SPEAKER_01
0:20 Last time we looked at 2 Timothy 2.22 that says, flee youthful lust and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call out to the Lord from a pure heart. 0:30 We flee some things to pursue other things. 0:33 I call it the big no and the big yes. 0:35 There are things in the Christian life we say no to. 0:38 And sometimes you'll hear guys say that's all Christianity is, is it's I can't do that, I can't do that, I can't do that. 0:43 Well, no, that's about half true. 0:44 There are things I say no to, but those free me up to enjoy a better yes. 0:50 Flee and pursue along with my brothers. 0:53 But we need to understand now that that is not done in a vacuum. 0:56 We're not just playing offense. 0:58 There's a defense. 0:59 And the reality is there's an enemy that wants to derail you being the kind of man you're meant to be. 1:05 Uh, I remember my first day of middle school when I got on the bus, uh, there was a bully that instantly got in my face, not 30 seconds into my ride to middle school, and threatened to beat me up and burn my face and all kinds of craziness. 1:18 And I go, I didn't do a thing to this guy. 1:20 But what we found out was my big brother had humiliated him on the football field. 1:25 And so this guy hated me because I looked like the one who had shamed him. 1:30 And friend, when you put your faith in Christ, that's the same with you. 1:33 William Gurnal said it's the image of God reflected in you that enrages hell. 1:38 And it's at this the demons hurl their mightiest weapons. 1:42 We have an enemy as we pursue intimacy with the Almighty. 1:45 And so in this session, I want to look at his strategy to see what he does. 1:49 And then we'll look next time at ours, what we do in response. 1:52 There's a great scene in the movie Patton, where the young general Patton is up against the most feared Nazi general Rommel. 1:59 And yet Patton's army overcomes Rommel's and his panzer tanks. 2:03 And you're wondering, how did this young general do it? 2:06 And in the moment of triumph, Patton yells across the battlefield, Rommel, I read your book. 2:12 Because Rommel had written a book on warfare. 2:15 And so before we learn how to fight, we need to look at the enemy's playbook. 2:20 Let's look at what he knows and let's look at what he does. 2:22 What he knows is you. 2:24 He's watched the game film on you, specifically your wiring and your tendencies. 2:29 The enemy knows your wiring that you have a mind to think with, you have affections, things you like and dislike, and you have a will, the decision to act. 2:39 And he knows your tendencies, your particular brands of weakness. 2:44 So what does he do? 2:45 Well, he wants to make sin your conscious movement away from the intimacy with God you were made for and being the kind of man and husband, father, brother you were meant to be. 2:54 He wants to make self-destructive activities look attractive. 2:59 Why would you fall for it? 3:00 Well, he's going to solicit thoughts to your mind that stir your affections so you will enact the will and step into places you were never meant to be. 3:09 Thoughts to the mind to stir affections in the heart, so that you make the choice to willfully walk away from Jesus who loved you and gave you everything. 3:18 Where am I getting the strategy from? 3:21 Jesus' brother James said it in James 1.14. 3:24 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 3:29 Then when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. 3:31 And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 3:34 Notice how temptation works. 3:36 When he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 3:43 And enticed is I stir your affections. 3:45 And then when you enact the will, he says you take a step towards death. 3:50 He uses the language of a lure like a fish. 3:52 What are you doing when you go fishing? 3:54 You're presenting something before the fish's mind that he sees that delicious piece of bait. 3:58 And you don't want him to just see it, you want to stir his affections. 4:01 And then when he enacts the will and bites it, you got him. 4:05 And he never even saw the hook. 4:07 And that's what the enemy does for you. 4:09 So however you conceive of spirituality, it starts as a battle in the mind. 4:14 What you think about will be what you care about, and what you care about you will chase. 4:18 And so what do we do in response to this? 4:21 Let me give you one more verse. 4:22 First Timothy 4 16, Paul told his young protege, Timothy, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. 4:30 Persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers. 4:35 He said, Timothy, be a good student of the teaching of the gospel, of the scriptures, be a student of God's word. 4:41 And Timothy, be a student of you. 4:44 Understand how the enemy comes at you. 4:48 If I were the enemy and he was going to beat me, what would he do? 4:52 Would he do it with lust? 4:53 Would he do it with money? 4:54 Would he do it with sex? 4:55 Would he do would he do it with my pride? 4:57 How would he beat me? 4:59 Think about it. 5:01 John Owen, this theologian, said uselessness and scandal are the branches that grow from the root of unacquaintedness with our own frame and temper. 5:10 You need to know you. 5:12 Sun Zhu said it in the Art of War. 5:14 If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. 5:19 But if you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you'll succumb in every battle. 5:24 Your temptations are being given by the enemy of your God and the enemy of your soul. 5:29 Know how he comes at you, and when you keep a close watch on it, then you can move away from it into the life you're meant to. 5:36 So take a moment now and pray and just ask yourself honestly that question. 5:40 How would I beat me? 5:41 How does the enemy come after me? 5:43 If each one is tempted by his own desires, what's the tailor-made lure that he's crafted for me? 5:49 Know it and then pray about it before the Lord. 5:52 Lord, show me what it would look like to move away from this self-destructive strategy.