The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 3: Mind

Episode Date: October 20, 2019

Our enemy, the Devil, is the Father of Lies. Do not believe the whispers, but stand on the truth of the word of God. “It is written…”

Amen and amen. How are we doing church? Are you very good? I hope so. Put on your theological big boy pants because we got to dig in in our time together. I'm going to be in seven different passages, so good luck. Southern Baptist, welcome to sword drill. You're going to enjoy this.

You should write these down. We got a lot to cover. I don't know about you, but have you ever tried to make somebody that you love, love something that you love? You ever try to do that? Like we try to do it with our kids. Like you don't like vegetables, have more vegetables, right? That kind of thing.

I tried to make Gretchen love sweet tea. I thought, how could you not love sweet tea? What is wrong with a human being? I mean, some of your Yankees is not your fault. You were born up there, but that's why you moved down here with us, all right? I've never heard anybody here going, when I retire, I'm going up there. No, y'all all come to us, all right? And a part of God's grace upon us is sweet tea.

And so I would try to get her to love sweet tea, praise God. And then when we moved here to Jacksonville in 2003, and I discovered Angie's sweet tea. Come on. I was like, now listen, baby, if you don't like this, you ain't going to like it. And she still didn't like it. Something's wrong with that lady. Anyway, last week, last week, I found this again. I'm trying to get somebody that I love to love something that I love, but they don't love it.

I had the opportunity to preach around Europe in a couple places last week, all right? And so it turned out it was Reagan's 10th birthday while we were going to be there, so I brought the whole family, so the Griswals, European vacation. There we were, all right. So the only thing I really wanted to do, I was fine with whatever they wanted to do, but I've always been a huge C.S. Lewis fan. And C.S. Lewis taught and went to and lived in Oxford, and I thought, you know, it's not that far away. It's a little train right over it.

I wanted to go to Oxford and do a C.S. Lewis tour. So I bring my kids, I bring my wife. We get on the train from London. We go to Oxford. And I am like in heaven. We go to the eagle and child. This is where C.S. Lewis, with you. sit with J.R.R. Tolkien, the guy that

wrote the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and all of that. And they had a group of people called the inklings and they would just nerd out about like the imagination of fairies and things like that. I mean, the level of nerddom happening in that

place, I wish I could have just been in there. And they reserved. My table was where they sat next to the fireplace and I'm sitting in this place just eating it up and my kids, I was like, do you guys understand? We're sitting where C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkien would sit right here and they would discuss theology. And I was like, what do you think

about that, Reagan? And she's like, do they have fries? Come on. And so, then we went on a two-hour walking tour of Oxford and we went into the classrooms where he taught and we stood under the pulpit where C.S. Lewis preached and I mean, I am freaking out. And my kids are too, but not in the same way at all. Until we walked into one part of Oxford. And then, the guide said, this is where they filmed Harry Potter. And they came alive. I was like, you have got to be kidding me. Stupid witch movie.

Are you serious? And then the highlight of my whole trip. We go to the school that he spent the majority of his, the college, which is a part of Oxford, he spent the majority of his time on. And there's this path called Addison's Walk. And according to C.S. Lewis's testimony, after a few pints, praise God, in the eagle and child after years of conversation with J.R.R. Tolkien. After a discussion about how the human mind could create this idea of myth and fairies.

J.R. Tolkien tells C.S. Lewis, you see, the reality of the gospel is that the myth is true. And so it freaks C.S. Lewis out. He was a teacher of medieval mythology at Oxford. And he goes walking down Addison's Walk, it's the name of it. It's this trail next to his college. By the way, there was a deer farm over here. Also, glory to God. And somewhere on that trail, he says, when he got on that trail, he was not a believer.

And when he stepped off. How about this? It was those footsteps that C.S. Lewis believed that when Jesus Christ down on the cross, it counted for him, and he was J.R.R. Tolkien's one more. And I'm explaining this to my kids, and I'm freaking out. And I'm like, let's take a picture. And this is the picture that my kids take there. Not exactly loving it like I'm loving it. J.P. is making a noise there. You can imagine what that is. Do you understand? All right. Now, I tell you all this. The message today, I love, love, love the Word of God.

and I want you to love God's word. And I don't even know how, like I can't make you love it. I can't. But I am going to shove it down your throat like a parent shoves brussels down their kids' throats. Because it's not just good for you. It is better than life. It is a sword against the enemy.

It is life-giving. It is food for our soul. It is always true. always trustworthy. It's not even really an it. It's living. It's breathing. It's active. It gets into places in your soul that I just can't. And this whole series that we're doing right now in the one initiative is loving God with all. I don't know anybody that loves Jesus like crazy that it all over and in the Word of God. And more importantly, the Word of God is all up in them. And so we're going to talk about what does it look like to love the Lord your God?

God with all of your mind, with all of your mind. If you go to, if you open up your disciple journal, some of the passages we're going to go through are in there. But you know this whole series is built on a lawyer that comes to Jesus and says, what's the greatest commandment? And he says, you shall love the Lord of your God with all your heart. That was week one, with all your soul. That was last week. Good job. Pastor Britt.

With all of your mind, this is where we are and with all of your strength. What does it mean to love God with all of your mind? I want to teach you a principle. Normally when I teach, I just take one passage and we just sort of soak in it for our time together. What we're going to do now is we're going to go through seven different passages all throughout the scriptures because if you could grab onto this, it really could revolutionize your walk with Jesus. So go to Romans chapter 12, verses one and two. You are experts in Romans chapter 12 if you were here last year, or really, hopefully the whole book of Romans. In Romans chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, it says this, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers.

Now, the reason that therefore is there in Romans chapter 12 is because this is the transitional verse in the book of Romans. Romans chapter 1 through 8 are all about the gospel. That we are saved, not by our good works, we are not made righteous because we are, obey the law, but an alien righteousness has been manifested. His name is Jesus. And when we put our faith in Jesus, his righteousness is counted unto us. Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who in Christ Jesus. Chapter 1 through 8 is all about the gospel. Chapter 9, 10, and 11 are about Israel's role in God's redemptive story for all peoples. And then you get to chapter 12 and there's therefore, and the rest of the book of Romans, is all about how the gospel changes and impacts

our life and our role in God's redemptive story. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, like because of the gospel and because of your role as the church in the spreading of the gospel until the coming of Jesus, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. This is Paul's way in Romans of saying what Jesus says in the book of Mark, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, to love God with all. That's what he's saying. To present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,

which is your spiritual worship. Literally, in the Greek, it means this is your logical response. Remember all throughout the Shama, we've been saying this. Shemah Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. When you see God for who he really is, the one true God, then your logical response, the only natural response to that, is then to love God with all, all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. And so you say, okay, Paul, so how do we do that?

How are we to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship? And he goes, okay, there's two steps. Number one, do not be conformed to this world. Number two, but be transformed. That's how you do it. Now, that word conform is a construction term. Anybody ever pour concrete?

Or probably our crowd. You ever watch people pour concrete? Yeah, when you get in your pool, whatever. All right. So, when you lay concrete, you build a form, and then you pour the concrete in, and the concrete takes the form of the form that you built. So if you want to make a heart, you take a little wood, you build a heart, you pour concrete getting in there, you got a concrete heart.

Got it? What he's saying is, do not be conformed to the form. the pattern of this world. That from the day you were born until this very day, we live in a world that has a certain form to it, and it is trying very, very hard to mold you into the form of this world. Paul says, don't. Don't do that. That means the way we do money, the way we do sex, the way we do generosity, the way we do

family, the way we do forgiveness, the way we do friendships. there's the world's way and do not conform to the pattern of this world. Let's step one, step two, but be transformed. That word is metamorpho. You know this from like fourth grade or whatever. This is a total and radical and complete change from the inside out. That you were a caterpillar, now you're going to be a butterfly. It's a total and complete change to the point where you're not even recognizable.

anymore, but be transformed. Well, Paul, how am I to not conform and be transformed? Here's how? By the renewal of your mind. So how do you love the Lord of your God with all your mind? Paul says, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Here's the thing. I don't know if you know this. Anybody at any of our locations, surrender your life to Jesus and still have struggles and temptations and sin. Anybody, Anybody in that camp? Okay, let me see. It's all of you, plus the liars.

That's all of us. Well, here's the thing. When you surrender your life to Jesus, you get a brand new heart. God reaches in and grabs that cold, dead, rock, stone heart, and rips it out, and he gives you a new heart that is his with Jesus on the throne of it. Praise God.

Glory to God. The problem is, you still got the same mind. mind. The same mind. You still have the same family influences that you had. You still have the same birth order that you came from. You've still got all the scars and insecurities. Your aneagram number doesn't change. It's not like once you meet Jesus, everybody's a 10 and you're perfect. That's not how it works. You still have the same worldview. And so what we have to do, like in an instant, our heart has changed. And for the rest of our lives, we are to renew our lives. We are to renew our mind. And the way you renew something is you take off the old and you put on the new.

Right, ladies? If you put on a, if you're doing like toenail polish, if you keep just stacking it up, you have like crazy looking toes. So you got to strip off that old before you put on the new, right? Fellas, if you paint your house, if you just keep putting on paint and paint, ask every missionary that's been to Jamaica. Every wall's got that much paint on it. Okay? You got to strip off the old put on the new. What he means here is you've got to strip off the old way of thinking that was conformed to the pattern of this world, and you've got to renew your mind by putting on the new way of thinking, which is standing on the truth of the Word of God. That by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. You want to know what the good will of God is? Then renew your mind with His Word.

Go to Ephesians chapter 6. I'm just making my case. Y'all got to have to listen faster though. Ephesians chapter 6. All you Pentecostals, you love this stuff. Here we go. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against.

That doesn't mean stand up. It means like take a stand. Like the enemy is coming against you. The phrase we use here is normally spiritual warfare. And when the enemy comes against you, you take a stand back against you. against the enemy, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. This word schemes here is methodia, like the methods or the methodologies of the enemy.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. You see, you thought your problem was your boss, or your pride, or your ex, or your addiction, and the Bible would say, that's not your problem. your problem is not out there your problem is a spiritual problem and again we we like to use the terminology well some people more than others to talk about spiritual warfare but here's the thing when we hear the word battle or we think warfare most of us most of us immediately go to like a world war two mentality that there are two kind of equal and opposing forces and the good guys versus the bad guys and they meet on the battlefield and good guys eventually win.

Well, since the late 1980s with the fall of Russia, there has been only one superpower on the planet, and we know who it is, right? America. Now, we still have enemies that want to fight against us, but the fight is completely different. And the fight, the kind of fights that we have today are a lot more closely aligned to the spiritual warfare of Ephesians chapter 6 than they were of the warfare of World War II.

And here's why. Because spiritual warfare between the enemy and God is not like two equal opposing forces that meet out on the battlefield. All throughout the New Testament, we find out that the determinative death blow

has already been dealt to the enemy and he is but a shadow of his former self. The Bible says things like Jesus Christ took all of his accusations against us and nailed them to the cross and has rendered him powerless in the spiritual realms. Like the battle is already over. We won.

The clock is ticking down and we essentially are in the victory formation just kneeling it out. That's what's happening. So if today somebody wants to attack America, al-Qaeda, ISIS, whatever, whoever, Russia, whatever, then they can't just say, I'll meet you on the battlefield, because we would just squish them. So the way that we, honestly, the way that we get attacked today is what is called dirty war. It's called dirty war. That, like right now, we're finding out they're bots in Russia that monitor your online activity and can measure what you're afraid of and when you were most afraid and knows when to drop that tweet

in your inbox to raise up fears or to get us to fuel some misinformation so we will go all tribal here in this land. It is a misinformation campaign. This is the primary scheme, method, and tactic of the enemy because he can't meet us on the battlefield anymore. So the primary the primary battle in the Christian walk is in the mind. This is why he says finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand

to fight and you're fighting against the schemes, the methods of the devil, because we don't fight against flesh and blood. You see, his scheme is primarily misinformation campaign. Misinformation campaign. But here's what we do fight against. We fight against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Now, there are sometimes manifestations of these kinds of evil in some people. Okay, it happens, I promise. I did middle school ministry for a long time. I saw it. That is not my subject today. Sorry, Charles Martin. It's not, okay?

But the spiritual forces of evil are in a bad thing. for everyone's mind right now. Right now. I call these the whispers. I call these the whispers. Like there's some things that you know to be true about the Bible. There's some things you know to be true about God. There's some things that you know to be true about yourself. And yet even though you know these things in your mind and you've been studying the Bible and loving Jesus and being in disciple group and all those things, there are still launched in your brain these unexplainable whispers that get you to begin to believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. You see, that's one of the enemy's primary spiritual attacks against us, is that we would believe our doubts and doubt our beliefs instead of believing our beliefs and doubt our doubts.

And so he says, therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the evil day and having done all to stand firm. That's four times he said, take a stand against this. And look at the first thing he says, having fastened on the belt of truth. And having put on the breastplate of righteousness, that's about identity. And as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, that's the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith.

with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation. And then lastly, this is we're going to spend a lot of time. And the sword of the spirit. And he tells us what that means, which is the Word of God. So what do you do when the enemy launches that dirty war campaign against you, which is a battle of the mind,

putting thoughts or trying to get you to conform to the pattern of this world? Well, Paul says, will you stand firm? Not in your might, not in your power, but in the power of the Lord. And you put on your identity in Christ. And everything he mentions here in the armor of God is defensive,

except one weapon is offensive. It is the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Here's the way Jesus would talk about it. When Jesus talked about the devil in John chapter 8, here's what he said. He didn't talk about possession, He didn't talk about manifestations of demons.

He didn't talk a whole lot about like heads spinning and pea soup flying. He didn't talk about this. Here's the primary thing he describes about the enemy. He says this in John chapter 8, Jesus says, to the Jews who have believed in him, if you abide in my word, you were truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. The reason I want you to love this, there's freedom here.

there's a bunch of you there's all of us there's all of us who have areas of our life and we were in bondage because we're not in line with the truth of the Word of God and you think and this is the tool he has given us to set us free

prayer is great fellowship's awesome all of those have those place their place in the toolkit but this the truth of the Word of God rooted in his gospel about who he is and what he has done for us this is the key

to unlock the chains of the lies that have kept us bound up by the enemy. He says, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. If you drop down to verse 44, they get into an argument. He's talking to a bunch of religious people. Religious people love to argue with the Lord. You ever notice that? And then Jesus says this. He says, you are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. and when he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. If you lay John chapter 8 over Ephesus chapter 6, you will understand that the spiritual battles that we face are not on the typical battlefields. The battle is a battle of the mind. That the enemies wants to speak lies in our mind to conform us to the patterns of this world and the past of this world lead to death and destruction and bondage. But the paths of Jesus is truth and freedom. So what are the lies that the enemy gives us over and over and over? There are three primary weapons or lures or lies against us.

1 John chapter 2 verses 15 and 16. The Bible says this, do not love the world or the things in the world. Now, some of you might say, well, I thought John 316 said, for God so love the world. In John 316, God is talking about the people of the world. In 1 John chapter 2 verse 15, the Bible is talking. about the values and the patterns of the world. As Christians, we are supposed to love and accept the people of this world and reject the values

and patterns of this world. And most of us reject the people of this world because they're not like us and we accept the values and patterns of this world. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, and then he lists them. The ESV which we use says the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. I like here to use the old King James just because it says the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

And I just like the word lust. Say lust. You need to calm down. I was a little much here on the front row, but it just feels dirty to say it, doesn't it? It should. So let's read it that way. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh. And the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world.

In other words, again, it says, all that is in the world, he's about to tell us all that is in the arsenal of the prince of this age, the one that is roaming this world right now, here's all these God against us. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. I've told you before, the reason you should never come from me for counseling is because there's only three problems that exist on the plane. in it. There they are. The Bible says it. That's it. So don't come to me for counseling, because in 35 seconds, I can identify which of the three you're dealing with. And I'd be like, stop. See you Sunday. Okay. So the lust of the flesh is a desire to feel. Lust of the flesh. Now, when we hear lust of the flesh, we think sex. And that's a part of it. That's a part of it. Because ultimately, the problem with sex outside of the flesh,

marriage in any kind of fashion, it is this desire to feel a certain way. And we get to this place where we begin to try to tell ourselves or the enemy lies to us and says, no, no, no, you deserve to feel this way. And you might try to change the way you feel with a person. You might try to change the way you feel about you with a cookie. You might try to change the way you feel with crack. but I'm not pro-crack but crack is not the problem the problem is the lust of the flesh I don't like what it feels like right now

and I deserve to feel a different way and so I will go outside the design of God to make sure I feel the way I need to feel and the lies of this world is if it feels good to do it obey the thirst this is it. The lust of the eyes? This is this desire, this deep, deep, deep desire to have something. The lust of the eyes is, I didn't even know it, I didn't know I needed it until I saw it. The lust of the eyes is, that possession will satisfy me. Here's the lust of the eyes.

It's that you're bored at home, and so you go, I wonder what's on Amazon right now. and clicking buttons, you think, I got to have that. And when you begin to think that that stuff is going to satisfy, it is the lust of the eyes. It happens to all of us. Is stuff bad? Uh-uh.

Unless you put your hope in it, and it'll kill you. The pride of life. The pride of life is this desire to be something. It's about power and position. The pride of life is about complaining. and comparison. The pride of life is about ego and insecurity. That's what the pride of life is. The pride of life is about the plaws of man over the applause of God. It's about feelings, it's about having, it's about being. It's about sex, stuff, status, passion, possession, power. You get it?

And this is all that the enemy has to offer. Now, here's why this is abort it. The Bible says the devil prows around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Now, we read that verse, like, yeah, whatever, okay. But it's, it's more true than your front teeth. And if a real lion was really prowling around trying to get you, and I told you, hey, listen, man, the zoo called, and there's a lion after you, darling, okay? I don't know. He's in the blondes, all right? And he saw you. He's you right there. Third row. Green shirt.

He's coming after you. Wouldn't you walk to your car differently tonight? When the service got over, you wouldn't just be like, y'all want to walk down to Dick Swings? No, man, you get to the door, you'd be like, hey, y'all. Anybody seen a lion? Anybody heard a lion? You'd learn.

Like, that's it, right? And not only if you knew that a lion was coming after you, but if I told you, he can only come after you three ways. He's either going to jump up. off the top of the building, be waiting in your trunk, or, see what I'm saying? Then when you walked up, you would know where to look, but don't open the trunk.

You would have, you would stand against the methods or the schemes of your enemy. If you know how the enemy is going to attack you, then don't you clearly have the advantage. Now, go all the way back to Genesis chapter 3. This is why this is a principle all throughout the book, okay? This has been his tactic from the beginning. beginning. Genesis chapter 3. If you go to chapter 2, God's creet and everything, breathes the rule of life into Adam. Adam becomes a living being. He's face to face with God. God looks at him and says,

this is very good. Except then he says, the first thing is not good in the world, he says, it's not good for a man to be alone, puts him to sleep, gives him wife, because the man will square everything up. He's got to have somebody telling him what to do all the time, so he's going, here you go. And then he gives him commandments. Eat. Enjoy. Boy, be fruitful and multiply, praise God. They're just naked and unashamed. Can you imagine 40 an up crowd? Imagine that.

And then into that context, here comes the enemy. Genesis chapter 3, verse 1. Now the serpent, who is the enemy, was more crafty. That means conniving. That means he was a twister. He was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, here it comes. comes, did God actually say, this is how every temptation begins. Did God actually say, here comes

the lie. Remember, Jesus says when he's lying, he's speaking his native tongue. And here's what he, did God actually, listen, the enemy always wants you to doubt at least three things. The enemy wants us to doubt the word of God, the work of God, and the worthiness of God. You think about it when the whispers start coming. He will say, can you really, trust the word of God? I know the Bible says that, but that's not what it meant. I mean, come on, Paul. What did Paul know about dating and marriage and suing people? I mean, who, come on, give me a break. Did the Bible, did God really say, he wants us to question the word of God? He wants us to question the work of God. When Jesus died on the cross,

do you think that really counted for you? If you really loved him, you'd quit sinning all the time. You're not even a Christian. He wants you to doubt that when Jesus said, it is, finished, it counted for everybody else, it just didn't count for you. And he wants you to doubt the worthiness of God. If God really loved you, you don't think he'd take better care of you, he is not worth your worship, because he's not treating you very well right now. This is what the enemy does. Did God actually say, you should not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. But God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. You see, at this point in human history, the word of God

is very limited. There's only a few commandments. There's not even like a whole book. It could have all been on one three-by-five card. Be fruitful multiply, so do cultivate, stay away from that tree. Got it? That's it. All the word of God. Neither shall you touch it lest you die. Classic legalism, adding rules to what God said that God never said. But the serpent said to the woman. You shall not surely die. Here comes the lie. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Here's the lie, okay?

You can't trust God. You got this. Now, we would never do that, wouldn't we? Like, the Bible teaches you, like, sex is for merry people. Not going to be married, not marrying your heart. That's not a thing. I know it is for a lot of people. It's just a lie.

And then we go, nah, I got this. You say, God, I know how to do life better than you know how to do life. Finances? The Bible's pretty clear about what to do with finances. There's only three things you can do with your money. You realize this? You can spend it, you can give it, you can leave it.

Some people are like, you can save it. You think you can save it until you leave it. That's all you can do with it. And then God says, put it in that order, okay? you need it, you got to, you should give it to him, and then you should enjoy like crazy, and you should be a multi-generational blessing to your kids and their kids and their kids, et cetera. That's all you can do it. And yet, we look at it and be like, God, forget that. No, no, no, no, no. No, I'm getting credit card points, and that's way better. It's not.

It's just not. That I'm going to buy stuff that I can't afford and go into debt, so I can't respond when God calls me to be generous because I'm still paying for stuff that I finished used in two years ago. Okay? But essentially we think we know better than God. We can go on and on and on, but essentially it's this. The enemy tells her, you got this. And so when the woman saw, check this out, that the tree was good for food. That's lust of the flesh. She looked at that and she thought, oh, this will satisfy me. This is about my appetite. This is a lust of the flesh. And that it was the delight to the eyes. This is the lust of the eyes. She's like, I didn't even know I wanted this until I saw it. And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise the pride of life. Do you see this?

From the Garden of Eden, the enemy has never changed his tactics because all he's got in all the world are these things, these three lies. Lust of the flesh, lusted of the eyes, the pride of life. They're here from the beginning. She took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband who was with me together, men, with her. Just like Adam, you were silent, okay? Whatever. Any yet. So, we're not even to the sermon yet. This is all set up.

You think I'm getting, but I'm not even. So I hope you're tracking. We have an enemy. He can't meet us on the battlefield and go toe to toe. He can't do it because the death blow has been struck against him. It is finished. And so what he does is he attacks us with a dirty war campaign, a misinformation campaign, and he tries to sell us lies for us to buy into the lies of this world to be conformed to the pattern of this world.

And those lies are, those temptations are, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And he's been at it over and over and over in your life, in my life, and all the way back to the beginning of human history. So what do you do when temptation comes your way? what do you do when the whispers start coming your way? Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4 verse 1, then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Let that rattle around for a minute in your head.

Maybe this is why in the Lord's prayer Jesus says, lead us not into temptation because he did once and it wasn't awesome. Okay? When Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, By the way, this came right on the heels of his baptism. So pay close attention in your life. Right on the heels of the mountaintop often are the valleys where the enemy comes out of strongest. That'll preach right there. Frank, I could have used an amen there, but thank you.

Verse two. And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry, you think? Verse three, and the tempter came and said to him, look where he starts. He starts with identity. if you are the son of God. Listen, that's where the enemy comes at you. The enemy tries to come at you with condemnation. Because of your past, because of your desires, because of the things that you struggle with,

do you really think you are a Christian, a son of God? No, no, no. You are condemned. You are unfit for use. That's where he starts. That's where he starts in my life. I hear it every Thursday night, every Sunday morning, every Monday. If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

He's hungry. He says you have the ability to meet your own needs with the resources that God has given you, and you should use that for yourself. You know what that's called? That's called the lust of the flesh. That Jesus in, like, listen, the Bible says that Jesus was tempted. This means that Jesus must have kind of wanted to do this a little bit, sort of. Here's the thing about temptation.

It's tempting. If it ain't tempting, it ain't temptation. Like I've never once in my life been tempted to put on like an orange and blue shirt. No thanks. And if somebody's like, you sure? I'm like, no. Okay, does that make sense? So these things are tempting.

He's hungry. The humanity of the Son of God is fully present in this moment. And he has the abilities and the God. and the God-given resources to use for himself in a way that is outside of the will of God. Here's what this means. You get home from work. And you're like, I need a drink. And there's a drink of sin?

Uh-uh. Unless you put fruit in a beer. We've cleared it up years ago. But here's the problem. When you begin to go, no, I deserve to feel this way. So I go well beyond what is okay, and I'm into what is not okay. but I've got freedom and I deserve this. It's called lust of the flesh.

Or you go to food for comfort and you just can't stop. Is food bad? No way. But when you look to food for your comfort and you won't stop, it's the lust of the flesh. Or you begin to talk yourself into why pornography is a good idea for your marriage because your wife won't give you what you want. And at least this didn't like with somebody. else. That is actually another human you're looking at. And you begin to tell yourself, no, no, no, no, no,

I deserve this. This is lust of the flesh. 40 days of fasting and the enemy comes to Jesus and says, why don't you meet your own needs with the abilities God has given you with the resources he has provided to you outside of his will for you? That's lust of the flesh. Jesus answered, it is written. This is it. Jesus answers with what Paul will call in Ephesians chapter 6, the sword of the spirit. He goes on the offensive against the devil, and he says, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. We find out in, I think it's John chapter 4, where Jesus says, like the disciples go get something to eat,

and they come back to get to talk to him about eating. They're like, aren't you hungry? You've been here all day talking to the Samaritan, the woman, you got nothing to eat? And he goes, no, no, no, I got a spiritual food you don't even know about that obeying my father in heaven fills me up in a way. I can't even explain to you. So he has this it. It is written. So then the devil took him to the holy city, that would be Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, if you are the son of God.

Again, man, see where the accuser goes. He goes to identity. Throw yourself down for it is written. Check this out. The devil quotes scripture. All right. So when you come up to me with a Bible verse and a terrible idea, I'm like, Guess who's team your own right now, devil?

He'd been around a minute. He can read. He knows the book, too. So anybody can prove text, whatever they want. This is why you have to not just know about it. This is why Jesus would say to the pharaohs, you don't even know the word. They'd memorize the whole thing, and he said, but you don't know it. Because there's a difference in knowing about it and knowing it.

Trusting. And so the devil says, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down. for it is written. He will command his angels concerning you and on their hands. They will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone. This is the pride of life. Jesus, show everybody what a big deal you are. That's what it is. And essentially what he's saying is, Jesus, why don't we just skip to the end? Why don't we just skip to the end? Didn't God send you to the world for everybody to worship you? Yes. But he did not send Jesus to come to the world to be worshiped by showing off,

but by humbling himself and going to the world. cross and oftentimes oftentimes we think God will bless us in perverse means to a good end and he will not this is the pride of life to make much of yourself Jesus said he came to serve and not to be served but to give his life as a ransom for many and Jesus says to him again it is written how does Jesus respond he responds with the truth of the word of God you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, Jesus rejects, Jesus does not conform to the pattern of this world, but he's transformed by the renewing of his mind. His mind was perfect, but he was standing on the truth of the Word of God. Temptation number three, you want to take a guess as to which one it is? No? Okay, I'll tell you. Again,

the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him, there's a clue, all the kingdoms of the world in their glory, and said to him, all these I will give you, this is the lust of the eyes. This is like the enemy taking a redneck to Bass Pro and be like, he can all be yours. Jesus shows him all the king. He's going to come and lay down his life to claim victory and claim as his all the kingdoms of the world. And the enemy is like, what if I give you that without the suffering and dying?

It's called lust of the eyes. If you'll just fall down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, be gone, Satan, for it is written. All three times Jesus's response to the lies of the. the enemy are the truth of the Word of God. Do you see a pattern? You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. And then the devil left and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him. Let's go application for six minutes. Do you have it is written's in your life? Do you have it is written in your life? This is why I said, I'll need you to love

the Word of God. I know it's a big book. I know it can be hard to understand sometimes, but the Bible promises, Jesus promises that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit himself, will teach you all the things that you need to know when you need to know them. And you can trust him with that. And God has given us, this is very important. God has given us his word, the Bible, not to defeat the devil, but to remind us that the devil has already been defeated and we are standing on that victory. That we are not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory and we can stand on the truth. of that victory. The whole point is this, our enemy, the devil, is the

father of lies. Do not believe the whispers, but stand on the truth of the word of God. And in our culture, do not believe everything you feel because your feelings lie to you. And when we stand on the truth of the word of God over time, not necessarily overnight,

when you begin to root the word of God deep down in your soul and you speak them out of your mouth often and you stand on that truth eventually your feelings will line up with reality and so in your notebooks if you'll go to page 25 I did the beginning of your homework for you you are welcome okay on page 25 there is a list of lies that we begin to believe from this world here is the conforming pattern of this world that I'm hopeless and I'm unlovable and I'm defined by my past and I'm paralyzed by my

fears and I'm not forgiven and on and on and on and corresponding to that is the truth of God's Word. Now look, this is just a template. This is just the beginning. There are only nine lies, however many lies there are there. But the key is if you want to stand in victory against the enemy, the victory that Jesus has already secured on us, then you've got to not be conformed to these lies, the patterns of the worlds,

but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, which means you have to identify the lies that. we buy into and identify that lie and say, I'm not condemned. I'm not unfit for use. I know I feel like it. I know when I have the same struggle and the same sin over and over, I feel like it. I know when I say, God, I'll never do that again and I struggle with that again, or I have these sinful desires. I hear the whispers of the enemy saying to me, God's done with you. That's what it feels like. But I'm going to stand on the truth that therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And if you don't believe it yet, just quote it and claim it again.

Therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You do it over and over and over and over. Or you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror and you almost hate what's looking back at you. And you really struggle with this because you live in a world that lies to you that says if you're not beautiful, then you're not lovable. And the description of beauty is like a cartoon character. It's not even reality, right? And you live in that world. and you're by and you i mean listen man and you feel all kind of stuff right

and you should stand on the truth of psalm 139 14 i am fearfully and wonderfully made fearfully means reverently it doesn't mean like god made you and that's not what it means okay like god spoke into existence all that is but he knit you together in his mother's room like real slow purposefully maybe you want to memorize ephesus chapter two that you're God's workmanship. And then you quote it out loud, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful.

I know that full well. Me and Reagan pray that every night I put her to bed. She's 10 years old. You know why? Because she lives in the world that's going to tell her all kind of lies. And I want to anchor the truth of God so deep in her soul that then this world lies to her. It smells like, no, that ain't true.

That ain't true. So go through this. Identify the lies that you are believing. A couple of them that I have to deal with all the time. time, why does it matter so much to me what everybody thinks? Why? Why is the approval of man and the applause of man? How can that take such a big role in my life? And so I have to go to Galatians 110. Am I still trying to win the applause of man or of God? Just that question alone just begins to reshape everything. One of you come up and try to encourage me with that? That wasn't your best.

Okay, well don't worry about it, okay? Because I'm not trying to win your applause or your approval, but I am just seeking the approval of one. When I hear the whispers, which I hear often, that my past somehow defines my future, I have to tell the enemy. No, no, no, no, no. Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, Jesus. When you begin to believe the lie of pride,

you begin to think, you know what? I should be treated this way. Then I need to go to a little Galatians 220. I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live. Do crucified people have no rights? I've laid those down when I laid that thing down at Jesus. You understand?

Or when I began to think too highly of myself, as if I'm doing anything, I might need to reflect on Galatians 614. Far be it for me to boast in anything except the Lord, the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for I have been crucified under this world and this world unto me. This is taking off the old and putting on the new. When we begin to believe that somehow we are worthless, then maybe you need to reflect on 1st Corinthians chapter 6,

verses 19 and 20, do you not know that your body is the temple of God in whom the Holy Spirit dwells? You are not your own. You are bought at a price, therefore honor God with your body. You want the Jobi version? Because of what Christ did for me, I'm a pretty big deal.

you need to tell yourself that in two weeks in two weeks we are going to ask everybody grab your commitment card you hasn't touched it in a couple weeks you got to get the thing out get it on you okay in two weeks we're going to ask our whole church what does it look like to love God with all and on this card we're going to ask you to write down your commitment to the one initiative of 8,000 of us or so made a commitment a year ago and some of you just need to be re-encouraged to finish strong there's a whole bunch of us I I'm in this us category, where God has either grown your finances or grown your faith or what felt like a stretch last year. Somehow you got comfortable with it.

It's crazy, isn't it, how that happens? How God is so faithful and God's going to stretch you into another place for a whole bunch of you. We've grown by about 2,500 people since the last time we did this. God's going to invite you to come on for this last year of the one initiative. And I'm telling you, here it'll be you watch and see. You're going to have this card in one hand, and you won't probably bring your wallet. but if you had a gobble money in this hand, here's the lie. You look at your money and here's how money lies to you. Money says this. I say, money, if I love you, you will love me back. That's the lie. You will take care of me.

You will make me happy. You will make me secure. You will make me important. If I trust you, you are trustworthy. You know what that is? That's a lie. It's a lie. You know what the truth is? First Timothy chapter 6, as for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty. That's not haughty. It's like, don't be arrogant, nor set their hopes in the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Last week, Pastor Britt said, he wants his stuff one day to tell his children a story. I'm telling you, The more you write on this card, the less stuff your kids are going to have. It's just true.

Right? It's just true. I hope when I'm dead and done, and my kids are reflecting on my life, I hope they talk a whole lot more about the generosity of their mom and daddy than the stuff that they don't even remember. Amen? What are the lies in your life on this thing, this worship bulletin thing? On the bottom of it, we got this little tear-off section. I dare you. This is for you that want to deepen.

This is for you that really want to grow in your relationship with Jesus and not just be a stagnant church attendant. You see, if you only digging in to the Word of God is once a week you show up and let me spoon feed it to you for an hour, it ain't going to stick. You will be a baby forever. A big old fat, diaper wearing, umbilical, swinging, crying, sloppy, half worthless, but maybe going to heaven, baby.

Okay? Some point, man, you got to eat. God has given us this unbelievable tool from the heavenlies called Google. Straight up. You just say, Bible verses on. What's your fear, lust, anxiety, greed. It's unbelievable. and here's what's crazy man the sovereign king of the universe can use even the enemy's playground to serve

his children and give you all the verses that you need that's just true and so what i dare you to do okay the seven of you that are going to do this i hope you will you'll identify your fear and you'll write down if you want to use this tear it off and use this or if you want to just you know write something on your mirror in your bathroom or write it on a three by five card and put it in your car where you can constantly stand firm against the schemes of the lying enemy and not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by renewing your mind because here's the whole deal man all the enemy has is lust of the flesh lust of the eyes pride of life do you realize that through the gospel of Jesus Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the lust of the flesh you want to feel

something Jesus says come to me all you who are weary a heavy burden and I will give you peace I will give you rest for your soul that Jesus is the fulfillment of the lust of the eyes. You want some stuff? How about an everlasting inheritance that no rust can rust and no thief can steal and no moth can eat? And the pride of life,

that Jesus is the fulfillment for this desire of the pride of life. You know what you want to be a big deal? Then you trust in Jesus and you are more than a conquer. You were a co-eastern. air with Christ and your dad is the king of the universe. God has given us His word, not to defeat the enemy, but God has given us his word to remind

us that he is already defeated and we can stand on his promises. Amen? Would you please stand and pray with me? Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything. God, we love you and thank you for your word. Thank you that we live in a country, that we live in a time, that we live in a place and a space where we can carry your word around in our back pocket and access it at every red light if we would like to. God, I pray by the power of the Holy Spirit that in every, I mean every single person that considers 1122 their church, whether they're sitting in one of our seven campuses from Bay Meadows to Baker and Union and Arlington and all of them,

or whether they listen week after week, God, would you birth a hunger and a thirst and a desire and an affection for your word that would grow us and protect us and root us and defend us from that prowling lion seeking to destroy us. Jesus, we thank you. We praise you for the victory is yours. I pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. So, church, we respond to the gospel. It's what we do. We respond by joining our voices together and sing, make much of him. If you read you by Bible a lot, you would know that God just commands it. Sing unto me. You should do that. He doesn't say, look at other people singing to me. He says, sing unto me. That we respond in prayer. The Bible, if you read it enough, you would know this. It says, cast all your cares upon me because I care for you.

That when Jesus says, it is finished, the curtain that separated the presence of God from the people of God was torn from the top to the bottom. Not the bottom to the top, from the top to the bottom. In other words, God initiated the tear. And he says, come on, kids, step into the throne room. It's important to you, it's important to me, because you're important to me. So come on and pray. And we respond by bringing our first and our best. It is a part of worship.

The generosity in this church is mind-blowing. And if you're new here, you notice we didn't even take up an offering. You're like, this is my favorite church, okay? It's because the Bible doesn't say, go get. It says, bring. And so you bring to God, you're first and your best, because God first loved us by giving us his best in Jesus Christ. All of those things are response.

All of those things are worship. So let us pray. So you've got some stuff you're dealing with, some lies you believe, and come on and come pray. Bring somebody with you and say, come pray for me. And let us sing unto the Lord, because he's worth it. And let us bring our gifts as an act of worship to him. Let's respond.