"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple."
The Gospel According to Luke Chapter 14, Verse 27.
Disciple:
American Heritage Dictionary Definition: Noun 1. a. One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another. b. An active adherent, as of a movement or philosophy. 2. often Disciple One of the original followers of Jesus. 3. Disciple A member of the Disciples of Christ.
Easton Dictionary Definition: "A scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the Baptist (Mt 9:14), and of the Pharisees (Mt 22:16), but principally to the followers of Christ. A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example (Mt 10:24; Lu 14:26-27,33; Joh 6:69)."
To follow Christ, we must abandon the chains and bonds of sin, being its servant, and take up the cross that Christ bore for our sake, and crucify with Him our flesh, putting down fleshly ways. No more sins. From there-on-in do we walk in the Spirit rather than in the flesh and carnal way of sins against ourselves and others. The old way leads to death both of the flesh and spirit, but the new way, which is Christ, leads to life with no end. I take up the cross in Christ and crucify myself of the sins that held me in the grave in pride and shame, and follow Christ to serve Him, awaiting to see Him sitting in power and glory to the right of the throne of our Father as a son of God (First Epistle of John).
There is a way. And the way is living and breathing: our Lord, Jesus Christ.
If someone reads the Gospel According to Matthew Chapter 4, where the cite of Christ's temptations by the devil took place, they would think that Christ was tempted 3 times. And then read onto Luke and see those three times repeated.
The meaning behind scripture, and there is but one meaning that defeats all interpretation, is revealed to the reader of the holy scripture by the Spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spirit. This is what Christ sent as the Comforter from the Father. The Holy Spirit is who protects the kingdom of God. To those that truly accept the Holy Spirit in their heart - the meaning is revealed to them and in their eyes, they understand the parables that Christ taught, and other aspects of the scripture. To they that don't accept the Holy Spirit, it is just another parable to them, or words. They that follower Christ read by faith, which is necessary to please God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Epistle to the Hebrews Chapter 11). But the meaning is revealed by the Holy Spirit as the follower of Christ has necessity to know. God's elect, those that would stand up against the antichrist in the third age, or those that are prepared for the ushering in of the third age by the appearance of the antichrist and will not be deceived, are given more understanding by their necessity. Christ said, Ask, and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened for you. So if you ask the Holy Spirit and pray without lust to God, asking, by the Spirit and faith in what Jesus Christ promised, you will receive an answer. This is how and why someone can study the scripture and, knowing the Word of God, see all sorts of connections within it. There are many mysteries to the kingdom of heaven, as Christ said. And if you ask, God will tell you, because He's very liberal with knowledge. And the understanding of that knowledge is by the Holy Spirit. Have faith in what Christ said in the Gospel According to Matthew Chapter 7, Verse 7.
Jesus Christ, after being baptized in the Jordan river, was taken by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. The temptation of Christ is in Chapter 4 of both Matthew and Luke, but by the Holy Spirit, you will see that they are very much different from each other.
The word wilderness in both verses is Greek word "eremos," er'-ay-mos, meaning a solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited desert and is Strong's Concordance number 2048 for reference.
Jesus Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights. In that time, He was tempted of the devil. The devil is a real, live, spiritual being. The devil fears Christ, because He's the Son of God. But He was made flesh, and the devil knew that those that are flesh can be tempted. But there is no sin in Christ. So here we go:
satan:
Matthew Verse 3, "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
Luke Verse 3, "And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread."
Christ:
Matthew Verse 4, "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Luke Verse 4, "And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by the bread alone, but by every word of God."
Satan is tempting Jesus here, but in Matthew, satan is asking Christ to turn stones, being plural, into bread, and not a single stone, as in Luke. Here is where I explain the entire point of these, having seen the verses with your eyes. The Gospel According to Matthew describes the second attempt of satan attacking Christ with temptation. In Luke, satan attacks Christ and Christ wins, but satan leaves Christ for a season of his own will, then returns to tempt Him further, but Christ defeated him for the last time in Matthew. Study the verses and you'll see that even Christ's replies are different. So you see that the verses in Luke are from the first time the devil tempts Jesus, and the verses in Matthew are from the final time. Satan tempts Christ of the same things, but he does it in different ways. Here is where the two witnesses to the Gospel part. The first temptation of Christ as outlined in Luke goes to Christ being taken to a high mountain, but listen:
satan:
Luke Verse 5, "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time."
Additionally, Verse 6, "And the devil said unto him, All this power will I given thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it."
Matthew Verse 8, "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;"
Satan takes Christ to a high mountain the first time, but the second takes Him to an even taller mountain than before: exceeding is Greek word "lain," lee'-an, which is Strong's Concordance number 3029, and is an adverb that means greatly, exceedingly, or exceedingly beyond measure.
satan:
Luke Verse 7, "If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."
Matthew Verse 9, "And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
Christ:
Luke Verse 8, "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
In Matthew, satan tempted our Lord Christ with visibly present things, testing Him and telling Him that He could possess all the nations. While in Luke, satan attempts to offer Christ the authority and power over all of those nations, which you can see from Verse 6 in Luke. The nations themselves were offered to Christ as a last resort by the tempter. The first temptation the high mountain that satan did, he states clearly that he had the power over the nations to give him authority over them. Hence the additional verse in Luke. By the Father had already promised Christ that He would inherit the Gentiles, and that man of any nations could become sons of God through Him.
Luke and Matthew are in different orders. Luke goes from satan tempting Christ on the mountain to tempting our Lord Jesus Christ to jump from the holy city pinnacle, but Matthew reverses that order. This is also why the numbering in the verses (not in the original Hebrew, of course, but added by the translators) was faithful to each other until the point where Christ defeated satan's temptation over the stone(s).
So, in Matthew, this is after the stones, but in Luke, after the mountain:
satan:
Matthew Verse 5, "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteht him on a pinnacle of the temple,"
Verse 6, "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."
Luke Verse 9, "And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:"
Verse 10, "For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:"
Verse 11, "And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."
Satan perverts the scripture to try to tempt Christ to jump from the high place. In the final temptation in Matthew, there is no "to keep thee" in the tempter's perversion - he changed his words to make it seem more flattering.
Christ:
Luke Verse 12, "And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
Verse 13, "And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season."
In Luke, this is where satan decides to leave Christ for a 'season' within the forty days and forty nights, the word meaning a measure of time in Greek.
But, in Matthew, the cite of Christ's final temptation within the forty days and forty nights, the temptation ends completely after Christ is taken to the exceedingly high mountain. To the temptation on the angels lifting Christ up if He falls,
Christ:
Matthew Verse 7, "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
Here we see the word 'again' once again.
Then after satan tempts Christ on the mountain,
Christ:
Matthew Verse 10, "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
Verse 11, "Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him."
In the final temptation, the devil left Him for good, being defeated, rather than departing for a season. In each of the temptations, Christ uses the sword of the Spirit to defeat satan. The sword of the Spirit comes by knowing the Word of God. Christ knows the Father, and so can quote from our Father's scripture. And, if God put His words in Christ's mouth, then we also can quote from God, having the mind of Christ. We know Christ, and the Father through Christ, and so can we also discern from satan's deception what is of the devil and what is of Christ. Knowing the Word isn't only from knowing the scripture that God gave us, and the gospel that Christ taught, but by knowing Christ through the gospel that He taught, personally. And by knowing Christ, we know the Father. And if we have Christ, we have the Spirit of truth to reveal the meaning behind scripture. And by the same Spirit of truth do we wield the sword of the Spirit, understanding the scripture of the Father by the Son.
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." The Gospel According to James Chapter 4, Verse 7.
There were 6 accounts of temptation in the gospels where Christ was tempted by satan, in different order. The tempter tempted Him twice of the same things. But as a follower of Christ, know that the Word doesn't change, and that if you defeated satan the first time by Christ who has victory over all of satan's devices, you can defeat him again when he tempts you of the same thing the second or third time. Christ shows us clearly how to end temptation, prevent sin in the process, and defeat satan, his temptations, and his sinful devices in the gospel.
Just as our Lord Christ Jesus, through which we have grace and salvation, defeated satan, so shall we. We, brother, sister, mother, daughter, father, cousin, kinsman, niece, nephew, son, and friends in Christ, will defeat satan, and all that he controls in the world, and have victory just as Christ has. This is why we are still tempted. So that we may overcome, and have victory of the tempter and accuser just as our Saviour has. We are all tempted of the same (First Epistle to the Corinthians Chapter 10, Verse 13), but knowing now, we can defeat satan. We will defeat satan. And overcome this world, already having faith in the promise of being in the next.
Together, as the body of Christ, will we put down the bonds and chains of sin and this world, and walk in the Spirit.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
In His Service,
Isaac D.
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