Luke 4: 1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
John 10: 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.....
The history of the church is similar to the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. In the early centuries the church was under intense persecution only to later arise to a position of state authority and finally into a period of division. In the earliest days, the demonic strategy was simply to kill; but it didn't work. The church only expanded under persecution.
In the second phase of church history, the church rose to a position of temporal power, wedded to the state through most of the Middle Ages. In her hubris, the church was in the position to steal, requiring power and money to build the kingdom on earth. But she became corrupt and despised.
In the third stage, the church has seen the demonic strategy of division to destroy her original unity. And in these three ways the church, during the nearly 2 millennia of her existence, has been compromised and opposed by her archenemy, the one that Jesus, above, identified as a "thief."
In the wilderness, we see the Devil use similar techniques against Jesus: 1) to steal, "It will all be yours" (it was already His); 2) to kill Himself in a suicidal leap; and 3) to potentially destroy by using His miraculous power, symbolized by changing the stone into food ~ the third period of the church falling into endless divisions ~ moving from the rock of unity to perishable disunity.
To the temptation to steal, Jesus answered, "Serve God only." To the threat of killing, the Savior said, "Do not test God." And Jesus said,"Life is more than bread," to the strategy to destroy by division. It is not what we have or what we eat that sustains us.
No weapon formed against the church has prospered. Isaiah 54: 16, 17 says,
3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"
5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
John 10: 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.....
The history of the church is similar to the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. In the early centuries the church was under intense persecution only to later arise to a position of state authority and finally into a period of division. In the earliest days, the demonic strategy was simply to kill; but it didn't work. The church only expanded under persecution.
In the second phase of church history, the church rose to a position of temporal power, wedded to the state through most of the Middle Ages. In her hubris, the church was in the position to steal, requiring power and money to build the kingdom on earth. But she became corrupt and despised.
In the third stage, the church has seen the demonic strategy of division to destroy her original unity. And in these three ways the church, during the nearly 2 millennia of her existence, has been compromised and opposed by her archenemy, the one that Jesus, above, identified as a "thief."
In the wilderness, we see the Devil use similar techniques against Jesus: 1) to steal, "It will all be yours" (it was already His); 2) to kill Himself in a suicidal leap; and 3) to potentially destroy by using His miraculous power, symbolized by changing the stone into food ~ the third period of the church falling into endless divisions ~ moving from the rock of unity to perishable disunity.
To the temptation to steal, Jesus answered, "Serve God only." To the threat of killing, the Savior said, "Do not test God." And Jesus said,"Life is more than bread," to the strategy to destroy by division. It is not what we have or what we eat that sustains us.
No weapon formed against the church has prospered. Isaiah 54: 16, 17 says,
"See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD."
Those weapons that were forged against the church have failed to destroy her. They have only served to make her stronger. She is about to be vindicated.
Those weapons that were forged against the church have failed to destroy her. They have only served to make her stronger. She is about to be vindicated.
1 comment:
Al,
where do you find those pictures?
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