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0:20 Stephen Pressfield wrote a book called The Virtues of War, and it's a historical fiction about Alexander the Great, told in first person. 0:28 And I love the way he laid out the book. 0:29 Alexander the Great on the eve of battle would tell you the reader, this is my weakness that the enemy knows. 0:36 Here is how the enemy will beat me and ground me to dust. 0:39 And it sounds pretty fatal, but then he goes, But since I know that, here's what I'm gonna do. 0:46 And he presents his strategy. 0:48 And Alexander the Great goes on to be one of the greatest generals of all time. 0:51 Last time we looked at the fact that we have an enemy who hates Jesus and so he hates us. 0:56 And we looked at the enemy's strategy that he wants to solicit thoughts to your mind to stir your affections so you would enact the will and go places online, go places in relationships that you were never meant to be, that isolate you from the intimacy with God and from being the kind of man you're meant to be. 1:12 But so now that we know the enemy will do that, if we know his strategy, we can enact our own. 1:19 So what should we do? 1:20 Well, let's look at two passages. 1:22 One, Matthew 26, 41. 1:24 Jesus told his disciples, Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. 1:31 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. 1:34 Notice he doesn't say enter into sin. 1:36 Temptation is the moment where my thoughts are solicited and affections are stirred. 1:40 He says, in that moment, watch for it, know where it's coming, and eliminate the moment. 1:45 That's your first strategy. 1:46 I just eliminate the moment where that happens. 1:49 I have counseled so many young men that struggle with pornography because it's pervasive in our day. 1:54 And I just say, you know what, don't shame yourself because shame impedes strategic thinking. 1:58 Just be strategic about it. 1:59 Where does it get you? 2:01 And for many of them, I'm alone, I'm tired, late at night, the internet on my phone, near my bed. 2:07 That's where it happens. 2:08 And I'm like, brother, that is when you're at your most vulnerable and you're putting the world wide web right next to your head. 2:15 That's like an alcoholic pouring a glass of scotch every night and setting it on the nightstand and saying, No, I'm not gonna drink you. 2:21 That's a bad strategy. 2:23 And so weariness plus opportunity often leads to failure. 2:27 So eliminate the moment. 2:29 Buy an alarm clock, get your phone, get all your screens out of your bedroom. 2:34 Eliminate the moment. 2:36 Your environment shapes your mind. 2:39 What you entertain shapes what you become. 2:41 And so just watch yourself, watch what moments you put yourself in. 2:45 And you may just have to say, you know what, I can't be in certain places like this. 2:49 For some of you, it's social media. 2:50 You just realized I always feel kind of discontent and grumpy and angry. 2:54 And you go, you know what? 2:55 What websites are you just soaking your brain in every day? 2:58 Maybe take a break for a month and see if it doesn't change things. 3:01 Be a student of yourself and then eliminate the moment of temptation. 3:05 I'll give you two more, and they come from James. 3:07 How do I fight against temptation in my life? 3:09 The first one is you paddle downstream. 3:12 Before I jump into the boat of a certain sin, let me see where that's going to lead me and is it a place I want to be? 3:18 James said it in James 1.15. 3:20 Desire, when it's conceived, gives birth to sin. 3:24 And sin when it's fully grown brings forth death. 3:27 Desire in Greek is a feminine word, so he uses this imagery. 3:31 If you unite yourself with your temptations, your desires, she'll conceive and give birth to sin, a little rebellion against God. 3:39 And sin is in the feminine as well. 3:41 He says, sin, when she grows up, she'll have a baby too, called death, which is a disturbing image, but he's doing that to shock you because temptations look tempting. 3:50 He says, But before you jump in bed with that temptation, look downstream and know she's going to have a baby called death. 3:58 Alcoholics called it thinking through the drink. 4:01 There will be a moment in your mind that you'll go, I can have just one drink. 4:04 It'll be fine. 4:04 But the trained alcoholic goes, no, wait a minute, I know where this story ends. 4:08 It's going to be a cascade of bad decisions that's going to lead me to a place I don't want to be. 4:13 So I'm going to cut it off here. 4:15 I've never fought a lion, but if I do, I want to fight a baby one. 4:20 I fight it when it's small. 4:22 So when temptations come in your mind and you start to entertain it, look downstream and say, where's this going to go? 4:27 And if it's going to lead me into a fight I don't want, then let me cut it off here at the first beginnings of some bad thoughts. 4:34 The other one I'll give you is to not just paddle downstream, but to paddle upstream. 4:39 That's where James goes in his argument further in James 1.16. 4:43 He says, Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. 4:45 Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, coming from the Father of lights, in whom there's no shadow or shifting due to change. 4:52 Notice he says, temptation leads to destruction. 4:55 That's downstream. 4:56 But if you look upstream, temptation starts in deception. 5:00 It starts with a lie. 5:01 And what's the lie? 5:03 The lie is that every good and perfect gift doesn't come from my father. 5:09 The lie is I don't think God will take care of me. 5:12 So I got to do it myself. 5:14 This was the lie in the garden. 5:16 He's going back to Genesis 3. 5:17 Adam and Eve said, if I trust God, he'll cheat me. 5:20 I won't get to really live life. 5:21 I won't really get to enjoy myself. 5:23 I'll be limited in my experiences. 5:25 And so I have to rebel against God to find life. 5:28 And that is a lie from the pit of hell. 5:30 Because your father has no shadow or shifting due to change. 5:34 He's not deceptive. 5:35 He's not going to trick you. 5:36 Every good and perfect gift comes from him. 5:38 The devil's the liar. 5:40 Sin is a parasite, it distorts good things. 5:43 And so God's not trying to kill your sex life. 5:45 The devil wants to take your sex life and distort it. 5:48 God doesn't want to kill your success. 5:50 The enemy wants you to make it all about your own ego. 5:52 And so you got to look at it and say, no, wait a minute. 5:55 If I'm being tempted, what's giving it its strength? 5:58 Often it's the lie. 6:00 The lie that launches a million sins is that God is not a good dad who takes care of me. 6:06 So we fight the battle there. 6:08 It's interesting. 6:10 Jesus, when he was baptized, the Father rent open the heavens and said, This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. 6:18 What's wild about that is Jesus hadn't done any miracles yet. 6:20 All the lame people were still lame, all the blind people still blind. 6:23 And yet the father says, That's my boy, and I love him. 6:26 The very next thing is Satan tempts him. 6:28 But did you notice how Satan starts every sentence? 6:30 If you really are the Son of God, and then do what? 6:33 Take your God powers and use them selfishly. 6:36 And Jesus is like, I'm not doing that. 6:38 No. 6:39 And it's the love of the Father that gives him the power to overcome the temptation in the wilderness. 6:44 And that's the same for you and me, friend. 6:46 The best defense against temptation is a good offense. 6:50 The more I trust God, the more temptation loses its power. 6:54 The things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. 6:58 And so think about your temptations. 7:00 Where does the enemy come at you? 7:01 And I want you to think about these. 7:02 How can I eliminate the moment? 7:03 What do I need to change in my life? 7:05 Let me paddle downstream and say, if I do this activity, where does it lead? 7:08 I don't want to be there anymore. 7:09 And then paddle upstream. 7:11 Do I disbelieve in God's love for me? 7:13 Well then let me talk to God about that there. 7:15 Let's make war against sin and cultivate the intimacy with God that Christ afforded us.