The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 5: Mount of Temptation – With What Weapon Will You Fight the Enemy?

Episode Date: April 3, 2022

Our enemy, the devil, is the Father of Lies. Do not believe the whispers, but stand on truth of the Word of God. "It is written.."

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Doing good? All right, finish this sentence. If the tomb is empty? Are you nailed it? You're so smart. Look at you.

Hey, oftentimes I think when we think about that phrase that we use here all the time, what we think that it's possible are things like lives can be changed, or we think my prodigal can come home or my body can be healed, or if Jesus walked out of the grave, then maybe my marriage can be reconciled. And all of those things are true. And in fact, if you need a miracle next week, we're going to end our service by praying for a miracle. and casting out demons and all that kind of stuff, but I need to explain a little bit before we get there.

Because today what we're talking about is this, if the tomb is empty, what is possible is that you and I can overcome temptation. So today's message is only for those of us who struggle with temptation. How many of you would say, you know what? I may be a Christian, but I still struggle with temptation. Anybody? Okay, those of us with their hand raised

and then all the liars. So that's cool. That makes us all. Which, by the way, if you're sitting back and be like, Temptation is not really a problem for me. Well, you're so disillusioned that there's nothing I could say to convince you otherwise. But today, that's what we're going to talk about. We're going to go to the mountain of temptation, and I just need to warn you.

You want to head to Matthew Chapter 4. That's where we're going to start. We're going to go to at least seven passages that we're going to end up back in Matthew chapter 4. It's going to be kind of like a Tarantino sermon. All right, we're going to start at the end, and then we're going to go back to the beginning and go all over the place, but it'll make sense by the end. If you grew up Southern Baptist, congratulations.

You're going to get to exercise your sword jewels. skills, so that'll be exciting. And normally it takes me an hour to do one passage. We're going to do seven, so about 3.34 o'clock we should be cruising out here. I don't know what we're going to do about the next service, but they'll be fine. They can just sit on your lap. Matthew chapter 4. Here's where we go.

Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Now, the then matters a lot. Because what happens right before this is that Jesus gets baptized. The Jesus shows up on the scene He's going to start his earthly ministry. He gets baptized by his cousin, John the baptizer. He says, behold, the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the entire world.

Jesus gets baptized in this, check this out. The Bible records that the heavens open up and God the Father speaks out loud over his son and says these words, Behold my son in whom I am well pleased. Now, by the way, this is for free. How much ministry has Jesus done so far? zero. He's not done any miracles. He hadn't walked on water, hadn't brought anybody back from the dead,

he hadn't gone to the cross. He's done no water to wine, no miracles up to this point, but God the father gives the verdict before the performance. You notice this? And if you think it feels good to you when your dad brags on you, imagine what it feels like to Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, the son, who for all of eternity past, the heavenly father has been lavishing love upon him in the heavenlies, but for the last 30 years or so, it's been different because there's been a distance. He put on flesh and became like one of us, and he's walking this earth. But in this moment, the heavens open up, and he hears his father say, behold, my son, and whom I am well pleased. I mean, this is a mountaintop moment for the son of God.

And then the very next thing is he gets dragged into, by the spirit, by the way, he gets dragged into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. We've been talking about mountains that all of us live from mountaintop to mountain top and in between those mountain tops are the valleys and most often your valley of the shadow of death comes right after the big mountain top experience. You should pay attention to that.

And so he's in the wilderness to be tempted. Verse two and after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, the Bible sometimes is so understated. He is hungry. I've been fasting on Wednesdays from just breakfast and lunch, and I am starving. You ever notice that? And the tempter came. Now pay attention.

You see, the enemy does not know your future, but he does have all access to your past. And pay attention because when we are hungry, isolated, and tired, we're most often vulnerable to the temptations of the enemy. And the tempter came and said to Jesus, if you are the son of God. You see, he's always going to start with questioning our identity. Now, just to put my cards out here on the table, I believe that there is an actual devil actually tempting Jesus. And if you don't believe in the devil, just hang in here.

By the end of the hour, you will, okay? And so here's the thing we've got to know that the devil is a tempter. He is a liar. And John 1010 says he only wants to kill, still, and destroy you. That's it. Now, have you ever looked at your life if you're a follower of Jesus? I don't know if you do this. I'm 48 years old.

I got saved as a teenager. And I would have thought at this point in my life I would be farther along in my sanctification than I am. Okay? Anybody with me on that? Anybody wonder why you still struggle with the same temptations that you do? And by the way, in modern Christianity, we don't sin anymore. Notice that we just struggle? I just struggle.

No, it's called a sin, but whatever. You ever wonder why you're still tempted? Last week, we found out that for anyone who has surrendered their life to the Lordship of Christ, anyone who has turned over the reins to Christ, which was 87 people last week, by the way, in all over our service, praise God. All right. All right. So you 87 people, it doesn't get easier.

That the enemy continues to tempt us. Why is that? Like, if I am possessed by Jesus and the Spirit of God lives in me, and last week we found out, Blessed are the pure and heart that we will see God, and anybody, that surrender to Christ are all pure in heart, that God has ripped out our heart of stone, our wretched black heart, sent it to hell, gave us a new heart, his heart,

then why in the world am I still tempted? Well, I'm glad you ask. If you go to Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, Paul is going to address this very reality. And Paul says this, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, and a little Bible study technique,

if the Bible has the word therefore, you need to see what it's therefore, and the reason that therefore is there is there, because Paul is saying, in Romans chapter 1 through 8, Paul lays out the gospel, that every single one of us have abandoned or rejected the holy God, that all of us are sinners, and we have all fallen short of the glory of God. But God has demonstrated his love for us and this,

that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us, and none of us will be declared righteous by our own works of the law, but God has manifested a righteousness apart from the law, though the whole Bible talked about it. His name is Jesus. And whoever puts their faith in Jesus Christ will be, be justified and made right with God, and therefore now there is no condemnation for those who were in Christ Jesus. That's chapters 1 through 8 real quick. And then chapters 9, 10, and 11 are about

Israel's role in God's redemptive plan for all of human history. And so the reason that therefore here is here is this, since you know the gospel chapters 1 through 8 and you know the role of the church and taking the gospel to the very ends of the earth, therefore the rest of the book of Romans is going to be what does it look like to live out the Christian walk. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Well, how do we do that, Paul? How do we, because we just all admitted that we struggle with sin, we just all admitted that we are tempted by the evil one, how then do we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,

which is our spiritual worship? And Paul's like, I'm glad. you ask, you do two things. Here's the two-step process to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Number one, do not be conformed to this world. And number two, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. That's it. Step one, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. When the Bible uses the word conform, it's a construction term. It's a building term. Some of you know this well. Have you ever poured concrete? Most of our crowd, have ever worked concrete? Most of our crowd, have ever watch somebody pour you some concrete, all right? So what you do is you build a form, if you want a heart-shaped whatever, you build a form

in the shape of a heart, and then you pour a concrete in, and the concrete is conform to the pattern that has been set out for it. And what Paul is saying is that every single one of us live in a world that has a pattern that it wants us to conform to. This world says, you do you. This world says self-actualization is your God. This world says, this is how you do. this is how you do money, this is how you do relationships.

And everything in our world is trying to get us to conform to the pattern of this world. The problem with the pattern of this world is the enemy is in control over it, and he only wants you to conform to that pattern that you will be killed, stolen from, and destroyed. So he says, don't conform to that pattern. But, however, be transformed. That word transform is where we get the English word metamorphose. from, but be transformed how by the renewal of your mind. You see, when you got saved, you got a brand new heart. Your heart was redeemed. You have the heart of Christ, but you still have the same

crooked and depraved mind. The moment you got saved, your forever was changed, but your right now is still you. You still have your same birth order. You still grew up with the parents that you had. You still had the crappy brothers and sisters that abused you or whatever they did to you. you're still your same enneagram number, and all of that is the same. And we have lived for however long we've been alive, hearing and believing and buying into the lies of this world that conform us to the pattern of this world. So what Paul says is, number one, you've got to identify the lies of this world, and then number two, you've got to throw those things away and renew your mind by putting

on the truth of God. Everybody knows how you renew something. Ladies, if you're going to renew your nail polish, what is step one? Is it just add more nail polish? No. You do that long enough. They'd be like this thick. You'd look weird, okay?

Just be weird. First thing you do is you take off the old and then you put on the new. If you're going to paint your car, you don't just paint over the existing paint. You take the paint off down to the metal and then you repaint. This is what Paul is saying to do. You take off the old and you put on the new. You renew your mind and the new is the word of God. that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

You see, the reality is that every single one of us are in a battle against the enemy. And the enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy. But the modern day battle against the enemy is not primarily a full frontal attack from the enemy. the enemy primarily attacked us in the mind. Go to Ephesians chapter 6. This is our third scripture already, by the way. Ephesians chapter 6 beginning in verse 10. Now Pentecostals, you're going to love this.

Now I'm not going to go right where you want to go, but hang in there with me, okay? This is the preeminent text on what we call spiritual warfare, but here's how Paul, pay attention to how Paul says that we are to fight against the enemy that is attacking us primarily in the mind. He says this, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Whose might? His might, because your willpower will never be enough. So be strong in the Lord and then the strength of his might put on the whole armor of God

that you may be able to stand against. That word stand is going to show it four times, and it does not just mean to like stand up. It means to like stand your ground or take a stand. These are fighting words. Here's how you fight against the evil one. He says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy. That word schemes is methodia.

It's where we get the word method. That the enemy has a scheme against you, for we do not wrestle or fight against flesh and blood. You see, your struggle with temptation, your struggle with sin, you thought the problem was your boss. Problem's not your boss, man. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, but you don't know my boss, okay? My boss acts like this, and then he makes me act like that. and be like, no, no, no, that's not actually your struggle.

Your struggle's not your ex. And I know for some of it's like, well, you've never met my ex, okay? I didn't believe in the devil until I met my ex, and then I thought, yeah, there she is. All right. So maybe, I don't know. But our struggle is not against other people. Our struggle is against flesh and blood. Now, when we hear the term warfare, especially today, when you hear the term war or warfare,

I'm telling you, everybody with the television, our mind goes to Russia and Ukraine. and we think about war that way, like two opposing armies on the battlefield, fighting it out against one another. But this is not how the enemy attacks. Now, sometimes the enemy will manifest himself that way and come on the full frontal attack. But the problem is the Bible says in Revelation 13 that the enemy is like a dragon with a mortal head wound, that the decisive death blow has already been afflicted against the enemy. enemy at the cross and he is just on his way down he's dead and dying but on his way down he's flailing

around taking some people out so the enemy cannot the enemy cannot just get all powered up and come on with a full frontal attack because he has already been defeated when jesus christ on the cross said it is finished a part of what is finished is the enemy's ruling reign over our life so he is a dog on a leash he cannot just full on take us out he cannot pull on take us out he cannot pull possess the believer, because if you were a believer in Jesus, you are possessed by God, bought and paid for it, and the Spirit of God lives in you, but he can oppress you and nag you to death. So there are all kinds of groups and people and ideologies and even countries that want to attack America, but you can't just line up on our border and come at us because we will

squish you. That's just how it happened, okay? America, that's how it goes. So what happens these days, and listen, man, this is just like common knowledge. So what happens is, people attack us with what is called a dirty war. That there are bot farms in Russia right now that are checking all the algorithms of what you like on Twitter and they know exactly when to drop that Twitter thing into your feed so that you will hate the person next to you and get all riled up and turn our whole country

into a bunch of tribes that hate each other and they're doing a really good job. It's called a dirty war. It's a misinformation campaign. And the way those kinds of groups and ideologies attack the superpower America is how the enemy attacks us. It's a dirty war. It's a misinformation campaign. He launches these little lies, because when he speaks, he's lying, because that's his native tongue,

he launches these little lies into our head, into our brain. He fills us up with the lies of this world, and so Paul is saying, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And when the enemy comes against you, you need to stand up. You need to take a stand. Because we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. Other people are not the problem,

but there is a motivation. There is an enemy behind that that is flooding our culture with lies. But you and I already stand in victory. Paul is going to say this in Colossus chapter 2. He's going to say, and you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, he set aside, nailing it to the cross, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. In other words, we won. The game is over, okay? At this point in the Christian life, all right, We have won the decisive battle, and we are in victory formation just kneeling down the ball until the clock runs out. C, Georgia, Alabama, 3118. It's like that, okay? But yet in the meantime, the enemy is still trying to trick, tempt, steal, kill, destroy, it's what he's doing.

So Paul says, when he comes against you with what I call the whispers, the lies, trying to suck us in and get us to buy into, conform to the pattern of this world, you got to stand against this. because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. You see, again, I call these the whispers. This is what the enemy does. He meets Jesus in the wilderness,

and he starts with questioning his identity, if you are the son of God. You see, the enemy wants us to believe our doubt, and doubt our beliefs. That's what he wants us to do. You see, Jesus would have us believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts. And the enemy comes in with a little like,

you know, he's not really talking to you right now. You're fine. He's talking to your mother-in-law. She's the one that needs to be listening to this sermon. It's those kind of things. It's the kind of thing you felt when you walked in here today.

Hadn't been here in three weeks and you feel a little guilt for that. And then you're like, oh, gosh, I should keep coming back. And then the enemy begins to whisper, who do you think you are? If the people knew what you were doing last night, they would kick you out of this place.

those are lies of condemnation. The Father does not speak in a language of condemnation. Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Do you see how the primary spiritual warfare against the enemy is a battle of the mind? And because that's true, Paul is going to go on to say, therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand therefore. That's four times.

The Paul says, so fight against the enemy. How? Here's how. Having fastened on the belt of truth, we know Jesus is truth and his word is truth. And having put on the breastplate of righteousness, that's about identity, and we learn who our identity is through the word of God. And as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, the gospel is what is recorded about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in His Word.

In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, and the Bible says that we have faith by hearing his word, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Jesus says, this is the offensive weapon against the battle against the enemy. It's the word of God. Now, remember, our battle is not against flesh and blood. This is not a sledgehammer to take out Kathy in the cubicle next to you because she doesn't agree with you. This is a sword against Satan himself.

Okay, so how does that work? If the enemy has a misinformation campaign for us to buy into his lies in the mind, and God has given us his word, then how does it work for us to stand against him? I'm glad you asked. Go to John chapter 8. In John chapter 8, Jesus is going to talk about our battle against the devil, and he's not going to talk about like people's heads spinning around and peace suit flying everywhere. It's not what he's doing.

That happens sometimes. But primarily, that's not the attack of the enemy. primarily it's a dirty war campaign in our mind. So Jesus says this in John 831. So Jesus said, to the Jews who had believed in him, if you abide in my word, you truly are my disciples. If you abide, that's like a relational term. If you fall in love with and are in a relationship with the Bible,

you're truly my disciples. By the way, that's different than memorizing two or three verses. He's talking to a group of people that had memorized all of the Old Testament. And he's like, yeah, that's cool. You memorize the words, but you don't know the word. It's a really big difference. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. If you ever hear a politician quote that, but don't quote the verse before it,

then just be a little suspect because they want you to believe in their campaign. Jesus says, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free is about knowing his word. Two different things. All right. So the world's going to lie to us. the devil's going to lie to us, our flesh is going to lie to us. And here's the thing, here's the thing about the lies of the enemy. It always seems like fun at first.

Like temptation is tempting. You should write that now. Temptation is tempting. And when the enemy lies to us and tempts us, it looks like fun. But rejection, rejection of the authority of God always feels like fun and freedom at first, but can only lead to death and bondage. God's word may sting a little at first, may converse, may conundation. confront us a lot at first, but it always leads to freedom. And so when Jesus says this to

them, they said, what do you tell about bondage? We've never been in bondage. We are sons of Abraham. And then look how he responds. Jesus says in verse 44, you are of your father, the devil. Now today, this whole group would have been triggered and needed a safe space and they would have boycotted Jesus or whatever people do today, okay? You think Jesus is just like a super sweet teacher? You should read the Bible. Here's what he says. is the devil. And your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth

because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. So this is what the enemy does. It is a misinformation campaign that the enemy is battling for your mind, and what he does is launch these darts or grenades of lies is to get us to buy into it,

because if we think a thing, we'll feel a thing, and if we think and feel a thing, we'll begin to do a thing. And that is the path of destruction that the enemy wants us to walk down. And so then you may ask, so what are the lies? Well, I've got good news.

1 John, chapter 2, verses 15 and 16. I come back to this one a lot, because the Bible says that the enemy only has three lies. That there are three basic categorical lies that the enemy tells us over and over and over. Now, he's sophisticated, and he can be complex, but it's not very complicated.

They all boil down to one of these three things. John says this in 1 John 2. He says, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. Now, you may look at that if you've been around Bible study, even if you're kind of new to Bible study. You probably know one verse. John 316 says, for God so love the world.

And you look at this and you say, whoa, whoa, whoa, How can John, same author, how can John say that we are not to love the world, but John 316 says, for God so loved the world? Well, the difference is this. In John 316, God is talking about loving the people of the world. And in 1 John 2, John is talking about rejecting the values and the systems of this world. As believers, we are supposed to reject the values and systems of this world and love the people of this world. And oftentimes what Christians do is the exact opposite. We love the people. values and systems in this world, and we reject the people of this world because they don't look like us, vote like us, act like us, believe what we believe. And so here's what he's

saying. He's saying that we are to reject the values and the systems 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, dash, John is about to tell us all that the world throws at us, all that the enemy comes at us with, and there are three things. The ESV, which is what I use, says the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. It's not from the father, but of the world. Now, I like the old King James here, because it says lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And it seems more appropriate to use the word lust here, lust of the flesh. Seems better than desire, right, when we're talking about temptation

and sin and say lust. A little more, say lust. No, that's a little aggressive on the front row there, but you get it, okay? From the beginning of time until today, this is what the enemy has to throw at us. The lust of the flesh. Now, when you hear lust of the flesh, you probably, your mind goes to sex, and it is sex, but it's way more than that. The lust of the flesh is this desire to feel, this desire to feel.

Like I deserve to feel this way. And it could be sex or it could be food or it could be Netflix. But it's that moment when you begin to believe the lie that I don't like the way I feel. And so instead of going to the Prince of Peace to find contentment for my soul, I'm going to go to some temporary stuff of this world. That's what the lust of the flesh is. The lust of the eyes is this desire to have. It's about possession.

It's when we think that there are some stuff. You ever walk through someplace and you look at a thing and you're like, I didn't even know I had to have that until I saw it and now I don't know how I've lived without it. You ever doing that? Okay, that's called lust of the eyes. And again, around here we call it the cul-de-sac of stupidity. It's not that stuff is stupid. It's that you're stupid. Me too. The moment you put your hope in any kind of stuff, if you think new pants are going to do something for you, the problem is that you are still in those pants. And the problem ain't pants. The problem is you. That's the lust of the eyes. When you think a new kitchen and half bath

are going to do something for your soul, pay attention. And it's all, I'm just telling you, man. And we all laugh. Here's what's so, I'm the worst at this. Do you know why I make fun of kitchens all the time? Because I don't care about kitchens. I don't care. We're about to do one, and I don't even care.

But you pull out kitchen and you put it in camo, and then I'm like, I got to have that. It's just, there it is, man. It's just different. That's the lest of the eyes. There's lust of the flesh. I want to feel a different way. Lus of the eyes.

I need to have that. And the pride of life is, is this, I'm going to be something. This is about status. This is about power, position. This is about ego, insecurity. This is about the applause of man. When you care way more about what everybody else thinks than the one true God thinks about you.

This is about craving a little blue check or likes or thumbs up or whatever it is. That's what this is. And here's the thing. You see, every lure has a hook. Every temptation has a gotcha. The way the Bible will say it in James chapter 1 versus 14 and 15 is this, but each person is tempted when he is lured

and enticed by his own desire. Now, temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted, but he never sin. But then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown, brings forth death. You see, again, temptation is tempting. I've never been tempted to put on an orange and blue shirt

and go down to Gainesville on a Saturday. Never once, never even cross. You could, you want it? It's like, nah, not at all, okay? So that's not what is tempting to me. And I've told you this before, that the enemy is like a good bass fisherman. He's only got three lures in his tackle box, and so he puts on that hula popper and he throws it out there,

and he's like, blom, boom, boom, boom. And Big Billy Bass looks at it at, and it's like, man, I look like a hot dog with a hook in it. I ain't even going to try it. It's you crazy, man. Who do you think I am? And so what does a good bass fisherman do? Man, he clips that thing off.

He puts it up. And then he puts on like a rattle trap, a little silver minnow thing with a BB in it. And he throws that little pride of life and he's like, and again, one bass might look at it and be like, that's crazy. It's so loud. And the next one's like, oh my gosh, I got to have that.

And then the crazy thing is Bass 1 is like, you like that? Do you even consider yourself a large mouth? I can't believe you. So then he clips that off and then he puts on the granddaddy of all, man, lust of the flesh. That dark purple worm throws it out there and just jiggle it, jiggly, jiggly, and it's like, oh, yes, heart, no. Boom, that's what happens.

That's what James 1, 14, and 15 means, kind of. So that's all he's got to throw with you. I'm trying to equip you to overcome temptation. So if you were the enemy, how would you take you out? Pay attention to that. The Bible says, the Bible says that the enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Now let me ask you,

what if you knew that a lion was coming after you? Like an actual lion, like you, like if the zoo has a, hey, I got some nursery and he'd talk to you at the end of the service. I mean, you, right there with a jean jacket on. We have a high percentage of jean jackets here at our church. We're right there, okay? So, hey, the devil called, I mean, the zoo called, and the devil, a lion is trying to eat you.

You, today would change for you, would it not? When our service is over, you wouldn't just walk out of your car. I don't know if that's how you walk. But you wouldn't just like, all right, see you later. Walk through your car. Nah, man, you get to the front door and you'd be like, hey, can I talk to the parking team? Anybody's seeing a lion somewhere?

It would change everything. Well, he is. And then what if I told you there was only three ways he could come after you? He's either going to jump out the building or be in your trunk or be in the back seat. Then the moment you check, you'd be like, well, all right, he's not on. the roof, then what would you do? You'd be like, I'm not opening my car because you would know his schemes or method of attack. Second Corinthians 2.11 says that we should not be outwitted by the enemy because we already know his methodia, his schemes, his attacks. And this is what he

has to attack us with. And this is all he's been doing from the very beginning. If you go all the way to the beginning, Genesis chapter 3. Now y'all going to have to listen faster than you're listening because we're a little bit behind. But Genesis chapter 3, I want you to see the enemy the first he shows up in the scriptures, and I want you to see his schemes, his evil schemes, against our parents, Adam and Eve. He says this. Now, the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, did God actually say, this is what he does, man, he twist, he lies, he's tempting. And what the enemy always wants us to do is to question at least three things about God. He wants us

the question the Word of God, the work of God, and the worth of God, or the worthiness of God. He comes to you, and he's like, did God actually say, I mean, come on, man, what does Paul know about dating? He was single. That's old. He didn't have dating apps. That doesn't apply anymore. Does God actually say, he wants us to question the Word of God? He wants us to question the work of God that when Jesus died on the cross, did it count it for you? And he goes, you don't really believed. I mean, he's saved, he died for all those good church folk, but not you. And he wants us to question the worthiness of God. You think God is worthy of your worship? Well, if he loved you, wouldn't he take better care of you? These are lies from the enemy. So he goes to her, did God

actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the servant, 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, neither shall you touch it lest you die. Now, here's what you've got to understand. At this point in human history, God's word is very limited. It could have all fit on a three-by-five card.

There was only one don't. There was a bunch of dues. God's way more into relationship than he is into rules. He created us to be in a perfect, face-to-face, right relationship with him. And he gave commands like subdue and cultivate, be fruitful and multiply. Praise God, all the merry people,

say glory, okay? That's a good one. I mean, think about this. When God created Adam and Eve, they were naked and unashamed. Think about that over 40 crowd, right? That'd be a miracle, wasn't it? Right. Then there's only one. But that, I love you so much, I need to point this out. That tree over there will kill you. Don't eat it. Now, notice what she does. He didn't say anything about touching it. She adds that to him. This is classic legalism. I'm going to add to what God said. But the servant said to the woman, you will 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. You got this. It's rooted in the pride of life. If you got this, you know better how to live your life than God does. Can you really believe? Did his word really say? And it's as old as human history.

Like, the Bible is very clear about things like sex. Flea sexual immorality. Sexual immorality is any kind of. sex outside of marriage and according to God, marriage is between one man, one woman for one lifetime. And the enemy comes as like, did God really say, I mean, come on, man, that's an old book. You can't believe that. And people that say they follow Jesus, buy into it. But no, no, no, no, I'm not primarily a son or daughter of God. I am primarily what I say I am. That's a lot. Or, well, listen, listen, I know there are some commands in here about sex and all that kind of

stuff, but that's for all those people. This relationship is unique. Yeah, you're unique, just like all the other humans on the planet, just like that, okay? Which means you're not. Or I've heard this in our church. Yeah, but we're married in our heart. That's not a thing. You made that up. That's a lie, all right?

Because what you're saying is, forget you, I do what I want. Or here's another lie. That the enemy comes along and says, did God really say, do this with money? And you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, but there was no stock market when the Bible was written. God doesn't. I know so much more. than him. This is mine, or forgiveness, or whatever the thing is. The enemy comes with this lie. Did God really say? And so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that's the lest of the

flesh. She's like, hmm, I deserve this. I deserve to eat this. And that it was a delight to the eyes, and she looks at it. She's like, I didn't even know I wanted it until I saw it. And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, this is the pride of life. I tell me what I do. She took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband who was. What does it say, husbands? Yep, you were just as silent as Adam

and that's what got us into this mess, all right? It's a different sermon though. Appreciate your help. You can go back to sleep now. And he ate. All right. So the enemy attacks with lies. So what do we do?

What do we do when temptation comes our way? All right, back to Matthew chapter 4. That was none of the sermon. I hadn't started preaching yet. That was just the setup. Now here we go. All right, Matthew chapter 4. I need you to understand how the enemy works so now we can see how Christ overcomes this temptation. And so, then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness.

Maybe this is why in the Lord's prayer when he prays in spirit lead us not in temptation, because he did it once and it wasn't awesome. And then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Again, man, Jesus is tempted. this means in his flesh there were some things that were tempting because he's fully God, he's fully man, to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights,

which could have been preparation, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, if you are the son of God, you see, the enemy's going to try to twist at the identity level. That's what he's going to do. If you are the son of God, these are the whispers, man.

the whispers of condemnation. Condemned as a building term, it means unfit for use. The reason I talk about it all the time is because I deal with it all the time, especially Thursdays and Sundays, especially the moment I get ready to walk out here and I hear that, listen, man, what's the day?

Friday, I don't know, one day this week, I was the worst dad and husband. I mean, just the worst. And then, and then the enemy will be like, who do you think you are? that you would treat your kids and wife that way on Friday and then think you could stay. You know what that's called?

That is called condemnation. If you are a son of God, you wouldn't act like that. You've already screwed up too much. This is what he is coming at Jesus with. If you are the son of God. Then he says this, command these stones to become loaves of bread. This is lust of the flesh. Lust of the flesh.

Now, is Jesus hungry? Uh-huh. 40 days. Fasting. Does he have the ability to meet his own needs to satisfy himself? Uh-huh. He does. And when we do that, this is called lust of the flesh.

Can he turn stones in their bread? Sure, man. If he can do water to wine, he can do rocks in the sandwiches, I'm sure. It's a part of his ability. But this is when we try to find our fulfillment and satisfaction in this feeling instead of finding it in the one true God. Now again, man, here's the way this plays out in our life. You get home from work and you're like, I deserve a drink.

And is there anything wrong with a drink? I don't know. Most of the time not. But it's when that becomes two or three or four, and you begin to tell yourself, I deserve, you just don't understand. I need this to knock the edge off. When Jesus says, come to me,

all you who are weary and heavy burden, and I will give you rest for your soul, but you look for rest for your soul. It might not be a drink. It might be a Bahamas trip. And you may say, is Bahamas a sin? If you're putting your hope in it, uh-huh, that is exactly what the lust of the flesh is.

Or sometimes it's not a drink, and it's not that. Sometimes it's a cookie. Because you're all stressed and you just eat the ice cream and then you're like, oh, look, did they start making the thing smaller because I'm already to the bottom and you just don't stop. And sometimes it's crack. Now there's a difference between a cookie and crack. So I've been told, I don't know a lot about crack, but it's anytime you go to a thing to try to feel a certain way outside of the will of God, that's what it is.

or it's pornography. When you begin to convince yourself, listen to the, it's going to sound ridiculous when I say this out loud in church because you're not thinking about pornography until I just said it right now in church. You're feeling all holy and righteous. Good for you.

But the moment you began to believe, no, no, no, this is good for my marriage. Because I'm not going outside of my marriage. I'm not actually touching somebody. And so this is, I'm actually doing this for our good because my wife won't give me what I want and so I'm going to go and change the way I feel. And you begin to believe.

somehow you forgot that's an actual real human being that's been abused for your temporary pleasure, but don't worry about that. This is what I'm talking about. It's a twist. It's a lie. It's the lust of the flesh. If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Now look how Jesus answers.

But he says, it is written. It is written. The thing Jesus goes to is what Paul says is the sword of the spirit. That's the way he goes. And he doesn't go, hold on, I need to go look this up. No, no, no, no, no, man. He has hidden his word in his heart that he might not sin against God. That's Psalm 119.

Okay? You got to have some it is written. And it's beyond just memorizing a couple of verses. You got to know the word. I do not know how to convey this to you, but I love the word of God, and I need and want you to love the word of God. I mean, it's why we teach it every week. And I know you look at it sometimes, and you're like,

well, you know what, memorizing stuff. is hard. Oh, shut up. Everybody in here my age still knows all the words of the first verse of Ice Ice Baby, and you haven't heard it for 30 years. You can remember stuff that is important to you, okay? And then not only that, man, not only that, the Bible says that Jesus has sent us a tutor, the Holy Spirit, to teach us the Word of God. I don't know if you know this, but I can expose you to the Word of God to you, only the Spirit of God can. And you're like, it's a big book, It's difficult. Well, just dig in, man.

Just dig in. Because if not, if the only time you are in God's word learning and feeding on God's word is once a week or once a month, however often you come, and I am spoon feeding it to you, then you, spiritually speaking, are never going to graduate from just being a baby. A big old fat, milk-crusted lip, diaper full of crap baby, walking up to our church, just swinging your umbilical cord going, feed me, feed me, feed me. and you're going to go from church to church to cherries going, well, I just wasn't getting fed. Look here, you fat worthless, baby. Feed yourself. Is that too much? I need you to get into it, man.

Because what happens? I don't know one person that's got a deep and abiding walk with Jesus that does not just cherish the Word of God, not one person. Because what happens is when you get into it, man, he gets all into you and begins to change everything about you. Jesus says, it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is Deuteronomy 8.3. You see, it's not just some historical document. It's not. The Bible says in Hebrews 412,

for the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing into the division of the soul and the spirit of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Read the Word of God. Get into it, man. Get into it.

And so now the enemy has to scramble because he can't fight against. the sword of the spirit. So here comes the second temptation. And then the devil took Jesus to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. And he said to him, if you are the son of God,

he's still like noodling in on his identity. Throw yourself down. Look at this, for it is written. The devil is going to quote Bible verses. This is why I'm saying it takes, he's going to quote Psalm 91, which is primarily about the protection of the Lord for those who have put their faith in the Lord.

And he's going to quote that. So there's a difference between just memorizing a few verses and abiding deeply into his word and letting it get into you and read you. And so he quotes Psalm 91. The devil does. He will command his angels concerning you on their hands. They will bear you up lest you strike your foot against the stone. This is the pride of life.

Jesus, make much of yourself. Make much of yourself. And we find out, Jesus says, I didn't come to be served. I came to serve and give my life a ransom for many. You cannot take me off of what God has. me for my own namesake. No, no, no, no, no. It is for his namesake.

That's what he says. And so Jesus said to him, again, it is written. He's going to go back to the scriptures. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. This is Deuteronomy 6. Okay, again, recap. This is what Jesus is doing. He is not conforming to the pattern of this world.

He is identifying the lie that the enemy launches into his brain. He is rejecting that, and he is proclaiming the new. He is proclaiming the mind of God by proclaiming the word of God. This is how we come against the enemy when he attacks us. And again, verse 8, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of this world and their glory. And he said to them, this is the enemy talking to Jesus. All these I will give you.

This is the lust of the eyes. See all this stuff? He showed it to him. I will give this to you if you fall down and worship me. You remember in the upside down kingdom, remember? the enemy usurps the authority given to the viceroy, Adam, and his wife Eve. And when sin enters the world, he has some dominion over this present world. And ultimately, what the enemy does is he goes to Jesus, and he says, hey, you came to rule and reign over all this.

How about this? How about let's just skip the cross and go straight to the crown? Because you deserve all these things you see. That's the temptation. The lust of the eyes. But Jesus, then Jesus said to him, be gone Satan, for it is written. Three times in a row, it is written, it is written, it is written. You shall worship the Lord of your God, and Him only shall you serve.

That's 1 Samuel 7.3. And then the devil left him, and behold, the angels came and were ministering to him. You see, the reason that it is written works is because Jesus says it is finished, and because if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. This is what the sword of the spirit has been given. given to us four. And again, if you don't think the enemy is out to attack you and kill you and steal from you and destroy you, bro, you're going to lose. It is over. As you know, I love to hunt. I love the deer hunt. I love the turkey hunt. I love all those things. I think it's kind of

funny when they call it a sport because half of the, half of those in the activity don't know they're playing. I have the clear advantage tomorrow morning because the turkey just thinks he's going to breakfast. And he didn't realize the whistle is blown and the clock is on, right? That's why they lose all the time. Now, that's why you lose all the time. Because if you don't think you're playing, the one that has predetermined that violence is necessary will always win the fight. And the enemy has predetermined. He wants to kill you, steal from you, and destroy everything good and godly in your life. Here's the point. Our enemy, the devil, is the father of lies. don't believe the whispers, but stand on the truth of the word of God.

You need some it is writtens in your life. And God has given us his word, the Bible, not to defeat the devil, but to remind us that he has already been defeated. It is written works because it is finished has been proclaimed, and he walked out of the grave. And if he can walk out of the grave, then you and I can walk in a newness of life. So now, from the very beginning,

this thing has been a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's what this is about. So those of you that are ready to take some steps in deepening your relationship with Jesus and overcoming temptation through the blood of Jesus, I got some homework for you. And if you're not willing to do it, again, fat baby, I can't help you. I don't know what to tell you. See you next week.

I'll spoon to thin you some more apple sauce. It's going to be awesome, okay? But if you want to take that step, here's what you do. Don't be conformed to the pattern of this world. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Identify the lies that the enemy is telling you and then put those things. away and put on the Word of God. If you were the enemy, how would you take you out? Find Bible verses about that and stand on the truth of God's Word. And I'm telling you, man, just because you quote

a verse doesn't mean your feelings are going to change overnight, but you just, you proclaim the word of God and God's word will never go out in vain. It always accomplishes what God intended it to accomplish, and maybe not overnight, but over time, your feelings can line up with the Word of God. I'll give you some examples. We believe lies about more. money. If your money could talk to you, here's what your money would say. Your money would say, if you love me, I'll love you back. If you love me, I'll love me. If you love me, I'll take care of you, I'll satisfy you, I'll provide security for you, and it's a liar. In the moment you begin to believe that you need to know some Matthew 6-24. No one can serve two masters for either

he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other, you cannot serve both God and money. And the moment you begin to go there, you better say, all right, am I using God and people for my love of money, or am I using this money to love God and people? And you claim the Word of God, and then you do what the Word of God says. Here's a lie rooted in the pride of life. Some of you hate the way you look. Some of you hate the way you look.

And you've bought into this lie from the world, because this lie tells you, if you're not beautiful, you're not lovable. The definition of beauty in our world is like a cartoon. It's not even a real person. It's impossible. And you hate it. And so you need to stand on the truth of the Word of God. Psalm 139.14.

I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. Listen, man, I got a 12-year-old girl. And every night I put her to bed, since before she can understand what words meant, we pray this thing together because I want to root,

I want to anchor the Word of God so deep in her soul that when our society or some dumb boy or some mean girl says something about her physical appearance, she goes, that stinks, that's not the truth, because here's what I know, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your work's and wonderful, I'm one of those, and I know it full well.

This is when you write on your mirror, you read every single day. Some of us have been buying into the lie that sex is only physical. There's just pictures, it's not a big deal, just kind of flirting over here. I know we're not married yet, but that's okay. It's not okay.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin of a person commits it outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, you are not your own, you were bought at a price, so glorify God in your body. And if you've lived in a world for three decades or however old you are, has been telling you something else, you need to align yourself with the Word of God. And if you're like, well, how do we find these verses?

I got two ways, man. One is you can take something that many people use for evil and you can turn it for good. It's called the Google machine. Go to Google. Verses about, whatever. Also, there's somebody at our church that heard this sermon years ago and created an app called Word of God speak. And it's got categories. And you click on the categories, anger, anxiety, lust, whatever it is.

And then it just loads you up with Bible verses so that you can take off the old, you can put on menu. You do that. Last one, I don't have time to go through all of them. We could do this all day. One of the biggest lies that the enemy tells a whole bunch of people in our church, me included, is this. You are your past. You are your sin. You are your scars. You are your struggles. You are your divorce. You are your abortion. You're your addiction. You're your abuse. You're your failed career. you are your bankruptcy, you are your criminal record, you are your eating disorder, you are your affair, that's what you are. And I've had people come up to me and say, hey, listen, I hear you say that, but it's the biggest

thing that's ever happened in my life, to which I would say, not if you're in Christ. The biggest thing that has ever happened in your life is that Christ paid the full penalty for that sin on the cross and has imputed you with the righteousness of God. You want to know who you are? The Bible tells you this is who you are. Romans chapter 8, beginning in 31, it says, what then shall we say to these things? You know what these things are? The lies that the enemy throws at us? What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who shall be against us?

He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? That means when the enemy comes with a charge against you, how do you respond? Here's how you respond. It is God who justifies. who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

That means Jesus is praying for you right now. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? So tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? And then Paul's going to say, it is written. He's going to quote Bible. So when the enemy lies at you

and he's trying to separate you from the love of God, what's going to separate you? your medical condition, your divorce, your affair, your abortion, your sin, your past, your anxiety, your depression, your eating disorder? Can any of those things separate you from God? Paul answers his own question, no. And that's a loud, resounding, no. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation

will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. Jesus, our Lord. That's who you are. That's who you are. That's who he tells us you are in His Word, if you know Jesus.

You see, here's the craziest thing, man. The enemy comes at us with lust of the flesh, lest of the eyes, and the pride of life. Jesus is the fulfillment of what we are looking for in all three of those temptations.

If lust of the flesh is to feel a thing, Jesus says, come to me. Vacation ain't going to do it. A pill ain't going to do it. Come to me. All you who are weary and heavy burden and I will give you rest for your soul.

A peace that transcends all understanding. He's greater than the lust of the flesh. Or if it's lust of the eyes, you want some stuff? How about this? You put your faith in Jesus Christ and you and I are co-hears with him. You want to go on a cool vacation? How about forever and ever in the presence of God?

You want a nice house? He said he's going to prepare a place for us, and he's going to come back and get us and take it there. You want a little bling in heaven. They use gold like asphalt. They got so much of it. You want a great meal to remember. Praise God.

There is a banquet table laid out for every single one of us. He is greater than the lust of us. And you want to be somebody? How about this? We just read, in Christ Jesus, you and I are more than conquerors, co-ares with him, and we have been seated with Christ,

imputed with His, righteousness and forever in a face-to-face relationship with our Heavenly Father. He is greater than the pride of life. So church, I challenge you. I challenge you. Go identify the lie. Find the truth of the Word of God so that you are prepared with the sword of the spirit this week when the enemy comes against you. And when he comes with those lies, you come right back at him with it is written. Because again, the Bible is not given to us to defeat the enemy. The Bible is given us to remind us that he has already been defeated. So stand firm against the devil and his evil schemes. Would you please stand? Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father,

God, I thank you for your word. I pray that we would delight in your word. We would stand on your word. We would abide in your word. We would meditate upon your word day and night. And God, I pray as we pour ourselves into your word, you would pour your word into us. Because the enemy, hates us. He's lying to some of us in this very moment right now. So, God, I pray that you would shut the mouth of the defanged enemy. He has no power over the life of the believer. And Lord, I pray that you would set people free, free from addiction, free from anxiety, free from depression. God, you would set people free from the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life that we may walk in a victory that's already claimed by you. That, God, we would not

believe the lies of the enemy that we are who this world tells us we are or that we are the things that we used to do. But God, we are whoever you say that we are. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, we're going to respond. It's what we do. We're going to bring our first and our best. We're going to sing and we're going to pray. And the only people that should come to the altar and pray today are the people that struggle with temptation and need the spirit of God to empower us to stand in his mighty hand so that we can stand firm against the enemy. So if that's you, I want to invite you to come now here and pray like you're at war because you are.

And again, we're going to bring and we're going to sing. And we are going to declare this truth. And when we get to the part of the song that says, I am who you say I am. If you got hands, you lift them in the air. So let's bring, let's sing, let's pray. Let's respond.