you
Him number two six zero him number two six zero
Him number two sixty he is able to deliver the same
I put it in a box first as I put I can last answer. There's a grandest thing
first as I ready say
you
Hey, man, it's great. It's great. I can do something. What point I'm gonna go for it on my salamat final
It's a boo-hayman salamat
Forgot our money
So you know, I know I know that there are you know, I mean we're in one
Hey Paul, we're in awesome. I know I'm in the maker. I'm done for an on
It's new for me. I'm gonna dominate the foreigners on the left. I know but then I had important on
Activities the gaga we know means my grandpa for a normal are we done for the long in for me on my preaching
Sorry, no, I'm in for a you mama. I'm gonna support we bring a baby for me
But I find us I'm a Selena so many more than I got a easy for you know, that's why I'm saying you know in Jesus name
We pray
All right, good morning everybody welcome to Verity Baptist Church take out your bullets in here today
Not a whole lot going on in the month of July
It's a it's a pretty calm month, but we do have the monthly prayer meeting coming up in three weeks
But other than that, let's just count up our salvations to report
Was there anybody in the back section that had any salvations that I'm not aware of?
About in this section any salvations to anybody else
All right this section any salvation six
Two so ten anybody else that I missed. All right
Well, praise the Lord for that and so ten extra salvations, of course, we do have so winning around 145 here today
But I believe that's it for announcements while brother Rafi lead us in another song
Hey man, I feel winning with
number
Number
Days are filled persons are ready sing
Oh
You
Our Bible reading let us open the book of Matthew chapter 4 Matthew chapter 4
We are going to read Matthew chapter 4 verse 1 to 11, please. Amen when you're there
Matthew chapter 4
Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil
And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was after what in hungry
And when the tempter came to him said if thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread
But he answered and said it is written
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God
then the devil take them up into the holy city and settles him on a pinnacle of the temple and
Said unto him if thou be the Son of God cast thyself down for this written
He shall give his angel charge concerning thee and in their hands
They shall be a the up let at any time though dash by foot against the stone
Jesus said to him it is written again. Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God
Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain and shoe with him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them
And saith unto him all the things will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship me
Then says Jesus unto him get the hand Satan for it's written thou shall worship the Lord thy God and him only shall deserve
Then the devil leave with him and behold angels came and ministered unto him thus way
Thank you our father that we are here and for the church and for salvation
we ask you also to open again our hearts for this world to give us understanding and help us to grow in faith and
Embrace and in knowledge and also knowing the preacher in his name. Amen
All right, we're here in Matthew chapter 4
We're looking at a very famous story here of the temptation of Christ the temptation of Jesus here found in
Matthew chapter 4 now
This is a very famous story in the Bible and it's mentioned in three of the Gospels in Matthew Mark and Luke
Obviously the book of John kind of does its own thing oftentimes
Focuses on different things but it's in Matthew Mark and Luke now
Sometimes people look at things in these different Gospels and things are slightly different and they'll say well, it's a contradiction
Right, but in reality when you look at these various versions or retelling of this story they give extra and added information
So before we get into Matthew 4 go to Mark 1 Mark chapter 1 in the Bible
Mark chapter 1
And the Bible says in Mark 1 and in book of Mark's a bit different because it just starts right with the ministry of John
The Baptist and then Jesus and it says in Mark 1 verse 12 and immediately the Spirit driveth them into the wilderness
And he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan and was with the wild beasts and the angels
Ministered unto him so not a whole lot in Mark chapter 1
But I do want you to take note of the fact it says and he was there in the wilderness
wilderness 40 days
tempted of Satan go to Luke chapter 4 Luke 4
Luke 4 and
Luke 4 is going to be more clear about what I'm showing you which is something that's very much a difference than Matthew chapter 4
Luke chapter 4
And Jesus verse 1 Luke 4 verse 1 and Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost
Returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
being 40 days
Tempted of the devil and in those days he did eat nothing and when they were ended he afterward hungered one of the big
Misconceptions because the most famous version of this story is in Matthew 4
Right usually Matthew is the more famous version than Mark and Luke when it's told multiple gospels my favorite versions in Matthew
And maybe it's more famous because it's the first out of the four you know the Gospels
But it's more famous in Matthew 4 and if you only read this in Matthew 4
What would you think you would think that Jesus was tempted three times after 40 days?
But that's not what it says in Mark 1
And it's not what it says in Luke 4 because what it says here in Luke 4 is being 40 days
Tempted of the devil so Luke 4 is very clear the temptation was not just after 40 days
It was during the 40 days so in the book of Matthew it focuses on three specific
Temptations that take place after the 40 days, but he was being tempted during those 40 days
Now another thing that's interesting about this is that in Matthew and Luke they mentioned the same three temptations
but in a different order and
That's not a contradiction
And I'm going to explain you why this is not and actually let me just show to you that they are in a different order
To start off notice what it says in verse 3
Luke 4 verse 3 and the devil said on to him if thou be the Son of God
Command this stone that it be made that it be made bread and
Jesus answered him saying it is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God now
This is the first in Luke 4 it is also the first in Matthew 4
But notice the next one here verse 5 and the devil taking them up into a high mountain
Showed him onto all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and the devil said unto him all this power
Will I give thee and the glory of them for that is delivered on to me and to whomsoever
I will will I give it if thou therefore it will worship me all shall be thine now
This is the second one mentioned in Luke 4, but when we just did the reading in Matthew 4 was this the second one
No was not it was the third one
Go to Luke 4 verse 9
Luke 4 verse 9
And
He brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said unto him if thou be the Son of God
Cast thyself down from hence for it is written
He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee and in their hands
They shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone
This is mentioned number three in Luke 4, but it's mentioned number two in
Matthew chapter 4 now turn to Luke chapter 1 in your Bible Luke 1
Now
People see this and they say well, it's a it's a contradiction which happened first
Let me just give an example this if you were to ask me to give just a quick
autobiography of my life
There are several different ways. I could give it. I could tell you I was born in Burlington, Iowa and on October 14th
1984 moved to Virginia when I was one when my granddad had surgery and then my dad got a job in West Virginia
When I was you know, one or two and then I lived there went to school at WVU
I could just start chronologically at the at the very beginning and
slowly go forward and some people have the the idea that the Bible is written like that that it's always just
Chronological but it's not and it doesn't have to be because if I were to give you an autobiography my life
I could start with saying well, you know what?
I'm an ordained evangelist and I run Verity Baptist Church Manila and Verity Baptist Church Pampanga
And I moved to the Philippines four years ago
And then later on I could go back to when I was born and just give you everything
But sometimes things can be done in an order of importance
Sometimes chronologically sometimes a mix of a lot of different things. So it's not a contradiction
The question would be well which one happened first and that's a good question
But it's not a contradiction just because one of the Gospels mentioned one first
It doesn't mean that it was this exact order. And so in the Gospels you see this a lot. Is that not true?
You see things that do not line up the exact same and people say hey, it's a contradiction
Which is first now look I cannot be 100% positive
But generally when I'm reading the Gospels I assume Luke is chronological
And I'm going to show you why I believe that and I'm not saying it's necessarily
100% chronological, but there might be a clue in Luke chapter 1 that would tell us that it was written in a very
Organized chronological sort of way notice what it says in Luke 1 verse 1
For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth an order declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us
So what Luke's saying is hey a lot of people wrote about the life of Jesus not just Matthew Mark Luke and John
but lots of people
Verse 2 even as they delivered them on to us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word
It seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first
to write on to thee in order
most excellent
Theophilus now I am not
100% dogmatic
But what he might be saying by to write on to thee in order is that when he was writing a gospel?
He was trying to do it and in just an ordered and structured and organized way from beginning to end
Now maybe that's not what he's saying and I'm not saying it's necessarily 100% but I would say by default I usually assume
Luke is chronological
Whereas I would assume Matthew and Mark are not necessarily chronological if there's an apparent discrepancy now go to Matthew 4
Matthew 4
And if you have a different opinion it's not the end of the world it's still the same three temptations
They're just in a different order so you're still going to be edified as I explain each of these temptations
They're the same ones and look for I would just assume the ones in Luke are in order and the ones in Matthew
You know the second and the third are mixed up. Why I don't necessarily know
Now here's what I'll say about this when you're reading the Bible sometimes chapters are thematic and what that means is by theme
We're basically it focuses on
One theme throughout the entire chapter with through the Gospels and so it's not necessarily
This is happening in this order
But it's like this chapter is focusing on this very thing right when we preach through Ezra. I talked about how Ezra 4 is about
Persecution and it covers the life of a lot of different kings because it's not fully chronological
But it's highlighting one thing in that chapter Matthew 4 verse 1
1
Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted
40 days and 40 nights
He was afterward in hunger now once again during these 40 days
He's being tempted by the devil. Is that not what we saw in Luke 4?
But Matthew 4 doesn't mention this part of it, which is perfectly fine
Right, you know, for example the famous story in the Bible of the man that gets healed that's possessed by all the devil's, you know
Legion for we are many
Well, you read that in one of the Gospels
It's like oh, there's just this one man then you cross reference and you find out actually he's not the only one
It's just one gospel focuses only on him, but there's actually two men that were possessed that were getting healed. That's not a contradiction
It's just called focusing on a different part of the story. Okay
Now it also says he fasted 40 days and 40 nights now, here's the thing Jesus fasted 40 days and
If you go on a fast, you don't have to feel like you've got to go 40 days also
Okay, if you're gonna go on a fast and you've never done it, I'd recommend fasting for a meal or maybe a day
But quite honestly, I don't think most of us could probably even go 40 days
Fasting, you know, it's like I know the story of a Baptist pastor in California and not pastor Jimenez
Okay, somebody else but
But he fasted for you know, he was trying to go 40 days and he was like an avid runner
He loved to work out and exercise
So he wasn't eating and he was going running every day. And so he ended up passing out
You know during his one of his runs because he hasn't eaten in days
It's like if you're gonna go 40 days without eating
It's probably not the smartest thing to you know
Hit the weight room and being doing a lot of lifting and it's like you got to be wise about this because God's not telling
You you have to go 40 days when you fast. He never says that we're seeing an extreme example here are 40 days
But if you're gonna go fasting in your life, I mean the first time you do it probably go for a day
I mean don't push yourself and see how your body reacts
And if ever you want to go further than that, that's fine or you can do a fast where you just only eat bread
So you're not just going without any calories or whatever, but it's not like hey he went 40 days
you've got to do the same okay verse 3 and
When the tempter came to him and see it's not if but it's when in life because Satan will try to destroy your life now
Go to James 1 James chapter 1 James 1
James chapter 1
Now in this story obviously we're looking at the Lord Jesus Christ who was without sin the Bible says in him is no sin
He who knew no sin, and he was obviously never gonna do anything wrong right obviously he had no sin nature
He's God in the flesh we get that
But you know here's here's the thing though when we get tempted number one
I don't personally believe that that Satan has actually tried to tempt me personally
Obviously there's other devils out there that could do the same thing
But I've always felt like that the devil has bigger fish to fry than to worry about me because Satan is not omnipresent
But here's the thing when people mess up their lives
Sometimes you'll hear people say the devil made me do it
Right or somebody you know lives their life as a drunk as a drug addict
And it's like Satan's really been tempting me hard recently. It's like actually according to James 1
That's not the case right notice what it says in James 1 verse 12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of life
Which the Lord hath promised to them that love him let no man say when he is tempted
I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man
but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and
enticed look when you get drunk the devil did not make you do it and
The devil probably wasn't even tempting you like he did to Jesus
Probably what took place is you've got a sinful nature you struggle with vices, and it's your own sinful flesh
It's your own lust that you struggle with
Right but obviously don't blame God if you mess up your life, but also don't say well
It's because of Satan no
It's actually because of you and people they like to make excuses when they screw up their life
It's your own choices you have your own free will and when you mess up your life
You can't say well, you know what it's not my fault. I was fasting 40 days
I was in the wilderness and Satan was there every step of the way trying to destroy my life now
It's actually just your own sinful flesh that made you do it go to Matthew 4, Matthew chapter 4
And so it says in Matthew 4 verse 3
Matthew 4 verse 3 and
When the tempter came to him he said if thou be the Son of God
Command that these stones be made bread
Now notice Satan does not say you're not the Son of God
He says if you're the Son of God
If thou be the Son of God and what he does is he subtly places a doubt okay now obviously
Jesus was never gonna mess up
But for us personally when someone places that doubt it could cause up us to make stupid choices or whatever and what Satan says is
If they'll be the Son of God prove it because you're hungry you want to eat
So if you're the Son of God just turn this these stones into bread and eat
Right, but he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone
But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God now for sake of time
We're not gonna look at the Old Testament to see where Jesus quoting from because he said in this he said it is written
By the way, Jesus does not say it was written in the originals
He says it is written by the way. It's still written today 2,000 years later. It's not well
We used to have the Word of God. We don't have it anymore. No it is
Written right and he says it is written and what you're gonna find is that Jesus quotes from the Old Testament three times
From the same book in the Bible now does anybody know here's your trivia question for today?
What book does Jesus quote from three times?
the book of Deuteronomy
is what he quotes from three times now look if you're going to memorize the Bible Deuteronomy is probably not at the top of your
list of
What you'd pick and yet you see that Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy to overcome this temptation now obviously
Jesus was never gonna sin, but he's also giving us a template on what we can do when we are tempted to do wrong
Look if you're sitting around one day, and you don't have it you have the day off from work, and you're sitting around doing nothing
For hours and hours
You know it can probably help you out
Saying go to the anthall sluggard go to the anthall sluggard go to the anthall sluggard
Until you motivate yourself to do something
Right you know quoting the Word of God to help you overcome
Right so whatever your personal struggle with or if you struggle with reading the Bible on a daily basis
Read there in all the days of thy life read there in all the days of thy life read there in all the days of thy
Life and you keep quoting what the Bible says and you know what can take place you'd be like you know what?
Let me take a break and spend 10 minutes to read the Bible right so
Obviously Jesus was never gonna sin we get that
But he's giving us a template on overcoming sins in our life
And what the Bible shows us is that we can quote the Word of God when we're struggling with something I would recommend
Find the areas that you're weak at or that you struggle at and
Then use the Bible and quote it to motivate yourself
Look if you're not motivated to go soul-winning then quote go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature
Just quote the Word of God over and over and over again
And it can cause you to be motivated and you know feel guilty about not doing it can help you out
So whatever your struggle with I mean or if you struggle with anger be angry and sin not be angry and sin
I mean just keep quoting
The Word of God to help you overcome, whatever area it is that you're struggling with okay?
Go to job 23 job 23 job chapter 23
And what Jesus said is man doth not live by bread alone
But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God look if you had a Bible that only had
61 books there would be a problem
Because you need every word of God
Every book is in there for a reason even the books that we don't necessarily understand as much about them
They're in there for a reason. We need every word of God or you got modern versions. They take verses out of the Bible
It's like no we need every word of God not just
95% or 98% you need every word of God
I mean imagine your boss gave you an assignment to do and he gave you and it was 20 steps and
He only gave you 19 of those steps
You might be in trouble. I mean that one step might have been very important
You might end up destroying everything because you didn't know that one thing
You know we need every word of God and we need to read every word of God from Genesis to Revelation
Bible says in job 23 verse 12
Neither have I gone back from the commandments of his lips. I've esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food
Look food is necessary food is important. You cannot live without food
But you know what's more important is actually reading the Word of God so ask yourself this question this morning. Did you eat breakfast?
You say yes, did you eat your spiritual breakfast?
And you don't have to say out loud
Not going to embarrass anybody, but in your own mind in your own heart
What's more important to you your physical food or your spiritual food?
Because here's the thing what I would imagine is nobody in this room gets to the end of their day
And they're like man, I forgot to eat today
I'll just eat double tomorrow, and then next day goes around I forgot to eat again
And then all of a sudden like a week goes by I haven't eaten anything in a week. I keep forgetting
I don't have time to eat
But isn't that what people do about the Bible I?
Haven't had time to read the Bible this week really, but you had time to eat I
Mean maybe start doing the things that you have to do a lot quicker than if you have no time
But I seriously doubt there's anyone in this room that is so incredibly busy that you have zero time at all to spend with God I
Believe any single person could spend some time with God
I'll tell you what in times that I've been very busy in my life and that I've been really using my time wisely
What I've noticed is God seems to give me more time
And I believe the reason why is because he can actually trust me with the time
Times when I'm being lazy though. It's like I never have time to do stuff, but then when you're working hard
You're stressed out. You're just doing this and this and this somehow you get everything done
Why because God can trust you with the time and he's gonna help you out
And we understand that you know what God can like Job take away everything in a moment of time when it comes to financially
But you know he can do the same thing with your personal time in your life
Not just with money, but also with time
We're basically you know what you're going through your schedule
And it's like you just missed something by a couple minutes
And then you got to come back the next week, and it's like well
Here's the thing if you're not being wise with your time
Maybe God looks at you says you know what if you're not gonna use the time
I give you wisely then I'm not gonna bless you with time
Same thing that he would do with money so ask yourself this question
You know what am I spending my personal time with God am I esteem in the words of God to be very important in my life
Maybe one thing you could try is before you eat any food
read the Bible
Say brother suck you man. I couldn't do that. I need food well
Then eat breakfast while you're reading the Bible because I'm pretty sure if
You did not eat any food until you read the Bible you'd start reading the Bible every day
right
Do what you got to do, but God's Word is more important than your necessary food go to 1st John chapter 2
1st John 2
Now look at a church like ours
You know we're King James only and we believe God has preserved the Word of God
And we're very thankful for that, but you know what it makes
It makes no difference
That we have a preserved Word of God if you don't read it
It's like I'm so thankful for this Bible. I have my house. That is the perfect Word of God
But you know what it's it's not like this is like
You know the Ark of the Covenant where your house can be blessed just because it contains a Bible inside of it
If you don't read it, it's not gonna. Do you any good?
You have to actually read it so man, I'm so thankful for this book that I never read
What?
Right and it's like yeah be thankful for the Bible. God has given us, but but actually
Show your gratitude by reading it
Because the fact is this book will change your life, but it doesn't do any good simply by owning one right
now
We're in 1st John 2 and
Here's the thing as I showed you at the beginning
There are three temptations listed after the 40 days
But during these 40 days Jesus was tempted in the Bible highlights three specific times. Did you ever stop to ask yourself? Why three?
Why not two?
Why not four? Why not five? Why does the Bible list three?
And I don't think it's a coincidence and in 1st John chapter 2 what we're gonna see is sin is categorized in three categories
And these three temptations you can put underneath
These categories notice what it says in 1st John 2 verse 15
Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man loved the world the love of the Father is not
In him for all that is in the world. So what is in the world number one the lust of the flesh
Number two in the lust of the eyes number three and the pride of life is not of the Father
But is of the world so you see three things the lust of the flesh
The lust of the eyes and the pride of life and what I would submit to you and what I believe is that these three
Temptations one of them is gonna fit under
One of these categories three temptations and three different things listed in 1st John chapter 2
These are not the only things that Satan tempted Jesus with but basically these three temptations can roughly fall under one of these categories
Now when it comes to turning the stones into bread
What are we looking at here the lust of the flesh
That's what we're looking at the physical desire for food. This is the lust of
The flesh go to Philippians chapter 3
Philippians chapter 3
When you're looking at vices
It's the lust of the flesh
Right me if you desire to drink alcohol. You're like man. I gotta have a beer
I gotta have some alcohol
It's the lust of the flesh. I
Gotta have a cigarette. I can't go without smoking
It's the lust of the flesh your flesh desires and craves something and you immediately I gotta fill it
You're giving in to the lust of the flesh
That's what you're doing when you're looking at vices. What are you looking? You're looking at the lust of the flesh
You say brother sucky, I know it's wrong to listen to this worldly music, but I can't help myself
lust of the flesh
Right where you desire to hear that music. Yeah, I got to turn on my radio. It's the lust of the flesh
Right. So when you're looking at vices what you're looking at are the lust of the flesh the cravings of your flesh that you gotta fulfill
You're giving in to the lust of the flesh
Philippians 3 verse 19
Whose end is destruction whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things
Now the Bible refers here in Philippians 3 verse 19. It says
Whose God is their belly now? Why does the Bible say?
Whose God is their belly?
because your belly is representing the cravings or the lust that you have and
The reason why I believe God is using the belly as an example is because all of us can relate to dieting
Right to eating to either trying to lose weight or gain muscle changing your diet around
I mean at New Year's the most common New Year's resolution is like a change in diets, right?
I'm no longer gonna drink pop. I'm no longer in each sugar
I'm gonna start eating this I'm not gonna do this
I mean probably everybody has gone on some sort of diet whether it's to lose weight or to gain muscle or whatever
And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it
I'm very big on you know diets and having structured ways that you eat and stuff for whatever purpose that you have
But here's the thing. It's like when you're trying to go on a diet and let's say you decide
I'm no longer gonna drink coca-cola
I'm no longer gonna drink any soda and it's like you have that desire inside of your flesh though
Your belly says you know what you said no to coke, but I say yes, it's like I want the taste of that
Right and it's like all of us can relate to this where you go on a diet
And you're trying not to eat something and you're like oh, I want to eat this cookie so bad
Right and it's like and I'm not saying it's a sin to eat a coke cookie or drink coke
But but the Bible is using an example we can relate to because you're fighting against the desires of your flesh
Right your flesh desires to eat this it desires to drink this and you're fighting against it
Right and see it's an example
We can understand because it's the same way with vices and temptations where you have a desire to do something
And you know you shouldn't do it, but you're like I got to fulfill this desire
Now ask yourself this question
When you cut out all soda from your diet and all coke from your diet
And then you have that craving and you drink that one coca-cola
Does that fill your craving permanently?
No, it doesn't what does it do it makes the craving two times as bad the next day, right?
It fulfills the desire for like five minutes, and then the next day
It's like man the cravings even stronger, and it's this endless cycle where you know it's wrong, and you're like man
I can't resist and you give in it's like all right it fulfill my desire
Then the next day same thing next day same thing next day same thing look
I'd imagine most people that smoke cigarettes regularly have probably quit smoking a hundred times in their life
And I met I can't resist it today. I mean. I'm just too stressed out. I'm just gonna smoke this one cigarette. I'll quit tomorrow
right
I'm sure and you know I don't know I'm sure there's plenty of people in this room that that used to smoke or do smoke now
Or whatever and and if that's the case you know what I'm saying is true
Or people that quit drinking alcohol
Where basically they had that desire and then they drank and then what happens well? They still have that desire doesn't go away
Because you fulfill that craving and then all of a sudden you're gonna want it even more the next time you say brother Stuckey
What do you have to do?
Got to deny the flesh
You gotta walk in the spirit, so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh
Because if you don't fight against it you're gonna lose that battle forever
I mean the sins that you struggle with you might say okay. I know this is wrong. I'm just doing it this one time
It's not gonna be one time and ask yourself am I willing to do this the rest of my life
Because fight against it now or it's gonna get worse and worse and worse and worse
You say brother Stuckey. It sounds hard to overcome this yeah
It's hard
Now look obviously none of us are perfect all of us struggle with the lust of the flesh in various ways
But you can overcome sins in your life
Look I used to listen to music for hours every day that was ungodly music
I don't do that anymore you say why but brother Stuckey because I overcame that sin
Now of course there's always the possibility of falling back into it, and we get that take heed lest ye fall
I'm not saying hey
You know what I would never do that because you never know all of us are capable
But here's the thing if you're trying to overcome something that you're struggling with you might have to go to extremes to do it
I remember I was listening to a sermon at home
And I was listening to sermon online
And I felt really guilty about the music I was listening to and I remember I took out my CDs
And I threw them all in the trash can
Bundled it up and threw it outside in the dumpster you say well
I wrote a second because I knew it was wrong, and I knew that if I don't do this now tomorrow. I might change my mind
But here's the thing then I hopped in my car the next day and drove to school
And there's this thing called the radio, and I'm like no I
Know I shouldn't press this button, but I'm so tempted to do it, and it was a struggle
You know what I ended up doing because I realized I was really struggling with this
I had the radio removed from my car you say brother Stuckey that sounds crazy
Well, maybe you got to go to extremes to get rid of sin. I
Mean look I don't listen to wolden music now
You might that think that's extreme you know I don't struggle with that now
And if you struggle with something and you can't overcome it do what you got to do
Otherwise you're gonna be doing it for the rest of your life
Do what you have to do to overcome sins and struggles, I don't care if people maybe that sounds crazy
Hey, I don't care if you think that sounds crazy
It works
Do what you got to do?
Look for those that are addicted to porn get rid of your computers get rid of your cell phone
Do what you got to do?
Right I remember my old church. There's this person the pastor told a story
We said this person came to me, and they were struggling with all the billboards of the women they said man
I cannot stop looking at them every time I drive by there. I'm trying pastor
I'm trying I'm trying and I cannot stop and the pastor asked him is there another route to work
That would take longer
But where you would not see them, and he's like yeah, actually I could start going this route
It would take about ten more minutes, and so he started going that route, and then he overcame it
You say what's that called? It's called make not
Provision for the flesh
right
I'm sorry. I don't think taking a radio out of your car
If you need to is really extreme because think about Joseph that just ran out of the house
You do what you got to do?
But here's the thing a lot of people are not willing to do what needs to be done to overcome the lust of the flesh
See a lot of people to hurt that and say well, but but pastor. I mean ten more minutes
I mean, I'm in a rush. I don't have time to do that
Yeah, you don't really want to get rid of your sin
Look the sins that you struggle with do what you got to do
And if you hear a solution, and you don't want to do it because it's going to be too hard
You don't really want to get rid of your sin
You don't want it bad enough
You got to do what you do you got to do what you have to do to get rid of the problem
Make not provision for the flesh the Bible says go back to Matthew 4
Matthew 4
I
Mean look it in and I'm using that as an example, but I've never smoked before but if someone struggles with with cigarettes
They probably have to go to extremes to avoid the possibilities as much as possible
You say well brother say what I do because everywhere I go. It's like man
I stop and I just buy cigarettes everywhere. I go just bring enough money for your gypne
right
Bring bring 24 pesos in your pocket 12 pesos to get there and 12 to get back do whatever you have to do
Or just walk and bring no money
You didn't rather say that it takes so long
Well, do you want to be addicted to cigarettes the rest of your life and cut 25 years off your life?
Do what you got to do? I?
Mean look and and and and if this offends you, you know, whatever if you drink alcohol every day
You are a drunk you are a lasting arrow and if that's what you struggle with do what you got and do to get rid
of it
Otherwise your entire life you're gonna struggle with that same sin over and over and over and over again
Matthew 4 verse 5
then the devil taking them up into the holy city and set at them on a pinnacle of the temple and
Sayeth unto them if thou be the Son of God cast thyself down for it is written
he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and
In their hands they shall bear the up
Lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone now
The first temptation makes sense you read it. You're hungry make these stones bread this one though. You're like what?
jump off a cliff
Because I get it when you're really hungry like if you're going on a diet like man
I I can't help it. I gotta eat that ice cream. I get that that makes sense to all of us, doesn't it?
But this one jump off a cliff. It's like what?
Right, but it actually makes perfect sense because we saw the lust of the flesh and which one are we looking at here?
The lust of the eyes are the pride of life pride of life
Because what what Satan is basically saying is hey, you know what if you're the Son of God and you jump
Then God's gonna save you
Prove it to me. I
Mean, it's the same thing as we go soul winning and you run into someone who's undocking to on and from my experience
I have never run into anybody who's undocking to on that actually is willing to listen
they always
want to argue I
Remember I was going soul winning. It was actually right behind. You know that that
subdivision they're right behind that church with those houses and I remember
I'm just you know going door-to-door
You know I was going by myself and and all of a sudden this person stops behind me
And he starts saying something as I'm trying to talk to the person at the door
And I turn around I asked him what what church are you from he said? I'm I'm undocking to on it's like I'm shocked and
He was trying to debate with me and argue with me on the street
Now what is what is the thing in your flesh that you want to do?
It's like oh you think you know more about the Bible than me
Let's just sit down here the next hour and see who knows the Bible. What's that called? It's called pride
Pride of life, that's what it's called where you got to prove. You know more than them
But in reality what a waste of time
No if I run into someone who's undocking to on that's willing to listen praise God
I'll give them the gospel, but if someone just wants to argue whether they're they're undocking to on or
Catholic or Jehovah's Witness or whatever religion and
They just want to argue and waste your time, and you sit there and just spend an hour with someone
That's not interested. It is your pride that is causing you to do that
you want to look like you're more knowledgeable than them and
Look, this is something all of us can relate to and look I've been so winning for 20 years
Yeah, you know what there's been times my pride has gotten the best of me so winning
Where it's just like you know what hey, you know you spend time there
And it's like you know cuz somebody makes you sound like man. You don't know much about the Bible at all
It's like all right. I'm gonna spend the next 45 minutes and make you look like an idiot
But that's your pride
You got to learn to just walk away and say you know what?
It's not worth it. It's a waste of time
Right or you know you know all of us
We naturally want people to know how great we are at the things we're good at right if you're good at something you want
Everybody to know it
What is that called? It's called the pride of life
Look at how great. I am look at how smart. I am look at how strong
I am look at how good. I am at this the pride of life
Right it is. It's like you know you think sometimes. You know God. He looks down from heaven like well. Who are you trying to impress?
Well, I mean cuz here's the thing let's say you're the greatest ever at something you realize God gave you the ability to get good at
that
Now obviously you worked hard to develop that talent that you naturally have but naturally you have a talent for it I
Mean if you're the greatest ever at something and then you think well look at look at what I've done
It's like God's the one who gave you that ability
Don't be like Nebuchadnezzar look at this great kingdom that I have built
So actually God gave you that ability God puts you that in that position
Right, and it's our pride that causes us to do that
Some other examples that I have here think about you know if you get into an argument with your spouse
You get into an argument with your husband or wife now
Every single person in this room that's married has argued with their spouse before
Unless they just got married a few days ago, right?
Everybody it's just a fact husbands and wives they get in fights sometimes
And you know here's the thing when you get into a fight. It's like you want to win the fight
You want to win the argument?
right
As I get into an argument or if somebody you know your spouse makes you feel this bad
Oh, you know what I'm gonna make you feel this bad
What's that called? It's it's called pride
It's called being a fool
It's called being an idiot. It's called burning the house down and destroying your life
But yet all of us struggle with that from time to time you say why because we struggle with pride
every single one of us
Right when I was a kid growing up when my sister, and I would fight you know sometimes
I'd fight with my sister, and I knew that what I did was wrong
But I'm thinking I'm 40% wrong
She's 60% wrong
So if she's 60% wrong
It's not that I won't say I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna say I'm sorry first
because she's more fault than me and
Those of you that are laughing right now you did the exact same thing
With with your brothers and sisters growing up, right?
Or even today when we get into arguments, that's generally what you do
It's like hey, you're willing to apologize
But I'm not gonna do it first because I don't want them to look like they're more right or better than me
What's that called it's called pride
It's called pride you say wait a sec you do people really struggle with with pride
You know I mean I get the first one well ask yourself this question
Why is it that over 90% of this world is going to die and go to hell?
One of the big reasons is pride
We give the gospel to people and they do not want to admit that they've been wrong for 20 years
They don't want to admit it they want to assume their rights
And they just don't want to get saved because they know I'm not gonna accept what you say because it requires humility
It requires humility to quit trusting in your own works and admit you were wrong and people don't want to do that go to Psalm 91
Psalm chapter 91
Now we certainly live in a day where pride is is very you know front and center everywhere
with social media
Because I mean Facebook is just a way to just talk about how great you are at everything
right Instagram Twitter I
Don't know if there's anything newer than that right I have Facebook, and that's all I have the social media ones
but it's like you know it's all about just showing how great you are at everything and
Here's the thing it's not necessarily true
right I had a friend of mine in West Virginia, and you know he was talking about his brother-in-law and
All right
Yeah, brother-in-law, and he was talking about his brother-in-law, and you know his wife and on Facebook
This was the greatest couple ever
They seemed so happy
They had the greatest marriage ever on
fakebook
right
fakebook
But in real life my friends like oh, they're about to get a divorce
They'd only been married for like it. You know less than two years. He's like they have the worst marriage ever
So he's like that's the worst Christian marriage. I've ever seen in my life, but they seem like the greatest couple in life
But realize when you see what people say it doesn't mean it's true
It doesn't mean it's what you think
Nobody gets on Facebook. It says let me tell you how horrible I am at this
I'm horrible at this. I'm bad at this. I'm bad on this. No we naturally highlight what we're good at
That's what we want people to know
I get it. I don't like to tell you all the things I'm horrible about at either
Right, I'm horrible. I'll just give you one example. I am the worst person ever at Pictionary. I can't play that game
I have no ability to draw whatsoever
It's like in my head. I can't even imagine how to draw the simplest thing. I can draw a stick man. That is about it
I'm horrible at it, but nobody really goes on Twitter and says let me show you how bad this drawing is that I made
right
Because you want to highlight what you're good at
What's that called?
It's called the pride of life when you got to make it a point to let everybody know how great you are and what Satan's
Saying to Jesus is okay prove it to me
I had a friend of mine in the past, and you know he went soul winning one time
I wasn't with him, but he went soul winning and at the door
He got into an argument with the guy and then they start arguing the guys. You know Sandy could beat him up
He's like all right. Let's take this to the street right now
They're all soul winning and he's like threatening to beat a guy up on the side of the street
You say what is that called? It's called pride
It's called you know not being humble and lacking the ability of self-control and the ability to just walk away right now
I'm going to show you where this is quoted from in Matthew 4 because here's the thing
Satan does not directly quote the Word of God. He is misquoting and
Misrepresenting what God was saying in Psalm 91 Psalm 91
Verse number 11
Actually look at verse 10
Psalm 91 verse 10 there shall no evil befall thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling
For he shall give his changels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways
They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone
What is the intent of what's being said in Psalm 91 which is what Satan is misrepresenting?
It's not saying
Jump off a cliff and God's not gonna let anything bad happen to you
Shoot yourself with a bullet and God's not gonna allow any harm
What what the Bible is saying is God is not going to allow accidental harm to take place to you
The hedge of protection around your life. I mean realize they tried to kill Jesus many times before he died and
Yet they couldn't
because God was not going to let him die before his time and
The same is true for us today if you are right with God and serving God
God is not going to let you die before your time now
This is directly about Jesus Christ, but you know, here's the thing the same application we can make as well
We're basically God's not gonna let you die before your time. He's gonna protect you
So here's the thing. Let's say you leave church today and you go out driving and then all of a sudden
you know you get into a car accident if
Something tragic were to take place. That was God's will for a reason that we do not fully understand
but here's the thing if you leave here today and get a bottle of beer and
Drink and then you crash your car because you're drunk and you die
It's like well, you know, God didn't protect me. No, it's called you reap what you sow for being an idiot
So if you jump off a cliff
It's like I just have faith. God's gonna protect me. It's like what and
The intent of Psalm 91 was not jump off a cliff and God's gonna protect you
Number one Jesus had to die a blood-shedding death to pay for the sins of the world
It wasn't just like you can die in any way you want
To pay for the sins of the world
Right, but the intent of Psalm 91 is the fact that you know, God is not going to let you
Accidentally die is what the Bible is saying go back to Matthew 4
Matthew 4
I just imagine you're driving you say I have so much faith in God. He's gonna protect me
I'm gonna wear a blindfold and tie my hands behind the back and just trust in God
it's like you're an idiot and
You're gonna die and hopefully you just kill yourself and not somebody else while you're driving
Right, I mean it's like, you know, because here's what Jesus says in Matthew 4 verse 7 Jesus said unto him it is written again
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God
So is it true that God can protect us? Yes, that's true
It's also true. You don't tempt the Lord thy God
Don't put God in a situation where he's got to save your life
It's like man, I jumped off a cliff and I just trust God's gonna protect me. It's like no you're gonna die
Right and the Bible says we should not tempt the Lord thy God
verse number eight
Again, the devil taking them that will take them up into an exceeding high mountain and show them all the kingdoms of the world
And the glory of them
Now go to Luke 4 real quickly. I want to show this to you in the other gospel
Luke 4
Luke chapter 4
And I want to show you that when when the devil shows him all the kingdoms of the world
We don't necessarily know how this took place
It is a miraculous event in my opinion the second and the third are
miraculous events that are taking place and I don't know exactly how Satan did this when he's showing all the
Kingdoms of the world whether he transported
Jesus there or there's just a visual to see but notice what it says in Luke 4 verse 5 and
The devil taking them up into an high mountain
Taking him up into an high mountain showed it onto all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time
Number one there is no mountain high enough in the world where you could see every single kingdom that alone would tell us
it's a
miraculous event it's
Whatever you want to call it obviously this is Satan, but it's something that is not
Physically possible something that is out of the ordinary how Satan did that I don't fully know
I mean because there's no mountain tall enough to see all the kings of the world and the Bible saying it's happening in a moment
Of time we're basically sees like all of that all the kingdoms in Africa and Arabia in a moment of time
That's not possible in one mountain. It's not possible in a moment of time
So this is an event that is completely out of the ordinary okay go back to Matthew chapter 4 Matthew 4
Matthew 4
But what Satan's is doing with Jesus is saying here is everything because here's the thing who is the god of this world
Satan
Not Jesus Christ the god of this world the lowercase G
As I mentioned in 2nd Corinthians 4 that is Satan and Satan saying hey
I'll give you all of this in a moment of time. He showed you all of this. This is my domain
I'll hand it over to you
if
That will fall down and worship me. That's the requirements right and he says in Matthew 4 verse 9
And saith unto him all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me
Now here's the thing if Satan did this 2,000 years ago
Do you think Satan stopped doing the same offer to people or something similar?
See what I'm saying is you hear about rock stars that sell their souls to the devil. I
Don't believe it's just a myth. I
Believe there's reality and truth to it
Actors and actresses and musicians that are very famous because you know what's amazing to me. I've heard people sing before in churches
That are because I used to go to conferences in the u.s. Like Baptist conferences and they'd have like the the best
IFB singers that there are sing and some of them are phenomenal and
I'm thinking you know what actually they sound better than a lot of the famous singers that are out there
Why is it they're not really famous and rich like because they didn't sell their soul to the devil
that's the reason why because
Satan is the god of this world and
I believe Satan makes the same offer today and you know what there's people and I'm not saying Satan literally walks up to people
But here's what I'm saying. I believe there's a lot of people that say I would do anything
To be famous I would do anything
To be rich I would do anything
To be the greatest rock singer in the world and I believe there's literally people that do that and they sell their soul to the devil
Basically they become a reprobate they're done and they're just gonna be a wicked evil person till the day they die because you can't look
at famous actors and actresses and
Musicians and sit here and tell me that they're godly people
Right. I mean there's some of the most ungodly people and you look at these famous musicians and and quite honestly, you know
What it you know?
I was I was talking about this yesterday or a couple days ago with one of my friends in Pampanga and we were talking about
Like worldly music we used to listen to and I used to listen to hard rock music
And you start looking at these bands and who they are and what they're about. A lot of them are really horrible people
Right. I used to be a big fan of AC DC their lead singer drank himself to death Bon Scott
The next album the first song is called Hell's Bells
And the song was written to basically say our lead singer, you know just
Went to hell and they thought it was a good thing
And that's not just one one one story, I mean you could see a multitude of stories
I mean the music I used to listen to you know, Ozzy Osbourne was part of the band called Black Sabbath
I wonder what Black Sabbath is about
That sounds godly to me
The famous band kiss, you know in the hard rock realm kiss is an acronym for nights in Satan's service
And it's like you go down the list and a lot of this music I used to listen to and it's like man
It's like these are some wicked and ungodly people, you know Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page, you know
He used to wear six six six on his pants when he played
because he worshiped the devil I
Wonder how he became so rich and famous
Well when you're willing to sell your soul to the devil, I think that's the way
Right, and if if Satan did that all the way back in Matthew 4, I don't think it's completely done today go to Matthew 28
Matthew 28
Now I mentioned the hard rock genre just because that's the genre that I'm familiar with but you know
I remember seeing this interview online where Bob Dylan was talking about they said how did you become you know?
So famous and so good at what you did and then Bob Dylan annual because Bob Dylan was part of like the light rock
Music that is not that ungodly that people would say and he said I made a deal and the interviewer is like
Who'd you make a deal with and he's like, you know who?
But but all these rock stars are just joking about it
Right, it's like you've got to be insane if you think every single because a lot of people have that exact same story
He's being honest with you about how he became rich and famous
Matthew 28 verse 18
Matthew 28 verse 18 and
Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given on to me in heaven and in earth
Now look Jesus says here in Matthew 28 after his resurrection all power is given on to me and then at the millennial reign of Christ
We know that Jesus is gonna rule and reign
So here's the thing Satan makes this offer. I'm gonna give you everything right now
If you worship me, well, here's the thing. Jesus was going to inherit all of those things anyway
Just not immediately
You say what is this brother sucky this is the lust of the eyes
look at all of these things that I could have I
Mean you look at this house, man. I wish I lived in that house
Look at how nice it is. I wish I had that car. I
Wish I had that job. I wish I had that life. I wish I got to eat at that restaurant. Why can't I eat there?
the lust of the eyes
Now here's the thing I'm not saying it's wrong to eat at nice restaurants or have a nice house
I mean if God has blessed you and you have the ability that that's great
But here's the thing if you don't have the money you don't have the ability you're covetous and you're filled full of envy
and
You're not gonna be happy
Because this is what takes place when people say I'm only gonna be happy if I have this house
Once they get that house, I'm only gonna be happy if I have this house
Is that not true?
You said prove it to me well the Bible says the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing
Look at Solomon. He had everything and
Yet he wasn't happy in fact. It wasn't just that he wasn't happy. He said there for I hated life I
Mean the man who had everything during that day. He's like I don't even want to live
My life is horrible
We saw in the first sermon for Philippians forward says think upon things that are lovely and pure and a good report and honest
And all those things and then it says I have learned in whatsoever state. I am there with to be content
Brother Stuckey, how can you learn to be happy if you don't have nice things learn to be content?
Think on things that are pure think about God think about the Bible be thankful for what you do have
And you can learn to be content
But if you are filled full of the lust of the eyes you always want this and this and this and this
You're gonna live your life in misery and hate your life
Turn to your Bible to Matthew 4 Matthew chapter 4
Matthew chapter 4 I
Mean it may be
That one day you are gonna have a very nice house
It may be that one day you are gonna have a very nice car
It may be that one day you are gonna have the things that you know what you could really enjoy
But but here's the thing it might not be now
People want to graduate from college and become the CEO on day one of the job
It's like no you're gonna make the least amount of money at the company and just slowly learn you say brother say
I wish I had it all right now and be like the prodigal son that throws it all away. I
Mean literally there are millions and maybe billions of people in this world and they just dream to win the lottery
If I could just win the lottery I'd be so happy
Really?
Have you ever seen the stories of people that win the lottery?
They're the most miserable people
That have existed there's a famous case in West Virginia where I'm from where this guy was happily married for like
You know 30 years and his life was just basic, but he had a job and God provided he went to church
He was happy he had a family
Then he won the lottery and everyone's thinking oh, it's gonna be great right and now all of a sudden with the extra money
He started to go to strip clubs
started to go to bars
His niece started doing drugs within two years
He was divorced and his niece had overdosed on drugs as a result of winning the lottery
Did that money give him happiness
So less of the eyes and by the way, the love of money is the root of all evil
You're gonna pierce yourself through with many sorrows the Bible says
It's not gonna make you happy money doesn't make you happy. Say brother second. What makes you happy?
Well, doesn't the Bible say if you know these things happy or ye if ye do them
Now look as a Bible believe in Christian the answer is serve God it will make you happy
You
And I both know this is true when you are right with God
Everything in your life can be falling apart and yet you're happy
right and
Yet everything can be going well in your life. If you're not right with God, you're miserable
It's like, you know, you get a promotion and everything's going great and everyone's like, why are you so sad?
And the actual reason is oh, I didn't read the Bible today
You
Would think you'd be happy but you're not you say why because happiness is not found in money or possessions
It's actually found in serving God and being right with God, right?
Matthew chapter 4 and by the way, when it comes to winning the lottery the Bible says wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished
That's why everybody that wins the lottery ends up losing it all
The worst thing that could happen to you is to get rich overnight
You would end up destroying your life
That's true for and quite honestly probably for most of us
It wouldn't even be good to have a ton of money because most of us are not job anyway
It's like be thankful for everything that you do have
It's not wrong to have nice things but be thankful for what God has blessed you with because here's the thing
You might not have what other people have
But you have things that others don't have
All of us have been blessed in a multitude of ways
Matthew chapter 4 verse 10
Then sayeth Jesus on to him get thee hence Satan for it is written now shall worship the Lord thy God in him
Only shalt thou serve
Then the devil leaveth him and behold angels came and ministered on to him now
We'll look at one last verse go to Luke 4 and I'm going to show you one last verse Luke chapter 4 Luke 4
Luke chapter 4
And
Here's what it says in Luke 4 verse 13
It gives us a little bit more information and when the devil had ended all the temptation
He departed from him forever
Is that what it says
He departed from him for a season
What does that mean? It means the devil's done with the temptation then but he's gonna come back and see here's the thing
Our life is filled full of resisting temptations. The Bible says resist the devil and
He will flee from you
It doesn't say he's gonna flee from you forever though
Right. So basically we always have to be sober and vigilant and realize our adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he may devour and
So basically you deny the flesh you fight against temptation you resist the devil and the devil's gonna leave
But not permanently
Because the temptations are gonna come back the struggles are gonna come back
You're never gonna live a life where you can easily serve God without anybody fighting against it
Satan is gonna fight against you until the day you die. You say what do you do brother Stuckey?
It's like we sung during the first service yield not to temptation
Deny the flesh
Fight against it
Do what you got to do?
Look, obviously, none of us are perfect. We sin every single day and we understand that but you know what?
There is a difference between two people that sin every day where one person just gives in and does not even try
Versus someone who's a just man or a just woman that followed seven times and rises back up again
So you mess up you confess it to God you say you're sorry you make the change and say God help me to overcome
this temptation
Don't be someone who just gives in and says, you know what? Whatever
I'm just gonna give him to every temptation of the flesh the lust of the flesh
The lust of the eyes and the pride of life if you do that, you're gonna destroy your life. Let's close in word of prayer
Your Heavenly Father. Thank you for loudest beer today and ask you to help us to apply the sermon to our lives
I ask you to help all of us fight against this these
Temptations and the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life God
Help us to spend time reading your word and quote the Word of God or do what we need to do God to help overcome
These temptations and problems and struggles in our lives in Jesus name we pray. Amen
Oh
What a savior
Sing
Oh
You