There are three ways in which every son of God, every witness of God, is tested by Satan. These are described as Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem—the city where the Lord was crucified. They are the means by which Antichrist will shatter the power of the saints in the closing days of the Church Age.

To this point we have been discussing Sodom—life lived in the sensual appetites of our flesh and soul.

The Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan in this area of personality.

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"(Luke 4:5-8—NIV)

In some supernatural manner the Lord was able to see the kingdoms of the world. We know from history and from the present hour that at the highest levels of government, in democratic and socialistic systems, the works of Sodom abound: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

To live according to our sensual appetites is to worship Satan. It is the realm of the pleasures of the flesh and soul.

Jesus reminded Satan that we have been commanded to worship and serve God alone, no one and nothing else.

It is not unusual today for a Christian to be led astray by a lustful or romantic (disguised lustful) attraction for a member of the opposite sex. This pull is so powerful that previously decent husbands and wives leave their spouses and children to live with a selfish person of little integrity. Sometimes Christians give in to such enticement. By so doing they sin against God and betray those who have trusted them. They abandon that which would have been precious treasures in time to come.

Satan has ruined the testimony of many in America by seducing them with the lusts of the flesh. This is one means by which Antichrist will attack, overcome, and kill the Christian witness at the end of the Church Age.

The Lord Jesus, standing in a desert with no creature comforts, overcame the pull of the flesh and soul. If we will call on Him sincerely He will enable us to overcome that which would draw us away from our close walk with the Lord.

Egypt

The root of the previous temptation, Sodom, is our desire for worship and pleasure. The root of Egypt is our willingness to seek survival and security in the world instead of in the Lord.

The true Christians (not all churchgoers) have been called out of the world by the Lord. They are in the world but not of the world. If they decide to become involved in the world system they lose their testimony. Satan has seduced numerous Christians by presenting to them the attractions of the world, particularly in America.

To be continued.