Religions > Bible > 15-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan's Steps in Temptation
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15-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan's Steps in Temptation |
15-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan's Steps in Temptation
1 John 2:7-17
Many of God's children have been deceived into believing that Satan is
invincible and that when he tempts a man there is nothing the individual
can do to withstand him; that he has so many devices at his disposal
that, whether we desire it or not, eventually he must triumph over us.
This is a lie of the Devil. It is a lie designed to blind us to the steps
which Satan uses in temptation. For if we understand these steps and are
on guard against them, if we understand the devices of the evil one, we
are prepared to meet him and by the Spirit's help to defeat him.
The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Your adversary, the devil, as a
roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." Satan roars to
attract attention to himself and to distract us from the true nature of
his devices. John, in 1 John 2:16, writes concerning the avenues through
which Satan can assault an individual. It is a comfort to know that Satan
cannot attack through a multitude of channels but can attack the
individual through only three. These and only these three are the gates
through which Satan can enter into the life of an individual. They are
well-known. The Apostle John writes that all that is in the world can be
summarized under three categories: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life. All sin, of necessity, falls into one of
these three classifications. There is that which is fleshly, or carnal.
This division recognizes that man, because of Adam's sin, is possessed of
a nature that is characterized by its fleshliness, by its appetite, its
desires, its cravings, its passions. Satan may appeal to these sins of
the flesh.
The second category of sin, which also characterizes the nature of man,
is referred to in the phrase, "the lust of the eye." This reveals the
fact that man is not only carnal by nature but also basically selfish;
that what he sees he desires and covets and what he desires or covets he
will attempt to attain for himself. This may be in a realm widely
separated from the realm of the flesh. Man is covetous or selfish by
nature and Satan may lead man away in temptation through this basic
selfishness. The third category of sins characteristic to human nature is
found in the phrase, "the pride of life." There are those sins that
appeal to pride because the human nature is basically proud; it loves and
strives for that which promotes and elevates the individual, pleases the
individual, gives a sense of independence to the individual. When Satan
comes to tempt an individual, he must appeal to one of these three basic
characteristics of the human nature, its carnal capacity, its selfish
interests, or its pride. Satan is not concerned only in having an
individual receive a temptation and consider that temptation. Satan is
concerned with having him succumb to that temptation; he is directing his
temptations ultimately to the will of the individual to produce an act or
a thought or a word which is contrary to the revealed will of God.
He may use the mind, or he may use the heart, or a combination of these
two. But ultimately his desire is to produce an act that comes from the
will of the individual who submits to the enticements of Satan and
follows him in disobedience against God. Satan recognizes that what a man
knows he comes to love and what a man loves he will obey. So Satan plants
a seed in the mind and then generates that seed so that affection for
that thing is produced, since what a man loves ultimately he will serve.
This process may be spread over an extensive period of time. A seed may
be planted and then left over a long period until a man eventually comes
to love what Satan has proposed and then finally obeys Satan's bidding.
Or, the process may be speeded up so that love for that thing which Satan
has planted in the mind may be almost instantaneous. But the one object
is to produce obedience to that which Satan desires. An individual facing
any temptation can analyze it to discover immediately into which category
it falls. Is it an appeal to the lust of the flesh? Is it an appeal to
the basic selfish nature through the lust of the eyes? Or is it an appeal
to pride? When one determines the nature of the attack he then can use
the Word of God, energized by the Spirit of God, to meet that attack. In
the wilderness temptations previously cited, Christ used the Word of God
to resist Satan's attacks.
In the area of appeal to the lust of the flesh, He replied from the Word,
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." In the
second area, through the lust of the eyes, He met the temptation with:
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." In
response to this appeal to selfishness Christ said, "I am willing to wait
God's time." To Satans appeal to pride, Christ again quoted from the Word
of God, "Thou shall not tempt [or put to the test] the Lord thy God."
Then we read in Luke 4:13 "when the devil had ended all the temptation.
.." When Satan had appealed to the lust of the flesh, and to the lust of
the eyes and to the pride of life there was no other channel through
which he could seek to approach the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan had no other
devices to tempt Christ than those which he has used so successfully in
the life of every man from the time of Adam's sin to the present time.
Christ's victory came because He recognized the nature of the appeal and
then could use the appropriate Scripture to resist that temptation. You
will notice this was not a blind adherence to the Word of God. Christ, by
analyzing and understanding the temptation, was able to apply a specific
principle and promise of the Word of God to that temptation. Many of us
go down in defeat before Satan, not because we don't respect the Word of
God, for we do, but we are ignorant of what is in the pages of the Word
of God and we are unable to apply a specific word to a given situation.
This is what Christ did.
In 2 Samuel 11 we read of one who was tested by the evil one who did not
triumph. David's sin is written across the pages of the Word of God to
remind us of the peril that faces the child of God who does not discern
Satan's method of attack and then use scriptural principles to resist.
King David was cooling himself upon his housetop in the evening of the
day. We read in the second verse, "It came to pass in an eveningtide,
that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's
house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman
was very beautiful to look upon. David sent messengers, and took her; and
she came in unto him, and he lay with her. ." We notice in the second
verse that Satan's first attack on David was through the lust of the
eyes, for he looked and saw. Because he was basically selfish, as all men
are, he coveted what he saw. He could rationalize with himself and say
that as king he had absolute authority over all his subjects, and it was
a royal prerogative to requisition that which the king desires.
But the Word of God was very specific. The law said, "Thou shalt not
commit adultery." He had further instruction given in Deuteronomy 17.
There, as Moses was preparing Israel to become a self-governing nation,
he anticipated that God one day would give Israel a king. Moses said in
verse 14, "Thou shalt say I will set a king over me, like as all the
nations, that are round about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king
over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from thy brethren
shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee,
which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself,
nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should
multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall
henceforth return no more that way." Men will trust in might, in power,
in self-defense and will not cast themselves in dependence upon God, so
God said the king shall not build a great stable of horses. Verse 17,
"Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not
away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold."
That which David was contemplating was forbidden, not only by the law but
by the added specific instructions of the Word of God. But David looked
and what he saw he coveted, because he was basically selfish. Then that
which David saw and lusted after he sent for. The lust of the eyes
promoted lust of the flesh, and he put a plan into operation to gain that
which the flesh coveted. That which he saw and desired, he took. The mind
saw, then the heart lusted, and then the will disobeyed the Word of God.
The steps of temptation that carried David to disgrace are the steps that
Satan uses in the experience of every man to bring that individual out of
the will of God and to obedience to himself.
We find that the Word of God gives some specific instructions because of
the three steps in temptation. In Philippians 4:8 the Apostle speaks
concerning the mind, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of
good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on
these things." Again in 2 Corinthians 10:5 the Apostle says we are to ".
cast down imaginations, [that is: bring under judgment every wicked
thought] and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ."
Satan begins with the mind. He plants a desire in that mind whether
through the flesh or through selfishness or through pride. The Word of
God says that that seed which Satan has planted is to be uprooted before
it germinates, before it proceeds a step further, for if that thought
planted by Satan is allowed to remain in the mind it will bear its fruit.
So when Satan attacks through the mind that thought is to be judged, to
be recognized as a satanic approach. It must be recognized as a first
step in temptation and uprooted by the Word of God and by the power of
the Spirit so it is not allowed to remain to produce sin.
In the second place, Satan moves from the mind to the area of the heart.
That which he has planted in the mind that appeals to the lust of the
flesh or the lust of the eyes or the pride of life becomes the object of
your affections. That is why Solomon who had great experience in
wrestling with Satan, usually to his own destruction, wrote in Proverbs
4:23, "Keep [or guard] thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are
the issues of life." If that seed planted in the mind is allowed to begin
to germinate, the heart will start loving what Satan has put there. That
is why the Apostle has to command us in 1 John 2:15, "Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world." James has to remind us that to
love the world is to become an adulterer against God because the world is
no friend of God (James 4:4).
A man needs to examine not only his mind to keep it cleansed, but to
examine his affections. What a man knows and loves he ultimately will
obey unless that progress is interrupted by the Word of God and the
Spirit of God. In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel reminds Saul that to obey is
better than sacrifice. If a man has received a temptation to his selfish,
proud, carnal nature and he begins to love it, the next step is to obey
it. The affections must be purified lest we serve sin.
In writing Romans 13:14 Paul gave us a summary principle that is of
paramount importance, "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Because we are
prone to put ourselves in situations where we subject ourselves to
Satan's attack, we simplify his work. Paul warns the child of God against
opening his mind so that Satan can pour thoughts into it. He warns the
child of God against opening his heart so that Satan can stir emotions
within it. He also warns the individual against making himself subject to
Satan's temptations. Much that we read, much that we see, much that we do
is diametrically opposed to Paul's principle of Romans 13:14, and we are
filling our minds with that which Satan can use. We are subject to
Satan's attacks because we make provision for the flesh. Satan moves in
on that which we have put there because we did not heed Paul's
admonition. We have allowed our affections to be diverted from the Lord
Jesus Christ and have come to love the things of this world so that
Satan's work is already partly done; he can move in on the affections for
which he is not responsible but which we have generated. Then we wonder
why we are under such an attack from the evil one. It is not his doing.
He is only taking advantage of what we have provided him to work with. It
is a short step from disobedience to this principle to falling into sin.
Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.
Satan cannot attack you in an infinite number of ways; he must appeal in
only three ways: he must appeal to that which is fleshly, that which is
selfish, or that which is the manifestation of pride. The Word of God
gives us this instruction that we might understand the nature of the
temptation and meet it through the Word and through the Holy Spirit. We
need to safeguard our minds and hearts so that we are not providing that
which Satan can use to produce sin.
Pentecost, J. D. (1997). Your adversary, the Devil. Originally published:
Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan, 1969. (131). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.
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