The end of the sermon is a time to press in for response. For that reason, I often leave out some of the things I include in other parts of the sermon. One example is that I use Scripture for which I do not cite the reference or put on the screen. I know that frustrates avid note-takers, but again—in that moment especially, I am eager for the Spirit to speak to people. I want them to lean in and listen intently, not to be concerned with every joy and tittle.
Last Sunday (May 24), I did that a lot, so I wanted to reproduce my notes so that you could see “behind the curtain.”
You may remember, we were looking at the question “Who do you trust?”
Here are the last few paragraphs (with Scripture references added):
One commentator, speaking about the king’s arguments, says, “This speech is a classic study in the satanic art of sowing doubt and unbelief through subtly twisting the truth.“1 From the beginning, this has been true. Adam and Eve fell victim to the deception of Satan in the Garden. Satan questioned God’s Words. “Did God actually say…” (Gen. 3:1). He twisted God’s truth, mixing the truth with a lie. “You shall not eat of the fruit…neither shall you touch it lest you die” (Gen. 3:3). He questioned God’s character. “You will not surely die. God…your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Gen. 3:5).
Satan’s specialty is deception. According to Scripture, he is “…the accuser of the brothers and sisters…” (Rev. 12:10). He is “…a liar and the father of lies…” (Jn. 8:44). He has an arsenal of “flaming darts” of doubt he shoots at believers (Eph. 6:16). His strategy is to weaken God’s people and to undermine His mission. And he will have some success. Scripture tells us he will “bruise the heel…” of God’s Promised Child (Gen. 3:15).
At the same time, Satan knows he is defeated.2 Even as he bruises Jesus’ heel at the cross, Jesus crushes his head (cf. Gen. 3:15). Nevertheless, he is not going to stop trying to spread his lies. Perhaps some today have believed the lie of Satan that they must do better to earn God’s favor. Maybe some have believed that God could never love them because of all the things they have done. Come to Jesus, and receive His grace and forgiveness. Maybe you are a Christian, but you still struggle with doubt and despair. You have been given spiritual armor to combat Satan’s lies. You have the shield of faith to extinguish his fiery darts of doub (Eph. 6:16). We have the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17). We are urged to “pray…at all timesin the Spirit, with all prayer” (Eph. 6:18). And there are times where we simply need to keep silent and ignore his lies. We can allow Jesus, our advocate, to stand in our defense (1 Jn. 2:1; cf. Rom. 8:34; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25).
Think of how Jesus answered Satan’s lies. He quotes God’s Word in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-11; Lk. 4:1-13). He withdrew often for time with the Father in prayer (Matt. 14:23; 26:36; Mk. 1:35; Lk. 5:15-16; 6:12-13; 9:28). We are called to follow His example in the face of Satan’s lies meant to sow doubt in our lives. When we do, our trust in God will be solidified for the difficult time to come.
That is the key question: Who do you trust?
The enemy wants you to trust anyone except for God, but God allows His people to resist the enemy’s attempts to undermine their trust.