After Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit took him into the desert for 40 days of purification before Jesus began his ministry. God has this thing about 40 days of spiritual purification and refining before serving him. We saw this with both Moses and Elijah. While in the wilderness Jesus was tempted three times by Satan. On each occasion Jesus defeated Satan by quoting scripture:
Matthew 4:4 – (Jesus speaking to Satan) – It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:7 – (Jesus speaking to Satan) – It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.
Matthew 4:10 – (Jesus speaking to Satan) – Away with you, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.
Satan is no match for God so we knew this struggle was over before it started. So why did God include this story in his Word? God included this story in Matthew as an example to us on how we are to resist the mental onslaught of Satan and his demons who will oppress us all at some point. Demons are more powerful than we are so God has given us the Bible as a means of protecting ourselves. When we are under spiritual attack from the forces of darkness pray to God for strength and read God’s Word. Quote the Bible to Satan and he will leave you alone because the Bible says so and God cannot lie. According to Matthew 4:6, Satan has read the Bible and can quote scripture. If you are to successfully contend with Satan you need to know your Bible as well as he does. Your very soul could depend on it. Read the Bible daily, study it, meditate on it, and pray, to put on the shield of faith. Arm yourself with the Sword of the Spirit which is God’s Word.
James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 5:8-9 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Matthew 16:23 – (Jesus speaking to Peter) – Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.
God is real therefore so is Satan. Satan wants to convince us he doesn’t exist and even if he does exist he means us no harm. Satan uses stealth and secrecy to hide his identity. You can’t defend yourself if you don’t know who your enemies are. You can’t protect yourself against adversaries you aren’t even aware you have. Half the battle is knowing who Satan is and that his goal is our destruction. Satan doesn’t attack with a frontal assault. Satan is subtle and uses lies, deceit and half-truths to achieve his goals. When Satan mentally assaults someone he fills them with despair, tells them they are worthless and the only way out for them to escape the pain is to harm others or take their own life.
1 John 5:19 – We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
If anyone commits suicide without accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior then Satan has won. Satan has stolen another precious eternal soul away from God that will spend eternity in hell when it didn’t have to be that way. We have all probably known someone who has taken that route. If you know someone who is susceptible to Satan’s attacks and contemplating suicide be a true friend and guide them to the truth of God’s Word. If you don’t know how to witness for Christ learn how. Witnessing for Christ is a learned skill. This blogsite is about learning to witness for Christ by studying the Bible. In my earlier blogs I go over the witness process step by step. The basic sinner’s prayer to God is all you need and it’s available in my blog, on line, in the Bible, in Christian tracts and numerous other places.
Take a fellow Christian with you if you don’t feel up to the task of witnessing by yourself. Lead the person to this website where they can save themselves or copy some of my material to give them. Your intervention could be the only thing between them and utter destruction. God may have put you in this position just for that reason. It’s a heavy burden to put yourself out and try to save someone’s eternal soul but if we don’t do it who will? Someone loved you enough to lead you to Christ. Can you do less? Forever is very long time so you really have no other choice than to take action or regret it for eternity. Remember, you’re not alone, you’re just the helper. The Holy Spirit will be by your side and he’s the one actually responsible for saving a soul unto eternal life if that person’s heart is ready for the gospel message of Christ.