The Clio messenger., 1918-03-01


person; but his
messengers are legion. whicf makes 1t
practically true Of him that he is
ubiquitous. attacking us both by sug-
gestions of evil within and solicita-
tions to evil without. His agents are
not only demons, but bad men and
women, bad literature, bad amuse-
ments, bad habits. bad examples. and
when we are resisting these we are re-
sisting him.
(1) The best time to resist him Is at
the beginning Of the temptation, when
we are at our strongest and the temp.
tation at its weakest point. For exam
who became one all at once? Did not
the deceitful. habit creep over his fac
ulties by slow degrees until ut last 1t
controlled him? How many latent pas,
sions are there In the human breast,
which never would see the light were
1t not for the apparently accidental CIR
cumstance that first made them known
to us? This suggests the carefulness
with which we should select the books
we read as we'll as the society In.
which we mingle.
(2) The temptations of Satan will be-
felt most powerfully Mt our weakest
point, and each one of US has that
point which Is predilection towards
some special sin or error. :.
Gambling Is an example of what is
meant, since there is In almost every
heart desire to possess riches, and 1t
requires only slight bend In this cur
rent to turn the youthful mind away
from honest labor and healthful occu-'
patton. Some wise man has said. 'The
way the tide of mans constitution
runs. that way the wind Of temptatlOnl
blows"
(3) The devil often tempts us where
we least expect 1t, and where we think
hams name Is synonym for faith, and
yet he fell through unbelief. When
ever we speak Of patience we think Of
Job, and yet Job "cursed his day."
Moses was meek above all the men
which were on the earth. and yet his
lack Of meekness, as exhibited In strik-
Ing the rock at Kadesh, prevented him
from entering the promised land.
(4) The devil can successfully be re-
sisted only In the strength of God. That
was the way David coped with Goliath
when he said to Saul, 'The Lord who
delivered me out of the paw Of the lion
and out Of the paw Of the bear, he will
aIc JnIf - tha 81
this uncircumcised Philistine." He was
not trusting in his physical strength,
nor his personal courage, nor his great
skill in the use Of the sling. All these
were brought into active exercise 1t Is
true, but yet he had learned to lean
upon power greater than his own and
greater than which he opposed.
This gives Significance to the latter
half of the text, "Resist the devil and
he will flee from you" We must do
the resisting, but our victory over him
Is brought about by God. In other
words, the reason the devil will flee
from man If he resists him Is because
he has been overcome once for all by
the Son of God for all mankind.
o, what hope and encouragement Is
In those words, "He will flee from
you" Behold 1 give you power over
all the power of the enemy, and moth
ing shall by any means hurt you" said
Jesus to his disciples in Luke 10 10.
What a compass there is In this decla-
ration! The tempted Christian is In
the wilderness of despair and hears the
roaring Of the satanic lion. He is trav-
cling on a lonely road and remembers
that he has an adversary with murder
I'm his heart. He Is In the fires of a
fierce conflict and the angel of the bot
tomless pit is stirring up the flames.
20, thou God of life and light" he
cries, "Is there no escape? Can
not free myself of this? Shall my
spiritual life be threatened every mo-
ment with spiritual death?" "No," h
the answer Of our Almighty God and
eternal savior, "Resist the devil and
he will fee from you."
Here is clear command and
precious promisel May he who In his
own person overcame our enemy give
us diligently to obey the one because
we faithfully believe the other.