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Luke chapter 4 records for us the Lord Jesus working out a righteousness for us as we see him in the midst of temptation, perfectly obeying his father in heaven.
! Luke chapter 4 and we'll read the first 13 verses. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.
Jesus answered, it is written, man does not live on bread alone. The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
And he said to him, I will give you all their authority and splendor for it has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to.
So if you worship me, it will all be yours. Jesus answered, it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only.
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down from here.
For it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
Jesus answered, it says, do not put the Lord your God to the test. When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
We're privileged again to welcome Brian Ellis to the pulpit tonight. Brother, we love you. We rejoice that you and Nessie are there laboring for our Savior.
We pray for you and thank you for coming to us and come again and lift up our Savior before our eyes. Well, I'd like to thank you for the welcome I've had today.
I feel very much at home here in Bremen and it's a privilege to be with you. And I thank you again for all your prayers and support for the work in the Philippines.
I'm not sure how many times I've been back here, but I've wandered around the Heaney's backyard there, you know, there. And I was out this afternoon just before we came just looking at the birds and that. I just love to get out in the country because we live in the city and it really is just pollution, pollution, pollution.
We've just opened the bottom of our road and it's now a main road and traffic roaring up, even buses going past our front gate. And our house is about only 10 yards from the front gate, so that's how bad it is.
But it's where God has placed us. My wife and I would never choose to be in Manila, I tell you. We choose to be in a place like this. But God has other plans for us and that's where it's best to be where He wants us.
I just want to say a bit about my shirt. I have got a jacket with me, but I decided I'd put this on today. This is what I'd wear on a Lord's Day in the Philippines. It probably may be a little bit different, white.
I may have some embroidery down here. This has got a little bit of embroidery on it. It's called a Barong Tagalog. And this would be probably a much more fancy one I could go and meet the President in.
You know, this would be a national dress in the Philippines. So if you think, why has he got a tie and a jacket on? But this is what I was wearing today. Well, I'd like to thank you again for all your fellowship in the Lord.
And it's a privilege to be with you again this evening. Please turn with me to Luke chapter 4. If it's still open with you. If not, please open it. But we're going to look at this this evening, just these 13 verses.
I'm not going to go through it really verse by verse. I want to deal with probably the whole matter of temptation of our Lord. But we see here the beginning of his ministry as he goes, taken off into the wilderness for prayer, contemplation.
And he's led by the Holy Spirit in this. And it's right at the beginning of all the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's just been baptized by John. The voice from heaven had come from his Father.
And now there's this teaching that comes here. Because no one would have known about this, what happened to the Lord in the wilderness, unless he had told his disciples.
There is obviously a difference between Matthew's version and this, the order. It may have been that the Lord had spoken on several occasions to his disciples or to some of them.
And the fact is he put them in different orders. The order is not so important as the very fact that he underwent this temptation by the devil.
And we see here, as your pastor just mentioned, that Christ is identified with us. He has come to fulfill all righteousness. That was what he said to John the Baptist.
He had to fulfill it all. And he was truly a man. And in this passage we see his humanity. Because he's battling with the devil as a man.
Not as the son of God who cannot sin. But he is here as a man dealing with this. At all points tempted as we are.
Yet without sin. He never sinned. So it's the great mystery of his person. That he is truly God. But he's truly man. But I believe here we see his manhood.
I was back down in Texas, Arkansas just this last week. And speaking with the pastor there. Who had labored in Spain for a number of years.
And he worked with a man in a mission where he had in fact eventually resigned. Because of what he found out about this other missionary. This missionary, other missionary, did not believe in the devil.
No, he didn't believe in the devil. How was he doing as a missionary? But there are many, aren't there, around. They just think it's medieval. It's something out of the Middle Ages.
You know, of course they make the devil to be a red thing with horns on and a tail. And everybody makes it a mockery and a thing of fun. And you'll find something like this appearing in some television program or something or other.
Or it's stressed up in other ways. But we come to look at what the scripture says. Because there is a devil. There is a devil. The names by which he's known we see in scripture quite clearly.
It's very much concerned here. The devil. It's not a name but really a title. It's the main title of the fallen angel. devil. Who is the enemy now of God and men.
It has a meaning. This word devil. It's a false witness or malicious accuser. That's the devil. That's what he is. And that's what he does. Another title we find him.
He's called the wicked one. Or the evil one. And this is fundamental to his nature. He is the evil one. He opposes God. He is against God.
He's the source of all evil and wickedness. And when we, in the Lord's prayer, when it speaks there, deliver us from evil. It's really deliver us from the evil one.
Deliver us from Satan. Deliver us from the devil. That's what we pray for. Jesus calls him a murderer. There in John 8.
He was a murderer from the beginning. And behind the murders of God's people. The devil killed Abel really. The prophets. The temptations that come.
And the wickedness that is done. It begins with the temptation. He wanted here, there as we find in John. He wanted to kill Jesus. And he thought he succeeded.
And believed he succeeded in the end. When Christ was nailed to a cross. His own defeat. Yes. Jesus calls him a murderer. He's also referred to in Matthew's gospel.
In chapter 9. Also chapter 12. As Beelzebub. Or Beelzebul. Depends on the translation and everything. Who is the prince of demons.
Remember how the religious leaders said that Christ was actually casting out demons and devils by Beelzebub. They were blaspheming. They were putting the works of Christ as that of the devil.
And this is really a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. He's referred to as the ruler of this world. It speaks here in this passage. That he, how he offered the world to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he's the Satan. That is his name. So in those names and everything and references to him in scripture. We see much of his work.
He does accuse. He is the accuser before God. Of Christ's people. He comes and he whispers.
And he accuses us as well. Whispers in our ears if you like. He whispers in us and says. God doesn't love you. He says you're. That's sin. He'll never forgive you for that sin.
He accuses us. You've gone too far this time. You've failed. That's the end of it. God will not love you. God has wiped you off. And he accuses us of our wickedness.
And he comes and he drubs it into us. And he says God will never forgive you. And puts our noses in it. And that's what he loves to do. He accuses us.
He's a deceiver as well at the same time. In the apocalypse in Revelation 20. The devil who deceived them. Was thrown into the lake of fire.
He deceived them. And he's deceived them. He deceived Eve. Didn't he not? He's the deceiver right from the beginning. You'll become like God. Just eat. Take that fruit.
And he deceives us. And he holds out sin. And says nothing. You won't really have a problem with this. Come on. This is. Everybody does it. Follow this. Do this.
Go to that place. Watch that video. Do that particular thing. Are you old? It's okay. Everybody's doing it anyway. Whatever we will do. And he deceives us.
Into thinking. It's okay really. There's nothing really wrong with this. Nothing wrong with that particular thing. And he deceives every living soul. Evil men operating under the power of the evil.
Will continue to deceive. And men. How men deceive other men. Women deceive other women. We people are deceivers. And they're doing the work of the devil.
He's the tempter. Here as we see him here. He tempts. He offers up things. He seeks to do evil everywhere. And Jesus accuses the leader of the Jews.
Of doing the work of the devil. He is the evil one. Well there is a devil. And if you don't believe it this evening. He has got you in his grip.
Because if you don't believe there's a devil. You don't believe. I don't believe it really in God. Because God tells us there is. And we see here in his holy word.
And how can we stand against such a one. If we don't believe he even exists. And he's won the battle before it begins. Now the Lord Jesus was tempted.
That's very clear. The Lord was full of the Holy Spirit. And he was completely influenced by the Holy Spirit. He was led by the Holy Spirit. And this is the will and plan of his father.
And he's taken off into the desert. To be tempted. That's what happened. The 40 days being tempted. By the devil in the wilderness. Now this is at the beginning of his ministry.
He had to face these temptations. Right at the beginning. And these temptations were connected. To his very ministry. To his very purpose of coming into this world.
His purpose on the work of salvation. Adam. The head of humanity. In a garden. Had fallen and sinned.
He'd taken of the fruit. And he'd eaten it. Christ. Christ. The head of the new humanity. In a wilderness. Faces temptation. And he defeats.
The devil. He resists the devil. And he overcomes the devil. This is our Lord Jesus. The head of the new humanity. The head of the new humanity.
At the end of the 40 days of fasting. There must have been a great physical need. But he stands firm. He doesn't fall. He does not sin.
And so here we have a conflict. In this very chapter. In this very passage. Conflict. Between righteousness. And between evil. Between good.
And wickedness. We have this. Two kingdoms. That of light. And darkness. In battle. Here. In this wilderness. And praise God.
That the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the victor. Because without that. We. Would be lost. Christ. So the manhood.
Of Jesus. Is utterly. Real. Never let us. Give in to the idea. That. It's easy. For Jesus Christ. To stand against the devil. Of course.
He is God. As well. It couldn't have been. It's not like me. And we make it an excuse. For our sin. No. He. Faced the devil. As a man. A true man.
Someone. Like us. With his emotions. With his experience. With his feelings. With everything that he is. With his weakness. Of his body. And everything else. He experienced.
True temptation. From without. Not from a corrupt nature. But from without. From the devil. And in Hebrews. And it reads like this. Does it not? In chapter 2.
17. He had to be made. Like his brethren. In all things. So that he might become. A merciful. And faithful. High priest. In things.
Pertaining to God. To make propitiation. For the sins. Of the people. That's an important word. And I'm sorry. I disagree with the. With the NIV.
Not to use that word. It's a very. Very vital word. He made propitiation. For the sins. Of the people. Turning away. The wrath of God. Appeasing. The anger of God.
Against sin. And men. And women. Who have sinned. In his sight. For since he himself. Was tempted. In that. Which he has suffered. He is able to come.
To the aid. Of those. Who are tempted. That's it. Because he's. He was tempted. He's able to come. To our aid. And able. To help us.
Temptation. As such. Seeks to offer us. Some advantage. I mean. Satan. Won't tempt us. To do things.
Which we've. Absolutely. Horrified at. It's something. That we. Would be. For our advantage. Something. We would like. Something. Which. Attracts us. In some measure.
And he makes it. More and more. Attractive. To us. And says. This is it. And holds out. Something. Which attracts. Is attracted. By our natures. Something. That seems.
To be desirable. Or needful. So let's just. Quickly. Look at these. Temptations. Of our Lord. Jesus Christ. Here. In this portion. Well. First temptation.
Recorded. Was he was. Concerning. Food. His human need. To eat. And I'm sure. All of us. Have been hungry. Sometime. Or other. We often are. Sometimes.
Aren't we? And the boy. Comes home from school. I'm hungry mum. You know. And this is it. You know. Want something to eat. And this is it. A common thing. The natural desire. Of the human body. We need.
To eat. But this temptation. Is to show. Who he is. Verify. Who he is. He not long. Just prior to this.
Very least temptation. In the wilderness. When that. The baptism. What have they been? That voice of his father. From heaven. This. You are my beloved son. In you.
I'm well pleased. But now. The devil is saying. If you see. This is it. Is he not? He's asking. If you are the son of God. Tell this stone.
To become bread. So that's the temptation. If you approve it. Show it. Show it to yourself. Let's see it. Let's see your power. Let's see who you are. And that's it.
What is the answer? And here it is. Christ answers. It is written. Man shall not live. By bread alone. Yes. In Matthew.
Of course. It speaks about every word. That comes from the mouth of God. But here. This is it. The next temptation. Is it. Jesus is shown. All the kingdoms. Of the world.
All the glories. Of this world. Remember. That Satan claims. It all belongs to him. He is. The ruler. Of this world. And in many ways. God has given him permission.
To take over this world. And he rules in the hearts. And minds. Of many many men. And women. And we see the wickedness. That appears. Constantly on our news channels. We hear about it.
In our local newspapers. We hear about it. Neighbors. We hear about other things. That go on. And wickedness. Constantly. Is brought before us. We hear about it. It comes flooding in.
And we're exiled. A terrible thing happened. Why the. Oh. And we know. This is a wicked world. Because men and women. Are engaged in wickedness.
And we. If we're honest. We know that wickedness. That's been in our hearts. And even now. We. We have to wrestle with. This remaining sin. That is within us. We seek to deal with it.
And here he is. The ruler. Of this world. Yes. It's only by the permissive will of God. Of course. But he's there. And he promises. If Jesus will fall down.
And worship him. He will have all of this. The world. No cross. No shame. The world will be given.
If he worships Satan. The devil. Rule over the greatest empire ever. The world empire. Mightier than any Rome.
Mightier than Genghis Khan. Mightier than any empire. That's ever been established. And he would have set up the earthly kingdom. What the Jews were looking for.
That empire based in Jerusalem. Sit on a throne. Oh yes. And all of them would adore him. And everything else. They would accept him. Not reject him.
Such a ruler. The Lord Jesus. Would be a wonderful place. But this was not. The will of God. Worship Satan.
That Satan would take the place. Of God. No. It meant using the world's methods. It meant turning his back. On his calling. It meant ignoring.
The great problem. Of sin. Why he came. To deal with sin. Your sin. And my sin. Sin. He came to be the substitute of sinners.
And he'd already begun to identify with us sinners. At his baptism. He. Remember John. Baptizing for the repentance of sin.
But the Lord Jesus had no sin. He was identifying himself with us. Taking our place. Sometimes we think in terms of. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As just being that. Finally. What saves us. Is the work. Of dying on the cross. As the substitute for sinners. Oh yes. That is. A part of his work. Of salvation.
But as also the coming. And fulfilling. All righteousness. There is that active obedience. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. That he completely. And utterly. Fulfills. All the law of God.
He. He never sins. He does everything righteously. And he lives an utterly. Righteous. And perfect life. For you. And me. Then.
He goes to the cross. And wicked men. Crucify him. To deal with our sin. And pay the penalty. And take the punishment. But all of this.
Is the work of Christ. To deal with sin. To save us. From our sins. And the path. He was to tread. Was not an earthly glory.
Not a kingdom. Based in Jerusalem. It was a cross. Of shame. No golden crown. A crown. Of thorns.
This was our Lord Jesus. He would have had to worship. Wickedness. The third.
Temptation. Is located in Jerusalem. At the temple. He's taken up. To a high point. In the temple. We don't know. How literal this is. Or in. How it would be.
Whatever it was. But. There is offered. And he sees all this. It was to do something. Spectacular. Possibly. And there he is. And told to cast himself down.
And this way. It's a strange thing. This very fact. It was to force God. To do something. To test God's faithfulness. That he would fly from the temple. And the angels.
Would bear him up. And in case he dashed his foot. Even against a stone. Oh yes. Don't we do this sometimes? We try God. We put ourselves into positions.
And we. Sort of say. Well God. If you really don't want me to do this. You know. Almost. We're forcing God. To try and stop us. We do this. We try and force him.
To do our will as well. We often pray. Do we not? To God. We want this. And we. We're sort of pushing God. We do this. And do this. And even make. Sort of almost debating with God.
And wanting God. To do things for us. No. The Lord Jesus wouldn't do this. And he answered again. And he answered using scripture. Jesus stood against the devil as a man.
He was holy. And without sin. Adam was guilty. Christ was not. You see. Adam was utterly.
Was holy. And without sin. And he fell. Christ was holy. And without sin. And stood. Against the temptation. Of the devil.
But this shows you see. Man's guilt. That man. Adam. Sinned. And God's right. Is to judge him. The evil of Satan. Is to be judged.
The responsibility. Due to sin. Is to be dealt with. We're under the judgment. Of God. God. So the Lord Jesus.
Was tempted. And there is a fact. Of temptation here. Christ. Was. Tempted. Temptation. Didn't just take place.
In those three occasions. We must never think that. It said here. Does it write. In the last four. Verse. And when the devil. Had finished. Every temptation. He departed from him. Until an opportune time.
And that. Those temptations. Continued. The teaching about. The Lord's prayer. Lead us not. Into temptation. But deliver us. From evil. Yes.
That's it. The Lord is teaching. Is this. Not just one occasion. The devil constantly tempts. And he was tempting. The Lord Jesus. On many many occasions. And many times.
In scripture. The Lord. As we speak of. Something of testing. People came to the Lord Jesus. Often the Pharisees. Or Jewish leaders. And they were. Testing him. They were tempting him.
They were holding out things. They were seeking to. To try and mold him. And to do things. Which was wrong. And evil. Oh. Satan uses people.
Does he not? Remember how he sought to use Peter. And Peter says. No Lord. This would never have to happen to you. When the Lord speaks about dying. And everything. No Lord. Never. And Jesus has to say to him.
Get behind me Satan. Even to Peter. And Satan can use any one of us. Sadly. Oh.
We must not open ourselves up to him. We must be open to the word of God. And God's will. Peter. We think of the garden of Gethsemane. Oh.
The great agony. That Christ went through. I'm sure that Satan was right there. At his shoulder. Whispering to him. That he doesn't.
You know. What this. You don't have to go through this. You don't have to do this. And how about the Lord Jesus. But he prays. Not my will.
But yours be done. His father's will. That's what he wants. Oh. Our Lord. He faced such temptations. I'm sure. We only have fraction.
Of what he experienced. The struggles he had. The dealing with it. And we mustn't just think it's. Oh. It's very easy for him. He just. Just flicked his shoulders. No. He was wrestling.
He was constantly under attack. From men. From Satan. Behind them. And Satan. Directly. And he resisted it all. He stood firm.
He never sinned. This is our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember the cries? If you're the son of God. Come down from the cross.
And there he's bearing our sin. There he's going through. Something we don't know. Anything about. We can't even really begin to understand.
What he's experiencing. In his death. For our sin. Come down from the cross. Oh. He could have done.
Satan. Mocking. Come down. No. He cries. Eloi Eloi.
Lama sabak lama sabak sami. Oh. There it is. My God. My God. Why have you forsaken me? But he's not forsaken.
But as if God's face has turned away from him. And there in his agony. But he doesn't come down from the cross. He bears our pain.
He bears our sin. He bears our eternal death. Oh yes. This is our Lord Jesus. Paying the punishment for our sin.
The temptation. Is not sin. Let's remember that. Because sometimes one of the things the devil wants to get at us is the very fact of temptation.
That we're constantly under attack. We think we're even sinning there. But our Lord Jesus was tempted constantly. And the temptation. Being tempted is not sin.
It's being like the Lord Jesus. We sin when we entertain the temptation. When we welcome it. When we receive it. When we consider it all and think about it.
And everything else. That is when it is. Remember what it says in Hebrews 4.15. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. But one who's been tempted in all things as we are.
Yet without sin. Tempted in all things as we are. He's experienced what we experience. Temptation that comes to us. Yet he stood against it.
And he did not sin. Some people get confused and depressed. Because they're under. Going through a battle.
And sometimes we do go through battles. Real battles with the devil. And we get confused as I say. And sometimes even depressed and everything else.
But friends. We should expect temptation. If the devil is leaving you alone. There's something wrong I think. I sometimes. I praise God.
When we as a church. Are experiencing attacks of Satan. Attacks of evil. And I say. Well. We must be doing something right. The devil is opposing us. Because he does.
He's against the people of God. If we're just wishy-washy. In our Christianity. In our affections for Christ. He's already won the battle. Hasn't he? He's already there.
Got us defeated. We're not living for Jesus. But if we'll seek to live for Jesus. We expect to be in the midst of a warfare. And we're called. To be in the midst of the warfare. We have Ephesians in chapter 6.
And we're to take on the full armor of God. We're to be opposed by the devil. We're to stand firm. Against this foe. And the Christian life. Is a life of war.
Warfare. Against evil. Against Satan. And. The fact that we've tempted. Does not mean. We have sinned.
When we yield to the temptation. When we receive it. That's when we sin. James can say. Does he not? Resist the devil. And he will flee from you.
Peter says exactly the same thing. In the fifth chapter. Of the first letter. Resist. The devil. In your faith. We're to resist him. We're to stand against him.
We see the Lord Jesus. Resisting him. Here. In the wilderness. Remember that temptation. Comes into the mind. We have to carry out the act.
Of fulfilling it. And it's when we. Tempt. Look. Receive it. And we begin to consider it. And think over it. And everything else. No. Get behind me.
Satan. Push it away. Tell him to go. Tell him to be gone. God. There's a fact of temptation. So what does this mean.
For ourselves. What does it mean. First of all. I want to say this. As an encouragement. To us. We should be encouraged. By this. That Christ.
Utterly. Understands. He's been through. Far more. Temptation. Than you and I. Have ever experienced. So he knows.
He understands. Has been tempted. In all things. As we are. Yet. Without sin. He knows. All about our struggles. He knows. All about our wrestling.
With sin. He knows. All about those temptations. That flood in. He knows them. Will not go away. And there it is.
Well. Is that temptation. Well Lord. In my job. If I. Make a stand. And say. I won't do that. For my boss. I might lose my job. We've had people like that.
In the Philippines. They're an accountant. In a firm. And sometimes. You know. There's a. The boss wants. To alter the books a bit. Don't put it down.
Issue. Two receipts. One for the. Inland revenue people. And one for the. The customer. All sorts of things. They do. And everything else. To get over. Paying income tax. And everything.
Cheating. Lying. And certain jobs. There's a demand for this. And I've known people. Who've. Said. I will not do it. And that means the end of their job. Just there and then. The temptation.
Well. What am I going to do. If I lose my job. It's. What will happen. And. And then we reason. No. We do that. Which is right. The temptation. Is to.
Just give in. To compromise. A little bit. Satan wants to do this. No. Christ understands. We are to do right. We are to do what he wants us to do.
We are to please him. And in doing that. Lord. What about my family. What about the future. That is the Lord's concern for us. And he will be with us. In it.
There may be many struggles. We have to go through. But if it's struggling. Because we've done righteousness. And fulfilled his will. That is the way we must go. And I've seen folks in our church.
Who've struggled in this. Some have lost their jobs. Many other things. Families will get hurt. There are things I couldn't do.
But we must do that. Which is right. Some of you young people. One of the struggles we have. With our young people. Is that this. Young man.
Sees this young lady. And she's not a believer. He is. And he falls in love with her. She's such an attractive person. And everything else.
But what does it say in scripture. No. A Christian young man. Should not marry. An unbelieving young lady. What.
Fellowship has light and darkness. There is that. All those things it says there. Does it not. Not to be unequally yoked together. Oh it doesn't apply directly. Or only to marriage.
But it applies. And all those. Questions that are asked. In that. That portion of scripture. Mean. There's nothing in real common. How can you have a real. Marriage.
When one is a believer. And the other is not a believer. And that is one of the. Areas we find young people. Particularly. Being tempted in. And falling. Sadly.
And you see. What's going to future. For them. Because they've sinned. Against the will of God. We need Christian families. And you can only have a Christian family.
With a Christian man. And a Christian woman. Oh yes. Christ understands. Christ knows.
Christ is with us. Oh you desire someone. For your life. You desire a partner in life. You young people. Yes. But we have to go. To the throne of grace. We have to ask help.
In time of need. We come to him. And we do that. Which is right to him. He sympathizes with us. And he helps us. And we have that. We also have the use of the scriptures.
And we must come to the scripture. Because that's what the Lord Jesus does here. He gives us example. Of using the scriptures. The sword of the spirit. As Paul can say. Which is the word of God.
Our offensive weapon. Against evil. The scriptures. And in every answer here. Of to Satan. Christ uses the scriptures. It is written.
Man shall not live. By bread alone. And all these scriptures. Come from a very short portion. In the book of Deuteronomy. Come from actually. Deuteronomy 6.13.
Up to chapter 8. Verse 3. This portion then. Was obviously in the mind. Of our Lord Jesus. When he was there. Facing these temptations. This was when the children.
Of Israel. Were wandering. In the wilderness. And they. Failed. They fell. Into sin. In the wilderness.
Christ is in the wilderness. And he has these portions. Of the word of God. Which come to him. And he uses them. Against Satan. He did not fail.
In the wilderness. The children of God. Did. The Israelites. But there is a right. And wrong. Use of scripture. And we know this.
Very very much. It's easy to quote. Scripture. In a very wrong way. Satan. Quotes scripture. In answer to the Lord Jesus. Does he not? If you are the son of God. Throw yourself down.
For it's written. He will command. His angels. To concern you. To guard you. And. On their hands. They will bear you up. So that you will strike.
Your foot against a stone. You know. The Jehovah's Witnesses. They quote scripture. But they also have. Their own version of scripture. Where they twist. Certain things. But we know.
Many of the cults. Quote scripture. You can quote a verse here. And a verse there. You put them together. And it can mean anything. And you know. That old adage. You know. People wanting. Wanting to know God's will.
And they put their finger on something. And what it says. You know. Judas went out. And hanged himself. Oh no. That can't be a good verse. To follow. I mean. You can do all sorts of things. You know. Like this.
And look on another verse. It says. Go and do likewise. You know. I mean. There's all sorts of ways. You can just use. And twist scripture. That's why we need to know. The whole scripture. We need to be.
Those who know. How to read scripture. And how to interpret. We need. We need to know. Something about. What's called. Hermeneutics. The understanding. And that's part of. Of being this. And as we hear.
The scripture. Expounded by our pastors. And by the preachers. Of the church. Or in the Sunday school. We see how we should handle. Rightly. The scriptures. Because if you take a verse here. And a verse there.
And put them together. The scriptures can mean anything. But we handle it in context. We see what it means. We understand. The word of God. We understand his will. This is how we are.
Do not read in a meaning. Here and there. Scripture. Must interpret scripture. Which was the adage.
Of the reformers. There are scripture language. There's narrative. There's history. There's poetry. There's parable. Be careful. Because even evangelical Christians.
Sometimes twist scripture. Because they want something. They want to do something. And they twist it. We need to know. The scriptures.
Well how do we handle. A temptation. We're not to entertain it. We know that. We're to resist it. We can quote scripture. To the devil.
But we're to resist him. Just as James and Peter says. So when that program. Comes on TV. And there's things that start. Coming over on it. Which is not healthy. Not good.
Not moral. We change the channel. And we turn the TV off. When that message comes in. On the internet. With some sort of.
Little temptation. Why not switch on. And turn to this website. Or something. No. We don't want anything to do. With that filth. Or everything else. What it is. And young people are often.
They're tempted. In some of those things. Just to look. And see what it really is about. What is it doing. No. We immediately say. No. I don't want anything. Put a good spam blocker on.
And block out. Many of those words. And everything else. That comes up. We're to deal with these things. Whatever that temptation is. Friends say. Let's go here. Let's do this. And we want to be part of it.
Especially for young people. We want to be part of. Of the crowd. We want to be in. And it's very hard. Not to be in. Be left on the outside. When others are doing things. Which we know.
Are not pleasing unto Christ. But we have to make a stand. Just as at work. We don't listen to the blue jokes. And everything else. We turn from them.
We might be. People think we're standoffish. Or anything else. No. We don't want to do that. Which is not good. Don't resist temptation.
Resist the wickedness. That's in this world. Resist the devil. As he uses other people. And even uses some of our families. And friends. And others we know. Neighbors.
We're to resist him. We're to stand firm. By the strength and power of Christ. We're to cry out each day. Lord help me to do that. Which is pleasing in your sight.
Help me to walk. As you would have me walk. Help me to live for you today. Help me to stand against sin. Keep me clean.
Wash me. Yes. We're to do this. Christians have been delivered. From the power of the devil.
We don't serve him anymore. We've been set free. We've been brought out of the prison house. We've been redeemed. By the blood of the lamb. We belong to Jesus Christ.
We serve Christ. Christian. And we are to serve him. Right there at the beginning. Isn't it? In Genesis 3.15. It speaks of the crushing.
The serpent's head. Christ has crushed Satan. He is defeated. He is defeated. And through Christ. We can stand against him.
Be encouraged. Listen to Paul. In 1 Corinthians 10. No temptation. No temptation. Has overtaken you. But such as is common to man. And God is faithful.
Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But will with the temptation. Will provide the way to escape. Also.
So that you may be able to endure it. That's it. This trial. This temptation. Whatever. Satan is throwing at us.
God is faithful. Christ has triumphed. Believe it. Trust in him. Let's ask him.
Daily. And it is daily. It's not something now. And then we just leave it. No. It's a daily battle. We are to battle the devil. We are to stand firm.
We are to put on. The whole armor of God. And there is that weapon. Of all prayer. Yes dear friends. There is so much in scripture on this. So much.
But I. I am sad indeed. This evening. I am sure there are some here. Who are indeed servants of the devil. Why? Because you do not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you do not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are serving the devil. Because if you have not been saved from your sins. You are still in your sins. You are serving him.
Every time you sin. You are doing his will. You are not doing the will of God. And where are you going? To the place prepared for the devil and his angels.
It is a very solemn thing. What it says in scripture. But so many people. Have the devil as their master.
And do not know it. Because what it is. They love the things the devil loves. They want to do the things. Which the devil does. They watch this.
And do that. And go to places where. They know God won't be there. God wouldn't want them to listen to that conversation.
He wouldn't want them to watch that. He wouldn't want them to do those things. No. But they do them. They are doing the will of the devil. And if we live for the things of this world.
If we are living for this world. Who is the ruler of this world? The devil. And this world is going to be consumed by fire.
And there is going to be a new heavens. And a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. And the people of God will be there. Friend.
The Lord Jesus said. Then he will also say to those on his left. Depart from me accursed ones.
Into the eternal fire. Which has been prepared for the devil. And his angels. Oh I trust none of us. None of us here.
Will be with the devil. And his angels. Oh the Lord Jesus came to save sinners. We are all sinners.
And he saves them to the uttermost. Repent of sin. Turn to Christ. Trust in him. For he welcomes sinners.
Who know they are sinners. And who plead for him. For mercy. And he is a savior. Who will save you. To the uttermost.
Completely. Oh each one of us. Let's search our hearts. Where do we stand? Let us ask him to help us. To please him.
Let us pray. Our gracious God. We thank you this evening. That our Lord Jesus Christ. Is truly God. But also truly man.
That he endured temptation. And that he endured temptation. And defeated Satan. And defeated Satan. Utterly and completely. Oh we thank you.
That he was tempted in all points. As we are yet without sin. And that he now helps those who call on him. Lord.
Forgive us where we've so often failed. Help us to do those things that are pleasing in your sight. Lord keep us. From the evil one. Help us to resist him.
Help us to stand firm in our faith in Christ. But Lord keep us. Though some here may be facing many trials. Many temptations.
Even now. Which is probably unknown to many of us. But Lord help them to look unto yourself. To know that you are with them. That you will enable them.
That you are a God who is faithful. And will keep them. But we pray also for any here tonight. Who are not your children. Who are in the clutches of the devil.
And serving the devil. Even if they do not admit it to themselves. Oh deal with them Lord. And save them from themselves. And from their sin. Redeem them by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.
May they call on the Lord Jesus. And trust in him to be saved. So hear our prayer. Our gracious God this night. We need you every moment of every day.
Bless us. Help us. Be with this church. And use it for your glory. For these things we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.