We were looking the last two evenings at
the schemes of Satan.
We began by considering Paul's writing in 2
Corinthians 2.11 where he says, In order
that no advantage be taken of us by
Satan, for we are not ignorant of his
schemes.
Even a man like Paul needed to be
on his alert, needed to be alert and
needed to be on his guard at all
times to ensure that he was not tripped
up by Satan.
Satan is a very intelligent being.
He is the most intelligent of all created
beings.
There is no man that is wiser than
him.
You know that among human beings also there
are different degrees of intelligence.
IQ levels are different among human beings and
if we were to go on that scale,
Satan's IQ would be very, very high.
More than double any man's.
His intelligence is so high.
Therefore he knows so many ways, he thinks
of so many things that even intelligent people
don't think of.
Secondly, he knows the Bible better than any
of us.
He knows exactly how to trip people up.
And on top of that he has had
six thousand years of experience in tripping up
human beings.
He knows everybody's weak point because he has
studied human nature for so long.
I am mentioning all this to say that
you don't stand a chance against the devil.
Absolutely not.
And if you think you do, you are
just fooling yourself.
And the one who thinks he can fool
the devil, he is the one who is
going to be tripped up first of all
and deceived thoroughly.
Our only hope is in God protecting us
from deception.
God has made it like that.
Why has God allowed Satan to be so
powerful?
So, you know what people who do black
magic and witchcraft can do?
Satan's got tremendous power, even in the physical
realm.
He's got supernatural abilities.
And why has God allowed Satan to be
so strong, so intelligent, so powerful?
Because when our enemy is strong, it makes
us depend on God more.
If you read in the Old Testament, you
will always find that God allowed the enemies
of Israel to be very strong.
Israel used to be surrounded by armies that
were much more powerful than them.
You know why God allowed that?
So that they would depend on Him and
not depend on their own ability.
It says when the children of Israel went
into the land of Canaan, they themselves were
only 5 or 6 feet tall.
But the inhabitants of Canaan were 9 feet
tall.
Now, it's God who created them.
God could have made the Israelites 9 feet
tall and the Canaanites 5 feet tall.
Why didn't He do it like that?
Why did He make Goliath 9 feet tall
and David 5 feet?
Because if you are 9 feet and the
other person is 5 feet, you don't need
God's help much, right?
But if you are 5 feet and the
other fellow is 9 feet, you'll be clinging
to God for help.
So, it's good to recognize that Satan is
a very powerful enemy.
He's likened to a roaring lion seeking to
devour.
Now, if you knew that the lion had
been let loose from the zoo or from
some jungle nearby and was roaming the streets
around here, I'm sure you'd be pretty careful.
But I find a lot of Christians are
not very careful when it comes to Satan,
even though the Bible says he's like a
roaring lion.
And that's why they get swallowed up.
That's why you suddenly find great preachers suddenly
falling into adultery.
And that's why you find such a lot
of divorce in the Christian church.
Satan has swallowed up people left, right and
center wholesale and preachers included.
It doesn't make a difference.
God's standards have all disappeared because Satan has
done such a tremendous work of corrupting Christendom.
He's made almost every preacher in the world
today a beggar for money.
How did he succeed in doing that?
How did he succeed in making all the
great preachers beggars of money?
He has to be, you've got to acknowledge,
he's smart.
He's capable.
He's made people beg for money and think
that they are representatives of Jesus Christ.
How did he succeed?
Amazing.
How does he succeed in fooling people that
somebody's healed when he's not healed?
Don't you think he's smart?
How has he succeeded in all over Christendom
in producing psychological gimmicks and calling them the
gifts of the Holy Spirit?
How has he succeeded in when people have
got the Bible and the Jesus example and
the apostles example.
How has he succeeded in getting a whole
lot of people to believe this?
How has he succeeded in getting a whole
lot of Christians lying on the floor and
laughing away like people out of their senses
and made them believe that this is being
Christ-like.
Can you imagine Jesus lying on the floor
and kicking his legs and laughing away like
that?
I can't.
I cannot imagine how anybody can believe that
that is the Holy Spirit.
But the devil has succeeded in brainwashing millions
of Christians to believe that wholesale.
All these things prove one thing to me.
The devil is too smart for Christians.
And that's, I say that to alert you.
How is it the devil has succeeded in
not allowing people to spend their time studying
God's word?
The average Christian I've found in most countries
reads books about how to get healing and
money more than they read the Bible.
Such people deserve to go astray.
They deserve to be deceived.
Because they honor some book on prosperity more
than the word of God.
They deserve to be deceived.
And if they are deceived, they deserve it
100% for honoring a man above God.
For pursuing after covetousness instead of holiness.
And I'll tell you something, the devil does
not like the truth being proclaimed.
He will do everything in his power to
hinder the proclamation of the truth.
I know through the years how many ways
the devil has tried to hinder me.
Through past years.
There's a place in the Bible in 1
Thessalonians and the end of chapter 2 where
Paul says, I wanted to come to Thessalonica
a number of times.
But he says, 1 Thessalonians 2.18, Satan
hindered me.
Satan succeeded in hindering the mighty apostle Paul
from going where he wanted to go to
serve God?
Do you and I think that we are
better than Paul?
That Satan can't hinder us?
You're fooling yourself, my brother.
Satan is very, very strong.
And if we are not alert, we'll be
deceived by his schemes.
And that's why it's important for us to
know scripture.
To see how he approached different people.
These things are written for our instruction so
that we don't fall in the same way.
A normal human being will learn from his
own mistakes.
A foolish man does not even learn from
his own mistakes.
So a normal human being learns from his
own mistakes.
A foolish human being does not even learn
from his own mistakes.
But a wise man, he learns from the
mistakes of other people.
So he doesn't have to do them himself.
Do you want to be wise?
Or do you want to be a normal
human being?
Or a foolish human being?
There are three options.
To be a foolish human being, a normal
human being and a wise human being.
If you are wise, you will learn from
the mistakes of others and don't do them
yourself.
That's why scripture is written.
We studied about how the devil tripped up
Eve.
We studied how the devil attacked Job, but
did not succeed in knocking him down.
Though temporarily, we have to say he did
succeed in making Job grumble about a number
of things.
So Job's was an up and down experience.
Eve's was a total fall.
Job's was up and down.
And now we come to a third example
where Satan was totally defeated.
And that is in Luke chapter 4, the
way Satan tempted Jesus.
Perhaps we can look at the parallel passage
in Matthew chapter 4, that would be better.
Matthew chapter 4, it's the same thing.
The order of the temptations is a little
different in Luke.
But I believe the correct order is in
Matthew 4.
Which came first, which came second and which
came third.
In Matthew chapter 4, we read that Jesus
was led by the spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
Read that sentence very carefully.
And you could answer these questions.
First of all, who led Jesus?
Answer, the Holy Spirit.
Where was he led?
Into the wilderness.
Third, this is the important question.
Why did the Holy Spirit lead him there?
What for?
To be tempted.
By Satan.
Does the Holy Spirit lead people to be
tempted by Satan?
Will the Holy Spirit lead you to be
tempted by Satan?
Let God's word be true and our own
opinion.
Throw your own opinion in the garbage bin
because that's all it's fit for.
God says, my ways are not your ways,
my thoughts are not your thoughts.
The Holy Spirit led Jesus to be tempted
by Satan.
And he's our forerunner.
The Bible calls him our forerunner.
Let us run the race looking unto Jesus.
So wherever Jesus went, I have to go
too.
If he was led by the spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted, I have to
be led by the spirit into the wilderness
or wherever to be tempted.
And if that was necessary for Jesus to
complete his earthly ministry and his earthly education
as a man, it is necessary for me
and for you.
Without it, our spiritual education will be incomplete.
It's a necessary part of our spiritual education.
It's a preparation for ministry.
It's not enough to be anointed with the
Holy Spirit.
A lot of people say, well, you want
to be, you want to enter into ministry,
follow Jesus' example, man.
He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and
you cannot serve God without being anointed with
the Holy Spirit.
I agree 100%.
But then I ask a second question to
all these people.
I say, after you're anointed with the Holy
Spirit, then what's next?
Ministry?
No.
I'm sorry.
No.
Was that how it was with Jesus?
You keep pointing Jesus as my example.
After he was anointed with the Holy Spirit,
he did not go into ministry.
He went into testing.
And in his case, it was 40 days.
In your case, it may be 5 years.
That's up to God.
But there has to be a period of
testing before we can go into ministry.
That's how it was with Jesus.
Why is that necessary?
Now, you know, when they are manufacturing aluminium
for use in aircraft, it goes through very
severe testing.
It's put into very high temperature furnaces and
taken out from there and immediately put into
ice-cold water.
And then taken out from there and put
into blazing hot furnaces and taken out from
there and put into ice-cold water.
Why?
Because that's what an aeroplane can face.
And the metal must be strong enough to
withstand much more than what an aeroplane can
face.
It shouldn't become brittle and break, otherwise there'd
be an accident in the air.
So, and if the aluminium fails the test,
they reject it.
They'll only accept metal that can go through
these severe tests.
On the other hand, if you are using
aluminium to make a child's toy, they don't
subject it to any tests.
It doesn't matter.
Because it's for something which is worthless.
Do you want a ministry that is worthless?
Or do you want a ministry that's very,
very important in God's eyes?
That will determine the measure of your testing.
How much God will allow you to be
tested by the devil.
Jesus was tested intensely.
He was tempted for forty days.
Luke 4 says he was actually tempted for
forty days.
And at the end of forty days, we
read of the last three temptations that he
was tempted by.
And I want you to notice something similar
to the way the devil came to Jesus,
to the way he came to Eve.
God had just told Adam and Eve, you
must not eat of that tree.
And that's the thing that Satan questioned.
He always questions what God has spoken to
you most recently.
God had told Adam and Eve.
He had told Adam and Adam had no
doubt communicated it to Eve.
You must not eat of that tree of
knowledge you couldn't eat of.
Immediately Satan questions that.
Has God really said that?
What was the most recent thing that the
Father had told Jesus here?
Do you remember?
In the end of chapter three.
This is my beloved son.
So that's the thing Satan questions.
Chapter four verse three.
Are you really the son of God?
Remember this.
That Satan is always trying to question what
God has spoken to you most recently.
Maybe what God spoke to you yesterday.
Or this morning.
Or day before yesterday.
That's the thing that Satan will try to
dislodge from your heart.
No, no, no.
God didn't really say that.
If you are the son of God.
I mean there's a question about that.
Are you really?
And then he taunts him and tempts him.
The first temptation here is a temptation to
selfishness.
If you are the son of God.
And you say a few days ago, 40
days ago, you were anointed.
And there was a voice from heaven saying
you're the son of God.
How do you know that was the Father?
It may be just your illusion.
The devil always tempts people who have accepted
the Lord.
It's a constant thing which the devil does.
As soon as a person accepts Jesus as
his savior.
And is born again.
And he's become a new creation.
The very next thing that Satan comes and
says.
Oh, you think you're a son of God.
I don't see any change in you.
You look the same.
You feel the same.
Who said you're a son of God?
He came to Jesus like that.
And I want to say to you that
he'll come to you.
Don't listen to him.
Listen to the word of God.
As many as received him, to them he
gave the authority to be the children of
God.
Accept it.
Believe his word.
Oh, have you really got eternal life, the
devil says.
Bible says these things have I written unto
you that you may know that you have
eternal life.
So it's very important right at the outset.
To resist Satan.
Who tries to take away from me.
The thing that God has spoken to me
recently.
If you're born again yesterday.
The devil will come to you and say.
Are you really saved?
You really think all things have become new?
Resist him in Jesus name.
Has the Lord told you something yesterday about.
Some sin in your life that needs to
be set right.
Resist Satan when he tries to.
Take away that.
Assurance which the Holy Spirit is trying to
give you.
And then you see here his temptation.
Now if you are indeed the son of
God.
Command that these stones become bread.
And Jesus answered and said.
It is written man shall not live on
bread alone.
But on every word that proceeds out of
the mouth of God.
Now.
Here was a.
Temptation.
To place the physical.
Above the spiritual.
It's a temptation that comes to all of
us.
Many many times.
Bread.
Is more important than God's word.
And God Jesus said no.
God's word.
Is more important than bread.
The spiritual.
Is more important than the physical.
But the devil said listen.
You've been fasting 40 days.
You're going to die.
You better eat something.
And you got power.
Turn those stones into bread and eat man.
Otherwise you'll die.
Jesus says man shall not live by bread
alone.
Yeah.
I don't say bread is not necessary.
But.
That's not the only thing you need.
A word from God.
Every word that proceeds out of the mouth
of God.
And I have not.
Received a word.
From the mouth of God telling me.
To turn the stones into bread.
So I will not do it.
Even though I have the power to do
it.
You see how Jesus operated.
Even though I have the power to do
it.
I still will not do it.
Because I haven't received a word from God.
To tell me to turn the stones into
bread.
He said that man has to live by.
Every word that proceeds out of God's mouth.
In many situations in your life.
You'll find that Satan comes to tempt you
in the same way.
These are his tactics.
To make you give more importance to the
physical.
Bread.
Than the spiritual.
The word of God that feeds your soul.
To make you.
When you come to God in prayer.
To pray for.
A bigger house.
Rather than for overcoming your anger.
One is physical.
The other is spiritual.
To pray to God to give you a
better car.
Rather than that you should stop lusting with
your eyes.
Isn't that true?
What do you pray for?
And see if Satan has not succeeded.
In making you place.
The physical above the spiritual.
He succeeded.
Look at your prayers.
Just examine your prayers my brothers and sisters.
What do you pray for most of the
time?
How many spiritual things do you pray for?
Can I give you a little bit of
homework?
Serious homework.
The next time you read through the New
Testament.
Episodes.
Look at the prayers that Paul prayed.
He prayed for the Colossians in chapter 1
you read.
He prayed for the Ephesians in chapter 3
and chapter 1.
And at different places he tells people.
This is what I'm praying for you.
He tells the Ephesians.
This is what I'm praying for you.
He tells the Colossians.
This is what I'm praying for you.
And see.
If ever.
He prays.
That they'll have better houses.
Or.
They'll have better health.
Or.
They'll have better clothes or better education.
There's nothing wrong with a better house or
a better.
Health or better education or any of these
things.
All I'm saying is Paul never prayed for
these things.
For his converts.
These are things that today's preachers.
Worldly preachers.
Tell Christians to pray for.
They are worldly themselves.
And they're trying to make every Christian around
them worldly too.
It's the same old tactic of Satan.
For years he has succeeded in doing that.
Get believers to place the physical.
As more important than the spiritual.
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray.
He did teach them to pray for bread.
You know that.
Give us this day.
Our.
Daily.
Bread.
But that was request number four.
Don't forget that.
That was not request number one.
Do you know what was request number one?
Dad.
Father.
Hallowed be your name.
Never mind if I don't get my daily
bread.
First of all hallowed be your name.
Second.
I still don't want daily bread.
It's not second.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth.
In my life.
Exactly as it's done in heaven.
And once I've got past those spiritual requests.
Give us this day.
Our daily bread.
There is a place for daily bread.
I'm not saying we shouldn't ask for physical
things.
Jesus taught us to pray for physical things.
Give us this daily bread.
Means give me the opportunity.
Give me the ability to survive in this
world.
And survival may require food.
That word daily bread includes many things.
For survival.
It includes food.
It includes clothing.
It includes shelter.
It includes educating our children.
Otherwise they will not be able to earn
that daily bread.
It may include a car.
For you to move around.
Otherwise you won't be able to go to
work to earn your daily bread.
It could include all those things.
All I'm saying is.
Make it request number four.
At least from now on in your life.
That's how Jesus taught us to pray.
And if we were to examine our prayer
life.
By the prayer Jesus taught.
Most of us are just not praying the
way Jesus taught us to pray.
We have reversed the order.
We put the head down and the legs
on top.
Material things.
Take such a prominent part.
In the prayers of most Christians.
The devil has succeeded.
With Christians.
Where he could not succeed with Jesus.
He could not succeed.
Getting Jesus to ask for his daily bread.
Even after 40 days of fasting.
I mean if ever a man needed daily
bread.
Surely it is after 40 days of fasting.
And even then he did not succeed with
Jesus.
The devil came to Eve.
With the temptation of food.
This fruit.
Is good for food.
The devil came to Jesus.
With the temptation of food.
And the devil will come to you.
With the temptation of food.
Food is a very real temptation.
The amount of money.
That Christians.
Spend.
On food.
It is amazing.
Now there is nothing wrong in it.
Provided it is not wasted.
But I have deeply appreciated.
People I have heard of.
Who have sometimes fasted.
For one day.
Or even one meal.
And taken that money they would have spent
on one meal.
And given it for the Lord's work.
In some poor country.
Have you ever thought of doing that?
Imagine if everybody in a home fasted for
one meal.
May be very little.
But if you did that once a week.
It would come to a tidy sum once
a year.
Or fasted a whole day.
You can progress from one meal fasting.
To one day fasting a week.
It won't kill you.
In fact you will be healthier.
And you will probably be a little more
spiritual.
I believe that Christians need to break.
The bondage of food.
The slavery to food.
That is in their life.
The reason they are so enslaved.
To sexual temptations.
Is because they have not broken the slavery
to food.
You break the slavery there.
You will find the other thing a little
easier.
When you think of Sodom.
Sodom.
What do you immediately think of?
What type of temptations?
Sexual temptations.
Right?
In the time of Lot.
Do you know why they were enslaved to
sexual temptations?
Have you ever discovered what the Bible says?
Let me show you a little known verse.
Which tells us why Sodom was so sexually
enslaved.
Turn to the Old Testament in the book
of Ezekiel.
In chapter 16.
Ezekiel and chapter 16.
Verse 49.
This, God says, was the guilt of your
sister Sodom.
She and her daughters had arrogance.
Plenty of food.
An easy way of life.
And she did not help the poor and
needy.
Now in your life.
When you have arrogance.
Far more food than you need to eat.
Careless laziness in your lifestyle.
And you don't help the poor and the
needy.
My brother, don't be surprised if you are
sexually defeated.
You will be.
Exactly like the people in Sodom.
It's no use praying, Oh God, deliver me,
deliver me.
First get rid of these easy ones.
The devil tempted Eve and Jesus through food.
And he tempts you through food.
These are his tactics.
These things are written for our instruction.
A wise man learns from the mistakes of
others.
Like Eve.
Like Sodom.
A foolish man goes and makes the same
mistake himself.
And still does not learn.
A normal man at least learns from his
own mistakes.
A foolish man does not even learn from
his own mistakes.
These things are written for our instruction.
There could be many areas in your life
where you place the physical above the spiritual.
We need to reverse that order.
In our prayer life.
In our priorities.
In the way we spend our money.
The way we spend our time.
The physical is not more important than the
spiritual.
The devil is constantly bombarding us with advertisements
in the newspapers, on television.
Everything saying, you cannot live without this new
gadget that came into the market six months
ago.
You cannot live without it.
And you ask the question, how did man
live without this for six thousand years?
Don't believe all those advertisements that tell you,
you just cannot live without this.
It's a lot of garbage.
And you are convinced that you cannot live
without it.
Now I am not saying that you should
not buy any time saving gadget.
I think it's very useful to have a
lot of time saving gadgets like washing machines
and all.
It saves a lot of time.
But saves a lot of time for what?
I hope it's not for watching that movie
on television.
I hope it's for studying the Bible.
I am all for time saving gadgets.
I want to save as much time as
possible.
But not to sit back in careless ease.
But so that I can have time for
God.
That's why I want every possible time saving
gadget in my house.
Sure.
I don't mind spending money for a time
saving gadget because it will give me more
time for God.
I remember the old days, my first books
that I wrote like Sex, Love and Marriage
and Finding God's Will.
I sat and typed and typed and typed
and typed and typed.
And then I had to correct it.
I had to retype the whole thing.
Many hundred pages of type written matter.
Type, type, type, type, type, type, type.
I remember when I finally finished that final
manuscript of Sex, Love and Marriage.
My fingers were numb.
Partly because I don't know typing.
I used to type with two fingers the
biblical method of seek and you shall find.
I still don't know typing.
I type with two fingers.
But I never learned it.
But I thank God for the day when
computers came.
So I got one.
It saved me time.
But what for?
So that I could have more time for
God.
So that I could do something more for
God than I could with typewriters.
And I hope everything in your life is
designed that way.
So that you can have more time for
God.
Become more useful for God in your life.
Otherwise, how do you say you are a
disciple of Jesus?
If it is just to make your life
more luxurious and comfortable, I say something is
wrong.
Don't place the physical above the spiritual.
You will go astray.
The other thing I want to point out
here is.
It was also a temptation to use the
power that God gives you for your personal
gain.
Has God anointed you?
Use that power now brother.
To make bread for yourself.
I know how easy it is.
With the gift that I have.
Of teaching and preaching God's word.
To make money.
It's very easy.
I just got to not touch certain subjects.
Which offend people.
I don't have to tell a lie.
I just avoid certain controversial subjects.
And just say things which everybody would like
to hear.
Scriptural things, biblical things, evangelical things.
And I know my audience will be wider.
And I will have many more open doors.
And make a lot more money.
And I just avoid wasting so much time
with all these poor village people who can't
give you much gifts.
And just select all the rich churches to
go to.
And the wealthy cities of the world where
I can go and preach and make a
lot of money.
And doing what?
Preaching God's word.
I can get a satisfaction in saying I
am preaching God's word.
But I am using a power God gave
me.
For my own personal gain.
That's why the Lord said no to Satan.
Satan said you got power man.
You've been anointed.
Now use that power to make something for
yourself.
Whether it's bread or money or whatever it
is.
Satan said no.
The vast majority of today's preachers have said
yes.
You said yes.
Sure.
Why can't I make money?
The laborer is worthy of his hire.
And they've got all types of verses to
support themselves.
And I can quote those verses too.
You shall not muzzle the ox that treads
out the corn.
And the laborer is worthy of his hire.
And the one who teaches is worthy of
being paid.
And the elder is worthy of double honor.
He should be paid double of everybody else.
Yes, yes, yes.
There are so many verses.
But Paul said but I will not use
any of these verses for myself.
And that's what I say too.
It's all a question of whether you value
the anointing more.
Or money more.
Or bread more.
Jesus valued the anointing.
A lot of today's preachers don't.
They are only interested in honor and money.
That's all.
And they don't have any contact with God.
Most of their messages are borrowed from other
preachers.
To get honor for themselves.
It's all commercial.
These are not servants of God.
They are merchants.
Businessmen.
Trying to make a profit from somebody else's
revelation.
That's how it is.
90% of today's preachers preach what somebody
else has preached.
Which they have stolen.
They are thieves.
Standing up in the pulpit.
Thieves.
Stealing somebody else's message and preaching it as
their own.
What would you think of a man who
went and stole somebody else's clothes?
Or somebody else's money?
Or somebody else's car?
What's the difference between a car thief and
a preacher who steals somebody else's sermon?
Absolutely no difference.
There are thieves in today's pulpits.
And why?
Because they are too lazy to fast and
pray.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit and get
revelation from God themselves.
And what do you think a bunch of
thieves can produce?
You think they can build the church of
Jesus Christ?
No.
To use gift that God has given for
personal gain is evil.
Don't ever use any influence you have as
a Christian to get personal gain for yourself.
In any area.
Maybe you have influence in church as an
elder.
Don't ever use that for personal gain.
No.
You'll destroy yourself.
These are the tactics of Satan he uses.
Let's go to the second temptation.
The devil took him to the holy city.
The first temptation was in the wilderness.
The second temptation was on top of the
temple.
And the third temptation was on a mountain.
The devil can tempt you in a dry
place like the wilderness.
In a religious place like the temple.
Or in a business center.
Like the world.
It says here, he took him to the
holy city and made him stand on top
of the pinnacle of the temple.
And said to him again, Oh, are you
really the son of God?
Okay.
You know, when he heard Jesus quoting a
scripture, It is written.
That's how Jesus overcame Satan.
He never got into a discussion with Satan
like Eve did.
He just said, it's written, Man shall not
live by bread alone.
Deuteronomy chapter 8.
He said, it's written like that and that's
enough for me.
I don't need any further guidance.
Man shall live by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.
I want to mention something about that.
The same Jesus, who would never use his
power to make bread for himself.
He did use that power to make bread
for 5000 people from 5 loaves.
That's where we should use our power.
For other people.
And not for yourself.
He had the power to feed 5000.
And he used it.
But he would not use it for himself.
That is the mark of a man of
God.
And when he saw, when Satan saw that
Jesus was quoting God's word.
Then the devil said, okay.
Let me quote God's word to him.
Let me trip him up with God's word.
When he sees you are the religious type.
Always going by verses of scripture.
Then he will use scripture to deceive you.
And you know all the cults that have
come up in Christendom.
They've all got a verse of scripture.
Usually half a verse.
With which they've built their kingdoms and teach
their doctrines.
What does it say here?
He took him to the pinnacle of the
temple and said, It says in scripture, it
is written He will give his angels charge
concerning you on their hands.
They will bear you up, verse 6, lest
you strike your foot against a stone.
What shall you do when you hear a
scripture quoted by the devil?
Don't think that every voice you hear quoting
a scripture is from God.
Very often we find verses to suit our
own needs.
Man is an expert.
Particularly religious people are experts at finding scriptures
to satisfy their own lusts.
Finding some scripture by which they do, they
say, well, God told me to do that.
One of the most frequently heard expressions I
have heard among Christians these days is, The
Lord said to me, They think they are
impressing me.
They are not.
I have heard enough of that.
The Lord said to me, I saw this
vision.
I saw an angel.
I am not fooled.
I have heard enough stories like this in
my lifetime.
The Lord said to me, does the Lord
speak?
He does.
But when I look at the lives of
these people, all this speaking by the Lord
doesn't seem to have made them spiritual.
Then I question whether the Lord has spoken
to them at all.
Is this their imagination?
If God was really speaking, I know what
happened in Genesis chapter 1 when the Lord
spoke.
You know what happened when the Lord spoke
and said, let there be light?
What happened?
There was light.
And when the Lord said, let the trees
come up from the earth, you know what
happened?
The trees came up.
But these people who keep on saying, the
Lord said this, and the Lord said that,
and the Lord said this, nothing, I don't
see anything in their life of spirituality.
They are still lovers of money.
They live for themselves.
And they say, the Lord said this, and
the Lord said that.
I am not fooled by all that.
And don't you be fooled by all that
either.
A lot of people go into the scriptures
to find verses, just like, you know, learn
this lesson from here, the devil quotes scripture
to lead you astray.
When you are set in wanting to do
something the way you want to do it,
and you say, oh God, please guide me,
and you read and you read and you
read, and you hit upon a verse, and
you got what you wanted.
You got God's sanction to do what you
like.
Lots of people who are doing something completely
contrary to the word of God, and they
quote a scripture.
Let me give you an example.
Supposing you are very much in love with
a girl whose name is Grace, and you
want to find out God's will, whether you
should marry her or not.
And you are hoping God will say yes,
of course.
And you read and read and read and
read, and one day you come across a
verse which says, my Grace is sufficient for
you.
Oh, brother, I got it.
God has told me, this is his choice
for me.
I found it, I am absolutely convinced, this
is the girl God has chosen for me.
But supposing on the other hand, like in
India, you know, we have parents proposing marriages,
arranged marriages we are called, you know, you
don't go and choose a girl yourself, the
parents suggest a girl for you.
Supposing here is an Indian Christian boy, and
the parents have suggested to him a girl
called Grace.
She is not very good looking, and he
is turned off the first time he sees
her, but he wants a scripture to convince
his parents that he is a person who
is following God.
So he reads scripture and he also comes
across this verse, my Grace is sufficient for
you.
And he goes to his parents and says,
God has spoken to me, his Grace is
sufficient for me, I don't need this one.
How did these two people get two completely
different interpretations from the same verse?
The devil is very clever.
So don't be fooled by saying, God said
this to me and I got this verse
and I got that verse.
You interpreted it according to your own convenience,
that's all.
And the devil helped you.
You are just satisfying your lusts.
So when the devil quoted a verse out
of context, he always quotes verses out of
context.
Jesus said, it is also written.
It is written, it is also written.
You know, a bird has got two wings.
If a bird has got only one wing,
it will go around in circles.
But a bird has got two wings, that's
God's great wisdom.
If it is written, it is also written.
Find another verse that balances out the first
one and then you won't go astray.
Always compare scripture with scripture.
Compare scripture with scripture and then you won't
go astray.
I believe, I have discovered in 43 years
of studying this book, that there is an
answer in this book to every single problem
you can ever face in your whole life.
But you must know where to find it.
Jesus knew immediately what scripture to quote.
How did he know that?
Because when he was a child, he studied
it.
And when the devil tempts you, if you
don't know God's word, I tell you, you
will not be able to overcome him.
That will be impossible.
You must know.
He took him to the top of a
temple and told him to jump down.
It was a temptation to presumption.
Do something fantastic and claim God's promise.
Don't do something stupid and then go around
claiming God's promise.
Saying God will protect you.
I mean, if there are stairs coming down
from the top of the temple, that's the
way to go.
Don't jump off from the top of the
temple and say God will protect you.
You understand?
If God has provided a natural means of
coming down, that's what you should use.
Not expect some supernatural protection when you do
something just to show.
What the devil was saying is, jump off
and you will descend down to the earth
without being harmed and people will accept you
as the Messiah.
Do something fantastic to show other people what
a great person you are.
You know that's a temptation that the devil
uses on a lot of people.
Do something which will show other people that
you are a man of God.
Don't be foolish.
Because you will find that those promises don't
work.
The promises work when you are doing God's
will.
That quotation was from Psalm 91, which the
devil quoted to Jesus.
Psalm 91 says, he who dwells in the
secret place of the Most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty.
You know what the shadow of the Almighty
is?
That's how that Psalm begins, which the devil
quoted from.
And Jesus knew that.
The shadow of the Almighty is like this.
When we are walking towards the sun, if
I follow another person, I will always be
in his shadow.
And when I am following Jesus, I will
always be in his shadow.
And when I am in his shadow, he
will give his angels charge concerning me to
guard me in all my ways and protect
me.
I know the Lord has protected me from
numerous road accidents in India.
Numerous.
In fact, I am just waiting to go
to heaven to go and shake the hands
of all those angels who protected me from
numerous road accidents in India.
He does that.
But not if I jump off the temple
top.
No angel is going to come and protect
me there.
Don't do things to show off to other
people.
No.
Don't take advantage of God's word.
And seek.
Don't put the Lord to the test.
Jesus said, it is written, you shall not
put the Lord your God to a test.
Then we move to the third temptation.
The devil took him to a high mountain.
And showed him all the kingdoms of the
world.
And said, I will give you all this
if you fall down and worship me.
Because all these things in Luke's gospel explains
a little more.
The devil says, all these things have been
given to me.
And I give it to whomever I like.
How did the devil get all these things?
How did the devil get all the kingdoms
of the earth?
Who gave it to him?
Not God.
And yet Jesus didn't question the fact that
he says, all these things are given to
me.
Read that in Luke chapter 4.
You know who gave it to him?
God told Adam, I have given you everything
on the earth.
Subdue it.
You are going to be the ruler of
this whole earth.
You are going to have dominion over everything.
And in the garden of Eden, Adam gave
it to the devil.
By submitting to him.
And in that, there was a little transaction
that took place in the garden of Eden.
Where Adam gave authority over his life to
Satan.
And so Satan got authority over all of
Adam.
And all his descendants.
He could make his first son a murderer.
And he has produced all the dictators and
all the murderers and the adulterers and all
the evil people in the world.
And he has got everything through Adam.
And he tells Jesus, all these things are
mine.
I give it to whomever I like.
You want money?
Come to me.
I will give it to you.
You want honor?
Come, I will give it to you.
There are many people who have sold themselves
to the devil to get honor, to get
power, to get money, to get position.
Many.
Bow your knee to me a little.
It's a temptation to compromise.
You know, the devil has come to me
like that.
And said to me, I will give you
a wider sphere of ministry.
Much wider than you have right now.
Just bow your knee to me a little
bit.
What do you mean, Satan?
Just keep quiet on certain subjects in the
Bible.
Speak the pleasant words.
Don't speak rebuking words.
Don't speak words of correction.
And words that expose people's sin.
Words that deliver people from worldliness.
Don't do all that.
Go slow on all that.
Speak words like, God is a good God.
God blesses us with every blessing.
He wants above all things, 3rd John says,
that we should prosper and be in hell.
Speak on these verses.
Yeah, yeah, I know all these verses.
And I know what they mean also.
I know what is also written.
Not just what is written in 3rd John.
I also know what is written in a
lot of other verses in scripture.
And I say, Satan, you may get other
preachers to bow their knee to you to
get a wider sphere of ministry.
You won't get me.
Not in a million years.
By the grace of God.
I'm just giving you an example.
Of how you can get so many benefits.
If you bow the knee to Satan just
a little bit.
Just compromise.
Just keep a little quiet on something.
Just lower your standards in one place.
Do you know you can get a bigger
church if you lower your standards?
Do you know that?
Do you know that Noah preached for 120
years and he still had only 8 people
in his church?
Would you be impressed with such a ministry?
How many people would be impressed if year
after year his report is, No new souls
added to our church.
After 10 years, no new souls added to
our church.
After 100 years, no new souls added to
our church.
Noah, what are you doing?
Well, I still got my family.
Your family?
What kind of ministry are you engaged in?
And it's because of him that you and
I are alive.
I hope you know that.
It's because of one man's faithfulness.
As much as we are children of Adam,
we are all children of Noah.
I don't know whether you know that.
Every human being in the world descended from
Noah.
One man's faithfulness.
The Bible calls him a preacher of righteousness.
He never compromised.
If he had lowered his standard, his church
could have grown from 8 to 80.
If he had lowered it a little more,
it could have become 800.
And if he had lowered it a little
more, it could have become 8,000.
Still more, 80,000.
But all of them would have been drowned.
Thank God he kept the standards and was
satisfied with a small church.
There are so many things to gain if
you compromise in the world.
The only thing you lose is the pleasure
of God.
But if you are one of those people
who are interested in the pleasure of God,
like Jesus was, all that the devil offers
is no attraction to you.
The devil can offer you money, honor, position,
greatness.
Say, forget it.
Did Jesus take time?
Did he say, let me think about that,
Satan.
Let me pray about it.
No.
He said, you shall not tempt the Lord
your God.
You shall worship the Lord your God and
Him only shall you serve.
I'm not going to worship you, Satan.
I'm not going to compromise on anything.
He didn't even have to think about it.
Why?
Why is it that Jesus did not even
have to think about it when all the
glory of the world was offered to him
and you and I have to think about
it before we say no?
If somebody comes to your house with a
garbage bin full of garbage and said, I'd
like to offer this to you.
Do you have to think about it before
you accept it?
He said, I'm offering it to you free.
He said, no, thank you.
You don't have to think about it.
And when you see everything that this world
offers as garbage, you won't have to think
about it too when Satan offers it to
you.
But if you think something in the world
is precious, the honor of men, position, pleasure,
comfort, luxury, these things mean something to you.
Brother, you're going to have a tough time.
The devil knows exactly where to trip you
up.
Jesus overcame.
We can overcome.
Revelation 3.21 says, He who overcomes shall
sit with me on my throne even as
I overcame and I'm sat down with my
father on his throne.
My brother, sister, God's will for you is
to sit with Jesus on his throne, but
you have to overcome first.
That's how Jesus went to the father's throne.
You read Revelation 3.21 carefully.
See what it says.
I got to the father's throne by overcoming
and you're not going to come to my
throne without overcoming.
Be an overcomer.
If there's one message I give to believers
everywhere, be an overcomer.
Don't run after money and wealth and health
and prosperity and all that rubbish.
Be an overcomer in your life.
Overcome sin.
Overcome the world.
Overcome the devil.
And let your life count for God.
And God has spoken many things to us
in these three evenings.
And I want to invite you and encourage
you to respond to what you've heard.
Be aware of Satan's tactics and schemes.
Be alert and say, Lord, I never want
Satan to get advantage over me at any
time in any area.
I want to be an overcomer.
I want to be a wise man who
learns from the mistakes of others like Eve
and learn from the good examples, Lord Jesus,
like your own.
I want to be an overcomer.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit.
And help me to live my days on
earth as an overcomer.
Heavenly Father, help us to honor you.
I pray that those who are your children
here will be overcomers.
Will not be deceived by the false glitter
of worldly things that Satan offers.
We pray in Jesus' name.