LEARNING DAILY

Luke 9:42, And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

In the last page of the blog, I used Charles Spurgeon’s writing to discuss the need to “believe” in Jesus, relating it to the only true faith Believers must have. I want to use Spurgeon’s writing to discuss how Satan uses those things that have tempted Believers in their past to continue to tempt them as they walk the narrow way. Jesus warned His followers that walking the narrow way with Him would be difficult because the enemy never gives up trying to keep Believers from heaven.

Satan will do anything he can in order to prevent a person from coming to Jesus. To prevent one from the salvation Jesus offers – true salvation – the devil will pervert the truth of God. He will misrepresent, not contradict it. He does not stop doing this even when the person asks Jesus to save and change him. Satan constantly uses his minions to whisper to the saved person that he is really not a Believer, not one of the elect in attempt to “throw him down and tear him to pieces” (Spurgeon). But the Word of God tells the Believer that when he believes and places their faith in Jesus Christ their sins are forgiven, and he is a child of God.

Satan is constantly trying to tell the Believer that he is full of sin. The enemy is quick to remind Believers of their sinful past and what a “depraved creature you are” (Spurgeon). Spurgeon writes, “’See,’ the devil says, ‘there are your old sins still crying after you’; and he waves his wand and gives a resurrection to past iniquities which rise up like ghosts and terrify the souls.” Once again, the attempt is to throw down the Believer and tear him to pieces.

The idea this morning is not to give the devil too much power but to recognize that he creates as much difficulty and disruption to the Believer as he can in order to make his walk on the narrow way as difficult as possible. If the devil is throwing you down, telling you lies about who you are in Jesus Christ “get back up again, the devil has no right to throw you down. Your sin cannot be too great for God’s mercy. It is not the greatness of sin that can cause any man to be damned, if there be not a lack of faith. If a man has faith, notwithstanding all the sins he may have ever committed, he shall be saved” (Spurgeon). In other words, when one becomes a true follower of Jesus Christ through His saving grace, all his sins are forgiven, including the past, present, and future. “Faith in the blood of Christ destroys the sting of sin. One drop of the Savior’s precious blood could extinguish a thousand flaming worlds if God should will it, much more put out the burning fears of your guilt” (Spurgeon).

Satan does not like to lose any who have followed him, which is every Believer. Therefore, he continually attempts to draw the Believer back from walking the narrow way into God’s kingdom. Do you still have evil, sinful, and blasphemous thoughts, especially when a little discouraged or troubled? Do you have thoughts that you are not good enough to be forgiven? Do you have doubts about who you are, and that God really has not saved you? Do not be afraid, Believer! James 4:7-8 tells Believers to, “Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you!”. The way to do that is to place your faith and trust in the Father through His Son, Jesus. When Satan knocks you down, get back up. “Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Spurgeon writes, “Keep your eye simply on Him and let His death, His agonies, His groans, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, and His intercession be fresh on your mind. When you wake in the morning, look for Him; when you lie down at night, look for Him. Oh! Let not your hopes or fears come between you and Christ; seek only Him”.