Our Enemy the Devil (Matthew 4:1-11)

We learn much from the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. We learn that God is in control of our testings. It was the Spirit of God that led Jesus into the wilderness. God does not tempt anyone to sin, but He tests us, and He uses the devil to do this. We learn about our enemy by the names he is called by. He is called the “devil.” “Devil” means slanderer. He is called the tempter, and if he will tempt the Son of God, he will tempt us. He is called “Satan.” The word “Satan” means “adversary.” The devil will tempt us where we are weak. He will misuse and twist God’s Word and try to use it against us. He will also offer us much of this world, but he will not tell us where following his way will ultimately lead us. How can we defeat the devil? We cannot, on our own. It is God’s Word that Jesus used to defeat the devil and, with the help of God, we must use God’s Word too and trust in Him.