Bible Studies
How Satan Misuses Scripture to Devour People (Matt. 4:5-7; Lk. 4:9-12)
Series: The Reality of SatanIntroduction:
1. Satan does not always argue, “The Bible isn’t true.” He often tries to destroy faith by affirming a passage and leading us into disobedience. 2. In his temptation of Jesus (Matt. 4; Lk. 4) he argued from Scripture, “If you are the Son of God throw yourself down (from the pinnacle of the temple) for it is written: ‘He will give His angels charge concerning you; and on their hands they will bear you up’” (cf. Psa. 91:11-12). 3. The word of God is the food and water of life for us. If Satan can taint the food supply, and poison the water, distort, misinterpret and pervert it he can effectively destroy its benefit for life. 4. How does Satan misuse Scripture to devour us?Discussion:
I. An analysis of what Satan did when tempting Jesus.A. In the process of tempting Jesus to sin and cause Him to fail as Messiah and Redeemer, Satan sites God’s word from Psa. 91:11-12.
B. He tries to get Jesus to claim a promise of God in a way it was never intended.
1. Jesus had just asserted His faith and dependence upon God by refusing to turn stones to bread. So Satan tries a reverse tactic and says in effect, “OK, so you are dependent upon the Father and upon His word. Jump and let Him protect you. The Word says you can.”
2. The devil gives meaning to the passage that was never intended by God.
a. Psa. 91 talks about the trust that we can have in the Lord. He is on our side, our shield and bulwark. He is our protector. He has our good at heart all the time.
b. For one to attempt to prove it by setting up an artificial situation denies the very trust we are to have in Him. You may say you trust me not to eat chocolate, but laying it around the house to see if I will eat it means you don’t trust me. If you trust me there is no need for more proof. It is already proven. Fact is, you don’t trust me. That’s why you are looking for proof.
c. If a husband has been unfaithful to his wife and says that he will be faithful from here on she is looking for proof of that. Why? Because she doesn’t trust him.
d. If Jesus had cast himself down from the temple it would have proved that He did not trust the Lord.
C. Satan uses Scripture in ways that contradict God’s intended meaning.
II. Satan capitalizes on our failure to see the big picture (2 Pet. 3:3-7; 1 Thess. 5:1-9).A. This is where the Sadducees stumbled (Matt. 22:23-32; Mk. 12:18-27).
1. Note the use of Scripture (v. 24).
2. Since they did not believe in the resurrection this passage caused them a problem because it seemed incongruent to them with their belief.
a. There was nothing wrong with what Moses said.
b. The problem was with their belief system.
c. There was no incongruence between what Moses said and resurrection.
d. In the resurrection there is no marriage.
3. When you don’t see the big picture you are prone to draw poor conclusions.
B. We often talk of the significance of context in understanding Scripture.
1. “A text out of context becomes a pretext.” With this mishandling of Scripture Satan can make the Bible say about anything he wants.
2. If we do not understand the historical context passages are interpreted as having reference to “current events.” Give illustrations from intro to Ezekiel lesson.
3. If we do not understand the big picture of the Bible we often misunderstand the text. We interpret one text in plain contradiction to another. We are like children tossed here and there (Eph. 4:11-15).
4. Sometimes we interpret texts in ways that are out of harmony with the very nature of God. Ex. Deut. 1:26-33.
5. The devil plays on our ignorance by isolating texts from their context. Many things must be taken under consideration. Is this interpretation consistent with the nature of God? How does it fit the historical context when it was written and now? How does it fit within the overall context of the message of Scripture? How does it fit in this particular book, section, paragraph of Scripture?
III. Satan gives importance to the unimportant and assigns unimportance to the things that are important. He makes majors minor and minors major. He turns things upside down.A. There are a number of passages that indicate this.
1. Acts 17:6 speaks of how Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica preaching. Their opposition said, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” D. James Kennedy said, “They were actually turning the world right side up.”
2. Isa. 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
B. The devil wants us to be upside down in our teaching.
1. Paul called on Timothy to offset the upside down emphasis in Ephesus among those he was teaching (1 Tim. 1:3-7).
2. Note also 2 Tim. 2:14-17a.
C. The devil wants to invert our values.
1. Treasures on earth, rather than treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19ff). Cf. Deut. 6:10ff.
2. Praise of men, rather than praise of God (Matt. 6:1ff).
3. Is family first in your life or the Lord? (Matt. 14:25ff). Faith. Family. Friends.
4. Do you really know what is important? Do you know what is important and still live upside down?
a. Is transferring faith in the Lord to the coming generation top priority (Deut. 6:1ff) or sports, recreational, educational activities top priority?
b. Does worshiping the Lord take priority or Kentucky basketball?
5. Who you marry reflects where your values are (Deut. 7:1ff).
a. Is loyalty to the Lord the top priority in mate selection or good looks?
b. Marrying someone that is not a Christian reflects upside down thinking.
c. You want your children/grandchildren to be Christians? Then you better get your thinking right side up or the devil will destroy you and your family with grief and heartache.
D. How does he misuse Scripture to do this?
1. As a result of the death of Jesus Christ, you are entitled to freedom from bad habits and addictions, fear and worry, discouragement and depression, poverty and lack, and low self esteem. Hear Joel Olsteen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=do9-PebV634&NR=1.
2. Is Christianity a guarantee of health, wealth and prosperity? What about those in Heb. 11:37 who went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated? Men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
3. Prov. 15:6 is interpreted that the accumulation of wealth is God’s intent for you.
4. Satan interprets 2 Thess. 3:10 to abolish charity.
5. Not stealing is the emphasis in Eph. 4:28 inattention to the positive of laboring to share with the one in need.
Conclusion:
1. Satan blinds people’s minds (2 Cor. 4:4; cf. Matt. 6:22-23). 2. He even misuses Scripture to do this.a. He deludes us with plausible and persuasive arguments.
b. He takes advantage of our lack of understanding.
c. He misinterprets.
d. He takes out of context.
e. He capitalizes on our failure to see the big picture.
f. He reduces matters of importance and elevates matters of less importance.
3. Jesus responded to him, “It is written. It is written. It is written.” 4. The devil left him and angels came and ministered to him. 5. Understand then the importance of knowing the word of God, understanding it, stimulating one another to love and good deeds, assembling together, and of giving diligence to handle accurately the word of truth.
