Satan and the Gospel | Kingdom

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Welcome to the Kingdom Podcast, where we are answering this question, what does it mean to seek first the

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Kingdom of God? How is that even done? I'm your host, John Moffitt, I'm the pastor of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

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And last week, we were talking about how important it is to understand what the atonement accomplished and whom did

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Jesus rescue us from, which was, crazy as it sounds, the Father's wrath. Go back to last week and listen to that.

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Much of what comes of the confusion when it comes to doubting our relationship with God comes from not understanding the place of the law and the place of the gospel.

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In this podcast, which is called Kingdom, we want to be about the work of the

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Kingdom, but we find ourselves sitting on the sidelines. We find ourselves doubting we even exist or should exist in the

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Kingdom. And then once we maybe find ourselves there, we don't even know what the Kingdom looks like, let alone there being a

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Kingdom of darkness. Well, one of the tactics that we're told of by Paul and Jesus in the

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New Testament, Jesus specifically describes Satan as the father of all lies.

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Now, what's interesting about a lie, if you're going to be really good at it, just go, if you do any type of reading about World War I or World War II, there are so many kinds of lies flying around.

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And if you want it to land and work, which is the point of a lie is to deceive, that's its entire purpose, then you have to make it believable, right?

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The lie has to be believable. That's why it's so funny to watch a little two -year -old lie to you versus a 20 -year -old, right?

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It's funny when a two -year -old does it because they don't even know how to make a lie believable. You know, the chocolate is all over their face and they're like,

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I didn't even go in the kitchen, daddy. It's like, we can see the chocolate on your face. But then when a 20 -year -old does it, it's painful to watch because they're even at times convincing themselves of the lie.

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Well, what's interesting about the gospel is Satan has been deceiving people about the good news, or I would even say truth, from the garden.

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I mean, what did he say to Eve? Did God really say, right? And it was so good, she believed in it and then convinced

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Adam to believe in it as well, who should have known better as well. Well, this still happens to today.

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If you don't think he is trying to stop, he hates. When you read about just the absolute anger the adversary has for God and for Christ, it's astonishing to learn about.

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So for those of us who say we love him, we love, and then he's rescuing us, and he's giving us all of these good gifts, it puts so much anger in him.

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But if he needs to turn our eyes off of God, he can't do it blatantly where we'll notice it and see it.

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It has to be subtle. And one of the most subtle ways this has been happening for many, many years is taking the law and adding it back into the good news.

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Because it's the law that caused our death. It's the law.

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Because what does it say? Where the first Adam failed, he failed to uphold the law, the second Adam succeeds.

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So this is the covenant of works. We can't do the work that is required for righteousness. That's a covenant being made that those who do the work are righteous.

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This is why when the rich young ruler walks up to Jesus and says, what must I do to enter your kingdom?

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Jesus tells him what to do. He doesn't give him gospel. He gives him law. He says, well, if you want to know what you must do, according to the standard that's been set, you have to obey the law perfectly.

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And which the young man says, well, I've done that from my youth, which he's completely fooled. Which is why Jesus' Sermon on the

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Mount is so important, because he just utterly obliterates you. The man thought to himself, well,

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I've never slept with another woman, but you've had desires to do so, which makes you guilty. So Jesus takes the law, which the

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Pharisees had lowered, and he raises it to its highest moment where no one can scale and they are trapped by it.

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You can't overcome it. You can't find your freedom. You know, almost like in Pilgrim's Progress, where they tried to climb over the law, over the wall into paradise.

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You can't do it because it's too high. No one has the capacity to do that. Well, everything

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I'm saying right now probably makes sense to you. You're agreeing with me. But let me twist it a little bit. You see, what

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Satan needs to do is get your eyes off of the hope of the gospel just a fraction.

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So he'll leave it all there, you know, grace for sins and all of this. But he's going to just add one sliver that ends up destroying the whole cake.

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And it's this. If you want to be accepted by God, any type of requirement put into the gospel is now no longer gospel.

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It's law. I'll give you an example. If you require people to first repent of their sins before God would accept them as a child, which is a very popular teaching that you must first repent of all your sins, then

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God will save you. And we will say, it's in the Bible, John, it says repent. Well, yes,

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I agree. It does say repent, but we need to explain what that word means. It's saying repent of trusting in your goodness.

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That's what he's talking about. The rich young man, the rich young ruler was coming to him, and he needed to repent of trying to earn his way into righteousness with God.

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That's what, so Israel had turned to other gods, or they had turned to self -righteousness, including the

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Pharisees, had turned to self -righteousness as a way to enter into the kingdom. And the call was turn away from your righteousness and see that you are an utter desperate sinner in need of God's grace.

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You remember that phrase, the road is narrow? You know, we think that that's like a few that find it. We kind of use that as a means of saying, yeah, see, only those who really are willing to repent and walk the narrow road to make it.

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And that's not what he's saying. What he's saying is all other ways to be with me or to be in the kingdom, it all funnels down this way.

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Like it funnels you down. So if you are unwilling to come through me, you cannot come because they were unwilling to go through Jesus.

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That's why he's like few that find it. Why? Because you don't find it unless you are a desperate sinner in need of God's grace.

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So God, the savior of the world is standing before them, and they're trying to go around him by means of the law.

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If there's ever anything you must do to be forgiven of God and to receive his righteousness, that is law.

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That is not gospel. Just think about it in the nature. Gospel just means good news.

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Well, think about news. News has no potential to it. News is something like, for instance, when you turn on the television, you're not watching the news of what might happen.

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You're watching the news of what had happened. This is what happened yesterday, and they're reporting it to you.

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This is why it's called good news because the good part is Jesus rose from the grave on your behalf.

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That's the good news. There's no potentiality of it. There's no possibilities.

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When he rose from the grave, what was it he yelled on the cross? It's finished. The good news is that he accomplished it.

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Now, the law is the exact opposite. The law is all potential because the law says this, do this and live.

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Right? That's the covenant of works. If Adam would have obeyed in the garden, he would have inherited eternal life. This is even why

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Jesus says he makes that application when the young man says, how do I earn righteousness? Because only the righteous will inherit the kingdom.

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Remember this? Jesus says only the righteous will inherit the kingdom. You have to ask, well, how do you gain righteousness?

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And Jesus says, through me, come to me. All you who are weary by trying to gain your own righteousness,

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I'll give you rest from the work of righteousness. Right? Why? Because I'm going to give you my righteousness.

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The law says, yes, there's forgiveness, but you still must obey. Therefore, you will not enter into.

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Anytime. I don't care who the man is. I don't care how popular they are. If they put a requirement on you in order to enter in God's rest, you are not hearing gospel.

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You're hearing law. And Paul says, if me or any other angel or famous evangelical tells you another gospel, you need to ignore that gospel.

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It's wrong. The goodness of the gospel is always faith in Christ and faith in Christ alone in his work on our behalf.

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This is why you have so many people who are confused about whether or not they're actually saved because, did

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I repent of all my sin? Have I faithfully, since salvation, repented of all my sins?

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And the answer to that is no. Absolutely not. You know what the great, let's just talk about one command. You know what the greatest command in the

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Bible is? Love God with all your heart. Forget soul, mind, and strength. Just heart.

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Right here. Your affections. Have you for one second in your life loved God with all of your heart without failing?

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Even after you were a Christian. This is why God says, it's impossible to please me unless you walk by faith.

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Faith in what? The righteousness of Christ on your behalf. You do not walk in faith in your own obedience ever, even after salvation.

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That's glossable. That's a mixing of the law and the gospel. I think there's so many

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Christians who sit under law preaching when they're being told it's gospel. And the good news is, if you do your part, then

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God will do his part. Well, that sounds like prosperity gospel. I know. It does. The good news of the gospel is not

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God saves those who repent. The good news of the gospel is that God saves those who were dead and he made alive, and he caused to repent.

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Well, how do we know we've been made alive? Because you believe. You believe that you've been made alive.

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You desire to do good works. You want to, even though you fail, Roman 7. You want to please your father, not out of to earn or maintain salvation, but because you're a new creature in Christ.

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Old things have passed away. You feel that you are new some days, and some days you don't. But where is your faith always?

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Your faith is always in Christ. So this goes back to the fight of the kingdom. You see, somehow, along the way,

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Satan has convinced Christians that the fight they are in is to get into the kingdom.

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They're trying so hard every day to prove to God they belong. Where the Bible says, everything from the birth to sanctification to your home in glory has been gifted to you so that you have no reasons to boast and you have no reasons to work.

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Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world, right? The Holy Spirit lives within us.

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He who began a good work in you will complete it. This is why you're looking unto the author and finisher of your faith, the one who gave you the faith and will complete it, not to your works.

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We are not effective in the kingdom. It's hard for us to seek first the kingdom of God, and that is advancing the kingdom into the kingdom of darkness because we're not even sure if we're holding on to the light or not, if the light is inside of us.

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So the atonement last week, knowing what Christ accomplished. Then this week, knowing the difference between the law and the gospel, never allowing those to collapse on each other.

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Now, some people say, well, John, you're an antinomian. We'll get into that next week. Not an antinomian. There is a purpose for good works.

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But those good works are never to get into the kingdom or confirm your place in the kingdom. But they are to advance the kingdom and help those who are stuck in sin.

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So how do we effectively understand the kingdom of light and kingdom of darkness? And how do we seek first the kingdom of God?

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Know the difference between the law and the gospel. Don't fall for his lies. And always realizing your salvation, sanctification, glorification are the work of the spirit, not of the flesh.