What’s tempting to you?
I know, quite the open-ended question. But I think everyone is tempted by something. Or several somethings.
One of my temptations is a bag of potato chips. If a bag is in the house, I cannot rest until I have finished it off.
After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and God seemed to validate Him in a powerful way, Jesus is sent by the Spirit to the wilderness to fast for 40 days. And after these incredible spiritual experiences, when Jesus is vulnerable with hunger, Satan comes in to tempt Jesus. Read the story below in Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV).
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
As we read this, I think we see at least three imperatives for us as we fight our own battles with the devil.
ONE: Fight with Scripture!
Jesus uses the truth of Scripture (from the Old Testament) to fight Satan’s subtle lies. He actually quotes Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16; 6:13) in response to Satan’s temptations. He could do that because He knew the Scriptures by heart.
Ephesians 6:10-18 shows us how to fight “against the devil’s schemes.” It says, in part, to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (v. 17).
There’s only one problem. Let me put it this way: If I were to suddenly hand you a large, heavy sword that you had not ever seen before and told you to sword fight with an enemy that was about to come around the corner after you—an enemy that was quite skilled and accustomed to his sword—how do you think you would do?
We cannot deftly handle the Sword of Scripture if we do not know the Scriptures! This means time spent daily in the Word. It needs to be in our hearts. That’s the only way we can win over Satan’s attacks. If we want to be able to fight effectively with the Sword of the Word, then we need to practice with it daily.
Jesus fought Satan with Scripture, and so should you.
TWO: Fight with prayer!
The next verse in Ephesians 6, verse 18, says, “And pray…” Prayer is always closely associated with Scripture. The Bible and prayer are the right and left hands for every Christian.
Prayer is not specifically mentioned in the Matthew 4 passage about the temptation of Christ. But is implied when it says He fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.
It’s important to note that this marathon session of prayer and fasting didn’t result in a happy place at the end of 40 days, but rather a time of testing.
Jesus’s time fasting and praying didn’t prevent Satan’s attack. But it did fortify Jesus for the attack. Prayer was the exercise and Scripture was the healthy food that prepared Jesus to stand up against Satan’s attacks and stand strong.
Jesus found strength for the battle from His time in prayer and fasting, and so should you.
THREE: Don’t give up!
It’s astounding to me how weak Christians can be. But just as I’m getting all self-righteous about that, I realize how weak I can be. We give into sin way to easily. And part of the reason is because we don’t know the Word and we don’t pray.
Jesus fought with Satan three times before Satan gave up. If we truly believe that God’s resurrection power—the same power that rose Jesus from the dead—lives in us, then we should fight hard and stand strong, for the victory is ours.
Satan doesn’t give up easily, and neither should you.
FIGHT!
