Amen. Some people get all the talent, don't they? And then there's the rest of us. Amen. Well, if you've got your Bibles, let's go to Matthew chapter 4 tonight. Matthew chapter 4. And boy, I sure have appreciated all the music that we've enjoyed this week. And it's helped prepare our hearts. And there's a world of difference between music that lifts our eyes to Jesus and music that doesn't. And you ought to listen to the kind that helps you to focus and fix your eyes and heart on Jesus Christ. You ought to listen to it in your home. You ought to listen to it in your car. And if your house is filled with turmoil and fighting and stress all the time, you ought to listen to some good godly music in your home. And I promise you it will change the spirit your home so thank you for the music this week join me in Matthew chapter 4 tonight and thank you for being here on a Thursday night and thank you for coming whether you drove in whether you swim in or canoed boat however you got here I'm glad that you made it tonight I hope you'll join us tomorrow night if you able and if you even if the preaching is not good we're still gonna have ice cream so come on out tomorrow and we'll have a good time and fellowship and have just in the good in the week off strong tomorrow night Let's jump into Matthew chapter 4. I'm going to preach an equipping message. And some messages, like Sunday morning, are evangelistic messages. Some messages, like last night, are encouraging messages. I hope you got encouraged last night from the message. Tonight's going to be an equipping message. And I'll say it once again, God's at work in this place this week, and I was struggling to preach last night. I don't usually struggle with that particular message, and I did last night. And I walked away from the pulpit thinking, what in the world is going on tonight? Couldn't get my words out, stumbling over And then afterwards in the Paul brother Scott came up to me and said well praise the Lord got to lead a young man to Christ tonight So I thought that's why and whenever there's lost people in the house and God's at work trying to save them You can mark it down. There's a spiritual warfare going up here I go And let me just take a moment and say this, if you ever see your pastor, and he may not do this, but maybe a guest preacher, and they're up here struggling to get the words out, to get their thoughts together, you ought to recognize that to be not a lack of preparation, but there's some spiritual warfare going on up here, whether you can see it or not. And you ought to bow your head and say, Lord, help him. And you ought to pray this when it comes to the for your preacher. Lord, make it easy for him. That's a good prayer to pray for your preacher, a Sunday school teacher. Lord, make it easy for him. And so that would be a help. All right, Matthew chapter 4 tonight in verse number 1. The Bible says, Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, stop right there. That was an attack on the Word of God. In chapter 3, Jesus was baptized and when he came out of the water, God said from heaven, This is my beloved Son. I am well pleased." And a couple of verses later, here comes the devil to say, if thou be the Son of God. Friend, he's been doing that ever since Genesis chapter 3. Do not allow the devil to place a question mark where God has placed a period. Don't let him make you doubt the Word of God. He said, if thou be the Son of God, command these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, it is written. Or in other words, devil, the Bible says. devil the Bible says man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that Proceedeth out of the mouth of God father. We thank you for the written inspired Preserved word of God Lord. I pray that you would help us to treasure it and Lord after tonight I pray that you would help us use it Lord, I pray that you would make it easy tonight, the preaching and even to listen to it. Lord, I pray that you would have your work, your will in our hearts tonight. Lord, help us tonight. Show us the areas that we need to be strengthened, equip your people. Lord, expose the devil and help us to have the victory tonight in Jesus' name, amen. Does anybody know the name of George Foreman? Would you raise your hand? Long before he was selling grills, he was punching people in their grills, amen. He wrote this in his book, God in My Corner. In 1974, before I went to Africa to fight Muhammad Ali, a friend gave me a Bible to take along on my trip. He said, George, keep this with you for good luck. He said, I believe the Bible is just a shepherd's handbook, probably because the only verse that I knew was the Lord is my shepherd. But I was always looking for luck. So I carried that Bible with me. He said I had lucky pennies and good luck charms. So now I added the lucky Bible to my collection of superstitious items. He went on to say after I lost the fight, he said I threw the Bible away. I never even opened it. I thought the Bible didn't help me win. So why do I need it? I thought I'd get power simply from owning it. I didn't realize that I needed to read it and believe what it says. Since then I've come to understand that the Bible is my road map, not my good luck charm. But I've come to tell you that the Bible is not a good luck charm and it's more than a road map for your life. It is a weapon that God has placed in our hands to help us to be victorious. The Christian life. I like the way the old school preachers used to say it. They said the Christian life is not a playground. It's a battleground. In Ephesians chapter six, the apostle Paul put it this way. He said, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. In other words, we're not in a physical battle tonight. In other words, your husband's not the enemy. Your wife is not the enemy. Believe it or not, them kids are not your enemy. But you do have an enemy he went on to say but against Principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places I'm thankful tonight that the Bible at least does bare minimum that we are in a battle It says in Peter chapter 5 that we have an enemy. Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary, your enemy, the devil, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. And can I just take a second to remind you that you do have an enemy. There is a devil that's alive and well today, and he hates you, he hates your marriage, he hates your family, he hates your home, and he's out to destroy your life and erect your testimony and rend you ineffective for the cause of Jesus Christ, There is a devil and an enemy out there tonight. I'm thankful that God at least tells us that we're in a battle. I'm thankful that He does tell us that we do have an enemy. But I'm also thankful that He did not leave us to fend for ourselves. But the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6 that He has equipped us with the weapon that the Bible calls the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And friend, when you come to Matthew chapter 4 tonight, we find that our ability to use the Scriptures will determine whether or not we are a victim or a victor in the battle against temptation. Tonight I want to speak on this subject, swing the sword. Swing the sword. Would you notice just simply just a couple of observations about temptations when you come to Matthew chapter 4. Two just by way of introduction, two simple truths about temptation from Matthew chapter 4. Would you notice first of all Temptation is certain. Temptation is certain. Notice in verse number one, the Bible says, Then was Jesus led up into the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Here Jesus is being led of the spirit. In other words, He's not walking down a path of disobedience. He's walking down a path of obedience and He still faces the devil and He still faces temptation. There may be somebody here tonight who says, Brother Taylor, I'm new to Christianity. I just got saved. I haven't been a part of the church for very long. And I thought when I got saved, it was going to be smooth sailing from here till I got to heaven. I thought all the trials would be over, all the troubles would be gone, all the temptations would be behind me. I'm sorry to disappoint you tonight, but that is not reality. Even in the Christian life, even in the will of God, walking in obedience, You will still face the devil and still face temptation. Temptation is certain. You say, well, if I'm going to face temptation, then I might as well just live in disobedience. No, if you live in disobedience, you'll face many more unnecessary temptations that you shouldn't have to face in the first place. But mark it down, you will face temptation this year. Number one, it is certain. In fact, go on to look at verse number three as well. And when the tempter came to him. See, it's not a matter of if the tempter comes, it's a matter of when the tempter comes. And if you and I are going to face temptation in the Christian life, then you and I would do well to learn how to overcome that temptation. Not only is temptation certain, temptation is also calculated. Temptation is also calculated, and by that I mean this. You can take it to the bank, you will face temptation, but there are certain seasons of your life that you can expect for the devil to show up and tempt you to sin. You say, well, which seasons are those? What about times of isolation? times of isolation. Notice again in verse 1. Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness, into the wilderness. When he got to the wilderness, no one else was in the wilderness. And he found himself all by himself, all alone in a place of isolation. And that's when the devil showed up and began to tempt him. You remember the story of Joseph in Genesis chapter 39. The Bible says that Joseph went into the house to do his business and there was none of the men in the house. And that is when Potiphar's wife struck out and tried to commit adultery with that young man. I'll say this, you better be on guard when no one else is around. You better be on guard when there's no accountability. You better be on guard when no one's there to look over your shoulder. You and I have a tendency when we get all by ourselves and all alone, we have a tendency to put our guard down. But we don't need to put our guard down. We need to put our guard up. Why does the devil strike us and tempt us when no one else is around? Because he knows you'll do things in private that you would never do in public. You get by yourself, I don't have my phone with me this evening, about young people, they get in trouble. There's not a camp, and your preacher's gonna attest to this, he preaches teen camps as well. There's not a teen camp that we preach where there are not young men, and watch it now, in 2017, young ladies that are addicted to pornography. I know the pastor right now, that wasn't long ago, he was. counseling a 12-year-old young man that was struggling with pornography, you say, why is that? Because mom and dad gave him an iPhone without any type of filtering, without any type of accountability, with no type of security on it, and he ended up getting himself in trouble. You say, when do young people get involved in that? During times of isolation. I'll say this, no young person needs to be taking a cell phone to their bedroom at night. laying there in the dark, looking up videos on YouTube, and oh, one thing leads to, oh, what's this? And oh, oh, how many times has that happened? No young person needs to be sitting in a room with their backs up against the wall, with a door closed in the bedroom, with a laptop facing away from the door, so nobody can see what they're doing. The Bible says, make not provision for the flesh. In other words, don't create an opportunity to where it would be easy to sin. Here's the Bible. Make it hard to sin and easy to do right. Make it hard to sin and easy to do right. If a young man and a young lady who are dating as teenagers, it's probably not a bright idea for them to be at home alone without mom and dad looking over their shoulder. That would not be making it hard to sin, that would be making it easy to sin. Let me just ask you tonight, what kind of accountability do you have set up in your life? On my phone tonight, my wife can show you, we have a program called Covenant Eyes. And every week of my life, my wife writes a full-blown email report of every website that I've looked at. You say, why is that? Because you struggle with the internet? No, because I don't want to struggle with the internet. What kind of accountability do you have set up in your life? I'm telling you, the devil strikes during times of isolation. What about this number two? What about times of weakness? Times of weakness. The Bible says in verse number two, And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward and hunger. Jesus had not eaten for 40 days and 40 nights. His strength was gone. Energy was depleted. And during a time of physical weakness, here comes the devil. Hey, you better be careful during times of weakness. You've had a long... I'm talking about physical weakness. You've had a bad day at work. You got a migraine. You come home. You don't feel well. If you're not careful, you'll lash out at your loved ones. You'll lash out at your kids. You'll say things that you'll regret later. What about times of financial weakness? You live long enough and you'll get to the point where there's more money at the end of the month than there is money at the end of the month. You ever been there? And the devil comes along and says, listen, you can't afford to tithe, but the reality is you can't afford not to tithe. What are you going to do then? What about times of spiritual weakness? You skip a few church services, you skip a few days of Bible reading, you skip a few days of spending time in prayer, and the devil's going to come knocking at your door. He prays during times of weakness. What about this? Times of obedience. Think of the sequence of events here in the book of Matthew. Chapters 1 and 2 was Jesus' birth. Chapter 3 was Jesus' baptism. And in chapter 4, we have Jesus' battle. In chapter 3, when Jesus was baptized, that was an act of obedience. One commentator put it this way, whom God approves, Satan attacks. And you show me somebody, maybe this week you got some things right with the Lord, and many of you have. Many of you have given testimony to that. Oh, I needed to hear that. I needed to change that. And you've given testimony to that this week. And boy, you start reading your Bible. You start praying. You start being faithful to church. You start inviting folks to church. You start taking steps of obedience and mark it down. The devil is going to be hot on your trail trying to take you out. Don't let that discourage you. A lot of new Christians, they get saved and start doing right, and all of a sudden things start falling apart in their life. They start getting attacked. They start getting frustrated. They think, what am I doing wrong? You're not doing anything wrong. You're doing everything right. May I say this tonight? I don't get nervous when the devil fights. I get nervous when the devil doesn't fight. And for some of you, I get a little nervous for you, because for some of you, the Christian life is just a little too easy. There's never any adversity. There's never any opposition. There's never any attacks from the devil. And if that's how you live the Christian life, may I say this? If you never meet the devil head on, it may be that you're going in the same direction that he is. I don't get nervous when the devil fights. I get nervous when the devil doesn't fight. You find yourself in the center of God's will. You'll find yourself in the center of Satan. If all you do is just show up and sit in a pew three times a week, and you're not doing anything to advance the church, anything to win people out of hell, I mean, if you're not a threat to the devil, then you're not a threat to the devil. And he just leaves you be. Boy, if there's a most wanted list in hell tonight, I want my name to be on that list. I want him to look at me and say, he's reading too much Bible, he's studying too much, he's praying too much, he's winning too many people to Christ, we gotta take him out in the battle. Boy, I want my name at the top of that list. during times of obedience. What about this as well tonight? He would say during times of service, times prior to service, times prior to service. What is Jesus about to begin here in chapter 4? Jesus is about to begin His full-time public ministry. And here the devil shows up and tries to stop Him before He ever gets started. My youth pastor told me this when I was a teenager, and I didn't understand it then like I do now. He said, whenever you try to do anything for God, the devil will always fight. Well, I was thinking yesterday, or earlier in the day, in the afternoon, I'm thinking, boy, this week's gone a little bit too easy. And then, boy, last night, I just felt the inhibitions show up. Anytime you ever try to do anything for God, the devil will always fight. Can I make an application to Grace Page here? And I know firsthand, I mean, when your pastor was talking about this early today at lunch, we're in a building program at our back in Rogers, Arkansas, at our home church. When God comes along and puts something on the heart of your pastor, maybe shows him some vision and says, listen, we need to maybe hope one day you'll get us to be able to build a bigger building and expand this place. About the time you get ready to move forward for God around here, mark it down, listen to my statement carefully, the devil will stir up his workers in the church to oppose and hinder the work. And if you're hindering and opposing the Lord around here, friend, you're on the wrong team. I said you're on the wrong team and you need to repent and get on the right team tonight. But boy, you ever do anything for God, the devil will always fight. You say, Brother Taylor, did you tell us all that to discourage us? I did not tell you that to discourage you. I told you that to say that when you find yourselves in those seasons of life, we don't have to be defeated and we don't have to be the victim. that you and I can be victorious because we are equipped with the Word of God to give us victory in those moments. For the next remaining few moments, I want to give you just three principles from Matthew chapter 4 on using the Word of God to overcome temptation and to overcome the devil. I say this, I strive to be a Bible preacher. You say, doesn't every preacher preach the Bible? A lot of them just tell stories, amen? I'm not interested in that. I'm into Bible preaching. I'm not here to just stir you up so you'll be stirred up for a couple weeks after revival meeting and then you slump back down to where you were before the revival meeting. I'm going to give you some messages so that six months months from now, you can still be walking in victory. When you find yourself running dry in the Christian life, you can run back to Psalm chapter 1. When you find yourself beginning to drift from God, you can go back to Jonah chapter 1 and figure out how to get back into the will of God. Are you listening to me? I'm trying to give you some messages so that six months from now, six years from now, 16 years from now, you can go back to the Bible and have some text to keep your life going for Jesus Christ. Bible preaching tonight number one. Can I give you this first of all, I see the sufficiency of the scripture the sufficiency of Sure, what are the reasons that Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil? Well so that if I can say it this way tonight, so Jesus could walk in our shoes. I In the Old Testament, you had the high priest. Remember that? And if you went to the high priest and say you had unfortunately lost a child, and you went to the high priest to receive some comfort, and the high priest had never lost a child himself, he could sympathize with you, but he could not empathize with you. You understand what I'm saying? But the Bible says that Jesus, we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we were, yet without Seeing and I'm thankful tonight like the old song says Jesus knows all about our struggles and there's not one temptation that you will ever face that Jesus himself did not also face say brother I disagree with that living things that I face this could have never I disagree with you that you ever face, if you boil it down, it boils down to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And here in Matthew chapter 4, Jesus faces all three of those fundamental temptations. So the Bible stands correct when it says that He was tempted in all points like as we were, yet without sin. Jesus knows all about our strife. How many people the night that He came to this earth, walked in our shoes, and explain my problems to him and I give my problems, my burdens to him, he can say I understand that, I've been there, I know what it is like. But I want you to understand tonight that Jesus faced this situation as a man. Now watch it now, he was the God man, 100% man and 100% God. He's deity, wrapped in humanity, he's God. He's God who became a man while still remaining God. In fact, the Bible says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. A couple of verses later, the Bible says, The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, God was manifested in the flesh. 1 John says, He was manifested to take away our sin. In Him is no sin. Jesus is the Son of God. He's God in the flesh. In fact, I just love the passages of Scripture that reveal that dual nature. I'm talking about His deity and His humanity in the same passage. I think of Mark chapter 4. Jesus and the disciples are on the Sea of Galilee, and a storm blows in, and that boat gets to the rock, and them disciples get nervous, and they go down to get Jesus, and the Bible says that Jesus was asleep on the pillow. Anybody tired tonight anybody at war out needing a nap tonight Jesus is his humanity says I know what it's like to be tired I know what it's like to be exhausted and the Bible says he was asleep on his pillow and boy They woke Jesus up and said Jesus cares not thou that we perish don't you care that we're about to die and the Bible says that Jesus went to the top of that boat and he lifted up his voice in the night and said peace be still in the winds and the waves cease and they stepped back and said whoa What manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey Him? Oh, I see His humanity, but I also see His deity. I think in John chapter 11, Lazarus has died, and the Bible says that Jesus wept. Anybody ever stood over the casket or a graveside of a loved one and wept tears of a broken heart? Jesus says, I know what that's like. I've been there. I've been where you've been. I see His humanity there. But a couple of verses later, He lifts up His voice. and said, Lazarus, come forth. And that man rose back from the dead. I see his humanity, but I also see his deity. I love the passages that deal with the dual nature of Jesus Christ. But friend, when I come to Matthew chapter four, I don't find his dual nature. I see his humanity, but I do not see his deity. Now watch it now. This is the same Jesus who would turn water into wine. the water who had raised people from the dead. But watch it now in Matthew chapter four he laid his divine power aside and used only the word of God to overcome that temptation and to defeat the devil. I'm going to say this tonight that ought to give you hope. I said that ought to give you hope tonight because that simply means that You don't have to have the power to walk on water. You don't have to have the power to turn water into wine. You don't have to have the power to raise people back from the dead in order to have victory over temptation in your life. All you have to have is the one thing that you do have, and that is the Word of God. The Bible is enough. to have victory in your life. Anybody here say I believe that? I believe the Bible is enough. I don't need Dr. Phil. I don't need Oprah. I don't need a bunch of Xanax. I don't need a bunch of therapists in my life. I just need the word of God. The Bible is enough. The sufficiency of the scriptures. Notice this as well tonight, number two. I don't only just see the sufficiency of Scripture, I see the saturation of Scripture. I see the saturation of Scripture. Notice he says here, there's a repeated phrase throughout this passage. You'll find the phrase, it is written, it is written, it is written. In 2017, we would not say it is written, we would say the Bible says. The Bible says. There's another repeated phrase in this text. I want you to see and it's worded a little bit different each time But it's still there verse 4 says, but he answered and said verse 7 says Jesus said unto him verse 10 says then saith Jesus unto him. Do you realize not one time in that battle against the devil that Jesus pulled back his robe and pull out a scroll of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, and unroll the scroll and find the book of Deuteronomy and find the verses that he needed for that battle in that moment. Not one time did that happen. Not one time did he flip his suit coat back and pull out a pocket-sized edition of the Old Testament and flip open the book of Deuteronomy and find the verses that he needed. Time did he do that? You say what's the point? The point was yes, the scriptures were not read They were said and others Jesus defeated the devil and not because he had the Bible on him But because he had the Bible in he'll end up I want to say tonight if there's an area revival that we need in our lives tonight It is in the area of scripture memory Psalm 119 verse 11 says that word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Would you join me in Ephesians chapter 6 tonight? Ephesians chapter 6. And you've seen me say in one passage just about all week, so if I had you turn to another one, you know it's got to be important. Ephesians chapter 6 is the scripture on the armor of God. He talks about the helmet of salvation. He talks about the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And when you study those, and you know this, every one of those pieces of the armor for the offensive, for the defensive, am I right on that? And just like our soldiers before they go to battle, just before our law enforcement officers go out on the duty, they put on that Kevlar vest, don't they? They put on the armor to protect them from attacks, but there's two pieces of the armor that are not used to protect from attacks, but that we can use attack. One of them is prayer, but the primary piece I want you to see here is in verse number 17. And take the helmet of salvation, the next one, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. There's two types of swords in the Bible. One was a long, broad sword that you would hold with two hands and flail back and forth. It was a long, broad sword used in battle. That is not the sword he's talking about there. The sword that the Apostle Paul is talking about there is a sword about 22 inches long that the Roman soldiers would hang on their side. It was used for face-to-face, close, hand-to-hand combat. That's the sword that he's talking about in Ephesians chapter 6. Stay with me, you'll get your money's worth right here. Notice he goes on to say, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. I'm not going deep here, but just hang with me. When you find that phrase, the word of God, there's two Greek words for that in the Bible. One is Logos. Logos means the word of God. That's the book that you have in your life right now. It's the written word of God. Genesis, the revelation, black words on white pages, that is the word of God. Hebrews 12, for the word of God is quick and powerful, that is Logos. But here in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse number 17, the apostle Paul did not use that Greek word logos. He used the Greek word rhema. You say, well, what's rhema? Logos refers to the whole. Rhema refers to the parts. Logos refers to the Bible. Rhema refers to the verses. Logos is the armory where the swords are kept. Rhema are the swords themselves. And in Matthew chapter 4, Jesus did not defeat the devil with the Logos. He defeated the devil with the Rhema. He had a specific verse for each specific temptation, and that's what it means to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And based on that tonight, can I give you two practical tips on memorizing the Word of God? Number one, if you're going to effectively memorize the Word of God this year, number one, it needs to be planned. Number one, it needs to be planned. You say, well, I just don't think I have time for that. If Jesus Christ himself had to memorize the Word of God, why do you think that you can excuse yourself from it? You can't unless you want to walk in victory. If you're going to memorize the Word of God effectively this year, it needs to be planned. In other words, can I say it this way? If it doesn't get scheduled, it doesn't get done. If it doesn't get scheduled, it doesn't get done. In other words, if you don't have a plan, You're probably not going to do it. So let me ask you, where are you going to memorize that? How many verses a week? Which passage are you going to start out with? How many minutes a week are you going to dedicate to this? It's got to be planned. You've got to have a plan. Number two, I believe this, it needs to be practical. It needs to be practical. Let me make a statement here. I believe all scripture memory is profitable, but not all scripture memory is practical. I can remember being a teenager memorizing James chapter 1. I can remember being in college and they made me memorize John 15, I am the vine, he are the branches, the whole chapter. I believe any time that you memorize any portion, chapter, book of the Word of God, God will bless that and use that in your life. No debate about that whatsoever. But I think most of us that are strapped for time and live busy lives, if we're gonna sit down and dedicate time to memorize the Word of God, then we better do it in the most effective, practical way possible. most practical way to memorize the word of God and the most beneficial way is to memorize the word of God topically. You say topically, what do you mean? I'm saying ma'am, if you struggle with anger and you fly off the handle and lash out at your loved ones, you would have five verses that you memorize so that in a moment of temptation, of anger, you can have victory in that moment. The Bible says, He that is soon angry, dealeth foolishly. How many people here tonight have said something in a moment of anger that afterwards you thought, man, I regret saying that. Man, I wish I hadn't done that. We all have. There's a lot of verses on anger in the Word of God that can help you to have victory in that area. Maybe you're a man in here and you struggle with your thought life. There's a whole lot of verses in the Word of God to give you victory. David said, I will not set my eyes on any wicked thing. Job said, I've made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a maid? The psalmist said, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O God. The New Testament, Jesus says, whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already. in his heart. Listen, I'm saying tonight you ought to have some victory verses for some areas that you struggle with. And listen to me, we all struggle tonight. Everybody's got areas where they struggle at. But most people aren't willing to memorize the Word of God. in the word of God. When you get so sick and tired of the devil mopping the floor with you, and you come crawling to your pastor and say, I'm tired of being discouraged, I'm tired of being depressed, I'm tired of being defeated. Well, what do you think he's going to tell you? Well, here's some verses that you can memorize to give you some victory for that area in your life. Listen, you don't have to let it get to that point. Here's what most of our problem is. The devil comes and starts mopping the floor with us, and we don't even have a sword to grab. And we wonder why we're living in defeat. You think about this, some of you that have kids, if you just memorize one verse a week, one verse a week, and I don't care who you are in this room, there's nobody that's so busy that you can't find time to memorize one verse from the Word of God a week. If you memorize one verse from the Word of God a week, and say you missed as many as 12 weeks in a year, Christmas, vacation, whatever, you missed upwards to 12 weeks, by the end of the calendar year, you could still have memorized 40 verses from the Word of God. You say, Brother Taylor, you think that would change my life? Does the Pope wear a funny dress? Yes, that would change your life. There's no excuse, really. We really don't have an excuse for memorizing the Word of God. I'm telling you, you want to walk in victory this year, you and your family to walk in victory, then we've got to start taking this book serious. We've got to start hiding it in our heart. The battle begins, the rage and the temptations come at us. We have a sword to grab to, and we can have victory in that moment. You say, well, once you get it more practical, well, let me get more practical tonight. You say, what should I do with this message? I think on the way home tonight, you ought to go to Dollar General or some dollar store around here, get you a stack of three-by-five cards and a nude pen, and on front of those cards, you ought to put anger, lust, jealousy, envy, depression, worry, anxiety, whatever you struggle with, and on the back side of that card, you ought to write out five verses from the Word of God that will help you to get victory in that moment. Just trying to help you tonight. practical number one we see the sufficiency of scripture we see the saturation of scripture and notice lastly we see the success of scripture the success of scripture notice verse number 11 tonight the Bible says then the devil leaveth him you say brother Taylor it is your job brought you in here this week to interpret and apply the Word of God to our lives would you please give us the interpretation and the application of Verse number 11, then the devil leaveth him. What does that mean? Here's what it means. The Bible works. The Bible works. Can I give you a personal testimony? Well, I've tried to be transparent this week. I know a lot of preachers try to put all that, they get it all together. You're looking at one that doesn't have it all together. You're looking at a preacher that puts his pants on the same way that you do. Amen. I'm made of the same stuff that you all are. The Lord was leading us, I was traveling for the college that second, we did it for two and a half years as a representative. And towards the end of that time, I could see in my heart the Lord was leading us to launch out by faith, to evangelism. And I'll be honest with you, I've never lived by faith. I never had to experience that and exercise that. I mean, I followed the will of God to Bible college and all that, but I've never had to just bare bones trust Him. and I didn't come from a preacher's home. Everywhere we go, people ask me, where does your dad pastor? Where does your dad pastor? And they think just because I'm a preacher, my dad was a preacher, but that's not the case. We're not blue collar, white collar, we were ring around the collar, amen? I just work in people. And so I wasn't raised in some preacher's home and living by, I've never done that before. And so the idea of walking away from the college, and they gave us a good salary, they gave us a credit card that paid for everything, every meal, every flight, every hotel, every tank of gas, everything. And then they gave us a vehicle, a newer vehicle to travel the country. I mean, it was a very comfortable situation. But I knew launching out by faith, I would be walking away from all that. And we would have to trust God in that. Certainly for the first couple of years of evangelism, I've never done that. And I'm telling you, we'd be driving, and we'd drive all the time, of course, as representatives from place to place. And boy, I'd get in that car, and as soon as I turned the engine on, my wife falls asleep, still does that. And so I'd be there all by myself. And many times, I would just drive in silence, and I'd think about it. And so during that time, I'm telling you, I'd be driving on them long drives, going to the next church, going to the next Christian school. And all this time, I knew the Lord was leading us out. And boy, there was fear. There was anxiety. There was worry. How's this thing going to work out? I mean, what if all these pastors that said they would have us, they don't keep their word? I mean, just all these fears and worries. And I'm telling you, that went on. I'd be driving down the road and here comes the old devil next to me in that car and starts whispering things like that. What if it doesn't work out? What if you fail? It just kept pounding me and pounding me with this. And I'm telling you, it got so bad. I'm talking about it got so bad, it got to the point I couldn't get to sleep at night. I'm talking about if you've ever struggled with anxiety, you know what I'm about to say. I couldn't eat. 27 years old, hair was starting to turn gray. I'm talking about I didn't have an appetite. It started to affect my marriage, started to affect my ministry and preaching every day. And I finally got to the point where I was sick and tired of all that, living that way, that one day I came to God. I said, God, I can't live like this anymore. You've got to help me. I'm tired of living in worry and fear and stress. God, you've got to help me. And boy, about that time, he started leading me to some victory verses. He led me to Philippians chapter 4. Be careful for nothing. In other words, don't worry about anything. Be careful for nothing, but by prayer and supplication, let your request be made known unto God, and with thanksgiving, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds. through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter chapter 5 says, Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. The Psalms say, Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. And boy, I started to get me some victory verses, and I memorized them verses. And every time I start to worry, every time I start to fear, boy, I'd run and grab those victory verses. I'd run and grab them swords, and I'd start swinging them swords. And I'm telling you, I'm not out of the woods yet. I'm still struggling with it. I've not got complete victory over it. But I'm telling you, I'm not what I used to be. I'm not where I used to be yet. He's given me victory. And I've come to tell you that the Bible still works to give people victory in the Christian life. A man was traveling through South America. He was a tourist. And one day he was walking under some trees and he heard a bunch of ruckus and racket up above him. He looked up there and there was a mama bird just going absolutely berserk up there. He looked over and saw a snake slithering up the trunk of that tree, headed to the top. Well, that was a mama bird. She had a nest of baby birds at the top of that tree. He stepped back and started watching this thing, started getting nervous, thinking, what's going to happen? About that time, that mama bird took off and vanished. A few moments later, she came back and had a little branch in her beak. she came and laid that little branch right in front of that nest. Boy, about that time, that snake came over the limb of that tree and came face to face with that branch. As soon as he laid eyes on that branch, he turned tail and he went the opposite direction, went right back down that tree. Later on, found out that that branch was highly poisonous to that snake. That branch saved those little birds. from the enemy. Friends, tonight I'm telling you, God has given us something to save us and protect us from the enemy. And it's called the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. I wonder if we got some folks in here tonight that are struggling in some area of your life who just needs some victory. I promise you victory is found in the Word of God. Jesus used the Bible to overcome the devil and you can too. Swing the sword. Father, we love you tonight. Lord, I tried to preach as practical and as simple as I could tonight. I wonder if there's somebody here tonight who would say, Brother Taylor, preacher, I'm struggling in an area of my life, and I need victory there tonight. If that's you, would you raise your hand? I need victory, preacher. Pray for me. Let me go ahead and ask this. I don't think we ought to let this message go in one ear and right out the other. I think we ought to get real practical in the invitation tonight. I wonder if there's somebody here, a mama, a daddy, a teenager, a grandma or grandpa here tonight who would say, preacher, I believe God spoke to my heart in that message, and I believe He would be pleased if tonight, starting this week, I would make a commitment to God to memorize one verse from the Word of God a week. I think God would have me to do that. I believe God would be pleased if I took that challenge tonight. Preacher, I believe that's what God would have me to do tonight. If that's you, would you lift up your hand and say, by His grace and His help, I'm gonna commit tonight to memorizing with his help one verse from the Word of God all week. Would you lift your hand up tonight if you'd be willing to do that? Lord, I pray that you'd be with these dear folks. Lord, help them to memorize your Word and to walk in victory. Lord, let me ask one more question. Is there someone here tonight who doesn't know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Would you raise your hand, say, preacher, I need to be saved tonight. The Holy Spirit's been working on me. He's been speaking to my heart. I need to be saved tonight. I need to get it settled. If that's you, would you raise your hand tonight? Anybody like that? Father, please bless this time of invitation. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's go ahead and stand to our feet. With heads bowed and eyes closed, stand to your feet. And as the piano begins to play, if God spoke to your heart, the altar's open, invitation's yours. Won't you come?