2 Corinthians 11 Lesson

SATAN

Satan does not want us to live simple lives, he wants us to live lives that are chaotic!

He is working day and night to tempt us, and to bring us harm!

Peter wrote about this in his first epistle:

• “Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” -1 Peter 5:8. 

PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM SATAN'S ADVANCES

The good news for us is that if we resist the Devil, he will flee from us. (James 4:7). 

But it is not that simple.

Satan is a master of deception!

And for this reason, we must do everything within our power to bolster our faith and protect ourselves. In today’s lesson we will highlight two things that Christians can do to protect themselves from his attacks:

1. We can read the Bible,
2. We can put on the full armor of God. (Ephesians 6).

Sometimes, Satan is attacking us, and we do not even know it!  Consider the following two verses:

1. “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” -1 Timothy 4:1.
2. “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” -2 Corinthians 11:14.

THE THREE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS (MATHEW 4:1-11)

We are all vulnerable to the deceptions of Satan.

Just as Satan deceived Eve, he will try to deceive us. 

We have already discussed two things that we can do to protect ourselves from Satan’s advances:

1. We can read the Bible,
2. We can put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17).

And as we do these two things, we would be wise to learn from the perfect example of Jesus.

Mathew wrote about the three temptations of Jesus, and how He overcame them, in the following three verses:

1. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.  And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.  And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”- Mathew 4:1-4.
2. Then the Devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand 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 will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”   Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” - Mathew 4:5-7.
3. Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Then the Devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.” - Mathew 4:8-11.

There are three things to point out from the above scriptures:

1. Satan tempted Jesus three times,
2. Each time that Jesus was tempted, He responded with scripture,
3. Satan eventually gave up and left.

In each case, when Jesus was tempted, He identified the correct scripture and applied it to the situation.

That is why studying the Bible is so important! We cannot apply the correct scriptures to our own situations if we do not know what those scriptures are.

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE

Jesus said:

• “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” – John 14:15.

And as we have just mentioned, we cannot keep His commandments, if we do not know what those commandments are.

It is not enough to do what we “think” is right, or what “feels” right. 

If we do that, we could be following a path that the book of Proverbs says can be dangerous to our souls. 

• “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” – Proverbs 14:12.

CONCLUSION

The life of a Christian is supposed to be simple (2 Corinthians 11:3).

As we read the Bible, God reveals to us what He wants us to do, and what He does not want us to do.

It pleases God to see His children studying His word and applying what it says.

It is how we show Him that we love Him.(John 14:15).

Our role as followers of Jesus and children of God is to bring Glory to God and to serve others.

And if we focus our efforts on doing these two things, our lives do get simplified.

Unfortunately for us, Satan does not like that, and he often goes on the attack!

To protect ourselves against his advances, there are two things that we can do:

1. We can read the Bible,
2. We can put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17).

As we read the Bible, we need to pay attention to the perfect example of Jesus. He taught us how to examine the scriptures when He was tempted, and to apply just the right one each time.

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

• “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13.