Satanic Temptations

I would now invite your attention to a subject of deep importance, yet of great and awful mysteriousness; I mean, the agency of Satan in our temptations to sin. —he is ever tempting the children of Adam to sin, and following up, as far as permitted, his first success in the garden of Eden.

In what manner Satan tempts men to sin is a deep mystery. That in some way he has access to the human mind is clear, else how could he tempt at all, since he does not appear personally and solicit to iniquity? Peter in addressing Ananias said to him, "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" Acts 5:3. Still the mode of his operation is concealed from us. We are very imperfectly acquainted with the nature of our own spirits; and how another spirit can act upon us, is a mystery not to be explained.

The manner in which Satan and his influence are described in the word of God, and the earnestness with which we are admonished to guard against him, should excite deep concern and holy vigilance. It would seem that his power, though of course limited and restrained, is very great; that his trickery is equal to his power; and that his malignity is not inferior to either. The very idea that we have to combat with such a foe, a foe that had the courage to attack the Son of God—a foe the more dangerous for the cloud of mystery that hangs about him, and conceals his movements from observation—a foe that actually subdued our first parents, notwithstanding their perfect innocence and paradisaic situation—a foe whom success has made bold, and experience sagacious, in ruining souls—a foe that may be near us at any moment, unseen, and therefore unnoticed, and may be preparing some new kind of attack, is indeed sufficient to alarm us, far more than it does, and to put us upon the best means of averting the danger. 

With too many professing Christians, there seems be a careless confidence, and an air of unwarranted security, which their situation of extreme peril does not justify, and which is quite opposed to the solemn warnings contained in the word of God.

But more impressive and appalling is the language of Paul, in another place, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood—but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Above all taking the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one." Ephes. 6:10-12, 16. This gives us a view of the subject of Satanic opposition, which is almost dreadful.

The Desires Of The Flesh

I found such a great description from John cassian from the 4th century. It reminds me so much of my own struggle mostly at the beginning of my walk. I said the beginning of my walk because as time goes by and we learn to put to death the deeds of the flesh, we learn to practice “put off & put on” the struggle truly subsides. It feels as if you reach a place where your soul knows your spirit has taken charge of things now, so, it can rest because you have made the decision to give the throne that was occupied by the self for so long, to Him our only Master.

While it takes a tremendous work and commitment to put off the deed of the flesh but we do it through learning to stand on God’s Word by faith. If we learn to do it just because we have a “to do list” kind of attitude in our mind, well, it’s going to make a major difference whether we overcome or not. It is the difference between the victorious life and a life in bondage.  

Here you go:

What the Apostle means by flesh in this passage, and what the lust of the flesh is.

Wherefore in this passage we ought to take “flesh” as meaning not man, i.e., his material substance, but the carnal will and evil desires, just as “spirit” does not mean anything material, but the good and spiritual desires of the soul: a meaning which the blessed Apostle has clearly given just before, where he begins: “But I say, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the desires of the flesh; for the flesh lust against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh: but these are contrary the one to the other, that ye may not do what ye would.”

And since these two the desires of the flesh and of the spirit co-exist in one and the same man, there arises an internal warfare daily carried on within us, while the lust of the flesh which rushes blindly towards sin, revels in those delights which are connected with present ease. And on the other hand the desire of the spirit is opposed to these, and wishes to be entirely absorbed in spiritual efforts, so that it actually wants to be rid of even the necessary uses of the flesh, longing to be so constantly taken up with these things as to desire to have no share of anxiety about the weakness of the flesh.

The flesh delights in wantonness and lust: the spirit does not even tolerate natural desires. The one wants to have plenty of sleep, and to be satiated with food: the other is nourished with vigils and fasting, so as to be unwilling even to admit of sleep and food for the needful purposes of life. The one longs to be enriched with plenty of everything, the other is satisfied even without the possession of a daily supply of scanty food. The one seeks to look sleek by means of baths, and to be surrounded every day by crowds of flatterers, the other delights in dirt and filth, and the solitude of the inaccessible desert, and dreads the approach of all mortal men. The one lives on the esteem and applause of men, the other glories in injuries offered to it, and in persecutions.