When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him… (Luke 4:13 NKJV).
After Jesus’ baptism, He went into the wilderness for forty days, where the devil tempted him. He didn’t eat while in the wilderness, and in the end, he was hungry. So the devil tempted him to turn a stone into bread and eat – Jesus rebuked him with scripture, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'” (Luke 4:4 KNJV).
With every temptation the devil brought, Jesus struck back with God’s Word of scripture. We would do well to remember this because Jesus’ temptation serves as a symbol—both of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years after being “baptized” in the Red Sea—and the journey of the Christian navigating life in a fallen world. The adversary is set against us and will do everything to distract you and make you turn aside, take your eyes of Christ—and he will never stop.
Temptation will be our constant companion in this life.
Every moment of every day, the enemy of my soul, or my selfish, earthy inner-man, hurl at me temptation after temptation, large and small, from the seemingly insignificant to potentially devastating. The way Jesus met temptation is the way the Israelites should have responded, and the way we must respond if we want to walk in joy with the love of God compelling us to press on in Jesus. You must rebuke him with scripture.
You will be able to expel the tempter to the extent that you are immersed in the scriptures and living a transparent life. The Holy Spirit will bring the Word to you at the moment you need it.
They surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
(Psalm 118:11 NKJV).