Guarding Our Whole Being From The Attacks Of The Devil

Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Date: 10/26/03
Place: Ilagan Baptist Church  (SS)
Preacher: Pastor Jose B. Cabajar

       The Bible has been and always will be the best source   of spiritual knowledge.  The devil is not happy   about it because the Bible teaches us on how to guard our whole existence from his subtle attacks. He hates the Bible because it exposes his unnoticed ways of destroying human beings.

      Since the downfall   of man, through the Scriptures,   God   has been so faithful to us, telling us the ways of truth. God wants every man to be saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ   and   to  be

protected from the continual attacks of   the   devil.   He   wants us to  submit ourselves   first   unto Him,   and   then  resist  the devil,   and   we   will  have  the  assurance that the devil   will  flee  from  us.  What a blessed truth to hold on to.

   The temptation of our Lord Jesus in the wilderness during His earthly ministry was an excellent   illustration on how to guard our whole existence from the devils deception.

       First,   He reminds us that we are under God's care   and we should not be intimidated by devils fiery attacks. Second, He emphasizes that our existence    is   not merely   physical.  The   Lord said,   Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word   that  proceedeth out of the mouth of God.   He   wants   us   to   be   aware of our whole existence as we live here on earth. Our existence is   a   wonderful   creation of God. As we study Matthew Chapter 4, it surely deepens our consciousness regarding our unique existence. We have our physical existence, emotional existence and spiritual  existence. Third, God wants us to become victorious soldiers of Christ. The Matthew 4 account reminds us that we are on the winning side

because we are on the Lords side
       
       (I) The Devil Attacks Our Physical Being

              Matthew 4:1-4   Romans 6:12, 13
              Romans 13:14
                -Yielding our bodies to God as a living

      sacrifice protects us from Satan’s

      exploitation
     -Knowing and using the power of the Scripture

      keep us away from yielding

      to temptation

  
       Being aware of our physical being and our instinct helps us to defend ourselves from the harassment of our adversary, the devil.

      (II) The Devil Attacks Our Emotional Being
              Matthew 4:5-7
           -We must watch and guard our emotion
           -We must pull down our strongholds
                II Cor. 10:3-6
           -We must know how to handle the Word of God
             rightly
           -Don’t let pride destroy our lives
              -Don’t forget Jeremiah 17:9

 

      Familiarity of our emotional existence and our own mental reasoning is a great advantage on our art in times of emotional instability.   

(III) The Devil Attacks Our Spiritual Being
       Matthew 4:8-11
       -We are in need of spiritual strength and

      endurance
     -We are in need of spiritual food which is the

      Word of God

     -We need of an increase of faith

 
       Knowing    our   spiritual   existence   keeps   us watchful   to   the   attacks   of   our adversary. It helps   us   to   realize   that literal bread cannot sustain   and   nourish   our   spiritual being. Our adversary’s   desire   is   to   weaken our faith and change   the true object of our worship, but our Lord Jesus showed us an example to follow so we could   also overcome every temptation that comes on our way.  It’s always a blessing to put our trust   in Him   and   be aware of the power of His Holy Word.