James 4:7

THE COMBAT WITH EVIL

‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’

James 4:7

Temptation is the root of sin: if you want to fight against sin you must look to the root of it, and you must resist temptation. Christ came to show us how to resist temptation in order that we might not fall into sin. The history of Christ’s temptation is meant to teach us what temptation is, what kinds of temptations there are, where it comes from, and how to overcome it when it comes. When any one is being taught a trade, his master explains to him what he is to do, and then lets him look on while he does it. So Christ in the wilderness is teaching us what we have to do, and showing us how to do it. Christ was tempted by the devil.

I. It was the devil that tempted Christ. So it is the devil that tempts you.—Remember this. It is not yourself only you are pleasing when you do anything that is wrong. Very often when men do wrong they are not pleasing themselves at all. They are uncomfortable all the while, and only fancy that they enjoy it. But whether it pleases them or not, whether they enjoy their sins or not, it is the devil who is really being best pleased. Every time you think a bad thought or read a bad book there is the devil looking on and enjoying the fact of your being so wicked and so foolish as to let him entrap you into doing what will make you miserable. It is the devil who puts it into the hearts of young men to be profane and foolish talkers. It is the devil who puts it into the hearts of young women to be conceited and giddy and light. It is the devil who sets you upon talking scandal, or upon cheating or lying or Sabbath-breaking. It is the devil who finds you in excuses for staying away from Holy Communion, or makes you get into quarrels with your neighbours. It is the devil who is waiting outside the church door to pick up any good thoughts which have been sown in your hearts and fly away with them before they have had time to settle in your minds and bring forth any fruit.

II. Try and think what a dreadful thought this really is.—Suppose God were to open the eyes of your souls so that you could really see what is going on, how it would startle you and terrify you. And yet it is real; but people go on sinning, for they don’t see it. When a man is going into a bad action, or when a girl is going astray, there is really the devil leading them quietly on, giving them just a little push here or a pull there, as he sees they will take it, watching them and gradually helping them on in their badness, until at last he lands them in some great sin; and then the devil is pleased, for he has got what he wanted. And so it is in quarrelling. There were several different ways in which Christ was tempted, just as there are many different ways in which we are tempted. And one great use of the history is that it shows us that whatever way it was that Christ was tempted, it was the devil all the same who was tempting Him. The devil may deceive us, but he could not deceive Christ. Christ saw that it was the devil, and He said at last, ‘Get thee behind Me, Satan.’

II. Resisting the devil.—The devil saw it was of no use, and he left off tempting Christ. It is so with us; let whatever will be the way in which we are tempted, whether it is to think too much of ourselves, or to be greedy and covetous about getting on in life, or to fear the world’s opinion and neglect the worship of God, be it what it may, it is the devil all the same, and what we have to do is to speak out plainly and say, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’ Satan knows quite well that the moment we see it is he that is tempting us we are on the high road to overcoming him.

III. Overcoming the devil.—As soon as Christ said, ‘Get thee hence, Satan,’ so soon, we read, ‘then the devil leaveth Him.’ And if we will say the same and mean it—and call on Christ to say it for us also to the devil—then the devil will flee away, and all on a sudden you will find that you do not care one bit for the very thing you were only just now wishing to do. Only be firm, make up your mind that it is not you that is wishing the evil, but that it is the devil who is trying to make you wish it, and then, as you tell him to ‘get him hence,’ ask Christ to drive the devil away, and you will find yourself left in peace. And then good angels will come round you, and good thoughts will be put into your mind, and you will wonder how you could have been so foolish as ever before to have let the devil have his way with you and lead you into wrong at all.