How to Fight Temptation and Live in freedom - Matthew S1E3

Summary

Podcast Summary: How to Fight Temptation and Live in Freedom

Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin – Matthew S1E3
Host: Pastor Joby Martin
Guest: Pastor Chris Brooks, staff/guest contributors
Date: January 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on Matthew 4 and the temptation of Jesus, using this passage as a model for understanding how believers can confront and overcome temptation in their own lives. Pastor Joby Martin and Pastor Chris Brooks dive deep into the biblical framework for temptation, the sovereignty of God, practical strategies for resisting the enemy, the ongoing process of sanctification, and living in true spiritual freedom. The discussion is rich with theological insight, transparent personal stories, and actionable advice rooted in scripture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Sovereignty of God Over Temptation

[00:17–07:33]

• Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for temptation (Matthew 4:1), showing that God can use even Satan’s actions for greater sanctification and His glory.
  • Pastor Joby Martin: “It doesn't just seem like it [God uses Satan as a pawn]; it says it right.”
  • The cross is the ultimate example of God’s sovereignty even in apparent evil.
• Warns against trying to ‘fit God into our pain’ by prioritizing personal circumstances over God’s character and overarching redemptive plan.

Shift from Rule-Following to Heart Transformation

[05:24–07:33]

• Joby reflects on growing up in a church culture focused strictly on “do’s and don’ts,” which only led to “white-knuckling” morality without real victory or freedom.
  • Joby: “I can’t remember a time when I was taught how not to sin… It was all, ‘Good Christians are good and don’t do bad things,’ and here's the list of things to avoid.”
• Emphasizes that it’s not just about resisting temptation, but understanding the God-given desires at the root—and how Satan corrupts what God creates.

Life and Death: The True Paradigm of Scripture

[07:33–09:12]

• The Christian journey isn’t a ‘good vs. evil’ yin-yang, but a matter of life and death (John 10: Abundant life vs. killing, stealing, destroying).
  • Joby: “The reason [God] doesn’t like [sin] is because he loves you… You having abundant life is having him.”

God’s Perspective, Human Reality, and Faith

[09:12–12:47]

• The gap between God's timeless perspective and our day-to-day experience is bridged by faith.
  • Illustrated using Job; God’s plan is always loving, even when we don’t see or understand.
  • The problem of evil is placed in the context of ultimate redemption and love through sacrifice.
  • Joby: “Is there love without sacrifice? Is there ultimate love without ultimate sacrifice?”

The Process and Evidence of Sanctification

[13:25–20:19]

• Sanctification is “a big soup” where real transformation must be evident; if not, your heart hasn’t yielded to Jesus.
  • Joby, citing John MacArthur: “The longer you’ve been a Christian, the less you’ll sin and the worse you’ll feel.”
  • Fruit of the Spirit isn’t about checklist morality but about God producing inward change.

Three Evidences of Salvation

[17:14–20:19]

• Conviction for sin
• A desire to know God more
• A heart for the lost
  • Staff/Guest speaker: “Conviction of sin is evidence of the Spirit at work inside you… And when you know God, you want more.”

The Cross Frees Us from Ourselves

[20:45–21:48]

• Sin is fundamentally “addiction to self.” The goal of sanctification is to loosen our self-centeredness and shift desires toward God—to “lose your life in Christ to gain it.” (cf. Luke 9:24)

Getting to the Root of Sin

[16:32–17:14]; [21:48–25:54]

• External behaviors and temptations may change over time, but the root issues usually remain unless confronted spiritually.
  • Stories about fighting, pride, and self-centeredness illustrate that what once produced external actions (e.g., fighting) can later manifest in subtler ways (e.g., seeking recognition).
  • “If you don’t get down to [the root], that’s where the enemy will really get you.” — Joby, 22:03

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Practical Spiritual Warfare: Temptation, Oppression, and Strongholds

[29:09–41:58]

• Not all spiritual struggles are the same; temptation, oppression, and strongholds are distinct, with only nonbelievers subject to possession.
• Christians should stay alert to opening “doors” to darkness via seemingly small compromises (amulets, occultic symbols, spiritually charged practices).
• On yoga and gray areas: Intent and definition matter. “If you’re a Christian wanting to meditate on scripture while stretching, call it that—don’t use terminology with serious spiritual baggage.” — Joby, 41:58

Practical Examples to Guard Against

• Occult symbols, idol statues, communicating with spirits, palm readers, etc.
• Social/cultural “flirting with darkness” by participating in things that have demonic origins or associations.

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Jesus, Israel, and the Temptation Narrative

[30:03–34:38]

• Jesus succeeds where Adam and Israel fail: He faces temptations in the wilderness (as hungry and alone) but remains obedient.
  • All of Jesus’ scriptural responses in Matthew 4 quote Deuteronomy—tying his obedience directly to Israel’s failures.
  • The three temptations mirror stages of Israel’s history and fulfillment (manna, temple, nations) and the schemes of the enemy.

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The Devil’s Schemes: Understanding the Lure and the Hook

[43:15–47:42]

• Temptation is not itself sin. It is the “lure,” but there is always a “hook.”
  • Joby: “Don’t get so hung up on the lure… what I’m trying to identify tonight is the hook.”
• Satan uses personalized, patient tactics—“Satan’s got a long game too.”

Quote Highlight

“CS Lewis has this great line that… you’re trying to get the right thing the wrong way. And that’s very obvious from how Satan’s tempting Jesus in this text.” — Pastor Chris Brooks, 47:42

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The Ongoing Battle & Engaging Against Temptation

[47:42–49:43]

• “Struggle” must be real, active resistance—not just passive suffering.
  • Unnamed speaker: “It’s not enough only to identify [the issue]. My agency has got to get involved here to partner with the spirit of God and break this stuff off me.”

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Finding True Satisfaction and Freedom in Christ

[50:02–54:43]

• Jesus is the only real answer to deep soul-level cravings:
  • Lust of the flesh → Christ gives peace
  • Lust of the eyes → Christ gives lasting satisfaction/security
  • Pride of life → Christ gives identity as a loved child of God
• Temporary pleasures lose their grip when the believer’s perspective shifts to what God offers.
  • Joby (airline illustration): “What you’re offering me is nothing compared to what I have.”

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The Power of God’s Word: The Key to Victory

[56:13–58:40]

• The supernatural work of God is accessed through His Word. Memorizing specific verses that counteract your temptations triggers spiritual power in real time.
  • Example: Dad struggling with kids—memorize “Fathers, do not exasperate your children” (Eph. 6:4).
• Joby: “The Bible's not there to win the battle—the battle's already won. It reminds you that Christ has won it on your behalf.”

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Final Challenge: Reframing Attack as Opportunity

[58:40–59:32]

• Use the enemy’s attack as a trigger to turn toward God’s truth, not your flesh.
  • Joby: “Why don't you let the enemy’s attack trigger you… to align yourself with the Word of God.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You live your label.” — Pastor Chris Brooks, 07:01
• “The longer you’ve been a Christian, the less you’ll sin and the worse you’ll feel.” — Joby, quoting John MacArthur, 14:16
• “Is there ultimate love without ultimate sacrifice?” — Joby, 11:46
• “Sin is fundamentally addiction to self. The goal of sanctification is to loosen our self-centeredness.” — Staff/Guest, 20:45
• “If you don’t get down to it, that’s where the enemy will really get you.” — Joby, 22:03
• “Some things must be outright rejected, some things redeemed, some things received. Pay attention.” — Joby, 41:58
• “Don’t get so hung up on the lure… what I’m trying to identify tonight is the hook.” — Joby, 43:32
• “Struggle—fight back! Let’s get in this thing, right?” — Joby, 49:27

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• God’s Sovereignty & Temptation: 00:17–07:33
• Legalism to Heart Change: 05:24–09:12
• Paradigm of Life and Death: 07:33–09:12
• Faith Bridges Divine Perspective: 09:12–12:47
• Sanctification & Evidence of Salvation: 13:25–20:19
• The Root of Sin & Temptation: 16:32–25:54
• Practical Spiritual Warfare: 29:09–41:58
• Jesus, Israel, and Fulfillment: 31:28–34:38
• The Devil’s Long Game: 43:15–47:42
• Engaging in the Spiritual Battle: 47:42–49:43
• Freedom in Christ: 50:02–54:43
• Scripture Memorization & Victory: 56:13–58:40
• Final Application—Reframing the Enemy’s Attack: 58:40–59:32

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Conclusion

This episode is a guide for understanding the blueprint Jesus sets for victory over temptation. Listeners are challenged to move past superficial morality, recognize spiritual warfare, dig to the root of their struggles, and continuously come back to the truth and person of Jesus for real, lasting freedom. The Word of God, abiding in Christ, and grasping one’s beloved identity are lifted up as the ultimate answers to confronting and overcoming the schemes of the enemy.

Transcript

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Welcome to Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're praying this message helps you deepen your relationship with Him. Now let's dive in.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Pastor, I love what you said when we were, when you were opening today when you said, this is. We're going to talk about how Jesus beat temptation, but also it gives us a lens to beat temptation. So, you know, this, this in Matthew 4 comes off the heels of Jesus baptism. And what strikes me in the first verse there is that he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So let's start with how does God use Satan as part of his plan to sanctify you? Real light question.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Do you think that's why? When, when we get to the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus teaches us to pray, he says, and lead us not into temptation because he experienced that one time and it didn't. He didn't like it.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah, I do.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

So what was your question?

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

So, so how, how would you explain to somebody that s. The sovereignty of God uses the devil kind of like a pawn in his plan? Because it seems like the Holy Spirit led Jesus to be tempted by the devil. Right?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

It doesn't just seem like it. It says it right. So it's probably. You probably need to start with the idea that God is at work in all things, the sovereignty of God, that everything that happens, God wills and allows. You would need to start there and then get the details of the context as opposed to trying to work backwards to figure that out because you won't be able to. Yeah, there's a few, there's a few places in scripture where you can see that maybe the best place would be the cross. You know, that's the clearest example of God's purpose in the cross was, well, one, it demonstrated his love for us. And then obviously from before the foundations of time, the redemptive plan of God to redeem us for his own glory was through the cross. So right up until this point, you would think, well, God, you've. You've lost control. Like, pilot's in charge, Herod's in charge, Caesar's in charge, the Pharisees are in charge. And then post resurrection, it is very clear that God has always been in charge. So when you start with the sovereign hand of God and decide to see things through that lens, it will keep you from the logical fallacy that a lot of people make. Make when they start with the lens of their own circumstances and then try to make God fit it. So one of the key examples of that is I look at the circumstances of my life, like pain, and then I'm trying to fit God into my pain. Well, then no argument is ever going to get you there. And that's when people try to reverse engineer it and say, well, if God is these three primary things, then why this? Like, hold on one second. What if you started with God, became flesh and endured the most pain ever? What have you started with that lens? And now let's talk. What's your problem again? You know, so not only do I want to teach the Bible, I want to teach people how to learn the Bible. And so when I see themes and trends, kind of lenses by which to see the whole thing, I want to teach that over and over to our church. You know, the gospel would be the primary one, but there are other things, like the preeminence of Christ. We talk about first and best all the time. The way it plays out most practically in our lives here would be in your tithes and offerings. But when you see that as a principle rooted in the preeminence of Christ, it starts all the way from the very first verse. And all of a sudden you see the whole thing differently. Right before I walked on stage tonight, something that hit me is I grew up, when I did go to church, I didn't go to church much, but when I in high school, I went three times a week, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and some Bible teaching churches. And I was often taught not to sin. I, I can't remember a time when I was taught how not to sin. It was just, there's right and there's wrong. There's a narrow path, there's a wide path. We are narrow path people. And then we spent. Or what I can kind of remember is a lot of time, effort and energy around like defining the narrow path. So here are the things that we do and don't do. Nobody ever went like a layer deeper to like, here are the fingerprints of God in your life and what you're actually trying to do is meet this God given need or desire. But the enemy, what God creates, the enemy is corrupted. So pay attention to those things in your life. It was just, don't have sex, don't drink, don't smoke, you know, whatever the list was is, you know, and some of them you could point directly to a verse, but most of it was just rooted in good. Christians are good and don't do bad things. And here's the last of bad things to avoid. And then I was just not very successful in my attempts.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Because it was all, it was just white knuckling it for me. And I mean, I, I would try real hard.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

It's like you said, everybody knows those things are tempting and like you want to do them, but like, there's a lot of energy spent on, oh, no, no, no, you don't want to do those.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Well, they lost me at that. And I, I do. I mean, that old hymn, you know, turn your eyes upon Jesus, belong to his wonderful face, and the things of this world will grow strangely dim. That is very true. But nobody rooted that in John 15 and talked about mortification and vivification. They would just. And I also think I was 16 and a 60 year old pastor who had 40 years of sanctification in his life would be like, why would you even want to do that stuff? And I was like, do you really. Was that a real question? I don't think it was a real question. I have a long list right now. And so. And you know, we all continuously get tempted and hopefully you do stack up victories in Jesus when you rely on his word and lean into the spirit of God in you. And. But what happens in that, you know, good Christians don't do bad things, is through the amount of condemnation and just defeat that I felt most of my Christian life was just overwhelming. I mean, and then, and then, you know, you kind of get, well, if that's the label I am, I guess I'm just going to live into that. But I was taught, you know, salvation by grace. And so I went back there and rededicated my life about 50 times.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

You live your labels. The reason I wanted to ask that is because you, and you mentioned that.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

That's a good line you just ran by in one second. You live your label. Did you make that up?

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

No, I heard it a long time ago.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

No. Well, that is true. Where were you? I'll take, I'll take 22.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

I'll take credit for it now, though.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Sitting in the front row.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah, you were taking notes.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

You mentioned it. That many people have the wrong perspective of good versus evil. And they're like, it's a yin and yang. And if we zoom out and understand that it's that God is sovereign and that it's not. It's not like that, then you actually have something to fight your temptation with.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Well, a better paradigm is life and death out of John 10. And Renaud out of Mosaic Church in Orlando taught me that we were at this pastor's meeting together and we were just chatting about stuff and he helped me see that paradigm that's in the scriptures. Like I don't have a random list of don't do these things because I don't like them. And even if you wanted to, he could because he's God, he does what he wants. But the reason he doesn't like him is because he loves you. And he loves you because he's. You're an image bearer of him. And you having abundant life is having him. And when you do life his way, this is what leads to him, which leads to abundant life. And then there's an enemy that wants to kill still and destroy. So especially, all right, so there's, there's people out there right now and you're sleeping your girlfriend and it's going to lead to death and destruction. It just is. It's not going to help any future that you have. You're hurting her, you're hurting yourself. And God's not just saying like, I'm just trying to make up random strict rules to teach you obedience. For you know, it's not man, he's a good shepherd and he's trying to lead you to green pastures and still waters and an anointing that overflows your cup. And so especially when you don't understand it, money's another good one. When you trust him with all and bring to him first and best, it aligns you with his ways regardless of what your, you know, what, whatever your financial planner is telling you. And if you have a financial planner that doesn't even have bringing first and best on the radar, you might have the wrong one because there's a lot of Christian ones out there that understand God's principles and that he owns it all.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Yeah, anytime that you get to talking about God's sovereignty, God's will, whatever word you want to use in God's relationship to evil. A couple of things that I would say are ingredients in the soup to help think about it rightly. Number one is that God's perspective is very different from our reality. And so we live one day at a time, one minute a time, finite, limited. God is outside of time. And so his perspective on things from his perspective, it's already all pre programmed and it's all going to come about as he programmed it. Our reality is not that way. And the gap between our reality and God's perspective is faith. That our faith is what connects us to the grand reality of what God has planned before the foundations of the world. There's nowhere else to go in scripture but there. That's the only place scripture is ever going to take you. And if you go to like Job chapter one is where you probably see this play out specifically. And the rest of the book of the. There's like the, the conversation in Job chapter one between God and the sons of God is what Job one calls it, one of whom is Satan. And ultimately what you see for the rest of the book of Job is God's perspective and humans reality and the gap that God is ever closing between those things. However, humans do have agency and responsibility in that. That's the whole thing. And the other ingredient I would offer is that I don't know that the right way to say it is that there's a greater glory. But I would say for sure there is a particular glory that God was always after. The Father was always after, and the plan was always that that particular glory would go to the Son. So let me put that in the context of a question. If Adam and Eve don't fall, then we never see the cross nor the resurrection. And that particular glory for the Son was something that the Father clearly was after from before the foundations of time. And so, and because it was the Father that is the one that's after it, then it can only ever be good. And his only motive in it can be love. And so because we know God's character, we can understand his motivations, even though we can't see it from his perspective.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

So good.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah, yeah. So is there love without sacrifice? Like, is there. Have you ever seen a movie? You know? Right, so everybody buy into that. So then is there ultimate love without ultimate sacrifice? So would God ultimately demonstrate his love without the ultimate sacrifice? Even in our human minds, we can go, okay, well, if you just put it that broad, it makes sense. Now, the details of it. At the flogging of Jesus, you're like, what are we doing? You know? And we see glimpses of it all throughout the scriptures. Like Joseph in Genesis is standing before the people who have done him wrong. And his perspective is, am I not in the place of God? What you intended for evil, God intended for good. So God's sovereign hand is over it all. And God is glorified most in the story of redemption that he decided to write and that we get to play our party.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Another place I thought of is if you read Isaiah, it's. It's so long. It can be hard to kind of stick with it if you are new to it. But you know, we're most familiar with the servant language around Jesus, but at other places in Isaiah, he refers to the commanders of the armies that take out Israel as his servant. I will raise up my servant Sak or whoever, and they're going to come do the thing that I said was going to happen. You know, that's how sovereignty is. It's wild. Well, temptation is tempting. And I did hear an amen when you said that. So, yeah, people are learning.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

People are learning.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

But I want to talk about that John MacArthur quote because, you know, we grow in our faith and we are still tempted, you know, and so it's.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

So true, especially from John MacArthur.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Unbelievable.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

I love it.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

So does. How would you describe what never changes and then what does change?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

I mean, see, you gotta. This is like a big soup of your own sanctification. All right, so Jesus says, you know, a tree by its fruit. So if there's not some life change over time, evidence that you're different, then Jesus is not your Lord. You're still your Lord. I would quickly make sure you're not like the fruit inspector on everybody else real quick. You know, that happens a lot. By Bruce Frank. Pastor Bruce Frank. Frank here said one time, everybody doesn't check the sanctification boxes in the same order. Be careful with that.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

John MacArthur says the longer you've been a Christian, the less you'll sin and the worse you'll feel. And so, like I said, when I was like, shortly after becoming a Christian, I just thought if I was celibate and sober for a week or two in a row, man, I was killing it.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

And.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

And now I am deeply convicted of. Over things I didn't even know were a sin yet then. And so when you abide in his word and you allow his word to abide in you, you get closer to Jesus. You tap into the vine because you're just the branch. Then over time, he begins to produce in you all kinds of fruit which are. Which are external activities that are evidence of an inward work of the Spirit of God in you. And yet. But I think I heard you say it this way. Conviction is like a warm invitation of God. That is not like conviction of sin is evidence of the spirit of. At work inside of you, sanctifying you, conforming you to the image and likeness of Jesus. And so, man, I sure do hope every. I hope everything changes in your life, but the conviction won't change. Yeah, it just goes deeper and I mean, I feel like it. You know, there's that old preacher thing about Michelangelo's carving David. And he said, I just carved away everything that wasn't David. Right. Well, at first I'm sure he was knocking off big old chunks. And it was a lot more fine tuning at the end. Maybe from God's perspective, the fine tuning never ends, you know, but from David's perspective, it still feels like a hammer and a chisel.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

It's funny because one of the things you said applies to this because you said that no matter what you're reaching for, for comfort, it's coming from that same root.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

And then if you think about your own journey with sin throughout your sanctification, in hindsight you can say, I know what that root was. You know, I was expressing it by going out and getting drunk on the weekend. Now, that root I might still struggle with, but how it expresses itself is, I spend too much time on Netflix or whatever, and maybe that's better, but it's still like God's trying to conform me to this.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

And pure worldly wisdom can only take you so far. You know, like, man, if you want to stay employed and married, you can't go out and get drunk. You can't do it. It can't be a normal habit of your life. You just won't make it. You might learn that. But again, if you just substitute drink for donuts or something, then. But you don't deal with what's like that thing that you're looking for, apart from Christ, then you didn't actually deal with it. That's like in. In Jacksonville, if you don't ever do something about the weeds and all you do is mow over them. When you mow over them, your yard looks great for many minutes. But if you don't deal with the roots of the weeds, they'll just keep popping back up. What Jesus is doing is he wants to get down to the root of it.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Your example tonight about, you know, when you're more or less a hellion, when you first get saved and just kind of running around chasing after whatever. Yeah. And then you get saved and you're married for like 10 years, 20 years. And you're like growing in a relationship with the Lord. You take a harsh tone with your wife and you're like, oh, my gosh.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Like, yeah, what is wrong with me?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

What's wrong with me? And you're actually, I don't. At least for me, I'm harder on myself now over these, like, I wouldn't menial things that are temperature turned, just turning the dial a little bit. And I had way more grace in myself back then than I do now. And so that's why that quote holds up so good, so strong. I think there's three evidences that you've talked about before, we've talked about before that you'll find in someone who is indwelt with the spirit of God because they've been justified by faith and bust renting their life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. One of those things is conviction for sin. To your point. Now you may not be convicted of all the sins equally or may not be emotionally or cognitively aware of conviction in the same measure, but there is something at work in you that is illuminating to you. Behaviors that will only lead toward destruction. This is the conviction of sin. It's God's warm invitation into relationship with him. And sin blocks healthy relationship between God's people and God. It just does. And so conviction for sin. Another one that you'll see is an evidence of someone being a Christian is a desire to know God more. When you know him, you want to know more about him. Now this one, the boxes don't check in all the same order. The needle may not move as quickly. The way this manifests in my experience a lot is that there's something innate in people that wants to keep them coming back to church because of their own devices. They haven't been discipled yet to really know how to handle the Word. And when they do go to it, it's confusing and, and they. But there's something in them that wants more of the Word which is even more imperative. Why you go to a Bible teaching church, don't go to a fluff church, don't go to a philosophy church, don't go to a cultural diagnosis church, go to a Bible teaching church because there's something in you crying out for the Word because God wants more of God. You know, he just does. And then the third thing you'll see in people who are Christians, evidences of salvation will be that they have a heart for the lost. They may not have all the words that we would know to use, but they want other people to have the experience that they've had and to be saved. And they've gotten the cure to eternal cancer and they want other people to have it. So conviction for sin, heart for the Word, heart for lost people. Those are three. I'm not saying those are the only three, but those are three evidences that I've found to be pretty seem to be pretty true in people who have been indwelled with the spirit of God and are now Christians.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

There's this phrase, you know, you probably have heard it, you know, instead of judging somebody, you say, there but for the grace of God go I. And that might be another way to say, just in my experience, how it's changed for me is like, I think when I was younger, it was more like, did I do something wrong or not? And then as I get old, I'm just like, boy, that's all in there. And I just, I'm thankful that God doesn't let it come out, you know.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Well, it's the cross centered life thing. Right? It's like as the cross gets bigger, you know, as I get closer to the cross, the reality of my sin, I just become so much more aware of it. And ultimately, I think a really important thing is your working definition of sin. That matters a ton. And I also think that in relation to the cross, that one of the things, or maybe the primary thing, or one of the primary things that Jesus freed us from was our addiction to ourself. And so what the cross is ultimately trying to free you from is being wrapped around the axle of your own self. And, and it's what the cross has the power to free you from and what our sanctification is freeing us from, that our highest ambitions, our highest desires, our, our wants and our needs are no longer primarily or first or even solely based on us anymore. That our life is now given over to something greater.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah. Jesus says if you try to gain your own life, you will lose it. But if you lose your life in me, you'll gain it. That's. That that's freeing you from you and the way it plays out. Okay, so like, and especially, I mean, I was a brand new Christian in high school, even into college, man. I mean, I was a fighter. And it was, it was all unrighteous and it was all pride of life because I wanted to. I don't know, I wanted to. I wanted to. People either I was protecting my own ego that would get me into them, or trying to prove myself to everybody else. And sometimes they were sanctioned, you know, in sports, and sometimes they were unsanctioned. So I. So I've grown in that area. You know, I'm not unless. Unless it's for the protection of the week. I'm not going to get in a fight to protect my own ego now. But if I don't deal with the root of that now, something that's. That God's working on me is don't try not to take credit for things that aren't mine. I don't want to take credit for even things that are mine, but. So it's the same thing if I don't pay attention to it. So if I. If to the best of my ability, if I. If. If I can say, first time I heard this was. Or one time I heard you say that, it's actually the same route. And I haven't punched somebody in years, you know, but if you don't get down to it, then that's where the enemy will really get you, you know?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

I haven't punched somebody in here. I think it's so funny.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

True.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

It's true.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Good. But he said it is good.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Let's keep the streak going.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

I'm doing my best.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

At least four.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

It's been at least four years.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

More than four?

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

25.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

25 years.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

A little bit less than that.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Okay.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

That was a righteous one, though.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Yeah, but, dude. Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Your wife. Yeah, but still. But, you know, But. But what? Okay, but even now, just from, like, human wisdom would be, it's not going to be a good idea for any of us for me to be. Even just verbally be a jerk to somebody, you know? And. And so even if I can feel it coming, I mean, the Lord just wears me out over it, you know? And then you never know what's going to happen. Somebody sent me a tick. I don't. I can't watch TikTok. I don't even have that, but apparently I have a TikTok. Some guy on a motorcycle the other night, I can remember, I was very frustrated and went to put gas in somebody's car at my house. All right? And so I'm just like, it's late, and I got. I got to deal with it, and that's the last thing I want to do. And by. By God's grace, this guy on a motorcycle is filming everything, and he. And it just says on TikTok, it was just very like, you just like, you just never know. And it just says, when you see your pastor walk out of Wawa, you got to say, I don't know what it said. And so this guy's about to pull away on a motorcycle, and he just says, see you Sunday, pastor. And I. I didn't hear everything he said, and I just was like, what's up, man? Nice bike. That's all I said. And he said, all right, thanks. And I was like, stay safe. That's all I said. It just made me think. I'm glad I wasn't mean. You know what I mean?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Like, it just retired a Little grumpy.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like in my own feeling sorry for myself because I didn't want to be out that late putting gas in cars and stuff. I wanted to be at home, that kind of thing. But it was a reminder. I have it in me to be real short with people, which is not. It's still the same route where that used to manifest itself in, like, physical activity. I. I need to. I need to watch that, you know, because what am I trying. If I'm trying to protect me and my ego and what I want, that. That's a combination of lust of the flesh and the pride of life. Yeah. So I got to be aware of that. Not just because it might show itself on TikTok, but because God sees the heart of every action. And so when I feel convicted or when somebody, especially somebody I've invited to play that role in my life and the Holy Spirit tells them to tell me something, I've got one of two options. I can defend myself or I can receive God's grace in my life in that moment.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Well, something you said earlier, you were talking about. I haven't punched somebody in a long time. And I had an incident recently where, not that I punched somebody, but there are times where for righteous reasons, you are defending others. Sure. Okay.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

For sure.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

This would certainly qualify in any adult time of you or me or anybody having to get physical in any situation. Right. But this. There was a car accident. The guy asked me this question. He just felt terrible about it. There was a car accident. There was a. His child was involved in the car accident. And he comes up on the. He wasn't far behind. And just. The driver that was at fault was not in good condition. They weren't. They shouldn't have been driving a car. And this guy just comes unglued. He just comes unglued. Now, luckily, he didn't assault anybody. He didn't. But there was a lot of yelling, a lot of screaming, a lot. If it had been filmed, I'm sure somebody filmed it, but that he would. He just got beside himself, you know what I mean? And certainly was on the line of self control. If didn't lose it. As he's telling me the story, super under conviction about it, like. And he's just trying to process how do you go about it? And, and I'm, man, I'm just trying to like, hey, man, as a dad, I get it. But at the same time, like, it's the fact that you're asking these questions. There's evidences of God's trying to teach you things in this and that. He's trying to grow self control. And if you did cross the line, you just got to own that. And you know, so we're talking pastorally through, through all that. But I, I do think you live in a world. We live in a world where the turn the other cheek thing has been misinterpreted and somebody comes after your wife, you, you do what you got to do. You know what I mean? You defend your family, you, you defend the people that God has put under your responsibility and under your stewardship. And so, you know, there are some.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Things worth getting riled up for a.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Hundred percent, which, because there's names involved, you should not tell the story of something that happened 25 years ago. But the people you love and are trusted to protect.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yes.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Were under threat. Yeah. What are you going to do?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Protect. You're going to protect on the, on, on undaunted life. The ask a pastor thing. Kyle asked me a question. He likes to try to put me in a corner, you know, because he thinks it's funny. And he said, cuz somebody asked him in this, like somebody is breaking into your house. Should you not defend yourself because you know you're going to heaven and you want to live without God. Time to hear the gospel. And I'm like, see, your problem is, is that you, you don't understand God's sovereignty and salvation and my, his command for me to protect my family. I understand God is the God of salvation. And so if God wanted to save that guy or if he saved or whatever, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do and I'm gonna take that guy out. But I trust God as the God of salvation because he's either incompetent and needs my help or he is sovereign and he saves who he saves.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Right.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

I actually think it's one of the things that we're going to run into over and over and over and over again in Matthew is how people cherry pick Bible verses and turn them and twist them to try to fit their preferred narrative or a cultural narrative. Oh gosh, all the time you talked about that tonight. You know how, how often people try to stand in authority over God's word. That is ultimately what the enemy was trying to do here was that he was trying to twist and contort and hold himself in authority over God's words. Meaning I can, I'm going to use God's word in this way to try to get Jesus to do the thing that I want Jesus to do which he knew had to know would unravel all things ever. Like all things come unraveled. You know what I mean? But at the same time, he knows he's defeated. So there's a lot going on there on like a lot of levels, you know.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

So you talked about, you know, when, when the whispers come and you say, yeah, you're right, you know, it makes me think there's a. There's a verse in Psalm 51 which is like, it's one of the key texts for repenting and like being convicted and. And it says you desire truth in the inner being. So I think one other thing that I've noticed as I've grown and walked with the Lord is I'm much more likely to agree when I realize what's. What's in there. I think as a younger person, I wanted to say, no, no, no, no, I would never. That's not really. That's not really who I am. But now I'm just like at a hundred percent. That's how, that's how insecure I am, you know, that is how weak I really am, you know. And so that only magnifies the grace of God is what you realize. Pastor Joby, I've heard you before make the connection between Satan's temptations to Jesus and then the text of Genesis 3 and First John. And so let's talk a little bit about that. And I also wanted to ask you, you know, we're looking at this Matthew Gospel from the big picture and saying, how does Jesus fulfill what Israel failed? So if you put those two things together, Jesus is the greater Israel and fulfills what they were supposed to be and do. And this is the scheme of the enemy that's been around for the whole story. Like how do those two things, when they come together, open up the text a little bit for us?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Well, Paul is going to say in Romans that, you know, Jesus is the greater Adam. So if you think about the context of things, Adam, he's in the garden, he's got a wife, he can eat from every tree save one. Jesus is in the desert and he's alone and he's got nothing to eat for 40 days. Adam failed and Jesus wins, right? So there's all those connections. Specifically the. It is written that Jesus primarily goes to are all out of Deuteronomy. He is pointing back to what Israel did when they were set free. And then later in Matthew, Matthew is going to equate the Israelites coming through the parted sea as their baptism and right out of the baptism. They get to a place where there's plenty of manna for them to eat, and they complain about it. And Jesus is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, man. I live by bread alone. Jesus is going to be like, I didn't come here to make much of myself. I'm not going to go up on the temple and ask God to prove his love for me. And then, if you'll look at what Israel does is they make much of themselves. They make idols, they bow down and worship them. Satan says, bow down and worship me. And he's like, I'm not doing those things. I am the promise that God made to Abraham to bless every family. So I didn't have time to connect them all because I wanted to make it very personal. Because if I spend an entire hour talking about that, and then some guy struggles with lust, so he's like, all right, what's that do with me? I'm trying to get to the very practical.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Did you also notice that Satan's temptations are in the redemptive ark of Israel? So, you know, the manna thing is early. The temple is like, kingdom, and then the all. All kingdoms of the world is the. Is where we're headed, you know?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

And he's trying to give him a shortcut there.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Exactly.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

He's like, your dad promised you all people, right? And he's like, yep. How about you get the crown without the cross? Let's do that. And so what you'll see is. And Jesus is like, no, there's no chance. Yeah, you know, I'm to worship him only. So you see, it really played out in the garden. If there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. Not my will, but your will be done.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

I think that there's only three people in the Bible who fasted 40 days and 40 nights. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Also.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

They show up together on the mount of Transfiguration. So I bet you that Matthew's readers, if they're from a Jewish audience, they would have been like, oh, Moses did that, you know, and Elijah too.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

And then if they got a hold of Paul's letter in Romans 3, that the law and the prophets bear witness to this alien righteousness. Not only does that mean the whole Old Testament is pointing to Jesus, but on the mountain of Transfiguration, that's literally what's happening. The. The. The guy that gave the law, Moses, and the biggest of all the prophets are talking to Jesus about his return. That's literally what's happening.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah, well, you know, we're talking about temptation and you know, it's. It's kind of like if somebody's gaining weight and they're like, I just don't understand. It's like, well, you need to understand how food works.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

You know, that's good.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

And knowing the schemes of the devil is like, well, you need to understand how he works. And that's why you're getting tripped up. And you mentioned how he's got these schemes and these things that we can get associated with. You mentioned the thing that we ask people when they get baptized. And it was. I got an email this week and it was a lady asking, can Christians, I think, accidentally associate with a demonic. By doing yoga or. You know what I mean? So what are some of those ways? What are the, what are the lines for somebody practically? Because let's just say somebody's. Somebody watches a scary movie, did they invite demons to the end of their house? Or are they agreeing with the devil? Or you know what? How would you help somebody who's.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

I don't want to be a leader in there. These things. But I think we are not nearly aware enough of opening ourselves up to what Paul says that we need to stand firm against. He says it four different times when he says that we should stand against the devil and his evil schemes because our battle is not against flesh and blood. So I would highly encourage you to put that lens on in your life and then ask God to help reveal to you what areas are you flirting with. Things that are not of light but are pure darkness that you're just inviting in.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Definitions matter a lot. So there's. The Bible certainly has a category for there all things. It's the all things permissible. Not all things are beneficial, right? By all things permissible, it doesn't mean that you can go and do the things that are clearly and blatantly outlined as sin. But there's also this category of like so easily entangles, besetting habits, you know, so definitions matter a lot. So when you say yoga, do you mean stretching? Do you mean like mobile stretching where you're just. You're doing a lot of functional fitness and you're calling it yoga or do you mean seances and trying to connect with the spirits of mother Earth and trying to center yourself with the universe? These aren't the same thing. And so definitions matter a lot. Because if you're trying to just do some stretching and you want to call it yoga, then do some stretching. Stretching is good. I've heard the. But if you're trying to connect with the spirits of this world, then yes, you are inviting in the demons because the demons are the spirits of this world.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Right?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

You don't. There's not another set of spirits out there. And so definitions matter a lot. And, and there are lots of things where I just had this conversation yesterday with some really godly people. We're standing around the fire pit talking about this kind of thing and there's a big difference. And Pastor Joby does a masterful job explaining it. So I won't go into all the details here, but there's temptation, there's oppression, there's stronghold, and then there's possession. And these are not all the same thing. So a temptation is like the demons are trying to like push on you a little bit through lust of the flesh, pride of life, that with the normal temptations, all the temptations that Jesus faced that we all face. But we all have these handles on our life that are through our lived experiences, our traumas, our hearts, our like genetic, our hurts are like genetic makeup. We all have these different wirings and preferences. And, and the demons are trying to grab onto these handles. And so they go from tempting to like oppressing where they're, they're pushing a little bit harder. And if they grab a handle or you, you open a handle to them or crack the door to them, through your practices, through your habits, through letting your guard down, then it will become a stronghold. And, and stronghold is the perfect word for it. I mean, I, it's the word the Bible uses. But if you just imagine if somebody has, you know, you got. I always talk about your, your hands are huge, Vicky. You've got these really long fingers. And just imagine your big long fingers grabbing onto my brain. And when those big long fingers get a hold of my brain, they gonna pretty much be able to turn my head and my will and my emotions any which away, it's going to be a real fight for me to function because something has a stronghold over my brain. For Christians, and the way I understand it, this is as far as it can go. But the next level would be demonic possession, you know, and so I think that we certainly have to be on guard against the spirits of this world and know that they've been playing their game a lot longer than we ever been alive. And though they're not infinite and they're not omnipotence or omniscient, they are real smart. They're real smart. And so it's certainly worth, certainly worth keeping your guard up. And yes, there have been abuses where people have taken things like spiritual warfare and demonic talk and they've just gone crazy with it. Like, we're not even. You're not even. We're not in the same playing book as the Bible. My experience in the camps that I've been in, the places that I've been discipled up until I came to this one, we haven't gone far enough. It's not that we've gone too far, it's that we've stayed too far. We haven't gone far enough, and we haven't taken this stuff serious enough. Because it is serious. It is life and death stuff.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Can you think of any more examples of that? Like, things that people might be tempted to look at as, like, material only, but can often be vehicles for the enemy to grab. Grab you with.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

I mean, I think there are clearly some symbols and words that are. Are demonic, come out of the occult, come out of the camps of witchcraft, that you don't want to buy things that have these images on them. You don't want these images in your house. You don't want these. You don't want to go on a vacation somewhere and buy a Hindu shrine or something that would be associated and then bring that into your house as a, you know, an antique or something. Like, you don't want to do that. You know, you don't. You just don't know what's attached to it. You don't know the history of it. And, and so I think that those are some things that I would, I would point at. You certainly don't want to get into, like, group settings where people are. People are talking to spirits or talking to the deceased or palm readers or any of that kind of stuff. You know, you want to stay away from all that. Those are just some of the pop to my. To pop to mind.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Even the yoga thing. I would, I would ask the. So why do we. Why do. If, if you were a believer and you're like, no, I'm just stretching, then ask them, why do we call this yoga here? And if the instructor is deeply rooted in the demonic roots of it, I would run far. And if you're a Christian that wants to meditate on the scriptures while stretching, then call it that. Don't call it this word that has some serious connotations to it, if that's what you're actually doing, you know, because there are some things that need to be outright rejected. The Bible is clear. Some things can be redeemed, like stretching. And then something can be received. And so you should Pay very close attention to those. A great. I mean, Screwtape letters would be a great read. Totally a great read. If you want to see the craftiness of the enemy, just trying to substitute one stronghold for another while you think you are doing really good, that he's a master of that.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

It's pretty. I mean, is it ever hard for you to look at this event and identify with Jesus because of the hypostatic, because he's God, he's fully God and fully man, and think, was it really as tempting as I'm tempted or. You know what I mean?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Well, that's why you let the Bible interpret the Bible, because twice in Hebrews it says he was tempted in every way and he is fully God, and yet the Bible also says God cannot be tempted.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

So, yes, those are all true.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

I guess that's good news that the temptation isn't the sin, right?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Correct. I mean, that's why I read the verse out of James. So temptation happens when we were lured away and enticed by this evil one. And he used the word lure, which should make a lot of sense for an American fisherman. So every bait, every lure has a hook. And so you really. What I'm trying to identify tonight is the hook. Don't get so hung up on the lure. So whether the hook is movies you watch or people you talk to, you just got to know there's always a gotcha. And the enemy. Listen, man, if you're catching fish, do you. You don't really care how you do it. You just want to catch fish.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Right.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

You know, so he doesn't care how he gets you, whether it's.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

And men and women are, generally speaking, completely different tactics often.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

You know, and so for men, it's very much based on the eyes. And, you know, it's like the enemy hangs the lure out there. Especially when you're a younger man is like, look at naked stuff. And men are like, oh, okay, you know, and then you're, you know, hooked. You know, see the modern struggle that we all are ministering to people and trying to help people get free of all of these addictions to sexual sins. And, you know, all the time, this is the most prominent habit. It is the thing that hides best in the. In the dark. It is the thing you can keep secret most. And it all started with the hook in the water a long time ago, and now it's turned into a stronghold or a serious. I don't even like the word struggle, but a, a, a, A serious fight. Yeah, I remember this is not, you know, I think I remember years ago. I'll just tell, tell the story. I was at a camp and this 16 year old girl comes up to me with her counselor and they're like, hey, I'm just having a hard time. And for her it was a really complicated, layered. She had a real struggle with food and she had an eating disorder. And she could remember the moment when she became aware that she didn't look like what she saw on the magazine. And she was young. And you fast forward that seven, eight years and those compounding lies and that compounding narrative has now manifested itself into this massive spaghetti bowl of complicated emotions and history and negative thoughts about self. And so it was, it was far more complex the way the enemy got into her mind and than it was, than it generally is into men. And so his tactics are different, but like you said, he don't care. He'll do whatever he's got to do. The core of it's the same. The way it works itself out is not necessarily the same.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah, and it is really, it is really helpful to think about. Like I was talking to some guys the other day and we were talking about the sovereignty of God and using all, all different things in your life because it was, we were talking about the, the genealogy maybe, you know, and how there's some crazy stuff there. And so the line, the line came to, to me, God's got a long game, you know, so he's putting all these things together. The thing is, Satan's got a long game too. And so I think what we, what we often don't see is what Satan's trying to keep us from by keeping us bound up, you know. And so CS Lewis has this great line that how he defines sin. He's like, you're trying to get the right thing the wrong way. And that's very obvious from how Satan's tempting Jesus in this, in this text. So.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

It'S interesting. I was walking with my wife today, this afternoon, had a little bit of time and before we came back up to church tonight. And we're all just walking around, beautiful weather. That's one of the reasons you live in Florida, people. For all y' all about to get bombed with the ice and the snow, come to the free state of Florida. But we were walking around and I was just telling her, I didn't even use the right words, but I was like, you know, I'm just, I'm having a hard time coming off the holidays. Like I'm. I just feel sluggish Like, I don't feel like I'm operating at the highest. And I was like, I don't know if I'm battling like a little bit of, like, lethargy or apathy or depression or whatever it is. I don't use that word. Like, I just feel stuck.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Ish.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

A little bit.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

And.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

We'Re just having a normal conversation. But then I'm listening to you preach tonight and I'm like, you know, the temptation is to say it but not actually engage in the battle against it. And because I can easily now, because of God's grace in my life and growing up in the Lord, I can use words to explain things. And I have the emotional tools on the tool bag to be able to identify. You see what I'm saying? But it's not enough only to identify it.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Like.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Like the conviction I had tonight was like, I have to actually get engaged against this, you know, and I need to do some fasting and I need to do some abstaining of the flesh and I need to do some. Like, my agency has got to get involved here to partner with the spirit of God to just like break this stuff off me. You know what I mean?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah. I mean, to actual actually struggle against it. People use the word struggle. They don't mean struggle. I mean, like, yeah, you're getting whipped. Yeah, I'm getting beat up by this. Like, all right, we'll struggle, fight back. You know, let's get in this thing, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

A lot of times they mean, I'm annoyed by this or this is happening to me.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

I think mostly we mean, I just don't want to feel negative emotions.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah, that's a big one. Yeah. And you can't believe all your feelings. Feelings are fine. They're great identifiers, for sure. It's a good gauge, you know. So what are you going to do?

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Could you talk a little bit more, Pastor Joe? But you said you only find the answers to those three things in Christ. And so as we're kind of starting to wrap up here, talk, talk more. Cast that vision for the freedom available on the other side and the. The true satisfaction available that Satan's trying to steal from us.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah. I mean, think about what Jesus offers, right? So if lust of the flesh is. I deserve to feel this way, whether it's pornography and passion and, you know, I have these lustful desires in the flesh or I am self medicating or I overeat, because that's just a different form of self medication he offers. He is the Prince of Peace. He offers the rest for your soul. He offers a peace that transcends all understanding. That is what he offers. So what you're looking for is what he put in you. He's just the source of it. When you, when you realize that the thing I'm trying to do is not going to accomplish what I wanted it to do to begin with, it will lose power in your life. It will. And. And then you could just play that in all three. Unless the eyes. When you, when you began to see the temporary stuff of this world as just that temporary. It's not going to fully satisfy me and it is surely not going to bring the security I thought it was going to bring. But he is going to do both of those things. We will dive deep into that in the Sermon on the Mount. This is the birds and the flowers. So when you do that, then the temporary things of this world lose its power over you. And then you can begin to see the temporary things of this world, whether it's a fat bank account or a new truck, as a tool to be used by God as opposed to putting your hope in these temporary things. It loses its power and the pride of life. When you see yourself. You said this before, not primarily as a tool in his hand, but as a son in his family. Not primarily as useful, but as loved by him. Then the pride of life begins to lose its power. Because you want to be somebody. How about a co heir with Christ?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

You know, I was talking to Chris, Pastor Chris Brooks this week, and he said something to me that just stuck on me like glue. He's like, yeah, he's just trying to minister to me. The guy's the best.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

You know what I mean?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

And he, he says, yeah, he's like, I've been waking up early and just sitting there in the mornings with a lamp on, just sitting there receiving God's love for me. And it's been the best. And I'm like, God, I just want to be like you when I grow up. You know what I mean? I told you. Otherwise, like, it takes me two cups of coffee and no words for like an hour before I can even think straight.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

You know, Pastor Chris Brooks is. He's our pastor on staff. To our staff.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Just.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

It, it occurred to me when waking.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Up early, receiving God's love.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Praise God. Who better to help our staff be healthy?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Amen.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

You know, it's kind of. I mean, this is a very silly example. I travel a ton, and because of that, I have all kind of status with Delta. All right. And I'm. I'm standing there flying to or from somewhere the other day, and they're like, we have oversold and we need somebody to not fly today. Or, you know, whatever, go on later. And we will give you $200. Okay. Just where I'm at right now. That it. It's not even. I mean, like, what are you even talking about?

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

At no point in your life was that ever a reasonable offer that you were going to take.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Maybe when I was in college, I'd have done whatever, you know, you ever.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Have where they, like, they start upping it.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

They totally do.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

That's a very weak example. But it's almost like, yeah, what you're offering me is nothing compared to what I have, you know, and that's that pretty. When you begin to see it that way, you're like, well, I'm trying to get home to see my children right now. I'm not delaying that by a day. For I would pay way more than $200 to be able to see my kids an extra day of my life. So what you're offering just doesn't do it for me because I, like, I could see my life for what it actually is. When you can see what your life for what for it actually is as a son or daughter who God has just said, behold my son or daughter, in whom I'm well pleased. Then all of a sudden, the offer of this world, it does grow strangely dim.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

So when the things are tempting, a question I ask myself is, okay, I'm not seeing this. Right. Why does this have such a grip on me right now? I'm not seeing something.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Right. You know, it's so helpful to back up. I think of, you know, John Piper's whole thing is like, I want to be happy. And so I believe that the best way to do that is to go to God. Yeah. And everything.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

He calls it Christian hedonism.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

And if you take a step back and you think Satan is telling me that same. That same thing, he's saying, I can make you happy.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

And here's how. And God has the same message. And so the question is, just who are you going to believe? That's the path of life, path of death.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

So 100 earlier, you asked. You're talking about temptation as tempting. And you ask, in regards to temptation, like, as we grow in our relationship with Christ, what changes and what never changes? And I thought that the way you explained that tonight was spot on, because the temptation doesn't change that there is temptation. Even what the Primary temptations are. They're always the same. What does change is our thinking. And so our perspective as we grow in God becomes more like his perspective. And the only way that it does that is through the renewing of our mind.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Right.

[Unnamed Staff or Guest Speaker]

And as we get a new perspective and we take the perspective of God that he has made readily available to us, that changes everything.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

Yeah. As you can see it differently, it does change. You know, it's all about perspective.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

If you want to see the supernatural work of God in your life, especially do you guys that say, well, I ain't good at memorizing stuff. I dare you to do the homework. Okay. Like, if you are sideways with your kids all the time, I dare you to memorize. Fathers do not exasperate your children. And I know you're gonna be like, yeah, but he makes, you know, he doesn't do. Okay, I hear all that, but I dare you to memorize that. And you watch what begins to happen. This thing, your flesh is going to rise up in you. It's probably the pride of life because you're not getting what you want. And you dag them and drive a Dodge Stratus. I will be respected. And you're in that moment and all of a sudden, the word of God, he will bring it to your mind. And now I've got a decision to make. What's going to be the loudest voice in my life? Is it going to be my pride, My flesh? Or is it going to be what God's word says? You try to do that. If you're sideways with your wife and you know it's her fault, you know it, bro. But I dare you to memorize. Husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church. And you can keep going. It gets. It'll. It'll like really double down on you. Yeah, you would just decide to memorize that. Yeah, if you're the person. And again, this is usually girls. If you look in the mirror and you don't love what's looking back and every image thrown at you is, you should feel bad about the way you look. I dare you to memorize someone. They're now 14. I'm fearfully, wonderfully made. Your works in front of your works are wonderful. I know that full well. It will not change your feelings in the moment. But that verse all of a sudden pops up in your. And it is God's supernatural work in you. This is him doing what he said he was going to do in your life. Equipping you with some. It is written with the Word of God. And so I think oftentimes Christians get overwhelmed with people that already have like 100 verses memorized. Honestly, just anyone, I would highly encourage you to pick one in an area that directly attacks a lot of the enemy. If you constantly get the whispers and you memorize Romans 8. One, it will. It will help remind you that it wasn't. The Bible's not there to win the battle. The battle's already won. It reminds you that Christ has won it on your behalf. Therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

And that's where all the power is. You know, it's like, like you said with the beach ball, like, you can't just try not to. You have to have something else. Something's got to suck the power out of that thing.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

So back to your original question. So how can the. How could God use the enemy for his own work? Okay, so why don't you let the enemy's attack trigger you, not towards your flesh, not towards lust of the eyes, not towards the priority life, but trigger you to align yourself with the Word of God. So when that anxiety begins to pop up, instead of getting all anxious about being anxious, it reminds you to do Philippians 4. Be anxious for nothing. But by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request onto God. And the peace of God that transcends understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. And now you can do what Joseph did. Like haha. What? You intended for evil, got me all worried. God intended for good. And now I'm actually leaning into him harder.

[Pastor Chris Brooks]

That's a good word. All right, well, that's all we got time for, so. Want to close this in prayer?

[Pastor Joby Martin]

I would love to. Father in heaven, we love you because you love us first. God, we thank you for the gift of your word God. That is the revelation that it is finished that you have defeated Satan, that that all of his accusations are nailed to a cross. Now me, now we, by the power of the Spirit in us, standing on the authority of the word of God, may we walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. Amen. Thank you for listening to the podcast. The end. The reality is everything already belongs to God. And when we give financially, we're acknowledging that we trust him. If you just watch this and feel led to make a donation, text the word donate to 441-122 or visit coe22.com donate. Your generosity is not only an act of worship, but an investment so all people can discover and deepen a relationship with.