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What do you believe in your glory? Amen. Amen. So we're on to Matthew chapter 4 now. In Matthew chapter 3 if you remember we learnt about John the Baptist and what a great preacher he was and what a bold guy he was and what the opposite he seemed to be of what the world tells us a preacher should be like. And we saw a bit about John the Baptist and we learnt a little bit. We went over to the Gospel of Luke and saw his beginnings as well and I enjoyed last week chapter 3. I think it's a great chapter there. We saw Jesus turning up to be baptised, didn't we? And that baptism signified the start of his ministry. We then go into chapter 4 and verse 1 which starts with then. So it's straight after. It says, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And I'd also like to just have a quick word of prayer before I get started. So Father, thank you for this great chapter. Thank you for the many lessons we can learn from this chapter. Please just help me to preach it accurately and boldly and clearly. Help people to have attentive ears now, attentive hearts. Help them to just learn from your Word now and help me to just be filled with your Spirit and to just preach all these things according to your will and in Jesus' name we pray all of this. Amen. OK, so then, then was Jesus led up of the Spirit. This is straight after his baptism. Mark 1.12 says, And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. So it was straight after the baptism. Immediately he's driven into the wilderness by the Spirit. He went straight from baptism to being tempted by the devil. For many, it seems to be the same actually when it comes to making that decision to serve the Lord. So when you make that decision to serve the Lord, it's time to start doing things for God. Often that's baptism, can be deciding to join a church, to start going out soul winning, whatever it is, that's when the temptations come. Yeah, and that for me is probably a lot of the reason why those people that you get saved, those ones where you're really sure, yeah, they got saved, I'm not sure, you know they got it, you know they really called on the name of the Lord in faith, they got saved and they're adamant, they're coming, they want to get involved and you don't see them, do you? And I think sometimes that temptation, they failed. That maybe they didn't make it through that, that maybe there was a problem there. Because notice how it's a spirit that led him to be tempted of the devil. Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Those trials and temptations, you're led into them by the Lord because they prepare you for service, don't they? Because serving the Lord is very different to the world's version of what Christianity is, and we talked about this a little bit I think last week, I talked about this I think on Sunday as well, because it's such a far cry from what we're constantly being told it is and it's just kind of this life of being, you know, very meek and just kind of very friendly and everything's just kind of soft and that's not the truth, is it? Because really choosing to serve the Lord, really choosing to do things for the Lord means you've got to be prepared to do that and you've got to get through some trials and temptations, I believe, to even qualify to be able to do it properly. And look, being saved and being battled already are two different things, aren't they? And the word of God constantly gives us that, I mean, you know, always makes me think of Gideon's 300 and to have, you know, already a load of them were sent back just for being scared from the beginning. Then after that, just the ones that are actually prepared and the test was whether or not they lapped with their tongue or, you know, bent down to lap or brought it up to their mouth, the water, and he ended up with 300 that he considered were ready and able to go to war for him. And that's what it's like, isn't it? And here it's straight, it's ready, it's ready for ministry and this is an example to us, yeah? This is the Lord Jesus Christ, yeah, but it's an example to us, isn't it? See, that's why it's recorded. Straight after he's led to be tempted of the devil to then see if he can get through that and be ready and prepared for ministry because, look, if you can't get through the temptations of the devil, you're going to find it hard to work for the Lord because it's going to come from every angle. It's going to come thick and fast as well. So it says here in verse 2, when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward and hungered. Now, that's an amazing fast, isn't it? 40 days of no food. Most people nowadays would crack after 40 minutes of no food, wouldn't they? The kind of eternal grazing that you see in the world and, you know, you get kind of kids just seem to apparently need snacks every 30 minutes and something else. I think it just shuts them up, doesn't it? But look, 40 days of no food, I think you're going to be more likely to crack, aren't you? More likely to crack when, I mean, I know when I've gone a few hours without food, I start getting a bit hangry, you know, and especially four, five, six hours, the hanger starts getting a bit more and more. Jesus Christ is up to 40 days here, 40 days and obviously 40 nights with that. He was afterward and hungered. Now, like I said, this isn't normal temptation and most people, in fact, everyone I think would be turning stones to bread if they had the ability to do that, wouldn't they? Killing themselves maybe just because 40 days of no food, you'd probably prefer to be up there in heaven, wouldn't you? Or maybe you'd be up for, you know, worshipping the guy that owns all the bakeries because that's what we see here if you just listen. When Brother Andre read through this, we see the different types of temptations there. But not the Lord Jesus Christ. And the fact that he's 100% God doesn't lessen this trial because he was 100% human at the same time. I think often I've heard people say, well, that's Jesus. Well, that's Jesus. Well, that's Jesus. No, but Jesus Christ still lived the human life and showed us exactly really the benchmark of what we're aspiring to be like, okay? So don't look and go, well, that's Jesus Christ, yeah? Well, it's also worth mentioning that, by the way, he was being tempted during those 40 days. You could read the Matthew account and just in case. So he kind of fasted for 40 days, 40 nights and bam, here comes the temptations. But Luke 4, too, you don't have to turn there, says, being 40 days tempted of the devil. So he's already been going through temptations for 40 days. And then it says that in those days, he did eat nothing. And when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And then this is when we see these three recorded, clear as day temptations. It says in verse 3, and when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. I'm going to keep just reading to verse 11 here, okay? And then we're going to go back again. But the answer said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and saideth him on a pinnacle of the temple. Sayeth unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear the up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, showeth him 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 saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, saith him, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Right, so we've got these three temptations here, which of course are three different sins. But I also believe that they picture three different types of temptation. I hope that by the time we've gone through these, I think you're going to agree with me there as well. Which is why it's these three in particular that are recorded both here and in Luke 4, okay. Verse 3 said, And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that the stones be made bread. So what's the sin then there? Don't make stones into bread. Yeah, everyone here, thou shalt not make stones into bread. Is that what the temptation is? Now we have to learn something from this. What exactly is he saying here, okay? Maybe for some here you're more likely to make stones when you're trying to make bread, okay? And you shouldn't do that, but I don't think it's an automatic sin, okay? And there could be many reasons why that happens. But remember that in verse 1 it said, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. He's relying on the Holy Spirit, right? Yeah, which has led him to fast and will also lead him to food, you would imagine as well. He's being led of the Spirit here, he's just relying on the Holy Spirit to lead him. He was trusting God to provide for him and the first temptation is to stop trusting God. That's what the first temptation is. And that's the temptation that does come to all of us in many forms, doesn't it? Turn to Matthew chapter 6. And it could be just like this, stop trusting his provision and take matters into your own hands, okay? It's just straight off, just on the surface here, stop trusting God's provision, take matters into your own hands. But Matthew 6 and verse 31 says, Matthew 6 31, Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles see. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Okay, now that doesn't mean get saved and put your feet up, okay? It doesn't mean get saved, quit your job, look, it's fine, you're saved now, God's going to provide for you. It doesn't mean get saved, oh, okay, well, his righteousness, get righteous. So, you know, go church, soul win Bible, pray, stop big sins, put your feet up and then everything will just be added to you. It means put God first, doesn't it? Do things his way, and that, by the way, includes being a good diligent worker. Okay, for us men here, in terms of employment, that includes being a diligent worker, and that could be for some women as well, in certain situations as well, when we're working, whatever we're doing, we should be working as unto the Lord, okay? So, obviously, that's part of seeking his righteousness. But it basically means don't cancel church to work late, I would say, yeah? That's something you could look, well, you know, well, I could get more money. If I don't go church on a Wednesday evening, I can earn that little bit extra. Don't be dishonest to earn more money, yeah, is another way you could look at that as well, couldn't you? Yeah, people that will stop trusting God's provision, God's providing me and he's giving me just what I need, but I'm going to start doing things my own way, doing the extra little sneaky things, doing dishonest ways to earn extra cash. Well, I think there's many ways, though, that the devil tempts us to stop trusting God. For example, things that I just saw off the top of my head, you can't trust his instructions on parenting, perhaps, yeah? People like to just take it into their own, do their own thing, yeah? God makes it clear, he has some clear instructions on parenting, yes? It is a nurture and admonition, God commands us to use a rod of correction, for example, yeah? The Bible's clear about that, isn't it? Time and time again, it's not like one verse, well, I'm not sure what that rod is, look, thou shalt beat him with the rod, yeah? Okay, it's quite clear what that is, and yeah, that's not the world's version of beating, it's talking about chastisement, it's measured punishment, but how many Christians don't trust God about that, don't want to do it God's way, they want to do it their own way. Yeah, I've got a better way, I've got a way that it's going to work for me, I've got a way that, you know, the naughty step will work for me, because that will sort them out. Oh, that little kid, that kid will never disobey me again if I make him sit on a step. That kid, he'll never disobey me again if I make him sit in his room with all his toys, and he can just play for an hour, yeah, real good punishment now. Well, you can't, but really what they're doing, they're not trusting God, aren't they? And the devil wants to make you not trust God. So don't, oh no, because the child psychologists, or are they psychiatrists, is there a difference, I don't know, it's all pseudo-nonsense, isn't it? The child psycho, whatever you want to call them, psychos a lot of the time, No, no, because they've worked out that in fact chastisement is going to make for kids that go to prison or whatever else because they've hand-picked some sort of studies or something, oh, you see that, don't you, a lot? They come out with all sorts of different ways to try and dissuade you from doing things God's way. But that's not what the Bible says, does it? You can't trust his instructions for a happy marriage, yeah? Again, how many Christians are pulled into that one? Well, yeah, I know the Bible says, you know, wives submit unto your own husbands, but he's going to treat you like a doormat if you do that, yeah? The world says that if you do that, then he'll commit adultery because you're submitting to him. Then he'll just treat you like dirt. But the Bible doesn't say that, does it? The Bible says wives submit unto your own husbands. The Bible says husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church. But how many men? Well, yeah, but I can't love her in that situation because then she's going to push it even more. Well, I can't love her when she does that or when she does this because then, you know, she's just going to do more and more of it. But the Bible just says love your wives, doesn't it? Yeah, husbands love your wives, and it's as simple as that. But, again, the devil, the world, really, likes to tell you to do it another way, likes to tell you don't trust God, don't trust what God says. The ridiculous oppositions of science falsely so-called. And how ridiculous are they? I mean, they are. And it's not just the ludicrous Big Bang, which is, again, it's kind of something you'd expect to see off, really, a comedy routine, but somehow we've got to this point where people actually feel the need to debate this nonsense. But it's not just the ludicrous Big Bang. There's also their kind of climate change nonsense as well, like any of this could even be possible without God at the centre of it all, that we've got to worry about the world suddenly ending or something else, but the Bible tells exactly what's going to happen at the end of the world, doesn't it? But, again, how many Christians start getting pulled that way? How many Christians start trying to marry up Big Bangs and millions and billions and trillions or whatever the latest nonsense figure is that still makes absolutely no difference that things just miraculously become other species and everything else? It doesn't matter how many billions or trillions or kazillions or anything else you put into it, it doesn't happen. But how many Christians try and marry it up? Because the devil's constantly trying to get them to stop trusting God. How about you can't trust the inspired, preserved Word of God? Yeah? That attack is big, isn't it? You cannot trust every word of God. And we're going to see exactly what Jesus Christ thinks about that in a second. But we know we can trust every word of God, don't we? We know that we can trust God when he said he would preserve his word, that he would preserve his word. Yeah, and none of us here have to worry about that and wonder, well, yeah, but where is it? Because we have the preserved Word of God. Because the English-speaking world has had this preserved Word of God for over 400 years. It wasn't buried in a vault somewhere and no one had it because God promised that he would preserve his word, yeah? Well, what's Jesus' reply to this, to the devil basically saying, stop trusting God, do your own thing, yeah? Stop trusting God's leading, stop trusting God to provide for you, do your own thing. Jesus said, it says in verse 4, but the answer said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Jesus Christ said there's an every word Bible out there, didn't he? That's what he said. Every word. If he said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, we have to have every word. Otherwise, how do we live? And there is every word. And we have every word here in our King James Bibles. He said we live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, didn't he? And if we need every word, then he's given us every word, and yes, that means he is able to preserve every word, because he promised to preserve every word, didn't he? Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 8. I'm going to read Matthew 24, 35, where Jesus said, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Jesus Christ promised that his words, plural, shall not pass away. Not his kind of general gist of the word. Not some version of, not some general opinion or just kind of similarity. No, his words, plural, shall not pass away. Praise God that he preserved them in this King James Bible, eh? And he preserved them. We have every word in this King James Bible, and people want to call us a cult for daring to believe God when he said he preserved his word. People want to call us some sort of old-fashioned, oh, King James only is. Like we're some sort of morons, like somehow we're just not intellectual enough to go back to the Greek or back to the Hebrew or something else. No, we just believe God. We trust God, not some idiot calling himself a scholar, doubting what God said. And here in Matthew 4, when the devil said stop trusting God, Jesus said you can trust every single word of God, didn't he? That's what basically he said. He quoted Deuteronomy 8, where you've just turned, which is also confirming his point. Deuteronomy 8 and verse 1 says, All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or not. Notice how the children of Israel had forty years of temptation. Jesus had just done forty days. It was to humble them, to prove them, to know what was in their heart, whether they would keep his commandments. So like I said, it's kind of like that test, that trial almost that you have to go through. Verse 3, And he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manner which thou knewest not. Neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth the Lord doth man live. Now the manner was to help them to trust God, to rely on God. And the manner being a picture of God's Word, which includes the Word, Jesus Christ, yeah? John 6.48, now if you turn there, Jesus said, I am that bread of life, talking about the manner. They lived by God's Word, and back in Matthew 4.4, Jesus is saying that we can trust every single word of God, isn't he? Yeah? And they lived by God's Word. They had to trust God's Word. And look, just to make it clear, anyone suggesting otherwise is doing the work of the devil. Anyone suggesting otherwise is doing the work of the devil. Now they might not know they're doing the work of the devil, although a lot of the time I think they really do. But anyone trying to say anything other, anyone trying to tell you you can't trust that, you can't trust that Bible, you can't trust the King James Bible, is really doing the work of the devil, aren't they? Yes. So all these wicked, self-styled scholars out there, all these pseudo-intellectual types, all these basically idiots out there who have just, oh wow, they've studied for a long time. They've studied idiocy for too long, yeah? These people are doing the work of the devil. It doesn't matter how many letters they have after their names, it doesn't matter how many years they've studied a language that they still don't seem to be able to speak properly, they're doing the work of the devil. And I have no time for these people whatsoever, and I hope all of you can say the same as well. You know, well, we can at least hear what they've got, I've got no interest in what these people have got to say, and anyone that's trying to tell you not to trust what the word of God says is doing the work of the devil. Now, where were we there? I think we've seen how Jesus Christ replied there, didn't we? Where he said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Now, let's carry on. So, verse 5, it says, Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth 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 charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone. So, sin number one there was stop trusting God, yeah? Jesus' answer is to live by every word of God, yeah? Number two is to destroy yourself with wilful sin, okay? Is to destroy yourself with wilful, also known as presumptuous sin. He's saying basically that you could even try to commit suicide and God will protect you. You could do what you want and God will look after you, yeah? Well, why is the devil saying that? He's quoting Psalm 91. Now, yes, the devil does know scripture, by the way, yeah? But is that what Psalm 91 really says? We'll turn to Psalm 91. While you turn now, I'm going to read again what the devil said. The devil said, 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 the stone. Now, Luke 4.10, and your turn to Psalm 91, it said, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee, okay? So that's what the devil said. Let's see what Psalm 91 says. He's quoting verse 11 and 12, which says, for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. So he's just missed out the in all thy ways bit. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Now, there's a couple of differences. The devil has left out to keep thee in all thy ways. In Luke's account, he just says to keep thee. To keep thee in all thy ways is keeping you on the right paths, okay? You don't have to turn now, I'm just going to read it. Proverbs 4, from verse 26, says, ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. And we can choose to let our ways be established or not, is what it's saying there, yeah? And let all thy ways be established. The ways being the path of your feet, yeah? The path you go on. Very different to the insinuated protection no matter what that we've just seen from the devil there. Even if you choose to throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple, yeah? That's very different, isn't it? Now, to add to this, the devil also added at any time to less out dash thy foot against the stone. So he's added lest at any time now dash thy foot against the stone. So, again, there's an insinuation there that it's basically just sheer protection no matter what happens, no matter what you choose, no matter what you do. And obviously he's also missed out the key verse because the devil loves doing this. Loves a verse or two verses or whatever it is out of context. What's the context? Well, look at verse 9 in Psalm 91. Because thou has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation. When you're willfully sinning, committing suicide, you're not making me refuge your habitation, are you? No. Okay, that's when he gives his angels charge over thee. Now, turn to Numbers 15 because the willful, presumptuous sin drives a wedge between you and God and between you and your brothers and sisters as well, okay? Numbers 15 and from verse 27. So that's what he's trying to encourage him to do, a willful or what we call presumptuous, what the Bible calls a presumptuous sin. Numbers 15 and verse 27. Numbers 15, 27 says, And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she-go to the first year for a sin offering. And a priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. You shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, that's willfully, whether he be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he had despised the word of the Lord and had broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him. Now, this isn't obviously talking about losing your salvation, okay? You cannot lose your salvation, okay? The Bible's clear about that. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. You can't ever have everlasting life if you're going to lose it, okay? That's very clear. You know, we see John 10, 28, And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand, okay? The Bible's very clear about that. I don't think anyone here needs to remind you of that. But you are going to suffer the consequences. If you're going out and willful, you know full well that you shouldn't be doing that, and you choose to go and do that, okay? It's not through ignorance. It's not through just, you know, I'd made a mistake there, an error. I didn't mean, this is just willfully going out and going, I know what God says. I know what the word of God says. I know what either that preacher said. I know what my Bible says. And I'm just going to go out and do it anyway, okay? That's willful, presumptuous sin. And when you do things like that, you're going to suffer the consequences, okay? You're going to suffer chastisement. You're going to suffer, and you're not going to have his angels protecting you no matter what, yeah? Okay, that's not, oh well, his angels will protect you then. It's all right, you know, you just kind of, you know, you just chose to go out and do something that God's clearly shown you from the word of God that you shouldn't do. Now notice how the devil goes about this temptation. It sounds so scriptural, doesn't it? It sounds so scriptural. A little adding or removal from the word of God, yeah? That's why Jesus said, man shall live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, yeah? And that's why sometimes with certain things or certain decisions you make in life, you need to remember to study to show thyself approved, a woman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, and then shun the profane and vain babblings, all the nonsense that people come out with trying to take a verse out of context and just give you a little bit here and tell you to just forget the rest of the Bible, which clearly states that you shouldn't be doing that. Yeah, so obviously the devil's sneaky with it. Take verse out of context, and here you've got a false doctrine of do what you like and God will protect you, yeah? And that's a false doctrine there, which you see in Christianity, don't you? Do what you like, yeah? Saved by grace, man. Yeah, saved by, judge not. Judge not, yeah? Jesus said judge not. Do what you like, doesn't matter. You know, you want to commit suicide, commit suicide. You want to go and do some self-destructive sin, go ahead, judge not, who am I to judge? Yeah, he that is without sin casts the first stone, yeah? Again, false doctrine, isn't it? False doctrine versus taken out of context, yeah? I mean, not even, I mean, the judge not one like we said the other week, how ridiculous is that one? Because all you have to do is just carry on reading and see that it's talking about hypocritical judgment, but no, just judge not. Great, great, because it's an easy memory verse as well, isn't it? You know, I've got the God is love, but God is love, yeah? Isn't God love? Forget the rest of the Bible, God is love. Forget what the Bible says about sodomy, God is love. Yeah, forget what the Bible says about all these wicked sins, God is love. God says it's fine, just go ahead. And again, it's false doctrine, it's verses taken out of context. Do you eat shellfish? No, that one, yeah? Do you eat shellfish? How dare you quote the Old Testament? Morons, yeah? Morons, anyone who says that, you just think, what a moron, yeah? You clearly haven't even just understood the covenants, you haven't understood anything about, you know, the carnal ordinances or anything else. But again, how many people do you hear this? Love the sinner, hate the sin. That's not even a verse, that's Gandhi. That's Gandhi. But modern Christianity quotes Gandhi at you, at someone who knows their Bible and is saying, no, God says this is wickedness. God says that this is wicked, vile, presumptuous sin. But, you know, Gandhi said. What about Gandhi, though? Gandhi wasn't even saved, Gandhi's burning in hell. So were many of the people that quote Gandhi, unfortunately. The temptation, though, is wilful sin, self-destruction, yeah? And that could be suicide, actual suicide, but isn't boozing suicidal? And again, verse is taken out of context. Verse is taken out of context, make your own little doctrine, suddenly, oh, well, it's okay, in moderation. What's moderation? Booze makes you drunk. Yeah, no booze doesn't, that's moderation. Yeah? It's ridiculous, isn't it? The Bible says be sober. But, again, verse is out of context. And the same thing, you know, these people, I'm sure, justify then drug use as well. Well, you know, does the Bible say? The Bible says be sober. Yeah? And I don't think Jesus, you know, the word of God, when he's saying, well, you know, don't look upon alcohol, but, you know, a bit of cocaine's all right, though. They love the weed one, don't they? I remember, like, seeing some people try and say that Jesus, one of his healing balms, used cannabis. Anyone ever seen this stuff on the internet before? Yeah. Madness, yeah? But this is what, you know, people, because they see that, just, well, you say it enough, you say it, it's a mantra, isn't it? You say a lie enough, people will just go, yeah, apparently. You know, someone on the internet said it. No. Nonsense, yeah? But, again, it's anything to justify, isn't it? The suicide of adultery, yeah? Like, suicide of adultery, suicide, yeah? Just ruin your life, wreck your life, wreck your family, wreck your wife, your husband, whatever else, wreck whoever else's life that you partake with. The suicide of fornication. And the temptation's there. You know, if you're an unmarried man or woman, as your kids grow up, look, it's going to be there. The devil wants you to commit suicide. The devil wants you to destroy your life. And to somehow justify it. To somehow justify it, whether it's a verse out of context, whether it... Well, I like the whole kind of, well, I'm saved by grace part and, you know, it doesn't really matter. You know, well, you know, the flesh is weak. You know, spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. That's all right, then. No, it's not all right. The suicide of covetousness. Yeah, and look, it's suicidal. You get into covetousness, which is idolatry, by the way, and you're wrecking your life. You're going to wreck your Christian life. You're going to ruin your Christian life. And again, look, all these things. Anyone encouraging this stuff, what are they doing, really? The work of the devil. Anyone encouraging you with this stuff. And look, I've preached it before because it happens in all these churches. You'll get someone trying to promote covetousness. Someone trying to encourage you into covetousness. Yeah, into some way of, like, earning money and money and focus on money and the extra get rich quick and everything. Look, it's covetousness, and those people are doing the work of the devil, either willingly or not willingly, but either way, you want to put them away from you. Being out of church. Spiritual suicide, isn't it? But again, how many people will try and justify being out of church? That is presumptuous sin. You don't have to turn there, but we know the famous verses, Hebrews 24 and 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a man of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching, for if, this is verse 26, for if we sin willfully, that's presumptuous sin, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Now, of course, the work of salvation is trying, oh, that means you lose your salvation. No, it's just saying you're going to get whooped, yeah? You're going to get whooped by God. You can't now just bring an offering, okay, and go, oh, okay, it's done now. No, you're going to get whooped, yeah? And look, how many people, though, try and justify it? How many people try and find a way to justify not going to church? And that's one where he clearly says that if you're sinning willfully after you've received that knowledge right after those verses about don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together, so important for all of us, so important for each other as well, and anyone trying to pull you out of church is doing the work of the devil then, aren't they? Yeah, anyone trying to tell you shouldn't go, and look, if it's clearly a false church, that's different, yeah? But anyone, if you're in a proper church and everyone here is in a proper church, someone trying to pull you out of church, trying to find a way of getting you out of church, find an excuse, find a reason, they're doing the work of the devil, okay? Because the devil is trying to tempt you to presumptuously sin, and that is as clear as day one in the New Testament. What's Jesus' reply to the devil? Jesus said unto him, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Now, you don't have to tell me this, this is from Deuteronomy 6 16, which reads, you shall not tempt the Lord thy God as you tempted him in Massa, okay? And in Massa is one of the many places in the wilderness where they tempt the Lord thy God. Now, he's basically saying fear God, okay? That's what he's saying here, fear God. That's the answer to temptation to go and sin willfully, fear God. And look, that stuff can't be preached enough, fear God. How many people just don't have that fear of God? Now, you need that fear of God. It's such, I mean, if you just put in the phrase fear God and try to search in the Bible, you would find it time and time and time again because we're commanded to fear God, we're warned to fear God, yeah? Fear God, turn to Proverbs chapter 14, that's why alongside this, by the way, that's one of the reasons there's such an attack on the nature of God. That's why I talked about it last week, that's why I keep talking about it, the nature of God is a massive attack for us to see God not as who he really is and to see him as the hippie, see him as the dress wearer, see him as the long-haired effeminate guy, see him as the Morgan Freeman sky daddy, see him as whatever version that the media, that the world, that the Catholic Church want to give us, it's to stop us fearing God. And if you're unsaved, it stops you having the fear that you need a lot of the time to get saved, yeah? And if you are saved, it's to basically make you just commit spiritual suicide because you're not fearing it. And Jesus said, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And we've got to not tempt the Lord thy God. You're turning to Proverbs 14, Psalm 34, 9 says, oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints. That's his children, fear him, for there is no want to them that fear him. Yeah, we've got to make sure we fear the Lord our God. Yeah, we love him, yeah, he's a loving God, but he is a scary God as well, we need to make sure we fear him. Proverbs 14 and verse 26 says, in the fear of the Lord, verse 26, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge. That's when we're protected, when we fear him, verse 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. Look, you've got to fear, look, bin those kids' books, bin those dress-wearing, long-haired images around, get rid of it, get it out of your head, yeah, and get in your head a fearsome God. Read your Bible, read your Bible, read your Bible as much as you can and flood your mind with the true God. The true God is a fearful God, OK, that is a scary God. Yeah, look, we love him, yeah, we love him, he's a loving God, he's sent his son to die on the cross for us, he's an amazing God, but he's a scary God, isn't he? Yeah, and you need to get rid of all that other junk because it poisons you, it poisons you and to keep thinking about this sort of, you know, this mild-mannered, effeminate God, which is not the truth, it's not the truth, and look, it's not enough just, well, I've started reading the Bible, no, you need to flood your mind with the truth. You need to have your loins girt about with truth, don't you? And not in all the wicked imagery, all the, I mean, you can't get away from it, can you? Drive down the street and just drive past the local, not even Catholic church, just church in inverted commas and you're likely to see an effeminate graven image of Jesus Christ in inverted commas on the front of their church somewhere with long hair wearing a dress, yeah? That's what you're going to see, and it's constant, the attack is constant, it's constant. It's the fear of the Lord that helps us resist temptation like this. That's what helps you resist the temptation to willfully sin, is having a healthy fear of God. And again, beware of so-called Christians trying to encourage you to willfully sin. They're out there, they'll do it, they'll try and mock, laugh, you know, try and come out with a way. Anyone says to you something along the lines of, well, you know, you don't have to be uptight about this, or don't tell brother Ian. But anyone says to you don't tell brother Ian, take from me they're wicked. They're wicked. If they've told you don't tell brother Ian this or that or what I'm saying to you here, they're wicked and you need to make sure you tell me, OK? And look, that goes for everyone here. Anyone says that, I'll tell you straight away now, they are wicked, yeah? Anyone saying that, straight away. What are they trying to do? What are they trying to do? And there are people out there that'll do that, OK? And we need to make sure we guard against that. 1 Corinthians 10, 9, Paul said, Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted them with destroyed of serpents. Yeah, that's what God did. He destroyed them of serpents, OK? Verse 8 says again, The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheiteth him 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. Now, sin number one is to stop trusting God. Jesus' answer is to live by every word of God, yeah? Sin number two is to destroy yourself with wilful sin. Jesus' answer is to fear God. Number three is to covet the world. Number three is to covet the world and the things of the world. Turn to Luke 4, which gives us a few extra bits of interesting information here. So Luke chapter 4 is a parallel passage. They are in a different order, these temptations here, but Luke 4 and verse 5 says, Luke 4 and verse 5, And the devil taketh him up into an high mountain, and saith unto him, All the kingdoms of the world, in a moment of time. So this is a spiritual thing, right? And the temptation is also to do a spiritual thing. And the devil saith unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them, and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. For that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. The devil is showing him all the kingdoms of the world. Yeah, you see that? All the kingdoms of the world. And he's saying that the power and glory, and that's abundance, wealth, treasure and honour, is delivered unto him. He gives it to whomsoever he will. And you see why the separation of church and state is so important, right? Yeah, that's why we don't have a state-run religion. I mean, what absolute madness is that? That's the wolves in charge of the sheep, isn't it? You see why our world leaders always seem to be so wicked, yeah? Why you just can't, just can't. Like some people are sitting there going, Oh, I just can't work out. Another one? Yes, yes, another one. Yeah, another one. And by the way, I include the real leaders there. That's the money men in the shadows as well. That's why they're always such bizarre weirdos, yeah? Into all sorts of freaky weird stuff, and there are many whistleblowers, Oh, conspiracies. No, they're weirdos, yeah? There's a lot of information out there about that. And you see why those with riches, we were talking about this on the way there, fame and honor in many different ways in public life, often seem to openly show some form of devil worship, don't they? So much one-eye imagery, the Eye of Horus stuff, so much weird imagery on a lot of stuff that they wear, so much weird satanic hand signs and all this bizarre stuff. We were just saying, at what point do they just openly start doing that? Are they copying others and seeing the successes? Is it just a spiritual thing that they do know, they don't know? And I think there's probably many different ends of the scale with that, aren't there? Well, this sovereign God Calvinism garbage, this God chooses each leader, Romans 13, misunderstood garbage, this everything in high society, health, science, government is honest, and above-board garbage isn't what the Bible says. If anyone is sitting here still wondering, because again, how many churches preach this junk? Well, you know, they're all good people, they were given that position by God, God chose that. Look, Ephesians 2, 2 calls the devil the prince, that's the principle of the power of the air. 2 Corinthians 4, 4 calls him the God, small g, of this world. The Bible's quite clear about that, isn't it? And here in Matthew and Luke 4, the devil offers the Lord Jesus Christ the power and glory of the world's kingdoms, doesn't he? He said, if thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. So we see that in the world, yeah, but obviously a saved Christian couldn't worship the devil, could they? No, a saved Christian can't be possessed by the devil, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, but a saved Christian can and does regularly worship the devil, okay? That does happen, it happens in Scripture, I'm not going to, just for sake of time, I'm not going to go to all of them, but you turn to 2 Corinthians 11, well, I just read one famous time when this happens, 1 Kings 11, 5 says that, For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zydonians, after Milkim, the abomination of the Ammonites. Then did Solomon build an higher place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in a hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. This is Solomon, yes, Solomon the wise, Solomon the great, Solomon the wisest man that ever lived, obviously not counting the Lord Jesus Christ, King Solomon, Solomon who is a picture of Christ, Solomon that wrote the book of Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiastes, and Solomon at the end of his life ended up worshipping false gods, yeah? It can happen, can't it? And there are many other examples in Scripture. What's the temptation for us here? Well, false prophets is a big one, isn't it? We can worship a false god or a false prophet, so often they're enticing you with the things of the world, that's why Christians get into these false prophets, the health, wealth, prosperity. Believe me, there are saved Christians who have got into the health, wealth, prosperity gospel, because again, really it's the coveting the things of the world, so then they're worshipping the false god, the false version of god, aren't they? The idol, the worldly music, there are saved Christians that will go to some wicked church for the worldly music, they're coveting the things of this world, they're coveting the senses of the worldly music and the bright lights and everything else, to put up or even worship the false god through it. The popularity of soft versions of Christianity. Well, because then they're more popular with the world, they're more popular with their friends, the popularity in the church not wanting to leave when they do get saved. There'll be people that you've gone out today, last week, the week before, you've got saved, and next year they'll still be sitting in their false church. They'll be worshipping in their false church because they don't want to fall out with people, because they don't want to lose their friends, because they don't want to end up being the one that left, they don't want to have rifts with the family or something else, and they're worshipping a false god. They're saved and they're worshipping a false god. You went to 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13 says, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming 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 works. So there is ministers, but they appear as ministers of righteousness, don't they? It's tricky, yeah, they look holy, they look like the real deal. And there are Christians that worship false prophets in their various forms, aren't there? Now turn to Colossians chapter 3. What about all the other idols of life? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10 and 20 about idols, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed to devils and not to God, and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. Are you worshipping the idol of money, popularity, the top career? And are you sacrificing the things of God to obtain it? You're another Christian worshipping idols. You're another Christian worshipping the devil through one of his many idols. And ultimately it's all covetousness, isn't it? You turn to Colossians 3 and verse 5 says, Modify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. And that's what it comes down to. The temptation there is to covet the things of the world, which ultimately is idolatry, and with that you're basically worshipping the devil. How does Jesus respond? Well, let's have a look, verse 10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Now, this is from Deuteronomy 6.13, which reads, Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Notice how worship and fear are synonymous here. Jesus said, Get out of my face, Satan, basically, didn't he? He said, Get out, get out of my face. There's only room for one God. The answer is to worship God fully, isn't it? Serving fully, and then there isn't any room for the covetousness, for the idols, is there? If we're fully worshipping God, if we're fully in the things of God, there isn't that room anymore for those idols. There isn't that room for that if you put all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength into worshipping the Lord thy God. Turn to Genesis 3. I want to show you an interesting similarity here to the devil's tactics. So sin number one, while you're turning there, is to stop trusting God. Jesus' answer is to live by every word of God. Sin number two there was to destroy yourself with wilful sins. Jesus' answer is to fear God. Number three is to covet the world. Jesus' answer is to worship and serve God. Now, look at Genesis 3, and the first time we see the devil in Scripture, and from verse one, it says, Now the serpent, this is referring to the devil, was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Number one, stop trusting God. Did he really say that? Can you really trust God? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. Number two is destroy yourself with wilful sin. Yea, for God doth know that in a day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Number three is to covet the power. Yea, covet the power. One, two, and three, stop trusting God. Destroy yourself with wilful sin, covet power, the things of the world. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Okay, there's a process there as well, isn't there? So you could kind of go into that angle of things as well. It begins with not trusting God, then it's wilful sin, you won't die, you know, tight temptation, then it's coveting the idol of power, isn't it? And they can kind of go one, two, three like that as well. You stop trusting God, you start going into presumptuous sin, and then you start coveting more and more things in the world and the idol of power. The result was serving Satan instead of God. That's what the result there was, wasn't it? That's what they ended up doing. And they became like everyone else, you know, who's basically in some way or another worshipping the God of this world, until, you know, not only you get saved, but you start worshipping God properly, yeah? So, go back to Matthew 4. And I just find that interesting that there seems to be that same pattern there. How did Jesus respond to the attacks of the devil every time? And by the way, that's why I believe that the, you know, I know I've heard people preach before and there's nothing wrong with that, that these are just three kind of common sins, but I do believe that they're a kind of, they're a type of temptation that we see time and time again. And I also believe they're a type of temptation that even maybe go in a kind of order like that as well, but that's something I haven't really developed. That's just something I started looking at the end there. But at the least, they are three definite types of temptation, I believe, there. Okay, so how did Jesus respond to the attacks of the devil every time? How did he respond? Anyone? The word of God, yeah? Yeah, how did he do what Adam and Eve failed to do? He answered with the word of God. In fact, Eve kind of actually doesn't answer with an accurate word of God, but we're not going to go there for sake of time. But he answers with the word of God. She adds, you know, that you should not eat touch of it either. She's clearly not answering and maybe not hearing, not listening, not paying attention to what the word of God says. Jesus answers with the word of God, yeah? That's how we answer the attacks of the devil. Okay, and that, for me, is the obvious standout lesson of this, yeah? Even if you're like, well, I don't care what sort of types of sin, you know, it's all sin, we shouldn't sin, whatever else. You know, yeah, they're just three individual types of sin. Yeah, but what's the standout lesson? All three times, Jesus Christ says, it is written. It is written, yeah? And he quotes the word of God. And that is our best defence against the devil, isn't it? That's our best defence. You've got to know your Bible to use, your Bible though, don't you? You're not going to quote the word of God if you don't read your Bible. And you're not going to quote the word of God if you just read your Bible, and again, you don't memorise your Bible. You have to start writing it on your heart. You have to know the word of God to be able to answer it, because when that temptation comes, you need to at least know where to look, you need to know your Bible. Because if you don't know your, oh, well, I've read it through. Look, you're going to remember exactly what, look, don't get me wrong, the Holy Spirit can bring verses to your memory, you've got to have read them, but you've got to keep reading them. You want to know where they are and you want to be able to just go, right, no, actually, I know there's a verse right there which tells me how to deal with that temptation. And this chapter alone has got some great verses there to memorise, isn't it? Yeah, this chapter alone, because there are three key attacks of the devil, but without knowing the word of God, without reading the word of God, without memorising the word of God, you cannot defend yourself. And look, the devil's out for you. Everyone here, if you're saved, the devil's out for you. Not only are you saved, you're in church. You're in a proper church and most of you are here out soul-willing. The devil's out for you. He wants to stop you. You have to be able to deal with it and the way you're going to deal with that is by learning your Bible. It's the most important thing you could do, is when you get up in the morning, is open your Bible and read your Bible. Because you know that if you leave it, things start getting in the way, don't they? The temptations start getting in the way, things start getting in the way and ultimately, a lot of the time, the Bible goes on the back burner and the other things start being done instead, yeah? You have to read your Bible. That's the obvious standout lesson. And what happens when he answers like that? He responds with the word of God, verse 11, Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Jesus was right to trust in God, yeah? That's why the angels came and ministered unto him, yeah? Because he put his faith in God, that's when they came. Because he trusts in the Lord, because he abode in the secret place of the Most High, under his wings, he trusted and the angels came and ministered unto him. He was led of the Spirit, he was patient, he waited, he didn't start doing tricks with stones and stuff like that, which would be very tempting and most of us here would have probably done that on day two. Let alone day 40, but look, that's a great lesson, Sam. Because of time there, I was unsure how long that would take. There's so much, isn't there so much in those verses? There's so much to learn from those verses, so much we can apply to our lives in those verses, that I'm going to stop there anyway. But for me, the standout lesson is the word of God there. They are sins that you're going to be tempted with. Remember that, look, don't stop trusting God, yeah? And to trust God in his full... You've got to trust, you've got to know every word, yeah? Because it all comes back to that. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. You have to know every word to be able to trust every word and to not be just conned by the little subtle attacks of the devil. Don't get into presumptuous sin, yeah? Willful sin, look, we're all sinners, okay? We're all going to sin, but don't sit there and go, I know what God says, but I'm going to do it my way anyway, because he's going to look after me. It's going to be all right. No, fear the Lord thy God, yeah? Fear God. At number three there, number three, he says to him, basically, to covet the things of the world, to want the things of the world, which ultimately results in the worship of the devil, either which way round you put it. If you worship him, you're going to get those things of the world, or if you do those things of the world, ultimately you're worshipping the devil. They go hand in hand. Don't do it, yeah? Don't do it. You need to just put your faith in God. You need to serve God. Just make that decision today, if you haven't already, say, I want to serve God, yeah? I want to do, and look, that doesn't mean, right, I'm going to, that doesn't mean, right, you're soul winning seven days a week, eight hours a day, you know, and it doesn't mean you have to be in even part-time ministry, let alone full-time. It doesn't mean you have to, what it does mean is that everything you do, you're honouring God. If you're a mum at home, then when you're looking after those kids, when you're training those kids, you're doing everything serving God, you're doing everything as unto the Lord. When you men go to work, you're serving the Lord. Everything you do, you keep the Lord in the middle of it, you put Jesus Christ in the centre of your life, you serve him, you do things for him, you come to church, you don't shirk on church, you don't shirk on someone, you don't shirk on reading the Bible, you don't shirk on prayer. Yeah, you do your best to live for God, and it'll be that much easier to not cover the things of the world. And when you do that, wow, how fulfilling is life. When you do that, when you have those times, everyone here's had those times, when you're in the will of God, when you feel like, yeah, I'm doing all right today or for this hour, or whatever it is, yeah, whatever it is, that half an hour, I've really done well. Look, whatever it is in your life, yeah, when you have those times, you feel like, yeah, I've resisted that sin, that temptation, I resisted it. Yeah, I got up and I had a good day today, I did this, I did that, I resisted that. How good do you feel? And how lousy do you feel when you just go into sin? How lousy do you feel when you presumptuously sin? How lousy do you feel when you just covet the things of the world and give in to those temptations? You can't compare it, can you? Whatever that pleasure of sin for a season is, the hangover's terrible, isn't it? Yeah? On that, let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word, I thank you for just what great lessons we got there from that first half of Matthew chapter 4, and I hope that I've, you know, preached it as you'd want me to preach it, and I hope that I'm accurate there with what types of sins they are, and I hope that people have been edified by this and will go away and be able to apply this to their lives, and I pray that you just, you know, help everyone here to go away from, you know, your word today and want to apply it to their lives, and want to make sure that they know the word of God to be able to answer those attacks, to strengthen everyone to resist those attacks, help us to pray for each other with that as well, to resist the temptation of the devil, to get through those tests and trials to go on to serve you, to be stronger, to be better servants. Lord, we pray that all those that aren't here as well, that you just help and protect them to be able to resist those temptations, to resist the devil. As you say, resist the devil and he shall flee from you. We want him to flee from us. Help us to do our best. Help us to be strong. Help us to be in the word of God. Help us to carry on this week in the word of God. Help us to all return safely on Sunday for another day in your house. In Jesus' name we pray with this. Amen.