Temptation
There is a striking parallelism between three passages in the Bible:
1 John 2:16, Genesis 3:6 and Luke 4;
Between:
« the lust of the flesh » / « the tree was good for food » / « Command this stone that it be made bread »;
‘The lust of the eyes’ / “Pleasant to the eyes” / “Shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world”;
‘The pride of life’ / “To make one wise” / “All this power…and the glory of them”.
1 John 2: 16 « 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. » KJV
Genesis 3 : 6 « 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. » KJV
Luke 4 : 3, 5-6, 9 « 3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread…5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it…9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence » KJV
Jesus Himself was tempted by the devil. His secret to resist temptation was in His prayer life.
The spiritual warfare
The thought is renewed, the flesh is crucified and evil spirits are driven away.
The Great Mission that Jesus has left us is to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel; in return, it is probable that we will be fought by evil powers. The second good news is that Jesus has already defeated them at the Cross, and He did it for us!
We must now enter into the victory of Christ.
Ephesians 6:12-13 shows us that spiritual warfare is not a struggle at a distance but rather a close one with an enemy we do not see, but which is real.
We are not fighting against men, or even a political system.
Even if it is us who are attacked, it is a fight that we cannot avoid but which we must fight not by relying on our own strength, but on the weapons that God has made available to us: prayer, His Word and spiritual gifts.
Ephésians 6 : 12-13 « 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. » KJV
More generally, a Church active in the ministry of prayer resists the spread of darkness.
Our victory consists above all in confessing the Lordship of Jesus Christ and living what He has acquired for us. We are victorious only by abiding in Jesus.
Do not go beyond what is written. Let us remain sober and vigilant. God does not want or ask us to expose ourselves unnecessarily.
The Holy Spirit knows the spiritual world perfectly. We need all His power, close communion and collaboration with Him. And His first mission will always be to preserve us.
If Satan finds something in us that belongs to him, he will have authority over us again. A consecrated life, lived in obedience to God, and most of the spiritual warfare is won.
Integrity, walking in truth and purity are a power that frightens Satan.
The armor of the believer
In 1 Thessalonians 5:8, his first epistle written in the year 58, Paul has only a sample of the armor revealed.
1 Thessalonians 5:8 « 8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. » KJV
There are only two weapons in this verse: the breastplate and the helmet. It is in the year 64, when he wrote the epistle to the Ephesians while imprisoned in Rome, that Paul has all the revelation on the subject, that of the seven weapons.
With a Roman soldier permanently attached to him, Paul had the revelation that the armor the Roman soldier had in the natural, the believer had it in the spiritual.
As long as the latter is in communion with God, he is clothed with armor but he loses it as soon as this communion ceases.
Ephesians 6 : 13-18 «13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints » KJV
1/ The belt: it is not the most impressive piece of the armor but it is still the most important. Without it, the whole armor of the Roman soldier could not hold. For the believer, the belt is the written Word of God, the Word « Logos ». Our belt is at the centre of our body as the Word of God is at the centre of our lives;
2/ The armor of justice: the armor was the heaviest part of the armour of the Roman soldier. This armor was defensive but could also be offensive;
3/ The shoes given by the Gospel of peace: the Roman soldier had boots and under his shoes, crampons to have more footing. Paul wanted to tell us that when we have peace with God and, above all, the peace of God we have a strong foundation, as the Roman soldier had;
4/ The shield of faith: the Roman soldier had a large rectangular shield of a size that was according to his size, made with different types of leathers. He put oil on it so that it was always flexible. And before the fight, he plunged it into water so that the arrows of the enemy would be extinguished by the contact with the water contained in his shield. We also need the fresh oil of the Holy Spirit, a fresh anointing, and to immerse ourselves in the water that is the Word of God;
5/ The helmet of salvation: the helmet was the most beautiful, the noblest part of the armor of the Roman soldier; is it not the most beautiful gift that the Lord has given us?
6/ The sword of the spirit: it is still the Word of God, but this time the Word « Rhema » which is personally addressed to us by the Holy Spirit. The Word « Rhema » will never contradict the Word « Logos » and we must nourish ourselves abundantly of the Word « Logos » to be able to receive « Rhemas »
7/ All kinds of prayers.
A person who walks in spirit and obedience to God, who has carefully kept his thoughts and is clothed with the armor of God, is ready to be powerfully used to accomplish the plans of the Lord on earth.
