The Book of Luke

Baptism and the Temptations

Lesson #2 for April 11,2015

Scriptures: [Luke 2:21-22; 3:1-14; 4:5-13; Romans 6:1-6; Isaiah 14:13-14][i].

1. Luke

Most of us, most of the time, feel left out-misfits. We don’t belong. Others seem to be so confident, so sure of themselves, “insiders” who know the ropes, old hands in a club from which we are excluded.

One of the ways we have of responding to this is to form our own club, or join one that will have us. Here is at least one place where we are “in” and the others “out.”

The clubs range from informal to formal in gatherings that are variously political, social, cultural, and economic. But the one thing they have in common is the principle of exclusion. Identity or worth is achieved by excluding all but the chosen.

The terrible price we pay for keeping all those other people out so that we can savor the sweetness of being insiders is a reduction of reality, a shrinkage of life.

Nowhere is this price more terrible than when it is paid in the cause of religion. But religion has a long history of doing just that, of reducing the huge mysteries of God to the respectability of club rules, of shrinking the vast human community to a “membership.” But with God there are no outsiders.

Luke is a most vigorous champion of the outsider. An outsider himself, the only Gentile in an all-Jewish cast of New Testament writers, he shows how Jesus includes those who typically were treated as outsiders by the religious establishment of the day: women, common laborers (sheepherders), the racially different (Samaritans), the poor. He will not countenance religion as a club. As Luke tells the story, all of us who have found ourselves on the outside looking in on life with no hope of gaining entrance (and who of us hasn’t felt it?) now find the doors wide open, found and welcomed by God in Jesus. (The Message -Introduction to the Gospel of Luke)

2.    In contrast to the mighty men of power and influence that Luke used to date the birth of Jesus, John the Baptist was a humble man of the wilderness. He was sent for one purpose. He was sent to prepare the way for the most important event so far in human history: The coming of Jesus. Was John the Baptist considered to be an outsider?

3.    What do we know about the life and times of John the Baptist? The place on other side (east side) of the Jordan River where John baptized has recently been found. Did he have any contact with the Qumran community which was not far from that place?

4.    Read Luke 3:1-14ii. Luke named the famous men of those days to show us that the story of John the Baptist was real. John was a Levite, and the son of a priest. (Luke 1:5iii) He may even have been a descendant of Aaron. Did he ever consider ministering in the temple in Jerusalem? John did not beat around the bush. He did not sugarcoat his words. His message: Repent and be baptized; turn from your sins; share with the poor; do not cheat; and do not just claim Abraham as your ancestor, thinking that will save you.

5.    All four of the Gospels talk about the mission and the message of John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:112; 14:1-10; Mark 1:3-5; Luke 3:2-22; 7:18-23; John 1:15-34) How do you think you would have responded if you had been in John’s audience?

6.    The mission and message of John had some very profound implications:

(1) Being Abraham’s child did not guarantee that one would be the natural recipient of salvation. Redemption from sin or a claim to heaven is not tied to heritage or legacy but to a personal choice to walk in the way of the Lord. (2) Walking in that way will lead to bearing good fruit for God’s kingdom. (3) Preparing to walk in God’s way demands that we repent and be baptized.—Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, page 28.

7.    When John suggested that those who were baptized with water must also be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, what did he mean? Fire is the ultimate purifier. As we approach the end of this world’s history, we may go through all kinds of temptations, trials, and life-threatening situations; but, those are to purify us for the kingdom of heaven.

8.    The Jews were familiar with baptism. For some time, they had baptized Gentiles who wanted to be counted as Jews. (Matthew 23:15iv) But, the idea that Jews needed to repent and be baptized was totally new and shocking to them. Repentance comes from the Greek word metanoia which means changing one’s mind. Baptism represents the burial of the old man of sin and the rise to newness of life with Christ. But, John hastened to assure his audience that he was baptizing only with water. One who was to come after him would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16[v]) Thus, we learn that baptism by water is only an outward symbol of an inward change-a change that can only be brought about by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. (Read Romans 6:1-6vi.)

9.    Read [Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:29-34; Luke 3:21-22]vii. Jesus was there, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard signifying that the ministry of Jesus was to begin. He was ready. Jesus and John had never met before that time so that no one could claim that they had conspired together to fool the public. God had revealed to John that he would see a dove descending on the One who was to be the Lamb of God, the true Son of God.

Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins, and closely related by the circumstances of their birth; yet they had had no direct acquaintance with each other. The life of Jesus had been spent at Nazareth in Galilee; that of John, in the wilderness of Judea. Amid widely different surroundings they had lived in seclusion, and had had no communication with each other. Providence had ordered this. No occasion was to be given for the charge that they had conspired together to support each other’s claims.—Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages 109.2.

10.    Only Luke mentioned that Jesus bowed in prayer on the bank of the Jordan as He came up from His baptism. The angels had never heard such a prayer. They wanted to respond, but the Father Himself responded. Only a few of the people present discerned the vision of the Dove or the Voice from heaven. John did and proclaimed Him the “Lamb of God.” But, even John had no idea of the implications of what he had said. (See DA 111.6-112.5viii.) We see proof that all Members of the Trinity were giving Their seal of approval to the ministry of Jesus.

11.    Why was it necessary for Jesus to be baptized? He certainly did not need to repent of any sins. Jesus was baptized as a human being by a human being to set an example for each of us. None of us is so saintly or so near to God that we do not need to repent and be baptized.

12.    Read Luke 4:1-2ix. Is it true that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil?

At the Saviour’s baptism, Satan was among the witnesses. He saw the Father’s glory overshadowing His Son. He heard the voice of Jehovah testifying to the divinity of Jesus. Ever since Adam’s sin, the human race had been cut off from direct communion with God; the intercourse between heaven and earth had been through Christ; but now that Jesus had come “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” (Romans 8:3[x]) the Father Himself spoke. He had before communicated with humanity through Christ; now He communicated with humanity in Christ. Satan had hoped that God’s abhorrence of evil would bring an eternal separation between heaven and earth. But now it was manifest that the connection between God and man had been restored. (Compare 5BC 1078.3.)

While in the wilderness, Christ fasted, but He was insensible to hunger. Engaged in constant prayer to His Father for a preparation to resist the adversary, Christ did not feel the pangs of hunger. He spent the time in earnest prayer, shut in with God.

It was as if He were in the presence of His Father. . . . The thought of the warfare before Him made Him oblivious to all else, and His soul was fed with the bread of life, just as today those tempted souls will be fed who go to God for aid [Compare John 4.]. . . . He did not realize any sense of hunger until the forty days of His fast were ended.

The vision passed away, and then, with strong craving Christ’s human nature called for food. Now was Satan’s opportunity to make his assault. He resolved to appear as one of the angels of light that had appeared to Christ in His vision (Letter 159, 1903). (5BC 1080.2-3)

The life of Christ was a perpetual warfare against satanic agencies. Satan rallied the whole energies of apostasy against the Son of God. The conflict increased in fierceness and malignity, as again and again the prey was taken out of his hands.

Satan assailed Christ through every conceivable form of temptation (RH Oct. 29, 1895). (5BC 1080.7)

Satan saw that he must either conquer or be conquered. The issues of the conflict involved too much to be entrusted to his confederate angels. He must personally conduct the warfare.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p.116.2-3.

These were real temptations, no pretense. Christ “suffered being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Angels of heaven were on the scene on that occasion, and kept the standard uplifted, that Satan should not exceed his bounds and overpower the human nature of Christ. (INotebook Leaflets from the Elmshaven Library 43.2; 1SM 94.2; TA 178.1) [Content in brackets and bold type are added.]

13.    Satan would have loved to force Jesus to commit sin. That was always his first choice. But, he could not do that. He would have been happy to destroy Jesus before He could begin His ministry just as he had tried to destroy Him at His birth. (Matthew 2:16xi) But, he could not do that either. It has been said that there have been only eleven years in all of recorded history in which there was no warfare and that three of those years were during the ministry of Jesus. If you had been Satan, what would you have done during those years?

14.    The human Jesus was raised to divine heights in the first 40 days in the wilderness as He contemplated the close relationship He was to have with the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the angels during His ministry on this earth. Did that prepare Him for the attacks of Satan which followed? How are we to prepare for temptations we know Satan will bring against us?

15.    In his temptations to Jesus, Satan appeared as an angel of light. He wanted to raise doubts in the mind of Jesus about Jesus’s Own relationship with God. He suggested that maybe Jesus was the fallen angel from heaven. But, Satan’s first words, “If you are God’s Son,” (Luke 4:3, GNB) immediately betrayed his identity. (Desire of Ages 118.3; 119.2) They both knew very well what the truth was!

16.    After 40 days of fasting, Jesus appeared emaciated and near death. In His first conflict with Satan in heaven, He had conquered and banned Satan and his hosts from heaven. (Revelation 14; Desire of Ages 119.2)xii The appearance of Jesus at this point in time certainly did not suggest that He was the mighty Son of God from heaven who had done that.

17.    Read Luke 4:5-8xiii. Satan and Jesus both knew that only God is to be worshiped. For Christ to bow to Satan would imply that He regarded Satan as equal with God. That is exactly what Satan has always wanted. (Isaiah 14:13-14xiv)

18.    Satan was presumably offering Christ a shortcut to accomplishing the task He came to do. Effectively, Satan said: “Why go through all those difficulties and all that suffering when just by bowing down to me [Satan] I will give you the world you have come to redeem?”

19.    In response to Satan’s offer to give Him the world, Jesus demanded that Satan leave Him.

Jesus said to this wily foe, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Satan had asked Christ to give him evidence that He was the Son of God, and he had in this instance the proof he had asked. At the divine command of Christ he was compelled to obey. He was repulsed and silenced. He had no power to enable him to withstand the peremptory dismissal. He was compelled without another word to instantly desist and to leave the world’s Redeemer. [Bold type is added.]

And after it was ended Christ was exhausted and fainting. He fell upon the ground as though dying. Heavenly angels who had bowed before Him in the royal courts, and who had been with intense, yet painful, interest watching their loved Commander, and with amazement had witnessed the terrible contest He had endured with Satan, now came and ministered unto Him. They prepared Him food and strengthened Him, for He lay as one dead. (Review and Herald Sept. 1, 1874 par. 12,14; 5BC 1083.6; 1SM 288.1-2)

20.    Read [Luke 4:9-13; Matthew 4:5-7]xv. Jesus quoted Scripture in response to Satan’s first two temptations. So, in the third temptation, Satan tried to trap Jesus by quoting Scripture himself. But, he misquoted the Scripture. He left out the part saying, “To keep you in all your ways.” What are we supposed to learn about temptations from the experience of Jesus?

Note four major biblical teachings on temptation: (1) No one is free from temptations; (2) when God allows temptations to come to us, He also provides grace to resist and strength to overcome; (3) temptations do not come the same way every time; and (4) no one is tempted beyond his or her strength to bear (1 Cor. 10:13). (Adult Teacher’s Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, p. 19.)

21.    Temptations are not sins. Jesus was tempted just as we are. Temptations turn into sins when we make a conscious choice to yield.

22.    The temptations of Jesus while He was in direct conflict with the Devil were a major battle in the great controversy over God’s character and government. Is the great controversy a major theme in the Bible? Where do we find information about this great controversy? See The Great Controversy Described in Scripture (http://www.theox.org/-then go to Teacher’s Guides and then General Topics).

23.    What subtle temptations does Satan bring to each of us? Are we tempted to compromise in our observance of the Sabbath? Or, perhaps in being completely honest at work in order to gain some advantage?

24.    Each of us is aware of at least some of our favorite temptations. Have we stopped to think of the best ways to use Scripture in answer to Satan’s temptations? Will we be prepared for him the next time he comes with those same temptations? A good understanding of Scripture and a careful preparation are important in preventing our fall into sin.

25.    The baptism and the temptations of Jesus were followed by His return to the Jordan River where John was baptizing; there He acquired some disciples. That was the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry. From that time on, He was in an all-out, full-strength war with the Devil.

26.    As we noted last week, Luke wrote his Gospel to the whole world. He wanted everyone to feel a relationship with Jesus Christ. But, he also went to considerable length to point out that the birth, the life, and the ministry of Jesus were anything but ordinary. God’s approbation of Jesus recorded in Luke 3:22xvi was the fulfillment of prophecies in [Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1]xvii. This was the beginning of the journey that would end only with Jesus rising from the dead in His Own Divine power and coming forth from the grave to ascend to heaven.

27.    Fortunately for us, at the end of His life, Jesus was able to say: “The ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”—New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (1995). (John 14:30). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

28.    What can we learn from these experiences of John and Jesus that will help us to prepare for the daily battles that we fight with Satan and his angels?

© 2015, Kenneth Hart, MD, MA, MPH. Permission is hereby granted for any noncommercial use of these materials. Free distribution of all or of a portion of this material such as to a Bible study class is encouraged.    Info@theox.org

i-Luke 2:Jesus Is Named

21 A week later, when the time came for the baby to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

Jesus Is Presented in the Temple

22 The time came for Joseph and Mary to perform the ceremony of purification, as the Law of Moses commanded. So they took the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,

Luke 3:The Preaching of John the Baptist

1 It was the fifteenth year of the rule of Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was ruler of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias was ruler of Abilene, 2 and Annas and Caiaphas were High Priests. At that time the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 So John went throughout the whole territory of the Jordan River, preaching, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins.” 4 As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:

“Someone is shouting in the desert:

‘Get the road ready for the Lord;

make a straight path for him to travel!

5 Every valley must be filled up,

every hill and mountain leveled off.

The winding roads must be made straight,

and the rough paths made smooth.

6 The whole human race will see God's salvation!’”

7 Crowds of people came out to John to be baptized by him. “You snakes!” he said to them. “Who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? 8 Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. And don't start saying among yourselves that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these rocks and make descendants for Abraham! 9 The ax is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.”

10 The people asked him, “What are we to do, then?”

11 He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it.”

12 Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what are we to do?”

13 “Don't collect more than is legal,” he told them.

14 Some soldiers also asked him, “What about us? What are we to do?”

He said to them, “Don't take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.”

Luke 4:5 Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world. 6 “I will give you all this power and all this wealth,” the Devil told him. “It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose. 7 All this will be yours, then, if you worship me.”

8 Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’”

9 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here. 10 For the scripture says, ‘God will order his angels to take good care of you.’ 11 It also says, ‘They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’”

12 But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

13 When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.

Romans 6:Dead to Sin but Alive in Union with Christ

6 What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will increase? 2 Certainly not! We have died to sin—how then can we go on living in it? 3 For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. 4 By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.

5 For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. 6 And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.

Isaiah 14:13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty.

ii-Luke 3:The Preaching of John the Baptist

1 It was the fifteenth year of the rule of Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was ruler of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias was ruler of Abilene, 2 and Annas and Caiaphas were High Priests. At that time the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 So John went throughout the whole territory of the Jordan River, preaching, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins.” 4 As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:

“Someone is shouting in the desert:

‘Get the road ready for the Lord;

make a straight path for him to travel!

5 Every valley must be filled up,

every hill and mountain leveled off.

The winding roads must be made straight,

and the rough paths made smooth.

6 The whole human race will see God's salvation!’”

7 Crowds of people came out to John to be baptized by him. “You snakes!” he said to them. “Who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? 8 Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. And don't start saying among yourselves that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these rocks and make descendants for Abraham! 9 The ax is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.”

10 The people asked him, “What are we to do, then?”

11 He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it.”

12 Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what are we to do?”

13 “Don't collect more than is legal,” he told them.

14 Some soldiers also asked him, “What about us? What are we to do?”

He said to them, “Don't take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.”

iii-Luke 1:The Birth of John the Baptist Is Announced

5 During the time when Herod was king of Judea,[a] there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family.

iv-Matthew 23:15 “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!

v-Luke 3:16 So John said to all of them, “I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

vi-Romans 6:Dead to Sin but Alive in Union with Christ

1 What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will increase? 2 Certainly not! We have died to sin—how then can we go on living in it? 3 For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. 4 By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.

5 For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. 6 And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.

vii-Matthew 3:The Baptism of Jesus

13 At that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to make him change his mind. “I ought to be baptized by you,” John said, “and yet you have come to me!”

15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.” So John agreed.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and lighting on him. 17 Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.”

John 1:The Lamb of God

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.’ 31 I did not know who he would be, but I came baptizing with water in order to make him known to the people of Israel.”

32 And John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him. 33 I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen it,” said John, “and I tell you that he is the Son of God.”

Luke 3:The Baptism of Jesus

21 After all the people had been baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”

viii-DA 111.6-112.5The Saviour’s glance seems to penetrate heaven as He pours out His soul in prayer. Well He knows how sin has hardened the hearts of men, and how difficult it will be for them to discern His mission, and accept the gift of salvation. He pleads with the Father for power to overcome their unbelief, to break the fetters with which Satan has enthralled them, and in their behalf to conquer the destroyer. He asks for the witness that God accepts humanity in the person of His Son. {DA 111.6}

Never before have the angels listened to such a prayer. They are eager to bear to their loved Commander a message of assurance and comfort. But no; the Father Himself will answer the petition of His Son. Direct from the throne issue the beams of His glory. The heavens are opened, and upon the Saviour’s head descends a dovelike form of purest light,—fit emblem of Him, the meek and lowly One.{DA 112.1}

Of the vast throng at the Jordan, few except John discerned the heavenly vision. Yet the solemnity of the divine Presence rested upon the assembly. The people stood silently gazing upon Christ. His form was bathed in the light that ever surrounds the throne of God. His upturned face was glorified as they had never before seen the face of man. From the open heavens a voice was heard saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”{DA 112.2}

These words of confirmation were given to inspire faith in those who witnessed the scene, and to strengthen the Saviour for His mission. Notwithstanding that the sins of a guilty world were laid upon Christ, notwithstanding the humiliation of taking upon Himself our fallen nature, the voice from heaven declared Him to be the Son of the Eternal.{DA 112.3}

John had been deeply moved as he saw Jesus bowed as a suppliant, pleading with tears for the approval of the Father. As the glory of God encircled Him, and the voice from heaven was heard, John recognized the token which God had promised. He knew that it was the world’s Redeemer whom he had baptized. The Holy Spirit rested upon him, and with outstretched hand pointing to Jesus, he cried, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”{DA 112.4}

None among the hearers, and not even the speaker himself, discerned the import of these words, “the Lamb of God.” Upon Mount Moriah, Abraham had heard the question of his son, “My father, ... where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” The father answered, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” Genesis 22:7, 8. And in the ram divinely provided in the place of Isaac, Abraham saw a symbol of Him who was to die for the sins of men. The Holy Spirit through Isaiah, taking up the illustration, prophesied of the Saviour, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,” “and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:7, 6); but the people of Israel had not understood the lesson. Many of them regarded the sacrificial offerings much as the heathen looked upon their sacrifices,—as gifts by which they themselves might propitiate the Deity. God desired to teach them that from His own love comes the gift which reconciles them to Himself. {DA 112.5}

ix-Luke 4:1 Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, 2 where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.

x-Romans 8:3 What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending his own Son, who came with a nature like our sinful nature, to do away with sin.

xi-Matthew 2:16 When Herod realized that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old and younger—this was done in accordance with what he had learned from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared.

xii-Revelation 14:The Lamb and His People

14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion; with him were 144,000 people who have his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven that sounded like a roaring waterfall, like a loud peal of thunder. It sounded like the music made by musicians playing their harps. 3 The 144,000 people stood before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders; they were singing a new song, which only they could learn. Of the whole human race they are the only ones who have been redeemed. 4 They are the men who have kept themselves pure by not having sexual relations with women; they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from the rest of the human race and are the first ones to be offered to God and to the Lamb. 5 They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless.

The Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Honor God and praise his greatness! For the time has come for him to judge all people. Worship him who made heaven, earth, sea, and the springs of water!”

8 A second angel followed the first one, saying, “She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine—the strong wine of her immoral lust!”

9 A third angel followed the first two, saying in a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the mark on their forehead or on their hand 10 will themselves drink God's wine, the wine of his fury, which he has poured at full strength into the cup of his anger! All who do this will be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever and ever. There is no relief day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, for anyone who has the mark of its name.”

12 This calls for endurance on the part of God's people, those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to Jesus.

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Happy are those who from now on die in the service of the Lord!”

“Yes indeed!” answers the Spirit. “They will enjoy rest from their hard work, because the results of their service go with them.”

The Harvest of the Earth

14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was what looked like a human being, with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out from the temple and cried out in a loud voice to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap the harvest, because the time has come; the earth is ripe for the harvest!” 16 Then the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth's harvest was reaped.

17 Then I saw another angel come out of the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

18 Then another angel, who is in charge of the fire, came from the altar. He shouted in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sickle, and cut the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because the grapes are ripe!” 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth, cut the grapes from the vine, and threw them into the wine press of God's furious anger. 20 The grapes were squeezed out in the wine press outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press in a flood two hundred miles long and about five feet deep.

Desire of Ages 119.2When Satan and the Son of God first met in conflict, Christ was the commander of the heavenly hosts; and Satan, the leader of revolt in heaven, was cast out. Now their condition is apparently reversed, and Satan makes the most of his supposed advantage. One of the most powerful of the angels, he says, has been banished from heaven. The appearance of Jesus indicates that He is that fallen angel, forsaken by God, and deserted by man. A divine being would be able to sustain his claim by working a miracle; “if Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” Such an act of creative power, urges the tempter, would be conclusive evidence of divinity. It would bring the controversy to an end.{DA 119.2

xiii-Luke 4:5 Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world. 6 “I will give you all this power and all this wealth,” the Devil told him. “It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose. 7 All this will be yours, then, if you worship me.”

8 Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’”

xiv-Isaiah 14:13 You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. 14 You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty.

xv-Luke 4:9 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here. 10 For the scripture says, ‘God will order his angels to take good care of you.’ 11 It also says, ‘They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’”

12 But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

13 When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.

Matthew 4:5 Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says,

‘God will give orders to his angels about you;

they will hold you up with their hands,

so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’”

7 Jesus answered, “But the scripture also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

xvi-Luke 3:22 and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”

xvii-Psalm 2:7 “I will announce,” says the king, “what the LORD has declared.

He said to me: ‘You are my son;

today I have become your father.

Isaiah 42:The Lord's Servant

42 The LORD says,

“Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—

the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased.

I have filled him with my Spirit,

and he will bring justice to every nation.

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