Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 4:1-13 "BEWARE-WHEN THE DEVIL QUOTES SCRIPTURE!"
Day 48 – Luke 4
Text: Luke 4:1-13
BEWARE-WHEN THE DEVIL QUOTES SCRIPTURE!
There is a false and foolish notion that the Devil is afraid of Christians quoting Scripture! If this is true, then the Devil would not have cited the Scriptures to try and lure Jesus into sinning against God!
Through the influence of the cinema screen, through what we read in magazines and books, we sometimes end up with a very wrong understanding of what the Devil is really like! You may have Christians who say that if we were to vigorously sing good hymns, if we were to pray loudly, if we were to quote appropriate Bible verses, then the Devil would be so frightened, he would flee from us. Our study of The Temptation of Jesus would teach us otherwise. The Evil One is not afraid of puny human beings who belabour under the mistaken impression that they can bind him by merely quoting the Scriptures!
The more appropriate warning comes from the Apostle Paul who wrote about how “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Let us beware of the evil one and “his ministers” because they “also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:15).
INCAPABLE OF SPEAKING THE TRUTH
How did the Lord Jesus see through the deception of the Devil? Let us learn some very important lessons from this temptation:-
1. The Devil may quote Scripture, but he will always add his own subtle twist to the Word he cites. By so doing, he will warp the original meaning of the text of God’s Word.
2. It will take tremendous wisdom to detect how subtly the Devil can twist the Scriptures. When the Devil tested Jesus in this temptation, he was also in fact testing Him with reference to how well He really knew the Scriptures. After all, in the previous temptations, Jesus quoted the Scriptures as a demonstration of His faith and trust in God.
3. It is worthwhile remembering that the Devil is “the father of lies… and there is no truth in him (John 8:44). Jesus of course knows Satan only too well, and thus rejected whatever he suggested; he is truly incapable of speaking the truth, such is the evil in him.
4. The Devil sought to get Jesus to misapply the Scriptures into His personal life. Why wouldn’t Jesus just “claim” the promise of God that angels would look after Him? They would surely not allow Jesus to hurt Himself!
5. Imagine urging Jesus to test the truth of God’s promises by jumping off the pinnacle of the Temple and then expecting angels to rush to His rescue (Luke 4:11-12).
HOW JESUS UNDERSTOOD AND APPLIED THE SCRIPTURES
It is important to study how Jesus interpreted and applied the Scriptures:-
1. At no time did He presume to put God to the test! No Scriptures should ever be used to test the power of God! The presumptuous approach of applying the Scriptures must be avoided at all costs! Jesus rejected this temptation as He did the other two! He would never abuse His privileged position as the Son of God, by expecting the angels to look after Him when He jumped from the pinnacle of the temple! Imagine such antics!
2. Jesus always sought to understand the authorial intent of the Scriptures! The Author we are speaking of is none other than God Himself, and not just the human author who penned the words.
3. No Scriptures must ever be abused! No matter what promises God has stated in the Scriptures, there must always be the spirit of humble submission to the Lord!
4. This may be read as “limitative” especially to circles of Christians who like to say that they “claimed” the promises of God in their lives! Nevertheless, if this is “limitative” then we must say that it was the Lord Jesus Himself who “limited” our liberties in applying the Scripture texts into our life.
5. The Will of God and His Glory must almost be foremost in mind at all times. These two principles override any human attempt to coerce or manipulate God in prayer by “claiming” Bible promises. (There is no such teaching as “claiming of promises”. This idea is unfortunately promoted in books, and many Christians use this unbiblical term in their conversations).
6. At no time, in any of the Temptations did Jesus ever “claim” any promises from the Scriptures! His example of not “claiming promises” must say a lot to us!
A CHALLENGE TO GET TO KNOW THE SCRIPTURES LOTS BETTER
We have seen how the Son of Man (Luke’s favourite term for Jesus) applied the Scriptures in His life to defeat the evil but subtle temptations of the Devil. It is quite obvious, that a deep knowledge of the Lord’s Word would stand us in good stead, especially when it comes to spiritual battle with the evil one. Let us be deeply challenged to get to know the Scriptures lots better!
What steps would you take to deepen your knowledge of God’s Word? What steps would you take to fortify your faith in the Lord?
If the Devil dares to tempt the Lord Jesus Himself, would he be afraid of us? Let us reject false and foolish notions that are both naÃ?¯ve and unbiblical. Let us seek to steep ourselves in the study of the Lord’s Word, until we have great discernment.
THE DEVIL MAY LEAVE YOU ALONE- BUT IT IS ONLY FOR A WHILE
Luke wrote chilling words to the faint-hearted. Yes, the Devil was defeated by our precious Saviour. However, that does not mean that he has thrown in the towel.
Luke calmly records that “when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). The Evil One did not flee! He was merely departing for a season. He would wait and see how else he could attempt to tempt Jesus to sin against His Father. If he could just make Jesus sin, then His trip on earth would have to be aborted!
Let us be reminded of the need to put on the whole armour of God that He has so graciously provided! Let us plan to walk with great determination and faith in the Lord. Let us not fear the Devil at any time! Let us seek to live for God as Jesus, the Son of Man did.