Escaping The Corruption That Is In This World Through Lust

Well, good afternoon again, brethren. Wonderful. Wonderful to be here with you. Wonderful to get together each Sabbath, as God of course commands us to do. To be able to worship Him, to be able to celebrate, not just celebrate the day, but to honor and to worship our Heavenly Father, and to be able to learn more about His work. Now, I know that all of us realize that spring will eventually be here, and with that, we all understand that the Holy Days will be beginning. They're about six or seven weeks from now, and so they're not in March, but actually in the mid or later April. But in order to prepare for that, we're always encouraged, and of course we go over this every year, but we do so because it's directed, directed in the Word of God. We're told in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 28 to examine yourself. Examine yourself, and then it says, only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. That's a part of the Passover service that we, in a sense, celebrate, but we also commemorate that memorial of the death of Jesus Christ. And so that's yet to be here in several weeks from now, but I want to focus on the first part of the statement there about examining ourselves. I want to cover a topic today that involves all of us as we live in this world. You know, we live in different parts of Kansas City or outside. We live in Lansing, or we live in Blue Springs, or Shawnee, or we live in Pittsburgh, or somewhere in Kansas City. We live out in Holden, Missouri.

Got three of you from there, and we live in Topeka, or in Ottawa, or in Buckner, or in Pecul- we're real peculiar sometimes. We live in a lot of different places around here, but this affects all of us no matter where we happen to live. So it involves all of us as we live in this world, and it involves each of us individually. Now this is a topic that I want to cover today that in many ways could be quite obvious, and yet it often can be overlooked, and it might even be evasive. It might not be something we focus on as much as we should, but it is revealed. It is referenced in the encouraging words of the Apostle Peter in the second book of Peter, 2nd Peter 1, is where I want to begin reading. And perhaps you've thought about this before, but I'm glad to bring it up again, because if you're like me, I have to be reminded. I have to be continually reminded, just ask Pat.

She thinks I have to be reminded about everything! And yet, you know, here in 2nd Peter, in the beginning of this, in a sense, short book, you find some very revealing things in the first few verses. Simon Peter is serving in an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have received faith as precious as ours through the resurrection of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Now this is the way Peter starts this book, because he's writing it to the church. He's writing it to those who have been given the gift of repentance. Those who have received the message and the faith that God extends and wants. He goes ahead to describe that. He says in verse 3, your, or excuse me, his divine power has given us everything that we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. And thus, in verse 4, he has given us through these things his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world through lust and may become partakers of the divine nature. Now we often read that verse because it focuses on God's purpose for human existence. It focuses on the changed nature that God is causing to grow in each of us. It says that we can become partakers of the divine nature.

But that's not what I want to focus on today. I want to focus on the part that is in connection with that. We are to be partakers of the divine nature having escaped, escaped the corruption that is in this world through what? We've been brought out of this world. We've been brought out of the corruption that mankind lives in, even though they don't know it. But it says in this particular verse, and then it's repeated numerous times throughout other places in the New Testament, that we are escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of lust. We live in a world that is corrupted, a world that needs to be rescued. That's why the world tomorrow is coming, a world that needs to be restored.

And yet right now it is corrupted because of lust.

Now, the topic of the sermon is how has lust corrupted this world? How has lust corrupted this world and all of mankind?

How has lust corrupted this world and all of mankind?

We might want to answer the questions or think about, well, you know, what is lust?

Or why is lust wrong? I would think you would probably find many people today who couldn't identify lust and who certainly don't think it's wrong. They're clearly just evidence throughout society, you know, that people don't have a concept that is biblical about how that the world has been corrupted through lust. See, I think we'll find, and certainly it is, closely tied to coveting, which we know is one of the Ten Commandments. And yet the questions that I want us to think about as we examine ourselves is do we recognize lust in ourselves? Do we see that as being anything that has corrupted the world or that is a defect as far as man's nature and my nature and, of course, your nature? Do you see that? And whether or not we do, are we actually overcoming this fatal flaw? Because it is something that can keep us out of the kingdom of God.

If we don't come to recognize and if we don't come to overcome and if we don't come to conquer what has corrupted the world, then how would God allow us to be a part of His divine kingdom?

Let me go ahead and state, I was surprised when I looked up all of the verses. There are dozens of verses in the New Testament that cover or use the word lust.

And in the Greek, I'm not going to give you the Greek word because I didn't write it down and I can't remember it and I surely would not be able to pronounce it correctly. And that's, in a sense, kind of immaterial, but it's used in many different areas of the New Testament. And whenever you see what it is defined as, it is, lust is defined as an attitude of our heart and mind.

And so all of mankind has been corrupted by a bad attitude, a bad way of thinking.

It actually is a desire, and I'm hoping to clarify that. Desires are not necessarily wrong, but unlawful desire is wrong. And yet, as we see, what we will read today about the whole topic of lust and how it has corrupted the world, lust is a selfish desire. It is a desire that is focused on me, on selfishness, on my acquiring or having or seeking something that's illicit, something that is ill-awful, something that, in many ways, you wouldn't even know what it is.

Again, except the law says you are not to cover your neighbor's house or your neighbor's wife or your neighbor's servants or your neighbor's animals or anything that is your neighbor's.

See, this is a command quite different than don't kill or don't commit adultery. That, you know, those things could kind of be defined as far as an act that would clearly be illegal and unlawful. But you shall not covet. That has to do with even looking at other people's stuff. That has to do with looking at other people's wives or husbands. That has to do with the attitude of heart and mind that is defective in man. I want us to look at Romans 7 because here in Romans 7 there are numerous lessons that we might study out of Romans 7, but I only want to focus on one verse because Paul was discussing the value of the law of God. And here in Romans 7, verse 7, he says, what should we say? Should we say that the law is sin? Well, he's absolutely not. No, that's not the case. Yet if it had not been for the law, then I wouldn't have known what sin is. And so he says, clearly the law has great value in that it shows us what is sin. And he goes on to say, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, you shall not covet. He went ahead to describe, but sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness apart from the law, sin is dead. Now he just starts describing in a little bit difficult terminology how it is that as he realized that the sin of breaking the 10th commandment involved far more as far as his own attitude, his own heart, his own thoughts. And I simply want to point out the fact that lust, an unhealthy and inappropriate selfish desire, is the driving force behind coveting, which of course is the focus of the 10th commandment. To covet means to crave or desire, especially in excess or excessive or improper ways. The 10th commandment does not tell us that all of our desires are immoral. That's not the case. God has given us desires and drives that are fine, used within the law, used within, say, the law of marriage, used within the law of personal property and being able to own personal property. I'm glad that other people have personal property. I'm glad that I have some personal property a little bit. And, you know, if you change that, then that's fine. You can sell what you have, or you can give it away, or you can acquire something else that's for sale. But if it's someone else's property, then, and certainly in the case of not just property, but of people, a husband or wife, you know, that is so incredibly promoted today in, you know, in many ways, innocent ways, but excessive all over the place.

But coveting, or excuse me, I wanted to finish this. The 10th commandment does not tell us that all of our desires immoral. It does tell us that some of our desires are wrong. Some of the desires that we might have are wrong. Coveting is an immoral longing for something that is not rightfully ours. That is usually because the object of our desire already belongs to someone else.

And so this is the basis for what I want to be able to have us think about and examine in our own lives. And clearly, you know, what Peter says about we have been created to be partakers of the divine nature, but he says we have to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. We have to understand that topic quite well because it cuts into our feelings, it cuts into our thinking, it cuts into our attitude and our outlook on everything in this life. So there are four things that I want to just focus on today in describing this, and I hope it can be helpful for you and for me to think about these facts about the whole topic of lust.

First of all, where did that wrong influence come from? Well, I think all of us could conclude, and we probably understand it well. It came before Adam and Eve existed. It came into existence when the angelic realm was simply the creation of God, and there were archangels, and then there were many other angelic beings that God created, but he also created an individual that was an archangel and was in many ways perfect in everything that God had given him, and yet Lucifer allowed lust for power to consume and corrupt his thinking.

See, this goes back beyond Adam and Eve. It goes beyond the human experience here on earth. It goes to what we read in Isaiah 14. Let's read part of that. I want to read that. I know all of you are familiar with it, but it needs to be understood that this is the beginning of how man's nature would be corrupted. It began with Lucifer. It began with an archangel.

Here in Isaiah 14 in verse 12, it says, How are you fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn? How are you cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low? Here, this is a reference to Lucifer. He is referred to as the king of Babylon. Not just a prince in Babylon, but a king. But he says in verse 13, again referring to this angelic being who was at the throne of God, he says, You said in your heart, in verse 13, this is what Lucifer did when he became corrupted.

Became corrupted by lust for the power and the authority and the ability that the creator God had. You said in your heart, and so here clearly it was the defect that began in the heart of this great angelic being. I'm going to ascend to heaven. I'm going to raise my throne above the stars of God. I'm going to sit on the Mount of Assembly on the height of the north. I will ascend to the top of the clouds.

I'm going to make myself like the Most High. But of course, verse 15 says, but you were brought down to the grade, to the depths of the pit. You failed in that cataclysmic poor decision. See, this is describing Lucifer's rebellion against the creator God, but here it describes it having come from his heart and wanting to see something that was not his.

And clearly, you know, it was an insane attempt because, you know, the creator of Lucifer was clearly not going to be overthrown by Lucifer. Let's look as well in Ezekiel 28. In a sense, Ezekiel 28 describes again Lucifer as the king of Tyre, the one who was the spirit influence behind some of the human beings that are written about here. But clearly, this is talking about more than just a human being.

In verse 12, you were this signant of perfection. You were full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. That's not a human being. You were in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. Verse 13, at the end, on the day that you were created, they were prepared. And so Lucifer was clearly a magnificent being. He clearly had been given from God incredible capacity and even rule over what would appear to be a third of the angels.

But it goes on in verse 14, you were the anointed carob. As I had placed you and you were on the holy mountain of God, you walked among the stones of fire. Verse 15, you were perfect in your ways. And so here was a perfectly created, powerful, gorgeous, intelligent, capable, powerful spirit being. And yet in verse 15, you were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created.

And so he was clearly a created being by the great God. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created until what? Until iniquity was found in you. Until your heart was lifted up and you wanted to seize something that the great God had not given you. And so Lucifer began lusting for the power that God had.

And so iniquity was found in you in the abundance of your trade. You were filled with violence and you sinned. And so here's a description of the original sin. This was clearly before Adam and Eve. Now Adam and Eve were going to be deceived and they were going to sin as well.

But clearly Lucifer was the one who had allowed lust for power to consume and to corrupt his thinking. And so it says, I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God. In verse 17, your heart was proud because of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. And so I cast you to the ground.

See, this is amazing discussion that God puts into the Bible for us to comprehend how that Lucifer is the one who, you know, lusted for power. He clearly had everything going for him, but he became corrupted. It says his wisdom was corrupted. His entire existence was corrupted. And so here we find God's description of the ultimate selfishness. In a sense, and I know we've described this in the past, it contrasts what was displayed by Lucifer as the way of get. The way of get as opposed to God's way of giving. Instead of loving and giving and caring and sharing and as God is, Lucifer started because of the lust in his heart and because of that leading to sin. He started a way of get, take to myself. And of course, you could also contrast selfish lust without going concerned. God's way is described as love. It's described as outgoing concern. And so whenever and as God has given mankind a drive or a desire, it's not wrong to have those desires. And yet, if they are outside the law, well then they are falling into the category of lust. Here in Romans chapter 8, I want to point out, in a sense, this is the extension of what we just read here about Lucifer allowing lust for power to consume him.

Here in Romans chapter 8, we read a section that's talking about the future glory that mankind can have. And yet it says in verse 18, I consider that the suffering of this time, this present time, is not worthy to be compared with the glory that's going to be revealed in us. And so it's saying, well, clearly God is allowing us to, in a sense, suffer at times through trials and tests. And yet ultimately, you know, what God is going to give us is going to be greater than anything we could ever imagine. But then he says in verse 19, the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. And so talking about the whole earth, the whole creation awaits the time when the children of God will be empowered by God to be able, you know, to rule with Him. He goes ahead in verse 20 to say, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope.

That in verse 21, the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption. See, that's where mankind is today. That's where the world is today. The world is in bondage to corruption, and it will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. See, that's why, you know, we can certainly identify that Lucifer is the one who started the way of lust. And so unless we identify that, unless we turn from that, well, then we're continuing to follow him. We're following his way. Now, the second point I want to make, again, I think it's pretty obvious whenever you read the Bible, you know, that mankind simply revels in lust. Men, in general, whether it's internationally in different countries around the world, whether it's in this country, whether it's among the states or down into our counties or little cities, you have people who are corrupted by lust. And of course, it extends to us.

And yet, whether that lust is sexual, as it very likely could be, and as it often is portrayed on television, in, you know, almost, you want to throw up to see the extensive amount of sexuality and unlawful, because sexuality is designed by God to be good, and it is designed to be used within the framework of the law, within marriage. And yet, you know, you see it promoted outside of marriage, before marriage, without marriage, totally. You know, of course, they want to destroy marriage as well. They want to get rid of the whole concept. And yet, of course, you know, whether it's that or whether it's just physical possessions, you know, you find people, you know, doing almost anything to acquire physical possessions, and those are not wrong. Many of you have a good number of physical possessions. We seek to acquire that, and you have to have, and God knows, we have to have some of those things in order to function. We need, and He says He will provide food and shelter and clothing. So we need some of that, but of course you find rampant envy and jealousy over what somebody else has.

And then, certainly, as I mentioned regarding even our governmental structure, you know, we have people seeking power. That's really what politics is. Politics is just men or groups of men or women seeking power. That's what they want to be in charge. And that comes from a drive that may not be altruistic. It may be completely corrupt. And so, you know, we can look at numerous verses as to why that is. I think we're all familiar with what we would read in Matthew 5, verse 28, when Jesus was describing the spiritual application of the law prohibiting adultery. He says in Matthew 5, 28, I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery with her in his heart. You know, that's clearly unlawful desire, selfish desire. That is clearly lust, as Jesus defines it.

Let's look at John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Here, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees who are arguing with him about his credentials. Of course, they didn't want to accept his credentials. They were the religious authority. They had a certain role. They didn't accept him as the Son of God. And of course, he could argue circles around them if he wanted. But he made it pretty plain here in John chapter 8, as he was describing the fact that, you know, you don't accept me because you're not of God. You are of the devil. Here in chapter 8, verse 44, Jesus said to them, you are from your father, the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. And he was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth because there was no truth in him. And when he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he's a liar and he's a father of lies. See, now here he was saying that to the Pharisees, but he was also implicating all of mankind. He was saying that, well, unless God has drawn you to have relationship with him, well, then you find yourself in a fallen condition. You find yourself in a sin-laden condition, and you are actually not following God, but you're following the devil. And so, you see James describing this more over in James chapter 1.

And brethren, we have to apply this to ourselves. We have to consider what the word of God says here in the book of James. In chapter 1, you actually see a lot of really great information in the book of James. It really is an incredibly powerful book and a book that perhaps many overlook, but there's a lot of great information there. But here in James chapter 1, he talks about how it is that there is a power of lust in mankind that is simply a part of our nature.

Here in James chapter 1, in verse 14, talking about that God does not tempt people, but in verse 14 of James 1, he says, one is tempted by his own desire, being lured and enticed by the lust of his heart. Then, in verse 15, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.

See, here he's described a progression of beginning in the heart of man, of an unlawful desire. And see, having that desire perhaps, or even thinking about it, that's one level. But then mulling it over and considering it, and considering, well, maybe it won't be that bad, and maybe I think I'll figure out how to do this ultimately if it is, what is it says, the desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. It leads. And of course, that teaches us how, well, we need to stop that when we recognize it. We need to stop it earlier understanding the need to do so. And of course, in verse 16, he says, don't be deceived, my beloved brethren. Don't be deceived. Don't think that that isn't the case. That is the case. And so we want to guard against lust. And certainly, you can read in the book of 1 John. John is, of course, fighting a lot of things in the book that I'm referencing here in this first letter of John. 1 John chapter 2, and again, I won't go through many of the things that he is saying, but he does say in verse 15, don't, don't love the world. Don't love the world, and don't love the things that are in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world. And so here he's pointing out how that the world has been corrupted through lust. You'll go ahead to say the love of the Father is not in those who love the world. In verse 16, for all that is in the world. And so here he's going to describe how that Satan's attitude, his lust for power, his aggression toward God, and that's of course what we read about the carnal mind being hostile toward God. That's what man has received through deception. But here he says all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh. And so you can say, think through what that could be. It goes ahead to then describe beyond that the lust of the eyes. And then finally, the pride of life, for the pride of riches and success.

They come not from the Father, but they come from the world.

And he says the world and its desires, its lusts, are going to pass away. But those who do the will of God are going to live forever. That's an incredible description of what it is that God wants for us. But we do need to be able to recognize the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. In a sense, that could almost be viewed as kind of an aging situation. The lust of the flesh, the lust of possessions, of what everybody else has, and even the pride of success. The pride of life for riches. See, that's what John is referring to. And he says, this is not of God. This is of the world. This is of the deceived world. And so, the second point that I make is simply that the world just revels in lust. And the world's description that the Bible gives is one of being filled with lust and being corrupted by lust. And so, the third point is even true Christians have been infected by Satan's nature of lust. See, even Christians who are, as you and I are, we're struggling against a fallen nature, a nature that is hostile to God. Now, if your human nature is completely gone, then you don't have to listen to the rest of what I want to say. But see, I'm pretty sure that all of us still have some human nature because I clearly know I do. And, you know, we can see that in the way that the writers in the New Testament, Paul and others, how they describe the Christian walk is one that is doing battle. Battle against the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the arrogance of success.

See, that's what it tells us. It doesn't tell us not to be successful. You know, that's fine. It doesn't tell us not to have things that also can be fine. It doesn't tell us not to be married. That is within the law. But it does tell us that there's a whole lot of illicit and unlawful areas of interest that the world promotes. And then, Christians have to be fighting that same nature. See, we have to understand that and be working on it. Here in Galatians chapter 5, of course, the works of the flesh, and it also lists the fruit of the Spirit. Now, we tend to want to focus on, and I think rightfully so, the fruit of the Spirit. We want to be growing in the divine nature. We want to be growing in a nature that God is causing to thrive in us through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. And yet, in verse 16, he says, live by the Spirit. I say, live by the Spirit. Do not, do not gratify the lusts of the flesh. So, who's he writing to? Well, he's writing to Christians. He's writing to people who had embraced the truth of God. He's saying you've got to recognize these things and live by the Spirit and not gratify the lust of the flesh. This, I say then, walk in the Spirit and then you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And so, that battle has got to be going on. It's got to be going on in our lives, in our minds. Let's look at what he said to Timothy over here in 2nd Timothy.

2nd Timothy chapter 2. Now, Paul greatly loved Timothy. He was one of his younger students. He was one of the younger ministers. He was someone who was able to be actively involved in the work that Paul was doing of preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And yet, in 1st and 2nd Timothy, and you also see the similar thing in Titus, another one of his younger ministers that he was teaching. He says, you know, you've got to, you know, give yourself to things that are going to cause you to be successful. But here in 2nd Timothy 2, 2nd Timothy chapter 2, he says in verse 22, you need to shun, shun youthful lusts or passions and pursue righteousness and faith and love and peace along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. He says, this is going to be a part of your battle. This will be a part. This will keep you safe. This will keep you pure. This will keep you in a lawful area of life. And we might jump back as well to the book of Ephesians, because this is, it's written all through the writings of Paul. But here in the book of Ephesians chapter 2, again he's talking to Christians. He's talking to people who made up the congregation of the people who lived there in Ephesus and people that he had met and people that he knew.

And yet people that he knew in some ways were flawed. They had been called by God and they were overcoming. But how is it that Paul describes those people? Well, here in Ephesians 2, he says, you were dead. You were dead through trespasses and sins in which you once lived.

Following the course of this world, following the ruler, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient, the children of disobedience. And yet he says in verse 3, all of us once lived that way. All of us once lived among them in the lust of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and mind. And we were by nature the children of wrath like everyone else. But of course God has rescued us. Those first few verses point out how that all of mankind has been deceived by the prince of the power of the air.

For the most part, people don't know that. They're not aware that that's the case. But see, when God grants a gift of repentance, when he grants a comprehension of the sins in our lives that we need to be covered for, that we need the blood of Christ for. Well, then we see that right readily. We see that, and I know that all of you certainly understand this verse that we're reading because it just points out that, well, that's what God has done. He says, I want you to be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption of the world that is here because of lust. That's what he tells us. And so he is perfecting us. He is cleansing us. He is watching us. He is refining us in order to have a totally different nature, a nature that is no longer fitting in with the children of disobedience. But, you know, we become obedient. We want to be obedient. Now, do we fall down? Yes. Do we fail at times? Yes. Do we need to be forgiven? Yes. But we still are in that struggle. We are in that fight. It's good to be struggling. It's good to struggle because, you know, that's how we're going to make some progress. God is going to continue to be with us. And yet, here he simply shows how that Christians are going to be fighting that fight. We might jump on over to chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, and talking about the new man. You know, here he talks about how it is to put off the old man and to be a part of a new man. Verse 25, putting away falsehood. Let us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Backing up here to verse 22. You were taught to put away your former way of life, to put away your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts. This is what I've been talking about, that this is the way that God sees us in this world. He knows that's where we are. It's a matter of us coming to know that's where we are, and we are, in a sense, battling that. He says you were taught to put that away, to put away your former way of life. And in verse 23, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind and to clothe yourself with the new self, created according to the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness. You know, if God is going to live in us, if he is going to be the example and the type of way of living that, you know, we want, well then we're going to have to have that transition, a transition of putting away the old man. One other chapter here we could look at is in Colossians chapter 3.

Because this talks about the new life that God wants us to have.

Colossians chapter 3, he says in verse 5, put to death, again talking to Christians, talking to people who have recognized their need to be forgiven and need to be changing. Put to death therefore whatever in you is earthly. Fornication and impurity and passion or lust, evil desire, and greed which is, or covetousness which is idolatry. Now he lumps a lot of things in there in one verse, and yet, you know, they're all in a sense tied together because they are opposed to worshiping God. They're opposed to drawing close to God as our Savior. He says on account of these, the wrath of God is going to come on the disobedient. These are the ways that you also once followed when you were living that life. See, that's the way Paul describes it. Yeah, you were living in the lust of the flesh. You were living in the pride of life, the lust of the eyes. You were living in a way that you are asked to come out of. These were the ways that you once followed when you were living that life, but now you must get rid of all these things, anger, and wrath, and malice, and slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Don't lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off that old self with its practices. Clothe yourself with the new self.

See, I only point these out to show us, brethren, that, you know, the Bible clearly tells us where we are, who we are, and what He wants us to do. He wants us to pursue the new life. And so, the final thing I'll mention then is how we can overcome. How we can overcome and actually conquer the lusts of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. How can you do that? What can you use? What can you do? You can certainly ask God for help. You can ask to be forgiven. You can ask to fight the good fight. There are a lot of different phrases that could be used. One of them that Jesus successfully used in Matthew 4 is that He used the Word of God as a powerful defense. See, how much does the Word of God need to be in our thinking, in our heart, in our mind, in our focus? It clearly was for Jesus. Again, I'm not going to read through the entirety of Matthew 4 or the first 11 verses.

I'm pretty sure all of you are familiar with Jesus being tempted by the devil.

Now, this was after Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and it says He was hungry, which clearly is an understatement. If any of us attempted that, we would clearly be not just hungry. We would be more than hungry. And yet, what did we learn from that encounter with the devil and Jesus Christ, the Son of God? What was the devil trying to prove? He was actually advertising His way, His way of taking what is not lawfully yours, His way of lust, His way of greed and covetousness. He was actually trying to get Jesus to doubt if He was the Son of God, or to doubt that the Father was strong enough to rescue Him. And yet, when you read through this, maybe we do have to go back since I don't remember it like I should. Matthew 4, verse 3, the tempter says to Jesus, if you are the Son of God, so again, trying to get Him to His faith to be shattered, His faith to be diminished, trying to get Him to doubt, doubt is one of the enemies of faith. It says, if you are the Son of God, then command these stones to be made bread. And of course, as we know, Jesus was hungry. And so, Satan was appealing to a lust for, you know, eating what I want to eat right now. That's what he was telling him.

He was later, in verse 5, He took him to a high city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the Son of God, again, trying to get him to doubt, throw yourself down, because it's written, he will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up. He says, throw yourself down, God will rescue you, don't worry about it. And finally, of course, in verse 8, the devil took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.

And all their splendor, and he said, all of these, they're mine. I possess them. I am the God of this world. I am the ruler of the power of the air. And he says, all of these I'll just give to you if you'll just fall down and worship me. Now, all of those temptations were based on lust. They were based in a lust for a physical appetite, in the sense of food. It was based in tempting God, you know, thinking, well, perhaps God won't rescue me. Based on, ultimately, as the final one shows, the lust for power. See, did Jesus really have to go through the remainder of his life and ultimately the horrendous suffering that would have caused his death? Did he really have to go through that in order to receive the kingdoms of the world? Well, he was going to be the king of kings. He was going to be the lord of lords. And so, what was his defense? Well, it was the word of God. He said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He said again, it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test. And finally, down in verse 10, worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. So, he was quoting scripture to the devil's attempts to get him to fall for the fallacy of lust for possessions or for physical things or for power. That's what he was trying to do. And, of course, Jesus' example is the one we want to follow. We might also look here in the book of Titus. The book of Titus, again, as I mentioned, is written by Paul and to a younger minister. But he was trying to help Titus to realize what he was going to be facing as he worked with people in the church and people who were going to be overcoming their defective and sinful nature and growing in the divine nature from God.

Here in Titus 2, you see Paul telling him, you know, this is what you ought to tell the older men and the older women and the younger women and the younger men. So, he's giving him a lot of instruction about different things, and you can read those yourself. I won't take time to do so. He says, in verse 11, the grace of God has appeared to all concerning or bringing salvation.

And so, you know, we've been drawn. Paul had, Titus had, Timothy had, the members of the church had been drawn to the grace of God, training us in verse 12 to renounce impiety and worldly lusts and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled and upright and godly.

While we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ, we're, we're waiting for that. That hasn't come yet. It's going to come. It's inevitable. Christ needs to return. We pray for that. But seeing the time being, what are we going to do? Well, we're going to be renouncing the worldly lusts that are so familiar and then seeking that kingdom that God is sending. See, Christ's example, of course, you know, maybe another verse that I should add to this is simply here in Philippians chapter 2.

You see the example of the humility that Jesus had as he was willing to give up the role that he had with the Father and to come to the earth as the Lamb of God. He was willing to do that for us. He was willing to do that because he loves us. He is concerned about us. He is concerned about us being successful. So he doesn't want us to be uninvolved or unengaged. He wants us to be greatly engaged because he's bought and paid for us. The blood of Jesus Christ has covered our sins.

But here in Philippians 2, we see a description that is actually a focus on selflessness instead of selfishness.

He says in verse 2, Paul says, make my joy complete.

Be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. And so he wanted them to be united. He wanted them to be speaking the same thing. He wanted them to have a similar mind. In verse 3, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, regard others as better than yourselves. Now, again, I'm not I'm taking just that out of the whole section here, but it's talking about the power of selflessness, the power of putting others before ourselves. And that, of course, is going to be conquering our own selfish desire and our own selfish interest. So I hope that in going over this, it is helpful to realize that God wants us to be partakers of the divine nature. He wants us to understand that He has brought us out. He has helped us escape from the corruption that is in the world for lust, and yet we have to be on guard. We have to be fighting against that. We have to be recognizing and overcoming and conquering the nature of lust that Satan has permeated the world with, and he has polluted all of us. You know, it is imperative if we want to be a part of the kingdom of God that we will be putting away, you know, that wrong nature and then be growing in His divine nature. Let me close with just the last verse here in 2 Timothy 4. In many ways, it kind of is a sad verse, but it could be a telling verse. If we are not alert to our need to come out of the world, to come out of the lusts of the flesh and the desires of this life, see, our focus should be on the kingdom of God. Our focus should be walking in the Spirit. Our focus should be on what God is able to help us do in our overcoming. But here in 2 Timothy 4, you find Paul concluding this book, and in essence, you know, these are some of the concluding statements that Paul may have written down. But unfortunately, he says in verse 9, do your best to come to me soon, saying to Timothy, I'd surely love to see you. He was imprisoned at different times. I think he was still imprisoned here. But do your best to come to see you for, in many ways, I've been deserted. He says, Demas, who is in love with this present world has deserted me. He mentions crescens and tituses well, and I don't know if the reference is to the fact that they are deserting him or that they have just, they're not there, unable to be with him and comfort him. But he says about Demas, you know, he's in love with this world. He is not overcoming the lust of this world. He's giving into it. And so, Father, we want you to help us. I guess we should all pray that, Father, help us not to be in love with this world, but to be in love with the word of God and to be in love with the way that God wants us to be growing and changing and overcoming. And so, hopefully, you know, we will be continuing to examine ourselves and prepare, as we will come to in several weeks, the spring holy days and particularly the Passover, that we can all fully be prepared for having examined ourselves.