Are Your Feet Where They Should Be? — Carter Conlon

Satan’s Temptation and the Authority of Scripture

Are your feet where they should be? Matthew chapter four, beginning at verse five. Then the devil took him up into the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. And he said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you.

And in their hands, they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Now the fact that Satan would attack the son of God with this portion of scripture actually is quite significant.

For he's using something from the scriptures that he actually heard audibly from the mouth of God in the garden of Eden. There was a curse pronounced on him. There was a judgment pronounced on him immediately following the moment where he tempted Adam and Eve to operate outside of the revealed will of God, causing them to believe that they could do this without consequence and that they in themselves could become as judges or as gods, as it says in the King James translation, knowing what is good and what is evil and charting their own course and somehow still arriving at a utopian end, which of course we believe to be heaven.

And in the garden of Eden, audibly the devil heard this, audibly. Now we have the word of God in writing, so it's important to understand this. God pronounced this over him. And he said, so the Lord in Genesis, I'm just gonna read these scriptures to you because I have a lot to go through today and just for time's sake, just give me your best ear.

Genesis 3, 14. So the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity, that means a state of hostility, between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. You'll eat dust all the days of your life.

Now that's twofold. The way I understand that is a duality to it. Number one, understanding where Satan had been and the access to the throne of God and his view of the holiness of God and of the heavenlies.

He would be cast down from that place and his dwelling would be on the earth. He would become the prince, of course, of the power of the air. And he himself said to Jesus, all these kingdoms of the earth are mine and I give them to whosoever I will.

He would be cast down to this little ball of dust called planet earth. But also in Genesis chapter two and verse seven, the scripture says the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. Not only would Satan be cast down to planet earth, but he would spend his days devouring those created from Adam.

Humanity, you and I, created from the dust until a people would arise who would triumph over him, whose feet will be upon him and trample his thoughts that he could conquer both God and those created in the image of God.

This was the curse pronounced on him. You'll be cast down, you'll eat dust all the days of your life. Yes, you will devour. Remember, the scripture says from Adam to Moses, death was raining on planet earth, of course, until a people rise who would tread upon this thought that you could rule them, that you could devour them, that you could be supreme over them and have those created in the image of God for all of eternity.

These people are going to be given, they would be given the victory through one who would be sent to conquer him. So I'm working a thread here. So give me your best attention if you can. In Psalm 91, there's a scripture which could only really fully be fulfilled in Christ and subsequently those who are called his people.

It says in verse 10, no evil shall befall you nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. In their hands, they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Now this is the scripture the devil took. He heard it audibly. And of course, in Psalm 91, it's written down in the word of God. But there's another verse. It says, you, speaking of Christ, shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample under foot.

Remember, when God spoke to the devil in the book of Genesis, chapter three, verse 15, speaking of Christ, it says, he will bruise your head and you will bruise his heel. Now the word bruise means to cause a gape or to break, a wound really.

In other words, when he comes, when the son of God comes, when that one comes, that anointed one that I'm gonna send to the world to die for the sins of this world, he's gonna wound your head and you're gonna wound his feet.

Amazing, isn't it? When we see the cross and realize a nail went through the feet of Jesus Christ on that cross, how the word of God must be fulfilled. Every promise of God, it's inescapable. Nobody can get away from the word of God or the promises of God.

The Messiah’s Arrival and the Fulfillment of God’s Promise

Now, knowing that God had spoken these words, I believe that Satan must have diligently watched and waited for the arrival of this one, the anointed one, who in his mind would be the final challenge to his darkened kingdom.

In other words, he would be thinking, no doubt, if I could overcome this one, I can continue forever to devour those that are created in the image of God. And no doubt throughout history, just like with the children in Bethlehem in the days of Herod, he would have moved in an effort to destroy life and ward off this coming confrontation with the one that God would send, which is the reason, of course, why the firstborn were cast into the river and in the New Testament, why Herod's armies killed all the babies two years and under in Bethlehem.

The devil himself knew that God was going to send somebody. In Matthew chapter three, where we began today, now Satan was undoubtedly in the vicinity when Jesus was baptized of John and God the Father made audible declarations concerning him.

In chapter three of Matthew, beginning at verse 11, he says, John said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who's coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry.

Amazing, isn't it? John himself knew there's something about the feet of this man who's coming. There's something about the holiness of his feet, his journey, that I don't feel worthy to even touch his feet or carry his shoes.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him and John tried to prevent him, saying, I need to be baptized by you and you're coming to me. But Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Then he allowed him. And when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him.

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I have no doubt the devil was in the vicinity, occupying the hearts of those that he had already devoured and taking away the light and the hope that they could be made whole through the sacrifice of Christ.

In John chapter one, John said, I baptized with water, but there's one among you whom you did not know. It's he coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to loose. Verse 29, it says, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

John chapter one, verse 34, he says, and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. This is the one that God said he was going to send to defeat the works of darkness. This is the one whose feet are so holy that I don't dare touch his sandals.

This is the one who sinlessly will go to a cross and pay the price for the wrong that humanity has done against a holy God. I bear witness, John said, that this is the Son of God. Now Satan must have known this was the one sent to conquer him.

Spiritual Blindness and the Devil’s Misunderstanding of the Cross

He felt that he must defeat him, yet scripture seems to indicate he didn't know exactly how this plan was going to unfold. And that's the thing about spiritual darkness. People who are not enlightened by the Spirit of God can read the Bible and never understand it or twist it into something it was never meant to say.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter two, verse eight, none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Had they known, had there been a full understanding of how this plan was going to unfold, remember it was Satan himself who indwelt the heart of Judas and moved that man to betray the Son of God.

So had he known how this plan was going to be fulfilled, he would not have been part of crucifying the Lord of glory. Immediately after the baptism of Jesus, Bible tells us the Spirit of the Lord led him into the wilderness where the devil was going to test him.

In Matthew chapter four, verses three and four, tell us he tempted Jesus to use his power to satisfy his own needs. We spoke about that a few weeks ago, knowing full well that if he could get him to fall into that temptation, he never would have gone to the cross.

If that was his theological focus, he would have used his power to escape hardship and difficulty in trial. In Matthew chapter four, verses eight and nine, he tempted him to make peace with evil and take a less difficult way to ruling and reigning.

If that's all it's about, if you've just come to rule and reign, then just do it my way. Don't be so narrow. And you can have everything you've come for. Just make peace with evil. But the only time Satan uses scripture is in our opening text.

And it's really significant. It's the only time he uses scripture to tempt the Son of God, because it correlates directly to the word that God himself had spoken over him in Eden and he knew it. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

The devil took him to the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said, if you're the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, he will give his angels charge over you. And in their hands, they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And in my opinion, this is the inference. If you think your foot is that powerful, then prove it. If you think you can tread upon me, then jump down and see how strong your feet really are. Because the word of God says, angels will hold you up in case you dashed your foot and broke it upon a stone.

And so if you do jump and you're not held by the power of God, then your whole mission is a fraud. For if a stone can break your foot, the devil was inferring, in my opinion, just think of what I can do to you.

If your foot can't survive landing upon a stone, it will never survive landing upon my head because he knew the word that had been spoken over him. Jesus turns to the devil himself and says, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

In other words, the words of God are true. He cannot lie. He is not a man that can lie. And every word of God will be fulfilled in its appointed time. You will not put God to a test. If you don't believe God, if there's a measure of unbelief in the heart, then the mission that God sent me on, Christ would be saying to the devil himself, will not be fulfilled.

Unbelief, Compromise, and Christ’s Victory

It is only unbelief that causes the very thing that God has set you and I apart for to honor him in this generation. It is only unbelief that will cause us not to fulfill it. If the devil can succeed in getting one ounce of unbelief into your heart about the faithfulness and trustworthiness of the word of God, he will take your mission from you and you will become largely ineffective.

Though you might do miracles, though you might speak about the kingdom of God, your mission will not be fulfilled because unbelief is a poison. Once it gets into you, it spreads throughout your body. It spreads throughout your mind.

It causes you to begin to doubt the word of God. I thank God for that response. You will not put God to the test. He doesn't need to be tested because he can't lie. What he said he will do, that's exactly what he's going to do.

And that's important. There are many who have fallen to using their power for their own good. There's others who have made peace and some who will make peace in the days ahead with evil to stay in power.

It's a tragedy, but it will happen. People will begin to embrace practices in the house of God, which they know are wrong, just so they can stay in power. But Jesus told us, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

I believe that with all my heart. I will build my church. If you belong to Christ, Jesus says, I will build you. I will build my kingdom inside your life. I will build my character inside your heart. I will set you upon a foundation that cannot be overcome.

I will be God to you. I will be God in you. And I will be God through you. And there's no power of hell that can triumph over that. Jesus Christ did triumph. The devil wounded his feet, but he rose from the dead three days later.

And those wounded feet were placed on the neck of Satan himself in absolute triumph. Ephesians 4 .8 says, when he was raised from the dead, he took captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. He took the devil himself captive and all of his hordes of hell and all of his darkened works.

Don't you ever believe for one second that evil is going to triumph. Evil is not going to triumph because evil has already been defeated by the son of God. Hallelujah to the lamb of God. When Jesus said those faithful words to the devil on the cross, it is finished.

That reign of terror, that season of Satan, unhinderingly devouring the sons and daughters of God, that season was over and a way was made. Not only did the son of God put his feet on the very head of the devil himself and show him, your reasonings and your logic are faulty in the sight of a holy God.

You thought you could exalt yourself, but there is only one God and there's only one name can be exalted for all of eternity. He took captivity captive in Luke chapter 10, verse 19. Jesus said these words, behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all of the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Authority Over Darkness and Demonic Strongholds

Behold, I give you power. I give you power. I give you power. I give you power and you power to trample on demonic powers, to trample on those things that would come to disturb your heart, destroy your home, take away your testimony, rob you of your song, cause you to think that suicide's a better option than living for God.

Those things that would come to take you into captivity and cause you to believe that you can never break their cords from off of your life, would cause you to have wounds in your heart that you think will never be healed.

Prison doors with bars so thick you think you'll never get out, but Jesus said, I give you power to trample on these things. And over all the power of the enemy, not some of his power, all of his power and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

You and I can declare the victory of God and we can declare it today. You and I can stand up and do what those outside the kingdom of God cannot do. When Joshua went into the promised land, they fought against kings that were sent to oppose them.

And it's a type of you and I as the body of Christ. And when those kings were conquered, Joshua, our Christ type in the Old Testament, called together all of those who were warriors and leaders in the camp of God.

There were five kings that stood to oppose them, to stop them from inheriting. And he said, put your feet on the necks of these, your enemies. I thank God for that with all my heart. And so it was when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said to the captains of the men of war, who went with him, come near and put your feet on the necks of these kings.

And they drew near and put their feet on their necks. And Joshua said to them, do not be afraid or dismayed. Be strong and of good courage. For thus the Lord will do for all your enemies against whom you fight.

Body of Christ, be strong and be of good courage and don't be dismayed. The Lord has given you power. And he's calling us back to himself once again. He's calling his own people back to that place of victory.

That place where we are already more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. That place, as David said, by my God, I have run through a troop and by my God, I have leapt over a wall. By the strength of God, a bow of steel can be broken by mine arms.

And thy gentleness has made me great. We're not called in this generation to go down with a whimper. We're not called to use our power for our own good. We're not called to make peace with evil. We are called to stand in the power of our God and see the enemies of righteousness brought down.

Standing in Faith for Families and the Future

It's time to shout the victory one more time. It's time for you and I to make that declaration that it can only be made by the children of the true God. It is finished. It's time for people to rise up and take dominion over all the works of hell in your home.

It's time for mothers to begin to pray and move the hand of God again. It's time to begin to speak right to the enemies that are trying to rob your children of the testimony and the life of God. It's time to stand up one more time.

It's time to be who God tells us we are. And the devil comes and says, do you really believe that? Do you really believe that if you pray, God will answer your prayer? Do you really believe your children will come home?

Do you really believe that I will let go of your sons and daughters? I've got them in the school system. I've got them in the colleges and I've got them on the streets. Do you really think I will let them go?

It's time to stand up and say, Satan, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Every word God has spoken, he will fulfill. And he told me, he said, have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, that these things shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says.

The word of God tells me that every tongue that rises against me in judgment, I can condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. God's word tells me that there is no mountain, there's no valley, there's no hill, there's no enemy, there's no opposing force, there's no demonic power, there's nothing here, there's nothing that can't come, there's no angels, there's no powers, there's no principalities that can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

God's word tells me that one righteous man, one righteous woman can put 10 ,000 serpents and scorpions to flight. That's what God's word tells me. God's word tells me that if the people of God will begin to pray, God will hear their prayer.

God will forgive their sin. God will begin to heal their land. God will begin to bring wholeness into their churches. That's what God's word tells me. Now you can draw down into unbelief if you want, that's your choice.

And if you live in unbelief, you'll always get what unbelief gives, nothing. Feel free to call me a fool if you will, but I choose to die on the side of faith. I'd rather go into the promised land and fight and lose than not go in and fight at all.

The devil comes to people and he spends his whole time trying to devour you. You see, his whole accusation is not against you, it's against God, don't forget that. When he tells you you'll never amount to anything, he's not accusing you, he's accusing God of not being faithful to you.

Or somehow unable to work in your life. Or somehow that you're coming to a place that you've started to believe things, and he says, well, if you really think that's true, then prove it. Jump down, put God to a test.

All trying to sow that seed of unbelief in your heart so that you will draw back and never take a risk for the kingdom of God. Jesus said, it's written. You will not tempt the Lord your God. You will not put him to a test.

Putting Every Oppression Under Your Feet

I believe, one time I heard Pastor Teresa preach on this passage of scriptures. She said, the devil had just gone too far at that point, and when Jesus lifted up his head, it wasn't the Lamb of God, it was the Lion of Judah now looking at him.

And when Jesus opened his mouth and spoke, the devil knew he'd better back away. This far, no farther. You will not tempt the Lord your God. And so my question at the beginning of this message was, are your feet where they should be?

In Christ, your feet are supposed to be on the necks of your enemies. In Christ, depression should be under your feet. Discouragement should be under your feet. Addiction should be under your feet. Physical addictions, mental addictions, all under your feet.

Despair should be under your feet. Unbelief should be under your feet. Every weapon of hell formed against you and your family should be under your feet. The thought that you have no future should be under your feet.

The thought that you have no part to play the kingdom of God should be under your feet. Everything of hell should be under your feet. And you and I have the right to stand up and say, I will be everything that God's called me to be.

It may not be easy, but God will not fail me. And when I get to the end of this journey and I'm on my deathbed, my hand's going to be raised to heaven, giving glory to God for what he has done and encouraging others to go on and go forward in this battle against darkness.

Oh God, help us to get hold of this, especially now in this time in which you and I are living. It might conceivably become one of the darkest times in history. The scripture seems to indicate it actually will.

Oh, but there's a light. There's a city that's set on a hill that cannot be hidden. There's a glory that cannot be extinguished. There's a power that can't be put away. There's a testimony that must be reckoned with.

You need to look the devil in the face when he tells you, you can't, you won't, you never will say, you shall not tempt the Lord, your God. No, I won't. You're right, devil. You're right. I won't. But I'd like to introduce you to somebody who now lives inside of me in this temple.

I'd like to introduce you to the one who rose from the dead and crushed your head under his feet. You bruised his feet, but he bruised your head and you have no right. You have no right to tell me. You have no right to tell me what I will or won't be because my life is no longer in your hands and you can't devour me anymore.

I now belong to the living God. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Glory to the name of Jesus. Glory to the name of Jesus. My challenge to you today is to rise up, take your authority, take your place in Christ.

Altar Call to Resist Darkness and Claim Victory

Go into the prayer closet and pray like you've never prayed before. Read this book because every word of God will be fulfilled. God told the devil right in Eden, I'm sending somebody to triumph over you.

You will wound his feet, but he will wound your head. And even though the devil studied it, knew where it was to quote it from Psalm 91, still couldn't figure it out. Because to those who live in darkness, the ways of God are beyond finding out.

But we are not children of darkness. We are children of light. We are children of the day. We are children in whom God has chosen to take up a residence. And so rise up and take your place in the kingdom of God.

Let him be everything in you and through you that he has determined to be and to do. And don't listen to the lie. There are no will nots in the kingdom of God. With God, all things are possible. So I want to give a simple altar call today.

Put the devil under your feet. I want speaking now to those who's mothers who've got to take spiritual authority in your homes and believe God for your children. I'm speaking to people who are suffering from depression, addiction, despair, old life habits you can't break, lifestyles you can't get away from, lies that just fly like an arrow of terror at night through your mind, fears so deep that sometimes you dare not speak them to other people because they wouldn't understand.

A sense of worthlessness and hopelessness, which didn't come from God. He doesn't place that on his people. It comes from the devil himself. He is the dust devourer. He is the one sent to swallow the inheritance of God.

But there's a foot on his head now. And God says, I give you power. I give you power to take that authority and believe the words that God will speak into your life. So if you're here today and you're struggling with any of these things, I want to challenge you today.

We're going to stand in just a moment, just to come forward in the annex. You could step between the screens, North Jersey, same thing at your campus. And those that are at home online, just you could stand right where you are.

For those in the main sanctuary, you can just come to the front of this auditorium and we're going to take authority. You are going to put the devil under your feet. It's not the preacher going to do it for you.

You're going to do it. You're going to come and say no more of this. You're not devouring my home, my mind, my testimony, my life any longer. You're defeated. There's a foot on your head. And so I walk into that victory and I claim that victory in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's going to be your testimony today. It's going to be the best mother's day you ever had in your whole life. That goes for the guys too. Let's stand. If the Lord's drawing you, just step out balcony, go to either exit main sanctuary, just come to the front of this auditorium.

We're going to take authority in a few moments over the works of darkness.

Corporate Prayer for Authority and Freedom

We thank you, Jesus, for your word today. We thank you that your word is a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. So in accordance with your word, we lift our hands to you today. We lift our hearts to you today.

Come on, folks, lift your hands, lift your hearts to God. Take your rightful place as a child of God. Begin the exercise, the authority he's given you as his son, as his daughter. Take authority over every lie of the enemy, over every stronghold, over every addiction.

We're going to put our feet on the neck of every addiction, every devil, every demon, every lie, every principality that's trying to ruin our lives, ruin our relationships, ruin our homes, ruin our futures.

In the name of Jesus, lift your voice to God. Lift your voice to God. Online this morning, lift your voice to God. In the annex, in North Jersey, lift your voice to God. Take authority, name that addiction, and proclaim that Jesus is Lord over that addiction.

Jesus is Lord. According to his word, we take our rightful place. Devil, you are not going to win over us any longer. We take authority over every lie. We take authority over every lie. Hallelujah. Come on, name that thing.

Name it before God. Take authority over it today, today, today, today. Activate you, find you, your relationships. Will he spoil your home? Will he spoil your house? One greater has come, and he lives in you.

In the name of Jesus, we take authority over every devil. We take authority over every lie. We take authority over every addiction. We take authority over every captivity. For you took captive. Lord, your word says you took captive.

As we heard this morning, we thank you for authority to tread on serpents and scorpions over every lie of the enemy. Father, we thank you for the victory we have in you. Victory, Lord, over every devil.

Victory over every demonic hold, every demonic oppression. Victory over depression. Victory over despair. Victory over hopelessness. Victory over every skeleton in our closet. Victory, victory, victory.

God, we give you praise. We give you the highest praise, and everything will pass away. Every addiction, every stronghold, every demonic hold will pass away, but the word of God abides forever. Hallelujah.

Come on now, give him a shout of praise today. Hallelujah. We thank you for freedom. We thank you for the answer. Lord, we sing the right song on the right side. Before the answer comes, we're going to praise you.

Before we see anything with our eyes, we're going to bless you. The devil's not going to get our song. We're going to honor you, and we thank you in Jesus' name.