In today’s sermon, Pastor Babij explains Jesus’ prediction of how the disciples would all fall away due to their arrogant belief in their own fleshly power. Pastor Babij admonishes believers today to watch over their own minds as the main front where Satan attacks. Believers are encouraged to acknowledge their fleshly weaknesses and instead rely upon the Spirit of God at all times in their walks with Jesus.
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okay let’s take our Bibles this morning again and let us turn to Mark chapter 14.
Mark chapter 14.
we’re going to be looking at this morning verses 26 and 31.
26 to 31. let me read that Mark chapter 14. after seeing a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives and Jesus said to them you will all fall away because it is written I will strike down the shepherd and the Sheep shall scatter be scattered and after I have been raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee but Peter said to him even though all may fall away yet I will not and Jesus said to him truly I say to you at this very night before the rooster crows twice your yourself you yourself will deny me three times Peter kept saying insistently even if it were if I were to even if I have to die with you I will not deny you and they were all saying the same thing also that’s right Lord this morning I do thank you for the word of God thank you Lord contained in the word of God is by um it is a very revelation of Who You Are and what you have prophesied that you would do and what you intend to do and what you have done Lord I Thank you that we’re able to read it this morning we’re able to look at it hold it in our hands we’re able to take it with us and I pray Lord that we would never take for granted of that freedom and I prayed that as we do that we would be very serious about our faith about our walk with you and Lord when we fail when we fail I pray Lord that we would we would know for sure that you are there to pick us up but I pray Lord the appropriate things from our fall we would learn so we can be stronger in Christ more humble in Christ and Lord more able to be used by the spirit of God in whatever circumstance we may find ourselves and I pray this in your name amen Mark chapter 14 I just want to of course back up remember the Lord’s Supper was just prior to this section of scripture and in that section Jesus unlocked the meaning of his death by connecting it to the Feast of unleavened bread and the Feast of Passover and of course leading into translating those things into the Lord’s tables and Jesus on that day did something really new in the Passover meal this new Act was an act of eating and drinking but that meal that Jesus presented was only a meal of bread and wine there was no sacrificial lamb and because the main course was the reason why there was no lamb is because the Lamb of God was at the table and he was going he is going to offer himself as a sacrifice remember it’s still Thursday before Jesus uh is going to be brought into uh before the Sanhedrin and of course then be crucified and so the elements of the bread become very significant the element of the unleavened bread in verse 22 where he says he took some bread and after a blessing he gave it to them to take this is my body remember the bread that represented The Exodus now came to represent the body of Jesus Christ the Messiah so this new Exodus is through his death he brings Deliverance from sins condemnation curse and bondage and of course that means Redemption is provided for those who come by repentance and Faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and which we are then considered by God to be unleavened the or without sin because of what Christ did and then of course the element of the cup which would be the fruit of the vine jesus takes this cup and he passed around the cup after each section of the Lord the Passover meal and the cup that had represented the Lamb’s blood smeared on the doorpost on lentils now came to represent the blood of the Lamb this unblemished Lamb of God shed for the Salvation of lost Sinners so his blood is not just providing a covering for sin like in the Old Testament but actually a total washing away and a wiping away of sin forever that it could never come up against any one of God’s kids and condemn them again because there’s no combination to those who are in Christ so the bread and the wine which is eaten reminds us that our Salvation is achieved through Christ Alone and of course his resurrection secures our salvation for eternity so that means the Passover was transformed into the Lord’s supper now why is that important before this next section is because remember that Jesus is saying to his disciples I must die and I must die the way the prophet said I must die to fulfill all the types and shadows of the Old Testament I must die and be sacrificed like a lamb and shed my blood because in the shedding of my blood I am going to ratify with my people a new covenant and that Covenant is going to be look at verse 24 and he said to them this is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many so Jesus blood confirmed the New Covenant promise that it is true and it is binding on all who who would believe as Hebrews the book of Hebrews tells us that he takes away the first that’s the Old Law and of course he establishes the second and by this we have been Sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all and as I said last time the old Covenant was based on Mosaic law it brought condemnation because no one could actually keep it the law actually condemned a person but the law did lead someone to a conclusion and that conclusion would be Christ all right and of course the New Covenant was based on Jesus blood and it frees everyone who believes in Jesus Christ from all condemnation now that brings uh us to actually verse number 25 right before verse 26 where it says truly I say to you I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my in my kingdom in the kingdom of God all right so in other words Jesus here is making a oath now the reason why I say that is because usually when a group of Jews decided not to eat or drink they were making a pact with each other they were making an oath that they are not going to do anything like eating and drinking until they do this one thing that they make an oath under now take your Bibles for a moment I just want to give you an example of that which I didn’t give last time and it’s Acts chapter 23. keep your hand here in Mark with Acts chapter 23 verse 11 through 14 and you’ll see what I mean that uh and here’s the situation while you’re turning there that Paul was preaching in this passage on the resurrection and a serious dissension a rose be between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the authorities actually got wind of this and so they snatched Paul away and brought him to a Barracks an army barracks for protection and the reason for such a snatch and grab the Jews had plotted against Paul and made an oath that they would neither eat or drink until they had killed Paul now notice in verse number 11 of Acts 23.
but on the night immediately following the Lord stood at his side said take courage for as you have soundly witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem so you must witness that Rome also when it was day the Jews formed the conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath saying that we would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul verse 13 there were more than 40 Who had who formed this plot and they came to the chief priests and elders and says we have bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul so see there is the background of what is being taking place right here where we see that the oath is communicated in verse number 25 as I will never drink of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of God that’s back in Mark so see an oath was really taking very seriously uh in the the Bible times and it was actually established by killing an animal and then cutting the animal in two pieces and then walking through the middle of the animal because the animal had shed his blood while they’re walking through the cut up animal they are actually pronouncing their oath verbally so people would know that they were serious and that if they did not keep that oath that they could be cut in pieces in half like these animals so very serious a sound thing now this is what the Lord is saying here that in other words the Lord keeps his promises he’s not going to go back on his promise that uh the Lord supper is something that is is is a meal and the Lord invites us to the meal in and in fact say it says to us come to my table this is my body this is my blood take this and eat it and drink it and pledge yourself to me so as followers of Christ we are awaiting a day when we will be in the very presence of Jesus in the father’s Kingdom drinking the cup of full acceptance both in promise and of course then in reality now all that for what comes next is that Jesus again is communicating very emphatically the meaning of his death the Divine causality is that Mark is saying that the son of man in back in Mark you want to turn there verse number 21 where it says the son of man is to go just as is written of him so the son of man of course you remember Jesus referred to him not as the Messiah but even though he refers himself as the son of man of course which indicated that he was the Messiah right and so Jesus refers to himself as that and so the son of man is following a pre-ordained path already set for him in scripture and that path was very clear the path was he must be betrayed the path is that he must suffer like it tells us in the book of Acts and now Brethren I know that you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also but the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of the prophets that his Christ would suffer he has thus fulfilled and of course that led to he must die he must die in Acts again this man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God you nailed to a cross by the hands of Godless men and put him to death and then we get to A Book Like Corinthians where it says for I delivered to you as of the first importance what I receive that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures all right that’s why Christ died for our sins because it was already in God’s plan that that would take place right from the beginning so the disciples in other words are still not grasping the need for the Messiah to die they are thinking still even up until this point three years Walking With Jesus they are still thinking a dying Messiah makes no sense the only Messiah that makes sense to us is a Victorious One a a messiah who’s a conquering King oh it’s Messiah who’s going to to uh accomplish what they could never accomplish and so they just can’t get it in their minds and hearts that Jesus Must Die the Messiah Must Die so because the disciples do not grasp this this particular truth it leads to a gradual almost undetectable movement away from Jesus which unbelief usually does it leads someone away from Jesus a kind of heart backsliding was taking place in the disciples which we’re going to look at more later in another message but these disciples were not ready for what was going to take place even though Jesus had mentioned it three four five times in the scriptures and how many more times that are are not recorded in scriptures that he mentioned it to his disciples so dangerous circumstances arose that exposed a misunderstanding and a human weakness that resulted in failure the foreknowledge of Jesus predicts the spiritual failure in his disciples so let’s see what led to the disciples failure because these are the same things that leads to our failures and uh spiritual failure is something we’re all going to experience at some time in our Christian walk so what’s the first thing that we see well it’s the first thing is the the misunderstanding about Jesus mission that leads to really a a defection of Jesus a Fickle defection and uh of course that meant that was spiritual failure so notice in verse number 26 we’re back in Mark Chapter 14 verse 26 of course they sing to him after the Lord’s table they didn’t get the meaning of the Lord’s table there that it was about Jesus death as the Lamb of God as the Passover Lamb and so in verse 27 Jesus says to them you will all fall away because it is written I will strike down the shepherd and the Sheep shall be scattered so Jesus is prophesying with the foreknowledge about the actions of his disciples and the the term used here fall away is actually a word that we are a little bit familiar with it’s we get the words scandalized from it um it’s a scandal but here it’s it’s used more specifically to mean to be caught in a trap see the idea of the underlying verb is that of a Crooked Stick to which the bait is affixed and by which an animal is Led right into a trap you know it’s something dangling on a stick like a piece of meat and you put it before a dog and you can lead the dog right where you want it to because they want to eat the food right well this is the this is what’s going on here and so these disciples are actually being led by something and it’s leading them right into a trap that of course when you lead him into the Trap the Trap Springs and uh and then of course it catches the animal now what’s interesting here is that the verb used here this verb uh scandalizo is a passive verb that that really helps us understand the disciples defection was not a willful defection it was actually an external something external causing caused them to fall spiritually in other words a circumstance that arose that they were not able to handle at this particular point see that so the disciples uh in other words were they were by an external Factor played upon them in their fleshly weakness and caused them to finally defect from Jesus now what was the cause of the disciples stumbling well the basic cause was human weakness there are always some circumstances which strongly appeal to our weaknesses and lead us to spiritual failure I also it also shows us that no one can continue to follow Jesus in human strength alone have you discovered that yet that you cannot carry out the word of God you cannot do the things that God asked you to do on your own strength it’s impossible to do it’s impossible to live the Christian Life with just mere knowledge alone I need my you and I need way more than that we need someone to help us to live the Christian Life and remember this is prior to the crucifixion this is prior to the resurrection and this is prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit all right that’s very important to know in understanding what’s happening what’s going on here so what caused the disciples stumbling well what really caused them to stumble is that that they were entrapped by something very that is answered from actually Zechariah Chapter 13 Verse 7. you don’t have to turn there because it’s right here in Scripture Jesus quotes the passage here it says in verse number 27 because it is written I will I will who’s that I will I God will strike down the shepherd and the Sheep shall be scattered now it’s very interesting what it says there it is saying that the father will strike Christ on the cross I’m insane though right so that is something that Jesus brings to their attention and in the original context of Zechariah 13 verse number 7 it referred to the martyrdom of the end time Good Shepherd and the modern dumb of the end time Good Shepherd who is that that’s Jesus Christ right so God will strike or he allows Jesus to be struck as a shepherd and so the actual passage says this o wake o sword against my shepherd against the man my associate declares the Lord of hosts strike the Shepherd that the Sheep May scattered and I will turn my hand against the little ones so Jesus actually uses this prophecy in reference to his own death and its effects upon his disciples who did not yet believe that he would die so the disciples are in other words trapped ensnared overwhelmed led into this trap by Jesus sudden arrest and trial you would think at this point this this is a given you guys this he’s been telling you all along how come you don’t get it well they didn’t get it and so they were led into this trap it’s the very arrest and trial was the Trap that they should have understood and they did not so the disciples are disillusioned and Jesus of course his coming suffering and death and the way God would afflict him by himself and man and so the result of the disciples stumbling would be that they would be scattered in their faith uh in Jesus Christ that they would be shaken in their confidence in Jesus as the Messiah that they are still not grasping a suffering Messiah so they are weak and helpless and they are thinking that the Messiah is weak and helpless not them but he’s not doing something right so the disciples will be so upset in every way that they leave Jesus now you know what happens when sheep are shepherdless all right well when they are shepherdless they’re scattered in all directions right because all sheep all God’s people need a shepherd all right either a shepherd’s going to lead you besides Still Waters and Green Pastures or a Shepherd is not going to be there and then the Sheep wandered all over the place and they get in all kinds of trouble when they do that and that’s still true today because one of the dumbest animals on the Earth is uh a lamb right and we’re sheep so it doesn’t say much for us does it but nonetheless we need that’s why we need what Christ has for us and so see the Disciples of being so upset and now being in a sense rejecting the Shepherd that was the Messiah they are now they’ve now found themselves in trouble but thank the Lord that Jesus shows compassion and care for the Sheep by carrying out to completion God’s Plan of Redemption so the Lord sees his disciples through this temptation and how does he do that well it brings me to a second point and it would be this that a person is fails by misreading God’s methods of redemption that leads ultimately to spiritual failure they misread that if they were going to be passed over by God and the blood was going to be applied to them that Jesus was the Passover Lamb to die and shed his blood for his sheep if they rejected that remember there is no salvation there is no forgiveness of sins so they’re in a very uh difficult place as the Lord’s disciples but of course the lord loves them and he’s going to provide for them and so Jesus thankfully provides for our weaknesses and our failures when we do fall on our face and Jesus is willing and also able to restore us when we fall and human failure does not Scuttle God’s plan or purposes now I want you to notice how does the Lord do this well he tells them notice in verse number 28 what he says he’s actually saying several things he’s saying number one I will redeem the Sheep it says in verse number 28 but after I have been raised now just remember this is before his trial this is before his crucifixion this is before he’s right he’s saying to them listen after I have been raised giving them a sense of hope that God as the agent will not only Smite the shepherd but he will also raise the Shepherd from the dead this Messiah so after God accomplishes Redemption and is raised from the dead then he will bring his scattered sheep together again and he will meet up with his disciples in a certain place now look at verse number 28 again it says but after I have been raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee so before Jesus ascends into heaven he tells his disciples that are now on the verge of rejecting him saying listen after I get raised I’m going to meet you over here in Galilee in other words he’s saying I’m going to regather you I’m not only going to redeem you I’m going to regather you and then I’m going to resume leadership over you as the shepherd well if look over to Mark chapter 16 verse 7 where he’s it says there but go Mark 16 verse 7 but go tell his disciples and Peter he is going ahead of you to Galilee there you will see him just as he told you all right in other words the Bible is telling us what Jesus is going to do and then he tells it tells us what he has done and what he has done at that point in chapter 16 is he was crucified he was raised and now he’s in a glorified body and he’s going to meet up with his disciples and he’s going to resume leadership over them so Jesus will appear to them as the great Shepherd of the sheep that leads his flock all right and of course he will Unite with the sheep and then he will give him the last words that before he sends into heaven and what were those last words uh those last words were were something like teach them uh teach because for his disciples go and teach them to observe all that I command you and I am with you always even to the End of the Age so this is what he says to his disciples but they still don’t get it they still are in spiritual failure so who’s the leader of the disciples at this point Peter is right well I think Peter shows uh and is the one who maybe is the example of how much you can put your foot in your mouth and uh because because of this reason because mere confidence in fleshly Towers is a receipt for Spiritual failure you got that when you trust just in yourself in your abilities in your knowledge and your experience that is a receipt for Spiritual failure in your life you could never ever stop and depend on that alone in fact those things should really humble us because we really realize when we become Believers that we don’t know a whole lot we don’t have a lot of power and strength we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow we we can know God’s plan and live according to that but even that we need God’s strength to do that so now let’s look at what happens to the leader of the group so we’re looking now in verse number 29 of Mark chapter 14 and we see actually Peter berating God’s method of salvation all right by Peter misreading of God’s method of redemption he was actually shunning the cross and Peter being a strong leader and dead sure that others may be caught in a trap and desert Jesus but he will not look at verse 29 but Peter said to him even though all that’s all the other disciples may fall away yet I will not you know what that’s called that’s called overconfident all right so one of the one of the surest ways to fall into temptation is to become overconfident he is overconfident so Peter has such an arrogant elevation of himself here as compared to all the other disciples imagine when somebody says to you listen I am better than you I know more than you I’m stronger than you in every room he walks into that’s what he would Proclaim so in other words you think that needs to be adjusted a bit I think so and the Lord by this circumstance a just Peter because he’s going to he’s going to use Peter in a great way in an incredible way but Peter has such an elevation of himself as compared to the other disciples he thought I will be the exception I will not get trapped like everyone else I’m not following the piece of meat on the bait right into the Trap I’m better than that I’m smarter than that I’ve been the leader of this group I’m in the Inner Circle of Jesus but I must say this Peter did have a genuine love for Jesus at this point but his ignorance about his fleshly weakness was overwhelming that Peter has not come very far spiritually actually he didn’t come very far at all he was not necessarily growing as he should be growing and to show you that go back to Mark chapter eight for a minute and notice in verse 31 because this was the encounter that Jesus had with Peter when again Jesus told them I’m going to die Peter I’m going to be suffer and I’m going to die and I’m going to raise the gun on the third day and notice what Peter’s responses in Mark chapter 8 verse 31 it says this and he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again and he was stating the matter plainly and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him verse 33 but turning us around and seeing his disciples he rebuked Peter and said get behind me Satan for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest but man’s interest that was that was a while ago uh maybe that was year two and he was walking with Jesus and so Peter even now is not he’s still in the same place he’s misreading the plan of God he’s not getting what Jesus is saying about his death and resurrection and so Jesus warns Peter he warns him about his sure defection and not only his defection but his denial so Peter’s failure is a greater failure than the rest of the disciples Jesus says to Peter here’s what’s real now back to chapter 14 here’s what’s real in verse number 30 that listen you will not only desert me but you will actually openly and publicly deny me in verse number 30 and Jesus said to him truly I say to you that this very night before the rooster crows twice you yourself will deny me three times so this Thursday evening uh very late Peter is going to deny Jesus so the these three denials are not just a momentary slip of weakness they are evidence of extreme spiritual failure and that’s on the leader of the disciples because of his misunderstanding and misreading of God’s plan and his even lack of evaluating his own weaknesses led him to spiritual failure now sometimes I hear uh inexperienced Believers confidently assert that they will follow Christ Come What May and when I hear this I I think I kind of have a feeling of pleasure and and I have a feeling of concern because naive presumption that one can follow Christ by simply by a simple assertion of Will and really invites a rude awakening um in all believers that we can never say that I can follow Christ by what I know and I don’t need to know anymore or I can follow Christ and I don’t need the church body I can live my Christian life alone privately and I have I’ll have the strength I need or I can live the Christian Life without the word of God only I don’t need to hear preaching and I don’t need to hear uh be in a Bible study and I don’t need to be in Sunday school because you know I kind of know enough and and I can get by on what I know that is the that is a recipe for disaster that is a recipe for Spiritual failure we should never ever think that we ever come to the place in our spiritual walk that we’re strong enough Peter has such uh an elevation of himself that leads him to this place and of course it’s much better to understand our spiritual weakness and say I know I can’t do it alone but by God’s grace and his spirit and his word and his church body I am going to do my best see so mere confidence in fleshly Powers is definitely a receipt for Spiritual failures so Christians who become self-confident also become less dependent on God’s word less dependent on God’s spirit and become careless in their living and in their Christian walk their carelessness then increases and openness to Temptation and a fall into sin that’s exactly what’s happening to Peter here he thinks that he’s strong enough he’s not strong enough and he falls for the Trap more than everyone else because not only does he deny Jesus and defect from Jesus he is filled with pride he’s filled with pride and uh and he falls smack on his face we’re going to see that later on in the next chapter but I’m not going to look there right now but what I want to let just let you know that Peter really does highly doubt Jesus evaluation of himself and so he raises his volume and keeps on protesting and speaking excessively the Bible says that others may but I will not deny you renounce you or disown you look at verse number 31 but Peter kept saying insistently even if I have to die with you I will not deny you and they all were saying the same thing so Peter leads the rest of the disciples to say the same thing he was saying so when we feel most secure in ourself when we think our spiritual life is the strongest and our moral life the purest watch out because you’re in trouble you’re already right there by the Trap because you know why we have an enemy against our soul Satan who is very slick at Temptation he cannot make you sin but he sure can tempt you to sin and that’s where we have to be on our guard so we should be most on our guard and most dependent on our Lord when we do sense some kind of spiritual strength and spiritual boldness not that we don’t receive that in the spirit of God we do but that’s the right kind so the rest of the disciples follow Peter’s lead and say the same thing as he says and remember one will betray Jesus Ken will desert Jesus but Peter will desert and deny him so the disciples remember frequently misunderstand and fail they frequently do that and it goes to show that without the power of God all disciples are overcome by their weaknesses Jesus of course will give the disciples strength to overcome he will go back to heaven the Bible says and he will send the promise of the father and the promise of the father is the Holy Spirit who will indwell his children and then of course when we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us he gives us the strength the insight to know how to understand the plan of God to know how to implement the plan of God and even to know how to look at ourself and also to how to fight the enemy the devil so it’s important really for all believers to start learning about if you have not learned about the works of the flesh and the indwelling of the spirit and the schemes of Satan that wants to entrap you so believers Born Again by the spirit are different than they were before at least they are supposed to be they have new desires desires for what is Holy and honoring to God Christians become caught between two Desires in their Christian walk a desire for the lust of the flesh or The Passion of the Flesh and the desire for God when Christians sin they momentarily persuade are persuaded by the desire to commit sin thinking thinking this that fulfillment of that desire is more pleasurable than the pleasure of obedience to Christ in Repentance however the Christian is again persuaded by the greater pleasure in Jesus than what sin can promise so the struggle is the main struggle of the Christian Life a war of Desires in pursuit of real pleasure and happiness and even the most devout Christians will still be tempted by the idea that sin will make them happier than God will sin indeed does give certain amount of happiness though in it is much less than much short-lived than happiness God gives so when we think of that we also think that there are three really primary actions that Christians must take to win the inward fight against the flesh and of course that would be first of all that they must consider themselves dead to sin or count on the death of Christ secondly they must put their sinful desires to death and that is to kill the old man and not make provision for the Flesh and then of course they must nurture and strengthen the new man basically to achieve victory over the desires of the flesh the philosopher and theologian RC Sproul said in simple terms the flesh has to be weakened and the spirit has to be strengthened that is the only way and so this is where God will bring us when we become Believers and when we’re growing in Christ and of course then we will discover hopefully before that that the Holy Spirit indwells us and the Holy Spirit Works inside the believer both to produce good fruit and of course to build the Believers understanding of the truth that the spirit works on the believer’s Consciousness with the truth that God is not only the Holy Spirit but he is the spirit of Truth as it says in John the Gospel of John chapter 15 but when the helper comes the spirit of God whom I will send to you from the Father the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father he will bear witness about me so the holy spirit’s work in of instruction is accomplished by specific and practical means and that is the word of God the spirit of God does not bypass the word of God to produce spiritual growth in our lives so spiritual God’s Supernatural he supernaturally transforms the mind by use of the word of God to Enlighten the Christians so that they develop deep biblical convictions that the Believers conscience is really conditioned Anew and will not allow his actual not allow himself to live against those convictions the spirit of God can develop such strong convictions and Believers by the word of God that it prevents them from going to certain places so they develop convictions resulting in a sanctified Christian desire to do what is right to live in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ and so the spirit of God teaches and renews the believer’s mind with truth and ultimately produces mature thinking the Apostle Paul taught this concept of maturity through the spirit of God in the Book of Romans where he says 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 the good and the acceptable and perfect will of God and then again Paul mentions in Corinthians chapter 14 he says Brethren do do not be children in your thinking yet in evil be infants but in your thinking be mature so as the spirit of God works in The Believer to sanctify him or her the believer in turn cooperates with the truth works out what he or she is learning in their daily life and of course this practical outworking includes standing firm with the truth in spiritual warfare and against Temptation so Christians cannot really resist their powerful and deceitful adversary without the power of the holy spirit that would mean that we have an enemy and the enemy he schemes against us he wants to trap us and if the enemy knows how to attempt a person according to that person’s remaining corruption and if Satan understands thoughts and imaginations and secret Ambitions and intentions and even motives then the believer must remains specifically alert to his own unique makeup his own unique weaknesses and strengths because both can get us into trouble so if Satan can suggest ideas to the Christian’s mind and inflame the believer’s affections with desires that stand in opposition to godlessness and spiritual growth than we all need to take the devil seriously and to take heed to understand what parts of our Lives deserve special caution what in our character can be led astray easily and make provisions against the flesh to go in that direction so though Christians do not know when the devil will strike they can be ready for his attacks or it tells us in Corinthians chapter chapter 2 second Corinthians in order that no Advantage be taken of us by Satan for we are not ignorant of his schemes of his traps so Satan is wants to plant within the mind of a Christian to do the opposite of God’s will so the enemy desired really to introduce hatred and animosity into certain parts of the congregation uh in the Corinthian Church and he did that and he does that to destroy its relationships to destroy its unity and to destroy ultimately its gospel witness he does that in our life and so these terms in scripture to take advantage and ignorance suggests that the target of Satan is the believer’s mind he wants to attack you in your thoughts he wants to attack you in the way you reason and so these mind attacks of the devil come very forcefully and they are the things that we need to be aware of the most we kick around the devil’s deceptions in our minds and there’s his deceptions are very convincing there they’ve sound a lot like truth but they are not the truth of God’s word and what does he do he causes us to say things like this to ourselves God God wouldn’t want me to be unhappy would he so whatever circumstances comes up that would cause you to be happy you go for it all right or you would think why fight the feeling everybody else is doing it so why can’t I do it right this won’t lead to anything else I’ve always wondered what it would be like just this once it’s no big deal no one will ever know I can get away with it this time see all these things suggest that we can get away with things that somehow God is not looking or that we presume that he’s going to forgive us after we sin that he does but the things that presumptuous sin is a very serious sin see we think like this oh what I’m going to do don’t affect anyone else I can just confess it and it’ll be like I never did it or God will stop me if he doesn’t want me to go any further see The More We Roll things like that over in our mind and the more we detect that these are satanic suggestions for us to sin the more deceives we become and eventually we get trapped and we fall into sin so the bait is taken the hook is set and the line is reeled in but the Lord gives us victory in in every Temptation he tells us in the word of God that we have a way out of every single Temptation and that way out is to know the truth so see Satan’s works on Believers to get the better of them the devil wants to destroy the power and testimony of the Church of your own personal life and put stumbling blocks in front of the believer’s way keeping them as ignorant as possible and stifling their spiritual growth by all these things he just throws at us all the time instead of identifying them checking them off and getting rid of them and having the mind of God so we don’t be led into temptation is really what we want to do so we don’t fall into spiritual failure so we don’t fall like the disciples fell disciples are going to learn that Jesus is going to tell them listen go wait in Jerusalem wait in Jerusalem and don’t do one thing until the spirit of God comes and fills you and then you will have what you need to do the work of God so you cannot do the work of God without the spirit of God without the word of God you cannot do that I cannot do that in My Own Strength because I have no strength in that area see when I am weak God is strong God takes this Earthen vessel and he displays his glory in our weakness that’s what he does so if you think you’re strong God’s not if you think you’re weak then God strong see that it’s it’s completely opposite isn’t it we have to change our way of thinking about it but that’s exactly what God does so see spiritual failure comes when one has a misunderstanding of God’s mission to rescue The Souls of people spiritual failure comes when one has misread God’s word and method of redemption that is the death of Jesus the Passover Lamb spiritual failure is inevitable when one depends on their own strength and wisdom instead of the strength and wisdom of the Lord of course some of the solutions that we have is to be aware of your own weaknesses to be aware of your own strength to depend on the word and the Holy Spirit of God to get insight into the schemes of the devil specifically how they’re addressed to your life and then in doing all that make no provision for the flesh to feed it put it to death and the Lord says you’ll be able to say no to sin and no to Temptation and then in doing so you actually have spiritual success and not spiritual failure so we’re very much like the disciples don’t think we’re an indifferent we’re right there with Peter we would have been we’ve been we would have done the same thing as he did and but because we have the rest of the story we don’t have to because we have the spirit of God we don’t have to because we have the word of God we don’t have to because we have the church we don’t have to we can actually live successful Christian lives not perfect Christian lives a successful in Christian lives where we’re growing more and more and more like Christ because that’s God’s plan anyway right it’s not just to be saved but to be conformed to the image of Christ that’s God’s plan and then take you out of here to glory and then you’re in his presence without all these problems all these issues and I don’t even have to preach this anymore let’s pray Lord thank you this morning your goodness to us is is over the top Lord we don’t even deserve to know these things but Lord thank you that you are the Good Shepherd thank you Lord you lead us besides Still Waters thank you Lord that you give us real examples and scriptures that we can relate to and we can say to ourselves we’re just like them but Lord you gave them hope you led them to the truth you gave them your spirit and the Lord you became their Passover Lamb and then after you ascended they preached that message and we’re here today because of the disciples faithful preaching so Lord you still are doing the same thing today Lord so use us to do to continue the work the unfinished work of Christ so Lord more people can hear the gospel more Christians can grow strong in their faith and Lord the world could know that Christ is the only answer and the only one where one could be right with God I pray that would be the message we always preach and I pray in your name amen