Amen, all right. Well, thank you very much everybody for being here. It's a great, great turnout for Sunday morning.
I appreciate all of you coming out today, and I want to say thank you to Pastor Shelley, of course, for inviting me out,
and for lunch, and the love offering, all that. Very, very kind, very generous of him.
I'm glad to not be here alone today. I'm traveling with my brother, actually, and he came out from Sacramento with me for this trip,
so I'm glad to be able to spend some time with him. And I've got my son, Joel, as well, and he's my second oldest boy,
and he's been traveling with me as well. You guys have been having some great preaching the last, you know, several weeks,
as you've been having different guest speakers come in. And it's hard, you know, when you come into a situation like this,
where you just had some great preaching back to back to back, it's hard to kind of figure out what in the world do you preach,
you know, what do you do to try to help people. But I feel like the Lord laid this sermon on my heart,
so I want to try to help you with this and be a blessing to you. And we're there in Genesis chapter number three,
and Genesis chapter three is a very famous story, of course, the story of Adam and Eve and the fall of man and woman.
And on Genesis chapter three there, if you look at verse number one, I want you to notice what the Bible says.
It says, now the serpent, and we know that the serpent is Satan. The Bible says, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.
It's interesting that when we are first introduced to Satan, to the serpent, to the devil in the Bible,
the first thing we're told about him is that he is subtle. We're told there that the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.
And the word subtle means to be cunning or wily or crafty. And what's interesting about that is that if you do a study of Satan throughout the Bible,
you'll find that this is often how he is defined. In fact, in the same chapter here, in the same story, after the woman falls and after Adam falls in sin,
if you look down at verse number 13, in the same chapter there, Genesis chapter three and verse 13, the Bible says this,
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? Notice what the woman said,
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. That word beguile means to influence by trickery, to mislead by cheating or deceiving.
So the Bible tells us that the serpent was more subtle, meaning he was cunning, wily, crafty.
But then the woman herself, when she's being questioned about what happened and why it is that she sinned,
she says that the serpent beguiled her, meaning he tricked her, he misled her, he deceived her.
Now keep your place there in Genesis chapter three. That's our text for this morning.
But go over to the book of Ephesians in the New Testament. Ephesians chapter number six.
Ephesians chapter number six. You've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter number six. And look at verse number eleven. Notice what the Bible says here about the devil.
Ephesians chapter number six and verse eleven. Now Ephesians six is that famous chapter about the armor of God.
Putting on the armor of God and fighting in spiritual warfare. The Bible says this, Put on the whole armor of God.
Now here's why. We get into this great passage about all of the different parts of the armor of God and why we should put those on.
But here we're told to put on the whole armor of God. Notice that ye may be able to stand against...
I want you to notice these two words, the wiles of the devil. So here we're told that the devil...
The reason we want to put on the armor of God is because we're going to have to fight against his wiles.
And the word wiles means a trick meant to fool, a trick meant to trap, beguiling behavior, deceitful, cunning, trickery.
The wiles of the devil are the fact that he uses these tricks, these beguiling deceits in order to trick us, in order to deceive us into sinning.
So it's interesting that from Genesis three to Ephesians, we see that this is the characteristics of the devil.
And if you remember, you know, if you grew up watching TV, which I don't recommend, but many of you probably did,
you might remember the cartoon character Wile E. Coyote. Remember that guy? Remember how Wile E. Coyote...
What was he always trying to do to the roadrunner? He was always trying to trick him, right? Always trying to beguile him.
And you know, it's just a funny little illustration. He's always going up to the side of a mountain and painting like it looks like a tunnel or something, right?
So that the roadrunner would run through it or whatever. Well, that's what he was doing. Why was he called Wile E. Coyote?
Because of the fact that he was meaning to fool, to trap, to beguile. But this is what the Bible says about Satan.
It says that we must be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. You say, why? Because he is subtle. Why?
Because he's trying to beguile us. And what's interesting about that, keep your place there in Ephesians.
We're going to come back to the book of Ephesians later on in the sermon.
But go with me to the book of 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter number 5. 1 Peter chapter number 5 towards the end of the New Testament.
And this is all introduction. I'm just laying a little bit of a foundation. But if you find the end of the New Testament, you've got Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 5.
You are probably familiar with these verses or this verse, but let me read it to you. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8.
The Bible says this, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
The Bible says that the devil is our adversary. The Bible says that the devil is our enemy. And his goal in your life and in my life is to completely destroy it.
I know that I don't have to say a lot of that this morning. I think this church has been affected by the actions of a pastor who had his life destroyed.
You say, well, how does that happen? Well, look, it can happen to the best of us because we must all be sober and vigilant because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
And praise the Lord for a man like your pastor, Jonathan Shelley, who is willing to be able to be a blessing and step in and help where the Lord needs him.
And I thank the Lord for a congregation like yours who is willing to say, hey, we're willing to share our pastor and sacrifice and do what needs to be done in order to help.
But the reason that you're even having to deal with that, the reason that I would even be here this morning or the great men that have came over the last several weeks
would be because of the fact that 1 Peter 5 and verse 8 is true, the adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
And what I want to teach you about and explain to you this morning is the fact that the devil wants to destroy your life.
The devil would like nothing more than to destroy your marriage, than to destroy your children, than to destroy this church, than to destroy and devour everything about you.
But what's interesting is that the Bible gives us a heads up as to how he does this.
Now if you kept your place there in Ephesians, go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter number 2.
2 Corinthians chapter number 2, and look at verse number 11.
If you're there in Ephesians, you're just going to go backwards. Keep your place in Ephesians, but go past Galatians into the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 2.
Look at verse number 11. 2 Corinthians chapter number 2 and verse number 11.
Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote, of course under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
He said this, less Satan should get an advantage of us.
Now he's saying you don't want Satan to get an advantage of you. Why? Because he wants to destroy you.
Because he wants to devour you. Because he's going to be subtle and he will beguile you because of the wiles of the devil.
He says less Satan should get an advantage of us, notice what he says, for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Now here's what he's saying. He's saying the devil, Satan, the serpent, will not get an advantage of us if we are not ignorant of his devices.
The word devices there means a plan or a scheme for effecting a purpose, a crafty scheme, a trick.
And again, I want you to notice that throughout the Bible, this is what's highlighted about the devil.
That he's subtle, that he beguiles, that he has wiles, that he has devices here.
He's got schemes and plans in order to try to trick you into sinning and ruining your life.
But here Paul tells us that we can fight that by not being ignorant of his devices.
And this morning what I'd like to do, and do me a favor, you've got your placer in Ephesians,
keep your finger there in 2 Corinthians, we're going to come back to it, but go back with me to Genesis chapter 3.
This morning what I'd like to do is I'd like to preach to you on the subject of the devil's devices.
Because we are told that we should not be ignorant of his devices.
We should not be ignorant of his schemes, of his plans, of his tricks, of his wiles, of his plans that he has in order to beguile us.
And what's interesting is that you do not have to allow the devil to take advantage of you.
You can be knowledgeable, you can be aware of his tactics, you can be aware of his plans and how he's going to attack you.
And if you go back to Genesis chapter 3 and we see that famous story of Adam and Eve in the fall, we can see the devil's devices.
We can see some of the tactics that he used in order to get Eve to sin and these are the same tactics that he's going to use with you.
And I'd like to just go through this passage and give you some thoughts and a few ideas in regards to the devil's devices,
or the devil's tactics, his schemes in order to try to trick you and beguile you and deceive you into sinning.
You say, why should I care? Here's why. Because the devil wants to destroy your life.
And if you're going to be able to fight against him and resist him, you need to be not ignorant of his devices.
Otherwise, he'll get an advantage over you.
I don't know if you've got a place to write notes there somewhere in your Bible or maybe on your bulletin,
but I'd like you to write some of these statements down as we go through it.
I want you to notice, first of all, as we go there in Genesis chapter 3, and I'd like you to write it down.
I understand if you've got a baby on your lap or something like that, you're not able to, but I'd like you to write it down for this reason.
This is something that we need to be aware of, something that we need to fight on a daily basis and not allow the Satan to get an advantage over us.
When you get there to Genesis chapter 3, I want you to notice that the first thing he does with Eve,
and this is one of his tactics, one of his wiles, one of his devices, is that the devil will get us and get you and get me, number one, to doubt and question God's word.
Notice what he does there in Genesis chapter 3. Look at verse 1.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman, notice what he says, the first thing we're told about him is that he's subtle.
The first thing we hear from him, the first thing that the devil, Satan, says in the Bible, the first thing out of his mouth is questioning God's word.
He says, Yea hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.
It's interesting because he doesn't come out and say, hey, God's wrong, God's lying, this isn't true.
He doesn't come out and just fight God's word. All he does is he questions God's word, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree?
Is that what he really said? And he just kind of puts a question mark.
And listen to me, we ought never put a question mark where God puts a period.
We ought never put a question mark where God puts an exclamation point.
We should never put a question mark where God has made a statement that is true.
And what's funny to me is that this is what people do when they are trying to get you to doubt God's word.
It's called plausible deniability, right?
And I understand that this church is a young church and hopefully you haven't dealt with this.
But I know this, if you're standing on God's word, you will deal with this and you will have people come into this church and they will try to bring in false doctrine.
You will have people come into this church and they're going to try to change things.
And listen to me, no one's going to walk into this church and say the King James Bible is wrong.
No one's going to walk into this church and say the Trinity is wrong.
No one's going to walk into this church and say soul winning is wrong.
But you know what they will do? They'll walk into this church and say, well is the King James really perfect?
Well, does soul winning really work?
Well, you know, does the Bible really teach the Trinity?
And the way it starts is that it starts with a question and there's nothing wrong with a genuine and legitimate question.
Obviously, if you are growing in the Lord and you've got a question that needs to be answered, hey, we want to answer your question.
But understand that the devil and his workers will also come in asking foolish questions,
asking questions that they don't really want an answer to.
They've already heard the sermon. They've already watched the documentary.
They already know where we stand on the King James Bible, but they're going to come in and they're going to ask the question why?
Because they're just trying to bring doubt into your mind.
Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden. Notice verse 3.
But of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, notice, first he brings doubt. First he asks the question, now he just brings doubt.
Now he just full-fledged attacks the word of God. He says, ye shall not surely die.
Please understand that one of the tactics, one of the schemes, one of the devices that Satan will employ and deploy in the fight against you
is that he will get you to doubt and question God's word.
Now, keep your place there in Genesis chapter 3, but go with me to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 6.
Remember we started looking at that passage about the armor of God, a famous passage.
Ephesians chapter 6. Look at verse 10. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10 says this, finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God. Why? That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The devices of the devil. The beguileings of the devil. The schemes of the devil. The tactics of the devil.
This is a great passage in scripture. Look at verse 12.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the doctrines of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Please listen to me. You will not succeed in the Christian life until you realize that the Christian life is a spiritual battle.
You are in a spiritual warfare whether you understand it or not, whether you enlisted for it or not.
When you got saved, you got signed up into a spiritual battle. Satan got his sights on you.
He is a roaring lion walking about seeking who be made devourer.
And whether you like it or not, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we do wrestle again principalities and powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places.
You will not survive the Christian life if you do not realize that you are in a fight.
You won't make it. You will be a casualty. You will die on the sidelines if you don't understand.
You say, well, I don't want to fight the devil. Yeah, but he's coming after you.
I don't want to fight Satan and his minions. Whether you want to fight him or not, they're coming after you.
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.
Verse 13, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
He says, stand therefore, having your loins good about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
That's what we're going to do later on today at 2 p.m. We're going to have our feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Look at verse 16, above all. Here's what's interesting.
This verse 16, it was always interesting to me how, because he gives you this line up, right?
Of all these things, you know, the whole armor of God, he says, your loins good about with truth, and breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shot with the preparation of the gospel.
But then he says, above all, he says, look, above all of it, more important than all of that, he says, taking the shield of faith.
I get that. I understand why faith is important. But then he says this, for the first time in this passage, he tells us why you want to put this specific piece of armor on.
He says, look, you need to put on the shield of faith, and he says, wherewith ye shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked.
And it always was interesting to me, why is it that for this one, he kind of has to give an explanation?
You know, why is it that for the shield of faith, he has to say, here's why you need the shield of faith.
But when you couple that, and when you connect that to the fact that the devil is going to attack you by trying to get you to doubt and to question God's word,
when you understand that, and then you read, above all, taking the shield of faith, because what's the opposite of doubt? It's faith.
What's the opposite of questioning? It's believing.
He says, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
How are you going to fight the devil, a shield of faith?
When he attacks you, when he senses his darts of questions, when he senses darts of doubt, how are you going to fight that?
Above all, taking the shield of faith.
See, the devil's tactic, his first tactic, will always be to get you to doubt and question God's word.
I found as a pastor over the last eight plus years of ministry, most of the counseling, and I don't do a lot of counseling,
but obviously people go through issues, they go through marriage problems, they go through problems with their children,
and you have to meet with them from time to time and try to help them.
You know what I found is that usually most of the counseling that I do as a pastor, and I think most pastors would agree with this,
what I found is that most of the counseling that I do as a pastor is not me necessarily bringing out some new truth.
It's never like I sit in my office and I say, now listen to me, I know I've never preached this from the Bible before,
but let me tell you what the Bible says, God hates divorce, right?
It's not like I'm bringing up some new passage.
In fact, usually when people come into my office and they need to talk about something, they usually start off by saying,
Pastor, I know that you teach and preach X, Y, and Z.
I know what the Bible says about divorce, and I know what the Bible says about remarriage,
and I know what the Bible says about finances, and I know what the Bible says about this, and I know what the Bible says about that.
And you know, I often want to say, well look, if you already know, what are we sitting here for?
Why are we meeting? You know what I found most of my counseling is?
It's not me teaching some new concept about, well, no, this is why you shouldn't do this,
and usually what it is is me having to try to explain and talk to these individuals why it is that you're not the exception.
Why it is that, yeah, everything that the Bible says about whatever,
dating, finances, health, marriage, children, why it actually applies to you too.
Because you know what the devil does? He comes by you, he comes beside you, he whispers in your ear,
and he says, well, is that really what the Bible says? And does that really apply to you?
Maybe you're the exception. Maybe you are the one reason. Maybe you're the one.
You know, if God knew your situation, and if he understood your circumstances,
and if he knew how mean your husband was, or how evil your wife was,
and how nice that secretary you met at the job, how nice she is,
if he understood your situation, I think he'd make an exception for you.
And you know what I have to say? No.
Well, is that really what the Bible, yes. Does that actually apply to me? Yes.
Is that really what I should be doing? Yes. But it's going to hurt me. It doesn't matter.
Take the shield of faith. Because the devil, his tactic is to lie to you.
And listen to me. He's going to lie to you. He's going to say, is that really what the Bible says?
Is that really what God says? And then when you are sitting there lying in the blood of your consequences,
you'll walk away and say, well, I guess I was wrong. Turns out, Eve, you were right.
Turns out, I know, I know, Eve, I know that I'm the one that asked you the question.
In fact, I know that I'm the one that flat out lied. But now that you are dead in your trespasses and sins,
now that you've been thrown out of the garden, now that you are sitting there in need of a savior,
I guess you weren't the exception. And listen to me. It's better to find out that you weren't the exception
before you make the decision. The devil wants to get an advantage over you by getting you to doubt
and question God's word. And listen to me. The attack of the devil is always on God's word.
Let's go to Matthew. Just real quickly, Matthew. Matthew chapter number 13.
Matthew chapter number 13. Remember the famous parable of the sower?
Matthew chapter 13, look at verse 3. Matthew chapter 13, first book in the New Testament.
Matthew 13 verse 3 says this, And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow, and when he had sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside.
And the fowls came and devoured them up. Whenever he talks about the seed on the wayside,
I always think of the people on the sidelines. They're not really in the fight and they're not in the good ground.
And what happens to them? The fowls came and devoured them up.
Now Jesus gives the commentary. You know, this is the one commentary you can trust, right?
Not C.H. Spurgeon or not, not Schofield. Here's the one commentary you can trust.
Matthew chapter 13, look at verse 19. He says, Let me explain to you what that means.
When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one,
that's who the fowls represent, and catches the way that which was sown in his heart,
that is he which received seed by the wayside. See, Satan is always attacking the word of God.
He's going to try to remove, if you don't understand it, he's going to try to take it away from you before you can get saved.
This is his attack to doubt and question God's word. Go back to Genesis chapter 3.
Let me give you a second tactic. Not only do we see the devil's devices, what's his first device to doubt and question God's word?
But his second device, his second tactic, his second while, his second scheme, notice what it says in verse 5.
He says to Eve, For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
We saw that the first tactic of the devil is to doubt and question God's word. Here's the second tactic.
He gets us to accept a lie by mixing in some truth. He gets us to accept a lie by mixing in some truth.
In fact, I would say he gets us to accept a lie by mixing in mostly truth.
It's interesting when you break down this verse here in verse 5, notice what he says. This is Satan speaking.
He says, For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, notice what he says, then your eyes shall be opened.
Was that true or not? That was a true statement. Look, when they ate of that tree, their eyes were opened.
We got statement number 1. Then your eyes shall be opened. True. Notice what he says.
And ye shall be as gods. Is that a true statement? And the answer is no. That's a lie.
You and I will never be like God. There is one God. He exists in three persons, and you and I will never be like him.
That is the lie of Mormonism. That is the lie of evolution. That is the lie of every religion that has been spawned by the devil.
But we will never be like God. We will never be as gods. We will one day have a glorified body, but we are not going to ever be God.
That's a lie. But then he says this, knowing good and evil. Was that true? The answer is yes.
It's interesting because he says a truth, a lie, and a truth. You say, why does he say something true? Then your eyes shall be opened.
Then he brings in a lie, and ye shall be as gods. Then he says something true, knowing good and evil.
Why does he package it that way? Here's why he packages it that way. Because usually when we fall for a lie, we fall for a lie that has been brought in by truth.
Or with truth, packaged in, surrounded by truth. You know that a lot of these false religions have got some truth?
Look, there's some truth in false religions. But there's enough lie in there to kill you. There's enough lie in there to send you to hell.
There's enough lie. See, what the devil does, first he gets you to doubt and question God's Word.
And by the way, that's why there's so many perversions of the Bible today.
You say, I don't understand. What is the whole point of so many different versions? The NIV and the RSV and the New King James and the message and the paraphrases and the parallels.
What is the point? The whole point is this, to have so many Bibles that people would just kind of throw their hands in the air and say, I don't know.
Is any of them good? Are any of them right? Why? Why? Because his job is to get you to doubt, question God's Word.
But then he does this, he gets you to accept a lie by mixing in some truth.
And even with the modern Bible versions, people say, well most of it, a lot of the passages, they line up with the King James.
Okay, but enough of them don't for it to be a lie.
Well, only certain passages are changed. Yeah, like the deity of Christ. Yeah, like the ones about salvation.
I'm not saying, look, all of the Word of God matters, but as soon as you corrupt any part of God's Word, listen to me, please understand this.
It doesn't matter how much truth is mixed into it, as soon as you mix and lie, it's all a lie.
You say, prove that. Okay, go to John chapter number 8.
John chapter number 8.
See, one of his tactics is that he will get you to accept a lie by mixing in some truth.
He'll package it with some truth. He'll package it with some truth.
And people say, well, you know, you don't understand, pastor, I need to go get divorced and I met this girl at work,
or I met this guy at work, and my wife, she's mean to me, and here's the thing, she might be mean to you.
My husband, he's not loving, he may not be loving. There may be some truth in that lie.
Hey, but you chose her. You chose him. Nobody put a gun to your head, and if they did, maybe they needed to.
You know, if she was pregnant or something.
John chapter 8. Notice what Jesus said about the devil.
John chapter 8, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, look at verse 44.
He says, ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your fathers ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there, notice, don't miss this,
because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
The Bible here tells us that he is the father of life.
But what's interesting is that Jesus says there is no truth in him.
You say, well, Jesus, I mean, there's some truth in him.
I mean, he said something true, and then he lied, and then he said something true.
But here's what you need to understand. As soon as you mix in a lie, it's all a lie.
Oh, well, pastor, you don't understand. I'm going to go to that church down the street, you know,
because, yeah, you know, they've got some false doctrine, but most of it is good.
All of it is bad. If any of it is bad, it's all bad.
There's nothing good in the Jehovah's Witness church. There's nothing good in the Mormon church.
There's nothing good in the Catholic church. There's nothing good in the Lutheran church.
You say, but some of the things are good. There's no truth in it.
When they mix in a lie, it's all a lie.
And you say, oh, well, I told a half-truth. No, you told a lie.
Well, everything I said was true. I just left out. Then you lied.
Because there's no truth in it.
And see, one of the tactics of the devil, one of the things that he does,
is that he gets you to accept a lie by mixing in some truth.
Notice, you're there in John, go to Matthew chapter 4.
Matthew chapter 4.
In Matthew chapter 4, we have the famous story of the devil trying to tempt Jesus.
Matthew chapter 4, look at verse 1, the Bible says this,
Then was Jesus led up with the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
I won't go through all the temptations there, but I want you to notice, verse 5, the Bible says this,
Then the devil take them up into the holy city, and sent them on a pinnacle of the temple,
and saith unto him, this is temptation number 2, and he says unto him,
If thou be the Son of God, notice again with his questions.
I'm not going to declare that you're the Son of God.
I'm just, everything, the devil's always putting a question mark.
Where God puts a period.
If thou be the Son of God, then he says this,
Cast thyself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee,
and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Now here's the question, does the Bible say that?
And the answer is yes.
The Bible does say that, in fact keep your finger there in Matthew, let's go look at it.
Go to Psalm 91.
Psalm 91, if you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms.
He says, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee,
and the question is, does the Bible say that?
The answer is yes, the Bible says that.
But is that what the Bible's talking about?
This is a mode of Bible study.
When you are studying the Bible, sometimes you need to ask the question, does the Bible say that?
But sometimes you need to ask the question, is that what the Bible means when it says that?
Because I want you to notice in Psalm 91 in verse 9 it says this,
Because thou hast made the Lord, Psalm 91 verse 9,
which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation.
I want you to understand the context.
He says, because thou hast made the Lord, thy habitation.
That's basically what he's saying.
What does that mean?
He's saying, because you have chosen, a habitation is a house somewhere you dwell.
He's saying, because you have chosen to dwell with God, the New Testament wording would be this,
because you have chosen to abide with God, right?
If we abide in him, it's true, his word abides in us.
This is talking about someone who has chosen to walk daily with God,
to dwell in God and walk with God, to abide.
He says, because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation.
Verse 10, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling,
for, the word for there means because, verse 11,
he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone.
Please understand the context of this verse.
Here's what God is saying.
When someone chooses to abide in God, to dwell in God,
then you can have the safety and the assurance to know that when you're walking with God,
God is going to not allow something bad to happen to you if it's not his will, right?
That doesn't mean that something bad can't happen to you.
See, Job.
But that God can choose why, because safety is of the Lord,
that he has given his angels charge over us,
and that God will keep us and protect us in his will.
Here's what this is not.
This is not just a blanket challenge to try or tempt or dare God.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Go back to Matthew.
Notice verse 6 again.
And say unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written,
he shall give his angels the...
Satan wants Jesus to basically throw himself off this building and say,
hey, let's see if this is true.
Where God is saying, look, those that abide with him and walk with them,
my angels will protect them, my angels will be with them,
and I will protect them according to my will.
And of course, if God wants you to go through something, then God will allow that.
Everything that happens in your life is filtered through God.
This is why Jesus responds, Matthew 4 verse 7.
Jesus said unto him, it is written again, thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God.
He said, I'm not going to dare God.
I'm not going to try God, and I'm not going to challenge God.
Here's what he said.
When someone says, I can't go soul winning, someone might shoot me.
Those areas, those apartments, they're ghetto.
Say, what do you say?
Here's what you say to somebody like that.
You know what?
If you're doing God's will, he'll give his angels charge over thee.
Safeties of the Lord.
What if I go out there and get shot, and God wanted you to get shot?
What if I go out there and I get mugged?
Oh, don't carry a lot of money with you.
Here's what he said.
If you're walking and abiding and you've made God your habitation,
you don't have to worry.
You just went to the Philippines.
Were you worried?
No.
Why?
Because I look Filipino?
No.
The white people, they should have been worried.
No.
You say, why weren't you worried?
You know what?
Because when you walk with God, then you just allow God to protect you and guide you and
let his will be done.
If we make God our habitation, but this doesn't mean we're going to go play on the highway.
This doesn't mean we're going to throw ourselves off a building.
And Jesus says, thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God.
Here's what he's saying.
Please understand this.
Be careful when someone's trying to convince you of a doctrine and they pull out a verse
out of its context.
Well, the Bible says, this is how false doctrines come about.
When people try to prove their point based on a verse isolated from its context, do not
arrest a verse from its context.
Make sure you understand the passage.
This is what I love about our type of churches.
You know, we read the entire chapter, right?
Why would you read the entire chapter?
So you get the context.
So you can see what it's saying and what it's talking about.
See, the devil, the devil will get you to accept a lie by mixing in some truth with
it.
Not only does the devil have a war against the word of God, but the devil has a war against
truth.
Say, why?
Why would he have a war against truth?
Well because of the fact that Jesus is true, right?
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the lie.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
He has a war against truth because God's word is true.
Sanctify them through thy word.
Thy word is truth.
You say, well how can Jesus be truth and the word be truth?
Because Jesus is the word.
It's all truth.
Therefore, he attacks the truth.
Doesn't the Bible say that there's coming a day in the end times when people will turn
away their ears from the truth?
When they'll want to hear lies?
When they'll want to be lied to?
This is why we must love the truth.
This is why we must appreciate the truth.
I think often of that church at Ephesus in the church in Revelation where he says, unto
the angel of the church of Ephesus.
He says unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, write these things saying, he that holdeth
the seven stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
He says, I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience.
He said, and he talks about the fact that they have tried them which say they are apostles
and are not and has found them liars.
You say, why would they try an apostle, a man of God, a spiritual leader, a pastor to
see if he's telling the truth?
Because the devil wants to attack the truth, that's why.
Because he attacks the truth.
And look, as Bible-believing Christians, we need to love the truth.
And you know, sometimes the truth hurts, doesn't it?
Sometimes the truth is not what we want to hear.
That's why Paul said, am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
You know, you have some great preaching over the last several weeks.
And of course, Pastor Shelley does a great job with his sermons and preaching.
But you know what?
It doesn't matter how eloquent the speaker is.
It doesn't matter how dynamic he is.
It doesn't matter how exciting he is.
When he tells you the truth, you need to just decide whether it hurts me, whether I don't
want to hear it, whether I don't like it, you need to decide, I'm going to accept it.
I'm going to love the truth.
You say, why?
Because when you fall into the trick of turning your ears from the truth, you've been beguiled
by the devil.
Because the devil gets you to question God's word.
And the devil gets you to accept a lie by mixing in some truth.
Let me give you the third one, we'll be done.
Go back to Genesis chapter number three.
Genesis chapter three.
We're talking about the devil's devices, the tactics of Satan.
What are they?
Number one, he gets you to down question God's word.
Number two, he gets you to accept a lie but makes it in some truth.
Number three, he gets you to focus on the tree and not the fruit.
Notice what he says.
Notice what the Bible says here in Genesis chapter three and verse six.
She's been interacting with the devil, right?
At the beginning of the conversation, what does she say?
She says, in fact, it's interesting because if you look at Genesis chapter three there,
look at verse number one again.
Right?
Notice this question is focused on the tree.
You're not supposed to eat of every tree of the garden.
He's saying all of the trees.
Now, what's interesting here is that you can't find where God told him, don't touch it.
He just told them, don't eat of it.
Now, Eve decides to take that stand and make it even stricter.
Well, if I'm not supposed to even eat of it, I won't even touch it.
And let me tell you something.
If Eve would have abode by that standard, she would have been fine.
Nothing wrong with taking a stronger stand.
Well, pastor, I don't, you know, I'm not going to drink alcohol.
I'm just going to go sit at the bar because they serve me faster.
Well, go ahead, but you know, I take Eve's advice here.
If you're not supposed to eat of the tree, don't even touch the tree.
If you're not supposed to drink alcohol, don't even sit at the bar.
Look, if she would have followed that, that would have been great.
She took a stronger stand, and that stronger stand would have helped her out.
But then, in verse four, the Bible says,
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die,
for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as God, so in good and evil.
Verse six,
And when the woman saw, notice that the tree was good for food.
Notice she focused on the tree, and that it was pleasant to the eyes.
What was pleasant to the eyes? The tree.
And a tree to be desired, to make one wise.
What was desirable? It was a tree.
She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
I want you to notice, she saw the tree, that it was good for food.
She saw the tree, that it was desired to make one wise.
She got her eyes on the tree, and she took the fruit.
She got her eyes off on the tree, and she decided to take the fruit.
Now let me just kind of explain this to you, or kind of tease this out a little bit,
but go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Remember we were in 2 Corinthians earlier?
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, we're almost done.
Let me just tease this out a little bit, and help you understand something.
2 Corinthians chapter 11, and verse 13.
2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 13 says this,
For such are false prophets, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
This is why you have to try the men of God. Try the spirits.
Try the spiritual leadership to see if they're lying to you. Why?
Because the false prophets, the false apostles that are deceitful workers,
they transform themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed
as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their work.
So the Bible tells us here that when there is a false prophet or a false apostle,
that false prophet is a minister of Satan himself.
And don't marvel that they are transformed into an angel of light,
because Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
What does that have to do with the tree? Well go to Matthew chapter 7.
It's interesting that when it comes to false prophets, Jesus talked a lot about a tree and its fruit.
And what did Satan get Eve to do? He got her to focus on the tree.
She saw that the tree was good for food, that the tree was desirable,
that she had desire towards the tree to make one wife.
She got her eyes on the tree and she ate the fruit.
What's interesting is that Jesus teaches when it comes to false prophets,
forget the tree, inspect the fruit. Matthew chapter 7 verse 15.
Beware of false prophets, false apostles, the ministers of Satan,
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
He says look, you can't trust the tree because it's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
You say, yeah he looks harmless. Yeah but inside he's a ravening wolf.
He wants to devour you. So you say, well then how do I know? Verse 16.
He shall know them by their fruits. He shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?
Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
Verse 20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
See, Satan gets you to focus on the tree to have you eat the fruit.
Jesus says, no, no, no, no. Focus on the fruit. Forget about the tree.
Because the tree will deceive you.
See, you know, we're here in Texas. You guys got a lot of false prophets here in Texas.
I realize there's false prophets everywhere.
But you got a lot of, you know, you got some good name brand false prophets right here in Texas, right?
I mean T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, right? I don't know anybody else.
But Joel Osteen, yeah. Joel Osteen, of course. You're right here in Houston. Good night.
I forgot about Joel Osteen. Yeah, Joel Osteen. Talk about an angel of light.
I mean, good night. You say, well, Joel Osteen, he could have heard a, he could have heard a fly.
Look at that smile. Yeah, you know, when you make millions of dollars, you can have a smile just like that.
He looks so charming. He looks so nice. Yeah, but inside he's a ravening wolf.
He's a minister of Satan. His lies will send you to hell.
His prosperity gospel will send you to hell. So you've got Joel Osteen, I can't react.
Good night. That would have been a failure. Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, right?
You've got these false prophets. You say, well, how do you judge? Don't judge the tree. Judge the fruit.
You know, Pastor Jonathan Shelley, you know, he preached something on Thursday night.
It kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Why? Because it was the truth?
You notice things only rub you the wrong way when they're true?
Somebody, you know, when you were a kid playing on the playground, somebody called you a name.
Oh, you wimp. You know, if you're the toughest kid in school, that don't bother you.
You know why it bothers you? Because there might be some truth, right?
Pastor Shelley gets up here and he preaches something. It really bothered me. Well, it might be true.
Might just be exactly what you need to hear.
Well, I was thinking of going down to Pastor Joel Osteen.
I mean, good night. I hope nobody here ever goes down to Joel Osteen.
Well, but you know, but I mean, can they be that bad? I mean, I drove by the building.
Look at the facilities. They're beautiful facilities, aren't they?
I mean, go down to these false prophets. You don't even need the famous ones.
Go down to just the liberal down the street, just the no-name liberal that has the rock concert.
Their buildings are nice. Their parking lots are paved.
You guys have done a beautiful job with this building. This building is beautiful.
But you know, we're never going to have buildings that match up to Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes and Kenneth Copeland.
In Sacramento, I mean, we've got our church, we've got some amazing guys in our church,
construction guys and good workers, and they just can labor with their hands.
You know, our building, they've done such a beautiful job with remodeling and renovating it.
If you ever get to come to Sacramento, I'd love for you to come and see what we've done.
But you know what? We have a beautiful building with decorations and everything looks great.
But you know what? At the end of the day, we're still in Del Paso.
We've still got the welfare office across the street from us.
You know, we're still in a ghetto part of town. You say, why?
Because we're never going to have the facilities that the false prophets have.
But people focus, they focus on the tree. Their facilities are nice. Their programs are nice.
They've got this activity and that activity. They've got this going on and that going on.
Yeah, but don't focus on the tree. Focus on the fruit. What are they producing?
See, you could come into a church like this and say, well, you know, a nice building is still a storefront.
Yeah, forget about the tree. What is it producing? Look at the fruit.
Well, I think I'm just going to send my kids off to the public school because they've got a football program
and they've got an indoor pool and they've got this and they've got that. Yeah, get your eyes off the tree.
What are they producing? They've got this program and that program.
Forget the program. Look at the kids coming out of the buildings. What do they look like?
Well, I'm going to send my kids off to university. I'm going to send them off to university because look at all the programs.
Look at their degree. Look at all the things that they offer. Yeah, but what are they producing?
What is it that is coming out? A bunch of atheists. A bunch of evolutionists. A bunch of lies are coming out of those instances.
So listen, don't focus on the tree. Look at the fruit. Jesus said, by their fruits, you shall know them.
Well, I think Kenneth Copeland is fine. Well, look at what he's producing.
I think TDJ, look at what they're producing because here's a lie of the devil. Here's a tactic of the devil.
Here's what the devil will do. He will get you to focus on the tree and deceive you into accepting the fruit.
Jesus said, you shall know them by their fruits. So how does the devil get you? How does the devil lie to you?
How does he beguile you? How does he trick you? What are his tactics?
Well, he gets you to doubt and question God's word. He gets you to accept a lie by mixing in some truth.
And he gets you to focus on the tree and not the fruit. So why do I need to know this? Because the devil wants to destroy you.
He wants to destroy your life. And we need to not be ignorant of his devices, lest he get an advantage over us.
So look, when you start getting this thing in your head, I don't know. I know that's what the Bible says, but just realize that whatever got that in your head is an attack of the devil.
I just wish we had better facilities and the church down the street. I know they teach repent of your sins. You know what? That's a lie of the devil.
They've got a better youth program. Stop looking at the tree and look at the fruit.
They've got a better youth program. Yeah, but are their youth also winning? Are their youth serving the Lord?
Well, they're teenagers. When they turn 18, they go and live for the world. Then why would you want your kid in that youth program?
Well, they're teenagers, you know. Most of them, they go live for the devil once they go to Devil State University. Then why would you want that?
The tree might be nice, but the fruit's corrupt. He gets you to accept the lie by mixing in some truth.
And listen, if one day you find yourself like Eve on the other side saying, the serpent beguiled me, you'll probably be able to identify these steps in your life.
So you know what? Before you go there, be not ignorant of the devil's devices. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you for the Bible, Lord. Thank you for the truth.
I realize that sometimes the truth is difficult to accept. Sometimes we don't want to hear it. Sometimes it can be offensive.
But Lord, I pray you'd help us to always be people that know and love the truth, that are not ignorant of Satan's devices,
that realize that we are in a spiritual warfare. Lord, help us to stand with the truth. No matter where else other people want to stand,
where else other people want to go, help us, Lord, to learn to stand and love the truth.
Thank you for this great church and for the work you're doing here in Houston. Thank you for Pastor Shelley and his wife and his family.
I pray you'd bless them and help them, Lord, to give them wisdom and guidance as they lead these congregations.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.