The Temptation of Jesus, Part 5

Thank you for today and just the great opportunity you give us to worship you. You truly are a great and awesome God. And Lord, you always provide everything that we need. In fact, Lord, you go beyond what we need. You take care of us in a very special way, for we are your children. I pray for those among us today who do not know you as Lord and Savior. They don't experience the fact that you are their own personal father and that they truly are your children. May today their eyes be opened that they might receive the truth of God's word and experience a relationship with the living God.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Turn with me in your Bible to Luke chapter 4 and we will conclude our study on the temptation of Jesus in the first 13 verses of Luke chapter 4.

As you recall, we began with one introduction. We went to two questions, three temptations, and today we will conclude with four conclusions. All right. And this is where we left off last week. And I want to introduce what I want to say to you today by taking you back 10 years ago. Who in the room was with us 10 years ago? Raise your hand. That would be 1997. Raise your hand real high. Okay, a few of you were. That's good. 10 years ago we did a series entitled Invitation to Intimacy with the Master.

And we talked about the invitation in Revelation chapter 22. The Lord God closes his book with an invitation. I mean what better way to close the story of the world, and how it all began, and how it will all end, and how it would all continue throughout eternity, but with an invitation. And so our Lord in Revelation 22 began with this invitation saying in verse 17, and the Spirit and the bride say come. Let the one who hears say come, and let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

Our Lord concludes concludes his great book with an invitation to come. If you're thirsty to come. He concludes it at the end of Revelation, and he gives us some incentives to come. And those incentives are also in Revelation 22. And it begins with the identity of Christ the Messiah. You come because of who Christ is. And then he says you come because of the exclusivity of heaven. That is not everybody gets into heaven. So you need to respond to the invitation, or you're not going to get there. And then he talks about the veracity of the scripture.

Why it's true. And then he talks about the certainty of his return, because he's going to come quickly. And then he talks about the availability of his grace. So he gives an invitation, and then he gives the incentives to respond to the invitation. And then we talked about in that series about what are the ingredients of my intimacy with the Master. And we gave you four. And we told you that intimacy with the Master begins with the divine inheritance. It all begins when you become a partaker of the divine nature of God.

And that happens when you're born again. And so if you're going to be intimate with the Master, it begins with a divine, a divine nature. And then we told you that beyond that, it's balanced with a disciplined obedience. That is, there are certain disciplines in the Christian life that must be adhered to as you cultivate that relationship with God. And then we told you that that intimacy blossoms in a desert experience. And then we concluded with this, that when you walk with the Master in intimacy, it will always be battled with a diabolical vengeance.

That is, Satan will always seek to destroy you in any way possible. The point being this, is that the closer you walk with God, the more the temptations come. And the greater the temptations will be. Because Satan doesn't want you to walk with God. He wants to rob you of your joy. He wants to destroy your testimony. He wants to defile your family. He will do everything he can to rob you of what God wants to give you. And so we concluded that whole study by helping you understand that you're to walk with the Lord in intimacy.

But as you do, be prepared that you will experience a battle every single day. You know, unfortunately, we as Christians aren't prepared for the battle. It's a daily battle. It's a moment-by-moment battle. And a lot of times we find ourselves falling in defeat. And the Bible says these words in the book of Peter, 1 Peter chapter 5, a verse you know well.

Verse number 8. Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Now you think about that. Peter says, you know, you need to be sober. You need to be self-controlled. You need to be strong. The opposite of being sober is being drunk. You're out of control of your faculties. You say things you shouldn't say. You do things you shouldn't do. But to be sober means you're self-controlled. It means you're strong. It means you're stable.

You're under control. Your faculties are under control. You think rationally. And Peter says you need to be sober. And you need to be alert. You need to be awake. You can't afford to fall asleep. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, he goes about like a roaring lion. He prowls around like a roaring lion. Let me tell you something about lions.

Lions never roar until their prey is cornered or crushed. They don't walk through the jungle just roaring because they want to roar. Everybody would run. They'd be scared to death. Lions don't roar until you're cornered. And then once you're crushed, they growl because they have won their prey. So we need to understand that. And the picture is that Satan's going about cornering you. And as he does, he roars because he wants to devour you. I mean that's a nasty word, to devour. Satan doesn't care about your testimony, your family.

He doesn't care about your life. Doesn't care about your happiness. Doesn't care about anything at all concerning your life. Now he gets you to think that he does, but he really doesn't. He wants to chew you up and spit you out and step all over you. And Peter says, listen, Satan goes about like that roaring lion seeking someone, someone, there's somebody out there to devour. And then listen to what Peter says after that. Verse number nine. But resist him. The Bible never says we're to rebuke Satan.

Never. Because we're not supposed to. We're to resist him. And then he says, you resist him firm in your faith. I'm going to come back to that phrase. But then listen to the next sentence. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. Be careful. Don't think that you're the only one going through what you are going through. Peter says, your brethren are suffering the same kind of experiences. They're going through the same kind of temptations, same kind of trials, same kinds of difficulties that you are.

You know we tend to get out from this island someplace so we can have a pity party for ourselves. Oh woe is me. No one has seen the trouble I've seen. Nobody is going through what I'm going through. I'm all out here and poor little me. If no one knows what I'm going through. But you know what Peter says, your brethren know. Because they're going through the same kinds of trials and suffering that you are going through. And then he says, he says you need to resist him. Steadfast. Firm in the faith.

Folks that is a great, a great word. Because in Greek you have what are called word pictures. And those word pictures help you understand what it means to stand fast. Or what it means to be firm in the faith. And that word picture is a military term called a phalanx. And if you understand Roman military procedure. When they would go to battle they would line up arm and arm. The length of a quarter, half mile, sometimes even up to a mile. Arm and arm. Shields in front. And they would progress toward the enemy.

And they would stop. And they'd be five, maybe six, maybe ten rows deep of men. That many men. Arm and arm. In the back they would shoot the arrows. They would fling those those weapons that would that would destroy the enemy. But there couldn't be any gap in the phalanx. Because if there was a gap they could be destroyed. Peter is saying there cannot be any gap in your spiritual phalanx. That is in your faith there can't be gaps. Because if there's gaps, guess what? Satan finds the inner road, gets in, and just demolishes you.

So you have to stand fast in the faith. You got to stand strong in the word. In other words, if you don't know the word of God you always will be defeated. Folks this is so crucial to your understanding your battle. The battlefield of Christianity is filled with wounded soldiers. Because they do not know the word of God. They have no idea what the Bible says.

And when you don't know what the Bible says you can't be firm in the faith. That's why it's so important to be a part of a Bible preaching teaching church. I mean there are churches that you know and I've been to them. They're funny. They got good stories and illustrations. You've heard those guys. And while you leave laughing you laugh all the way to the battlefield. You laugh all the way to the hospital because you're going to be wounded. You're not going to make it. And while you might laugh today, tomorrow I guarantee you're going to be crying.

You're going to be crying because you have no idea what the Bible says about what you need to be doing.

And as a pastor that just grieves my heart that there are so many people in churches that go there that they might just laugh a little, feel a little comfy because that's a little kind of a cozy place to be. But they are not prepared for battle. And Christianity is a battle. We fight spiritual forces of wickedness every single day. And if we don't recognize that we're in a battle, guess what? We're going to be defeated. Your adversary, he knows you. He goes around like a roaring lion seeking who may me devour.

And you might not know him but he knows you. You might not be aware of his tactics but he knows how to get to you. And so you've got to be very, very careful. And unfortunately so many Christians have no idea what the Bible says.

And when they go and face temptation, they falter. There's a big gap in their phalanx. And Satan gets in there and just rips them apart and destroys their testimony, destroys their family, destroys their own personal life. And they find themselves constantly having to go and pick up the pieces of their lives because they've been demolished so. Folks, that doesn't need to happen. It doesn't. And the Bible gives us answers as to what it is we should be doing. That's why Luke chapter 4 becomes so important for us in order that we might stand strong in the faith.

That we might live a life that brings glory to God. You know, Paul said about Satan in 2 Corinthians 2 verse number 11 that we are not ignorant of his schemes or of his devices. You know, one day I'm going to do a study on how not to be ignorant. Because there's a phrase in the Bible that says, Brethren, and be not ignorant concerning. Great phrase. It says, and brethren, be not ignorant about spiritual gifts. Most of us are ignorant about what spiritual gifts are and how they function in the body.

The Bible says, and be not ignorant about the return of Christ. But for the most part, we have no idea about the events surrounding the return of Christ. The Bible says, brethren, be not ignorant concerning the salvation of Israel.

But you know what? More and more people are ignorant about the salvation of Israel. The Bible says, be not ignorant of Satan's devices.

But you know what? We become very ignorant of them. We don't understand them. We don't know what's happening. So what I want to do today is conclude our study in the temptation of Christ by giving you, as I promised you, four conclusions. All out of this text. There are probably more ways in which you battle Satan and understanding how it is you overcome temptation. But I want to take four of them for you from the text. Four that will help you understand what you need to do today and tomorrow and every single day of your life to stand against the wiles of the devil.

So there are no gaps in your phalanx. So you can stand fast in the faith and be strong for God. James says, if you resist him, he will flee. Doesn't say if you rebuke him, he will flee. James 4.7 says, if you resist him, he will flee. In fact, the phrase before that says, submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee. In order for you to resist the devil, you must submit to God. And so that leads us to our first point.

And that is this. If you are going to overcome temptation, you must rely on the Spirit of God. Rely on God's Spirit. That's it. That's where it all begins. And four weeks ago, five weeks ago now, I told you that I was going to talk to you more about this because I think it's of utmost importance. The Bible says in Luke chapter four, verse number one, that the Spirit of God drove our Lord into the wilderness.

Our Lord in his humanity was completely dominated and controlled by the Spirit of God. He lived a life of complete obedience and complete dependence upon the Spirit of God. And if you read through the story of Luke, Luke is big on the control of God's Spirit in your life. Talks about it with Zechariah. Talks about it with John the Baptist. Talks about it with Mary. Talks about it with Joseph. It goes on and on and on, especially when you go into the book of Acts. The control of the Spirit of God.

We need to rely upon the Spirit of God. And we told you five weeks ago, if you're with us, that Ephesians 5 18 says, and be not drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit of God. Turn with me there for a moment, if you would, please.

Ephesians chapter five, verse number 18. I promised you that I'd explain to you more about this so you could understand it. What it means to be filled with the Spirit of God. To be filled with the Spirit of God is not the same as being baptized with the Spirit of God. Okay. First Corinthians 12 13 says that we are all baptized by one Spirit into the body of Christ.

There's a big difference between filling of the Spirit and the baptism of the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit is the work of God's Spirit in our lives when we are born again that places us into the body of Christ and makes us one in that body. Romans 8 9 says that if you do not have the Spirit you are not a Christ. So every believer has the Spirit of God in them, dwelling in them, because that was the promise of God in John chapter 14 and the fulfillment of what he promised as it came about in Acts chapter 2.

The Spirit of God would come and would dwell your life. But the filling of the Spirit is not the same as the baptism of the Spirit. Now understand this. We can grieve the Spirit of God. Ephesians 4 30 says we're not to grieve the Spirit of God. And if you read Ephesians chapter 4 you begin to realize that when you have anger and malice and gossip and dissension it grieves God's Spirit. If you're grieving God's Spirit you're not filled with God's Spirit. First Thessalonians 5 says we're not to quench the Spirit of God.

In other words when you quench something you put the fire out, you dampen its effect. You do that according to First Thessalonians 5 by not giving thanks to God because that is his will concerning you that you rejoice always, give thanks to him.

If you don't do that you will quench the Spirit of God. If you're quenching God's Spirit you're not filled with God's Spirit. You with me so far? So to be filled with God's Spirit means, listen, to be controlled, dominated by something. When you are filled with the Spirit of God the word plerao means to be absolutely dominated by God's Spirit. And that's why Paul uses the analogy in Ephesians 5 18 and be not drunk with wine in but be controlled or be dominated by the Spirit of God. Let God's Spirit dominate your life.

Let God's Spirit control your life. Let God's Spirit fill your life. Now listen carefully. If you are controlled by God's Spirit, if you are filled with God's Spirit, that is you are relying on that Spirit every moment of every day. In fact over in Galatians chapter 5 it says these words, Galatians chapter 5 verse number 16, but I say walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. So in other words if you are walking in the Spirit, that is you are relying upon the Spirit, in other words you are controlled by God's Spirit, you will not fulfill the desires of flesh.

And Paul goes on to say these words, for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another. So you may not do the things that you please, but if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. He goes on to describe the deeds of the flesh. You see we need to be controlled by God's Spirit, dominated by God's Spirit. If you are, listen, you will note there were three things that will reign supreme in your life. The first is you'll sing a new song.

The very first evidence of a Spirit-controlled life is that you sing unto God. The Bible says this, Ephesians chapter 5 verse number 19, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.

You're making melody with your heart to the Lord. Why? Because you realize that God is dominating your life, and when God dominates a life you desire to sing to Him. So not only will you sing to the Lord, but you will say thanks to God. The Bible says this in verse number 20, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.

If you are controlled by God's Spirit, not only will you sing unto the Lord, but you will say thanks unto the Lord. And number three, you will submit to the Lord.

That's verse number 21. And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. And then Paul goes into a long dissertation about what that means. Wives to husbands, husbands to wives, children to parents, parents to children, slaves to masters, and masters to slaves. Takes you all the way down to verse number 9 of chapter 6. That's how you know you are Spirit-controlled. Now listen carefully. How is it the Spirit of God dominates my life in such a way that I sing songs unto my God, say thanks for all things unto my God, and submit to one another in the fear of God?

Turn with me over to the book of Colossians, the third chapter. Colossians chapter 3. This explains it to you. Paul says in verse number 16, these words, let the word of Christ dwell within you or richly dwell within you. Stop right there. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. The word dwell means to be at home with. In other words, let God's word dwell within your heart in such a way you are at home with the word of God. Is God's word at home with you? If you're at home with something, you are comfortable with it.

Is God's word that source of comfort for your life? It's at home in your life. It dwells richly within your life. Colossians 3, 16. Okay? And then it says this, listen carefully. With all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your heart to God. Now the very first result of knowing that God's word is dwelling within you richly is that you sing a song of thanksgiving unto God.

And then it says in verse 17, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. So when God's word dwells within you richly, not only do you sing a new song, but you also say thanks to God. And then it says in verse number 18, wise be subject to your husbands as is fitting to the Lord. And goes to the same thing in Colossians 3 that Paul went through in Ephesians chapter 5 about submission. Here's the point. When you are controlled by the Spirit of God, it's the exact same thing as letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Because the results of both of them are the same thing. Singing, saying thanks, and submitting to God. Therefore you know that the word of Christ being at home in your heart is equivalent to letting God's spirit control and dominate your life. God's spirit always works in conjunction with the word of God. Always. And therefore, the more you know the word of God, the more the spirit of God dominates your life. The less you know the word of God, the less the spirit of God dominates your life. And so for us to walk in the spirit, so we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh, God's spirit must dominate our life.

For God's spirit to dominate our life, God's word must dwell richly within us. Because God works in conjunction with the scriptures, because they are his word. And that's what it means to rely upon the spirit of God. And therefore we come to grips with the fact that, listen, we can't walk in the spirit so that we don't fulfill the lust of the flesh unless we are letting God's word dwell richly within us. In other words, be at home in our hearts. Folks, this is so important because we need to be able to rely upon the spirit of God in order for us to come against and stand strong against the wiles of the devil.

I love what Martin Luther said when he was asked these words, how is it, Mr. Luther, do you overcome the devil? He says, when the devil comes knocking at the door of my heart and asks, who lives here? The dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, Martin Luther used to live here, but he has moved out. Now I live here. You see, when Christ comes into a life, he begins to dominate that life. He has taken up residence within us. That's why 1 Corinthians 6 says what? That your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Your body is, is a temple of the spirit of God. God's spirit dwells within you. He lives within you. Therefore our responsibility is to let God's word dwell so richly within us that we depend upon God's spirit. We walk in the spirit day by day. We rely upon the spirit of God. We are controlled by the spirit of God so that we know what to say when the time comes for us to stand firm and resist the temptation that comes our direction. So if we're ever going to overcome temptation, we must, number one, rely upon the spirit of God.

Number two, you must recognize Satan's strategy. You must recognize Satan's strategy. And Luke chapter 4 helps us understand the strategy of Satan. So Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2, we are not ignorant of his devices. Over in Ephesians chapter 6, verse number 10, it says this, finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes or the wiles of the devil. You need to know how to stand strong against his trickery, against his cleverness, against his deceitfulness. So in other words, you need to come to understand the strategy of the evil one. What is his strategy and how does he gain the victory in our lives? Well if we are relying, listen, if we are relying upon the spirit of God, if we are letting God's word dwell within us richly, listen carefully, you will recognize the strategy.

But if you don't, you won't recognize the strategy. That's so important. If you rely upon the spirit of God, let his word dwell within you richly, be controlled by God's spirit, you will recognize the strategy of the evil one when it arrives. And here's the first one, you must recognize the strategy because he approaches in times of weakness.

Our Lord, having been 40 days on the Mount of Temptation, was extremely hungry. You mark it down. When you are weak, Satan will arrive with all kinds of temptation. Maybe your weakness is a physical weakness. Maybe your weakness is an emotional weakness or a spiritual weakness. But he approaches in times of weakness. Maybe you're lonely. Satan always has a solution to your loneliness. Maybe you feel unloved. Satan has an answer for that one as well. Maybe you have a moment of weakness and you are angry.

That's why the Bible says, don't let the sun go down upon your wrath. Ephesians 4 26. Why? Because if you do, you give opportunity for the devil. And so you've got to be careful about that, right? And so Satan will use that anger to turn it into bitterness. Maybe it's the situation where you have the feeling of hurt. Someone has hurt you because they've wronged you. And so now you have Satan approaching in your time of weakness to get you to enact vengeance on that person. See, he always comes and approaches at times of weakness.

Listen, after a great victory is a time of great weakness in our lives. We forget that. You read throughout the Bible and see when Satan approaches people. It's after great victories. See, after great victories we feel impenetrable. We feel warrior-like. We feel we can never be defeated. And that can become a weakness if we're not careful. Because Satan will use that against us. And so we need to be careful about that. That's what happened to Joshua after they defeated Jericho, right? They felt like they were the ultimate victors.

So AI was no big deal, which is a small little city. No big deal. They can destroy them. Don't need God for that battle. We can handle this one. And they lost. See, that's what happens. So after victory can be a time of great weakness. Because we're not alert. We're not sober-minded. We're not awake. We're not self-controlled. And Satan approaches during times of weakness. Number two, another one of his strategies is that he appeals to basic fleshly appetites.

He appeals to basic fleshly appetites. Here was our Lord being faced by Satan. And Satan says, since you're the Son of God, because you're God in the flesh, turn the stones into bread. If you fall down and worship me, I'll give you everything you need. You see, he appeals to the basic fleshly appetites. Each man is tempted when he's drawn away by his own lusts and enticed. Satan dangles the bait out there, knowing what it is that you are enticed by or driven by, and hangs it out there just close enough for you to be enticed by it.

Think of Eve. Right? Way back in Genesis chapter three. She was enticed. The Bible says in verse number six, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate.

And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. The basic fleshly appetites, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the physical, the emotional, the intellectual part of our being. Eve saw it. Ah, it looked good. She knew it looked good. And usually if it looks good, it's not. Just not. If it smells good, it's not. You got to be careful. And remember I told you before that the word of God is so important. Remember what Eve did when she had this conversation with Satan, the serpent in the garden?

She did something that every, every Christian does who does not know the word of God. And let this be an example to all of us. Listen, she added to the scripture, and she took away from the scripture. In other words, she added to what God said, and she took away from what God said. Because she didn't know what God said, she failed in temptation. If she would just remember what God said, maybe we wouldn't be where we are today. But she didn't. It's a lesson for all of us. She said that God said that every tree of the garden we could eat.

That's not what God said. God said, every tree of the garden you could freely eat. Big difference. One says, this is what we got. The other says, look what God has given. See, God said you could freely eat of all these trees. It's the wonderful blessing of God. This is all yours, and it's free for the taking. She left out what God had said, and then she added to what God said by saying, we should not eat of it, and we should not even touch it. But God didn't say you couldn't touch it. He just said you couldn't eat it.

See how she messed up? That's exactly how you and I mess up. We say, well God said, or did he say that? I'm not sure what he said. And, and then all of a sudden we get it all messed up. And Satan's like, you don't even know what he said. Satan says, I know what he said, but you don't know. I got you. I said, I leave. See, that's why you need to be so saturated with the Word of God, so steeped into the Word of God. You should be in the Bible every day. You should be so heavenly minded. You are absolutely no earthly good.

You are, you should be no good to this earth, because you are so enraptured with God. And yet, yet we fail because we take away from what God said, and we add to what God said. We just don't know what God said. And yet, yet he appeals those basic fleshly, I got to hurry here. We're almost done here. He says, number three, he attempts to keep us from simple faith in God's Word.

Isn't that true? He's going to get us to doubt what God said, distort what God says, distrust what God said.

He, he tries to keep us from just a basic simple faith in God's Word. That's why, that's why Satan would quote Psalm 91 verses 11 and 12, and not deal with it properly, because the simple faith and trust in the Word of God. And number four, he attacks, or attaches, excuse me, reward with compromise. He always attaches reward with compromise. If you just, if you fall down and worship me, guess what? All this will be yours. And that reward, listen, is always immediate. Listen, if you get an immediate, instantaneous reward, it's probably a temptation to fall into sin away from God.

Because Satan always promises instantaneous results and rewards, if you just compromise the Word of God. Some will, some of you will be experiencing that just a few months when you are tempted to compromise the Word of God in your integrity by cheating on your IRS forms. And not really giving what the true details of your income is, so that you can somehow slip it by the IRS and you will not be found out. See? Because you'll get more, instantaneously, a reward, more money back in April. Be careful.

And then fifthly, he attacks at an opportune time. He always attacks at an opportune time. That's why verse 13 is so important. And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. There's going to be another time, and it's probably going to be this evening or this afternoon. If not then, tomorrow. But it will be an opportune time, a time of great weakness, a time of great stress, where he can appeal to your basic fleshly appetites and always promise a reward if you just compromise a little bit.

You need to recognize his strategy. Martin Luther, again, said this about the devil's relentless character. He says, the devil takes no holiday. He never rests. If beaten, he rises again. If he cannot enter in front, he steals in at the rear. If he cannot enter in the rear, he breaks through the roof or enters by tunneling under the threshold. He labors until he is in. He uses great cunning and many a plan. When one miscarries, he has another at hand and continues his attempts until he wins. But Martin Luther would go on to write a great hymn to guarantee the fact that he doesn't win called A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

And there he says, the prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. One little word. And that's why you rely upon the Spirit. You recognize his strategy. And number three, you respond always with Scripture.

Respond always with Scripture. You know what Christ did? Deuteronomy 6, Deuteronomy chapter 8. He always responded with Scripture. That's why there's that one offensive weapon in the armor of God in Ephesians 6. It's called the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, right? That's the offensive weapon. And, and, and the phrase used there for Word of God is not logos, but rhema, which means a specific utterance. So when you overcome temptation, there must be a specific word that you use to deal with the temptation.

That's what Christ did. He used a specific phrase, a specific word from the book of Deuteronomy to fell Satan, to destroy his methods and tactics. Something unique about the armor of God, three specific elements of that armor. There's the belt, the truth, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit. All those center around the Word of God. You ever notice that?

Paul begins that armor by saying, having your loins girded with the belt of truth. Having your loins girded is a Hebrew expression that talks about just having everything wrapped together, held tight, so it's not dangling loose. How do you do that? With the belt, which is the truth. It's the truth of God that wraps everything together. Again, I'm going to emphasize this matter. Listen, if you don't know the truth of God, if you don't understand the truth of God, you will lose your battle. You'll lose.

You can't win, because it's your offensive weapon. It causes you to stand fast in the faith. And Paul begins that you need to have your loins girded about with the truth, because the truth is what causes you to stand. It brings all the dangling pieces of the armor together. And that belt of truth is that what helps you, according to 1 Timothy 1, verse number 18, to fight the good fight. It's a good fight, but you can't fight it without the truth of God's Holy Word. And then he talks about the shield of faith.

And the shield he uses is not the shield that the armor bearers wore on their arm to protect just parts of the body. It was a four and a half by two and a half foot wide shield, which you could kneel down behind. And Paul says over in Ephesians, chapter 6, these words, he says, In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. The shield of faith is that which helps you extinguish not some of the missiles of the evil one, but all of the missiles of the evil one.

And the shield of faith is that great shield that helps you understand that you are the winner. Listen, the faith is what? It is what I believe, listen, about what God has already said. You see, Christ knew what God had already said. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Right? Christ knew what? That you should not test the Lord your God. Christ knew you should worship the Lord your God and serve him only. You see, he used the specific utterance.

But the shield of faith is the belief that what God has said is so true that you will not compromise it. And when you kneel down behind what God has said, you will extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one. But if you don't know what God has said, you won't kneel down behind the shield of faith and you'll lose. See that? That's why the Bible says this in 1 John 5 verse number 4.

This is the victory that overcomes the world. What is that? Our faith. Our belief in what God has said. 2 Corinthians 1 24. By faith you stand. Proverbs 30 verses 5 and 6. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Psalm 18 30. The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Psalm 84 11. For the Lord God is a son and a shield. See what God has said is that, is that shield that you hide behind. And you say to Satan the exact same thing that God said.

That's why you use the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And you speak those words about that issue and you win. That's how it happens. That's why it's so crucial that you know the word of God. Listen, you can know a lot of things, but if you don't know God's word, you know nothing. You say, well that doesn't sound right. Then let me say it to you again.

If you know a lot of things and yet don't know the word of God, you know nothing. Because you're going to lose. You're going to be wounded on the battlefield of life. You're going to be sprawled over and Satan's going to be over you like a big lion. You know, there you are. See, that's why the sword of the spirit, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, you've got to understand you always respond with scripture. And responding with scripture helps you remain steadfast in the faith so there are no gaps in your phalanx.

And the only way, listen, you can respond with scripture is when you recognize the specific strategy that Satan's using. And the only way you'll recognize the specific strategy that Satan's using is if you rely upon the spirit of God each and every moment of your life. See that? Number four and last, and I'll be brief. Yeah, that's my humor for this morning. Remember your spiritual resources. Christ said in Matthew 26, verse number 41, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Guess who fell asleep in the garden?

Because they weren't watchful and they weren't prayerful. And guess who fell at the very first sign of temptation?

Those who did not watch and did not pray. You must remember your spiritual resources. That's why Paul would conclude the whole discourse on the armor of God with these words, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit. And with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints and pray. See prayer is interwoven in between each piece of armor and should be at constant communion with God that we have from day to day. Your spiritual resource centers around your prayers to God.

Let's know what one author said. Christians seek not yet repose. Hear thy gracious savior say, thou art in the midst of foes, watch and pray. Principalities and powers mustering their unseen array. Wait for thy unguarded hours, watch and pray. Watch as if on that alone hung the issue of the day. Pray that help may be sent down. Watch and pray. Why do we pray? Because we have a priest, a high priest who is at the throne of grace and beckons us to call and to approach boldly that throne without reservation.

And we are be the kind of people that watch and pray. Remember your spiritual resources. Respond with scripture. Recognized satanic strategy relies upon the spirit. And you know what? You'll be delivered. How do I know that? Listen to what the apostle Paul said. First Corinthians 16.

For a wide door for effective service has opened to me and there are many adversaries. Whenever God opens a door for effective service and ministry, there's always many adversaries, the enemies at work. That's first Corinthians 16 verse number nine.

If you go over to second Corinthians chapter one, second Corinthians chapter one, verse number eight, it says this.

For we do not want you to be unaware brethren of our affliction which came to us in Asia that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength so that we despaired even of life. Paul says listen we, we were at the point where we thought we were dead. Then he says indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead who delivered us from so great a peril of death and will deliver us. He on whom we have set our hope and he will yet deliver us.

Paul says there are many opportunities for ministry but there will always be a plethora of adversaries awaiting us and yet God promises even in the midst of death to deliver us because he's the deliverer. But for that to happen we must rely upon the spirit of God. We must recognize the strategy of Satan. We must respond with scripture and always make sure that we understand our spiritual resources in God alone. Let's pray. Our most gracious heavenly father we thank you for your word and all that's there and we know that there is so much more to be discovered and yet what you have given us today enables us to live the rest of this day dependent upon you and I pray that as the people of God we would do just that.

That Lord we would look to you for all things. I do pray for all of us Lord that we would be people of the word. That we would study the word of God. Seek the word of God. That Lord we would be saturated with the word of God because it's all there is. It's what life is all about and I pray Lord that we would experience that great life in God because of what you have done for us. May we be obedient to you as we trust you every moment of every day in Jesus name. Amen.