Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Good morning, church. Good morning.
[00:00:03] Good to see you today.
[00:00:05] If you are a guest with us, man, I'm so glad that you're here today.
[00:00:11] And if we haven't had the chance to meet, my name's Chad. I'd love to meet you, shake your hand, just kind of hear a little bit about your story, but glad that you're here.
[00:00:21] And as Tina had mentioned, this is a really special time in the life of our church, and we are gonna look back on these days with just a special holy nostalgia. And I was thinking about this because tonight we're gonna start doing some building tours, which I know that kind of. They're mostly all filled up, but if you still wanna come, just talk to me. We'll squeeze you in there. Tina will get mad at me, but it's okay.
[00:00:54] But we would just love to get people through it to see it. And we're also gonna take some time to pray there.
[00:01:00] Some prayers on the concrete and some scripture verses, and I think that'll be a really, really cool thing to do. So. But I was thinking about it as I was driving in, because I'm very excited to do that. And I was thinking about, you know, we bought that land in 2020.
[00:01:20] Now, I don't know if you remember 2020, but that was a crazy year, wasn't it? I mean, that was like. And for our church, that was the greatest season of uncertainty I've ever been in.
[00:01:34] We actually stopped doing in person services for a while, which, as a church, you're like, whoa, you know, this is crazy. We started this going on this thing called the interwebs. I'd never been on it before. We were like, what's this facegram? Let's try it.
[00:01:51] And it was just.
[00:01:53] It was so uncertain. And, you know, it was kind of truly one of those things. You're like, man, I don't know what's gonna happen here, what this looks like. But it was in that year that we bought that land as an act of faith, saying, you know, the world's super uncertain right now, but we still believe God is gonna build his church, and we're gonna be bold and courageous and.
[00:02:20] And we're gonna put a stake in the ground and say, man, we believe God has a future for us. And I was just thinking about that. I'm like, man, I am so humbled to be part of a community of people of great faith.
[00:02:35] You are a church of great faith.
[00:02:37] Don't lose sight of that.
[00:02:40] That's something special. You are a church of sacrifice and generosity.
[00:02:44] And real love. And I want you to know, like, God is glorified in that.
[00:02:50] People are attracted to that. People are gonna continue to see that, and it's gonna be a lighthouse of hope to our region church. So all that to say that thank you for your hearts of faith, your hearts of sacrifice, your hearts of generosity. There's more work to be done, but, church, you show up, and I'm proud to be part of this place with you. So thank you for that.
[00:03:16] Pray. Father, thank you so much, Lord, just for the journey that you've called us to, the journey that, Lord, we're all on here in this room.
[00:03:28] I pray, Lord, as we look at the scriptures today, I pray we could be awed by the greatness of Jesus.
[00:03:35] I pray we could be strengthened by his strength.
[00:03:39] We could be encouraged by his victory.
[00:03:44] We could, Lord, face the battles in our lives by calling on your help and fighting it with your word and showing up when it's tough.
[00:03:57] And, Lord, I pray that you would be glorified in it all. Bless these good people. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:04:05] Well, have you ever been in a time in your life where you're like, man, I really need this season to change.
[00:04:13] You ever been there? You ever been just in a place where you're just like, man, I don't know if I feel trapped. I don't know if I feel suffocated. I don't know if I feel frustrated or angry or lost. Maybe it's all of those things, but there's something in you that's like. But the only thing I really do know is that tomorrow needs to be different than today, that I need a new beginning.
[00:04:37] It can't just sort of keep going this way. And I think that's one of the painful places to be in life. But I think if we're honest, we all end up being in those places.
[00:04:49] I can think years ago, my freshman year of college, like, it felt like all my good friends, they all went away to college, to someplace cool.
[00:04:59] And I went someplace cool, too, in Parma called Tri C. You know, it's not quite the campus life of Ohio State or, you know, but it fit my budget, and so I went there. But it really was kind of one of those times where I felt like, man, I felt alone. I felt like all my friends are gone and I'm sitting here alone. And at that time, I was working at Boston Market.
[00:05:23] Yes. Amen.
[00:05:26] Amen.
[00:05:28] That's right. That's right.
[00:05:30] And in my job there, I was the dishwasher.
[00:05:34] Very Prestigious role there.
[00:05:37] And where kind of the way it was set up was, like, where I washed dishes was this very kind of, like, glorified closet, you know? Of course, no windows in it at all.
[00:05:50] And I don't know if you could probably guess, but Boston Market makes a lot of dirty dishes.
[00:05:56] So I would just, like, be in this shift. And it was, like, dish after dish. Super hard to clean, smells bad. I haven't seen sunlight in, like, eight hours.
[00:06:05] All my friends are gone, you know? And I was just, like, depressed, and I felt like, all right, I cannot stay in this season because I'm just gonna get driven into the ground.
[00:06:17] And I want you to know, Church, I don't work at Boston Market anymore.
[00:06:22] Yeah, yeah.
[00:06:25] Your boy made it.
[00:06:29] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ironically, though, I still wash dishes all the time and I don't get paid. So did I really? I'm not sure which is better, but here I am nonetheless. But we all need a fresh start in life. At times, we all need a new beginning. And one of the great things is God is a God of new beginnings.
[00:06:54] The future can be different from the past because of the greatness of God, because of the goodness of God, because of the wisdom and the power of God. God is a God of new beginnings. But every new beginning comes with a battle that has to be won.
[00:07:13] Have you ever noticed in life that you're like, all right, I'm gonna take this turn in my life, and it's like, it's the right turn. It's a turn in the right direction. It's good, it's noble. It's. It's a step towards progress. And then you take that turn, and all of a sudden you're like, this is so much harder than I thought it would be.
[00:07:31] Or, why is this so hard? I'm trying to take the right turn. There's a battle at every new beginning. Maybe some of you, you battled to come to church this morning.
[00:07:44] Like, I don't know, I stayed up. I'm depressed. The Guardians lost all this. But. But you're here.
[00:07:52] It was a battle.
[00:07:54] Some of you, you're not here. You're watching online.
[00:07:57] You lost the battle.
[00:08:04] God still loves you.
[00:08:07] I love you less, though, than the people that I see right here. But. Just kidding. Just kidding.
[00:08:13] Kind of. Yeah, kind of.
[00:08:15] I'm not God, Church. I'm broken.
[00:08:18] Broken sinner here.
[00:08:20] But there's a battle for every new beginning, and the battle has to be won.
[00:08:26] Because as soon as that battle is won, momentum and growth begins to happen. And today, I wanna show this to you. Cause we're gonna see a battle play out in the life of Jesus. We've been looking at the Gospel of Matthew, which is one of the four biographies of Jesus in the New Testament. We've been working our way through it and. And we left off last week at Jesus baptism. And it was this unbelievably beautiful scene, like one of the most beautiful scenes we could read about in all of the New Testament. We see the voice of the Father. This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased. It's awesome. And then we get right into Matthew 4, and here's what it says.
[00:09:07] Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
[00:09:17] And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.
[00:09:26] Thank you, Matthew.
[00:09:29] And I'm so surprised that he was hungry after that. He was hungry 40 days and 40 nights. And the tempter came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.
[00:09:44] But he answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
[00:09:51] Then the devil took him to the holy city, this would be ancient Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. The ancient temple in Jerusalem was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was beautiful. It stood out. People came from all the world to see it. And he took them to the pinnacle and. And he said, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you. And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
[00:10:20] Jesus said again to him, it's written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test again. The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He said to him, all these I'll give to you if you fall down and worship me. And then Jesus said, begone, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
[00:10:47] Now, there's a lot in these verses and there's a lot to unpack today, but I wanna focus on this idea. See, when Jesus comes into the world and when he begins to teach and when he begins to heal, and he begins to do all these things, and he is doing a brand new thing in terms of new beginnings, the ministry and the life of Jesus is the ultimate new beginning.
[00:11:16] And so when we look at Matthew chapter four, this is the moment right before that new beginning. This is the battle of that new beginning. And yet Jesus wins it.
[00:11:29] And in it, I think, is hope and wisdom for us, for the battles of new beginnings in our lives and what we see Jesus do here. We need to understand what it means for our lives today.
[00:11:44] So how do we win these battles of new beginnings? What does this show us? And it shows us a lot of things. But the first thing I want you to see here is the order of events and to know them and to understand them. Like I said, last week, Jesus was baptized.
[00:12:00] The voice of the Father said, this is my son, with whom I am well pleased. And immediately after that, he comes to the wilderness, into the battle.
[00:12:13] Now, I think that's really interesting.
[00:12:15] It's baptism and then battle.
[00:12:19] It's blessing and then conflict.
[00:12:24] It's comfortable, and then it's temptation and challenge and all those things. And I think that order is something to recognize in our own lives. See, I think there's part of us that think, like, all right, if I'm doing the right thing, it should be easy.
[00:12:43] I'm doing the right thing. Why is there a battle with it?
[00:12:48] Does God love me Now? Notice this.
[00:12:51] Matthew says the Spirit led him into the battle, that God led him to. That it wasn't like Jesus was off track or he was going the wrong way. But literally, the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, leads him right into the battle.
[00:13:09] Like, if God loves me, everything should go good in my life. Wrong.
[00:13:14] Sometimes God loves you, and he'll lead you into a battle. You with me, you're like, that makes my brain melt. I get it.
[00:13:22] But we have to understand that that's part of God's preparation for what he wants to do in our lives. And that oftentimes you think about this. Jesus was the most perfectly spiritually filled person that ever existed.
[00:13:41] He lived in the full pleasure of God. And yet Matthew 4 is here, and yet he's in the wilderness. He's facing temptation. He's in this tremendous spiritual battle.
[00:13:55] And here's what that I think that means for us, Church, is that sometimes you and I, we have to recognize and we have to accept that as I take steps towards God, it should not surprise me that battle comes with it.
[00:14:08] And that that actually is part of what God is doing to. To prepare me for the next thing he wants to do. You with me.
[00:14:17] See, Jesus ministry hadn't even started yet.
[00:14:21] This was before that.
[00:14:23] And in your life and my life, there will Be blessings, there will be baptism, there will be comfort. But then conflict will come too. And that's not because God doesn't love us, but actually because he does.
[00:14:39] And he has a plan and a purpose. And just being aware of that is absolutely helpful to know. And that if we want to serve God in meaningful ways, there'll be battles that go with it.
[00:14:53] They go hand in hand.
[00:14:55] But we have a God who is greater than the battle. Now, here's the second thing. We also have to know the enemy. Now Satan is confronted, or Jesus is confronted by Satan here and in our world today, sometimes we can have.
[00:15:14] We struggle to do, like, how do we understand evil and what it means and what it looks like? And the great C.S. lewis, one of my favorite writers, he said that there's two dangers to avoid. He said that the one danger, and if you have been a follower of Jesus, you've been a Christian for a lot of your life, and you've gone to church a lot of your life, you. You might recognize this. Some Christians, they see the devil under every rock.
[00:15:38] And so everything that's wrong in their life, they're like, I ran out of the gas. It was the devil. Like, no, you're just irresponsible and you should have filled up the night before.
[00:15:47] You with me and some of you. And if you. Again, if you haven't grown up in church, it's not like you're like, I've never heard this, but there are some Christians that. It's like the devil's under every rock. It's like, oh, you know, man, work's going so bad. It's, you know, it's the devil. It's like, no, you're just a bad worker. And, you know, you need a better attitude.
[00:16:08] Actually, the devil doesn't even have to show up in your life.
[00:16:11] You're doing his job. You're making it easy on him. You with me?
[00:16:16] And so what CS Lewis says is if you blame everything on it, then that will.
[00:16:24] You'll lose the accountability that you need in your life. Right? Sometimes the Lord's like, listen, you know, look in the mirror, dude. Let's start there. You with me?
[00:16:33] And so if you see him under every rock, that's a problem. And it becomes a scapegoat in this unhealthy thing. But Lewis says, but the second thing, the second danger is to act like he doesn't exist at all.
[00:16:48] And to think that, yes, you know, life. There's a lot of battles in life, but there's financial battles and their Health battles and their relational battles and their economic battles. But what the Bible says is, yes, that's all true, but there are also spiritual battles.
[00:17:06] And spiritual battles are fought differently than other ones. And not every battle is our spiritual battle, but every battle we can lean on spiritual resources for. And some are inherently more spiritual than others. You with me? Now, here's what's fascinating about that, is there's a book called the Death of Satan by Andrew Delbanco. And he is a professor, or was a professor at Columbia University in New York City.
[00:17:37] And he is not a Christian. And in fact, he describes himself as a secular liberal. And he wrote this book. But what the argument of the book is, this is fascinating. He says that in the modern world, we've lost our ability and our language to talk about evil.
[00:17:55] And he said, we wanna make everything an issue of psychology and sociology and biology and all this other different stuff. And he says, but what it actually ends up doing is making us less prepared for the world because we've lost that language and that ability. And the Bible says, look, not all your problems are because of evil, but it's there. And there is an enemy to your soul.
[00:18:21] And we need to be aware and prepared.
[00:18:26] And that's actually wisdom.
[00:18:28] Now, we see some of his tactics here, and I think they're worth talking about for a minute. Number one, we see that the devil comes to Jesus when he is vulnerable and tired and worn out. He's been fasting for 40 days.
[00:18:46] Some of us, we can't fast for 40 minutes.
[00:18:49] You're like, I'm getting woozy.
[00:18:53] Anybody got a granola bar?
[00:18:55] It's been 20 minutes since I've eaten.
[00:18:58] You're gonna be okay. You with me? Some of us. And Jesus, for 40 days, he is in a vulnerable spot. Now, here's what you have to know about temptation and you have to know about evil. It usually doesn't come to you on your best day.
[00:19:14] Like, boy, I am feeling strong today. I'm feeling good. I feel connected to God. I feel connected to his people. I feel supported. That's usually not when it becomes real in our lives. It's usually when we're exhausted and we're worn out and we're worn down and we're vulnerable. And what we have to think about in our lives are decisions that protect us. Not on our best day, but on our worst day.
[00:19:49] You with me? And to have guidelines and wisdom and good decisions that we've made beforehand that says, look, on my worst day, I'm as vulnerable as anyone to Anything. Amen.
[00:20:04] Because I'm human and broken and limitations and all this. And so he comes when he's vulnerable. Here's the other thing. He comes early.
[00:20:14] Jesus has not gone out and preached yet.
[00:20:18] His ministry hasn't started.
[00:20:20] Cause here's the truth. Evil is strategic, says, no, no, let me snatch this away before it even begins.
[00:20:29] How many times in your life and my life have we had a good noble thought, a good idea, a good action step? And then we talked ourselves out of it, like, no, no, for this reason or that reason, or this or that. See, evil loves to stop the work of God before it ever begins. You with me?
[00:20:52] Jesus says he comes and snatches the seed away before it has time to grow roots in the soil.
[00:21:02] And that's why the Bible says, don't despise the day of small beginnings, that some of the most powerful moments in our lives are those small beginnings where you take a micro step towards God and you're like, this doesn't seem like a big deal. But it is a big deal, because that means that seed is in the ground, means it can begin to grow now. And once the battle for new beginnings is won, you're halfway there. Church, you with me? I always tell Allie, I'm like, you know what the hardest thing for working out for me is?
[00:21:39] Is all of it. Oh, yeah.
[00:21:44] But then once I get over that thought I said the hardest part is getting in the car to go drive there.
[00:21:50] Once I'm there, I'm like, I'm already here.
[00:21:53] I don't wanna look like a weirdo and just walk in for a second.
[00:21:57] Although I've done that before.
[00:22:00] But isn't it true that the beginning is kind of many times? Not all the time, but many times where it's won or lost. If I can win the beginning, many times, the other dominoes will follow. But if the beginning's lost, the dominoes will follow the other way, too. You with me, Church?
[00:22:20] And he comes early, and then also this. He comes notice Jesus is alone.
[00:22:26] He's isolated in the wilderness. And have you ever found yourself in hard moments in life, and all you wanna do is pull back from everyone?
[00:22:38] And you're like, you know what? Let me pull back from everyone. I think that's really gonna help.
[00:22:43] Amen.
[00:22:44] Let me just. You know what I need? I need more time in my head.
[00:22:52] Doesn't help us, does it, Church? Amen. But yet it's. For some reason, it feels so natural to do that. And we are vulnerable in isolation.
[00:23:06] Temptation's power grows when you And I are facing the battles alone.
[00:23:15] My son Teddy, he's in a Sonic phase right now. Love, Sonic the Hedgehog.
[00:23:20] And when I was a kid, there was, like, sonic the Hedgehog. And that was it.
[00:23:25] Now there's, like, 35 sonics. There's tails and Shadow, and Knuckles. Knuckles. Thanks, man.
[00:23:35] I had them more on my head first service, but there's a whole team of them. And we were taking a walk yesterday, and he was, like, playing Sonic while we were walking around the neighborhood. And he's like, dad, Eggman's up there. That's a bad guy. Eggman. And Sonic, he's like, let's get him. And he said, I'm Sonic, you're Tails. You know, Emmy and Abby. He gave them names, too. And he said, team, are you thinking what I'm thinking?
[00:24:06] And I said, honestly, I have no idea what you're thinking, but, like, I'm here for the ride, you know, let's go. Whoop. Egghead.
[00:24:17] But I loved how you said, team, you know, there's a bad guy, but we gotta fight them together.
[00:24:25] Team.
[00:24:27] And you know what? In your life, you need to fight together with others.
[00:24:34] God has not called us to face the hardest challenges of our life alone.
[00:24:41] And I know some of us, we would so much rather endure the pain of it than allow the vulnerability to share with someone what's really happening on our hearts and minds. And I want to just encourage you, bring others into the fight.
[00:24:58] God's got them there for you. They're there. He never leaves us alone with his presence. But there are always people, his people, around your life if you're looking for it and open to it. And so Jesus is isolated, and then he's tempted in these three ways. And I think in some sense, these three temptations are ones that we should expect in our life as well, that they kind of are sort of categories of the tactics that the devil uses. And the first temptation is he says, jesus, you've been fasting for 40 days. You're obviously hungry. Use your power. Make these rocks into stones.
[00:25:45] And Jesus says, man, bread. Yeah, I don't know.
[00:25:58] Yeah, let's get the band up here. My brain. Sorry, my brain just got mushy. Church.
[00:26:06] Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you preach so many sermons, you end up just saying all kinds of weird stuff that you don't even know you're saying.
[00:26:16] But, hey, let's get back on track. All right? You guys are.
[00:26:20] Yeah.
[00:26:23] Make these stones into bread.
[00:26:27] Amen. Amen. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your sarcasm. I mean, love means so much to me.
[00:26:38] But here's what that temptation ultimately is.
[00:26:41] We have real needs in our life, and we will all face those moments. Is God himself enough?
[00:26:48] Jesus says, yes, I am hungry. That's a real need. There's nothing wrong with that real need. But ultimately, am I fulfilled and sustained by God, or do I need God plus something else in my life?
[00:27:03] And here's the truth. Your soul. And my soul is at its strongest point when it says, you know what? There may be some things I want, there may be some things I have or don't have or whatever, but at the end of the day, if I have God, I have everything I need.
[00:27:19] In other words, is Christ enough for us?
[00:27:23] Is he so great and so good that ultimately say, yes, there's a lot of good haves and haves nots in this life. But ultimately, Christ is the thing that fully satisfies my soul.
[00:27:39] And there will always be temptation. And anytime we try to find that stuff outside of God, it will create a lot of problems in our life. Now, the second temptation is he says, all right, I'll take you up to the pinnacle of the temple. Jump down. And he tries to manipulate a verse in the scripture. And he says, his angels will catch you and you'll be fine. And Jesus says, no, no, no.
[00:28:01] We will not put the Lord to the test.
[00:28:05] And have you ever noticed in life, if you have any relationship that you try to put to the test, that's never a healthy thing.
[00:28:14] I'm gonna test, do they really love me? Do they really care about me? And then you play that test out. That is a terribly unhealthy way to relate to people. You with me.
[00:28:25] Jesus says, listen, my currency with God is trust.
[00:28:30] Not testing, but trusting.
[00:28:32] We walk by faith.
[00:28:36] I believe so I can understand.
[00:28:39] I don't need God to show up at the Super Bowl.
[00:28:46] And, Lord, if you're gonna do that, could you make the browns there with you?
[00:28:52] But I am relating to God.
[00:28:56] And then the last temptation is, he says, I'll give you all the glory of the kingdoms of this world if you worship me and turn your back on God. And Jesus says, all the glory that you have to give is nothing compared to obedience to the Father.
[00:29:15] I would rather have the glory that comes from God than the glory that comes from man any day.
[00:29:23] Who are you living for?
[00:29:25] Are we living for an audience of one, or are we living for the best that this world can give us? Jesus says, no, no, I know what I'm living for and who I'm living for. And nothing is worth turning my back on him.
[00:29:46] And don't you believe that too?
[00:29:48] And then Jesus shoos him away.
[00:29:52] I love this.
[00:29:53] I imagine in my mind where he's like, psst.
[00:29:58] Isn't that sweet? Like, come on. Psst. Get out of here, loser.
[00:30:03] He says, be gone, Satan. And he's gone. And it says, angels, come and minister to him. Now, what Matthew is doing in these verses is, I believe, that he is connecting this moment with part of the grander story of the Bible.
[00:30:20] And if you remember, in the very first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, there is another temptation scene.
[00:30:27] And there is a man named Adam and his wife Eve. And they live in, like, a beautiful paradise.
[00:30:35] You know, the sun is shining. It's beautiful. It's awesome. They have everything that they need. They haven't been fasting for 40 days. They've been feasting.
[00:30:45] Everything is going for them, everything is awesome. And yet they're faced with this moment of temptation and they fail.
[00:30:56] And the Scriptures show that in their failure is our failure, that that failure is the root of everything that's wrong in your life and everything that's wrong in my life and everything that's wrong in this world. The Apostle Paul sums it up this way in Romans. He says, therefore, as one trespass, talking about Adam and Eve led to the condemnation for all men.
[00:31:21] So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
[00:31:28] In the same way, Adam failed and it's wrecked us.
[00:31:34] Christ succeeds and it blesses us.
[00:31:39] And the way that Adam went before his test, and he failed royally. Now Christ goes before a tougher test.
[00:31:48] He's not feasting, he's fasting. He's not in a beautiful garden. He's in the wilderness or the desert. He doesn't just get tempted once, but three times, and yet he doesn't buckle at all.
[00:32:03] He stands victorious at the end. He wins the battle of the beginning and what Matthew is showing us.
[00:32:12] In the same way, Adam's failure brings devastation.
[00:32:16] Christ's victory brings hope, healing, and change for all of us who look to him and trust him.
[00:32:28] Christ did not lose this battle he won. And every other battle he won and every battle in your life, in my life that he is invited into, that he has trusted, that he has looked to, we will win too, because of how great he is.
[00:32:50] And so how do we bring his help into the battle? Very simply, number one, we pray and we ask for it.
[00:32:59] Do not underestimate the power of prayer.
[00:33:03] I have been a pastor for Long enough. Where I have seen God's people pray and God show up and do stuff, he's like, oh, that's just coincidence. Not when you see it so many times and in such real ways.
[00:33:22] Prayer works, church, God moves, things are changed. And so maybe some of us today, man, we're in a battle. And I want to encourage you. Cry out for help, ask God for help, and don't do it alone.
[00:33:38] If today you're in a battle and it's heavy and it's hard, don't leave here without someone praying for you.
[00:33:46] If you're in a life group or you serve on a ministry team, get the people that you're connected with and just say, look, I just. I could use some prayer this morning.
[00:33:56] And don't leave until people pray and say, we're going to ask for God's help in this battle you're facing. We're going to ask for Christ's power and presence. You're like, chad, I don't know anyone who will pray for me. I will pray for you. You come see me. And we will pray.
[00:34:11] Because every time we ask, God helps.
[00:34:15] He will not fail us or forsake us. Here's the second thing. Notice that Jesus resists the voice of the enemy.
[00:34:23] And how do you know? The voice of the enemy, it always undermines the voice of the Father.
[00:34:30] If you look at those temptations, every one of them begins with this. If you really are the Son of God. If you are the Son of God. Notice In Matthew 3, the voice of the Father says, this is my son.
[00:34:44] Not if he is my son. This is my son with whom I am well pleased. And then the voice of the enemy says, are you really?
[00:34:53] If you are, I'm not saying you are. I'm not saying you aren't. But can you prove it?
[00:35:00] Can you show?
[00:35:02] Doesn't need proven. What more proof do you need than the voice of the Father? You with me? Here's the work of the enemy in your life to undermine the voice of the Father.
[00:35:13] I know it's Halloween and we think like, oh, the devil and stuff. It's like scary movies. It's not scary movies. It's robbing you of the assurance of God's love.
[00:35:22] It's robbing you of the truth of the gospel.
[00:35:26] It's robbing you of your identity in Christ. That's the work of evil.
[00:35:34] And believe it or not, that's a lot scarier than any movie you've seen. You with me.
[00:35:38] Because that damages our souls in greater ways. And so to Fight that. Notice Jesus doesn't entertain it. He resists it and he fights it. And he fights it with the scripture and in your life and my life. I just wanna encourage you that as you read the Bible and as you listen to sermons and hear teachings and verses jump out to you, I believe God gives us verses to hang onto and to fight in the battles of our life.
[00:36:18] And I like to just get a verse that speaks to me and I write it down and I put it on like a card, like this. And I carry it with me and I read it and I pray over it. And especially when the day's going really bad and I can't escape out of my own mind, I just read it just to quiet my own self up. You with me?
[00:36:38] And I try to fight the battle with the word. Cause that's how Jesus does. It's what he models for us.
[00:36:45] And lastly, we gotta keep showing up to the battle and keep taking one step forward. Because if Christ is present, the battle will turn.
[00:36:58] And it will turn in your life. In my life. And you will see his strength in a greater way. Let's pray, Father.
[00:37:08] I thank you, Lord, that your victory is something that you invite us into today.
[00:37:17] That, Father, as we look at Matthew, all of it is not just to show us what happened, but all of it is for us too.
[00:37:32] And Lord, as we think about maybe the battles in our life and maybe some new beginnings that you're trying to create, I pray, Father, that you would give us the strength of Christ's victory.
[00:37:46] I pray we could run to him.
[00:37:49] Pray we could call on your mighty name.
[00:37:54] I pray specifically, Lord, for those of us who just come in today with maybe a really heavy heart, maybe we feel just really beat down, really discouraged, really hopeless.
[00:38:10] I pray your spirit would bring some refreshing winds into our heart.
[00:38:17] I pray we could have a sense of newness, a sense of hope, a sense that, Lord, if you're with us, Hell itself cannot be against us.
[00:38:30] It will lose every single time.
[00:38:33] I pray you'd be glorified in that. I pray there would be great victories won in your name, for your name, and through your name.
[00:38:42] And I pray the newness of life that you have for each of us. Lord, we could step into it. We ask this all in Jesus name, Amen.
