{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Luke: The Temptation of Christ","description":"Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1-14 There are at least three fundamental lessons to be learned from the temptation of our Lord.&amp;nbsp; The first is that these temptations reveal Jesus' divine holiness.&amp;nbsp; His perfection, as God, is on full display.&amp;nbsp; This is a great comfort to us to think that He triumphed where we fail so miserably.&amp;nbsp; He is our righteousness in the day of judgment.&amp;nbsp; We rejoice in His obedient perfections. Second, from this story we learn something of the nature of sin and of temptation.&amp;nbsp; (1) The first temptation (Lk 4:1-4) is an appeal to our physical appetites.&amp;nbsp; The sin here is to see satisfaction of our physical desires as an end in itself, apart from communion with God.&amp;nbsp; To enjoy the pleasures of life apart from the God at whose right hand is fullness of joy (Psa 16:11) is idolatry.&amp;nbsp; (2) The second temptation (Lk 4:5-8) appeals to our desire for riches and honor.&amp;nbsp; The sin here is to attempt to gain what may be legitimate through means that are sinful.&amp;nbsp; To gather wealth and glory at the sacrifice of communion with God is to play the fool.&amp;nbsp; (3) The third temptation (Lk 4:8-13) is the temptation to put God to the test by our arrogance and foolishness.&amp;nbsp; To call on God to help us when we have acted out of pride or folly is tempting Him.&amp;nbsp; He never promises to save us from the consequences of our foolishness.&amp;nbsp; The third great lesson in this account is this:&amp;nbsp; the key to standing in purity in the day of temptation, is to be ravished by the beauty of God and His truth ... by means of being saturated by the Word of God.&amp;nbsp; In every temptation, Jesus answered Satan by the truth of what His Father had spoken.&amp;nbsp;We cannot hope to resist the many temptations in our lives through any other means.&amp;nbsp; The Bible is essential to our having a passionate communion with God ... and thus essential to our purity. ","author_name":"Bethel Baptist Church","author_url":"https:\/\/bethelbaptistscs.org\/","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/43174973\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/207125373"}