It is Written / God told me so

We have been in a semester long series titled, “theology of the devil” and today we are going to be landing the plane (next sermon series is all about family) but today as we are wrapping up this series I want us to sit under this simple principle of “It is Written”

We have seen all throughout this series the importance of God’s Word, and to close out this series we are going to see how every single one of the lies we have looked at, there is solution and resolve that we can find in the Scriptures and apply it to our lives by the kindness of the Spirit

This entire series, as we have looked at different lies the enemy tries to get you to believe, aren’t things that on the surface we think we are going to give into but it starts small

If I’m being honest too, we start to believe the lies of the enemy when our reading of the Bible is done by other people…

Your only exposure to the Bible is Sunday morning and a Bible study in the week (this is great BUT)

You feel this too, you feel great Sunday afternoon, and when you are hanging out with your bible study, but right when you are met with the realities of life, WHAM!

So even before we fully jump in, I want to remind us of the power of God’s written Word

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Would we truly believe that the Word of God has power… power to change you, power to embolden you, power to walk through the hardest seasons of your life… your bible should be your most prized possession you have…

For today, I want you to turn your Bibles to 1 John 2:15-17… and I would love for these 3 questions to drive our time together this morning and will help us wrap up this series nicely

Where’s your fulfillment found?

Who defines beauty? Or even, who defines your beauty?

Where does understanding come from for the believer?

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Desires of the flesh ~ Where’s your fulfillment found?

Desires of the eyes ~ Who defines beauty?

Pride of life ~ Where does understanding come from for the believer? And furthermore, where should understanding lead you to?

A pride or humility?

The theology of the devil hopes that you would find comfort in one or more of these things that is known as “comforts of the world” and is not from the Father

Each lie that we have looked at in this series could be wrapped up in these few verses

The diagnoses and treatment plan are found right here in this passage

The enemy = give in to the worldly desires of the flesh, the desires pleasing to the eye, and have a pride about your life

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 2

Human desires are part of God’s creation and therefore not inherently evil, but they become twisted when not directed by and toward God

Treatment = Don’t love the things of the world, but do the will of God

Many would then ask what is the will of God for my life? How do I do the will of God?

Abide in God through fellowship with Him

You live your life with God and the way He has designed it

In community, living in the light, allowing the Spirit to redirect your heart and desires, fight against sin seriously, be bold in sharing your faith, talk to Him, let Him talk to you, rely on His plan

With this, I want us to return to a passage that we have gone to quite frequently this series…

Genesis 3:1–3 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

First the enemy does a quote check on God… Did he really say?

Even in the serpent’s question, He skews God’s Word… God didn’t say they couldn’t eat from any tree in the garden

The enemy is going to get you curious and lead you into his trap by grabbing truth, twisting it just a tad that makes you buy into it… and it is so easy to buy into it because his trap always seems benefits you

Then Eve gives a response that is directly what God has said prior… correcting what the serpent was trying to skew in his favor

She responds with God’s invitation to eat, and the denial of eating from the tree that is in the midst of the garden

Let’s keep reading…

Genesis 3:4–7 ESV

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Again we see the enemy draw back from the truth of God’s spoken Word, and instead of misquoting the spoken words of God to convince Eve, the serpent just says that simply… God is holding out on you Eve

And here we see our 3 questions and trap come into play… and we see humanity’s finite nature here in Gen 3…

Eve begins to ask the questions of…

Desires of the flesh (“tree was good for food”) ~ Where’s your fulfillment found?

Didn’t believe that the parameters God has set in place were enough to satisfy their DEEPEST desires

Desires of the eyes (“it was a delight to the eyes”) ~ Who defines beauty?

Pride of life (“tree was to be desired to make one wise”) ~ Where does understanding come from for the believer? And furthermore, where should understanding lead you to?

Pride or humility?

Then both their eyes were opened… this is great… right?? wisdom, fulfillment, and beauty

But immediately shame enters the scene and they knew they were naked

We know this wrecks havoc on mankind, and we see the effects of it even today, but I want us to now jump to Matthew 4 and see Jesus Christ’s response to the enemy.. we will see our Savior’s infinite and holy nature here, but you will also see something very familiar…

Matthew 4:1–11 (ESV)

(I want us to read this all the way through and then I want to point out a few things)

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’ ”

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

We see a clear declaration of Jesus Christ by the devil that is actually true

V.3,6: Jesus Christ is the Son of God

We also see a very clear misunderstanding that the devil has (or at least he tries to mask it) in v.9

The false belief that Jesus doesn’t already have all the kingdoms of the world and their glory

Jesus holds all things, the devil is under the absolute and ultimate reign of God

Do you understand this?? The devil is also subject to the reign and rule of God (these two beings are not on equal playing fields here)

Another thing I want you to notice is,

Jesus continually points to OT Scripture… what we say around here is Jesus never ran out of verses

This is a great example to look to, let the Spirit inspired Scriptures be the fuel to fight the enemy (we will see this all come together here in a little bit)

This is important because the enemy does something very crafty again…

Look back at v.5

Matthew 4:5–7 ESV

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

The enemy goes to quote Scripture again, and if you aren’t very careful you’d think this is quite the ultimate play by the enemy against Jesus… use His own Word against Him but the devil takes these verses out of context and CONVENIENTLY leaves out the next verse that comes from psalm 91.

Psalm 91:11–13 ESV

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

The devil leaves out the verse of his ultimate outcome and demise… Jesus remember your authority, your power, but just forget about the part about where you trample me

This is quite the weak design by the enemy, but this is what he does to you DAILY if you aren’t careful

He will grab things that sound so good and so right, but will slightly direct your eyes off of Jesus and onto yourself…

REMEMBER our 3 questions and traps that come from the enemy… he wants you to find fulfillment in the world for YOU, he wants YOU to define beauty, and he wants you to find a special pride in your place, position, status, the number in your bank account, whatever it may be

And even in the temptation of Jesus we see the devil try to shake Jesus in these questions… to give in ever so slightly but Jesus doesn’t budge, He doesn’t give the enemy an inch to make an advance…

As I begin to close, I want to show you something really neat…

-Romans illustration with slide on screen

Antinomianism (any view that rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms)

(YOUR ANSWER HAS BEEN WRITTEN) (IT IS FINAL, IT IS FINISHED)

Application:

Consistently be asking yourself these three questions…

Use God’s Word as a weapon against the enemy…

Surround yourself w/ people you trust to fight this battle… to be 99% known is to be not known at all!

Extra Time: AND/OR PRAY

What are the biggest ways the enemy looks to deceive you?

What are your current tactics to thwart his attempts?

What are some new strategies to effectively battle temptation to buy into the enemies lies?