All right, good evening. Welcome to Mequonegal Baptist Church and the midweek service. Glad that each one of you could make it this evening. You can turn in your hymnals to number 380. Number 380 in the blue hymnals, rise up, oh men of God. And we will sing this. Let's stand together as we sing this opening hymn. May we rise up and go forward as the people of God. Rise up, oh men of God. ♪ Rise up, all men of God ♪ ♪ Have God with us today ♪ ♪ Give heart and soul and mind and strength ♪ ♪ To serve the King of kings ♪ ♪ Rise up, all men of God ♪ ♪ His kingdom carries on ♪ Just coming in, number 3 in the blue hymnals, on that third verse, rise up, O men of God, the church for you doth wait. God has chosen us to be the vessels he uses to work through. And may we be willing servants, ready and able, so we can be like Abel and have a living legacy, even after we pass from this earth, because we've lived for Christ on that third. ♪ Rise up, all men of God ♪ ♪ God's church, our youth of greed ♪ ♪ Her strength unequal to her test ♪ ♪ Rise up and make her great ♪ ♪ Lift high the cross of Christ and give her praise ♪ as fathers of the son of man, rise up, all men, arise. All right, Pastor is still recovering. Thankfully, he's out of the hospital, but supposed to be on bed rest, I think, for around, be in rest for about a week. And so we can continue to pray for his recovery. Tyler, can you open us up for prayer, please? Lord, we thank you for the wonderful opportunity we have to gather here in the house of God tonight. And I pray, Lord, that as we gather together for prayer, that we would see the hand of God move in the affairs of men. And I just pray that you would minister to those that are sick and can't be here tonight. And Lord, would you work through the preaching of your word, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right, prayer letters. Africa, we are very thankful for the continued faithfulness and involvement of Shitu at Bible Baptist. She has completed a Bible study course with Laura, and we look forward to giving her guidance in her next spiritual step this Thursday. Lebo was recently home from Bible Institute for a week. It was a blessing to have him teach the adult Sunday school class at Bible Baptist as well as the children's class in Nest Park while he was here. We have started a new Bible study course in Ness Park. There have been a few new men at the Bible study for the past couple of weeks. Ms. Jenna Apple will be finishing our children's school year this week. She has been a tremendous blessing in this regard as the children have made real progress this year. I believe she has left South Africa and I think is in the States already. She has also been a great blessing in her outreach to the ladies and young ladies in our ministries. She will be returning to the States next week for four months. She plans to return for the beginning of our children's next school year. And this is from the Parfit family serving in Papua New Guinea. Greetings from none other than Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. We weren't planning on moving here till the 10th of May, but with just days to spare, we learned of a visa technicality that required us to enter Papua New Guinea before the 23rd of April. So within hours of this news, we changed our plane tickets, rearranged all sorts of plans, and began our final packing to leave just five days later. We had to miss my sister's wedding this past weekend, but we did not want to have to start visa paperwork all over again, especially with the new baby due in September. We are so grateful that God provided availability to change our plane tickets with no additional cost. and that there were not just five but six tickets available with American Airline miles. Because God also provided a babysitter to help us on the journey at super short notice. And she had just been approved for a visitor visa in Papua New Guinea earlier that week. Thank you, Hedessa, for your willing help and sacrifice to make our trip so much more feasible. Already we know of Already, that we know of, we've been able to share the Gospel with people from Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines, besides Papua New Guinea. As always, I'm excited about the potential of this ministry base in a port city to be able to get God's Word even farther to the world. Please pray that we can get settled in Morata in the coming weeks. Because of our unexpected schedule change, our house is understandably not ready. We're thankful for a kind Christian businessman giving us a good rate for lodging in the interim. That's the parfaits. All right. Thank you. Micah. We have a card for Pastor Roberts here. We'll send around on each side. Just begin those right away. You can turn to number 428, to the work. Number 428. in your blue hymnals, to the work, to the work, we are servants of God. Not as we think about Wednesday, a lot has happened since Sunday, but let us be encouraged to continue to go on for the Lord in a great way and to serve him each and every day with energy. 428. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Let us hope, let us fight, and labor to the Master God. To the Lord, to the Lord, let the hungry dwell. To the fountain of life, let the weary be high. In the cross and in splendor, our glory shall be. While we yearn, we'll live. is free. Joy to the world, joy to the world, joy to the world, joy to the world. Let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let us all, let The end of that second phrase said, while we herald the tidings, salvation is free. Every one of us here tonight has an amazing privilege to herald that message, salvation is free. And I encourage you, if you don't have a regular time where you go out or where you purpose to maybe reach out to a friend, a coworker, and you have a set aside a time each week to Do something in regards to, obviously, soul winning is a lifestyle, but if you don't have a specific time where you are reaching out to people, I encourage you, this Monday night, come out to soul winning. Set aside that time, if at all possible, so that you can come out and herald that message. The third verse says, to the work, to the work. There is labor for all. There is something for everyone to do. Come learn how to really give the gospel because there is a lot of work to do. So come on out and let's just be always alert and always ready to be working for the Lord. On that third and fourth stanza. The kingdom of darkness and fear shall come, and the name of Jehovah's soldiers shall ring with the loud sounding oar, as salvation is free. Toil ye on, toil ye on. Toil ye on, toil ye on. To the one, to the one in whose name the Lord and the Holy Ghost shall ever be born. When the whole world obey the Lord's will, it shall be, and he shall rule with the rest of the world. It shall be free. Tourney on, tourney on. Tourney on, tourney on. Let us go, let us go. And labor till the master comes. Well, tomorrow night is our academy recital, music recital. And that's a very important part of the development of our young people, we believe. And so I encourage you to come on out if you're able to and encourage our students and parents and what God is doing in their lives. So that's at 6.30 tomorrow night, right here in the auditorium. And there'll be a number of piano pieces played as well as other, I believe, other instruments. being performed so encourage you to come out if you're able to and I think it will be a great encouragement and a Blessing for you after the service tonight. We need to move this piano to the center stage So if we have some strong men that are able to help with that, that would be a great blessing on Friday night is kids club at six o'clock and we only have two more kids clubs remaining this spring semester. So this Friday and then one more. So let's be praying that the Lord would bless Friday night and the theme is Goofy Glasses Night. So maybe we get some pictures to show in the lobby on Sunday of what Goofy Glasses Night is like. It's gonna be exciting time. And then let me just encourage you to plan to be here on Sunday. We're looking forward to a great day. I don't believe pastor will be here, but that doesn't mean we can't have a good day in the Lord's house. 9.30 Sunday morning will be Sunday school. And so let me encourage you to plan to be here and let's see the Lord do a great work in hearts on Sunday. Saturday May 11th is our father-son canoe outing and we're looking I think that's gonna be a really great time so let me encourage fathers and sons if you're at all able to Make put that on your schedule. I encourage you to come on out. We did shift the time for several reasons There seemed to be like it was gonna work better to do a 10 o'clock start instead of 130 So it's 10 o'clock on Saturday September May 11th. I'm sorry Saturday May 11th and at 10 o'clock and we're gonna canoe a portion of the McWanago River and we're gonna end at the Phantom Glen Park here in McWanago and have brats and hot dogs and a Bible challenge and so I encourage you fathers and sons to plan on being there a part of that we also would love to have guests come on out be a great opportunity if whether it's kids club kids club dad and their son or maybe somebody else that you know or seeking to reach out to we really want to use that as a great opportunity to minister and reach out to people as well. So you are responsible for your own canoes, equipment, paddles, life jackets, things like that. We do have some things available, so if you are in need of some of those items, please talk to me. And I know there's some church folks that have some extra stuff as well, so we don't want that to hinder you from coming. But you are responsible, so please seek to find some of those items if you don't have them. And of course, we'll be glad to help in any way that we can. So that's coming up Saturday, May 11th. All right, before we do prayer requests, we wanna get some people that are gonna commit to pray for some missionaries tonight. So who will pray for the Foresters tonight? All right, we've got some hands for the Foresters. How about the Frews? All right, great. You don't have to wait till we're all through to pray for them. The Garamese, anybody on the Garamese? All right, good. And then the Halsteads in Kenya? Halsteads, all right, we got at least five. All right, good. How about the Hollands for Bible translating for Papua New Guinea? The Hollands? All right, I see. All right, we got some hands there. How about the Klaus's in New York City? Klaus's. All right, good. So we got in the next column. And you don't have to just pray for them. You can pray for other missionaries, too. But at least get a section of the missionaries that we know are getting prayed for. Remember to be praying for the 46 souls for the year. And don't just pray for the new souls that would get saved, but also pray for those that have been saved for spiritual growth. and for victory in their lives and that they would be going forward for the Lord. Remember to be praying for those five new families with children and we need the Lord to do that and so we need to pray and seek God's face for those five Families with children we could see those children trained to serve the Lord with their lives so be praying for that be in prayer for Kids Club this Friday night, and we might see some families reach through that Kids Club ministry Mr.. Kostrich texted me and asked requested prayer He's been having some breathing difficulties and he asked for prayer for improved breathing and also for energy. So if you could remember Mr. Kostritz and also for Mrs. Kostritz requested prayer. She has some pending results for a skin biopsy and he just asked we would pray that it would be negative. So remember that Kostritz's As we go to prayer tonight, there's also many others on the health needs list to hold up in prayer Another announcement I wanted to mention, we mentioned it on Sunday, but Mother's Day evening. I know I'm looking forward to it. The elementary music class have a nice presentation. There's a number of songs they've learned from Psalm 119. They're going to have some also just some speaking things about the word of God, and then they also have a nice play about a Bible translator to the Native Americans. So you won't want to miss that and you can invite others out for Sunday night. That would be on Mother's Day, May 12th. So remember to be in prayer for that and also be inviting others out for that. Then just two days later is the MBA senior recital at seven o'clock PM. So you can put that on your calendar as well. Who else has a prayer request tonight? All right, Paul. appointment with him and got to talk about spiritual things for quite a while. They have two boys our boys age and so just it seems like an open door. He may be saved but definitely seems to be seeking for the truth. So pray for Mike and his family that we'd be able to reach them. And then pray for UW-Whitewater. It's downstairs tonight, so asked me to mention a few things about that. First of all, it's a really good Bible study. I believe there were 17 students last night at the university. Just a lot of, there was one first-timer and then a lot of return people have been there before but coming back. Pray, the gospel was given last night, so just pray. There's three particular students. I'm sure there's others who aren't saved, but Mackenzie, Gavin, and Emily are three friends that were there. They came a couple of weeks ago for the first time and have been coming back. They're really seeking the truth. After the Bible study, I was able to speak with them for quite a while. They aren't saved. I asked them that directly. They aren't saved, but are definitely searching. And sadly, two of them are going to be transferring in the fall to UW-La Crosse, and one is going on to an online school. So they won't be back. So we need to really pray for Mackenzie, Gavin, and Emily that over the course of the next week that they'd get saved. And also, keep in prayer for next week, it's not an official room, but they are having a Bible study. It's finals week, so they can't rent a room. But they are going to do a Bible study out in one of the common areas. So pray that some of these students would come back, and that these three students would come back, especially, and get saved before we maybe never get to see them again. Then Zach mentioned there's a boy who came last night for the second week in a row and his name is Tyler and they're gonna be getting together this week in the next week for a personal Bible study and Tyler needs to be saved and then also pray they really push students to encourage them to come this Sunday and so right now there's at least seven that are planning to come here this Sunday and Just pray that the Lord would really use that time and that maybe even more would come up. I All right, great. OK, Mrs. Bennett. So many of you know that Jason left for Colorado this week because his sister is in ICU. So he asked me to share what His brother-in-law said to him on the phone today, he said, the doctor mentioned that no one has ever recovered this fast from what Caroline went through and somebody out there must be praying for you. So thank you for all of you that have been praying for her. It looks like she'll be released tomorrow and then he should prayerfully be on his way home Friday. So thank you everyone for praying. Amen. All right, Heather. We had a really good Bible study on Monday evening, and I haven't gotten to Coming back around to kind of asking her about it again So just pray maybe she would want to keep doing them Mr.. Apple Forrester's mother went home last Thursday and The funeral will be next week in, I believe it's White Rock, New Mexico. Probably about 45 miles. I'm not sure. I don't remember if it was north or south. It's right out there. Sure, okay. All right, Stephen. Just want to praise the Lord for some great meetings this last Sunday. I think everybody would be encouraged to hear. We were at two different churches in Madison. And giving updates there, they support us. And we just really sensed a great vibrancy and growth in those churches. And just really praise God. You know, not much good seems to come out of Madison, but there's two good things going on there in those churches. So pray for those churches there, Madison Baptist and Grace Baptist, and that God would continue to work in this state of Wisconsin. But that was a blessing to see. And then also continue to pray for us in our travels. We sure appreciate it. This Sunday we'll be down just south of Indianapolis in Bloomington, Indiana with Pastor Gashke and his family and the Stone Ridge Baptist Church. We appreciate prayers for that. And then also in the evening, probably at a, we're still waiting to hear back on something, but probably at a Spanish church, actually the first church that took us on for support in the Elgin area. So yeah, the Lord used them in a neat way. So we appreciate prayers for safety and traveling. And our van, it has over 230,000 on it. So pray us through this furlough on that van. It seems OK. And then also pray for my mother-in-law. She's having, or waiting to hear MRI results regarding some growth on her kidney, I think it was, right? So pray for her. Her name is Peggy. Some of you know her. And then also one of our supporting church pastors, Pastor Tom Harrison. I think he went to Bible College with Pastor some. out in Michigan, but he is having triple bypass heart surgery. And just tomorrow, it is. And another vibrant church. He's just a great pastor. So pray for him and that all that would go well. OK. All right. Yes, Eli. Two quick things. One is to highlight Parkview. We've only got a couple of weeks yet. left and we've had a really consistent group of probably say 13 students or so every week. I think some are safe some need to be saved but I'm just burdened that we'd be able to establish summer connections somehow but it's a little bit tricky with their age so I don't know just pray that God would give wisdom with that and that we'd really be able to see some Results even in these last couple weeks and then as well pray for a man named Keith Johnson and his family I've connected with him through the Boy Scouts, but he had a massive stroke the other day and Seems like it's pretty extensive miracle. He's alive I think but pretty hard on the family and I've been trying to connect with those boys actually for the last couple years So just pray that God would even provide some spiritual inroads in that hard time All right Micah Praise the Lord, we had a good Bible study at the East Troy Middle School this last Tuesday. We really need God's power though upon the Bible studies in general, but just pray especially for East Troy at the high school and middle school that we'd see God's power, God working through us, wisdom in the lessons. We only have about five weeks left. But especially at the middle school, we pray for Noah and Dillion, those were two students that came. There was about eight to 10. The Lord worked it out that basically the classroom we're in, there's a class right at the first hour, so a lot of students came in and they stayed for the Bible study. So that was a blessing. Just pray for the teacher that he'd have just the Lord's blessing upon him that The door would stay open. He has to be careful what he says and doesn't say. So just pray that God will continue to work through him. His name is Jim. And pray that we'd just be able to be there every week, even if he's not there, to open the room up for us. Because there's one week where he can't be there. So just pray that God will work that out. But even pray for some of the contacts from the past and kids club contacts that could come, that we'd see them there this next Tuesday. And pray for Jacoby. He still goes to school there, even though he lives in New Berlin. Pray that he'd be there and the Lord would use it in his life. All right. And keep praying for East Troy High School. We had four there today. And I think there was one student had invited friends, but they didn't show up. So just pray that the Lord would just continue to work in the hearts of those that are coming and would bring more out. And not much time left before the end of the school year. Just pray for the spirit of God to really work in the hearts of all the people at the different Bible studies. All right, who is next? OK, yes, Micah. Waterford Vial City, seems like he's open to coming out to church sometime, so pray that he'd be able to make it out. And as well, pray for Drew to be able to make it back out on this Sunday. Last week he couldn't come because of some family stuff, but pray that he'd be able to continue coming out. And as well, pray for a coworker of mine. His name is Saxon. I don't work with him too often, but was able to talk to him a little bit. And seems like he's kind of at a low point right now in searching, so pray for some good opportunities to witness to him in the future. All right, thank you. All right, Drew. Just wanted to say a few things. I pray for my parents' travels to Mexico next week. They're going to be going next Wednesday, so I pray for God to watch over them and just, you know, have a good time down there. I just want to pray for the people that me and Eli went soul winning yesterday for and hope that they consider God into their lives and all that. And I pray for Pastor Robert to have a fast heal and all that. And one last thing is I pray for my brother that maybe he seeks God in his life as well since he doesn't believe in him at the moment. But hopefully God can just communicate with him soon and take him into account. Amen. All right, yes, Matthew. If you just pray for this teen from the Bible study at the high school named Ricky, hopefully we'll be getting together sometime next week, so just pray for the details to be finalized, and then he needs to be saved, so pray for him. Okay, good. Yes, Mr. Myers. I'd like to pray for Paul for growth, V for salvation, and Ms. Kevin at the nursing home for salvation. Is that Mrs. Haynes or Mrs. Griffin? I know in the past I've asked for prayer for Tim Meyer. His cancer is spreading, and he's really fighting it and working with it. And I give him a lot of credit for that. But I gave him the book, One Heartbeat Away. And if you could just pray and pray that he opens the cover of that book and starts reading it, because he needs to be saved. Thank you. That was for Tim. All right, anyone else tonight? All right, we will have the next song before the offering. I'll turn your hymnals to number 436. 436. Bring them in. Hark, it is a shepherd's voice I hear out in the desert, dark and drear. Bring them in. Hark, it is a shepherd's voice I hear, out in the desert, dark and drear, watching the sheep who go out astray. way. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring them in, bring them in, bring them in from the fields of sin. Bring ♪ Just one city of gold ♪ ♪ Where every sheltered rock unfolds ♪ ♪ Bring them in, bring them in ♪ ♪ Bring them in from the fields of sin ♪ ♪ Bring them in, bring them in ♪ ♪ Bring no more remorse to Jesus ♪ Let's stand together as we prepare for the offering, and as we sing that last stanza, and we think about these words. Hark, tis the master speaks to thee. Go find my sheep, where'er they be. Will you go wherever the master tells you to go this week to share the gospel with a needy soul? On that third stanza. And I, I'm just a messenger speech to thee. Oh, I'm a sheep for your enemy. I remember the Wednesday night offering is for the building funds you give as the Lord would lead you. Tim, lead us in prayer please. help us to worship in spirit and in truth. We ask that you would help us and just empower us in prayer tonight. We pray for this offering that you would provide for the building fund. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be generous with you as you've been so generous with us. We ask in Jesus' precious name, amen. so So, How many have ever heard of a Walkman before? Hopefully I got that right. How many that are not just heard about it just now, but how many below 20 years old have ever heard of a Walkman before? Anybody? Now probably for those that raised their hands, especially if you're maybe over 40, back in the day, when you were in high school, you were probably a pretty cool person. If you ever walked around with a Walkman, go a little bit longer. First, maybe they had a radio cassette player, and then you could have a Walkman with a CD player. If you don't know what a Walkman is, you could take your walks and you could listen to music because you had this portable cassette player and it had a cord, an actual cord, and it had headphones on and you could walk down the road and you could listen to the radio, listen to music. So Walkman, I mean, probably if you were going to be a cool person, you had to have a Walkman. those 20 and below are like, like big deal, right? I mean, you know, go rewind a few more years before that. And maybe if you had a record player, you know, go back, you know, a number of years and you were pretty, you were, you were pretty up on it. You know, now you have to have whatever the latest, latest iPhone, the latest earbuds, the latest whatever it might be. There's lots of devices in our world, aren't there? They're all over the place. And if you want to keep up, I mean, you've got to have the latest device. Although there may be a lot of devices in this world, there are some devices that you must be aware of. And we're not going to park here, but in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, it says, we are not ignorant of his devices. And it's referring to the devil. It says, lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. You might be ignorant of some of the latest devices that are out there today. but that really doesn't matter. But tonight, if you are ignorant of the devices of Satan, that could cost you dearly in the spiritual realm. And tonight, I'd like us to turn to Genesis chapter three, and I'd like us to look at some of the devices. We'll see how far we get in this message. In Ephesians 6, verse 11, it talks about the wiles of the devil. The devil has his wiles, the devil has his methods of going after believers, of going after people. And he's been able to develop them for a long time. In 2 Corinthians 11, verses 13 and 14, it talks about how the ministers of Satan are transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. The word for transform there is just the word for change. Just like in Philippians 3.21, it talks about how he'll change our vile bodies, that they might be fashioned like unto his glorious body. So they transform themselves, they change themselves, Satan's ministers, into something that they are not. The devil's ministers, now sometimes in our society we've gotten so far into wickedness that the devil advertises who he actually is. And people what? Our society has gone so far that people actually what? Go for it. But here, obviously, Corinthians is written to believers, and he's warning them, hey, watch out. Hopefully a believer wouldn't fall for some of the occultism that's just outright there. But, they might fall for something that looks good on the outside, but it's terrible on the inside. In 2 Thessalonians, it talks about the tribulation and the lying wonders, the deceivableness of unrighteousness. In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 24, it references those that have not known the depths of Satan. The depth there, the idea is so remote that it is difficult to assess. You know, Satan is very wicked, and that's an understatement. Alright, he has great tactics that he is trying to use to get believers, to try to get people to go his pathway in life. And tonight, are you aware of the devices that Satan is trying to use to get you to fall? Well, in Genesis chapter 3, In verse number one, we find the serpent's attack, his temptation to eat. It says, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field. So we find this subtlety here, this cunning, this craftiness, this trickery. In Luke, in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, it comments on this verse. And if you're a fast Bible finder, you can turn there, otherwise I'll read it for you. But 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3 says, But I fear, lest by any means, as a serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So it says, he beguiled Eve, he deceived Eve through his subtlety. In Luke chapter 20 and verse number 23, it's translated as craftiness. All right, so the devil is crafty. He's very subtle. You know, sometimes when you're talking with a salesman, all right, they're very what? They're very crafty in how they present what they are trying to sell to you. They know how to bring out certain things. They know how to present things. They know how to aim it at you to get you to buy something. Maybe it's a device that's supposed to ease your back pain. Well, how many have ever experienced back pain in their life? All right, and so, I remember, maybe it actually worked, but I remember falling for one of them one time, and some kind of heating pads, and maybe it would work, but some things in life sometimes just aren't always, I don't know. You have great ideas, but the practicality of actually using them and doing it, and you have kids in your house, But at the moment, it seems like it's gonna be what? I mean, it's gonna work, right? I mean, this is going to cure your pain. Well, the devil is crafty. He's subtle. He's done it a long time, right? I mean, salesmen now, obviously, it doesn't mean that every salesman is a liar or they're always, but they know how to get people to what? To buy something, right? Well, maybe it's something good, but the devil, what he's trying to get you to buy is not what? It's not good, is it? It's not worth it. It's dangerous. And we have to understand there's subtlety. There's craftiness. And Eve was beguiled through the subtlety, through the craftiness. It was a well-crafted product. a well-crafted temptation, I should say, that the devil used to get Eve to fall. I mean, here, think about it. Think about how terrible, if you want to say. I mean, really, he was a salesman here. God told them that if they ate of it, they were going to what? They're going to die. But yet the devil is able to take that same fruit that God said if they ate it they would die and he got Eve to what? Think that she needed it. So God says it's going to kill you and the devil what? He was successful in taking a product that God said would kill her and get her to eat it. And not only did he get her to eat it, but she took it to her husband. Now, the Bible says that Adam wasn't deceived, but he ate it as well. That's pretty good, isn't it? I mean, it's pretty bad, but he got something that was supposed to kill her and he got her to eat it. And it wasn't like this was 100 years ago. I mean, we don't know the exact time, but it seems like there wasn't a lot of time that elapsed. I mean, she was well aware of what God had said. She knew. But yet, the devil was able to get her to do it. And in your own life, things can be obvious that God said is going to happen, and yet if we fall prey to what the devil is trying to do, he's going to what? He's going to get us to do it. If he could take a fruit that God said was gonna, that in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Or in the day thou eatest thereof, let's see exactly what God said. For in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2.17. And Eve ate it. And death entered a human race. And her son became a what? A murderer. You know, we aren't always aware of all the consequences of the choices we're gonna make, but the devil is a master at masking what the real consequences of the choices that we make in life are going to be. Young person, there are so many temptations out there, and the devil is an expert at masking what the true consequences of Those sins are that he is getting you to choose. You know, the devil paints them, the world paints them as something great, as something you have to have, as something if you don't get them right now, you're gonna miss out on some kind of pleasure. But he doesn't paint the real picture of what's gonna happen. So there is subtlety here. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said. And we're aware of this. Again, what does he get us to do? He gets us to doubt God's word. Yea, hath God said. You know, if the devil can get us to doubt God's word, he can basically keep us from doing anything that we should be doing for God. Think of prayer. Tonight is the night of prayer. Well, if we're doubting the promises of God, how effective are we going to be in prayer? We're not going to be, are we? I mean, the Bible says if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, we can say to this mountain, remove thou hence, and be cast into the yonder sea. And, may have misquoted a little bit, but basically got it there. What does it take of faith as a grain of mustard seed? And mountains, I mean, things that seem insurmountable in our lives, God can what? God can move. He can change situations that seem like this could never happen. This is a mountain, where is this going to move? You know, there can be something that seems like a Mount Everest in your life, but if you'll trust God, guess what? God can move it, can't he? Now we know it, it's right there. But the devil wants us to what? To doubt what God has said. Well, that's impossible. Well, isn't that what prayer is about? Seeing God do the impossible. So if he can get us, yay, has God said this? I mean, is this really true? Is this really gonna happen? Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock. and it shall be opened unto you." I was listening to the radio the other day and I didn't hear much of the message, but I thought it was helpful. He was talking about prayer and like our mind, how many of you, does your mind ever wander when you're praying? Happens all the time, doesn't it? And he was saying, he just gave a helpful suggestion. He was like, you know, when you're by yourself and you're praying, pray all out. You know, if you pray out loud, it helps you to keep your mind on it. I mean, when you're at prayer meeting on Wednesday night and you're praying, your mind's focused on what you're praying for, isn't it? So maybe in your own prayer life, if you're by yourself, I mean, maybe if you're in bed at night and your wife's trying to go to sleep, well, I mean, maybe you need to pray silently there, but when you're by yourself or maybe you're driving in the car somewhere, I mean, don't be afraid to pray out loud. And it can keep your mind focused on what you're doing. But he gets us to try to doubt God. Maybe it's in the area of giving. Well, the Bible says, what, you're going to reap what you sow? If you sow bountifully, you're going to what? You're going to reap bountifully. And so the devil doesn't want us to trust God in the promises about giving. He doesn't want us to believe God in the promises about soul winning. Lo, I am with you always. They that sow in tears shall what? Shall reap in joy. Maybe it's in the area of fear. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And there's so many promises in Scripture that the devil wants us to doubt what God has said. Sometimes it's a command. Here, what was the devil trying to get Eve to doubt? A command, wasn't it? God had said to do something. God had said maybe the result, I guess it was more the result of the action, that he was trying to get her to doubt. Why? So she would fall for it. And you know, the devil wants us to doubt. You know, the consequences aren't gonna be as bad as maybe what the Bible says. You know, young person, oh, it's not gonna be as bad as what my parents say. I mean, yeah, they, you know, they lived back in the days of the Walkmans. Well, it's a little different now. Things aren't like that. Well, you know what, back then, I think preachers were talking about, hey, you better watch out what your kids are listening to on the walkman. Well, now it's a lot worse, isn't it? You know, and so young people, the devil wants you to get you to doubt and to not trust your parents that, you know what, they know some things about life. You know, maybe doubt your pastor, maybe doubt your Sunday school teacher who's trying to give you some truth. Well, it's not that bad. It's not that important. And that's one of his tactics. And if we're not aware of his devices, we're going to fall for it. A lot of times we're aware of them and we even what? We even fall for them. You can be a salesman and you know what he's trying to get you to do, but you still what? You believe him anyways. And then a day or two, it's like, why in the world did I buy it? How did he get me to do that? He even knew what he was trying to do. And obviously in the spiritual life, that's why we need God's power. Because the devil is powerful. He has tactics well developed. And the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6, be what? Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Eve was innocently walking around there in the garden. and she fell for the tactics of the devil. You know, we could continue on in this passage, but I think we're gonna not hit, as you examine the temptation itself, maybe we'll speak about it another time, but you look at it, you know, the Bible says in 1 John 2.16, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. is not of the Father, but is of the world. And you look at this temptation and how the devil catered it to the lust of the flesh. She what, saw the tree was good for food. He caters those temptations to our appetites. And then she what, she saw that it was good for food. It was pleasant to the eyes. You know, there's so much, you know, the Bible says the eye of man is what? Is never satisfied. You look at everything out there that the advertising industry is trying to get us to focus on in life that really has no value in life, has no eternal value, but it's the lust of the eyes. And then the pride of life. Trying to get a, you know, Paul's message on Sunday night on pride. and putting ourselves, I mean, we've got to be on top of everything. And that's where the temptation is aimed at. And it'd be something for us to think about. And because you look at the temptation of Christ and much of what the devil was trying to aim at, at the Son of God, was right along those same lines. You know, tonight, are you aware of the devil's devices? Is there an area of temptation you've been falling in? Well, guess what? You need God's power to overcome His devices. You might be smart. You might have a high IQ. But guess what? It's not a match for the power, for the craftiness of the devil. You know, and that's why we need to be armed with the Word of God. What did Christ answer the devil with after every temptation? the Word of God. You know, if we're going to keep ourselves from sin, we need to be what? In the Word of God. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not what? That I might not sin. You know, if we're not gaining God's power from the Word of God, if we're not going to Him for His strength, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. We're going to fall. We can go out from here saying, I'm going to really try to be aware. And we should be aware. But we need to go out from here saying, Lord, help me. Give me the strength to say no. Don't get anywhere near that pathway of temptation. Because He aims at those desires, at those appetites. We need to leave from here tonight saying, God, I need your help. We need to say, you know what? In the morning, I need to be in God's Word. I need to be getting the power that I need so that God can give me the victory. As we go to prayer tonight, let's not allow the devil to tear down our faith and get us to doubt what God has said, but to trust the promises of God. Let's pray. Dear Holy Father, we just pray that you would enable us Lord, we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. And Lord, without You, we can do nothing. We need Your power. Lord, forgive us for so many times trying to do it in our own strength. Lord, getting up and going on with our day without seeking You. And Lord, I pray that not only we'd be aware of the devil's tactics, but it would motivate us to seek your power to be able to thwart the tactics of the enemy. Lord, we just pray that you would bless now this time of prayer that we are about to have. We pray in Christ's name, amen. All right, you are dismissed to prayer.