Beware the Wiles of the Devil
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Beware the Wiles of the Devil
Keywords:
“lies”
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temptation.
Passage: Matthew 16:13-23*
13. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14. And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
15. He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17. And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.
19. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
20. Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
21. From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
22. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
23. But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Questions
1. What did Peter do that was good in the passage above?
2. What mistake did Peter make?
Practical help
When Jesus asked His twelve apostles what the crowds were saying about Him, it wasn’t from insecurity. He just wanted to know what the scuttlebutt on the street was about Him. More than that, He wanted to know what His followers thought about Him. Not surprisingly, when He asked the question, Simon Peter took the mic and spoke right up, “‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”
Man, what a great response! Way to go, Peter. Immediately after his “great confession,” though, Peter suffered a “great confusion.”
Jesus went on to tell His disciples that He was going to go to Jerusalem, that he was going to suffer at the hands of the Jewish leadership, and that He was then going to be scourged and crucified by the Romans.
Peter, our hero for the day, grabbed Jesus by the arm and took Him — Jesus! — aside and rebuked Him for those comments. He actually said, “[22] God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
To which Jesus replied, “[33]…“Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
What happened to Peter can easily happen to any of us. We have a moment of clarity, where spiritual realities break through as clear as glass. Then, in an instant, that good focus flies out the window as we fix our hopes on our agendas.
Peter warns us to beware the creeping influence of demonically inspired attacks on our faith. Our enemy’s diabolical plot is to shift our focus from a Jesus-centered orientation to life to one that is self-centered. When that shift occurs we are sitting ducks for temptations to bad beliefs (like Peter suffered) or bad behaviors (like porn addiction).
Keep your eyes on Jesus — and beware of the sneaky attacks of Satan and his lies.
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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright
The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by
permission."
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