Bishop Keith Butler
4 hours ago
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, 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. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Matthew 4:1-7)
The devil wants to manipulate you to follow his plan. He knows he can’t force a Christian to do anything, but he can try to twist the truth to those who are ignorant. Then when they swallow his lies, he continues to manipulate and lie until the believer falls into his traps.
In Matthew 4:1-7, we see our enemy, the devil, tempt our Lord. Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness, so God knew the enemy would attack Him. Guess what? God knows the devil will come after you, too. But God never puts you into a fight without giving you everything you need to win.
The number one thing you need to defeat Satan is a solid knowledge of God’s Word because the devil can quote Scripture. He quoted Bible verses to Jesus in the wilderness, but the old serpent didn’t quote them accurately or thoroughly. He used Psalms 91 to try to convince Jesus to commit suicide by throwing Himself down from a temple.
Beware of anyone who says, “God told me," without having more than one Scripture to back it up. Manipulation thrives in ignorance. Attend church and listen to sermons, but always verify. Never blindly accept a preacher’s words. Instead, dig into the Bible. Context matters. The less we know of Scripture, the more susceptible we become. So, like Bereans, let’s examine every teaching against the Word (Acts 17:11).
Memorize key verses to fight deception. When faced with challenges, remember how Jesus responded: “It is written.”