How to beat the devil: Day 1

“I didn’t know” is the sentence we reach for when we get caught, but it doesn’t hold up in court and it doesn’t hold up in the life of faith. We kick off the week with a clear-eyed look at spiritual warfare and temptation through Matthew 4:3–11, where Jesus faces the enemy in the wilderness and answers with three words that still cut through the noise today: “It is written.”

We walk through why Scripture isn’t just inspirational content, it’s authority. Jesus doesn’t fight temptation with feelings, willpower, or clever arguments. He fights with the Word of God, which raises a blunt question for all of us: is “It is written” actually our first defense, and if so, do we know what’s written? We talk about the difference between having access to the Bible and storing it in your heart, and why what you put into your mind is what comes out when the pressure is on.

Then we get practical. Take an honest look at your media consumption and compare it to the time you spend absorbing God’s Word. If reading is hard, use an audio Bible and let Matthew 4 play while you drive, work out, or get ready for the day. Build that baseline of biblical knowledge now so you’re not scrambling later.

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Transcript

Welcome And Weekly Focus

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Well, good morning. Welcome to Field Notes. I'm glad you're joining me this morning as we kick off a brand new week. This is Josh. And this week, we're diving into the tactics of spiritual warfare. Now, specifically, we're looking at how Jesus defeats the enemy in the wilderness in Matthew chapter 4, verses 3 through 11. And we're going to look at the three tools that Jesus used: knowledge, wisdom, and choice. So grab your coffee or Mountain Dew or Celsius or whatever it is that you're drinking to wake up. Let's get settled and let's get into today's rundown. I used to hate it when I was a deputy. I'd be out on patrol and I'd pull someone over for doing 60 in a 25 mile an hour zone. I'd walk up to the window and I'd explain why I stopped them, and without fail, I'd get the exact same excuse every time. Oh, I didn't know. Or, oh, I thought the speed limit was 50, or whatever the case may be, something along those lines. But here's the thing ignorance is not a criminal defense. When you get behind the wheel, you assume the responsibility of knowing the law. When you go, hey, I'm a driver, I have a license, they assume you know the law. And when you stand before a judge and say, I didn't know, it doesn't excuse the offense. It's the exact same thing in our spiritual lives. When we eventually stand before Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5.10 says that we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And you know what? We won't be able to plead ignorance. We won't be able to sit here and go, I didn't know. The Bible says God has made himself known through creation and that he's written his law on our hearts. Even more than that, we have unrestricted access to his written word. There has never been a point in human history where we have more access to the Bible than we do right now. In fact, you're listening to this on a device that has access to the entire written Bible. See, when Jesus was led into the wilderness, the devil came to tempt him. And what Jesus, what was his very first line of defense? Three words. It is written. He didn't rely on feelings, he didn't rely on his own abilities, he didn't rely on strength, he didn't try to reason in logic with the devil. He relied on the absolute authority of the word of God. But here's the hard truth. Is that our first line? Is our first defense when we are being tempted by the world, by the devil, is our first thing to say it is written? Because if it is, we actually need to know what is written. So whether we're reading on our phones or an old school paper Bible or our computers, the question isn't whether we have access to the knowledge. The question is do we care enough to store it in our hearts? Because what we put into our mind, what we put in and fill our heart with is exactly what is going to come out when the pressure's on. And that brings us to our challenge this week. Look honestly today at your media consumption. How much time are you going to spend absorbing the world's content? Whether it's the music, the podcast, the scrolling, the whoever is posting from Newport, whatever it might be, how long are you going to spend absorbing that opposed to, or versus storing up God's word in your heart? And here's our action step for today. I want you to take away the excuse of I don't have time, or I'm a slow reader. Open up your Bible today. Navigate to Matthew chapter four, hit the audio play button if it if reading's too much, and just listen or read. We're going to be in Matthew chapter 4 again next week. But you can do this while you're driving, while you're working out, while you're getting ready for the day, whatever it is, you can let the word actively wash over you this morning. Build that baseline of knowledge so that when the enemy does come, and he is going to come, you know what is written. Well, thanks for tuning in this morning. Have a great Monday, and I'll see you back here for tomorrow for day two.