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Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located

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in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship

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Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,

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discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church

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and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bigford and I will be your

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host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing

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to you and bring you closer to God.

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Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. My name is David Bigford.

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I'm the pastor here and today's message is entitled The Tempter Body, Mind and Soul.

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Our text we are going to be using is Luke 4 verses 1 through 13. If you are following

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along in your Bible you can get there. As you are looking in your Bible to get there

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it is something that is kind of on my heart and something that is interesting with everything

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going on in the world today. We need to pray for our leaders whether we agree with them

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or not. The Bible tells us to pray for those that are our leadership. If you think of the

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exiles in Babylon they were praying for their leaders in Babylon and later on under the

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Medes and Persians and everything else. But we are experiencing in the West in Canada

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and the United States some tumultuous times, Western Europe as well. It is just something

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that we need to remember is that we are to be the peacemakers. We are to be those praying

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for it. I have been extremely disgusted with a lot of the stuff that I have been hearing

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online specifically people wishing ill of leaders on either side of the aisle. Obviously

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as a Bible believing Christian we lean a certain way because we do believe in the sanctity

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of life and ultimately in the redemption of all people. That is just something that I

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just wanted to throw in because we can be tempted to follow along with the wickedness

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of the world. I think that fits with this message this morning or afternoon whenever

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you are listening to this because we can be tempted in many different ways to do the wrong

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thing. We should not be wishing ill of those that we disagree with. We are meant to preach

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the gospel of Jesus Christ and to see people redeemed in his name and we are not supposed

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to take wrath and vengeance onto others as ourselves. With the recent assassination

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attempt on former President Trump and with President Biden deciding to leave the presidential

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race as of today when I am recording this, I think it is important that we remember that

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we hope for both Trump and Biden to find salvation in Jesus Christ and to live according to the

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will of the Father. We all should be striving to do better and be better and we should all

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be striving to move closer to Christ. That being said, let's jump into this with Luke

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4, 1-13. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, was led by the Spirit in

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the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those

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days and when they were ended he was hungry. The devil said to him, If you are the Son

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of God, command this stone to become bread. Jesus answered him, It is written, Man shall

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not live by bread alone. The devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the

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world in a moment of time and said to him, To you I will give all the authority and their

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glory for it has been delivered unto me and I give it to whom I will. If you then will

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worship me, it will all be yours. And Jesus answered him, It is written, You shall worship

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the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on

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the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself

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down from here, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you to guard

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you and on the other hand, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your

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foot against a stone. And Jesus answered him, It is said, You shall not put the Lord your

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God to test. And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until

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an opportune time.

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As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was being built

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across a large cannon in the west. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train

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with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven

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to the middle of the bridge where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, Are you trying

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to break this bridge? No, the builder replied, I am trying to prove the bridge won't break.

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And the same way the temptations Jesus faced weren't designed to see if he would sin,

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but to prove he couldn't. This is something again that we have to really isolate in our

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time that we live in today.

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We're living in a very precarious time where our leaders are led astray by their own pride

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and prejudices, and they are telling us that if only we will worship to them and to their

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secular humanistic ways that we will obtain all of what we're looking for. It's very

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challenging to navigate the social constructs because especially in the days that we live

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now, both parties in the United States and all the parties in Canada are willing to accept

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things that are ungodly. And that doesn't mean that we don't have a place to play or

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a part to play in the democracies that we live in. Far be it, we have to pick the best

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choice out of what the options are. But what it does mean is that we have to be careful

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that we don't allow our love for a certain politician or our love for a certain party

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or any of these things to delude us into thinking that they are going to be our salvation.

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It is tempting to put your faith into man, but you have to recognize that our focus needs

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to be on the Lord. We have to make sure that we keep God as our reference point and the

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Word of God as our measuring stick. And so what's the point of what I'm talking about

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here? What do we think this is all about? So I just want to interject with a little bit

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of clarity that I received for some of my early morning thoughts. So the idea here is

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that we have to add a disclaimer for empathy because repentance, restoration and grace

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is what we seek. Grace comes from the Lord through repentance. And as you repent, you

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will be restored. So we all battle temptation in our lives. And I don't want anybody to

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walk away from this message feeling as if they've, if you've succumbed to temptation

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or any of the temptations that the world has to offer that you're written off, but rather

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that it is, that it's an example of when you fall, you can be, you can be redeemed through

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repentance because of the grace of Jesus Christ. So we look at the entire Bible as one slowing

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story from beginning to end with Jesus as our, as our savior, it's necessary and important

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to understand that God shows us the way that we can overcome temptation, but there is always

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going to be room for grace as long as we're able to humble ourselves, repent and come

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back to Christ. So as I was listening to parts of the Republican national convention this

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week and I actually look forward to listening to some of the Democrat national convention

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stuff because the way America goes, the world is going to go. Whether you like that idea

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or not, it is a reality because America has been the arbiter of the world order since

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world war two. Now, if you want to give way to somebody else taking that arbiter of the

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world order, then you're going to have to look at the other powers that play and that's

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going to be China and they have a very different view on your kind of Christianity or your

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kind of freedom than America does on their worst day. But that being said, you know,

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everything that's happening, like it's, it's interesting cause I was listening to parts

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of the Republican national convention and there were parts of it that made me uncomfortable

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as they brought in things that don't align with the scripture. But there were other things

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that were said that gave me hope that God was still in the midst. And I do believe that

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God directs and he holds the heart of the king in his hand. I do believe that. And obviously

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we don't live under kings necessarily, but still we, we, uh, we understand that the idea

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of leaders are put, are allowed to be in the places they are because of God. So I want

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to emphasize that if you failed, cause we've all failed, we all fall short of the glory

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of God that we're aspiring to or what we're expiring to is perfection. And that's, that's

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the goal is perfection, but it's not believable to ever achieve that perfection, the side

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of heaven. So it's important to hold to that standard so that we have something bigger

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than ourselves to look for, look towards. And that is the example that we see with Jesus

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Christ. If we look at the old Testament, we see kings that we know to have been good kings

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because they were, because we're told in the scripture, they were good kings. They followed

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the law, they followed the spirit of God, um, that was set before them. But there's

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a lot of, you know, there's not a lot of good kings though, but even with the good kings,

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there were failings within their life. But what set them apart as being good kings was

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their humility and their willingness to turn back to God, to humble themselves and to repent

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and to make a declaration to the Lord that I can't do this without you. So I want to

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make sure that there is empathy put into this message first, that even though we're going

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to look at ways of overcoming temptation, we also want to know that there's always

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repentance for failing. There's always going to be a process of restoration. Now you might

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not always be able to be restored back to everything and you might've lost because of

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failure. We see that scripturally as well, you know, if we look at the story of Moses

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and how what he struck the rock rather than speaking to it, that sin that he had committed

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prevented him from being able to enter into the promised land with the rest of Israel.

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But that didn't take away from his relationship with God entirely. He was still able to meet

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with God face to face and be the representative of God to the people of Israel until his death.

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But again, just as emphatically, you know, we want to make sure that we understand that

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there is always a potential for restoration. Even when we succumb to temptation, there's

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a chance for restoration. But the goal is to learn how to live through, you know, to

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remaining focused on Jesus so that we don't fall to temptation. So let's go ahead and

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look at what the point is. We tend to argue with ourselves constantly about what is the

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point. Why must we struggle? Why must we face challenges, difficulties, troubles in our

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lives? It is a common thought throughout all mankind. It is it is this that you know, sentient

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thought that separates us from all of other, you know, God's other creations, animals

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and plants, floor and fire. They don't trouble themselves with these kind of concerns. This

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is the very root of the human experience. And this is part of my point. Jesus came to

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Earth fully human and fully God to endure the hardships of humanity without sin, to

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show us that in him we can not only be redeemed, but have an example of the purpose of overcoming

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temptation. Not to be weakened by temptation, but to be tested and tempered by it. In metallurgy,

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you know, we we understand that if you add carbon to iron or you can make a stronger

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metal, you can call it you. You can make steel. Steel is then forged in the fire and tempered

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to be hardened, but remains flexible enough to bend when needed and still able to return

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to its intended shape without any loss of strength. The really interesting thing is

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that there are different ways to temper or anneal steel for different purposes. The trials

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we go through as Christians are for a purpose. Some are tempered for strength, hardness or

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sharpness. Others are heat treated with flexibility, compassion and empathy. But we're all part

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of the body of Christ and still one family knitted together. So keep this in mind as

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we progress this morning or evening when again, whenever you're listening to this message,

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we're all tempted. We are all challenged and we're all tested. We're also all built

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and designed for the for God for God's purpose.

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In 2nd Timothy 2 20 through 21, it says, Now in a great house, there are not only vessels

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of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for dishonorable use, some for dishonorable.

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Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the dishonorable, he will be a vessel for

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honorable use set apart is holy, useful to the master of the house and ready for every

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good work. So let's jump in and work through the text. Temptations are not of the Lord.

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Temptation has a goal. The goal is to cause sin and condemnation into the person who is

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directed. That is why Eve was tempted in the garden. Satan tempts us to sin and therefore

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separate ourselves from God. Whereas God tests us to strengthen us and bring us closer to

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him.

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The first point is the body, physical temptation. The first attempted temptation of the devil

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made to Jesus was one that was focused on his physical body. The goal was to draw Jesus'

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attention away from God onto his hunger. As we know, he was fasting before his exchange

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and Jesus would certainly have been very hungry after 40 days without food. In verse 3, the

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devil said to him, If you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread. And Jesus

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answered him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone. This temptation was a

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material temptation and can be looked at as the lust for material things. Think of it

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this way. You could be hungry for food, drink, money, or the newest toy. The ability to gain

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all the stuff you could ever want. All you have to do is kneel to the powers of be. This

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is what a lot of current culture is fighting about. Bend to our worldview and everything

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is yours. A lot of our entertainment that comes out of Hollywood today says bend to

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our worldview. You are bigoted and hateful if you don't bend to our worldview. But if

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you will bend your knee to this new world order, then you will have everything that

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you've hoped for and more. In Ephesians 6, 16-17 it says, In all the circumstances, take

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up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil

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one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of

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God. In Deuteronomy 8, 3 it says, And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna

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which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man

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does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of

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the Lord. So this is very hard for us to understand in our day and age. We are supposed to live

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by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. That means we are supposed to be

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sustained by the word or the Bible and we are supposed to be stained through the Bible.

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This is why we fast and why when you fast you are supposed to maintain a happy countenance

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not like the Sadducees and Pharisees, the religious people of the time. The verse from

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Deuteronomy that Jesus cited was to highlight our dependence on God. Today many of us depend

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only on ourselves or the government to provide us what we need to live. We are to be content

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with God and with what he gives us, knowing in faith that he will take care of us just

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as he does the birds in the field.

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So here are some things to consider. What feels right is not always right according

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to God. Beating the material desires can separate you from God and your dependence on him. I

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spoke with a friend about our dependence on God. Now the rest of the world likes to think

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that Christians see themselves as better than everyone else, but the reality is that we

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just know that we are not better. We are saying no, we need God in our life. We need Christ.

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We need Jesus to take the burden of this life off of our shoulders. We quite literally are

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admitting that we do need God's help.

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The pleasure that comes from giving into temptation is always a short-lived one. It's a quick

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hit. For example, I'm saving because I want to get a new iPhone. I could get the iPhone

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on payments or I can save up the money to get the iPhone, but I have to understand that

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saving the money is going to be a better way to do it because I can get an iPhone that's

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like refurbished or after the 16 comes out, I'll pay less for it and I'll still have the

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phone I want. Or I could take payments for it now. But why would I take payments? Because

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the idea of that is I'm going to get this short-lived hit that's going to last a very,

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very short period of time and now I have to make these small payments for two years or

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more for a phone that I could have saved hundreds of dollars off of and I would just wait and

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be patient.

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So we're tempted to spend it and just be done and get it because we want it now. But we

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have to learn to control ourselves. So this brings me to my next point, which is the mind,

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your thought life. And this leads into it, right, with that silly analogy about the phone.

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You have to learn how to judge the thoughts that come through your head. The next attempt

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at battle was for the mind of Jesus. I can give you the world and all authority. All

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you have to do is bow to me. This is a song that we hear today with leaders from every

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corner of the earth. I'm your guy. I'm your girl. I can get you what you want. Same money,

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power, prestige, authority. All that is required is that you acknowledge me as your overseer,

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your Lord. Here's the passage from Luke again. And the devil took him up. Verse five and

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showed him all the kingdoms of the world in the moment of time and said to him, to you,

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I will give all authority and their glory for it has been delivered unto me. I give

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it to whom I will. If you then will worship me, I will, it will be all yours. And Jesus

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answered him, it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.

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So I find it interesting that in the same message that has been used throughout history

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by, you know, petty and tin pot dictators, you know, or like Nebuchadnezzar, Caesar,

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Kim Jong-un, all these demand that their vassals to bow down to them as gods. Nero persecuted

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the Christians heavily because they would not partake in his worship. We know that in

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the end times the devil was will bestow power to the Antichrist. Revelation 13 to it says,

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and the beast that I saw was like a leopard. Its feet were like a bear and its mouth was

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like a lion's mouth. And to it, the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

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But we also know that this is a short lived authority and that one, the, that only leads

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to destruction. And Deuteronomy six, 13 through 14 is the Lord your God, you shall fear him,

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you shall serve. And by his name, you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods,

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the gods of the peoples who are around you. So as we look at society today and the political

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realm, they are all trying to grab power, right? And this is the idea of trying to buy

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in or to take, you know, take away your life in the sense that, you know, getting a little

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off topic here in a way, but the political realm today is constantly trying to tell you

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to bow. Why do you think that every idea that they come up with is a flag? Why is it that

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every protest that happens is some new flag, but the flag that you're supposed to be afraid

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of is the flag that is of your country. When, when the Canadian protests were happening

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in Ottawa by the truck drivers, they had Canadian flags and we were being told that the Canadian

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flag was being used to harass and terrorize people, their national flag and the States,

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you were there, you're constantly being told that the American flag is a symbol of hate

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and divisiveness and to have the American flag present is, is somehow a negative. It'll

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be interesting to see as the Democrat national convention comes up in a month, are they going

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to look like what the RNC had with, are they going to have the American flags presented

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or are they going to have other flags presented because they put other flags on our police

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cars now in Canada, the United States, they put other flags when they're protesting against,

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you know, Israel, they put other flags everywhere at these college campuses, at our crosswalks,

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all of these other things that they want us to bow down to. It's a very interesting thing

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that they're trying to get us to just kneel, kneel, just submit to it. But we have nothing

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to fear if we're living in the, with our, you know, if we're living for the Lord. So

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this brings me to my, my third point, which is the soul and the pride of life. In chapter

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four of Matthew, you can see another account of this story, but I like that a Luke second,

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you know, Luke has it where the second and third temptations are switched in placement.

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The reason I prefer Luke's order is simple. The first two temptations were struggles for

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power by Satan. He was attempting to persuade Jesus by provoking him to use his power or

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by flaunting his power, command these rocks into bread. I can give you all authority,

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but the third temptation is slightly different. It's now that the devil strives to manipulate

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the words of God and twist it to get Jesus to falter. So how often will someone try to

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persuade us to give into material lusts? And when that works, they might say, I have the

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authority to do it. It's okay. I permit you to do this or that. So I've experienced both

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of these things in my life. Long ago when I was in the military, it was very common to

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have guys try and get, you know, get you to drink or to get you to swear. After all, you

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are not, you know, one of us. If you don't drink or you don't party or you don't go after

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women. So I can honestly say that I have had guys who outrank me, try to order me to break

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faith and partake in whatever they were doing. They would literally say like, I'm your staff

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and seal. You have to do this with, you know, with us and you have to make a stand because

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they don't have true authority. They're using their authority unjustly. And similarly, we

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see this with the temptation story in verse nine, it says, and he took him to Jerusalem

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and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God,

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throw yourself down from here for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you

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to guard you and on their hands, they will bear you up. Lest you strike your foot against

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the stone. And Jesus answered him and said, you shall not put the Lord your God to a test.

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And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

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So the devil this time was attempting to use scripture to get his way. And we get this

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in our lives. There's no surprise here, right? In Psalm 91, 11 through 12, it says, for he

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will command his angels concerning you to guard you and all your ways and on their hands,

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they will bear you up. Lest you strike your foot against the stone. So it's important

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as a Christian to remember the devil knows the Bible better than you do. This is why

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we pray, why we read the Bible and stay within the body of Christ and why you should have

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a pastor. If you're listening to this online and you don't have a pastor, you need to get

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a pastor. If you live in Sam and our come to church in person, we'd love to have you.

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If you're somewhere else, you need, you know, reach out the contact information, show notes.

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I'll get you connected with a look with a pastor in your local area. More than likely,

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we have 3,700 churches now worldwide. But the reason why you need a pastor, why you need

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headship is you need someone to speak into your life so that if you start going the wrong

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way or following something that you know, following the temptation that's put in front

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of you, someone can speak into your life. This is why you have brothers and sisters

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in the faith and the church body. The devil in the world is going to try to use snippets

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from the Bible to twist your understanding. That's what happens. Why there's so many

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different Colts out there that use the Bible. They're designed to get you to stumble and

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fall without you even knowing it, to get you to question and challenge the Bible until

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you separate yourself from the will of God. How did Jesus deal with this temptation? Well,

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in verse 16, Deuteronomy 6, 16, he says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test

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as you tested him at Massap. So when the devil tried to fail or tried and failed to use the

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word of God to get Jesus to fall, he fled the scene. And this is true in our lives also.

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When others try to use the Bible to get under our skin, it's important to know the Bible

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enough to shut them down. So here's an example that I used to have, or I used to have to

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deal with all the time. So drinking, well, Jesus turned water into wine, mic drop, right?

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It's over. There's no comeback because Jesus turned water into wine. But in Galatians 5,

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19 through 21, it says the acts of the sinful nature obvious drunkenness, orgies and the

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like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom

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of God. Ephesians 5, 18 says, do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. So the

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issue is authority. Who are you going to give authority to in your life? We are called to

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give Jesus and through him, God, all authority in our lives. That is why, you know, Jesus

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was saying, do not test the Lord. God has all authority and we're not meant to test

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that authority simply because someone other than God came by and challenged us to do it.

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So closing, let's look at five takeaways from the lesson today. No one is exempt from

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temptation. That's number one. God does not tempt us, but he will allow us to be tested.

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Think of it as like as a hiking analogy. You will never gain strength if you only train

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on the flattest, easiest terrain. No, you have to go up. You have to think of it as

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testing a strength training and temptation is the voice that tells you it's too hard

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and just to quit. When you're going up that hill, you've got to grind it out. You got

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to continue to build that strength. And when that starts getting too easy, either you find

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a steeper hill or you throw some extra weight in your pack so that you can continue to get

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stronger. But that small little voice that you hear telling you to quit, that's temptation.

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That's the voice that's telling you it's better to be idle than to be moving forward

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for God. So number two, temptation is not the same as sin. We all face temptation, but

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that's not sin. The sin is when you accept the temptation, when you hold on or hold it

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in your heart and act upon it. The action is where sin is committed. If you're even

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if it's an idle thought, it's an idle thought, you can judge it and it's done. But if you

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sit there even, you know, fantasize about that thought, then it becomes an act of sin.

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So like when Jesus is talking about adultery, and if you've thought of adultery in your

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mind, that's not an idle thought that passes through your mind. That's when you capture

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that thought and you sit and you hold it and you fantasize about it. Then that becomes

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the sin. Number three, respond to temptation with God's word. So using the word to repel

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temptation, but when that's not enough fleeing temptation, like the story of Joseph and Potiphar's

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wife. And so he even in that story went to jail as we know. But the reality is, is that

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again with that thought, you judge it. And then if you're judging it and it's still

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a present in your mind, then what can you do? Well, you're going to use the word of

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God to speak against it. And when that's not even enough, because you're in a bad area,

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you found yourself in an area where you shouldn't be, you need to flee it. Even if that means

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your clothes being ripped off your back, even if that means that after the fact, you're

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going to end up getting in trouble unjustly. You still have a responsibility to flee that

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temptation, to use God's word and to flee that temptation. And number four, resist the

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devil in the power of the spirit. So this comes down to, you know, my three favorite

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things, prayer and reading the word and remaining in fellowship with your brothers and sisters

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in Christ, go to church. If you're not in church, if you're not being preached to in

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person with a pastor that can watch over you and friends that can speak into your life,

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then you're, then you're leaving yourself in a precarious situation where you're going

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to be an easy target for the devil. You're going to be the lone sheep out on your own.

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And you know, the devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour and

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who better to devour than the Christian thinks he's all nice and safe off in the woods by

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himself. And the number five, pursue the will of God with all your heart, mind and soul.

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Pursue God, pursue him in your thoughts, your words and your actions. This came down, that

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comes down to an idea of focus. What are you going to focus on? Are you going to make sure

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that you're focusing on Jesus with your heart, your mind and your soul? So this is the crux

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of the, of the entire message. This is the reality is that oftentimes temptation will

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win out. The tempter will win out because you're not focused on it on your savior. You're

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focused on something else. With that, with that, if I could have every head bowed, every

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eye closed just really quickly. If this message has impacted you, if this has spoken to you

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and you recognize that maybe you are unfocused, you're a Christian, you're saved, but maybe

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you're unfocused and you need to get your heart right. You need to tell God and make

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a commitment. I am going to serve you with all my heart, my mind and my soul. I'm going

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to refocus my life to be on you and I'm going to go forward in Jesus name. Maybe that's

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you and I want you to signify that with an uplifted hand. Even if I can't see you, God

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can see you and we're going to pray in just a second. But I also want to, you know, send

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out an invitation that if you're not saved, but this message has impacted you, then you

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need to give your life to Jesus Christ and today is the best time to do it. So you need

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to recognize that that you are a sinner, but yet Jesus has something much better in mind

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for you than what you have in mind for your own self. So if that's you, I want you also

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to signify that uplifted hand because that is a critical thing for you to put your hand

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up so that God knows that you're serious. So with that, let's go ahead and pray. I'm

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going to first pray for an invitation. This is a sinner's prayer. So if you rose your

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hand because you want to get saved, repeat this after me. Dear Lord God, I know that

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I'm a sinner, but I know that your son, Jesus died on the cross for me and I repent of my

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sin and accept him as my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. So with that prayer, if

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you rose your hand and you accepted that invitation for Christ, then you've been saved. And I

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want you to reach out and tell me you prayed that prayer. Tell other people you prayed

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that prayer and then find a church and get locked in. But if you rose your hand because

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you're convicted, maybe you, you walked away. Maybe you're not on as you're as fire for

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God as you used to be. I want to pray a different prayer real quick. Just saying dear Lord God,

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I know of all the miraculous things and all that you've done in my life, all the blessings

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you've done in my life. I want to give you praise and I want to make a commitment to

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you that I will serve you fully with my heart, mind and soul. I will no longer allow the

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rest of the world to dictate how much time I give to God. I will give God the first fruits

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of my life and I thank you Lord Jesus for your grace of your, your, your grace and your

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mercy and Jesus name. Amen. So with that, I want to thank everybody for listening to

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me this long. I want to thank you for subscribing to the podcast, for liking it, sharing it.

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I really do hope we can get this message out to more people and I just thank you again

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and I can't wait for you to come back next time. God bless.