The Warfare of the Soul: Practical Studies in the Life of Temptation. Shirley Carter Hughson

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СКАЧАТЬ would be to notify him of our fear of him; and also would advertise him that we were not putting our trust wholly in God. Let him be given these two assurances, and our chance of escape would be small.

      IV. The Restraint of the Divine Decrees

      As we have seen, Satan is limited as are all creatures, but his limitations are more than those which belong of necessity to a finite and created nature. Because of his rebellion and his warfare against the Saints, God by decree has set him his bounds, as perhaps He has done with none other of His creatures.

(1) He can tempt a soul that is in grace only with explicit permission from God. This is taught clearly in the history of the temptations of Job.[13] He defames the character of this servant of God, challenging God, as it were, to give him permission to test the Saint. The permission is given, and then, and not till then, is Satan able to lay siege to the heart of the patriarch.

      (2) After God's permission has been given, the extent of the temptation is also specially marked out by God. He sends Satan forth with permission to try His servant, but decrees what he can, and what he cannot, do. "Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand." This was the limitation of the first temptation, and when in it "Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly," for the further perfecting of His servant and the confusion of the tempter, He gives a second permission, for each detailed temptation had to be stamped with the divine approval. But here again was the definite bound set. "Behold he is in thine hand, but save his life."

      But in many cases God sets for Satan an even more baffling limitation than was done in the trial of Job, not allowing him to know definitely how far he will be allowed to go. He has no rights in his work of temptation. God has made no covenant with him to allow him anything; he is permitted to operate little by little, here and there, and from time to time, not according to his own will or wish, but only as God wills for His own glory.

      If he knew in the beginning the exact limit, if nothing more, he could so much the more intelligently prepare his plans. He is, however, in the position of a man who is bidden to prepare for a journey, but is given no idea of the distance it is to cover, along what road it will be, or what space of time it will occupy. The plan laid out in such a case must be, at best, a poor kind of thing. God has promised us that we shall not be tempted above that we are able. In other words, that He will preside over this battle, watching it in its every detail, and when the limit of our strength is reached, the tempter will be instantly checked. What must be his rage and chagrin to find so often the spoil of the battle apparently all but within his grasp, when suddenly his arm is shortened, his power paralysed.

[1] "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."—1 Peter v, 8.

[2] Rev. xii, 7.

[3] "It seems certain that this sin was pride, which is the beginning of all sin.... More specifically, the pride of the fallen angels seems to have been a refusal to accept the position of creature, subject in all things to their Creator."—Hunter, Outlines of Dogmatic Theology, 448.

[4] Rom. v, 20.

[5] "According to the divine economy, the Evil One is not consigned at once to the place of punishment allotted to him, but is permitted to be at large for the trial and probation of men; that he may, though contrary to his own design, render the Saints more righteous through patience, and become the cause of greater glory to them."—St. Macarius the Egyptian, Institutes of Christian Perfection, Bk. IV, ch. ii (London, 1816).

[6] Ps. cvii, 16.

[7] Ps. xcviii, 2.

[8] Rom. v, 12.

[9] 1 Cor. xv, 55. Compare Hosea xiii, 14.

[10] Heb. xii, 23.

[11] Moberly, The Administration of the Holy Spirit, p. 25.

[12] "For Thou, even Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men."—1 Kings viii, 39.

      "After all, with all his vast knowledge and experience, he is but a creature. He cannot know you from within; he is not omniscient, not omnipresent. He can only guess at your motives,—the secret spring of your actions."—Webb, The Presence and Office of the Holy Spirit, pp. 78-79.

[13] Job i and ii.

CHAPTER III

       Table of Contents

      THE TEMPTER: HIS CHARACTERISTICS AND METHODS

      I. Satan, the Deceiver

      The foremost characteristic of Satan is that which marks him as a Deceiver. It was by deceit that he brought death into the world and all our woe. Our first mother was "beguiled through his subtilty,"[1] and "being deceived, was in the transgression."[2] Our Lord declares him to be the father of lies,[3] and the constant apostolic warning is against his falsehood and deceit. He secures the active allegiance of men by "blinding the minds of them which believe not";[4] he is able to lead astray God's people by being "transformed into an angel of light,"[5] and through his wiles and lying wonders he seeks "to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect."[6] So we are taught to watch and pray "lest the devil find room to deceive, who never sleeps, but goes about seeking whom he may devour."[7]

      Nevertheless there is great consolation in the fact that his chief weapon is deceit. By using it he bears his testimony that, though we be far gone from righteousness, yet, should we be permitted to see clearly, truth rather than error would appeal to us.

      No man chooses evil for evil's sake.[8] Before he makes such a choice he is deceived into thinking either that the thing is good, or that under the particular circumstances it is right for him to make what, under other СКАЧАТЬ