1
00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,160
Good morning. 
If I haven't met you or you have

2
00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,960
forgotten me, which is you're 
probably better off for doing. 

3
00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:09,880
My name is Andrew. 
I'm on staff here at the church,

4
00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,200
and I deeply love this church. 
But yeah, just as Cole had 

5
00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,720
mentioned, we're going to be 
back in Genesis after our Easter

6
00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,480
sermon. 
So we're going to be in Genesis 

7
00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,720
chapter 3, verses 1:00 to 6:00. 
So if you're an old school 

8
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,640
person and you want to turn in 
there, there, if you don't 

9
00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,280
didn't bring your Bible, there's
one in the Pew back in front of 

10
00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,520
you. 
But Genesis 31 to 6:00. 

11
00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,680
So just to reset the stage and 
to properly frame our minds, 

12
00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,600
we've been looking at Genesis 
not as a scientific textbook, 

13
00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:50,000
but as a theological textbook 
that shows us the why of God 

14
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,040
creating everything that we see 
and all the people that we see. 

15
00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:59,280
We, we framed it that and each 
sermon is kind of built on this 

16
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,560
foundation and then we have used
it to prop up further sermons. 

17
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,160
So this one today is going to be
the same way. 

18
00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:10,520
This passage is going to lead us
into future passages because 

19
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,040
that's how texts work, right? 
There's going to be some things 

20
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,600
in here that are going to lead 
us into further conversation 

21
00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,920
here in the coming weeks and 
months. 

22
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:22,680
And so I'm going to tease those 
out. 

23
00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,240
I keep I keep getting all these 
like build up sermons. 

24
00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,880
I don't know why, but apparently
that's that's my calling here. 

25
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,160
I get to get to throw softball 
tosses up for somebody else to 

26
00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,240
do stuff anyway, which I like to
do. 

27
00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,840
So there's some things that we 
nerd out on here and then 

28
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,120
they're going to be some things 
that we're going to skip over a 

29
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,400
little bit because what we're 
going to talk about next week 

30
00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,240
and the week after that is going
to, it's just going to build up 

31
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,440
and it's going to support the, 
the, the coming sermons. 

32
00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,600
But I'm excited about this 
passage One, because there's 

33
00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,040
some weird stuff in there. 
And if you know me, you know, I 

34
00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:03,480
like weird stuff in the Bible. 
Two, it shows us, as Cole 

35
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,600
mentioned, this new character in
the book of Genesis. 

36
00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:14,200
So we're 3 pages in to the book 
of Genesis and something pivots,

37
00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,200
something changes. 
And So what I want to do this 

38
00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,160
morning is to show you the 
significance of this shift and 

39
00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,320
for us to have a proper 
understanding of what temptation

40
00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,280
is. 
I think that's a word that we 

41
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,680
use a lot. 
I'm being tempted for this, or 

42
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,360
temptation exists in this realm 
of my life, or I only did it 

43
00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:40,120
because I was tempted. 
So I wanted to establish a firm 

44
00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,440
foundation and an understanding 
of what temptation is. 

45
00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:49,440
So that's one of my goals today.
My second goal today is to show 

46
00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,680
you how Jesus is the only 
solution to overcoming 

47
00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:54,600
temptation. 
Those are my two goals. 

48
00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:56,120
That's what I've got for us this
morning. 

49
00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,040
So if you were able, would you 
stand with me as we read the 

50
00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:08,480
Word of God? 
Genesis 3 One to six. 

51
00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:13,680
Now the serpent was more crafty 
than any other beast of the 

52
00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,040
field that the Lord God had 
made. 

53
00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,960
He said to the woman, Did God 
actually say, You shall not eat 

54
00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:23,840
of any tree in the garden? 
And the woman said to the 

55
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,960
serpent, We may eat of the fruit
of the trees in the garden. 

56
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,080
But God said, You shall not eat 
of the tree, but the fruit of 

57
00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,480
the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil that's in the 

58
00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,440
midst of the garden. 
Neither shall you touch it, lest

59
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:39,920
you die. 
But the serpent said that the 

60
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:44,320
woman you shall not surely die, 
For God knows that when you eat 

61
00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,080
of it, your eyes will be open, 
and you will be like God, 

62
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,400
knowing good and evil. 
So when the woman saw that the 

63
00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,920
tree was good for food and that 
it was a delight to the eyes, 

64
00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,760
and that the tree was to be 
desired to make one wise, she 

65
00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,920
took of its fruit and ate. 
And she also gave some to her 

66
00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:09,120
husband Adam, who was with her, 
and he ate just the word of God.

67
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,560
Brothers and sisters, it is true
and it is a good may be seated. 

68
00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:19,200
Father, I pray that you would 
help us this morning to 

69
00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:24,080
understand the gravity of 
temptation, that you would help 

70
00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,040
us to see that it sneaks in in 
subtle ways. 

71
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,320
Sometimes it's overbearing. 
Sometimes we feel like we have 

72
00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,640
no power to resist temptation. 
That pray that you would help us

73
00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,920
to see that you have equipped 
your people through the life of 

74
00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:44,040
your Son, Jesus, who overcame 
temptation, that we can overcome

75
00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:50,160
temptation, that we can see the,
the, the joy in fighting that 

76
00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,080
temptation. 
We're thankful that you've 

77
00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,800
brought us all here together. 
I don't, I don't know how 

78
00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,880
everyone's week has gone. 
I don't know the struggles of 

79
00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,200
everybody in this church. 
I know of some particular 

80
00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:05,720
struggles, some particular 
sorrows, but I'm thankful that 

81
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,200
we're able to gather here 
together to read scripture 

82
00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,080
together, the sing together to 
be a part of the body of Christ 

83
00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,040
together. 
So it's in the powerful name of 

84
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:16,480
Jesus that I'm thankful for 
this. 

85
00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:18,480
And it's in the powerful name of
Jesus that I pray. 

86
00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,480
Amen. 
So if you've ever preached, have

87
00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,280
you ever given the speech, one 
of the things that you're always

88
00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,160
trying to think through is what 
is my zinger of an introduction 

89
00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,360
going to be? 
What what, what am I going to 

90
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:32,760
talk to people about that's 
going to draw them? 

91
00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:37,600
And I was been thinking all 
week, what can I open this 

92
00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:43,480
sermon up with? 
And it finally happened on 

93
00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,200
Friday night. 
I finally got my intro to this 

94
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:52,200
sermon into this passage. 
And shout out to the Cook family

95
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,400
and the Cruz family. 
We got to see the Pilgrims 

96
00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,080
Progress play that got put on. 
That was a lot of fun. 

97
00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,600
That was awesome. 
So shout out to Zane and Ray and

98
00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:08,360
Mason and Olivia and Alana and 
Amanda who put in a lot of work 

99
00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,880
behind the scenes, literally and
metaphorically. 

100
00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:19,680
But I was sitting through this 
play and I, let's tell you how 

101
00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,080
big of a homeschooled nerd I am.
Pilgrim's Progress was the first

102
00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,480
like actual word book that I 
read growing up. 

103
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,280
So let's tell you a little bit 
about who I am. 

104
00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,920
But I was sitting through the, 
the play and I admitted to Will 

105
00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,880
and to Jay earlier. 
Like I, I cried a couple of 

106
00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:38,480
times. 
I'll, I'll be a man enough to 

107
00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,960
admit when I cry. 
You've probably seen me cry, but

108
00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:48,600
there's a a part in the story of
Pilgrim character. 

109
00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,200
This this is an allegory. 
His name gets changed to 

110
00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:56,720
Christian, but he winds up on 
his journey to the celestial 

111
00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,080
Kingdom. 
He winds up in a place called 

112
00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,200
Vanity Fair, winds up in the 
city where the city is just all 

113
00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,080
about trying to draw your 
attention away from your 

114
00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,360
journey, from wherever you came 
from to the celestial Kingdom. 

115
00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:17,640
All sorts of temptations, all 
sort, all of them pride, greed, 

116
00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,320
sexuality, all of these 
temptations exist in the city, 

117
00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,760
and they're trying to draw a 
Christian into their city. 

118
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:31,800
He's just passing through. 
And our passage this morning is 

119
00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,520
showing us that temptation is 
something that exists to try to 

120
00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,880
draw our attention, to draw our 
affection away from the order 

121
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,720
that God has created in his 
universe. 

122
00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,240
We've talked several times in 
the book of Genesis about God 

123
00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:52,520
ordering out the world. 
He separates things. 

124
00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,480
He puts things together. 
He separates man and then 

125
00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,760
creates woman and then brings 
woman and man back together. 

126
00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:03,880
So this book in these early 
chapters is about God ordering 

127
00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,720
things. 
Temptation for Adam and Eve was 

128
00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,840
about disorder and bringing 
disorder into God's good ordered

129
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,360
world. 
And it's the same for us today. 

130
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,800
God has ordered things out and 
he's ordered our lives and how 

131
00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,560
we should function best. 
And the temptations that we 

132
00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,600
experience are little tugs on 
our hearts, on our minds, and on

133
00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,200
our eyes to go into disorder. 
I think we can all agree that 

134
00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,760
disorder is bad, right? 
You look at your kitchen sink on

135
00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,400
a Saturday night and you're 
like, got to wake up early for 

136
00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,760
church. 
But they're all these dishes in 

137
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,160
my sink. 
That's a state of disorder. 

138
00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:49,680
Or you go into your kids bedroom
one afternoon, you're like, what

139
00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:51,560
in the world just happened in 
here? 

140
00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,280
This is a state of disorder. 
Or you look at your calendar, 

141
00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,240
you're like, oh man, I double 
booked myself or oh, I forgot 

142
00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,520
about this meeting or oh, I've 
got back-to-back to back events 

143
00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,040
with family and cousins and all 
this stuff. 

144
00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:12,120
It's a state of disorder. 
God did not create humans to 

145
00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,640
live in a state of disorder. 
He created them to live in his 

146
00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:21,400
perfectly good and beautiful and
true ordered universe. 

147
00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,040
That's how he that's what he 
created man and woman for. 

148
00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,320
That's what he created humanity 
for was to live in a state of 

149
00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,520
order. 
Temptation, as we're going to 

150
00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:34,840
see, is the pull to disorder. 
And you can think about all 

151
00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,920
those, you know, playful 
illustrations I just gave. 

152
00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,280
But whenever your life is in 
disorder, do you feel joy? 

153
00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,960
Do you feel like you're 
flourishing and some sometimes 

154
00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:51,120
the disorder in our lives. 
We cannot control it's outside 

155
00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:58,320
forces bringing in disorder. 
God created this world good full

156
00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:02,840
ordered temptation as we're 
going to see it from this new 

157
00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:07,160
character in the story is going 
to pull people into a state of 

158
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:12,080
disorder. 
So I'm going to, if you give me 

159
00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,320
the time, I'm going to nerd out 
on a couple of things and then 

160
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,840
we're going to talk about more 
what I think this passage is 

161
00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:24,880
actually talking about. 
So there's some interesting 

162
00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:26,440
things in here. 
Remember, we're not reading a 

163
00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,240
science book. 
This is not a biology class. 

164
00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,400
This is a theology class that 
we're in right now. 

165
00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,800
But we see this new character, 
the serpent. 

166
00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,560
Where did this joker come from? 
I want to nerd out more here, 

167
00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:44,040
but there's rumors about us 
starting a podcast up again, so 

168
00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:49,480
maybe I'll save this for later. 
But we got the serpent, an 

169
00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:56,120
animal, a Slytherin serpent, and
he was more crafty than all the 

170
00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,120
other beasts of the field that 
the Lord God had made. 

171
00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:05,080
That's interesting. 
Why is there an emphasis put 

172
00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:06,280
here on this new character? 
Why? 

173
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:14,320
Why is this detail given to us? 
OK, so you got to take your 21st

174
00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:18,280
century North American mindset 
out of this equation here, 

175
00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:22,160
because we have to remember at 
the time that this was written 

176
00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:30,280
in the ancient Near East, things
Telegraph to people differently 

177
00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:32,680
than they would Telegraph to us.
And by that I mean sending a 

178
00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:34,640
signal. 
Oh, this word. 

179
00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,280
OK, that leads me to this 
understanding. 

180
00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:40,240
So we've got the serpent here, 
right? 

181
00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:48,320
And do you guys know, was 
Genesis written before Exodus? 

182
00:11:56,050 --> 00:11:59,690
No. 
So we've got God's people that 

183
00:11:59,690 --> 00:12:04,050
get rescued out of Exodus, and 
then we've got Moses recounting 

184
00:12:04,050 --> 00:12:07,050
all of these stories that have 
been passed down from generation

185
00:12:07,050 --> 00:12:11,570
to generation and writing them 
down, codifying them. 

186
00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:18,600
And in the minds of the ancient 
Jewish person, there would have 

187
00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,200
been a lot of thought put 
towards the culture of Egypt. 

188
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,720
Now that I learned this this 
week for the first time. 

189
00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,600
But a lot of ancient Egyptian 
rulers, they will wear crowns 

190
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:37,800
that had serpents all on them. 
So a serpent as an image would 

191
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,720
lead you to think a handful of 
things. 

192
00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:45,200
We'll go through just two 
diviners. 

193
00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,720
So someone who could take 
something and make it out of 

194
00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:54,160
nothing, or someone who could 
take an in an object and make it

195
00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,720
a sacred object. 
Also, serpents were known as an 

196
00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:03,280
image, an icon, an idol for 
wisdom bringers. 

197
00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,560
That's pretty interesting. 
So we've got this serpent here. 

198
00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,880
He's not given a personal name. 
It's just nakash, which is the 

199
00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:14,960
Hebrew word for serpent or 
snake. 

200
00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,680
But that word also can be, it's 
kind of like a double entendre, 

201
00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,480
an animal serpent, snake, which 
whichever your preference is, 

202
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:33,160
but also the shining one. 
So some scholars that I've 

203
00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,560
learned a lot from believe that 
this being right here, the 

204
00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:42,080
serpent, this nakash, this snake
was a part of God's heavenly 

205
00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,320
host. 
But they were a divine throne 

206
00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,680
room, divine throne room 
guardian, which is which was 

207
00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:54,280
pretty common in the ancient 
Near Eastern world, that they 

208
00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:59,280
would have these Serpentine 
figures outside of their temples

209
00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,480
or inside their temples or on 
their sacred items. 

210
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,880
So the ancient mind would look 
at this and see this was someone

211
00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,040
who is in rebellion against God,
trying to lead other people into

212
00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,040
rebellion against God. 
And that's definitely what we 

213
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,800
have. 
So, you know, it's funny to joke

214
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,480
about, Oh, it was a talking 
snake. 

215
00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:24,360
That's funny. 
Did animals talk back in those 

216
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:26,280
days? 
I don't know. 

217
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,680
I'm looking forward to figuring 
that out one day. 

218
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:38,400
But there's a lot going on here.
And that God gave man the 

219
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:45,960
mission, man and woman to subdue
creation to make the rest of the

220
00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,040
world look like the garden. 
OK, so that's one layer here. 

221
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:55,640
Second layer is this is a 
spiritual being that Eve doesn't

222
00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,360
seem shocked by a talking 
serpent. 

223
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:00,840
So there, there's a layer here 
of there's probably some 

224
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:06,000
familiarity with this serpent, 
probably seen him, maybe talk to

225
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,840
him a couple of times, knew what
his job was. 

226
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:15,720
There's that layer. 
And then there's the layer of 

227
00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,600
what God commanded Adam and Eve 
to not do. 

228
00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:20,920
And that's the focus of this 
passage. 

229
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,280
They've got all this stuff to 
look at, all this stuff to eat, 

230
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,880
all the stuff to enjoy. 
And we're focusing here now on 

231
00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,600
the one know that God had given 
them. 

232
00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:35,760
So we've got this serpent and 
that word crappy. 

233
00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,880
He's, he's wise, he's cunning, 
He knows how to lead you astray.

234
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,760
He knows what parts to poke you 
and to get you to be in 

235
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:50,880
rebellion against God. 
Got that interesting stuff and 

236
00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:56,200
hear that word nakash. 
It's not a personal pronoun. 

237
00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:01,800
It's not a name, but the the New
Testament authors associated 

238
00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:08,960
Satan, which is a, a proper 
name, a title with this. 

239
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:14,480
So if you look at Revelation 
12/7, that says now war arose in

240
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,840
heaven, Michael and his angels 
fighting against the dragon, and

241
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,720
the dragon and his angels fought
back, but he was defeated and 

242
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,200
there was no longer any place 
for them in heaven. 

243
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,440
And then the great dragon was 
thrown down. 

244
00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:34,240
Hold on that ancient serpent who
was called the devil and Satan, 

245
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,640
the deceiver of the whole world,
he was thrown down to earth and 

246
00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,320
his angels were thrown down with
him. 

247
00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:45,720
And then later on in the Book of
Revelation, we see and he sees 

248
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:50,760
the dragon, the ancient serpent 
who is the devil and Satan and 

249
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,320
bound him for 1000 years. 
So the New Testament authors, 

250
00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,840
they were picking up on the 
language here that we see in 

251
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,800
Genesis, right? 
This is written in Greek, 

252
00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,040
Genesis written in Hebrew. 
But they were seeing the 

253
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,200
imagery. 
They were seeing that this was 

254
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,119
not just a a funny joke telling 
serpent. 

255
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,720
This wasn't just an animal that 
learned how to talk. 

256
00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:20,400
You know, think of, I can't 
remember the snake's name, but 

257
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:25,079
in Jungle Book, like you're just
kind of, yeah, like it wasn't 

258
00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:28,400
just that it wasn't just like, 
oh, there's a giant snake in the

259
00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,800
tree that talks. 
They were picking up on the fact

260
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,800
that this was a spiritual 
rebellion, that this was a 

261
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,160
spiritual figure who was trying 
to lead other people in war 

262
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,760
against God, the creator of the 
universe. 

263
00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:47,680
So what? 
What's the the end goal of the 

264
00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,840
serpent? 
What is what does this 

265
00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,360
conversation look like? 
Well, he says to the woman, did 

266
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,640
God actually say you shall not 
eat of any tree in the garden? 

267
00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:00,680
But here's the first part of 
temptation. 

268
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,320
It will take truth and then it 
will distort it. 

269
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:11,840
It's the serpent here with Eve 
is trying to say, trying to get 

270
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,840
Eve to doubt the commands of 
God. 

271
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,160
Did he actually say you shall 
not eat of any tree in the 

272
00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:24,480
garden? 
He's finding the he's using this

273
00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:30,400
linguistic of seeing that he 
knows that God said there's one 

274
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,080
tree that you can't eat of. 
And so he just kind of 

275
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,320
nonchalantly like did he did he 
say you shouldn't eat of any 

276
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:41,560
tree in the garden? 
This is God's perfect good 

277
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:47,040
ordered garden given we've 
looked at how he given Adam and 

278
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:52,360
Eve instructions on here's all 
the things you can eat from that

279
00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:56,080
one over there is not what you 
can eat from right now. 

280
00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:02,400
If you do, you're going to die. 
But the serpent is trying to get

281
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:07,120
their minds all mingled and 
mushed up, and to try to 

282
00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,560
disorder the words of God and 
disorder the garden of God, 

283
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:19,800
because God never said no trees.
The temptation it it, it tries 

284
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:26,920
to draw us into seeing beauty as
ugly and ugly as beauty, seeing 

285
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:31,440
truth as a lie and lie as the 
truth and goodness is bad and 

286
00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:36,080
vadnais is good. 
It tries to just change these 

287
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,040
little pockets of our lives and 
draw us away from what God has 

288
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:45,440
ordered. 
Why would the why would the 

289
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:50,880
serpent do this? 
Why would this person, this 

290
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:55,880
being that was created by God, 
who is wise and crafty and 

291
00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:02,520
cunning, why would this being 
want to mislead humans, God's 

292
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,720
imagers? 
I have a theory on that. 

293
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:10,240
We'll talk about it later. 
Actually, no, we're going to 

294
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:17,120
talk about right now. 
This serpent, as we see, who is 

295
00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:20,040
referred to throughout the Old 
Testament in the two passages 

296
00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:23,960
that that I read from 
Revelation, seeks to destroy the

297
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:28,800
identity of humans. 
Seeks to destroy the image 

298
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,680
bearingness of humans. 
He still can't. 

299
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,960
But he wants you to distrust 
God, to be brought into a state 

300
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,280
of disorder, for you to not 
understand that you are an 

301
00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:45,680
imager of God. 
That's what temptation is trying

302
00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:50,080
to tell you is you. 
You're not an imager, so God's 

303
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,520
withholding something from you. 
So you got to go and take it. 

304
00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,440
Then you can become like God, 
not just creating this image, 

305
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,960
but you can become Co equal with
the God who created all of us. 

306
00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:06,480
That's what temptation is, draws
us into and tries to make us 

307
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:10,240
believe. 
And the woman, she responds to 

308
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,760
the serpent who is trying to get
her to disbelieve all that God 

309
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,720
has said, to disbelieve her 
identity. 

310
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,800
She says, well, we may eat of 
the fruit of the trees in the 

311
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,360
garden, but God said you shall 
not eat of the fruit of the tree

312
00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:26,200
that is in the midst of the 
garden, neither shall you touch 

313
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,760
it lest you die. 
Now here's an interesting thing.

314
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,840
What is Eve doing in this 
conversation? 

315
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:36,760
Her mind's already getting 
distorted here. 

316
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:40,640
She's adding things into what 
God had commanded her. 

317
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,640
And Adam, God never said don't 
touch it. 

318
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,040
He said don't eat of it. 
But now, even this conversation,

319
00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:53,000
in this moment of temptation, 
she's adding words to what God 

320
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,240
had commanded. 
And this is where my imagination

321
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,920
goes like this must have been an
awesome tree to look at. 

322
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,600
It must have been really cool or
as Cole Cole would say, dope. 

323
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:12,240
So God didn't say don't look at 
it. 

324
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:13,760
Don't pretend like it's not 
there. 

325
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,280
Don't pick up some of the leaves
that have fallen. 

326
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,120
He didn't say that. 
He said don't eat from it. 

327
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,280
So the imagery here is that this
is something that is true and 

328
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,360
it's good and it's beautiful, 
but it's not for you to eat of 

329
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:35,080
because God didn't want Adam and
Eve just to try to source out 

330
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,080
somewhere else for wisdom. 
But God was growing Adam and 

331
00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,120
Eve. 
He was the one raising them. 

332
00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:44,320
He was giving them wisdom. 
He was giving them knowledge. 

333
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:52,560
But Eve is already starting to 
get her, her mind messed up in 

334
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,120
this conversation with the 
serpent. 

335
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:59,280
Serpent has already entered the 
the conversation and it's caused

336
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:04,640
Eve to start the spiral out of 
what truth is, what reality is, 

337
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:13,280
what order is temptation. 
It's it seeks to lure us out of 

338
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:18,760
what God has said is good into 
what we think is good, right? 

339
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,600
It tries to pull us from this 
ordered good world to this 

340
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:28,760
disordered chaotic world. 
And the serpent goes on. 

341
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:33,760
He says you will surely not die,
for God knows that when you eat 

342
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:38,080
of it, your eyes will be opened 
and you will be like God, 

343
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:42,800
knowing good and evil. 
So this is the other thing that 

344
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,360
temptation tells us, that God is
withholding something from us, 

345
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:52,600
right? 
He doesn't want you to be wise. 

346
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,240
He doesn't want you to know good
and evil. 

347
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:58,440
So you got to go and take it. 
You got to go and get what what 

348
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:08,230
you want. 
Temptation tells us life is 

349
00:24:08,230 --> 00:24:10,910
hard, so what's just one more 
drink? 

350
00:24:13,190 --> 00:24:18,110
Temptation tells us I'm lonely, 
so what's just one more video 

351
00:24:18,110 --> 00:24:24,430
that I look at online? 
Temptation tells us I just hate 

352
00:24:24,430 --> 00:24:27,070
this person in my heart. 
I'm not committed an act of 

353
00:24:27,070 --> 00:24:31,640
violence against them, so it's 
OK, temptation says. 

354
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,360
I can talk about this person 
behind their back, but long as 

355
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:37,920
I'm not telling them these words
in person, it's oh, it's OK, 

356
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:40,520
temptation says. 
I'm coming home from work and 

357
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,200
I'm tired and I want to be a 
lazy dad. 

358
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:45,240
That's OK. 
It's just dad had a hard day. 

359
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:53,720
Temptation just takes these good
things and tries to spin it in a

360
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,160
way that we get entangled with 
it and use it in a bad way. 

361
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:02,480
There's nothing wrong with 
having a drink. 

362
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:08,440
There's nothing wrong with 
having hormones coursing through

363
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,520
your body and giving you sexual 
urges. 

364
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,920
There's nothing wrong with being
frustrated with someone. 

365
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,720
There's nothing wrong with 
having thoughts about someone. 

366
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,120
But it's what we do with those 
things. 

367
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:26,720
Tation is trying to tell us, 
hey, it's OK, you know better 

368
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,800
than God. 
God just trying to withhold 

369
00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:30,760
pleasure. 
He's trying to withhold joy. 

370
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,280
He's trying to withhold wisdom 
and knowledge. 

371
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,680
So just trying to find it your 
own way, trying to get it 

372
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:39,880
quicker than what he's telling 
you. 

373
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,640
You should have it on I and 
that's where I find myself. 

374
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,240
I, I'm, I'm a good church boy 
royal ambassador. 

375
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,320
If you want to know the royal 
ambassador pledge, I'll give it 

376
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,880
to you later. 
Like, but it's really easy for 

377
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:57,480
me. 
Like I've never, my sins are 

378
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,320
ones that are easily hidden. 
I'm not like flagrantly sinned. 

379
00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:05,320
And that's what the serpent is 
trying to put in the eye in the 

380
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:10,840
head of Eve and Adam. 
It's going to be all right. 

381
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:12,480
Gosh, just trying to keep this 
from you. 

382
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,080
Just just go and do it and see 
what happens. 

383
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,920
It's what temptation tells us. 
It's going to be OK. 

384
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:25,200
It's worth it in this moment. 
You're on a strict diet right 

385
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:30,120
now, Andrew. 
But that fast food, man, those 

386
00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:36,680
golden arches, they call, they 
beckon your soul right in the 

387
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,240
moment. 
Or as some of us dudes were 

388
00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:40,720
talking about earlier, of Taco 
Bell. 

389
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,920
And it's kind of hit or miss 
sometimes and you get a bad Taco

390
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:48,120
Bell experience and like, I'm 
paying for it. 

391
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:50,880
Then you get the good one. 
You're like, it is worth it. 

392
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:56,880
But temptation is us trying to 
tell us that the steak that's 

393
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:01,640
waiting at home is not as worthy
of the Taco Bell on the drive 

394
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,720
home. 
It's trying to rob us of joy, 

395
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,440
everlasting pleasures at the 
right hand of Jesus. 

396
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:21,040
And So what happens is Eve to 
say, no, that's a lie. 

397
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:22,600
And you know, I was just 
thinking about this. 

398
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,400
I think I got my facts incorrect
in this conversation. 

399
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,560
So no, I'm not doing it. 
God told me not to do it. 

400
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,600
I've I've messed up on that 
little don't touch the tree 

401
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:38,000
piece, but I'm I'm going to 
reject your truth claim because 

402
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,080
I know the truth claim of the 
God who created me. 

403
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:48,320
It would be awesome if she did. 
It'd be awesome if I did that as

404
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:52,840
well. 
But we are a lot more like Adam 

405
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,120
and Eve than probably we would 
like to admit. 

406
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,280
So the woman, after hearing all 
this from the serpent, she says 

407
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,760
in her mind that this tree, it's
good for food. 

408
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:12,400
It was a delight to her eyes, 
and that the tree was desired to

409
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:18,840
make one wise. 
So she took of its fruit and ate

410
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,720
and we're 3 pages in the Bible 
and this is a heartbreaking 

411
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:28,840
scene. 
Nothing but truth, beauty, 

412
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,040
goodness has happened up until 
this point. 

413
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:45,200
God has ordered out everything 
perfectly, and now Adam and Eve 

414
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:53,800
buy into temptation, and they 
let them take it into a place 

415
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:55,360
where they were never created to
be. 

416
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:02,160
So she ate, and she also gave 
some to her husband who was with

417
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:09,600
her, and he ate. 
This is a pattern we'll see in 

418
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:14,040
the Old Testament, but this 
language of seeing the lighting 

419
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,680
and taking the couple of 
examples, we'll look at this one

420
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:23,680
in Genesis chapter 6. 
That'll be fun, where we see 

421
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,520
another divine rebellion. 
Then we also see this with King 

422
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,040
David. 
He sees Bathsheba, she's 

423
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,880
pleasing to his eye. 
Then what does he do? 

424
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:41,600
Takes her and it leads to murder
of an innocent man. 

425
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,240
You're right, we're going to see
this play out throughout the 

426
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,440
course of Genesis of people 
seeing the lighting in and 

427
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:55,840
taking and, and just how that 
path leads to murder. 

428
00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:01,000
If you are not seeing God, the 
lighting in God and taking God 

429
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,480
just the next page over, we're 
going to see more chaos, more 

430
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:10,880
disorder that results from from 
this. 

431
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:19,120
So what do we do with 
temptation, right? 

432
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,080
Being tempted is not sinning, 
right? 

433
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,000
Temptation leads to sin. 
So you're being drawn in to do 

434
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,440
something that you know that God
has said not to do. 

435
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,560
It's the action of actually 
doing that thing that you were 

436
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:38,080
being tempted to do, whether 
that be mentally, spiritually, 

437
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,800
physically. 
So what do we do with 

438
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:43,600
temptation? 
How do we overcome that? 

439
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:49,640
Well, I've got bad news for you.
First, you can't do it on your 

440
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,400
own. 
I've tried. 

441
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,560
You can't do it on your own. 
And before I was following 

442
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,680
Jesus. 
You can't fight temptation. 

443
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:03,200
You can't fight chaos. 
Got this serpent that Revelation

444
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,520
tells us is the one who is 
misleading the nation so it's 

445
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,320
this chaos agent in God's 
ordered world. 

446
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,760
How do I fight chaos on my own? 
I can't do it. 

447
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,440
You can't do it you might like 
to think again. 

448
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:22,880
I'm a good, good church boy, 
legalistic for most of my life. 

449
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,480
And you think I can go to church
enough? 

450
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,720
I can read my Bible enough, I 
can pray out loud with people 

451
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,000
enough. 
I can give the homeless person 

452
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,120
on the street a couple of 
quarters. 

453
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,920
I can, you know, help set up 
chairs. 

454
00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:41,320
I can do all these things and 
that that will help me fight 

455
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:46,200
this chaos agent in my life. 
It doesn't work. 

456
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,880
You can try to be the best mom 
in the world. 

457
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,440
It's not going to work. 
You can try to be the best dad 

458
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,680
or husband or uncle in the 
world, It's not going to work. 

459
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,320
That doesn't help you repel 
temptation. 

460
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,320
Even whenever you get rid of 
some of the vices in your life, 

461
00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,960
that temptation is still there, 
gnawing at the back of your 

462
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,680
mind. 
So what do we do? 

463
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:19,480
That's a good answer. 
The only answer I have for you 

464
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:25,200
is to turn to Jesus because he's
the only one who's ever overcome

465
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,800
temptation. 
Got 2 scenes that you probably 

466
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:31,920
already know what I'm going to 
say. 

467
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,840
And the liturgy already pointed 
to these, but the first one is 

468
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:40,240
Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus 
in the desert. 

469
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:47,200
So he's just been baptized and 
the the Greek word literally 

470
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:51,560
means the Holy Spirit hurled 
Jesus out into this place of 

471
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,880
chaos because the desert wasn't 
People look at that. 

472
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,120
And we just view it as a place 
of chaos, place of the unknowns,

473
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:01,000
a place where things weren't 
flourishing. 

474
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:08,680
So Jesus is hurled into the 
wilderness and who shows up on 

475
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:15,280
the scene? 
The chaos agent shows up and 

476
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:21,800
what does he do to Jesus? 
Temps him kind of similar to 

477
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,240
what we've just seen here in 
Genesis 3. 

478
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:32,160
Timson 3 times in Jesus, instead
of what Eve and Adam did, Jesus 

479
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,040
rebukes Satan and the way that 
he was trying to twist God's 

480
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:38,440
word. 
He replies with the proper 

481
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,480
application of God's Word. 
He replies with the proper words

482
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:46,080
of God's Word. 
Jesus did all of that. 

483
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:53,440
He overcame temptation and he 
didn't do it just for himself. 

484
00:33:55,640 --> 00:34:00,400
Just even after like this this 
week or this past week of Holy 

485
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,760
Week and thinking through all 
the things that Jesus endured, 

486
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,680
all the things that Jesus did, 
all the things Jesus didn't do. 

487
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:14,400
It's like, why am I worthy of 
receiving Jesus's report card? 

488
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:19,800
It doesn't make sense to me, but
for some reason it makes sense 

489
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:27,480
to God. 
So we have Jesus overcoming 

490
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,920
temptation and then we also see 
in the garden before Jesus was 

491
00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:38,880
led to the cross and beaten and 
tortured, we see him in this 

492
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:47,480
moment of knowing I'm about to 
absorb all of God's wrath and 

493
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:51,760
he's he says, instead of my will
be done, he says your will be 

494
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:57,280
done. 
Adam and Eve should have said, 

495
00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,080
hey serpent, it's not about our 
will, it's about the will of 

496
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:06,520
God. 
But they gave in, but Jesus 

497
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,280
didn't and he didn't do that 
just for him to look good. 

498
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:16,360
He did that so that we through 
faith could be transformed from 

499
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:18,600
the Kingdom of darkness into the
Kingdom of light. 

500
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,080
And so a practical application 
is just meditating on those two 

501
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:26,680
passages whenever you're 
tempted. 

502
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:33,120
Like Jesus overcame temptation 
for me to be changed, for me to 

503
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:37,440
be transformed. 
Jesus prayed not my will, 

504
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:42,960
Father, but your will be done. 
He prayed those prayers so that 

505
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,640
you and I could be brought ends 
of the family of God. 

506
00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:55,440
And also just remember that 
temptation is sneaky like it. 

507
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,240
It will creep up in places that 
you don't expect it to. 

508
00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:02,200
You might overcome 1 area of and
defeat temptation 1 area. 

509
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,240
And then next thing you know, 
it's creeping up to you. 

510
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,280
That person really doesn't like 
you, or you should be more 

511
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,760
valued than you are, or it's OK.
It's just a little bit. 

512
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:19,000
Temptation is sneaky. 
Be watchful, which is what Adam 

513
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:23,400
and Eve should have been doing. 
Like, hey, talking snake over 

514
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:28,920
here, he doesn't belong in here.
He's trying to tell us to go 

515
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:30,600
against God's word. 
Adam should have picked that 

516
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,800
thing up and hurled him out of 
the garden. 

517
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,360
They should have been watchful. 
So be watchful for temptation. 

518
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:54,040
Then the last thing I have is 
just know that if you're a part 

519
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:58,440
of this church, there are people
who will walk arms with you and 

520
00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:02,720
warfare against temptation. 
Don't, don't keep it to 

521
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:05,160
yourself. 
Let your fighter group know. 

522
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,360
Let your community group know. 
Let your friend know. 

523
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:12,080
Hey, I'm it just feels like this
snake is just constantly in my 

524
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,120
ear. 
I need help cutting the head off

525
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,080
of this thing. 
And then for that person to 

526
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:21,920
remind you that Jesus has 
stomped the head of the serpent 

527
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,880
on the cross and through his 
resurrection, Jesus holds the 

528
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,240
keys to life, to death, and to 
hell. 

529
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:37,600
Jesus wins. 
God, I thank you for what you're

530
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:41,720
doing in this church family. 
I thank you for people maybe who

531
00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:44,440
are here for the first time or 
maybe you haven't been here for 

532
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,280
a while, but I thank you that 
we've been able to come together

533
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:52,360
under the name of Jesus. 
It's not an accident that we are

534
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,080
here. 
All of us, one way or another, 

535
00:37:55,080 --> 00:38:01,280
are here because of Jesus. 
So I pray that as we continue to

536
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:07,560
reflect on Jesus's death and his
resurrection, as we continue to 

537
00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,960
reflect on the truth of 
Scripture, I pray that it would 

538
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:17,000
be joyful and that we'd be able 
to make a sweet sound that is 

539
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,960
pleasing to your ears. 
And I love these people, and I'm

540
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:23,840
thankful that you love them more
than I do because I'm going to 

541
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:25,560
let them down one way or 
another. 

542
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:27,680
But you never let your people 
down. 

543
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,320
Adam and Eve let you down, but 
you didn't let them down. 

544
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,080
It's in the Jesus name, I pray. 
Amen. 

545
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:42,920
Let's stand in worship together.