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Luke 4 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. When you're ready, let's dive
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  into God's Word together. In Luke chapter 4, we're given
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  another account of the temptation of Jesus in the
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  wilderness. We're told that Jesus ate
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  nothing for 40 days, and when those 40 days were up, he became
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  hungry. It is at that point that the
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  devil approached him to tempt him.
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  From there, Jesus is explicitly tempted by Satan three times.
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  First, Satan tempts him to turn stones into bread to prove his
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  position as the Son of God. Second, Satan offers Jesus all
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  the kingdoms of the world in exchange for Jesus worshipping
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  him. And last, Satan attempts to
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  entice Jesus into jumping off the top of the temple so that
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  the angels would rescue him. All three of these acts Jesus
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  certainly has the power to do. Jesus could, by his own power,
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  turn stones into bread. Psalm 2 tells us that the
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  nations of the world are Jesus inheritance.
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  They will forever belong to him. And without doubt, Jesus could
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  command the angels to rescue him if he jumped from the top of the
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  temple. But in each of these cases,
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  Satan is tempting Jesus to demonstrate his power on
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  command. He's inviting him to receive
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  something that is rightfully his, but before the proper time.
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  Just like he did in the Garden, Satan is offering something that
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  looks appealing but isn't in God's timing.
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  Unlike Adam and Eve in the Garden, though, Jesus resists.
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  Jesus is not swayed by the allure of what Satan has to
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  offer. And pay close attention to how
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  it is that Jesus fights back against the temptation of the
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  evil one in each of the three temptations.
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  Jesus responds by quoting the Scriptures.
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  It is written He uses God's Word to fight off the one who would
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  attempt to lead him out of God's will.
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  And so it is for us. Ephesians 6 outlines for
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  believers how we ought to armor ourselves for the spiritual war
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  that we engage in every day. In particular, that passage
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  offers us, along with a handful of pieces of defensive armor,
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  one offensive weapon, one instrument with which we can
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  fight back. And what is it?
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  Listen to Ephesians 617 and take the helmet of salvation and the
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  sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
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  The sword of the Spirit, the sword by which the Holy Spirit
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  makes war against the schemes of the enemy, is the Word of God,
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  the Scriptures. The Bible is our weapon against
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  the attack of Satan and his minions, and so we fight just
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  like Jesus did. It is written so.
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  Take up this sword, Claim the promises of the Bible, believe
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  what God says is true, believe what God says is right, and be
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  like the blessed man in Psalm 1 who delights in the law of the
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  Lord and is found to be like a tree firmly planted by streams
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  of water. Stand against temptation by
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  standing firm in the Word of God.