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The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened By the Right Rev. Ashton Oxenden, D.D. (1808-1892) CHAPTER X – TEMPTATIONS OF SATAN Many of the dangers mentioned in the last chapter arise from the actual assaults of Satan, of which I am now going to speak more especially. It is often difficult to distinguish between a direct temptation of the Devil and the natural inclinations of our own evil hearts. The fact is, that the two usually work together. Our wicked hearts desire a thing that is sinful; and then Satan, who carefully studies the heart, takes advantage of us, and thrust sin in our way. We lay ourselves open; and then he attacks us. The soil is prepared by ourselves; and then he casts in the evil seed. If we were sinless beings, his temptations would all be in vain; they would fly over us, and we should be unhurt. But we are naturally disposed to what is evil. Our hearts are like a fire, in which the spark of sin is smoldering, and the Evil Spirit is ever blowing up the flame within us. Temptation first finds a man corrupt, and then makes him worse. For, alas! There is not one among us who can say, as our sinless Lord said, ‘The Prince of this world comes and has nothing in Me.’ That there is such a being as Satan is very clear form Scripture, even if our own experience did not tell us so. He is there described as a Fallen Angel, an Evil Spirit, who is ever employed in plotting and planning our spiritual ruin. He is spoken of as tempting Adam and Eve in Paradise (Gen. 3); as provoking David to sin against the Lord, by numbering Israel (1 Chron. 21.1); as trying to make Job rebel against God (Job 1.2; 2.5); as entering into the heart of the traitor Judas, and leading him to become the betrayer of his heavenly Master (Luke 22.3); as filling the heart of Ananias, and inducing him to lie against the Holy Ghost (Acts 5.3). And most assuredly he will attack you; for if you are now in earnest, he will male more efforts than ever to ruin your soul. When you were asleep he cared not to arouse you. He then let you alone. ‘The strong man armed’ kept the palace, and ‘the goods were in peace.’ All was as he would have it. He was quite satisfied with your condition. But now, if he sees that through God’s mercy you are awake, and anxious to be saved, he will leave no means untried to draw your soul away from God. I put you then upon your guard. ‘Be vigilant (or watchful); because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour’ (1 Pet. 5.8). Expect his temptations. Be always on the look-out for them. They will come to you in ten thousand shapes. For instance, he tempts one man by riches, and another by poverty. He suggests to one man hard thoughts of God; another he puffs up with self-esteem. Sometimes he entices us openly; at other times secretly. He attacks one man when alone; a second he tempts when in company; a third upon his knees; a fourth while reading the word of God, or even in the house of God. Thus he suits his temptations to our several cases. He knows that what will be a temptation to one man, will be no temptation to another; and that what would be a strong temptation at one time, will be utterly powerless at another time. In your case, for example, he is quite aware that the temptation, which took effect upon you a while ago, would very likely fall harmless upon you now. So he changes it. Perhaps he once tried to persuade you that it was too soon to repent—that there was time enough yet. Now, it may be, he throws in the thought that your repentance is too late. He formerly led you to hope that all would come right at last, though you were then living without God. And now he harasses you at times with the feeling that there is no hope for you, though you earnestly desire to be saved. There are particular temptations, too, which beset each person. Into some you are much more liable to fall than into others. Some will meet you in one place, and some in another; some in one shape, and some in another. It is very important to know where you are most exposed to temptation, and at those points to set a strong and watchful guard. With regard to temptation generally, it may be observed, that it is better to avoid it than to face it. A writer on this subject remarks: ‘At some particular time of the day, or in some particular situations, you find yourself exposed to debasing and corrupting thoughts. They fill your mind, and crowd out everything that is good. These temptations arise only when you are alone, or when you are conversing on some particular subjects, or when something is recalled by the memory. Can you hope to conquer these “legions,” and drive away all these “unclean birds,” by any other means than by fleeing from them? As there arc some evil spirits, which, it is said, cannot be cast out “except by prayer and fasting,” so these can be overcome only by avoiding and resisting them when they approach the heart; or by the most earnest prayer, when they have entered it. If Peter be naturally impetuous, ought he not to leave his sword behind him? Should Judas carry the bag when he has fully proved to himself that he cannot do it without stealing from it? Should a passionate man, whose temper is easily excited, throw himself into situations in winch he will certainly be tempted to anger? Whatever be your weakness, or the spot at which you fall, beware of it, and shun it.’
You see then in how many ways our great enemy attacks us. He is strong; but, thank God, there is One stronger. He can tempt us to sin; but he cannot force us to sin. And when we consider the violence and subtlety of his temptations, what an unspeakable mercy it is, that he can do no more than tempt us! We are weak and powerless in ourselves; but God stands ever ready to strengthen and uphold us. And if we commit ourselves to Him, ‘He will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape.’ (I Cor. 10.13) And oh how often does God, our ever-watchful Guardian, shelter us without our knowing it! Satan has, perhaps, spread his net for us, and has, as it were, made it of so curious and fine a thread, as not to be seen by our eye and so we go hasting on towards our ruin. But suddenly the mercy of God’s providence stops us in our course, and pulls back our foot from the fatal snare. Truly we are secure, only so long as we are in God’s safe keeping. If we have not entrusted ourselves to Him, then are we like a ship sailing without a pilot, amidst hidden rocks; and we may at any moment be wrecked. The Lord gives us, in James 4.7, both a Command which shows us what our duty is, and also a Promise to encourage us,—‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ The Command of God, you see, is, ‘Resist the devil.’ And it is your wisdom to set about obeying this command. To tempt is the devil’s work to resist is the Christian’s duty. It is very important to resist the first motions of evil. When a temptation comes, look up to God instantly for strength; if you parley with the tempter, you are lost. Mark carefully the steps by which Eve was ensnared. First, she stood near the forbidden tree. Then, when Satan proposed to her to eat of it, she argued with him. Then she looked at the fruit, and ‘saw that it was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes.’ The temptation gained upon her, and she presently touched it. And at last she finished by eating it. St. Paul charges us not to ‘give place to the devil.’ Oh, let us not yield a single point to him. We know that a beggar, who may seem to be very modest out of doors, will, if once let in, command the house. And so, if we yield only a little to the tempter at first, we are in fact giving away our strength, and shall have the less to resist him afterwards. ‘When the hem is torn, the whole garment is nearly sure to ravel out.’ It has been said of the Cuckoo, that she enters the sparrow’s nest, and there lays her egg. And the poor little owner unconsciously warms it into life, to the destruction of her own brood, which the usurper in the end thrusts out of the nest. So a temptation may be allowed to nestle in the heart for a time, undisturbed and unfeared, until it ends by thrusting out all peace, and joy, and comfort, from the soul. Now, if you would keep the devil out of your life and actions, you must keep him first out of your thoughts and desires; for that is where he commonly begins to enter. If you would conquer sin, you must nip it in the bud, and not wait till it is fully formed within you. Have you not sometimes suffered your thoughts to dwell on some sinful object, and to brood upon it with delight, picturing it to yourself under its most pleasing forms? This is most dangerous. When a temptation gets thus far, it rarely happens that it is stopped. Hear what the wise Apostle says;— ‘Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.’ (James 1.14,15) You are tempted to sin, and you are quite resolved not to be led into it. But you, perhaps, like to please yourself a little while with the thought. You have no intention of actually committing the sin; but you think that you may play with it a little, as it were, and yet remain unhurt. And what is the consequence? It either ends in your committing the sin, or else your soul is injured by the nearness of it: it becomes weakened and unstrung; God is driven away; and your peace is gone. Oh, how long does the effect of one single act of sin stand by us The sin may be put away, hut, like the snail, it leaves a slimy track behind it. When the Israelites had worshipped the golden calf, and so offended God, Moses prayed for them, and they were spared. But they did not go altogether unpunished. It was a common saying ever after, among the Jewish writers, that never did any judgment befall the children of Israel from that time forward, but ‘there was an ounce of the golden calf in it.’ Remember also that many of those temptations, which do not appear to he very hurtful, are frequently the most dangerous. Satan very often puts’ a gloss upon sin, and makes it look fair for we are told that he will, sometimes, if it suits his purpose, ‘transform himself into an angel of light.’ (2 Cor. 11.14.) And then, at other times, he will try to conceal from us the greatness of a sin, lie whispers in our ear, ‘Spare it; it is but a little one.’ And so we slight and trifle with the temptation, and think but lightly of it, because we are not really persuaded that there can be much evil at the bottom of that which looks so fair at top. Or, if this is will not do, he will appear only to desire that its execution may he stayed awhile, as Jephthah’s daughter, when she said, ‘Let me alone a month or two, and then do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth’——well knowing that such reprieved sins at last obtain their full liberty. Or, he will set things before you, which are not sinful in themselves, but which lead to sin. I He will draw you into some pleasant path, where you may see nothing to alarm you, where you may even find some things that are good. But he will gently and gradually lead you, till he has brought you, without knowing it, to the very edge of the pit of destruction. Again, if he finds you fond of any particular occupation, which in itself is not only harmless, but even desirable, he will endeavor to make you give up your whole heart to it. In short, he will resort to any expedient in order to draw away your mind from the great object of life. I mention this to put you on your guard. Let me now counsel you on another point—it is to avoid disputed and doubtful questions. The devil often endeavors to entrap and perplex the thoughtful with this snare. When he sees them concerned about their souls, and interested in religion, he confuses them in this way, and so draws off their attention from the all-important matter. Do not, if you can possibly avoid it, have anything to do with curious questions which ‘do gender strifes.’ But be content to dwell chiefly on those great and simple truths, which concern your salvation. Gurnal, from whom I have taken more than one idea in this chapter, calls this ‘keeping the plains.’ And so long as we do this, we are safe. When one army attacks another, they often try to get the enemy hemmed in between hills, or in some ground where they are at a disadvantage. Thus the Egyptians were hoping to say of their enemies, the Israelites, ‘They are entangled in the land: the wilderness hath shut them in.’ (Exod. 14.3) And so your enemy will seek to entangle you. He will lead you, if possible, to dwell upon difficult texts and hard passages of Scripture. He will get you to discuss disputed points of doctrine, to argue about Calvinism, and Arminianism, or about some disputed Church question; and so, if he possibly can, he will call off your attention from those matters, which more deeply concern the salvation of your soul. But, if you are wise, you will keep to the plains. Again, serious persons sometimes puzzle themselves to find a reason for God’s particular dealings with them. They want to discover a why and a wherefore for all He does. But no; if you are His child, you must be content with what your Father allots; and what you ‘know not now,’ you shall ‘know hereafter.’ Let me again remind you of Gurnal’s advice—‘Keep to the plains.’ Do not try to dive into mysteries. ‘The secret things belong unto the Lord but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children.’ (Deut. 29.29) Time back, when you were very young, did not your Parents bid you do many things, without giving you their reasons for the command? You could not then understand why they would have you do this, or abstain from that. But your duty was clear—simply to obey their directions, though you had no idea why they were given. And so should it be with regard to God’s dealings with you. It matters little to know why He acts in this or that way towards you: it is your duty and your happiness, simply and without a murmur, to bow to His almighty will. But of all temptations, none is more dreadful than when Satan tempts us with unbelieving, and even skeptical, thoughts. And in this way he does sometimes attack God’s children. Yes, my dear Christian reader, he may by this particular temptation assault you. You may be tempted to doubt whether the Scripture is the word of God, and whether Christ is the Son of God, and whether there be a heaven or a hell. This temptation is very likely to prevail with persons of an inquisitive mind, and who are unsettled in the faith ; and still more with those who have only a head knowledge of the gospel. But any one who has received God’s word ‘in the love of it,’ and has tasted it as the very food of his soul, will be so persuaded of its preciousness, that nothing will shake his faith in it. He will ‘have the witness in himself.’ Suppose a minister were to tell his hearers that in some distant country there was a fruit sweeter than honey, they would most probably believe it on his testimony. But if one of the congregation had been there and tasted it, he would have a still stronger ground for believing it. In this state of things, suppose another was to come forward, and stoutly to deny that there was any such fruit. Those who believed it on the word of their minister might begin to doubt, in a greater or less degree, according to the trust they placed in him. But what would be the case with those who had actually tasted of the fruit? They would say, ‘Oh, you may talk, and it may seem very reasonable; but, though I cannot argue the matter with you, I know that you are wrong.’ So it is with those who know something of the things of God from their own experience, and who have ‘tasted that the Lord is gracious.’ Such a temptation may assail you, even if you are one of God’s children. And this may arise either from the weakness of your faith, which at best is but very small, and may for a season break down, or from conversing with some Infidel; or from reading some bad book; or you may be ill in body, and Satan may take advantage of this to molest your mind with blasphemous temptations. He is sometimes desperate, and uses desperate means to draw us aside. Now, in such a case, if you abhor the suggestion, it is well; and as long as you do abhor it, it will not condemn you. Instantly betake yourself to prayer. Wrestle with God. Humble yourself before Him. Entreat Him to root out the ‘evil heart of unbelief,’ and to give you that faith which can come only from Him. Treat it as a temptation, and meet it in God’s strength. See that you are building on a sound foundation, and that you are resting firmly upon it. And then, if there be any shaking, though you yourself may be moved for a moment, your foundation will remain sure. It will only be as the reeling of the vessel safe at anchor, and not as the perilous dashing against the ruinous rocks. But with regard to the resistance of temptation generally, remember that it is not done in an hour or a day. It is the work of a whole life—one continued warfare against sin. The power of temptation is felt more or less by every child of God, who ‘is passed from death unto life.’ And never will you be entirely beyond the reach of it, as long as you remain here.
But have you not many a Promise to encourage you? You are commanded as I have shown you, to ‘resist the devil;’ and with the Command comes the gracious Promise, ‘And he will flee from you.’ The moment you feel yourself tempted, or likely to be so, look up to a prayer-hearing God, and He will come to your help. Hide yourself under the shelter of His wings. ‘When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.’ Your poor weak flesh may be ready to give way; but call to mind the words of Jesus to His tempted disciple—‘Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not’ (Luke 22.31,32). This promise however will not hold good, if you put yourself in the way of temptation. For are you strong enough to stand against it? You may think so but you are as little proof against it, as tinder is proof against the sparks which fall into it. Oh, if you are concerned for your soul, be very careful to keep out of harm’s way. Do you not daily pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation?’ Then beware how you willfully expose yourself to it. If you really desire to shun the road of temptation, you are comparatively safe; but if you rush into it, and expect to escape unhurt, you are fatally deceiving yourself. You will be like the man in the gospel, ‘who fell among thieves; and they stripped and wounded him, and left him half dead.’ Solomon asks, ‘Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?’ And, be assured, you cannot tamper with temptation, and come away unharmed.
Perhaps you are at times distressed to think that you should be so much tempted. The thought has more than once come across you, ‘Can I be a child of God, since Satan tries me so much?’ Many a tempted believer has been greatly exercised with this thought. But let me tell you a few things for your comfort. The first is, that God’s children are the very persons whom Satan specially attacks. And perhaps it is because you are a child of God, that he so tries you. The second is, that there is a great difference between being tempted, and yielding to temptation. Our Lord nowhere says, ‘Be not tempted;’ but He does say, ‘Enter not into temptation.’ The one is our sin, ‘the other our trial. It is a sin to welcome the Tempter; but it is no sin to be tried by him. The Apostle does not say, ‘Blessed is the man who is free from temptation,’ for such a man breathes not; but he does soy, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.’ Joseph was tempted, and the holy Saviour Himself was tempted; but neither of them yielded. A third consolation for those who are tried by temptations is, that Satan cannot tempt without God’s permission. Not one arrow can he shoot, not one drop of poison can he administer, unless God for some wise reason allows it. How is it in the works of nature? We sometimes watch the waves of the sea, roaring and dashing against the beach, and seeming as though they would threaten an inroad upon the shore. But their fury is under control; for ‘the Lord bath set a bound, that they may not pass over.’ Thus far they may go, and no farther. So hath He set bounds to Satan’s power. ‘God is faithful,’ who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able’ (1 Cor 10.13) The fourth ground of comfort I will offer you is this—if temptation is permitted in your case, it is that it may serve as a discipline for your soul. In the School of Temptation we often learn much. It humbles us, makes us feel our weakness, and sends us to the Strong One for a better strength than our own. Temptation is to faith, what fire is to gold. The furnace not only discovers the true gold from the false; but it also makes the true gold purer. It becomes perhaps less in bulk, because everything worthless has been severed from it, but more in value. May your faith grow brighter and stronger by the trial! And being much ‘more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,’ may it ‘be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ!’ (1 Pet 1.7) Then, be cheered and encouraged. You have a Saviour; and He knows well what temptation is: and He can, and does, feel for His tempted people. ‘We have not a High Priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ (Heb 4.15) Satan may lay his snares for you; but there is an Almighty one near, who is watching over you, and who can shield you from all evil. The struggle may be severe and long. But if you have earnestly sought God’s help, He will assuredly be with you, and will fight for you. Thus the victory will be yours; for it is written, ‘The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.’ (Rom. 16.20) **************************************************** The Pathway of Safety; or, Counsel to the Awakened, Ashton Oxenden **************************************************** PREVIOUS CHAPTER -- NEXT CHAPTER ©God’sGWG
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