1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,480 As we continue our series on the Lord's Prayer, this is part 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:09,040 three of three. On the 6th petition of the 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:10,960 Lord's Prayer, there are 6 petitions. 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:15,440 We are on the 6th petition. As we consider what this means, 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,200 we consider to whom we are praying, to a heavenly Father, 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,800 Father who has adopted us and is full of love, but also the 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,720 Creator of the universe who is fully able. 8 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,480 And to this God we pray for our needs. 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,320 Last week and the week before we talked about our need for 10 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,120 deliverance from evil for the spiritual life. 11 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,000 Life is very dangerous. We have enemies within our own 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:50,880 evil desires and we have enemies without in the world and in the 13 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,680 devil. We desperately need a champion 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,960 to fight our battles and win the victory for us. 15 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,400 And thanks be to God, this champion is our Lord Jesus 16 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,000 Christ. So this morning we're going to 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,320 talk about this deliverance, this deliverance through our 18 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:13,640 victorious champion. It's an interesting thing going 19 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:18,360 on in this verse that you may or may not have noticed before in 20 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,920 the Greek behind this verse. It's a little bit tricky. 21 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:28,800 You can see this as deliver us from evil or it can be 22 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,840 translated deliver us from the evil 1. 23 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,400 The Greek actually has the article V in there. 24 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,720 And so it's a little bit tricky to try to figure out what what 25 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,680 is Jesus saying? Is he telling us to pray 26 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:49,640 specifically against the devil? Or is he being more generic and 27 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:54,240 saying pray against all evil that we may encounter in our 28 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:56,920 lives? In the last couple of weeks, 29 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,160 I've been arguing for a more generalized understanding of 30 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:05,200 evil, that evil is anything that draws us off, that tempts us to 31 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:10,800 neglect our faith in the Lord. So what is going on with this 32 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,880 particular text? Your text in the text itself, if 33 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,440 you have the ESV, probably says evil, but maybe down there's an 34 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,040 in the in the footnote it says the OR the evil 1. 35 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,160 If you have the NIV, it says the evil one. 36 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:24,680 What does it? What does it mean? 37 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:27,920 Thankfully, friends, if I'm stressing you out with this 38 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,600 question, it doesn't matter that much. 39 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,400 Ji Packer, whom we've been quoting extensively, says they 40 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,720 both interpretation sort of lead to the same end. 41 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,200 Let's look what he says together. 42 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:46,640 Jesus tells us in this petition, tells us to ask God to deliver 43 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,960 us from evil. Whether this Greek phrase means 44 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:56,520 evil in general, so the ESB text, or the evil 1, so the ESB 45 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:02,400 margin does not matter. Good, though the second is 46 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,120 perhaps likelier. The first rendering would mean 47 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,200 deliver us from all the evil in the world, in ourselves, in 48 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,680 other men, in Satan and his hosts. 49 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:18,760 The second rendering would mean deliver us from Satan, who seeks 50 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:23,520 our ruin, and from all that he exploits to that end, all the 51 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,400 ungodliness of the world, all the sinfulness of our flesh, all 52 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:32,640 spiritual evil of every sort. Both renderings come to the same 53 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:36,240 thing. And he, I believe, is correct. 54 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,280 And since over the past couple of weeks we've talked a little 55 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,320 bit about the evil within and also the evil in the world. 56 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,280 I wanted to spend some time specifically considering the 57 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:52,800 fact that we have a great enemy, a mighty foe. 58 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,920 And we need to consider the fact that we have this foe and 59 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:03,240 understand a little bit of his strategies in order to live as a 60 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,840 successful Christian flourishing in the Lord Jesus Christ by his 61 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,680 Holy Spirit living in US. We're going to spend some time 62 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:16,920 on that this morning. Now, you may know that it's easy 63 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:22,360 to get into two ditches with regard to the devil and his 64 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,360 minions. These equal and opposite errors 65 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:33,280 have been addressed briefly by CS Lewis and his preface to the 66 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:39,320 screw tape letters. He says this There are two equal 67 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:44,160 and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the 68 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,760 devils. By devils there he means Satan 69 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:51,880 and the demons. 1 error is to disbelieve in their existence. 70 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:57,520 The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy 71 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,880 interest in them. They themselves, the devil's 72 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,880 that is, are equally pleased by both errors and hail a 73 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:10,320 materialist who doesn't believe, or a magician who's obsessed and 74 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:15,960 occultist with the same delight. It's interesting that our Bible 75 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,480 doesn't answer all of our questions about the devil and 76 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,800 his minions. In fact, the biblical data is 77 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:26,360 surprisingly scarce given the immensity of the destructive 78 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,120 power that he has wreaked in the world. 79 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:33,360 And yet I think that the Bible itself is teaching us to 80 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:38,040 understand his place, to respect his power and his schemes, his 81 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:42,320 craft, but also to understand that our God is far, far 82 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,360 greater. So when we go into a sermon like 83 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,200 this one, we need to stay on the road and we don't delve into 84 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,920 curiosities about the devil and his demons, but yet understand 85 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,880 and respect the position and schemes, the threats that he 86 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:03,240 represents, but also take stock of our resources in the Lord 87 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,160 Jesus Christ. Ever since last week when 88 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,480 Brighton had us singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God, I've been 89 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,560 having that stuck in my head all week because as you know, in 90 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:21,160 that hymn, he's talking about the Prince of Darkness, Grim, 91 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:27,120 this foe, this enemy, and how God is our refuge and protection 92 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:32,120 against him and how Christ will fell him with a single word. 93 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,200 And so as I was making your outline for this week, I just 94 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:40,680 decided to RIP off Luther and pull the outline headings 95 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,600 directly from A Mighty Fortress is Our God. 96 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,800 The first point, we need to do a profile on the Prince of 97 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,720 Darkness, a profile on the Prince of Darkness. 98 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:56,680 Notice I did not capitalize Prince or Darkness. 99 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,120 There's a reason for that. And like giving the credit more 100 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,560 due than he deserves. And the fact is that the devil 101 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,000 is presented in Holy Scripture as a usurper. 102 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:14,200 Titles, but bogus titles. And if you need an image to kind 103 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,640 of think about what that looks like, think of the White Witch 104 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,400 from CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. 105 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:25,160 She has power, she has enchanted the world, she has minions, but 106 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,440 it's all twisted. It's all usurped, it's all 107 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,640 stolen. It is illegitimate. 108 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:37,080 So the Prince of Darkness, similarly, is a a usurper. 109 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,120 The Bible teaches us that he has been motivated by envy of the 110 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,760 Most High. He was created as a beautiful 111 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,760 Angel, perhaps a very high-ranking or Archangel, and 112 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,160 he had pride in his heart, envy for the Most High. 113 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,600 And he fell even before the creation of the world. 114 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,480 And from this fallen state he decides from envy and cruel 115 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:02,440 hatred to wreak as much havoc and destruction as he possibly 116 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,440 can. He begins in the very early 117 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,960 stages of Genesis, as you know, tempting the humans to disobey 118 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,960 God, plunging the human race into a type of slavery. 119 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,040 And he comes in as this usurper that has this weird kind of 120 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:23,520 authority over a fallen world, but he still needs permission. 121 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:29,600 He still is ruled by God in some ways, and his doom is sure. 122 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,159 Let's talk a little bit about where Luther got this term. 123 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:37,520 The Bible doesn't actually have a Bible verse that says the 124 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:39,679 Prince of darkness grim. That's in the song. 125 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,760 It's a composite Luther drawing together several scriptures. 126 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,200 Let's look at some of those together. 127 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,200 In Ephesians 6, the famous Armor of God chapter. 128 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,120 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand 129 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:54,920 against the schemes of the devil. 130 00:08:55,320 --> 00:09:00,200 And look what it says about the devil's power and his minions. 131 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,880 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the 132 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,640 rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present 133 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:11,360 darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly 134 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:16,760 places. This rule is world ruled by the 135 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:21,240 devil and his minions, these cosmic powers of darkness. 136 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,800 In 2nd Corinthians 4, three and four, he's called the God of 137 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,560 this world, and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled 138 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,480 to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this 139 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:38,680 world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them 140 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:42,320 from seeing the light of the gospel and the glory of Christ, 141 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,520 who is the image of God. There's darkness availing, 142 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,440 darkness that keeps people from seeing the light of the gospel. 143 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:56,080 The word Prince comes in Ephesians chapter 2 and you who 144 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,880 were dead in the trespasses and sins in which he once walked, 145 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,440 following the course of this world, following the Prince of 146 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,840 the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons 147 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,560 of disobedience. So he has this usurped 148 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:15,480 authority, this jurisdiction over the world for this period 149 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,040 of time. First Peter talks about him, 150 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,000 this imagery of a a lion that's on the prowl. 151 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,200 Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, 152 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:31,160 prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 153 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,800 Sounds scary. It's hard to know exactly how to 154 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,080 understand the threat. Personally, if I knew that there 155 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,880 was a hungry lion walking around upland, I would probably stay 156 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:47,680 inside. So how should we think about 157 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:52,040 ourselves in this world with that kind of enemy on the loose? 158 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,240 Paul wants us to think about that carefully, so that we would 159 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,000 not be outwitted by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his 160 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:04,800 designs. We need to know something not 161 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,800 only about his person, but also what his strategies are. 162 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,200 So we study Scripture to know a little bit about his designs, 163 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:16,960 his schemes, and we find out that one of his main resources 164 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,520 is deception. He is a deceiver. 165 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,120 He takes the truth and he twists it. 166 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:31,240 We get our word perversion from a twisting, a good that should 167 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:38,320 be a good just twisted. He is motivated by envy. 168 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,680 He is a perverter of truth. He seduces us by playing upon 169 00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:46,520 our good desires. You can see this in the way that 170 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,120 he attacked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 171 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,800 Their desire for food is a good thing given by God. 172 00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:00,320 So the devil comes in and he, he sows a seed of distrust in God's 173 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,120 word. Did God really say you shouldn't 174 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,760 eat? You know, Eve tries to clarify, 175 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,760 and now she's ready. He's ready to lie directly. 176 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,960 You won't die if you eat that. And it says that she saw the 177 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,120 fruit, that it was good and good for food and good for knowledge. 178 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,400 Good desires. We want food and we want 179 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,440 knowledge. But the devil wins here because 180 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:24,680 he twists those desires to get those good in rebellious ways, 181 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,680 to get knowledge that has not been approved by the Lord. 182 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:34,600 He twists things, he deceives, he seduces by playing upon our 183 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,680 desires. Revelation 12/9. 184 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:41,120 He's actually called the deceiver, and the great dragon 185 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,120 was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil 186 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:48,120 and Satan, which means adversary, the deceiver of the 187 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:52,240 whole world. Jesus too picks up on this 188 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:57,160 deception theme in John 8. Very high drama text. 189 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,800 He's confronting the Pharisees. He says you, you are of your 190 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,440 father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. 191 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,120 He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in 192 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,280 the truth because there is no truth in him. 193 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:17,080 When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a 194 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:24,440 liar and the father of lies. He's a liar and his lies lead to 195 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,680 murder. He is an agent. 196 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:31,840 He is an agent of death. He likes abortion and war and 197 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:36,400 euthanasia. He likes murder and he lies and 198 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:45,840 whispers to these ends. He attacked Adam and Eve, and he 199 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,000 goes on, and he attacks the children of Israel in the Old 200 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,160 Testament, and he attacks us as well. 201 00:13:54,040 --> 00:14:01,160 Not only is he a crafty lion and a whispering snake, the Bible 202 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,600 tells us that he's able to disguise himself as an Angel of 203 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,880 light. I don't know about you, but I 204 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:08,480 think that's scarier than the lion. 205 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:15,880 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an Angel of 206 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,720 light. He can disguise himself. 207 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,160 He can pervert the truth. He's hard to detect. 208 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,600 Acts 1310 and said, You son of the devil, you enemy of all 209 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,800 righteousness, full of deceit and villainy, will you not stop 210 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,280 making crooked? There's that twisting, making 211 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,160 crooked the straight paths of the Lord. 212 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,680 So this Prince of darkness, but motivated by envy, is a liar and 213 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,080 a murderer. He works by deception, 214 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,560 perverting the truth and seducing us by playing on our 215 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,240 evil desires. He attacked Adam and Eve. 216 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:52,480 He attacked the children in the wilderness. 217 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,800 He attacked our Lord in the text that was read this morning. 218 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:01,800 And he not only attacks our Lord in the temptations of our Lord 219 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:05,720 in Matthew chapter 4, but the Bible teaches us that the devil 220 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:10,040 himself was active at particular moments in time during the life 221 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,880 of Christ. We learned that he was active 222 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:21,080 even in the Christmas stories. When Jesus is born in Bethlehem 223 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:28,440 in Herod hatches A scheme to kill the baby boys of Bethlehem 224 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,800 is satanic. The devil is there trying to 225 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,800 wipe out the Christ child from the very beginning. 226 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,560 As we go through his life, we see him constantly healing 227 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,960 people who are oppressed by demons, casting them out. 228 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:45,320 There's all this demonic activity. 229 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,640 We have this temptation narrative in the text. 230 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,440 We also have his interactions with Peter. 231 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,840 Jesus predicts that he has to go to the cross, and Peter says, 232 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:00,200 surely not, Lord? And Jesus says, get behind me, 233 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,680 Satan. That's a Satanic idea. 234 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,240 Do not pull me off of my mission. 235 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,320 Later, in the mouth of Judas, we find out that Satan actually 236 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,640 entered Judas. The text says Satan entered 237 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:18,760 Judas during the betrayals. He's on the attack. 238 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,040 He's trying to get at our champion, the Lord. 239 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,680 He's trying to wreck him by having him to sin. 240 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:31,280 It's not going to work, and it doesn't work for greater is he 241 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,960 that is in US than he that is in the world. 242 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,320 So we have to, after this profile of the devil, we need to 243 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:46,200 look at our Lord. What does it mean for our Lord 244 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:52,640 to do war with the snake? It's so easy for us to think 245 00:16:52,640 --> 00:17:00,760 about our redemption being accomplished by the cross, and 246 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:02,880 most certainly it was. That's the moment of great 247 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,000 sacrifice. That's the ground of our pardon. 248 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:08,960 But it can be easy. It can be easy, friends, and our 249 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,880 focus on the cross, to forget about the life of Christ that 250 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:17,920 fulfills all righteousness, that qualifies him to be indeed the 251 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,440 Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world. 252 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,079 And so you need to consider the life of Christ as you read them 253 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:27,000 in the Gospels as part of your redemption too. 254 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:33,360 And the fact that this second Adam has to face temptation like 255 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:37,040 Adam and Eve had to face temptation in the garden so many 256 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,800 years ago, that this second Adam has to face temptation and to 257 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,200 come out unscathed and victorious is part of our 258 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:49,480 redemption story that he fights and wins in these temptation 259 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,080 narratives. If you have your Bible, we're in 260 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,280 Matthew chapter 4, and what we see is this sort of battle of 261 00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:03,720 Scripture, Satan quoting Scripture to our Lord, trying to 262 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:06,360 tempt him. And you'll notice that his first 263 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,720 tactic is very similar to the Garden of Eden. 264 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,920 In the Garden of Eden, he says, look at the fruit, take and eat. 265 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,920 And in this temptation narrative, he goes after Jesus's 266 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,080 stomach. It says he hasn't eaten for 40 267 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:19,920 days. And I love this. 268 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:21,920 It's like the best understatement in Holy 269 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:26,120 Scripture. And he was hungry, hasn't even 270 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:30,600 for 40 days and he was hungry. So he starts with his stomach. 271 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:36,280 It worked so many years ago. Command these stones to become 272 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,600 loaves of bread. But Jesus answers back with 273 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,960 scripture. It is written, man shall not 274 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,720 live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the 275 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:49,360 mouth of God. Stage 2 The devil takes him to 276 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:51,800 the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said 277 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,520 to him, if you're the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it 278 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,200 is written. Now he's quoting from Psalm 91. 279 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,400 He will command his angels concerning you, and on their 280 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,280 hands he will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a 281 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,760 stone. Jesus said to him again it is 282 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,400 written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. 283 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,080 Stage 3, Verse 8 Again the devil took him to a very high mountain 284 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,600 and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 285 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,040 And he said to them, All these I will give you, if you'll fall 286 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,800 down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, 287 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:33,320 Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, 288 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:38,320 and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and 289 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:44,040 behold, angels came, and we're ministering to him. 290 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,600 He does war against the snake by pointing out where he is. 291 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,920 Twisting Scripture uses scripture appropriately, finally 292 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,840 says be gone and the devil has to leave. 293 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:02,680 It's an amazing story indeed. Our Lord is called Lord Saba 294 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:08,400 oath by Martin Luther. Lord Saba oath his name from age 295 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,400 to age the same. You don't often have to sing 296 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,000 Hebrew words in church. We try to make it easier for 297 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,080 you, but we're following Luther. He put in a Hebrew word Lord 298 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:18,880 Saba oath. What does this mean? 299 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:23,040 What does this mean? Lord Saba Oath refers to the 300 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,840 Lord's being the Lord of Angel armies. 301 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:31,160 It's often translated as Lord of Hosts or Lord of Armies. 302 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,880 This is not just anyone. This is a God who is mighty, the 303 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,240 Almighty. And this Lord Saba Oath. 304 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:45,280 His name is the one who takes on the serpent in this temptation 305 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,640 narrative and overcomes. He is motivated by love instead 306 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:53,480 of envy, instead of being a deceiver and a liar. 307 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:57,560 He is the truth, the way, the truth and the life, the living 308 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,640 truth. Instead of being a murderer, it 309 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:05,240 says our Lord is a life giver, someone who resurrects the dead. 310 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,440 He's the champion of the people. He is the victor over the the 311 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:15,240 devil and he is the defender and blesser of the brethren. 312 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,160 We learned that the the devil is called the the accuser of the 313 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:21,800 brethren. The Lord is the defender and 314 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:27,680 blesser of the brethren. Interesting in this text too 315 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:32,040 about how the Psalm 91 is being used and I got kind of excited 316 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,080 about this. I wanted to share this this 317 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,640 morning. It's interesting that the devil 318 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:43,600 is trying to get Jesus to command his angels in an 319 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:45,800 inappropriate way, to put God to the test. 320 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,280 He commanded his angels concerning you on their hand, on 321 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:51,040 their hands. They will bear you up, lest you 322 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:52,240 strike your foot against the stone. 323 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,240 Throw yourself off Jesus. You're the Lord Saba oath. 324 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:57,520 You're the the commander of Angel armies. 325 00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,320 They'll do what you say. They'll keep you from hitting 326 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:00,440 the ground. Do it. 327 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,760 Jesus says no, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your 328 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,320 God to the test. And what is interesting and what 329 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,560 is kind of embedded in here, though it may not be Matthew's 330 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,520 main point, we can dig in here and learn. 331 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,400 You know what else is really cool about Psalm 91? 332 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:24,400 Satan is quoting Psalm 91 to try to tempt Jesus to command his 333 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:26,600 Angel armies in an inappropriate way. 334 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:28,640 You know what else is cool about Psalm 91? 335 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,640 If you just go to Psalm 91 and read about it a little bit, let 336 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:33,320 me show you. Let me show you this. 337 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,040 Verse 11 Psalm 91 For he will command his angels concerning 338 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:39,640 you, to guard you in all your ways. 339 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,040 On their hands they will bury you up, lest you strike your 340 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:43,400 foot against the stone. So far so good. 341 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,800 We've heard all this. Keep reading. 342 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,680 You will tread on the lion and the adder, and adder is a snake. 343 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,880 You'll tread on the lion and the adder. 344 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:57,000 The young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. 345 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,680 You think the devil knew that? The very Psalm that he was 346 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,840 trying to use to tempt the Lord to sin. 347 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,880 Just a couple verses down, predict and sing about his 348 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:15,320 downfall. That prowling lion that's 349 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:20,800 seeking someone to devour like Scar in The Lion King. 350 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,920 The usurper, the whisperer, the deceiver. 351 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,160 Guess what? We got a better lion, the Lion 352 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:34,400 of Judah. You will tread on the lion, but 353 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:39,360 also the snake, the snake in the Garden of Eden, the whispering 354 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:42,240 snake that tempts the humans to sin. 355 00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:46,520 It says even in Genesis that someone is coming that will 356 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:50,480 stomp his head. I remember years and years ago 357 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,000 when the Passion of Christ first came out and I was in this 358 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,640 packed movie theater up in Dallas, down in Dallas, up from 359 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,920 where I lived, packed movie theater in Dallas. 360 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,360 I didn't know what to expect. There's a lot of hype. 361 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:10,520 Movie theater was packed things in Aramaic. 362 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,880 I have to read this whole movie. This is an interesting 363 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,120 experience. And in the very first scene, 364 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:20,120 we're in the Garden of Gethsemane and there's a snake. 365 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,080 I hate snakes. This movie is not going so well. 366 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:25,760 I have to read it. And now there's a snake. 367 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:36,720 Jesus is praying in agony and there's a snake and then I'll 368 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,040 never forget this. I'll never forget this. 369 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,680 This. The scene has him stand up and 370 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,360 he stomps so hard. It looks like he sends that 371 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,320 snake all the way to the core of the earth. 372 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,920 I mean, it just disappears. Boom, just like that. 373 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,320 Now, that imagery is not in your Bible, but it's consistent with 374 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:59,160 biblical themes. A snake stomper is predicted, 375 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,320 and Jesus comes and stomps the snake. 376 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:06,360 And I was amazed about how they included that in the film. 377 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:10,320 And I wanted to jump up in this crowded theater from my seat and 378 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:16,440 go, yes, but I thought I should probably just sit there and 379 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:17,840 watch the rest of the movie, which is what I did. 380 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:24,560 Stomps the snake. You will trample him under foot. 381 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,720 Greater is he that is in you that is in than he that is in 382 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,520 the world. He wins. 383 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,880 And we can go on and see how he is predicted to be the the 384 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,160 victor. And though we still live in this 385 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,120 world where the devil has some limited jurisdiction, is able to 386 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:43,600 create mayhem and we have this, this this enemy. 387 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,160 We have a Savior that has, that has conquered him and will 388 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,440 conquer him completely when He returns. 389 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,520 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He, 390 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,800 Jesus Himself part, likewise partook of the same things. 391 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:01,000 That is, He became human for us, that through death He might 392 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,640 destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the 393 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:11,320 devil. Hallelujah, John, little 394 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,800 children, you are from God and have overcome them. 395 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:19,520 For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 396 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:24,280 Friends, I get a little bit concerned sometimes when I hear 397 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,360 Christians talk about the devil as though he's just as powerful 398 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:32,520 as God. Like the devil and God are yin 399 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:37,480 and Yang, these opposing opposites that are locked in a 400 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,720 arm wrestling match that's just going to be dead, even stalemate 401 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:42,880 forever. And we're worried about the 402 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,280 devil like he has a plan for our life and that he knows all 403 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,480 things and and that he's all powerful. 404 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:52,240 He's not his craft and power are great, but he's not omniscient 405 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,280 or omnipotent. He's able to get around pretty 406 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,680 fast and has lots of workers, but he's not omnipresent either. 407 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:03,720 God asked him, what have you been doing? 408 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:06,720 And he says I've been walking to and fro on the earth. 409 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,200 You think God has to walk around places to be places? 410 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,920 He doesn't Prowling line. That sounds scary. 411 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,200 It is, but he has only in one place. 412 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:21,080 And So what do we need is a respect for the devil, but 413 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:25,200 understanding whatever his PowerPoints are, when you 414 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,920 compare them to omnipotence and omniscience and omnipresence and 415 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,760 the almightiness of the almighty God, which is infinite. 416 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,160 Whatever his PowerPoints are, there's an infinite gap between 417 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:42,520 the creator and the creature. And we need to have faith in a 418 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:50,960 bigger God, a greater God than we do our worries about this 419 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:57,640 ancient foe respect but a greater view of Jesus. 420 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:01,720 What are some of our applications this morning? 421 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,480 Try to draw these specifically from Holy Scripture. 422 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,360 James 4 has some helpful thoughts. 423 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:16,320 James 4 beginning in verse 7. Submit yourselves therefore to 424 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,560 God. Resist the devil and he will 425 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,760 flee from you. Draw near to God and he will 426 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,560 draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, 427 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,440 and purify your hearts. You're you double minded. 428 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:31,200 It's easy to think of that maybe as an unrelated list, but I 429 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,720 think it's probably better to think about that as a unit. 430 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,160 You want to know how to be successful against a spiritual 431 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:43,840 adversary like the devil? We need to submit ourselves 432 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:46,680 therefore to God. And what have we been learning 433 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,720 to pray in the Lord's Prayer? Not my will but yours be done. 434 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,920 Not my will, but yours be done. Not my will but yours be done. 435 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,000 Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 436 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,520 We saw that in the text. Jesus said get out of here. 437 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,280 And he left, and the angels came and ministered to him. 438 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:12,240 The Lord of hosts, the captain of Angel armies, resist the 439 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:13,400 devil. You will flee from you. 440 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,120 And then the opposite of resisting is drawing near. 441 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,040 So you're this to the devil, drawing near to God, and you'll 442 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,640 draw near to you. We draw near to him in prayer. 443 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:26,080 We draw near to him in worship. We especially draw near to him 444 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,240 in corporate worship, and we especially draw near to him in 445 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,880 the communion table of corporate worship. 446 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:42,080 Draw near, cleanse your, cleanse your hands, you sinners, purify 447 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:47,000 your hearts, you double minded. He ends by saying, look, can we 448 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,920 be honest about our sin? Can we resist the devil by 449 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:57,360 confessing our sin, by asking the Lord to forgive us, to take 450 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:06,120 another step of faithfulness? Then Ephesians 616 through 20, 451 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,120 we'll finish with this text. In all circumstances, take up 452 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,480 the shield of faith, the great armor of God text. 453 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,040 Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the 454 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:17,800 flaming darts of the evil one. Take and take the helmet of 455 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,000 salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of 456 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,840 God. And then look how emphatic Paul 457 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:27,160 is about prayer, praying at all times in the Spirit. 458 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,480 And in case you didn't hear me with all prayer, and in case you 459 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,880 didn't hear that and supplication, which is prayer. 460 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,080 So after all of this beautiful imagery about the armor of God, 461 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:42,320 you know what he tells you to do, friend, be a prayer warrior. 462 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,600 Pray. It is so easy and probably 463 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,680 Satanic for us to think that prayer does nothing, that prayer 464 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,040 is weak sauce. Oh, there's nothing left to do 465 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:58,960 but pray. The Bible, I think, explicitly 466 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:04,680 teaches that prayer is mighty, that prayer is powerful, that we 467 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:08,200 resisted, that we resist the devil through prayer and 468 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,960 supplication. We must be people of prayer. 469 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,440 If you also notice the mention of the sword of the Spirit, 470 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,320 which is the word of God, because I think it's very 471 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,080 insightful to notice that Jesus knew his Bible. 472 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:26,960 He knew that the devil was twisting his Bible and he 473 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:32,640 rebutted with other texts. He was able to win this Bible 474 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:37,040 battle with the devil because he knew Holy Scripture. 475 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,080 So I think that's an application for us. 476 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:41,920 Do we know our Bibles? Are we people of prayer? 477 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:46,400 Are we prayer warriors? And I hope through this careful 478 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:48,880 and slow exposition of the Lord's Prayer that we're not 479 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,880 just learning about prayer. They're not just thinking about 480 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,520 all of these Bible verses, but that it's actually changing our 481 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,200 habits as individuals in our times of prayer with Jesus on 482 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,160 our own. But it's also helping our church 483 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:08,360 be a platoon of pray, praying people, of prayer warriors that 484 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,880 pray against all evil and especially the devil. 485 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,200 Can we do that together? Let's do that together. 486 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:17,560 Even today as we conclude. We have a great enemy, friends, 487 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,600 but greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. 488 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,880 We've been concluding by saying the Lord's Prayer out loud 489 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,800 together. If you don't know it, that's OK 490 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,560 No pressure. And then we get to that line 491 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,800 where we don't know what to say. Trespasses or sins or debts. 492 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,000 We'll say together. Trespasses. 493 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:42,680 OK, let us pray together. Our Father, who art in heaven, 494 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:48,160 hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done 495 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:53,080 on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day Our Daily 496 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,640 Bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those 497 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:02,440 who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but 498 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,360 deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and 499 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,240 the power and the glory forever. Amen.