Overcoming Temptations with the Word

There was nothing odd about this particular evening in the Davidson household.  Dad had worked a hard day at his job while Mommy had been home with their three children all day, doing the various things that three kids, ages 10 months to 5 years, demand.  It was dinner time and the couples' eldest, Jenna, was being naughty, throwing food across the table and hitting her little brother.  Finally, Mommy had had enough and sent Jenna to her room for the rest of the night, minus dessert.

A few hours later, well-after the dishes were done and the other children had been put to bed, Mommy went to tuck little Jenna in and kiss her goodnight.  Mommy walked into her five-year-old's room to see her daughter sobbing on her bed, looking sad and defeated.  Jenna looked up at Mommy and, with swollen eyes, asked: "Why do we do bad things, Mommy?"

Mommy, in as comforting tone as she could, answered, "Honey, the devil sometimes tells us to do the wrong things.  We need to listen to God to do the right things." To which a sobbing Jenna replied in tears, "But He just doesn't talk loud enough!"

Could we not all empathize with Jenna?  Often we know that what we are doing is wrong but the voice of the tempter, Satan, can seem so much louder than the voice of truth.  Temptations are something that is common to every human.  In fact, even our Lord and Savior, Jesus, faced severe temptations (Heb. 2:18, 4:15), as chronicled in Matt. 4:1-11, and Luke 4:1-13.

Jesus, following His baptism, is led by the Spirit into the wilderness.  After forty days of fasting and prayer, He is hungry but spiritually ready.  At this moment, Satan comes to Jesus and tempts Him thrice.  In each of Satan's ploys, he supports his temptations with Scripture, giving them the appearance of truth.  However, Jesus is not detoured, He overcomes everyone of Satan's temptations with Scripture that is applied expertly.  Two things stand out in this account that are instantly applicable to us.

The first is the need for recognition of interpretive heresy.  Satan supported his temptations with hermeneutical finesse that made each of his temptations seem not only acceptable but even condoned by the Word of God.  Notice, then, that Satan's voice sounds like truth though it is actually spurious lies.  Understanding and acknowledging the way that a counterfeit of Satan attempts to appear as a truth of the Lord is the first step to overcoming the temptations.

The second thing in this regard deals with Jesus' response to Satan's seductions.  Jesus counters with Scripture.  The difference between Jesus' usage and Satan's can be summarized as interpretive methodology.  While Satan pulled verses out of context to support his position, Jesus took the passages in context and applied from that context.  In this way, it can be easily concluded that Satan's application was wrong and Jesus' right, thus indicating that not every hermeneutic has the same worth. In fact, some interpretations may even be, dare we say, wrong.

Getting back to the sincere concern of Jenna, who fell to her temptations because, as she claimed, God doesn't speak loudly enough.  Jesus shows that hearing God's voice and responding to temptations in reliance upon His voice is directly related to how dependent we are on the Word and how committed we are to proper interpretive methodologies.  Needless to say, this requires disciplined and diligent study that is guided by a dedication to acceptable interpretations.  We should then work hard to interpret the Word the way it is intended to be, so that we can overcome every temptations of the enemy!

Orthodoxologies

The New Testament is a wealth theology put forth in stunning literary beauty.  Among these gardens are a few immensely worshipful and poetic doxologies.  Doxologies are liturgical devices, brief in nature, generally put near or at the conclusion of an epistle, that serve as orthodox statements of praise to God meant to be read and repeated aloud in a congregational setting.

There are at least four doxology in the New Testament, written by three different authors that stand out for their theology, their Christology, and their poeticism (Rom. 16:25-27; Eph. 3:20-21; Heb. 13:20-21; Jude vv. 24-25).  Each of them has subtle differences in emphases and lyrical beauty, but they are all so strikingly similar that it seems most reasonable to consider them as echoing a first-century liturgical ideal that had the various congregational bodies worshiping together through orthodox recitation and reflection.

At the onset, it needs to be said that although the modern North American Evangelical Church has traditionally been generally averse to liturgy, Christianity has always had liturgical elements.  Historically, this has come about in response to cold orthodoxy and stale doctrines, but we should not let it taint the beautifulness of these passages of Scripture, not only for their poeticism in and of themselves, but also for their beauty in bringing people together in orthodoxy through reciting doxologies collectively.

Although each of these doxologies is unique, there are a few points that they each share.  The first is the praise element.  Each of these doxologies praise the Lord Jesus for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.  This flows into the second similarity, that each acts as an exhortative prayer for God to equip and sanctify believers by His power and for His purposes.

Additionally, each of these doxologies focuses on ascribing glory to God through Christ Jesus. This, though lyrical and lovely, is dense with theological weight like grace, faith, salvation, trinity, etc.  The point here, and this should not be overlooked, is memorization.  The length and beauty of these passages lends themselves naturally to memorization.

Doxologies are useful and memorable bits of Scripture that are both poetic accessible and theologically rich with lyricism and beauty.  To read such lovely and sincere prayers and praises in His Word is like salve applied to the soul of a man.  Therefore, it seems fitting to end with such one as these from Ephesians 3:20-21:

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."