Welcome…Guests
Slide #1 Hunting Lion
1 Peter 5:8… “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Question…True or false…Do you believe Satan is real?
With the Current relationship you have with Christ…Does Satan think of you as a threat (threat…making a difference in the eternal kingdom… your obedience is noticed…your heart is one like David’s…)?
Or when Satan here’s your name… (He just chuckles because…) he’s not even concerned with you at all?
If your answer is no…that Satan is not concerned with you at all…why not make a change. (It’s never too late)
If you answered Yes to this question…(that Satan does think of you as a threat)…
Just like the ones who answered no…I want you to realize that you are not alone fighting against Satan.
Every day that God allows you to wakeup…and commit your life to Him…you become a target of Satan.
Satan tries his best to tempt you into doing things that will disrupt God’s plan for mankind.
In Matthew chapter 4…Jesus finds Himself being tempted 3 times by Satan…
Satan’s knew if he could make Jesus sin by tempting Him... that he would knock out a key player in his battle against God.
Of course by reading Matthew Chapter 4 we see that Satan failed in his efforts to tempt Jesus…
And as a result of failing to control Jesus through temptation…today…you and I are left facing the battle with Satan trying to control our lives by daily tempting us.
I’m not here today to scare you into surrendering your life over to God…
But I am here today to make you aware… make you aware that…
Satan is real…and whether or not you agree to fight or not…you are in a battle.
It is a battle that not only daily challenges the relationship you have with God…but it will even make you question if there is a God at all.
One of the most difficult challenges of finding out if God Does Care about people… is realizing that both Christians and non-Christians alike are in constant battle with the enemy of God.
The enemy’s number one concern in this life is to consume you…totally control you…to saturate your mind with lies and meaningless things.
If you had the opportunity to sit down with Satan and ask him a few questions…what would you ask?
Video…Interview with Satan (YouTube) (by Live Church)
Slide #2
By watching this video we see...a very possible questionnaire that might take place between Satan and man.
We hear Satan joking about problems within the church…
He begins by tempting Craig with a cookie because he is choosing to fast…
We also heard how Satan has learned to love the church…by turning us against each other.
He loves to cause division by slander worship styles…traditional vs. contemporary…
He causes deacons to fight against other deacons …we even saw how he encourages you to drink alcohol.
And even though this was just a fake interview with Satan… unfortunately…the truth about this video is… all that we just heard about him is true…
He loves to cause division within the church body…
He loves to break up the unity that is being established in the church through the preaching and teaching of the Bible.
He wants to keep you from focusing on what’s important in this life… (Helping people…and sharing Jesus with the lost)
I feel that it’s important for you to realize that you are not fighting this battle today alone.
Satan is real…and we all need to learn how to fight against him.
Stand with me as we read from God’s training manual…
Matthew chapter 4: beginning with verse 1
Prayer……….You May Be Seated
How does Satan tempt us today? Just like Jesus’ temptation.
I believe that there are 3 main areas where Satan tempts us today.
The first way that I see Satan tempt us today is….
Slide #3 He Physically Tempts You
I first need to share with you that…Satan hates Jesus (Craig Groeschel clearly showed at the end of his interview with Satan… that …by mentioning Jesus name around him…Satan will flee from you)…
Satan wants to turn the church and everyone in it against God.
Since Satan’s efforts failed against Jesus…He has redirected his fight by personally targeting each of you. (He knows when you’re at your weakest)
Did you happen to catch from our reading that Jesus wasn’t tempted by Satan when He was in the Temple/Church or even when He was being baptized? (read vs. 1)
No…Satan knew Jesus would be most vulnerable when he was all alone.
Just like we read in verse one…you too are most vulnerable when you are by yourself.
How effective would Satan be targeting you after you just get done sing praises to him?
Satan knows that he can penetrate you when you are under life’s emotional stresses…
-When you are exhausted from work…He tells you…you deserve a break…you don’t need to go to church…you don’t need to read your bible…you don’t need to pray…(just…flip on the TV and see who gonna be the next American Idol is going to be)
-What about when your all alone? ...He plants thoughts in your mind like…if God truly did Love you…you wouldn’t be alone…He would have already given you a close friend…
-He clouds your minds with the uncertainties of life…When things are out of your hands and you cannot fix the problem.
He also knows that if he causes people inside the church to battle against each other...then their focus in not on the lost and he’s winning the battle
In verses 2& 3…when Satan tempted Jesus…He knew that Jesus was physically hungry. (40 days)
You have to be prepared to battle this enemy in your own physical body.
He’ll hit you below the belt line…in areas of your life like…
(Kids)…Telling you it ok to cheat on a test in school…(Adults)… having sex before marriage is an acceptable practice today…or telling you it’s ok to have an affair after you are married…
He will physically beat you up if you let him…
Be prepared to fight him…(hold up the bible)…tell him you been training for him and you’re ready to fight. (he will flee James 4:7)
The Second way that I see Satan tempt us today is….
Slide # 4 He Spiritually Tempts You
Throughout the New Testament we see Satan revealed as a real vital power.
In verse 6…we see where Satan Spiritually tempted Jesus by quoting scripture.
And weather you realize it or not…he is the ruler of a kingdom that has powers…He rules over Demons and rulers of the darkness.
He is the god (small g) and prince of this world…by controlling those who deny the name of Jesus.
And he is currently… still on the prowl seeking out those who oppose God the Father. (I Peter 5:8) … “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
He tries his best to make you believe that the bible is untrue…
He even tempts you through people...even some of the people you hang around with… they will try and convince you to try things or do things that you know the Bible says are wrong.
When sins like these happen in our personal lives…we try and cover them up by…looking for verses in the bible that prove in our own minds that what we did was right.
But truth being told…It is way too easy to take the bible out of context and just say we didn’t realize what we did was wrong.
This is the reason it is important for you to realize… it is important that you make time for God and the studying of His word.
If you are one here today that uses the excuse that you don’t have enough time or that your way too busy for God.
All you are doing is telling God that He is not important enough for you to take the time to invest in Him.
This is exactly what Satan wants you to say and do.
Last week Aaron did a great job with the message…and I loved the illustration that he used at the end of his message. (Rope)
Satan will trick you into thinking you don’t have time for God.
Don’t become his next victim of control.
The Third way that I see Satan tempt us today is….
Slide #5 He Tempts You
Psy-cho-logically (In our minds)
In verses 8&9 (read)…The Devil offered the whole world to Jesus…if He would only kneel down and worship him.
Today the devil still offers us the world by offering us materialism and power.
Satan has the power to control the mind…keeping you from growing in Godly direction.
Satan is just like a weed that grows in the yard…it starts out small but when left unattended…it soon chocks out everything around it… stealing every bit of nutrition surrounding it.
Satan will tell you that missing one Sunday…or missing one Wednesday service will not harm you.
But this is where he is fooling you.
The service you choose to miss had valuable information that God personally needed you to hear.
There is nothing more God wants right now than to see this church grow physically.
But I also know that in order for the church to grow in number…you must be growing personally in your own life through Him…
You have got to be the one who steps up to the call and say…as Joshua 24:15 does… “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Slide #6
Read Matthew 4:10-11…
When you proclaim the name of Jesus
…Satan is left with no other option but to leave.
It’s time for you…the church too step up and show Satan who’s in charge of your life.
Satan will never give up in his fight against God until the day that God himself returns to retrieve His children.
(Hold up Bible)
Until that time…it’s your responsibility to take up your shield and fight.
Slide #7
Please Stand
