Don't Argue Or Reason With The Devil
I was watching Jesse Duplantis last night and he was teaching on Jesus being tempted in the wilderness in Matthew chapter 4. I was reminded of something that I was working on. I have never preached this message anywhere, but on radio once and I don't know when it ran...
In Matthew 4 "Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, after fasting forty days he was hungry, the temptor came to Jesus and said, If thou be the Son of God command these stones to be turned into bread. Jesus said it is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of out of the mouth of God." Satan doesn't give up, he comes at Jesus a second time and says, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written He shall Give His angels charge over you.... Jesus said for the second time, "It is written again, thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Satan didn't give up he came at Jesus a third time, taking Jesus up into an exceedingly high mountain and showing Jesus the kngdoms of the world and said "All these things will I give you if you bow down and worship me". Jesus said ."Get thee behind Me, Satan, for it is written, "Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thy serve..."
In looking at the way Jesus was tempted. you notice several things, First Jesus didn't reason with the devil. He stuck to the Word of God, "it is written" was His reply to what Satan was offering. That is what we have to do, to be in a good position, when we are tempted is to say "it is written..." We cannot reason with Satan. He plays for keeps. We tend to compromise at times, "nobody will know," or "God knows my heart," ect.
Secondly the first temptation was dealing with our fleshly needs, Jesus had been on a forty day fast, I am sure he was hungry. We must not let our fleshly appetites get in the way of serving God. How many times we want to sleep in on Sunday morning, because ,"Its our only day to rest. God knows I am tired". It's different when we are sick, but just to sleep in on Sunday morning, it is no excuse. You say, "I can watch church on TV', but do you? Do you get your Bible and follow along with the message or do you have the TV on as background noise.
Thirdly was the misuse of scripture. Satan left a part of the scripture out, as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Psalms 91 :11-12, "For He shall give His angels change over thee. to keep thee in all thy ways, They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." In Matt 4: 6, the way it is quoted is, "He shall give His angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Looking at these scriptures together, you will see that words have been left, things have been turned around. We have to be careful of Satan's devices, how one scripture can be taken out of context to justify anything.
We also have to be careful and study enough to know what actually is in the Bible. "God helps those who help themselves" is not in the Bible. Some people think that it is.... Fourthly, the things that Satan offered Jesus were not his to give. He couldn't give Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world, when Jesus was here before the foundation of the world. In the beginning was the Word and the Word wa with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2. Satan tried to tempt Jesus with satisfying the flesh, the pride of life. Prove to me you are the son of God, by doing this. Jesus didn't have to prove anything, especially to Satan. He tried to tempt Jesus with power. Some of us wish we could have all the kingdoms of the world and power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Jesus was faithful in His response, "It is written".
The next time we are tempted, ask yourself how would Jesus handle this? We want our needs met, but at what cost? We want to be confortable, and want fame and prestige. You might want to be the next Joyce Meyer, or Paula White. Do you want to pay the price for that special anointing? Most of us would say "no way." We have to be careful. We can't argue with the devil. We can't negotiate with him either. He plays for keeps. The thing that you see as a little thing can quickly turn into something big and enslaving before you know it. Be care. Remember IT IS WRITTEN!!!!!
In Matthew 4 "Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, after fasting forty days he was hungry, the temptor came to Jesus and said, If thou be the Son of God command these stones to be turned into bread. Jesus said it is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of out of the mouth of God." Satan doesn't give up, he comes at Jesus a second time and says, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written He shall Give His angels charge over you.... Jesus said for the second time, "It is written again, thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Satan didn't give up he came at Jesus a third time, taking Jesus up into an exceedingly high mountain and showing Jesus the kngdoms of the world and said "All these things will I give you if you bow down and worship me". Jesus said ."Get thee behind Me, Satan, for it is written, "Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thy serve..."
In looking at the way Jesus was tempted. you notice several things, First Jesus didn't reason with the devil. He stuck to the Word of God, "it is written" was His reply to what Satan was offering. That is what we have to do, to be in a good position, when we are tempted is to say "it is written..." We cannot reason with Satan. He plays for keeps. We tend to compromise at times, "nobody will know," or "God knows my heart," ect.
Secondly the first temptation was dealing with our fleshly needs, Jesus had been on a forty day fast, I am sure he was hungry. We must not let our fleshly appetites get in the way of serving God. How many times we want to sleep in on Sunday morning, because ,"Its our only day to rest. God knows I am tired". It's different when we are sick, but just to sleep in on Sunday morning, it is no excuse. You say, "I can watch church on TV', but do you? Do you get your Bible and follow along with the message or do you have the TV on as background noise.
Thirdly was the misuse of scripture. Satan left a part of the scripture out, as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Psalms 91 :11-12, "For He shall give His angels change over thee. to keep thee in all thy ways, They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." In Matt 4: 6, the way it is quoted is, "He shall give His angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Looking at these scriptures together, you will see that words have been left, things have been turned around. We have to be careful of Satan's devices, how one scripture can be taken out of context to justify anything.
We also have to be careful and study enough to know what actually is in the Bible. "God helps those who help themselves" is not in the Bible. Some people think that it is.... Fourthly, the things that Satan offered Jesus were not his to give. He couldn't give Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world, when Jesus was here before the foundation of the world. In the beginning was the Word and the Word wa with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2. Satan tried to tempt Jesus with satisfying the flesh, the pride of life. Prove to me you are the son of God, by doing this. Jesus didn't have to prove anything, especially to Satan. He tried to tempt Jesus with power. Some of us wish we could have all the kingdoms of the world and power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Jesus was faithful in His response, "It is written".
The next time we are tempted, ask yourself how would Jesus handle this? We want our needs met, but at what cost? We want to be confortable, and want fame and prestige. You might want to be the next Joyce Meyer, or Paula White. Do you want to pay the price for that special anointing? Most of us would say "no way." We have to be careful. We can't argue with the devil. We can't negotiate with him either. He plays for keeps. The thing that you see as a little thing can quickly turn into something big and enslaving before you know it. Be care. Remember IT IS WRITTEN!!!!!
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