At the end of a long day of touring the big city, the country boy is said to have knelt by his bed and prayed, “Lord, we saw a lot of things today. But I thank you I didn’t see a thing I want.”
“The ruler of this world is coming, and He has nothing in Me” (John 14:30).
Toward the end of His earthly ministry when our Lord was preparing the disciples for the difficult days ahead, throughout this Upper Room Discourse (John chapters 13-16), Jesus assured them He would not be leaving them as orphans. The Holy Spirit would be arriving in full force to supply everything they would be needing.
They should expect difficult days, He said. And make no mistake, He says, the devil is coming, too. (Perhaps He spotted that fallen angel peeping up from a garbage can somewhere.)
The devil is coming, but he holds no threat to Jesus.
“He has nothing in Me.”
John MacArthur comments, “The Hebrew idiom means Satan had nothing on Jesus, could make no claim on Him, nor charge Him with any sin.”
Satan has nothing in me. Nothing on me. Nothing for me.
When he throws his grappling hooks my way, there is nothing for it to make purchase on. Nothing for him to “get his hooks in.” That’s the idea.
The other night, flipping channels, I came upon a program called “Bar Rescue.” This expert, I suppose we can call him, was invited to take charge of a failing tavern and whip its employees into shape and turn it into a winner. The man was rude and crude and profane and very smart at what he did. At some level, it was fun to watch.
Afterwards, I sat there reflecting on everything inside that bar: the liquor available in every combination imaginable, the waitresses falling out of their peasant blouses, the dim lights, the blaring music, and the billiards. I happily concluded: There is nothing in that place for me.
Not a single thing in that tavern held the slightest interest to me.
Now, had it been a donut shop!
A friend let me read her testimony. Speaking of an addiction to pills and later the harder drugs, she mentioned “the oblivion that only drugs can bring.” For the rest of her life she will fight to stay free of this monster.
I read of her attraction to those chemicals and think, “Personally, she may as well be describing conditions on Jupiter written in Sanskrit. It’s of interest to me only because I care for her. Otherwise, such drugs hold no interest for me.”
If the devil wanted to tempt me or set a trap for me, he would not do it using hard drugs. He would find other ways.
Make no mistake; the devil is an expert on finding our weaknesses. He knew that Judas loved money and he knows to which appeal we will respond.
Jesus said the devil is coming with his offers and enticements. The Lord remembered these from their desert encounter as described in Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 4. But Jesus is buying nothing he’s selling.
Scholar F. F. Bruce says, “The ruler of this world is about to meet his downfall” (John 12:31). “His plan is to overthrow the sent one of God; but there is nothing in Jesus he can lay hold of so as to gain an advantage over Him.”
Nothing in the Lord plays iron filings to the enemy’s magnet.
Nothing responds to his threats, his offerings, his seductions.
Which raises the question for us: What is the devil selling that yanks our chain? Which lure of his tickles our fancy? Which tune he is fiddling that makes us dance? Which line of his reels us in like fish?
A friend has an addiction to porn. I have assured him that every young man grows up with a curiosity about this sexual thing that is happening inside his body and wonders what to make of it. And I suppose at one time or other every young man takes a look at some of the forbidden pictures. While it’s dangerous, it’s fairly normal. What is not healthy is to delve further into that literature until one is in its snare. Sexual addiction comes in many variations, and can be a bottomless pit of misery.
What triggers your adrenalin? What sets off your alarms and rattles your chains (and a whole lot of other metaphors)?
The first step is identifying it. Name it.
If you do not know your weakness, friend, you are defeated before you walk onto the field, because I can assure you the “other side” has plans to attack you at that very point.
Identify it, and then deal with it. Be strong in the Lord.
Bring every area under the Lordship of Christ in strong prayer and fervent commitment.
Then, keep yourself there. Like the “living sacrifice” of Romans 12:1 which keeps crawling off the altar, you have to keep putting your life back until it remains for good.
A one-time prayer or response to an altar call is not going to give you victory over whatever inside you reverberates at the siren call of the seductress. “I die daily,” said the apostle (I Corinthians 15:31). That’s the plan.
Live on your knees. Memorize 2 Corinthians 12’s passage about being strong through our weakness. Claim His power every day and many times a day.
After all, as Paul said, “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (I Corinthians 6:12).
You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you! Now, live like it.