The Temptation of Jesus, Part 1

In this part of the sermon: This section details the four facts from Mark 1:12-13: Jesus is impelled by the Spirit into the wilderness, He is tempted by Satan for forty days, His only companionship is wild…

Martin explains the strong Greek word 'drives' by comparing its use for casting out demons (Mark 1:34) with sending away a recipient of grace (Mark 1:43), concluding that 'impel' better conveys the Spirit's compulsion without implying Jesus was forced against His will.

his baptism, the anointing, the voice out of heaven, identifying him and approving him, immediately after that, which was such a glorious experience for our Lord, immediately following that experience, the text says that our Lord, by the Spirit, is driven into the wilderness. By the Spirit, that is, the personal Holy Spirit, whoever indwelt the human soul of our Lord, but who came upon him with peculiar power and unction subsequent to his baptism, that personal Holy Spirit, Mark says, and if you have the 1901 edition, it's rendered, drives him into the wilderness. Now why did the translators u...

9:59 - 11:26 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section details the four facts from Mark 1:12-13: Jesus is impelled by the Spirit into the wilderness, He is tempted by Satan for forty days, His only companionship is wild…

Martin refutes the idea that Jesus' presence with wild beasts implied a 'paradise restored' where they were tamed, contrasting it with the lions in Daniel's incident and noting Mark's Roman audience who understood the terror of wild animals, emphasizing the harsh reality of Jesus' solitude.

Now any notion that this was paradise restored and the beasts were all tamed like the lions in Daniel's incident and the Lord was here manifesting His dominion is sheer nonsense. As far as I am concerned there's not a shred of evidence in the Bible that that's the purpose of Mark in recounting this. Remember he's writing particularly with the Romans in view. No doubt many of whom had seen people thrown to terrible wild beasts.

18:53 - 19:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Ascertain what the text says about Him who is the heart and soul of the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Martin contrasts the glorious experience of Jesus' baptism (open heavens, descending Spirit, Father's voice) with the 'murky dark depths' of forty days of concentrated encounter with the Prince of Darkness, emphasizing the profound humiliation and suffering Jesus willingly underwent.

All of my pleasure focuses upon You from the heights of the open heavens the descending Spirit the voice of identification and approbation into the murky dark depths of forty days of concentrated encounter with the Prince of Darkness. And no companions but wild beasts. I say the passage sets before us as few passages in the word of God set before us the depths of His voluntary humiliation and suffering on behalf of sinners. Dare we even attempt to imagine what it must have meant to the holy spotless soul and spirit of our Lord Jesus to undergo a month and ten days of such intense relentless bo...

25:03 - 26:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Ascertain what the text says about Him who is the heart and soul of the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Martin highlights the depth of Christ's humiliation by noting that the very one who spoke worlds into being and had a heavenly entourage of worshipping seraphim was now, in His voluntary humiliation, dependent upon the ministry of angels to meet His own needs.

who when He took to Himself a true humanity had known in the intimacy of that humble home in Nazareth the warmth of the relationship to His Mother and with His earthly Father from the standpoint of that marriage between Mary and Joseph not by human procreation the Lord whom we see in the scriptures as not at all touched by asceticism but a lover of men a lover of children may I say it reverently a leaner upon men could you not watch with me one hour the one who allowed John to rest his head upon his bosom can we begin to imagine what it was for this one whose heart verily breathed and pulsed a...

27:54 - 29:22 Read in full sermon

Driving home: for our Lord temptation was a form of suffering it was spiritual agony and pain for His holy soul to experience this enticement to evil

Martin describes Jesus' temptation as a 'preview to Gethsemane and to Golgotha,' connecting His public identification with sinners at baptism to the subsequent suffering and spiritual agony of temptation, which foreshadowed His ultimate suffering unto death.

and that's where we gain light from Matthew and Luke the temptations come to a hungry man after forty days of fasting he was an hungered looking upon those stones that looked like little Palestinian loaves the tempter comes and says if thou art the Son of God turn the stones into bread and then misquotes the scripture he brings these suggestions into the theatre of our Lord's mind and what is the mind in relationship to the soul how can we separate all of this and for our Lord to have even these suggestions of deviation from the Father's will to be put outside of the place of being the well be...

32:17 - 33:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Go to the wilderness and see the devil leaving, shrinking away, defeated by the mighty conqueror, finding confidence in Christ's victory.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'gauntlet thrown down' to describe Satan's challenge to Jesus, the Last Adam, in the wilderness, seeing it as a direct combat where Satan aimed to conquer Jesus as he had conquered the first Adam, thereby bringing down all of God's chosen people.

as the mighty conqueror the long promised seed of the woman and I have come forth to do combat with that seed of the serpent and I am committing myself in that combat to nothing less than crushing His head the gauntlet is thrown down and here we see the response of the enemy driven now by the spirit into the wilderness the enemy comes having as it were accepted the challenge and saying have you taken upon yourself all of the liabilities of those whom you came to save have you come forth to crush my head we'll see in the garden I came to the first man the first Adam and in all of that situation...

36:38 - 38:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Go to the wilderness and see the devil leaving, shrinking away, defeated by the mighty conqueror, finding confidence in Christ's victory.

Martin uses the analogy of being 'bound to the devil by the chains of your own lust and sin' to illustrate the helplessness of unbelievers, contrasting it with the gospel message that God sent His Son, the mighty conqueror, to defeat the devil and break those chains, rather than offering 'snippers' for self-deliverance.

is given to us there in its glorious fulfillment now is the prince of this world cast out and here then on the threshold of our Lord's public ministry is this wonderful proclamation of his mighty conquest as the last Adam my friends this is the gospel you sit here this morning some of you bound to the devil by the chains of your own lust and sin helpless and undone what's the gospel the gospel is not that the church is ready to sell you some snippers to go out and cut your own chains the gospel is that God has sent his son and the one of whom he spoke there on the banks of Jordan this is my so...

41:02 - 42:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Go to the wilderness and see the devil leaving, shrinking away, defeated by the mighty conqueror, finding confidence in Christ's victory.

Martin addresses the 'vulnerable weak faltering saint' who fears their past alliances with the devil, encouraging them to 'go to the wilderness and see the devil leaving shrinking away defeated by the mighty conqueror,' finding assurance in Christ's victory over temptation.

the father's good pleasure manifested in placing his spirit upon him it is the devil who leaves defeated and dear vulnerable weak faltering saint who feels at times I'll never make it though I am confident that God has begun a good work in me the ghost of my past my past alliances with the devil and his ways and his people are such that I wonder will I ever make it my friend go to the wilderness and see the devil leaving shrinking away defeated by the mighty conqueror who took all that the devil could give him and turned it aside and conquered conquered not for his sake but on behalf of his pe...

42:29 - 43:56 Read in full sermon

The point: Flee to Jesus for help and spread before Him all your troubles, knowing His ear is ready to hear and His heart to feel.

Martin quotes Bishop Ryle to underscore the truth of Christ's sympathizing heart, illustrating how Jesus experienced similar temptations (distrust, presumption, private sin, misapplication of scripture) and is therefore the perfect Savior for tempted people, encouraging them to flee to Him for help.

the reality and the largeness of the sympathetic heart of Christ toward his people old Bishop Ryle with his beautiful simplicity commenting on this very fact says let us learn what a sympathizing savior the Lord Jesus Christ is the sympathy of Jesus is a truth which ought to be peculiarly dear to all believers they will find in it a mine of strong consolation they should never forget that they have a mighty friend in heaven who feels for them in all their temptations and can enter into all their spiritual anxieties are they ever tempted by Satan to distrust God's care and goodness so was Jesus...

52:43 - 54:11 Read in full sermon