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Introduction

I’m not sure, but I’m sincerely hoping that I’m supposed to be up here now. You can’t ever tell how things are going to work out from day to day or even minute to minute sometimes, but I’m glad to be here with you nonetheless. I’m glad to have the opportunity to stand before you. Those of you that have known me for any length of time at all know that I have a real passion for preaching, and hopefully the knack for it is commiserate with the passion, although that’s not always the case, but I do my best. Thank you for being here. We’ve got a great number here this evening, particularly for a Sunday night. This afternoon, two things happened. Number one, Lauren got sick, and I don’t know what that has to do with my preaching.

I’m hoping very little. So that’s why she’s not here. But as I was sitting down and going over my material, I realized that Dave had gone over about two-thirds of what I wanted to go over this morning, although, albeit with a little bit of a different spin on it, and was talking more about time. The lesson that I prepared was more on sacrifice in general, but since we just heard a bulk of those scriptures, I decided to do something a little bit different. And so if you’ll open your Bibles to the book of Genesis, and we’re going to begin in the third chapter, and we’re going to cover some familiar ground for just a moment.

Sorry about that. Says, now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman, Indeed has God said, You shall not eat from every from any tree of the garden. The woman said to the serpent, From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it, or touch it, or you will die. The serpent said to the woman, You surely will not die. For God knows that in the day that you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

And of course, we know the rest of the story. Verse 6 and following says, When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that there, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sowed fig leaves together, and made themselves loyal heavens.

This is the fall of man. And in this passage, we see everything that we really need to know about the devil and how he operates. Because he’s been operating this way since the very beginning. And you don’t have to go any further than Genesis 3. You can go a lot, I brother. You can look at the sin of David and Bathsheba. You can go over to the book of Job. You can go over to Matthew 4, and we will in a minute. But what you see over and over and over again is that the devil does not deviate from this pattern. He uses man’s desire, or in this case, woman’s desire, against them. He makes us our own worst enemy. But before we get to that, in 1965, a radio commentator of some note by the name of Paul Harvey.

Took to the airwaves and read the following. If I were the devil, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population. But I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree. So I’d set about, however necessary, to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first. I’d begin with a campaign of whispers with the wisdom of a serpent. I would whisper to you as I whisper to Eve. Do as you please. To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good and what’s good is square.

Pardon terminology on here. And the old, I would teach to pray after me, our Father, which are in Washington. And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors on how to make lurid literature exciting. That anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d tell narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest through pills. If I were the devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves. Until each in its turn was consumed, and with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions.

Just let those run on. Until before you knew it, you’d have drug-stiffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography soon. I could evict God from the courthouse, from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in his own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure preachers and pastors into abusing power and church money. If I were the devil, I’d take from those who and who have and give to those wanted, who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the incentive of ambitious, of the ambitious. And what do you bet? I could get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich. I would caution against extremes and hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct.

I would convince the young that marriage is old fashioned, that swinging is much more fun. That what you see on TV is the way to be. And thus I could undress you in public. I could lure you into bed with disease, for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing. That was written almost 50 years ago. It was written almost 50 years ago when our country was about to enter the most violent time of social upheaval that had been seen since the 1860s. When the cultural war was about to happen. When promiscuity and drugs would become the flavor of the day. And people would become less and less likely to turn to God.

But you know, it occurs to me that not much has changed since then. And so tonight I want to talk to you about what I would do if I were the devil. Open your Bibles, if you will, to Matthew the fourth chapter. In Matthew chapter 4, beginning in verse 1, it says, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Then the devil took him into the holy city and set him and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. And said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up so that you shall not strike your foot against the stone. Jesus said to him, on the other hand, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and him only, and serve him only.

Then the devil left him, and behold, the angels came and began to minister to him. You know, I often look at this passage in Matthew 4, and I think, you know, the audacity of Satan. The audacity of Satan, that the one that he’s tempting there is the Son of God himself, then surely that has not escaped his notice. That the one who he’s tempting there is the Son of God himself. In fact, when he takes him up onto the pinnacle of the temple, he even quotes scripture to him. He says, He’s give him charge over his angels that you won’t even get to dash your phone, your foot against the stone. He didn’t have a phone. He won’t even get to dash your foot against the stone.

That they are under orders to protect you until such time as you fulfill the things that you’re supposed to do. Now, it occurs to me that if the devil had the audacity to go after the Son of God, if the devil had the wherewithal and the belief that he could somehow triumph over the Son of God himself, he’s not going to be very intimidated by me. Or by you.

1. I'll Start With the Ego

But he will operate the exact same way. He’ll start with the ego. Proverbs 16, verse 18 said, pride goes before destruction. And a haughty spirit before the stumbling. And James 4, verse 5, and we’ll come to James 4 in just a second, read a little more. He says he jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell in us, but he is a greater grace. Therefore it says God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

It’s ego. Almost every temptation begins with ego. It begins with thoughts of I want.

And she’ll insist, and she’ll insert some food that she really enjoys that would be counterintuitive to working out, except that Terry worked her out really hard. Now that’s funny when we joke about it in that context. But how many times do you look at something that you know is illicit, that you know that you shouldn’t, and you say, I deserve this. How about I desire? Let’s just take deserve and pun it like a Charlie Brown football, and let’s just let’s just get right down to brass tacks and bare toenails. I desire. Because ultimately that’s the question we’re answering, isn’t it? I desire. That’s the appeal to ego. That we’ll start with I want. We’ll move on to I think I deserve this. And finally we’ll say, I covet this.

That was David’s problem when he saw Bathsheba bathing when he was walking on his roof. He lingered to the point of coveting the woman that he saw. The last time that not the last time, the first time that I preached for you, I actually did a lesson called the Wages of Sin. And I told you about this lesson and one other one called the three things that sin will always do. It’ll keep you longer than you intended to stay, it’ll take you further than you intended to go, and it will cost you more than you ever intended to pay. I desire quickly becomes I’m entitled. Now you say, isn’t I deserve and I’m entitled to saying? No, they’re really not. They’re similar. But I’m entitled implies a certain ownership of something.

That I have the title to it. I have the deed to this. Maybe we’re looking around with wanton eyes, and we’re seeing all of the things that other people are engaging in and all of the behaviors that the world is complicit in, and we’re saying, if somebody else can have that, why can’t I?

My way. My forehead. Too far. I’ll start with the ego if I’m the devil. I’ll start with the ego because it’s a low-hanging fruit. It’s the easiest one. It doesn’t take much. But maybe you’re a finger on the remote control that lingers too long on a channel that we know we ought not to be watching. It doesn’t take much more than appealing to the most base element that each and every person has, and that is the sense of need. It’s the lowest of all, the easiest to capture, and it is the gateway to probably 90% of the temptation that’s out there. But the problem with pride, the problem with ego is its destructive influence. 2 Corinthians the 12th chapter, verse 19 says, All this time you’ve been thinking that we were defending ourselves to you.

Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. For I’m afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish, and may be found by you to be not what you wish, that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, anger, tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, and disturbances. Now I want you to draw a contrast, if you will. If I’d had more time, I would have made a contrast slide, but I ran out of time this afternoon. I want you to draw a contrast, if you will, to the book of Ephesians in the fourth chapter, where in the beginning of that chapter, the apostle Paul writes the following Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bonded peace.

There is one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all.

What was he afraid he would find in Torah? Strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slander, gossip, arrogance, disturbances. That doesn’t sound like the unity that he’s encouraging in Ephesians the fourth chapter. He says, I’m afraid when I get there, Corinthians, that this is what I’m going to find. And so, with this destructive influence, with this ego, with this tool of pride, here’s what I’d do if I was the devil. I divide congregations of the Lord’s people with devotion to ceremony or inattention to the scripture. You know what I’d do? I’d make you forget all about 2 Timothy 2.15. I’d make you forget to study, to show yourself approved. I’d make you forget about 2 Timothy 3 as well. All scripture has been given by the inspiration of God as profitable for doctrine, for proof, correction, and instruction and righteousness.

The man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I’d make you forget all about that. Because what I would do is get you devoted to ceremony. This is the religion of convenience. This is the behavior of convenience that we talked about this morning in Bible class. And with that devotion to ceremony, with that devotion to the way things have always been done, when we begin to adopt the religion of our parents simply because it’s what mom and dad believe, then what I do through the elements of pride is undermined faith. But I wouldn’t stop there. Using the influence of pride, I would tear down the truth of God and raise up idols in the form of celebrity. Remember, we are rewriting Mr.

Harvey’s work at this point. We’re refreshing. So if you need to hear this in Paul Harvey’s voice, it sounds a lot better than mine. Feel free. Tear down the truth of God. Using the jewel of pride, I tear down the truth of God and raise up idols in the form of celebrity. I wonder how many of our young people know the names of the good kings. Or the judges of the tribe, or the judges of Israel, or even the twelve tribes. I wonder how many people today that profess themselves to be Christians, or at least the children of Christians that name this the Bible. From beginning to the end, starting with Genesis and going all the way through to Revelation. I’m told there’s a song for the Old Testament.

I’ve never run into it. I don’t know. When you get to Nehemiah, it seems like it might be a little bit tricky there. But I bet every one of them can tell us who Gerard Way is.

Or Britney Spears.

These celebrities. People who go by the name of Kesha, who is probably the most reprehensible person that I’ve ever seen interviewed. Just think about every dirty, disgusting trait anybody can put on and then throw it in front of camera in front of the camera in the form of a blonde-haired girl.

2. I'd Learn Your Weaknesses Next

I bet they can tell us who those people are. Why? Because celebrity is the new God. I would use this destructive influence to tear apart the family. I would use pride. Remember that’s what we’re talking about. To turn husbands against wives against husbands, children. I would turn into my path at younger and younger ages by teaching them the lessons of greed and covetousness. I’d rather want the latest Apple device or the latest Android device or the latest PlayStation. I’d have them devote hours to learning all of the rules of some particular video game that will cost hours and hours and hundreds of dollars to play. But I’d have them completely neglect Bible study. But I wouldn’t stop with ego. No. I’d learn your weaknesses next.

1 Corinthians the first chapter, verse 26 says for involving says, for consider your calling, brethren, that they were that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong and the base things of the world in the despise and a despised God has chosen the things that are not, so that he may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But you see, I would challenge a character, and then I would turn around and I would appeal to your logic. Remember what Mr. Harvey said? I’d talk to the young and convince them that God created, man created God and not the other way around.

I’d appeal to your logic. I’d use science. I find somebody very charismatic who looks the appropriate way that a scientist should, and I would make him an internet phenomenon. There’s a guy by the name of, I think it’s Neil de Grasse, who just, who is a NASA scientist who has taken to the airwaves or taken to the bandwidth waves on the internet and has undermined God at every turn in the most vocal way possible. I’d write books about guys named Richard Dawkins, called the God Men. Because what I would do is appeal to your logic because you’re too smart to believe in God. Remember, I’m the devil. You’re too smart to believe in God. And then I turn around and I’d appeal to your emotion. I come up to you with good reasons that you should support things like homosexuality and abortion.

I’d appeal to your emotions. I tell you it’s not fair. I’d get you to forget all about morality and what the scripture says about thou shalt not kill. And about not giving hearty approval to those who practice such things. Romans chapter 1, we’re going to come to that in just a second. I get you to forget all about that because remember, I’ve already told you’re smarter than that. So after logic, I’d appeal to your emotion. And then I turn around and even do the most insidious thing of all. I’d entertain you. I get you to laugh. I get you to laugh at the notion of God. I get you to laugh at the notion of your peers who struggle and strive to serve God. I would get you to laugh at the notion that your parents have held.

That something of faith, that faith is something of value, rather. And I package it all on a comedy that you could watch in 30 minutes. Or better yet, I package it in a two-hour movie that you can come down to the movie plex and pay me $12 to get in to see. And if you want to watch it in 3D, it’ll cost you 19. And through all this, I’ve gotten to know your hunger. The thing that you want more than anything else. The thing that you desire, the thing that you can’t live without. 1 Peter 5, verse 6 and follow him says, Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. That he may exalt you at the proper time. Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be sober, be a sober spirit. Be on alert. Your adversary, the devil, crowds around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him. Firm in your faith. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. You see, what I would convince you of is that I am no more harm to you than God is help to you. And therefore I would leave you open to attack. I mentioned that we were going to go to Romans chapter 1 in just a minute. Feel free to turn there. In Romans chapter 1, verses 28, the following, I’ll just read up the screen. It says, and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper.

Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips, slanders, haters of God. How bad do you have to be to be a hater of God? I’ve always wondered that.

How bad do you have to become to hate God? But they’re listed right there along with the insolent arrogance. We talked about that already, didn’t we? Boastful inventors of evil. That’s the other one in the list that’s already puzzled me. That always puzzles me. And if there’s not enough evil in the world, I’m going to go invent some. There’s not enough bad stuff in the world. There’s not enough misery in the world. There’s not enough depravity in the world. I’m going to go invent some more. Disobedient to parents without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And all they, and although they know the ordinance of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

You see, that’s one of the ways that I would exploit your weakness.

I might not get you, young ladies, into the abortion clinic. Or I might not get you into a promiscuous relationship. I might not succeed in detempting you into the den of homosexuality or any other iniquity. But if I can just get you to laugh at it and make somebody else think it’s okay that I’ve done my job. Brothers and sisters, this is like a game of football. You don’t have to win big. A field goal is enough. The devil doesn’t have to make it a blowout, three points, saying you lose your soul, basically, is what I’m saying. I’d point to I’d point pinpoint the holes in your defenses, and I’d leave you vulnerable by helping you neglect study.

I’d fill up the hours with the tyranny of the urgent. I’d make you busy. And where there is no urgency, I’d offer you vacuous, titillating entertainment. Designed to stoke the imagination and engage the senses.

And I don’t mean empathy for their eternal condition. I mean empathy for their temporal condition. That it’s not fair that the world looks at you that way. It’s not fair that they’re not accepting of you. It’s not fair that those people that call themselves Christians are labeling you immoral because you’re in a relationship with someone who’s not your husband or not your wife. It’s not fair that they label your hobby as indecent. I mean it’s just a little gambling. It’s not fair that you can’t go out and drink with all of your friends and drink and the guys after work or drink with your with your peers after college graduation. That’s just not fair. And anyone that says differently, well, they just don’t know what they’re talking about.

3. I'd Offer You This Easier Way

Third thing I would do.

Matthew 7, 13 says, Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad, it leads to destruction. There are many who enter through it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life. And there are few who find it.

The new King James uses the word straight. The way is straight. That’s not S T R A I G H T like straight like an arrow. It’s T R A I T. Like a difficult, limiting path. A path that we’re going to have to exercise some self-control to stay on. That we’re going to have to exercise a little duty and a little bit of containment of want and deserve and desire and entitlement in order to stay right with God. And let me tell you something, brothers and sisters. If you want to end up in hell this evening, I can promise you it’s easy to get there. And because I’m the devil, I’ll never tell you that’s where you’re going.

You know that path in the New Testament? The baptism for the forgiveness of sins. The sacrifice.

You know, Christianity can be painful sometimes. Sometimes dutiful, the dutiful brothers and sisters in Christ, and sometimes even fathers and mothers have to choose between their obligations of their obligations that they have as Christians and the love that they have for an erring child. Someone who’s stumbled from the way. Someone who’s left the faith and left the Lord. If you just come into the easier way, you can be reconciled with that one that you love so much, and it’s a path without pain. Nobody’s ever going to look at you as being any different because I’m not going to require you to sacrifice anything. You can be whoever you want to be. You can engage in whatever you want to engage in. You can do whatever you want to do, and I won’t say no.

I’ll make a promise of great reward.

I’ll promise you fame. I’ll promise you fortune. I’ll promise you that people will know your name and maybe even see it in life at some point in time. I’ll promise you the love of someone beautiful. I’ll promise you a love like you see in the movies. And I won’t set any boundaries upon it. Maybe you can love each other for a few years and then fall out of love, and then you can divorce, and no one’s going to have a problem with that. There’ll be no fault. And you can just go on your merry way and marry the next person that you fall in love with. There’s no confinement. There’s no restriction. I’ll promise you that you’ll never feel any different than anyone else around you.

You see, I’d like to offer you this easier way. Because the Apostle Paul says in Romans the 12th chapter, beginning in verse 1, therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. Notice that word there, sacrifice, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is. That which is good and accepted and perfect. Remember Genesis 3rd chapter verse 6, when the woman saw that a tree was good for food, and that it was delight in the eyes. And that the tree was desirable to make one wise. She took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Then the eye of the both of them were open, and they knew that they were naked, and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. You see, with a sense of belonging and a promise of a life without pain or regret, I changed the way you look at responsibility and sacrifice.

You know, we talk about this, and this is in one of those easy times when it’s easy to beat up on our denominational friends.

That’s not what I’m talking about. I am saying the devil appeals to us with this very same doctrine and makes us comfortable sitting right here in this building. I change how you think about the roles of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and children. I’ve debated whether or not to read this. It’s something that I put on the internet on Facebook or Google Plus last night as I was reflecting on the tragedy in Connecticut this past weekend. And I began to realize that what we consistently see is that there aren’t any good men anymore as role models. We no longer value men. We no longer value the husbands and fathers and the roles that they engage in, the support that they provide. And instead, we encourage femininity in our men and masculinity in our women, and we’ve confused everything.

And so I wrote this, and I don’t offer this as any piece of stage advice, but it was circulated, and apparently it appealed to some people because it circulated over 200 times since last evening when I wrote it. Which my normal circulation is about two. I said the world needs supermen. When I was growing up, out of all the comic heroes, the man of steel was my favorite. Not because he could fly or because he had unimaginable strength, but because Superman always did what was right. It occurs to me as I sit reflecting on the recent tragedy that what we are missing today are men. I don’t mean the male gender. I mean good old-fashioned paladins. The last few decades, men have become the target of much criticism and subversion by forces without and within.

Men who will do the right and godly thing no matter the cost, and who do the right thing consistently are in short supply. Men used to be creatures of quiet strength, but today quietness and strength have been replaced with a self-serving need for dubious recognition. We no longer teach the value of doing right, we no longer teach morality. We no longer hold up the ideals of nobility and self-sacrifice. Instead, we are left with a vacuousness that is insatiable. Because it cannot be filled with selfish desire that we can t that we can that we continue to ply ourselves with. I don’t pretend to understand the motives of this most recent evil, but one of the common threads that almost always surfaces is that the murderer chooses to mimic the worst in society.

He chooses to bring pain to those he did not know to enlarge himself rather than to lift up others. In short, he chose to be the villain, and he’s not alone. One would have to look no further than the state of the American family and the addiction in the abdication of responsibility of the responsibilities of husbands and fathers to understand where we live wrong. Heroes in real life don’t wear capes and they don’t always carry badges. Heroes fix cars in the weekends and they read bedtime stories, they do math homework and help with Sunday school lessons. They pray at the dinner table, they have tea parties with daughters and take their sons camping. We need men that answer to God’s authority and do the right thing, not for notoriety, but because it is the right thing.

We need men who do the right thing not to gain the love and respect of others, but because they love and respect others, God chiefly among them. We no longer teach our young men to be real heroes, supermen, godly men. We no longer teach a love of righteousness and a yearning to be godly until we learn this simple lesson of love and sacrifice, we’ll continue to turn out villains instead of paladins. We’ll continue to feel the scourge of selfish immorality. We need real men, supermen, godly men.

You see, these can alluring because that’s what society says is acceptable. There’s no reason to be the authoritative husband. There’s no reason to lead your children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. There’s no reason to train them up. There’s no reason to teach them things. There’s no reason to step up and be the head of your house. There’s no reason to do those things because somebody else will do it, and maybe it just doesn’t need to be done at all. Isn’t that easy in alluring way? I convince you that there are far too many people for a loving God to condemn and define morality by the situation, circumstance, individual, anything but the book. I’d make your heart bleed for the sinner, but never once give you thought to the remedy that could save their sorrow.

4. I'd Convince You That I'm Not Real

If I were the devil, I’d do one last thing. I’d convince you that everything you just heard was untrue. I convince you that I’m not real. And in that I would have my greatest success. Because if I’m not real, then there is no God. If I’m not real, there is no judgment to fear. If I’m not real, there is no hell. There is no morality, there is no righteousness, it’s just like John Lennon’s song Imagine. But you see, the truth of the matter is, I am real. And while he may not be me, he is just as real as I am. And he’ll continue to do what he’s always done. And he’ll continue to succeed. If there’s anyone here this evening that owes some duty to God, if your soul is not right, there’ll never be a better opportunity to change that than right now.

Conclusion

Won’t you come forward confessing your sins as we stand and as we sing?