Well, good to be back with you, beloved, on a Wednesday night. It's been, I don't know, two, three weeks now. Holidays and different things have kept us away, but I'm glad to be back. And, oh, well, we also had some video series we were finishing up from Reformation Sunday. So now we get back to our study of Thomas Watson with The Lord's Prayer, his book, The Lord's Prayer. And we started with the sixth petition, The Lord's Prayer, the last part of the prayer, last part of his book. Just a reminder, we did that because I had read through it looking for some quotes, as you might remember, and I sort of found them. I'm still not confident I found what I was looking for. But I thought it could be here and I looked through it and highlighted along the way and thought, well, this is pretty good and I've done some work to manage my time. Let's go ahead and study through the highlights and some thoughts that I jotted down. That's where we are, where we've been most recently. The last part we looked at is, the kinds of people that Satan particularly attacks, the kinds of people that are particularly in danger of Satan's influence. And the first was ignorant persons. Those would be people that don't know the gospel, don't know or don't know a lot about the Bible, or don't have a lot of wisdom and experience with it, even if they know it, they don't really know it. Unbelievers, but then also proud persons. And then he warned about melancholy persons. I think he said, what did he say here? I'm pretty sure it's here. Yeah, a melancholy person tempts the devil to tempt him. You know, we kind of talked about Eeyore, you know, with Winnie the Pooh. And I think we could remember what we just had for an evening service. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice, especially if we're melancholy. I can tend to be a little more melancholy. I know I'm kind of silly, but I can brood. And so maybe that's why I'm emphasizing singing so much these silly songs that get us snap out of it. But proud persons, of course, pride comes before the fall. And the last thing we looked at, and then Mrs. Renner had such a good thing to say, we thought, let's just end it there. That was good. Idle persons. Idle persons. I-D-L-E, not I-D-O-L. I suppose there could be something into that, but idle meaning lazy, not wanting to work hard. sitting around a lot, nothing like the ant of Proverbs 6, always having to be told what to do, always having to be kicked in the pants and redirected, you know? People who are just lazy and don't want to work. And he said, the devil will find work for the idle to do. You don't want to work? The devil will end up getting you about bad work. And Mrs. Renner closed us with that famous quote, idle hands are the devil's workshop. If our hands are idle, not about the right work, the devil finds lots of work for you to do for him. And that's what happens. That's what happens. It's good to be busy with the right things, right? It isn't just trying to kill the old man. It's about reviving and vivifying the new man with good holy works, right? There's a place for recreation. There's a place for rest. We've had sermons on those things. Nonetheless, that's where we left off. So now we're on the seventh subtlety. I don't know how many subtleties we'll get through. I have a few notes. We're not running through these pages very quickly. There's so much good stuff here with Watson, right? But how many subtleties? So I should say, he points out that the devil's very subtle, right? Meaning he's the snake. He knows how to trick you. He's the angel masquerading as an angel of light. He's very subtle. He knows how to make you think it's a good idea. He knows how to make you think you know right from wrong when you often switch it. He knows how to make you eat the apple. and say, well, I don't know if God really said that, right? And then how to excuse yourselves and keep excusing yourselves and projecting. And he knows how to, he knows how to do all that in a way that you believe it and that you believe yourself, right? We're going to be in the subtleties for a while of Satan. We're on number seven. We're about to start. I reviewed the sixth, some of the six. How many subtleties do you think Watson, now remember he's a period. How many, how many subtleties do you think we're going to look at together before we're done just with that part of the study? I suppose, of course, because he's not infinite, but right, it's as if he's got, yeah, 27, 27 subtleties. So lean back and put your feet up. No, don't be idle. No, be diligent students, right? We just learned about being, teaching diligently our children. But the point I, the reason I, I was kind of curious, I looked ahead to remember is he's very, very subtle and that's what we've got to be so careful about. He is so crafty. to just get us to bite and think we're doing right. And that kind of leads into some of the things we'll study tonight. I'd like you to turn with me to the gospel of Luke. We'll look at some scriptures tonight and maybe a larger catechism. Luke chapter four, verse 13. And I know we had a long time of prayer. Once you're there, Let me ask the Lord's blessing on our study. I know we did, but let me ask you again. Lord, I ask that you would anoint us and open our eyes and fill us with light and protect us from darkness, including from within, but also from without, with those things that are subtly pretended as light. Lead us to you, the true light, to follow after you who are the light and the truth. And bless this study tonight and bless us to be diligent students, that we would be diligent teachers. We pray in Jesus' name. Okay, Luke 4 verse 13 is very similar to Matthew 4. When Jesus is in the wilderness, it says, and when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. So we remember Jesus resisted the devil. We've talked about other aspects of the wilderness temptation. So I'll try not to go back to all that and lose time from moving on the next study. But we remember all we've studied about Satan tempting Jesus here. But notice, at a time, he did flee, right? Just like James says, resist the devil, he will flee from him. By the way, I heard Jim Montgomery Boyce talking about how to resist temptation, and he pointed out, while that's true, a lot of time, if you look at a lot of the scriptures, the Bible tells us, how do you avoid temptation? You flee from it, like flee idolatry, those kinds of things. So we run away from sins, like he gave the example of Joseph, you know, with Potiphar's wife, just run away from it, get away fast, you know. Because you stay around and Satan baits the hook. Remember we saw that quote on Sabbath morning on the bulletin, William Secker, don't be surprised if you're nibbling on the bait and you get the hook of the Satan's temptation. But what we want to see here is Jesus resisted him, the devil fled away from him, but look at this, fourth season. some foreshadowing there, right? That's an important thing to recognize, literary tools. This is truth. This is real narrative. But notice there's a foreshadowing here. You know the whole story, but he's going to come back and try to tempt him some more. So we've got to recognize If Jesus is perfect, he never falls, and yet Satan tries to come back later. He's never done, is the idea. You should never think you've defeated him perfectly, even when you've defeated him. You should never think the battle's over. You should never put your sword down and take your helmet off, is the idea. He's coming back. He's always coming back, like those gophers, right? Or those ants, right, at the church. We can never get rid of those ants. And the gophers, you always think they're gone, then they're back. And frankly, it's during seasons of rain when you think you're just going to get flowers, right? And at the manse, we've been getting them again. If you haven't had them in a while, you kind of forget. You think you're fine. And then, what's going on with my lawd? He's coming back. He's not done. And those things that the Lord would even give us greater victory over, that doesn't mean he won't come back, because he still knows there's a button to push there, right? So we need to recognize he's coming back. And so Thomas Watson writes this, the seventh subtlety, Satan's seventh subtlety to tempt us to sin. Now remember, temptation is the devil trying to get us to sin. Sin is when we say yes and we do it. and sin or transgression is the breaking of God's law. Watson says, Satan gives some little respite and seems to leave off tempting a while that he may come on after with more advantage. The advantage being you forget to keep your guard up, right? The advantage being you start to think you're untouchable, right? And then you're just You forget to look back, you forget to keep your eyes on the sides, who's around you, you know? Okay, now I want you to turn with me. Can you think about, I did a little study, I've tried to review this before, and I don't recall if I've taught on it. I'm thinking I probably did when I preached through Matthew, but when do you think Satan came back? When does Satan come back? He says, for a season. That's foreshadowing something, right? Probably in different ways the temptations were there, right? I mean, he was probably, I shouldn't speak this way, I don't want to speak wrongly about the Lord, but you can imagine he might have been tempted to lose it against Peter maybe, you know? You know, just there's a lot of things, but I think I have an idea. I'm curious, can you think of when did Satan come back to tempt Jesus? If you think about the intensity of the desert, when do you think he really came back? This was at the beginning of his ministry. Yes, Rach. Yeah. Good. I hadn't thought of that. That's a good point. Get thee behind me, Satan. He says to Peter, because Peter is saying, no, no, you're not going to suffer. You're not going to die. And he's tempting him. Yeah. I don't have to go through this. Right. So he knows it's actually Satan. I didn't think of that, but thank you, Rachel. I'm so glad that you recall that for us. Yes. But what else were you going to say? Yes. The garden of Gethsemane and on the cross in the garden, he is struggling Lord, If it is your will, let this cup pass, right? But not my will thine be done. He knows there's a temptation to, is there some way else, right? You know, he didn't sin, but he understood what was coming, right? But I like that you help us remember that he did say to Peter, get thee behind me. So that was a temptation. I'm so glad you brought that up. Thank you. I would have thought forgot about that. But those things right there are towards the end. So I think where Satan really comes back at Jesus is the garden of Gethsemane and then on the cross. And here's if you think about what the devil said to Jesus in the wilderness, relieve yourself of this pain and loneliness and trouble. your God take care of yourself or have God and his angels take care of you? And misuses the scriptures, right? What's the temptation? Stop suffering. Now, I think the greatest temptation when Satan returns is on the cross, Christ on the cross. I wanna look at that with you. Turn with me to Matthew 27, please. Matthew 27, beginning with verse 38. Let me start with verse 37. And they set up over his head his accusation written. Pardon me, let me start at verse 34 just to get the feel. He's at Golgotha. They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof he would not drink. And they crucified him. and parted His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down, they watched Him there, and set up over His head His accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Of course, that could point to where he was tempted. I'm sure Satan tempted him with the trial, this false trial against him. Don't we want to vindicate ourselves and maybe take in our own hands where we couldn't? Then when there were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left, and they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, Thou that dost destroy us the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priest, mocking him with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. They're all mocking him. Come on, get off the cross. Get off the cross if you can do it. If you can do something and people tempt you and say you can't do it, what's the big temptation? To prove you can. This is why I think, especially for men who are well-trained, maybe in something, one of the greatest strengths is self-restraint, when you know you could probably beat the snout out of the guy that's embarrassing you in front of others, and you know you can take him. But the strength is to walk away. Can you imagine? What did Jesus say to Pilate? I mean, here's part of that ending temptation, too. Don't you know I have legions of angels I could call down at any moment? I mean, just think about it, guys. Wouldn't you want to just do that and just wipe them out? but he had to die for us on the cross. But that, you know, Satan's there and he's speaking through all these people, right? And that idea, Rachel, thanks for bringing up with Peter, I mean, no, you're not gonna go through this. You know, before he gets to Jerusalem, Satan's trying to tempt him. You don't even wanna go there because see, if Jesus doesn't die on the cross, we can't be saved from our sins and then we pay the penalty in hell forever. By the way, a lot of that mocking and things was prophesied in Psalm 22. Some of it specifically is quoted there. So what we often sing as part of preparing for taking the Lord's Supper is remember his sufferings physically, and in this case, an anguish of soul being mocked. It's all there in Psalm 22, including the piercing of hands and feet. You know, I was at the dentist again this week, had work done. And it's no big thing, you have to do it. But the only thing that really I don't look forward to is the needle. I just don't love having a needle shoved into my mouth, and moved around. But Mr. Renner's wiggling. But I always try anticipating it to think about what Jesus went through on the cross, and this is nothing. Help me to appreciate, Lord. And I don't appreciate it enough, but I try. And you know, I thought to myself, when you think about the Garden of Gethsemane, it's the anticipation that's almost the worst. I was thinking, you know, when they torture people, like in crazy places, I bet you they let them worry for a long time. That's almost worse, isn't it? The anticipation, the fear, the struggle. And I just think about facing the cross, that whole long process, knowing what's coming, and then walking up with that cross. laying down and having him nailed. I just, you know, I just can't imagine. But think about, he didn't, he could've, he could've got up. He couldn't, he won't in a sense, but he could've just wiped them all out. All these guys that are the big leaders, right? He could've showed he's the king of kings and lord of lords and the god of gods and the alpha and omega. He could've just vindicated himself. And I'm sure that Satan was tempting him just as in the wilderness. Just show that you're the king. I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world. You don't have to go over there to do that. I'll give it to you now. Just worship and serve me. We can be done with this wilderness thing. You don't have to suffer. And beloved, isn't that the temptation maybe more than anything from Satan to us, especially in how we would serve Christ? You don't have to suffer. Take the easy way. Stop being so serious. Stop worrying about the Jots and Tiddles. You don't have to suffer. And it really does sound pretty subtle and sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Yeah. But that's the way he works and that's what we're studying. If he does that to Jesus, knowing who Jesus is and that Jesus will be able to handle it, how much more is he gonna try that on us? And we're not as wise as Christ. We don't know the word as well. We are not the word. So we gotta really watch out. But when you think It's over. It's not over till it's over when Christ comes back and it could be much worse at a much more vulnerable time and after a lot of ministry along the way, right? Christ had a lot of amazing things happen. They were astonished as we're seeing in Mark at his preaching and healing. So that's what Watson says next. He will leave you a while alone after tempting you when you've resisted. And then he says, as one that is going to leap run back a little that he may take the greater jump so Satan seems to retire and run back a little that he may come on with a temptation more furiously and successful. We need therefore always to watch and have on our spiritual armor. So I can't help but think about, I guess I'm always showing the face of life, but you know how the kids, they can have those little cars, you can rev them up, you know, you keep bringing them back, ring, ring, ring, ring, you keep bringing them back and getting the wheels tighter and tighter, and you're like, oh, pew, you know? And a lot of, or it's kind of like, oh, maybe the bull, you know, what are they doing just before they're gonna charge you? They're, got that leg going, you know? And you think you're safe until you turn around. And that's what we've got to watch out for. The seasons of when you think things are fine and over, you ain't seen nothing yet. It could be years. There's a time when he's going to come hard, real hard, at a time when you think you don't even need to be looking for him. I thought that was completely gone and over. You've got to keep on your armor, he says. You gotta always keep watch, because he's coming again. So whatever you think you've completely conquered, no you haven't. You're more than conquerors in Christ, but you're not done conquering, you're not done with your battle. That's in heaven, when he brings us home and when he comes back. And until then, we're never done fighting. It's never safe. It's not to make you feel like you can't move, but it's to tell you to keep your arm on as you go out there, right? So I want to go to Ephesians 6. Let's just review that again. We need to keep on our armor when we think it's over. Because until Satan's thrown into the lake of fire, and we are in the new heavens and the new earth, it's not over. He hates you. As you see in Revelation 12, he just keeps coming. He never stops. He's relentless. But he'll wait sometimes to let you think you're safe. Right? Okay. Ephesians chapter six. We just need to remember again, he says, we need therefore always to watch and have on our spiritual armor because he'll let you wait a while thinking that he's all done with you and then he comes back worse when you're not ready. Ephesians 6, 18, excuse me, 10 through 18. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. He keeps saying, stand, stand, stand, be ready to stand. Satan's coming. Our darts are coming. And we think about the end of Philippians 3, right, that we would stand together, that we would stand fast together. I believe it's chapter 4, verse 1, where that was emphasized, if I'm not mistaken. Stand fast together. And we did look at the scripture in that sermon. And we've got to remember, one of the things we talked about is, if you don't have the proper posture, you're much more likely to get knocked over, right? If you're sitting, you're reclining, if you're on your knee. But look how I'm standing right now. If somebody comes to knock me over right now, you think I'm going to be able to do very good? No. I'll stand straight, knees are locked, I'm going over fast, right? If I'm going to be ready for attack, I'm going to have my legs Spread about under my shoulders, kind of like wrestling. My wrestling days are coming back. You got your legs planted, you have them staggered, you got your knees bent, but you do not lean over. You lean over, pull the head, boom, you're down. So you have your head over your hips, you got your elbows tight, because if you don't, they go right under your elbows, you're down. You don't have your head leaning over. You have to stand. You have to know how to stand. And you have to stand and you have to stand ready, always bracing yourself. And that's what Paul's telling us, that Satan is just waiting to let you think you're done with the match. And then you're like waving to mom and boom, you're on the mat, right? That's, we have to keep, watch that we keep standing. And praise the Lord, we're not called to stand alone, Ephesians three into four, chapter one, right? But we've got to be bracing ourselves, we've got to know how to stand. Okay, that's the seventh subtlety. Now we look at the eighth subtlety again, the way to trick us. He is so crafty. The old serpent, this is from Thomas Watson, the old serpent, talking of the eighth subtlety, the old serpent either takes men off from the use of means or makes them miscarry in the use of them. So means of grace, means of how the Lord wants us to do things. The devil either gets us off from the use of the means of grace, or he makes them miscarry in the use of them. He makes us use them wrongly. So they don't have the effect they should have, is how we're going about it. So he's going to explain that in a couple of parts. So another way that he gets us to sin is by making us not use the means of grace, or not use the means of grace properly, okay? One quick example can be how we're supposed to prepare for the Sabbath day, prepare ourselves, not just walk through it, but prepare ourselves, or also prepare for the Lord's Supper, okay? And, you know, we never do these things perfectly. That's the thing, though. He might get us, oh, I can never be perfectly prepared, so I won't try. Yeah, that's the other way he does it. He's gonna get you, don't even bother. Okay? So both sides of the coin are a danger. He says the old serpent, again, either takes men off from the use of means or makes them miscarry in the use of them. Number one, he labors to make men off from duty, from praying and hearing, in order to discourage them. And to do that, he has two artifices. So he tries to get you to stop doing your duty. He tries to get you to stop praying, stop reading your Bible, stop coming to worship, stop serving one another. He tries to get you to not do what you're going to do. That happens. You're sinning by omission, but also again, idleness. Gotcha. Okay, he discourages them the first way he makes you, the way he does this to get you not to pray and not to listen. Firstly, he discourages you from your duty by suggesting to their unworthiness that they are not worthy to approach to God or have any signals of his love and favor. So, one of the ways He'll get you to sin is to say, I'm so unworthy, I can't even come to church. I'm so unworthy, I can't even come to Him in prayer. I don't deserve anything. I just sinned. I can't come to Him for mercy, right? So, He's going to get you to think, just stop. The mercy's been used up. Right? Okay, so one thing I want to encourage you to review, if that's a place you struggle sometimes, is Pastor Don Kistler's article, For Weary Souls, on MeetThePuritans.org. It's part one of about a four-part series I edited and put up. I'm actually thinking to ask when's the next part two coming. But it was some really good stuff that he gave me to start writing for MeetThePuritans.org with the Alliance. And it was about some people are way too hard on themselves. And they think that it's impossible to come to the Savior. But if you can't come to the Savior, what's your other option? There isn't one. Right? Jesus is the only option. God and His mercy is the only option. Now there's other places to talk about presuming upon grace and going about the wrong way. That's where it's going next. But when you're truly contrite in things, the answer is you go back to the Lord for mercy, contrite heart, true repentance unto life. So I'd encourage you to look at that article. Times when you just get so forlorn you think you can't go back to the Lord. And keep in mind what David said in Psalm 51, he stayed away from the Lord. In Psalm 32, similar ideas of bones drying up. If you stay away from God, you are not gonna get better, you're gonna get worse. So that's what Satan wants. If you don't use the means of grace, not only will you be no good to anyone else, you'll be no good to yourself, right? And more importantly, you won't be used by God for things he's looking to do, right? Okay. Because remember, all of this is ultimately not about us, it's about serving God. Okay, then he says, he gets us to that place that we should see ourselves unworthy as, oh no, he says, excuse me, he gives this disclaimer. That we should see ourselves unworthy as good, and argues humility. Right, what does, I think, Jacob say? I'm not worthy of the least of all your mercies. This is true, but it's supposed to humble us, and then take it. Like, I am so unworthy, but thank you so much, right? So we take it properly. Okay, but to think that we should not approach God because of unworthiness is a conclusion of the devil's making. God says, come thou unworthy. By this temptation, the devil takes many off from the coming of the Lord's table. We are to examine ourselves, yeah? We are to be careful that we don't partake in a way that could bring damnation on ourselves. But we're to examine ourselves, we usually say in the Lord's Supper, that we may partake, right? It's a means of grace for sinners that need to be nourished. And I wanna turn with you, I'm gonna turn around and get my smartphone here to open up the larger catechism. If you have yours with me or on your phones, if you wanna open with me or I'll just read it for you, one second. I want to turn to Westminster Larger Catechism 172. Now, you'll remember that the Larger Catechism has a lot of question answers about the Lord's Supper and significant things about how to prepare, how to partake, how to act afterwards, all those things. And it does also talk about, you know, not everybody is supposed to partake. And OK, next. Sorry. My phone is smart, but I am not. So hold on here. I got to figure out how to use this again. OK. And almost there. Sorry. I should give you some Jeopardy music. OK. So wait a minute. That's not right. Oh, I also have to learn how to read. That's the 120s, not the 170s. Okay. I'm almost there. Please don't leave. I'm almost there. Okay. So 171 of the larger catechism talks about how are we to prepare for the Lord's Supper. And then 172. May one who doubteth of his being in Christ or of his due preparation come to the Lord's table. Let me play with you a little bit here. 173 says, may everybody who professes to have faith in Jesus be allowed to come to Lord's Supper? And the answer to that question is no. There are people who are not to be allowed to partake of the Lord's Supper, even if they think they should be. Ah, look at this pastoral question just before it. What about if you doubt yourself? You know, there are those who are gonna proclaim themselves but actually presume upon grace. They're not really prepared, they're not really humble. But you might be humble. Right? You might be broken and sorry. You feel, I don't know that I can partake. Here's the answer. Satan wants you to, well, let's say this. When the question says, if you doubt that you're in Christ, or that you doubt whether you've prepared enough for the Lord's Supper, should you take it? Should you come to the Lord's Supper? What does Satan want you to say? No, I shouldn't come. And then, next week, you probably shouldn't come. Then you're never coming. Right? And it's a means of grace. Okay, here's the answer. One who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, may have true interest in Christ, though he be not yet assured thereof. And in God's account hath it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the want of it, and unfaintedly desires to be found in Christ, and to depart from iniquity. In which case, because promises are made and the sacrament is appointed for the relief of even of weak and doubting Christians, he is to bewail his unbelief and labor to have his doubts resolved. And so doing, he may and ought to come to the Lord's Supper that he may be further strengthened. Notice that at the end, though, it says you gotta bewail your unbelief. Don't wallow in it like you're so humble. You should hate your unbelief. Say, this is a problem. I need to come to Jesus. I can have confidence in Jesus. Make sure that you resolve your doubts. Don't wallow in them. But you can come. And it doesn't mean that you have to have it all settled. Because remember, assurance of salvation is not the same thing as faith. You can have faith and lack the sense of assurance. And the means of grace are meant to improve your assurance, right? So, Satan, Watson points out, would like to get you to stop taking the Lord's Supper. Out of feeling so unworthy and struggling. And a lot of the time, that's when you're supposed to come. You hear a lot, when we take the Lord's Supper, some of the language is, you're worthy to come when you know how unworthy you are. But you're not really approaching it correctly if you think your unworthiness is greater than Christ's worthiness to be obeyed and praised and glorified for his mercy, right? Where sin abounds, grace doth more abound, okay. Then he says this, still on the eighth subtlety, that he'll get you to think you're too unworthy to even come, so you won't do your duty. He says, Satan endeavors to discourage from duty by objecting want of success. So again, because you fail, because you mess up, he wants you to not even bother trying. So he gives us an example, 1 Samuel 28.6. Go to the witch of Endor. Why? Because Saul's not getting any answers in prayer. He should have kept praying. He should have asked for mercy. He should have diligently sought after God, but he was always looking for an easy way out. He'd kind of play the game, but if he didn't get immediate gratification, his impulsive nature would say, that's it, I'm going to the witch. Didn't go well for him either, did it? So there's that danger of just giving up and then going to other things. We have to wait on the Lord and keep praying. Pray without ceasing, our Bible says, right? It also says what? Rejoice evermore. Okay, so that's the one thing he does about your duty. He gets you to not do your duty. The other thing is he gets you to do your duty wrong. He gets you to do it wrong. We may say, well, I'm doing this. Yeah, but you're not doing it right. So it's not going to work, right? You have to do it properly. Righty tighty, lefty loosey. I'm using the screwdriver. Yeah, but you're turning it left. That's why the screw keeps falling out. That's why you gotta screw loose. You gotta turn it the way that it's, that's the only way you turn it, you turn it right. It's the ways that God made the universe, right? It's another witness, isn't it? That's the only way, I guess you can, I guess you make, I don't know, I've never seen it that way. So you gotta, Satan wants to get you to miscarry in the use of the means, meaning you're not doing it right and then it breaks apart, it doesn't work, it dies. He says, if he cannot hinder them from duty, he will be sure to hinder them in duty. Two ways. If he can't hinder you from duty, meaning that if he can't keep you from your duty, then he's gonna try to mess you up in your duty and make you sin, okay? And he says by two ways. First, by causing distraction in the service of God. Distraction in the service of God. This is why I get concerned when I see people looking around the sanctuary and out the windows when I'm preaching. You're probably really not listening the way you should. You're probably not getting what you should. But there's other ways to do that. I mean, isn't that the difficult thing when we pray? Are you like me? Like, man, I just started praying and all of a sudden I'm thinking, what am I doing? And sometimes it's horrible what comes in your mind, like, how is this happening? Because we have sin in us, and Satan's there wanting to mess up, and this is a diligence, it's gotta be, it's a battle even to pray, right? I don't know about you, but I find that helpful just, it is, right? It's not easy to pray. I know some people become prayer warriors, but it's a lot of diligence and hard work. It doesn't come naturally, it's a supernatural thing. And it grows as you grow in it. But if he can get you to mess it up and do it wrong, then, you know, you're not really praying as you could. And remember, the Shorter Catechism goes through the Lord's Prayer and talks a lot about what prayer is. We could study that to review. He says, by putting men upon doing duties in a wrong manner, he says, first of all, in a dead, formal manner. Well, yes, we sing Psalms a cappella because we believe, as is true, that's what God wants for worship. But we may sing Psalms a cappella and barely think about what we're saying and not be rejoicing in the Lord while we're doing it. We can take of the Lord's supper, that's what we're supposed to do. But we can partake of it in a way that's unworthy and brings damnation on ourselves. We can go about all the specifics. We can have the Lord's Supper weekly, as we think is right to do. But we can be unprepared or presume upon it, go through the motions, a dead formal manner, even in a formal manner where a sense where we even want to pat ourselves on the back, instead of we should always be lifting up and thanksgiving to the Lord. He says, Satan knows, duties done superficially were as good as left undone. Doesn't mean it has to be perfect, we can't do it perfect, but you can think again about 1 Corinthians 13. I can do all these different things, and if I don't do them out of love, remember we just had the Grace Shema, if I don't do them out of love, they're nothing, they don't profit me anything. It's a clanging symbol to the Lord. I could offer up my body, I could do all these things, but if I'm not doing it out of love, I am just faking it. So what did Jesus criticize the Pharisees about so much? You pray to get noticed. You fast to get noticed, that's your reward. You won't get anything else from God, because you're faking it. What did he call them all the times? Hypocrites! What's the Greek word for hypocrite, do you remember? Well, I don't remember either, but what I do remember is what it means. It has the idea of wearing a mask in theater. Pretending you are something you are not. You're doing it for show, to be praised. But you don't actually care about what you're doing. You don't actually care about God. That's the real issue. You don't actually love God. And you don't love God so much though you are the teachers of his place. When God incarnate is face to face with you, the only thing you want to do is kill him. And you see him as competition. That's what is superficial, when it's just better to be left undone. He says, that prayer which does not pierce the heart. Let me say this the right emphasis, so I read it correctly. That prayer which does not pierce the heart will never pierce heaven. It's a nugget, I thought of you when I read that. I want to say it again. That prayer that does not pierce the heart, meaning, speaking figuratively, that I don't feel or mean it. Now, of course, it's not about our feelings, but there's an aspect of, I'm serious, Lord, I really wanna pray, I wanna talk with you right now. I really ask that you would really work on this with me, that you would help me to love you more with my whole heart. Help me not to just be go about devotions when I can and act like I gotta do this, but I desire it, I want to. If it doesn't pierce the heart in your prayers, it never pierces heaven, meaning it's never heard. There's nothing in it. Because there's no heart in your voice, there's no voice to God's heart. So, we don't want to just do things superficially because that's what dad and mom do. Now, it doesn't remove the covenant connection of things. Let your Father's God be your God, but it has to be your God. He has to be your God. Okay, and you have to care about him. Number two, he says he puts them upon doing duties for wrong ends. So he might have you do it in a wrong manner, your heart's not in it, you're just, why do I go to church? Oh, because I have to. I go to church because I want to go be with Jesus. I want to go worship him with his people. But if you don't do it the wrong way, then he's going to get you to do it for the wrong ends. He's going to get you to do it for your glory. He's going to get you to do it so you can bring attention to yourself. He's gonna get you to do it. A lot of people go to church for all kinds of reasons of personal advantage, which is why it probably wouldn't be so bad if somebody went around with a whip and started getting all of the merchants out of church on the Lord's Day in a lot of churches. He says, here is Satan's policy, either to prevent duty or to pervert it. He's gonna try to get you for never doing it, or He's gonna pervert what you do. It's the right thing to do, but you're not doing it right. Either way, you are sinning in that, the sin of omission, or the sin of not really doing it for the right reasons. Okay? Westminster Shorter Catechism. What is man's chief end? Let me hear you. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Or Gabriel, the younger version we've been working on. Who made you? Is he getting shy? All of a sudden you're getting shy. Usually you want me to call on you. All right, we can answer for him. Who made you? God. What areas? What else did God make? God made all things. Why? Yeah, now he's skipping ahead. Why did God make you in all things? God made me in all things for his own glory. for His own glory. And we just have to recognize, beloved, that there's so much of what we're doing for the Lord that is more about us or thinking about us, right? It's so easy to just be thinking about us. Even if our intentions are good, you know, as things go, there can just be all these reasons we're doing it that is about us or something else and not purely for God. And that's what we have to watch out for. Again, he says, Satan's policy is either to prevent duty, excuse me, yeah, to prevent duty or to pervert it. May our hearts be pierced. May your hearts be pierced as you go home and pray tonight. May our hearts be pierced as we close in prayer with him. And not just in terms of sorrow for sin, but joy for salvation. May our heart be pierced with light and love and the word of the Lord. And may we just be happy and thankful. And maybe singing on the way out. I got a suggestion. See if you remember. Okay. Now some of you are looking for the exit door. It's not as good. All right, I think I'm gonna try to get through the, oh no, actually, does that say almost? Okay, I'm gonna close. The way the reflection on the clock is right now, I can barely read it. But as I move, ah, now I see where it is. I'm gonna close in prayer. So help me remember, we're gonna start with the ninth subtlety tonight. I'll tell you what it is to wet your whistle. And then we'll come back to wet the arrow as we learned what that, Oh, William Tyndale, remember for the Hebrew for teach diligently, the Hebrew word, he translated it wet upon them. It's that sharpening, sharpening, sharpening, right? Okay. But first we'll wet our whistle to come back to wet our knife. Ninth subtlety, Satan can color over sin with the name and pretense of virtue. We can sin and we can pretend that it's not sin. We can, we can call it virtue. we can pretend that a vice is a virtue. He'll help us, he'll help us maybe explain it away or just lie to ourselves that what we're doing is right and virtuous when in fact it's wrong and horrible. He can get us to believe that it's a good thing we're doing and make us on a campaign about it and make us, you know, sort up going forward, say, I'm doing the work of the Lord. When God might say later, Jesus might say later, go away, I never knew you, and what you were doing was wrong. I don't care what you called it, this is what it actually is. So let's get ready for the Lord to show us our secret sins in that, and that we would not be calling good what God calls evil, and evil what God calls good, as the prophets say. And I think it's happening too much in our nation. And that's because it's coming out of our churches. May God pierce our hearts. And may He indeed bless our prayers to pierce heaven. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this study. We know that until we're in heaven, we have to battle sin. We don't want to be obsessed with sin and Satan, forgetting to look at Jesus. But we need to recognize the reality of the danger and the danger of the besetting sins that so easily slow us down. And we need to turn our eyes to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith and cry, please save me, I'm drowning. Please save me from my doubt and unbelief. Please save me from my laziness and isolation. Please save me from my pride. Please save me, Lord, from the sins of omission. And forgive me and save me from the sins of commission, doing things you call right and not doing the things you call wrong, but doing things you call right in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons. Lord, let us keep thinking about you. And Lord, let us keep talking to you and loving you with our whole heart. And we pray in Jesus' name. And all your people said, amen.