WEBVTT 00:00:01.300 --> 00:00:03.200 Thank you for your good singing today. Would 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:06.799 you open your Bible with me to a text in 2nd 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:14.339 Timothy, the second chapter? The second epistle 00:00:14.339 --> 00:00:19.059 to Timothy and chapter 2, right at the very end 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:26.219 of the chapter, beginning with verse 24. And 00:00:26.219 --> 00:00:29.320 the Lord's bond -servant must not be quarrelsome, 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:33.899 but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when 00:00:33.899 --> 00:00:37.359 wronged, with gentleness correcting those who 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:41.340 are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them 00:00:41.340 --> 00:00:44.979 repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:48.320 and that they may come to their senses and escape 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:52.520 from the snare of the devil. having been held 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:57.740 captive by Him to do His will. This morning we 00:00:57.740 --> 00:01:00.920 want to think together about the snares of Satan. 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:05.959 Through this summer we have arranged our messages 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:11.340 around the theme S .O .S. Urgent messages from 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:13.640 the Word of God. And nothing is more urgent than 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:17.799 that we learn something about our enemy. quite 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:20.120 concerned that we not do that, and I'd like to 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:24.159 ask you to pray with me. Lord, as we come to 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:26.680 study Your Word this morning, we pray that the 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:29.560 enemy will be unable to interrupt or to interfere, 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:34.439 but will be held back so that we can learn what 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:36.780 You would have us to learn and see that applied 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:40.200 to our lives as the Spirit of God knows that 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:43.599 it needs to be. Be our teacher this morning. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:47.219 We wait upon You. and to claim the victory of 00:01:47.219 --> 00:01:51.799 the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross and his tomb 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:59.540 from where he rose from the dead. Amen. I was 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:04.000 watching a documentary this past week about serpents. 00:02:06.659 --> 00:02:10.259 And I was intrigued by one particular serpent 00:02:10.259 --> 00:02:14.090 that has a very flexible tail. The way that it 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:18.289 captures its prey is to get into its coil to 00:02:18.289 --> 00:02:22.650 strike and then to lift its tail and to begin 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:25.810 wiggling it and it's so flexible that it looks 00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:30.270 like a worm. Now the snake does this when he's 00:02:30.270 --> 00:02:33.770 in the presence of a frog, for example, as was 00:02:33.770 --> 00:02:37.810 the case in the documentary. And the frog watches 00:02:37.810 --> 00:02:42.090 this tail moving and begins to believe that it's 00:02:42.090 --> 00:02:46.689 a worm and edges ever more closely to it until 00:02:46.689 --> 00:02:50.990 finally he leaps on the worm only to find that 00:02:50.990 --> 00:02:53.969 the snake strikes at the same instant killing 00:02:53.969 --> 00:02:58.770 him and then swallowing him. As I thought of 00:02:58.770 --> 00:03:01.110 that illustration I thought how appropriate for 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:03.629 what I'm talking about this week in the snares 00:03:03.629 --> 00:03:13.569 of Satan. A snare is a trap. It is a way of capturing 00:03:13.569 --> 00:03:19.669 a prey. The Bible tells us that Satan has devised 00:03:19.669 --> 00:03:23.770 many different kinds of snares that he might 00:03:23.770 --> 00:03:28.150 take us captive. One such text is the one we've 00:03:28.150 --> 00:03:31.610 just read and frankly it's not clear in the context 00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:34.610 whether it's speaking about believers who've 00:03:34.610 --> 00:03:38.969 been taken captive by him or unbelievers. I tend 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:42.060 to lean toward the latter But I think it may 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:46.520 be left ambiguous because believers as well as 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.740 unbelievers can fall to the snares of Satan and 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:55.680 be taken captive. You and I need to be aware 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:01.159 of the snares of our enemy. This morning I'd 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:03.620 like to talk about some of those snares and because 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:05.879 there are literally hundreds of them we need 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:10.069 to group them and so that's my intent. I want 00:04:10.069 --> 00:04:13.629 to congregate them around four subtitles this 00:04:13.629 --> 00:04:16.730 morning as we think about the snares of Satan. 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:20.189 We'll have time to talk about a few specific 00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:23.329 ones, but by no means will we exhaust this subject 00:04:23.329 --> 00:04:28.610 in one message. Your pathway and mine is plotted 00:04:28.610 --> 00:04:32.970 every day with snares which Satan would use to 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:38.810 destroy our freedom and joy in Christ. and our 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:45.430 usefulness to God's kingdom work. A snare results 00:04:45.430 --> 00:04:52.029 in one being held captive. He cannot proceed. 00:04:52.149 --> 00:04:55.589 He cannot do what he wants to do because he is 00:04:55.589 --> 00:05:02.069 held fast by it. Avoid the snares of Satan. Don't 00:05:02.069 --> 00:05:06.550 be fooled. Because he never delivers what he 00:05:06.550 --> 00:05:11.509 offers, just like that snake who offers the unsuspecting 00:05:11.509 --> 00:05:16.009 frog what he thinks is a worm. Because the result 00:05:16.009 --> 00:05:19.610 when we fall for Satan's snares is inevitably 00:05:19.610 --> 00:05:24.569 bondage. The first group of snares I want us 00:05:24.569 --> 00:05:27.470 to think about this morning is the snare of false 00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:30.870 teaching. Because that's really the context where 00:05:30.870 --> 00:05:35.790 we begin in 2 Timothy chapter 2. Paul is concerned 00:05:35.790 --> 00:05:40.449 about false teachers who are present around the 00:05:40.449 --> 00:05:43.990 congregation in Ephesus where Timothy is the 00:05:43.990 --> 00:05:49.370 pastor. And so he tells Timothy how to go about 00:05:49.370 --> 00:05:53.230 counteracting the false teaching in his midst. 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:57.730 He is to be characterized by gentleness and teaching 00:05:57.730 --> 00:06:04.189 and patience and so on, so that if God is willing 00:06:04.189 --> 00:06:07.269 those who are in opposition to the truth may 00:06:07.269 --> 00:06:11.189 come to a knowledge of it and escape the snare 00:06:11.189 --> 00:06:15.129 of the devil Whom he says holds them captive 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:22.269 at his will Satan hates the thus saith the Lord 00:06:22.269 --> 00:06:27.930 He hates the preaching of the Word of God He 00:06:27.930 --> 00:06:32.540 hates the doctrines of God's Word And he will 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:36.779 do anything to deter you from learning and believing 00:06:36.779 --> 00:06:42.259 what the Word of God says. Now if he can't keep 00:06:42.259 --> 00:06:47.100 you from hearing the Word of God, and he's very 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:51.379 clever at doing that to us, but if he can't keep 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:54.899 us from hearing the Word of God, he will then 00:06:54.899 --> 00:06:59.269 attempt to adulterate the Word of God. to water 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:03.990 it down or to compromise it with some false ideas. 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:09.110 That's very dangerous to have some truth and 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:14.449 some error mixed together. That was the case 00:07:14.449 --> 00:07:17.470 undoubtedly in Ephesus and Paul's concern as 00:07:17.470 --> 00:07:21.550 he writes these words. Wherever Paul went preaching 00:07:21.550 --> 00:07:24.149 the Word of God, seeing people come to Christ 00:07:24.149 --> 00:07:28.550 and establishing churches, Satan was inevitably 00:07:28.550 --> 00:07:32.949 right behind him, sowing lies and false teaching, 00:07:34.209 --> 00:07:36.730 seeking to adulterate the Word of God and thus 00:07:36.730 --> 00:07:40.709 to hold in bondage and captive those new believers. 00:07:41.490 --> 00:07:47.370 And he hasn't changed today. Many of those who 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:51.040 join cults in our country are people who have 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:53.639 come to Christ, but who are very immature, who 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:56.819 have received no teaching, and who are easy prey 00:07:56.819 --> 00:07:59.899 to Him in false teaching. And they are snatched 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:05.660 up into the cults and held captive by them." 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:12.300 Paul warns about the last days being characterized 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:15.459 by lots of false teaching. Turn back to 1 Timothy. 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:19.439 chapter four, written a few years before the 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.620 epistle we've just read, but when Timothy was 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:26.360 undoubtedly pastoring in Ephesus. And he says, 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:29.600 but the Spirit explicitly says, now notice that 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.659 this continues Paul's thought, in the end of 00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:35.539 chapter three he is describing sound doctrine 00:08:35.539 --> 00:08:40.500 to him. And he gives to us an early confession 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:44.440 of faith. Some even call it a creed of the church. 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:48.860 in an embryonic form in verse 16 of chapter 3. 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:52.720 But, Paul says, the Spirit explicitly says that 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:57.360 in later times, some will fall away from this 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:02.159 faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:07.500 and doctrines of demons. What Paul is saying 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:13.440 is that there are spiritual entities, Satan's 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:17.679 spirits, angels who fell with him from heaven, 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:22.340 whose goal and purpose working among humanity 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:27.980 is to create new religions and new ideas. These 00:09:27.980 --> 00:09:31.639 teachings and doctrines of demons are then whispered 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:35.679 in the ears of people and scattered throughout 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:40.580 humanity. That's why there are so many and various 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:49.529 religions in the world. What we believe determines 00:09:49.529 --> 00:09:54.970 how we behave. If we begin to believe error in 00:09:54.970 --> 00:09:59.250 some respect, that will inevitably eventually 00:09:59.250 --> 00:10:03.429 be worked out in our lives. That's why it's so 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:05.929 important that we keep coming back to the Word 00:10:05.929 --> 00:10:09.789 of God to test what we hear by what the Word 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:14.309 of God has to say. If we become a follower of 00:10:14.309 --> 00:10:19.340 false belief, We will eventually become a liver 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:23.720 of false doctrine. We will live it out in our 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:30.259 lives. One of the snares of Satan is false teaching. 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:34.740 Now this morning I'm going to do something that's 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:37.159 risky. I'm going to talk about some false teaching 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:41.960 in our world today. I'm going to have to do this 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:45.279 briefly. That's why it's risky, because one can 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:48.659 say everything that he might regarding some of 00:10:48.659 --> 00:10:54.200 these things. But I lift these as examples so 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:58.360 that you might be forewarned. One of the most 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:00.679 popular books selling in Christian bookstores 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:02.899 these days is one that's called Good Morning, 00:11:02.940 --> 00:11:07.980 Holy Spirit. The same author has authored one 00:11:07.980 --> 00:11:10.379 called The Anointing. His name is Benny Hinn. 00:11:11.309 --> 00:11:14.029 Now I mention him specifically because he's coming 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:17.049 to the Twin Cities for some kind of a rally or 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:22.330 meeting in the next few days. Now the most recent 00:11:22.330 --> 00:11:25.210 issue of Christianity today tells us that Benny 00:11:25.210 --> 00:11:29.049 Hinn has repented of his false teaching. This 00:11:29.049 --> 00:11:32.850 is the third time he's repented of it. I hope 00:11:32.850 --> 00:11:36.629 it's true this time. He is a pastor of a large 00:11:36.629 --> 00:11:40.049 church in Orlando, Florida. He is in the Charismatic 00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:44.350 Circle. And even his fellow Charismatics reject 00:11:44.350 --> 00:11:46.909 some of the doctrines that he has come up with 00:11:46.909 --> 00:11:49.990 and which he has inserted here and there in the 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:52.929 books that he's authored. Perhaps one of the 00:11:52.929 --> 00:11:55.049 tests as to whether he's truly repentant will 00:11:55.049 --> 00:11:59.850 be whether he at least revises, if not removes, 00:11:59.929 --> 00:12:02.710 some of his books that are now selling to Christians 00:12:02.710 --> 00:12:06.809 across this country. The anointing basically 00:12:06.809 --> 00:12:11.320 is about being slain in the Spirit. which is 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:14.220 a teaching foreign to the Word of God entirely. 00:12:14.299 --> 00:12:17.720 There is nothing about that in the Bible, and 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:20.340 yet it is sweeping many charismatic churches. 00:12:21.659 --> 00:12:24.700 I hope Benny Hinn is changing. Time will tell. 00:12:25.379 --> 00:12:27.379 But be careful if you could pick up a book that 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:30.379 is authored by him. Don't accept all of it without 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:34.000 testing it from the Word of God. Time doesn't 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.259 allow me to mention Kenneth Hagen, Kenneth Copeland, 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:42.919 Robert Tilton. who are among the prosperity gospel 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:45.240 preachers and who insert constantly in their 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:48.320 messages teaching that is contrary to the Word 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:52.240 of God. In a certain respect, coming out of a 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:57.340 different element of Christianity, the Reformed 00:12:57.340 --> 00:13:01.799 circles, is a teaching called Reconstructionism. 00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:08.070 or Kingdom Now theology or Dominion theology. 00:13:08.230 --> 00:13:12.190 You may see books by Gary North or R .D. Rushdooney. 00:13:13.250 --> 00:13:15.929 Their basic teaching is that we need to go back 00:13:15.929 --> 00:13:18.970 to the laws of Moses and apply those to society 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:22.090 today and in doing that we will eventually bring 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:24.970 God's kingdom on the earth and Jesus then will 00:13:24.970 --> 00:13:29.330 come again. Well, that is foreign to what the 00:13:29.330 --> 00:13:36.620 Word of God teaches us. This past week one of 00:13:36.620 --> 00:13:38.679 the most popular figures in all the world has 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:44.980 been the United States in Pope John Paul. We 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.480 would agree with many of the values that the 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:51.679 Pope declares. I am glad that he says some of 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:57.039 the things that he does in our leftist oriented 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:02.490 society. It helps all of us. But the fact is 00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:05.090 that he represents a system of doctrine in the 00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:08.889 Roman Catholic Church, which is in error. And 00:14:08.889 --> 00:14:11.629 this same Pope has declared that snake worshipers, 00:14:11.789 --> 00:14:15.450 witch doctors, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims all 00:14:15.450 --> 00:14:19.350 worship the Christian God. They just call him 00:14:19.350 --> 00:14:24.750 a different name. Is that true? The Word of God 00:14:24.750 --> 00:14:28.870 would not agree with that. In Africa, he told 00:14:28.870 --> 00:14:33.860 voodoo leaders, That they quote would not betray 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:37.600 their traditional faith by converting to Christianity 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:44.279 Close quote that's an absolute lie You cannot 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:47.139 turn to Jesus Christ and still embrace the teachings 00:14:47.139 --> 00:14:56.980 of voodoo that is not true I don't have time 00:14:56.980 --> 00:14:59.379 to talk about Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:02.259 which would be more commonly agreed upon by us 00:15:02.259 --> 00:15:08.220 as cults. Christianity is being infested with 00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:10.740 New Age teaching. In fact, in today's St. Paul 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:14.820 newspaper, there's an article entitled, Meditation 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:17.600 Revolutionizes Mainstream Prayer Life, and what 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.429 it says is, that many people in main line, that 00:15:21.429 --> 00:15:24.330 is liberal denominations, are finding their prayer 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:28.129 lives revolutionized by getting into meditation, 00:15:28.570 --> 00:15:31.289 borrowed from Eastern mysticism, Zen Buddhism, 00:15:31.370 --> 00:15:34.549 and Hinduism. They're mixing that with their 00:15:34.549 --> 00:15:37.049 Christianity. It's false teaching. You can't 00:15:37.049 --> 00:15:39.590 mix that with the teachings of Jesus Christ. 00:15:42.409 --> 00:15:45.490 Now, I could go on. Time doesn't allow that. 00:15:45.669 --> 00:15:48.759 But what I'm illustrating to you is that out 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:51.379 there in our world today, there are hundreds 00:15:51.379 --> 00:15:56.320 and hundreds of snares of Satan, doctrines of 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:03.419 demons, by which some Christians are held captive 00:16:03.419 --> 00:16:10.200 by Satan. We need to beware of the snare of perverted 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:14.340 teaching. Test what we hear by the Word of God. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.220 Then we can't be wrong. Beware of the snare of 00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:22.500 false teaching. Whether it was Corinth or in 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:29.860 the churches in Galatia, or in Philippi, or in 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:33.879 Ephesus, wherever Paul went preaching the Word 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:36.340 of God, Satan came right along behind him with 00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:39.320 false teaching because he knows that false teaching 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:42.500 is so effective in capturing the minds and the 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:46.110 hearts of people, just as it is. in the day in 00:16:46.110 --> 00:16:51.610 which we live. The second category of snares 00:16:51.610 --> 00:16:55.210 would be that of fleshly temptations. So let 00:16:55.210 --> 00:16:57.669 me talk this morning briefly again about the 00:16:57.669 --> 00:17:00.789 snare of fleshly temptations. I invite you to 00:17:00.789 --> 00:17:11.190 turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 2. 2 Corinthians 00:17:11.190 --> 00:17:20.299 chapter 2 And let's pick up the reading in verse 00:17:20.299 --> 00:17:23.819 10. A bit of background, you may remember that 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:27.500 in 1 Corinthians, Paul writes to the church telling 00:17:27.500 --> 00:17:29.799 them to discipline a man who had grossly and 00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:33.579 publicly sinned. They were to remove him from 00:17:33.579 --> 00:17:35.559 their fellowship and have nothing to do with 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:40.559 him, the goal being that he might repent. Apparently, 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:45.750 he did. But they were reluctant to forgive him 00:17:45.750 --> 00:17:50.289 and to receive him back They wanted him to suffer 00:17:50.289 --> 00:17:54.869 They were refusing to forgive and so Paul says 00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:57.549 this but whom you forgive anything I forgive 00:17:57.549 --> 00:18:00.569 also for indeed what I have forgiven if I've 00:18:00.569 --> 00:18:02.730 forgiven anything I did it for your sakes in 00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:05.650 the presence of Christ Paul is saying I have 00:18:05.650 --> 00:18:08.170 forgiven this man. You need to forgive him, too 00:18:08.170 --> 00:18:13.589 in order that no advantage be taken of us by 00:18:13.589 --> 00:18:20.369 Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes." 00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:24.329 Now the word schemes here means a well thought 00:18:24.329 --> 00:18:37.230 out plan. You and I can be set up by Satan. Now 00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:39.569 when I talk about Satan, let me just back up 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:42.529 a moment and say to you, that I'm talking about 00:18:42.529 --> 00:18:48.630 a real personality, a spiritual personality who 00:18:48.630 --> 00:18:51.670 exists in our world and who is accompanied in 00:18:51.670 --> 00:18:54.930 his work by an innumerable group of angels who 00:18:54.930 --> 00:18:58.029 fell with him from heaven. When the Bible talks 00:18:58.029 --> 00:19:00.349 about Satan, it's not talking about merely an 00:19:00.349 --> 00:19:04.049 evil influence. It's not using this term for 00:19:04.049 --> 00:19:06.509 just bad people who live in the world. It's talking 00:19:06.509 --> 00:19:12.190 about a fallen spirit. who oversees a hierarchy 00:19:12.190 --> 00:19:17.049 of demons. Sometimes when Paul uses the word 00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:20.690 Satan, he's referring to the whole system as 00:19:20.690 --> 00:19:25.089 here. We're not ignorant of Satan's schemes, 00:19:25.369 --> 00:19:28.930 his well thought out plans. You see, Satan studies 00:19:28.930 --> 00:19:35.250 us to find our weaknesses and then he plots against 00:19:35.250 --> 00:19:40.920 us. that he might create a snare that would cause 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:46.059 us to be taken advantage of. Here we find a group 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:49.799 of people in the church in Corinth who didn't 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:55.400 want to forgive. They were bitter about this 00:19:55.400 --> 00:20:00.680 man. Paul writes to correct them. That was their 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:05.279 temptation. But shall we talk this morning about 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:11.119 the fleshly temptation of anger? Shall we talk 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.440 about the fleshly temptation of taking vengeance 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:27.799 on our own, or lust, or jealousy, gossip, hatred, 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:36.940 malice, drunkenness? addiction to drugs, idolatry. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:43.359 All of these are the works of the flesh, the 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:48.740 Bible says. That pattern of attitudes and actions 00:20:48.740 --> 00:20:54.140 that arises from the sinful person that we are 00:20:54.140 --> 00:20:58.019 in Adam. Even when we trust Jesus Christ and 00:20:58.019 --> 00:21:00.700 we're no longer in Adam, we still retain that 00:21:00.700 --> 00:21:03.980 imprint of the old man on our personalities, 00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:07.940 that flesh, the scriptures call it. And you and 00:21:07.940 --> 00:21:14.019 I can fall into the lusts and the fleshly temptations 00:21:14.019 --> 00:21:18.240 that anyone else in the world can. Satan is at 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:23.240 work today devising snares to entice you and 00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:28.980 he knows exactly what your weaknesses are. And 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:35.630 he plays on them. And he devises clever schemes 00:21:35.630 --> 00:21:41.569 by which he can lay out a snare that you step 00:21:41.569 --> 00:21:44.930 into and bam, you're gotten. And you're held 00:21:44.930 --> 00:21:50.150 captive. Perhaps the time for greatest vigilance 00:21:50.150 --> 00:21:57.349 is when we think we're strong. It was a privilege 00:21:57.349 --> 00:22:01.039 to attend the Promise Keepers conference a couple 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:04.640 of weeks ago in Colorado where 50 ,000 men were 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:06.980 gathered together to stadium in Boulder. One 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:11.960 of the greatest experiences I've ever had. One 00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:14.619 of the speakers was a pastor from Southern California 00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:19.319 named Greg Laurie. He was talking about temptations 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:24.420 that commonly face men and expressing some of 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:26.779 his own battles and he said this, when the devil 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:31.000 comes knocking at my door, I simply say, Lord, 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:38.700 would you mind getting that? When fleshly temptations 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:41.759 appeal to us and we're tempted to step into the 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:45.660 snare, that's the point to appeal to God. Say, 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:47.759 Lord, would you mind doing this? Would you mind 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.400 taking care of the situation for me? And backing 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:55.019 up away from that snare. Life inevitably includes 00:22:55.019 --> 00:22:58.569 many trials. which are intended by God to be 00:22:58.569 --> 00:23:03.569 tests of our faith and our character. But these 00:23:03.569 --> 00:23:06.289 very tests can become opportunities for the devil 00:23:06.289 --> 00:23:11.150 to subvert God's good intention. He will enter 00:23:11.150 --> 00:23:17.210 into our trials and will devise around that time 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:23.210 of test a temptation to evil. Maybe a shortcut, 00:23:23.329 --> 00:23:25.869 a way out of that trial that wouldn't be God's 00:23:25.869 --> 00:23:29.880 will. He says, oh, do this, it'll be a lot easier. 00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.700 Of course, his intent is to derail our walk with 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:39.180 God, to get us to step into that snare and it 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:44.559 holds us fast. Beware of the snares of fleshly 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:50.039 temptations. And then there is a third category 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:52.599 that I must talk about. It is mentioned in 1 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.720 Timothy. chapter 3, and I invite you to turn 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:59.579 there to this chapter which lists for us the 00:23:59.579 --> 00:24:02.920 qualifications of elders, spiritual leaders in 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:08.440 the church. Now what is said here about elders 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:12.819 can be applied to all of the rest of us because 00:24:12.819 --> 00:24:16.339 it says in He, verse 7 of chapter 3, 1st Timothy, 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:22.019 He must have a good reputation with those outside 00:24:22.019 --> 00:24:27.720 the church. So that he may not fall into reproach 00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:34.059 and the snare of the devil The snare that I see 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:39.599 here is the snare of hypocritical living That 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:43.599 is when we allow ourselves to say one thing and 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:49.059 to live another that's a snare of the devil Eventually 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:53.140 he will cause that snare to trap us and we'll 00:24:53.140 --> 00:24:57.839 be caught. When we get involved in the snare 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:01.440 of hypocritical living, we are set up for a fall 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.500 that can destroy our lives, our testimonies, 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:07.259 our families, our work for God, and our future. 00:25:08.180 --> 00:25:12.440 Oh, this is an effective snare. You think about 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:15.140 the people that you know in public ministry in 00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:20.309 particular because they're so obvious. who have 00:25:20.309 --> 00:25:22.569 been involved in saying one thing and preaching 00:25:22.569 --> 00:25:24.670 one thing and living another and what eventually 00:25:24.670 --> 00:25:30.269 happens. At some point Satan yanks that snare 00:25:30.269 --> 00:25:33.109 and they fall and they take with them lots of 00:25:33.109 --> 00:25:37.390 people. Beware the snare of hypocritical living. 00:25:38.710 --> 00:25:41.369 You don't have to be in ministry to be worried 00:25:41.369 --> 00:25:46.390 about the snare. Now the fact is that no one 00:25:46.390 --> 00:25:52.450 of us is perfectly consistent. We all know a 00:25:52.450 --> 00:25:58.990 lot more than we live But what I'm talking about 00:25:58.990 --> 00:26:08.529 here is when we purposely live a lie When we 00:26:08.529 --> 00:26:11.809 say we're doing one thing and we're actually 00:26:11.809 --> 00:26:17.740 doing something else Hypocrisy is when there 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:21.799 is a dichotomy between what we are claiming to 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:26.059 be and what we're actually living in secret. 00:26:29.779 --> 00:26:32.180 It's not that we're all consistent because we're 00:26:32.180 --> 00:26:36.500 not, but the point is we ought not to be pretentious. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:40.400 We ought not to pretend to be something we aren't. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:42.839 We ought to be transparent, at least with some 00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:47.259 people who know us well. And perhaps that's the 00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:51.579 best way, in fact, to avoid this snare, to find 00:26:51.579 --> 00:26:56.279 another person or a small group of people that 00:26:56.279 --> 00:27:02.299 are trusted and with whom we can develop a relationship 00:27:02.299 --> 00:27:06.119 of transparency so that we can allow them to 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:11.079 help us with our struggles, our inconsistencies, 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:16.180 and we can help them. The danger is when we think 00:27:16.180 --> 00:27:20.220 that we're above the need for others, or when 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:25.500 we think that we are above others. Because none 00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:29.680 of us are. The snare of hypocritical living. 00:27:30.619 --> 00:27:34.519 Beware of that snare. Recognize that there is 00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:36.839 inconsistency in all of us. We all know more 00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:39.880 than we live, but don't purposely go out to live 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:44.730 a lie. That's hypocrisy. And that is a snare 00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:50.269 of the devil. There's one more snare that I want 00:27:50.269 --> 00:27:52.170 us to look at this morning, and it's perhaps 00:27:52.170 --> 00:27:56.190 one of the most tempting ones in our culture. 00:27:56.630 --> 00:28:07.230 Chapter 6 of 1 Timothy, verse 7. We have brought 00:28:07.230 --> 00:28:09.690 nothing into this world. We cannot take anything 00:28:09.690 --> 00:28:13.519 out of it either. And if we have food and covering 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:16.440 with these, we shall be content. But those who 00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:22.599 want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare. 00:28:23.980 --> 00:28:28.140 And many foolish and harmful desires which plunge 00:28:28.140 --> 00:28:33.619 men into ruin and destruction. For the love of 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:37.740 money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:40.579 by wandering or longing after it have wandered 00:28:40.579 --> 00:28:44.279 away from the faith and pierced themselves with 00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:51.720 many a pain." Here I see the snare of temporal 00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:57.259 priorities. Our priorities are those things that 00:28:57.259 --> 00:29:02.450 we exchange our life for. It's not always what 00:29:02.450 --> 00:29:05.750 we say our priorities are. Our priorities truly 00:29:05.750 --> 00:29:09.529 are measured by what we give our lives to, what 00:29:09.529 --> 00:29:15.009 we exchange our time for, our money for. Those 00:29:15.009 --> 00:29:19.470 actually reveal our priorities. And here, the 00:29:19.470 --> 00:29:22.470 priority that is warned about is the priority 00:29:22.470 --> 00:29:30.059 regarding material things. The apostle says we 00:29:30.059 --> 00:29:33.859 ought to be content if we have food and clothing. 00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:38.259 Learn to be content. Beware, he says, of the 00:29:38.259 --> 00:29:44.019 snare of wanting more and more and more. Beware 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:47.660 of the love of money. He says it corrupts and 00:29:47.660 --> 00:29:51.900 it leads to other vices. I wonder if there is 00:29:51.900 --> 00:29:55.859 a greater snare for individuals and couples and 00:29:55.859 --> 00:30:00.500 even teens. in our culture than falling into 00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:03.599 a lifestyle and a way of making decisions where 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:08.500 Jesus Christ is not number one, but where having 00:30:08.500 --> 00:30:16.660 more means everything. Satan is quite content 00:30:16.660 --> 00:30:19.220 if you and I will make Jesus Christ priority 00:30:19.220 --> 00:30:24.099 number two in our lives. You know why? Because 00:30:24.099 --> 00:30:26.259 he's got number one to work with, whatever it 00:30:26.259 --> 00:30:30.670 is. It may be money and material things as he's 00:30:30.670 --> 00:30:33.589 warning about here, or it may be a host of other 00:30:33.589 --> 00:30:37.650 things. He doesn't mind if Jesus Christ is number 00:30:37.650 --> 00:30:40.369 two because he can always work with number one, 00:30:40.650 --> 00:30:46.069 and he will. He will use that as a snare. And 00:30:46.069 --> 00:30:50.630 when we allow temporal things to take over place 00:30:50.630 --> 00:30:54.849 number one in our lives, Satan is leading us 00:30:54.849 --> 00:30:59.630 to a trap. Someone gave me a little statement 00:30:59.630 --> 00:31:02.430 a couple of weeks ago that says, I make myself 00:31:02.430 --> 00:31:09.710 rich by making my wants few. I like that. I make 00:31:09.710 --> 00:31:16.210 myself rich by making my wants few. Isn't that 00:31:16.210 --> 00:31:21.170 the secret of contentment? How easy it is for 00:31:21.170 --> 00:31:28.680 us to lust and yearn and long To have more toys, 00:31:30.299 --> 00:31:35.200 grown -up toys to play with. Or to have bigger 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:38.619 this or more luxurious that or more of this. 00:31:39.940 --> 00:31:43.660 Do we really need that? Are those wants that 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:47.680 are necessary for our lives? Or are they lusts 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:51.559 for what's unnecessary? The snare of temporal 00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:55.980 priorities. Now, as I said before I began this 00:31:55.980 --> 00:31:59.619 list, other snares can be listed. But it seems 00:31:59.619 --> 00:32:02.539 to me that these four categories that I've tried 00:32:02.539 --> 00:32:06.059 to bring forth this morning are among the most 00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:12.720 common and the most serious in our culture. These 00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:17.619 are snares that hold fast people without God. 00:32:19.690 --> 00:32:23.509 Satan seeks to drag them from the snare to the 00:32:23.509 --> 00:32:28.690 pit. But I can assure you that these snares are 00:32:28.690 --> 00:32:32.890 used on God's people as well. Every one of them. 00:32:37.569 --> 00:32:40.849 I suppose that all of us have heard stories of 00:32:40.849 --> 00:32:47.859 the Vietnam War that caused us to shudder. There 00:32:47.859 --> 00:32:53.519 were some cruel ways of carrying out warfare 00:32:53.519 --> 00:33:00.900 there in the jungle by the Viet Cong. We had 00:33:00.900 --> 00:33:03.539 the gun power. They knew how to fight in the 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:08.259 jungle. They had the will to win. We didn't have 00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:14.039 the political will to win. One of the weapons 00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:17.839 devised by the Viet Cong and used to create terror 00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:23.460 in our troops was a snare. As old -fashioned 00:33:23.460 --> 00:33:29.740 as it could be, a simple snare. They would take 00:33:29.740 --> 00:33:34.140 a cord of some sort and lay it out on the trail 00:33:34.140 --> 00:33:37.140 that they knew our soldiers would be coming down. 00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:39.940 And then they would cover that with some kind 00:33:39.940 --> 00:33:43.609 of a jungle thicket, a flooring. of some sort, 00:33:43.869 --> 00:33:49.069 of ferns, whatever, was at hand. And they would 00:33:49.069 --> 00:33:53.450 attach this snare to a limb that they had bent 00:33:53.450 --> 00:33:59.250 so that when one of our soldiers stepped into 00:33:59.250 --> 00:34:03.470 the snare, it would immediately upend him. But 00:34:03.470 --> 00:34:06.230 the limb was bent so that it would also cause 00:34:06.230 --> 00:34:10.460 the soldier's body to swing. and it would swing 00:34:10.460 --> 00:34:13.519 into sharpened bamboo stakes that were waiting 00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:17.519 to pierce the body of the soldier. And time after 00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:23.480 time, soldiers would step into these snares and 00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:27.179 would find themselves killed by these sharpened 00:34:27.179 --> 00:34:31.699 stakes. That's a terrible picture and you can 00:34:31.699 --> 00:34:33.960 imagine the kind of fright it would create if 00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:38.349 you had to walk down a jungle trail. Listen my 00:34:38.349 --> 00:34:40.489 friend, you and I are on a pilgrimage in a world 00:34:40.489 --> 00:34:46.670 that is filled with devils. We have a spiritual 00:34:46.670 --> 00:34:49.590 enemy that is laying out before us all kinds 00:34:49.590 --> 00:34:53.230 of snares. We do well to learn what they are 00:34:53.230 --> 00:34:58.409 and to pay heed to them. Say, well how can I 00:34:58.409 --> 00:35:01.690 learn the snares? Get in the Word of God. That's 00:35:01.690 --> 00:35:03.650 the only way I know. Get into the Word of God 00:35:03.650 --> 00:35:08.849 and learn the tactics of the enemy. And as you 00:35:08.849 --> 00:35:12.309 learn how he operates, then you'll be forewarned. 00:35:12.349 --> 00:35:14.949 You'll know where to step and where not to step. 00:35:18.590 --> 00:35:21.070 But I may be talking to some dear people this 00:35:21.070 --> 00:35:24.469 morning who are caught in snares. You see, we 00:35:24.469 --> 00:35:27.449 know when we're in a snare if we can't make progress. 00:35:28.929 --> 00:35:32.480 Because a snare holds you back. Just imagine 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:34.539 that rope around your foot this morning, you're 00:35:34.539 --> 00:35:37.019 trying to walk, and you can't go anywhere because 00:35:37.019 --> 00:35:40.699 you're caught in a snare. You're in a spiritual 00:35:40.699 --> 00:35:43.119 snare this morning of some sort if you're not 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:46.380 making progress in your Christian life. If you're 00:35:46.380 --> 00:35:49.599 being held captive by Satan to do what he wants 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:54.639 you to do, you're ensnared. Now call it anything 00:35:54.639 --> 00:35:56.900 else you may want to, but recognize at its heart 00:35:56.900 --> 00:36:02.309 what it is. You're caught. How can you be free? 00:36:03.050 --> 00:36:06.849 I only know of one way. And this one way works 00:36:06.849 --> 00:36:09.530 whether you're a Christian or you're a non -Christian 00:36:09.530 --> 00:36:12.929 who is caught in a snare and a terrible habit. 00:36:14.489 --> 00:36:16.969 If you're in a spiral going downward in your 00:36:16.969 --> 00:36:18.469 life and you don't know how to get out of it, 00:36:18.489 --> 00:36:22.929 there's an answer. If you're a Christian who's 00:36:22.929 --> 00:36:24.789 caught in one of the devil's snares, you want 00:36:24.789 --> 00:36:28.039 to know how can I get free again? How can I go 00:36:28.039 --> 00:36:31.480 on walking with God? How can I grow again? I'm 00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:36.119 going to tell you. We get free from Satan's snares. 00:36:36.599 --> 00:36:41.260 We cut that snare away when we submit our lives 00:36:41.260 --> 00:36:46.980 to Jesus Christ at the cross. The cross of the 00:36:46.980 --> 00:36:53.380 Lord Jesus Christ is the place of freedom. And 00:36:53.380 --> 00:36:56.280 when we come to Him and submit our lives to Him, 00:36:56.809 --> 00:37:00.710 We are free by Him. Now that's the first step. 00:37:00.750 --> 00:37:03.130 There may be some more steps you need to take 00:37:03.130 --> 00:37:07.110 to experience consistent ongoing freedom, particularly 00:37:07.110 --> 00:37:10.969 if you've been caught in a snare for a long time. 00:37:12.829 --> 00:37:14.889 There are more steps you may need to take and 00:37:14.889 --> 00:37:18.030 those may vary, but always step number one begins 00:37:18.030 --> 00:37:21.610 by coming to the cross and there submitting to 00:37:21.610 --> 00:37:26.329 Jesus Christ's Lordship. And this morning I want 00:37:26.329 --> 00:37:29.389 to appeal to you that if you are caught in a 00:37:29.389 --> 00:37:32.269 snare, you come to Him and submit your life to 00:37:32.269 --> 00:37:39.110 Him. Will you do that? Let's pray. Father, I 00:37:39.110 --> 00:37:41.250 thank you for the true freedom that there is 00:37:41.250 --> 00:37:45.409 in Jesus Christ. We have learned this morning 00:37:45.409 --> 00:37:50.550 that our enemy, Satan, has many snares that he 00:37:50.550 --> 00:37:55.079 uses to take us captive. And some listening to 00:37:55.079 --> 00:37:59.219 me right now know in their heart that a snare 00:37:59.219 --> 00:38:03.800 has captured them. They're not free, and they've 00:38:03.800 --> 00:38:09.320 lost the joy that they once knew. I pray this 00:38:09.320 --> 00:38:11.900 morning they will take the step necessary to 00:38:11.900 --> 00:38:15.420 be free, that they will submit their lives to 00:38:15.420 --> 00:38:21.280 Jesus Christ and go on from there to experience 00:38:21.659 --> 00:38:25.440 A renewed freedom and joy that you've made possible 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:30.079 for them because of the work of the Savior at 00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:38.340 the cross, where He defeated Satan. Before I 00:38:38.340 --> 00:38:41.320 pray further, I wonder if there is someone here 00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:44.340 who would honestly say, Pastor, today I sense 00:38:44.340 --> 00:38:49.059 that my life is in a snare. I am convicted about 00:38:49.059 --> 00:38:55.719 that. But I also this morning understand and 00:38:55.719 --> 00:38:59.840 know that Jesus Christ is the way to be delivered. 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:03.480 And I want this morning to come to the cross 00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:06.119 and there to submit to His Lordship in my life. 00:39:06.139 --> 00:39:12.380 And I give it all to Him if that is your heart's 00:39:12.380 --> 00:39:15.139 decision. I'm going to ask you just to stand 00:39:15.139 --> 00:39:18.960 up and to show that you're free. To show that 00:39:18.960 --> 00:39:21.099 you can make that step that you need to take. 00:39:21.389 --> 00:39:24.010 that you're not going to be held in bondage any 00:39:24.010 --> 00:39:27.889 longer. That you may be coming to Jesus Christ 00:39:27.889 --> 00:39:32.269 as Savior and Lord, you may be a Christian who's 00:39:32.269 --> 00:39:35.110 ensnared, but this morning you're saying by the 00:39:35.110 --> 00:39:38.690 grace of God I submit to Jesus Christ today and 00:39:38.690 --> 00:39:43.550 by my standing I am making that declaration that 00:39:43.550 --> 00:39:49.809 He is my Lord and at His cross I claim my freedom. 00:39:51.760 --> 00:40:00.119 Will you stand? God bless you. Don't allow the 00:40:00.119 --> 00:40:03.159 snare to hold you down. Hasn't it held you long 00:40:03.159 --> 00:40:08.800 enough and robbed you of freedom and joy? At 00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:13.960 the cross there is freedom. Does anyone else 00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:17.940 wish to stand? Say, this today is my claim. God 00:40:17.940 --> 00:40:22.920 bless you. Yes. Thank you for standing. You can 00:40:22.920 --> 00:40:28.059 be seated again once you've stood. Anyone else? 00:40:29.219 --> 00:40:32.079 I am submitting my life to Jesus Christ today 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:40.679 that I may know freedom. Now those of you who've 00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:44.079 stood, God knows the struggle. He knows the snare. 00:40:48.059 --> 00:40:50.039 It would be good for you to be able to share 00:40:50.039 --> 00:40:52.280 that with someone else. Let me encourage you 00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:54.340 to do that. If you have a Christian friend that 00:40:54.340 --> 00:40:58.780 you trust, if you wish to come to the office 00:40:58.780 --> 00:41:00.960 and talk with one of our pastors, that would 00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:04.420 be wonderful too. We want to help you to go on 00:41:04.420 --> 00:41:09.260 beyond this initial step. Thank you Father for 00:41:09.260 --> 00:41:13.619 these who've stood and I pray for each of them 00:41:13.619 --> 00:41:20.409 that they may know that initial freedom and joy 00:41:20.409 --> 00:41:23.170 that comes by submitting to Christ, and beyond 00:41:23.170 --> 00:41:26.210 that, that they may know a walk of freedom as 00:41:26.210 --> 00:41:29.510 they continue to grow and to learn how to do 00:41:29.510 --> 00:41:33.949 combat with the enemy. Father, if there are some 00:41:33.949 --> 00:41:37.449 who are still content to be held captive, to 00:41:37.449 --> 00:41:41.269 do Satan's will, I pray that they may be given 00:41:41.269 --> 00:41:44.690 repentance to come to a knowledge of the truth. 00:41:47.179 --> 00:41:53.239 before it's too late. In Jesus' name, amen.