 |
Tempting the Tempter
We all know who the “tempter” is. This all started in heaven.
“The enemy had tempted the angels in heaven” (The Upward Look, p. 357).
After he had succeeded with the angels, he came after God’s newest creation, Adam and Eve.
“Adam and Eve were tempted of Satan. The tempter came to them, saying: ‘Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” (The Signs of the Times, Oct. 8, 1894).
After such marvelous success with both the angels in heaven and the humans on earth, he then went after the Son of God.
Matthew 4:3: “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”
He did not have the success with Jesus that he did with the angels and us. But that did not cause him to stop. Then he went after Jesus’ disciples.
Luke 22:31-34: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.”
Satan had tempted angels, Adam and Eve, the rest of humanity, and even Jesus Christ Himself, but who tempts Satan? Please note what Ellen White said about the above situation with Peter:
“How true was the Saviour’s friendship for Peter! how compassionate His warning! But the warning was resented. In self-sufficiency Peter declared, confidently that he would never do what Christ had warned him against. “Lord,” he said, “I am ready to go with thee to prison and to death.” His self-confidence proved his ruin. He tempted Satan to tempt him, and he fell under the arts of the wily foe. When Christ needed him most, he stood on the side of the enemy, and openly denied his Lord” (The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1123).
You may have already guessed as much; we are the ones who tempt Satan. We tempt him to go after us every time we think, in our own self-confidence, that we can “handle” the situation.
Have you ever tempted the devil? We don’t usually think about it like that. We don’t think of ourselves as the tempters of the devil; we usually think of it the other way around. We would never be “tempters” would we, especially of the devil himself? We might tempt a friend, or a family member, or maybe even a church member, but certainly never the devil!
Do we have a problem with eating too much? Do we go to the “all-you-can-eat buffet? We are tempting the devil to come after us. We think, even though we have a problem with overindulging, that we will be able to handle it. Do we have a problem with watching too much television? Do we then buy cable or a satellite, thinking we can control what we watch? We open the door and tempt the devil to come after us.
How about Bible study? Do we plan to get up early in the morning to study God’s Word and pray, then stay up late the night before, telling ourselves that we will still be able to get up? We are just asking the devil to come after us. Frankly, we are all probably pretty good at “tempting” the devil.
How do we stay away from tempting the devil to tempt us? How can we make sure we do not do what Peter did? Look to God and not to self!
“Many today stand where Peter stood, when in self-confidence he declared that he would not deny his Lord. And because of their self-sufficiency, they fall an easy prey to Satan’s devices. Those who realize their weakness trust in a power higher than self. And, while they look to God, Satan has no power against them. But those who trust in self are easily defeated. Let us remember that, if we do not heed the cautions that God gives us, a fall is before us. Christ will not save from wounds the one who places himself unbidden on the enemy’s ground. He lets the self-sufficient one, who acts as if he knew more than his Lord, go on in his supposed strength” (This Day With God, p. 259).
JOE OLSON serves as the executive director and chairman of the board of Hope International. He also travels as an international speaker.
|
|
|
