientific

myth or literary personification. He

moves, I Peter 5:8, works, Eph.2:2,

knows, Rev. 12:12, speaks,

Mat.

4:3,

plots,

II Cor.

2:11, desires,

Lk.

22:31,

disputes, jude 9, deceives, II

Cor.

11:3, feels emotion,

Rev.

12:12; I

Tim. 3:6; jam.2:19, tempts, I Thes.

3:5, makes promises, Mat.4:9, sins, I

jn. 3:8, and engages in many other

activities of a personal nature. Of

course Satan is more than Simply a

person, according

to

Paul in

II Cor.

6:15.

He

is

a worthless and lawless

person, the personal representative

of darkness and unrighteousness. -

He

represents nothing constructive,

profitable, or good. Finally,

II Cor.

6:15 portrays Satan as in utter

opposition to the person of Chtist

and everything

He

went into the

wilderness to be tempted by the devil,

who made an all-out assault upon

the divine approval jesus had

received at His baptism as well

as

presuming

authority

over the

kingdoms of the world, Mat.4:1-11.

Satan endeavored

to

induce Jesus

to

betray

His

calling, submit

to

the

4 T THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon T December, 1994

kingdom

of

darkness, and thus to

abandon the establishment of God's

kingdom. Satan was fighting for his

life, just as jesus persevered in the

face

of the devilish onslaught in

order

to

redeem, reclaim, andremake

the lives of His elect people. The

confrontation

in

the wilderness was

a deadly serious battle between two

kingdoms, and Chris t won that battle

where both Satan and Adam had

failed - not through autonomous

power,

but

through complete

obedience to the

will ofGod

lnaddition

to

shOwing us the

principle defeat

of

Satan, this

account also

reveals Satan's

character

as

the

bitter antagonist

to God's Anoin

ted and the

Messiah's con

gregation. He

expresses this

antagonism by

working in

INDIVIDUALS,

Eph.2:2,

both

BODY, Lk. 13:16, and

MIND,

Lk.

22:3, by working through the

NATURAL

WORLD,

Lk. 8:23f; Mk

9:25, by

working

in SOCIAL

BEHAVIOR,

Lk.8:27

and

RELATIONS,

II

Cor. 2:5-11, by

wotkingin

INTELLECTUALmattets,

I Tim. 4:1, byworkinginPOLITICAL

affairs, Rev.12-13, and by working

in RELIGIOUS affairs, whether

in

FALSE

sects,

II

Cor. ll:14f

orin

the

TRUE way-by

distorting,

Gal.

4:8f

and competing with, Mat. 13:39, the

preaching of the gospel. There is no

facet of ife which Satanw ll avoid in

his project of hindering Christ's

kingdom. - Greg Bahnsen, The

Journal ofChristian Reconstruction


2/6

Vol.

I, No.2, Winter, 1974, The

Person, Work, and Present Status of

Satan, pg. 12f.

However whenever we think of

.

Sa tan, we must think of him

as

finite,

created being, not as a being equal to.

God

in

any sense. He is NOT

omniscient,

omnipotent or

omnipresent. He

is

under the control,

restraint, and direction of the Mighty

Sovereign of the universe, Rev.9:1 ,

5, Who also has him bound in

chains ,

since the death and

resurrection of Jesus Christ, Pet.

2:4; Jude 6.

In

fact, he has been

rendered powerless by the death of

Christ so that

he

will

not

be an

insurmountable obstacle deceiving

the nations

in

the way of Christ's

invinCibly triumphant conquest of

the nations

with the

gospel,

Heb.2:14. ''Thework ofdemons (and

of Satan) must be viewed constantly

in terms

of

the chains that now

restrain them. - Bahnsen, pg.l7.

3 The Designation of Satan

as

the Devil by Luhe

In the temptation account, Luke

refers to Satan as the Devil, Lk 4:2,

as

does Matthew, Mt. 4:1, while Mark

refers tohim

as

Satan, Mk 1:13.

In

fact, the Bible gives him several

descriptive

names:

Beliar, the

worthless one, Cor.

6:15,

Apollyon or Abaddon, the

destroyer, Rev.9, Beelzebul, the

dung-god or the lord of he flies,

Lk

11:15, the prince of this world or

the god of this age, I.e., the leader of

a destroyed humanity,

of

a kingdom

of

unethical darkness and spiritual

death, In. 12:31, Cor. 4:4, the

crushed serpent, Gen.3:15,

Rev.12:11, Rev.20:lf, the shackled

dragon,

Rev.

20:1.

Satan means our adversary, I

Pet.5:8. This one name summarizes

the work ofSatan in the world. Satan

is the opponent of Christ and the

Church, who does his utmost to

present opposition to the people of

God. -Bahnsen, pg.30.

We must alwayskeep in

mind the

fact that whatever Satan does

in

opposing God's people he can only

do it at the permission of God, (

Bahnsen),

Who

causes all things to

work together for good for His

people, Rom. 8:28. Although Satan

tries to destroy the work of God

in

the believer and in the earth, I

Thes.3:5, I Tim. 5:15, 3:6f, the

Sovereign Christ uses his destructive

work to further His own purposes,

Cor. 12:7, I Tim. 3:6, Jam.4:6f,

Heb.12:10, I Cor. 5:5 , 13.

Luke describes Satan as the

devil, who is the ruler of the

demons, Lk.11:15. There are many

demons (daimonia)

but

only one

devil (diabolos), who is the king

overtheswarm from the abyss,

Rev.

9: 11. Diabolos has the basic sense

of separation, opponent, accuser,

repudiator, liar.

Just as

Christ is the

Head of the church, so Satan is the

evil leader of the demornc host, who

has an army of wicked, unclean,

demons

under

his command, Mat.

8:28, 1O:I,Mk.5:2f,9:20,Act.19:15,

(although the devilandallhis demons

are under the sovereign rule of God).

As

the ruler of demons, Satan

surpasses them all In authority,

wickedness, and power.

The Biblical strategy against the

destructive work ofSatan is threefold:

(1). RESIST THEDEVIL WITH THE

WORD OF GOD, as did Jesus in the

wilderness, James 4:7, and

he

will

fleefromyou; (2). USETHESHIELD

OF FAITH IN CHRIST AND IN HIS

WORD, Eph. 6:11-12, 16, and you

will quench all the firy missiles that

Satan hurls at you; and (3).

PRAY

Mat.6:13, and God will deliver you

from d'le evil one.

B

The Goal of Satan in the

Temptation ofJesus

1 The Tactics

of

Satan

a. The Three-Pronged

Attach

of

Satan

The first time

we

hearSa tanspeak

in the Bible is

in

the temptation of

Eve and Adam, when SATAN TRIES

TO MAKE GOD LOOK LIKE A

FOOL BEFORE MAN, Genesis 3.

The second time we hear

him

speak

is

in the

court of heaven seeking

divine permisSionto temptJob, when

SATAN TRIES TO MAKE MAN

LOOKLIKEAFOOL BEFORE GOD,

Job

1.

The last time we hear Satan's

voice

in

the Bible is when

he

tempts

the God-Man,

and

SATAN IS

MADE

A FOOL OF, and silenced, Luke 4:1f.

b The Reasoned-Out

Plan

of

Satan

The Biblical Satan is a creature

who seeks to be god and is fully

aware of the existence of God, Jam.

2:19. His program is a reasoned one:

FIRST,

man

is to

be

his own

god,

determining good and evil for

himself, Gen.3:5. SECOND, man

should

be

freed from all testing

and

judgements

and

given cradle to grave

security. If man needs bread, the

stones

should be made bread,

Mat.4:3. THIRD, faith should be

totally unnecessary; man

should

be

able towalkby Sight

and

Godshould

prove all things for man's benefit,

Mat.4:6. FOURTH, righmess is

an

attribute of the creature, and the

creature should be worshipped and

served rather than God, Mat. 4:8-9.

- Rushdoony,

The ournal of

Christian Reconstruction,VoL I,

No.2, Winter, 1974, Power from

Below, pg.9.

December, 1994 TH COUNSEL of h a l ~ d o n 5


3/6

c

The Objective

ofSatan s Plan

Satan

has

rightly

been

called 'the

ape of

God';

his

plan is a parody

of

God's

plan, and

his standard is

in

essence an antistandard, a negation,

not a new creation. In rebelhon

against God, Satan decided to create

his own

heaven

and

earth out

of

th

e

materials of God's

creation. His

program thus involved enlistingman

as an ally, but an ally

kingdom in the earth, Mat. 12 :28.

Satan was determined to break this

God of a hero, Isa.9:6, this Divine

Champion. He

had

conquered the

first Adam,

now in

the wilderness

he

would

conquer the Last Adam once

and

for all.

3. The Satanic Assault onJesus

Messianic Status and Jesus

Necessary Phase of Humiliation

These assaults of Satan

on

Jesus

A

The Order of the

Temptations Accord-ing t Luke

The order of emptations inLuke's

account

is

different from

that

of

Matthew. Matthew's order

is: (1). f

you are the Son of God,

command

that these stones become bread. (2).

If you are the Son of God,

throw

Yourself down (3). All these things

will I give You, ifYou fall

down

and

worship me. Luke reverses (2)

and

(3).

Is

this

a

real

who would have to

be

remade in order to

participate in

Satan's

plan

of

action

.

His

approach to Adam and

Eve

was thus

an

acted

proclamation

which

in

effect declared 'I

will

remake

man;

in

my

own image I will

remake him.'

History

thus

is

the

development

and

warfare of

two

contending

concepts

of

man, two differing

liThe

Lord s

Christ went

into the

wilderness

to

crush

Satan, to

rob

him

o his property, to

destroy his

power, and

to establish is own

kingdom in the

earth.

contradiction between

Matthew

and

Luke,

or

does Luke haveaspecific

point

he

wants to make?

FIRST,

Matthew's

account

is

obviously

CHRONOLOGICALLY

arranged . Notice the

adverbs

in

Matthew 4:

I-

l l : Then

..

and

after .. then .. then ...

again

. ..

then .

Matthew

is

relatingwhat

occurred

first, what

concepts of creation.

-

In

Revelation, Satan is called 'the great

dragon, the ancient

serpent,'

Rev.12:9;20:2-3, 10.These

and

other

terms all underscore

the

essential

negation

ofSatan's role. This

work

of

negation

has

as its goal, however, a

new creation in Satan's image, a new

world order without

God

and with

only a humaniry made into gods. -

Rushdoony,RevoltAgainstMaturity,

pg.61.

. 2. The Goal ofJesus and

th Goal of Satan in the

Temptation in the Wilderness

The Lord's Christ

went

into the

wilderness to crushSatan, Gen. 3:15,

to rob him

of his property, Mat.

12

:

29, to

destroy his

power

, Heb .

2:14, and to establish His own

are aimed

at discrediting

Jesus'

Messianicstatus of he Divine-human

Saviorof he world, into

which

office

He

had

just

been

publicly

inaugurated

at

His baptism. In two

temptations,Jesus is confrontedwith

the phrase,

if

you are the Son of

God ...

In

the third temptation, He

is requested

by

Satan to surrender

His Messianic status to Satanhimself.

However,

it is not th

e Messiah but

Satan that is discredited. But,

in th

meanwhile, the

Messiah suffers

hUmiliation

in

the wilderness

by

allOwing Himself

to

experience this

degrading set of temptations and

human

limitations, e.g.

hunger,

thirst, physical exhaustion.

V.

The Three Tempt

ations ofJesus

6 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f December, 199+

followed, what came

next,

and how

it was concluded.

Luke's

account

is not

arranged

chronologically,

nor

does

he

claim

to

do

so. He mentions

the

three

temptations

but

does not indicateby

even a Singleword that theyoccurred

in thatparticular time sequence. Any

mention ofa possibleclashorconflict

between Matthew and Luke

is

therefore

unreasonable.

Hendrikson

SECOND,Lukearrangesthethree

temptations

in

such a way that they

climax

in the

Temple.

His

arrangementis based on

the order

of

places where each temptation takes

place. He moves FROM DESERT TO

MOUNTAINTO TEMPLE This is in

accordance

with

Luke's Temple

Motif, as we have mentioned before.


4/6

The Birth Narratives are arranged

so

as to have their climax in the Temple,

2:41-52; and the Passion Narratives

and the conclusion of the Gospel

as

well climax in the Temple, 24:53.

jesus Christ is jehovah coming

to

His Temple to cleanse it and

to

exalt

it

in the Church.

B.

The Three Temptations and

Jesus'Response to Them

1.

(lK.4:2)

The Condition of

Jesus During the Temptations

.

Jar

forty

days

while

tempted

by

the

devil.

And

He

ate nothing

during

those days;

and

when

they had

ended

He

became hungry.

And

the

devil said

to

Him ...

jesus was severely tempted by

Satan throughout the forty days He

spent in the wilderness. The Greek

participle, translated, "while

tempted

..

, is a present participle

indicating persistence of the

temptations for the entire forty days.

His conflict with Satan was of such

intensity that it demands the total

consecration of all

His

attention and

energies to

such

a degree that ,

although He had been fasting, (doing

without food), for the whole time,

Mat.4:2, i twas

only

at

the end of the

time that He began to be conscious

of His hunger.

"The sense of physical need had

been supplanted, (superceded),

throughout by the violence of the

spiritual

conflict.

Exhaustion

followed upon this long period of

wrestling and fasting, and it was

now, at the end of theforty days, that

the enemy

came with

his

overwhelming attacks. When the Son

of Man had been physically and

spiritually exhausted

to

the utmost,

the conflict with the Evil One reached

its climax.-What a contrast this

forms with Adam, who

fell

although

he was living at that time under the

most favorable circumstances "

Geldenhuys

throughout the "wilderness" of His

time

of humiliation,

can He

be

persuaded to trust in Himselfand in

His own miraculous abilities as the

Son of

God?

f He

can

be

so

2. The Prindple of Interpretation

of These

Temptations

persuaded, Satan wins, and God's

The words and intent of the devil

people lose.

in his series of temptations are best

understood

in

the light of jesus'

answers to them from the Word of

God. "The meaning of the answer

supplies the meaning of the Satanic

suggestion. And besides this, since

the words of the answers were taken

from Scripture, and we may again

safely assume thatjesus seized upon

the real meaning and intent of the

Scripture passages, we can infer from

a

COITect

contextual exegesis of these

what their point

is,

what

consequently the point of Jesus'

answer was, and what, behind the

latter, the point in Satan's suggestion

was. -Vos, pg.336

3. (lK. 4:3-4)

The

FiTst

Temptation: Don't Trust God,

Tntst

Self. Avoid Humiliation,

o

Straight To Exaltation

a. The Temptation of the Devil

Satan focuses his temptation on

Christ's faith in God, on

His

inner

submission to God's Word, and

to

God's redemptive plan in their

totality, because that

faith

submission would be the basis of the

eternal salvation of God's people.

That faith had

to

be squelched and

that submission broken. Can Jesus

be persuaded to avoid the humiliation

required of Him to save His people

from their sins and act immediately

sa "the Son if God" in all His exalted

glory? Will He be

willing

to

escape

the pain and deprivation of His

humiliated state to enjoy the

pleasures and provisions of

exaltation? Instead of depending

upon God alone

to

provide for Him

b.

he

Resistance

of

the Christ

Jesus repels this temptation

unconditionally

by

quoting the

Bible:

"It is written, 'Man shall not live

on

bread alone.''' This is a quotation

from Deuteronomy 8:3. Fromjesus '

response we learn three things:

(1.)

How to Handle Temptation

The way in which Jesus resisted

temptation

is

the way Christians are

to

resist temptation. "Three times we

see Him foiling and baffling the great

enemy who assaulted Him. He does

not yield a hair's breadth to him. He

does

not

give

him

a moment's

advantage. Three times we see Him

using the same weapon, in reply to

His temptations: 'tl,e sword of the

Spirit, which is the word of God,'

Eph.

6:

17. He who was 'full of the

Holy Spirit,' was yet not ashamed to

make the Holy Scripture His weapon

of defence, and His rule of action.

"Let us learn from this single fact,

if we learn nothing else from this

wondrous history, thehighauthortty

of the Bible, and the immense value

of a knowledge ofi ts contents. Let us

read it, search into it, pray over it,

diligently, perseveringly, unweiredly.

Let us strive to be so thoroughly

acquainted with its pages, that its

text may abide

in our

memories, and

stand ready

at

our right hand in the

day of need. Let us be able to appeal

from every perversion and false

interpretation ofits meaning, to those

thousand plain passages, which are

written

as

it were with a sunbeam.

The Bible is indeed a sword,

but

we

December, 1994 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 7


5/6

must takeheed that

we

know it well,

if we would use

it

with effect. -].

C.

Ryle, Luke, Vol. III, pg.1l2.

2.) WhatJesus Thought o

the

Old Testament

maIlllerofawrittenauthority,carrtes the meaning of the text in the same

with it the impUcation that th appeal way which it applied to the Israelites

is

made to the indefectible authority of old. Regardless of how severe 'the

of the Scriptures of God, which in all wilderness experience' may be,

their parts and in every one of their Jehovah will supply nourishment to

declarations are clothed with the H' S H d'

dt

H' lt

Jesus begins His BibUcalquotation

IS

on,as e

1 0 ISpeOp e l

with the pbrase, Itis written, which authOrityofGod .Hirnself. -Warfield, supernatural maIllla, without the

He

does

not

only

in

verse 4,

but

also pgs. 239- 40.

natural

process. He had

been

inverse

8,with

a synonymous phrase (3.)

Whatthe True brought

by the Spirit into this

in verse 12 - It is said ..

.

In the Point o

the Text is

situation, where God expected Him

perfect tense, this

r---------------------

o

hunger. Notice the

phrasemearIS, Itstands occurrence of the

permanently and

I*very man s life depends

words 'to prove' and

authoritativelywritten.

'to humble'

in the

Luke uses

this

phrase upon God, not upon man context of Deuter

more frequently than E h' d onomy. And the

any of the other Gospel

veryt ng Uepen

S

upon

probation

(temp-

writers, Lk. 2:23, 3:4,

God s

authoritative

Word.

tation) consisted

in

4:4,8, 10, 17, 7:22, 7, placingbeforeHimthe

10:26,

19:46, 22:37, Therefore

Jesus will not

necessity

of

exercising

24:46. These phrases, implicit trust

in

God

it is said, and it is

be perturbed by His hun- as

the

One

able to

written,

imply that

sustain

His life

what

is

thus said or

gey

He will persist

in notwithstanding the

written is ofDiVine and ' G d I protracted fast. The

final authority. Jesus

trust ng n a,one. 'word

proceeding

usedsuchpbr3.ses often. from the mouth

of

It

stands written

God'

refers

to the

involves the

~ d d u c t i o n

Csugges-

Jesus resisted Satan's first assault miracle-working

word

of omni-

tion),

of

an authority which rises by quoting aportion of Deuteronomy potence,themerewordrequiringno

immeasurably above all legislative 8:3, which reads

in

full, And He natural means. - Vos, pg. 336-37.

authority. - B.B. Warfield, The humbledyou and let

you be hungry,

and Nothing would have been wrong

Inspiration and Authority

o

the fed you with

manna which

you

did not aboutjesus supplying Himself

With

Bible,

pg. 239. hnow,

nor

did your fathers know, that foodbya mirade,

but n this

instance,

Thesignificanceofitstandswritten He might make

you

understand

that the act would mean

DISTRUST

OF

is

perhaps most manifest where

it) man

does not live

l ry

bread alone, but HIS

FATHERIN

HEA

YEN.

AndJesus

stmds alone as the bare adduction of man

lives

l ry everything that proceeds did NOT entertain the suggestion,

authority without indication of any out of the mouth of the LORD. Every the doubt for one moment.

kind

whence the citation

is

derived, man's life depends

upon God,

not

(Lk. 4:4,

8,10;

7:27; 19:46; 20:17; uponman.Everythingdependsupon

22:37). -

When

a N.T writer says, God's authoritative Word. Therefore

'ltiswritten,'therecanarisenodoubt Jesus will not be perturbed by His

where

what he

thus adduces as hunger, He will persist

in

trusting

in

possessing absolute authority over God alone. The point ofjesus' word

the thought and consciences of men is not to draw a contrast between

is to be found written. The Simple

physical

food and spiritual

adducttonin this solemn and decisive sustenance. He applies to Himself

8 THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon

December,

199-4

The first temptation resembles

that of our first parents

in

Eden. It

deals with food and uses food to

awaken distrust of God and of God's

Word. What succeeded in Eden, in

the land of plenty, failed

in

the

destitute desert. What succeeded in

the case ofAdam and Eve who were

well-fed failed

in

the case of Jesus


6/6

who

was in

great

hunger.

The

temptation assailed Jesus from

His

human

side; He smote it down,

not

with His Deity, but as a man, with

His trust in God and

in

God's Word. "

- Lenski

4. Lk.4:5-8) The Second

T

empmtion: Worship

Satan Not God

a.

The

Circumstances

o the

Temptation

J e u

permitted the

devil to lead

Him

up

into a

mountain and

to "show Him

all

the

kingdoms of

the world,

(the inhabited

earth , in a

moment

of time." Luke places this

temptation second, in contrast to

Matthew, and follows the order of

places: desert, mountain, Temple.

Was this panorama of the world's

kingdoms a mental image or vision

in

Jesus' mind implanted there by

the devil? Many good Bible scholars

would say that it was merely a mental

picture. However, d1ere are several

reasons whywe must disagree: (1).

If

the view of the world's kingdoms

was mental only, why go up into a

literal

or

mental mountain to see

them? (2). The plain sense of the

words seem

to

imply something other

than

a mentalimage. 3). IfSatan can

project thoughts and images into the

mind ofjesus Christ and can "make

Jesus think that He was where He

actually was not, the mind of Jesus

would be utterly helpless under the

will of Satan. - Only from the

outside, by the words which Satan

spoke audibly, could he present

thoughts

to

the mind of Jesus; and

these lying thoughts Jesus instantly

rejected." - Lenski

On this high mountain, the devil

"showed" (EDEIXEN) Jesus the

world's kingdOlns. Matthew's verb,

"showed," is in the present tense,

4:8. Luke's

w

0 r d ,

EDEIXEN,

does

not

mean

that

Satan flashed

the thought

of he world's

kingdoms,

( H E

OIDJMENE ,

and

their

great weald1

into the

mind

of

Jesus. "Showed" means "showed to

the eyes ofjesus" and "in a moment

of time" means 'Just one instant, a

split second." "This phrase should

not be

regarded symbolically with

reference to the transient nature

of

all these kingdoms, their authority,

and glory, flashing brillial\dy for a

second and then as quickly being

gone again. Before the very eyes

of

Jesus as Helooked out over

tl1e

world,

(the

inhabited

earth), from

that

mountain top the prince ofd1isworld,

by his occult power, flashed

out

in

an instant a view of the mighty realm

he (ostensibly) ruled. How this was

done, and why the view lasted only

so long, none will ever say." - Lenski

b.

The Temptation o the Devil

Now comes the temptation:

I

will give You all this domain and its

glory; for it has been handed over to

me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

ThereforeifYou worship (bow down)

before me, it shall all be Yours."

1.)

The Satanic

Lie

Wim this temptation, Satan shows

his true colors. He is a liar and

deceiver, aspiring after

d1e

power

and glOlY tha t belong only

to

the

Living God. The presupposition

of

Satan's offer to Jesus is a flagrant lie.

The sovereignty and magnificence

of

nations

of

the inhabited earth have

not

been

handed

over

to

Satan to

give to whomever he wishes The

contrary is true: the Triune God is

the absolute sovereign of all

men and

nations and He gives their

power

and

wealth

to whomsoever He

pleases. Jesus,

not

Satan,

is

"me ruler

of the kings

of

the earth,"

Rev.

1:5.

Jesus, not Satan, is "the King

of

kings

and Lord oflords," Rev. 19:16. "The

earth

is

the

LORD'S, and all it

contains, the world, and those who

dwell in i t, Psa. 24:1. "Let the

name

of God

be

blessed forever

and

ever,

for wisdom and power belong to

Him. And it is He who changes the

times

and

the epochs; He removes

kings

and

establishes kings .. , Dan.

2:20-21. It was Jesus, not Satan,

Who said,

All

uthority

in he ven nd

on e rth has

been

giv n t

M

"

Mat. 28:18.

December,

1994

THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon 9

1994 issue 9 - sermon on luke 4:1-13 - the tempter in the temptation of jesus - counsel of chalcedon

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