Overcoming The Evil One

by G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Category: General | May 1967

"I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one" (1 John 2.14).

The temptation of the Lord Himself reveals to us much of the cunning of the evil one, and it warns us: too, of the danger of the devil's temptations in the life and service of the believer. We must overcome his temptations if we are to be effective servants of God. Temptations of the adversary come early in Christian experience, and many believers fall to rise no more. The more decisive our victories, the more effective will our service be. Compromise weakens us.

It is important for us to see that, whatever the circumstances in which we are being tested, behind them all is the adversary seeking to turn us away from our confidence and faith in God. In this, the temptation of the Lord Himself is very instructive to us, His disciples. Let us consider it as Luke records it (4.1-13).

He was forty days in the wilderness, after His baptism by John. Forty days of loneliness, with the adversary near. But He was there, led by the Spirit. At the close of those forty days He hungered, for He had taken upon Himself our humanity. The adversary was quick to suggest a way to satisfy His hunger. Was He truly the Son of God? Then surely He could make the stones into bread. The temptation contained two suggestions. The first, casting doubt whether He was truly the Son of God; and the second, that He should surely look after Himself. He must eat to live! The Master dismissed the first suggestion, and put the second in its right place. We do not live by bread only, but by the word of God. What a great truth this is, and yet how many forget it!

What a powerful motive the "bread" motive is and how effective it is in the adversary's warfare and temptations! We are busy people-we must be, for we must eat to live, and he that will not work, neither should he eat. Our work, our homes, our studies, our business, our future we must think of; all are necessary. But these, though needful, are all within the "bread" motive of life, and by these alone we cannot live, spiritually. And so the adversary pushes the "bread" motive, and many are deceived and fall away.

Fellow-believer, we must hear the word of God, and we must meditate upon it for ourselves. That will mean more than merely reading a portion, and then closing the book. We must take time to think about it and allow it to mould our lives and correct our errors. We must believe its promises, making them ours by faith. If the "bread" motive, whatever form it may take, becomes the chief motive of our lives, then our spiritual life will ebb away and we will have no strength. How thankful we are for the way in which the Master answered the tempter in the wilderness that day! How thankful we are that He has taught us that we do not live by bread only! Let not the adversary deceive us when he puts before us present gain at the expense of doing God's will.

And so the adversary went on to his next temptation, showing the Master all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. "It shall all be Thine", he said, "if ..." This was a more subtle temptation than the simpler one of bread. But the Master answered the temptation from the same book as previously, the book of Deuteronomy. If He would but listen to the tempter, then there need be no suffering, no loss, no cross-nothing but success! That was tempting indeed! But not to Him who had laid aside His glory to do the Father's will. He brushed aside the tempter with the word, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve".

Alas! how often has the prospect of earthly success brought believers down. It is the same temptation as the Master's, though on an infinitely smaller scale. And it is the same tempter. The glory of this world may not seem like idolatry, as it was with the Master, but let us remember that covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3.5). The love of money has led some astray from the faith, and it has pierced them through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6.10). This also has its roots in covetousness. Fellow-disciples, let us flee from this, for the tempter is behind it, and some good men have fallen to this temptation. When "things" take the chief place in our hearts, then the adversary is succeeding. When we think we can follow Christ without suffering with Him, without confessing Him to others, without losing for His sake, then the adversary is succeeding, and we are being deceived.

Our age is an age of "things". The multitude in Western lands do not worship idols of wood or stone. "Things" have taken the place of the gods of other lands. Though even in this materialistic age, some turn aside to spiritism; false religions grip others, but the great majority are godless and materialistic. The worship of the living God is at stake. Does our soul thirst for Him (Psalm 42.2)? If not, then the adversary is succeeding, and the things of men take His place. If it be so, let us weep our way back again to Him. Let us count all things but dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.

A third temptation yet lay before the Lord. The tempter had failed to turn Him aside in His weakness and hunger; and he had failed to turn Him aside from the path of suffering that led Him to the Cross. Now he thought to tempt Him to demonstrate His power for His own glory. But no such thought could fill the mind of Him who was meek and lowly in heart. Pride was unknown by Him. He had seen that dread trait bring down the tempter himself, and He warned His disciples of it (Luke 10.17-20). And so, "When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from Him for a season. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee."

Only as we overcome the evil one can we be strong. To do that, we must be men and women who have the word of God abiding in us. As we overcome the evil one we become wise in praying for others, and wise in soul-winning. In his epistle, John wrote to fathers (the mature men); to young men (those strong to serve); and to little children (those growing up in Christ). His word to young men is particularly of overcoming the evil one, and it is principally to young men that this article is addressed. See the tempter behind every temptation, and meet him in the way the Master met him, in confidence in the word of God. When the temptation is overcome and past, you will come out to serve, as the Master did, in the power of the Spirit.

G. Jarvie, Glasgow | May 1967
General