Ephesians 6:17
“… and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The Word of God is an essential weapon in our battle with the enemy, and it is a weapon we must use with skill. There is no better example of victory in spiritual warfare than Jesus himself. In the desert at the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus was tempted three times by the devil (Matthew 4.1-11). Three times the enemy attacked Jesus with temptation, and three times Jesus responded with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
The three temptations that the devil tried to use against Jesus are the same three temptations that the enemy throws at us:
1) The temptation to satisfy our appetites.
2) The temptation to put God to the test.
3) The temptation to pursue the things of the world.
The temptation to satisfy our appetites.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Mt.4.1-4)
Scripture tells us in Ephesians 4 to “put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful passions.” The Lord is not telling us that all of our desires/passions/appetites are wrong; He is telling us to beware of deceitful desires. These are the passions and appetites of the old nature that lie to us and lead us into self-destructive behavior.
It’s easy to indulge your passions, desires, and appetites. It’s easy to overeat and over-drink. Easy to consume enormous amounts media and entertainment with virtually no discernment. Easy to indulge emotions with reckless abandon. Easy to think impulsively and talk impetuously. Easy to gossip and whine and complain. Easy to live a life guided and directed by deceitful appetites.
Easy … and a recipe for disaster.
The apostle Peter said it very clearly: “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2.11). Did you catch that? Scripture says that the passions and impulses of the old nature “wage war against your soul.”
When you feel the temptation to indulge your appetites, press pause and do what Jesus did. Stand and fight. Wield the sword of the Spirit and resist the temptation of the enemy.
The temptation to put God to the test.
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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,lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Mt. 4.5-7)
The challenge here is that people put God to the test because they doubt God’s identity, and they doubt their own identity in relationship to him. The seeds of that doubt are planted by the enemy. He does not want us to know and trust God. He does not want us to know who we are in Christ.
In response to this temptation, we can defeat the enemy by trusting what the Word of God says about who God is and who we are as His redeemed people. Consider the opening verses of Ephesians:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace …” (Ephesians 1.3-7).
So don’t test God …trust God. When you stand strong in the truth of who God is and who you are in Christ, the enemy is defeated.
The temptation to pursue the things of the world.
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan! For it is written,’You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.” (Matthew 4.8-11)
A great many people are engaged in the headlong pursuit of possessions, position, popularity, power, and they think (wrongly) that those things will make them happy and fulfilled. But God did not create us to be fulfilled by those things. He created us to be fulfilled by him, and him alone.
God is not opposed to us having possessions, position, power, etc.. He simply doesn’t want those things to have us. God alone is our Lord, and everything we have should be subordinated to him. Whatever possessions you own should be subordinated to the lordship of Christ in your life. Whatever position you have been given at work, whatever power you have been granted, whatever popularity you enjoy — all should be subordinated to the lordship of Christ and used for His kingdom and his glory.
Jesus said it in the Sermon on the Mount. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Mt. 16.19-20)
The question is: Do you own your possessions, or do your possessions own you?
The devil will attack us with temptations. He will seek to deceive and disrupt us. Be strong. Stand firm. Know God’s Word and use it to defeat the enemy.
