Matt 4: Resist the Devil

Scripture
James 4:7

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Matthew 4:1–11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Scripture Reflection

Lent is a wilderness season. It is a time of testing, a time of purifying, a time of learning to resist the devil’s lies and stand firm in the truth of God. James tells us to submit to God and resist the devil, and the promise is astonishingly simple: he will flee from you.

Jesus shows us the pattern. In the wilderness, weak in the flesh yet strong in the Spirit, He stood unmoved against the enemy’s twisting of Scripture, against appeals to pride, power, and provision. He responded with the Word of God, with unwavering loyalty to the Father. And in the end, the tempter left Him — defeated.

Revival requires a Church that knows how to resist. The powers of darkness always tremble at a people who are submitted to God, who stand on the Word, who refuse to bow to lesser masters. Lent invites us to practice resistance — to identify the subtle temptations that seek to undermine our loyalty to Jesus and to confront them with Scripture, prayer, and faith.

Dr. David Thomas, one of the leaders at Asbury, sensed that before he entered Hughes Auditorium, the invitation for him was to mortify and crucify his flesh. He literally had an image in prayer of him stepping on its neck. Backstage at the outpouring, the students and staff set up a broom closet as a consecration room - a place to confess sin and renounce the footholds of the enemy in their lives - so that God could use them freely to minister from the platform. Consecration is an essential precondition for revival leadership. 

May this season strengthen our spiritual backbone, so that when the enemy comes, he finds a people who know how to say, “Away from me, Satan!” and stand firm in Christ.

Praying it UP / IN / OUT

UP: Worship Jesus as the victorious One who overcame every temptation and crushed the power of the enemy. Thank Him for showing us how to resist.

IN: Pray for courage and discernment to identify areas of compromise in your own heart. Ask the Spirit to strengthen you to resist every temptation in this season of Lent.

OUT: Intercede for the Church in New England, that she would stand strong in the face of spiritual opposition, submitted fully to God, a people who resist the devil and see him flee.

Closing Prayer

Victorious Jesus,
You faced the enemy in the wilderness and triumphed. You stood strong, filled with the Word and the Spirit. We praise You as the Champion over sin, over Satan, over every power of darkness.

Teach us to stand where You stood. Train us to recognize the devil’s schemes. Strengthen us to resist with faith, with prayer, with truth. Help us to be a people so submitted to You that the enemy cannot find a foothold.

In this season of Lent, purify us. Strip away our excuses, our compromises, our small surrenders. Make us fierce in our allegiance to You. Let the Church in New England become people who resist the enemy — and watch him flee. Amen.