1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,576 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,688 --> 00:00:06,584 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,672 --> 00:00:09,672 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,696 --> 00:00:10,760 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,616 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,648 --> 00:00:16,300 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,576 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,648 --> 00:00:21,700 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,704 All right, let's go ahead and get ready to continuing our study 10 00:00:27,792 --> 00:00:29,160 that we started last week. 11 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,192 And as many of you know, we're going through various questions that 12 00:00:33,296 --> 00:00:35,700 have been given to me. 13 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,984 And one of the questions that was asked was, who is Satan? 14 00:00:39,112 --> 00:00:40,312 How does he work? 15 00:00:40,496 --> 00:00:40,952 What's. 16 00:00:41,016 --> 00:00:42,440 What's the dynamic of Satan? 17 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:42,904 And. 18 00:00:42,992 --> 00:00:45,768 And how he comes after us? 19 00:00:45,824 --> 00:00:48,216 And how did Satan fall? 20 00:00:48,368 --> 00:00:49,432 What was that all about? 21 00:00:49,536 --> 00:00:52,024 And, you know, some people say we don't need to study Satan. 22 00:00:52,072 --> 00:00:55,074 We don't need to study evil, we don't need to study hell. 23 00:00:55,232 --> 00:00:56,862 I just want to hear the good stuff. 24 00:00:57,006 --> 00:00:59,934 Well, that sounds great until we actually look at what scripture 25 00:00:59,982 --> 00:01:00,190 says. 26 00:01:00,230 --> 00:01:01,598 And the Bible says, be. 27 00:01:01,654 --> 00:01:02,590 Be sober. 28 00:01:02,750 --> 00:01:07,070 First Peter, chapter five, Be sober, be vigilant, because your 29 00:01:07,110 --> 00:01:09,006 adversary, the devil. 30 00:01:09,198 --> 00:01:09,598 And. 31 00:01:09,654 --> 00:01:09,870 And. 32 00:01:09,910 --> 00:01:13,182 And so it says right there, be sober, be vigilant, be ready, be 33 00:01:13,206 --> 00:01:15,998 on guard, because Satan is our enemy. 34 00:01:16,094 --> 00:01:16,350 And. 35 00:01:16,390 --> 00:01:18,110 And there are other passages of scripture that. 36 00:01:18,150 --> 00:01:20,612 That talk about Satan being our enemy. 37 00:01:20,806 --> 00:01:23,944 Um, and it talks about how he's walking about like a roaring 38 00:01:23,992 --> 00:01:25,544 lion, seeking whom he may devour. 39 00:01:25,592 --> 00:01:29,640 And so the idea would be that we need to be careful of what we 40 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:34,760 do in our lives and how we go about our lives and how we are combating 41 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:36,056 our against the enemy. 42 00:01:36,088 --> 00:01:37,176 So we should know our enemy. 43 00:01:37,208 --> 00:01:38,440 We should be prepared. 44 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:38,872 And. 45 00:01:38,896 --> 00:01:41,064 And the Bible warns us to do so. 46 00:01:41,232 --> 00:01:46,296 And so last week, we talked about really who Satan is in. 47 00:01:46,448 --> 00:01:47,560 In scripture. 48 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,992 I'm not who Satan is when it comes to Hollywood or a book that 49 00:01:52,016 --> 00:01:55,496 you read or, you know, a painting that you may have seen. 50 00:01:55,648 --> 00:01:57,896 But what does the Bible say about Satan? 51 00:01:57,928 --> 00:01:59,992 And we went to two passages of scripture. 52 00:02:00,136 --> 00:02:02,648 We looked at the passage in Isaiah, we looked at the passage 53 00:02:02,664 --> 00:02:07,912 in Ezekiel, which describes to some degree the look of Satan, what 54 00:02:08,016 --> 00:02:11,272 his appearance was, and his original sin, that was pride. 55 00:02:11,336 --> 00:02:14,506 He wanted to be like God, and so he was cast out. 56 00:02:14,578 --> 00:02:17,946 And so we then picked it up in Genesis, chapter three. 57 00:02:18,098 --> 00:02:22,506 And we looked at how Satan tempted Eve and Adam and brought 58 00:02:22,538 --> 00:02:24,906 about that first temptation with Adam and Eve. 59 00:02:24,938 --> 00:02:26,938 And ultimately Adam and Eve sin. 60 00:02:27,114 --> 00:02:28,842 And remember what they tried to do? 61 00:02:28,866 --> 00:02:30,970 They tried to blame someone else. 62 00:02:31,050 --> 00:02:34,170 Eve, you know, blamed Satan. 63 00:02:34,250 --> 00:02:36,106 Adam blamed his wife. 64 00:02:36,298 --> 00:02:36,650 And. 65 00:02:36,690 --> 00:02:37,418 And so that. 66 00:02:37,474 --> 00:02:40,886 That is sometimes what happens when we have individuals, Christians 67 00:02:40,918 --> 00:02:43,814 who, who fall, or really unsaved people for that matter. 68 00:02:43,902 --> 00:02:45,734 When, when they fall into a sin, they, they. 69 00:02:45,822 --> 00:02:46,070 The. 70 00:02:46,110 --> 00:02:49,830 The tendency in our flesh is to push it off on somebody else. 71 00:02:49,990 --> 00:02:53,222 Um, and even as Christians, we, we talk about, well, Satan made 72 00:02:53,246 --> 00:02:53,670 me do it. 73 00:02:53,710 --> 00:02:54,614 Well, no, he didn't. 74 00:02:54,662 --> 00:02:57,702 We're gonna talk about that whole aspect of temptation here this 75 00:02:57,726 --> 00:02:58,490 evening. 76 00:02:58,830 --> 00:03:01,414 And, and remember if, if you weren't here last week or if you 77 00:03:01,422 --> 00:03:03,286 were here last week, I'll still review this. 78 00:03:03,438 --> 00:03:08,834 There are three elements that bring temptation in this world, right? 79 00:03:09,002 --> 00:03:11,506 We have Satan, obviously. 80 00:03:11,538 --> 00:03:11,826 He's. 81 00:03:11,858 --> 00:03:12,738 He's the enemy. 82 00:03:12,834 --> 00:03:18,322 He is the one who is attacking the people of God, the ways of God, 83 00:03:18,466 --> 00:03:19,634 the work of God. 84 00:03:19,762 --> 00:03:21,090 But we do know that there's the world. 85 00:03:21,130 --> 00:03:22,754 We're going to talk about the world here this evening. 86 00:03:22,802 --> 00:03:23,266 Um, that's. 87 00:03:23,298 --> 00:03:25,666 That's Satan's system that he has put about. 88 00:03:25,738 --> 00:03:29,234 Because the Bible does say that he is the, the lowercase G God 89 00:03:29,282 --> 00:03:30,226 of this world. 90 00:03:30,378 --> 00:03:32,578 And so Satan is, is roaming about this world. 91 00:03:32,634 --> 00:03:34,066 Satan is not trapped in hell. 92 00:03:34,098 --> 00:03:35,718 Satan is not the king of hell. 93 00:03:35,874 --> 00:03:39,134 Satan is walking about this world. 94 00:03:39,302 --> 00:03:42,462 And so he is, is at this point allowed to do that. 95 00:03:42,646 --> 00:03:45,550 We talked about how he is not omnipotent. 96 00:03:45,630 --> 00:03:46,046 We talked. 97 00:03:46,078 --> 00:03:47,118 And that's all powerful. 98 00:03:47,214 --> 00:03:48,974 We talked about how he's not omnipresent. 99 00:03:49,022 --> 00:03:50,270 He's not everywhere at once. 100 00:03:50,390 --> 00:03:52,894 And we talked about how he's not omniscient. 101 00:03:52,942 --> 00:03:54,238 He doesn't know everything, okay? 102 00:03:54,254 --> 00:03:55,646 He's a created being of God. 103 00:03:55,678 --> 00:03:56,958 He's not equal to God. 104 00:03:57,054 --> 00:03:58,686 He's not an eternal being. 105 00:03:58,838 --> 00:04:00,206 He's not equal to Jesus. 106 00:04:00,238 --> 00:04:03,184 There, there are some belief systems out there, some cults out 107 00:04:03,192 --> 00:04:06,304 there that actually teach that Jesus is, is Satan's brother. 108 00:04:06,352 --> 00:04:08,352 They're brothers and they're at odds with each other. 109 00:04:08,376 --> 00:04:08,672 And that. 110 00:04:08,696 --> 00:04:09,360 That is not the case. 111 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,176 That's not what the Bible teaches in any stretch of the imagination. 112 00:04:12,368 --> 00:04:15,744 And so we, we know that there is this world, but then the Bible 113 00:04:15,792 --> 00:04:17,540 also talks about our flesh. 114 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,368 So, so there's Satan. 115 00:04:20,464 --> 00:04:21,792 The world and our flesh. 116 00:04:21,856 --> 00:04:25,344 These are all sources of, of sin in our life. 117 00:04:25,512 --> 00:04:27,920 But ultimately we can't blame any of those things. 118 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:29,284 We have to blame ourselves. 119 00:04:29,392 --> 00:04:31,532 And I want to take you to a passage of scripture that talks about 120 00:04:31,556 --> 00:04:34,620 that, because tonight we're going to talk about not so much who 121 00:04:34,660 --> 00:04:39,836 Satan is in his appearance or his history or his origin. 122 00:04:39,948 --> 00:04:43,548 We're going to talk more tonight about Satan's tactics. 123 00:04:43,724 --> 00:04:45,320 What does Satan do? 124 00:04:45,940 --> 00:04:47,644 What did he do from the very beginning? 125 00:04:47,692 --> 00:04:49,612 Well, we know that he came and tempted. 126 00:04:49,756 --> 00:04:53,500 The Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 4 that Satan is the tempter. 127 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:56,172 We also see that in the book of first Thessalonians, Satan is 128 00:04:56,196 --> 00:04:57,644 characterized as the tempter. 129 00:04:57,692 --> 00:05:00,000 So we know that in his character, he tempts. 130 00:05:00,500 --> 00:05:02,972 But I want to go to the book of James first because I'm trying 131 00:05:02,996 --> 00:05:07,228 to set up a framework to understand the way that Satan tempts 132 00:05:07,244 --> 00:05:07,800 us. 133 00:05:08,260 --> 00:05:12,172 So James chapter one and go to verse number 13 with me and I'm going 134 00:05:12,196 --> 00:05:14,940 to talk really fast tonight, and you're going to think really 135 00:05:14,980 --> 00:05:17,452 fast and listen really fast, and we're going to try to cover as 136 00:05:17,476 --> 00:05:18,300 much ground as we can. 137 00:05:18,340 --> 00:05:20,364 I really want this to be a three part series. 138 00:05:20,532 --> 00:05:22,204 I don't know if I can get everything in. 139 00:05:22,292 --> 00:05:25,828 There's a lot of content in scripture about these types of things. 140 00:05:25,924 --> 00:05:28,356 But we need to talk about temptation tonight because Satan 141 00:05:28,388 --> 00:05:29,480 is the tempter. 142 00:05:29,820 --> 00:05:32,980 And, and so we need to know how to deal with temptation because 143 00:05:33,020 --> 00:05:34,724 temptation's gonna come into our life. 144 00:05:34,812 --> 00:05:38,084 And a lot of people are taught this, that, that temptation is sin. 145 00:05:38,212 --> 00:05:40,932 Well, we're gonna see very clearly tonight that temptation is 146 00:05:40,956 --> 00:05:42,884 not the sin, okay? 147 00:05:43,012 --> 00:05:46,132 Sin actually happens after the temptation. 148 00:05:46,276 --> 00:05:49,476 And we're actually gonna see that the Bible gives us a formula 149 00:05:49,588 --> 00:05:52,708 to sin being conceived and giving. 150 00:05:52,804 --> 00:05:57,148 What we are gonna see here is a very disgusting picture of death. 151 00:05:57,284 --> 00:06:00,332 And, and so starting verse number 13 in James chapter one with 152 00:06:00,356 --> 00:06:05,740 me, we're gonna start with the idea of temptation and how temptation 153 00:06:05,820 --> 00:06:06,684 turns to sin. 154 00:06:06,732 --> 00:06:08,076 You say, I thought we were studying Satan. 155 00:06:08,108 --> 00:06:10,764 Well, this is what Satan uses as a tool. 156 00:06:10,852 --> 00:06:14,124 But at the end of this, we're gonna see that we cannot blame anybody 157 00:06:14,172 --> 00:06:16,060 else except ourselves. 158 00:06:16,220 --> 00:06:21,402 So verse 13, it says, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am 159 00:06:21,426 --> 00:06:22,618 tempted of God. 160 00:06:22,794 --> 00:06:25,770 And so actually what, what he's warning against is people saying, 161 00:06:25,810 --> 00:06:26,330 well, you know what? 162 00:06:26,370 --> 00:06:28,442 God allowed this to happen to me. 163 00:06:28,546 --> 00:06:30,330 It's God's fault that I did this. 164 00:06:30,370 --> 00:06:30,762 It's. 165 00:06:30,826 --> 00:06:32,058 I was born this way. 166 00:06:32,114 --> 00:06:34,330 And so therefore this is God's fault. 167 00:06:34,410 --> 00:06:38,122 You ever heard someone justify a perceived sin because they said, 168 00:06:38,146 --> 00:06:39,322 hey, I was born this way. 169 00:06:39,346 --> 00:06:42,682 I have natural inclinations to do this, so therefore it must be 170 00:06:42,706 --> 00:06:43,498 okay. 171 00:06:43,674 --> 00:06:46,814 The Bible says, no, God did not create you this way. 172 00:06:46,962 --> 00:06:50,870 And we are marred by the fall, which we talked about last week. 173 00:06:50,910 --> 00:06:53,910 Genesis chapter three, we're marred by the fall, and that's the, 174 00:06:53,950 --> 00:06:54,854 the fall of man. 175 00:06:54,942 --> 00:06:56,854 Therefore, that brought about sin in this world. 176 00:06:56,942 --> 00:07:00,854 And therefore, yes, all of us have natural inclinations towards 177 00:07:00,902 --> 00:07:02,742 sin, but that doesn't justify sin. 178 00:07:02,806 --> 00:07:04,166 And that doesn't put it on God. 179 00:07:04,198 --> 00:07:06,822 So he says, let no man say when he's tempted, I am tempted of 180 00:07:06,846 --> 00:07:07,238 God. 181 00:07:07,334 --> 00:07:11,170 For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he, any man. 182 00:07:11,630 --> 00:07:14,770 So the idea here would be that, that God is, is. 183 00:07:14,810 --> 00:07:17,538 Is not a sinner like we are. 184 00:07:17,594 --> 00:07:20,210 Therefore he is not going to bring that temptation to us. 185 00:07:20,330 --> 00:07:23,122 Now he allows these temptations to happen, but he is 186 00:07:23,146 --> 00:07:24,674 not the source of that temptation. 187 00:07:24,802 --> 00:07:25,602 Verse 14. 188 00:07:25,706 --> 00:07:30,370 But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust. 189 00:07:30,450 --> 00:07:33,090 Meaning we're drawn away with the things that look good to us, 190 00:07:33,130 --> 00:07:35,202 that feel good to us, that make sense to us. 191 00:07:35,226 --> 00:07:37,602 And we're going to talk about three categories of sin here this 192 00:07:37,626 --> 00:07:38,146 evening. 193 00:07:38,258 --> 00:07:40,464 That, that we, we fall into. 194 00:07:40,642 --> 00:07:41,684 We're not there yet. 195 00:07:41,772 --> 00:07:45,268 But it says that when we're drawn away of our own lust and enticed. 196 00:07:45,364 --> 00:07:49,572 And the picture that's here is, is a trap, a lure, if you will. 197 00:07:49,596 --> 00:07:52,308 And I mentioned this a while back, you know, if you, if you've 198 00:07:52,324 --> 00:07:55,156 ever been fishing, whether you're a good fisherman or not or 199 00:07:55,228 --> 00:07:57,700 fisherwoman or not, you're gonna throw a bait out. 200 00:07:57,740 --> 00:07:59,396 And the goal is for fishing. 201 00:07:59,428 --> 00:08:01,604 Unless you're those types of people that say, I don't care if 202 00:08:01,612 --> 00:08:02,228 I catch any fish. 203 00:08:02,244 --> 00:08:03,860 I just like to sit there in peace and quiet. 204 00:08:03,940 --> 00:08:04,404 That's fine. 205 00:08:04,452 --> 00:08:06,504 But when I go fishing, I want to catch something, okay? 206 00:08:06,612 --> 00:08:08,368 So you take a bait and. 207 00:08:08,424 --> 00:08:11,232 And you try to get something that's going to look like what that 208 00:08:11,256 --> 00:08:14,000 fish eats, or you actually throw out live bait, something that 209 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,624 the fish actually does eat, and you slip a hook in there. 210 00:08:16,792 --> 00:08:20,000 And when the fish bites, you pull the hook in. 211 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,616 That's what this word is talking about, enticed, meaning Satan 212 00:08:23,648 --> 00:08:29,312 is going to make a temptation look attractive and, and he's going 213 00:08:29,336 --> 00:08:33,622 to get to a place where he lures in front of somebody. 214 00:08:33,816 --> 00:08:37,050 And it says that when we're drawn away with the things that we 215 00:08:37,090 --> 00:08:39,274 want and we are enticed. 216 00:08:39,322 --> 00:08:41,674 And then it says, and then when lust hath conceived. 217 00:08:41,802 --> 00:08:44,906 And so it's harder to see in the English, but in the Greek it's 218 00:08:44,938 --> 00:08:45,690 very clear. 219 00:08:45,810 --> 00:08:48,074 This is mirroring birth. 220 00:08:48,202 --> 00:08:50,074 So there's conception, okay? 221 00:08:50,122 --> 00:08:54,586 So there's the temptation that meets the lust with the enticement 222 00:08:54,618 --> 00:08:55,578 that comes together. 223 00:08:55,714 --> 00:08:59,994 And there's that conception of this, as it says here, it is conceived 224 00:09:00,042 --> 00:09:01,724 and it bring forth sin. 225 00:09:01,922 --> 00:09:06,520 And so basically, sin is formed when the temptation is there 226 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,048 and our fleshly lust desires meet that temptation and we give 227 00:09:11,104 --> 00:09:12,264 into that temptation. 228 00:09:12,392 --> 00:09:16,664 Sin is then conceived and then so, so, so that's the sin. 229 00:09:16,712 --> 00:09:20,056 But then it's actually going to talk about what that sin brings 230 00:09:20,088 --> 00:09:21,380 to us in our life. 231 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:27,214 And sin, when it is finished or birthed, bringeth forth death. 232 00:09:27,352 --> 00:09:29,874 And so actually, the picture here, if you're reading the original 233 00:09:29,922 --> 00:09:32,994 language, is basically a stillbirth, okay? 234 00:09:33,042 --> 00:09:34,002 Birth of death. 235 00:09:34,106 --> 00:09:36,242 It's the opposite of new life. 236 00:09:36,346 --> 00:09:39,378 It's the opposite of what John3 talks about when it's talking 237 00:09:39,394 --> 00:09:40,994 about being born again. 238 00:09:41,162 --> 00:09:44,210 And so in the concept of sin, he says, okay, sin is a. 239 00:09:44,250 --> 00:09:45,634 It starts with the temptation. 240 00:09:45,762 --> 00:09:49,186 Then lust comes in and we desire that sin and we consummate 241 00:09:49,218 --> 00:09:49,762 that sin. 242 00:09:49,826 --> 00:09:51,922 And therefore at that point, it's conceived. 243 00:09:51,986 --> 00:09:54,150 And at that point it's gonna bring forth death. 244 00:09:54,190 --> 00:09:58,918 And that speaks of the end of that sin, destruction and, and hopelessness 245 00:09:59,014 --> 00:10:01,654 and, and, and, and whole. 246 00:10:01,702 --> 00:10:04,598 And ultimately we know the wages of sin is death. 247 00:10:04,654 --> 00:10:08,454 Now we know that God's grace and then the salvation that's extended 248 00:10:08,502 --> 00:10:11,254 to us supersedes that death. 249 00:10:11,342 --> 00:10:13,510 We know that ultimately we have hope in Jesus Christ. 250 00:10:13,550 --> 00:10:15,878 But that's the picture of the temptation. 251 00:10:15,974 --> 00:10:22,206 Now we're gonna pause here, and we're going to look at an example 252 00:10:22,238 --> 00:10:23,662 of this actually happening. 253 00:10:23,726 --> 00:10:30,270 We actually have an example of Satan coming to an individual and 254 00:10:30,310 --> 00:10:36,958 tempting him this very same way with three elements of sin. 255 00:10:37,054 --> 00:10:38,350 And we're going to look at that now. 256 00:10:38,390 --> 00:10:40,974 But before we get there, I want you to see those three elements 257 00:10:41,022 --> 00:10:43,646 of sin, because you're going to need to know these things, okay? 258 00:10:43,758 --> 00:10:47,130 You need to identify the tools that Satan is using. 259 00:10:47,530 --> 00:10:50,270 So, so let's look at First John, chapter two. 260 00:10:50,970 --> 00:10:52,402 First John, chapter two. 261 00:10:52,506 --> 00:10:54,802 We're gonna get to our main text in Matthew chapter four this 262 00:10:54,826 --> 00:10:55,154 evening. 263 00:10:55,202 --> 00:11:00,114 But so far we've talked about what temptation is, how temptation 264 00:11:00,162 --> 00:11:04,230 can turn to sin, and the outcome of that sin. 265 00:11:04,730 --> 00:11:11,026 But, but we need to look at, at the categories of sin in this 266 00:11:11,098 --> 00:11:16,716 world because really Satan has one lie, that this sin is better 267 00:11:16,788 --> 00:11:18,760 than what God has for you. 268 00:11:19,060 --> 00:11:22,396 And he really only packages three different sins, okay? 269 00:11:22,508 --> 00:11:24,492 And we're gonna see that here in John chapter. 270 00:11:24,556 --> 00:11:25,820 First John, chapter two. 271 00:11:25,940 --> 00:11:27,640 He says, Love not the world. 272 00:11:28,260 --> 00:11:29,724 This is verse 15. 273 00:11:29,892 --> 00:11:31,276 Love not the world. 274 00:11:31,428 --> 00:11:31,740 So. 275 00:11:31,780 --> 00:11:34,780 So we know that the world system is what Satan has set into 276 00:11:34,820 --> 00:11:35,452 place. 277 00:11:35,636 --> 00:11:38,130 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. 278 00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:39,970 If any man loved the world. 279 00:11:40,510 --> 00:11:43,174 And by the way, this is not talking about, like, the world earth. 280 00:11:43,222 --> 00:11:44,566 Like, I, I don't love this earth. 281 00:11:44,598 --> 00:11:45,078 I hate this. 282 00:11:45,134 --> 00:11:47,334 He's talking about the world system, okay? 283 00:11:47,382 --> 00:11:50,166 If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him 284 00:11:50,238 --> 00:11:52,050 for all that is in the world. 285 00:11:52,590 --> 00:11:54,166 The lust of the flesh. 286 00:11:54,358 --> 00:11:59,302 Remember that lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and 287 00:11:59,326 --> 00:12:01,686 the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. 288 00:12:01,758 --> 00:12:04,112 I want you to remember those three things because when we can 289 00:12:04,136 --> 00:12:08,752 identify what those are, we're able to identify what that temptation 290 00:12:08,816 --> 00:12:09,440 is when. 291 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,408 When we can categorize it in these areas. 292 00:12:11,464 --> 00:12:14,672 So lust of the flesh, what feels good? 293 00:12:14,856 --> 00:12:15,424 Okay. 294 00:12:15,472 --> 00:12:16,544 This is good for me. 295 00:12:16,632 --> 00:12:17,504 Lust of the eyes. 296 00:12:17,552 --> 00:12:17,984 This looks. 297 00:12:18,032 --> 00:12:19,280 This looks attractive. 298 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,456 This is something that's appealing to my. 299 00:12:21,528 --> 00:12:21,808 My. 300 00:12:21,864 --> 00:12:23,072 My vision, my. 301 00:12:23,176 --> 00:12:23,888 My sight. 302 00:12:23,984 --> 00:12:25,168 And then the pride of life. 303 00:12:25,224 --> 00:12:26,416 It's all wrapped up in pride. 304 00:12:26,448 --> 00:12:27,472 It's all wrapped up in me. 305 00:12:27,496 --> 00:12:28,560 It's all wrapped up in me. 306 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,706 First, I, um, step on everyone else. 307 00:12:31,898 --> 00:12:32,778 Get to the top. 308 00:12:32,834 --> 00:12:34,618 That's what pride of life is all about. 309 00:12:34,674 --> 00:12:36,746 So I want you to remember those three things, because we're 310 00:12:36,778 --> 00:12:42,202 gonna go to Matthew chapter four, and we're gonna see the example 311 00:12:42,266 --> 00:12:45,418 of Jesus, how to fight against temptation. 312 00:12:45,514 --> 00:12:47,642 We're gonna see two different things in Matthew chapter four. 313 00:12:47,666 --> 00:12:52,910 We're gonna see, number one, how Satan tries to tempt. 314 00:12:53,810 --> 00:12:58,450 And we see a perfect example of how to combat that temptation. 315 00:12:58,790 --> 00:13:01,342 Now, a lot of people say, why is this passage of scripture here? 316 00:13:01,366 --> 00:13:03,790 And there's a lot of theologians that will argue why this 317 00:13:03,830 --> 00:13:07,726 passage is here, but we can at least all agree on this is an example 318 00:13:07,758 --> 00:13:12,222 for us as believers to learn how to fight against the enemy. 319 00:13:12,366 --> 00:13:14,974 Now, we know that we are not God. 320 00:13:15,022 --> 00:13:16,366 We know that we are not Jesus. 321 00:13:16,398 --> 00:13:20,014 But remember, everything that Jesus did in his life was an example 322 00:13:20,062 --> 00:13:21,134 for us to follow. 323 00:13:21,222 --> 00:13:21,470 Right? 324 00:13:21,510 --> 00:13:21,710 Because. 325 00:13:21,750 --> 00:13:23,266 Because he was 100% man. 326 00:13:23,398 --> 00:13:25,082 100% God, but 100% man. 327 00:13:25,106 --> 00:13:28,778 And so what Jesus does here is he gives us the blueprints to fight 328 00:13:28,834 --> 00:13:32,346 against the enemy, to fight against temptation. 329 00:13:32,538 --> 00:13:36,010 And so I want you to see this here in Matthew chapter four with 330 00:13:36,050 --> 00:13:36,630 me. 331 00:13:37,170 --> 00:13:38,426 Temptation is. 332 00:13:38,498 --> 00:13:45,306 Is usually greater after a public declaration of our faith. 333 00:13:45,418 --> 00:13:47,050 Okay, you might say, what does that mean? 334 00:13:47,170 --> 00:13:51,846 The more that you publicly declare trying to serve God and trying 335 00:13:51,918 --> 00:13:54,022 to live for him, the. 336 00:13:54,126 --> 00:13:56,230 The more the temptations will come. 337 00:13:56,270 --> 00:13:56,470 And. 338 00:13:56,510 --> 00:13:58,134 And you say, well, show me that. 339 00:13:58,222 --> 00:14:01,142 I can show you that right before Matthew chapter three, what 340 00:14:01,166 --> 00:14:01,670 happens? 341 00:14:01,750 --> 00:14:04,438 Jesus's public display of his earthly ministry. 342 00:14:04,534 --> 00:14:05,350 Okay, so. 343 00:14:05,390 --> 00:14:08,774 So Jesus is baptized in the Jordan and now publicly comes on 344 00:14:08,782 --> 00:14:11,206 the scene to say, look, I am going to be teaching and preaching 345 00:14:11,238 --> 00:14:12,118 as the Messiah. 346 00:14:12,214 --> 00:14:15,014 So Jesus makes a public display of who he is. 347 00:14:15,102 --> 00:14:18,070 Prior to that, many people did not understand who Jesus was. 348 00:14:18,110 --> 00:14:21,302 John the Baptist knew, but everyone else thought, remember, 349 00:14:21,366 --> 00:14:23,046 Jesus is just the Carpenter son. 350 00:14:23,158 --> 00:14:24,838 They didn't understand who Jesus was. 351 00:14:24,974 --> 00:14:26,518 Now many of them still didn't understand. 352 00:14:26,574 --> 00:14:28,646 But Jesus is now proclaiming who he is. 353 00:14:28,718 --> 00:14:31,190 And if you remember, what, what did John say when Jesus comes 354 00:14:31,230 --> 00:14:34,022 down to the baptism, behold the Lamb of God, which takes away 355 00:14:34,046 --> 00:14:34,854 the sin of the world. 356 00:14:34,942 --> 00:14:40,370 So, so Jesus has made a public display of a declaration of, of, 357 00:14:40,750 --> 00:14:41,974 of who he is. 358 00:14:42,062 --> 00:14:47,200 And many times in our life, testing will come when we make a 359 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,152 public display or make a stand for something to be true when it 360 00:14:51,176 --> 00:14:52,800 comes to the word of God. 361 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,688 So, so Jesus's temptations are going to follow those same three 362 00:14:56,744 --> 00:14:59,600 patterns that we talked about in first John, lust of the flesh, 363 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:01,072 lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 364 00:15:01,096 --> 00:15:02,048 And we're gonna look into that. 365 00:15:02,104 --> 00:15:06,272 So verse number one, it says, then Jesus led up of the spirit into 366 00:15:06,296 --> 00:15:07,984 the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 367 00:15:08,032 --> 00:15:10,230 So we know that this is God's will for this to happen. 368 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,642 And by the way, that's why many cases we, we say, well, why 369 00:15:13,666 --> 00:15:15,578 did God allow this temptation to happen? 370 00:15:15,634 --> 00:15:19,114 Well, that word temptation in and of itself just means test a trial. 371 00:15:19,242 --> 00:15:21,322 The, the, the trial is not the sin. 372 00:15:21,386 --> 00:15:24,458 It's, it's how we deal with that trial is whether or not it's 373 00:15:24,474 --> 00:15:27,146 a good thing of growth or a bad thing of sin. 374 00:15:27,258 --> 00:15:30,874 And, and so it says that Jesus is led into the wilderness to be 375 00:15:30,882 --> 00:15:32,190 tempted of the devil. 376 00:15:32,610 --> 00:15:36,602 And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward and 377 00:15:36,626 --> 00:15:36,954 hungered. 378 00:15:37,002 --> 00:15:39,434 Now there's, there's a lot that we could say about that in verse 379 00:15:39,482 --> 00:15:40,010 number two. 380 00:15:40,050 --> 00:15:44,026 Obviously Jesus was preparing himself through fasting for this 381 00:15:44,098 --> 00:15:44,682 moment. 382 00:15:44,826 --> 00:15:48,138 Um, but, but others would say, you know, sometimes Satan might attack 383 00:15:48,194 --> 00:15:51,722 you in your weaker physical moments and you, you might be able 384 00:15:51,746 --> 00:15:52,794 to project that there. 385 00:15:52,882 --> 00:15:55,770 But nonetheless, I think that this is a lesson for us to be ready 386 00:15:55,850 --> 00:15:57,066 for temptation. 387 00:15:57,258 --> 00:16:00,378 Verse 3, it says, and when the tempter, remember we said that that's 388 00:16:00,394 --> 00:16:02,522 one of the names of Satan, the tempter came to him. 389 00:16:02,626 --> 00:16:06,592 He said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be 390 00:16:06,616 --> 00:16:07,488 made bread. 391 00:16:07,664 --> 00:16:09,300 So this is the first temptation. 392 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,288 You might say, well, what is Satan trying to do here? 393 00:16:12,344 --> 00:16:16,192 Um, well, well obviously Satan is appealing to Jesus's physical 394 00:16:16,256 --> 00:16:17,740 need of hunger, right? 395 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,860 We just learned that Jesus went 40 days without eating. 396 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,880 And, and we know that Jesus was a hundred percent man. 397 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,128 We know that Jesus had hunger. 398 00:16:26,144 --> 00:16:27,872 We know that Jesus had pain. 399 00:16:28,016 --> 00:16:32,272 And, and so at this point, our, our Lord is, is hungry and the 400 00:16:32,296 --> 00:16:36,820 devil tempts him to change these stones into bread. 401 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:42,544 And he replies with, with scripture Jesus actually replies 402 00:16:42,592 --> 00:16:43,280 with scripture. 403 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,600 And if you've been taught this passage before you, you will know 404 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:48,992 what I'm going for here. 405 00:16:49,016 --> 00:16:53,312 It's the idea that this is the tools that we use against temptation, 406 00:16:53,376 --> 00:16:54,160 the word of God. 407 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:55,200 What does Jesus use? 408 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,080 Jesus uses scripture to combat against the enemy. 409 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:03,090 And so this, this first temptation here is a temptation that 410 00:17:03,130 --> 00:17:04,386 appeals to Jesus. 411 00:17:04,498 --> 00:17:05,682 Feeding himself. 412 00:17:05,826 --> 00:17:08,002 Okay, lust of the flesh. 413 00:17:08,146 --> 00:17:11,282 Okay, I'm going to answer Satan, and Satan is going to give 414 00:17:11,306 --> 00:17:12,626 me what I need physically. 415 00:17:12,738 --> 00:17:13,522 Okay. 416 00:17:13,666 --> 00:17:18,306 Now Jesus answered and said, it is written, man shall not live 417 00:17:18,378 --> 00:17:21,666 by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth 418 00:17:21,698 --> 00:17:22,034 of God. 419 00:17:22,082 --> 00:17:25,234 You would say, well, that sounds pretty noble that Jesus would 420 00:17:25,242 --> 00:17:25,522 say that. 421 00:17:25,546 --> 00:17:29,094 Well, Jesus is saying that for a couple of reasons. 422 00:17:29,142 --> 00:17:31,382 One, because he is God and he wrote scripture. 423 00:17:31,446 --> 00:17:34,278 But number two, he's appealing to actually a passage of scripture. 424 00:17:34,294 --> 00:17:36,534 That's Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verse 3. 425 00:17:36,702 --> 00:17:42,854 And so Jesus uses the word of God to combat against the lust of 426 00:17:42,862 --> 00:17:43,542 the flesh. 427 00:17:43,686 --> 00:17:45,830 Okay, I don't live by bread alone. 428 00:17:45,990 --> 00:17:46,310 I. 429 00:17:46,350 --> 00:17:47,878 I live by the word of God. 430 00:17:48,054 --> 00:17:50,934 And so that's his initial stand against the enemy is this. 431 00:17:51,022 --> 00:17:53,798 Satan is always going to try to get us to appeal to something 432 00:17:53,854 --> 00:17:55,342 else other than scripture. 433 00:17:55,526 --> 00:17:57,854 Okay, so it might be the lust of the flesh. 434 00:17:57,902 --> 00:17:58,926 It might be that we're hungry. 435 00:17:58,958 --> 00:18:00,530 He's gonna appeal to our hunger. 436 00:18:01,430 --> 00:18:06,430 We, we might be trying to possibly go after this, and this 437 00:18:06,470 --> 00:18:07,342 might feel good to us. 438 00:18:07,366 --> 00:18:10,782 And Satan is gonna try to use that as our reasoning tool, not the 439 00:18:10,806 --> 00:18:11,694 word of God. 440 00:18:11,822 --> 00:18:15,422 And so one of Satan's tactics is we're gonna see here in a little 441 00:18:15,446 --> 00:18:19,774 bit that he will actually, if he knows that we will not fall for 442 00:18:19,862 --> 00:18:22,446 appealing to something outside of scripture, he will try to twist 443 00:18:22,478 --> 00:18:24,180 scripture, but he's not at that point yet. 444 00:18:24,220 --> 00:18:27,460 At this point, he's gonna try to just say, like, try to base your 445 00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:30,040 decisions off of something else other than scripture. 446 00:18:30,540 --> 00:18:32,820 Okay, what does Jesus do? 447 00:18:32,940 --> 00:18:34,596 He responds in the perfect way. 448 00:18:34,668 --> 00:18:34,900 He. 449 00:18:34,940 --> 00:18:39,764 He responds with, hey, no, I am not going to appeal to bread alone. 450 00:18:39,812 --> 00:18:42,436 But every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, it's God's 451 00:18:42,468 --> 00:18:44,920 word that I'm going to trust in this temptation. 452 00:18:45,660 --> 00:18:47,220 So you say, what do I do? 453 00:18:47,340 --> 00:18:49,754 Well, when the temptation comes, we appeal to scripture. 454 00:18:49,852 --> 00:18:51,726 What does God say about this? 455 00:18:51,878 --> 00:18:58,110 Not the world, not my flesh, not my friends, not. 456 00:18:58,150 --> 00:18:58,766 Not my. 457 00:18:58,838 --> 00:18:59,850 My co workers. 458 00:19:00,550 --> 00:19:02,782 But what does God say about this? 459 00:19:02,966 --> 00:19:06,590 And when we appeal to something in the eyes of God, what. 460 00:19:06,630 --> 00:19:09,374 What would God say about this relationship? 461 00:19:09,422 --> 00:19:11,374 What would God say about this decision? 462 00:19:11,462 --> 00:19:14,910 What would God say about this change that I'm making in my life, 463 00:19:14,950 --> 00:19:16,912 well, go to Scripture and we match it up. 464 00:19:16,936 --> 00:19:20,144 And if it does not match up with Scripture, we don't do it and 465 00:19:20,152 --> 00:19:20,848 we reject it. 466 00:19:20,904 --> 00:19:22,800 And, and that's why the Holy Spirit's there for us. 467 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,936 Because you might say, well, Pastor, I might not be able to pull 468 00:19:25,968 --> 00:19:27,776 out a Bible and find a passage of Scripture. 469 00:19:27,808 --> 00:19:29,904 In that case, well, number one, be prepared. 470 00:19:29,952 --> 00:19:30,704 Be, be ready. 471 00:19:30,752 --> 00:19:32,464 Have, have your scriptures memorized. 472 00:19:32,512 --> 00:19:35,808 Have your scriptures, if you meditate upon them daily, you're 473 00:19:35,824 --> 00:19:38,656 going to have more and more of a, an acumen to pull that up. 474 00:19:38,728 --> 00:19:41,392 But what I will say is that the Holy Spirit is also given to 475 00:19:41,416 --> 00:19:44,578 us so that we might understand the conviction and we might understand 476 00:19:44,634 --> 00:19:46,450 the peace of the Holy Spirit and that. 477 00:19:46,490 --> 00:19:48,866 And that is all tied together to the Christian walk. 478 00:19:48,938 --> 00:19:53,426 So the first appeal to the flesh, Jesus responds with the word. 479 00:19:53,538 --> 00:19:56,642 He responds with the sufficiency of the Word of God. 480 00:19:56,786 --> 00:20:01,682 And so the second temptation comes in the realm of the pride of 481 00:20:01,706 --> 00:20:01,938 life. 482 00:20:01,994 --> 00:20:03,090 So the lust of the flesh. 483 00:20:03,170 --> 00:20:04,150 He's hungry. 484 00:20:04,890 --> 00:20:06,482 Turn the stones into bread. 485 00:20:06,626 --> 00:20:08,990 Now you would say, well, couldn't Jesus have done that? 486 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:10,904 Theologically speaking? 487 00:20:10,952 --> 00:20:16,584 Jesus could have, but it would have been an assertion of Satan telling 488 00:20:16,632 --> 00:20:18,936 Jesus to do so in his obedience to Satan. 489 00:20:18,968 --> 00:20:19,160 That. 490 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:20,340 That would be him. 491 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,136 Yes, I could do that, but I'm going to be doing it for the wrong 492 00:20:24,168 --> 00:20:26,420 reasons because Satan is appealing to it. 493 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:28,888 And that's really what we're seeing here. 494 00:20:28,944 --> 00:20:30,360 And then let's move on. 495 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,416 So, so Jesus is tempted with the lust of the flesh. 496 00:20:33,528 --> 00:20:37,040 And now the next one is going to be the, the pride of life. 497 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,552 And so the second temptation comes in verse number five. 498 00:20:39,656 --> 00:20:44,464 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and set of him 499 00:20:44,472 --> 00:20:48,752 on the pinnacle of the temple and saith unto him, if thou be the 500 00:20:48,776 --> 00:20:50,620 Son of God, cast thyself down. 501 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,096 For it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning 502 00:20:54,128 --> 00:20:59,248 thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time 503 00:20:59,384 --> 00:21:01,940 thou dash thy foot against the stone. 504 00:21:02,910 --> 00:21:06,630 And then we're gonna see verse 7, Jesus's response. 505 00:21:06,710 --> 00:21:09,686 And Jesus said unto him, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt 506 00:21:09,718 --> 00:21:10,810 the Lord thy God. 507 00:21:11,790 --> 00:21:15,654 And, and so here what happens is the devil uses, actually scripture. 508 00:21:15,702 --> 00:21:17,570 He uses Psalm 91. 509 00:21:18,510 --> 00:21:21,638 But, but what he does here is he twists it. 510 00:21:21,774 --> 00:21:26,790 What, what he's trying to get Jesus to do in temptation was to 511 00:21:26,830 --> 00:21:33,410 get Jesus to abuse his powers to, to, to take it out of context. 512 00:21:33,990 --> 00:21:38,158 And, and so if Satan is the initiator of this decision, it's 513 00:21:38,174 --> 00:21:39,130 the wrong decision. 514 00:21:39,510 --> 00:21:42,174 And so he says, hey, Jesus, jump off this temple. 515 00:21:42,222 --> 00:21:43,182 The angels will save you. 516 00:21:43,206 --> 00:21:44,222 The angels will protect you. 517 00:21:44,246 --> 00:21:45,406 You know you have a purpose. 518 00:21:45,518 --> 00:21:47,742 Well, could Jesus have done that? 519 00:21:47,766 --> 00:21:49,134 And could he have been protected? 520 00:21:49,182 --> 00:21:49,886 Is that Scripture? 521 00:21:49,918 --> 00:21:51,822 Yes, but again, it's the start of it. 522 00:21:51,846 --> 00:21:52,574 It's the temptation. 523 00:21:52,622 --> 00:21:56,182 It's Satan trying to get Jesus to do what Satan wants him to do. 524 00:21:56,286 --> 00:22:00,150 And so what happens here is the devil uses passage of scripture. 525 00:22:00,310 --> 00:22:02,486 Now you would say, what's the lesson that we can learn from that? 526 00:22:02,558 --> 00:22:05,382 The lesson that we can learn from that is if Satan can get you 527 00:22:05,406 --> 00:22:08,582 to reject scripture completely, what he will try to do 528 00:22:08,606 --> 00:22:11,526 is try to use scripture and twist it and take it out of context. 529 00:22:11,638 --> 00:22:14,486 There are plenty of people over the years that have pointed 530 00:22:14,518 --> 00:22:18,134 to a sin in their life and use scripture to justify it or twist 531 00:22:18,182 --> 00:22:21,310 Scripture out of context to justify what they are doing. 532 00:22:22,010 --> 00:22:23,506 That is common. 533 00:22:23,698 --> 00:22:28,002 You can take passages of scripture, as we say, out of context, 534 00:22:28,066 --> 00:22:31,810 or twist their meaning or apply it to today's culture and miss 535 00:22:31,850 --> 00:22:34,626 out on the whole understanding of what God wants us to be. 536 00:22:34,698 --> 00:22:37,794 So I'm not going to give a ton of examples of that because we could 537 00:22:37,802 --> 00:22:39,010 get into a rabbit trail. 538 00:22:39,090 --> 00:22:40,578 But what I will say is this. 539 00:22:40,714 --> 00:22:45,042 God wants us to take his word as it is written, to take it in context, 540 00:22:45,106 --> 00:22:46,718 to understand his whole message. 541 00:22:46,834 --> 00:22:48,566 And so what Satan does, Satan knows scripture. 542 00:22:48,598 --> 00:22:51,750 By the way, Satan understands scripture better than probably most 543 00:22:51,790 --> 00:22:54,342 Christians that walk around, all right, he's going to be able 544 00:22:54,366 --> 00:22:56,454 to quote it, he's going to be able to twist it. 545 00:22:56,542 --> 00:23:00,370 And if we are not prepared and if we are not ready, if we are not 546 00:23:00,670 --> 00:23:04,534 equipped with the Word of God and comfortable with the Word of 547 00:23:04,542 --> 00:23:07,798 God and understanding the Word of God, it will be very easy to buy 548 00:23:07,854 --> 00:23:08,806 into those lies. 549 00:23:08,838 --> 00:23:10,550 And so what does Jesus do? 550 00:23:10,590 --> 00:23:14,612 Well, Jesus responds with another scripture passage. 551 00:23:14,766 --> 00:23:17,272 Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 16. 552 00:23:17,376 --> 00:23:18,312 He says this. 553 00:23:18,416 --> 00:23:20,856 It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 554 00:23:20,888 --> 00:23:22,488 So he's understanding what Satan is doing. 555 00:23:22,544 --> 00:23:25,256 Satan is tempting Jesus to do something that's not part of God's 556 00:23:25,288 --> 00:23:27,048 will, not part of God's plan. 557 00:23:27,184 --> 00:23:30,120 And so Jesus says, no, again, you're twisting it. 558 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,904 You're tempting God in that twisting. 559 00:23:32,952 --> 00:23:35,560 And therefore I will not follow through. 560 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,940 And so that that was the pride of life. 561 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,608 And then what we can see here is the third temptation concerns 562 00:23:42,624 --> 00:23:44,860 the lust of the eyes, verse eight. 563 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,816 It says in verse eight again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding 564 00:23:48,848 --> 00:23:52,192 high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and 565 00:23:52,216 --> 00:23:52,960 the Glory of them. 566 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:58,752 And now remember, Satan has at that time and still today, if you 567 00:23:58,776 --> 00:24:02,944 want to call it jurisdiction of this world, Satan has that authority 568 00:24:02,992 --> 00:24:03,488 right now. 569 00:24:03,544 --> 00:24:06,550 Now ultimately God is the full authority. 570 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,794 Uh, but Satan had in his mind felt like he had the right to offer 571 00:24:10,882 --> 00:24:11,642 this to Jesus. 572 00:24:11,706 --> 00:24:14,630 Basically, Jesus, you can become the king of the world. 573 00:24:15,090 --> 00:24:16,310 That's what he's saying. 574 00:24:16,690 --> 00:24:19,562 He says, look at all the kingdoms of the world and look at 575 00:24:19,586 --> 00:24:20,954 all the glory that they have. 576 00:24:21,042 --> 00:24:21,482 Verse 9. 577 00:24:21,506 --> 00:24:24,474 He saith unto him, all these things, all these kingdoms will I 578 00:24:24,482 --> 00:24:27,710 give thee if thou will fall down and worship. 579 00:24:28,610 --> 00:24:35,572 Now we know that Jesus ultimately will be king of the world, 580 00:24:35,676 --> 00:24:36,228 right? 581 00:24:36,364 --> 00:24:37,480 Prince of peace. 582 00:24:37,980 --> 00:24:40,200 The government will rest upon his shoulder. 583 00:24:40,780 --> 00:24:42,800 That's, that's who the Messiah is. 584 00:24:43,900 --> 00:24:48,228 And, and what Satan is offering Jesus is a, is a easy way 585 00:24:48,284 --> 00:24:51,200 out to circumvent God's will. 586 00:24:51,500 --> 00:24:54,932 God's will was Jesus would go to the cross and pay the price for 587 00:24:54,956 --> 00:24:58,452 our sins and ultimately be culminated as the Messiah one day 588 00:24:58,476 --> 00:24:59,450 at the end times. 589 00:24:59,620 --> 00:25:02,766 But Satan is saying, hey, don't follow the Father's will. 590 00:25:02,918 --> 00:25:05,518 I can give, which I'm gonna give it to you right now. 591 00:25:05,654 --> 00:25:09,150 And, and, and so this is the lust of the eyes, this is the attractional 592 00:25:09,230 --> 00:25:12,014 thing to say, look, look at all these things that you can have. 593 00:25:12,102 --> 00:25:14,930 This is a quick route to being the Messiah. 594 00:25:15,830 --> 00:25:20,142 You know, this would be bypassing what we would call the 595 00:25:20,166 --> 00:25:25,228 most important week ever is the week leading up to Jesus crucifixion. 596 00:25:25,334 --> 00:25:28,544 Um, this would be bypassing all the things that God had ordained. 597 00:25:28,592 --> 00:25:33,152 And so the devil at that point had control over the kingdoms of 598 00:25:33,176 --> 00:25:33,520 the world. 599 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:35,500 Ephesians chapter two tells us that. 600 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:43,120 But he was going to offer Jesus this if Jesus gave him his 601 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:44,580 allegiance, his worship. 602 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:47,728 And you know, I think that so many times we think about, well I'm 603 00:25:47,744 --> 00:25:50,502 not like, I'm not like a Satan worshiper or anything. 604 00:25:50,696 --> 00:25:57,802 The Bible very clearly says that if we are, if we are rejecting 605 00:25:57,866 --> 00:26:03,002 God doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what we're worshiping in this 606 00:26:03,026 --> 00:26:03,162 world. 607 00:26:03,186 --> 00:26:08,170 It could be a golden idol or it could be ourselves or it could 608 00:26:08,210 --> 00:26:10,746 be some cult like figure. 609 00:26:10,858 --> 00:26:13,882 The Bible says that if we are not worshiping the true God, we are 610 00:26:13,906 --> 00:26:15,306 ultimately on the side of the enemy. 611 00:26:15,338 --> 00:26:17,958 We are enemies of God, we are enmity with God. 612 00:26:18,154 --> 00:26:21,502 And so I'm gonna make a statement that's gonna probably be 613 00:26:21,526 --> 00:26:22,718 a little grading here. 614 00:26:22,854 --> 00:26:25,934 And you know, it's in love, but I think it's scriptural. 615 00:26:25,982 --> 00:26:31,070 Anything outside of Christ, like salvation or Christ centered 616 00:26:31,150 --> 00:26:35,086 salvation is of the of Satan. 617 00:26:35,118 --> 00:26:38,062 Any false religion outside of true biblical Christianity is of 618 00:26:38,086 --> 00:26:38,318 Satan. 619 00:26:38,334 --> 00:26:39,502 I'm just gonna say that, okay? 620 00:26:39,566 --> 00:26:42,030 Because the reality is, is that Satan has created all these 621 00:26:42,070 --> 00:26:44,958 different ways, all these different religions, all these different 622 00:26:45,014 --> 00:26:47,604 cults so that there can be confusion in this world. 623 00:26:47,692 --> 00:26:50,980 Uh, I, I, I've heard it said there's mountaintop theology. 624 00:26:51,060 --> 00:26:53,284 Like you start on this side of the mountain, I start on this side 625 00:26:53,292 --> 00:26:53,684 of the mountain. 626 00:26:53,732 --> 00:26:55,828 It doesn't matter how we get up, but once we get to the top, we're 627 00:26:55,844 --> 00:26:56,932 all believers, right? 628 00:26:57,036 --> 00:26:59,972 That's the message that is being taught in this world. 629 00:26:59,996 --> 00:27:03,332 And what we're going to see even further in the future in the 630 00:27:03,356 --> 00:27:03,780 end times. 631 00:27:03,820 --> 00:27:06,852 That's the, that's the big lie that everyone can reach heaven the 632 00:27:06,876 --> 00:27:07,476 same way. 633 00:27:07,548 --> 00:27:10,836 Everyone is just all, it's all about being genuine. 634 00:27:10,868 --> 00:27:13,218 It's all about being a good person. 635 00:27:13,354 --> 00:27:15,986 And, and so what the Bible very clearly teaches is that, hey, 636 00:27:16,018 --> 00:27:16,690 you know what? 637 00:27:16,810 --> 00:27:19,698 If you're not worshiping Jesus, you are worshiping Satan, 638 00:27:19,714 --> 00:27:20,994 you are worshiping the enemy. 639 00:27:21,042 --> 00:27:24,674 And therefore what we see here in this case is that there's a call 640 00:27:24,762 --> 00:27:26,722 for Jesus to worship Satan. 641 00:27:26,866 --> 00:27:29,310 And, and Jesus obviously rejects it. 642 00:27:30,250 --> 00:27:34,770 And, and you know, he, he again points to scripture here and, 643 00:27:34,810 --> 00:27:38,006 and I think it's important to see that then Jesus said to him, 644 00:27:38,138 --> 00:27:41,054 verse 10, get thee, get thee hence, Satan. 645 00:27:41,182 --> 00:27:44,510 For it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him 646 00:27:44,550 --> 00:27:45,230 alone. 647 00:27:45,390 --> 00:27:47,358 Him only shalt thou serve. 648 00:27:47,454 --> 00:27:53,982 And so there Jesus replies in a firm way with a scripture passage. 649 00:27:54,046 --> 00:27:56,090 Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 13. 650 00:27:57,110 --> 00:28:03,502 And so all three of these angles of attack, Jesus answers with 651 00:28:03,526 --> 00:28:04,294 scripture. 652 00:28:04,462 --> 00:28:07,462 And so the lesson that we can learn from this is that Satan is 653 00:28:07,486 --> 00:28:09,718 gonna use the same package. 654 00:28:09,894 --> 00:28:12,838 He might try to dress it up a different way, but it's always gonna 655 00:28:12,854 --> 00:28:16,130 be lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. 656 00:28:16,510 --> 00:28:17,846 So what's the answer for us? 657 00:28:17,918 --> 00:28:18,614 The same way. 658 00:28:18,702 --> 00:28:24,326 Jesus could have responded in many different ways, but he responded 659 00:28:24,358 --> 00:28:28,342 with scripture for an example for us, to show us that there is 660 00:28:28,366 --> 00:28:29,858 power in the word of God. 661 00:28:30,054 --> 00:28:34,602 And, and you might say, well, how do we, how do we know that? 662 00:28:34,786 --> 00:28:38,282 Show me in scripture other passages that actually say that. 663 00:28:38,386 --> 00:28:41,866 Well, Ephesians chapter six, keep, stay with me in Matthew chapter 664 00:28:41,898 --> 00:28:42,090 four. 665 00:28:42,130 --> 00:28:44,010 But we're gonna go to Ephesians chapter six. 666 00:28:44,130 --> 00:28:46,746 Most of you know what Ephesians chapter six all about. 667 00:28:46,898 --> 00:28:49,870 Ephesians chapter six is what's called the armor of God. 668 00:28:50,530 --> 00:28:53,610 There's a list there of the armor of God. 669 00:28:53,770 --> 00:28:56,282 And a little while, I think it was last summer, we Went through 670 00:28:56,306 --> 00:28:59,484 a study in Ephesians chapter six at our church. 671 00:28:59,612 --> 00:29:03,212 We had a whole booklet that we went through and we talked about 672 00:29:03,236 --> 00:29:04,300 the armor of God. 673 00:29:04,460 --> 00:29:07,340 And all the elements of the armor of God are important, right? 674 00:29:07,380 --> 00:29:10,604 You need all the elements because he says, put on all of the 675 00:29:10,612 --> 00:29:13,580 armor of God, not, not just one element of the armor of God. 676 00:29:13,660 --> 00:29:17,276 So, so there's the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness. 677 00:29:17,308 --> 00:29:19,612 All, all the different elements of the armor of God, which 678 00:29:19,636 --> 00:29:20,760 are very, very important. 679 00:29:21,220 --> 00:29:26,010 But the Bible does give us one offensive weapon against the enemy. 680 00:29:26,170 --> 00:29:27,802 It can be offensive and defensive. 681 00:29:27,866 --> 00:29:30,490 There's, there's an argument there, but nonetheless, there's one 682 00:29:30,530 --> 00:29:31,306 offensive weapon. 683 00:29:31,338 --> 00:29:33,898 And if you go to Ephesians chapter 6 and you look at verse number 684 00:29:33,954 --> 00:29:38,394 17, it says, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword 685 00:29:38,442 --> 00:29:40,490 of the spirit, which is the word of God. 686 00:29:40,650 --> 00:29:43,482 The Bible says that one of the tools that we can do to combat the 687 00:29:43,506 --> 00:29:43,962 enemy. 688 00:29:44,026 --> 00:29:47,498 Remember we looked at this last week, that, that Satan is firing 689 00:29:47,594 --> 00:29:51,018 these darts at us, these fiery darts at us, and he's trying to attack 690 00:29:51,074 --> 00:29:51,488 us. 691 00:29:51,594 --> 00:29:54,084 And what the Bible says here is that the offensive weapon that 692 00:29:54,092 --> 00:29:55,640 we have is the word of God. 693 00:29:55,980 --> 00:29:56,916 So we have to be ready. 694 00:29:56,948 --> 00:29:59,540 We have to arm ourselves with scripture. 695 00:29:59,620 --> 00:30:00,884 And that's what Jesus did. 696 00:30:00,972 --> 00:30:03,972 And, and so at the end of verse 10, Jesus says, Hey, I only 697 00:30:04,076 --> 00:30:04,804 serve God. 698 00:30:04,852 --> 00:30:06,468 I only worship God. 699 00:30:06,564 --> 00:30:12,036 And he says here, this case we know that he quotes that passage 700 00:30:12,068 --> 00:30:12,660 of scripture. 701 00:30:12,740 --> 00:30:19,982 And then I like what verse number 11 says, because, you know, 702 00:30:20,086 --> 00:30:22,878 a lot of times I think that people feel like the victory cannot 703 00:30:22,894 --> 00:30:23,690 be won. 704 00:30:24,390 --> 00:30:29,198 I've heard people say things and, and even probably sometimes 705 00:30:29,214 --> 00:30:30,302 in my life, I've said, you know what? 706 00:30:30,326 --> 00:30:31,310 I can't get victory over. 707 00:30:31,350 --> 00:30:34,622 This scene's not letting. 708 00:30:34,766 --> 00:30:36,638 Seems, not letting me go on this. 709 00:30:36,774 --> 00:30:38,638 The Bible doesn't say when it'll happen. 710 00:30:38,694 --> 00:30:40,766 But the Bible does say that when we fight against the enemy, 711 00:30:40,798 --> 00:30:43,114 it says there, then the devil leaveth him. 712 00:30:43,302 --> 00:30:45,442 And behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 713 00:30:45,466 --> 00:30:48,834 And I think the lesson here is that even though fighting temptation 714 00:30:48,882 --> 00:30:52,226 is sometimes difficult, eventually the Bible says, rebuke 715 00:30:52,258 --> 00:30:53,522 the devil and he will flee from you. 716 00:30:53,546 --> 00:30:53,890 There, there. 717 00:30:53,930 --> 00:30:57,618 There is a point of relief and, and there is victory. 718 00:30:57,714 --> 00:31:00,802 And the Bible says that even Jesus was ministered to by the angels. 719 00:31:00,866 --> 00:31:04,962 Now, some people would argue, well, does that mean that every time 720 00:31:04,986 --> 00:31:07,442 I fight temptation, an angel comes and ministers to me? 721 00:31:07,466 --> 00:31:10,442 I, I can't, I can't equate that to the same situation. 722 00:31:10,506 --> 00:31:12,602 But what I can say is that God will comfort you. 723 00:31:12,706 --> 00:31:16,458 And that's at at the end of the day, Jesus found comfort in. 724 00:31:16,514 --> 00:31:18,522 In that, and so we will find comfort as well. 725 00:31:18,546 --> 00:31:19,962 And the Bible speaks of comfort. 726 00:31:20,026 --> 00:31:20,250 And. 727 00:31:20,290 --> 00:31:22,714 And the Bible actually speaks of this idea in First Corinthians, 728 00:31:22,762 --> 00:31:23,750 chapter 10. 729 00:31:25,250 --> 00:31:25,930 You know, there. 730 00:31:25,970 --> 00:31:29,402 There are many temptations that we fall into because our flesh 731 00:31:29,466 --> 00:31:29,738 is. 732 00:31:29,794 --> 00:31:30,670 Is weak. 733 00:31:31,410 --> 00:31:32,314 Our flesh is weak. 734 00:31:32,362 --> 00:31:32,570 And. 735 00:31:32,610 --> 00:31:37,340 And I've even again heard the argument, well, we're all just human, 736 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:38,960 so therefore, we. 737 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:39,360 We just. 738 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,648 If the temptation comes, like, what else do you expect? 739 00:31:41,704 --> 00:31:42,560 Like, I'm just. 740 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:43,420 I'm human. 741 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:44,864 And that is true. 742 00:31:44,992 --> 00:31:45,280 But. 743 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,416 But what we're gonna see here is that we're not just working as 744 00:31:48,488 --> 00:31:49,696 fleshly humans. 745 00:31:49,808 --> 00:31:52,976 We are working with the power of God on our side if we're believers. 746 00:31:53,168 --> 00:31:53,520 And. 747 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:57,600 And so if we have God on our side, he will allow temptations to 748 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:58,224 happen. 749 00:31:58,392 --> 00:32:00,816 But what we're gonna see in First Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 750 00:32:00,848 --> 00:32:01,360 13, is. 751 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:02,586 Is very important to see. 752 00:32:02,688 --> 00:32:07,622 And a lot of people will use this as a verse and somewhat take 753 00:32:07,646 --> 00:32:10,422 it out of context and say, God's not gonna give you more than 754 00:32:10,446 --> 00:32:11,606 you can handle today. 755 00:32:11,758 --> 00:32:15,142 I understand what some people mean by that, but some people take 756 00:32:15,166 --> 00:32:17,830 that out of context and say, well, you know what? 757 00:32:17,950 --> 00:32:18,598 You know what? 758 00:32:18,654 --> 00:32:18,918 If. 759 00:32:18,974 --> 00:32:19,702 If God. 760 00:32:19,766 --> 00:32:20,838 God is gonna give me every. 761 00:32:20,894 --> 00:32:23,462 You know, God's not gonna allow anything to happen in my life 762 00:32:23,486 --> 00:32:24,550 that I can't fight on my own. 763 00:32:24,590 --> 00:32:26,038 That's not what he's saying here. 764 00:32:26,174 --> 00:32:29,166 What he's saying is, is that God always allows a way out for, 765 00:32:29,198 --> 00:32:31,502 or the temptation that is coming to you. 766 00:32:31,686 --> 00:32:32,078 So. 767 00:32:32,134 --> 00:32:35,134 So I want you to see that in verse number 13 of First Corinthians, 768 00:32:35,182 --> 00:32:36,090 chapter 10. 769 00:32:38,550 --> 00:32:44,270 And I think that that's important to see here, because as 770 00:32:44,310 --> 00:32:49,966 a Christian, I think that so many times we just think, well, whoops, 771 00:32:49,998 --> 00:32:51,502 I sin now. 772 00:32:51,526 --> 00:32:56,856 I'm gonna come into this place of either guilt or burden, and hopefully 773 00:32:56,888 --> 00:32:57,880 I can find repentance. 774 00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,000 And there is beauty in that. 775 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:00,296 There's beauty in forgiveness. 776 00:33:00,408 --> 00:33:01,784 And God does forgive us. 777 00:33:01,872 --> 00:33:05,128 But the Bible doesn't give us justification just to keep sinning. 778 00:33:05,224 --> 00:33:08,552 The Bible says in Romans, chapter six, should we continue to 779 00:33:08,576 --> 00:33:09,736 sin, that grace may abound. 780 00:33:09,768 --> 00:33:10,936 He says, God forbid. 781 00:33:11,048 --> 00:33:11,368 So. 782 00:33:11,424 --> 00:33:14,824 So if God gives us tools to fight against temptation, the expectation 783 00:33:14,872 --> 00:33:16,984 would be to fight against temptation. 784 00:33:17,112 --> 00:33:20,040 And so First Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 13, it says, There 785 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:21,432 had no temptation taken you. 786 00:33:21,456 --> 00:33:24,320 But as is common to man. 787 00:33:25,580 --> 00:33:26,836 What are you talking about there? 788 00:33:26,908 --> 00:33:29,828 Well, what we're talking about here is this idea that when we think 789 00:33:29,884 --> 00:33:32,020 that we're the only people that have ever been tempted this 790 00:33:32,060 --> 00:33:32,404 way. 791 00:33:32,492 --> 00:33:35,732 And in this area, the Bible says no, it's a common temptation. 792 00:33:35,796 --> 00:33:37,284 We, we, we all are tempted. 793 00:33:37,332 --> 00:33:38,788 All Christians are tempted. 794 00:33:38,884 --> 00:33:41,956 You're not alone in this and Satan wants you to feel alone. 795 00:33:41,988 --> 00:33:43,652 Satan wants to isolate you. 796 00:33:43,756 --> 00:33:48,164 I mean, if you've ever watched so, so I think this is a biblical 797 00:33:48,212 --> 00:33:49,024 analogy. 798 00:33:49,172 --> 00:33:51,576 What does the Bible say in First Peter, chapter five? 799 00:33:51,648 --> 00:33:58,020 What, what, what animal does scripture liken Satan to? 800 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,224 Walketh about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. 801 00:34:01,272 --> 00:34:04,648 Okay, now some of you may or may not be interested in what I'm 802 00:34:04,664 --> 00:34:05,368 about to talk about. 803 00:34:05,424 --> 00:34:10,760 I'm very interested in wildlife and nature shows and I like 804 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:11,992 to watch nature shows. 805 00:34:12,056 --> 00:34:14,100 So some of the nature shows that I like to watch. 806 00:34:14,809 --> 00:34:16,417 You're hearing a confession moment here. 807 00:34:16,473 --> 00:34:18,961 I like to watch when the predator goes after the prey, you 808 00:34:18,985 --> 00:34:22,193 know, so you have like on the Serengeti, the, the lion that's out 809 00:34:22,201 --> 00:34:27,649 there and there's this little impala, little gazelle looking thing. 810 00:34:27,689 --> 00:34:32,673 And what the lions do is, is actually they, they try to weed out 811 00:34:32,761 --> 00:34:37,649 the strong ones and they try to like pull aside a smaller, more 812 00:34:37,689 --> 00:34:40,673 sick one and try to isolate them so that they can attack. 813 00:34:40,761 --> 00:34:41,642 Right, right. 814 00:34:41,826 --> 00:34:43,722 And, and that's what Satan is going to try to do. 815 00:34:43,746 --> 00:34:48,314 Satan's going to try to pull you away and make you feel more isolated 816 00:34:48,362 --> 00:34:51,962 and make you feel alone, like you can't fight this and maybe even 817 00:34:51,986 --> 00:34:54,682 attack you in a weaker moment, maybe in a moment like even with 818 00:34:54,706 --> 00:34:58,250 Jesus, that he was hungered that, that he can take you in, as 819 00:34:58,290 --> 00:34:59,370 the Bible says, devour you. 820 00:34:59,410 --> 00:35:04,218 Now if you watch those shows, it's, it depends on who you're rooting 821 00:35:04,234 --> 00:35:04,362 for. 822 00:35:04,386 --> 00:35:06,922 Some people root for the lion, some people root for the little gazelle. 823 00:35:06,986 --> 00:35:09,976 It all just depends on, on that, that day that I'm feeling. 824 00:35:10,008 --> 00:35:13,240 But, but at the end of the day, what we can see is that what 825 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:17,064 Satan wants us to do is he wants us to think that we are alone. 826 00:35:17,192 --> 00:35:19,784 What God wants us to do is understand that we're not alone. 827 00:35:19,832 --> 00:35:21,620 Number one, he's with us. 828 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:23,512 He's gone through it. 829 00:35:23,616 --> 00:35:26,936 He's fought the temptation and others have as well. 830 00:35:27,088 --> 00:35:28,760 And, and so you're, you're not alone. 831 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:30,248 And so God says, I'm with you. 832 00:35:30,304 --> 00:35:34,216 And then also I believe that that's why, and one of the many reasons 833 00:35:34,248 --> 00:35:38,862 why God instituted the church, the church as an institution is to 834 00:35:38,886 --> 00:35:43,118 come alongside of and help people and, and, and be a support 835 00:35:43,174 --> 00:35:46,606 to people in the midst of temptation and in the midst of trials, 836 00:35:46,638 --> 00:35:48,750 in the midst of pain, in the midst of suffering. 837 00:35:48,910 --> 00:35:51,810 So that there isn't that isolation because it's. 838 00:35:52,230 --> 00:35:53,790 We'll speak real here this evening. 839 00:35:53,870 --> 00:35:57,822 If you're out of church for a period of time, the more you're out 840 00:35:57,846 --> 00:36:00,766 of church, the more you're out of fellowship, the. 841 00:36:00,838 --> 00:36:03,668 The more easy it is to stay out of that fellowship. 842 00:36:03,814 --> 00:36:04,168 And. 843 00:36:04,224 --> 00:36:06,952 And the Bible very clearly teaches that there is an importance 844 00:36:07,016 --> 00:36:09,752 to the community, and the community would be that you're not 845 00:36:09,776 --> 00:36:10,232 alone in this. 846 00:36:10,256 --> 00:36:11,000 And so that's what. 847 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:12,568 That's what the scripture is talking about. 848 00:36:12,624 --> 00:36:15,940 You had no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man, 849 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,460 but God is faithful. 850 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:19,688 So. 851 00:36:19,744 --> 00:36:20,376 So again, it's. 852 00:36:20,408 --> 00:36:25,260 It's not that you are a superhero because you're a Christian. 853 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:29,528 It's because of who God is that we're able to fight against 854 00:36:29,584 --> 00:36:30,360 temptation. 855 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,848 Because I used to think when I became a pastor, this is. 856 00:36:33,904 --> 00:36:39,096 This was my ignorance and this was my naivety that when I became 857 00:36:39,128 --> 00:36:41,048 a pastor, I would be able to. 858 00:36:41,184 --> 00:36:43,144 I wouldn't even have temptations anymore because I would 859 00:36:43,152 --> 00:36:44,056 be so spiritual. 860 00:36:44,088 --> 00:36:46,568 I'd be in the spiritual position of a pastor, and therefore 861 00:36:46,584 --> 00:36:47,880 the temptations wouldn't come. 862 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:53,320 I'm gonna tell you, leading up to being a pastor, the moment I became 863 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:53,976 a. 864 00:36:54,128 --> 00:36:57,264 And there was various steps of this, but the moment that I was ordained, 865 00:36:57,312 --> 00:37:00,032 the moment that I became a pastor, those temptations did not 866 00:37:00,056 --> 00:37:00,864 go away. 867 00:37:01,032 --> 00:37:05,392 Um, and so it's not about me being a strong superhuman that can 868 00:37:05,416 --> 00:37:06,880 fight these temptations on my own. 869 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:07,952 What does it say there? 870 00:37:08,056 --> 00:37:09,136 God is faithful. 871 00:37:09,168 --> 00:37:11,936 It is God who gives us the victory over these temptations. 872 00:37:12,048 --> 00:37:14,720 So he says, God is faithful who will not suffer or allow you 873 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,688 to be tempted above that you are able, but will, with the temptation, 874 00:37:18,784 --> 00:37:23,290 also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. 875 00:37:23,330 --> 00:37:24,058 Meaning this. 876 00:37:24,194 --> 00:37:26,090 God always allows a way. 877 00:37:26,130 --> 00:37:26,426 There's. 878 00:37:26,458 --> 00:37:28,426 There is no cage that. 879 00:37:28,498 --> 00:37:30,746 That you are locked in that you say, well, I couldn't choose 880 00:37:30,778 --> 00:37:32,042 anything but this sin. 881 00:37:32,186 --> 00:37:33,962 The Bible says that there's always a way out. 882 00:37:33,986 --> 00:37:36,906 It might not be the easy way, it might not be the most convenient 883 00:37:36,938 --> 00:37:37,274 way. 884 00:37:37,362 --> 00:37:40,314 It might not be the way that's accepted in culture, but the Bible 885 00:37:40,362 --> 00:37:42,510 says there always is a way out of temptation. 886 00:37:43,010 --> 00:37:43,370 And. 887 00:37:43,410 --> 00:37:45,914 And what I can tell you here, scripturally speaking, is that God 888 00:37:45,962 --> 00:37:48,790 will allow you to follow him and obey him. 889 00:37:49,540 --> 00:37:50,684 Will you make a mistake? 890 00:37:50,732 --> 00:37:50,956 Yes. 891 00:37:50,988 --> 00:37:51,836 Will I make a mistake? 892 00:37:51,868 --> 00:37:52,076 Yes. 893 00:37:52,108 --> 00:37:53,452 And there's forgiveness in that. 894 00:37:53,556 --> 00:37:55,020 But the Bible clearly teaches that. 895 00:37:55,060 --> 00:37:59,036 That we can be victorious, and then we can thank God for the deliverance 896 00:37:59,068 --> 00:37:59,724 and the temptation. 897 00:37:59,772 --> 00:38:02,940 And the Bible actually says that when we are able to endure those 898 00:38:02,980 --> 00:38:03,884 trials and temptations. 899 00:38:03,932 --> 00:38:06,280 It actually strengthens us and gives us more hope. 900 00:38:06,580 --> 00:38:09,804 And so that we can, we can learn from Jesus's responses to the 901 00:38:09,812 --> 00:38:14,240 temptations exactly how we are to respond with scripture, with scripture, 902 00:38:15,150 --> 00:38:20,214 with prayer, with, with spiritually relying on the truth 903 00:38:20,262 --> 00:38:21,030 of God. 904 00:38:21,190 --> 00:38:24,870 And so the forces of evil in this world will come at us from many 905 00:38:24,910 --> 00:38:27,734 different directions with different types of temptations. 906 00:38:27,782 --> 00:38:31,414 But at the core, it's always this lust of the eyes, lust of the 907 00:38:31,422 --> 00:38:33,250 flesh and the pride of life. 908 00:38:33,710 --> 00:38:37,446 And when we can recognize these things, we're able to combat 909 00:38:37,478 --> 00:38:41,800 these temptations with, with saturating our hearts and minds with 910 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:43,020 the truth of God. 911 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,472 Remember the original thing that Satan tried to do? 912 00:38:46,496 --> 00:38:49,208 He tried to appeal to something else outside of Scripture. 913 00:38:49,384 --> 00:38:50,780 Jesus's hunger. 914 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,560 And so what Satan will try to do is he will try to take us away 915 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,616 from the truth and he will try to get us to a place that we're defining 916 00:38:56,648 --> 00:38:58,300 truth outside of Scripture. 917 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:01,960 One of the, one of the more painful things that I hear people 918 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,420 say is, well, my truth. 919 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,660 Well, if it's not grounded in the truth of God, it's, it's, it's, 920 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:08,292 it's lies. 921 00:39:08,356 --> 00:39:08,916 Okay? 922 00:39:09,028 --> 00:39:11,764 Now if your truth is the word of God, fantastic. 923 00:39:11,892 --> 00:39:13,600 But there, there is not. 924 00:39:14,940 --> 00:39:17,716 And I would be willing to talk more about this if you disagree. 925 00:39:17,828 --> 00:39:21,572 But I do believe that there, there are no just subjective things 926 00:39:21,596 --> 00:39:22,100 in this world. 927 00:39:22,140 --> 00:39:24,628 Subjective truth, there's objective truth in the word of God. 928 00:39:24,724 --> 00:39:25,172 Okay? 929 00:39:25,236 --> 00:39:27,892 Now there are some things that have gray area in scripture that 930 00:39:27,916 --> 00:39:29,124 it is not spoken to. 931 00:39:29,212 --> 00:39:33,396 But what the Bible clearly speaks on discussion over, that's, 932 00:39:33,428 --> 00:39:34,704 that's what the Bible says. 933 00:39:34,892 --> 00:39:37,080 And so it's, it's not what the world defines. 934 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:41,448 What God defines is, is not up to the world to define. 935 00:39:41,624 --> 00:39:44,664 And, and so what we need to do is we need to see that and we need 936 00:39:44,672 --> 00:39:46,200 to understand that, hey, you know what? 937 00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:47,000 Satan might say. 938 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:50,072 This, this might be a deceptive thing, but ultimately we 939 00:39:50,096 --> 00:39:51,704 know that God is final. 940 00:39:51,792 --> 00:39:55,000 And therefore the sword of the spirit is our offensive weapon against 941 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:55,688 the enemy. 942 00:39:55,784 --> 00:39:58,488 Now there's so much more that we could talk about, but we will 943 00:39:58,544 --> 00:39:59,160 stop there. 944 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,240 But just if you can remember a couple different things. 945 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:04,466 Satan attacks with the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride 946 00:40:04,498 --> 00:40:04,946 of life. 947 00:40:05,018 --> 00:40:08,978 He always tries to appeal to you to neglect scripture. 948 00:40:09,074 --> 00:40:12,722 If he can't get you to neglect Scripture, he wants you to see it 949 00:40:12,746 --> 00:40:13,378 twisted. 950 00:40:13,474 --> 00:40:16,994 And if he can't see it twisted, he wants to try to corrupt 951 00:40:17,042 --> 00:40:20,242 us and offer us things that aren't really his to offer. 952 00:40:20,426 --> 00:40:21,954 And you know what? 953 00:40:22,122 --> 00:40:22,498 I. 954 00:40:22,554 --> 00:40:23,442 I've tried to explain. 955 00:40:23,506 --> 00:40:26,626 I try to simplify sin to the point of, like, sin is believing 956 00:40:26,658 --> 00:40:27,976 a lie from the enemy. 957 00:40:28,138 --> 00:40:32,012 Sin is believing that what Satan is offering is better than 958 00:40:32,036 --> 00:40:32,876 what God is offering. 959 00:40:32,908 --> 00:40:34,172 It's really what it is. 960 00:40:34,356 --> 00:40:38,284 And so many times we are careless in our life. 961 00:40:38,452 --> 00:40:42,060 We're just so careless because I. 962 00:40:42,100 --> 00:40:43,740 And I think that what happens is. 963 00:40:43,780 --> 00:40:46,636 Is the reason why we are careless is because it's a misunderstanding 964 00:40:46,668 --> 00:40:47,440 of grace. 965 00:40:48,660 --> 00:40:49,452 Um, there's a. 966 00:40:49,476 --> 00:40:50,268 There's a author. 967 00:40:50,324 --> 00:40:52,684 There's an author out there that I really enjoy reading. 968 00:40:52,732 --> 00:40:54,970 I can't back all of his theology. 969 00:40:55,140 --> 00:40:57,054 Um, but his name is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 970 00:40:57,102 --> 00:41:00,430 Diedrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called Discipleship, the Cost 971 00:41:00,470 --> 00:41:01,726 of Discipleship. 972 00:41:01,918 --> 00:41:04,878 Dietrich Bonhoeffer actually died as a martyr. 973 00:41:04,974 --> 00:41:06,270 But at the end of the day, he. 974 00:41:06,310 --> 00:41:08,094 He taught this thing called cheap grace. 975 00:41:08,142 --> 00:41:12,830 And he says if we are not careful, if we are not on guard in 976 00:41:12,870 --> 00:41:16,654 understanding what God did for us, we will treat things as cheap 977 00:41:16,702 --> 00:41:16,974 grace. 978 00:41:17,022 --> 00:41:18,542 Meaning God graced me with this. 979 00:41:18,566 --> 00:41:19,374 But, hey, whatever. 980 00:41:19,422 --> 00:41:21,100 I'm just gonna keep doing what I wanna do. 981 00:41:21,230 --> 00:41:23,872 Like, hey, the church is there to help me in my life, but I just 982 00:41:23,896 --> 00:41:25,600 keep living it the way that I want to live it. 983 00:41:25,720 --> 00:41:27,900 Romans chapter 6 warns us against that. 984 00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:31,680 And I think what we do in churches is that we want to preach 985 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,368 the gift of grace, and we should preach the gift of grace, 986 00:41:34,464 --> 00:41:37,104 but we should also preach the responsibility of the Christian to 987 00:41:37,112 --> 00:41:39,536 live a life that honors God in every way. 988 00:41:39,608 --> 00:41:40,720 And that this is a war. 989 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:41,104 This. 990 00:41:41,192 --> 00:41:45,180 A lot of people think that Christianity today is like a game. 991 00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:47,370 Like the stakes are. 992 00:41:47,410 --> 00:41:47,946 Are high. 993 00:41:48,018 --> 00:41:50,762 We can just bounce out of that, you know, when. 994 00:41:50,866 --> 00:41:51,130 But. 995 00:41:51,170 --> 00:41:57,290 But we are in a spiritual battle, and the battle is a difficult 996 00:41:57,370 --> 00:41:57,802 thing. 997 00:41:57,906 --> 00:41:58,218 And. 998 00:41:58,274 --> 00:41:59,178 And the battle is. 999 00:41:59,234 --> 00:42:02,794 Sometimes it takes casualties, and sometimes what we see in the 1000 00:42:02,802 --> 00:42:06,362 battle is that if we are not prepared for the enemy, he can wipe 1001 00:42:06,426 --> 00:42:10,950 out great swaths of people and can make. 1002 00:42:11,330 --> 00:42:14,716 Make a movement happen or whatever. 1003 00:42:14,828 --> 00:42:15,500 But I would. 1004 00:42:15,540 --> 00:42:17,820 I would warn you in this case to. 1005 00:42:17,860 --> 00:42:22,812 To take the attack seriously, to not give Satan more credit than 1006 00:42:22,836 --> 00:42:26,940 he deserves, but to take it seriously and to fight against him 1007 00:42:26,980 --> 00:42:28,124 in the power of God. 1008 00:42:28,252 --> 00:42:29,960 Now, why would you say that? 1009 00:42:30,420 --> 00:42:33,680 Why I say that is because we are fighting a defeated foe. 1010 00:42:34,180 --> 00:42:36,972 But he's doing everything that he possibly can in the time that 1011 00:42:36,996 --> 00:42:40,012 he has to try to pull down everyone with him and maybe try to 1012 00:42:40,036 --> 00:42:40,952 change the script that. 1013 00:42:40,996 --> 00:42:42,064 That God has. 1014 00:42:42,232 --> 00:42:44,816 But I will tell you that he is a defeated foe. 1015 00:42:44,848 --> 00:42:48,128 And so next week, what we're going to Talk about is we've looked 1016 00:42:48,144 --> 00:42:50,448 at his, what we would call his origin. 1017 00:42:50,624 --> 00:42:55,248 We've, we looked at basically kind of his characteristics, we've 1018 00:42:55,264 --> 00:42:58,320 looked at his tactics, we've looked at all of these things. 1019 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,784 But I want us to look next week at his demise. 1020 00:43:00,912 --> 00:43:03,680 Okay, so the Bible actually gives us the end of the story. 1021 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,128 And the end of the story is that Satan is defeated. 1022 00:43:06,224 --> 00:43:07,104 How is he defeated? 1023 00:43:07,152 --> 00:43:08,176 We'll talk about that. 1024 00:43:08,328 --> 00:43:12,784 And, and actually the defeat, the defeat of Satan started in the 1025 00:43:12,792 --> 00:43:16,224 garden with the very first mention of the gospel. 1026 00:43:16,352 --> 00:43:18,224 Genesis chapter 3, verse 15. 1027 00:43:18,392 --> 00:43:21,072 God foretold Satan's destruction in the garden. 1028 00:43:21,216 --> 00:43:23,648 We see it talked about all throughout the Old Testament and 1029 00:43:23,704 --> 00:43:25,152 in the New Testament. 1030 00:43:25,296 --> 00:43:28,660 And ultimately the victory was at the cross. 1031 00:43:29,240 --> 00:43:31,072 Jesus says it is finished. 1032 00:43:31,216 --> 00:43:33,334 He conquers death through the resurrection. 1033 00:43:33,512 --> 00:43:38,010 And, and ultimately we know that Satan is going to be defeated 1034 00:43:38,090 --> 00:43:42,442 and he is defeated, but there will be a final demise. 1035 00:43:42,506 --> 00:43:45,002 And, and we'll talk all about what scripture has to say about that 1036 00:43:45,106 --> 00:43:45,754 next week. 1037 00:43:45,842 --> 00:43:47,882 And so if you're interested in that, come back. 1038 00:43:47,906 --> 00:43:50,490 If you're not interested that interested in that, please come back. 1039 00:43:50,530 --> 00:43:52,362 Anyway, we would love to have you here. 1040 00:43:52,386 --> 00:43:55,162 And, and I hope this has been a study that has been helpful for 1041 00:43:55,186 --> 00:43:55,610 you. 1042 00:43:55,730 --> 00:43:58,570 Most of the things that I'm saying are, are, are common things 1043 00:43:58,610 --> 00:44:00,982 that we talk about within churches, but I don't think that 1044 00:44:01,006 --> 00:44:01,830 we talk about it enough. 1045 00:44:01,870 --> 00:44:04,902 I think we need to know who our enemy is and know how temptation 1046 00:44:04,966 --> 00:44:07,734 happens and that temptation is not a sin. 1047 00:44:07,782 --> 00:44:10,502 If temptation was a sin, then we could not believe that Jesus was 1048 00:44:10,526 --> 00:44:11,126 sinless. 1049 00:44:11,238 --> 00:44:14,038 The Bible actually says in Hebrews chapter four, he was tempted 1050 00:44:14,054 --> 00:44:16,646 in all points, like we are yet without sin. 1051 00:44:16,838 --> 00:44:20,902 So I think that so many times we get to a place in our life where 1052 00:44:21,006 --> 00:44:24,982 it's not the temptation that destroys us, it's how we deal with 1053 00:44:25,006 --> 00:44:28,172 the temptation that gets us to a place of that brokenness. 1054 00:44:28,236 --> 00:44:32,640 And, and as the Bible says in the book of James, a death and destruction. 1055 00:44:33,140 --> 00:44:35,868 So we'll come back next week and we'll look at his demise. 1056 00:44:35,964 --> 00:44:38,428 Some people have already been asking me like what's, what's next? 1057 00:44:38,484 --> 00:44:40,332 What's, what's coming after Satan? 1058 00:44:40,476 --> 00:44:42,572 We're going to talk about a few different topics. 1059 00:44:42,716 --> 00:44:45,052 One of the topics that we're going to address, I think it'll only 1060 00:44:45,076 --> 00:44:46,412 be a one week study. 1061 00:44:46,516 --> 00:44:51,558 It'll be basically the question of why did God do blank. 1062 00:44:51,684 --> 00:44:52,210 Okay. 1063 00:44:52,290 --> 00:44:56,306 Why does God allow, you know, bad things to happen to good people? 1064 00:44:56,378 --> 00:44:58,930 Why didn't God take away this problem? 1065 00:44:59,050 --> 00:45:03,842 Why didn't God, you know, give Moses the ability to speak, why did 1066 00:45:03,866 --> 00:45:05,090 he allow Aaron to come in? 1067 00:45:05,130 --> 00:45:10,630 You know, why didn't God take the thorn away from, from, from Paul? 1068 00:45:10,970 --> 00:45:12,818 You know, why did Jesus allow this? 1069 00:45:12,874 --> 00:45:16,226 And why did he have a, a disciple that betrayed him? 1070 00:45:16,378 --> 00:45:18,706 We're going to talk about that and I can tell you, basically, it's 1071 00:45:18,738 --> 00:45:20,838 going to be just study on what is God's will. 1072 00:45:21,034 --> 00:45:21,486 Okay. 1073 00:45:21,518 --> 00:45:25,610 How do we know and accept and believe in God's will? 1074 00:45:26,470 --> 00:45:29,406 And so, so just kind of weighing your appetites for the future. 1075 00:45:29,478 --> 00:45:30,210 Okay? 1076 00:45:30,950 --> 00:45:33,614 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1077 00:45:33,662 --> 00:45:34,414 podcast. 1078 00:45:34,542 --> 00:45:37,130 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1079 00:45:37,430 --> 00:45:39,806 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1080 00:45:39,838 --> 00:45:43,422 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1081 00:45:43,566 --> 00:45:46,290 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1082 00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:51,400 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch. 1083 00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:52,056 Com. 1084 00:45:52,208 --> 00:45:55,768 If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1085 00:45:55,824 --> 00:45:58,780 along for future podcast and updates. 1086 00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:00,312 Thank you so much. 1087 00:46:00,416 --> 00:46:01,256 God bless. 1088 00:46:01,368 --> 00:46:02,480 Have a wonderful day.