1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 6 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: Are you ready for the word? Shout Amen? One scripture 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: I want to start with, and there's a journey that 8 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: I want us to go on today from one Corinthians 9 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: ten thirteen. And I ministered this to the young people, 10 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: and then I've been I've been dealing with it in 11 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: my own life too, So I want you to listen 12 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: to this. It says no temptation has overtaken you. That 13 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: is not common to man. God is faithful. Shout about 14 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: the part of this verse you believe God is faithful. 15 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: This part gets a little bit harder to shout about 16 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: because it says that He will not let you be 17 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will 18 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: also provide the way of escape that you may be 19 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: able to endure it. I want to speak for a 20 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: few moments. The Holy Spirit helping me on the subject 21 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: of the way of escape. Father, your word is truth. 22 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: Illuminate it so that we might receive it. After we 23 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: have received it, may we water it, and may a 24 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: harvest come from these moments that we have together in 25 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: your presence. Bless your people. Now give him a leaned 26 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: imposture and open heart. Do the surgery that you want 27 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: to do, and stitch us up. And when we finish 28 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: with our time together, we want to go back into 29 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: the world better than we came into this place today. 30 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: We believe you to do it, and we thank you 31 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: in advance in Jesus' name. Amen, Amen, you may be seated. 32 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: So when I said the word temptation in that verse, 33 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: probably a thousand different things came to mind, depending on 34 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: who you are, what stage of life you're in. It's 35 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: a lot of temptations that teenagers probably face today that 36 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: I didn't have to face when I was their age. 37 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: And I'm always like, are you sure you want me 38 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: to come and speak to the teenagers because I'm afraid 39 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: of being irrelevant. I used to speak to youth groups 40 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: all the time. That was all I did was just 41 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: travel all around yelling at kids, keep your pants on. 42 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: You know, the basic messages abstinence, messages. I would even 43 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: go into public high schools and I couldn't even use 44 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,239 Speaker 1: the Bible, but I would just have to teach them 45 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: and try to hold their attention. That's probably why I 46 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: yell so much today and move around so much, because 47 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: I got trained in having to keep people's attention. But 48 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,519 Speaker 1: things have changed a lot, you know. So I'm always 49 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: afraid that I'm going to say stuff that the kids 50 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: are like rolling their eyes at, Like my kids roll 51 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: their eyes at me, And now I have teenagers, and 52 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: and so I have a little bit of a frame 53 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: of reference. But I also just don't want to be 54 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: I don't want to be talking on a level that 55 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: just makes me sound like a dinosaur or like a 56 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: Trannosaurus rex up here trying to preach the word of God. 57 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: I'm not a pterodactyl up here trying to preach the 58 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: word of God, Brannosaurus trying to preach the word just 59 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: naming all the dinosaurs, you know. And yet something in 60 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: the scripture that was really interesting is that Paul said, 61 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: there's really no new temptations. There's nothing that you're fighting 62 00:03:54,680 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: against right now that somebody didn't already fight against. Now 63 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: that ought to take away a lot of the shame 64 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: for those of you who don't feel like you deserve 65 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: to be in church, because if what the man said 66 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: was true, that no temptation has overtaken you except what 67 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: is common to man. That means that even if you 68 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: struggle a little bit differently than the person three seats 69 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: down your row, they need the same grace that you 70 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,359 Speaker 1: need to be saved, and you don't have to be 71 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: ashamed about your need for grace. And yet there is 72 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: this particular way in which when we are tempted, we 73 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: think we're the only ones that I am the only 74 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: one who is experiencing loneliness in this unique way. I 75 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: am the only one who deals with these thoughts. I 76 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: am the only one who cannot get over this and 77 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: just move past it and deal with it. Paul says, No, 78 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: it is common. You're not really that special. Satan didn't 79 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,719 Speaker 1: just make up a whole new temptation for you. You're 80 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: really not that special. It's the same temptations, and it's 81 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: the same grace that was available to me as a 82 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: teenager when my biggest temptation was aol instant messenger. It's 83 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: the same grace for Snapchat. It's grace. It's the same temptations. 84 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: The Reformers had a term called common grace that they 85 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: used to talk about how all people experience the grace 86 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: of God in some measure just by virtue of being 87 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: humans that were made in His image and according to 88 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: His likeness, and then there is that special saving grace. 89 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: But here Paul wants us to know that just like 90 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: there is a common grace, there is a common temptation. 91 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: And so you're really not alone, and you're really not 92 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: that weird, and you're really not that broken, and there 93 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: really were no parts or pieces missing in your box. 94 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: That you really do have everything everybody else does that 95 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,679 Speaker 1: is needed to accomplish what God has purposed for your life. 96 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: Just like we think that the world has never been 97 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: worse than it is right now, Paul says, this is 98 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: nothing new. This is the same old crap. Can I 99 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: say crap in my own pulpit after being a pastor 100 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: for thirteen and a half years, a grown man with 101 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: gray hair in my beard, I'm sure I can say 102 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: crap and you wouldn't be offended by that. Right. It's 103 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: the same crap, same old stuff that they were dealing 104 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: with in Corinth. This church was wild, the church at Corinth. 105 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: They would come in for communion and get drunk on 106 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: the communion wine. That's why we don't even put alcohol 107 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: in the cups when we do communion. I don't trust y'all. 108 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: It's grape juice, it's prefermented. It's welchous. Some of y'all 109 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: be wiling in church talking anyway. It's the same temptations. 110 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: It's not like the church people say, oh, well, we 111 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: need to get back to the Church of the New Testament. 112 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: You mean the ones where Paul had to write them 113 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: a letter and say you shouldn't sleep with your stepmother 114 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 1: because that was the church. It's the same old stuff. 115 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: It's the same to me, like there was some pristine, 116 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: pure holy time when people didn't struggle. It's a different manifestation, 117 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: but it's the same temptation. It's the same stock. It's 118 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: the same stuff. Have to be really careful because we'll 119 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,239 Speaker 1: start judging people if their temptation has a different flavor 120 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: than ours. Well, I just don't see how they could. Well, 121 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: maybe they don't see how you could. Paul wants us 122 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: to know that this is nothing new. It is the 123 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: same temptation in many ways, I've learned that the temptations 124 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: I'm facing now as I approach the age of forty 125 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: are the same temptations I was dealing with at age fourteen. 126 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: The reason that I was so honored to preach to 127 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: our youth is that I was hoping to help them 128 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: to see that the way that they will deal with 129 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: temptation today will have so much to do with what 130 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: they have to face in the future at a later time. 131 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: It was important for me to get that point across, 132 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: because it's really nothing new. What you struggled with then, 133 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: you struggle with now. It's many of the same temptations 134 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: that cycle through our lives, and it's the same need 135 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: for approval, the same need for validation, the same reach 136 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: for something to fill our soul. It changes clothes, but 137 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: it does not change nature. It's the same temptation at 138 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: the root of it. In our hearts. It is our 139 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: quest to depend on anything but God, to reach for 140 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: something physical and visible, to make for ourselves golden calves 141 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: and graven images that we can trust in and say, 142 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: these are your gods that brought you out of Egypt. 143 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: As we grow weary waiting for the real God to 144 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: deliver us in our situation. As patience becomes harder and 145 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: harder for us, as we await the fullness of the 146 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: presence and the promise of God in our own situations, 147 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:57,079 Speaker 1: we devise for ourself escape routes, a way out. It's 148 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: hard to be human, it's hard to deal with the 149 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: fragmented heart that is common to each of us, and 150 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: so early in life we begin to manage the pressure 151 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: to escape the pain, and we all find different ways. 152 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: Some ways are innocent enough, some ways are destructive, and 153 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: most of the ways are somewhere in between. There's always 154 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: a way of escape. Everybody in here, young and old, Baptist, Pentecostal, atheist, agnostic, 155 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: we all have a way of escape. And I wonder 156 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: what is it that you're trying to escape? And I 157 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: wonder what is it that makes you feel trapped like 158 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: you can't get out? See, it's one thing to be 159 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: trapped in a situation. Have you ever been trapped in 160 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: a situation? I hope this is not one of those 161 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: right now? For you? What was that ballet that you 162 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: tricked me into going to? Oh, she took me to 163 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: sleep in beauty, but she didn't tell me that there 164 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: wouldn't be any speaking parts. I was ten minutes into 165 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: that ballet with Holly and Abbey, and I was praying. First, 166 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:16,079 Speaker 1: I was praying for the rapture, and then I was 167 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: looking at the fire alarm, thinking maybe I could pull that, 168 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: And then I was praying, God, if you have to 169 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: kill me, if you have to give me a brain 170 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: hemorrhage to get me out of this, Just come on. 171 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: Have you ever been trapped? It's one thing to be 172 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,440 Speaker 1: trapped in a situation. It's another thing to feel trapped 173 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: inside yourself, to feel like there's habits in my heart, 174 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: ways that I lean and I prop up on things 175 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: that can't support the weight of my worry. But I 176 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: find myself doing it over and over again. And so 177 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: you devise a way of escape. You find a way 178 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: to not have to feel what you feel. You find 179 00:10:55,720 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: a way out. The context of First Corinthians to give 180 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: some real insight to the meaning of verse thirteen, because 181 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: in order for Paul to show the Corinthian Church, hey, 182 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,599 Speaker 1: this is nothing new what you're facing. And God is 183 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: greater than your situation, and he's greater than your sin, 184 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: and he's greater than your shame, and he's greater than 185 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: the thing that has a hold of you, that won't 186 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: let you go. God is greater than that. He takes 187 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: them all the way back to Egypt. The Exodus story 188 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: was critical to the heritage and the history of the 189 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: people of God. It was in Egypt that they escaped 190 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,079 Speaker 1: from the famine. When the famine hit Canaan, God had 191 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: Joseph positioned in Egypt. How many know, God always has 192 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 1: someone in a position to meet the needs of his people. 193 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,839 Speaker 1: I need y'all to shout. With an election year coming up, 194 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,320 Speaker 1: God's going to take care of us. God is going 195 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: to take care of us. And that's true in every 196 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: area and season of your life. So when they started 197 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: starving in Canaan, Joseph said, yet, Dad, and bring him 198 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: to Egypt. God has given me favor in the midst 199 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: of this famine. So they escaped Canaan, where there was 200 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: a famine, and Jacob, with his one hundred and thirty 201 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 1: year old self, had to relocate not to South Florida, 202 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: but to Egypt, a foreign place where he did not 203 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: know the pharaoh. But the pharaoh knew Joseph. And since 204 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: the pharaoh knew Joseph, Jacob and all of the patriarchs 205 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: and all of their wives and all of their children. 206 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: Not only did they get to move into Egypt, but 207 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: they got to go to Goshen. Goshen was the place 208 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: with the Kentucky fried quail. Goshen was the place where 209 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: you can eat off the fat of the land. Goshen 210 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: was the place of provision. For a little while, and 211 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: for years and years, while others were starving, the House 212 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: of Jacob was eating good in Egypt, until one day. 213 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: The Bible says that a pharaoh or a ruler arose 214 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: in Egypt that knew not Joseph. When Joseph died and 215 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: pharaoh's change, all of a sudden, the place where they 216 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: had escaped to became the place where they were enslaved in. 217 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: Sometimes the place you go to to escape will become 218 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:27,440 Speaker 1: the place where you are enslaved. Can I break this down? 219 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: It may be that you are escaping for survival. You 220 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: escape to a relationship that is really not good for you, 221 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: and you know that the relationship is not good for you, 222 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,559 Speaker 1: but you are so lonely. Rather than live by yourself 223 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: because you feel like you're dying inside, you would rather 224 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: join up with someone who is bringing you down, And 225 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: even though you know that they're bringing you down, or 226 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: they are abusive, or they are not walking in the 227 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: same direction as you, you would rather walk in the 228 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,959 Speaker 1: wrong direction then walk alone in the right direction. And 229 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: credit to you for being a survivor, because some of 230 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: the things that you did in your life. You went 231 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: to Egypt to survive. You went to Egypt not because 232 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 1: it was a sin. It was just a matter of survival. 233 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: Some of the things that we learned to medicate with, 234 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: some of the habits that later in life become masters 235 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: over us. They did not start as masters. They started 236 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: as medication. And so we took a pill at first 237 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: just to deal with it, so we could deal with 238 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: everyday life. But then it was two, and then it 239 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: was three, and then it was a bunch, And now 240 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I find myself enslaved by something 241 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: that I escaped too. This is not just true of pills. 242 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: This can be true of sex. You can look for 243 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: a connection in sex and substitute it for love. It's 244 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: not that you wanted to be dirty, it's not that 245 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: you wanted to be promiscuous. It's not that you don't 246 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: respect yourself. It's just that you wanted to feel something, 247 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: and the feeling of loneliness can be so great that 248 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,560 Speaker 1: you would rather feel a dirty connection than a clean 249 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: sense of confinement that comes from being quarantined in your 250 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: own mind. But the danger of escape is that Egypt 251 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: can feed you quail one day and whip you with 252 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: chains the next day, and the place that you escape 253 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: too becomes the place that you are enslaved in. Thank 254 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: you for helping me, Lord, I told the Lord I 255 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: wanted to preach this message with energy like it was 256 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: my first time preaching it. And I feel his health today, 257 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: a chain breaking kind of anointing that can get deep 258 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: down in your heart and help you to see how 259 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: sometimes the place that we run too can become the 260 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: place that we're trapped in because I just want to escape. 261 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: I just don't want to feel like this anymore. So 262 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: now that's why I'm now, That's why I'm going outside 263 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: of God to meet a God given me. That's why 264 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: I'm doing things that make me feel bad in the morning. 265 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: I'm doing things that leave a wake of consequences that's 266 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: going to affect me in a way that has no alignment. 267 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: But the real intention of what God has spoken over 268 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: my life, But I just got to get out of this. 269 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 1: I hope one day that I'll have the courage to 270 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: do this series called I already have the name of it. 271 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: I just don't have the guts to preach it yet 272 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: because I know how church people are and I can 273 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: already see the YouTube comments. But y'all pray for me. 274 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: One day I'm gonna preach a whole series called Sins 275 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:06,199 Speaker 1: with Benefits. Y'all sound a little too excited about that, 276 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: kind of sketchy how much y'll clapped about that, because 277 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,639 Speaker 1: we will hear a lot of times about the consequence 278 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: of sin, but if there were no benefits to it, 279 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: it wouldn't be so popular. There is a need that 280 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: Egypt meets. There is a need that has met, you know, 281 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: there is There is a there is a longing that 282 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: is fulfilled when I when I go outside of God 283 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: to mee to God given need. It works. See that's 284 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 1: the problem. It works. It gets you out for a 285 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: little while. It works until it doesn't. It works until 286 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: it gets old. It works until it fries the neural pathways. 287 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 1: And now it does work anymore. And now I'm doing it, 288 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: but it doesn't even work anymore. And now I'm chasing 289 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: something that doesn't deliver, and I want a way out. 290 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: So Paul says, now you got it back all the 291 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:12,959 Speaker 1: way up to Egypt. And look at verse one. This 292 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: is in the Bible, y'all. He said, I want you 293 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud. 294 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:23,160 Speaker 1: It's the same stuff. It's the same stuff. They were 295 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. 296 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: Remember the Red sea that God brought his people through. 297 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: Come on, has God ever brought you out of anything? 298 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: I don't mean you had a headache and it went away. 299 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: That was hyperprofen but I mean something that was deep. 300 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: It was a pit, It was a depression, it was 301 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: a darkness. It was a mistake. It was a mess 302 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:57,360 Speaker 1: you made. But God brought you out. Shop for fifteen seconds. 303 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: Matter of fact, shout If he didn't just bring you out, 304 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: shout if he brought you through, Oh God, that's good 305 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: to me. He didn't just bring me out of it. 306 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: He brought me through it. And since I went through it, 307 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: I got something from it. I'm stronger, wiser, better talk. 308 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,640 Speaker 1: I had to go through the Valley of the Shadow 309 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: of Death so I could know it's just a shadow. 310 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want Now. 311 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: I got a table in the presence of my enemies. 312 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: But the only way to the table was through the valley. 313 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:00,679 Speaker 1: I had to go through the pain. And that's what God. Now, 314 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: watch this a history, lesson Tell somebody, it's nothing new. 315 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: It's nothing new what you're going through. God's people have 316 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: been standing in front of stuff that they didn't think 317 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,160 Speaker 1: they could make it through for a long time. They 318 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:19,440 Speaker 1: came to that red sea, Pharaoh behind them, the chariots clacking. 319 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,719 Speaker 1: These were not these were not These were not basic chariots. 320 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 1: These were Lamborghini chariots, faster than them, stronger than them. 321 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: But somehow, some way, they passed through the sea. God 322 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,680 Speaker 1: brought them through it. God said, I'm not just gonna 323 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: lift you out of it. I'm gonna give you the 324 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: strength to walk through it. No temptation. He brought them 325 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: through it. He brought you through it. He takes you 326 00:20:54,240 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: through it, not around it, but through it. Keep trying 327 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: to work around it. We put all these workarounds in 328 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: our life, all these ways that we don't really have 329 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: to deal with real issues, all these ways of escape 330 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: that we try to make for ourselves. You know, since 331 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 1: I really can't be happy, let me just take pictures 332 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: like I am. They said we had overflow at Valentine. 333 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: I'm just trying to make some seats for next week. 334 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: I appreciate this till we got some empty seats. But 335 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 1: really it's the mercy of God, because he said it 336 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: was the same cloud, same sea, same grace, and the 337 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 1: same grace that is available if you are facing a 338 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:47,440 Speaker 1: red sea of trouble is available if you are facing 339 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: a temptation in your life that has overtaken you. Interesting language, 340 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: because to say it has overtaken you acknowledges that it's 341 00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: stronger than you. So being told that there is something 342 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: that is stronger than me working against me, and you 343 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 1: know exactly what that is in your life, you know 344 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: exactly what it is that you escape too, that you 345 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:14,679 Speaker 1: have become enslaved by. And if it's not sex, and 346 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: if it's not peels, Look, some people do it with pharmaceuticals, 347 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: some people do it with food. You can do it 348 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: with drugs, you can do it with donuts. That's why 349 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: I said temptation is a funny word. If we start 350 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 1: making a list, we'll make a list of all the 351 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: ones we don't struggle with, and then we'll shout about 352 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: how God is faithful with that. But blame can be 353 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: a way of escape. You hear me preaching to you today, 354 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: because blame will get you out of having to take responsibility. 355 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: The only problem is it gives the keys to your 356 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 1: freedom to whoever you blame for the situation. And now 357 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: you're enslave too the very thing that you were trying 358 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: to escape from. Now you're enslaved to bitterness because you 359 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: escape through blame. I could do this all day long. 360 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 1: I could talk about how when you feel trapped in something, 361 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: it's important what you trust in because whatever you trust 362 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: becomes your master. What are you escaping to? What are 363 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: you escaping from? And have you escape to something that 364 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: has now started to enslave you. Cynicism is an escape 365 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,640 Speaker 1: because it hurts to have hope. It opens the door 366 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 1: to disappointment. So you just beat life to the punch. 367 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 1: You just expect the worst. That way, you're not surprised 368 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:55,959 Speaker 1: and you put your faith in reverse and call it realism. 369 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: So what's really sad about coming through the Red Sea 370 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 1: is that after all the miracles that God does for 371 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: you and after the way that he saves you, and 372 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: after the way that He becomes personal in your life. 373 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 1: The Bible says that even after they went through the 374 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 1: Red Sea passed under the cloud through Moses. After he 375 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: references this Exodus motif that is so prevalent in the 376 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: Jewish scriptures, he says in verse five, nevertheless, God was 377 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: not pleased with most of them, for they were overthrown 378 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 1: in the wilderness. And that's where the battle is. In 379 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: the wilderness. Even Jesus went through the wilderness, and what 380 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: you do in the wilderness determines whether you stay enslaved 381 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: or move forward into freedom. We don't just pass through 382 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: the wilderness once in our lives. The wilderness is not 383 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: something you did eighteen years ago. The wilderness isn't just 384 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: when you lost your first job. The wilderness can happen 385 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: several times any given week. I asked my friend before 386 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 1: I came out, how was your week? And I said, 387 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: I take it back. I hate that question because you 388 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: could ask me that hour by hour and get a 389 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: different answer. There are some weeks I have where Monday 390 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: is milk and honey and Tuesday is Canaanites, Hittites, Jebuzdes parizites, termites, cellulites, 391 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: and when they went to the wilderness, they were overthrown. 392 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: They grumble, they wanted out, you know where they wanted 393 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 1: to go Egypt. At least we could eat in Egypt. 394 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,400 Speaker 1: Never Mind, you forgot about the fact that they gave 395 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: you mud without straw, trying to get you to make 396 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,160 Speaker 1: bricks without giving you materials. Never mind that the devil 397 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: has constantly been trying to keep you all your life 398 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: in a state of feeling like you're not enough. You 399 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: just want to go back to the world because at 400 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: least it works for a little while. We want to 401 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: build a tunnel back to Egypt, and then the tunnel 402 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:10,400 Speaker 1: becomes a trap. And they died in the wilderness. They 403 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: died in the place where there was no water. They 404 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: died in the place where there was no worship. They 405 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: died in the place where there was no perspective. It's interesting, then, 406 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: that the Bible says that Jesus is a great high 407 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: priest and that he is able to be touched with 408 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:37,200 Speaker 1: the feelings of our infirmities. In fact, that says that 409 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: he was tempted in every way like we are now. 410 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: I read that and started to argue with the Bible. 411 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 1: Jesus didn't have kids, He wasn't tempted in every way 412 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: as I am. He didn't ever want to choke the 413 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: very life that he produced. Jesus didn't have Amazon Prime. 414 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: But yet it says that he faced every temptation, because 415 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: there's really only three. I know we make it complicated, 416 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: but the Bible condenses it and says that any temptation 417 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: you're facing today, not just the external ones, the internal ones. 418 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,400 Speaker 1: The same Bible that gives commands about sexuality gives commands 419 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,919 Speaker 1: about worry. So don't think the temptation is only for 420 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: one person. It said, in every temptation, Jesus faced it. 421 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: Yet he was without sin. He was perfect in the 422 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: ways that we will never be. And guess where he 423 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 1: went to prove his perfection. Let me show you this. 424 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter four, give me the verse, it says 425 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:02,640 Speaker 1: that Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the 426 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Why would God 427 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,719 Speaker 1: remember the Lord's prayer, my father word in Heaven help 428 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 1: you the name, can it come? We will be down 429 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 1: and lead us not into And the Spirit led Jesus 430 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So 431 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: Jesus is driven. Is the more accurate word than lead 432 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:38,479 Speaker 1: sounds nice. Driven is more accurate. He had to go 433 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: to the wilderness. Why why did Jesus have to come 434 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: incarnate the word made flesh. Why did Jesus have to 435 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: take on the form of human weakness and go to 436 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: the wilderness. It says that they were overthrown in the 437 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: wilderness when Jesus came on the scene, the true Israel, 438 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: the true expression of God, the second atom. When Jesus 439 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: came the man who is fully man and fully God, Jesus, 440 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: who is the express image of the radiance of God, 441 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: Jesus by whom whom through whom all things were created 442 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: that were created. Jesus came to the wilderness. Watch this 443 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: for a rematch. See in your flesh, in your power, 444 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: in your strength, in your mind, in your human ingenuity, 445 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 1: you are no match for the devil in the wilderness. 446 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: But Jesus showed up in the wilderness because of unfinished 447 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: business on behalf of anyone who would believe on his 448 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: name and call on him in the day of trouble. 449 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 1: So Jesus, after fasting for forty days and forty nights 450 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,719 Speaker 1: had to pay a visit to the devil in the wilderness. 451 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: Jesus came from heaven, which was Christine, to the earth 452 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: to visit your enemy, and pay a visit to what 453 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: is tormenting you. To let the enemy know that he 454 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: might be bigger than you, but you've got a big 455 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 1: brother and a high priest who knows your weakness. And 456 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: he went to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 457 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 1: So now this is gonna be interesting, because how do 458 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: you tempt the son of God. Maybe if you can 459 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: get him to question his identity, and the devil hits 460 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: him with three temptations. Remember there's only three. They're all 461 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: three listed in one John two point fifteen. Spoiler alert. 462 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:57,800 Speaker 1: The devil is not creative. There's only three things he 463 00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: can tempt you with to try to get you to 464 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: be something that you're not. There's only three things he 465 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: can tempt you with. It's the lust of the flesh. 466 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: That's what I feel like doing the email. I feel 467 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: like sending. The lust of the eyes. It's what my 468 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: senses tell me, living by senses, living by surface appearances. 469 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: And then there's the pride of life. That's what I think. 470 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 1: I know. That's what I tell myself that I know 471 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: when I start being like Adam and Eve in the garden. 472 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: Their sin wasn't eating an apple. Their sin was that 473 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 1: they thought they were like God, knowing the difference between 474 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: good and evil. That's what the sin was in the garden, 475 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: and that's what it is today. It's the lust of 476 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 1: the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. 477 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 1: If you're sixteen, if you're sixty one, it's the lust 478 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride 479 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 1: of life. I told God, I can't preach this to 480 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: the whole church. This is a youth sermon, he said, 481 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,239 Speaker 1: tell them just like they told them, some of them. 482 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 1: If they would have heard this sermon whin we're sixteen, 483 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: they wouldn't be struggling with what they're struggling with at 484 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 1: sixty one. But you're hearing it now. You're hearing it now. 485 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,719 Speaker 1: So the lust of the flesh he catches Jesus hungry. 486 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: He's been fast in forty days and forty nights, and 487 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: he's hungry. He's hungry. The devil always knows when you're hungry. 488 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: And if you only come to church every five weeks 489 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 1: when it's convenient. You are going to be too hungry 490 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:39,239 Speaker 1: to be strong against the temptation of the enemy. I 491 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 1: got six claps, and one is my mom. But it's 492 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: true all the same. You're too hungry. You eat junk 493 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: when you're hungry. You're susceptible. When you're hungry, you try 494 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: to turn stones into bread. When you're hungry, you try 495 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 1: to eat stuff that won't satisfy. You try to live 496 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: off of people compliments when only God's validation is able 497 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:10,360 Speaker 1: to sustain you. That's the lust of the flesh. It's 498 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: the pride of life. He said, Okay, if you won't 499 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,680 Speaker 1: turn the stones into bread, then throw yourself off this cliff. 500 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: Watch this. Prove it. Prove you're the child of God. 501 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 1: Prove you're a real man. Prove your intelligence, prove your worth. 502 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:28,320 Speaker 1: Just keep earning and earning and chasing and chasing, and 503 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: never stop to ask why, and never stop to be generous. 504 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: Just keep proving it. Just keep going out there confident, 505 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: and never really admit your need to anyone so that 506 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 1: they can see the real you, and give the water 507 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,200 Speaker 1: to your soul that you need to make it. Just 508 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: prove it. It's the pride of life. And then there's 509 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 1: the lust of the eyes. You know. He took him 510 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: up on a high mountain, showing him all the kingdoms 511 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 1: of the world. By the way, Jesus didn't leave the 512 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: wilderness and go to another place, because the temptation is 513 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: always on the movie screen in your mind. And he 514 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 1: showed him something that looked like an opportunity. But Jesus 515 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 1: knew that he came for the cross. The devil said, 516 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 1: if you bow down and worship me, I'll give you 517 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: all this, and you don't even have to go to 518 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:23,319 Speaker 1: the cross. Just like God will offer a way of escape, 519 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: so will the enemy. But when the way of escape 520 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:36,240 Speaker 1: becomes just another set of chains, Jesus set away from me, Satan, 521 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 1: for it is written, you shall worship the Lord God only, 522 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 1: and him only will you serve Jesus in the wilderness. 523 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:59,280 Speaker 1: Forty days, forty nights. Why forty that's the exact number 524 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: of years that the nation of Israel has been in 525 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 1: the wilderness. Jesus said, I'm going to do in forty 526 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:13,279 Speaker 1: days what you couldn't do in forty years. And no temptation. 527 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 1: Come on, Bible lovers, No temptation has overtaken you the 528 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:27,160 Speaker 1: same grace that enabled Jesus, the same spirit that enabled 529 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: Jesus to endure the cross and despise the same and 530 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,120 Speaker 1: sit down at the right hand of God. This spirit 531 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: lives in you. And the only way Jesus made it 532 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 1: through the wilderness in Matthew chapter four is because of 533 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:53,920 Speaker 1: what happened in Matthew chapter three, where it says that 534 00:35:54,040 --> 00:36:00,880 Speaker 1: Jesus went down to the Jordan River and let me 535 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:03,480 Speaker 1: give you this for your own heart. Today when he 536 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:07,080 Speaker 1: went to be baptized by John the Baptist, it wasn't 537 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:11,279 Speaker 1: just for an external show of obedience. It was for 538 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 1: the voice of affirmation that he would need from his 539 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: father to survive in the wilderness of temptation. Is so 540 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:26,839 Speaker 1: beautiful that I can't do it justice in the time. 541 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: We have a lotted But it says that when Jesus 542 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: came up out of the water, that a dove descended 543 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:36,040 Speaker 1: on him, and a voice from heaven said, this is 544 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: my beloved son, this is my beloved daughter. So when 545 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 1: the devil questioned who Jesus was in the wilderness in 546 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: Matthew chapter four, the dove had already told Jesus who 547 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:56,720 Speaker 1: he knew he was. In Matthew chapter three, I'm trying 548 00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,279 Speaker 1: to say, when you've been through the water, and when 549 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,360 Speaker 1: you've heard the voice of your Father, and you'll know 550 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:07,160 Speaker 1: you came from God, and you're going back to God 551 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:11,359 Speaker 1: and your life is in God's hands. You can make 552 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 1: it through the wilderness when you've been through the water. 553 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 1: But you've got to get to the water. You got 554 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,879 Speaker 1: to get to the water. You've got to know where 555 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: to go in these times. You've got to know who 556 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:34,719 Speaker 1: to trust in these times, or else you'll escape to 557 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 1: things that will enslave you. In the end, I'll tell 558 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 1: you something on the authority of God's word, maybe not 559 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 1: even knowing your name today, God has already made the 560 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:53,720 Speaker 1: way of escape for you, and it will not always 561 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 1: be obvious. Let me promise you. The Red Sea did 562 00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:01,560 Speaker 1: not look like a four lane highway. It looked like 563 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:05,520 Speaker 1: a death trap. But it is sometimes straight through the 564 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:09,640 Speaker 1: thing that you fear that leads to the freedom that 565 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:20,920 Speaker 1: you desire. He will not allow you to be tempted 566 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: beyond what you are able. Oh yeah, well, on your own, 567 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:28,520 Speaker 1: you'll be overthrown in the wilderness too. And if you've 568 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,360 Speaker 1: been in a wilderness season by yourself. That's the problem. 569 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: You need to go down to the waters. You need 570 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,920 Speaker 1: to go down to the waters where you can worship 571 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:43,000 Speaker 1: God and be filled with His presence. This is a 572 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: ministry moment for somebody who needs water for your soul. 573 00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:50,240 Speaker 1: The Bible says that the spiritual rock in the desert 574 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,440 Speaker 1: is the same rock that we stand on today. It 575 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:56,799 Speaker 1: is Christ on Christ, the solid rock I stand. All 576 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: of the ground is sinking sand. Every other thing will 577 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,839 Speaker 1: pass away. But he who does the will of God 578 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:10,120 Speaker 1: lives forever. And so listen to me as by grace 579 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,040 Speaker 1: that you are saved. It is not through effort. It 580 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,399 Speaker 1: is not through behavior modification. If that would have worked, 581 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,080 Speaker 1: it would have worked by now. If it could work, 582 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,680 Speaker 1: it would have worked by now. If you could be 583 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:24,960 Speaker 1: free in your flesh, should be free from now. You 584 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,440 Speaker 1: need the water, You need the spirit. You need the 585 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:29,799 Speaker 1: voice that is above you. You need the voice that 586 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:37,920 Speaker 1: is within you. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks 587 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:40,480 Speaker 1: to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 588 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,759 Speaker 1: Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 589 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,240 Speaker 1: can click the link in the description to give now, 590 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more 591 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:53,960 Speaker 1: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 592 00:39:54,239 --> 00:39:56,279 Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends. You can click 593 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,560 Speaker 1: the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 594 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:01,439 Speaker 1: your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks 595 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:02,840 Speaker 1: again for listening. God bless you.