S1: That. He says, listen, don't you ever blame God. As
S1: a matter of fact, don't blame the devil. Don't blame
S1: the world because the greatest enemy is not our external enemy,
S1: the world, not our infernal enemy, the devil. The greatest
S1: enemy is our internal enemy, the flesh.
S2: You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us as we continue
S2: a message called the Inner Me Enemy and pastor, this
S2: is at least the second day that we've opened the
S2: show by talking about the fact that the flesh, who
S2: we are in the inside, is our greatest enemy. So
S2: we can't get away with saying, the devil made me
S2: do it.
S1: That's right. We can't. You know, here's what I found
S1: that I cannot get away from me. Because wherever I go,
S1: I take me with me. And so it's like, yes,
S1: my thought life, my actions, you know, and I and
S1: I realize that I'm the product of some things, of
S1: my environment, of my education, of, you know, who God
S1: has made me as a person. All those things come
S1: together and they make me, me. And I realize that
S1: one of the hardest things for me to do is
S1: to control me. That's why I must submit to the
S1: Spirit of God to control me. Galatians 220 I'm crucified
S1: with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
S1: lives in me, and the life I now live in
S1: the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son
S1: of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
S1: It's the exchanged life where I understand I have the
S1: power of God operating in me. You know, I use
S1: this illustration all the time, but I love it. On
S1: the sea bottom there's a sea snail, moves very slow,
S1: just fish food and has a big shell and so
S1: fish will come. He goes in the shell doesn't do
S1: any good. They suck him out. Boom. Empty shell. But
S1: then sea crabs, they love those shells, so they'll come
S1: and occupy them. Now you have a living thing in
S1: a dead thing and it takes over the dead thing. Now,
S1: when fish think it's a snail, guess what happens? It
S1: moves faster than the snail ever could. Yeah, and sometimes
S1: the fish get eaten because it's a crab. And it
S1: has the the pinchers, the pinchers, and they grab the
S1: fish and eat the fish where the fish thought it
S1: was getting a free meal, it actually gets eaten. That's
S1: Jesus Christ in us. He gives us that power to
S1: do what we ordinarily could not do in this dead
S1: shell of humanity. That's why we have to crucify the flesh.
S2: Amen. Well, we could spend more time unpacking that, but
S2: let's do that by listening to today's message. We're in
S2: James chapter one as we continue the enemy. Enemy here
S2: is Pastor Ford.
S1: You may have a story about the pastor who was
S1: late for a meeting, and finally he decided can't find
S1: a parking space. So he double parked. He wrote a
S1: little note. He said, I'm late for a meeting. Forgive
S1: us our trespasses. Well, the beat cop came around and
S1: and saw the note, read it and everything, and then
S1: he gave him a ticket. And this is the note
S1: that he wrote in response to the preacher's note. Being
S1: a cop on this beat for ten years, if I
S1: don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. Lead
S1: us not into temptation. Why? Oscar Wilde said it best.
S1: He said I can resist everything but Tim tation. As
S1: a matter of fact, one person put it this way. Uh,
S1: lead us not into temptation. We do alright finding it
S1: for ourselves. Amen. Amen. And so there are five sources
S1: to our test. Five sources to our test. Let me
S1: give them to you. I'm going to drop. I'm not
S1: going to push them. There are five different areas in
S1: which a test can come. First of all, there's the
S1: sovereign source. That is that Yahweh God does test us. Now,
S1: we've seen in the text already he does not tempt
S1: us to do evil. But what does he do like
S1: he did with Abraham in Genesis 22? It said God
S1: did test Abraham, and the word literally means to approve
S1: the value of something. So God was allowing Abraham to
S1: see how much faith he really had when he had
S1: him offer up Isaac. You said, well, what was he
S1: trying to approve? Here's the question. Just just real quick.
S1: Here's the questions that God was asking him to answer
S1: when he told him to offer up Isaac. Number one.
S1: Will you obey me when you don't like what I'm
S1: telling you to do? That's question number one. Now, just
S1: don't think he's talking to Abraham. Whenever God allows us
S1: to be tempted, he's asking us that question to Will
S1: you obey me when you don't like what I'm telling
S1: you to do? Number two, will you obey me when
S1: you don't understand what I'm doing? Question number three will
S1: you obey me when you don't like what I'm doing?
S1: Question number four. Do you love me more than Isaac?
S1: Because often we pray for something and God gives it
S1: to us. And then that takes his place. I said,
S1: I'm going to drop him, not push him. I really
S1: want to push him. I really do, you know, because
S1: you got you ask God for that house. Now you
S1: can't come to church because you're so busy cleaning it.
S1: You ask God for the car. You ask God for
S1: the husband. You have God for the wife. You ask
S1: God for the job. Now you're so busy with overtime
S1: you don't even have time to come to Bible study anymore.
S1: You know, on and on it goes. So then, question
S1: number five. Do you love me more than the pagans
S1: love their God? Because what they would do is give
S1: the fruit of their womb, the firstborn they would sacrifice
S1: to their God. So God is a source of tests.
S1: The sovereign source. Here's the second. Here's the second. We
S1: know it very well. The satanic source. I mean, the
S1: devil is on us like white on rice, like duck
S1: on a June bug like flies on stink like grits
S1: on Al Green. You heard what the teacher wanted to
S1: test the kid. He said if the devil would come
S1: to get one of us, which one would he take?
S1: He said, well, he take me. Why would he take you?
S1: Because he already got you. And so God tests us
S1: to build us up. But the devil to break us down.
S1: God test us to purify. We already saw that, uh,
S1: James chapter one two through four, but the devil to
S1: pervert us. And so we need to understand that there's
S1: the sovereign source of test. Uh, there's the satanic source.
S1: Here's the third source. Here's the third source, the secular source.
S1: It's called the world. And does anybody remember how we
S1: define world? What's the word world? Cosmos from which we
S1: get the word. What? Cosmetics. So what is the world?
S1: It is that orderly, arranged system that leaves God out,
S1: that it has glamour and glitz and glow and glory
S1: and gold, but all of it is at the expense
S1: of our fellowship with God. So we've got to be
S1: like Moses, who who denied the pleasures of Egypt so
S1: that he could serve God. Here's the fourth source, the
S1: situational source. What do you mean, Cause and effect. Natural
S1: cause and effect. That God says I let it rain
S1: on the just and the unjust. That there are certain
S1: things that come natural that we can't avoid. Here's the
S1: fifth one. The one we're talking about, the self source.
S1: That is the flesh. That's what we've been talking about,
S1: the old sin nature. And we need to know that
S1: the old nature knows no law, and the new nature
S1: needs no law, because the new nature impetus is the
S1: Holy Spirit. So then what we looked at was James
S1: chapter 113 through 16. And here's what we saw that
S1: he says, listen, don't you ever blame God. As a
S1: matter of fact, don't blame the devil. Don't blame the
S1: world because the greatest enemy is not our external enemy,
S1: the world, not our infernal enemy, the devil. The greatest
S1: enemy is our internal enemy, the flesh. So he says,
S1: every man is drawn away of his own lusts when
S1: he is enticed. So we looked at the inception of
S1: sin starts on the inside. That the devil can't make
S1: us do anything. Nobody can make us do anything. We
S1: do it because we want to do it. Amen. So
S1: the inception of sin. Then he showed us about the
S1: reception of sin. Then he told us about the deception
S1: of sin. Then he told us about the conception of sin.
S1: And so he says, listen, listen, that when you engage
S1: in sin, you have a sin, baby. That's what he's
S1: trying to tell us. So don't blame God. It's you. Now, yes,
S1: Satan can tempt our flesh and he'll tell us this.
S1: It's okay to listen to. It's okay to look at.
S1: It's okay to be at. It's okay to go to.
S1: It's okay to do this or that or okay. It's
S1: not going to hurt you. And my favorite. This will
S1: be the last time. Oh, man. I'm glad somebody relating
S1: to me on this. Uh, you know, because remember the
S1: last time you did it before this last time you
S1: did it, you said it was the last time you
S1: was going to do it. Do you remember that? And
S1: now you're doing it again. Why? Satan knows he can't
S1: make us. But if he can instigate us, if he
S1: can just get it started, the flesh will finish it. No, no,
S1: the flesh will finish us. So he knows one drink
S1: can start you back down the road to alcoholism. He
S1: knows one snort of cocaine or or or one puff
S1: of crack or heroin addiction can get you started again
S1: down that road. One drag on a blunt can get
S1: you started with the reefer again. One pull of the
S1: slot machine, uh, one throw of the dice and you
S1: back to being a gambling junkie. One visit to a
S1: porn site can reignite your internet porn addiction. One 900
S1: number can start you back on the road to phone sex.
S1: So all sin is based on us being drawn away
S1: of our own lust. So the question we've been answering
S1: is this one that Paul said in Romans 724, O
S1: wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from
S1: this body of death? Now how many remember the word picture?
S1: Body of death? Anybody? Do you remember the word picture?
S1: What does it mean? But where did Paul get this?
S1: That's right. That's exactly right. Thank you. Smiley, that what
S1: would happen is this. If you had premeditated murder, you
S1: murdered somebody and you planned to do it. Here was
S1: your sentence. When you were convicted, the dead body of
S1: that person would be strapped onto your back forever. So
S1: what would happen? The purification from the death is seeping
S1: into your body, and now your body is absorbing that
S1: death so that ultimately, because you're carrying the dead person,
S1: you're going to die. Boy, what an analogy that since
S1: we are the ones is us, we're killing ourselves when
S1: we submit to the old sin nature as it begins
S1: to take over us. We who have life die now,
S1: not in our relationship, but in our fellowship. And some
S1: of us can say Amen. Or if we can't, we
S1: can say, oh, oh my. You say, well, what does
S1: it do? There's a plant called the Matador plant. It's
S1: in South America. Let me show you how it works.
S1: It starts off as a little plant, and, uh, it
S1: it wraps itself around the base of a tree. You
S1: ought to Google this. This thing fascinated me. And then
S1: it will continue to wrap itself around the tree. And
S1: no matter how tall the tree is, it will continue
S1: to grow. When it reaches the top, by the time
S1: it reaches the top, the tree has already been sucked
S1: of its life by the matador plant. Then the matador
S1: plant blooms flowers at the top of the dead tree.
S1: That's a perfect picture of my sin nature and what
S1: it does to me.
S2: Hurley is a vivid picture, isn't it? You're listening to
S2: Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message called the enemy. Enemy.
S2: And we're going to get back to this teaching in
S2: just one moment. Hey, I want to let you know.
S2: Treasure truth is listener supported. And that's exactly what it
S2: sounds like. We depend on those who listen to this
S2: radio program or podcast to give and support the ministry,
S2: because there's no huge church or denomination or anything like
S2: that behind this program. The financial needs really are met
S2: by those who listen giving. And so if you're benefiting
S2: from Pastor Ford's teaching, you know, I've often asked you,
S2: would you let us know that? But another way you
S2: can let us know that is to give financially. Now
S2: we need single one time gifts and ongoing monthly gifts.
S2: It's everybody who listens, doing something that will allow us
S2: to cover the production costs and the airtime for this program.
S2: So to give your gift, simply come to our website.
S2: It's Treasure Truth radio.org and click on the link that
S2: says make a donation. You'll find that on the left
S2: side of the homepage. Again, that's Treasure Truth radio.org and
S2: make a donation. Once again, here is Pastor Ford.
S1: All it takes is one little thing to open the door.
S1: Come on, say it with me. Because first the devil
S1: gets a Toehold. Then the toehold becomes a foothold and
S1: the foothold becomes a chokehold, and the chokehold becomes a stronghold.
S1: Come on, say it again. First the devil gets a toehold,
S1: then a foothold, then a chokehold, then a stronghold. And
S1: so here, now we're saying, okay, then what is it
S1: that's necessary now? This is amazing to me. Why is
S1: it amazing to you? You say everything is amazing. You
S1: in the Bible. Here's why. It's amazing to me. Because
S1: you look at Paul's writings and he'll tell you things like,
S1: you want to overcome sin, you got to be filled
S1: with the spirit. Amen. Why? Because that gives us power
S1: over sin. How filled should we be? Come on, everybody,
S1: say it. So filled that if a mosquito flew in
S1: here and bit one of us, It fly out singing
S1: there's power in the blood, right? But this is unique
S1: because now he says, okay, let me okay, okay. Let
S1: me stop, let me stop, let me stop. Let me stop.
S1: Is anybody in here like me? When I do something
S1: wrong the first time, I look for the lightning bolt
S1: out of heaven. I know God's going to get me.
S1: And I'm focusing so much on this thing that it
S1: becomes a preoccupation that I'm trapping myself and don't even
S1: know it because my focus is on it. Because I
S1: know I'm not supposed to be doing it. But by
S1: putting my focus on it, I'm bringing it to, okay,
S1: let me see if I can get you with me
S1: on this one. Then anybody ever walk past a sign
S1: on a bench that said wet paint? Is there anybody
S1: like me that just had to see if it was
S1: still wet? That's what you need to learn about our children.
S1: If we say, don't be getting involved in sex, don't
S1: be getting involved. And that's all we do. We going
S1: to peak there. Why are they so, you know, interested
S1: in me knowing that that's all I ever hear. I
S1: don't know about you, but I. I found out, and,
S1: you know, it was almost too late. The best way
S1: to get your kids to do something that's. Tell them
S1: they can't. The best thing to do to keep them
S1: from doing what you don't want them to do is
S1: tell them they can. Anyway, so here it is. He's saying, listen,
S1: let me tell you how to do this. He said,
S1: there are three aspects about God that are to catch
S1: your attention, that will help you to overcome the tendencies
S1: of our sinful, fleshly inclinations. Here they are. He says
S1: the gifts of God. You see that the glory of
S1: God and the grace of God. Now we looked at
S1: the first one. But but I want to point out then,
S1: that James is profound here. What do you mean? Look
S1: at what he's telling us. He says, look ahead. See
S1: the conclusion. So you look to God. Why do you
S1: look to God? You look ahead to see the conclusion.
S1: Why he's talking about the judgment of God. Uh, he says,
S1: don't err. My beloved brethren. Don't get it twisted. Don't
S1: get it wrong. Hey, hey, you. You have to give
S1: an account to God. But then he says, look around.
S1: Verse 18. See the consistency. God is good. Focus on
S1: the goodness of God rather than your own faults and failures.
S1: And then he says, look inside. Verse 18, see the conversion.
S1: Now we've dealt with the gifts of God. Let me
S1: fill it in for those who are not here. Uh,
S1: Roman numeral one. He says, look, here's how you overcome it.
S1: The first aspect of God that helps you to overcome
S1: your sinful tendencies is the gifts of God he talks
S1: about in verse 17, every good and every perfect gift
S1: is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights,
S1: with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. So
S1: he says three things about the gifts I can only
S1: give them to you. We already talked about them. He
S1: talks about the measure of the gifts. He talks about
S1: the motive of the gifts, and he talks about the
S1: manner of the gifts. So the measure, the motive and
S1: the manner. Let's move on. Let's finish it. The second
S1: focus we ought to have on God the Father is
S1: the glory of God, the glory of God. Listen to
S1: what he says, that every good and perfect gift is
S1: from above, and cometh down from the father of lights,
S1: with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Paul,
S1: what are you trying to tell us here? He's saying, listen, listen, listen.
S1: Here's what you need to do. God wants us to
S1: worship him based on who he is. And so when
S1: we understand who he is, we understand what we need
S1: to do in response to who he is, because that's
S1: what worship is. Let me see if I can get
S1: you with me. He says two things here. You can
S1: write them down. The glory of God in His creation,
S1: the glory of God in his character. I submit to
S1: you that why he wants us to. In the words
S1: of the song, anybody remember it? It came out of
S1: hymn books. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in
S1: his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow
S1: strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Hey,
S1: show me folk who had the right response to worship,
S1: and I'll show you folk whose sinfulness dealt with itself. Okay,
S1: let me give you a couple examples. Isaiah chapter six.
S1: In the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw
S1: the Lord high and lifted up, and his train filled
S1: the earth. And the cherubim and seraphim hollered, Holy, holy, holy!
S1: He sees a worship scene. And what does he do?
S1: Immediately he falls on his face and he worships. Now
S1: he's got the right perspective of God. When he gets
S1: the right perspective of God, he then gets the right
S1: comprehension about his self. It falls in line. In other words,
S1: the closer we come to him, he's called the father
S1: of lights. Okay, I've done this so many times. I
S1: think I've told you a couple times, too. Uh, but
S1: this is embarrassing. Uh, I, uh, you know, dressed to
S1: the nines. I'm getting ready to head down, Moody. And
S1: I don't like to be late. I know, but anyway,
S1: I'm on my way down there, and somebody cuts me
S1: off on Dan Ryan. And, you know, I think something.
S1: I don't say it. I hit the break room. Then
S1: I looked down. I got a dark brown shoe and
S1: a black shoe. Because I wear Stacey's. And so I
S1: have blue, black and brown all the same style. I
S1: had a dark brown shoe and a black shoe. I
S1: had to be late because I had to turn around
S1: because I wasn't going there with it. Now here's here's the.
S1: When I was in the house getting ready to go,
S1: it was dark. When I went to the garage, there
S1: was a little bit of light, but not enough to
S1: make a contrast. But when I stepped out into the
S1: brightness of day, then I saw what was wrong with me.
S1: You get.
S3: It?
S2: This is treasure truth with Pastor Ford. A message called
S2: the enemy. Me and me. And we're going to continue
S2: this message on our next broadcast. If you want to
S2: make sure you don't miss it, come to our website
S2: right now and sign up to begin podcasting the program.
S2: Or you can download the Moody Radio app. They're both free,
S2: and it makes it really convenient for you to listen
S2: on the go whenever it fits your schedule. Well, this
S2: is the fifth part of the series, and if you've
S2: missed any of the previous broadcasts, you can always go
S2: online to our website and catch up there. Simply come
S2: to Treasure Truth radio.org and stream the program through your
S2: computer or mobile device. You can also download the MP3
S2: or order a copy of this broadcast on CD. Again,
S2: to get started, come to Treasure Truth radio.org. Well, thanks
S2: for listening today. Thanks also to our producers, Amy Rios
S2: and Ryan McConaughey. For Pastor Ford, I'm Steve Hiller. Treasure
S2: truth is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of
S2: Moody Bible Institute.