The Devil Used Scripture
In Matthew chapter 4:1-11,
Jesus was tempted three times by the devil. Each time He was tempted, Jesus
referred to scripture to combat the temptation. He would start by saying, “It
is written…”
However, the devil, himself,
used scripture! After his first failure; and Jesus referring to scripture, the
devil, made his second appeal to Jesus by quoting scripture himself. In verses
5-7, it is written, Then
the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the
temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For
it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands
they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said
to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
Some might be surprised that
Satan would use scripture but that’s why he is so cunning and deceitful. It
continues on even today!
Misquoting Scripture
The Devil’s scripture
reference comes from Psalm 91:11-12, For
He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In
their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. If
you notice in verse 11, the phrase, “to keep you in all your ways” is absent
when the devil quoted it in Mt. 4:6.
However, in Luke’s account,
Luke 4:10, the phrase is there. I’m going to suggest that this was an
intentional omission of the phrase, in Matthew’s account to show the Jews (the
book of Matthew was aimed towards the Jews), that they should know this passage
of scripture and realize that the phrase, here, was omitted.
It also shows that when
scripture is being used, if you aren’t paying attention; and following along in
your own bible, you’ll be easily deceived simply because someone is stating
that they are quoting the bible.
Luke writes in Acts 17:11, These were more fair-minded than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and
searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
Just because Paul or Peter; apostles of Jesus Christ, were preaching to them,
they didn’t simply take their word at face value. They searched the scriptures
to make sure what was being told them was, in fact, the truth.
An Angel of Light
The denominations, the
community churches, the Salvation Army, and any Life Center, is the devil at
work as an angel of light. Most people, who attend these so-called places of
worship, won’t even crack a bible open to see if what the “preacher” says is
true. The speaker will say, “It’s in the bible, see for yourself.” But no one
will, because they’re positive that it’s in there otherwise, why say that it
is?
They won’t preach on sin
because it doesn’t put people into the seats of their auditoriums. Rather,
they’d give you a “rah rah” speech about how great God is, how caring Jesus is,
and, for just a few dollars, they’ll care about you too.
An Example of Misuse of Scriptures
Peter talks of how untaught
and unstable people are who alter the scriptures (2 Peter 3:16). They do it for
their own agenda, rather than going by what the bible actually teaches.
For example, denominational
preachers will tell you that you don’t need to be baptized to be saved. Even
though Jesus stated in Mark 16:16, “He
who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned.” They’ll focus on the second half of this verse stating
that because it does not say, “He who does not believe and isn’t baptized will
be condemned”, belief only is necessary.
My question is why would
someone who doesn’t believe want to get baptized anyway? If this were the case,
then all you have is a wet sinner. So, if one doesn’t believe, you can easily
conclude that he won’t get baptized therefore, it’s not necessary to say it a
second time.
Let me go one step further. What if the verse said, “He who believes and is baptized will be given a brand-new car?” The word, ‘and’ is a conjunction and puts two words together meaning that both are required. Anyone would understand that if they wanted the new car, they would have to believe AND be baptized before they get it. But, for some reason, it doesn’t seem to apply to salvation.
How Do I Know?
People might ask, “What
proof do you have that these places of worship are the work of the devil?”
Originally, I was a member of a denomination, the Lutheran church or, as
someone once called it, Catholic Lite. I went through all of the hullabaloo
that was required; communion classes, Sunday school, and confirmation classes.
I don’t remember anything useful from any of that stuff. For a sermon, the
preacher only spoke for ten minutes but the only thing I remember was the funny
jokes that came prior to the “sermon”.
When we had interns,
preachers-in-training, their sermons would go twenty minutes. For a first time,
it’s understandable. But the entire congregation would give the located
preacher an earful stating that the lesson was too long! That’s right, they had
the authority to tell someone that they talked to long.
In my experience of
preaching the truth of the gospel, ten minutes is a good introduction length
with the lesson; itself averaging 45-50 minutes. Those of the denominations
would most likely walk out after ten.
Conclusion
As Jesus said in Matthew
15:14, “Let them
alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind,
both will fall into a ditch.” Don’t be a blind follower, open your
bible and study! If you need assistance, let me know in the comments below.
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