“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. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve (KJV)” Matthew 4:1-10
I Introduction and Setting
To speak of great things about the devil sounds absurd. From our knowledge of him in the Word we conclude there is nothing good about him. We know that he is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), our adversary (I Peter 5:8), and the dragon (Revelation 20:2). He is mentioned by name 175 times in the Bible. Anyone who would claim there is no real devil is simply peddling their ignorance of the Bible. Billy Sunday once said, “I know there is a real devil because I’ve done business with him.”
There are some great attributes exhibited by the devil that can be of assistance to the believer. Obviously, we should not mimic his character but there are some things we could pay attention to. In my text, Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Evidently there was something Satan could do that would cause Christ to become stronger in the Spirit for when Jesus returned from his temptation He did so in the power of the Spirit.
II. Note these great things about the devil.
First, the devil works hard. First John 3:8 tells us He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the son of man was manifest that he might destroy the works of the devil.
The book of James was the only book of the New Testament which was debated as to its inspiration. Why? Because he was so strong on works. Some thought that James was placing works ahead of grace and justification through faith. All James was endeavoring to do was prove that you cannot remain saved unless you respond in some manner to the love of God. He said, For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:26).
The target audience of James was Jewish Christians who were adjusting to a new lifestyle. Several Old Testament phrases are used in James (5:4; 2:2; 2:21-23, 25; Job 5:11; 5:17) and it was his desire to attack the perversion of faith. He was spraying weed killer on the root that grows hypocritical Christianity.
Do you know why there are so many lost people in the world? It is because the devil is working. Revelation 12:10 speaks of a time when the devil comes down with great wrath because he knows that he has a short time. We need to work like the devil because we only have a short time to work. Matthew 5:16 reads, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Second, the devil knows more of the Bible than many Christians. He used scripture in his temptation against Jesus. However, he misconscrued the authentic meaning of scripture. A couple of lawyers were talking on the golf course. “I became a Sunday School teacher last week,” said one. The other said, “Oh, I bet you don’t even know the Lord’s prayer.” His friend said, “Oh, yes I do. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” The other man said, “Wow! I didn’t realize you knew so much about the Bible.”
Psalm 119:11 reads, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. We must rightly divide the Word of God. In an age where evolution, atheism and false religion abounds it is important that the believer be versed in apologetics. We should know what we believe and why. Third, the devil varies his plan of attack. You never know how he is going to show up. That is why Peter said, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). That is why we are admonished by Paul to give no place to the devil. Wouldn’t it be great if we were as persistent and untiring in our efforts to win the lost as Satan is to win them! Even after tempting Jesus the devil departed from him for a season (Luke 4:13). He never gives up! Neither should we!
Notice an allegory used by Peter for Satan is lion. The lion, which is known as the king of the jungle, blends in with his surroundings. He stalks his prey until the time determined that he can overcome them. However, we can resist Satan with the Word of God.
I am told that a trainer uses his whip to convince the lion that he is stronger than the lion. Lions attack when the trainer runs away. It is only when the trainer faces the lion with the whip that he is able to keep the lion in submission. Now, if I was in a cage with a lion I would be in trouble. I would probably be like the man who was caught stealing watermelons. His friends asked if he heard the farmer firing his gun at him. He said, “Yes, sir, I heard the shots twice. Once when the bullets passed me and then again when I ran pass them.”
When Satan distorted the scripture in his temptation to Christ Jesus turned him away with the Word of God. When Satan knocks at your door send the Bible to answer. We can take confidence in the fact that God will not suffer us to be tempted above that ye are able (I Corinthians 10:13).
Phil L. Redding has served as the General Bishop of the Pentecostal Church of God since 2001. The
PCG has approximately 1,200 churches stateside and around 6,000 worldwide. Bishop Redding has
been ordained since 1979 and has served his movement as pastor, District and National Youth
Director, District and Divisional Christian Educational Director, District Secretary Treasurer, as well as
other positions. He has written three books and numerous articles.