The Subtle Temptation to Worship Darkness

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

John 1:5

“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

 

John 3:19-21

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

 

Few of us know someone that actually worships Satan, but there are some who openly desire to worship the Evil One, the Deceiver and Father of Lies. Anton Lavey was such a man. He’s dead now, but when he was alive he started his own Church of Satan and even wrote the Satanic Bible. Their basic symbol was that of an upside-down cross. It’s hard to fathom someone actually wishing to worship in such a way, but possibly some of us are tempted in subtle ways to do the same thing. “Never!” you say. Let’s look at a situation Jesus faced and see how Satan might attempt to bribe us into worshipping him.

 

One of the temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness was to worship Satan. Matthew 4 8-10 gives us a description of what took place.

 

“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’

 

Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’”

 

The devil had already tried to test Jesus’ faith with two other temptations without success. Possibly frustrated with more subtle means, Satan decided to just be overly brazen with his tactics and come out with his purest desire for Jesus, that the Son of God should worship him. It’s interesting as you see Jesus’ response. With the other two tests Jesus just quoted scripture and denied the temptations. Here we see Jesus’ emotions appear. He is angered that such a temptation would be presented to Him. This temptation demonstrates both the pure evil that Satan represents and the holiness that Jesus possesses. Any servant of God would detest such an offer. The thought of worshipping the devil should turn the stomach of any servant of God. Jesus is so disgusted with the offer that His response is one of a command. “Away from me Satan!” Jesus responds instinctively as any man of God would. Jesus felt revulsion at such a thought of worshipping the Evil One. But how does Satan approach us with the same temptation? Is he as blunt as he was with Jesus?

 

Satan offers power, prestige, and material possessions to those he tempts. He does this in return for their worship. But he does this carefully, subtly and deceptively. Sometimes this is done supernaturally and other times through natural means. While he can sometimes be extremely brazen and obvious in his temptation tactics, this is usually after the hook of sin has been bitten and the discernment of those caught in sin has been numbed and/or destroyed. He often knows what we desire and crave. He can’t read our minds, but he can observe our behavior and the habits we practice and uses this information to tempt us. In his subtle methods he tempts us with things of the world such as material possessions, financial security, positions of power and authority, popular jobs of prestige and even relationships with the opposite sex. He does this through his influence in the world and the weaknesses he perceives within us. When our focus is on the things of the world, our soul can begin to worship them and therefore indirectly Satan himself, the god of this world. We are subtly being drawn into worshipping the darkness because we have taken our focus off Christ.

 

Jesus speaks of this temptation of worshipping darkness in Matthew 6:22-23 where it says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” If our focus is on the things of this world it darkens our whole being: heart, mind and soul. As we spend time focusing on the world and all it has to offer, we begin to be filled with darkness. We can then begin to give homage to Satan himself.

 

1 John 1:5-7 discusses this in even more detail when it says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” This scripture is telling us that our association as Christians is with the God of light not darkness. If we claim to walk with God but walk in darkness we do not live by truth. It is also important to take note here that it mentions that if we walk in the light and avoid the darkness that Christ’s blood purifies us from all sin. It is true that we sometimes stumble as a Christian in our walk with Christ, but this does not mean we are worshipping Satan or living in darkness. It simply means we have temporarily fallen. God is there to pick us up, forgive us by His loving grace and encourage us to continue on. It is when we fall, decide to stay there and enjoy the darkness for a while that we are on dangerous ground spiritually.

 

Romans 13:12-14 is an encouragement to us if we stumble in such a manner. It states, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” We are to clothe ourselves with Jesus. We are to put on the pure white robe of righteousness that our Heavenly Father provides and live as His servants. Our decisive decision to become a follower of Christ demands that we have a progressive attitude of obedience to our Lord and Master. If we live in the light our lives are exposed for all to see and we are not ashamed in how we live for we are walking in God’s light. It is when we begin to dabble in the shadows that we begin to be tempted to worship the darkness and to serve our former master, the Evil One. Yes, before we were saved we served Satan whether we knew it or not. We walked in darkness and didn’t even know it.

 

Ephesians 5:8-14 tells us that we used to walk in darkness and lived as children of the dark. It says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.” How do we avoid the darkness? How do we overcome temptations that present themselves to us that would draw us into darkness? We are to have NOTHING to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness. We are not to play with the shadows of the world. We are to avoid the dark paths that tempt us to stroll down their unrighteous trail. If you walk in the light and let the light of the world, Jesus Christ, guide you; you will avoid not only the darkness but also the god of this world, Satan himself.

 

John 12:46

“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

 

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”