Temptation - Satan

Um, what that means is, uh, that my, my charge is to help you understand the mnemonic realm.

Okay.

What motivates demons?

What frightens demons?

How they seek to beguile you or ensnare you and how we might seek to undermine them.

It is a lofty topic.

It is a topic that I will not at all exhaust tonight.

It is, um, been the subject of countless volumes and countless, um, essays.

And there's just so much information.

You can't really fit it into a matter of 45 minutes, but we're going to do the best that

we can to give you guys a brief synopsis of who you're dealing with and how to deal with

them.

Um, a couple of weeks ago, I started by talking about just why we're here.

We're here to engage brokenness, right?

To partner with Jesus Christ in engaging brokenness ever since the fall of man, which is, you know,

Satan's first, um, I guess, scene in the, uh, in the play of, in the play of, uh, eternity.

Uh, he tempts Adam and Eve.

They fall.

Sin happens.

Okay.

The world, all of creation is affected.

All of it is corrupted by sin.

Ever since then, God in Jesus Christ has been redeeming it.

He's been in this process of constant redemption.

Um, and there's, and there's redemption taking place on all different kinds of levels.

There, there's redemption taking place on societal levels, uh, civic levels, communal levels,

interpersonal levels between two people and then personal levels.

Okay.

Um, his redemption is not limited to just simply, uh, salvation of sin.

It is that it's absolutely that it's the most important part about it, but it's also

redemption of everything.

Okay.

He intends to redeem everything in the end that can be redeemed.

Certain things like we talked about a couple of weeks ago, cannot be.

So then last week, Clay came and he began to open up this series of sin and temptation.

Okay.

Because at the heart of redemption is the heart.

Okay.

No true redemption happens apart from the heart really, truly being changed, transformed.

So God starts with the heart.

And then through the change of that heart, the creation of new desires, he begins to work

out that redemption in their life, in their relationships, in their communities, in their

societies.

And so God's plan begins in our heart.

Okay.

This is just a setup, kind of a contrast for what Satan's plan is.

I want to read you this somewhat lengthy quote by, uh, by John Wesley.

This is really awesome.

This is exactly what my heart was.

I didn't read this till this week, so I didn't really have this in my possession to read to

you guys a couple of weeks ago.

But this is exactly what the kingdom of God is.

And this is exactly what Satan is attempting to thwart.

He says this.

Let me just say this before I read the quote.

If God's will is to engage creation's brokenness, then Satan's will is to maintain it.

Okay.

If God's purpose is to redeem the brokenness of all creation, then Satan's intention is

to maintain the brokenness and to further it.

Here goes John Wesley.

The devices whereby the subtle God of this world, which is a name for Satan, labors to

destroy the children of God, or at least to torment whom he to torment whom he cannot

destroy to perplex and hinder them in running the race which is set before them are numberless

as the stars of heaven or the sand upon the seashore.

That's his devices are.

So his methods are.

But it is his chief device that he endeavors to divide the gospel against itself and by

one part of it to overthrow the other.

Here we go.

The inward kingdom of heaven.

This is what happens when you get saved.

The inward kingdom of heaven, which is set up in the hearts of all that repent and believe

in the gospel, is no other than righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

That's Romans 14.

17.

Every babe in Christ knows we are made partakers of these the very hour that we believe in Jesus.

But these are only the first fruits of his Spirit.

The harvest is not yet.

Although these blessings are inconceivably great, yet we trust to see greater than these.

We trust to love the Lord our God, not only as we do now with the weak, though sincere

affection, but with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, with

all of our strength.

We look for power to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing, and in everything to give

thanks, knowing this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus.

That's 1 Thessalonians 5.18.

We expect to be made perfect in love, in that which casts out all painful fear and all desire,

but that of glorifying him we love.

And of loving and serving him more and more.

We look for such an increase in the experimental knowledge and love of God, our Savior, as will

enable us always to walk in the light as he is in the light.

We believe the whole mind will be in us, which it was in Christ Jesus, that we shall love

every man so as to be ready to lay down our life for his sake, so as by his love to be

freed from anger and pride and from every unkind affection.

We expect to be cleansed from all our idols, from all filthiness, whether of flesh or spirit,

to be saved from all our uncleanness, inward and outward, to be purified as he is pure.

Let's meet the fuel of the love.

We trust in his promise, who cannot lie, that the time will surely come when in every word

and work we shall do his blessed will on earth as it is done in heaven.

When all our conversations shall be seasoned with salt, all meet to minister grace to the

hearers, when whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, it shall be done to the glory of God.

When all our words and deeds shall be in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God,

even the Father through him.

Now, this is the grand device of Satan to destroy the first work of God in the soul,

or at least to hinder its increase.

Okay, so that was a very comprehensive definition of what it means for the kingdom of heaven to

be on earth.

Meaning what?

God's will is being acted out by every facet of creation on earth, perfectly.

One day it will be like that.

You can read it in Revelation, you can read it elsewhere in the Old Testament.

One day it will be literally heaven on earth.

God's will being acted out in every form and fashion, through every single person and being,

every conscious soul, literally acted out to the glory of God.

God's will is perfectly followed by us.

There is no pride.

There is no mourning.

There is no weeping.

There is no sadness.

There is no anything except for what God intends for it to be.

Perfect love relationship with Jesus.

Perfect love and will towards our fellow man.

And Paul in 1 Thessalonians sums it up by saying that it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Okay?

And that's exactly what Satan intends to afford and to undermine,

is that we would experience that in varying degrees, increasing degrees in this life.

And being constantly redeemed, he wants us to constantly be destroyed.

Okay?

So I have four little points and I have some alliteration to kind of go with this.

First one is perspective change.

Perspective change.

C.S. Lewis once said,

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.

One is to disbelieve in their existence.

The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.

They themselves are equally pleased by both errors

and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

End quote.

Now what do you think we here in America deal with most?

At least in our context, here in Dahlonega.

Is it an overemphasis of demons or is it an underemphasis?

Underemphasis.

Certainly.

We don't hardly think of them.

We don't even consider them to be in our daily lives.

We don't even really consider that they might be all around us at times.

Angels as well.

We don't think about things as we should.

During World War II,

Nazi soldiers would tell the inmates they were going to get a shower.

When really they were doing what?

Going to the gas chamber.

Satan would have you go to hell compliantly

rather than kicking and screaming.

He prefers

to be unseen.

People wrongly

misconstrue the devil

by thinking of him as

a little red creature that runs around

and is chaotic

and is involved in all kinds of chaos

and he's not organized.

The devil is more like

a CEO of a massive Fortune 500 company

that is in charge of everything underneath the sun.

He is the God of this world, the scripture says.

And there's things that he's doing that we don't see.

There's a reality in this world

that we need to come to grips with as well.

That there are real souls

and there is a real hell

and there is a real heaven

and there is a real war being waged

for those souls.

I want to read you a cool story from 2 Kings.

Go to 2 Kings 6.

This is hopefully to help our perspective

be changed a little bit.

This is a really neat story

that I came across this past week.

2 Kings 6.

Beginning in verse 8.

Now the king of Aram

was warring against Israel

and he counseled with his servants saying,

In such and such a place

shall be my camp.

And the man of God,

which is actually Elisha in this context.

Whenever it says the man of God

it's referring to Elisha.

And the man of God

sent word to the king of Israel saying,

Beware that you do not pass this place

for the Arameans

are coming down there.

And the king of Israel sent to the place

about which the man of God had told him.

Thus he warned him

so that he guarded himself there

more than once or twice.

Now the heart of the king of Aram

was enraged over this thing.

And he called his servants

and said to them,

Will you tell me which of us

is for the king of Israel?

And one of his servants said,

No, my lord, O king.

But Elisha, the prophet who was in Israel,

tells the king of Israel

the words that you speak in your bedroom.

So he said,

Go and see where he is

that I may send and take him.

And it was told him saying,

Behold, he is in Dothan.

Okay, so pause in the story real quick.

What's going on is

this king hates Israel,

wants to destroy them,

sets up a plan to do so.

Elisha is given a vision of this by God,

tells the king of Israel,

Hey, don't go to this place

because they're setting up a trap for you.

Then it says,

More than just once or twice.

This has happened several times.

And the king from the Arameans

is furious.

And he's like,

Who is Elisha?

Who is this guy that keeps thwarting all my plans?

I keep setting up these,

you know,

points of attack.

And every time that I do,

he comes up underneath me

and tells the king of Israel

and they don't come my way

and I don't get to capture them.

So he's continually frustrated.

He's beginning to hate Elisha.

And he says,

Where is Elisha?

I'm going to find him and kill him.

So he's in Dothan, right?

Picking up in verse 14.

And he sent horses and chariots

and a great army there.

And they came by night

and surrounded the city.

This is where Elisha was.

Now when the attendant

or the servant of the man of God,

Elisha,

had risen early and gone out,

behold,

an army with horses and chariots

was encircling the city.

And his servant said to him,

Alas, my master,

what shall we do?

Okay?

So the king had sent an army

to go kill one man, Elisha.

Elisha's servant wakes up,

goes and looks outside

and sees this massive army

surrounding the mountainside

and says,

Oh my gosh,

what are we going to do?

Goes and asks Elisha,

Elisha,

what are we going to do?

This is insane.

Picks up in verse 16.

So he answered,

Do not fear,

for those who are with us

are more than those who are with them.

Then Elisha prayed and said,

Oh Lord, I pray,

open his eyes that he may see

and the Lord opened

the servant's eyes

and he saw

and behold,

the mountain was full of horses

and chariots of fire

all around Elisha.

And when they came down to him,

Elisha prayed to the Lord

and said,

Strike the people with blindness,

I pray.

So he struck them with blindness

according to the word of Elisha.

Then Elisha said to them,

This is not the way,

nor is this the city.

Follow me and I will bring you

to the man whom you seek.

And he brought them to Samaria.

Now it came about

that when they had come

into Samaria

that Elisha said,

Oh Lord,

open the eyes of these men

that they may see.

So the Lord opened their eyes

and they saw

and behold,

they were in the midst of Samaria.

That was Israelite territory.

So you got that?

These men are surrounding the city.

Elisha isn't fearful.

Why?

He prays for his servant.

Lord,

please open his eyes

that he may see

what I see.

And then all of a sudden

the servant opens his eyes

and he sees

all these chariots

of fire,

angels

surrounding them.

And he says,

See,

we have them outnumbered.

They don't have as many soldiers

as we do.

Then,

they go out to meet them.

Right?

This army comes to meet Elisha.

They didn't see the angels.

They were going to come

take Elisha.

Elisha prays,

Lord,

strike them down with blindness.

So they all become blind.

A whole army is blinded.

Elisha then tells them,

Hey,

the man that you're looking for

isn't in here.

He can't be found here.

He's actually down

to the next city.

I'll take you there.

Takes him down

to Israelite territory.

Sure enough,

in the story,

opens their blinded eyes

and they see that

they're in captivity

of Israel.

Okay?

There is a reality

in this world

that we don't see

and that we cannot detect

empirically.

You can't taste it.

You can't touch it.

You can't see it.

You can't feel it.

You can't hear it.

But it's still there.

And so we,

living in a materialist society,

want to say,

well,

if I can't see it

or feel it

or so on and so forth,

I don't want to believe in it.

If it's not observable,

I'm not going to believe it.

Science is going to reason you away

in time.

So Satan hides behind science

and Satan hides behind

that kind of reasoning

and says,

maybe you don't see me

or feel me

or touch me

or whatever,

but I'm still very much

intimately involved

in your life

and I'm still very much

intimately involved

in your society

and I'm doing things

that you can't perceive.

Okay?

So this text

is meant to open up

for you guys

the reality

that there are

spiritual forces

of wickedness

and there are

spiritual forces

that are good

in this world.

Don't be constrained

as you're simply

thinking about things

in light of what

you can see

or feel.

There's real conflict

in this world

that we need to come

to grips with.

I'll give you

one more quick example.

This is from

Matthew 26,

53.

Just a side note,

these things

are really perceived

by faith.

Okay?

So if you don't

have faith,

which the world

that we live in

does not,

they don't see

these things.

They don't see

that there are

demons and devils.

They don't see

that there are

spiritual forces

working against

us all.

They don't see

the trap that

they don't see

the gas chamber

that we've been

enabled to see

by faith,

if that makes sense.

They're living

in ignorance.

In Matthew 26,

Matthew 26:53

verse 53,

really,

let's go back

to 51.

This is during

Jesus' betrayal

and arrest.

It says this

in 51,

And behold,

one of those

who were with Jesus,

this is,

we learn later,

Peter,

reached and drew

out his sword

and struck the slave

of the high priest

and cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him,

put your sword

back into its place.

For all those

who take up the sword

shall perish by the sword.

53,

Or do you think

that I cannot

appeal to my father

and he will at once

put at my disposal

more than twelve

legions of angels?

So Jesus saw

the same thing

that Elisha saw,

which was that

if I simply said

the word,

if I wanted it

to happen,

I could ask my father

and he could send

twelve legions

of angels,

a legion was

six thousand,

so roughly

seventy-two thousand

plus angels

at my disposal.

If I needed

your help,

I would have

asked for it.

And so he's

rebuking Peter,

but it's also,

we can learn

something from this

about the spiritual

world, right?

It's there,

it's present,

we don't see it

all the time,

but it's a reality.

So these are just

biblical illustrations

of things that

we don't necessarily

always see.

Okay,

so we need to

have a perspective

change.

Secondly,

personality

diagnosis.

Personality

diagnosis.

There's a lot

of things we can

learn about Satan

from his names.

Okay,

the Bible describes

him as a thief.

So he intends

to steal something.

He describes him

as the father of

lies,

meaning that

all lives

are from him

in some way.

He's the

originator of them.

He births them.

He incites them.

Next,

he's described

as a lion,

so he's fierce.

He's described

as the God

of the world,

meaning he has

rule,

he has dominion

over the things

in this world.

It's not necessarily

saying that he's

the God of this world.

In fact,

how many of you

believe that Satan

is the opposite

of God?

Would you say

that Satan

is the opposite

of God?

No?

Yes?

Yes?

This is one of

the best things

that I've found out

this entire week.

My,

probably the richest

thing that I've seen

is that Satan

is not the opposite

of God.

Okay?

Because in order

to be the opposite

of God,

he would have

to possess

the same exact

qualities of God

except in a depraved

way.

So,

if God is

perfect goodness,

he'd have to be

perfect badness.

But,

by definition,

right,

if God is sovereign,

then Satan

couldn't be sovereign.

Somebody that's

sovereign

rules over everything.

So,

Satan's not that way.

So,

we learn things.

Satan is the opposite

of God

only in one way

and that is

in his intentions.

Okay?

His intentions,

his desires,

his ways,

his methods,

his motivations,

and his dealings

with men

are in total

opposite to

what God

desires.

But,

he is in no way

co-equal with God.

Not omnipotent,

not omnipresent,

not omniscient,

not autonomous,

not sovereign,

not infinite.

And,

he doesn't have

the ability

to create.

Okay?

So,

this whole notion

that Jesus,

you know,

like God

is on this

side of my

shoulder

and Satan's

on this

side of my

shoulder

is really

just nonsense.

He is not

equal with God.

What God

says goes.

We see the

power of this

displayed in

stories like

Job,

right?

You go to the

Old Testament,

you see the

story of Job,

you see where

Satan has to

go and get

permission from

God to tempt

Job.

God even

says,

have you

considered

my servant

Job?

And,

Satan has

to,

again,

get permission

to do

other things.

God says,

you can tempt

him,

you can take

these things

away from

him,

but you

can't hurt

his health.

Then,

of course,

he goes,

does all

these things.

Job persists

in his

obedience and

his submission

to God,

does not

sin against

God,

and then

Satan goes

back and

says,

well,

the reason

why he's

not

sinning

against

you

is

because

you haven't

taken away

his health.

He still

has that

to hold

on to.

Then he

says,

fine,

take away

his health.

So God

gives him

permission

again to

go and

tempt.

So that's

an incredibly

important thing

for us to

grasp,

is that

Satan has

no power

that isn't

given to

him.

He can't

do anything

to us

unless God

allows it

or enables

it by

allowing

him.

He may

despise

God,

he may

hate his

son,

but it's

because he

can't

be God.

Isn't

that why

he fell

initially?

Because he

wanted to

be like

God?

But he

couldn't.

And so

God

authoritatively

threw him

down to

earth.

He cursed

him and

the other

devil's

with him.

You can

also learn

a little

bit about

devils and

about their

nature in

seeing the

way that

they respond

to Jesus

in the

New

Testament.

Go to

Matthew

8.

Matthew

8.

This is

just one

example of

many,

but it's

really good

when it

comes to

seeing how

the devil

responds.

It says

this in

verse 28.

And when

he had

come to

the other

side into

the country

of the

Gadarenes,

two men

who were

demon-possessed

met him

as they

were coming

out of

the tombs.

They were

so exceedingly

violent that

no one could

pass by that

road.

And behold,

they cried

out saying,

what do we

have to do

with you,

son of

God?

Have you

come here to

torment us

before the

time?

So this

is an

example of

two exceedingly

violent demons

that could not

be in any

way,

shape,

or form

constrained.

That upon

simply seeing

Jesus,

they go

before him

and they

ask,

what are you

doing here?

What are you

doing with

us?

Is it time

for us to be

condemned into

hell?

Are you

coming to

throw us

into the

pit before

the end

of the

age?

They saw

themselves in

subjection to

Jesus Christ.

Completely and

totally in

subjection.

And no

demon ever

resisted

Jesus when

he wanted to

cast them

out.

So there

is power

in Christ,

absolute and

sovereign power

in Christ,

over the

demonic realm.

Another

verse is in

James 2.19,

it says this,

we believe

that God

is one,

that's good.

The demons

also believe

and shudder.

They're

fearful.

They're

frightened by

Christ,

which is one

of the answers

to my

question from

earlier.

What frightens

demons?

Jesus does.

You don't

frighten

demons.

Your words

don't frighten

demons.

The scripture

itself does

not frighten

demons.

Okay?

Somebody's

saying arbitrarily

to a demon,

be gone,

means nothing.

In fact,

a lot of times

when you see

things like

Benny Hinn,

these stage

performances in

which people

come up and

they're supposedly

demon possessed,

maybe they are

demon possessed,

and then the

demons,

you know,

they're shaking

and stuff,

and Benny Hinn

casts them out

and they fall

on the floor

and they're

flopping around.

That is so,

that is not

spiritual warfare.

Okay?

That is Satan

playing around

with Satan.

That is not

God.

Okay?

When Jesus

cast demons

out,

they didn't

flop around

on the ground.

They either

looked like

they were

dead,

and then

Jesus raised

them up,

or they

were completely

somber

and calm

and had

their mind

and their

wits about

them.

There was

no transitional

period.

Okay?

So,

demons are

oftentimes

playing around

with demons,

deceiving people

by thinking

that they have

power over

demons

when they

don't have

power over

demons.

The only

thing that

legitimately

scares a

demon is

Jesus Christ,

and it

scares them

a lot.

So,

understanding

our spiritual

warfare against

Satan needs

to always be

in light of

the fact that

the only

thing that

we have

that's

powerful

against

them is

Jesus.

But in

Christ,

we have

all power,

right?

Turn to

Colossians

really quickly.

We were in

this book

last semester,

and I

want you to

notice the

language,

the similarity

of the

language between

the verse we

read from

Ephesians and

Ephesians 6.12

describing our

enemy, that it's

not against flesh

and love,

it's against

spiritual forces

and all those

things, the

powers of

darkness.

And then

listen to

Colossians 1,

13 through

16.

for He,

that's

Jesus,

delivered us

from the

domain of

darkness and

transferred us

to the

kingdom of

His beloved

Son, in

whom we have

redemption, the

forgiveness of

sins, and He

is the image of

the invisible

God, the

firstborn of

all creation.

For by Him

all things were

created,

listen to

that, for

by Him all

things were

created, both

in the heavens

and on

earth, visible

and invisible,

whether

thrones or

dominions or

rulers or

authorities, that's

referring to

demonic presences,

all things have

been created by

Him and for

Him.

All things have

been created by

Him and for

Him.

That's in

reference to

spiritual forces,

both good and

evil.

In Proverbs

16, 4, it

says this,

the Lord has

made everything

for His own

purpose, even

the wicked for

the day of

evil.

So the

demons are

creation, Satan

is creation.

He's not

infinite, he's

not eternal, he's

not sovereign, he's

not all-powerful, he

has to ask permission

just like everybody

else.

That should give

you great hope in

your battle against

sin.

I think, you

know, a lot of

it's, I used to

play basketball a

lot, and so in

basketball, or

any sport really, if

you go into the

game thinking you're

going to lose, you're

probably going to

lose.

However, if you go

into the game thinking

you're going to win,

you're probably going

to have a better

chance of winning,

right?

Or you're probably

going to win.

Your mindset is a

lot of the battle.

You know?

Confidence really

affects things.

And so, Satan is

always trying to get

you to think

improperly about

him, to attribute

to him more power

than he really

has.

Or sometimes, maybe

not attribute to

him some of the

power that he

does have, right?

Like you said, you

can be a materialist

on one end of the

pendulum, or you

can be a magician

on the other.

We need to be

balanced.

We need to realize

that God is

sovereign, Christ

is in us, the

Holy Spirit has

been given to us,

greater is he that

is in us than he

that is in the

world.

But, Satan is

the god of this

world.

And apart from

Christ, we stand

no chance of

enduring temptation

or resisting

temptation or

fighting in the

strength of God's

might, which is

what that

Ephesians

passage says.

Okay?

Thirdly, this is

a, I was trying

to find another

P word, so this

is pernicious

methods.

Now, that

means, that

means like evil

or ruinous or

injurious or

whatever.

Pernicious is,

it just means evil

or wicked, okay?

But I was trying

to keep it the

P, the

alliteration.

So, pernicious

methods.

Pernicious methods,

evil methods.

There's a lot of

reasons why the

Lord allows us to

be tempted and the

Lord allows us to

be tried.

I think the most

important one is

probably this.

There's two that

are of the same

importance.

The first one is

to show us what is

in our hearts.

Okay?

Second Chronicles

32, 31.

It says this,

God left him

alone only to

test him that he

might know all

that was in his

heart.

God puts us

through tests,

puts us through

trials, allow

temptations to

come into our

life to show us

what we're made

of.

This past week,

for instance,

as I was

beginning to

prepare for this

message and trying

to prepare, there

was just a lot of

spiritual warfare.

And the way that

Satan was really

trying to tempt me

most was by

getting me to rely

upon my own

effort.

And not upon

the Lord.

Which looks like

prayerlessness.

Okay?

That's always a

very difficult

battle because

praying is difficult

when you don't

feel like doing it.

And when you

don't feel the

motivation to do it.

But it's

necessary.

So, God

allowed the

temptation to show

me throughout the

week, today

especially, that

apart from him, I

can't do anything.

That I need his

grace.

That I need his

forgiveness.

That I need to

stand in the

gospel as I

stand and teach

about these

things.

That I feel like

a hypocrite in a

lot of ways because

I know that I've

been beaten down,

tripped up,

made a fool of in

many ways this past

week in my

preparation.

And now I have to

teach it to you

guys.

But that's okay

because God's

grace is sufficient.

And just like

Paul, I was led

to pride and God

allows a messenger

of Satan in a

sense to tempt me

to show me my

sin.

So that's the

first thing, I

think, to show us

what's in our

hearts.

Secondly, is to

show himself to

man.

To show himself

to man.

We don't realize

the power and the

strength that God

puts forth on our

behalf in the

sufficiency of his

grace until we

compare our trials

with our weaknesses.

God's power and

God's grace are

then seen clearly

in our lives.

the effectiveness

of an antidote

is not realized

until one has

been exposed to

the poison.

The preciousness

of a medicine

is revealed by

the presence of

the disease.

Right?

So what does

sin do?

Sin gives us

something to

compare the

grace of God

to.

So God

allows,

God is even

pleased, I think,

in some ways,

with the

employment of

Satan.

Not that it

would affect

this in

negative ways,

not that it

would lead us

into sin,

but that it

would enable

us to see

our sin

when we

fall,

and to then

see the

beauty of the

glory,

the beauty

and the

glory of

the grace

of God.

Okay?

So God

uses

temptations,

trials,

failures,

sin,

to glorify

his son,

to glorify

the work of

his son on

the cross.

The preciousness

of the medicine

is revealed by

the presence of

the disease.

Okay,

there's other

reasons.

I'll just list

these off for

you.

Why does God

allow us to

be tempted to

prove the

genuineness of

our faith?

That's 1 Peter

1, 6 and 7.

To increase

one's joy in

this life and

reward in the

next, that's

James 1, 2

through 4,

and verse 12.

To purge out

one's sin, as we

just said, that's

2 Corinthians

12, 7 through 10.

To prepare us for

future ministry.

We see that in

Luke 22, 31 and

32.

What I mean by

that is when

Peter, who is

known for that

colossal failure,

when he says to

Jesus, although

all may fall

away, I'm not

going to fall

away.

If everyone

denies you and

rejects you, I'm

not going to

deny and reject

you.

And he says,

before the rooster

crows, three

times, you're

going to reject

me three times.

And so what

does he do?

He goes and he

totally denies

even knowing

Christ, even

curses the

people for

saying that he

has any

association with

them.

Denies Christ

horribly, miserably.

It's disgusting.

And then in

Luke 22, 31 and

32, and then we

see later in

John, Jesus

prays and he

says, I'll just

turn now to you

really briefly.

He says,

Simon, Simon,

behold, Satan

has demanded

permission to

sift you like

wheat, but I

have prayed for

you that your

faith may not

fail.

And you, when

you have, when

once you have

turned again,

strengthen your

brothers.

Okay, so he

was going to

allow this

failure for the

purpose of

humbling him

and for the

purpose of also

strengthening the

other Christians

in the future.

So there's that

reason.

The Lord also

allows temptation

to purify our

testimony of the

gospel.

You see that in

Washington.

J.I.

Packer said

this, this is

the ultimate

reason from our

standpoint why

God fills our

lives with

troubles and

perplexities of

one sort or

another.

It is to

ensure that we

shall learn to

hold him fast.

The reason why

the Bible spends

so much of its

time reiterating

that God is a

strong rock, a

firm defense, and

a sure refuge, and

a help for the

weak, is that God

spends so much of

his time bringing

home to us that

we are weak, both

mentally and morally,

and dare not trust

ourselves to find or

to follow the right

road.

God wants us to feel

that our way through

life is rough and

perplexing so that we

may learn to lean on

him.

Therefore, he takes

steps to drive us

out of self-confidence

to trust in him.

Okay?

So I just wanted to

say that as a

prerequisite for the

methods of Satan and

why he would allow

these things to be.

How does the devil

tempt us?

Go to 1 John

real quick.

This is 1 John 2.16.

1 John 2.16.

For all that is in

the world, the lust

of the flesh, the lust

of the eyes, and the

boastful pride of

life is not from the

Father, but it's from

the world.

Now, take that verse,

commit the memory, and

turn over to Matthew

4.

This is the temptation

of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was led by the

Spirit into the

wilderness for 40

days and 40 nights.

He didn't eat.

Satan came during that

time and began to

tempt him.

Let's read it.

Matthew 4, 1-11.

Then Jesus was led

up by the Spirit into

the wilderness to be

tempted by the devil.

And after he had

fasted 40 days and 40

nights, he then became

hungry.

And the tempter came

and said to him,

If you are the Son of

God, command that these

stones become bread.

But he answered and

said, It is written,

Man shall not live on

bread alone, but on

every word that proceeds

out of the mouth of

God.

Then the devil took him

into the holy city, and

he had him stand on the

pinnacle of the temple.

And he said to him,

If you are the Son of

God, throw yourself down,

for it is written, He

will give his angels

charge concerning you,

and on their hands they

will bear you up, lest

you strike your foot

against a stone.

He's quoting from

Psalm 91.

Jesus said to him,

On the other hand, it

is written, You shall

not put the Lord your

God to the test.

Again, the devil took

him to a very high

mountain, and he showed

him all the kingdoms of

the world and their

glory.

And he said to him,

All these things I will

give you, if you fall

down and worship me.

Then Jesus said to him,

Be gone, Satan, for it

is written, You shall

worship the Lord your

God and serve him only.

Then the devil left

them, and behold, angels

came and began to

minister to him.

In this passage, we

see three categories of

sin, and they are

exactly what we just

read from 1 John 2

16.

The lust of the

flesh, the lust of

the eyes, and the

boastful pride of

life.

This is a very

important thing to

understand.

This is the only way

in which Satan will

tempt you.

It is through one of

these three things.

The lust of the

flesh, the lust of

the eyes, and the

boastful pride of

life.

Let's explain.

Firstly, Satan tempts

Jesus with the lust of

the flesh.

This is in verses 2 and

3.

He tempts him in the

midst of his hunger,

right?

Natural cravings, the

lust of the flesh, things

that are natural to the

flesh.

Okay?

So it may be food, and

he tempts him to

gluttony.

It may be sex, and he

tempts you to lust.

It may be accomplishment,

and he tempts you to

pride.

It may be relationship, and

he tempts you to

idolatry.

These are natural

cravings, natural things

that are not inherently

wicked or evil, that

Satan will use and

twist to make you sin

against God.

Natural things that are

inherent to all of us.

It's a short little list.

That's an example.

Secondly, we see in

verse 5 and 6, the

pride of life.

The devil took him into

the holy city, had him

stand on the pinnacle of

the temple, said to him,

if you are the son of

God, throw yourself down

from here, for it is

written, you will give

angels charge concerning

you.

He starts quoting

scripture, but he

twisted the meaning of it,

right?

The passage in context is

talking about trusting

God, and he used it to

justify testing God.

How might he do this

with us?

Didn't God say he came

to give you abundant

life?

And yet all these

sinners are having so

much more fun with him.

Didn't he say?

Didn't he say?

Didn't he say?

Didn't he promise this?

Didn't he promise that?

He'll twist scripture so

that you're tempted to

test God.

which is in direct

opposition to what the

scripture even says.

Didn't he tempt you?

Or didn't he say that

you're going to have the

abundant life?

Then why are the

sinners having so much

more fun with you?

A good response would be

this.

They are storing up

wrath for themselves in

the day of wrath.

But I am content with

Christ as my life.

I consider all things to

be lost in view of the

surpassing value of

knowing Christ Jesus my

Lord.

For whom I willingly

suffer the loss of all

things.

Right?

This is teaching us

something.

How to combat sin.

How to combat lies.

The truth.

Satan's clever.

He'll use things you

think to be truth.

He'll quote scripture

even.

And if you don't

understand it, if you

don't know it, if you

don't know scripture to

combat that idea or that

faulty twisting, then

you'll find yourself and

match yourself as he

intends.

So we have to know the

word of God in order to

combat the lies of

Satan.

He's a liar.

It's his very nature to

lie.

He intends to come and

steal and kill and

destroy you.

And he will do it in

very tricky ways.

Thirdly, the lust of the

eyes.

This is in verse 8 and

9.

And again the devil took

him to a very high

mountain and he showed

him all the kingdoms of

the world and their

glory.

And he said to him,

all these things I will

give you if you fall down

and worship.

The lust of the eyes is

things that we see,

right?

It's the pleasures of

sin.

The pleasures of sin.

Sin would not be

enticing if it were not

pleasurable.

Okay?

That's the reality that

we have to deal with as

Christians.

Sin is pleasurable.

people do enjoy that.

We enjoy that.

Right?

But,

is it worth the cost

of a relationship with

Jesus?

And that's what we have

to go back and ask

ourselves.

Right?

Moses in Hebrews 11 says

the same thing.

He's like, I had

everything in Egypt.

But I consider the

treasures of Egypt to be

nothing in comparison to

the reproach of Christ.

He'd rather suffer as a

Christian than be worshipped

as a non-Christian.

Because he saw it as

more valuable by faith.

Okay?

So, that was a really

brief synopsis of how

Satan tempts us.

But I don't want to get

into all the particulars.

The next couple of weeks

we're going to be talking

about the flesh and

talking about the world.

And we're going to expose

some of those things in

greater depth.

But that's just the

general outline of how

he tempts you.

It's through the lust of

the flesh, the lust of the

eyes, and the pride of

life.

Those are the three

categories through which

you will work.

And understand this too,

okay?

Satan is literally in

charge of everything in

the cosmos.

He's not simply constricted

to personal...

He doesn't simply whisper

things into your ear,

okay?

He works through

structures and systems

in the world.

He works through

government sometimes.

He works through

philosophies.

He works through new