Now in Zechariah chapter 3 is a chapter that is actually referred to several times in several
different ways in the New Testament, although many people may not be familiar with its context.
It starts out by saying, He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel
of the Lord.
Of course this is not the Joshua from the book of Joshua who was the captain of God's
host, but this is the Joshua that is the high priest who is at the around the same time
of Ezra and Nehemiah, and in those days Joshua was the high priest.
Well it says that he was standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his
right hand to resist him, and the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuked thee, O Satan,
even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuked thee.
Now look at the next phrase, is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Now what does that remind you of course in the book of Jude when the Bible talks about
and some saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, watch the next phrase.
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel and he answered
and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from
him.
And unto him he said, Behold I have cause and I have iniquity to pass from thee and
I will clothe thee with change and reign.
Of course that is what it says in the book of Jude.
And others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted
by the fire.
In fact in the book of Jude we are alluding to Zechariah chapter 3.
Now the interesting thing about this story is that it mentions Satan.
And Satan is in fact only mentioned by name in the Old Testament four times.
One other time he is mentioned in the book of Genesis chapter 3 in the Garden of Eden
as the serpent, but only four times is he called out by name in the Old Testament Satan.
Satan's workings in the Old Testament are more often manifested through false religion
and false gods.
All throughout the Old Testament you have Baal, who really is none other than Satan.
These different Baals, plural, Baalim, these different gods and false deities were demons
and devils according to the New Testament.
But in the New Testament we find more out about Satan.
But in the Old Testament there are a few different mentions of him and they both have something
in common, two of them that is, and that is of Satan standing at the right hand of someone
to resist them.
Now, if you would turn to James chapter 4, look at James chapter 4 at the very end of
the New Testament.
James chapter 4.
Of course I said that Joshua was the captain of the Lord's host, he was actually really
the leader of Israel that followed Moses' spiritual footsteps.
Jesus was actually the captain of the Lord's host that appeared to Joshua and said the
wrong thing there.
But in James chapter 4, look at verse number 6.
It says, but he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud.
Now what was Satan doing at the right hand of Joshua?
Resisting him.
Now we see God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace under the humble, submit yourselves
therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
So what is the opposite of resistance?
Submission.
Right?
He's saying, don't resist God.
He's saying, God will resist you if you're proud, he'll give grace to you if you're humble,
submit yourself to God, and rather resist the devil.
So the opposite of resistance is submission.
Now what does all this mean?
Well, the Bible is commanding us here, resist the devil, and he tells us the result, he'll
flee from you.
Now you don't want to have Satan at your right hand.
You don't want to have the devil with you, tempting you, you don't want to have the devil
resisting you, and so if we resist him, he'll flee from you.
Now let me explain to you what the devil does.
Who wants to be my victim?
I mean, my volunteer.
Brett, come on up here, Brett.
I don't think I've ever picked on you.
Brett here is going to represent Satan.
He's the devil, okay?
And I just fought with him a mile away, they come into our church, and I'm just kidding.
But anyway, the devil here is going to resist me.
Now what does it mean?
Think about it.
I think football is a good illustration.
Now I'm not into football, I don't know anything about football, I'm not really following sports,
but football is a great illustration, because in football, somebody's got the football right,
and they're trying to reach the goal, and what do they want to do?
Somebody who's going to resist them.
Come on, put a little resistance around.
So I'm trying to get over here, you know, that's what they do in football, right?
Isn't that what they do?
The point is that I want to do what's right.
I want to live for God.
I want to go out solely.
Maybe I've never even been solely.
I'm going to go solely for the first time.
Man, I'm excited.
Yes, let's go solely.
I'm going to run into some resistance.
I mean, you can't start living for God without running into some resistance.
I mean, the devil is a real person, and he's going to resist you when you try to do what's right.
Here, Joshua was coming out of captivity in a wicked land, coming into the promised land,
trying to re-institute Bible religion, Bible preaching, God's power, God's presence in
Jerusalem, and as soon as he showed up and put on the garb of the high priest, boom,
Satan was right there at his right hand to resist him, to stop him from making that spiritual
leap forward in his life.
When you try to grow, Satan's going to resist you.
Let's say you come Sunday morning only.
You say, I'm going to start coming Sunday night.
Resistance.
Hey, I'm going to start showing.
Or you say, you know what, I need to get rid of some of this music.
And he'll try to stop you.
He'll try to resist you.
Now, look, what do I do?
How am I going to resist the devil?
Now, who's stronger, me or the devil?
I'm not talking about real life.
I know I'm stronger in real life.
I'm saying in the illustration.
Remember, this isn't Brett here.
This is representing the devil.
Who's stronger, me or the devil?
The devil.
I mean, face it.
The devil is stronger.
Now, turn if you would to Matthew chapter 4.
Matthew chapter 4.
You can go ahead and say that.
Okay.
Thank you, Brett.
No problem.
But that's what resistance is.
It's pressure in the opposite direction of the way that you're going.
Now, look at Matthew chapter 4, verse 1.
The Bible says, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of
the devil.
Now, it was God's will for Jesus to be tempted by the devil.
Who led him into the wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted by the devil?
The Holy Spirit.
I mean, God's Spirit.
And so God will bring you.
Now, God doesn't tempt you, okay, but God will bring you into the wilderness where the
devil will come and tempt you.
The devil will tempt you in your life that in fact it was even God's will here.
And I believe that God will lead you into the same situation where you'll be in a place
where you'll be tempted by the devil one day.
I mean, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil.
Now, this reminded me of a time that I thought of this scripture because I was walking one
time and it was a little bit cold outside and I wasn't really properly dressed.
I didn't have a warm enough jacket on for how cold it was.
That happens to me all the time because when you live in Phoenix, it's December.
It's 85 degrees outside.
You've got the windows down.
And then you think, oh, I think I'm going to go up to Montana or Idaho.
And you just assume that it's going to be the same thing.
But when you get there, it's like 20 degrees.
And so sometimes I underestimate, oh, maybe I'll grab a light sweater, you know, and you
get there and it's 17.
And so I was not really dressed warm enough.
So I'm not really dressed warm enough and I was walking and I had kind of a long ways
to walk.
Well, all of a sudden, the wind just started blowing against me, okay?
And it started to rain a little bit, okay?
But the wind was blowing exactly opposite of the way I was going.
So every step I took, I was facing that resistance, that pressure pushing against me in the rain.
And so you know what I started to do because it was so uncomfortable just having the rain
blowing into my face, cold air and cold water blowing into my face, I began to rush.
I was walking but then I just began to run into the wind because I wanted to just get
through this.
And I was thinking to myself, you know, if that wind hadn't pushed against me, I wouldn't
have started running.
And so I actually got to my destination sooner because of the resistance that came my way.
Because then I resisted the resistance and pushed back and ended up even going faster
and being stronger as a result of it.
Now, Jesus here was led 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 100.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, now wait a minute, when the tempter, this
is almost like a noun to describe the tempter.
I mean, this is who he is.
I mean, this is who he's referred to.
He could be referred to with this as a pronoun as it were, the tempter.
I mean, that's quite a name.
And so the devil's business is tempting God's people.
Now, what is the opposite of resistance?
Submission.
Stephen said to the Jews, you do always resist the Holy Ghost.
You can either resist God or you can resist the devil.
You can submit yourself to God or you can submit yourself to the devil.
Does anybody know what the word Islam means, by the way?
Just an interesting side note.
Submission.
That's what it is, right?
You speak Arabic, right?
Don't tell me if I'm wrong because you'll ruin my whole sermon.
No, I'm just kidding.
But the word Islam means submission.
And they say they're submitting to Allah.
They're submitting to the devil is what they're doing with that religion.
And so I'm not one of these that's going to get up and tell you that Islam's a wonderful religion.
It's a religion of Satan.
It's a religion of submitting to the devil.
And you know, any religion outside of Bible Christianity is wicked.
It's not just misguided.
It's not just wrong.
It's wicked.
I mean, anybody who would get up and preach another way to heaven,
another God, another Jesus, another gospel, hey, let them be accursed.
It's wicked.
It's sinful.
It's wicked.
It's wrong.
And the people who are behind it are evil people.
It's not an accident.
They're not just misguided.
They're bad people.
They're evil.
Now, I'm not saying every member of the religion is evil.
They're just misguided.
I won an Islamic person to Christ while I was in Norway, a young Islamic man from Iran
in his 20s.
I said to him, I said, oh, there's a lady in our church that's from Iraq.
And I was like, oh, whoops, that's probably your archenemy or something.
Iran and Iraq probably hate each other, you know?
But anyway, I won this guy to Christ.
Hey, praise God.
But the people who are running these false religions are evil and wicked and wrong.
That has to do with sermon.
But the point is that resistance and submission are two opposites.
Now, I'm going to give you tonight four ways to resist the devil.
Four ways that you're going to be able to resist the devil in your life based on the Bible.
Number one, to resist the devil, you must have humility.
Now, we're going to come back to Matthew chapter 4,
but turn, if you would, back to James 4, and then put a finger in Hebrews 4, okay?
All these fours have to do with resistance, believe it or not.
So you've got a finger, and you're forsaking Matthew 4 right now,
putting a finger in James 4 and another finger in Hebrews 4.
Okay, everybody got that?
Now take your left thumb, James 4, verse 6.
Watch what he says here.
So the goal is that you don't want to have Satan at your right hand.
You want to have Jesus Christ at your right hand, okay?
You don't want to have the devil resisting you.
Remember Brett was up here resisting me?
Am I going to get very far with that kind of resistance in my life constantly?
No.
He was constantly holding me back from everything I wanted to do.
So I've got to get the devil to flee from me by resisting,
and yet I'm no match for the devil.
I don't have the power to resist the devil.
I'm going to have to rely on the grace of God in order to submit to God and resist the devil,
and God is only going to give me the grace to resist the devil if I'm humble.
Now, what do I mean by that?
Look at Hebrews chapter 4.
Hebrews chapter number 4, verse 15.
And I'll explain to you why you must have humility in order to resist the devil.
Now, Hebrews 4, 15, the Bible reads,
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
starting with Jesus Christ,
but was at all points tempted, light as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
So God's grace is going to help us to resist the devil.
The only way we're going to get it is by humbling ourselves before God,
so that we'll have the power to resist the devil, not in our own strength.
You see what I mean by humility?
If we have pride, we'll think that we're going to be able to resist him in our own strength.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
1 Corinthians chapter 10, and look at verse number 12.
1 Corinthians 10, 12.
Now think about how profound the statement is.
Resist the devil and he'll flee from you.
Now that means that when the devil tempts you,
every time you endure that temptation, you're pushing him further away.
Every time you submit to that, you're bringing him closer to you.
And so that's going to make the temptation worse.
Think about this.
The closer the devil's proximity to you, the worse the temptation's going to be.
If you can get him to flee away from you,
that's why you need to lead us not into temptation.
You know, you want the devil gone out of your life.
You don't want him tempting you.
You don't want to be having to resist him daily.
Now think about this. Let me give you an example.
When I was in Chicago, there was a guy that went to our church,
and all the windows were busted out of his van.
And he called us up on the phone and said,
I'm not going to be at church today because all the windows were busted out of my van.
And the guy that answered the phone, the friend of mine, or the mic,
he said, your car can still drive with broken windows.
Drive your car down to church with all the broken windows and come to church.
And he said, if you don't do that,
then all the devil has to do every time he wants to keep you out of church
is to bust all the windows in your van.
Do you want the windows in your van busted again?
Hey, resist the devil and come to church.
Don't let that stop you from doing what's right.
You can deal with your window later,
come to church now, be in God's house now, fix the window later.
And I heard him say that and I thought, you know what, that's true.
That's a great statement.
And you know, I've met with so many people who legitimately have...
And this guy was a new believer.
But you know what, he showed up with the broken windows and came to church.
But let me tell you something.
Many people always have things that are keeping them out of church.
And a lot of times they are legitimate excuses.
I mean, you can kind of see where they're coming from.
But isn't it amazing how sometimes it just keeps happening to the same people
over and over again?
Because the devil knows that if he can keep you out of church,
he'll just know which button to push and he'll just push that button.
But see, the devil's not going to get me out of church.
And so the devil's not going to try to break my window there.
You know, I made these famous last words, I guess.
My windows are probably being broken right now.
I'm being a little presumptuous right now.
But anyway, think about it.
Why would the devil come to my house
and bust the window out of my car to keep me out of church
when he knows I'm going to come to church anyway?
Because I've shown him that.
Year after year after year after year.
I've shown him that I will be in church
Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.
Now before I made the decision to be in every service,
things used to come up all the time
that would keep me out of church,
but then when I decided I will be in church no matter what,
then what would happen is
if I tried to come up a few times and the devil saw that I was unmovable,
he just said,
What's the point?
He's going to go tempt somebody that he can have more success with.
I mean, he tempted Jesus three times and then he fled from it.
Because he wasn't having any success.
Why would he just beat his head against the wall
with somebody with whom he cannot win?
And so if the devil tempts you and you fall for it,
if you bite the hook,
if he shows you something wicked
and you look at it and feast your eyes upon it,
he's just going to keep putting it in front of you.
Because he says, Oh, I've got a live one here.
Oh wow, I've got somebody that he's seeking whom he may devour.
He's looking for that one that he can control,
that he can tempt,
that he can deceive,
that he can lie to you.
But if you resist him and say,
No, I will be in church.
No, I don't believe your false doctrine.
No, I don't believe in this stuff.
No, I will come to church.
No, I will not look at this pornography.
I will not shed any wicked thing before my eyes.
I mean, that's the type of person
where the devil is going to flee from them
because that's somebody who's resisting it.
The Bible says,
Whom resist steadfast in the faith.
And so if you are steadfast and unhookable,
the devil will flee from you.
If you resist him, he'll flee from you.
Now look down at your Bible in 1 Corinthians 10.
We're talking about humility
in regard to resisting the devil in verse 12.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed lest he fall.
Now if you think that you're strong enough
to never fall into temptation,
to never be deceived by the devil,
because in the same breath as I'm saying,
Hey, the devil's not going to mess with me
because I resist him.
You know, I still need to keep my guard up.
Now I know that that's true.
The more I resist him, he'll flee from me.
But that doesn't mean I should ever
think that I'm standing,
think that I'm out of danger,
and let pride overtake me, right?
You see how we're balancing these two ideas?
Hey, I know that if I resist him or resist him,
he's going to flee from me,
but I don't want to let pride overtake me
to where I think that I'm a match
for the devil in my own strength.
I'm going to need God's grace.
I need to realize that I better
take heed every single day
because just as soon as I let my guard down,
he'll be right there next to me again
to deceive me again, to fool me again,
to tempt me again.
So look at the next verse.
He says,
There hath no temptation taken you,
but such is his common demand.
That means you will be tempted
no matter who you are.
But God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted
if you are able,
but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape
that you may be able to bear it.
Now look at the book of Jude
right before the book of Revelation
at the very end of your Bible.
See, every temptation is resistible.
I mean, you can resist any temptation
according to God.
He said there's always a way out,
there's always a way to escape,
there's no excuse to fall into temptation,
and every time you do fall into temptation,
you are just letting the devil know
to tempt you again.
Have you ever noticed how people
go on these downward spirals with sin?
Because they give in to the urge
to look at pornography one time,
well then the devil sees that,
there's the chink in the armor,
there's the weakness,
let's just put it in front of him,
put it in front of him,
the downward spiral begins.
Or alcohol.
You know, he'll find your weakness,
and he'll exploit it.
And every time you give in to temptation,
you're making it worse.
You say,
Wow, I think I'm just going to
have a drink and just get it out of my system.
You know what I mean?
It's going to be worse.
You say,
Well, I'm trying to quit smoking,
but if I just smoke one more cigarette,
I think I can really just get it out of my system.
That one cigarette just makes you crave another one.
That one drink is going to make you crave the next drink.
That one look at pornography
is just going to make you want more.
It doesn't satisfy.
And so you have to understand
that resistance is the only way
to build up your strength
and to kick him out of your life
and to get him as far away as possible.
Look at Jude, verse 9.
Yet Michael the archangel,
when contending with the devil,
he disputed about the body of Moses,
durst not bring against him a railing accusation,
but said the Lord rebuke him.
Now, the word durst
is the past tense of the word dare.
He dares, he durst.
Okay, I know it's kind of an odd word,
but durst means he didn't dare
to bring a railing accusation against the devil.
Now, in 2 Peter chapter 2,
the parallel passage of the same thing,
he uses a slightly different wording.
He says, but angels...
I don't have it in my notes for some reason.
Let me turn it over there.
He says, verse 11 of chapter 2,
whereas angels, which are greater in power and might
than us, he's saying, than human beings,
whereas angels, which are greater in power and might,
bring not railing accusation
against them before the Lord.
So even angels that are more powerful
and mightier than us
still are no match for the devil.
They have to defer to God
and say the Lord rebuke him.
God rebuke him.
And so we ought not think
that we can face the temptations
of the devil in our own strength.
We have to realize, hey,
let's take heed lest we fall at any time.
Let's constantly be on our guard.
Let's be humble enough to say,
I am susceptible.
I am weak.
God is strong.
I'm going to humble myself in the sight of the Lord
so that he can lift me up
and so that he can strengthen me
and give me the grace to proceed.
Well, the opposite of this is pride.
Pride, say, well, I can watch TV
and it won't affect me.
Think about it.
This is the opposite.
This is who does not have grace.
This is who the devil will devour.
The person who has the kind of pride,
they don't have the humility
to get the grace from God
to withstand the devil's temptation.
The person who says,
well, I have TV, but I can handle it.
Now, if you can't handle it,
get rid of your TV,
but I can handle it,
so I watch TV.
And I've had people sit there
and tell me,
I can see those girls on screen
and my mind's as pure as the dirt and stone.
You know what I mean?
Those girls in the bathing suits
and in the short shorts,
that doesn't bother me at all.
Come on.
You're a little arrogant there.
Or otherwise, maybe you're a queer,
so I don't know.
But anyway, you're arrogant to say,
well, I can sit there
and watch all these girls
and not think about it.
That's not going to affect me.
Or I can listen to these radio preachers, right?
And it's not going to mess with my doctrine
because I know what I believe.
God said not to listen to these false prophets.
He said, don't invite them into your house.
Neither did him God's speed.
He said, when you hear that
wisdom is not in his mouth,
you know, to depart from the fool
that's teaching lies,
hey, he could tell lies,
not tearing my sight.
I'm not going to sit there
and listen to somebody's lies
and say, well, I'm just reading
the Book of Mormon
just to see what it says.
I've never read the Book of Mormon.
I never will.
I've never read the,
I'm not going to sit down
and read false versions of the Bible.
I'm not going to sit down
and read the Book of Mormon.
I'm not going to sit down
and listen to radio false teachers
just to see what they're teaching.
Well, I can handle it.
Well, you better take heed
lest you fall.
I'm not going to put
all that garbage in my mind.
If you want to know,
you say, well, I've got to know
how to win them to Christ.
You win them to Christ
the same way you win
everybody else to Christ.
They don't believe that
salvation is by grace through faith.
They don't believe in the
eternal security of the believer.
You win them to the Lord
just like you win
anybody else to the Lord.
And if you sit there
and fill your mind
with the cesspool
of what they believe,
it will affect you.
It will.
You go to a wicked church,
you go to a liberal church,
you will be affected by it.
I mean, I went to a Bible college
and you know what?
It had a negative effect on me.
I went to a high school college.
It had a negative effect on me.
And I was realizing that.
I was smart enough to realize that.
And when I left there,
I tried to undo the damage
that was done to me,
the false doctrine that I was taught.
But I think if I were to graduate,
I would have probably just kept
a lot of that garbage with me.
Because I'm here to tell you
that nobody can handle it.
Nobody can handle
constant exposure to false teaching,
false doctrine.
Nobody can handle
constant exposure to porno
and wicked television and all this stuff.
And they can handle it.
Have the humility to say,
God, I know I can't handle it.
Leave me not as a temptation, God.
Help me to resist
when I'm faced with it.
But God, deliver us from evil.
Leave us not as a temptation.
I can handle it.
I'm not strong enough.
And then God's going to look down
and see the attitudes.
I'm going to help you
to get through this.
And so, number one,
to resist the devil
you must have humility.
But number two,
look at Matthew 4.
The second thing
that you need to resist the devil.
And don't just blow past
that first point.
Humility is probably
the most important point
in this sermon.
What is humility?
Saying, I can't do it
in my own strength.
The devil is more powerful
than I am.
Therefore, I must not
expose myself to his idiot box.
I must not expose myself
to his false teaching.
I must not listen to his music.
I must not look at his magazines
because it will affect me.
I mean, that right there,
if you get that one point down,
you are 90% of the way
to resisting the devil.
Once you just realize
I can't handle it,
I cannot resist him on my own,
I'm going to need to heed
God's commandments,
stay away from sin,
not go the way of the sinful.
And that's 90% of the battle
right there, to be honest.
But number two,
you must use the word of God.
This is how you're going
to resist the devil.
Remember what the angel said?
The Lord rebuked him?
God's word is what will rebuke Satan.
Not your words,
not your thoughts,
not your ideas.
The Lord will rebuke Satan
through his word.
Look at Matthew 4.
He's tempted in verse 3.
It says,
When the tempter came to him,
he said,
He thought he, the son of God,
commanded that these stones
be made bread.
But he answered
and said,
He did not live by bread alone,
but by every word that
preceded out of the mouth of God.
Then the devil
taken him up into the holy city,
and set him on a pinnacle
of the temple,
and saith unto him,
If thou be the son of God,
cast thyself down,
for it is written,
he shall give his angels
charts concerning thee,
and in their hands
they shall bear thee up,
lest at any time
thou dash thy foot
against the stone.
Jesus said unto him,
It is written again,
Thou shalt not tempt
the Lord thy God.
Again the devil
taken him up into
an exceeding high mountain,
and showed them
all the kingdoms of the world
and the glory of them,
and saith unto him,
All these things
will I give thee,
if thou wilt fall down
and worship me.
Then said Jesus unto him,
Get thee hence taken,
for it is written,
Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God,
and him only
shalt thou serve.
Then the devil
leadeth him.
Remember,
that's the goal, right?
Resist the devil,
he'll flee from you.
Here Jesus
resisted the devil,
using God's word
in all three cases,
and what happened?
The devil left him.
The devil left him alone.
He resisted the devil,
he left him alone.
He resisted the devil,
the devil leadeth him,
and behold,
angels came
and ministered unto him.
They came and ministered
unto Jesus.
And so,
we must use the word of God
to resist the devil.
Now,
nothing will help you more
in a time of temptation
than scriptures
that have been memorized.
Honestly,
I mean,
there have been temptations
that I've struggled with,
and what I did was
I chose verses
that applied to those
particular temptations,
and every time I was tempted,
I quoted those verses,
and I wrote them down,
and I wrote those verses,
and it was amazing
how it strengthened me.
And see,
this goes back to humility again.
You can't do it on your own,
but I've been in situations
where the flesh
wanted to do wrong.
The flesh wanted to sin,
the verse popped into my mind,
I quoted it to myself,
and it strengthened me,
and enabled me
to do what was right.
It enabled me
to do the right thing.
God's word will do that.
And so,
memorizing scripture is vital
when it comes to
resisting temptation.
Jesus didn't say,
Hey man,
let me pull out my Bible.
You know,
the devil tempted him, right?
Hey,
command of these sons
you may pray.
Hang on a minute.
He had it memorized.
I mean,
he was the word
and the flesh,
but he knew it.
I mean,
he just,
he said,
hey,
it's ready.
May I still live
by bread alone,
by every word,
and proceed
out of the mouth of God.
How do you know that?
You know,
now I realize
that he was
the word incarnate,
but he knew the word of God,
and that's how you're
going to have to know it
if you're going
to resist temptation.
We have the mind of Christ,
the Bible says,
and so you've got
to memorize verses.
Now think about,
I'm sure if you sat down
and thought it all right,
you could think about
what your weaknesses are.
Everybody has weaknesses.
You could right now say,
this is my weakness.
Find verses on those subjects
and memorize them.
Or, you know,
memorize whole chapters
of the Bible
to cover everything.
You know,
to cover anything
that comes your way.
The Holy Spirit will
bring these verses
into your mind
to help you
to resist the temptation.
And look,
we live in a time
where temptation is strong.
We live in a wilderness
of temptation.
I mean, remember the,
I mean,
the devil,
or I'm sorry,
the Holy Spirit led Jesus
in the wilderness
to be tempted to the devil.
It seems like we just live
in Phoenix
to be tempted to the devil.
I mean,
it's just,
it's everywhere,
isn't it?
I mean,
you can't drive down
the road without temptation.
You can't walk into the store.
You can't go anywhere
without being tempted
with covetousness
You can't see the red eyes
if that's something
you struggle with.
Drugs,
nudity,
the lust of the eyes,
the lust of the flesh.
It's constantly being
crammed down our throats.
We are going to need
some strength
to get through this.
We are going to need
to resist the devil.
We've got to know the
Scriptures that will
help us resist it.
Here's an example.
You know,
I'll set no wicked thing
before my eyes.
I hate the work of them
that turn aside.
It shall not cleave to me.
That's a great verse
to memorize
when it comes to the
lust of the eyes.
I made a covenant
in my eyes.
How then should I think
upon a maiden?
As Job said.
I mean,
there's so many verses
that you can memorize.
If you want to talk
about alcohol,
memorize what we're
memorizing in the bulletin
for this month.
Who hath woe?
Who hath sorrow?
Who hath contention?
I mean,
memorize the Scriptures
about alcohol.
That will strengthen you.
Wine is a mock,
a strong drink is raging,
and whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise.
Have that verse ready
on the tip of your tongue
when you're offered alcohol,
when you're offered
something to drink,
when you have the opportunity
that nobody's going to see,
nobody's going to know about it.
Why don't you have those verses
on the tip of your tongue?
Why don't you have them
in your mouth and in your mind
so that you can resist
whatever temptation
the devil puts in front of you?
You know,
but I say unto you,
whosoever looketh on a woman
to lust after her
had committed adultery
with her already in his heart.
There's a good verse on
the lust of the eyes
and the lust of the
opposite gender.
Thou shalt not steal.
There's a great verse.
Provide for things honest
in the sight of all men.
How about this?
Servants be obedient
to them that are your masters
according to the flesh,
with singleness of your heart
as unto Christ.
Maybe you can memorize that
if you're slothful on the job
or if you have a habit
of mouthing off to the boss
on the job.
Why don't you memorize
some scriptures on
respect for authority
and respect for leadership
at the job?
I mean, there's so many
we can go on and on
and just list scriptures
that you can be memorizing
and pondering
that will help you
resist these temptations.
But number three,
in order to resist the devil
you must have faith.
Look at Ephesians 6.
Ephesians 6.
So number one,
you've got to have the
humility to realize
that you can't resist
on your own.
Number two,
you must use the word
of God to resist the devil.
You must have it
committed to your heart.
Thy word have I did
in my heart
that I might not
sin against thee.
I mean, it doesn't get
any clearer than that.
The path to not sinning
is through having
God's word in your heart,
through memorizing
God's word.
The path to not sinning
is through having
God's word in your heart,
through memorizing
God's word.
But not only that,
we need faith.
Now, you're in Ephesians 6.
I'm going to read for you
this one scripture
in 1 Thessalonians 3.
The Bible says,
For this cause,
when I could no longer
forbear,
I sent to know your faith,
lest by some means
the tempter have tempted you,
and our labor be in vain.
So there we see that
faith is the measure
by which we will be able
to resist the tempter,
our faith.
Look at Ephesians 6.
Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord
and in the power
of the devil
and in the power
of the devil.
Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord
and in the power
of his might.
So where does the strength
to resist come from?
Where does the power
come from?
God, not the flesh.
He says,
Put on the whole armor
of God,
that you may be able
to stand against,
that's what resistance is,
standing against
the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood,
but against principalities,
against powers,
against the rulers
of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness
in high places.
Wherefore, take unto you
the whole armor of God,
that you may be able
to withstand,
same thing as resistance
again,
withstand in an evil day,
and having done all,
to stand.
Stand, therefore,
having your loins
girt about with truth,
there's your word of God
right there,
and having on the breastplate
of righteousness,
and your feet shot
with the preparation
of the gospel of peace,
above all.
So what's the most
important armor?
Above all.
I mean, when it comes
to resisting the devil,
when it comes to resistance
against the wiles
of the devil,
above all,
taking the shield
of faith,
wherewith,
ye shall be able
to quench all
the fiery darts
of the wicked,
and take the helmet
of salvation,
and the sword
of the spirit,
which is the word of God.
Now, why is faith
so important
in resisting the devil?
Why did Timothy say,
I want to know your faith,
lest by some
means attempt
or attempt to do it?
Why is it so important
that we have the shield
of faith above all else,
that we make,
and he says,
you'll be able to quench
all the fiery darts
of the wicked?
What is faith?
Faith is believing God's word.
That's all.
I mean, you're saved by faith.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved.
He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him
that sent me,
hath everlasting life.
So God's word
is where our faith is.
And so when we have
faith in God's word,
that is the number one
way to resist the devil.
Why?
Because the devil
is constantly trying
to get you to question
God's word.
That's his modus operandi
from Genesis chapter 3.
Yea, hath God said?
Ye shall not eat
of every tree in the garden?
I mean, did he really say?
Are you sure
that's really what he said?
Trying to get you
to question God's word.
But a person with faith
in God's word says,
I know what Jesus says.
I believe it.
I know it's true
through faith.
Nothing can shake me
of my belief in God's word.
That's faith.
Now, what does he do to Jesus?
He says to him,
if thou be the Son of God.
See how he's questioning again?
The devil puts a question mark
where God puts a period.
Jesus is the Son of God?
Well, if you're the Son.
I mean, I'm not saying you're not.
I'm not saying you're not.
Just if you are, prove it.
If you're the Son of God,
yea, hath God said?
Always a questioning
of what God says.
Always putting doubt
on the word of God.
And he is the one who will try
to get you to doubt
what you believe.
Now, look.
There are preachers out there
and Bible colleges
and seminaries
who instill doubt in the Bible.
Now, look.
This is God's word.
This is the word of God.
Now, look.
This is God's word.
This is the King James Bible
and it's God's word.
I believe that every single word
in this book
is perfect,
inherent,
inspired by God.
What does it mean
to be inspired by God?
God spake all these words.
Breathe out of the mouth of God.
And if this isn't what God spoke,
you know, these preachers now,
they say,
well, it's preserved
but it's not inspired.
Well, it's been preserved
but this isn't really
what God said.
That's what it means
to be inspired.
Unless maybe they went
to some theologian
or some seminary somewhere
and got some new definitions
for inspiration.
You know, I'm sure
the verbal, plenary.
What does plenary mean anyway?
You know what I mean?
The plenary.
Well, I know it's verbal
but is it plenary?
It's like, what?
Verbal inspiration,
plenary is double inspiration,
triple inspiration.
Look, this is inspiration.
God spake all these words.
I don't understand what's
complicated about that.
Exodus 20, verse 1.
God spake all these words.
Now, inspired by God,
it means that it was spoken,
inspiration.
It's talking about God,
breathe,
inspire,
expire.
And he says,
God spake these words.
It was given from the mouth of God.
Now, look,
if the King James
is not what God spoke,
then we need to find the Bible
that is what God spoke.
Because God spake the words of God.
He said,
heaven and earth shall pass away
but my word shall not pass away.
So if it's not the King James,
we need to go find it.
And so to sit there and say,
well, it's God's word
but it's not inspired.
When did it expire?
If it's not inspired,
then God didn't say it.
And if God didn't say it,
why am I saying it
and calling it God's word tonight?
Because it is God's word
because it's spoken by God.
The devil is the one
who wants you to doubt that.
The devil is the one
who wants you to believe
that God can't translate
His word from one language
to another.
Like God is just up in heaven
and He only speaks one language.
We're all going to get there
and have to learn Greek and Hebrew
to even be able to communicate with God.
You actually believe that?
And we're going to get to heaven
and it's going to be like,
what in the world?
This is Greek to me?
You know, I don't know
what He's going to say.
Good night.
I always picture going to heaven
and God can speak English.
But look,
whatever He's going to be
speaking in heaven,
I'll tell you one thing,
He could definitely speak
my language or whatever language
in this world.
God's the creator of language.
God's the author of language.
God's the one who divided
the languages of the tower of valley.
So that means God can speak English,
God can speak Spanish,
God can speak German,
God can speak Norwegian,
God can speak Hungarian,
Russian, Chinese, Japanese.
God can speak any language
in this world.
And so to say that God
can only speak His word
in one language
and that we have to go
learn a foreign language
in order,
look, instead of us all,
here's a great idea.
This is a great idea.
Instead of all 300 million people
in the United States
learning Greek and Hebrew,
I just had the greatest idea.
Why don't we just translate
the Bible into English?
I mean, isn't that a great idea?
I mean, instead of everybody
having to learn it, right?
Why teach 300 million people
Greek and Hebrew?
Why don't we just translate
the Bible into English
and then everybody can understand
it in their own language?
Hey, that's a great idea.
Oh yeah, Aaron did it
400 years ago.
I don't say that when you
have these ideas
you're too late.
Aaron did it 400 years ago.
It's the King James Bible.
It's translated in English
and it's the perfect word of God.
So how do you know
it's perfect?
I know it's perfect
because God promised
that He would preserve
every word.
Well, how do you know
it's in English?
Because He hasn't preserved
it anywhere else.
Period.
Where else did He preserve it?
Where?
Show it to me.
Oh, the Textus Persepius.
Oh, which of the 38
different versions of it?
Why would He preserve it
in a language of a country
that has almost
no Baptist churches?
That's where the real word
of God is in Greece today.
That's where the revival is.
That's where the soul wedding is.
That's where the powerhouse
of evangelism is.
No, it isn't.
It's in the United States
of America and other
English-speaking countries
across the world.
Period.
And so the point is
you could say,
it's in Greek.
Really?
The Old Testament?
Oh, no, that's preserved
in Hebrew.
So I have to go to
two different languages
to find the Bible?
It doesn't make any difference.
The King James Bible
is a Bible that God has used.
It's the power of God.
It's perfect.
God knew that English
is the world language.
And this book has been translated
into thousands of languages
directly from the English.
Into African dialects,
into Asian languages,
into Norwegian.
The Norwegian Bible
I was using in Norway
was translated
from the King James
in Norwegian.
And so you can sit there
and say, well,
how do you know
it's the King James?
How do you know
it's not somewhere else?
Where else is it?
Show me where it is
and I'll believe it.
Now, there are other
Bibles in other languages
that are also, you know,
Gods of accurate work,
translate, for example,
the Hungarian Bible
from the 16th century.
I have not found a mistake
in it yet.
I've gone through it
and it says the same thing
as this one right here.
And so the point is
that God doesn't want people
to sit in darkness.
God wanted people
to have His Word.
And so He put it in the language
where it's gone around the world.
I mean, just think about it.
The King James got
all over the world.
Baptists preaching the Word of God
in the King James Version.
It's in every 99-cent store in America.
You won't find the NIV
at the Dollar Tree.
You will not find the NIV
at any Dollar Tree in America.
You can't.
Because a dollar has to go
with the copyright
and they'd be losing money.
And so the only Bible
you'll find at the Dollar Tree,
the 99-cent store,
you can find it at the gas station,
you can find it in Wal-Mart,
Target, anywhere.
The King James Bible,
you can find it all over the world.
It's been translated into languages
all over the world
because God preserved His Word
in the King James Bible.
Now, did He preserve it
anywhere else?
Not in one volume altogether?
No.
66 books?
What's that?
It's in the King James.
And then it's been translated
from the King James
and, you know,
like the King James
into other languages.
I'm not an expert
of every language.
I've read the Bible
and covered it up
in a few different languages,
but I don't know every language.
I don't know, but all I know
is that I speak English
and I've got the King James Bible
and it's the Word of God.
And when I say
it's the Word of God,
I mean it.
And that means
I don't doubt a word
in this book.
There's not one word
in this I doubt.
You know who wants you
to doubt what you're reading?
The devil.
He'll read this and say,
well, I don't think
that's really what I meant
or I don't know
if it's really true.
The devil wants to cast doubt
on the Word of God.
What's the opposite
of doubt?
Faith.
Implicit faith in God's Word
that says,
I believe every word
of God is the truth.
He'll try to get you
to doubt that.
He wants to tempt you.
There are so many areas
we could go into.
For example,
the Bible says
in the book of Matthew
and elsewhere,
but several times
in the book of Matthew,
let's turn there.
Matthew chapter 5.
Let me just give you
an example here
of resisting temptation.
Look at Matthew chapter 5.
And you know,
people think that we're crazy
because we believe
in King James only.
And yet I could show you
contradictions in these new Bibles.
I could show you heresy
and false doctrine
in the New King James.
I could show it to you in NIV.
I could show it to you
in the Revised Standard.
I could show it to you
in the ESD
in the New American Standard Version.
I could show you
what's wrong with them.
I could show you their phony.
They're written by man.
And you say,
well, but if you go into the history
and the science
and the archaeology,
look, you don't need all that.
And let me tell you why.
Because if I went to a jeweler
and showed him a diamond
and a cubic zirconium,
he could tell me
which one is which.
And I wouldn't have to tell him.
He wouldn't say,
well, where did you get these?
Show me the history
of where they came from.
No, no, no.
I'm just going to show you
the product.
You tell me where it came from.
I'm not going to tell you
where it came from.
I'm going to bring you an apple
and say,
what tree do you think
this came from?
An apple tree.
You got it.
I mean,
what's the difference
between a diamond
and a cubic zirconium anyway?
I probably couldn't tell
the difference.
I'm not an expert,
but there's one difference.
One's made by God
and one's made by man.
You read the King James Bible,
it's written by God.
You read the NIV,
it's written by man.
Tell the NIV it's easier
to understand.
Yeah, if you're not saved,
of course,
it's written by a man.
You're a carnal man.
You can understand it better.
But when you're saved,
you can understand
spiritual things
like the King James Bible.
And you say,
I don't believe it.
Then why did I sit
for five years
in a church that preached
out of the NIV?
Nobody had taught me
King James only.
Never been exposed
to that idea.
Never even heard of it.
And I sat in there
with my King James
in my lap
listening to NIV
being preached.
I knew that the one
I had was right.
I didn't know it was perfect.
I thought it might
have mistakes in it.
You know,
I thought it was
perfect.
But I knew
that one that I'm
listening to
is not the power of God.
This is the power of God.
How did I know that?
Nobody taught me that.
I knew the voice
of the shepherd.
I could tell the difference
and hear God's word
versus man's word.
And so you can get
all into it
and get into some
theological debate.
But I find that
the people who are saved,
they know the voice
of the shepherd.
It's not hard to show
them the fallacy
of these modern versions
versus the inerrancy
of the King James version.
I mean, it's just
not that hard to see.
Where did he turn?
I don't know.
Verse number 31.
Here's an example.
It had been said,
whosoever shall put away
his wife,
let him give her
a variety of divorcement.
But I say unto you
that whosoever shall
put away his wife,
saving for the cause
of fornication,
causes her
to commit adultery.
And whosoever shall marry her
that is divorced
committed adultery.
And that's a hard truth
to swallow
for many people,
especially in today's world.
And so the devil
will tempt you
to violate this scripture
and the other
scripture regarding
where the devil
is going to be.
This is one example.
Turn to Matthew 19.
You've got another
same scripture.
And you say,
why are you bringing this up?
This is an issue
that's very prevalent
in our world today.
Today you meet people
that are in their
young twenties
that have been divorced
for a second time.
I just met somebody
recently in their
young twenties
divorced for a second time
in their early twenties still.
I mean, divorce
is very prevalent
and commonplace
in today's world.
Somebody asked recently
and said,
what's the difference?
Why do I need
a piece of paper?
These non-Christian
people out in the world.
Why do I need
a piece of paper
to tell me I can
live with somebody?
We're just going to
live together.
We're not going to
get married.
We don't need
a piece of paper.
The sad thing is that
marriage has become
a piece of paper.
That means nothing.
And that's why
people have that
attitude toward it.
They say,
well, I didn't get
married at all.
Look, if marriage
is not a binding contract,
then what is the
point of it?
It is worthless.
It is stupid.
Because marriage
and divorce was not
even something that
was allowed in this country.
And there was a time
when it was
a binding contract.
And then even later on,
they said,
well, you have to have
a good reason.
You have to be able
to prove in a court of law
that there was adultery
or that something happened
because they said,
and I don't condone
that even,
but the point is,
they say this is
a binding contract.
You are squaring to,
you're forming a partnership.
It's like incorporating
here with this person.
You're one entity
and you can't just
break that at will.
It's a legally
binding contract.
It's supposed to be.
But no,
today it's become
a piece of paper
that means nothing.
People think,
well, I'll get married
and if it doesn't work out,
I can always walk away.
Doesn't work out,
hey.
Now when I got married,
I didn't have an attitude,
well, if it doesn't work out,
there's always divorce.
No.
Divorce has never been
an option in my mind.
And I'll bet you that my wife
appreciates the fact
that it never even
comes into my mind.
I mean, thank God.
Isn't it great to be married
and to know that your
spouse is with you
till death?
I mean, how would you like
to be on trial every day
of your life?
How would you like to go
through life wondering
if your spouse
still accepts you,
still loves you,
is still going to be with you
because they can always
just find the grass
that's on the other side
of the fence at some other time?
That's terrible.
That would be a terrible,
you know, there's a great
security to know
that you're married for life,
that you're married until death.
But the devil will come to you.
Look at Matthew 19.
It says right here,
in verse 6,
Wherefore they are no more
twain but one flesh,
while God hath joined together,
let not man put his thunder.
They say unto him,
Why did Moses then command
to give a righting of divorcement
and put her away?
He saith unto them,
Moses, because the hardness
of your hearts,
suffered you to put away your wives,
or allowed you to put away your wives.
Not, but from the beginning
it was not so,
and I say unto you,
Whosoever shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication,
and shall marry another,
commiteth adultery,
and whoso maryeth
there which is put away
hath committed adultery.
Now he doesn't say
saving for the cause of adultery.
Like most Baptists and Independents will try to praise,
and they're lying to you.
They'll say, well,
except in case of adultery.
That's not what Jesus said in Matthew 5,
and that's not what Jesus said in Matthew 19.
He's referring back to what Moses said,
the only time that,
and I don't want to go into it,
I don't really have time,
but if you go back into Deuteronomy,
what Jesus is quoting here,
what the Pharisees are saying,
you know,
what Moses commanded to give
a righting of divorcement
and put her away,
if you go back in the Scriptures
to Deuteronomy 22,
I'm just going to give you the Scriptures
in case you want to look at it later.
Deuteronomy 22 and Deuteronomy 24
are the two Scriptures.
He says the only time
somebody can divorce their wife
is if he goes in under her
and finds her not to be a maid
or a virgin.
He says if he goes in under her
and finds her not to be a virgin,
at that point,
he reserves the right
to change his mind.
If this heart is hardened
and he says,
you know what,
that's not what I was expecting,
I can't deal with that,
I can't live with that,
that's his chance to back out,
right there.
That's fornication.
A woman sleeping with a man
before she's married is fornication.
If a man marries a woman,
and that turns out to be the case,
not years down the road,
I'm saying,
when they get married,
okay, that's his option to say,
no,
I changed my mind.
Let me give you another example.
Joseph in Matthew chapter 1,
before they came together,
she was found child of the Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph, her husband,
being a just man,
and not willing to make her a public example,
was minded to put her away.
So he's minded to put away or divorce his wife
being a just man?
Why?
Because it was the one exception
that God allowed.
Fornication.
Not adultery.
Jesus never said that if your spouse
commits adultery,
you have the right to get a divorce.
The only divorce he allowed
was before people consummated the marriage.
That's the only divorce that was allowed.
Joseph was going to divorce his wife
before it was consummated.
In Deuteronomy 22 and Deuteronomy 24,
we're talking before it's consummated.
I'm sure that everybody who's married here tonight
has consummated your marriage.
You're done.
You're stuck with them.
I'm just kidding.
Look, it's over.
You're married.
People will try to twist the scriptures,
and this scripture right here,
as clear as it is,
people will try to put doubt in your mind about this,
and they will try to give you an excuse to,
and the devil will tempt you to get a divorce.
I mean, I've seen it in church after church.
Look, I've grown up in church.
I've grown up a Baptist.
I've seen church after church
where pastors condone divorce,
where people justify divorce.
My own parents got divorced
after 34 years of marriage,
and they justified it.
They justified it.
Why?
Because the devil will come to you
and put doubt in your mind.
Come on.
That's not really what that means.
I mean, come on.
In my situation,
God expects me to live with this?
And see, faith says,
God said it.
I believe it.
I'm going to stick with it.
I mean, it's going to be hard,
and sometimes it's a tough road of hope.
Sometimes when people are young in life,
they make these mistakes,
and it's tragic.
It's sad that they have to live with consequences of mistakes
for years of getting divorced earlier in life
or whatever the case may be.
Some people have been divorced multiple times,
and you know what?
They have to live with that for the rest of their life,
and it's sad.
And you want to say to them,
maybe that's not really what the Bible says,
but I mean, that is what it says.
And so look,
if you committed to sin,
confess it and forsake it.
Be done with it.
If you've been divorced and remarried,
the person that you're married to right now
is the will of God for your life.
You stay with that person.
You don't get another divorce.
You're happy with the person that you're married to.
You're not in a continual state of adultery.
You know what I'm saying?
When you get remarried, that's adultery.
But once you're remarried,
the damage is done.
Forgetting those things that are behind,
reaching forth,
you can still have a godly, righteous, happy marriage,
even if you've been divorced earlier in your life.
Amen.
I mean, you can still live for God.
You can still be blessed by God.
You still have a happy home.
But it was a sin.
Why don't you just admit that it was a sin when you did it?
And then you can move on.
But you know,
the people who have guilt and can't move on
are the people who can't admit that it was wrong.
People who have been divorced
and will not admit that it was wrong,
they're the ones who have the guilt that ease them up.
You know, I've done wrong things in my life.
But you know what?
I've confessed them to God,
and man, you just feel a lot better,
and you can just move on,
just forget about once you confess it is a sin.
And you can just move on,
go on with your life.
But it festers when you still are hardening your heart
and will not admit that it's wrong.
But look,
if you have faith in God's word that says,
yes, it is a sin to divorce,
yes, it is a sin to break that vow to God,
yes, it is a sin if I've been divorced,
to get remarried,
or to marry a divorced woman.
You know, you may become involved with,
you're a man,
you become involved with a divorced woman.
No.
You're committing sin.
You need to stop that.
You might be tempted in that way.
You must have faith in what God has said here
and say, I believe it.
I don't care what any preacher says.
I don't care what the independent Baptist may say.
I don't care what anybody says.
God said it, and that's it.
You can begin to justify in your mind adultery.
You can begin to justify in your mind divorce.
You can begin to justify in your mind looking at pornography
or looking at things that are wicked.
You can begin to justify sin in your mind
because you're not having faith in what God said.
Come on!
I mean, come on!
You really think that it's wrong for a woman to wear pants?
Look, I know the whole world puts women in pants,
but that doesn't change what the Bible says in Deuteronomy 22.5.
And it says that there is distinctly men's clothing,
there is distinctly women's clothing,
and it says, if a man puts on a woman's garment its abomination,
the woman shall not wear that which pertains to men.
You say, I find that unbelievable
because you don't have the faith to believe that God commanded that.
And if you're strictly saying, God said it, I have faith in it,
the devil won't tempt you.
The devil will flee from you.
I mean, good night.
I don't think my wife waits up every day
and wonders whether she's going to put on her pants.
I mean, I can't even imagine my wife wearing pants right now.
Because it's just, I mean, she hasn't worn pants in like seven or eight years.
It's like, for her to put on a pair of pants right now would just be weird.
Right?
I mean, can you imagine her showing up in pants?
I mean, it's a weird thought.
That, you know, just as weird as it is to the world that my wife doesn't wear pants,
that's how weird as I think it is for women to wear pants.
I mean, it strikes me weird.
You know?
I don't look down on anybody.
I don't despise it.
But when I see a woman in public wearing pants, it strikes me as weird.
It strikes me as odd.
I'm not used to it.
It just doesn't set well with me.
It just goes against the grain with me.
Because I just believe what God said.
My morality is based on the Bible.
And so I see it and I look at it and it just doesn't set well with me at all.
It bothers me.
It bothers me, let me tell you, when I see these guys in Tempe wearing a skirt.
It really bothers me.
And I've seen them and it bugs me.
It doesn't bug you.
There's something wrong with you.
Maybe you just don't live in Tempe so you've never seen it.
So Tempe is like the sodomy of the moor of Arizona, I think.
It is.
I mean, honestly.
It's pretty bad.
But thank God Arizona's not that bad anyway in the first place.
But if you had to pick the worst spot, it's quite Tempe as far as women can see.
But anyway, let me hurry on.
Look at, I'm going to skip part of my sermon here.
Look at Psalm 16.
Psalm chapter 16.
See, you've got to realize the devil is out to get you.
He's out to devour you.
I mean, if you were the devil, where would you spend your energy?
On the people that are out winning the souls, out preaching the gospel, that are standing
up for what's right.
You would be looking for the chink in the armor.
Literally.
That's what God said.
If he's in chapter 6, put on the whole armor.
Because if you leave off one piece of that armor, that's what the devil's looking for,
your weakness.
He doesn't need more than one weakness.
He only needs one.
How many weaknesses do you need with Samson?
One.
Women.
Right?
He found Samson's weakness.
He exploited it and destroyed him.
Turned him into like an animal, with his eyes plucked out and pushing a mill like an animal
in a grindstone, completely blown.
He only has to find one weakness, pride.
Pride is enough for him to destroy you.
The love of money is enough for him to destroy your life.
Lusting after women, as in the case of Samson, will be enough for him to take you down.
That's all he needs.
One chink in the armor.
He's at your right hand many times.
He's right there.
I mean, he's at Joshua's right hand.
If you reach out and touch him, he's that close.
He was right there with Jesus.
He'll be right there with you to tempt you, to destroy you, to lie to you.
You've got to have faith in God's word.
You've got to know God's word.
You've got to speak and quote God's word.
You've got to have the humility to realize who you're dealing with.
Somebody who's so powerful that not even the most powerful of God's angels
would even dare accuse him to his face because of his might and power.
But God says if you'll humble yourself, suit yourself up in the armor of the Lord,
memorize the word of God, let God's word rebuke him, put on the shield of faith,
quench his guards with an unwavering faith in every word that God says
so that he'll not be able to deceive you about what's right and wrong.
But number four, you must keep the Lord at your right hand.
See, the devil and the Lord will not both occupy this face at your right hand.
It'll be one or the other.
That's interesting because in Zechariah 3.1, the first place we read tonight,
he showed Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord
and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
Psalm 109, verse 6, another of the four mentions of the word Satan in the Old Testament.
Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand.
It's mentioned again.
But watch what David said in Psalm 16.8.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
You see that?
I shall not be moved because I have the Lord at my right hand.
Now, come on back up here, Brett.
Brett represents the devil, okay?
Brother Dave, you're going to represent Jesus.
Come on up here.
Now look, Brett represents the devil, right?
I'm trying to live for God.
He's resisting, okay?
Now, go ahead and step back for a minute.
But, okay, look, I've got the devil right here in my right hand, right?
Every time, oh, I think I'm going to read the Bible.
Oh, well, let's do some reading.
Hey, let's do a soul-winning.
I mean, right there on my right hand.
This is a bad situation.
Now look, I don't want him to move me.
Because not only is he going to try to resist me when I try to do what's right,
he's also going to try to move me.
Because I'm in a place right now where I'm serving God, I'm doing what's right,
he's going to try to move me.
Right?
He wants to push me around.
Hey, go over here, yeah, do this, you know?
He wants to control my life.
He wants to tell me what to do.
He wants to send me to the wrong places.
Okay, but he says right here,
I've set the Lord always at my right hand.
He said that.
So that I'll not be moved.
That's it?
You guys want to fight this out right now?
But anyway, here's the thing.
The devil's going to move me.
Now, you know, he's pushing me around right now.
But really, that's not really what the devil's going to do.
He's probably going to...
Let me represent the devil for a minute, okay?
And this is the crystal right here.
He's more just going to put his arm around me and say,
Hey, you know what?
Come on over here.
Look, just stand right here.
It's pretty close to where you were before anyway, okay?
It's not that big of a deal.
Look, why not just go a little bit...
Come on.
Lighten up, man.
You know, and look, you're pretty much in the same place you were before, right?
I mean, look, you're pretty much preaching the same way you were a couple weeks ago.
What's the difference?
No, come on, man.
What's the difference?
Just go.
You're already this far.
Big deal.
But look, here's the thing.
Where's Jesus?
He's pretty far from Jesus right now.
Okay, so look, what David is saying here is that if I set the Lord always at my right
hand, okay, I've set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall
not be moved.
So the devil's going to come to me, roll reversal here, tell me, you're the devil.
Try to get me to go the wrong way.
Okay, now look, he's going to try to tell me that I'm still the same, but look, wait
a minute, no, because Jesus is no longer at my right hand.
This is my point of reference, you understand?
Look, Jesus Christ never changes.
He never moves.
The Bible, you know, we can say as a manifestation, the Word of God, Jesus, never changes, never
moves.
So I can always tell if I'm changing, or if I'm moving, or if the devil is moving the
landmark on me, or if he's getting me out of the path, getting me off the right track,
because I'll notice, because, wait a minute, Jesus is no longer there.
Okay, so if I stay close enough to Jesus where I can just reach out, got to be close enough
to God where I can just reach out my right hand, there he is.
No matter how confusing the world gets, I mean, and this world's a confusing world.
They confuse the genders, they confuse right and wrong, they confuse religion, they confuse
the Bible, they confuse doctrine, but if I'm close enough to Jesus, I can always get my
bearings.
You know, have you ever been swimming in the water, you get disoriented, you don't know
which way is up?
I've been there, I've been down in the water, and you start swimming down thinking it's
a scary feeling.
You know, that's how people drown many times.
But see, I always know which way is up, because I have Jesus at my right hand.
I can always tell if I'm changing, I can always tell if I'm going the wrong direction, I can
always tell if the devil's deceiving me, because if Jesus is no longer at my right hand, I
know something has moved, and it's not him, it must be me.
And so you've got to stay close enough to Jesus, you're going to be able to resist the
devil.
You stay close enough to Jesus, the devil's not going to be at your right hand when Jesus
is at your right hand.
And all throughout the Bible, you see that mentioned, Jesus being at your right hand,
the devil being at your right hand, Satan being at your right hand.
It's going to be one or the other that's going to try to occupy that space.
So look, how do you stay close to Jesus?
How do you keep him at your right hand?
I mean, every day, read the Bible.
Every day, pray.
Every day, talk to God.
Every week, coming to the house of God, coming to church, being in church, being with God,
singing the praise of God in your mouth, memorizing the Bible.
Jesus should be your closest friend.
What a friend we have in Jesus.
All our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
Having Jesus right there with you as your closest friend, that's going to be the resistance
that you need against the devil.
The devil is no match for Jesus, but he can chew you up and spit you out.
And so you must stay close to God.
Rely on God.
Humble yourself before God.
Memorize the Word of God.
Have faith in the Word of God.
Have the faith in the Bible, and have Jesus right there at your right hand.
If you resist the devil, he'll flee from you.
You don't want to go through life every day being tempted by the same things.
Every day tempted.
Every day, fight the devil.
No, just get him out.
Resist him steadfast, he'll flee from you.
Keep God with you, he'll flee from you.
He'll run away from you.
Submit yourself to God.
Don't resist God.