The Devil's Devices

we're going to look to the word of the Lord Genesis chapter 3 made it to through two chapters now so we're going to the third one Genesis chapter 3 and we'll probably Camp here for the rest of the year so lessons that we have Genesis 3 beginning at verse 1 very familiar story now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said unto the woman yea hath God said you should not eat of every tree of the garden and the woman said unto the serpent we made of the fruit of the Trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is

in the middle of the garden God had said ye shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it lest ye die and the serpent said unto the woman you shall not surely die for God knows that in the day you eat thereof that your eyes are going to be open and you will be his Gods you'll know good and evil and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat now we're not going to talk

about the consequences of that story in this lesson we'll save that for another time man but we want to look at this Temptation if you will and I've titled the lesson today the devil's devices first John 2 15 and 16 tells us this love not the world neither the things that are in the world because if any man loves the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world then he lists it the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but it is of the world and then Paul reminds of this in second Corinthians chapter

2 and verse 11 he says be careful lest Satan should get advantage of us but then he gives us this for we are not ignorant of his devices we know what he's up to in other words we know what he is up to you know change has happened a lot since even in many of our lifetimes there are some here that can remember things that were a whole lot different than they are today with no internet no cell phones no technology that we have so many things different but one thing has remained the same in all the centuries since day one and in the Garden of Eden forward Satan has never had to change his

tactics you know why because regardless of the way Society changes this carnal nature is really basically the same the same method that was successful in deceiving Eve continues to be effective today and so he doesn't have to change his methods he can continue to do the same thing and while we've been forced forced to learn new methods develop new skills keep up with technology if you want to earn a living all those different kinds of things Satan has not deviated from his original plan of attack it's always the same first off it is casting doubts on the word of God making us wonder about it and then making God's plan seem unattractive and to be

different or not something we want to follow and despite Mankind's proud Declaration of advancement and progress you know all the stuff that we have done yet people continue to fall prey to Satan's old strategy does not change has not he's not simply a liar but the Bible says he is the father of lies and he is completely devoid of truth either the truth the Bible says is not in him so just as darkness is the absence of life we could light we could describe Satan's nature as being absence of Truth he's not going to tell you the truth if it comes from him you know first off it's a lie it is not true or

he has a deceptive reason for telling you what he is and he first displayed his strategy and his nature when he threw the serpent deceived Eve I think it's interesting we've been studying Genesis chapter first couple of chapters talked about creation we talked about how it continually looked forward to Jesus Christ how look forward to the church how it describes man's nature but the first story really that concerns man's actions other than the fact that Adam named the animals but when it comes time to man's actions the first story that we have involves temptation it's interesting when you turn to the New Testament the first story of Jesus Menace concerning the ministry of Jesus after

his baptism also involved temptation and early in the church when it was being formed Paul had to warn his disciples of the danger of succumbing to the lies of the devil he said I fear thus by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his septility so your mind should be corrupted from the Simplicity that is in Christ so there is always this theme of Temptation that runs through the word of God and it always starts in the beginning of Genesis in the beginning of the New Testament the beginning of the church there is always a warning there are always something pointing to the fact that the devil's got an agenda and it does not

change we would do well to heed Paul's advice you know you don't want to wait and discover his lies have led you down the wrong path and the sad disappointment is Adam and Eve and so this lesson we're going to look at the method Satan used to beguile Eve which is the same method he incidentally tried to beguile Jesus with and it is the same method that he uses on us today that's why Paul said that we are not ignorant of his devices before I ever begin to tell any lies or he first sows seeds of doubt and this is Satan's plan many may not initially be deceived by an outright lie if we would

get up today and Proclaim there is no God a lot of people say yeah you don't know what you're talking about there are some that might go along with that but when you say well I'm not sure about God I'm not sure about his existence and I'm trying to find proof and when we begin to pray put doubt in people's minds it will lead down a path of destruction and so Satan understands he can't just come before you and say all that Bible stuff's all a big lie but he'll start small and say hath God said as he did to Eve did God really say that and I think probably what he was saying did

God really mean that was this really God's intentions and so the thought aimed by that suggestive question is there there must be some reason that God put a restraint there why is he telling you that why did he put this curb or this check on you that said you can do this but stop here and don't do that why why and the fact that God has permitted you to to make use of all of the rest of the trees is just pushed aside all the blessings that God gave them the beauty of the garden and the fact that they didn't have to toil or labor or do anything but just dress it and keep it

and take care of it and enjoy what God had given that as all pushed aside to say well did God really say that you can't have that it's magnified Eve's eyes as something that is very Grievous well why did God say that why would he forbid us this one tree why would he not let it be there there was likely and here's what's interesting there was probably no interest in the tree in the midst of the garden until Satan pointed out that it was off limits it was appealing to Human Nature he knows how we are right ever notice it is human nature to want the one thing you can't have man I'd love to

have that Lamborghini it's not going to happen even a child young child you can put toys on the floor and they can ignore them completely until somebody else picks it up and starts to play with it or another child picks up and says mine wait a minute I want that and that is this human nature isn't it it's how we are mankind had ample proof of God's love and his regard to him and all they had to do is trust their loving father who was was the normal attitude in the very basis of their relationship to begin with and the moment that trust begins to waver that slide into sin Begins the moment there's a

little bit of Doubt to approach the question from another angle the Temptation involved directly directs itself against God's word did God say half God said is this really what the word of God means that word was for Adam both law and gospel it was the one law that he had and it was the Gospel that he knew as long as I stay away from that I'm in communion with God and yet they are LED away from that truth according to the purposes of the tempter and I think we need to recognize this method of the enemy Satan will always first sow seeds of doubt out in our mind you know I talked about this I've

mentioned this before but growing up I had a good friend and I noticed that he was drawing cold and getting away from the things of God and in church services and you just kind of stand there and I went and I asked him said what's going on what's what's going on in your life and his answer was well I've got questions I told him I said you know what we've all got questions there's nothing wrong with questions but what they need to do is motivate you to get into the word of God when your questions say well I don't know if I believe that so I got questions and I walk away from it that's

exactly what the devil wants you to do instead when you start questioning and say well I don't know about this the Bible talks about those that said search the scriptures Jesus said search them because they'll tell you of me they'll speak of me so when you start having those questions don't let it lead you down that path well I don't know about this gospel stuff I don't know about this Pentecostal way I don't know about this Holy Ghost I don't know about having to get back get in the word of God see what it has to say it is important that we recognize that method he will always sow those seeds it is only after

we begin to even entertain the possibility that God's word is not true and and his ways are not righteous that we will then slowly begin to accept the lies that Satan will offer in its place Satan's battle plan is always first in our thoughts it always starts here this is the Battleground church right here Paul said it this way here's what you need to do you need to cast down imaginations and every High thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God when those questions come in those doubts don't say well yeah I'm wondering about that I wonder if that's really true no say I'm going to cast that down and I'm going to read

and I'm going to see what the word of God has to say and then he said and then bring into captivity in other words arrest those thoughts and capture them to The Obedience of Christ so that's the first thing get rid of those imaginations look and see what the knowledge of God has to say and then he says this to the Colossians in 3 16 let the word of God dwell in you richly if you can do those two things cast down those doubts and get into the word of God you will be able to stand against the things of the devil so this first trick is to cast doubt and then once he gets

you doubting a little bit then is when he will begin his Onslaught and he will tell you lies the first one he said the serpent said unto the woman you shall not surely die after that careful approach about that mild suggestion well did God really say that well I think that's what Adam said you know I believe that's what he meant by that begins a positive denial from the word of God it should not be lost sight of of how in Temptation the attacks always seem to center around God's word now he may not quote it to you directly every time but it is going to be an affront to what the word of God

has to say and the denial is a perversion of the word into its very opposite God said You shall die and the devil said no you shall not surely die it's not going to happen the exact opposite of what God said he is so saturated with line that he even attempts to make it out that God's the one that's telling you a lie don't believe all this stuff you know I don't get on there a whole lot to look at things because there's all kinds of garbage on it there's some things that are funny there's some things are good and occasionally I'll get on YouTube and watch something that that someone recommends or something I'm

looking for but type in Apostolic Pentecostal and look at no don't don't even bother let me just tell you what it is and then just stay away from it you'll see thing after thing pop up why I left the Pentecostal Church why I don't believe why I think I saw one the other day say watch this person come possessed to the devil and you see him preaching he starts speaking in tongues shut it off the strength of this statement you shall not surely die really is it's difficult to translate into English from the Hebrew it's actually the word die twice with some different points on their their verbs and the different tenses and the different

ways it basically it says dine not die but the the emphasis there is you certainly shall not die you absolutely will not die is the way that that comes out it's it's a subtle difference but subtle difference it's worth noting it's almost like Satan is saying certainly you've been told wrong the things you've heard the things that have been taught to you the things you grew up in the things that you hold dear that's wrong when you hear that you better get back to the word of God Paul said walk by the same rule that you have been accustomed to and that you knew he said don't walk away from it Satan's lie can contradicted

God's word it began to plant seeds of Doubt thoughts that universally appear appeal to every carnal mind even though Eve had never witnessed death she really didn't even know what it was all about you know okay you should not die she was deceived into believing that Satan perhaps held the answer to a longer and satisfying life well maybe if we partake of this tree it will help maybe it will get better already her obedience think about it was leading her to the very thing that she was Desiring she was there in the garden fellowshipping with God there was no mention that they were going to die at any given point but she followed Satan lies

onto a detour of disappointment she began to look at it and say well if I'm going to die you know if I'm not going to die maybe I should partake of this and as a consequence of Disobedience there was immediately a spiritual death which was a separation from God that preceded the literal death of the body you ever notice many people have rejected the simple instructions of God's word in favor of a philosophy that appeals to their carnal nature well this seems so much better this seems so much easier God I know your word says this but why do I have to do that I've heard a little I don't even know if it'd be

considered a proverb a little rhyme that said this you go your way and I'll do it mine and we'll both get to heaven at the very same time let me give you a proverb from Proverbs 14 12. there is a way which seems right unto man but the end thereof are the ways of death who are you going to believe this morning are we going to be to leave the LIE from the devil that says oh god really didn't mean that when he said you must be born again God really didn't mean that when he said be holy from God well really let's let's see what that really involves and start putting doubts and start

twisting it and changing it and finally do you get to the point you say I can live anyway I want to live because God just loves me enough that he's going to get me to heaven and and he created me this way and I can live this way and glorify him in my sin in the way that I want to live it's amazing what man can do when we start doubting what God's word tells us second thing he said you will become enlightened the first lie promised life the second one promised an Enlightenment then your eyes are going to be open right now you know you're just you're so limited in what you believe and

you're so limited in the way you see things why don't you open your eyes to what's around you open your eyes to all the things that are in the world more than the eye is just implied it represents this whole process of EX and by of seeing and are understanding and our obedience he said you're just going to understand so much more the ability to discern and to penetrate into things that you don't really perceive God's hiding something from you there's there's so much more that you could get involved in and and he insinuated that as long as you keep obeying God's word it's going to keep you kind of down here on this level

and and God puts you in here and he's got you in this little box if you will and and yeah you're enjoying the things of a God but there's so much more for you if you could just step outside of what God told you instead you're just going to stay there as a second class Citizen and you'll never be all that you can be the world may look down on fundamentalist Christians they look down on those and say or you're unenlightened and you're you're ignorant you don't you know you need to look at society and see how much farther we've come I don't know why they call things Progressive when they go away from God

I got this Progressive agenda that goes against everything the word of God has to say and your vision is just too narrow because you can't see it that's the devil saying once you open your eyes to all the things that I've got isn't that essentially what Satan is telling me forget what God Said open your eyes and see more clearly and indeed when they did open their eyes they did see more clearly however they didn't find the thrilling hope that Satan had promised and place they saw lived a harsh realities based on a life lived because of deception falling prey to Satan's lies will always introduce you to a world that you don't want to

be a part of it's been said over and over I've heard it preached over and over by people that sin will always take you farther than you want to go once you start down that it will put you in places you wish you had never been I've seen people that left the church and I'm going to do it my way and they get involved in things and you look at their lives and they're just in shambles because they listened to the LIE promise that you know I can't do this and I can't do that nobody's going to tell me what to do and they go their own way and it destroys them don't listen to

The Devil's lies his third lie was ye shall be as God notice he doesn't offer any proof of his promises he's just talking he's just putting this in there he managed to convince this woman living in Paradise that your world is just so severely limited we come to church we enjoy the blessings of God God moves in our life and God does things he answers prayers for us He blesses us in so many ways and yet Satan will come in and still try to convince you you know there's so much more that you could be doing your world is so limited to that church stuff here's the thing that's the very trap that Satan fell

into himself he was in heaven he was right next to God he was the highest created being at that time he he was created this to be this great glory of God resting on him and the worship leader and everything else in heaven and his desires right there and you know what he wanted he said I will Ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I'm going to sit on the mountain of the congregation because he wanted the worship himself in the sides of the north I will Ascend above the heights of the clouds and I will be like the most high that was his goal of course the verse

is proceeding this says this how art thou fallen from Heaven o Lucifer you son of the morning how are you cut down to the ground because you said I'm going to be like God and it is the exact same thing he attempts that he attempts Eve with selfish human nature always wants to push its way up every person is susceptible to the tug of human nature Abraham Lincoln said this most any man can stand adversity we don't like it it's not easy but we get through it but he said if you really want to test a man's character give him power Satan offered Eve power and she's succumbed to the Temptation believe in Satan's lies

will leave us to lie to ourselves we we literally we become convinced that sin's evil results while while striking others will never harm us well I'm not going that route you know I I know what happened to them but it's not going to happen to me I've got more self-control than that I can overcome this I can have that drink and it won't affect me yeah I know you got alcohol they just can't handle it I can handle a few it's not a big deal and we go right down a path and find ourselves where we don't want to be furthermore we believe that we can easily justify our own decisions for God and he's

not going to harshly just judge us but God really doesn't I heard someone say once talking about all that stuff doesn't matter that stuff you guys do God doesn't care a thing about that then why in the world did he put it in his word but once the powers of deception start rolling it becomes difficult to stop and submitting to God's word is the only sure way to escape the clutch of deception I'd rather err on the right side than the air on the wrong side and end up losing out with God and the fourth lie is you're good Just the Way You Are he said this you shall know good and evil Satan promised

Eve the ability you can determine right from long wrong and you can establish standards for proper behavior yourself you can determine what is good and what is evil if if it could have happened it would have made her God's equal with her own opinions as value as valid as his word and that's the exact situation and that's what we find in the world around us this very idea that that we can choose what is right I'm going to do what's right for me you do what's okay for you but I'm going to do what's right for me what's right for you and me is what God tells us it's not what you have in your

mind it's not what you think it's not how you've figured it out the promise lie wasn't just about knowing good and evil it was that ability to determine what is right and wrong for ourself regardless of what God says and when we find ourselves in that position we put ourselves we are in a very dangerous spot Church and I bring that up because it Paul said we're not ignorant of these devices and when we start thinking that way you better get into the word of God you can't determine your own way you can't decide what is good and what is evil the Bible tells us what is good and evil and God's word does not

change so after he lies to us his lies they strike at the heart of human weaknesses our our carnal thoughts and his our desires if we're not don't keep them in check his lies worked for Eve the Bible says when the woman saw the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes a tree desired to make one why she took the fruit thereof and did eat gave it to her husband and he did eat John some summed up that Temptation This Way all that is in the world he gives it three categories the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life it's not of the

father but it comes from this world you've experienced all three types of these Temptations now it's easy to read this story and conclude I'll never do that I'll never fall into those things I'll never go that route we read in it so he I wouldn't have partaken it if God had put me in that I wouldn't have done that Paul gives us this warning in First Corinthians 10 12. wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest you fall can I tell you none of us are exempt from this carnal nature that wants to rear its head again and again and again we've got to keep it in subjection we can never don't give

it one inch because if you do it will take advantage of you none of us are exempt from those types of Temptation they are common to all people and as we see shortly Satan views these same methods here's what ought to drive at home for us he not only used it on Eve he used it on Jesus himself if the devil can use him on Jesus do you not think he's going to use it on you you can go to God manifest In the Flesh and say Here's what I'm going to tempt you with do you not think that you're going to be tempted the same way don't be deceived by that like Jesus we

need to be aware of Satan methods lest we fall so let's look at how he used these to tempt both Eve and Jesus the closer contemplation of the tree leaves even to notice something so she begins to think about this probably was never on her mind before the devil mentions it but now that he brings it up now every day you pass by you look at that tree you know he said I can't have it if I eat it I'm wise trying to hide something from me and it looks good and the more she looked at it there's an appeal to the appetite this is what John calls the lust of the flesh now we

always think of lust and we think immediately of sexual in innuendos and those kind of things lust of the flesh is anything this flesh desires that puts us in a wrong relationship with God certainly there's nothing wrong with food right good thing we got to have it there's nothing wrong with providing for the comfort of the body however when Temptation leads us in a direct conflict with our walk from with God or from a command from his word it will lead us into sin think of Jesus Temptation in the wilderness the devil entice Jesus he's hungry he's Jesus hasn't eaten for 40 days and he's afterward he is hungry and his body is weak and

and the devil just hey why don't you just turn those stones into bread first off you're out here in the wilderness nobody's going to know just go ahead and do it and eat in this case the inner man of Jesus that inner man longed to heed the call of the spirit he knew he was there for a purpose I'm bringing this body under subjection I'm fasting and I'm seeking the things of the father and he is praying and he's fasting and he's putting this flesh in into submission and the outer man is saying boy that sounds good I could make some fresh baked bread I could make it hot put butter on it make it

smell good and no doubt these things are going through as nine both desires are are good they're natural and they need fulfillment but the devil knows how to tempt us to turn away from natural desires to other things and hunger can give way to gluttony and love can turn to lust and comfort to luxury and opulence and and things Satan tempts us the things he tips are not a matter sometimes of right and wrong but a matter of submitting to the right Authority there was no law there was nothing in the Bible in the law and the word of God that said Thou shalt not turn rocks into bread first off it would be a

useless command for most of us who couldn't do it anyway but it wasn't there but the fact that the devil suggested it we had the time of Jesus weakness while he's focusing on spiritual things begins to give reason enough not to do it the temptation of Jesus involved more than just defeating a fleshly craving he was not going to use his Supernatural power for personal gratification Eve was so hungry that the fruit that for the fruit she was as hungry for that fruit as she was for self-gratification it looks good but what happens if I really take it and she fell for the enemies and Tyson because of what it would benefit her directly or

what she perceived it would and the devil always wants us to think only of ourselves and not others the end of his life Moses is going in Deuteronomy the last book that he wrote and it's really a synopsis and he talks about Israel and all the things that they had gone through Recaps the history up until that time he talks about God leading them through the Wilderness and he said in Deuteronomy 8 and 2 he said Thou shalt remember all the way in which the Lord God LED thee for 40 years in the wilderness why did he do it he gives him the reasons to Humble you and to prove you and to know what's

in your heart whether you would keep his Commandments or not and he humbled thee he sufferethy to hunger he lets you get hungry and then he fed you with manna if you go back and you look at the time when the Israelites were hungry and complaining with food and they asked for food Moses said God's going to provide you tomorrow morning when you get up there's going to be something on the ground and he said and he's going to give you food to prove you and to test you now what's a test about having to go out and pick up food every day the test was are you going to obey God said you do

it for six days and on the sixth day you take twice as much and it'll get you through seven you know what they messed it up all the way around some of them went out the first day and they were hungry and they got enough for that day and said you know I'm going to cord some of this and fill my pantry and they did the next day it was rotten and full of worms poof that didn't work God's proven him you're going to trust me or not sixth day comes along and well I know what happened last time tried to hoard this stuff I'm not taking double there's no way it doesn't work next

day they were hungry there was no manna why don't you just listen to God why didn't you just let he tested you and here's why because he wanted to prove what was in your heart and then Moses goes on to say that he might make you know you don't live by bread alone in other words it isn't just what your flesh craves he said God's going to take care of you by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God he will and and what words proceed out these take no thought about it I'll take care of you and so Jesus quoted that past passage to the devil he said You shall not live

by bread alone and by doing that Jesus proved what was in his heart I'm not going to succumb to the flesh because I'm seeking spiritual things on the other hand Eve succumbed to the Flesh and she ate what God had forbidden the next is really interesting he said and the woman saw that it was pleasant to the eyes make no mistake about it and you might grab a hold of this much of the Temptation you face comes from what you see that's why the Bible makes it so clear to watch what you're seeing and what you're looking at and what you're doing and I'm not just talking about looking at things that are wrong I

just think talking about looking at pornography or things like that Jesus said this in Matthew 6 21-23 where your treasure is there will your heart be also the things that you value the things that are most important and then he immediately says this for the light of the body is the eye and If thy eye be single the whole body shall be full of light but if your eye is evil the whole body shall be full of Darkness so the passage begs this question what is treasure to you what treasure do your eyes see where have you fixed your gaze what is most important what is your goal in life what is the one thing

you're looking at and say if I could get there if I could have that if I could be that Jesus said if your eye is single what is implied here is that it is fixed on one thing if it's fixed on the right things if your eye is fixed on the things of God then there's going to be light for your whole body he said but if the eye is evil the evil eye and the Bible always is an eye of covetousness wanting something it should not have and that word translated evil comes from a Greek word ponos which which a derivative of that which means an intense desire you're looking on I want that

I'm going to live for that I'm going to go after that Proverbs says this way in Proverbs 27 2 the eyes of man are never satisfied if you get that you're going to want something else it's Human Nature that same writer that said that the eyes of man are never satisfied Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2 10 and 11. he said whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them now he was King and he had all the money had a lot of gold didn't matter he said I withheld not my heart not my heart from any Joy my heart rejoiced in all my labor and this was my portion of all my labor I got

everything I wanted if I wanted it I got it and he said and then I looked at everything that my hands had wrought looked at all these things that I had gazed upon all the labor I labor to do and I said you know what this is vanity it's empty it's vexation a spirit there's no Prophet Under the Sun why because I've got it all kind of like Alexander the Great when he gets done Conquering the whole world and looks around and he sits down and he starts crying what are you crying for because there's nothing left to conquer that's man Eve fixed her eye on the one thing she should not have and it

consumed her every thought to she could no longer resist the temptation and you say well I'm not that way okay Google oh look at that pair of shoes oh look at that gun oh look at that yeah no I'm not gonna do that next day you turn it on the next time you open it up there it is and I go to this one well there it is over on the side and and there it is again and there it is again and it follows you around and finally you say Buy It Now we laugh because that's how we are fits in front of your face long enough you're gonna buy it that's why Jesus

said by the truth the word of God says buy the truth and sell it not Satan took Jesus to a high mountain he showed him all the kingdoms of the world this is the eyes and he said if you look at it all see everything you can have all of it Jesus I'll give it to you and all the glory that goes with it to worship you everything what he failed to understand what Jesus had a single eye he had a purpose that said no I came to seek and to save that which was lost I didn't come to make myself great I didn't come to set up a kingdom that's going to happen another

time there will come a day the angel is going to sound the great voices in heaven are going to say the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ that will happen Jesus knew that's down the road Satan's saying wait I'll show you a shortcut just bow down and I'll give it to you can I tell you there is no easy way to fulfill God's purpose it's too easy for us to crave a shortcut and then accept the path than to accept the path that God provides in fact you think about it many sins are just moral shortcuts sex before marriage get rich scream schemes line on a

resume just a quick way to get what I want how many have bowed down to Satan's subtle paths already keep a single eye on that prize that awaits us and then she said this this tree was desired to make one wise she thought it would make her wiser than anyone else I'll know more than everybody I'll know as much as God himself I will be like the most high that pride of life seeks to make one look good in the eyes of others proud people have a hard time fighting the devil because they're already so much like them covetousness lead you to desire things but often if you think about it it's for the sake

of appearances I want that because I it's the best one nobody else has one human Pride drives us to look better than someone else or to at least be acceptable because of a money or a conscious influence all those kind of things and so he brings Jesus to the Pinnacle of the temple and he says if you will just jump the angels will catch you now that seems simple doesn't it if you just jump you can skip that whole cross thing rather than being despised and rejected of men you're going to be accepted and the people are going to go wow did you see that from way up there he jumped and the angels come

and scooped him up there must be something about he's the Messiah and Satan appealed to Pride to call Jesus to fail but he did not live for appearances Divine acceptance doing the will of his father in Heaven Eve's lust for Pride lured her to eat the forbidden fruit believing that she would be as God and pride will tempt us it will lead us astray God blesses us and then you never let those inflate our hearts with pride never become puffed up because of those things and here is the consolation we have because we know that this is what the devil is going to do this is what he's going to put in front of you

yes you say it to yourself yes me you can trust God to help you through that Temptation aren't you thankful for that this doesn't mean you do nothing you don't just about well God you're going to have to take care of this I'm going to keep looking at it but you're going to have to keep now you've got to prayerfully ask for his help and you've got to abide in his word eve failed because she began to question and doubt the words of God Jesus overcame because he relied on the word to answer the devil's challenges there's a passage in James a lot of division among commentators trying to figure out exactly what he's saying

he says this in James and verse 5 chapter 4 and verse 5. he said do you think that the scriptures saith in vain the spirit that dwells in us lusteth to envy well he wasn't quoting there is no direct verse that says that explicitly in the Old Testament yet he is pointing out what the Old Testament continually says that this carnal Spirit of man has a propensity it seeks Envy it is always driven by inordinate desires and always looking for what it should not or cannot have and if you think well that's not me James says do you think this Old Testament said that for no reason do you think you're exempt no he said

it for a reason it's that way it does so because that is how we are wired in our carnal nature but there is this hope and he gives in verse six but he gives more grace aren't you thankful when you attempted he gives more grace wherefore he saith God will resist the proud he'll resist those that say I'm going to do it my way but to those that humble themselves he giveth grace to the humble aren't you thankful for that promise let's stand this morning and I'll close with the next verse even though we may struggle with this carnal flesh God gives Grace to overcome he will resist those that continue in their pride refuse

their call but when we humble themselves he will multiply Grace and so verse 7 is a fitting close to this lesson on Temptation he says this here