Know the Word of God.
It is interesting to see the
arguments Christ used to combat Satan. All of them were from God’s Word.
Interestingly enough, all three of them were from the book of Deuteronomy (8:3; 6:16; 6:13). Even when Satan tried
to say the angels would catch Christ, twisting Psalm 91:11, Christ corrected the error by using God’s Word. How
imperative it is for Christians to know God’s Word!
What if a Christians were in the
position of Christ and facing this temptation? Would the conversation go
something like this? “Well, I understand that it would be wrong for me to
commit this action. God does not want me to commit this action. I cannot
remember where in the Bible it states this but I know I should not it. Wait.
He’s using the Bible to tell me this is an okay thing to do. If he’s using the
Bible to prove his point, he has to be right. Right?” Sadly, there are many
individuals who are being led astray by individuals who say, “God says it is
alright.” How can we combat this? Study or be destroyed for lack of knowledge (2 Tim. 2:15; Hos. 4:6).
Stand Firm.
Satan did not give up so easily
on Christ after the first go. One can refer back to the harlot who tempted the
young man in Proverbs 7. Temptation is persistent in how it comes at man. It
took three times for Satan to leave Christ alone. What about the Christian?
Ever heard of a thing called “peer pressure”? “Oh, that is what teenagers face
on a daily basis at school right?” Yes and no.
Dear teenager, you will face peer
pressure while you are in high school. Sadly, some of you may have faced it in
middle school or earlier. Your classmates may make the statement, “If you want
to be accepted by us…”, and you can fill in the blanks. You have to be willing
to stand firm in your convictions because choosing to do the right thing is
difficult but doable (1 John 5:3).
You may be ridiculed for your actions. You may be thinking, “Hey, at least I
have to put up with it for a few years and then it ends when college begins
right?”
Sadly, it does not. You may begin
to experience more pressure from your classmates to party and live it up while
in school. You may even experience pressure from one or more of your
instructors. In the past, college professors have told their students the only
way to pass a class would be to give up Christianity. “At least it ends when I
end up getting a job after college, right?” No, it does not. Some jobs will
require you to give up your Christians ethics in the name of a profit or force
you to be “one of the boys” to get ahead. “At least I will not experience it
within the congregation, right?” Lord willing, you will not. Sadly, there are
individuals who may pressure you or the leadership to go beyond God’s Word. In
our lifetimes, we must be willing to stand firm because this “pressure” does
not cease at one point in time.
Thankfully, God has given the
Christian a way to stand firm. “Wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). You have the offensive and defensive capabilities to
withstand whatever comes your way.
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