Three Enemies: Stand Firm
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here uh grab a Bible and go to Matthew chapter 6 we are finishing up our series three enemies today um we have been taking some time to consider that as Christians as those who are trying to follow Jesus and be uh conformed to his image that we have enemies that are at work against us to keep us from doing that and the the three enemies that we've talked about are the World the Flesh and the devil that the Bible is going to tell us that all three of these in different forms and different Fashions and in different ways are at work against us.
Our hope in this series is to try to help develop a radar for these enemies that we would be aware of them we would be looking for them we would begin to notice where they're at work in our lives it's it's like when you went to buy a vehicle and you found one that you were like this is this is one I'm going to I'm going to drive and as soon as you got it you realized you started seeing them everywhere you're like everybody's driving a black Saturn what the heck.
But you started noticing them all the time because you now had found one and saw it on the road and now you see it everywhere and that's kind of what we're hoping is that we would begin to have some sort of uh awareness of these enemies so that we might not be caught unaware or offguard but that we might be able to respond to them so here's what we've said I'm going to we're going to take a minute we're going to get to Matthew 6.
But but we're going to uh catch ourselves up a little bit on what we've been talking about so we said we have three enemies and they work this way together deceitful ideas that play to disordered Desires normalized in a sinful Society so that Satan lies one of the primary ways that he works is that he lies he puts deceitful ideas out there and that he's working against God's truth because all truth is God's truth and all truth ultimately is going to lead us to Christ as we find what is real in the world we're going to be led to God's glory his creation and the work of.
Jesus so the enemy is anywhere but home he's trying to work us anywhere uh but Jesus he's lying and that we have disorder desires that you and I want to sin that there's part of us that wants to pursue sin and so we want to believe some of these lies and the problem with lies that we believe is that we think they're true you the thing about blind spots is that you can't see them and so sometimes you're like no that's not a lie that's true and it's like right.
But you believe it but it's not true and so the enem is lying there's part of us that wants to believe it and then it gets normalized in a sinful society that collectively were surrounded by other Sinners who also believe lies it's a little bit like uh when you're running late for class and you're hustling and then you see someone else who's in that class and y'all laugh and immediately slow down because now you're not late by yourself you got a teammate and it changes the whole thing and that's the way this gets normalized in a sinle society is that we we.
Look around and go well they're doing that and they're doing that and I'm not treating my money the way that person treats their money and I'm not treating my spouse the way they treat their spouse so I'm doing okay and we normalize sinful patterns that's the way the enemy works and so what we've said is we've spent a lot of time talking about the way these enemies work what they do how they show up and then we've given some responses some practices uh in a way that we would respond against these things and our hope.
Today is to spend more time time on the practices to be a little more practical today so here's what we've said we' said we've got deceitful ideas disordered Desires in a sinle society and so as we've talked about this we said we have deceitful ideas which means that we need truth and then we said okay so if we need to fight against deceitful ideas and we need truth then we need to read the Bible specifically the way we talked about was that we need to live in the Bible you need to know your Bible you need to know what's there it needs to be uh familiar to you.
And so that we want to be people who read our Bibles know our Bibles memorize our Bibles this is honestly this series is a little bit odd for us we're still studying the Scriptures but most of the time as a Church we just work straight through a book of the Bible because we want to know our Bibles and as soon as this week's over next week we pick up with another book of the Bible we're just going to work through it.
Because we want to be people who know and believe our Bibles we want to fight the lies with truth we have disordered desires and we want to respond with faith trusting that Jesus really is better than everything else that he really is better than the thing that I'm wanting and so that we would be people who confess and repent practice self-control follow the lord in obedience so that we would be people who know our Bibles and that respond with self-control and obedience and confession and repentance that we would practice these things that have been a part of the Church forever.
And then we said we live in a sinful Society we need a counterculture we need to be particularly here what we've said is join a community group belong to a people who are trying to follow Jesus together that you need good peer pressure you need people who uh believe that you should be reading the Bible and following Jesus and expect that from you so if the enemy works this way deceitful ideas uh show the whole sentence deceitful ideas that play to disordered desires that are normalized in a sinful Society what we want is biblical truth that leads to Faith that is normalized in a.
Jesus loving Community that's what we want biblical truth that leads us to to respond in faith that's normalized in a Jesus loving Community now if you've been here for a while if it's your first day we're glad you're here welcome also I'm running through a whole bunch of stuff we've been talking about for a long time and I'm going really fast you're like what is going on a recap of like five weeks just so that we're all tracking but if you've been here a.
While and you read that you go wait a second that's what y'all say all the time yeah that's what the Church has been doing forever y'all this is from the book of Acts this is Acts 2:42 it's the Church has just been the Holy Spirit has just gone to work and it says this and they that's the new Christians devoted themselves to the apostles teaching what's the apostles teaching that's the word that's turns into eventually becomes the gospels and the letters and it's it's the teaching of the Old Testament in Light of Christ.
So they devoted themselves to the word they devoted themselves to the Bible and being devoted to it meant they practiced it that these were people who had just repented and were now practicing what it meant to follow Jesus they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellow Fellowship what's that that's each other the other people who are following and practicing and following Jesus and some of you were like I like my Bible but I don't like people yeah but your Bible that you say you like is going to tell you that you have to love those people it thankfully tells them to love you too and you need to belong you need to be.
A part of following Jesus together you're like well people are difficult yeah and you're being a little difficult in this conversation if I'm being honest welcome to the club you need to belong you need to participate in what it's like to belong to people we need to walk this out together and then it says to the breaking of bread and the prayers the breaking of bread would have been sharing meals in homes it also would have been the intentional meals gathered around communion this idea of Jesus's broken body.
For us this was a Gospel people that shared life together and the prayers and so that's what we're talking about today practices and prayer because that's where I had you turn in Matthew 6 we're going to look at a prayer and we're going to see that as we've talked through these enemies that we ought to be mindful of them on a regular basis in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid one of the Best Westerns ever Butch and Sundance are hired to defend somebody who's going to pick up payroll he runs a mining company he's got to go pick up payroll got to return it and he needs protection.
When he has all this money so they he they're going with him to go pick up the payroll and they're riding down the mountain and Butch and Sundance are back there behind him talking and Sundance says I'm telling you they're hiding in the trees and Butch says no no no they're behind the Rocks sudden he says no it's the trees he says no it's the Rocks they said well you watch the trees I'll watch the Rocks finally the the guy who's hired him stops and turns around and says morons I got morons on my team which I heard my dad quote to me like a thousand times in my life whenever me and my brothers.
Were doing something stupid this just came out of his mouth I got morons on my team and then he says they ain't going to rob us going down the mountain cuz we ain't got no money going down the mountain they're going to rob us when we're coming back up the mountain and they're morons because they were looking for enemies that weren't there I would like to submit to you that we might be morons of a different fashion we are not looking.
For enemies that are there that we're Trucking along not being aware of these enemies at play in our lives and I want you to see as we look at the model prayer that Jesus teaches that he's aware of them and he intends for us to be aware of them in our normal everyday life as we follow him that we ought to be Christians who are mindful of our enemies as we seek to follow Jesus so we're going to talk this morning about practices and prayer let's pray pray.
And then we'll jump into Matthew 6 Lord we ask for your help we pray that you would uh multiply the effectiveness and helpfulness of us studying this together that we would be people who are aware and watchful of our enemies but not fearful that we would be people who understand the victory in you but then get to apply it and live it out as we practice what it looks like to follow you and Lord we specifically today ask that you'd help us to wrap our minds around this more personally in the situations that we're facing and to learn to pray as you've taught in.
Jesus name amen so what Jesus teaches in the model prayer is not a magic formula of something to repeat it is not a mantra to say over and over again it is a model he specifically says right before this don't just say empty phrases but he gives them a way to pray that would teach us how to pray and if you're learning how to pray it's an excellent pattern to follow so I'm going to read it all the way through.
Then we'll go through it in pieces he says pray then like this this is Matthew 6 starting in verse 9 we're going to go through verse 13 pray then like this Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil so go back to verse n he says this is how you ought to pray and he starts with our.
Father in heaven Hallowed be your name both acknowledging the connection that we have to God that he's our father that he loves us that he cherishes us that he cares for us that we can approach him and that he's holy that he ought to be honored revered and respected and then he says your kingdom come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven that we are to be mindful that he's the king of all things and that we want his kingdom to advance and we want more people to follow.
Jesus and we want his will to be done in the world around us and and in US many of our prayers should be let your will be done in me that I might look the way I'm supposed to and that the the relationships I'm in and the world I'm in might look more and more like heaven as we follow you and he says give us this day our daily bread that we might pray about the needs we have and be aware of the provision that he provides daily to be thankful.
For it but expectant on it and dependent on him and this also means that this is a normal daily prayer that he expects this to be a regular way that we pray and then he says this and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil y'all that's our three enemies he says that we're supposed to ask for forgiveness of sins our debt to him is sin other places will say forgive us our trespasses or forgive us our sins as we forgiven those who've sinned against us that's what that is that we would repent of sin we be aware that we're Sinners.
Lead us not into temptation we're to be aware that there's a world around us both filled with people that tempt us and situations that tempt us that are calling us into sin that we'd be mindful of that and Deliver Us from Evil some of the versions will say evil one or have an as they say this can be translated evil one it's this personification of evil it's Satan it's the enemy that we would be delivered from the enemy that Jesus says your normal daily way to pray is to be mindful of your three enemies I I have found in my relationships with people and talking with people that a lot of times we're aware of.
Some of these some of you may not pray like this at all ever about any of them a lot of us are aware of some of them so that you're may be aware that you're a sinner you like I'm messing everything up and I'm I'm the one who causes so much trouble and I'm the reason everything's wrong and you might might be able to clearly sometimes see your sin some of you that one doesn't show up on your radar at all you're great everyone else around you is the worst.
If they would just listen to you when you talk their problems would be solved and it's like hey yeah you might want to start praying that you could see your sin and that you would be forgiven and that you'd be forgiving that you'd see your sin some people notice Temptation you're aware of it you see patterns and situations that you get in that cause you problems you talk to parents sometimes they see this one for their kids my kids great but they just they've been hanging out with a badg crowd my precious little perfect little gold-hearted angel just hanging out with some bad people it's like I think they're like.
Second in command to that team like I yeah there's some Temptation yeah you need to be aware of it but it's not the only thing there are other things as well but some of us are completely blind to this you don't you you maybe know that you're a sinner but you don't think at all about patterns and systems that you have set up and things that tempt you some of you do most of your sinning after 10 p.m. go to sleep some of you need to.
Look and realize hey I I hang out with a bunch of morons and I act like a kiss some new friends change some of your patterns change some of your habits be aware of some of the Temptations around you some of us are mindful that we have an enemy you'll talk to some people sometimes that are aware that there's an enemy they'll be mindful of that a lot of us aren't a lot of us because we're westerners Americans we maybe have a place.
For the enemy because the Bible says it but no real functional process for how we would think about that or pray about that and so it's like yeah the devil exists and he does things but there's no he doesn't lie to me and there's no way that I'd be have to be worried about that there are some people who overthink it I've talked to people before and they're like yeah Satan was in my toaster what was he how why what maybe you just need a new toaster like I don't even know how you're processing through this.
But for most of us we're not thinking about that at all we're not watchful and sober minded as Peter says that we would look out for an enemy who wouldn't want us to follow Jesus wouldn't want us to have joy wouldn't want us to raise our kids to love Jesus wouldn't want us to read our Bibles wouldn't want us to fight through for what is good would actively try to keep us from belonging to people and repenting of sin that we have an actual enemy and we're blind to that.
Jesus says no this is how we ought to pray this is what normal should look like and what's beautiful about this one of my favorite things that I find so encouraging about it is we just get to pray like that all the time we don't have to be investigators all the time figuring out exactly which one it is we just get to be aware that all of those enemies are usually at work in most situations they're all there helping if you'd say this is 100% me it's like maybe I mean you're a sinner you're 100% involved.
But I would say enem is probably at work I'd say there's probably some the world at work if you say no this is 100% the world like if if I wasn't tempted at all I'd never SE a yeah but you were there and you sin so I would think you're involved the enemies involved like they're all involved there was a movie I watched when I was probably 11 I maybe watched this I don't know 450 times it's the movie major pain.
So that maybe tells you a little bit about my my life growing up in the movie major pain uh it's a it's a guy who is like a very good military leader person killed a lot of folks at the beginning of the movie he gets told that he there's nobody left to kill and he's got to go run an ROTC program with children he actually looks at him and says there's got to be somebody needs some killing they say no you got to go run this.
For children at one point one of the kids comes to him in the middle of the night scared says there's a bad man in his closet there's a monster in the closet he walks over and says that closet he says yes he pulls his gun out and just shoots into the closet pow pow pow pow pow pow pow puts his gun up looks at the little kid and says if he's still in there he ain't happy and that's the way I feel about this a little bit we we got three closets we got three enemies we don't have to open them all up all the time and figure out exactly what's going on we can.
Trust the work of the spirit to help us see some of that but we also get to just shoot into every closet we get to say Lord please forgive me I know I'm a sinner I know I'm wrong I know specifically I sinned here forgive me of that but I also know that I don't always think about things right so help me help me turn from my sin help me run from my sin please forgive me help me to be gracious.
And then you get to say Lord help me keep me far from Temptation I don't know exactly know all the ways that I'm in the middle of this and I'm trying to figure that out but help me guard me and then Lord I don't know where the enemies at work here but I know he's a liar and I know he hates me and I know he hates you and so for protect me deliver me from the work of the enemy here.
Let me not listen to him let me listen to your spirit and we just get to pray all three and we don't have to go well I don't know if that's involved or that just just normal prayer is all of them so here here's what we're going to do with the time we have left we're going to do two case studies for lack of a better way to put it we're going to take two topics and consider them and we're going to consider how the practices how the enemies would be at work how the practices and praying will help us fight against them.
So how's the enemy at work here how are the enemies at work here and how does following these practices and praying in this way help we're going to take two they may or may not perfectly apply to you but we're trying to walk through this thought process so that in the situations that you're facing in the struggle that you're facing you can see a little bit of okay I can see how this works together and I can see how we would pray.
So that's what we're going to do the first one we're going to talk about is sexual sin or sexual Temptation now we talk about this topic a good bit and part of the reason we do that is because our culture never shuts the heck up about it it's not like it's our favorite thing to talk about it's just that we're we're going to talk about it some when we gather together and then you're going to go hear a thousand messages on this topic during this week there are some things that we can just tell you the Bible says and nobody else is arguing we can teach you about David and what he did we don't.
Need to tell you that over and over again because nobody else is trying to tell you David did something different they don't care but when we tell you what the Bible says about this you're going to go out and every ad you watch and every show you watch is going to preach a different message and so we talk about this some so we're going to talk about this this morning so first how are the enemies working together well Satan's lying and he's put some things out there that are culturally accepted some of the lies are in order to be a full happy human you have to be sexually satisfied otherwise you're deficient as a person.
Uh sexual desire is just it's like an appetite it's like hunger you get hungry you eat you get thirsty you drink we have desires fulfill them this should just be something that just happen s it should be cheap and easy and free that's one of the lies then on the other side you have this is so supremely important to real genuine relationships in love it's the Bedrock of all healthy relationships and it's essential to existence cheap easy free essential to love and existence and fulfillment which both of those can't really be true that's not how stuff works it's either special or it's not it's either everywhere or it's like you.
But this is what's put out in front of us and then we have disordered desires so you have your own desires some of our desires aren't even physical or sexual they're I want to be liked I want this relationship to work I I want to be normal I want to participate in what life is supposed to be like so you not even really your own desires but just what the world told you you're supposed to chase after I want to have uh this relationship continue I want I want I want this to be special I want to be loved I want to be desired and we participate with our own disordered desires.
And then our culture co-signs all of this non-stop it leads to misery added into that is now the belief that these desires actually Define who you are whatever you feel here is actually essential to your soul so free easy like hunger also the core of your identity we hear those so much we hadn't even considered the fact that those can't coexist so how do the practices help us well if we're reading our Bibles we're going to see a few things one sexual immorality is sin sin is destructive.
So the idea that this will help you in some way be fulfilled complete help your relationship help your uh dating help your whatever make you feel happy make you feel full fix your identity no it can't because misplaced it's sin now we're told that it's not gross or evil it's a gift given to marriage it's a covenantal gift meaning that you're supposed to participate in it fully and Covenant you're saying all of me belongs to all of you and whether you know John Legend is playing in the background or not I don't know.
But that's what you're saying like I'm fully yours All of Me belongs to all of you it's a covenantal ceremony but if that's not true it's destructive this is where Paul says that you're you've got you're becoming one flesh that there's a union that's taking place and so it's meant to be something that only happens inside of a marriage so you're reading through this and you're starting to see the Bible's in forming a picture of something you know what else it says it's not essential to being a human Paul says I wish everybody were Lov like me didn't need this weren't burning with passion and could just focus on.
Jesus not have to get married and just be missionaries and get after it and tell people about Christ and not worried about what their husband wanted their wife wanted not be caught up in domestic duties and raising children that's what Paul says so it's not a essential to you existing and being healthy or happy so you're studying the word this is changing you you're waking up in the morning and reading your Bible we're supposed to live in the Bible so you're reading this at night before you go to bed you're writing verses down and putting them in your pocket and memorizing them you're listening to this as you go to work.
Because you've got to get this in your head and you're studying the Scriptures all the time and it's not all the stuff the Scriptures talk about but you keep running into these things that are helping you that are helping reframe and change you start realizing wait if the Bible says this and the Bible's true then that can't be true you start repenting you you gather with your group and you actually start confessing things to them start telling them what's going on you tell them the lies you've been believing you tell them the frustrations you've been feeling you tell them the sins and you get to confess not.
Because you've got to get all that out to get fixed but because Jesus is so good that when we bring these things to him he heals us he redeems that we've got to turn away from sin in a way that rescues us and so we're confessing not just to them but to Jesus we're walking out in Repentance what it means to follow Christ and then we have a group of people who start asking us questions we don't want to answer somebody in your group says.
Okay you want me to start texting you at 10: all right you want us to all start going on your dates and you never get to see this person alone again and you're like no and they're like well do you want to keep sinning and you're like No And it's like well I'm your new third wheel I really like putt putt we don't want you to to pursue sin we don't want things to fall apart for you so we're invested we're coming we want to be a part of this with you we're going to start praying.
For you and pleading for you and expecting that you would love Jesus more than you love this sin and so that's what starts happening and then you start praying asking for forgiveness specifically confessing to the Lord what's going on praying against patterns and temptations and understanding that there are situations you get yourself in asking the Lord to help and you start praying hey Lord I know that the enemy lies to me and I know that he doesn't want me to love you more than I love this and in the name of.
Jesus I want to listen to you not him so he doesn't get to mess with me he doesn't get to mess with my thoughts he doesn't get to claim parts of my soul I don't get if I don't belong to him I belong to you so Deliver Me From Evil and you start praying that regularly the second one I want to talk about as a case study is marriage again one of the reasons is that our culture does not help us here.
Because if you are married you have married a sinner they have too but it's way more obvious to you that they are but that's how it works it's difficult it hurts it's hard at sometimes extremely hard and the enemy lies if you were really supposed to be married it wouldn't be this difficult you've made a mistake divorce will fix this and it's actually your only route to happiness you can't live your whole life this way you're going to be miserable forever this is the only way to fix this they've changed they're not the person you married they'll never change.
Jesus can't fix this which often those Lies come in at the same time and they can't both be true that this person's changed but will never change if Jesus is going to stand over you and make you stay in this marriage then he's more like a prison Warden than a savior and do we really trust him should you really trust him is he really good which is as old as the garden we have disordered desires I'm so angry I'm so hurt I don't want to have to do all the work to fix this I don't think it's fixable I anything that cosign my desire to get out feels.
So true so good so helpful and we're surrounded by a world that makes divorce easy as easy as it can be it's it's extremely difficult you're supposed to be happy as defined by you at this moment and anything that stands in the way of that is the enemy should be removed so how do the practices help us and how is praying help us well for reading our Bibles we will first be confronted by how absolutely good Jesus is how kind and merciful helpful and forgiving how Sovereign and trustworthy that he loves us.
So much that he would come and die to make us his and that he hates sin and everything that tears us apart and that he loves us so that he's with us mercifully and graciously in the midst of this difficulty that he can be trusted we'll also see that marriage is a covenant not a contract and that it's based off of Christ's love for the Church which means that even in the middle of difficult marriages we can still display his goodness.
Because our world understands why you would stay in a good marriage and our world understands why you would leave a bad one Christians get to point to Jesus as we stay in by what is by all worldly standards bad and say I'm holding on to something that's more true I'm holding on to something that's more good and I'm TR trusting that Jesus can go to work here and I'm trusting that he's good enough for me in the middle of this difficulty and I'm trusting that he can work in this person's heart and I can stay and grow to be faithful.
So you begin to repent knowing that you're not 100% right in the situation and that even if you're the one who primarily has been sinned against that there are things where you need the Lord to work in your heart and how you're responding to that and anger and frustration and bitterness and is asking the Lord for help and mercy and Grace you're confessing but you're also asking for his work in you to be faithful and to trust him and love him more and you have your Church family around you every person in our Church.
When you come to them to talk about marriage difficulty should be heartbroken with you and should say stay in every person say you you need to you need to let's lament but let's keep fighting let's keep pressing in towards what is good because that's how the Church is meant to work now these may not have applied to you it might have applied too much to you but this is how we want to walk out what it looks like to follow Jesus we want to be people who practice these things things who are in our Bibles who live in them abide in them y'all my my group comes to my house I I host a community.
Group every week I move my trash can from my pantry to a spot where it's easy for everybody to know where it is and then like a I walk into my P Pantry 37 times while my group is at the house holding trash I I kid you not I have carried my trash can set it down grabbed a piece of trash walked to my pantry because I know where it is and I live here this is where it is all the time that's the way we ought to be with our Bibles we ought to know where things are it ought to be.
Second nature for us to be able to walk and just be a part of what the Scripture says we ought to know it we ought to live and abide in the Bible that's what we're going for we want to be that kind of people we want to be people who are genuinely repenting who love Jesus and see that he's good he's calling us into hope that he loves us so much he would die for us so that he's trustworthy with everything and we ought to not trust ourselves.
So much and know that Lord there's stuff that's wrong with me and I need your help and I know that you're actually more trustworthy than I am because I'm not willing to put up with pain to pull me away from what's broken but you were willing to die to do it Lord I need your help and then we need our Church family you remember in middle school when two people if you went to a home school this may not have happened this way.
But if you're in public school uh two people said they were going to fight well usually it was one person that said something but there was like a runner you know uh middle schoolers aren't the best at communication until there's going to be a fight and then communication lines are crystal clear so somebody would go to one and say hey Mark said he's going to beat you up and they you look you know they say oh are you scared well I'm not scared all right you walk back Mark he said he ain't scared you back and forth Mark say there going to be two hits he going to hit you and you going to hit.
The ground you got a group of people around well uh you go back hey Mark he said why don't you go outside and practice falling down he'll be out in a minute and at the end of the day wherever it was playground behind the gym whatever there was a circle of middle schoolers and Mark and the other guy were inside the circle and you might think that this circle is just sinful and we you've made promises you've confessed you following Jesus don't don't get out of this you want to stay in you want to keep fighting you want to keep pressing towards what's good we're meant to gather around each other.
When you try to leave say no no no no no no no no no stay don't run after something stupid Jesus is so much better I know you can't see that right now but he's so much better don't don't go any don't go anywhere that's our hope that we would be people who believe biblical truth that leads to Faith that is normalized and Jesus Ling Community that's what we want and y'all we have three enemies but we have one savior who has defeated all of those enemies who has redeemed us from sin who judges and rules over the world that he has a kingdom that is coming and that his his will will be done.
On Earth as it is in heaven he will fully consummate this at some point it will fully belong to him and that we get to follow after him trusting him to go to work in us and go to work in our Church family and get to pursue after the work that he's already accomplished on the cross and getting to participate in it and so our hope is that we would stand firm in our one savior as we Face Off against three very real enemies that we need to be mindful of.
But not fearful of because we have a king let's pray Lord we need the work of your spirit we need your help Lord we thank you that there's forgiveness through the work of Christ this is not about us earning anything but it is about us getting to participate in the Glorious Redemption of Jesus to the praise of his glorious Grace Lord we're tempted tempted to believe lies tempted to pursue things that will harm us tempted to chase after things that will destroy our souls and lead us away from you tempted to believe in.
So many ways so many times that something else is better than you and we ask that you would lead us away from Temptation and help us to see how gloriously good you are and father we have an enemy who lies to us who tells us you don't really love us that this situation won't get better that we are broken and it'll never get fixed that that our Church family doesn't want us around that we're a burden that nobody cares about us that all these things things on repeat that this would satisfy me this will fill me up.
If I could just have this I'd be happy and we pray in the name of Jesus that you would shut his mouth you would strike him on the cheek and break the teeth of the enemy and that we would be people who would pray mindful of our enemies but oh so much more mindful of you our glorious King that our eyes will be set on you and that we would not fall prey to anything else we submit this to you in your grace and your sovereignty in.
Jesus name amen this morning we get to celebrate baptism baptism is a public profession of Faith it's a outward sign a representation of something that has already happened inwardly this is displayed in the way we go about baptism the person doesn't get in announce to you hey I used to be messed up but I'm fixing that now and then bathe themselves in front of you there's actually people who are in there with them representing the Church representing Christ they are baptized backwards.
Because they're buried in their sin buried with Christ y'all if they don't they're dead they were dead in their sin and they're buried with their sin if they don't come back up they actually die that's what it's representing so we bury them and then we raise them again washed and risen to New Life In Christ that when he was buried they were buried when when he died for their sin their sin died and they get to walk in newness of life.
Because of the resurrection of Jesus and they have a hope of Resurrection that is what baptism is proclaiming and we praise Christ for his salvation and we praise Christ for his hope and we praise him specifically for Two Souls today that get to join us in following Jesus in faith and baptism proclaiming that their hope is in Christ.
The World
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning uh it is great to be here for this time of worship with you all on the Sunday morning that's a little bit muggy outside but nice and comfortable inside and uh if you're new here I want to welcome you my name is Isaac I'm one of the pastors here at mil City Church we're glad that you decided to join us this morning uh if you haven't been with us for the past several weeks we have been working our way through a series called three enemies and we have been focusing on how the script Scriptures uh specifically highlight three enemies that are Waging War against the kingdom of.
God and Waging War against our formation as people into the image of Christ and so uh we're towards the end of the series and so I want to quickly recap what we have talked about thus far to make sure uh that we are all on the same page so Chad started us off in week one to help us understand that the things that we do do things to us that the regular rhythms and habits of our life are forming us into something and that we have to be careful.
Because we might think that there's neutral ground but there's not neutral ground either the things we're doing are helping form us into the image of Christ or deform us away from the image of Christ and then in week two we spent some time outlining how uh the the three enemies themselves the devil the Flesh and the world work together in a unified strategy that it's not Randomness it's calculated and we have this phrasing um that we have been using to be helpful from uh a pastor and a Christian thinker who's on the west coast he says uh that the strategy of these enemies is deceitful ideas that play to disordered desires that are normalized in.
A sinful society and so those are the three enemies at work that first it's the deceitful ideas that we have a real spiritual enemy a real spiritual being with agency is at war against us and his main mode of operation is through sewing lies that he lies to us and that then we talked about that we accept the lies because we have disordered desires that the Bible calls this the Flesh in us that we want it to be true because there's a part of us that really wants it to be true.
And then you get a bunch of people that are believing these lies and then they become this becomes accepted as the Baseline truth in our cultures and in our societies and this is what Scripture calls the world and this is our Focus this morning so let me pray and then we'll Dive In Father we thank you very much for this opportunity that we get to open up your word and we get to admit that we don't don't get it on our own that we need help.
And so this morning through your spirit would you be teaching us your truth and instructing us in your ways that we might find the freedom that you provide Jesus name amen we are going to be spending most of our time this morning in 1 John Chapter 2 verses 15-1 17 so if you want to go ahead and turn there uh if you don't have Bible with you uh you can grab one that's in the seat racks and if you're in one of those blue Bibles it's going to be on page 592 uh several years ago we worked through a series in.
First John and so if you haven't had the opportunity to go back through our archives and listen to that I would encourage you to uh to get a fuller uh explanation of this whole letter um but just for this morning we're just going to be in chapter 2: 15 to 17 and uh before we begin I want to give a quick little bit of context for this passage as we begin and so this book of the Bible is written by John it's written by the Apostle John and he's writing a letter to a local Church and the tone of the book is not really negative he's very encouraging to the Believers who are there.
But he does highlight in Chapter 2 a little bit later than where we're going to be at this morning that there is seemingly a group of people who have left this local Church and that by chasing the things that are against Christ chasing after the things of this world they've revealed their true colors that they never really belong to Christ and the first place and then John goes on to say that not only that that they're also seeming to be putting pressure on this Church.
For the members to come and follow them in their teaching rather than to follow Jesus and so this is the situation in which John finds himself writing this letter to the local Church so let's dive in into verse 15 do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not not in him now I don't know about you but when I come across a verse with this level of intensity it forces me to self-reflect that.
If you thought that Raz is blunt have you met John John just said that if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him this forces me to ask myself some questions and so that's what we get to do this morning and there are two specific questions that we're going to be asking ourself first is what is the world that's important to know it's important to understand that and second what does it look like to love it what does John mean to love the world.
So first let's start with what is the world now it's important whenever we uh are reading Scripture that we have an understanding that we're all coming in with our own contextual understanding we're all coming from different places whatever our history is at maybe you've got a lot of Bible teaching maybe you don't whatever it is it doesn't matter where we come from maybe you've never even heard of the idea that the world could be an enemy and maybe you've only ever heard of the world as an enemy it doesn't matter either way we're going to come to Scripture to define the word and the idea.
For us we're not going to import our own understanding and so a couple weeks ago as we were doing a bird's eye view approach to these three enemies and their strategy um I referenced Strong's exhaustive Bible concordance which is basically just a big concordance of definitions of ideas and words that are in Scripture and he used this definition he said the present condition of human Affairs an alienation from and opposition to God they when talking about the world and the context that John is speaking of In this passage he says the present condition of human Affairs an alienation from an opposition to.
God so even though there is a way to talk about the world in which it's the physical world the things that we see in touch like trees and rocks and sticks and stuff like that specifically what John is talking about here is not the physical things we can see but something deeper than that something beyond that and this is why some translations will translate this word age or as Paul says in Ephesians 2 he says the course of this world and Paul in Colossians 2 as he's been building this understanding and this idea of the world he says this he says.
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ so the way that Scripture defines this enemy me the world is that it's helping us understand that it's the agreed upon or underlying assumptions or philosophies which inform a way of life that is based on empty deceit and human tradition and not according to Christ that this is what the world is as John is referring to it.
So in our framework of the strategy of how these enemies work together the world of Scripture talks about it as the enemy of God is what happens when you have a whole society that is putting lies on repeat repeating lies to itself over and over again that first it starts on the individual level with lies that you and I believe to be true and that part of us wants to be true because we have that flesh remember these are the first two enemies we talked about the lies.
And then us accepting it but it starts with me on the individual level then you get enough people that are believing these lies and then a whole Community or Society then begins to believe it and it becomes the accepted Baseline truth and then what happens is that then Cycles back to us to reinforce in us the lie that we started to believe in the first place this is how this idea of the enemy of the World plays back to us that it starts with an individual fleshly desire that's.
Then formed into a collective societal worldview of apart from Scripture that Fe then feeds back into our fleshly desires and it's this cycle that goes and continues on for those of you that don't know me I grew up uh on a summer Campground and bethl Christian Camp that's about 15 minutes from here great Pace to grow up when you're a little kid you get to run around and have fun uh but one of the opportunities that you get is that during the summertime you get to work on staff.
And so for several years I got the great opportunity to work as a counselor uh when when kids would come for week of Camp I got to work with a cabin of kids each week and one of the things that I loved especially with the younger kids that are like seven years old is that us as staff we talk to them about the legends of the lake ninja and so we had the legends of the lake Ninja at bethl and all the staff they'd all be in on it you know we'd come up with silly stories lives under the dock eats turtles.
For breakfast you know all sorts of crazy things and uh believe it or not it doesn't take much when you get a bunch of adults communicating to seven-year-olds that there's a lake ninja that exists 24 hours in they're totally sold out a lake ninja exists they're start they're having their own side conversations about a lake ninja we we weren't even instigating them they come up and ask us questions Mr Isaac Mr Isaac you know Lake ninja does he do this does he do that where is he am I going to be.
Okay I you know there might be some 25-year-old kid that thinks there's a lake ninja still I don't I don't know but it's funny it's funny to think about some seven yearolds um being convinced of this lie um but the reality is is that there were enough people around them especially those that they looked up to that were kind of perpetuating this lie it was harmless and it was fun and we laugh at a seven-year-old but the reality is is that we're all in the same camp that we're all in the same boat.
When it comes to the way of this world we fall prey to this and are impacted by this way more than we would like to admit that we don't want to admit it but we are way more affective Ed and influenced by the way of this world then we would dare to admit and so that's what we get to look at today and this is also why in that sermon a couple of weeks ago when we talked about the specific weapon that this enemy the world uses against us is that it's the ability to cosign belief and practices and the ability allows us the ability to hide that we can just throw up our hands.
And saywell if everybody else is doing it this is why Adam gets to say it was Eve's fault and why Eve gets to say it was the Serpent's fault do we just get to try to sh the blame onto somebody else and hide and mask ourselves so with this understanding of the world we come to our second question what does it look like to love the world we're going to continue on in the passage 1 John chap 2 verse 16 for all that is in the world the desires of the Flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the.
Father but is from the world so John is going to categorize what our love of the world looks like in three umbrella terms he's going to say that what the love of the world looks like is the desires of the flesh the desires of the eyes and the pride of life and so what we're going to do is we're just going to work our way through one by one so first desires of the flesh so last week if you were with us you know that Raz spent some time talking about what is the Flesh and we talked about this idea that it's that part of us that is naturally drawn towards the things that are.
Part from God and I think John has some of that in in view here um but I also think he's also talking about our physical flesh that you and I are made as real people that we have bodies and I think what's helpful in tying into this is that he says this Greek word here for desire is epithumia and it can also be translated other other places in Scripture as passions or lusts even different translations of the Bible as they're trying to help us understand this idea uh going to read a couple different translations of this word this phrase desires of the flesh.
So the NIV is going to say the bels of sinful man the new English Bible is going to say all that panders to the appetites the New Living Translation is translated the lust for physical pleasure or as one commentator put it and translated it what the body hankers for and so this is this idea that's being built up and for me personally I think that the word lust is the most helpful translation that really sets the tone of what he's trying to work and get at.
Because lust is the Twisted form of love lust is just the Twisted form of love desire is just the Baseline thing that we feel but lust is then what we begin to do with it and so lust is this desire that's turned toward myself for satisfying my physical senses especially at the expense of someone or something else that it's us wanting to satisfy our natural bodily Cravings specifically the way in which we pursue our own ends and self self-sufficient independence of.
God As One commentator put it so what does this look like then for us if John is saying that this is what the love of the world looks like what does that actually mean for us what are some of the things that John has in mind here well one very sure way that I think one very sure thing that I think John has in mind here is our approach to sex that we're physical creatures and sex involves physicalness and the way in which we engage in sex is going to help us understand whether or not we have a love.
For the world Scripture teaches that all sexual encounter outside the Covenant of marriage falls in the category of sin or Falls in this category of Love of the world and the reality is even once you get married it's not like it's some magic trick that makes your sex life all pure all of a sudden you still have to work at it you have to learn with your partner how to honor and love each other so the way Scripture talks about the world's approach to sex is that it's us taking advantage of someone else.
For the sake of our own pleasure that's this idea of lust it's me and my desires taking advantage of you or something someone else something else for the sake of my own pleasure I think that this the clearest simplest example of this in our culture is hookup culture so hookup culture is pounding this line to our heads over and over and over again that sex doesn't really mean anything sex might as well be like a piece of bubblegum you unwrap it chew it spit it out just instant little moment of pleasure that's all it is I mean.
If you haven't already just pay attention to whatever current TV series you're watching through whatever movies you like to go watch at the theaters just pay attention to the way they talk about sex is that the truth or is that a lie so here's what I think has happened we as people we have a natural drive for sex it's an eight to being a human and Scripture teaches that it has a proper place that is beautiful but at the individual level the lie that's been believed is that sex is just a physical interaction with somebody a transaction.
If you will that's all that it is and then you get a whole community of people that are believing that lie that that's all that sex is and you have a culture whose world view removes any sanctity from sex any depth to what it actually is between two people and then this culturally accepted lie then reinforces for the individual that they can participate in sex in whatever they way they want cuz I mean it's just physical interaction that's it and then you track that over the past Century over the past 150 years.
And then you land us where we're at now in our modern Western culture totally confused no Baseline whether it be sex in a dating relationship whether it be hookup culture whether it be adultery pornography whatever it does it doesn't take long in Reading Scripture to come to an understanding that God's way for sex is very different than what our culture teaches so I think heal question for us in understanding do we love the world is are we shaped more by our culture's approach to sex sex or by Scriptures are we shaped more by our cultures approach to sex or by Scriptures of course we have more than just bodily desires.
For sex so under this umbrella that John is talking about he also uh has other things in mind like the consumption of food so whether it be related to our body image or just pure Indulgence it's also very easy for us in our day and age to have a very unhealthy approach to food we understand that food is good how we actually understand that it's very good it's great at sustaining us it gives us energy it's great at creating spaces around the table.
For Fellowship it's wonderful but it's also so easy for us to just binge out on a row of Oreos just to scratch the itch our approach to alcohol fits into the same category substance use fits into the same category we live in an overstimulated world and we could talk for a long time about all the possible ways in which the world is a could be a Temptation for us to just give into our bodily desires but I think we get the picture that the individual level we've been believing lies about the way in which we're supposed to engage with our physical desires.
And then that's manifested itself into a culture into a moment and that it says that's what you pursue that's what you live for is to satisfy your physical pleasures and then that reinforces for us and it becomes the Baseline the accepted Truth for us this is what is at war against our formation into the image of Christ so that's the desires of the flesh John also talks about the desires of the eyes now obviously our eyeballs don't have desires in and of themselves.
But our eyes are the way in which we observe the world around us and if you were to sum up this idea into one word I think John is trying to talk about greed or covetousness this idea that whatever we see we believe that we need it and that I have the right to have it for my own I think the grocery store is a prime example of this just to help us understand the layout of a grocery store is specifically designed.
For you to see stuff so you can spend the money on it you know where all the name brand stuff is it's not on the bottom right hand corner of the Shelf tucked away you know in that spot of the store where the lights a little flickery so it's hard to see anyways no right on the eye Lev shelf right there for you to see well maybe most of y'all's eyes the level shelf if it's me I'm like one shelf above Craig he's all the way at the top they haven't they don't have anything.
For Craig but we get it what they understand that whatever we see we're going to want I read a short study done by the University of Southern California that stated most mascots for cereals marketed to children look down at an average angle of 9.6 de somebody in some Kellogg's meeting was sitting at the table they were asking the question how can we sell more Frosted Flakes and a guy was like well you know when mom takes the kids into the grocery store and they're walking down the aisle I really think we need Tony the Tiger to just lock eyes with little Johnny that's just what we need I know some of you next time you're.
In the Cal aisle you're going to look around and try to see if it's true I mean heck you make it all the way through your grocery shopping Adventure which is an adventure for sure and you finally make it to the checkout line no it's not done whole plethora of little candy bars soda pop magazines whatever it is anything that our eyes can latch on to just so that we can take it and I mean could our current age of technological advancement reveal any more of our propensity to be drawn to the things by our eyes we're all carrying around in our pockets at all times this little device that shoots flashy little eyes lights.
At our eyes just to get us to pay attention to it there are whole marketing departments that are predicated upon the fact that you have a desire of the eyes I mean if you have the Amazon mobile app I think one of the recent updates there's a whole section of the app that literally is just short form video content of people having other things just to see if you want to buy it you can sit there and scroll on the Amazon app video after video of just people owning different things just to.
See if you want to buy it at the individual level we believe the lie that what we see with our eyes can ultimately satisfy us and we should pursue to go get it I just need that next thing and you get a whole community of people believing this lie and you have a cultural worldview that's built an economic green machine that panders to our Covetous nature rather than instilling the character of contentment so John is highlighting that the way of this world entices us to want more and more and more all I need I just need that next thing.
And then it'll be and I'll be Satisfied we should be careful and ask ourselves the question what are we looking at what are we drawn to by the things of our eyes so that's the desires of the eyes lastly John talks about pride of life the word life here is the same uh word that's used in Mark 12 uh the story where Jesus is with his disciples in the temple uh and the poor lady comes to drop her two coins in the offering.
And when she goes to put the coins in Jesus gets his disciples attention he says see that right there she has given all she had to live on that's that same word live on it's that same word as life here in the Greek but the point is the stuff that we have it's our our stuff whatever's yours and this idea of Pride here is it's the arrogance and the things that I have as being s sufficient to sustain me and then I boast in them.
If the lust of the eyes is worshiping what you don't have the pride of life is worshiping what you do have and we live in a culture of abundance we know this I mean for most of us that are here today we're living like the kings of old we got fridges that are stocked with the finest of foods we got entertainment available at our whim privacy fences as castle walls to defend any enemy Invasion on my perfectly manicured lawn all at 2.75 in just beautiful and this is what is sold to us as the good life and not only that that we should take pride in it the fleshly part of us believes that I.
Have the right to be prideful and to boast in what I've got CU after all I've worked for it haven't I well you get a whole community of people that believe that and you come up with something to the effect of the American dream which is predicated on my backbreaking work to accomplish for myself a kingdom in which I can boast to the world to show that I'm capable and I made it and that in turn just fuels in us this desire to work toward Independence we just celebrated Independence Day I love being in a country in which we can gather without fear of harm to worship it's fantastic.
But on an individual level Independence that's not in the vocabulary of Scripture Scripture says that every good and perfect gift comes from above everything that we have is simply a gift to us it has nothing to do with the fact that you work for it your paycheck has nothing to do with the fact that you work for it it is a good and perfect gift to you the house you have the lawn you have I don't whatever it is it's not.
Because of your work it is a good and perfect gift to you it's on loan for us to us for the time that we have here and this lie that's been perpetuated to the point of full acceptance and belief that what I have is mine wages war against the idea of dependence upon our creator in all things even in the smallest of things like the shirts that are on our backs so this is the cultural moment that we're in this is the world that we're influenced by and we're way more influenced by it than we would dare to admit and maybe you feel The Angst the pressure of John's statement that.
If you love the world the love of the father is not in you you have to ask the question what do we do what could we do against this well as John finishes his thought in chapter 2 verse 17 he says this and the world is passing away along with its desires all that we just talked about it's all going to fade away but whoever does the will of God abides forever what God is working to build is going to last forever what.
God is working to build in your life and in my life that's forever that right now what he's doing in you to form you into the image of Christ that lasts forever I'm not saying when you die I'm saying forever for all eternity and one day there's going to be a new world a new heavens and a new Earth that's created and the way of this world will be no more there will be no more desires of the flesh there will be no more desires of the eyes there will be no more pride of of Life there will just be satisfaction and contentment and the love and goodness of our.
God and this is why Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of sin because it's real bondage that he's wanting to point us to the one who actually satisfies and fulfills our deep need and is one who is worth boasting in so this is why in Romans 12 Paul can say do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind it's not worth conforming to this world it's not worth believing the lies that are accepted by our culture we should reflect and consider in our own lives in what ways are we loving the world rather what Paul says is worth it is that we need to let.
Transformation in our life take place by the renewal of our minds and in this section of Romans Paul just spent 11 chapters detailing the most he he gives the most detailed picture of of what God is doing of who Jesus is and what he's done in the Gospel the renewal of our minds is directly tied to who Jesus is and what he's done Paul is encouraging the Church that the daily rhythm of reminding ourselves and rehearsing the Gospel is the power by which there is transformation.
If you feel the weight of this in your life if you're considering ways in which maybe you fallen prey to the love of the world and you want transformation how does it take place the daily rhythm of reminding ourselves and rehearsing the Gospel what a gift that we would be able to remind ourselves of the love and the truth of the Gospel of Jesus so this is why here we have Community groups this is why we exist as Church Church family together in order that inside of that Community we might constantly remind ourselves of the truth that we're called to engage in regular rhythms of what we would call as life on life with other.
People that we're sharing in everything whether it be the good stuff the bad stuff the ugly stuff it doesn't matter because in all of it we want to be pointed back to Jesus as being better than everything else that this world has to offer cuz he is because remember all the stuff of this world Fades away but he lasts forever in our group one of our members was uh encouraging their friend to come out and hang with us hang out with us and you know she was pastoring her a lot wearing her down most effective tactic there is and eventually her friend decided to try it out she was hesitant at.
First didn't stick right away but as she continued to be more and more involved in what we were doing she began to express to us that she's never been a part of a community that's loved her in this way and in this way she was experiencing the Gospel of Jesus in a whole new light she never had before that simply by the daily rhythm of being around people people that are trying to regularly remind ourselves of the truth of the Gospel that there was change this is the power of regularly committing ourselves to a group of people that are set on pointing each other to the truth and goodness and love of.
Jesus this is why we do it this is why it matters so as we close I want I want to end with a couple questions to leave you that I hope you consider so that wherever you're at specifically in your life right now this can start to take root so if you're here this morning and you're you're already committed to a group here which Church family that's all of you if you didn't know that I want you to ask yourself this question in what way do I need to be more connected to my community group in what way do I need to be more connected to my community group.
If this is a space where we're going to remind ourselves of the Gospel don't we want to be there don't we want to be as connected as we possibly can so I don't know what the step is for you I don't know if it's in your willingness to confess sin I don't know if it's signing up to bring something other than just drinks to events I maybe it's reaching out to someone to learn how you can time of discussion maybe it's just showing up more regular L to the rhythm of the group meeting time I don't know what it is.
For you I don't but I know you can ask yourself that question and I know that the spirit of God can work to equip you and encourage you and strengthen you in fighting against this enemy of the world that would love nothing less than to convince us that the desires of the Flesh and the desires of light dies and the pride of life is worth something maybe you're here this morning and you've been around with us a little while on Sunday morning.
But you haven't gotten connected to a group yet if that's the case for you I want you to ask yourself this question what is keeping me from taking the next step of connecting to a community group here at m city what is keeping me from taking the next step of connecting to a community group here at Mill City maybe you've come by and you've never stopped by the connect Corner maybe you have stopped by the connect corner but you never showed up to a group I don't know what it is.
For you and I don't know what's kept you back I don't know if it's fear I don't know if it's apathy but ask yourself the question what's kept me from being connected to this group of people that is seeking to remind themselves of the Gospel of Jesus day in and day out whatever it is it's not worth it so the band's going to come back up and as you're reflecting on your question if you you get an answer this morning if you feel like you have a response don't wait.
If you're in a group and you feel like you know this is the next step you need to take grab one of your group members and just say hey this is what I'm going to do don't wait cuz by the time Wednesday night rolls around there's a whole bunch of time that's going to happen between now and then there's a whole bunch of world that's going to happen between now and then maybe for you the next step is just stopping by the connect corner.
So you can figure out which community group meets close to you so that you can show up you should go stop by take that step this morning our volunteers don't bite you don't have to be afraid of them but let's not miss any opportunities that could be given to us to be more connected to Church family as God is working to redeem a people from this world let's participate in the things Everlasting not the things that are going to fade.
The Flesh
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning it's good to be with you this morning my name is Raz U if you've been with us the last few weeks you'll know we're working our way through a series called the three enemies this is an old theological Paradigm used to illust whoa don't do that this is an old theological Paradigm used to uh illustrate the various ways that we as Christians have to combat certain elements that are at war against us and so we have these three enemies we have the world which represents external forces everything which is outside of us and uh kind of influences us we have the flesh that which is the internal sort of carnal desires that we.
Have and we have the devil who represents spiritual forces so we have a war and we have these three different battlefields that the war is being fought on simultaneously today we're going to be focused on the internal war that is the enemy of the flesh but before we get too far into that I kind of want to sidestep a minute and give a pretty good-sized illustration to help us think through a lot of the stuff we're going to be talking about.
Today but before we get to that I want to define a couple of terms be before we get into all so this kind of an intro to an intro to an intro to the point today yall just going to have to bear with me um there's a couple of words that we need to uh Define before we can move on on and one of those the first one is sanctification in Christianity uh the theological word sanctification refers to the process by which a Christian becomes holy uh literally the word sanctify means to make holy and there's plenty of references to this in the Old Testament you you would have heard uh times where the they're.
Commanded to sanctify the altar or sanctify the temple those kinds of things before they get into ritualistic practices and that is to make something holy so that it is presentable to God when you apply that word to Christians though it refers to a process a process by which Christians throughout the course of their entire life become more and more like Jesus in the first week uh when Chad was introducing the I guess the whole series uh he talked about the idea that you are being conformed into something you're being conformed into something what is it.
Well sanctification refers to the process where Christians are being conformed into the image of Christ there's another big important word and that word is justification justification is a legal word and it refers to an act of God to declare a person as righteous in contrast this is not a process this is a transaction it's a moment in time it happens immediately upon the time when a person places faith in Jesus legally we believe that Jesus Takes our guilt and our punishment.
For us that we are washed clean and that we are accredited with righteousness that's justification and it's separate and distinct from sanctification we believe as a Church that we are justified through faith alone in Christ alone and not by works legally our guilt is taken by Jesus at the moment we place faith in him boom saved forever sanctification however refers to a process a lifelong process it takes time the fight against the flesh that's the the second enemy that we're talking about is one where Christians wage war against their own desires and it's integrated with that idea of sanctification becoming more and more like Christ over time.
Now historically there are three umbrella category views of sanctification that's three different ways that uh people have read the Bible and thought I I think I fig can figure out how this is going to work um and inside of each of those categories there are subcategories we're not going to worry about subcategories today we're going to stay high level I'm G to borrow an illustration that I learned from a former CIU president named Robson mcquilkin um he died a few years ago I've read a bunch of his books I don't.
Remember ever reading this illustration in his books uh but he delivered a a sermon this one time and the illustration is stuck with me ever since um so this is borrowed it's from him but I don't know where for you to find it if you have want to go look for it here here's the idea suppose you're on a skiing trip you pack up your snow skis and you get to the mountain and you look up the mountain and you know some way somehow.
If I'm going to enjoy my skiing I have to get to the top of the mountain now in the early days you didn't have much choice you were going to strap those skis to your back just like this and you're going to have to hike your way all the way up that mountain this is the first view of sanctification this view is rought with effort It Is by Blood Sweat and Tears that you're going to suffer each and every one of those steps struggling the entire way that you try to climb that mountain this is the Christian Life as it is most commonly misunderstood by most people four steps up slide down five steps up.
Face plan fall back down it's all up to me I'm on my own I've got to climb this mountain it's all my effort now to my knowledge there is no Evangelical Church that officially takes this position but it is a common misunderstanding amongst Christians and non-Christians alike about what it looks like to be a Christian do better try harder more effort everything is up to you don't fail in the Christian Life though as you know there is no reaching the top by effort no matter how hard you try you are not going to be perfect.
But in 1935 thanks to some American Ingenuity of course everything changed go to any ski resort in the world and this is no longer the option go anywhere in the world and you're going to arrive and you're going to see a giant steel pole a massive police system a steel cable and this magic chair in the sky that does all of the work work for you this is the second view of sanctification I don't have to do anything it's all up to.
God in this view I have no autonomy I have none of the control I could actually try if I wanted to but it wouldn't do anything I can't steer this thing I can't make it go faster I can't make it go slower just straight to the top that's how it works God does it all for me now just for the record this is also an incorrect uh view of sanctification but at this point we have two views we have one view where it's all up to me and we have one view where it's all up to.
God effectively these are two ditches on either side of the road that represent the big mistakes we can make in understanding sanctification I want to introduce you to a lady who tried that first option she tried to do it all on her own realized she couldn't and so she switched strategies she decided she was going to let God do it instead her name is Carrie Underwood she sings a song it's called Jesus Take the Wheel the chorus goes like this Jesus Take the Wheel take it from my hands cuz I can't do this on my own I'm Letting Go she tried doing it all on her own she realized that wasn't working.
And so she switched she said I've had enough of that give me the chairlift I don't want to do this anyway now we shouldn't be too surprised that if there's two ditches on either side of the road you could crash into one and then crash all the way into the other if you refuse to put your hands on the steering wheel we'll call these the carry mistakes well luckily there is a third view of sanctification a more accurate view uh installed in the US.
For the first time uh in 1958 just before the 60s Winter Olympics is a new kind of lift called the pommer lift now if you've never been skiing a pommer lift looks like a frisbee on a stick and uh it it's a little bit harder to use in a chairlift you you arrive and uh you get handed this Rod you've got to grab onto it and kind of stick it between your legs and it's going to tow you all the way up the mountain.
But you've got a little bit of work to do with a pomel lift you're going to have to hang on you're going to have to dodge obstacles you can see that it just kind of goes up this up the side of the mountain and there's nothing stopping skiers from coming in between there's nothing stopping you from just dropping off you can hit potholes I've been on ones where you've got to navigate over Bridges and stuff in this in this scenario you have a great deal of individual responsibility.
If you want to make it all the way to the top of the mountain the lift the machine is the part that is providing power you don't provide Power but if you were to let go you would not find yourself at the top of the mountain you would find yourself back down at the bottom but if you're committed to Hanging On Tight you'll be dragged all the way up the mountain closer and closer in the analogy sense to the likeness of.
Jesus over time now it's not a Perfect Analogy they never are but it is kind of like that and the point here is that the first two views are incorrect when we talk about Christian Living being conformed into Christ likeness it's not all about you it's not all about your effort and it's not all up to God either but instead there is this third option where you are an active participant but it's God's power that provides the mechanism for you to make the journey possible at all this is the correct way to think about sanctification this is how you should think about the lifelong journey the lifelong process of what it looks like.
For you starting where you are now to be conformed more and more into christlikeness for the rest of your life so as we turn today to the second enemy The Flesh we're going to keep this in mind and the reason for doing so is that when it comes to making application points later on we run the risk of functionally viewing the Christian Life functionally making the mistake of believing that first option that it's all up to me that I have to do better that it's on me I've got to go away and do better try harder and I can't make any mistakes and that would be a misunderstanding.
But we do have an enemy we are fighting a war and effort is required but the trick we have up our sleeves is that we don't have to win on our own the power doesn't come from us much like the PFT the power comes from the spirit and we are just an active participant so with that in mind let's talk more about this second enemy The Flesh uh couple weeks ago Isaac introduced a key phrase it comes from John Mark comr and it says the deceitful ideas play to disorted design desires that are normalized in a sinful society that kind of encapsulates all three those deceitful ideas we talked about them last week that is.
Satan and his lies they play to disordered desires that's what's inside of us the Flesh and that is normalized in a sinful Society we'll talk more about that next week that's primarily coming from the world so last week Chad delved into the idea that the devil is involved in all of this we're fighting a spiritual war and his primary role in that is as the deceiver the one who SWS lies but those lies appeal to us because we have disordered desires.
When he lies to us and he says this is the thing that will make you happy you deserve it everyone else has it the only reason it appeals to something is that there's already something inside of us something internal we're going to look at two places where the Apostle Paul talks about this today both of them in letters that he wrote to churches and we're going to start in Galatians 5 if you go to Bible that'll be the place to stick to.
Today I'm going to go to Romans 8 later but for for your purposes just stick to Galatians 5 now Paul uh has a very distinct theology when it comes to those who are saved and those who are not saved frequently in his writings he he splits everyone into two camps and he has a number of different ways of labeling those two camps so we're going to start a little kind of not even a scoreboard it's just a checklist of each of those sometimes he'll refer to the old self versus the new self sometimes he'll refers refers to those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ sometimes it's those who are under the.
Law and sometimes it's those who are under grace but there's a line in the middle and that line is either side of when someone places faith in Jesus uh in Galatians 5 it talks about the conduct of the people who fall into each of those categories uh it's distinct from each other because the conduct of the Believers is not like the conduct of the non-believers now I'm hoping that as we read this some of it at least will be kind of familiar we had this OB section of this as a memory verse I don't know two two months ago or.
So but we're going to start reading from verse 16 and as we do I want you to pay attention to the spirit and the Flesh and how he kind of puts them in opposition to each other they're highlighted on the screen in yellow and green I was going to use a different color but it's kind of hard to see so just bear with that um but attention to those two words he says but I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law now the works of the flesh are evident that is the observable Behavior associated with the second enemy The Flesh that Associated behavior is evident we can see them sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity Strife jealousy fits of anger rivalries dissensions divisions Envy drunkenness orgies and things like these I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit.
The Kingdom of God and now the next section we have a little song for in kid city to make it easier to remember it says but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control hey it's pretty nifty against such things there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires if we live by the spirit let us also keep in step with the spirit.
Let us not become conceited provoking one another envying one another you know as I was originally writing this um just in like sermon construction mode you have to provide some brain breaks for people you have to make jokes every now and then and I I really wanted to make a joke here at this point in time but it kind of hurt a little bit um I wanted to make a joke about you know in kids City we have this song fruit of the spirit love joy peace patience kindness good and faithful hey and the whole idea is that we get to teach kids Scripture and in this case the fruits of the spirit and my.
Whole joke was going to be about we had another song and it was called The Works of the Flesh and we would teach the kids The Works of the flesh The Works of the flesh are sexual immorality impurity and sensuality idolatry and sorcery enmity and strife hey yall know it jealousy fit of anger rivalries dissensions and divisions and envy and drunkenness and orgies it wasn't going to be a good joke and I'm not going to make it but the reality set in and it kind of made me sad.
Because the whole point of the joke was to say we were're going to teach that song but it wasn't going to be popular and then I realized something about popular music and it's that every popular song these days is about one of those things pluck one out of the list write a song about it and you're going to be on the Billboard 100 and it just kind of made me think how pervasive this stuff is and how even though we wouldn't in theory joke about kids knowing those songs they already do.
Because we're already there so anyway what is Paul saying here we have an internal sin nature in us we believe lies and they manifest in ways that seek gratification to the self Paul calls us to participate in fighting against that so let's bring back up our table that we had we're going to add a couple things we see that those who are in Adam in the old self and under the law are characterized as living by the Flesh and they have the works of the Flesh and that big old list.
And then on this side we have those who are the new self in Christ under grace in the spirit and they have the fruit of the spirit and they're characterized their conduct is characterized by these things now in case you were inclined to defend Carrie Underwood's honor earlier I think it might do well to check in on her how is she doing she released Jesus Take the Wheel in 2005 uh 10 months later she released another hit single and I wonder was letting go of the wheel such a good idea in her next song she sings I dug my key into the ins side of his pretty little souped up four-wheel drive I carve my.
Name into his leather seat she has a long name by the way she took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights slashed a hole in all four tires but it's his fault maybe next time he'll think before he cheats girl I don't know if letting go of the wheel did much good for you Paul tells us that the works of the flesh are evident there's a scoreboard for these things how's your enmity how's your Strife how's your jealousy fits of anger much have we been practicing much peace patience kindness gentleness self-control as it turns out letting go of the wheel bad strategy.
For sanctification so if the flesh if the flesh is this internal sin nature we have the propensity within ourself to seek after self-gratifying things and we know the signs of the flesh the various list of things that show evidence of f fleshly living then what kinds of things can we do to combat them I'm going to put Romans 8 on the screen starting in verse one there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus that's justification we talked about this earlier.
If you're in Jesus legally the transaction has happened boom you no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus you have been credited with his righteousness verse Two for the law of the spirit of life has has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death you see this ju the position again the old and the new the law of sin and death and the law of life and the spirit of life for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likness of sinful flesh.
For sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit this is the important part for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit for to set the mind on the flesh is death but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God it does not submit to God's law indeed it cannot for those who are in the flesh cannot please God and he keeps going on so let's bring up our scorecard table thing again we can add a few things on the left those who are in the flesh have set their minds on the Flesh and that leads to death and is hostile to God and on the right we have those who are in Christ they set their minds are set on things of the spirit and that leads to life and peace as they are indwelled by the spirit.
Notice that it is your mind that is set on either the things of the flesh or the things of the spirit it is the things that our minds are set on that drive us to do one thing over the other that's why we made such a big Point that's why Chad made such a big point last week of why we have to know what we believe because that helps you combat the lies that the enemy feeds so much of this is a mind game Satan's lies are Mind Games the fight with the flesh is a mind game worldly influences and temptations are Mind Games.
If you consistently flood your mind with sexual immorality that will lend itself towards works of the flesh if you consistently flood your mind with idolatry envy gousy your actions will become self-gratifying fighting against the flesh begins with controlling your mind what kinds of things do you let in what are you consuming on the internet what kind of books are you reading what kind of shows are you watching on TV what kind of music influences you who are you surrounding yourself with and what is the content of those conversations.
If you can control what your mind is set on based on the inputs that you're feeding it that will in turn control the kinds of outputs you get now in contrast if you consistently flood your mind with love goodness patience kindness the kinds of things that benefit others that will also affect your actions these are also influenced by the kinds of things that you allow into your mind in the first place what you consume on the internet in songs on TV and from others more we talk about this the more we stray into what we're going to be talking about next week which is the world and the external influences.
But my point here is that you have control over what you allow into your own mind and in doing so you have some control on the way and the format in which you are being conformed into Christ likeness now as I said at the very beginning there's a false application that can come in somewhere around this point there's an application that says of all of this that if I want to be a good Christian I have to go away and I have to do all the things I have to be loving I have to be joyful peaceful patient kind good faithful gentle and self-controlled I have to do all of these things and not do.
All of these things and that if I fall short if I give into something if I get drunk if I have a fit of rage if if I'm envious if I'm impure if I'm not doing all the good things and I suddenly do something bad then I'm a bad Christian and God's not going to have me that would be a false application that believes something like that first view of sanctification that it's all up to me that I'm on my own I provide all the power and I have to work really hard.
For this thing instead how we should be thinking about this is is much more like the third view of sanctification um a little bit further down in Romans 8 and verse 13 says the following for if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the Deeds of the body you will live let me read that with e with emphasis but if by the spirit you put to death the Deeds of the body you will live the spirit is that Palmer lift and you putting to death the Deeds of the body is hanging on to that pel lift and staying Vigilant and not letting go like.
The pomt rider I must contribute something to this uphill climb lest I lose grip of the power that actually gets me there and I end up falling to the bottom so then what does it look like to be an an active participant and what does it look like to combat the enemy of the flesh there are two practices that are as old as they come in the Christian Life uh the first one of those two is one of the fruits of the spirit it's self-control manifests itself in a bunch of different ways I think that more of this stuff than we realize more of this stuff than we give credit to is inside of our.
Control it takes focus it takes controlling our mind just like we talked about but being an active participant is filling our mind with these things and not filling our mind with these things it's no surprise then in this mental game that in the sermon of the mount Jesus says if your eye causes you to lust rip it out if your hand causes you to sin cut it off uh Paul says it differently he says crucify the Flesh and put to death what is Earthly in you doesn't matter how you take it they're all pretty violent they don't sound fun it's not supposed to be pleasant.
Because there's things in us that we love and don't want to let go of there's things in US these pervasive disordered desires that are very hard to let go of it's not likely to be easy but we are called to find the in inputs in our life that drag us back into these works of the Flesh and eradicate them uh maybe for you that is eliminating social media maybe it's moving the computer out of the office and into the living room maybe it's ending a Netflix subscription maybe it's limiting your involvement with certain friendship crowds some of us should delete Facebook Instagram snap Snapchat or Worse Tinder and Bumble.
If you don't know don't look it up some of us should not own a smartphone some of you should stop talking to that guy or that girl some of you should probably stop drinking and you probably want to argue with me in the same way that I want to argue with me because a lot of those things are not on the list their neutral territory there is nothing wrong with Facebook sure there is nothing wrong with a beer there's nothing wrong with a glass of wine at dinner there is nothing wrong with Netflix no.
But are they consuming your mind or is the part of it that consumes your mind the wrong part do you have control over this them or do they control you part of following Jesus is being con and being conformed into his likeness involves crucifying the fleshly desires that we have that is the not fun part of this but we are told it leads to life there's a second practice in the Christian Life that is as old as time and that is confession and repentance it sounds like two things they're very closely linked on I'm just going to treat them as one we read earlier in Galatians 5 that was the whole part about the works.
Of the Flesh and the fruit of the spirit here's a whole bunch of things that are of the flesh here's a whole bunch of things that are on the Spirit uh and the very next sentence in our modern Bibles it split up into chapter six but when he wrote this letter there was no chapters he was just continuing his single thought uh he continues in the very next sentence he says Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression then you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted bear one another's burdens.
And so fulfill the law of Christ we talk about bearing each other's burdens at mil City a lot so often when we do that we talk about tangible things nothing wrong with that someone's having car trouble someone needs babysitting someone needs financial assistance someone is sick those count those are bearing each other's burdens but look at this context he's just said don't do the works of the flesh do the works of the spirit if you see someone caught in transgression The Works of the flesh.
Then you who are spiritual go and restore them bear one another's burdens part of being an active participant in our sanctification part of clinging onto that pomt as we're being dragged up a mountain is having an attitude and a self-awareness and a self-control and an attitude that confesses and repents when we fall to these works of the flesh that is how we combat them that's how they lose their power it's how we can be conquering them by not hiding them anymore it's also the responsibility not just the thing that they could choose to do it is the responsibility of those we surround ourselves with to call us out of these patterns.
When they see it that's where Paul says you who are spiritual restore your brothers in a spirit of gentleness if you see your buddy he's on a pomt a metaphorical pomt and there is an obstacle in front of him and he's not paying attention you say hey wake up there's an obstacle in front of you I see you are about to hit it two hands on the palm lift Dodge that thing do not fall back into that we believe it so much we wrote it into the mil City membership Commitment.
If you've ever been to a m city class we have a one-page document that says here's all the things we believe and as a Church here's the way we apply them and point 10 reads the following confession and repentance will noticeably mark my life it's the self-awareness part I fully expect to be confronted and corrected as God allows by other members of the family and my community group to see sin in my life we need that self-discipline the self-control but we are going to stumble and we need those around us those who we've surrounded ourselves with to call us to repentance and bring us back to the Gospel the war against the flesh is not.
An easy one Satan is on the other side and he is going to tempt you over and over again with lies provoking you to giving into your own fleshly desires and they're different for each of us but by the power of the spirit we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus away from the works of the Flesh and towards the fruits of the spirit so there's elements in there of self-control but also through the restoration of our brothers and sisters and the power of confession and repentance we gain ground on that internal war against our own flesh I am not telling you do better try harder I am also not telling you do nothing.
As if God is going to do it all for you and that you have no responsibility to fight sin I am telling you that effort to fight sin is not in vain so as a Church we are going to wage that war against our own sinful flesh by pursuing the age-old practices of self-control and confession and repentance and in doing so we are conformed day by day year by year more and more into christlikeness we push away the old self and we put on the new self let's pray.
God we pray that you would continue day by day to strengthen us to empower Us by your spirit so that we may walk in the fruits of the spirit in self-control and in confession and repentance continue to build us up more and more to be like Christ each day it's in his name we pray amen uh Matt's going to make his way back up and we're going to have an opportunity this morning to take commun communion communion is a practice of the Church reserved.
For Christians for believers if you're not a Christian or you're not a Believer you're not a Believer yet I would encourage you to just stay where you are and consider what your next step towards Jesus might be if you are a Believer for the Christians in the room we're going to tape the bread we're going to dip it in the juice we're going to confess sin and repent we're going to pray that God would continue to empower Us in the fight against the flesh the stations in the front the stations in the back.
If you're like me and you're gluten-free we're headed to that corner um but everyone else go ahead and take communion.
The Devil
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here if you will grab your Bibles and go to John chapter 8 we're going to be all over the place this morning as we kind of are trying to understand a concept um and look at uh as we kind of continue this series in the three enemies um we began the series by pointing out that you are developing into something you are growing into something uh you were getting better at something it might be sitting on the couch it might be being mean to your spouse.
But you're getting better at something and what we want to as Christians get better at and grow into is the image of Christ we're trying to grow into Joy we're trying to grow into life and we're trying to develop and follow Jesus and be made more into His Image that's what we looked at the first week the second week we discussed that we have three enemies Satan the Flesh and the world are three enemies of our soul that are at work to keep us from growing into the image of Christ and we uh Isaac introduced us to this this phrasing from uh um a was a pastor.
Now he's just kind of a thought guy book writer person um John Mark comr we don't agree with all the things that he would teach but we thought he worded this really well and so we uh this is kind of what the three enemy strategy is together which is decept deceitful ideas that play to disordered design desires that are normalized in a sinful society and that's kind of the three at work together that the enemy lies that we personally want to believe the lies there's part of us that wants to sin we have disordered desires.
And then they're normalized in a sinful Society that's kind of where we are and so today we're going to look at Satan which is is just translated it's the the adversary so sometimes we might just refer to him as the enemy even though we have three that we're talking about we might be the enemy the adversary we're going to talk about Satan and how he lied so as we begin this this morning I'm going to pray and then we're going to jump in to Jesus's words in John 8.
So pray with me Father we've been lied to and we come in this morning as people who are believing lies we're believing lies about you we're believing lies about our world we're believing lies that fr name up our interactions with our families with our Church family that frame up our interactions with money and work with sacrifice and joy and so we ask that in the name of Jesus that we would hear truth this morning that we would see truth this morning that we would grow in truth this morning and that you would by the work of your spirit begin to un undo all the areas where lies have begun to take root in our souls.
And we ask this in accordance with your mercy in accordance with your power and to the glory of Your Great Name in Jesus name we pray amen John chapter 8 Jesus is teaching and in verse 30 is where we're going to pick up it's on F page 522 if you have one of these blue Bibles it says says that many of the people who had heard him believed in him and so in 31 it says this so Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him.
So they've just come to Faith just come to trusting in Jesus is who he says he is they they don't fully know what that means but they're trusting in Him he's the Messiah that he's from God and he says if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free and they answered him we are offspring of Abraham and have never been in ens slaved to anyone how is it that you say you will become free this is interesting.
Because The Offspring of Abraham was enslaved at one point it's also currently under Roman occupation but they seem to be making this a very literal like we're not the the people of Abraham aren't slaves we're not enslaved right now like what are you talking about I've never been a slave I'm a free agent I can do what I want what are you talking about they mean it really practically really earthy and he says verse 34 Jesus answered answer them truly truly I say to you everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin the slave does not remain in the house forever the sun remains forever.
So if the sun sets you free you will be free indeed so Jesus says I'm not talking about Earthly bondage I'm talking about eternal bondage I'm talking about Sin they're like we we're offspring of Abraham we're not slaves he says oh have you sinned he like oh probably it's like yeah every one who sins is a slave to sin your soul is enslaved to this and and he says the slave isn't free the son is free and that's himself he's the son.
So if the son sets you free you'll be free indeed so he's saying that he's going to set you free from sin he's going to work to set free from sin which is our other enemy The Flesh which desires sin is sold under bondage to sin and so he's saying he can set you free from sin he ultimately does this by paying the penalty of sin the price of redemption which is buying slav slaves Freedom price of redemption at the cross where he pays the penalty.
For our sin so he saying you can come to me and be set free I know verse 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham so he's saying I know that you are Jewish I know that you've come from Abraham yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you I speak of what I have seen with my father and you do what you have heard from your father so he says I know your offspring of Abraham.
But you're doing what you've heard from your father that's going to be important later but he says you've been listening to your father and you're doing what he's told you to do they answered him Abraham is our father this is getting these are the people who just believed and now it's already tense you ever feel like that like I just became a Christian why is Jesus all up in my business I already did the thing it's like yeah this is what he's doing he's working these things out.
So he says they say Abraham is our father Jesus said to them if you were Abraham's children you would be doing the works Abraham did but now you seek to kill me a man who has told the truth that I heard from God this is not what Abraham did he says no no you're you're not you're wrong you are doing The Works your father did so he's all right so this father that they've been hearing from this father they've been listening to is not Abraham he said no.
If you were If Abraham if you were really his children you'd do what he did but you're not your penny takes it back to their father they said to him we were not born of sexual immorality we have one father even God so they say okay well if Abraham's not our father God's our father Jesus said to them if God were your father you would love me for I came from God and I am here I came not of my own accord.
But he sent me why do you not understand what I say it is because you cannot bear to hear my word you are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father's desires he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him when he lies he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of Lies but because I tell you the truth you do not believe me.
Okay so in us trying to understand the devil this is a helpful passage where Jesus is talking and explaining something about him first of all Satan is real he has a real personhood he's a real entity it's not an idea or concept or like a a vague Force out in the world Satan is a real spiritual being Jesus treats him as real the Scriptures treat him as real we see Jesus interact with him he's throughout the Scriptures a real being he is spoken of in some ways the way we speak of as of Hitler that Satan uh is leading this Rebellion against.
God so it's Satan and all of his demonic forces and so that when I say we speak of the way we speak of Hitler like you might could have read a a newspaper article that says Hitler invades Poland but if you looked at the picture it would not be like Hitler running into Poland it means Hitler and his forces Hitler as a figurehead Hitler as working against the world and that's the way Satan has spoken of some in the Scriptures he's a physical being like a spiritual being an entity he has personhood.
But he's not omnipresent and so when it talks about Satan a lot of times it just means all of his forces at work against God but he's saying that Satan himself is a liar and the father of lies and he's a murderer and a liar so his aim is destruction his aim is death but his strategy is lies we see this in Genesis he's working towards death but he lies this is what he's doing he's working towards destruction he's working towards death and his strategy is lies he's the.
Father of lies he's the father they've been listening to so they're listening to lies believing lies and acting out of that that's what he's talking about and that all lies ultimately find their Source in Satan which makes sense because God created reality and reality exists we have reality there are certain realities in life life we're not in the Matrix this isn't a simulation we have reality which means that we also have unreality so we have reality we have unreality this is why we'll say phrases like that boy's in.
For a real reality check because reality is what you run into when you're wrong this is why we can say you'll get a dose of reality what we mean is you're about to realize you're wrong and reality it will teach you because there's reality and there's unreality Now by God's good design for us we can hold unreality in our minds this imagination this is how we build things how we come up with ideas so we can think about a thing that doesn't really exist.
But it also is the thing that lets us believe lies so we have three things we have reality truth we have unreality imagination or lies so we have or and we have what we think what we believe this is why Jesus calls us to Faith calls us to believe in him and sometimes I think we frame that up like there's a whole lot of things we could believe in and Jesus is one of those things and he's saying hey believe in me like.
If you went to the grocery store and you were buying cleaning products there's like a whole wall of cleaning products and all of them are saying pick me now all of them will help you clean there's not one there that's going to make things dirtier they're all going to help you clean you're trying to figure out which one's the best and I think sometimes we think that's what it's like with Jesus that all these things are good or all these things are helpful or all these things will work in life.
But Jesus is saying he's the best but the reality is Jesus is saying he's the truth that there is one reality that God created the world and that Jesus Christ is the way back to God that he's the reality and that everything else is a lie everything else is untrue and so it matters a lot what we think it matters how we frame up the world because we have reality and we have unreality and Jesus is calling us back to him and we're doing this all the time we're thinking all the time we're framing the world up all the time in order to help you kind of wrap your head around this I want to.
Talk about maps and math and I know somebody here is like finally I've been wanting to talk about maps and math well you're welcome today's your day all of us that live in this area wherever you live it's a real place there it's an actual City actual buildings that you can run into roads that you can ride on and then all of us are building a map in our heads all the time we're constructing our own map so that we can travel around you do this in your house you have a pretty good map of your house like you don't usually you're not sitting in the living room and go I'm going to go to.
The restroom and point to your front yard but go to the restroom you know where your bathroom is so you'll point the right direction but the bigger the map gets the maybe the fog or it gets for you and you might be the type of person who just points in random directions and stresses people out Spencer does this periodically from up here he'll be like over in kids City and you can see people twitch because kid City's that way but you can do this you can have you have this map in your head that you're building all the time and we build it differently.
When you start talking to to somebody you'll realize the way their Map works is different than yours every time I'm talking to miss Louise and I'm trying to find a place trying to go somewhere she will she will use Road names I don't have all the road names memorize Miss Louise has all the road names memor I don't she use Road names sometimes you might talk with someone and they'll use directions they're like well you're going to head north and you're like I I'll make sure to bring my compass they'll say things like.
Well that's where the Old Farm buau used to be it's like oh how what I often have to talk to people and I'll say things like they'll be telling me stuff and using Road names or whatever and I'll say do restaurants tell me where the closest Bojangles is this this works well because sometimes I learn about new restaurants but I know where restaurants are you're like you know where the Arby's and Casey is yes I know where the Arby and Casey is.
Now you can get me there but we're building this map if your map in your mind is right you'll get where you want to go if the m map in your mind is wrong you'll be led astray this is how it works with reality and unreality and you're building a map of your world not just a physical map but you're building a map of your world with Concepts like freedom and fairness and joy and hope and the purpose of life you're building that in your mind all the time that's Maps math one of the things I love about like spaceship movies or science fiction movies is at some point in the movie.
If it's a good one there's a moment where math becomes immensely important they're like talking through things and like we can get these people home and someone raises their hand in the back and they're like not if you want them to have air they're like what do you mean and they're like math or there's like a guy with a whiteboard and he's just been mathing it up he runs in all sweaty and he's like the math and we're all like if they do a good job we're like the math.
Because we know that math is meant to correspond to reality that's the point they're doing all this math so they know how much time they have how fast they can travel if they come in at the right angle will they burn up this is just Pro tip I know we've got some teachers in here if you teach math this is how to teach math make them watch one of those videos first day and then when you give them math problems and they get it wrong just be like oh your astronauts are dead anybody else want to try that way you keep fifth graders with the intensity cranked up.
So they know why math is important the point is we're working working out something that corresponds to reality and what I need you to know is when it comes to your life you're doing the math and you're making the map all the time and if it corresponds to reality you'll get where you want to go alive and if it doesn't you'll be led astray and burnt up and it matters and Jesus says I am the way the truth truth and the life.
But this is how the enemies at work he's lying he's the father of lies and here's how his lies work I have been a part of two surprise parties in my life like planned surprise parties not just like an impromptu hey we're having a party but like a planned surprise party one I was the surprise e like I walked in and people surprise which is fine and two I was one of the surpris ear I hid in a house and I got to be like surprise.
But I think the best surprise party job is the person who distracts the person who's going to be surprised you're in on it but you don't have to crouch down in a dark house for a long period of time you're just the person who's going to keep them busy you're going to go to the movie with them or whatever but your job one job is they can't go home till the designated time or whatever you've got to keep them distracted.
If you go and the movie sold out you've got to come up with something else it doesn't matter what it is anything else will work you can deflate your tires you can be like let's go to another movie you can be like hey let's go eat you can be like I really suddenly need to start a stamp collection let's head to the post office you can come up with whatever you want it's anywhere but home and that's Satan's goal anywhere.
Jesus anywhere but reality so if that's complete Rebellion aggression promiscuity wickedness you're harming people great great but if it's distraction comfortable nice quiet suburban American life where everything's fine and you're good and you're nice enough and you're not one of those bad people out there fine anywhere but home anywhere but Jesus believe anything but Jesus this is why the lie of all roads lead to God is a great one because anywhere but Jesus it it that's the ways it worked and this is what he's doing he's lying.
So Jesus is going to say this is why Jesus calls us back to the truth when they ask Jesus in John six what do we need to do to do the work of God he says this this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent he's calling us back to reality he's saying you need to trust in me you need to know that I am your hope I'm the way the truth the life Satan wants any other way anything that's not that is not the truth it's a lie and it doesn't lead to life.
So we've got the way through truth to life or we have any other way through a lie to death it's the way it works Revelation 129 this is the enemy this is what he does it's all over the place and the Great Dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan the deceiver of the whole world we're in 2 Corinthians 11 but I'm afraid as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ or Titus 3:3 he says.
For we ourselves were once foolish disobedient LED astray slaves to various passions and Pleasures passing our days in Malice and envy hated by others hating one another or Romans 1 when it's talking about how the world works this big thing that it says is that they exchanged the truth about God for a lie what lie any lie anything but reality Works anything but Jesus Works 2 Corinthians 4:4 in their case the God of this world has blinded the what blinded the what Minds what would we expect you to blind eyes.
But he's at work in our thoughts he's at work in the world of ideas he's at work in what we believe so he blinds the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God this is why second Corinthians will say things like this Same Same Book same letter just later for though we walk in the flesh we are not Waging War according to the flesh so flesh there just means physical IAL body that we have physical bodies we're not Christian war is not against physical bodies it's not like all right y'all we're going to do PT training next week.
And then we're all going to get our guns and we're going to go attack those unbelievers and that's not what this is we can just get rid of those bad people that's not how this works at all the war is not against flesh and blood it's not a Waging War according to the Flesh and it says this for the weapons of our Warfare so we said we have three enemies we're waging a war are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds that's a verse y'all we have weapons we're in war and our weapons have divine power.
So I don't know if you pictured yourself with weapons well now they're like glowing like you pulled the sword out and it's like it's got divine power and it's got divine power to do what destroy strongholds a stronghold is like a tower or a castle something that's meant to keep you out something that's been built and planted and rooted it's here it's not going anywhere and he says no we have weapons of divine power that I mean obliterate them we read this we like yeah let's go.
And then he keeps going we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ where is the war happening in your mind it's happening in what we think and what we believe and the arguments and opinions I don't think when he's saying we destroy arguments he means get your YouTube apologetics video going and start destroying people I don't think he I don't think he means that but he does mean we need to undo arguments undo opinions we need to we need to step into the realm of the spirit to believe what is true and what is right and what is good and what is.
Real and that we actually have power to do that but the war is happening in what is true and what is a lie and this is happening in your mind all the time Dallas Willard is a pastor and he says that we truly live at the mercy of our ideas that your life is framed up by what you think by what you believe by how you think about your world we're truly living at the mercy of our ideas Spencer went on sabatical and in my head I realized a couple weeks in that I was just repeating to myself I'm going to be really tired after this.
Because it just I had to take on extra stuff but I I was busier and I just kept saying Yeah I'm going to be tired after this I'm going to be tired after this and then I got convicted the spirit helped me but he was like why why why are you saying that over and over again there's no no mercy no Grace no work of the spirit no strength you're that important like it was like like 15 different ways I was told yeah shut up.
And then I was just framed up with I was like all right I'm gonna think of a better way to think of that and I decided we'll be a better Pastor after this and when he's back I'll feel like a superhero cuz I won't be as busy that's the have framed it up I've started saying it that way in my head but we're at all times living at the mercy of our ideas and we have big ones that frame up the world we have like World constructing ideas uh I was reading a book by Carl Truman He calls this the social imaginary.
But it's where we've collectively come up with ideas like freedom justice fairness like there are things that we kind of all agree to so that someone can yell at you that's unfair and they're they're they're throwing a concept at you telling you to imagine the same idea and there are ones that we've culturally agreed to some of them are good and in in line with reality some of them aren't there are things that our culture has agreed to that other cultures haven't and there are things that other cultures have agreed to that are culture hasn't like we don't talk about shame a lot I doubt you've ever looked and been like I've shamed my my.
Ancestors I just don't think you've said that but if I'm watching a movie of a samurai and he's like on his knees in the rain and he says I've shamed my ancestors I'm like like oh no don't do that I actually probably have shamed my ancestors but I've never talked about it never even thought about it because I'm riding around on the you know my horse smoking my Mars and being a free American I can do what I want ain't nobody ain't no me.
But me you know like that I don't have any ancestors I'm trying to shame or live up to or whatever we just don't think about it it's not the thing that we've framed up but we have things that we have framed up that we've agreed to and we've held up in our minds but there are other ones there are some that are line with God's grace his goodness his reality if you find any truth and you pull that thread you'll eventually get to Christ that's how this works.
Because all reality belongs to him and so we have things that are mixed with truth we have some things that are good some some freedom is good but absolute negative Freedom which is that nothing should ever impose on me and anything that does anything that has a claim on me or tells me I can't be the most me I can be is e evil well then you can't have children you can't get married or you'll be married for just as long as that doesn't impose on your absolute freedom uh we've got the idea of consumerism running out there I have more stuff I'm more happy we bought into that we have the sexual Revolution that.
My sexual desires give me an identity tell me who I am and that no one can ever tell me I can't pursue those and that if I'm sexually fulfilled as a person then I'm a real person we have that does that line up with God's reality and truth and goodness does that lead towards life or destruction we have the idea that if I was in power if I had more power if I was more respected if my political party was in power.
Then I'd have joy I'd be at peace everything would be good we've had that one for a long time all of these things the enemy has worked to bring in lies I want to show you how some of this works more personally we have the big ones that we believe but they're also what do you do with those so let's just think about the LIE I'd be happier if now you can put in whatever your if is it's possible that when you fill that out you said I'd be happier.
If I was more obedient to Christ but I doubt that's what you've been repeating to yourself I think you've probably been saying something like I'd be happier if I had more money more house more car more whatever I'd be happier if things would be better if I had more power if my relationship was better My Romance was better I was in this relationship out of this relationship out of this relationship and in that relationship whatever I'd be happier if something now most good lies have some truth in them like.
When I run out and try to you know deal with my boys and I'm saying what is going on like why are yall screaming and hitting each other or whatever if one of them looks at me and goes I I'm not even here I'm at school it's like that's terrible there nowhere close like you got to you got to at least you know get close change it just a few places so the truth is you might actually be a little bit happier.
If I'm not going to argue with that a little bit sure if your house was bigger I bet you'd like that okay if people respected you more yeah wow who wouldn't like that nobody's like I wish I was more disrespected that's nonsense but these things the thing that you're repeating the thing that you're saying over and over again your head you're hearing repeated the lie that the enemy is feeding you is kind of true but there's more to it my son has an egg allergy uh he can't eat cake.
Because there's egg baked in he can have icing most of that's just sugar so he likes icing and we have never been like we're going to build our whole diet around this kid who can't eat things that's crazy so we would eat pizza and feed him Beans and we would have cake and give him scoops of icing we' just be like here this is probably not good for you but that's fine he likes icing if he sees cake what you see is the icing he can eat the icing.
But there's death baked in and that's what the enemy has done he's iced a cake with something that's kind of true and there are all these assumptions baked in there's death baked in so I'd be happier if blank well there's a whole lot of assumptions that if we can drop this down you'll suddenly go oh wait hold on a second I'd be happier if blank okay I deserve this Jesus is withholding God is withholding this or uh since I'd be happier with it and I know that.
God wants me to be happy therefore I should have blame he he actually wants me to have it he wouldn't stand in the way of it we'll say things like if it were really a sin I'd feel convicted it's actually just an indication of how far our hearts are from Jesus that you feel nothing as you blatantly sin uh if I don't get this I'm G to waste my life being miserable I only have so much time we're going to live.
For eternity if this doesn't change I can't put up with this forever I can't deal with this forever there's assumptions in all of these things about where the good life is where Joy is found where hope is found whether eternity exists whether Jesus actually saves whether he's actually good and that he actually has our good in mind all of those things are baked in and all we're doing is repeating the the icing over and over again and so we're eating the whole thing.
But there's death baked in this is all over the place and all these lies are ultimately lies about Jesus because any truth is going to lead us to him so any lie is going to point away from him and all of them are about Jesus any lie that you're believing I can like you can sit and consider it for a while and you can see how ultimately that makes an accusation about God about what is good about who he is about what he does about what he promises about what he provides about whether or not There's Hope in him about whether or not there's satisfaction in him about whether or not there's joy in him.
And so the enemy is not just accusing us and tempting us but he's constantly lying about Christ and we see that in the garden that's what he shows up and does twists a little lie a little Hal truth a little question a little something Tobit the hook that ultimately begs the question is God really good can he really be trusted so we repeat things to ourselves and a lot of them are a little true most of them are a little true I'm the worst have you got some evidence of that I'm a terrible sinner yeah Bible tells you that I'm going to ruin everything maybe you do ruin some stuff you've made bowling less fun.
One time I know no nobody wants me around I'm a burden to my group a little bit sometimes that's the nature of relationships if they're real all of them have some bit of Truth with a wicked conclusion one of the questions I'll I'll talk with people when I'm counseling them sometimes is I'll just say would the Holy Spirit tell you that would the Holy Spirit draw that conclusion every time the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin calls you a sinner whatever he's he's pulling you back to.
Jesus he's pulling you back to repentance he's pulling you back to Joy if he says you're a burden to your group if the Holy Spirit says it well he's correcting you on something but he's going to press you into your group probably first through repentance or gratitude but the enemy is going to say you're a burden to your group get out go die alone he's going to have some kind of terrible conclusion something's going to be baked into that some kind of assumption about.
God assumption about his people I'll show you a lie that I think a lot of you here or repeat to yourself on a regular basis in some form and it's this one I've been married for 15 years this past may I wrote my wife a card all it said on the front when I opened it up was I love you asterisk how you think that would have gone over I didn't give her a car that did that I had to explain later it's going to be a sermon illustration.
Okay no I don't do that but that asterisk changes the sentence but some of you here yeah yeah okay yeah yeah Jesus loves you yeah yeah your group will say well you know Jesus loves you and you'll go had that little asterisk you'll do it to yourself when you're working through sin you go I know Jesus loves me and it's like there's some fine print and the fine print is usually technically kind of Jesus forgives me asterisk I'm welcome here asterisk and you you accept it.
Because you think it's about you but Satan has just lied about Jesus not you that his Mercy's not enough that his love isn't enough that his redemption's not enough that when Ephesians says that he washes the Church so that she doesn't have a spot or wrinkle or blemish or any such thing that somehow you've snuck in as what a spot a wrinkle a blemish a such thing that you're somehow in on a technicality that you're somehow welcome on a technicality that you don't really belong here these are lies From Hell from an enemy that wants to leads you to hell that wants to pull you away from.
Jesus that wants to pull you away from joy that wants to tell you you're kind of forgiven is and want you to live in a world where there's no glorious mercy and Grace from the King where there's no Redemption and joy where you're only dragging around as kind of some little Mark on your group on your Church on the people of God and you don't really belong here and you'll show up on Sundays and go nobody talks to me and never even think about the fact that you talked to no one that we're some how just not really the one who's really included not really the one who's really welcome and he's told us this.
Over and over again these lies about I'll be happier if I can get out of this marriage I can't put up with this anymore I can't stand this anymore everybody hates me my spouse hates me they'll never forgive me this person dislikes me this person I mean it's all over the place you have been lied to you have heard the lies from the father of Lies you've been lied to a lot so what do we do we said early on we're going to talk about our enemies.
But we were going to get practices things to do to help fight against this stuff well the first thing to do is this you need to know Jesus Colossians 2 2-4 says Paul's writing and he says he's praying about the Church he says I pray that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love to to reach all the riches of full Assurance of understanding and the knowledge okay this all stuff in our head of God's mystery which is Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments you need.
Jesus and you need to know that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and truth and reality are in him they're in him and he says I'm saying this so that no one would delude you with a plausible argument because the arguments will sound pretty good they've got some truth in there they got some reality in there but just enough to pull you astray just some asteris to get you away and he's saying no I want you to know Jesus if you don't know.
Jesus you need to know Jesus and y'all if you belong to Jesus he has defeated the enemy he says that we're in an unpluckable hand you're not going anywhere this is what 1 John 3:8 says say whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil he came to win and he did on the cross Colossians 2:15 says he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open Shame by triumphing over them in him that him is.
Jesus and it says that he nailed to the cross our debt the record of our debt the enemy has nothing on you anymore you you do not lose Paul Paul in Romans is writing a letter he talks all this theology talks about all these things and when he's ending his closing remarks he's saying say hey to this person say hey to this person and he just includes this the God of Peace will soon Crush Satan under your feet Jesus wins he has already disarmed the enemy and he will crush the enemy.
But then we're told things like do this so you won't be outwitted by Satan that we won't be uh blind to the schemes of the devil or 1 Peter 5'8 says Be sober minded Be watchful your adversary the devil prows around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour I love that because sober minded means think clearly and As Americans none of us think that thinking clearly is watching out for the devil none of us are like I just got to be on guard against the devil I'm trying to think clear that's not we're not trained that way in the west.
But Peter says you need to he's writing to the Church not that the devil will steal your soul but that you'll believe his lies and he'll rob you of joy and fruitfulness and relationship and delight and rest and worship he's not going to take you ultimately to hell he can't he can't if you belong to Christ you aren't going to be condemned but he can help you mess up your marriage he can help you choose sin he can help you leave a Church or tear one one up.
So we need to Be watchful so what do we do first first thing you need to do is know Jesus second thing you need to know your Bible so happy to get to say that I feel like there's a little bit of like really this is going to end with read your Bible yes yes it's going to end with read your Bible y'all did you see what Jesus said to the people that first believed in in John 8:31 so Jesus said to the Jews who have believed in him.
If you abide in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free and then he goes into a big discussion with them about how they've been listening to the lies of Satan they believe and he says you need to know the word because you've heard so many lies that you're outdoing the works of Satan you need to know the word y'all that word abide means live you need to live in your Bible you know how you go to someone else's house and you're like where's the trash can or you need a spoon and you open what should be their spoon drawer and you're like.
Idiots Ziploc bags and spatulas close it and then you go where your spoons but in your house you don't do that you know right where everything is cuz you live there you need to know right where everything is because you live there when the enemy shows up and tells you something you need to go nope that can't be true that can't be true because Jesus told me something else that can't be true because Jesus told me something else he says this here hold on a.
Second I'll get there hold on hold on wait wa wait wait wait that thing about yeah I'm the worst yeah yeah watch this watch this watch this watch this I was dead in my trespasses and sins this is the beginning of a good sermon I'm the worst yeah yeah yeah but God being great in Mercy with what the great love that he had for us he's shown steadfast Grace to us that he's at work to show immeasurable Riches of his kindness in the future that I have a hope of an eternity don't get me going we got to know where it is this is why.
Jesus who can every time he speaks it turns red letter just so y'all know when he speaks it's it's Bible every single time when he's Tempted By by Satan in Luke and Matthew do you know how he responds every single time he quotes Deuteronomy because he's showing us if you want to not believe lies you better have Bible in you you better have the word of God in you you better live here I don't know what lies you're believing but I know you're believing.
So I don't know what you've had on repeat in your head that is working to lead you out of your out of faithfulness out of peace out of joy out of Grace I don't know what you've been repeating in your head that's leading you towards sin I don't know what you've been uh making okay in your head that you know the Bible says isn't okay I don't know what it is that you're working towards or that's allowing you to be unfaithful or that's robbing you of the grace and the joy of belonging to a Church or belonging to a people or repenting of sin I don't know what it is.
But I know it's there and I know that we need to live here and by God's grace enjoy what he's purchased for us in the cross let's pray Lord we've been lied to we've been tricked the enemy's baited the hook and we've bitten and we ask that by the power of your spirit that right now you would begin to help people hear the lives you'd begin to help them hear what they've been repeating to themselves over and over again what they've bought into about the good life about Joy about Hope about Eternity.
For those who do not trust you may they see the truth the enem is trying to get them anywhere but Jesus we ask your spirit to be at work and we praise you for rescuing us and calling us back to the truth may we be a people who love your word in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up we're going to sing and celebrate the victory of Christ I I don't know what your Bible reading looks like I don't know.
If reading's really hard for you I don't know if you don't know how to read There are apps that will read to you there are ways to memorize Scripture but we've got to live here we've got to abide in it we've got to act as if our joy and our life depends on it because so much of it does and it all points us towards Freedom towards Grace towards hope and I would encourage you sometime this week to get to a quiet place get your phone away from you get a blank sheet of paper and ask the spirit what lies have I been believing he loves to answer that question.
And then get your face here and see what's true.
The Three Enemies
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there we owe Our Lives to you because without you we want to be here this morning so we're grateful that you've come to be here on this Father's Day with us if you are new here I want to welcome you my name is Isaac I'm one of the pastors here at m city and we're glad that you decided to uh be here thank you that's my grandparents in the back give me a shout out.
So but we're glad that you decided to be here uh last week we started a new short series um that we have titled the three enemies uh and we are going to be focusing on uh through the next couple weeks how the Bible highlights the reality that we are at war that this is not a peace time for us and if you were with us last week Chad uh did some introduction and laid some groundwork to talk about and and help us understand the idea that the things that we do are doing things to us he talked about the idea that there is no neutral ground.
And if you were with us or if you listen to it uh you might have been a little confused as to why we titled the series The Way We did CU he didn't talk about any enemies that we have but fear not we have not made a mistake today this morning we get to talk about all three enemies and so our goal this morning is to um take a bird's eye view Approach at what the Scripture talks about and offers in terms of um who they are and how they're working together against the kingdom of.
God in our lives and so with this idea of this kind of like wartime language um if you're ever in war which uh some of you may have been but for most of us we've been in peace time um but a reconnaissance mission is a helpful tactic and trying to understand who your enemy is and how you can be successful in your uh work against him and so that's what we're going to do today is that we're going to go on a recon mission we're going to go to try to gather uh information about who and what our enemies are.
And then also specifically look at what is their strategy how do they work together um to to Lobby attacks against the kingdom of God and specifically those of us that belong to that Kingdom so let's pray and then we will Dive In Father we thank you for this opportunity that we get to ga gather together that we get to sing praises to your name and worship and honor you and recognize that this life is not about us but about what you're doing and we pray this morning that as we open up your word and we seek to understand more about you uh and specifically as we seek to understand more about the enemies that are.
At work against you that it would be helpful for us and that your spirit would be at work in our lives to uh convict us of our sin and help us to confess our need for Jesus so we pray this in your name amen so in the Bible you're not going to come across like a chapter and a verse that just clearly says there are three enemies of the kingdom of God and they are blank blink blink you don't really see that rather throughout the whole Narrative of the Scripture it's going to refer to these enemies over and over and over again and there are however a couple of of spots where they are talked.
About in Consolidated space and one of those is in Ephesians chapter 2 that we just read um as a responsive reading earlier and that's where we're going to be first this morning so if you open up your Bibles and turn to Ephesians chapter 2 if you didn't bring a Bible with you this morning you can use one of the blue Bibles that's in the seat rack in the seat in front of you uh if you use one of those Bibles it's going to be on page 568.
And so first we're going to read through it and then we're going to uh go back through and identify how Paul talks about the three enemies here so chapter 2 verse one and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of Disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by Nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind.
So these three verses as Standalone when you just read those three they are a pretty big Downer they don't exactly inspire a whole lot of Joy they don't exactly inspire a whole lot of excitement when you read them and that's because they are talking about the reality of mankind apart from the work of Christ of course we got a sneak peek at what Paul says later in these passages earlier when we read through it um but this is the reality of us as people apart from.
Jesus and him ushering in the kingdom of God that we're dead in our trespasses and sins and specifically Paul is going to highlight three enemies at work against that kingdom of God so let's go back through and we're going to work our way through to identify them first and then we're going to spend some time defining those enemies and looking throughout the Scriptures to help us um build a foundation so let's go back to the top you are dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world that's the.
First enemy that Paul talks about here and that we'll spend some time on today the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air and that title isn't used all over the place Paul specifically uses it here um but the language that we're more familiar with is the devil or Satan okay that's who he's talking about there the spirit that is now at work in the sons of Disobedience and then in verse three among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and mind that the flesh is The Last Enemy here that Paul is going to talk about and that we'll.
Spend some time in today so these are the three enemies that we are going to focus on and work to Define this morning and then what we're going to do after we Define them is we're going to talk about their strategy how do they work together against the kingdom of God that's it's not just scattered in random okay there's a real strategy at play the way that they operate is um unified and they work together so we'll see that um as a quick heads up we are going to move fairly quickly through the definition of all of these enemies.
Because if we were to try to spend all the time to build a robust understanding this sermon would be at least four sermons long and you don't want that and I don't want that the next three weeks what we're going to do is we're going to spend um some time in each enemy taking a deep dive to look into it so first this morning we just need to do enough work to have a foundation for what we're going to talk about.
So first we're going to talk about um the prince of the power of the air that that's going to be the first one the devil or Satan and the first thing that I want us to understand based on the way that Scripture talks about um this enemy is that he is a real spiritual being okay he is a real spiritual being it the Scriptures does not talk about about him as if he's just like an idea it it doesn't refer to language as.
If it's an analogy talking about something else um it he's not the boogeyman that's like just the thing that's kind of in the closet that you blame stuff on as to why you're afraid but it's a real spiritual being with agency that has effect in our lives and so that's an important thing that we need to understand um as uh you read throughout the Scriptures you'll come across language like the names the devil or Satan and in Scripture names are important the definition of a name will give you insight into what is trying to be communicated about this person or this being.
And so specifically here Satan or Satan in the Hebrew it means adversary that's what it is he's referred to as the adversary and of course that's where this language of enemies comes from is that we have a great adversary who's working against the kingdom of God um and this shows up all throughout the Scriptures it shows up in the Old Testament history it shows up in Old Testament poetry it shows up in the prophets it shows up in the gospels Jesus talks about them all the time it shows up in Acts Epistles Revelation you get the idea from beginning to end this enemy this real spiritual being is talked about as a reality in our.
Lives uh the the other name that he's talked about that talked about by that we are familiar with is the devil and that Greek word diabos it means false accuser or slanderer okay that's who he is he's a false accuser and a slanderer and it's a Greek word so it doesn't show up in the Old Testament but it's all throughout the gospels that Jesus refers to him by this name it's in the Epistles as well it's in Revelation once again you get the idea that this being this real spiritual being with agency is talked about all throughout the Scriptures there are a couple other places in Scripture that begin to talk about kind of how.
He operates some and so we'll look at some of those to continue to build out a foundation in Luke chapter 4 um this is a popular passage where Jesus is about to go into the Wilderness where he's going to be tempted and so Jesus is headed out into the Wilderness and he says that he was being tempted by the devil so one of the things that this enemy does is he tempts okay he is a tempter that he tries to lure people away from the way of.
God in John chapter 8 Jesus is talking with some Pharisees and he's going to help them understand this reality about who this enemy is he says he that's the devil was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him when he lies he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies that the enemy he lies and he's a murderer this is how Jesus is talking about this enemy.
And so what I want us to see and kind of each one of these enemies we're going to talk about kind of their main weapon of attack that they use to Lobby against us in the kingdom of God and specifically here what I want you to see and want us to see this morning is that lies are his main weapon against God's kingdom and specifically against us as we seek to follow Jesus I mean you see this in the way that.
Jesus talks about him he calls him the father of Lies you see this in the name the devil false accuser that's lies or slanderer that's spreading lies about somebody or even in Temptation tempting somebody is a lie about something that's better than Jesus so this idea of he's a liar is kind of we're going to use that to build off of um that this is his main weapon of attack against the kingdom of God and so that's the first enemy now the.
Second enemy that we'll talk about is the flesh um in uh the Greek the word is SARS and it has several different uh meanings and so first of all it can just mean flesh like you and I would use the word so it just talking about like Skin and Bones like we have or or whatever but it's it when when Paul is talking about it in this passage and throughout the rest of uh the Scripture as it's trying to communicate this idea of this enemy it's going to be talking about something that is deeper and I was as I was doing some reading and trying to put together a good definition I came across what.
I thought was the best definition from uh Strong's exhaustive Bible concordance and the definition that he gave is the seat of sin in man the seat of sin in man that in other words there is a part of us that we've all felt you've all experienced it that feels drawn towards the things that either the Bible itself says isn't good or even we would just intuitively know isn't good you don't even have to believe in Jesus to know that this part of you exists this flesh in you the way that Paul says it in Romans he says that I do the things that I don't want to do and I don't even do the things.
That I do want to do in other words he's talking about that reality that there's a part of us where sin is at work and the language that the Bible uses about this enemy is the Flesh in Galatians Paul says walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
So you can see here the desires of the flesh are against the desires of the spirit they're opposite from each other in Romans Paul says put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires or as Peter puts it in 1 Peter chapter 4 uh so as to live for the rest of Time In the Flesh that's this flesh here no longer for human passions so hopefully you're seeing here this connected idea that the main kind of weapon that this enemy has against us is what Paul Paul talks about in Ephesians 2 as the passions and the desires of the body and the mind that this is the.
Way that this enemy works against God's kingdom and against us specifically in our lives is that it plays off of our desires as people so that's the second enemy the third enemy is the world and similarly to the flesh it has several different meanings the Greek word here is Cosmos that's where we get our word Cosmos from and so first of all it can just be talking about and referring to uh the physical natural world as we know it the trees the grass the universe all that kind of stuff.
But once again it's working to communicate at something deeper when the Scriptures are referring to the world as an enemy and also once again I found that the most helpful definition that I could come across was from the Strong's exhaustive Bible concordance and it is the present condition of human Affairs an alienation from an opposition to God the present condition of human Affairs and alienation from and opposition to God the way that James puts it in chapter 4 he says do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with.
God so once again we're seeing that these ideas are opposed to each other that the language of the Scriptures is that the world is against God's kingdom and the way that it's going to be talked about in Colossians chapter 2 Paul says this he says see to it that no one one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ or as he writes in Galatians 4 in the same way we also.
When we were children were ins slaved to the elementary principles of the world in other words there are agreed upon and underlying assumptions or philosophies which inform a way of life that is based on what Paul says is empty deceit and human tradition that we as people we love knowing why things work and why things happen and we do that with the world itself and apart from Christ what Paul is saying is all of the philosophers and the great thinkers who have been trying to consider what is this world why does it exist how does it work he says.
If you work to the bottom of their system what you'll come to is empty deceit that apart from Christ and apart from the Scriptures you will come to empty deceit and ultimately it's just it up to human tradition if you will and so the main weapon that I want us to see that this enemy uses against the kingdom of God and against us is the idea of co-signing beliefs and practices co-signing beliefs and practices in other words it's a place that provides us the ability to hide I mean everybody else is doing it right that's the language we get to use.
When we're talking about the world so these are the three enemies like I said we were going to work through them quick we just quickly tried to identify them we were going all over the place in the Scriptures to try to work to have a foundation and so we have the devil we have Satan that's what we're going to refer to him as this morning we have the Flesh and we have the world and so now with an understanding of who these enemies are.
Now we're going to spend some time to understand how do they work together how does the fact that the devil lies and our flesh has a craving and desire for the things that are against God and the world just makes it Easy by being an echo chamber of itself and its own bad ideas how do these work together and to do so I'm going to turn to Genesis chapter 3 it'll be up on the screen here and we're going to read the.
First seven verses of Genesis chapter 3 this is the very beginning of the Bible this is this is right as things are getting started and what it's going to highlight is it's going to show how these enemies have been at work from the very beginning so chapter 3 verse 1 now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made he said to the woman did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden and the woman said to the serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.
But God said You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden neither shall you touch it lest you die but the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil so 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 to be desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who is with her and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked so the first character we come across here in this story is the serpent and uh the serpent he's talked about he's referred to as a serpent in Genesis and in Revelation and then in one spot in second Corinthians the serpent is referencing this enemy the devil or Satan uh and so first we're seeing him at work here and now when we read this passage and we read that there is a serpent who is talking we're a me like our radar is up like.
Okay what's going on here and the reality is that the original readers of the text also would have been like whoa whoa whoa what is going on here um because we know that snakes don't talk and so when this snake is talking we're thinking what is going on um but in talking with Chad and trying to figure out how do you how do you quickly kind of talk about this without getting too deep in the weeds um he mentioned this beautiful thing that I never considered they're in Paradise Eve is just.
Now discovering the world maybe for her snakes talk she's figuring it out and maybe even more important than that they're in Paradise they've never been hurt she's never been deceived so why would she question what is going on so if if you're uh prone to skepticism when you come across these kinds of texts hopefully that's a helpful framework for you as we continue on but anyways we see here this serpent the devil who's going to come in and he's going to start to be really crafty he's going to be.
So so crafty the the serpent doesn't just come in and he doesn't just come and tell a bold face lie that's totally out of left field right he doesn't say something ridiculous because Eve probably would have caught on rather he takes some ideas that she's already heard about from what God has told Adam and Eve and then he begins to twist it and then he begins to turn it into a lie but not so much that Eve catches on to what he's doing.
And so this is the first enemy at work from the very beginning that he's taking what is truth and he's beginning to turn it into a lie and he's lying to Adam and Eve about what they really need what's really good for them oh and Eve starts she doesn't see the Trap and she walks right in notice in verse 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 to be desired to make one wise this is a part of the craftiness of the lie that he appeals to desires that already exist within Eve right the tree is good.
For food Eve's thinking oh this is going to be really good this is going to taste great it's a delight to the eyes I mean it looks good and it's Desir to make one wise and I mean I'll be better off if I have it how many times has that been the reasoning before we fallen into some kind of trap that we've thought that looks good and it's going to feel so good and I mean I'll be better off for it.
So it it'll be okay in this moment she's bought the lie that's been sold to her that she needs this above what God has offered to her and so this is how we see the flesh the second enemy at play in this story last we see Adam here in this story right at the very end and it's bad enough that apparently he was just sitting there watching his wife eat from the tree that he knew that she would die if she ate it.
So we don't know all the motivations that's going on in Adam's heart and in his mind but nonetheless when Eve eats what does Adam do oh no you can't do that you can't do that no no I mean if everybody's doing it I might as well and at this point at this point the entirety of the human race has accepted this lie that's been told and they followed their passions and their desires and they've created a world that's built upon empty deceit and human tradition rather than the word of.
God and it's possible you're thinking to yourself yeah but that was only like two people so but turn three chapters later in Genesis and God says that every intention of man was only evil always so we see here this work of these enemies together that they're not just random and Scattered that we have an enemy the devil who is lying he's sowing deceit and specifically lying to the things that are a part of us that we want even though they're wants that are opposed to the way that.
God has called us to be and then as we start participating in them together oh how easy it is and we know this when you're hanging out with a group of friends and they're all doing something and maybe you're on the fence but you go ahead and do it anyways but if you were by yourself you never do it so with this idea of this strategy John Mark comr he was a pastor on the west coast and now he's a a Christian Author and he wrote a book called live no lies and in that book we wouldn't um prescribe and agree with everything that he's written in the book.
But he does condense this idea down helpfully to real short phrase that we'll put up on the screen here he says that the three enemy strategy is deceitful ideas that play to disordered desires that are normalized in a sinful Society deceitful ideas that play to disordered desires that are normalized in a sinful society and basically that is a really condensed way to talk about the fact that the devil lies and that we accept those lies because there's a part of us that really wants it and that creates societies and cultures where lies are perpetuated and it becomes easy to accept them as truth this is the strategy at work last week Chad mentioned the idea.
That there is no neutral ground in this life and I want you to see this in the Garden of Eden where life was great people got along I mean there are only two of them but still if you've had a roommate you know they had access to the presence of God himself and this strategy worked if you can look at your current at the current state of the world if you can see how things function in your house at your job with your friends on social media and you're you think that you're more capable than they were in the garden of doing.
Well enough I would urge you to re-evaluate you oh she heard one lie one how many lies have you heard in the last week if you watched an episode of a TV show it's at least 327 so to see this idea in today's age in today's culture let's look at kind of the big three that are prevalent money sex and power and we're going to see how these things have been lied to to us first with money oh money money money money we're told that we need money we need the big house we need the shiny car we need the sweet vacay we need the newest phone.
And then we'll be happy if we can make it to there I'll be Satisfied then but for anybody in the room who has ever been blessed with the nice stuff who has ever been blessed with the healthy bank account maybe there's a moment where you're like oh yeah this is great but how quickly does that fade when you get the new car you're driving down the road you know one one one elbow on the window hand on the ceer wheel you know what I'm talking about and you.
Look and you see the other car on the road look at that that's nice it's got features that my car doesn't have or the new house you just got your friends invite you over you come walking in 10 foot ceilings I've only got nine three three bathrooms how soon is it that we when we get the stuff that we automatically just want to get to the next level this is the lie that's been sold to us this idea of consumerism that you just need more has it worked yet are you satisfied are we happy as people no what about sex we're told that.
If our love life was just better then we could be happy if I could just get out of this relationship then things would be good if I could just get into this relationship things would be good what happens when that honeymoon period wears off you still satisfied then how quickly do we jump once again into the objectification of other people for our own pleasure that we've been sold this lie that this is what we need to be happy this is what we need to be fulfilled and there's a part of us that wants it and this culture that we live in that glorify sex are we happy yet have we made it yet has the.
Experiment worked yet what about power we're told that if we could just get things done my way we'd be happy whole buddy if my co-workers or boss would just listen to my ideas this place would be so more efficient if my party could just make it into office then this country would be back on track then all would there there there finally be peace maybe for a moment things were a little easier for you but is that Brokenness and tension in your soul rectified.
When you were able to get your decision did you not just immediately want and another decision to be yours as well this lie that we've been told in this day and age that if it could just happen our way have you looked on the internet is there peace really no we're currently living in a world that makes it so easy to pursue our passions and desires as we're lied to over and over by an enemy that would like nothing less than.
For us to be slowly dayby day deceived D and pulled away from the truth of Jesus this is not neutral ground this is a war zone and if we're tempted to believe the lie that there's not really danger out there that the things we participate in aren't really against us that there's not really a part of me that desires to chase after things that aren't of Christ if we're willing to believe that then we're going to be willing to participate in habits and rhythms of life that slowly pull us away from the truth that.
Jesus offers through the Gospel so to have a moment of honesty and vulnerability about how I've seen this show up in my life I'm going to talk to you about how I've seen it show up in my life um for those of you that don't know me I like to build and I like to make and I like to fix stuff up um and even if that's not not your thing cuz I know there's like three other guys in the room that that's their thing.
But we all have stuff that we like we all have hobbies that we enjoy and we love watching other people do the things that we enjoy right I mean there's whole entire industries that are built off of this idea and so with modern day um technology you can go on YouTube and you can watch anybody do anything and so that's one thing that I like to do I like to watch other people build online and they and uh what I noticed happening.
Well I noticed being able to look back but I didn't notice it in the moment is that by engaging in this habit and Rhythm and thinking that it was in the neutral zone or the neutral to good Zone I let my guard down and then all of a sudden what started to happen is this I started to believe lies that engaging in this practice over and over and over again in my life it had just become a rhythm in my life that there were lies that I would just start to accept as truth I just I deserve this I mean it's earned I've worked hard I I I need this.
Because I need rest I mean this Jesus stuff it's cool and it's great and all but there's not like real rest there that's just like work rest is here where you can vegge out on the couch and just flip through other videos of people doing stuff or the lie that sweet saw that that guy has on that video that's what I need and unchecked I began to believe lies and I wanted it it was a part of me that wanted it I wanted to throw off the responsibilities of life and be able to just sit and just disappear.
And then is easy enough to justify if you remember any of the stats that cck gave last week of how much times people spend on their devices it's like I'm not eight hours come on three okay so at this point we've only talked about the problem we've only talked about how everything is scary and it all wants to kill you and that's not exciting it doesn't feel good it does not feel good for me to stand here and tell you about how I have believed lies and that there's a part of me that once it to be true and I've Justified myself and it's the same.
For you as you're beginning to think in your own head it doesn't feel good and if you're beginning to feel some of the weight and the urgency of this or maybe last week you you heeded the encouragement of chat to really evaluate your time how you're spending your time and you've looked through it and you've begun to feel this need for something different I think there are two bad responses that we're tempted to fall into and what we're going to see is how Paul offers the Gospel as the answer to those.
So first you might be so overcome by guilt that it crushes you as you begin to consider and think oh my all this time that I've wasted look at oh I I believe that lie are you joking me look at look at the things that I want nobody can know that about me look at the way that I justify myself in this world I just it's too much this I'm worthless I'm unlovable this is how it's going to be forever that's a lie and this is how Paul responds with the Gospel back in Ephesians 2.
Verse 4 but God being rich in Mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable Riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus that this morning if you belong to Christ.
If you belong to Jesus which Church family that's you you belong to Jesus that God doesn't need to use lies to call you to himself what does the verse say what's his motivation his love that his great affection for us stirred him on towards Mercy that he would send Christ that he would send his son Jesus to come rescue us and do the thing we couldn't because on our own we're just going to believe lies and do whatever we want and justify ourselves with the world at the cross.
Jesus Takes the weight of guilt at the cross Jesus Bears the weight of our sin and it's through his resurrection that we're Made Alive and that is true for you if you are in Christ that we don't belong to the way of this this world any longer Paul says that we have been raised with him and seated with Christ in the Heavenly places Church family you are seated with Christ in the Heavenly places we don't belong here anymore we belong to him and his truth is what has changed.
For our lives and all of this has been done to show us himself as Paul puts it so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable Riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus this is what Chad was talking about last week with the idea of beholding Christ that this is what God has been working to do in his rescue mission for us is to show us himself who he truly is his great love and mercy that he has.
For us that he would come to rescue us and that we don't need to live in guilt we need to live in Praise because of what he has done so the second way that I think it's possible for us to have a poor response is that when we hear about these different enemies or we look at our own life and see the ways in which we messed up we start to puff up my chest yeah tighten my shoes dust myself off let's get after it that's you thinking that it's up to you I've been there and that's a lie it's not up to you we've replaced.
When we believe that we've replaced the idea of our effort to behold Christ with our the idea of earning Christ you don't earn Christ he came for you and this is how Paul responds to this with the Gospel in verse eight for by Grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.
For good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them our Salvation from the strategy of these enemies is not found in our own making you don't need to go figure it out it's been figured out for you you haven't been called to save yourself you haven't been called to fix yourself you've been called to trust Jesus that he really loves you and that he really came for you and that the power at the Gospel that the power at the cross and at the resurrection of.
Jesus is real power in your life to affect change it really is the truth of that if we would walk in faith is real power in our life it's not found in you it doesn't mean that we don't have to pay attention all throughout the New Testament watch out stand firm trust doesn't equal apathy real trust shows up in real ways in our life but we've got to remember the truth that it's not about us it's not about our earning that's nothing he's already come.
Let us come behold Christ and what he's done the band's going to come back up and as we continue this series as we continue to dive deeper into each one of these enemies and the work against us we're going to be talking about different habits and different practices different rhythms of life that are offered to us in the Scriptures ways in which we can remember the Gospel but I would urge you that as we do that you don't take those good works that.
God has prepared beforehand for us and turn them into your way of earning your right to Salvation do not do that these rhythms of life these habits that we're going to talk about in the coming weeks are about ways for us to come and behold the glory of Christ to remind oursel of the truth so that we would stop believing the lies that we would stop giving into our own desires and that we would stop justifying oursel in this world because a greater truth has come and he's come in love and power to transform us.
Let me pray father we thank you that you have come to rescue us out of your love and that you haven't just rescued us and then left us on our own but you've called us into a new life a new way of living and would we step into that in our everyday life would day after day we come back to the truth of who Jesus is and what he's done for us and as we take those Steps of Faith would you honor that and build us up and transform us to.
Look like Christ we come before you in praise and thanks because the work that you have done for us we love you amen would youall please stand and sing and worship.
The Things You Do, Do Things to You
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here we are starting a new series today we just finished up the book of Philippians and we're starting a series today entitled three enemies uh most of the time we just work through books of the Bible and then about once a year or so we will take some time out to study a concept something that's found in the Scriptures but just kind of batch some ideas together something that we think we ought to consider and study together.
And so we for the next five weeks will be looking at our three enemies now this and then we're going to go into the Book of Revelation and so um we're going to study through the Book of Revelation together again and I think it will be a lot of fun and a lot of really helpful stuff and uh exciting and disappointing all at the same time because if you're looking forward to like charts and dragons and stuff we're not going to do that.
But there's a dragon but he won't be on a chart okay anyway sorry lost my train of thought here we are going to spend the next five weeks talking about the three enemies and just spending some time studying this concept together and in some ways this series is going to have two intros because this morning we are not going to talk about the three enemies Isaac is going to introduce that concept from the Scriptures next week what we're going to talk about this morning is formation specifically the idea of spiritual formation this idea that we are meant to be growing into and developing into something something and the reason we're going to start there is.
Because that is what our three enemies are stopping so we need to understand what we're trying to do so that we can then understand what the three enemies are Waring against because we're meant to be growing into Christ likeness that if you're a Christian you're supposed to be slowly and by degree developing to look more and more and more like Jesus as As Romans 8 says we been predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that we've been set as.
Jesus is at work in us to make us more and more and more like him and so that's our hope is that we would grow into looking more and more like Jesus now spiritual formation that phrasing isn't going to be found in your Bible but the concept is this idea that we would grow to be more like Jesus from the moment Jesus tells his disciples come follow me he's saying come pattern after me come know me come look like me and I want to show youall in 2 Corinthians as the passage we'll consider some the morning as we.
Look at this idea Paul's been talking about this concept of a veil that is in between uh the hearts of those who don't know Jesus and Jesus he's been talking about this thing that stands in between our ability to understand him he's been using an example from the Old Testament and this is where we pick up in verse 16 it says but when one turns to the Lord that's Jesus the veil is removed so there's nothing in between us and Jesus anymore that.
When we come come to Christ that's gone there's nothing in between us and it says now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom he's been talking about the law and he's saying we're invited into Freedom we're invited into joy and forgiveness and hope that that's what Jesus brings that he died on a cross to forgive our sins and that when we turn to Jesus we're forgiven that we're made whole that we're made new we're free 18 and we all from from this position of freedom from this position of forgiveness with unveiled face beholding the glory of the.
Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another so that you are slowly and by degree if you belong to Jesus and as you Behold Him and are en raptured with the Gospel you're becoming more and more like Christ you're being formed transformed into the image of Jesus and this is our hope that you would grow to be more like Jesus to be more patient more kind more joy filled more at peace that you would grow to set your eyes on.
Jesus more that you would know him more that you would love him more that you would turn away from sin and turn to him that we want this for ourselves and for our spouse and our roommates and the people in our group I'd love for them to be more like Jesus all the time but this is our hope and the reason we're going to focus on this idea of form formation this morning is because our three enemies are going to attack our formation they're going to work towards our deformation we're wanting to be formed in the image of.
Jesus but there's going to be this constant push to be deformed to be pulled in the opposite direction so we're from one degree or another being confirmed into conformed in the same image transformed in the same image as Christ and it says from this this comes for this comes from the Lord who is the spirit so as we consider this idea of formation this morning the first thing I want us to understand is that there is no neutral there is no sitting still I think sometimes we frame it up like I can be intentionally I can work to be formed into the image of.
Jesus or I can just kind of hang out sometimes I'm just you know just doing normal stuff and then you know I do some of the formy things I read my Bible or whatever like I can be doing that but a lot of times it's just normal stuff but the Bible doesn't really give us a neutal when it comes to formation that you are developing into something all the time you are growing into something all the time you're being formed into something all the time.
So that's where we're going to look at this morning we're going to consider this idea of formation this idea of deformation and we're going to try to take seriously what it means to grow into Christ likeness and at least understand this concept this morning so let's pray as we We Begin trying to consider this God we ask for your help um this concept is simple I I don't think there's too much that we will have a hard time understanding but Lord changing will be harder and evaluating Our Lives will be harder.
And so we ask for the grace and the work of your spirit to help Us in Jesus name amen if you will turn to Proverbs chapter 24 I want to show you an Old Testament picture of this concept of this there is no real neutral there is no sitting still it's found in the Proverbs there's a book about wisdom it'll be on the screen as well but it's Proverbs 24:34 he says this I passed by the field of a sluggard a sluggard is a lazy person who has rejected the weight of existence rejected the effort that is called out of them to have dominion and rule over the Earth that we were sent to have.
Dominion and to to bring uh order to chaos and a sluggard has rejected this so I passed by the field of a sluggard by The Vineyard of a man lacking sense and behold it was all overgrown with thorns and the ground was covered with Nettles and its stone wall was broken down so it's supposed to be a Vineyard but it's not being tended to so the wall is broken down it's overgrown it's not producing fruit it's not producing what would have been some life some Joy something production something to add to the value of existence it's not doing any of that it's all overgrown it's falling down.
Then I saw and considered it I looked and received instruction he said I I just saw the example and I learned which y'all if you can learn how to do that is wonderful I I have an older brother had the the wonderful experience of getting to be not the first one and so I saw and considered it I looked and received instruction I watched my brother go through high school before me and I'd be like yep okay don't say that that's what he's saying is he's looked at the life of the sluggard and he's saying I'm I'm learning from it.
And so let's do that today as well let's look and consider let's see here's what he says a little sleep a little sleep Slumber a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man what's the sluggard doing nothing if you texted him said what you up to he'd respond nothing and he would think he's sitting neutral nothing just not do anything I'm you know just hanging out but what's happening around him not nothing something.
Because the world's been subjected to futility we've been set loose into Decay we've been set loose into disorder things are falling apart without work without effort things get worse they don't sit still that's just how the world works it's spend the next month just doing nothing sit on your couch you would say I I just didn't do anything I just sat just hung out nothing but did your body do nothing or did you get stronger at sitting better at being weaker like I could go to work at nothing and they say muscle weighs more than fat.
But watch me I think I can lose muscle and gain fat and gain weight I think I can do it I think if you let me do enough nothing I'll get bigger somehow by just sitting and you say eating was involved yeah what else are you doing while you're sitting guys come on but we would be doing nothing we would just say I'm not doing anything but what's happening around us is our relationships are falling apart our house is falling apart and our bodies falling apart there is no real neutral that's not how sin works in the world that's not how the Brokenness works in the world that we don't just uh have things order.
Themselves and organize themselves without effort takes no effort to be disordered disorganized to have Things Fall Apart takes effort to fight that constantly and that's just a rule in the world and we develop and grow in these things we become better at them so that by doing nothing we can grow stronger at being weaker y' I love naps love them they are a wonderful gift to humanity it's like sleeping but just shorter and at any time you want it's excellent when I go on vacation I don't like sleeping in I hate sleeping in it messes up my whole life.
So when I go on vacation my ideal like vacation schedule is wake up at the same time that I've been waking up in general I want to beat the sun I want to be awake when the sun's coming up or right before it unless it's coming up too late and then I got to get up earlier but then I want to eat lunch and go to sleep I've always thought I could be a missionary wherever they have cestas because that's the schedule I want to operate on.
If you let me go on vacation for a week I'm going to do that if I get to set my own schedule I'm going to take a nap every afternoon and can I tell you what's going to happen to me Monday when I'm back in the office I'm G to eat lunch and go sit down at my desk and be like my body's going to be like time to turn off because I've practiced it I've trained it I've grown into something and that's how this works that the world around us is always falling apart and that we are always developing into something something is happening in us and this isn't just physically around us.
In us it's Also spiritually so the first thing I'm trying to help you understand is that there is real no no real neutral there is no sitting still and that deformation doesn't take effort chaos does not take effort but it's not just chaos in the world it's also in us the New Testament picks up this idea in Galatians 6 so Paul writing to a Church has been talking to them about the Fruit of the Spirit and the desires of the flesh which we'll get more into over the next over the coming weeks this idea that we have the spirit at work in us and we have our flesh at work in us our own physical.
Desires our own desire for sin our own desire for wickedness he's been holding this up and then he says this in chapter 6 he talked about that in chapter 5 chapter six he says this verse seven and 8 do not be deceived which whenever you see that in your Scriptures go ahead and know maybe you've been deceived this is an area where Paul thinks people can get tricked where you can whether or not the sentence makes sense to you be somehow tricked in your own mind that you're not operating like this is true.
So he says here's a good way that people often get tricked do not be deceived God is Not mocked for whatever one SWS that will he also reap that's just a agricultural analogy seeds grow a plant so what kind of seeds do we throw out that's the kind of plant we're going to grow whatever you sew is what you're going to reap I love the way I've heard uh Law Enforcement Officers say this you play stupid games you win stupid prizes it's the same thing what you're sewing something you're putting something out there you're planting something you're doing something what's coming back what are you getting out of that whatever you seow is what you.
Reap and this is what he says he carries this out for the one who SWS to his own flesh Will from The Flesh reap corruption but the one who SWS to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life and the way he's been talking about that in Galatians 5 this idea that the Flesh and the spirit are opposed to one another the way he says it here is look there's no real neutral we either growing in the spirit to be more like.
Jesus we're sewing to the spirit to get love and joy and peace and patience kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control we're either developing more to look like Jesus or we're swing to the flesh gratifies our gratify our desires we're growing in strife and anger anxiety frustration sin lust we're developing these things things in ourselves and so you'd say okay yeah but I'm not doing either one of those I'm just watching TV I'm right in the middle Netflix it's right in the middle and no there's there's no middle what's going on in your heart it's possible that that could fit in a zone of rest and joy and it's also possible that it.
Fits in a zone of gratifying the desires of the flesh there's no real middle we aren't sitting still and there is no neutral we're being formed into something we're growing into something we're developing into something one of the questions is I think worth asking for your life is what are you currently reaping you you've been building the life that you have no one has had more impact on your life than you now there are people people and things and circumstances that have an impact on your life certainly.
But a whole lot of your life is how you respond to those circumstances how you react to them what you do with them where you put them in your mind and your heart and your soul but nobody's had more impact on your life than you you have developed your life to this point in so many ways so what are you reaping are you reaping love and joy and peace patience and kindness gentleness is that what your heart does your does your life.
Look like a harvest of Joy a festival of peace and faithfulness or does your life look like you a whole lot of frustration a whole lot of constant anger a whole lot of sadness a whole lot of cynicism but a whole lot of sin what do we that's what he calls corruption in this passage Everything feels broken Everything feels corrupt Everything feels diseased what are we reaping now I'm going to go ahead and assume that if you got to pick which you were reaping we would want to.
When we're clear-headed choose love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gist we'd want all these things that come from the spirit we want all these things that come from Christ and if you're a Christian you certainly do you don't want to se to the Flesh and sin and lust and gluttony and all these sort of things that we could Chase off that way so how do we do this what's God's picture for formation what's his recipe.
For formation when he's trying to develop a character and a people what does he call them to and I think one of the best examples of that is found in Deuteronomy 6 and this is where we'll spend the rest of our time Deuteronomy chapter 6 part of the Bible Moses is telling the people a few things before he sends them into the land so he's giving them the law but he's now saying you're going to go be a people you're going to go develop into something you're going to go be formed and he gives them basically a game plan.
For formation Deuteronomy 6 starting in verse four here o Israel the Lord Our God the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might now when Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is in the law he says this to love the Lord with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength with all your mind with everything you have and so I also want you to.
See that even though they were given the law and they were being told to go practice the law their ultimate aim was a love for the Lord that their heart would be enraptured with a love for the Lord so their aim isn't different from ours they would be in love with the Lord and they would grow to be more and more like him and that's our hope is that we would love the Lord and grow to be more and more like him.
And so he's going to outline for them how to do that now they're talking about the law which ultimately wasn't effective in doing this and we needed Jesus to change our hearts we needed Jesus to come and rescue us from our sin and to be at work inside of us but here's what he says and these words that I commanded you today shall be on your heart so they need to be inside of you you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them.
When you sit in your house and when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise eyes you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes you shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your Gates how do you form a people intentional repetition this is what you're going to think about this what you're going to talk about when you wake up when you go to bed.
When you're walking when you're sitting this is what you're going to put on your hand this what you put on your face this is what you're going to put on your doors it's going to be everywhere and it's going to be all the time it's going to be repeated do you run a marathon by trying really hard well once you go to run it you're certainly going to have to try really hard but I can't go out today and just try really hard to run a marathon you know that just kills you that's actually where we got marathons from the.
First person who ran one died and then we run them together to like laugh mock this child or whatever who had to go deliver that message just Flex on him year after year no you you learn how to run a marathon by training really hard you practice that's how we get good at anything my son recently started taking karate and he likes it and so I'm a good dad he was born in the 80s and so I was like you got to watch Karate Kid you're welcome I'm G to help I'm going to jump start your training have a seat.
So we watched Karate Kid and one of the best the best part other than like the sweep the leg and kicking the kid in the face or whatever whatever at the end uh the best part though is when he does he makes him do wax on wax off and paint the fence and sand the deck and all these different things where he makes him do all of this work at his house and if you've never seen the CATE kid first of all.
Second of all the the point of this is muscle memory it's repetition so he makes him do these things over and over again to finally the the main character Daniel is just has a fit and just says I've become your personal servant I'm not you're not teaching me anything and they have this little Showdown where he's like show me wax on wax off show me these things and he starts throwing punches at him and Daniel because he you know painted a fence or whatever.
Now it's how to knows how to block punches it's a bit of a stretch but he did practice the Motions over and over again he repeated it over and over again he repeated these moves over and over again so that his body would just respond and that's how you learn something it's through repetition that's how you get good at it and the reality is in your life you are a black belt in something you can do it without thinking expertly because you've done it over and over and over and over and over again and we're reaping our lives through our practiced habits.
So what are we repeating what are we practicing because you are building a life and you are being formed and you are developing into something you are working to become the person that you are what are you working on there's a a Catholic author who was considering this idea and the concept of formation and growth and his name is RJ Snell but I love this quote he says we become Who We Are by what we choose to do again we become Who We Are by what we choose to do again I've heard it put another way the things you do do things to you.
So if you forgive again or you're becoming a forgiving person if you work hard again today work hard again today you're becoming a diligent person if you stick it out through the marriage again today this week you fight through again for another month you were becoming a faithful person we become Who We Are by what we choose to do again through repetition and through practice that we can become honest not by telling the truth once but by telling the truth repeatedly even.
When it's difficult that we can become people of in integrity and people of kindness and people of gentleness and people of grace through repetition we are knowingly or unknowingly developing a life cultivating it sewing and reaping so what are we repeating what are you repeating what are you practicing one of kind of a case study something that I would like to put out in front of you when we consider our habits and practices as people as adults age 65 and above watch more than four hours of TV per day Millennials watch an average of 3 hours and 38 minutes this says of AD supported TV per day.
So if you're paying to not watch ads that's not in here 15 to n year old 19 year olds watch less than two hours of TV per day but that doesn't mean that they're not doing something it says this according to a January 2024 survey the average American spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone each day which is about one day a week adds up to 70 days per year in 12 years of a person's life in total spend on their phone that's average.
So I'm assuming some of you are below average and you're like three and a half hours a day some of you are well above average and you're like eight or something I don't it says 7 hours and 50 minutes consuming media daily consuming media the average American 7 hours and 50 minutes consuming media daily y' cell phones like this this access to information the internet computers all of this stuff you know we're beta testing it for Humanity because this showed up in my lifetime we're the ones running a a a big test to.
See how it goes what's it like when we raise children like this what's it like when we spend eight hours a day consuming media how well does that work and I would just argue not so good but you're spending eight hours taking something in if there's anything that we're doing this with that we have when we walk by the way when we lie down and when we rise that's on our hand and in between our faces it's this I I would argue that we are I mean crushing this kind of command I mean we're we're making the Israelites.
Look pitiful by how good we are at this when it comes to our our media usage J.R Vasser I quoted uh no Jr baster says this he says we're trapped in consumption without contentment so we're consuming we're not content he said this and it stuck with me he said no one ever gets off their couch after scrolling through Facebook for an hour hour or two hours gets off their couch and says I feel so alive that is what I was made.
For I found my purpose it's like yeah no it doesn't doesn't seow joy and peace and life into US it doesn't consumption of media doesn't this isn't good for us it's not working towards joy for us uh Adam Gibson is one of the pastors over at Midtown downtown I've heard him relate this story a few times but he said he was talking to a a guy who just said he was struggling he said I'm just tired life's just too much it's just too much I'm.
So frustrated I spend the whole day just being frustrated I just want to not have to deal with people I want to not have to deal with frustration I want to not have to deal with difficulty I just want to sit and be not bothered I want to just be able to turn my brain off and be not bothered and as a pastor I talk to a lot of people who some form of that lament this everything's too hard it's too much I can't take it I don't want to do any more of this I can't live like this he said he was talking to the guy and he asked him he said.
Okay well how much TV do you watch per day the guy said none like almost zero he said I'm too busy I'm running non-stop having to do all the things I got to do to just exist finally Maybe by like 9:00 I can turn my TV on so every night he goes okay will you watch TV at 9: he said yeah he said till when he goes I don't know nothing really I mean I watch TV from like 9: till maybe I go to bed at midnight and she said.
Okay so three hours a day So Adam said he looked at him and said 'd do you think if you practiced anything for three hours a day you'd get good at it you just told me you want to sit turn your brain off and not engage well you're practicing that for three hours a day Y what are we doing for hours a day what are we rehearsing what are we practicing what are we developing in ourselves I am not musically talented at all honestly I have started playing a harmonica and I've gotten a little bit more to where I can hear notes and stuff I can start kind of picking this out on harmonica.
But I can tell you if I practiced it for three hours a day two things would happen one I would get better at the harmonica and two my wife would go to prison for murder and how good I got at the harmonica is just the gap of her patience but if we do anything for two hours a day three hours a day four hours a day pick a thing if you worked at the piano if you worked at stitching if you ran.
If you exercise if you practice karate don't you think you'd get good at it and y'all we have patterns and practices that we are running through for hours and hours and hours and hours what are they what are we sewing what are we developing into when we consider media when we consider the fact that average is eight hours taking stuff in what's it telling you what's it telling you about the purpose of life what's it telling you about how romance should work what's it telling about who you are and who.
God is what's it telling you about where Joy is found where life is found where hope is found where fulfillment is found because you're rehearsing these things in your mind whether you know it or not you're rehearsing these you're repeating them you're talking about them as you walk by the way as you rise and as you lie down this is what we've got going on and you may say well I read my Bible on my phone I watch sermons on my phone.
Listen to them I have a a missionary podcast I listen to whatever and I would just say that's great the phone as a tool is fine you might do something weird like make phone calls with your phone and I would say great it's good but I also know that for many of you used to just could leave your house without it you just walked out into the world like a free person and now I know that you've headed back home to go get it.
When you've left it on the counter because it's become a part of your soul and I would say I think if I had to guess that your positive interactions with your phone are lower than your time wasting nonsense of your phone where you're turning your brain off disengaging from the world or engaging in some things that actually aren't producing fruit that's just our phones zoom out we're becoming black belts and something we're developing something you've got habits and practices and things that you've rehearsed over and over again year after year after year are you frustrated are you angry you spend.
So much of your time being so annoyed with how aggravating everybody else around you is well what are your habits what are you repeating do you tell yourself continuously that you shouldn't have to put up with this do you when you're alone rehearse arguments in your mind things you should have said things you should have done what you're going to say next time do you do you repeat in your mind over and over again the wrongs that have been done to you that's your repetition that's your rehearsal do you talk about them to other people can you believe what they did can you believe this can you believe that do you understand what's going on.
Here is that what's pouring out of you that what you talk about as you walk in the way as you sit in your house how much of your TV watching is violence retribution Revenge they finally get what was coming to them is this what you're rehearsing for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and then you read your Bible for five minutes twice a week because you're so busy and then you say I don't know the Lord just hadn't taken this anger away it's like.
Well you've been painting that fence like a lot you're good at it we struggle with anxiety I'm just so anxious and not about things I just feel this constant anxiety but y'all we've set up our whole lives to be anxious you know people used to walk places Outdoors to get places you know it took a while you might spend an hour in traffic every morning well that's Ani anxiety inducing and if you're in traffic while listening to a lot of noise even.
If it's songs and stuff you like that still is a whole lot of input but maybe you're listening to like talk radio and it's telling you who's evil and who needs to be fired and I don't care if it's sports or politics it's telling you who's evil and who needs to be fired like it's these aren't joyful things that we're partaking in then you deal with normal stress like work and relationships and all these sort of things but on top of that you take in I don't know a thousand milligrams of caffeine you're like I don't know feel.
So amped up it's like yeah you're drugged like I mean you've wound yourself up you go home and unwind you take on more emotional stress than any normal human throughout the course of history would ever have to deal with because we watch good dramas this Show's so good but all it does is tie us into an anxiety knot and then release it a little bit but sometimes not even release it just to keep you going and so you deal with more do you know how much emotional stress humans used to have to deal with in the evening whatever your family was doing.
But they're already there doing that now and you're trying to watch some guy get murdered or whatever you watch a horror film and then you go lay in your bed and you take your phone and listen to a murder podcast and then you're like I don't know I'm having a hard time sleeping I've been having anxiety attacks it's like yeah you wound your body up as much as you possibly could we have practiced habits and I'm not saying that any one of those things on its own by itself and it one little time is bad.
But I'm saying that when we go for hours and hours and hours and hours and this is what our life looks like and we don't have slow time or calm time or restful time or time away unplugged from all these things and then we're just like I don't know feel like a crazy person it's like yeah this is we've actually when you watch like old like a movie from the 80s or whatever and they show how they would like brainwash or torture somebody they would have flashing images in front of their face we do that to ourselves go spend an hour on Twitter.
See if you don't seem uh X I don't know see if you don't seem TW Twitchy afterwards you get to where you don't even read a whole tweet it's like three sentences and then the next thing and the next picture and the next thing and then you feel amped up it's like yeah we're practicing it we're working on it we're becoming really really good at it and we're reaping it people who struggle with depression what are your habits what are your practices I know.
For a lot of you you constantly repeat to yourself how bad everything is how bad you are how much of a failure you are you constantly repeat to yourself all the horrible things that happened in your life how they've impacted you how they've caused uh markings in you that you can't get over how they how how uh you're going to fail at everything nobody loves you nobody wants you nobody wants you around everything's going to fall apart this is awful you're this is this is what you think about and whether or not you're talking about it I don't know.
But probably if people picked at you a little bit they could get it out of you this is this is what you're rehearsing I mean honestly if you had taken the Declaration of Independence and rehearsed it as much in your mind as you've told yourself all this stuff you'd have it memorized by now you you can work anything into your mind and get it there and have it sealed to where you would never forget it and and you think that you're saying maybe humble things about yourself.
But actually if you belong to Jesus you're lying about him we're going to talk about that more in the coming weeks but you're lying about who he is and what he does and what he's done for you and what he does for people and where our hope is if you had a friend that talked to you the way you talk to you maybe you'd see it you'd actually be like I got to hang out with them but when I get there they're going to tell me I'm stupid and that I'm the worst and that I'm going to ruin everything that I'm it's all going to fall apart and every time you try to talk about.
Something good you know like why don't we go to a a theme park and they're going to say something like sure it's fine eventually the sweet release of death will take us so maybe maybe we can do that on a roller coaster today I hear they don't check those things all the time you hear about what happened at Carwin it's like oh my goodness you could hear it from somebody else but this is what we're rehearsing in our minds and we're becoming really really really really really really good at it.
So if we're cynical we've practiced it if we're angry we've practiced it some of you do this in arguments you know the moves you're going to make as soon as something happens you know where you're going to go because you've practiced it and we've gotten so used to it that it feels normal to us and we're out of control in our eating and our habits and our lusting and all these things but we've practiced them over and over and over and over again and you have become what you've practiced to become you ever worked a job where you had to answer the phone all the time.
And then you answer your home phone the way you do it your job wacky ways a vacon go but you do that without thinking because it's rehearsed and we're doing that in our our lives in so many ways because we've rehearsed things that aren't true things aren't Gospel things aren't hope-filled things aren't Bible things they're just a bunch of things that are helping us reap corruption and we keep telling ourselves that a whole lot of them are just neutral when they aren't all these things promise you something they promise you some sort of solution some sort of cure some sort of hope they give you something to do.
But none of them actually deliver this is one of the reasons why we periodically will give people Gospel replace replacement homework for the thoughts that they're having and the things that they're repeating to themselves will say repeat these things that are true about Jesus it's not like some neat little trick it's that you don't believe these things and you need to begin to rehearse them because you're already rehearsing a bunch of other things so what do we do with this we'll go back to.
Second Corinthians where we began Second Corinthians 3 here's my hope for us from this week I want you to go evaluate your life I want you to go think about what what am I waking up with what's my morning routine what's my bedtime routine what do I talk about what do I think about what's in my heart what am I walking in the wayin what am I teaching to my children either verbally or through practice what am I teaching them about money and about life and about joy and about hope and about fulfillment and about.
Jesus what am I teaching the people around me what am I practicing how long do I I sit how long do I engage disengage reject enjoy what what's going on and then as we continue the series we're going to talk about practices things that we're supposed to practice repeat and do over and over again as Christians but one of the things I want you to see and understand is this Jesus does the work so it says and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the.
Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another so we need to practice things but our practice is all beholding practice for this this transformation this comes from the Lord who is the spirit he's the one who does the work he's the one who's at work in us to make us different to make us whole and to make us hope filled and all we're trying to do is Behold Him but so much of our Lives is not spent in any sort of position to.
Behold the Grand Canyon is it's not something you do it's something you see you behold it but you still got to drive there it's like a waterfall a waterfall will cleanse and refresh you you got you don't do anything but you got to get under it and if you were dry and Dusty and thirsty and exhausted and you said I'm dying over here and I said well there's a waterfall right there and you like well I I don't have the energy to Waterfall right.
Now no it's water it's falling we just got to get you over there you just got to be in position so the practices that are given to Christians are not things that are meant for us to build Our Own Strength they're meant for us to see the strength granted to us in the lord they're not meant to be things that forgive us and help us pay back our debt they're meant to be things that help us know our forgiveness and the debt that was paid they're meant to be things that help us.
Behold The Glory of Christ and so we're going to spend several weeks talking about what our enemies are and what are the practices that we get to combat our enemies with what are the things that we get to repeat but all of it will be beholding practice delighting in Jesus practice and then he goes to work in us but this week I want you to evaluate your time I want you to see what you're getting good at I want you to start knowing what you're a black belt in I want you to ask what reaping we're going to spend some time in our groups going through that as.
Well let's pray Lord we're being formed and so often we're being deformed that we're practicing things that do not produce joy and faithfulness and love and service and kindness we're practicing things that do not produce peace in us we're practicing things that are antithetical to the Gospel oh Lord I ask that you would help us to behold to Delight in you and your goodness and your glory we don't do the work you do but may we have practices that get us there that help us to.
See you to enjoy you to know you to participate in the work that you have accomplished on the cross we ask this in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up and we're we going to take communion which is a tangible practical reminder that's not about you we take communion on a regular basis because we want you to know it's not about you it's not about your work and your effort and your labor but it's about Jesus who forgives Sinners who died to pay your debt who rescues and brings hope.
So if you're a Christian I want you to take a moment to ask the Lord to help you this week to see what you're practicing some of you some of these things are in your mind now to ask the Lord to help you to repent to change and then I want you to come take communion and remember as best you can to Behold our savior on a cross who loves us enough to die for us but who doesn't stay there who Rises we're told that.
When we celebrate communion we Proclaim his death until he comes that we're in between two points that he died for us but he's coming back for us that we have a hope set eternally in Christ and so that we get to be people who are forgiven redeemed restored and one day fully free and rescued but may we grow to look more and more like him so as you take this take a moment to behold how good he is and if you're not a Christian communion is not.
For you because you do not yet have Christ but we would invite you to know Christ because all the things that you're chasing will not satisfy will not cure will not heal will not fix you can only reap corruption so when you're ready we would invite you to come and take communion.