Ready Your Sword

It is written. Matthew 4:4, 7, 10

D.L. MOODY
Christ overcame Satan by the Word. He simply said: “It is written;” and a second time, and a third time, “It is written;” and that was the arrow that shot right into Satan and drove him away. The devil does not care a bit about our feelings. He can make our feelings good or bad; he can take us up on the mountain or down into the valley, and we can only vanquish him by the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word.

ERWIN LUTZER
The Word does work when it is applied, and that’s why we should be memorizing Scripture. We should be able to take that sword and put it into the teeth of the enemy who wants to destroy us. He’s after us. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). And what makes our battle challenging is that we can’t see our enemy with physical sight, nonetheless, I can assure you he is there.
How do we wield the sword? We follow Jesus by directly and specifically using passages of Scripture related to our temptation and our situation. If we continue to stand on God’s promises, the enemy will eventually leave us. But believe me, Satan will return with more intoxicating temptations. The battle never ends. We must stand our ground over and over again.

PRAYER
Father, teach me the nature and tactics of the enemy. May I be able to say with Paul, “We are not ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Why should you memorize and study God’s word?

How does reading God’s word affect you?