Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning.
[00:00:06] Good morning. If I have not met you, my name is Michael Fueling, I'm the lead pastor here at Village Church and I wanna invite you to open up your Bibles. We're gonna be in the book of Matthew, chapter four, and it says Deuteronomy. I know. We are actually finishing our series on Deuteronomy with a few messages of how Jesus used the book of Deuteronomy in his life.
[00:00:32] Okay, so I want to begin and I want you to imagine with me a fully integrated AI into every aspect of our lives. Some of you are like, oh no.
[00:00:47] So go with me for a moment. I want you to imagine this ultra high res cameras everywhere, built into every single electronic device, so security device and more, confirming who is where at every single moment. Cameras observing everything from goosebumps to an eye roll, from smirks to pupil dilation. Watches and wearables, tracking your blood pressure, your heart rate, your body temperature, your sleep patterns, your illnesses and your cycles.
[00:01:21] Listening to every conversation, tracking every person in every room using gps, your voice signature, thermal imaging and AI would be so integrated that it would know all of your medications, all of your supplements, all of your sicknesses, all of your genetic inclinations, and your entire family history from the time you were born. It would be monitoring. Quote, for your own good. End quote, of course.
[00:01:48] Every show you've watched, from Bluey to Blue Bloods, every movie you have watched, even the secret ones. Every website you have visited, every social media post you have seen, slowed down on, clicked on your phone, camera and wearables, tracking your eyes, your heart rate and body metrics as you endlessly scroll. Every product you've ever been interested in, every product you've purchased. All of your receipts are digital. It knows every meal you have ever eaten, your spending habits, and at any moment can tell you what fraction of a percentage you spend your income on any given category. It also, by the way, knows your theology.
[00:02:27] It hears the sermons, you hear the Bible reading plans, you engage in, the conversations in your community group and your Bible studies, even the one on ones. Because it's always on and always listening. It knows who you love, it knows who you like, it knows who you hate and it knows who you tolerate because your body never lies and it's always tracking.
[00:02:47] And because it knows your theology and it knows your standards. It also knows all of your discrepancies, your hypocrisies, your duplicities, your white lies. And even when no one can prove it, it knows because it is the greatest lie detector ever created. Now here's my question. Hypothetically, if this ever came true, if this AI was so commanded, how would this AI tempt you personally to sin against God's word?
[00:03:19] What is your easiest weakness that it could exploit?
[00:03:26] To be human is to be tempted. So by the end of this message, I want you to be clear on your potential vulnerabilities. Because whether you know it or not, there is a very real dark spiritual realm coordinating temptation just for you. Especially if you are part of the people of God, because you have trusted in Jesus. Now, let's be clear on a couple things. Is Satan or any demon omniscient? Everybody? The answer is no. Are they AI? I don't think so. My question, true question is to what degree can a demon actually access information on some kind of mass database level? Not there, don't know, have no idea. Anyways, you can talk about that amongst yourselves.
[00:04:11] Can the demonic realm read your mind? No, actually, Paul says that only the spirit of God knows what is in the heart and mind of a person. But they are observant and they are adaptive. And I want you to remember this, that the demonic realm has studied humanity for millennia. And this just always blows my mind. With just a single well structured question, Satan was able to trap and trick Adam and Eve to rebel against God and to sin. The apostle Peter, here's what he says in 1st Peter 5:8.
[00:04:47] Be sober minded. Think clearly. Don't think arrogantly. Like I'm amazing. It would never happen to me. Be watchful. Okay?
[00:04:58] Your adversary, Bill Church. Whose adversary?
[00:05:02] Our adversary to the people of God.
[00:05:04] The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And let's be straight. If a lion came up to you and it roared at you, what emotion would you feel?
[00:05:16] Fear. And that is natural. But then here's what it says. The next line's my favorite. You don't need to be afraid. You don't need to run. You need to resist him firm in your faith. It's funny, because most people think that we are to stand firm against sexual immorality and to flee the devil. But that is not what the scripture teaches. The scripture teaches that we flee sexual immorality and we stand firm against the devil. And what? I love this. By the cosmic laws of the universe, the scriptures. So that when a true child of God stands firm and resists the devil by the laws of the universe, he is obligated to what?
[00:05:51] Flee? Isn't that a great word? Have you ever fled from anything? He is obligated to flee when the believer stands firm and resists him in their faith. Now the million dollar question to kind of set up our text for this morning.
[00:06:03] What tactic might Satan use to try and tempt Jesus?
[00:06:08] God in the flesh?
[00:06:12] I want you to remember this because Satan knows Jesus very well. You might not be aware, but they have a history together.
[00:06:20] Satan worshiped in Jesus presence.
[00:06:24] Satan reported to Jesus. Satan was likely an archangel, which is kind of the highest level of authority in the angelic realm.
[00:06:32] Satan and the angels had the privilege of watching front row seat Jesus create humanity.
[00:06:40] It could be argued that very few, if anyone, knows Jesus personally better than the archangels who sat in his presence. And for some reason, Satan had this idea that it might be possible to get Jesus to sin. Now, with that context, Matthew, chapter four, verse one, here's what it says then. Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And I want you to notice three very important details here. Detail number one, it was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness. Now let me just kind of double click on that and I want to show you behind the scenes, theologically, biblically, who sends the Holy Spirit.
[00:07:34] Primarily, it's God the Father. And so here's what we see automatically. It was the will of the Father for Jesus to go into the wilderness in order to be tempted by the devil.
[00:07:47] Detail number two. The wilderness is the place where your true self is revealed and exposed. Through the wilderness exposes you through deprivation, through fear, and through temptation. And I'm not talking about the metaphorical wilderness, although we can apply that emotionally, spiritually. I'm actually talking about the literal actual wilderness. This is a very real place outside of the promised land. Think less sand dunes like the Sahara, and think more like the Badlands. Rugged, chalky limestone hills, deep ravines, nothing really grows too much, especially edible things. Detail number three, it was the Holy Spirit's intention to bring Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted.
[00:08:38] And so God the Father and God the Holy Spirit saw it necessary for Jesus to endure both 40 days and nights fasting in the wilderness, as well as one of the most difficult temptations any human will ever have to go through. Now I get the spiritual value of going alone with God into an actual wilderness. But you might ask, why God would you subject your beloved Son Jesus to satanic attack on purpose?
[00:09:16] And what benefit could this possibly have to Jesus or to us? So I wrote down a handful of reasons. Can I share them with you?
[00:09:27] Maybe to remind Satan that he actually has no power over Jesus.
[00:09:33] Maybe to irritate Satan and accelerate demonic attacks on Jesus so that at just the right time, Satan in all of his arrogance kills him, not realizing in the death of Jesus he's being defeated.
[00:09:46] Maybe to validate to us today that Jesus actually is truly, fully sinless God, maybe to further train Jesus body and soul for the suffering to come, which will far outweigh the suffering of extreme fasting and demonic temptation. Maybe these are just a few reasons, by the way, they're kind of all from Scripture in one way or another. Maybe to allow Jesus to go through the extremes of every human experience so that he can truly sympathize with, with each and every one of us, no matter what we are going through. All right, look at verse two, which contains the single most obvious statement in all of the Bible.
[00:10:23] And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. Thank you. Okay, verse three. And the tempter came and said to him, okay, so you have Jesus. You have the Son of God, God in the flesh at his single most vulnerable moment in his entire life. You have been trying to kill this child, this person. You've been trying to stop him from ever being born. And so you got him. Which of all the demons do you send in to actually try to trick him and tempt him to sin? You send the most powerful. You send to Satan himself. You send the tempter. And verse three goes on. And now the conversation between Satan and Jesus commences. And the tempter came and said to Jesus, if you are the son of God, do you hear the challenge?
[00:11:21] Command these stones to become loaves of bread.
[00:11:27] Now, you need to know this. This question did not come out of the blue. If you go back, I don't know, four verses prior into chapter three. Three. What you have is the baptism of Jesus. Jesus. Public ministry is being launched. And God the Father spoke these words over Jesus. He said, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
[00:11:54] The immediate next event as he goes into the wilderness and the first story told is about his sonship being challenged. Does God really love you? Prove that you are God's beloved son.
[00:12:11] When might you and me, and possibly Jesus but you and me, be most tempted to doubt whether or not God loves us in the middle of extreme, enduring, dark difficulty?
[00:12:27] And this is our temptation.
[00:12:29] God, if you loved me, you wouldn't have let this happen.
[00:12:34] God, if you loved me, you would have stopped us.
[00:12:37] And yet, here's what we have. Biblically, theologically, factually, God does love you, and he didn't stop it.
[00:12:42] As one Person said, put that in your theological pipe and smoke it.
[00:12:45] He does love you and he doesn't stop it. And good theology is gonna have to make up for this.
[00:12:52] Now, Jesus won't fall for this scheme.
[00:12:56] Why?
[00:12:57] Because Jesus has good theology.
[00:13:00] And why won't you fall for the Schemeville church?
[00:13:04] Because you have good theology. Okay, here it is.
[00:13:08] Jesus knows that God the Father sends his beloved children into hardship and, and difficulty on purpose.
[00:13:21] And you might say, my God, a God of love, would never do that. Then you're defining love wrong.
[00:13:26] Because the scriptures clearly teach that God is a God of love and that God loves his children who have trusted in Christ, and he will take those children, first and foremost is Jesus and intentionally choose to put them into hard situations. Jesus knows, because he has good doctrine and so do you, that God doesn't just allow his children to experience difficulty, but sometimes sends them into the middle of it.
[00:13:49] If that doesn't fit in your theological category, I'm telling you, your theological categories are human centered and not grounded in Scripture.
[00:13:57] You're gonna have to get to a point where you can say, God is love. God loves me, and God sends me into really difficult, hard circumstances. And when you look at verse three again, the tempter came and said to Jesus, if you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Now, if you had the opportunity, and Jesus said, hey, man, I'm really struggling. Could you give me some advice? What do I do? You might be tempted to say, just show Satan that you're God and that God the Father loves you. And just command the stone to be turned to bread and it's gonna work. Just get the guy off your, off your back.
[00:14:34] What I love is that Jesus doesn't take the bait, like, even in his physical and mental exhaustion.
[00:14:40] By the way, when are we, like, I think, most vulnerable? When we're hungry and tired, right?
[00:14:46] Women are never hungry and tired. But dudes, when are we most vulnerable?
[00:14:52] When we're hungry and when we're tired.
[00:14:55] Here's what Jesus knows.
[00:14:58] If I turn this stone into bread, I have now let Satan manipulate and control me.
[00:15:09] Michael Fealing, Generally, I have a rule.
[00:15:11] I don't allow people to pressure me into doing things that in a reasonable, sane mind, I wouldn't do otherwise.
[00:15:18] And so here's what Jesus knows. If I do this, I put Satan in the driver's seat and I let him determine my next steps. In verse four, Jesus answer. It's both true and it keeps Jesus in control.
[00:15:32] It says, but he, Jesus, Answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
[00:15:44] I told you that this short series to kind of end Deuteronomy is on how Jesus used the book of Deuteronomy. Pop quiz. Can you guess what book of the Bible this is from?
[00:15:54] Oh, you're so smart. Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verse 3. And this is what's so funny about this verse is that, like, I don't know about y', all, but, like, if you're in the middle of, like, a spiritual attack or in the middle of temptation, like, most people don't think I know where I'll go. Deuteronomy. But that is exactly where Jesus goes. And here's what he says. Deuteronomy, 8. 3. And he humbled you. Isn't that interesting? He humbled you and he let you hunger. He's talking to who? Israel. In the literal, exact same wilderness that Jesus is in right now.
[00:16:24] He humbled you and he let you hunger. And then he fed you with manna that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
[00:16:38] In other words, here's what Jesus is saying to Satan.
[00:16:43] I was sent here to this wilderness by my Father and by my spirit, to hunger and to thirst.
[00:16:52] To train me to resist you.
[00:16:55] Your word, nor your tactics control me.
[00:17:00] I live and die by God's word, not yours. Nice try.
[00:17:05] Verse 5.
[00:17:07] Then the devil took him to the holy city, that's Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the. What's the word?
[00:17:18] Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, he will command his angels concerning you. And here's another one. And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. I'm gonna be honest with you. I have no idea how this happens. I don't know why Jesus let him do it. Best we can conclude is that Jesus knew what was going on. This was a temptation he had to endure. And so he kind of went with it so that he could stand up to him.
[00:17:47] And here's what's so striking. Satan masterfully quotes Psalm 91. If you ever get bored in this message, go read Psalm 91 and you'll find this quote and Psalm 91, it is true. It is about God commanding his angels to support and to protect the Messiah. Now, is it ever okay? Was the intent of Psalm 91 ever to allow Jesus the Freedom to throw himself off cliffs, just to show off, just to prove a demonic attack is wrong, just to fulfill his pride and his ego, just to be proven right. Was that ever the intent of Psalm 91? No. In fact, Jesus knows that if he were to do this, he would be testing God and God's love for him. So in verse seven, Jesus responds, again, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. You're not gonna believe this, but do you guys know a book he just quoted?
[00:18:45] Do you think about it? Deuteronomy. Isn't that crazy? Deuteronomy 6:16. Here's what it says. This is the original. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. And then it says this as you tested him at massa. What happened in massa? What happened is that they're in the wilderness and Israel was demanding water from God to test whether or not God was really with them. Okay, here's the deal. Why did they not need water out of a rock to know whether God was with them?
[00:19:14] Because God already told them, I am with you. We don't live by the feelings that we have or the doubts that we have. We live by the words that God actually says. God already told them that he was with them. So don't test the word of God. If God says it, it's true. Period.
[00:19:30] Verse 8 again.
[00:19:32] Another time, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he, the devil, says to him, jesus, all these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. Here it is, Satan's final attempt. Jesus is at his weakest, emotionally, physically, psychologically. There is never going to be a more opportune moment to get Jesus to sin.
[00:20:00] What's striking is that Satan actually offers Jesus something that he has the power to give.
[00:20:07] Satan temporarily had the power and authority over glory and global leadership.
[00:20:15] And what he offered Jesus, he could give him. But here's the trick.
[00:20:20] What are the wages of sin?
[00:20:24] Death.
[00:20:25] Had Jesus taken him up on this offer, maybe Satan would have given him glory and leadership. But what would have been the result? Eternal separation. Now, theologically, I don't know how that works, but it's a trick, and he's trying to trap him. And Jesus, verse 10, responds, I love this. Begone, Satan. Isn't that so good? Three great words. Begone. I imagine a flick of the wrist. Done with you.
[00:20:49] For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Your mind is about to be blown thrice.
[00:20:57] Can you guess what book was being quoted? All right. Deuteronomy 6:13. It is the Lord your God, you shall fear him, you shall serve. Or again, Deuteronomy 10:20. You shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him and hold fast to him. I hope you're thinking I really need to immerse myself in the book of Deuteronomy. Because apparently for Jesus, whenever he's in the midst of temptation, even being tempted by the greatest tempter in all of creation, the book of Deuteronomy sufficed to give him the weapons and truth to respond.
[00:21:29] Now, what happens when God in the flesh commands an angel to do something?
[00:21:35] They are, by the laws of the spiritual realm, required to do that. Verse 11.
[00:21:41] Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. I want to share with you three. So what's number one?
[00:21:56] There is no struggle you face that Jesus has not personally endured, both in principle and in greater measure, and succeeded.
[00:22:08] Okay, so Matthew chapter four is making a really enormous theological point.
[00:22:16] You may or may not have noticed that everything Jesus quoted was from Deuteronomy. Okay, good. And all of the quotes were from the Israelites in the wilderness.
[00:22:27] And essentially, here's what, what Matthew is communicating to all of us theologically about this experience.
[00:22:35] Where Israel failed in the wilderness, Jesus succeeded.
[00:22:41] Or let me say it differently, your Savior isn't just one who knows what your suffering feels like.
[00:22:50] Jesus went through it, and he did so successfully and sinlessly.
[00:22:57] So Hebrews 2:18. Here's how it says it.
[00:23:00] For because he himself has suffered, when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
[00:23:11] Not so funny little story. But as a preacher, whatever I am preaching on, I can almost certainly tell you that within the 12 to 48 hours before I preach that message, whatever I am tempted to encourage you to do, I will be tempted to do the opposite.
[00:23:30] So I've kind of been living in this text for a while now, and over the last 24 hours, I will not tell you what happened, but some of my greatest weaknesses were poked.
[00:23:43] I was actually shocked.
[00:23:45] And I couldn't believe what I was standing in the midst of. And I knew in the moment that the Lord is just so helpful in bringing this message. At this point, I knew what the right thing to do.
[00:24:00] And this was a gift from God. It's just not surprising to me at all. If you teach the Bible on any regular basis, you're gonna notice this. Anytime you encourage God's people to do one thing, you're gonna be tempted to do the opposite. And here's what I was reminded of. I have everything I need in this moment to do everything God is asking me to do. I have everything I need.
[00:24:18] Like, I could satisfy whatever sinful impulse I have. Don't read into it, because whatever you're thinking it is, I guarantee you it's not.
[00:24:28] I could do that, but I already know the game. I already know the trap. I've been studying this thing for a while now. I'm, like, ready for this. I haven't preached in two weeks. This text is sitting on me. I'm like, I've been thinking about this for a while.
[00:24:42] Here's what I knew in that moment. I knew in multiple moments. I was like, I have everything I need. I'm prepared. I know the trap. I know the design. I know the scheme. I know what this thing is. I know what to do. And I have everything I need to do it. And there was no excuse except for me to do exactly what Jesus tells me to do.
[00:24:59] So what experiences tempt you?
[00:25:02] Betrayal.
[00:25:04] They tempt you to sin. Letdown, physical pain, Slander, sexual struggle, having your image bearers reject you. God knows what that feels like, too.
[00:25:15] Being lied to, being lied about, being made fun of you. And I will never be able to say with a clear conscience, jesus doesn't get me.
[00:25:28] Jesus doesn't understand what I'm going through.
[00:25:32] Let me just summarize this.
[00:25:34] There is no pain or problem he does not get and cannot help with because he's been there and he did it right.
[00:25:45] When I get parenting advice from people, I don't want parenting advice from people who don't know how to raise kids.
[00:25:51] And when I get marital advice from a dude, I don't want marital advice from a dude who treats his wife terribly.
[00:25:57] And when I get help on anything, I would like to know that the person that I'm getting help with has been there, done that, endured it. And even if they were imperfect, right, they learned from their mistake and improved. That's what I want.
[00:26:08] Guys, we have the greatest savior on the planet who is not some distant, impersonal God who cannot understand what we have gone through, but has willingly subjected himself to flesh and principally, all. All of the pain points that you and I could go through. And he has endured them successfully and sinlessly. And for those who have trusted in Christ, he stands ready and pumped to help us.
[00:26:34] My second. So what I want to share with you, just a personal takeaway after having spent some hours in this text. So let me indulge myself for a moment. Let me share with you just one of my takeaways.
[00:26:48] Jesus has more fill in the blank than you and I. Jesus has more discipline than you and I.
[00:26:57] Discipline is nothing more than exercising our will to do what is best for our body, mind and soul.
[00:27:05] If you haven't been here in a while, about the last two months, every single time I preached, I preached on the will. You're welcome.
[00:27:12] Your will, very simply, it's God's gift to everybody, alive, Christian or non Christian. It is your ability to do the opposite of what you feel, of what you want, or what other people are pressuring you to do. So at any moment, you have a will. You are alive, you're conscious. You can do the opposite of anything you feel, anything you want or anything people are pressuring you to do. And the will is like a muscle. And do you know how this muscle is grown? It's grown by doing the opposite of what you want, what you feel like, or what you're being pressured to do. And so here's what we find. Jesus has trained his will for 30 years of his life to the point where he can now endure 40 days and 40 nights of fasting and the single greatest attack demonically, spiritually, anybody could endure. And he did it successfully, and he did it sinlessly. Jesus has more grit than you and I. Grit is the ability to keep using your will for good despite suffering in difficulty. And the greater your grit, the more pain and suffering you can endure. I'm just gonna say this. Jesus wins on that one, too.
[00:28:19] Jesus has more endurance than you and I. This is the ability to not just have discipline, to not just have grit, but to keep going and going day after day after day. Jesus wins again. Jesus has more mental and emotional control than you and I.
[00:28:36] I don't know about y', all, but at the end of 40 days and 40 nights, I would be hangry, I would be irritable, and I would not be pumped up about a demonic attack that was set up for me to show the world who I really am. Sinless God in the flesh.
[00:28:55] But Jesus has more of all of this than all of us. Now, this morning, we read and we studied together. A true story. And there's so many amazing takeaways and applications. I kind of wanted, like three. Three whole months to preach this, but here's what we got. I did not want you to leave this text and this sermon without standing in utter awe of your savior, Jesus, dudes.
[00:29:20] This level of strength, determination, Endurance and grit would put us all to shame. This would be the guy that we would tell stories about because he was so respectable and honorable and, and this is God in the flesh, our Savior, our Jesus. And I just want you to be so incredibly excited about who your God is.
[00:29:45] So at number three, know the seven most common temptations for every human everywhere throughout all of history. So I have good news for you. We're basic creatures. I'm going to do a little pastor math for you.
[00:30:01] 98.6, you'll remember that that's the temperature of the human body. 98.6% of all temptations fall into one of these buckets.
[00:30:10] And I want you to see them because I want you to do is I want you to become aware of what bucket, what strategy, what tactic, what scheme. These are all, what trap. These are all the different words the Bible uses for the designs that Satan makes to trap people. And we're also basic in science that like for most of humanity there are like seven basic things and then they kind of apply it and use it uniquely for your temperament and personality. We're all so simple. But now here's the deal. You're not gonna fall for em because you already know all of them, right? And then if you find yourself in the midst of it because you have good theology, village church, right? You're not gonna like be all upset with God and say he doesn't love me, right? You're gonna be like no, God does love me. That's why he sent me into this really hard circumstance. But now you're gonna have like a category where for the different ways that Satan typically traps the vast majority of human people for all of history.
[00:31:01] Number one, this is the first one. Cast doubt over God, his word and his character.
[00:31:06] Here's one. Isolate to the point of despair.
[00:31:11] Another. Inflate ego to the point of pride. There are so many ways to do these, so many ways. But these are the general principles.
[00:31:20] Number four. Distract from purpose through consequence, free pleasure and or distraction.
[00:31:27] Number five. Offer illegitimate and sinful means to your ends.
[00:31:32] Number six. Accuse and condemn after you sin.
[00:31:36] Number seven, Create unnecessary division between brothers and the church. And I just want you to take a look at these again. The application of these is extensive. There are so many ways to do each of these. But principally there are. These are the designs, the vast majority of them. These are the schemes, these are the traps that we, all of us, if you look back at the things you've fallen for, you think to yourself, I'll just give you one for fun, distract from purpose through consequence, free pleasure and or distraction. It won't hurt anybody. Nobody will find out. There's no consequence. I can get away with this. I can do what I want, love who I want, feel what I want, et cetera. And this is one of the applications of that.
[00:32:12] And so we just get tricked.
[00:32:15] You do something ridiculous and dumb, you look at, accuse and condemn and you just heap shame upon yourself over and over and over again and you leave someone in a state of condemnation.
[00:32:25] It's so easy.
[00:32:27] There are some of us, we love to beat ourselves up, don't we?
[00:32:30] And there are some of us, we are so prideful. You just give us a little bit of encouragement and we're like, I'm better than everybody. I'm pretty amazing, aren't I? Right?
[00:32:41] And this is where you just get to know someone's personality. You get to watch and observe, you get to be a little bit creative. And now you can easily trap them because we are all so easily tempted.
[00:32:56] Now, like all great traps, these are each best accomplished patiently, incrementally, and then instantly you're not going to be caught up like a mouse in a trap like that.
[00:33:13] Typically, if you're going to be strategic about catching a Christian, you have to now work against their will, their conscience, the Holy Spirit, the word of God, the people of God, the reputation, all this stuff. And so it's going to happen patiently and it's going to happen incrementally.
[00:33:30] And again the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. That's the goal. And so at the right moment, when they feel like they can destroy you, they will close.
[00:33:38] But you're not going to fall for it. Amen. Village church.
[00:33:41] You're not gonna fall for it. Now, today you're gonna go home and whatever your susceptibility is, because we preached on it, there will probably be some weird temptation that comes your way and you're going to resist it. But then tomorrow will be another one. And there's this incredible proverb, I love it. It says, the righteous fall sin seven times and then they get back up again.
[00:34:07] And so here's the deal.
[00:34:09] You will likely fall. You are facing a very, very smart enemy who has been watching you and setting up designs and traps and schemes just for you to make you feel like you're useless for God's kingdom.
[00:34:24] And if you happen to fall in one, I've got great news for those of you who've trusted in Christ, the blood of Christ has already covered you and you are forgiven.
[00:34:35] Be the righteous man, and get up.
[00:34:39] And it will probably happen again in a different way. You might not be tricked in that way again. But you know what? When you're trying to destroy somebody and your entire existence is committed to the destruction of the people of God, you might find a new way and you might fall a second time. And what do the people of God do? We don't beat ourselves up. We take ownership. We call it what it is. We repent and we get back up. Because the righteous do fall. They fall seven times. Which means. It's a word for totality. It means it's part of the life of being somebody who is following God. It's not perfection. It is struggle. I just love that the Proverbs acknowledge this. But you, you have the blood of Christ covering you. Get up. Unless you think you don't know the temptation I've been through.
[00:35:25] I want to read to you. 1 Corinthians 10:13. We can't talk about temptation without this text.
[00:35:30] No. Temptation has overtaken you.
[00:35:34] That is not common to man. I love this cool story, bro.
[00:35:39] It's not new.
[00:35:42] God is. What is it?
[00:35:45] Faithful.
[00:35:46] And he will not let you be tempted. Will he let you be tempted? Oh, yeah. But he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But this is so nice of Paul. He didn't have to say this, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
[00:36:06] In other words, you might fall.
[00:36:09] Get up.
[00:36:10] And when you get up, here's what I want you to remember.
[00:36:13] You actually did, in that moment, have everything you needed to escape that. You didn't lack any resource.
[00:36:18] You didn't lack willpower. You didn't lack knowledge.
[00:36:22] You had everything you needed to get out of that scheme, that design, that trap.
[00:36:26] But you know what we do? We don't go. I'm the worst. God could never love me. No, we get up and we pursue. We remind ourselves that the blood of Christ has covered me and now we move forward.
[00:36:38] We give ourselves and others the kind of grace that God daily bestows upon.
[00:36:45] Now, you might be here and you might have never trusted in Christ. You're just like, first of all, this is all foreign.
[00:36:53] I don't even know what it feels like to have the power of the Holy Spirit. And I just fall to temptation. I feel like I have no power. And I just. I would like to say bluntly to you, what stands between you and having power, having the power of God, having forgiveness with God, a right relationship with God. What stands between you and having the power to overcome consistently temptation.
[00:37:18] You will only ever get that if and when you. I'll say in a couple different ways, become a Christian.
[00:37:27] If you move your loyalty and allegiance away from yourself or whatever, it's focused on to Jesus, say it a different way. If you come to God and say, I messed up, it was my fault, I broke our relationship, would you forgive me? I want you to be my God.
[00:37:46] Whatever vocabulary you need to hear, until somebody becomes a Christian, trusts in Christ, believes in life, death and resurrection until they go to him and say, I'm no longer wanting to live for this. I might struggle with it, but you're my God and I wanna pursue that. You're never ever gonna be made right with God. And what I love is that anybody who sincerely comes to God and says, forgive me, I'm sorry I did it, I believe Jesus. You're my God. You died for my sins. You were raised from the dead. What I just love is that God's like, yes, yes, that you're sincere. I am ready to forgive. I am ready to be in relationship with you. And this is one of the things I just love. And it's like, yes, I also, here's what I'm gonna do. Blows my mind. I'm gonna forgive you knowing all of the stupid things you're gonna do until the day you're dead. All of them. I know all the ways you're gonna mess up. And I am in this moment declaring you forgiven once for all and forever. That is crazy.
[00:38:39] That is awesome. And here's what God is offering you. I'm ready.
[00:38:43] What stands between you and asking God to forgive you of your sin? What stands between you and making Jesus, who died for your sins and was raised from the dead, your God, whatever it is, resolve that issue.
[00:38:59] Because God is waiting to forgive you and to give you the power of the Holy Spirit so that you have everything you need to overcome this crazy dark world and the reality of demonic attacks and designs and schemes created to destroy your life. You. What is standing between you and life? Abundant. Resolve it, and God is ready to forgive you when you are ready to ask. Amen. Village church Amen. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for just the clarity that Jesus has about himself and. And about the devil and his motivations.
[00:39:38] There is nothing that we have been tempted by that Jesus does not understand.
[00:39:45] Your word says that we can come to you in our time of need and that you freely, joyfully give us help and you give us grace. I wanna say, as hard as it is thank you for testing us.
[00:39:57] Thank you that you never tempt us.
[00:39:59] Thank you for always giving us a way out of every single temptation.
[00:40:05] And thank you that by your spirit, you are always with us, helping, encouraging, sustaining and convicting. Life is already hard enough, and we are grateful to not just never be alone, but to have the fullness of your resources at our disposal. Teach us and train us to use them to bring you glory and despite whatever circumstances we might find ourselves in, to live life abundantly in Christ. And may we be like the righteous. When we fall, we get back up again because we know who we are, we know we are forgiven, and we know what we are called to. We love you and we pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
