Luke 4: Part 1 (4)

Pray Psalm 66.1-4.
Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God,
“How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.”
Selah

Sing Psalm 66.1-4.
(Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory)
Shout for joy to God, all people, sing the glory of His Name!
Give Him glorious praise and say, “How great Your pow’r and great Your fame!
All the earth shall worship gladly as they praise Your glorious Name!”

Read Luke 4.1-15; meditate on verses 14, 15.

Preparation
1. What condition was Jesus in following His temptations?

2. What did He begin to do?

Meditation
Verse 14 forms an inclusio with verse 1. Jesus went into His season of fasting and temptation filled with the Holy Spirit. He came out of it in the power of the Holy Spirit. That seems like an augmentation. Luke shows us that we must be filled with the Spirit to resist the devil and deal with temptation according to the Word of God. And the power of the Spirit at work within us helps us grow in our sanctification. The filling of the Spirit brings the power of the Spirit to help us be more Christlike in all our ways.

But note also that the power of the Spirit in us is unto something – ministry. We might think Jesus was due a little time off for R & R after His victory over the devil. But Jesus came to serve, to minister, to bring near the Kingdom of God. There was no time to waste. All His moments had to be invested for the glory of God, and the power of the Spirit filled Him for just that purpose.

God has called each one of us as His witnesses, and He imbues us with the power of the Spirit for this calling (Acts 1.8). How can we know when the power of the Spirit is operating in us? Look to Jesus: When we’re overcoming evil with good, standing firm in the grace and Word of the Lord, taking up the work of our Personal Mission Field, and ministering Jesus to others for the glory of God, then we can be sure the power of the Spirit is energizing and directing us.

Seek the filling of the Spirit (Eph. 5.18-21) and go in the power of the Spirit (Acts 1.8) and you will fulfill your calling to Kingdom and glory of God (1 Thess. 2.12).

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all” (Lk. 4.15).
“So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath” (Lk. 4.28).

The operative word is their. Their synagogue. Why not God’s synagogue?

Yes, all those people glorified Him, but when they were confronted with the fact that He, Jesus, was God, it filled them with wrath. Because it was their synagogue and not His.

We, as His people, must be exceedingly careful that our churches are His churches, and not ours. The glory always goes to Him, never to us (Ps. 115.1). (Recommended reading on this topic is at the website www.ailbe.org. Click on the Crosfigell tab and read the selection for 14 December 2022).

In order for the church to be His, His people must be filled with His Spirit, “to resist the devil and deal with temptation according to the Word of God” and be continually sanctified for work in His Kingdom.

That is our purpose, to live out the Word, all to His praise and glory. As God has said, “I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Is. 42.8).

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the sheep of His hand” (Ps. 95.6, 7)

His Church. His Word. His glory.

That Word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still; His kingdom is forever.
(Luther, 1529)

For reflection
1. What does Luke mean by saying people glorified God? How do we glorify God?

2. When do you most need to know the power of God’s Spirit in your life?

3. How would you counsel a new believer to deal with temptation?

This is stated by Luke for the express purpose of informing us, that, from the very commencement, a divine power shone in Christ, and compelled even those, who cherished a malignant spirit of contradiction, to join in admiring him. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Luke 4.15

Pray Psalm 66.5-9.
Pray that God will use you today to make His fame and glory known in your Personal Mission Field. Thank Him in advance, knowing that He will keep you and guide your steps, and that He will grant you the power of His Spirit to be His witness (Acts 18).

Sing Psalm 66.5-9.
(Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory)
Great and awesome is our Savior in the works which He has done.
He the sea and river dried to let His people cross as one.
Then our joy was great to worship Him our mighty, sovereign One.

He the nations watches ever – all you rebels, humbled be.
Bless our God, all men and nations, praise His Name eternally!
He preserves our souls, and He will keep His paths beneath our feet.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.