... He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44b
As much as English might be the only language you know, lying is that language for the devil. He is not bilingual! There is NO truth in him. So it would only make sense that if you are combating lies that you do so with the truth:
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17
This verse is from a prayer Jesus made on behalf of His disciples. The word "sanctify" means to set apart from the world from the lies of the enemy. The only way to do that is to know the truth. Look, every time the devil whispers something in our ears he is merely offering us something to consider believing. And for every lies he whispers, there is a verse in the Bible that assures us he is lying. It is always up to us to decide who to believe. Paul taught this as well:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2Corinthians 10:4
What is a pretension? It's a fancy word for lie. Every lie from Satan has set itself up against the Word of God. We are to demolish these lies! Specifically, these verses teach us that we need to take every thought and make it obedient to Christ. We need to make sure every thought is obedient to the Word of God. Why? Because it is the truth! That is how the truth "sets you free." It sets you free from the lies the enemy has sold you. Jesus knew these truths and when He faced the lies from the enemy, distorting Psalm 91, he swiftly rebuked him with the correct Word of God!
Verse eight shows the devil attacking Jesus with greed. He shows him all kingdoms of the world and their splendor. Likewise, the enemy will show you the material wealth of this world in order to tempt you. He too will show you short cuts to it. Because the devil knows that the more you focus on what you don't have, the less you appreciate what God has given you. Modern western Christianity gets it backwards sometimes. We should not consider blessings the things we do not have, but rather what God has already given us. Greed corrupts the heart as Jesus taught:
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6: 19-21
When you treasure the eternal, nothing can steal it from you. When you treasure the temporal, the enemy will use it against you. He will show you everything to do not have and the splendor you feel is missing...but there is always a catch.
Because verse nine shows us that the enemy is not done yet. This is the infamous "IF" verse. You see there is always a price to pay for the temptation the devil is offering you. There is always an "IF." The "if" is always more than you are willing to pay. The truth is that usually he does not make it this obvious. We have to read into the temptation and see where it leads to find the "if." When the devil tempted David with Bathsheba he was offering her IF David was willing to become an adulterer and murderer but of course that was not spelled out for him. We need to be wary of the "if" hidden in the temptation. There is always a cost:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6: 7-9
The harvest is waiting for all believers. The choice is always there for us. We can reap destruction or we can reap eternal life. Jesus ends the battle He faced in the wilderness by quoting God's Word one more time and resisting the devil for a third time. We will face similar attacks and similar temptations in our lives. God does not expect the perfection He found in His only Son.
He does expect perseverance however. He expects that when we fall we repent. King David fell but repented. Peter denied Christ three times and was restored. God is a loving and forgiving God. He understands that we will face all kinds of trials and temptations in this life. He has given us the weapon we need to fight through these times. But we must know it. We must do as the Psalmist teaches:
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11
Because ultimately all temptation is a temptation to sin. It is a temptation to deny what we should already know the Word of God. When we hide the Word in our heart then we can readily draw upon it when the lies of the enemy come. We can respond with "It is written" instead of engaging in the conversation like Eve did in the Garden.
If we are to defeat the strategies of the Tempter, we must recognize them. We must be prepared to fight against them. We must always remember that the enemy is merely offering us something to consider believing. We must take those rogue thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ and the Word of Truth, which we have hidden in our hearts.
