Jul 2723 min read

Temptation Deceives

Updated: Jul 29

Have you ever wondered what practical effect Satan's temptations might have had on the ministry of Jesus, if followed? What are the things that trip us up?

The first deception began with the question, "Yea, hath God said?"

Welcome back to Edify, and we're going to continue to answer that question with,

'Yea, God has said. And here's what He said.'

But there's a bit of a twist, because,

'Yea, God has said,' but what has He said?

Scripture teaches us to "rightly divide the Word of Truth."

Satan has been 'wrongly dividing' the Word of Truth from the beginning.

In Genesis chapter 3, of course, Satan had very few words to go on, very few words to meddle with. God told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was immediately on the heels of God speaking the worlds into existence. And with as much audacity as the Devil could muster, he asked, "Did God really say?"

And he changed the 'perspective' of what God had said to suit his own purposes, which was the compromise, A K A corruption, of mankind...leading man into sin. Man had a choice between what God had said and the Devil's fancy new 'perspective.'

And it's continued. We have, later in Scripture, the Devil again using God's Word,

quite famously, in the temptation of Jesus. And that's the passage we're going to look at today in Luke 4. It's also found in Matthew 4 and Mark 1.

And yet, beyond that, what about today?

Just as Satan called God's Word into question for Adam and Eve, he called God's Word into question for Jesus. And today, Satan will use even the words of Jesus to undermine and destroy us. If we do not know His words, and we know them best when we live by them, then we too might be deceived and led astray.

So we're going to look here at the temptation of Jesus. You can turn to Luke 4.

"And, Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness."

Think about it. In the Lord's Prayer, when He says,

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,"

it is quite possibly a reference back to Jesus' experience in the wilderness. Scripture also states that God will not allow us to be "tempted above that 'we' are able; but will with the temptation make a way 'of' escape." That doesn't mean that we won't have to go through temptation, but it means that sometimes when we endure, we are met with God's grace.

At the end of the temptation of Jesus, we have the angels coming and ministering to Him. When the Devil is gone, God sent the angels and they ministered to Him. So maybe getting a little bit ahead, but "lead us not into temptation."

These tests, these temptations are... Who wants that?

But, there is a passage that speaks regarding the trying of our faith, "being more precious than of gold which perisheth" may be found, to be to God's honor and glory.

Also, one important definition I want to mention here. What is the difference between a temptation and a test? The reason we often draw this distinction is because Scripture states that "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man:"

When God sends someone into a challenging situation, He may withhold information, but He does not lie. When Satan gets us in trouble, He is lying to us all along.

You see, Temptation has a very important component: Deception. And God is not the author of confusion. He is not the father of lies.He cannot be tempted, and neither will He tempt. And so we draw a distinction between testing and tempting, even though that distinction has been made after, the, precise wording was laid down in various translations of Scripture. But we take those principles which regard God's character in order to draw a line between, well, what does it mean when God tempted Job?

It does not mean that God was deceiving Job, because God cannot lie. It's rather that God was testing Job, and He may have withheld information that He later revealed to him as a reward for his obedience.

It's like the whole faith thing.

I believe, and then I see. Believing is seeing. And, so it is, with many of God's tests; when we step out in faith, when we act in good faith, then God shows us more clearly next steps. And, often times God shows us one step at a time. Or, He is silent. And He asks of us to show our character based on what we have already learned of Him and then move forward in life.

God can use that to teach us also to see, well, 'Okay guys, here's a lesson that you didn't think was important. And you failed, and you saw the results of that failure. You saw the results of the lack of that truth being applied in your life. Through that test, I showed you how important these virtues that I am trying to teach you are.'

"Being conformed into the image of His dear Son."

Why is that important? Well, we often find out when we're faced with tests and, uh, sometimes that's for the better. Testings are not just a bad thing. They are an opportunity for a choice, one way or the other, up or down, 'for better or for worse,' a bad use of that phrase. But God is still with us and desiring that we walk closer and closer with Him.

That is the importance of a test. That is the purpose of a test. And the purpose of a temptation, as it relates to Satan, is to draw us away from God. The difference between a test and a temptation, as we divide it, is that: One is an attempt to draw us to God, or to simply see what we're made of, so that God can do further work in our lives, and the other is to draw us away from God and corrupt us, and make us more like Satan and the world.

So anyway, back to it.

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Who wants to be tested? Well, when it is for the benefit of yourself and others,

and it's not merely bravado, a chance to show how big and tough I am, or an "occasion to the flesh."

Are these tests and temptations, are they things that are drawing us to God or pulling us away from Him?

And Scripture says, "make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof."

And the stronger that we are in seeking to do God's will as opposed to fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life, the better we can serve God in all of these different areas. And we'll see, we'll look at these different temptations of Jesus and how that actually relates to different times in His ministry where it would have severely undermined His ministry if He had not proven to be faithful to God in these temptations that we have recorded.

It also says at the end of the passage that the Devil left Him "for a season." Scripture also states that "He was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin."

Did all of those temptations come via dry days in the desert? No, I don't believe so. But we have here three that we can look at.

We'll start at the beginning here and we'll go down, verses one through four.

Temptation of Provision

"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread."

Real need, possible solution... But that's the thing about the Devil: 'Beware his solutions.'

"And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That

man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." This is a reference back to Deuteronomy 8.

And, Deuteronomy 8 is a goldmine,

Deuteronomy 8:2-6. "And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years" or forty days, "in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna..."

interesting tie into the temptation there,

"which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live."

It's not by bread alone that man, that man lives. But, by the Word of God, Who spoke the worlds into existence, Who sent them that manna.

God speaks, and God provides. And we need to keep that in mind, when we are concerned with other things, and we'll get to that in a minute.

"Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him."

So, what about this provision of the Lord? This does also remind me of another passage.

Luke 12:28-34. "If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will he clothe] you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

So God provides. And there is a temptation related to bread. And that is material possession in general, all of our needs, which when we become focused on our needs and such, the cares of this life, do us harm as it did to some of the seed that was sown in the parable of the sower.

However, after a while, our needs and our wants, our desires, our lusts, the things that we covet, become all melted and mushed together. And we need to be careful that we are looking to God as the Provider of every 'good and perfect gift.'

And also, to recognize the passages that speak regarding,

"If your son asks you bread, will you give him a stone?"

Which, very real parallel here. "Command that these stones be made bread."

"Or if you ask a fish, will you give him a serpent?"

Which kind of reminds me of, Jesus telling them to cast their nets on the other side. But, yeah, no trickery, no deception. God gives good things, God gives what we need, and we ought to seek Him first, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto us.

And so we see here with bread, an absolute necessity, and looking to God for that.

Let alone the extras that we desire and at times that God gives us, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, to test us, to try us, and also, to bless us, because He does want to give us a real loaf, and not one that's been rock hard in the oven.

Temptation of Power

"And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it.

Satan is saying,

"If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."

He says, 'I have ultimate power in this world; worship me and you'll get it. 'You'll get to be second in command to me here in Egypt.'

Egypt has been a type for sin, which is where that smart comment came from. Well, let's not esteem all the pleasures and treasures of Egypt....

What's Jesus' response?

"And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

So again, it's another reference to a passage in the Old Testament. But what caught my eye with this particular passage was a parallel with something that Jesus said to Peter...and, tangentially, the Devil who was working through Peter.

Okay, a joke. No, Peter didn't have to crawl around and lick the dust of the earth after that. But anyway.

So we have this passage in Mark 8, verses 31 through 33, regarding Jesus using these same words on Peter.

"And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him."

Was the rebuke misdirected, misapplied for the wrong reasons here? Yes. Verse 33.

"But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men."

Peter was operating with the praise of man and the fear of man in mind. He didn't want Christ to have to suffer all that, but that would have prevented Christ in His mission.

So we see this temptation of Satan coming back around, being rephrased, put in a new perspective, a fresh light, a very tempting scenario, that was vital to his mission.

And Jesus saw it for what it was, and He said it to Satan, just like He said it to him in the desert, "Get thee behind me, Satan." And yeah, Peter got humbled.

We also know that by the power of God, Peter himself suffered death by crucifixion. And he was so humbled, in fact, by that point in his life, that he requested not to die as his Lord. This is from church tradition. He desired not to die as his lord, but asked that he be hung upside down. He went from, you know, 'not so Lord,' to, 'what an honor to suffer as Christ suffered. That's, that's above and beyond. And, I wouldn't count myself worthy of that.'

This also reminds me of the whole washing of feet, but also my hands and my head.

But, Peter said that he didn't feel worthy, according to church tradition, to be crucified as Christ was crucified, and so he asked to be hung upside down.

So, if Christ had not set the ball in motion to resist this temptation of Satan, later on, when Peter said, 'Hey, people are going to hate you, they're not going to love you, it's going to be uncomfortable. You're gonna die!'

Would Jesus have had the fortitude, if He was giving in to temptation, time and time again on this particular thing, to stand up and to say 'no?'

Christ was the Sinless One. And so, of course, He didn't have a history of failing at this. He had a history of winning at this. And that's how, through the work of the Holy Ghost, and the power of His resurrection, He would have us to live in victory.

So that when a test comes, even if it is as painful as the death on the cross...called to die to self. The crucifixion is central as a figure of dying to sin, because Christ died for our sins on a cross, and because it is hard. And yet, through His power, we can.

And we can live in victory, from victory in the desert, to victory when Peter comes knocking, to victory when it gets real. And you have to say, "not my will, but thine be done."

Temptation of Protection

"And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."

So, another passage that references back to the Old Testament. And again, with this, we see actually multiple examples in Jesus ministry where He was tested on this. And it actually comes later in the same chapter in Luke.

This is in Luke 4: 28 through 30. Jesus was preaching in the synagogue and He said something offensive regarding the Gentile Naaman being saved and all those Israelites that were faithless and suffered the consequences, and they were offended.

This is, by the way, one of those passages that points forward to the Jews rejecting Jesus in His day, and the Gentiles accepting Him, first.

"To the Jew first, and also to the Greek,"

but the Jews rejected it and the Greeks ran with it. And, someday, the Jews will, find repentance and revival, faith in their Messiah, our Messiah. But here we have a picture of what was to come, regarding the Jews not believing and the Gentiles believing. And here we have a example of this temptation coming to fruition.

"And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way."

He was teaching in a synagogue, and they were planning to toss Him from a great height. There is another passage, where He is teaching in the temple, and they wanted to lay hands on him, but, again, they did not, "because His time was not yet come." And uh, yet when it came time for death on the cross, Christ did not run because His time was come.

And this is one of those things that I've heard of regarding people in countries with severe persecution, which is their prayer that God would show them when it is their time to run, and when it is their time to die;

whether to be delivered in this physical life, "for me to live is Christ," or to be delivered and to go on to their reward, "to die is gain."

And here the temptation was that Jesus would make some spectacle, and survive, you know. Well, even more deadly: put His faith in the Devil. When the Devil quotes the Lord and tells you to do something, you better believe it's not in your best interest.

And there will be situations where, if you follow the Devil's advice, you will not do the Lord's work. Certainly if He had made a spectacle of Himself, prior to dying for the sins of the world, prior to defeating the Devil, what profit would it have been for humanity, whose sins were not yet dealt with?

There's a passage in Hebrews 12, as well as Philippians 2, that speak about the humility of Christ in contrast to some of this pride and, dare I butcher the meaning of the word, 'escapism?'

With regards to pride, Hebrews 12: 1 and 2,

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Also in Philippians 2, it goes into much greater lengths. Philippians 2 verses 5 through 11.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

We don't see that passage coming to fruition if Jesus Christ feeds his own flesh,

makes bread out of stones because the Devil told him to, teams up with the Devil because the Devil says he'll get a share, pulls some kind of stunt to "give God glory" because 'God' says you can do it. "All things are 'legal,'" to badly paraphrase it, "but not all things are expedient." Not all things are of benefit in proclaiming the truth of the Gospel. We can see a couple different ways that Satan here would have had Jesus do the right thing for the wrong reason. So we need to watch our motivations.

We also might be tempted to do the wrong thing for the right reason, like,

'Oh, I'm here to win the world, therefore, I'm going to team up with the Devil,

'or whoever his most popular liars are today, in order to further the gospel. 'If we add a little gospel to it, that'll make it better,' and, NO!

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Christ was not fooled. Whatever lies, perspectives, motives, good ideas, whatever that the Devil has thrown His way, even when it was a quote from the Word of God, Jesus wasn't fooled. And so we need to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves." We need to be. "wise concerning that which is good," making sure it's actually good, and "simple concerning evil."

Like, this is a bad idea, it doesn't matter how much the Devil or his minions try to justify it, and quote Scripture to justify it even. No, it's evil. No, simple concerning evil. And rather, wise concerning that which is good. Is it good or not, and what's the best way to do it? For the honor and glory of God. And of course, seek His face.

Just because 'we're Christians and we're smart' doesn't mean that we've got the right idea the first time around. And,

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation..."

People seek reputation and wealth and all kinds of worldly...trump cards, all kinds of worldly tactics, manipulations... And they say, 'Oh, because I'm doing it for God, therefore it's sanctified.'

If you are using the Devil's methods to do the Lord's work, you aren't doing the Lord any favors. Um, people might call it a gray area. It is black and white. It is doing, 'right thing with the wrong method.'

And if you have all the best intentions, and even if you're doing everything right, and God says, 'No, do something else rather...'

"His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts."

Exercise a little faith. "Exercise," meaning,

"Faith without works is dead."

And so if you believe God, and God says "no," that may be the tough one to obey. But it is a test, and uh, do we pass that test or not?

"Oh wait, but we wanna make, uh, the, the stones in the bread!"

'Not today, Satan.'

Rather, what 'bread' are we chasing? And is God the supplier? And are we seeking to do

"what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God?"

How Might God's Word Be Twisted by Us?

"Yea, hath God said?" 'Yea, God has said.'

What did God say again? Is it being twisted? Is it being turned? Or is it truly what God has said? And is this what He wants you to do right now? Or is it someone [like Satan] simply using Scripture to promote their own agenda? To say, to use God's Word as marketing material, for their own will to be done?

And we need to be, be wary of this, particularly when it's a good idea that has not been surrendered, that has not been laid at the foot of the cross.

Regardless of how smart or how 'Christian' someone is, if they are not surrendered to doing the will of God, be careful of following them. Paul said, again, 'Follow me as I follow Christ.'

And I'll ask again, "If we are not following Christ, why should we be followed in any endeavor?"

And, be careful, again, not to use the Word of God as marketing material, so that our own will can be accomplished. Rather, if God has called us to do something, and we find in His Word assurances, yes, we can use them, honestly. But, yeah, it calls for a lot of discernment sometimes, to tell the difference between those who are really good in the marketing department and those who are simply stating the truth about that which is good, not simply keeping up appearances or appealing to emotions, but rather, dealing with what's real and doing God's will, and doing it in God's way.

That's the end of the main topic, with extras following announcements.

Announcements

I do plan on publishing some excerpts from these longer form videos. I plan to trim out some of the rabbit trails perhaps, as well as some of the highlights. And post those across various social media,

so that more people are aware of what is being produced. And they can be fruit inspectors, but hopefully they can be encouraged, they can be edified,

and exhorted and, uh, every now and again rebuked.

Philippians 2 Wrongly Divided

On the rabbit trail end of things, here's your first bonus section. With regards to Jesus being in Philippians 2, 'found in fashion as a man, humbled,' and all that, take a look at Psalm 8, as well as Hebrews 2.

Those two passages very closely parallel Christ's descent to our estate and then ascent and being put in a place of position and power.

And I found it interesting to note, with regards to wrongly dividing the Word of Truth, that the subtitles that were used on the website that I was looking at, they made it out to be about earth being subject to man. And yet, they ignore the context following that passage in Hebrews where it's talking about man being made a little lower than the angels, as being a reference from Psalm 8.

They miss how that reference, to humanity being made lower than the angels, ties into Jesus.

Hebrews 2: 9. "But we see Jesus, who was made [a little] lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."

In the new heaven and new earth... Yes, if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. But the subtitles, the segmentation, the pericope, that was put into this particular Bible, made the focus on man, rather than on "The Man." And, that's a shame.

So, yeah, be careful, there are passages in Scripture that have very important meaning.

Don't let people who wish to dissuade you from obedience, or to drive humanist narratives, don't let them reinterpret the Bible to flatter you and to discourage obedience.

"If you love me," it is said in God's Word, 'If you love God, keep His commandments,' to paraphrase.

So, yeah, watch out. I just I found it in studying with regards to what Jesus went through, and how that tied back to his victory over Satan.

But then I found out that the commentators putting the subtitles in the Bible were degrading the prophetic nature of the text. And, so you need to watch out for that. Don't be fooled into thinking that the Word of God is less and less applicable. There are some translations that go a whole lot easier on the sinner than others do.

What is, what is the grace of God, but to empower us, who have been saved through faith in Christ to do, "greater works than these."

So, take sin seriously, the Bible does, and when man tries to make God's Word less powerful, and they start speaking 'less with authority and more as the scribes,' watch out.

Live to do God's will. And don't be discouraged...

Don't be discouraged in the sense that, you know, you feel down and bad about it, but also don't be discouraged in that man says, 'Oh, well, God's Word doesn't mean all that it says.'

God means what he says.

The truth is relatively simple, particularly in comparison with all of the lies that are told. For every truth, you can have two or more half truths.

And so, we need to be careful that we're taking God's Word in context. And we've got to remember that when we are dividing the Word of Truth, that we are making a statement about the character of God.

What we say about the words of God is a statement about the character of God. Because what God says and Who God is, is one. They are not distinct from one another. They're one and the same.

And, when we make a claim that the Word of God doesn't mean what it says,

I mean, right away you could go straight to, well, that's calling God a liar.

But thinking more carefully, what does God's Word say? And is this interpretation in line with the character of God?

If you know Him, and you know Him best if you love Him and serve Him...if you know Him, you can quickly tell when people who do not know Him are telling lies about Him. And so, we ought to follow Christ.

And, obedience does lead to better understanding. Disobedience leads to deception, and yes, deception can lead to disobedience, deceiving and being deceived; it's a cycle.

And falling into those, those snares, so deceptively laid, there's temptations,

and, as we gain an experiential knowledge of good by obeying God, we understand it better.

And Scripture is not of any private interpretation. I do not understand all of Scripture, and yet if I, or if you walk closer to God, you will understand Him better than those who say, "Oh, yea, hath God said?"

Read it, live it, and know it to be true. What more can I say? Okay, that was your first bonus.

Read it. Love it. Live it. Amen.

More on "Private Interpretation"

When everyone does 'what is right in their own eyes,' as in the book of Judges...

When Scripture is considered "of private interpretation," which is a form of lawlessness, rather than letting God's Word be the context by which God's Word is understood, we redefine it, according to current popular trends.

I think "presentism" is possibly the term where we take all history and we just run it through a modern filter, and conveniently forget all the lessons that we've learned along the way.

PRESENTISM: An unqualified sense of moral superiority, judgmental of the past, and often open to new standards, higher and lower, as desired. Trendy Morality, Virtue Signaling, Tyranny of the Whim

But, yeah, when man's word, popular perspectives, and contemporary contexts, is considered equal to God's Word, which is timeless, it endures forever... then God's Word, discussions regarding God's Word, discussions regarding truth, become mere political discourse, because when man is equal with God, well then, it's just like a whole bunch of people playing politics with narratives, and there's no sense of what is considered absolute. It's all relative to our destructive impulses, frankly.

When we are not walking with God, our Creator, Who upholds all things by the word of His power, who are we walking with? Are we walking in opposition to that which He does? Are we destroying by not walking rightly?

But when God is considered to be equal, A K A lowered, to the level of humanity,

no longer deity, Jesus is just my chum, and so on... then truth claims are just narrative claims, and any applications of principles are just, are mere legalism.

And when everything is just perspectives and propaganda, then everything is considered political discourse.

And when God is just merely a politician, we 'forsake our own mercy.'

God would have us to repent.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

And if we say, 'Oh, I don't need to repent. That's just your opinion,' we're forsaking the opportunity, that we have in this day of grace, to be reconciled to a loving and holy God. He provides those warnings out of love, so that we might turn again to Him, and be part of His creation, His "new creation" in Christ, rather than destroying and being destroyed alongside "the works of the Devil" in "this present evil world."

And we have a choice, on this earth, between Heaven and Hell.

And when we discount the Word of God, and make Him as if He were a mere politician, we're neglecting the truth.

And if we're making the words of God as if they were the words of merely a politician, we're not acknowledging God for who He is.

And we're setting ourselves up as God, which, that's what Satan aimed to do. He said, 'I want to be like the Most High,' and that was the temptation he passed along to Adam and Eve.

'You wanna be like gods?'

Well, what about being like God?

I hear tell, in His Word, that He is meek and lowly of heart.

Jesus Christ represented God the Father. And, when what we're seeking is not meek and lowly of heart.

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

We know for certain that that was applicable to Satan. And to those who do not turn from their sin, yes,

Pride will bring destruction eternally.