Temptation - Intro

Finally, um, figured out what we were going to do and, uh, confirmed through a lot of things.

First John mentioned about possibly doing a series on sin and temptation.

And we began to kind of pray about it and, uh, asked around and like, I asked three people last week and like three out of four is like something on temptation would be really good.

So it was just cool to see how the Lord kind of narrowed that down.

Um, so we're going to kind of begin a long series on that.

And tonight is going to be kind of like an introduction or overview of what we're going to be kind of going after.

So I invite you to turn to Ephesians chapter two.

Thank you for praying for my voice.

Those of you who were, I know a lot of you were, um, grateful to kind of return to me a few days ago.

So, um, thanks man.

Water, not coffee.

Um, Ephesians chapter two.

We're going to start reading in verse one.

I'm going to read one through five.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world,

following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is not work in the sons of disobedience,

among whom we all once lived in the passage of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,

and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

But God being rich in mercy because of his great love, which he loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace, you have been saved.

Just pray with me for a moment.

Father, we want to approach your word with reverence and awe tonight.

And I pray that you would work it into our hearts.

Holy Spirit, those who don't know you, um, would be convicted of sin.

Lord, that you would show them your grace and your salvation.

I pray that those who do know you, Father, would be strengthened through what goes on in the next few weeks

through your word and what we share from your word about sin and temptation.

I pray we would see a lot of victory as a result.

Lord, I pray we would be doers of the word and not just hearers.

I pray that people would just sit and come here to be cool and just learn something and go home,

but to be obedient and to allow your word to saturate into our hearts.

Lord, we offer ourselves up to you.

Be glorified.

In Christ's name, amen.

First of all, in this passage, we see some things mentioned.

This is Paul writing to the Christians in Ephesus,

and he's looking back, trying to remind them of their past life,

their past life that was in sin and in bondage.

And he's saying, you were dead.

It's all kind of written in like the past tense, something that you were in.

And this idea of what sin is, we'll just briefly talk about what sin is.

We talk about it a lot here.

Hopefully we talk about grace just as much or even more as sin.

But briefly, sin in essence is the word itself.

A lot of times it means missing the mark.

And we were created to walk with God, to glorify God, and reflect who he was.

And we failed to do that.

All of us sinned against God.

All of us.

We've rebelled against God.

And so we've forfeited the reason for our existence because of that, because of our sin.

Because we were designed and created to know God, to fellowship with him, and to glorify him.

And so sin destroyed that.

So we missed the mark for which we were created originally to do.

So all of us, if you want like another picture of what sin is, it is giving our love and our affection, our worship, our adoration, whatever,

and giving it to things that are infinitely lesser than God, unworthier than God.

And we've all done that.

We've all loved many, many other things.

And it hasn't been God.

We've put people, relationships, hobbies, sports, looks, whatever, ahead of God.

And you follow like that trail of your time and your money and your energy.

It's going to like show you where your God is.

And usually the living God is not the one that you find there.

And for this word here that's used in verse 1, it says we were dead in our trespasses of sin.

Also used in verse 6, dead in our trespasses.

That word dead, it means corpse.

It means that you were spiritually dead at one point in your life.

And before you came to know Christ, this is what he's talking about.

This was your condition.

It wasn't just you were sick, you were dead.

And a desperate condition to be in.

So, Tim Keller wrote this about sin.

He said, sin isn't only doing bad things.

It is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things.

Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than God.

Whatever we have built our life on will drive us and enslave us.

Sin is primarily idolatry.

So, things that might not necessarily be evil or bad, we have turned into that by making them ultimate things,

by loving them and pursuing them more than God.

That's what we've done.

All of us have done that.

From the greatest to the least.

And we're all guilty.

So, the next part, we read in verse 4,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love for which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace, you have been saved.

So, God did not, like, leave man in that dreadful state, in the state of rebellion where he was going to have to judge and destroy man.

But, according to his love and according to his grace, he provided a way for man to be reconciled, brought back into fellowship with himself,

so we can know him again, but ultimately so that we can actually live a life that can glorify him again, like we originally were created to do.

So, Christ came, died on the cross, lived a life, died on the cross, resurrected.

And now, all those who put their complete trust and faith in Christ alone to have, like, a right standing with God and to be restored back into fellowship with God can have that through Christ alone.

And it's something that we can't earn, that idea right there of how it's by grace you have been saved.

And it kind of elaborates even after that, after our passage.

We are saved by grace and not by works.

This was something outside of our power to do.

We couldn't save ourselves.

We couldn't improve the condition that we were in.

So, God came to save us.

So, the question is, for some of you, I need to ask, where do you stand?

There's not, like, a neutral time.

You either have Christ in your life as your Savior, and you're trusting in him for salvation, and you're following him daily,

or you're an enemy of God.

There's not one in between.

And if you've been coming around Christ's family, you've been around Christian friends,

or you've been involved in a campus ministry, BCM, Campus Outreach, Wesley, whatever,

and you're hearing gospel truth over and over.

You're hearing things about grace.

You're hearing things about who Christ was, the gospel.

You're like, okay, well, that's cool.

And then you go home, and you forget about it, and you wait until the next time to hear about it.

You need to know, like, you're in a serious state without Christ.

This isn't something you can just put off.

God's not waiting for you to RSVP.

He's not looking upon you as neutral.

Well, he hasn't responded yet, or she hasn't responded yet.

So, cool.

It's like you need to understand that you're an enemy until you come to Christ.

Turn to Romans 5 really quickly.

So there's some urgency in this response.

You need to come to Christ.

You need to think about what you're doing and weigh the cost,

but this is an urgent matter.

Romans 5, verse 8, sorry.

Romans 5:8

Now, some people have an idea that God is all loving,

that he would never punish anybody for their sin.

There's just such thing as his wrath or his judgment.

The other camp says that God is only wrath and God is only judgment,

and both camps are wrong.

The truth is that God is both loving, but he also is just,

and that he will destroy sin, but he's willing to save sinners.

Verse 8,

But God shows his love for us,

that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood,

much more shall I be saved by him from the wrath of God.

You see that?

We got, like, there's the love of God.

Verse 8, the love of God on the table,

the most purest, most awesome kind of love,

unconditional love on the table.

But then the next verse, it says,

So that we might be saved from his wrath.

Both things on the table there.

And Christ came to save us.

He said, well, I'm saved.

You hear that a lot in the South.

And you've got to ask the question,

what are you saved from?

And the answer is the wrath of God,

the justice of God.

And so if you don't know Christ,

I beg you to come talk with me,

talk with John, talk with Dan, talk with Alex,

someone who brought you tonight.

Like, don't rest.

It's been like, oh, I'll wait till next Thursday.

Don't do that.

You're in a serious state.

And God is loving and he's willing to come and save you by Christ.

Read this next verse.

Verse 10, it says,

So you want restoration to God and have this forgiveness of your sin

and relationship with God

and a life that you can, again, walk with him and honor him.

And Christ is the only way.

He's the only way to be saved.

So either in that condition,

and you need to talk to somebody tonight,

or you have met Christ,

you have come to him broken

and without any goodness of your own

and said, I need you.

Please save me.

I have no hope.

I will follow you

and I will do whatever you ask me to do.

I will live for you

and I will die for you.

Whatever it takes,

I will follow you.

So,

if that's your case tonight,

then you need to be aware.

This is like a long introduction.

Sorry.

If you're a believer and you know Christ,

there's two existing realities.

You can just kind of write this down if you're taking notes.

Two existing realities.

And for all you

campus outreach,

beach projectors,

SLPers,

you probably have heard some of those before.

It's not a new idea.

But,

they have this idea in Scripture about the kingdom of God.

It means like,

God's dominion,

God's reign,

God's rule being manifest throughout,

you know,

the earth,

the universe.

And,

it's in a progress now,

though.

Like,

it started when Christ came

and it's ultimately moving towards,

like,

the second coming.

Um,

toward the fullness of the kingdom

that manifests.

But,

there's two existing realities.

That,

the kingdom of God

is here,

but it's not fully here.

And,

I'll give you one,

two examples of this real fast.

Mark 1,

don't have to turn there.

Mark 1,

14,

it says that Jesus came

and he was proclaiming the gospel

and he said this,

the time is fulfilled

and the kingdom of God

is at hand

or it's present

right now.

Repent and believe the gospel.

So,

the kingdom of God is here.

Like,

right now.

Like,

me,

Jesus,

I'm ushering in

the kingdom.

Here I am.

And then in Matthew 6,

Matthew 6:9

verse 9,

we read this.

It's the,

it's known as the Lord's Prayer,

but it's really not the Lord's Prayer,

it's the disciples' prayer.

Because he's actually teaching

the disciples how to pray.

He says,

pray like this,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

So,

Jesus is like saying,

pray that his kingdom

would come,

that it would,

that his will would be done,

that everything he desired

would manifest itself

here on the earth.

Pretty cool.

So,

the kingdom is here,

but it's also coming.

And the best analogy

I can think of is like,

it was really,

really dark,

pitch dark,

can't see a thing,

and the sun begins

to come up.

You know,

you see the sun,

the sun is rising,

it's there,

but,

as it's coming up,

it kind of pierces

through the darkness,

but it's not fully up

in the air yet,

so,

there's still some darkness

that remains,

some,

you know,

shady places.

That's the way

like the kingdom

is right now.

A long time ago,

the 5th century,

there was a guy

named St. Augustine,

or St. Augustine,

if you're thinking

about Florida,

the same guy.

He wrote a book

that actually changed

history,

and how we think

about history.

You learn about him,

some of you history

may have probably

heard about this before,

but it was called

The City of God.

Pretty heavy read.

I thought,

I'll read that.

I read that the first chapter,

but I can't read it anymore.

It was just very,

I did read Confessions,

slowly,

but The City of God's

intense,

but it was the first time

that somebody

had said,

history had a beginning,

and it will have an end.

Like,

it started with creation,

and now we're in

the redemptive mode,

and then it's moving

toward the second coming.

When the second coming

comes,

history,

as we know it,

is over.

So,

it began to,

like,

people began to think

that way.

History had an end

in the beginning.

So,

this is helpful.

Again,

this was mentioned

at Beach Project,

some of you who went,

but there's,

you ever thought,

like,

what is the Bible?

What's,

like,

some of the main,

a main theme

or storyline

that I can follow

as I read the Bible?

Here's,

here's four things

really fast.

This is,

like,

a process we see.

Starts with,

number one,

creation.

Creation.

And that is that

God created man

and all things

in the universe

perfectly.

Everything was good.

It was without sin,

and he created it

for his glory,

all of it.

Secondly,

after creation,

there was fall.

Man's sin

rebelled against God

and destroyed

his relationship

with God,

put him at hostility

towards God.

It destroyed

his relationships

with other men.

Our relationships

with each other

were broken

and suffering

and sin

and death

entered the world.

So,

that's fall.

So,

creation,

fall.

Then you have,

thirdly,

redemption.

And this is

God's

at work

in history

to restore man

back to himself

so that man

could again

glorify him.

And this really

started when Christ

came,

lived,

died,

resurrected.

That was kind of

like the climax

of that.

And so,

made it possible

for man to be,

like we just said,

reconciled back

to God.

And then,

so that's kind of

like in the place

we kind of live

right now,

like in the

redemptive mode.

Don't all of us

are redeemed.

That's kind of

where we live.

But fourthly,

is a big word,

consummation.

C-O-M-S-U-M-M-A-T-I-O-M.

Consummation.

This is basically

when Christ returns

and restores

all things

and everything

is made new

and the new

heaven,

the new earth

and everything

is brought

and restored

back to its

original form

or even greater

actually.

So,

the kingdom of God

is here

but it's coming.

And,

for the Christian

life,

like right now,

we're kind of

like in a really

unique period

of time,

period of history.

And,

Christ has

said,

I will come back.

And,

he actually calls

these the last days.

We live in

the last days.

That doesn't mean

like,

you know,

we'll get into all that.

Don't take it too far.

It just means like,

this is called

the last days.

Jesus said that.

After I leave,

it will be like

the last days.

So,

we can experience

as Christians,

we can see

the

fruit of

what Christ

has done.

But,

we can't fully

see his power

manifested yet.

We still have,

we live in the world,

we see many,

many things in the world.

The Bible uses

phrases like,

you are saved.

Then,

like in,

1 Corinthians 1,

18,

it says,

you are being saved.

So,

this idea that we are

saved and we're being

saved.

The kingdom is here,

yet it's coming.

So,

a Christian

has to deal

with a lot of things

in this life

that are not

fully redeemed.

And,

this is going to

kind of bring us

to our topic

a little bit.

I like our intro

to understand

this is where we live

right now.

We're not

fully redeemed

yet.

So,

if most of us

are honest,

and you get like

a,

guys,

you sit down

one day with me

and get lunch

or breakfast

or girls,

you go sit

with somebody else.

I don't think

I'll meet you

but somebody else

that knows Christ

and another believer.

You begin to share

about your Christian life.

I think most of us

because it's just

the truth.

Most of us

don't live

like in the victory

that Christ

has to cure for us.

We live

depressed,

defeated.

We don't,

we don't,

we live between

fears and hopes

back and forth.

We hope our state

is good

and we kind of,

we hope that we're

doing okay

but we're normally not.

It's just like this

idea that we just

live in a constant

defeat all the time.

So,

though Christ

has saved us,

we barely,

we feel like we're

just barely hanging

on spiritually.

Like,

it's not really good

and we come to

places like this,

come to a worship

service somewhere

or a campus

Bible study,

whatever.

It's all smiles

and you know how to like,

we're really good

at hiding our sin

from people.

Really good.

I'm pretty good.

Unless you know me

really well like

my roommates do

and I know

something's going on.

But,

we're really good.

Most of us don't

live in victory.

We don't have

the inner peace,

the joy,

the confidence

we should have

before God.

We have a lot of

junk that we're

trying to hide.

So,

we kind of feel like,

we're kind of like

this ship

getting thrown

everywhere by a storm

and just like

crossing our fingers

when we get

to the other.

We feel like

we're barely

hanging on.

And that's the

truth with me too

at times.

So,

I have a

letter here

that

a guy

who actually

attends

John MacArthur's

church

in California

and

he's really

depressed.

You can tell.

And this is kind of

like what he writes

MacArthur.

He says,

Dear Pastor John,

I've been attending

Grace,

that's the name of

the church,

attending Grace

for several years

and as a result

of a growing

conviction in my

heart

and seemingly

temptations

have come

and I am

powerless to stop

and constantly

succumbing to them

in the talks

with other

golly men

around me.

I have

growing doubts

that have led

me to believe

that I'm not

saved.

How sad

it is,

John,

for me not

to be able

to enter in

because of the

sin that clings

to me

and from

which I long

to be free.

How bizarre

for one who

teaches in a

Sunday school

with heartfelt

conviction,

a trainer in

discipleship,

evangelism,

a seminarian,

a discipler.

So many times

I have determined

in my heart

to repent,

to shake

loose on the

sin that I

have,

to forsake

all for Jesus

only to find

myself doing

the sin I

don't want to

do and not

doing the good

that I want to

do.

After my

fiance and I

broke up,

I memorized

Ephesians as an

all-out effort

to make war

against sin

only to find

myself weaker

and more painfully

aware of my

sinfulness,

more prone

to sin

than ever

before,

grabbing cheap

thrills to

push back

pain of lost

love,

mostly in the

heart,

John,

the best word

that counts

the most in

the heart

is where you

live.

I sin because

I'm a sinner.

I'm like a

soldier without my

armor running

across the

battlefield getting

shot up by the

fiery darts of

the enemy.

I couldn't

leave the

church if I

wanted to.

I love the

people.

I'm enthralled

by the gospel

of the beautiful

Messiah.

I'm a pile

of manure

on the white

marble floor

of Christ,

a mongrel dog

that snuck in

the back door

at the king's

banquet to

lick the crumbs

up the floor

and by being

close to other

Christians who

I hope to get

some of the

rich blessings

of Christ,

I come of an

overflow,

excuse me,

I get some of

the overflow and

I ask that you

would pray for

me as you think

best.

When I read

that I thought

like man I

haven't felt like

that before.

Like I'm so

lost.

I feel like I

just, I

can't defeat

the sin that's

in my life,

but I love

Christ, I love

the people of

God, I feel

like a pile of

manure on the

white marble

floor of

Christ.

I love to be

around people

who love

Christ and

almost feel like

I can't get

around them

because they

have such a

good walk

with God

and I

don't.

This is how

a lot of us

have felt at

some point and

maybe even

some of us

now.

So, if

you're feeling

this way,

know that

it's not

unusual,

okay?

People that

have experienced

Christ and

have been

saved by his

grace and

have the

Holy Spirit,

this is typical

of what you

actually might

think.

This guy

actually doesn't

sound like an

unbeliever,

he actually

sounds like a

Christian in

Romans 7,

he sounds like

Paul,

saying I

can't do

the good

that I

want to do.

Nathan,

our pastor,

is actually

preaching on

that passage.

He started

that two

weeks ago and

is still in

Romans 7.

But we're

going to kind

of talk about

temptation now.

And I

have, I

think,

I think three

things to

look at,

okay?

First of all,

what is

temptation?

What is

temptation?

It's an

enticement

to sin.

Whether

arising from

within yourself

or an

outside

circumstance.

It's an

enticement

to take our

God-given

desires that

God gives

us and

taking those

desires beyond

the God-given

limits.

That's a good

way of phrasing

that.

It's an

enticement

to sin.

Sin is a

product.

And temptation

is like the

selling of it

to you.

You know,

you want to

buy this?

Come on.

You want

that.

It's an

allurement.

we may be

seeking something

else harder

than the

Lord that

He doesn't

want for

us or

not being

patient for

something that

He does

want and

pursuing it

like in an

immodest,

improper way.

That's what

temptation is.

It's the

sale that's

going down.

So,

I have,

under this

question,

I have a

few things

that a

good way to

define something

is by defining

what it doesn't

mean.

temptation.

So,

we're going

to start

with that.

Some myths

about temptation.

I just

don't know

that first

question about

what is

temptation.

Temptation

itself is

not sin.

A lot of

people,

I'm just

so sinful,

God's angry

with me.

I'm like,

what happened

man?

I was doing

this one

day and

I was

attracted to

this girl

and immediately

I caught

myself and

I just

turned away

and I

began to

pray.

I sinned

against God.

I'm like,

no you

didn't,

man.

You didn't

like carry

it that

far.

Like,

temptation

itself is

not sin.

Here's

what it

does become

sin.

Temptation

becomes sin

when you

act or

you dwell

on that

particular

thing.

You take

action on

it or

you just

muse over

it so

that it

controls

your mind.

So,

I kind

of got

into a

little

disagreement

about that

with a

guy who

started to

say that

temptation

was sin

and I

just had to

remind him

about Hebrews

4,

15,

where it

says that

Christ was

tempted in

every way

we were,

yet without

sin.

So,

if temptation

itself was

sin,

then Christ

cannot be

the perfect

Messiah.

So,

that was

the end

of that

debate.

Number

two,

number

two,

giving into

temptation,

and we're

talking about

from the

perspective of

a believer,

okay,

from a

Christian,

giving into

temptation

disappoints

God or

angers

God.

God.

What I

mean by

that is

that you

think that

it destroys

your relationship

with God,

that things

are over

because you

sinned.

Are you

tempted?

Excuse me.

While the

Lord might

be displeased

that you

did sin,

it doesn't

destroy your

relationship

with God.

You are

accepted and

loved on the

basis of what

Christ has

done, and

that's eternal,

and that's

unchanging,

but just

like, you

know, last

year, I

remember I

got into a

really intense

argument with

my dad, who

really had it

out about

something.

It was over

something that

was kind of

a big deal,

we just

disagreed,

and I was

like not

respectful,

and I was

a jerk,

and there

was some

tension,

hostility in

my relationship

with my dad,

right, but

a few weeks

later, I

just thought,

like, man,

I was wrong,

and I went

and told my

dad to

forgive me,

and we

were brought

back together,

and our

relationship

was not,

you know,

rocky anymore.

Secondly, or

excuse me,

thirdly, under

this, believers,

this is a myth,

okay, believers

can fall into

temptation.

I've been

guilty of this

before, but I've

been trying to

change my

thinking for a

while, okay,

as a believer,

you have the

Holy Spirit,

and you

actually have

been given

the power,

to resist

temptation,

and we

use the

word like,

I fell

into temptation,

or, you

know, like

that kind of

language,

it's almost

like, it

got me,

and you're

almost like

not taking

responsibility,

sin doesn't

just happen,

you deliberately

sit against

God, there's a

moment in your

mind where you

literally cross the

line, it's not

like you're just

like walking

around this

fallen guy,

and you

just fell

in a trap,

it's like,

no, what

happened?

So, believers

don't just

fall into

temptation,

and most

deliberately

step into

it, and

like, cross

that line.

So, number

four, it is

always best to

run away from

temptation, that's

kind of a myth.

It's certainly

true that

sometimes the

best thing to

do is avoid

things, okay?

But there's a

reality that

in some

circumstances, you

can't escape.

Things are going

to happen, like

temptation is

going to come,

so if your

battle tactic is

just to avoid

every situation,

you won't be

able to always

do that.

So, Martin

Luther once

said,

temptations, of

course, cannot

be avoided,

but because we

cannot prevent

the birds from

flying over our

heads, there's

no need that

we should let

them make a

mess on our

hair.

So, this idea

of like, things

are always going

to come, but

we don't need to

let it settle

in on us.

Fifthly, this is

the one I used

to believe,

maturity will

eliminate

temptation.

Man, like this

dude, he's been

walking with

Jesus a long

time, man, when

I get to where

he is, I won't

have to struggle

with this anymore,

I'm just going

to be okay.

Not true.

Actually, a sign

of maturity in

a believer is

that God is

actually revealing

more and more

sin to you.

Like, you can

form the outside

of your behavior,

look good, God's

going to go

after your motives

and why you're

doing those

things.

He's never

going to let

you go about

that.

So, those are

a few myths

about temptation.

But, first of

all, also under

this, know that

temptation is

common and it's

universal.

It's common

to everybody.

Joseph was

tempted in

Genesis by

Potiphar's wife.

He got David

tempted by

Bathsheba and

he followed

through with it.

Joseph ran.

And then Jesus

himself tempted

by Satan in

Matthew 4 so

that he would

sin and not be

the perfect

Messiah that

was needed.

So, 1

Corinthians 10

13 says this,

no temptation

has overcome

you.

It is not

common to

man.

So, temptation

is common

and universal.

So, it's not

unusual.

Second

question.

That was the

first one.

My voice is

better.

My throat is

going to be

dry.

Sorry.

What are the

sources of

temptation?

That's the

second question.

Right now, I

think you're

still in the

Ephesians 2 and

that's what we're

going to look at.

So, stay there.

Back to our

original text.

There's usually

three things that

are the sources of

temptation.

And let it be

said, you can't

really section

these off.

They all kind

of work together

in a lot of

ways.

So, I'm like,

well, this day

this one got me

and that day

this one got me.

They kind of

work together

simultaneously a lot

of times.

First of all,

if you look at

verse 1 in

Ephesians 2,

it says,

and when she

once walked,

following the

course of this

world.

The first one

is the world.

That's the

first thing.

That's where

a source of

temptation comes

from, the

world.

And flip to

hold your hand

in Ephesians 2,

but I just

got a few

places for you

to turn.

1 John 2.

1 John 2.15.

1 John 2.15.

It 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.

For all that is

in the world,

the desires of

the flesh,

the desires of

the eyes,

and the pride

of possessions,

is not from

the Father,

but is from

the world.

And the world

is passing

away along

with its

desires.

Whatever does

the will of

God,

abides forever.

So, the

word world

is used

right here

in 1 John 2.

It's the word

cosmos.

It means

like the

order or

the system

of the world.

And it's

used in this

case like in

a negative

connotation.

It's not

being spoke

of in a

positive way.

It means

like a

world that's

turned and

is now

alienated from

its creator.

That's

kind of

what it's

used as.

And it

encompasses

a ton of

things.

False

religions,

false

philosophies,

ideas of

man,

just whatever.

It could

mean like

even just

the ads

or commercials

you see

that entice

you to

spend your

money on

something that

God would

not have you

to spend

your money

on,

something that

simple.

guys and

girls can

mean like

in modest

clothing to

entice or

to allure the

opposite sex.

The world is

like the

things that

do allure

us and

pull us

in.

It's the

things in

the world.

So that's

what the

world is.

And also

it says it

there, I'll

read this

back in

Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:3

verse 3

you can

flip back

there if

you like

back to

Ephesians

it says

in verse 3

we're going

to see the

third thing

verse 3

among whom

we all

once lived

in the

passions of

our flesh

carrying out

the desires

of the

body and

the mind.

So

the flesh

you got the

world and

now the

flesh.

That's the

second source

of our sin.

And

it means

like

if you're

being controlled

by the

flesh

it's like

what does

your flesh

do?

It gets

hungry

it desires

comfort

it likes

to sleep

it likes

sex

those are

the things

that like

are of

the flesh

and all

those things

are not bad

things right?

Like they're

natural things

that happen

but what

the sinful

fallen flesh

is that

it seems

to allow

those things

to like

dominate you

or control

you

and run

your life

what you

live for

is to

fulfill those

desires

that you're

having

that's

ultimate

and that's

when you'll

do anything

to get

fulfillment

for those

things

that's

why

you know

people that

are just

controlled by

sexual sin

it starts

with this

and moves

with this

and eventually

leads to them

raping somebody

and then ultimately

prison

so you begin

to let those

desires

control you

and the

flesh is

fallen

and it will

die

like

your body

that you work

on and take

care of every

day

like it

will die

this

person

because it

has sinned

against god

thirdly

you've got the

world

the flesh

and now the

devil

you see that

in verse 2

back in

ephesians

following the

course of this

world

following the

prince

of the

power of

the air

that's

referring to

satan

the spirit

the evil

spirit

of satan

that is now

at work

and the

sons of

disobedience

and all

three of these

things

the world

of flesh

and the

devil

we're going

to like

discuss more

in coming

thursday

nights

it's just

an overview

but satan

the word

means like

in hebrew

satan

it means like

adversary

or opponent

someone that's

like out to

destroy you

the devil

another word

is used

another name

for him

it means

like to

throw

or to

hurl

that's what

the devil

means

it means

that he's

slandering you

he's throwing

insults

against you

he takes

the truth

of god

and who

god is

and twists

it and makes

you try to

believe lies

about it

let me see

1 peter

5 8

says this

be sober

minded

be watchful

your adversary

the devil

prowls around

like a roaring

lion seeking

someone to

devour

so

the devil

is

this is the

kind of

thing that

the devil

would try

to say

to you

or lie

to you

remember

he's a

slanderer

he wants

to like

hurl up

insults

and slander

against you

he'll say

you're the

one who

has stolen

you've lied

you've

taken the

lord's name

in vain

you've

looked at

pornography

you've

seduced

girls

you have

allowed

these things

to control

you

you've

lied

to people

you've

lied

to your

parents

you

cheated

this

guy

that's

the kind

of stuff

that the devil

will do

is he'll

remind you

he'll like

point out

your sin

and make you

guilty

and convicted

and

none of us

are like

above

being attacked

by him

nobody

he's been

doing this

a long

time

he's very

good

this is

something

Spurgeon

said

it's

ridiculous

to see

on his

Christian

channels

on TV

all these

dudes

are like

put it on

Satan

we've got

you

and Satan

is really

laughing

but you've

got to be

kidding me

this is what

Spurgeon

said

he said

about

Satan

he is

more cunning

than the

wisest

how soon

he entangled

Solomon

Solomon

is known

as the

wise man

he got

he made

Solomon

sin

or tempted

Solomon

sin

he is

stronger

than the

strongest

how fatally

he overthrew

Samson

yes

even the

man

after God's

own heart

like David

he had

been led

to fall

into grievous

sins

by seduction