HOW TO DO BATTLE WITH THE DEVIL
Luke 4:1-13
WE ARE IN A BATTLE
We have got to understand that we are in a constant, never
ending battle with the
devil. Ephesians 6:12
states "12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The devil is a master at working on the mind. The Apostle Paul said
" but I see another law at work in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law
of sin at work within my members.
(Romans 7:23)
LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
V:4. " Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from
the Jordan
A. Only baptized believers are equipped to handle a battle
with the devil.
1. To do battle
with the devil you have to summit yourself to the Holy Spirit.
2. You have to be
led by the Holy Spirit.
B. To do battle with the Devil, believers have to understand
the value of a wilderness
experience.
1. It is a time of
meditation and prayer.
2. It is a time to
study the Word
3. It is a time to
be tested and strengthen by the Lord.
4. A time to come
to the conclusion that Word of God has power and
authority over
your life.
THE DEVIL WORKS ON YOUR WEAK AREAS
V:2. " for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And
He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. "
A. To do battle with the Devil you have to understand who he
is,
1. He is a fallen
arch angel. Ezekiel 28:12-17, Isa 14:12-14
2. He is the
prince of the power of the air. Eph
2:1-2
3. He is the
father of lies. John 8:44
4. He is
Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. Matt 12:44
B. To do battle with the Devil, we need know how he
operates.
1. He disguises
himself as an angel of light. 2 Cor 11:14
2. He knows the
Word of God.
a. He is a
master of deception. Rev 12:9
b. His copy of
the word has a lot of scratch outs and insertions.
3. The devil goes
to and fro to see who he may devour. Job
1:7, 1 Peter 5:8
C. The devil knows your areas of weakness.
1. He knows when
you can be easily influenced
2. He invades your
space.
D. After 40 days without eating, Jesus was hungry.
1. Satan appealed
to Jesus flesh.
2. Satan knows what
your appetite is.
a. It could be
food.
b. It could be
clothes
c. It could be
the love of any number of things.
d.. Whatever
your appetite is, Satan will find a way to temp you.
SATAN ATTACKS YOUR FLESH
V:3. " And the devil said to Him, "If You are the
Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
A. The flesh was hungry. The devil used that as his invitation.
1. Notice, the
devil said "if".
2. If suggest a
lack of confidence.
3. One of the
tricks of the devil is to undermine your confidence in yourself
and the Word
of God.
4. Another trick of the devil is to get you focused on
your situation, rather
the One ,
Jesus, who controls your situation.
B. When you are facing a crisis, its easy to see the
negative, doom and gloom,
rather than a
positive outcome.
1. If the Lord
allowed your crisis, then He is in control
of it.
2. If the Lord
allowed your crisis, then He has a purpose for it.
C. To battle the devil you have to be confident in who you
are and whose
you are.
1. There should be
no "if". There should only be, you are a child of God.
2. You cannot prove
you are a child of God to someone who do not want
believe it.
SEEK THE WORD OF GOD THAT FITS YOUR CRISIS
V:4. " And Jesus answered him, "It is written,
'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.".
Deu 8:3
A. The only way to fight the devil is with the Word of God.
1. The only way to
know the Word of God is to study the Word of God.
2. The only way to
get the Word of God ingrained in your mind is to
meditate on
it.
B. The only way to have confidence in the Word of God is to
use it in your
crisis.
1. You cannot fight
Satan without the power of the Word.
2. Faith in the
Word is your shield against the devil.
3. You have to
trust God to supply your needs.
4. Jesus said
whatever you as the Father in My Name will be given
to you.
5. It is not up to
us to determine how God will act, but trust that He will
act on our
behalf.
THE DEVIL SEEKS TO CONTROL YOU
V:5-7. " And he led Him up and showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this
domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to
whomever I wish.
7 "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be
Yours."
A. Another temptation of the devil is to appeal to your
desire to be in control
of your
situation.
1. To put yourself
in control is to eliminate God.
2. To put yourself
in control is to put trust in your ability and eliminate trust in God.
3. to put yourself
in control is to put the devil in control.
B. Another scam of the devil is to misrepresent himself.
1. God never gave
the devil authority over the world. God made the devil the
ruler of
darkness.
2. In the book of
Genesis, God gave man authority over His creation.
3. You cannot give away something you don't
own.
4. If it sounds to
good to be true, then most likely it is.
5. The devil is the
father of lies
a. He will lie
about anything to gain your worship of him.
b. The devil
wants to focus you on getting God's glory.
c. Glory
belongs to the Lord.
THE DEVIL SEEKS TO DESTROY YOU WORSHIP OF GOD
V:8. " Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'YOU
SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Due 6:13
A. The devil's
objective before his fall from grace was to take God's place.
1. Isaiah 14:13 states, " You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven; I will raise
my throne
above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on
the utmost
heights of the sacred mountain. "
2. The devil was
placed in the Garden of Eden by the Father.
Ezekiel 28:13
3. He became proud
of his position as the "morning star" and he corrupted
himself.
B. It is the devil's objective for you to worship him.
1. Notice, if the
devil can get you attached and dependent on "things", he will
have your
worship to him.
2. The devil tried
to get Jesus focused on the things of the world.
3. The devil is
doomed to hell and there is no redemption for him and his
demons.
THE DEVIL ATTACTS YOUR ANXIETY
9 And he led Him to Jerusalem
10 for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING
YOU TO GUARD YOU,'
11 and, 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU
WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE." Psalms 91:11-12
A. The devil will work on your mind to get you to commit
suicide.
1. Philippians 4:6
says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
2. Anxiety leads
to depression and depression can lead to suicide.
3. Many people in
hopeless situations, due commit suicide.
B. Notice the devil quoted Psalms 91:11-12. But he carefully
misstated
the intent of the
scripture.
1. The intent of
the scripture is if a believer finds himself in this
situation, do
to no fault of his own, God will be his protector.
2.You don't cross
a busy freeway and expect God to keep you from
getting hit
by a car.
DON'T DO STUPID
V:12. " And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is
said, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE
LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST." Deu 6:16
A. When my wife was raising our sons, she told them don't do
stupid.
1. We gave them
freedom, as long as they did the right things.
2. God gives us
freedom in everything as long as we don't do stupid.
B. You don't test God for the sake of a test to prove your
worth. Philippians 4:6
states, "Do
not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. "
1. This last test of
the devil was for the sake of a test.
2. The devil
started each temptation of Jesus with
"If".
3. With God,
"if" is always conditional on our obedience to His commands.
4. God always
design test for us to strengthen our faith.
ALWAYS BE ON GUARD
V:13. " When the devil had finished every temptation,
he left Him until an opportune
time."
A. You can only fight the temptation of the devil with the
Word of God.
1. The devil has
no power other than persuasion.
2. He enters you mind
with evil plans and ideas and lies.
3. Without
knowledge of the Word of God you cannot tell the difference between
good and
evil.
4. Only believers
has the knowledge of the Word.
B. Once the devil knows that you trust the Lord, he will
leave you alone.
1. But only for a
season.
2. The devil will
return to temp you again when you are having issues with
your family,
friends, job or with your faith.
3. You are never
free from the devil's temptation, therefore you must
always be on
your guard.
Rev. M, Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
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