#089 "God Alone: Jesus Answers the Third Wilderness Lie" (Matthew 4:10)

"Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."'" (Matthew 4:10)

In this episode of The Abidible Podcast, host Kate looks at Matthew 4:10—the climactic moment in Jesus’ wilderness temptation when He commands the enemy to leave and declares that only God is worthy of worship.

But this moment raises a sobering question for every believer:

What does it look like to live like the spiritual battle is real?

Kate explores how the enemy rarely invites us to openly worship him—instead, he tempts us to quietly step out of the fight. Through real-life examples in marriage, parenting, friendships, church life, and even online conflict, this episode exposes the subtle ways Christians surrender ground through apathy, avoidance, and exhaustion.

You’ll discover: Why ignoring the spiritual battle makes us vulnerable to the enemy, How Satan’s “easy path” still tempts believers today, What Jesus’ victory in the wilderness means for our everyday battles, Why declaring war on the enemy actually leads to deeper peace in Christ, and How believers can stand firm through the authority Jesus has given them.

Most importantly, this episode will remind you that the Christian life is not fought alone. Because Jesus defeated Satan, those who belong to Him are empowered to stand firm, resist the enemy, and live with courage and confidence in Christ. If you’ve ever felt weary, discouraged, or tempted to check out spiritually, this conversation will call you back into the fight—and remind you that the victory has already been won.

If this episode encourages you, consider supporting the show or becoming an abidible+ member through Buy Me a Coffee (linked below).

Introducing abidible+
☕ Become a Member ☕
☕ Buy Me a Coffee ☕

Important Links:

The Armor (Next Study-4/6/26)
Into the Wilderness (Current Study)
Into the Wilderness Lettered Collection
Try our Free Demo Study
Abidible "How to Study the Bible" Course
Subscribe + Enter to Win a Free Study

----

Thanks again for listening. If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share The Abidible Podcast with them. Help us spread the word so we can make MUCH of the Word. Be sure you are following our podcast so you’ll be notified when new episodes drop. And finally, if you’re enjoying this series, please take a moment to give us a review or become a monthly supporter.

You can:

Learn more about us at abidible.com
Follow us on social media
Email us anytime with questions: hello@abidible.com 

---
"Rhodesia by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/"

Transcript

Welcome And Why Abide

Kate 0:00

Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're listening to the Abidible Podcast. I'm just a regular wife and mom who's had my life transformed by learning to study the Bible on my own. If I can, you can. On this show, I help you know and love God more by abiding in him through his word yourself. What if you declared war on Satan? You might say, isn't that deranged and dangerous? I don't have that kind of authority. But you do. I do. Jesus has given it to us because we need it. Satan already declared war on us since before we were born. As image bearers of the devil's adversary, God the Father, we entered this life already at war. He has been taking shots at us all our lives. What's more dangerous than declaring war is living in denial or apathy. If we pretend that there is not a spiritual battle taking place every moment of every day of every year of our lives, then we are guaranteed casualties in this war. If we're truly saved, having put our faith in Jesus as our Savior, then sure, we will make it to heaven. But if we are not fighting against Satan, we'll arrive with our eyes glazed and deep wounds. We'll crawl through those gates, ravaged by battle and so very bruised by this life. Have you ever seen that meme of the guy walking off the ship calmly as war rages around him? Debris flying in every direction past his head and body, yet his face is set and he's just walking right through it. That's not our reality, though sometimes we want it to be. We are fools to think we can just ignorantly walk through this daily spiritual battle unscathed. Pretending that it's not happening does not mean that it isn't happening or that we're not being harmed. If we think it's working, ignoring the battle around us, then it means that we have been lulled to sleep, deceived into denial, and worst of all, maybe even taken out by the enemy, so that we're no longer useful in the kingdom of heaven. Satan knows you won't actively pick up your sword in alliance with him against God if it's evident to you that you are going against God Himself. Because if it is evident, you'll likely eventually wiseen up and take some sort of action. So instead, he dulls your awareness just enough that you put down the sword of the Spirit and remove the armor of God and just slip away into irrelevance. A saint of God who does not fight for the cause of God and battle to further the truth of God is an unknowing puppet in the devil's army. Choose this day whom you will serve. You're either picking up your sword to fight against Satan in this battle, or you are setting it down as an act of surrender to his schemes. I know what you might be thinking. You don't want to be in this battle. You want peace. You don't feel strong enough or mature enough in Christ. You don't know the word well enough. You can barely get through the day with the responsibilities and struggles that you have. The notion of being drafted into some never-ending spiritual battle exhausts you. Escaping by any means possible to dodge this draft sounds like the more reasonable approach. In fact, it feels like the necessary approach. You understand that you can't live in ignorance as if this war isn't happening, and yet declaring war against the devil sounds not only dangerous but completely exhausting. Battling the God of this world is too far beyond our human ability. And you would be right. Entering this war, enduring this war, and emerging victorious in this war depends on one thing. Complete and total surrender of our weakness to Christ, our victor. Real quick, do you want to be a part of what God's doing here at Abidible? For just a few dollars a month, you can support our mission to help people know and love God by abiding in Him through His Word. Check out the link in the show description to learn more. Christ is our victor. Don't you see it? That's what this wilderness story is all about. Sure, we can learn from it and follow his example and fast to put God first and best in our heart and wield the sword of the Spirit, Scripture, against lies and temptations. But we're never going to do it as perfectly or consistently or fearlessly as Christ did. This final temptation, too offensive for Jesus to even entertain, the one where Satan is saying, fall down and worship me, is immediately addressed with a command. This time it's a command first and then scripture. Our verse for today, Matthew 4.10, says, Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Command first, be gone, Satan, then Scripture. The wilderness story is the story of Christ's perfect obedience in the midst of greater temptation than any of us will ever experience. His victory in this desolate wasteland is our victory. Had he not come, had he not endured, had he not overcome, we would still be enslaved to Satan, sin, and death. But because he came, endured, and overcame Satan, sin and death, we can now overcome Satan, sin and death too. Because of his completed work on the cross, the victory has already been secured over Satan. The devil has already lost. His time is short and his impact is limited. If we are in Christ, we do not battle alone. We battle alongside the risen Christ whose thigh reads King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This conquering king told us in Luke 10.19, after just recounting that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, that he has given us authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt us. Think back again to that meme of the man walking off the gangway of the ship. In Christ, now put yourself in his shoes. Debris is flying in every direction, yet your face is steadfast and not afraid. Step after step you head forward, unhindered and undeterred. You're not looking to the left or to the right. You're not cowering or shielding your face. Your eyes are set and you simply carry on. In this version, it's not ignorance or apathy or denial that carries you through the chaos. No, come what may, there is a calm and peace and confidence in your countenance. You know nothing can harm you, and the victory is secure because you know the victor. Pretending the battle isn't happening is the easiest way to become a casualty of this spiritual war. It rages in the heavenly realm, and though we can't physically see it, we do feel the impact of it. Denying it, numbing it, escaping from it actually means that we have surrendered to it. A historian once said, war is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling, which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free. I want you to understand that taking the easy path is a path of surrender to the tyrant of this world. Living under his reign through apathy is far worse than whatever you perceive the cost of entering the war to be. Surrender in the form of sitting this one out seems to be the quickest way to safety, but that is an illusion. It is a false peace. It is the way that leads to fatal compromise and a worse fate than fighting. Churchill spoke to those in World War II who had the choice between fighting and surrender. There were many who thought appeasement would bring peace. They were wrong. He said, You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war. You will have war with Satan whether you surrender or whether you fight. Surrender and he will rule over you. Fight and you will be free in Christ. Let's look at these two options a little more closely. Surrender and sit this one out or fight. Think about Jesus again in the wilderness. How easy would it have been for him to surrender? To choose to just avoid the fight. The shortcut that Satan was offering is the shortcut we are offered every day. Less suffering, no rejection, no cross for us, no picking up our cross. Temptation works in this way. It's hardly ever an invitation to openly worship Satan. Instead, it's much more insidious. It says, just step out of a fight. Just don't resist. Just take the easy way out here. When we do that, and this is so hard to hear, we have stepped out of allegiance to Christ in quiet surrender to the enemy's agenda. Imagine you're watching a football game. A particular player steps out onto the field with the rest of the team. The whistle blows and the game begins. But instead of blocking for his teammates, this particular player just slowly jogs along the sideline. The team huddles up to share the next play call, but this player stays outside the huddle, staring up into the stands. Sure, he stays on the field. He's wearing the uniform, so he's technically a part of the team, but his head isn't in the game. He's not challenging the opponent, he's not blocking for his teammates, he's not fighting for possession of the ball or points in the end zone. He's decided, maybe consciously, maybe not, that it's easier to avoid the struggle than to engage in the battle. Imagine how frustrating that would be to the rest of the team. The game is very real to them. It's happening in real time. The opponent is real and the stakes are real. There will be a winner and a loser. And one of their teammates has quietly decided to just stop fighting. The truth is, this is how many of us live our spiritual lives as Christians. We're not openly rejecting Jesus or officially renouncing our faith. We're simply stepping out of the fight. The enemy whispers lies, and instead of resisting, we shrug. Sin creeps in, and instead of confronting it, we ignore it. Opportunities to love, forgive, disciple, and stand for truth appear, and we let them pass right by. Because engaging feels costly. We're still on the field, but we've stopped playing the game. And there's a reason for that. Fighting the spiritual battle is exhausting. It's way easier to withdraw than to forgive, to stay silent than to speak the truth, to pursue comfort instead of obedience. How might this play out in ordinary life? Let's talk about marriage, parenting, friendship, church, and politics. Yep, we're going for the jugular. First, let's talk about marriage. Picture a moment in your marriage where you felt hurt or misunderstood. Your spouse said something sharp, or maybe it's less about what they said or did and more about what they no longer say or do. Maybe you feel overlooked and forgotten. Maybe there has been a real betrayal or failure. In that place, two kingdoms are inviting you to respond. A life surrendered to Satan's kingdom, to his influence, often looks like withdrawal. You stop trying, you grow cold, you rehearse your grievances instead of extending grace. You tell yourself, why should I keep loving when they aren't? You still stay married, you go to church and you go through all the motions, but inwardly you're on the sidelines. Perhaps you're even sitting on the bench out of the game entirely. The result of this demonic influence in your marriage is that the distance grows even more. Bitterness takes root, and your marriage becomes a quiet coexistence rather than a living picture of Christ and his church. But a life surrender to the kingdom of God and Jesus' influence fights a very different battle. Not against your spouse, but against the enemy of your marriage who manifests himself in the form of pride, resentment, and self-protection. You forgive when it costs you something. You speak gently when you want to lash out. You pursue reconciliation when it would be easier to throw in the towel. That path is much harder in the moment, but over time it produces something beautiful. Kingdom fruit. Trust grows, patience endures, grace multiplies, and your marriage miraculously becomes a testimony of the gospel instead of a casualty of spiritual apathy. How about parenting? The two kingdoms call for your allegiance here, too. Think about it. You've had a long day, your patience is thin, and your child disobeys again. The easy path is surrendering to the emotion and exhaustion of the moment. You snap or you check out emotionally and don't address it at all and just put them in front of a screen. We justify it, don't we? I'm tired. This isn't a big deal. I just don't have the energy to deal with this today. That kind of surrender feels harmless, but over time it forms a pattern. Discipleship fades, conversations about God disappear, correction gives way to convenience, and the spiritual battle for your child's heart quietly goes uncontested. In our exhaustion, our apathy causes us to hand the keys of our child's heart over to Satan. The parent who is surrendered to Jesus in the battle is able to see something deeper happening. They're able to understand that this isn't just misbehavior. It's evidence of sin and a heart that needs to be shepherded, of a soul that needs loving, patient instruction. So in spite of being tired and oh so fed up, you step up and you step into the moment. You correct patiently, you get to the heart of the issue, you talk about sin and grace, and you pray over them and with them. It takes way more effort and it takes dying to self. But years later, there it is again, kingdom fruit and the freedom and joy that comes from raising a child who has seen the gospel lived out in their home. Now let's think about friendship and how the two kingdoms vie for control in this arena of our lives. You see a friend beginning to drift spiritually. You notice compromise coming into their life. They're aligning more with the world than with God, and you see the dangerous direction that things are headed. The easy path, the path of quiet surrender, is exactly that. It's silence. You don't say anything at all because it feels uncomfortable to address what you're seeing. You tell yourself, it's not my place. I don't want to risk the relationship. Someone else more equipped than me will say something. That silence means the drifting continues. And eventually, over time, the friendship becomes shallow. And what anchored your friendship together, truth and faith, is no longer part of the relationship. But surrender to Jesus and his kingdom looks totally different in this friendship. This person is willing to step into the discomfort by asking hard questions, by speaking the truth gently in love, by risking misunderstanding because they love their friend and care about their soul. The fruit here is forged through courage and provides something deeper than comfort. It provides truth and life in the friendship. Now picture a moment at church. Someone has disappointed you. A decision has been made that you disagree with. Someone says something insensitive or fails to care for you in the way you hoped they would. Now note, I'm not talking about serious sin issues or doctrinal errors. That's a whole different story. But in moments like these, like the ones I just described, church hurt moments, again, the two kingdoms are inviting you to respond. Satan's invitation is to often quietly disengage. So you pull back, you stop serving, you begin critiquing everything from a distance. Perhaps you pull others into your offense in order to build an alliance, replaying the offense over and over. You tell yourself this church just isn't what it should be. Maybe you still attend on Sunday and sing the songs, but inwardly you've stepped off the battlefield because you no longer feel church is worth fighting for. The result? Unity fractures, suspicion grows, and if enough people engage in this, the church becomes a place of critical spectators instead of humble servants. A life surrendered to Jesus fights differently. The fight here isn't against the church, but against pride, offense, division, and the temptation to withdraw. This person pursues Christ-centered conflict resolution, humble conversation instead of gossip, and unity instead of division. They extend patience where they expected perfection and keep serving even when it feels unseen. This person can keep caring even when they may feel uncared for because they know Christ cares for them and serving the church blesses him. This path is harder in the moment for sure. It can be very hard, but over time it produces beautiful kingdom fruit. Unity deepens, grace spreads through the community, and the church becomes what it was always meant to be: a body of imperfect believers held together by the mercy of Christ. Here's one final example: politics. And all God's people groaned. Social media, news feeds, and comment sections, or perhaps engaged in in-person debate with friends, family, or coworkers about issues of the day. These spaces are often filled with disinformation, outrage, arguments, and thick tension. A story breaks, a controversial issue erupts, and people begin choosing sides. In those moments, both kingdoms, you can be sure, are again inviting you to respond. A life surrendered to the kingdom of the God of this world reacts. You rush to post, you fire off sharp words, you assume the worst about anyone who disagrees with you. And the internet rewards that. To Christ's kingdom looks very different. The battle is fought primarily in private on your knees. Instead of rushing to have a public response, you first plead with God for your neighbors, for your friends, for your family who do not know God and therefore are hostile toward Him and maybe even you. You understand that your battle isn't against them, but against the one who is holding them captive to these ideologies and lies and deceptions in the first place. You fight not against people, not against flesh and blood, but against the pull toward your own pride, toward self-righteousness, and toward the use of careless words. You pause before speaking. You refuse to participate in the fruitless cycle of outrage. And you remember that every person on the other side of the screen or on the other side of a conversation is someone Christ calls you to love. You still speak the truth. You don't compromise, but you do it with gentleness and restraint and with a heart that wants to point toward Christ, not just win an argument. Yes, this path is much harder in the moment. But over time, beautiful kingdom fruit is produced. Your words carry weight instead of noise, and people are actually able to hear you. Your presence brings light into dark conversations and dark spaces, and your life becomes a witness that the kingdom of Christ operates differently than the kingdoms of this world. Now, condemnation is setting in right about now, right? At least it is for me. I don't know about you, but I have failed miserably and repeatedly in every single one of these examples. I've checked out of the battle by hugging, clinging to the sideline or beelining for the bench. In my flesh, I have surrendered these battles so many times to Satan. I've welcomed the shortcut and I've embraced the easy. And in all of it, I've lost sight of the reality that surrendering to Satan doesn't mean that I escape. It means that I've aligned myself with a kingdom that opposes the God I say I love. This devastates me. But, but we must meet this devastating condemnation with what is true. First of all, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That's Romans 8:1. Though we deserve condemnation for our apathy, which is actually surrender to sin and Satan, that's not how Christ meets us in this space. He meets us with forgiveness and grace. And he's able to do that because of what he accomplished, not only in the wilderness, but on the cross. He had to endure temptation perfectly in the wilderness, or the cross would never have come. And without a cross, there'd be no grave. And without a grave, there'd be no rolled away stone, no victory over Satan's sin and death, and no covering of our condemnation. Jesus endured so that we wouldn't be condemned when we take the shortcut. So we must reject these feelings of condemnation and continue to meditate on Matthew 4. What Satan is repeatedly offering Jesus is the shortcut, the same easy path he offers us every single day. Do things my way. No suffering, no rejection, no cross. Just surrender, fall down, and worship me. But where we give in and accept the offer, Jesus refuses it. And because he does, something amazing happens for us. He makes a way where there was no way for us. Because he chooses the Father's kingdom to do things the Father's way, it means not only are we forgiven when we botch it, but we are also empowered to do it differently next time. You are never too far gone to be forgiven or to learn how to fight. In his strength, because he is victorious, you can fight temptation in the same way today. You can be victorious in the ordinary, everyday battles in your life, in your marriage or in your singleness, in parenting or whatever ministry you have to others, in your friendships, in your church, and in the world. What Jesus accomplished in the wilderness changes everything for you. We'll be right back after this message. I want to make sure that you know what's coming up next here at Abidible because I think it is a necessary follow-up to our current wilderness passage here in Matthew 4. As we've been walking with Jesus, we've watched Satan come after him again and again, pressing and twisting Scripture, trying to shake his trust in the Father. And each time Jesus has stood firm with the truth of God's word. In just a few weeks, we are going to equip you to stand firm too by studying Ephesians 6, 10 through 20 and the armor of God. The Bible is clear. We are not battling flesh and blood, but spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. The good news is that God has not left us unprepared in this battle. We are going to really learn what it means to put on the full armor that God has given us: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, salvation, faith, and the word of God, so that when temptation comes, when trials come, when the enemy whispers lies, we are ready to stand firm. Don't step into this study alone. Grab a friend and say, hey, will you do this with me? We are going to begin the Monday after Easter, April 6th. So if you want to follow along live, now is the time to grab your copy. I've linked both the digital and printed versions in this episode's description. Join us as we learn together what it really looks like to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Let's stand firm and fight together. And now back to the show. We've established that checking out rarely looks dramatic, and that's the quiet danger. Comfort over obedience, silence over truth, self-protection over sacrificial love. It's a pattern of choosing whatever feels easiest in the moment. And that's how Satan gets small victories in our everyday lives. The long-term consequences are devastating. Marriages grow cold, children grow up without spiritual formation, friendships lose their depth in Christ, church pews empty out, and Christians attack each other and the world and destroy their witness online. Entire lives become spiritually passive, and the score swings in Satan's favor. I know you don't want that. I don't want that. I know that we want to bear fruit for God's kingdom, not be agents of opposition to God by surrendering to Satan's kingdom. So what's the alternative? The alternative is a declaration of war. We don't passively disengage, we don't hug the sideline, we don't hide on the bench. We declare war. We say, just as Jesus did, be gone, Satan, understanding that we never fight alone or in our own strength. The devil has to obey us because that's the authority that has been given to us in the name of Jesus. Do I need to read it to you again in case you think I'm exaggerating? Jesus says plainly in Luke 10 19, I have given you authority. I have given you authority, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all, all, all, not some, over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. We must declare war. How? How do we fight? As I mentioned in my brief message a few minutes ago, in our new series, starting right after Easter, the armor, we're going to be learning how to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. We will learn how to stand against the schemes of the devil and wrestle against the rulers, authorities, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We will learn how to withstand in the evil day, and I think that's exactly where we are in the biblical timeline. And we will learn how to stand firm and extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and to persevere with boldness. So yeah, we really need this study from Ephesians 6, 10 through 20. I hope that you're going to pick it up with me. Again, it's linked in this episode's description. So how do we declare war and fight? We're going to learn about it. But for me, one of the huge takeaways from this series is that when we meditate on Christ as victorious over Satan, we are emboldened to fight alongside him. Matthew 4 has really proven Christ's power to me. This story is an absolute embarrassment to Satan. This great battle, the one foretold in Genesis 3, it's not a tie. Jesus doesn't just eke out the victory, it is a total shutout. Satan brings his best, he tries his hardest, he does his worst, and Jesus doesn't even seem to flinch. In this final temptation, the devil outrageously tries to get the son to fall down and worship him. For Jesus to reject the love he has for the Father and instead worship the worthless one is a total joke. No wonder the devil doesn't lead into this temptation with the same caveat if you are the Son of God. It's like he even knows how absurd this request is. It's so out there that were he to bring up Jesus' sonship, it will expose the blasphemy all the more. Listen to this observation from commentator Alexander McLaren. We note that Satan has no more to say about the Son of God. He has been foiled in both his assaults on Christ in that character. If he stood firm in filial trust and in filial submission, there was no more to be done. So the tempter tries new weapons and seeks to pervert the desire for that dominion over the world, which was to be a consequence of the sonship. He has not been able to touch him as son. Can he not spoil him as king? They are rivals. Can they not strike up a treaty? Jesus thinks that he is going to reign as God's viceroy. Can he not be induced as a much quicker way of getting to his end to become Satan's? Such a scheme sounds very stupid, but Satan is very stupid. For all his wisdom and the hopeless folly of his proposal is typical of the absurdities which lie in all sins. There is an old play, the title of which would be coarse if it were not so true, The Devil is an ass. Satan says, Fall down and worship me. Jesus says, Go away. I worship my father alone. Do you get it? Jesus has just completely humiliated Satan in the wilderness. He strips him of all perceived power, authority, and strategy. The devil is not just a weaker opponent. He is no opponent at all. Satan is no match for Jesus. We are meant to see this. Do you understand? We are meant to know that when exposed, when placed alongside Christ our King, the devil is not just lacking, but totally and completely pathetic. McLaren continues, There is nothing weaker, says an old school man, than the devil stripped naked. The mask is thrown off at last, and swift and smiting comes the gesture and the word of abhorrence, get thee hence, Satan, now revealed in thy true colors. Jesus still couches his refusal in scripture words as if sheltering himself behind their broad shield. It is safest to meet temptation not by our own reasonings and thoughts, but by the words which cannot lie. As he held unmoved by his filial trust and his filial submission, now he clings to the foundation principle of all religion, the exclusive worship and service of God. His kingdom is to be a kingdom of priests. Therefore, to begin it by such an act would be suicide. It is to be the victorious antagonist of Satan's kingdom, because it is to lead all men to worship God alone. Therefore, enmity, not alliance, is to be between these two. Christ's last words are not only his final refusal of all the baits, but the ringing proclamation of war to the death, and that a war which will end in victory. The enemy's quiver is empty. He feels that he has met more than his match, so he skulks from the field, beaten for the first time by having encountered a heart which all his fiery darts failed to inflame, and dimly foreseeing yet more utter defeat. Satan declared war on God in heaven. God responded with his own declaration of war in the garden. Every day in every way God has been moving time toward the ultimate defeat of the devil and his demons, toward the moment when they will finally be cast into the lake of fire forever. God has declared war against Satan. And because we love God and because we follow him, we must actively declare war against him too. Peace through avoidance is an illusion. The battle is fierce. It requires courage, yes. As William Wallace said, I fight and you may die. Run and you'll live at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom. A life surrendered to Satan's kingdom through escape, apathy, or ignorance is no life at all. It is a life that pretends to be unaffected by the war raging outside, but is actually quite the opposite. When we are not at peace with God, war rages within. We all know that feeling. So the choice is more straightforward than Satan wants us to see. False peace, security, and comfort while war rages within, or join the battle with God as our victor and experience true peace within, come what may. When we realize that Satan is an ass, when we unmask him for who he truly is, the biggest barrier to declaring war, our fear, flees. We'll see next week in verse 11 that because of Jesus, Satan has to flee. He has to leave Jesus. Jesus commands him to go and he turns and goes. He is subject to Jesus. Satan follows God's orders, which means that when we join the fight alongside Jesus, we are fully protected. God will give us everything we need to emerge victorious in every situation, every battle, every temptation. Listen to Romans 8, 31 to 39. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Even our failures, even our misalignments with Satan and the kingdom of this world, even the small compromises and the exhausted concessions that we make, nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus endured the wilderness, fighting his way perfectly to the cross, so that we would have the authority to fight and the strength to stand, and also the grace and forgiveness we need when we fail and when we fall. Think about what he did for you in that sense. Think about the love behind that kind of endurance. Think about what motivated Jesus most, what enabled him to say no to bread from stones and a careless jump off the pinnacle and an invitation to exchange worship of God for worship of Satan. What was the single driving force behind his ability to overcome? Love for the Father. And what was the second? Love for us. When we get that, when we understand that God did not spare his only son, but gave him up for us all, so that Satan could never again bring a charge against us, and that Jesus died and was raised and is now at the right hand of God interceding for us, and that we are more than conquerors through Christ, and that nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from God's love. When we get that, well, we will stand and declare war against the one who declared war on our good, good Father. Here's the big idea. A declaration of war against Satan is motivated by love for God. Here's where I'm landing today. I want it to be a total joke for us to give in to Satan. I want the mere idea of escaping or hiding behind apathy or ignorance to be so offensive to our love for God that we laugh it off. I want us to grow to be a people who abhor sidelines and benches because love motivates us to expose works of darkness and resist the devil and stand firm in the Lord and in the strength of his might and to stay in the fight. I want us to know God so well that loving and serving him is the only option that every idol and false God and temptation to compromise or concede offends us to the core, just like it offended Jesus. I want us to be in steadfast alignment with God against Satan, and I want us to daily wake up and declare war by fighting the good fight to the end. What do you want to say at the end of your life? You know it's coming. Each one of us will die, or Jesus will come back for us. But either way, do you want to point to that warm spot on the bench? Or do you want to say, as Paul did, that you were poured out as a drink offering, and that you fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith? Safe sucks. Don't be deceived by its allure. Safe is friendship with the world and alignment with Satan. Stand up, stand firm, fight the fight, finish the race, worship and serve God alone. No, you do not fight alone. You do not even fight in your own strength. You fight behind and beside the lamb who was slain, the living God, the Alpha and the Omega, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, Almighty God. He is worthy of your allegiance, him alone. He is worthy of your endurance, him alone. He is worthy of whatever temporary suffering, rejection, or hardship you encounter. Worship him alone through your declaration of war, through your faithfulness in the fight. And not only will he enable you to endure, but he will reward you richly for that endurance. The book of Revelation is called The Revelation of Jesus Christ, and it was given to the Apostle John. Christ is beautiful in this book, and he opens it with encouragement to the churches to endure. He knows both the ways that they are persevering and the temptations they are facing to give in. So he offers both commendations and rebukes, as well as promises to the one who conquers. I'll close with a summary of his words because they are beautiful and encouraging and a good battle plan for us to endure to the end. To the church at Ephesus, he said, Great job with doctrinal vigilance and endurance, but be careful to not lose your first love. Jesus says, Remember and repent and do the works you did at first. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God. To the church at Smyrna, great job being spiritually rich and enduring persecution. And they didn't have a rebuke, just a call, be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. To the church at Pergamum, great job holding fast to Christ's name and not denying your faith, but be careful of false teaching among you. Jesus says, Therefore, repent, and to the one who conquers, I will give him hidden manna and a new name. To the church at Thyatira, great job at growing in love as evidenced by your deeds of service, but you lack discernment and are tolerating heresy. He says, Hold fast to what you have until I come, the one who conquers and keeps my words until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. To the church at Sardis, great job, to the few that have remained pure and loyal. But for most of you, Jesus says, You have the reputation of being alive, but your works are dead. Remember what you received and heard, keep it, repent, and wake up. The one who conquers will walk with Jesus, walk with me, he says, in white and never have their name blotted out of the book of life. I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. To the church at Philadelphia, great job patiently enduring and keeping God's word and not denying his name. There's no rebuke here, but a promise to keep them from the hour of trial coming on the whole earth, and a call to hold fast so that no one would seize their crown. Jesus promises them to the one who conquers that they will be a pillar in the temple of God in the New Jerusalem. And finally, to the church at Laodicea, there wasn't anything to commend, but a strong rebuke. You are spiritually blind, bankrupt, naked, and lukewarm. Jesus said, Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne. There is no reward for playing it safe. Only devastating heartbreak on the day we face Jesus to give an account for why we tapped out, why we gave in to false teaching or heresy, why we appeared alive on the outside but were dead on the inside, and why we let our love grow cold or our faith turn lukewarm. There is grace for us now and forgiveness for the many ways in which we failed. If we belong to Christ, nothing, nothing can separate us from his love. But part of being his is hearing the invitation he has for us. We must not ignore his invitation while it is still today. He did not die for us to be a side-lined people. He died for us to be more than conquerors. He was victorious so that we could be victorious. Avoiding the battle isn't victory, it's utter defeat. Victory comes when we stand and fight. So stand and fight. And if you haven't, know that he reproves and disciplines those he loves. So be zealous and repent. We must all be zealous and repent, and we must accept his invitation. The invitation to say, Be gone, Satan, the invitation to worship God alone, the invitation to declare war and endure to the end. He did, and because he did, we can too. So declare war on Satan. I double dog dare you. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The loser is the one who never steps into the arena because of fear. The winner, the victor, the Christian warrior is the one who knows that the battle belongs to the Lord. In him and in the strength of his might, you can only ever be victorious. Declare war today by choosing Christ's kingdom over Satan's. When the lie whispers in your ear tomorrow morning, when the resentment starts to take root in your marriage, when your child tests your patience, when fear tells you to stay silent instead of speaking the truth, when outrage rises in your chest as you scroll the news or read that comment section, when temptation promises the shortcut, in that moment, remember the words of Jesus. Look the enemy in the face and say exactly what your Savior said. Be gone, Satan. Then turn your attention where Jesus turned his, back to the Father, back to worship, back to obedience. Because the battle is not won by staring at the enemy, it's won by fixing your eyes on Christ and choosing again and again and again to worship and serve God alone. So today, when the battle shows up in the ordinary places of your life, don't step off the field. Stand firm. Resist the devil. Worship God alone. And walk forward. Perhaps surrounded by chaos flying in every direction, yeah, walk forward in the quiet, unshakable confidence that the victory has already been won through Christ Jesus our Lord, and that the only side of Satan will see if we choose to rise up and fight is his back. He's a loser. Christ is the victor. Choose this day whom you will serve and declare war on the devil in Jesus' name. And that's it for this episode. If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share the Abidible Podcast with them. Keep spreading the word so we can make much of the word. Drop us a review, tell us what you love and what you're learning. Check out the link to learn more about partnering with us by buying us a coffee one time, by joining our Abidible Plus women's Facebook membership community for $10 a month, or by becoming a monthly supporter. For those of you following along in the workbook, go ahead and begin working on our final verse in this series, Matthew 4.11, on pages 56 to 59 in your study workbook. You can also complete your final recap section found on pages 60 to 62. Ideally, you would have these sections done before you listen to the next episode number 90. The verse next week is Matthew 4.11. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Next week, I'm so excited, we get to see the best side of Satan. Not that there is any good to him, but if there was one side that's my favorite, it would definitely be his back. The side of him we see when he has to flee because in Christ and through Christ we've resisted him. I love this picture of the devil unmasked, disarmed, and dethroned, tailed between his legs, forced to flee. Come back next week so we can take a victory lap together, celebrating our Savior's wilderness endurance, along with some pretty great company, the angels who rush to his side to minister to him. I'll pray for us and then close us out with our memory work for verse 10. Father, we come before you, humbled by the truth, that there is a real battle being fought over our hearts, our homes, our churches, and our witness in the world. Forgive us for the ways that we have stepped out of the fight. Forgive us for the moments when we have chosen comfort over obedience, silence over truth, and self-protection over sacrificial love. Forgive us for the times we have believed the lie that ignoring the battle would somehow keep us safe. Thank you. Thank you for sending your son to do what we never could. Thank you that in the wilderness Jesus stood firm where we fail. Thank you that he endured temptation perfectly so that he could go to the cross for us. Thank you that through his death and resurrection, the victory over Satan, sin, and death has already been secured. Lord, remind us that we do not fight this battle alone. You have given us authority through Christ, and you have given us your spirit to strengthen us. Teach us to stand firm. Strengthen our marriages to reflect the gospel. Help us shepherd the hearts of our children or the people we minister to. Give us courage to speak truth in love to our friends, protect the unity of our churches, and guard our witness in the world so that our words reflect the grace and truth of Christ. When we are tired, remind us that the battle belongs to you. When we are tempted to withdraw, remind us that the victory has already been won. Give us hearts that love you so deeply that we refuse to surrender ground to the enemy. Make us a people who worship you alone, serve you alone, and stand firm in the strength of Christ our King. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the one who defeated the enemy and reigns forever. Amen. Let's close by doing our memory work together. I'm going to repeat Matthew 4.10 five times. Say it out loud with me or quietly to yourself. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Matthew four ten. Remember, you are able to abide in the Bible. We'll see you next time. Until then, let's abide.