However, in the middle of the wilderness, fasting for forty days, with the dangers of wild beasts ever present and Satan (the adversary), tempting Him, Jesus overcame and “the angels ministered to Him.” The first Adam fell and the angel stood with a flaming sword to keep Adam and Eve out of the Garden and away from Tree of Life, but Jesus prevailed and has become the way, the gate, and the door to eternal life.
In a fallen world we cannot keep the devil from putting things in our path that appeal to natural human desires, but by the same token the devil cannot force us to pursue anything we don’t want to pursue. One preacher observed that we cannot keep the devil from knocking on our door, but that doesn’t mean we have to open the door and let him in. The reason Satan has been so successful with temptation is because too many people are looking for the opportunity and temptation is just an excuse to open the door and do what they already wanted to do.
FIRST JOHN: TRUTH IN A WORLD OF DECEPTION “Love’s Restraint” By Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD Text: 1 John 2:15-17, NKJV 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the...
