Just say “No” to Temptation with the Scripture

The best way to defend against the tempter’s lie is to know God’s truth. Jesus answered Satan’s temptations with specific scripture.

To know your opponent’s modus operandi is essential in any field, but particularly for an NFL quarterback. Sportswriter Pete Prisco explains it best,

“Watching film, or tape to be precise, is key to the success of any quarterback no matter the level of play. But in the NFL, it’s even more so with all the complicated defenses and looks now thrown at quarterbacks, who must decipher it all in split-second decisions or risk throwing an interception that will show up on all the highlight shows.

They’d better know their stuff, and know it well.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is legendary in his film study. He has a film room in his basement. Manning loves studying tape, almost needs it like a drug. Others don’t put in the time and end up in quarterback bust-land.” ¹

When you read Jesus’ temptation account (Matt. 4. Luke 4) it’s easy to see that Jesus understood his opponent. As Satan tempts through deception, Jesus answers with God’s Word of truth. His remarkable ability to recall the right Scripture for the specific situation is the pattern we should emulate.

If you could watch tape on your opponent you would see that his regular method of temptation is to deceive. He returns to it again and again. But what Satan lacks in originality he makes up for in thoroughness. He is mercilessly meticulous. He understands the desires of the human heart, and the best way to lure and entice us to sin (James 1:19-20).

Yet, because Satan often returns to deception as his means of temptation, you and I can game – plan for his attack. Jesus did. He knew the right verse for each situation. A part of my game plan has to been to memorize the Scripture in conjunction with Satan’s lies.

Satan, as the deceiver, often brings his temptations in the same way (1 John 2:16). Sometime ago it occurred to me that if I could memorize the lie that Satan brought, and the corresponding truth from God’s Word I would be more prepared for the temptations I faced.

This was the kind of reliance Jesus had upon the Scripture (Matt. 4, Luke 4). He has the right verse for each specific situation.

Developing a select set of verses to answer temptation is essential in the life of any believer. We have developed a verse memory pack that contain 33 of the tempter’s lies and God’s Word of truth as a defense against the temptation. You can download them for free at our church’s website. http://aboutfbc.org/downloads/scripture-memory-verse-cards.pdf

For additional resources on this subject including notes, audio, video, and a really cool sword fight please visit: http://aboutfbc.org/using-the-scriptures-like-jesus-part-2

¹ http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/13350572/private-showing-ryans-road-to-qb-stardom-paved-with-tape