When Satan Uses Scripture

 Every morning when I wake up I turn on my audio Bible to feed my spirit. Yesterday morning I randomly chose the book of Luke. I settled back on my pillow, turned up the volume, and listened intently. When I had reached the fourth Chapter there were certain words that rang out with such familiarity. Satan was quoting words to Jesus that I immediately recognized as words elsewhere in the Bible. Wait!!  Was Satan quoting scripture of the Lord to the Lord? Where had I heard those words before? I knew right away! It was Psalm 91. Here is what I noticed. Luke Chapter 4, verses 9,10,11 speaks of the time the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. In his 3rd attempt to get Jesus to sin, Satan brought Jesus to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, 'He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee. And in their hands, they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.'" Now listen to Psalm 91, "For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone." At this point, I had to stop my audio Bible. I said to myself, 'Satan is quoting scripture from Psalm 91! He's quoting the Word of God to Jesus!"  I know this because Psalm 91 is my favorite prayer and I have it memorized. Why would Satan quote scripture to God? But he is evil. How can he know the Word of God?

From the beginning of his ministry (Matthew 4:1–11) to the end (Luke 22:3), Jesus was in conflict with the powers of darkness. And it is the clear teaching of the apostles, Peter (1 Peter 5:8), James (James 4:7), John (1 John 2:13; 3:8; 5:18), and Paul (1 Thessalonians 3:5) that Satan is against the church and must be resisted by faith and the Word of God. We do well to know Satan's tactics. For example, I know how well Satan knows the Bible and how he loves to quote Scripture in order to destroy faith. Satan does not always try to ruin faith by saying, “The Bible isn’t true.” He often tries to destroy our faith by affirming some passage and using it to lead us into disobedience. All Christians obtain life from God’s Holy Word. We die without it. As Christians, we will not let it be taken from us. We will go to jail rather than stop reading it. So what does Satan do? His aim is to destroy our faith. The word of God alone keeps faith alive. The Bible says Faith comes or is built BY HEARING the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Believers cleave to it and Satan cannot tear it away. So Satan studies it. How else could he quote Psalm 91:11–12 to Jesus? He studies it. And he studies how to distort it and pervert it by plausible misinterpretations. And, they must be plausible. He is not so happy when his sub-demons put absurd misinterpretations into our heads because they are far too easily discerned and corrected.

What makes Satan happy is when he can get Christians to believe that Proverbs 15:6 justifies the accumulation of wealth in a world of hunger; that 2 Thessalonians 3:10 abolishes charity; that Romans 9:16 makes evangelism superfluous; that 1 Timothy 2:4 means God is not sovereign in conversion; that John 10:28 means a “Christian” can do whatever he wants and still be saved; and hat Hebrews 6:4–6 means there is no security and assurance for God’s elect. Is it a sobering thought that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17)? Yes! And indeed it is. What did Jesus say when Satan quoted Scripture? He said: “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7). LOOK AT THAT CLOSELY ONE MORE TIME. Jesus quoted Scripture against Satan’s use of Scripture! Jesus knows the Bible better than Satan. What is the ramification for us? Think about it! We cannot believe everyone who can quote you a text. That would include famous TV evangelists and pastors. History is strewn with cults who twisted the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). Not every pastor and not every wealthy TV evangelist speaks the unadulterated truth. Oftentimes their message is laden with misinterpretations or just enough deception to tickle your ears and turn you toward a direction that's misguided! Read through the Bible and ask yourself continually how this part fits with that part and that with this. It is when the pieces start to fit together that we are most secure from distortion.

I suggest that each of us fast and pray that God will open our eyes to see true and wonderful things in His word (Psalm 119:18). Obey what you do understand and you will understand more. Don't believe every spirit but try the spirits to see if they are of God (1 John 4:1). Satan is so so cunning. He catches the wise in their own craftiness (Job5:13) The serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so even your minds may also be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). We should no longer be children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, or in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting (Ephesians 4:14). The Bible predicted a time coming in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 when people would not endure sound doctrine. Instead, having itchy years desire to hear only what they wanted to hear (throwing out the rest) and lean toward teachers and pastors who would suit their own desires. By so doing, they would turn away from the truth in God's Word to fables and myths! I'm afraid that time is now. As we approach the end times, we must continually guard against deception, especially since some of Satan's ministers are able to convincingly perform miracles. We are warned to cling to the faith once delivered, guarding against destructive heresies.

Until He Comes,

-Pat-