stand together and sing hymn number 132. 132. I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer. And just the time I need Him, He's always near. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. In all the world around me, I see His loving care. And though my heart grows weary, I never will despair. I know that He is leading through all the stormy blasts. And the day of His appearing will come at last.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me. a long life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find Another is so loving, so good and kind. He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me, a long life's narrowing. He lives, Be seated and we'll sing hymn number 125. 125. I hear the Savior say, My strength indeed is small, Child of weakness, watch and pray, find in me thine all in all.

Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find Thy power in thine alone Can change the leper's spots And melt the heart of stone Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I Whereby thy grace to claim I'll wash my garments white In the blood of Calvary's Lamb Jesus made it all All to Him I owe. Sin hath left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. And when before the throne I stand in view complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat, Jesus paid it all.

All to him I owe. Sin hath left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. I believe the fella that wrote that knew the Lord. words have been spoken. Jesus paid it all. He left anything unpaid that we have to pay. We ain't got it. We just don't have it. Turn with me to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. Read the first 13 verses. And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being 40 days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing, and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. Our Lord answered him and saying, It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I will give it.

If therefore thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And our Lord answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Our Lord and our God, we come into your presence. You told us in your word, not come before you, be rash with our mouth, Let our, because you're in heaven and we're on the earth, you're spirit and we're flesh, and oh Lord, we come to you and so thankful that we can.

Oh, what a blessing, what a privilege. Lord, I never get over the fact, the truth, that we can come into a place that the high priest can only come before, into the holiest of holies, And we can come because our Lord Jesus Christ entered into that holy place, offered his own blood in your presence, and obtained eternal redemption for us, that we can now come without spot, without blemish, come in a righteousness that you gave us, come in the merit of your blessed son. And Lord, we come with liberty and boldness and comfort and assurance into the presence of the infinitely holy and righteous God. And Lord, we would love if it would please you today and be thankful if it pleased you to bless your word.

God bless your word to our hearts, our understanding. Lord, please open hearts, open minds, plant seed in hearts. Lord, we sow the word, but Fruit can only come from you. The life can only come from you. And so, Lord, we look to you to do what needs to be done today to bring glory to yourself.

And, Lord, we pray for our families. Oh, God, our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren that's growing up. Oh, Lord, please be merciful to them. God, for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, convince them of their sin, convince them of their need of the Lord Jesus Christ, convince them of the awful state they are in the presence of God himself. And Lord Jesus, again, we also pray for our brothers and sisters who are being tried. We are as in bonds with them. And so, Lord, bless them, strengthen them, encourage them. meet the needs of their home, meet the needs of their heart. Bring glory to yourself through us today. For Christ's sake, amen. Let's stand together and sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin.

Added to Jehovah's law, my soul by nature stood. And justice was about to draw his sword to shed my blood. Sinner, stand forth, he sternly cried, and pay me what you owe. Tis done, said Jesus, for I died, loosed Him, and let Him go. I am His surety, I the Lord Behold my wounded side He's faking justice, drop his sword and said I'm satisfied.

When first I heard my surety's voice engaging for ♪ My sake ♪ It made my fainting heart ♪ Rejoice ♪ And fade my songs away ♪ Dear sure today to take the praise of grace and love so vast. Be thou my surety all my days, and clear I want to talk about our Lord's temptation today.

And the scriptures tells us plainly that he was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. And the word tempt, the word tempt, look in verse two, being 40 days tempted of the devil. The word tempt in the scriptures has two different meanings. and come from two different sources.

When it says God did tempt Abraham, that mean he tried him. When he asked, told him to take Isaac up on the mountain, he tried him. But here, when it says he tempted him, that means to entice. It means to allure. It means to try to deceive. And Satan tempted Christ, enticed him, tried to allure him. tried to make him become something he wasn't.

And God's trials for us is always good. When God sends us a trial, it's always good. The trying of our faith being much more precious than of gold, though it be tried under fire, that it might be found under praise and glory at our Lord Jesus Christ's coming.

In all things, I mean, that comprehends everything. All things work together for our good, who are called according to God's purpose. And Job said it this way. Job said, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold, for he knoweth that the way that I take. So God, when he tries us, it has a wonderful, wonderful, it's a good thing for him to try us. And God's people are going to be tried.

I want you to look with me in Psalm. And you know, here's the thing about it. We want to be tried. We want to be tried. Now, look what he said in Psalm 139. Over here in Psalm 139. You know, down in verse 23 and 24. what he says here. Now we, I know I want, I want to be found in Christ. I want to win Christ. I want to know Christ. I, one thing that I know about myself and my heart, that if it, my heart's deceitful and I know that sin's deceitful. Sin itself is deceitful. And Satan hates to give up the people that he's had in control over. But look what he said here in verse 23 of Psalm 139. And I believe every believer prays this occasionally.

Search me, O God. Know my heart. Try me. Try me. And know my thoughts. And see, when you see me, and try me, and know my heart, search me. And if you see, if there be any wicked way in me, Oh Lord, lead me, lead me away from that and lead me in the way everlasting. Oh, trials are not fun, but they're necessary and they're good. They're good. And I certainly don't want to be deceived, but Satan, Satan always, always His ways are always evil. God's are always good. Satan's is always evil. Always evil.

You know, he's called a serpent. Over in Revelation, he's called a serpent. In the Garden of Eden, he was a serpent. He's called an angel of light because he can transform himself. He's a roaring lion and he's called a dragon. He's a master, master beguiler.

The apostle said, you know, I fear lest Satan beguile you from the simplicity that's in Christ. Of all the things he wants you to do, he wants to get you away from the simplicity that's in Christ, the singularity that's in Christ. If he can get you on anything besides Christ, he's got you where he wants you. That's why it's so imperative that we preach the gospel. You know, let's look at our Lord's temptation and notice several things about it.

Now, back over here in our text here in Luke chapter 4, look what it says in verse 1. And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. What time? Look at the time it was. Now, you remember last week. Turn back over to chapter 3 and look at what it says here. This is when it happened.

This is the time that Satan came to tempt Christ. This talks about in verse 21, after the heavens, our Lord praying, and the heavens were opened. And when the Holy Ghost came upon him, when God said, You're my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, this was the time. when he was tempted and led of the Spirit into the wilderness. It was after the heavens were opened, after the Holy Spirit had descended upon him. And there was an order there when our Lord Jesus Christ, the heavens was opened. He was owned by the Father. This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. He was anointed by the Spirit of God.

And then, then he was tempted of the devil. After he left Jordan, after he come out from baptism, the Holy Spirit led him out into the wilderness to be tempted. And it says there in verse 2, tempted 40 days, 40 days tempted of the devil. It all gives us three things that Satan said to him. But he was tempted of the devil 40 days, 40 days. Forty days always has to do with trials and temptations. Moses was on the mountain 40 days. And so 40 days has to do with temptations.

And I tell you, you know, after Paul was called up to the third heaven, that's when the messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him. It was after God said, if you consider Satan come walking about among the sons of God, and he come asking God after God said, if you considered my servant, Job, a just and an upright man.

That's when Satan said, you let me at him and I'll make him curse you to your face. It's after God sets his approval on something and God says, this is mine, this is my servant, this is my son, this is my righteous, that's when Satan comes. When God approves of something. When God says, this is mine, that's when he comes. And oh my, it's after God's testament that God came at him. And it's only after God owns you or me, and after the Holy Spirit's anoints us, that's when Satan tries us.

You know, he despises to give up his goods. As long as he's in control, his palaces, his goods are safe until a stronger comes upon him. and disarmed him, and spoils his goods." And look at the place. The time was after he had just come from baptism. And look at the place.

He was, verse 1, being led by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. You know, our Lord was taken into the wilderness and was tempted. You know where Adam was tempted at? He was in paradise. He was in paradise. And yet he failed in paradise. He sinned while he's in paradise. Christ is in the wilderness. What a difference. There he is. There's our first father, Adam, in the paradise, in the Garden of Eden. Here's our Lord Jesus Christ led off into the wilderness.

And oh my, our master is alone out here in this wilderness. Our master is alone out here where the beasts are. And all of our Lord's battles, all of our Lord's battles must be fought alone. All have to be fought alone. He's alone with the devil in the wilderness. He was alone in the garden of Gethsemane. He was alone when he took that cup He was alone when he tread the winepress of the fierceness of God's wrath. He was alone. He was alone with his own cross. He said, even my God, my God has forsaken me.

And I tell you what, soul battles, soul battles are solemn battles. And I, Lord Jesus Christ, will only, you and I, will only be tempted while we're in this wilderness. There'll come a day, bless His holy name, there'll come a day when we'll leave this world.

And that old song that we sang, sin and sense shall molest me no more. Oh, what a day that's going to be when we don't have to deal with sin anymore. We won't have to deal with it in our thoughts, deal with it in our hearts, deal with it in our flesh, deal with pride, deal with self-righteousness. Oh, these soul battles will be over one of these days. And sin, sin, as far as God's concerned, we don't have it, but we know we do. And one of these days, bless His name, we'll be done with this thing called sin. We'll be done with this thing called sins.

Oh, I tell you what. That's why He says, our Lord says, you know, you'll be tempted. You'll be tempted like every man will. But He said, I will with your temptation. When you are tempted, when I'll make a way through your temptation, I'll make a way for you to escape.

You know, Satan tried to have... You know, he said... Our Lord said to Simon Peter, said, Satan has decided to sift you as wheat. You take wheat and sift it. He said, he wants to sift you like wheat. He said, but I prayed for you. I prayed for you. Lord, he said, I called on my father, said, Simon Peter, Satan wants him. Satan wants to shift him. But I prayed for you.

And I'll tell you what, you're going to think your faith is going to fail, but it ain't. I'm going to make a way out for you. I'm going to make a way out for you. Ain't you grateful that God makes a way out? You know, I've heard a preacher say one time, if providence and sin without providence meets at the same time, if sin and temptation meet at the same time, you're gone. But if providence, God and His mercy meet you at the same time sin tempts you, then you're going to be all right. He'll keep you. He'll keep you. And oh my. And look what else it says, the one that was tempted. And it says in verse 1, Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost. And Jesus answered him.

Why is he called him Jesus here? This is showing our Lord's humanity. Here he is, a man. He's a man, but Satan questioned him all the time whether he was really the Son of God or not. But this shows how our Lord Jesus Christ was truly human, truly identified with us. And yet, a God cannot be tempted, but our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted. He really was. If the temptation wasn't real, and the temptation was real, But the difference in Him being tempted and us being tempted, He does it without sin.

He shows us in all these temptations that it's impossible for our Lord to sin. And I know that people say, well, the temptation, it could not have been real or He would have sinned. But I'll tell you something, if our Lord could ascend on this earth, if He could ascend on this earth, then he could sin because he's still a man in glory. So in my, I don't believe, I don't believe in a moment that our Lord Jesus Christ could sin. I don't think for a second that our Lord Jesus Christ could sin.

Oh no, I tell you what, and that's what he shows us, he shows us how truly tempted he was. You know, he was tempted in all points as we are. Any temptation that has taken you is common to man. And our Lord Jesus Christ, everything that's common to us, our Lord Jesus went through it. He went through it.

And I tell you, the scriptures tells us that He He being in fact found in fashion as the seed of Abraham and he was took upon him not the nature of angel but the seed of Abraham. That being a merciful and faithful high priest he was tempted, tempted in all points, every kind of point you could think of yet without sin, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, higher than the heavens itself. Oh my, and yet he was without sin. And his temptation was intensely real because of his sinless nature. Oh my, you think about being tempted and you got a sinless nature.

You know, we don't have a sinless nature. It's easy for Satan to tempt us. Oh my, but I tell you, our Lord's nature Oh, look, look what our Lord said, you know, about his nature. Oh, he was a tempted one. And then the nature, you know, it could only be without sin because Satan could find nothing in him. You know, this trial here, our Lord Jesus, look with me, John chapter 14, verse 30. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ, this is where he was tempted. Oh my, he was, and the nature of it, it could only be without sin because Satan could find nothing in him. Look what he said down here in verse 30.

I will not talk much with you, for the Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me." He said, I'm not going to talk with you much, because Satan's going to come. Satan's going to come, and I'm not going to talk with you, because he can't find nothing in me. Now, he finds plenty in us, but he don't find nothing in Christ.

And oh, the first thing, everything about this temptation has to do with the flesh, lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the lust of the eyes. But look what he says here in verse three. And the devil said unto him, and when the days were ended, he afterward hungered. And so he's hungry. And this is when Satan begins to start to question him. And the zevil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone, there must have been a stone there, command this stone that it be made bread. And our Lord answered him, saying, It's written that thou, man, shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the Son of God. It said he was hungry.

And you know, God remember the other day we said there that that John said that told him he said God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. God's able to raise up stones to children under Abraham. Could he not took a stone and turned it to bread?

Absolutely he could have done that. Absolutely. He walked on the water. He he had a fire waiting on his disciples when they come from fishing all night, where'd that fire and fish come from? So how the Lord Jesus Christ, I mean, listen, he stomps calm storms. Yes, he could have done that. But then Satan would have had him doing something against his nature, against his father, against God himself.

And the answer that our Lord Jesus Christ gave is something more precious than of bread. And that's the Word of God. He said it's written. It is written. You know, that's more precious to us than the Word of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ said it was His meat to do the will of the Father. He said, Jeremiah said it was as honey to His taste. Job said it was his necessary food. And our Lord said in John 539, search the scriptures for in them, in the scriptures, in the word of God, is eternal life. In the word of God, that's where it's at. And you know, and I'll tell you something, the men that didn't think it was so, Esau didn't think that the word was good enough. He had, he sold his birthright.

Oh, Eve was tempted, and she ate. She said, oh, this food's going to make you wise. This fruit here is going to make you wise. It's going to make you smart. You're going to see things you never saw before. You're going to enjoy things you never enjoyed before. You're going to be like God himself. And she ate. She ate. And so he tried to satisfy Christ, make Christ satisfy himself. And then look what he tried to get him to do, to destroy himself.

And the devil taking him up into a high mountain. Now I personally don't believe that he took him someplace. I believe these were all illusions. I believe they were, I don't think he actually picked him up and took him and sent him on a high mountain.

Satan ain't gonna take Christ nowhere. That's the first thing you understand. Satan got no power over Christ. Never has and never will. And I think this was a vision or a some way that Satan made things appear to be something when they're really not. That's his, that's his modus operandi.

Shirley told me on the way to church this morning, she said, I was talking about a preacher, Jimmy Swaggart, said he never smoked, he never drank, he never done anything like that. And I said, but I do know that he hated the gospel. He went through the five points of Calvinism one time and said, all of these doctrines are hatched in hell. That's what he said. But she said, there's one thing he said that stuck with me. He said, if I was Satan, you know where I'd work? I'd work in the church. That's one true thing he said.

Most false prophets are carrying a Bible. They are. And I, you know, And so I don't think he took him, actually set him on a mountain. You know, it says that he carried him up into a high mountain. I believe it was an illusion. I believe it was a delusion. I believe it was something that he caused to appear.

That's one thing he is so good at. He'd make things appear so nice and so pretty and such enjoyable that people would say, there can't be nothing wrong with that. I can't be wrong. You know, I just can't, I just can't be wrong. And you know, and people, you know, he'll come along.

That's why sin is so deceitful. Sin is one of the most deceitful things that anybody's ever dealt with in their life. How many times has sin deceived you and me? It's deceived us in thinking we're something when we're nothing. It deceives us in thinking that we can do something. It deceives us in thinking that if we could just pray more, we'd be more spiritual. It deceives us in making promises to ourselves.

I promise I'm going to start doing this. I promise I'm going to start doing that. I promise I'm going to do this, that, and the other. And then we won't keep the first promise. We'll do it one time, and then next thing you know, we forgot it. Y'all not guilty of that. I know you ain't. I can tell by looking at you. But oh my.

So he took him up, took him up first. Set him up on this mountain. And look what it says in verse 5. Showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. That shows you that it's a delusion. It's a deception. It's a picture that he painted for Christ. He said, oh, look at all these kingdoms. And he showed him in a moment of time, just like that.

And all by, and look what he, took him up and he said, and the devil said to him, all this power, all this authority, I will give you, and the glory of them, for it's delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will give it. Now we know that's a lie. We know that's a lie. We know He told him a lie right then and there. Whose is the kingdoms of this world? The heavens are the Lord's and the fullness thereof. God, he said, where was you when I laid the foundation of the earth? God was the one, he said, he has dominion, everlasting dominion, he gave it to Christ. So we know right then and there that he told him a lie. Kingdoms are not his to give. And that's why he's called a liar and the father of a liar. That's why he's lying.

And I'll tell you one thing, and the higher we get, you listen to me, the higher we get, the farther we had to fall. And that's why they said over, I think it's in Numbers, oh, when Saul was killed, he said, oh, how the mighty are fallen, and how the mighty are fallen. Oh my, the higher you get, the greater the fall. Pride cometh before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

And oh my, and I'll tell you, the Lord will catch you. And look what he said here, he said, oh my. And he said in verse seven, if you will worship me, if you worship me, If you worship me, all this is going to belong to you. It all belongs to him. See what I'm saying here? How Satan deceives, how he presents one thing and it's really not the truth, that it doesn't belong to him at all. But he said it's mine. And you know how many people fall for that? Oh, listen, don't worry about worshiping God. Wait till you get old and you can't do nothing else. Go out and you're just like that rich fool.

He said, look, oh, listen, I've got so much stuff, I don't know what to do with all of it. I've got so much stuff, I don't know where to put it. I tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to tear down all my barns. Tear them all down. And I'll build me some new ones, I'll build me some great big ones, and I'll put everything in them new barns. And then I'm going to sit down in my lazy boy, and I'm going to kick it back in gear, and I'm going to lay back and said, eat, drink, and be merry, because you have many goods laid up for lots and lots and lots of years.

And then God said, you fool. You are a fool. Tonight, I'm requiring your soul. Then, then, who are those things gonna be? Who gonna have them then? But oh my. He said, look what he said to him now. Get thee behind me Satan. He told Simon Peter that one time. Get thee behind me Satan. For it's written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou worship. Huh? There's only one God to worship. Oh my. I am so grateful, so grateful that our Lord, oh my.

And then look what he wanted him to destroy himself. Wanted him to destroy himself. And then he brought him to Jerusalem. Brought him to Jerusalem, set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, and every one of these says the same thing, if you be the son of God. He knows that if he's the son of God, he's got the power to do what God would do, if God willed to do it. And he said, and he always asked him that.

He said, If thou be the Son of God, verse 9, cast thyself down off of this temple. Throw yourself off this temple. And he uses Psalm 91. He uses the Scriptures too. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee, and they'll keep you in their hands and bear you up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Now I'm going to tell you what I believe.

I don't believe Christ ever, when he was a child, I don't believe he stubbed his toe. I don't believe he ever had a scratch on his body. I don't believe he ever had a blemish on his body, except what man inflicted on him. I, Lord Jesus Christ, from the day he was born till the day he died on a cross and rose again, if there would have been one blemish in him, one time that he could have ever stubbed his toe or got cut somewhere or something, that would have been a blemish in his character, and he had to be without blemish. He's holy. He was holy from the day he was born until the day he died, and he was holy in the tomb, and he was holy when he come back out of the grave. There's no way that there's anything could have been wrong with our Savior in any way. Couldn't have been. Not in any way. I can just bump my hand. I can just bump my hand and I'll start bleeding. I got down the other day and done something on my elbow and it's as black as jet. That's me.

But Christ our Lord never had a blemish, not the first blemish. He had perfect eyesight. He had perfect hearing. He had a perfect life. He never said a word that did not need to be said. He never took a step that did not need to be taken. He never done anything but what ought, had to be done to glorify his father and to save our sinful souls from hell itself and from sin and devil and hell and everything else that God saved us from.

Oh my, he said, now cast yourself down. And oh, he said, oh, when the angels come, they'll bury you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And I, Lord, oh, he said, you're right. He said, oh, you're right. But he said, I'm not going to put myself in a situation where God, I'm going to force God have to save me.

I'll not presume upon God. I'll not presume upon his grace. I'll not presume upon his power. If I jump, I'll not presume he'll stop me. I'll not presume he'll catch me before I get to the ground. I'm not going to presume on God. I'm not going to put myself in a situation. I'm not going to do it. And that's what, you know, if there's a tornado coming, you know where I'm going? I'm going to the house. I'm not going to stand out and look at a tornado come get me.

I'm not going to, well, the Lord's going to save me. I'm not gonna go out and play in traffic. You don't do, you don't presume on God. You don't presume that you put yourself in a situation. He has to save you. Oh my. Well we know he's a liar. And our Lord said, answered him, said in verse 12, it is said Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." That's Deuteronomy 6. Oh, my.

Our Lord, you know, the kingdom belongs to Christ. And what Satan is trying to tell our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father gives all things into the hand of Son. He says, what, the world don't need saving. by blood. The Lord don't need, the world don't need saving by death. You don't need to suffer any. I'll give you all. I'll give you everything without you having to suffer. I'll give you everything without you having to bleed. I'll get you everything without you having to die.

Oh, don't let him deceive you this way. Whatever you think you have will be an illusion and you'll learn that one of these days you'll have to face the King of Kings. And oh my, And our Lord Jesus Christ, now let me give you, I've got to hurry. The devil, the tempter, he's a person. He is a person. And he has great power. But his greatest power is delusion. His greater power is a lie. He uses deceit, he uses guile, he uses pride, he uses lies.

The wicked and the deceit are already in a person. It don't take much for Satan to work on a person that don't know Christ. But oh my, but you know how our Lord fought him? You know how our Lord fought him? Same way we fight. It's called the fight of faith. The means that our Lord Jesus Christ used to battle the devil was the Word of God.

It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. I'm going to show you something in Hebrews 4.13.

Look over at Hebrews 4.13 with me.

Look over here in Hebrews 4.13. what he said in verse 12. For the word of God is quick. That means it's life-giving. The word of God is powerful. And it's sharper than any two-edged sword. Piercing. It pierces. To the dividing asunder of the soul, it'll cut you right down the middle. It'll cut you to your heart.

Of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, I mean, it gets inside you, outside you, and every place in your body. And the discerner, it tells you what you're thinking and the intents of your heart. And neither, because of the word of God, is there any creature that's not manifest in God's sight and in the word of God's sight. But all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

Oh, my. That's what we're dealing with. That's what we're dealing with. And, oh, my. You know, the fountain of our faith Foundation of our faith is, you know what it is? Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. God is true and every man's a liar. You know how precious the Word of God is? Our Lord Jesus Christ, he started talking about election.

No man can come to me except the Father gives it to him. No man. And there was thousands following him. And he told them that, and they multitude turned away and walked away from him, just left. And he looked at the 12, and he said, will you also go away? And they said, Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words, words of life. And that's where we're going to stay. You got the words that I need to hear, the words that'll save me. Oh, listen. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Fight the good fight of faith. Use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

And then look what happens. Verse 13, the victories won. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. And over in one place it says the angels came and strengthened him. Our Lord Jesus Christ has won the victory. Revelations chapter 1 says that he has on his girdle, has on his girdle, that means that belt that's around him, he has on his girdle the keys of Hell and death. Oh, listen. He won. You know who he won the victory for? For us. For us. And I'm going to tell you something, and then I'm done.

We are no match for the devil. We are no match for the devil. He's had 6,000 years experience, and he got our father and mother when they dwelt in Paradise. He deceived them in Paradise. We don't, we ain't even close to Paradise. So imagine what He can do to us. We're just no match for Him. But our Lord is. Ain't you grateful? We got somebody to go. Our life is hid with God in Christ. We got a good hiding place. A good hiding place. Huh?

Oh, our blessed, blessed Savior, thank you for your great mercies and grace given us in Christ. Thank you for fighting the battles. Thank you for fighting all them battles for us. Thank you for winning every victory. Oh, Lord, thank you for the great, great victory we have in our blessed Savior. We have no victory in ourselves. We have no strength to fight in ourselves. But, oh Lord, you won the victory for us. You conquered every foe. You conquered everything that was against us.

And, Lord Jesus, please, one of your disciples said, Lord, keep us from temptation. Keep us, oh Lord, from temptation. Keep us from being tempted. Keep us from this old flesh. from the soreness of our minds, the soreness of this body. God, keep us, keep us, keep us, keep us, and keep us from temptation, and deliver us from evil. We ask these things in our blessed Savior's name. Amen. There is a name I love to hear. I love to sing its worth. It sounds like music in my ear. The sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Because he first loved me. See you Wednesday, God willing.