Devil Defeater Matthew 4:1-11
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilder- ness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hun- gry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and
‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall 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 glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
Matthew 4:1-11 (NASB)
Please note that right after Jesus’s baptism He wastes no time, whatsoever, going toe-to-toe with el Diablo. Jesus didn’t start a prophetic blog. He didn’t ramp up His social media page with cool memes and glamour photos of Himself holding a cuddly lamb with a live link to the particular sandals he was wearing, or a sixty-second mashup video of Him turning clay pigeons into doves or changing Evian into merlot.
Nope, the Spirit of God took The Son of God to the woods in order to have Satan throw everything he had at Him and try to seduce Him away from the will of The Father.
That was a world class intellectual and spiritual jiu jitsu match, peeps.
Every punch Satan threw at Him landed in mid-air as Jesus adeptly bobbed and weaved His holy way through Satan’s multifaceted wares.
Here’s something that I wish ministers would tell their poor sheeple right after they get baptized: Dear So-and-So, now that you’re a new creation in Christ Jesus you are now going to be attacked by the powers of darkness like cheap blouse marked down to $1.99 at Target’s Black Friday Sale.
Yes, boys and girls, once you say, ‘Yes!’ to Jesus, Satan says, ‘to hell with you’ and the temptations and demonic attacks come in like a flood.
Indeed, you’re going to get tossed into a satanic woodchipper that’s been chewing up saints since Adam and Eve got tossed out of the sweet haven of Eden’s crib.
Welcome to the Jungle.
It’s time to nut up, shut up, and toughen up or you’re not going to make it.
Look man, Jesus didn’t have it easy. Why do you think you will?
Jesus waged war with the dragon and He did it with The Word of God.
Most typical Christians in today’s easy-breezy, summer-squeezy, churches are biblically illiterate and are thus no match for the malevolent one. When the powers of darkness tempt most believers to eat their plate of lies, they not only eat it but they ask for seconds.
Serious Bible study is the stuff of men.
Tinkerpots don’t read.
Tinkerpots don’t think widely and deeply upon the Word of God.
Consequently, they’re no match for the demonic hordes when it comes to the matching of wits and the ability to flee from Satan’s multifaceted snares.
Jesus wasn’t like that.
The word of God came thundering through His lips when Satan started yapping and therefore, He walked away The Victor instead of the victim of the devil’s devices.
Oh, and I almost forgot, Jesus not only defeated Satan through the powerful wielding of God’s holy word but he also did it on an empty-stomach. Can you say, ‘masculine?’
* From Doug’s #1 Amazon bestseller,
‘If Masculinity is ‘Toxic’, Call Jesus Radioactive’.
Available on Amazon.com.