Sermon Summary

The purpose of Barefoot Ministry is to spread the word of God to any and all that will listen. I will try very hard to plant the seed of God in your hearts, provide you with the knowledge to nurture that seed through prayer, Bible Study and fellowship so that it can grow, so that in time that seed will mature and you will be saved and re-born so that you can have the greatest gift of God’s Love, Everlasting Life.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, in Heaven, The creator of all

We look forward to the joys of heaven.

Where there is no more pain, No suffering, No Sickness

God remind us that our actions matter here in this world.

Our actions here on this earth will pave our way to live in your house

Here on earth Each and every day is a struggle against sin and temptation. Give us the strength to overcome cruelty with grace

and hatred with love. Remind us Lord We do not fight a physical battle,

but a spiritual one and with each act of compassion here on earth

We build your kingdom.

Help to guide us to be kingdom builders today and every day.

As a Kingdom builder we will try to plant your seed Lord in the hearts of any and all that will listen

Then we will help nourish that seed so it can grow and they too can receive your greatest gift of Love Everlasting Life

Soon We will be done with the troubles of the world

and will be walking down the path we paved with our actions

As Kingdom Builders To live in the house of the Lord forever

Through Jesus Christ we pray

AMEN

I am very excited about this sermon today. This sermon is about fighting a WAR. About being a Soldier in Gods Army fighting against Satan.

The Enemy is Real

I spent 20 years studying and fighting the enemies of this country. I woke up one day and realized that even though I’m not a fighting man in the US Military any more I am still at war, still fighting. A war with more casualties, more death than any battle or war I have ever been in. A war that is being waged and directed right at Me and You every day of the year, every minute of the day and every minute of the night. A war that is waged when we are at work at play and even when we are just relaxing on the front porch or in front of the TV.

The war we fight is against SATAN a very cunning enemy who will use any and all of the weapons he has against you and me.

When I was in the US Army we had a saying Know Your Enemy

So let’s start right know to learn about our enemy

Have you ever noticed that when you set down to read the Bible you start to get distracted by other thoughts running through your mind ? and when you finish reading that chapter or verse you really don’t remember what you read. That is Satan at work

1 Peter 5:8… “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Question…True or false…Do you believe Satan is real?

With the Current relationship you have with Christ…Does Satan think of you as a threat Let me define threat…In this case making a difference in Gods kingdom… your obedience is noticed…You try very hard to live a Christ-like Life?

Or when Satan hears your name… (He just chuckles because…) he’s not even concerned with you at all?

Which one are you, which one do you think you are?

If your answer is no…that Satan is not concerned with you at all…I ask why not, Lets change that as soon as we can RIGHT NOW. It’s never too late and there is nothing that God will not forgive you of. Don’t wait for tomorrow may be too late, tomorrow actually never comes.

If you answered Yes to this question…then Satan does think of you as a threat…

Just like the people who answered no…I want you all to realize that you are not alone fighting against Satan.

Every day that God allows you to wakeup…and you commit your life to Him…you become a target of Satan. You become something of great value to Satan and Satan will try so very hard to claim you

Satan tries his best to tempt you into doing things that will disrupt God’s plan for you and for mankind.

In Matthew chapter 4…Jesus finds Himself being tempted 3 times by Satan…

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

^***3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

*** ⁶ and 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.’ ”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

^***9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, ^[b]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Satan knew if he could make Jesus sin by tempting Him... that he would knock out the key player in his battle against God.

Of course by reading Matthew Chapter 4 we see that Satan failed in his efforts to tempt Jesus…

And as a result of failing to control Jesus through temptation…today…you and I are left facing the battle with Satan trying to control our lives by daily tempting us.

I’m not here today to scare you into surrendering your life over to God…

But I am here today to make you aware… make you aware that…

Satan is real…and whether or not you agree to fight or not…you are in a battle.

It is a battle that not only daily challenges the relationship you have with God…but it will even make you question if there is a God at all.

One of the most difficult challenges of finding out if God Does Care about people… is realizing that both Christians and non-Christians alike are in constant battle with the enemy of God.

The enemy’s number one concern in this life is to consume you…totally control you…to saturate your mind with lies and meaningless things. Just look around at all the information that is available. With a few key strokes we can watch or read about any topic you desire. We have so much information in today’s world that makes it easy for Satan to execute his battle plan and he can and does attack us on all sides at all times.

Satan loves to cause division within the church, within your marriage, your Family, with your friends, your business and work colleagues and even strangers you meet at the grocery store and even driving down the road.

Satan uses greed, jealousy, gossip, desires of the flesh, pride and every other thing you can think of to pull you away from God.

He loves to break up the unity that is being established in the church through the preaching and teaching of the Bible and fellowship.

He wants to keep you from focusing on Helping people…and sharing Jesus with the lost what’s important in this life…

I feel that it’s important for you to realize that you are not fighting this battle today alone.

Satan is real…and we all need to learn how to fight against him.

Stand with me as we read from God’s training manual…

Matthew chapter 4: beginning with verse 1

How does Satan tempt us today? Just like Jesus’ temptation.

I believe that there are 3 main areas where Satan tempts us today.

The first way that I see Satan tempt us today is….

He Physically Tempts You

I first need to share with you that…Satan hates Jesus

Satan wants to turn the church and everyone in it against God.

Since Satan’s efforts failed against Jesus…He has redirected his fight by personally targeting each of us. He knows when we’re at your weakest

Did you happen to catch from our reading that Jesus wasn’t tempted by Satan when He was in the Temple/Church or even when He was being baptized?

Matthew 4: 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

No…Satan knew Jesus would be most vulnerable when he was all alone.

Just like we read in verse one…you too are most vulnerable when you are by yourself.

How effective would Satan be targeting you after you just get done sing praises to God?

Satan knows that he can penetrate you when you are under life’s emotional stresses…

-When you are exhausted from work…He tells you…you deserve a break…you don’t need to go to church…you don’t need to read your bible…you don’t need to pray…(just…flip on the TV and see who’s going to be the next American Idol)

-What about when your all alone? ...He plants thoughts in your mind like…if God truly did Love you…you wouldn’t be alone…He would have already given you a close friend…

-He clouds your mind with the uncertainties of life…When things are out of your hands and you cannot fix the problem.

He also knows that if he causes people inside the church to battle against each other...then their focus in not on the lost and he’s winning the battle

In Matthew 4: 2 & 3… ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ^***3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

when Satan tempted Jesus…He knew that Jesus was physically hungry. 40 days in the wilderness with no food

You have to be prepared to battle this enemy in your own physical body.

He’ll hit you below the belt line…in areas of your life like…

(Kids)…Telling you its ok to cheat on a test in school…(Adults)… having sex before marriage is an acceptable practice today…or telling you it’s ok to have an affair after you are married…

He will physically beat you up if you let him…

Be prepared to fight him tell him you’ve been training for him and you’re ready to fight and he will flee

The Bible says in James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

The Second way that I see Satan tempt us today is….He Spiritually Tempts You

Throughout the New Testament we see Satan revealed as a real vital power.

In Matthew 4: 6…we see where Satan Spiritually tempted Jesus by quoting scripture.

And weather you realize it or not…he is the ruler of a kingdom that has powers…He rules over Demons and rules the darkness.

He is the prince of this world…and rules by controlling those who deny the name of Jesus.

And he is currently… still on the prowl seeking out those who oppose God the Father.

I Peter 5:8 … “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

He tries his best to make you believe that the bible is untrue…

He even tempts you through people...even some of the people you hang around with… they will try and convince you to try things or do things that you know the Bible says are wrong.

When sins like these happen in our personal lives…we try and cover them up by…looking for verses in the bible that prove in our own minds that what we did was right.

But truth being told…It is way too easy to take the bible out of context and just say we didn’t realize what we did was wrong.

This is the reason it is important for you to realize… it is important that you make time for God and the studying of His word.

If you are one here today that uses the excuse that you don’t have enough time or that your way too busy for God.

All you are doing is telling God that He is not important enough for you to take the time to invest in Him.

This is exactly what Satan wants you to say and do.

Satan will trick you into thinking you don’t have time for God.

Don’t become his next victim of control.

The Third way that I see Satan tempt us today is….

He Tempts us Psy-cho-logically (In our minds)

In Matthew 4: 8 & 9

The Devil offered the whole world to Jesus…if He would only kneel down and worship him.

Today the devil still offers us the world by offering us materialism and power.

Satan has the power to control the mind…keeping you from growing in a Godly direction.

Satan is just like a weed that grows in the yard…it starts out small but when left unattended…it soon chokes out everything around it… stealing every bit of nutrition surrounding it.

Satan will tell you that missing one Sunday…or missing one Wednesday service will not harm you.

But this is where he is fooling you.

The service you choose to miss had valuable information that God personally needed you to hear.

There is nothing more God wants right now than to see this church grow physically.

But I also know that in order for the church to grow in number…you must be growing personally in your own life through Him…

You have got to be the one who steps up to the call and say…

Joshua 24:15 does… “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Matthew 4:10-11…again ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, ^[b]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

When you proclaim the name of Jesus…Satan is left with no other option but to leave.

It’s time for you…the individual, the church, to step up and show Satan who’s in charge of your life.

Satan will never give up in his fight against God until the day that God himself returns to retrieve His children.

Until that time…it’s your responsibility to take up the Armor of God and fight. That Armor is the Bible, The Word of God

Ephesians 6:10-18

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[a]wiles of the devil.

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of ^[b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Let me end todays message with this.

This morning as I drank my coffee, I bowed my head. Satan thought he had won , beat me, beat God concerning me. I then looked up and said AMEN.

At that moment I defeated Satan.

Your weapons of choice are the Bible and Prayer

Use them both often, daily, several times daily.

Let us Pray

Heavenly Father, Today I will be your warrior and prepare for battle. Today I claim victory over Satan by putting on the whole armor of God! May I stand firm in the truth of Your Word so I will not be a victim of Satan’s lies. May your word guard my heart from evil so I will remain pure and holy, protected under the blood of Jesus Christ. May I stand firm in the Good News of the Gospel so Your peace will shine through me and be a light to all I encounter. May I be able to see Satan’s fiery darts for what they are doubt, denial, and deceit so I will not be vulnerable to spiritual defeat. May I keep my mind focused on You so Satan will not have a stronghold on my thoughts. May the two-edged sword of Your Word be ready in my hands so I can expose the tempting words of Satan.

By Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Salvation, Spirit and Faith

I put on the whole armor of God!

I am prepared to live this day and every day in spiritual victory

Through Jesus Christ I Pray

Amen.

Verse List

1 Peter 5:8

Matthew chapter 4

James 4:7

I Peter 5:8

Joshua 24:15

Ephesians 6:10-18