LETTER FOR MARCH 1994
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Dear Friends.

I would like to share with you some thoughts on temptation and the attack of Satan upon the Christian in my letter for this month. This whole question is raised for us in the Prayer Book theme for the first Sunday in Lent reflected in the Collect, Epistle Gospel for that Sunday.

The Gospel is St. Matthew’s account of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness St. Matthew 4:1-11. Although Jesus was being tempted directly to sin, the account is not only helpful to us in Satan's attack to cause us to do wrong, but also as we face those attacks of Satan where he seeks to destroy our joy and comfort, attack our faith, depress our spirit, put obstacles and difficulties in our way, and mobilise the world’s hate against the Christian.

The great thing about this account of temptation is that Jesus was completely and utterly victorious, and Satan at the end had to go away totally defeated. This is uplifting as we remember that Jesus is the one who has achieved victory over this hateful foe, and can give us the victory and comfort also.

Notice first of all that the attack of Satan on Jesus brought great trial and bitterness to the Saviour. Satan came when he was weak through lack of food and lonely from lack of company. The temptation was bitter and powerful. It was subtle and probing of every potential weakness. So clever is Satan that he knows all the vulnerable spots in the armour of our lives, and knows all the most vulnerable times also.

Because Jesus experienced here, and frequently later in his earthly life, the horror and force of Satan’s attack, he can understand and sympathise with us in our times of bitterness over Satan's assaults, and love us and support us in them. Jesus knew the special bitterness of Satan’s attack in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before his trial and crucifixion. We have a High Priest, who has been tempted in all points like we have, yet without sin, and can support and help us in our temptation, because he knows so very well what we are experiencing.

Notice, in the second place, that Jesus used one weapon to repulse the assaults of Satan upon him. It was the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In a word, he used the Bible. He returned the Devil’s charge with a thrust with the Word of God. Satan could not get through his guard.

If we are to have answer to the assaults of the Evil One, then we must use this weapon and become more and more expert in using it. Jesus was expert. We can only become more expert by hard work and practice. The art of fencing and sword fighting is one, like all skills, which requires hard practice and application in order to become proficient.

Jesus knew his Bible, so that he understood the mind of God. This knowledge was not merely knowledge of the text, but also a correct understanding of its meaning. We must read and know the Word of God so that we come to know the mind of God. When we know the mind of God we shall know what is right in the circumstances of life and be able to discern the error and falseness of the Devil's thinking.

The Devil is no fool. He understands that plain unvarnished evil will repel us. Thus he dresses up his foulness in the guise of truth and righteousness. Most of what he says will be true. It is the pinch of evil in it all that is the problem, and which means danger. We must live in the Bible if we are to be able to discern where the error is, and so reject it. Jesus was able to do this, as he replied with the words of Scripture to Satan's temptation.

There is not substitute for much reading and meditating on God's Word. The only way we will become proficient in using it to defeat Satan is by constant application to it.

But knowledge is not the whole. We can know the truth in our minds and what may be right to do, or what may be the best action to take; but our will is very rarely governed by our mind unless our feelings and affections concur with the right in our minds. It is our feelings that drive us. The demands of our flesh and emotions are so powerful. Satan knows - Oh! so well - how to exploit our emotions.

When we read the Scriptures, we must not only read in order to gain knowledge and understanding, but also to live in the atmosphere of heaven, and to experience more and more the amazing and infinite love of God for us. Reading and meditating on God’s Word is, and must be, together with gaining knowledge, the business of seeking to have fellowship and communion with the Lord. We must read the Bible in order to walk spiritually with Jesus, and have conversation with him. It is to dwell in the arms of his mercy. To receive the application of his grace. To enjoy his company. In this way we feel a more lovely, better and more powerful emotion than any the flesh can produce. It is also emotion that Satan cannot manipulate. It is emotion also which can be balm to our troubled spirit when Satan has crushed us and tormented us in our soul.

Again there is no short cut or instant access to this heavenly emotion. Just as human relationships need to be cultivated, and love needs to be nurtured, so it is with our relationship with Jesus. We must spend time with him, and seek his presence in the Bible. It is only in so doing that we will grow to know Jesus more deeply and be captivated by his love.

Notice lastly the emphasis of the Collect for this first Sunday in Lent. It reaches to the heart of our need. With all our knowledge, and with all our experience of the love of Jesus, Satan can so still manipulate and set fire to our feeling and thoughts, that in the battle with Satan the pain of the struggle becomes too great, and we succumb to the temptation, or are crushed with the pain of Satan's blows upon us.

We need supernatural power. We need the grace of God, the power of God, which is given to us by the Holy Spirit acting and fighting for us. As Satan pours fuel on the fire of our emotions from one side, the Spirit pours the water of faith and holiness to damp the fire from the other side.

This is where prayer comes in. Prayer is a desperate cry for help in these circumstances. The collect expresses this cry in the words "Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may obey your godly motions in righteousness and true holiness". 'Give us grace' is not a conversational piece, but a desperate cry for help. When we are free from positive attack we pray the prayer quietly, but with earnest feeling and need. When Satan is pressing his advantage strongly, and we are hard pressed, the prayer is a loud and passionate cry to the Holy Spirit to come.

So we live in the presence of God in his Word, so that the atmosphere in which we live is more and more that of the love of God; but also, knowing our desperate weakness, we never cease to humbly ask from God that his grace might keep us, and quench all the fiery sword thrusts of the Evil One,

Your servant for Christ’s sake,