Temptation

We have often hear many saints quote “Resist temptation and the devil will flee” Yet we never quite hear how to do so. I mean it sounds easy, but actions do speak louder than words. What are the necessary steps to resist the devil? Can man in his temporary state resist an eternal power like Satan? To best understand this look at James 1:13-14 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”  As we see temptation comes from within a man yet it is possible that the devil places things in our lives to draw out that lust. For example lets say you had an issue with lust in the past, what the devil might do is place graphic images or have people say lustful things that might awaken or bring out that lust. But always keep in mind that being tempted is not sin, its when you fall victim to that temptation when it becomes sin. Jesus was even tempted, yet he did not succumb to those temptation placed in front of him by the devil. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written: 'He will give his angels charge of you, and On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.‘” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;  and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”  Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him” (Matthew 4:1-11 RSV).” Satan did not tempt Jesus once during this altercation but three times and each temptation targeted a specific desire.

When Jesus was hungry Satan who is called the Tempter came and targeted his fast. Notice what he says “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread,” here we can see that two things are going on Satan is trying to see if Jesus really is the Christ and he is also trying to get him to break the fast and fall victim to his flesh. A fast in Isaiah is said to lose the bands of Wickedness and draw us closer to the Lord. Now Christ does something that people rarely do and that is quote scripture against this temptation but not just any scripture, its the perfect scripture against what temptation he was facing. Christ stated “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” In just a matter of seconds that temptation is destroyed and Satan is left to come up with a new temptation. Now Satan as persistent as he is goes on to take Christ to the Holy City and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and tempted Christ to throw himself down. All this was an attempted to get him to sin, to prove whether or not he is the true son of God, and to tempt God.

This second temptation may seem like suicide however Satan is really trying to quench his own desires and knowledge, and he goes so far as to use and twist scripture to do so.  But lets go on to see what Christ has to say. Christ quotes Deu 6:16 by saying “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Notice how quick Christ combats the Devil. His words are short and yet to the point. Now the last temptation is a tricky one due to the fact it revolves around worship. Now Satan takes Christ to a high mountain and there he shows him all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them. Doing this he tried to give Christ a short cut to something that was already his, but by means of worship only and this has to be the worst temptation. As we can see Idolatry has been one of the main reasons for Israel troubles. Christ however comes back with one of the most repeated statements in the old testament and that is “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” This temptation also caused Christ to dismiss Satan by his name. In a way it shows the severity of the temptation and an anger must of been kindled by it. Christ gives us the clear answer to overcoming temptation and that is to quote the word of God. Some may not receive this answer but there is no other way. We can run from it but it will just come back at a time when we are more vulnerable. Yet knowing the bible is not enough, having the right scripture for that moment of temptation is key. This only comes by studying and allow the word to be rooted on your heart and allowing it to root on your heart can only happen if you truly believe that the word of God works. Without faith it is all meaningless. 

The Time of Trouble

Have you ever heard the theological saying "The time of Jacobs Trouble" well I want to talk about the "Time of Christians Trouble." But before I bore you to death with my theological insight of this saying I must enlighten you of a terror plaguing the church. This plague has been the downfall of many sects, groups, religious figures, and Saints. This Plague attacks like the flu but is deadlier than aids. This plague is called Ignorance. Yes Ignorance! By ignorance many have been led by money hungry pastors to give all their rent money and wait years for a blessing to come that God himself did not acknowledge, by ignorance many enter into the church to shout on Sunday and leave the same way they walked in. By ignorance Christians quote scriptures but have no insight of what the true meaning of the scripture proceeding out their mouths really mean. God did not send Christ in the world to darken our way but to lighten it and destroy the works of Satan in our lives. Ignorance is the root cause for "The Time of Christians Trouble."  God himself said that his people perish for a lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6). We are God's people because he said in the Old Testament "My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Eze 37:27). But Paul confirmed that this promise by saying "What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people" (2 Cor 6:16). Therefore let us remain in study so that we avoid the same fate many have experiences all because of a refusal to gain knowledge.

Defending What's Right

As a Saint of the most High, I find that defending the rationality of the Christian faith is vital. Why? Because if we can not defend our Faith, we cannot save or keep souls. Better yet it makes us ministers a laughing stock among religious sects and Political powers. Peter and Paul understood this principal, and we can see this by Peter's rebuttal to the Jews and Gentiles who heard the other Jews speaking with stammering lips and a different tongue (Acts 2). Or we can look at Paul as he debated the Case for Christ daily against the school of Tyrannus (Acts 8:9-10). Even in the early Patristic age or Age of the Church Fathers there was serious attack against Christian believers. The rise of Christianity and how it came to be drew wandering eyes into our direction. It made us Christians public enemy number one. So as time passed the questions began to rise. Questions such as, Who is Christ? If Christ is God how did he die if God cannot die? Was Christ a creature? Why do you have a triune God? Questions as these must be answered, so in order to do so one must dedicate his time to that of theology, philosophy, and private time with God in order to combat these treacherous questions. Many say it is bad to debate. Many look down on those who protect the faith. If we don't contend for the Faith delivered unto us who will? Many Christians leave this faith simply due to their lack of knowledge and weakness in the Word of Truth. God himself told us to study. You cannot sit around and wait for your Pastor or teacher to direct your. Be honorable and search the scriptures daily. By doing so you build a foundation that will not break or fall because it is founded on THE ROCK Jesus Christ.

Christ, Peter, Stephen, Paul, Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, Aquinas, Missler, and many more defended the Faith because they knew  by not doing how even it would evaporate into the NOTHING.