Lead us not into temptation – Part 3- Mat 6;13

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Sometimes it happens in an instant. One minute you are walking joyfully, and the next you are wide-eyed and falling. Satan has dug a hidden hole in the road. You walk innocently and then fall helplessly, unable to regain control. You crash at the bottom, stare at the darkness, inhale an evil stench, and sit in Satan’s sewage until he throws you out. You come back, dumbfounded, shocked, and confused, and you walk again.

Satan has a special trick for you. He pulls you when you are not looking. He does not meet you face-to-face. This snake does not fight straight; he comes and pokes you in the back. A master of subtlety and traps, he is a master of timing. He waits until your back is turned, waits until your defenses are down, and aims his arrow at your weakest point. When he hits, it’s a bull’s-eye. You lose control to anger, lust, or coveting; you lie, cheat, and fall. You look out the window. You lie, covet, burst out, and hit; you forget who you are and do things that are wrong. You deny your master. This is how Eve ate the fruit, Abraham lied, David committed adultery and murder, and Peter denied Christ. It is a sudden act.

He numbs your senses and removes your self-defense. You know what you are doing, but you cannot believe you are doing it. In the fog of weakness, we want to stop, but we have no will to stop. We want to turn around, but our eyes do not turn. We want to run, but we pitifully want to stay. We do it every time, hoping to find satisfaction and joy, but what results is confusion, guilt, despair, and a wounded conscience. We lose God’s presence, peace, and joy, as if molested by Satan. We pick ourselves up and stagger back into our lives. “O God, what have I done? My God, can you forgive me again?” This is the horror of temptation, the mother of all sins.

The first step to victory over temptation is to recognize Satan. Our war is not against flesh and blood but against Satan and his forces. We need to do what Jesus did when he met him in the wilderness: call him by name. We need to rip off his mask and openly denounce his disguise. He appears very innocently. When the urge to sin rears its ugly head, look at him squarely in the eye and call his bluff. “Get behind me, Satan.” That is what we are doing these two weeks: looking at the enemy and his subtle ways of tempting us into sin.

His goal is to make our lives and days a meaningless existence, like his own, so that we walk on our stomachs and eat dirt. But we are created for the glorious purpose of God’s glory. The most important things in our lives are how we lived for God’s glory and what we did for his kingdom and his will. Nothing else is important. Satan knows this, and his primary activity is to make sure we are not occupied with that great life goal. He does everything to hinder that. His greatest weapon to hinder us is tempting us.

The Subtle Devices of Satan

We are looking at 24 devices of Satan. I am sure Satan is not happy with this message. I have had unusual temptations and trials this past week. I didn’t get time to prepare properly. There was sickness at home, and I spent the whole day in the hospital yesterday. Physically, I was cold, sneezing, and very, very tired. It was a trial-filled week. It is no wonder that we face this. I praise God that he has helped me to stand before you today and continue this sermon. All his troubles will soon be crushed like a balloon by God. I believe God can give us a better understanding of his schemes and help us grow in grace by depending on him and being watchful and prayerful. He aims to hinder that.

We are looking at:

  1. He targets a specific person. He observes a person’s natural temperament and knows what temptations are proper to sow in such a heart.
  2. He chooses the fittest season to tempt. As a cunning fisherman casts his line when the fish will bite best, so the devil can hit the very moment when temptation is most likely to prevail. He tempts when he finds us unemployed, such as when David was walking on the rooftop. He also tempts us when a person is in trials, outward wants, sickness, or when we are alone. He tempts us after an ordinance.
  3. He tempts us to sin gradually. He does not go for a big sin immediately; he starts with just a glance, and lust grows and grows until a big sin comes.
  4. He hands over temptations to us by those whom we least suspect. The devil often stands behind the curtain; he will not be seen in the business but puts others to do his work, such as with Peter. He is a lying spirit in the mouths of our religious friends who would dissuade us from our duty.
  5. He tempts some people more than others, such as spiritually ignorant and careless people who do not practice spiritual disciplines, proud people, and those who are melancholy, depressed, and without joy. He also tempts idle people because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
  6. He gives a little respite and seems to leave off tempting for a while, causing a false sense of security in people. Then, on a sudden, Satan falls on them and wounds them.
  7. He hinders us from using the means of grace or makes us do them formally. He suggests to us our unworthiness and discourages us by objecting to a lack of success.

Additional Subtle Devices

Now let us continue with another 14 devices.

  1. He ensnares us by lawful things. He uses lawful things, such as entertainment, food, and love.
  2. He misrepresents true holiness. He makes others lose their love for true holiness by misrepresenting it as the most boring thing in life and by presenting a worldly life as the most enjoyable.
  3. He bewitches with pleasing baits. He ensnares people by setting pleasing baits before them, such as the riches, pleasures, and honors of the world. “All these things will I give thee” (Matthew 4:9). People who want to be rich, who love money, “fall into temptation and a snare” (1 Timothy 6:9). Their minds are fully occupied with saving money, and they never give anything for God’s kingdom.
  4. He pleads necessity. Satan, in tempting, pleads necessity and need to make us sin. He knows that necessity may in some cases seem to palliate crime and excuse a sin. A tradesman pleads the necessity of unlawful gain or he cannot live. “There is little sin; no money, so little sin; my child is sick, so this and that.” Thus, Satan tempts people to sin by the plea of necessity. He told our Lord that necessity would make a stone into bread. He will quote Scripture to prove that in some extraordinary cases, there may be a necessity of doing that which is not at other times justifiable. “Did not David, in case of necessity, ‘eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him, but only for the priests?'” (Matthew 12:4). “We do not read that he was blamed,” Satan says, “then why may not you, in extraordinary cases, trespass a little and take the forbidden fruit?” Oh, beware of this temptation! Satan’s cloven foot is in it. Necessity will not justify sin.
  5. He pretends friendship. Satan carries on his designs against us under the highest pretenses of friendship. He puts sugar in his poison and gives it to us, just as some people make the greatest pretenses of love where they have the most deadly hatred. Satan puts off his lion’s skin and comes in sheep’s clothing; this is where the great danger lies. He pretends kindness and friendship and would consult what might be for our good. Thus he came to Christ, “‘Command that these stones be made bread'” (Matthew 4:3). As if he had said, “I see you are hungry, and here there is no table spread for you in the wilderness. Therefore, pitying your condition, I wish you to get something to eat. Turn stones to bread so that your hunger may be satisfied.” But Christ spied the temptation and with the sword of the Spirit wounded the old serpent. Thus Satan came to Eve and tempted her under the notion of a friend: “Eat,” he said, “of the forbidden fruit; for the Lord knows that in the day you eat thereof, you shall be as gods.” As if he had said, “I persuade you only to that which will put you into a better condition than you are now in. Eat of this tree, and it will make you omniscient. You shall be as gods.” What a kind devil he was here! But it was a subtle temptation. She greedily swallowed the bait and ruined herself and all her posterity. Let us fear his fallacious flatteries.
  6. He persuades us to hide temptations. Satan tempts people to sin by persuading them to hide their temptations from others and not share them. They are like those who have some foul disease and would rather die than tell the physician. Any disease that is found in the initial stage is easily curable. The body gives signals, but we ignore them and do nothing, leading to a serious stage where nothing can be done. Spiritually, if a temptation is told in the initial stage, spiritual doctors, pastors, or others could provide guidance and protect us. It would be wise, in the case of a severe temptation, to open one’s mind to some experienced Christian, whose counsel might be an antidote against it. There is danger in concealing it, as in concealing a disease that may prove mortal. How we have a need to renew the petition, “Lead us not into temptation!”

Satan’s Theological and Psychological Attacks

  1. He preaches false theology. Satan is a great preacher. He has his own theology, and he teaches and empowers preachers who teach his doctrines. His doctrines are flesh-pleasing; how many have fallen into this trap today. They love to hear only Satan’s pleasing preaching; it is so nice to hear and is suitable for their taste. Bible teaching is not popular because it is difficult and straining. They want ear-tickling preaching. They eagerly desire to hear only pleasing truths and show no interest in difficult, flesh-crucifying truth. He knows the flesh loves to be gratified, that it cries out for ease and liberty, and that it will not endure any yoke. Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:1 and 2 Timothy 4:2, so Satan will tempt us to preach pleasing sermons. It has to be pleasing and humorous to the flesh, full of jokes, enjoyment, and entertainment instead of God’s word and learning. People and even young people nowadays cannot sit and listen to truth. They have no discipline; they want entertainment. The word says, “Strive as in an agony” to enter into glory; crucify the flesh; take the kingdom of heaven by holy violence. Where is such preaching nowadays? Satan, to weaken these Scriptures, flatters the flesh; he tells people there is no need for such strictness, nor so much zeal and violence. A softer pace will do; surely there is an easier way to heaven; there is no need for a broken heart for sin; just confess by mouth, and that will procure you a pardon and give you admission into paradise. He stirs up flattering Antinomianism and says, “What needs all this cost? What needs repenting tears? These are legal. What need to be so strict in your obedience? Christ has done all for you. You should make use of your Christian liberty.” This temptation draws many away; it takes them off from the strictness of a holy life, so there is no pattern of holiness; it is a life filled with temptation. We see many people in such churches. He who sells cheapest shall have the most customers. The devil knows that it is a cheap and easy doctrine which pleases the flesh, and he has no doubt that he shall have customers enough.
  2. He attacks holy duties. Satan has his temptations in reference to holy duties. His policy is either to hinder us from duty, discourage us in duty, or push us too far in duty. To hinder us from duty, as in 1 Thessalonians 2:18, “We would have come once and again, but Satan hindered us.” There are three duties one Puritan says the devil is an enemy to and labors to keep us from.
    • Meditation: He will let people profess, come to church, or pray and hear in a formal manner, which does him no hurt and them no good, but he opposes meditation of the truth he heard. He takes the seed, as in Mark 4:15, and he doesn’t want the kingdom to grow in people (verse 18), as meditation is a means to calm the heart and make it serious. It does not allow the truth to take control and transform the heart. He cares not how much you hear, how many new sermons you listen to, all the sermons in the Bible, as long as you do not meditate and make those truths your own. Meditation is chewing the cud; it makes the word digest and turn to nourishment. It gets into our heart and affects our life. It is the bellows of our affections. The devil is an enemy to this. When Christ is alone in the wilderness, giving himself to divine contemplation, the devil comes and tempts him to hinder him. He will thrust in worldly business, something or other to keep people from holy meditation.
    • Mortification: This is as needful as heaven. “Mortify your members which are upon the earth, uncleanness, inordinate affection” (Colossians 3:5). Satan will let people hear about sin and even be angry with sin or restrain sin, which keeps it a prisoner that cannot break out, but when it comes to taking away the life of sin, he labors to stop the warrant and hinder the execution. When sin is being mortified, Satan is being crucified.
    • Self-examination: “Examine yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5), a metaphor from metal that is pierced through to see if there is gold within. Self-examination is a spiritual inquisition set up in the soul. A person must search their heart for sin, just as one would search a house for a traitor, a robber, or a snake, or as Israel sought for leaven to burn it. Satan, if it is possible, will, by his temptations, keep people from this duty and not show the hearts of people to themselves, and he will deceive them all their lives. He tells them their estate is good and what need they put themselves to the trouble of examination? Although people will not buy gold without examining it by the touchstone, yet Satan persuades them to take their grace on trust, to take the state of their soul without examining it. He persuaded the foolish virgins that they had oil in their lamps. So he deceives millions of people, telling them they are going to heaven, while they have no progress in heart holiness, are more worldly, and are sinning more. He tells them they are going to hell and does not allow them to see that their hearts have not grown in holiness. He keeps such people busy always by showing them the faults of others in order to keep them from searching their own. He will give us spectacles to see what is amiss in others clearly, but never show us a mirror to behold our own faces and see what is amiss in ourselves.
  3. He uses the hope of repentance: Satan tempts us to sin by the hope of returning out of it by speedy repentance. It is easy for a bird to fly into the snare, but it is not so easy to get out of it. Is it so easy a thing to repent? It is so difficult to repent. Unless God gives it, we cannot. We harden ourselves and deceive ourselves into thinking we repent. Is it easy to leap out of Delilah’s lap? To jump from hell to heaven? From Satan’s spirit to the Holy Spirit? How difficult is it, and how much cleansing, confessing, repenting, hating, sorrowing, and turning is required. How many has Satan flattered into hell by the policy that if they sin, they may recover themselves by repentance! Alas! Is repentance in our power? A springlock can shut by itself, but it cannot open without a key. So we can shut ourselves out from God, but we cannot open to him by repentance until he gives us repentance and opens our heart.
  4. He attacks specific graces: Satan strikes at some graces more than others. He aims to weaken some of the important graces in a Christian, and two of them are very important: faith and peace. He lays the train of his temptation to blow up the fort of our faith. Why did Christ pray more for Peter’s faith than for any other grace? (Luke 22:32). Because he saw that his faith was most in danger; the devil was striking at this grace. Satan, in tempting Eve, labored to weaken her faith. “Yea, has God said, ‘Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'” (Genesis 3:1). The devil would persuade her that God had not spoken the truth, and when he had once brought her to distrust, she took of the tree. It is called “the shield of faith” (Ephesians 6:16). Satan, in tempting, strikes most at our shield; he assaults our faith. Though true faith cannot be wholly lost, it may suffer great weakness. Though the devil cannot by temptation take away the life of faith, he may hinder its growth.

Why does Satan, in tempting, chiefly assault our faith? “Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king” (1 Kings 22:31). Faith is the king of the graces; it is a royal, princely grace and puts forth the most majestic and noble acts; therefore Satan fights chiefly with this grace. I shall show you the devil’s policy in assaulting faith the most.

  • It is the grace that does Satan the most mischief; it makes the most resistance against him. “Whom resist, steadfast in faith” (1 Peter 5:9). No grace bruises the serpent’s head more than faith. It is both a shield and a sword, defensive and offensive (Ephesians 6:16). It is a shield to guard the head and defend the vitals. The shield of faith prevents the fiery darts of temptation from piercing us through. Faith is a sword that wounds the red dragon.
  • How does faith come to be so strong that it can resist Satan and put him to flight? Because it brings the strength of Christ into the soul. Samson’s strength lay in his hair; ours lies in Christ. If a child is assaulted, it runs and calls to its father for help. When faith is assaulted, it runs and calls Christ, and in his strength, it overcomes.
  • Faith furnishes itself with a store of promises. The promises are faith’s weapons to fight with. As David, by five stones in his sling, wounded Goliath, so faith puts the promises, as stones, into its sling (1 Samuel 17:40). “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). “A bruised reed shall he not break” (Matthew 12:20). “Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able” (1 Corinthians 10:13). “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20). “No man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:29). Here are five promises, like five stones, put into the sling of faith, and with these, a believer may wound the red dragon. Faith being such a grace to resist and wound Satan, he watches his opportunity to batter our shield, though he cannot break it.
  • Satan strikes most at our faith and would weaken and destroy it because it has a great influence upon all the other graces and sets them to work. It sets love to work. “Faith which works by love” (Galatians 5:6). When once the soul believes God’s love, its love is kindled to God. Faith sets repentance to work. When the soul believes there is mercy to be had, it sets the eyes weeping. “Oh,” says the soul, “that I should ever offend such a gracious God!” Repenting tears drop from the eye of faith. “The father of the child cried out with tears, ‘Lord, I believe'” (Mark 9:24). If the devil cannot destroy our faith, yet if he can disturb it, if he can hinder and stop its actions, he knows all the other graces will be lame and inactive. If the spring in a watch is stopped, the motion of the wheels will be hindered. So if faith is down, all the other graces will be at a standstill.

The Subtleties of Satan’s Temptations

24th subtlety, Part 2: Satan, when tempting, assaults, oppresses, and weakens the saints’ peace in this world. If he cannot destroy their election, salvation, and growth in grace, he will disturb their peace. He envies the Christian’s good day, his future great bliss, and eternal glory. If he cannot keep him from a heaven hereafter, he will keep him from a heaven on earth. There is nothing, next to holiness, that a Christian prizes more than peace and tranquility of mind. It is the cream of life, a bunch of grapes by the way. When in peace and at rest, a Christian can do great things for God. Now, Satan’s great policy is to shake a Christian’s peace; so that if he goes to heaven, he shall go there through frights and many tears. He throws in his fireballs of temptation to set the saints’ peace on fire. Spiritual peace is of such great concern that it is no wonder if Satan would, by his intricate subtleties, rob us of that jewel. Spiritual peace is a token of God’s favor. No wonder then, if Satan rages so much against the saints’ peace and would tear off this comfortable robe from them. The devil troubles the waters of the saints’ peace because he hopes to have a greater advantage over them.

  1. By perplexing their spirits, he takes off their chariot wheels; it makes them unfit for the service of God and puts body and mind out of temper, like an instrument out of tune. When sadness of spirit prevails, a Christian can think of nothing but his troubles; his mind is full of doubts, fears, and suspicions, so that he is like a person distracted and is scarcely himself. He either neglects the duties of religion, or his mind is taken off from them while he is doing them. There is one duty especially that melancholy and sadness of spirit make a person unfit for, and that is thankfulness. Thankfulness is a tribute due to God. “‘Let the saints be joyful, let the high praises of God be in their mouth'” (Psalm 149:5-6). But when Satan has disturbed a Christian’s spirit and filled his mind with dark and almost despairing thoughts, how can he be thankful? It makes Satan rejoice to see how his plot works. By making God’s children uneasy, he makes them unthankful.

Thus I have shown you twenty-four subtleties of Satan in tempting so you can know them better and avoid them. There is a story of a Jew who would have poisoned Luther, but a friend sent Luther a picture of the Jew, warning him to take heed of such a man when he saw him. By this means, he knew the murderer and escaped his hands. I have told you the subtle devices of Satan in tempting; I have shown you a picture of him who would murder you. Being forewarned, I beseech you, take heed of the murderer.

From the subtlety of Satan in tempting, let me draw three conclusions.

  1. It may cause us to wonder how anyone is saved. How amazing that Satan, this Abaddon, or angel of the bottomless pit (Revelation 9:11), this Apollyon, this soul-devourer, does not win all mankind! What a wonder that some are preserved, that neither Satan’s hidden snares nor his fiery darts prevail; that neither the head of the serpent nor the paw of the lion destroys them! Surely it will be a matter of admiration to the saints when they come to heaven to think how strangely they got there; that despite all the force and fraud, the power and policy of hell, they should arrive safely at the heavenly port! This is owing to the safe conduct of Christ, the Captain of our salvation. Michael is too much for the dragon.
  2. If Satan is subtle, see what need we have to pray to God for wisdom to discern the snares of Satan and strength to resist them. We cannot by ourselves stand against temptation; if we could, the prayer would be needless, “Lead us not,” etc. Let us not think we can be too cunning for the devil or escape his tricks and darts. If David and Peter, who were pillars in God’s temple, fell to temptation, how soon would weak reeds like us be blown down if God were to leave us! Take Christ’s advice, “Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation” (Matthew 26:41).
  3. See how the purpose of all Satan’s subtleties in tempting is that he may be an accuser. He lays the plot, entices men to sin, and then brings in the indictment, as if someone were to make another drunk and then complain of him to the magistrate for being drunk. The devil is first a tempter, and then an informer: first a liar, and then a murderer.

Standing Strong Against Temptation

Oh, how can I stand before this enemy? What can I do? Am I doomed? But, thank God, the power of Satan has no more force in our lives than we allow it to have! If we wish to stand against it, we can! Firstly, it begins by realizing this, waking up, and praying so we do not enter into temptation. Our Lord has given us some precious promises and truths that serve to strengthen us in the midst of our temptations and guarantees us victory over them all if we yield to His will and not to the temptation!

We need to learn those promises and truths and be on guard and be equipped. This was the tactic used by the Lord Jesus during His own time of temptation—Matthew 4:1-11. When Jesus was tempted, He turned to the spiritual resources of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and He made His victorious stand against evil. Our success lies in doing the very same thing. We are to appropriate the resources we have been given in the person of the Holy Spirit and in the power of the Word of God. We are to dress in the “whole armor” of God and take our stand (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Next week, we will see several things we can do to avoid entering into temptation. What are those promises? Isaiah 43:2; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Peter 2:9. What we need is a revival of living out Romans 6:6-18!

Let me finish by pointing out some great rocks that we can stand on at the time of temptations. What great comforts and promises has God provided for us during temptation? What rocks of support are there, or what comfort for tempted souls?

  1. Temptation is common to all saints. It is not our case alone, but has been the case of God’s most eminent saints. “‘There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man,'” yes, to the best men (1 Corinthians 10:13). Christ’s lambs, which have had the mark of election upon them, have been set upon by the world. Elijah, who could shut heaven by prayer, could not shut his heart from temptation (1 Kings 19:4). Job was tempted to curse God, and Peter to deny Christ; and hardly ever any saint has gotten to heaven but has met with a lion along the way. No one escapes the lot that all the saints suffer. Furthermore, Jesus Christ himself, though free from sin, was not free from temptation. It is some comfort that our betters have wrestled with temptations.
  2. Satan’s power is limited. Another rock of support is that Satan can go no further in tempting than God allows him. The power of the tempter is limited. A whole legion of devils could not touch one swine until Christ gave them leave. Satan would have sifted Peter until he sifted out all his grace, but Christ would not allow him. “‘I have prayed for thee,'” etc. Christ binds the devil in a chain (Revelation 20:1). If Satan’s power were according to his malice, not one soul would be saved. But he is a chained enemy. It is a comfort that Satan cannot go a hair’s breadth beyond God’s permission. If an enemy could not touch a child any further than the father appointed, he would not do the child any great harm. The Apostle Paul faced many temptations. He learned a great truth and shares it with us in 1 Corinthians 10:13. How wonderful that God never allows you to be tempted beyond what you are able. It doesn’t stop there; He never allows you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but always does something else. He himself makes the way of escape out of that temptation. God is always there when you are tempted, not passively watching, but actively intervening. See the verse, it says God makes something just for you: the way of escape. Not “a” way, but “the.” God, at that very time in that very situation, makes a specific way of escape just for you. How can I not deeply realize this? It is a great support. The God of the universe, sovereign over all, when I am tempted, is very close to me. He not only limits the power of temptation, but makes a specific way for me to not fall into sin. So, the next time you are tempted, look for that way. How can I believe there will always be a way? God is faithful; He will not allow you to be tempted. What a promise to remember.
  3. Jesus Christ is with us in temptation. Another rock of support or comfort is that Jesus Christ is near at hand and stands by us in all our temptations. Here, take notice of two things:
    • Christ’s sympathy in our temptations: Christ suffers with us. “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus Christ sympathizes with us; He is so sensitive to our temptations as if He Himself lay under them and felt them in His own soul. In our body, when one part is in pain, the whole body suffers; so when we suffer, Christ’s heart yearns. We cannot be tempted but He is touched. If something is hurting your child, would you not pity it? You cannot pity it as Christ does the tempted. He had a fellow-feeling when on earth, much more now in glory. This fellow-feeling in Christ arises not from an infirmity or passion, but from the mystic union between Him and His members. “He that touches you, touches the apple of his eye” (Zechariah 2:8). Every injury done to a saint, He takes as done to Him in heaven. Every temptation strikes at Him, and He is touched with the feeling of them.
    • Christ’s succor (help) in temptation: As the good Samaritan first had compassion on the wounded man (there was sympathy), then he poured in wine and oil (there was help) (Luke 10:34); so when we are wounded by the red dragon, Christ is first touched with compassion and then pours in wine and oil. “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). The Greek word for “succour” signifies to run speedily to one’s help. So fierce is Satan, and so frail is man, that Christ, who is God-man, runs speedily to his help. When we see our child being harassed by an animal, how we run to help. When Peter was ready to sink and said, “Lord, save me,” Christ immediately stretched forth his hand and caught him. So when a poor soul is tempted and cries to heaven for help, “Lord, save me,” Christ comes in with His auxiliary forces. Our Lord Jesus knows what it is to be tempted, therefore He is ready to help such as are tempted. It has been observed that women who have given birth are more pitiful to others in their labor than those who are barren; so the Lord Jesus, having been in labor by temptations and sufferings, is more ready to pity and help such as are tempted.

Concerning Christ’s helping the tempted, consider two things: His ability and His agility to help. “He is able to succour them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Though the tempted soul is weak, he fights under a good Captain, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. When a tempted soul fights, Christ comes into the field as his second. When the devil lays the siege of a temptation, Christ can raise it when He pleases; He can beat through the enemy’s quarters and so rout Satan that he shall never be able to rally his forces anymore. Jesus Christ is on the saint’s side, and who would desire a better bodyguard than omnipotence? As Christ is able to help the tempted, so He will certainly help them. His power enables Him, His love inclines Him, and His faithfulness engages Him to help tempted souls. It is a great comfort to a soul in temptation to have a helping Savior. Alexander, being asked how he could sleep so securely when his enemies were about him, said, “Antipater is awake, who is always vigilant.” So when our tempting enemy is near us, Jesus Christ is awake, who is a wall of fire around us.

How and in what manner does Christ help those who are tempted?

  • He helps them by sending His Spirit, whose work it is to bring those promises to their minds which are fortifying. “He shall bring all things to your remembrance” (John 14:26). The Spirit furnishes us with promises as so many weapons to fight against the old serpent. “‘The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly'” (Romans 16:20). “‘God will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able'” (1 Corinthians 10:13). “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head” (Genesis 3:15). In times of temptation, we are often like a person whose house is surrounded and cannot find their weapons, their sword and gun. In this case, Christ sends His Spirit and brings things to our remembrance that help us in our combat.
  • Christ helps those who are tempted by interceding for them. When the devil is tempting, Christ is praying. The prayer which Christ offered for Peter when he was tempted extends to all His saints. “Lord,” said Christ, “it is my child that is tempted; Father, pity him” (Luke 22:32). When a poor soul is bleeding from the wounds the devil has given him, Christ presents His wounds to His Father and, by the power of those wounds, pleads for mercy. How powerful His prayer must be! He is a favorite. He is both High Priest and a Son.
  • Christ helps His people by taking off the tempter. When the sheep begin to stray, the shepherd sets the dog on them to bring them back to the fold and then calls off the dog; so God takes off the tempter. He “will with the temptation make a way to escape,” He will make an outlet (1 Corinthians 10:13). He will rebuke the tempter. “‘The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan'” (Zechariah 3:2). It is no small support that Christ helps the tempted. The mother helps the child most when it is sick; she sits by its bedside and brings it medicine. So, when a soul is most assaulted, it shall be most assisted.

“I have dealt unkindly with Christ and sinned against His love, and surely He will not help me, but let me perish in the battle!” Christ is a merciful High Priest and will help you notwithstanding your failings. Joseph was a type of Christ; his brothers sold him away, and the “irons entered into his soul.” Yet afterwards, when his brothers were ready to die of famine, he forgot their injuries and helped them with money and corn. “I am,” he said, “Joseph your brother.” So Christ will say to a tempted soul, “I know your unkindnesses, how you have distrusted My love, and grieved My Spirit. But I am Joseph, I am Jesus, therefore I will help you when you are tempted.”

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