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In this lesson we will see that the believers experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the matters of not loving the world and of overcoming Satan, the devil.
The Greek word translated “world,” kosmos, has many meanings. In Matthew 25:34, John 17:15, Acts 17:24, Ephesians 1:4, and Revelation 13:8 it denotes the material universe as a system created by God. In John 1:29; 3:16 and Romans 5:12 it denotes the fallen human race, corrupted and usurped by Satan as components for his evil world system. In 1 Peter 3:3 it denotes adorning, ornament. In 1 John 2:15, as in John 15:19; 17:14 and James 4:4, it denotes an order, a set form, an orderly arrangement, hence, an ordered system set up by Satan, the adversary of God. God created man to live on the earth for the fulfillment of His purpose. But His enemy, Satan, in order to usurp the God-created man, has formed an anti-God world system on this earth by systematizing man with religion, culture, education, industry, commerce, and entertainment through man’s fallen nature in his lusts, pleasures, pursuits, and even in his indulgence in living necessities, such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation. The whole of such a satanic system lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19).
Satan not only employs the necessities of life to preoccupy man; he also organizes man into numerous individual systems in order to intensify his grip on man. The satanic world system can be compared to a university, in which there are many different departments, such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, marriage, money, entertainment, and fame—more than can be enumerated. These “courses” enslave and possess man, causing him to completely forsake and forget God and to go along with the current of the world. People believe that they are handling and enjoying these items, but actually they have fallen into the hands of the evil one and are deceived and controlled by him. Therefore, the world denotes the enemy’s scheme, system, and organization to usurp the place of God in man and eventually to gain full possession of man.
First John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.” The love for the Father is our love toward Him generated by His love within us. We love the Father with the love with which He has loved us and which is enjoyed by us. If we do not love the world, we can keep the love of God in us, and we will have the ground to overcome the evil one. Loving the world just a little gives the evil one the ground to defeat us and occupy us. If we keep the love of God with which He has loved us, we will not love the world; that is, we will not love anything in place of God.
First John 2:16 says, “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.” The world is an evil, satanic, anti-God system that has been constituted from the things created by God. This system comprises the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of the present life. Love of the world is comprehensive, but love of the things that are in the world is a more practical term.
The lust of the flesh is the passionate desire of the body. Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, an evil, satanic element came into the human physical body. This element now dwells in man’s nature. The human body thus became fallen and corrupted, and it became flesh. Since the body encompasses the soul, the soul fell under the influence of the fallen body. As a result, our soul also has been corrupted. Therefore, the soul, our psychological being, has become lustful due to the influence of the fallen body. The lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes. The fallen soul and the fallen body now work together. Our body influences our soul, and our soul influences our body. Because of this mutual operation of body and soul, it is difficult to say whether it is the body or the soul that takes the initiative to commit sin. Therefore, on the one hand, we have the lust of the flesh; on the other hand, we have the lust of the eyes. The vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things of the present life. The Greek word rendered “life” in verse 16 is bios, a word that refers to the physical life and also to the present life. Whatever takes place in human society is the present life, with which there is vainglory, including empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things. All these items are not of the Father; hence, we should not love them.
The will of God is God coming so that man may contact, touch, Him. Because God is so great, we cannot contact all that He is. Whenever we contact God, we contact only the portion emanating from Him, which we call the will of God. First John 2:17 says, “The world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Just as the world is against God the Father, so the things in the world, which are its lust, are against the will of God. On the positive side, we have the Father and His will. On the negative side, we have the world and all the things in the world. The world and its lust are passing away, but he who does the will of God abides forever. To practice the will of God means to do the will of God habitually and continually, not merely occasionally. God, His will, and those who do His will abide forever.
In Romans 12:2 Paul charges the believers not to be “fashioned according to this age.” This means that we should not be conformed to this age. The Greek word translated “age” can be rendered “modern.” The age is the present, practical part of the world that we contact. To be conformed to this age means to adopt modern fashions outwardly. The combination of all people, activities, and things outside of God is called the world. The age designates the part of the world that we contact. The world is the entire organization used by Satan to usurp man, whereas an age is a section, an aspect, the present and modern appearance of the world, which is used by Satan to usurp and occupy people and to keep them away from God and His purpose. Therefore, Ephesians 2:2 refers to “the age of this world.” We can contact only the age, a part, but not the world, the whole. Usually, we say that the world possesses us. In reality, only the age possesses us, not the whole world.
Everything, everyone, and every matter have been systematized by Satan and made a part of his world system. Where can we go in such a situation? The answer is that we need to go to the Triune God for His dispensing. Only the Triune God has not been systematized by Satan. Along with going to the Triune God, we also need to go to the Word of God. Therefore, since everything, everyone, and every matter have been systematized by Satan, we should not live according to the modern fashions of this age. Instead, we need to flee to the Triune God and His Word.
Through the dispensing of the processed Triune God the believers can overcome Satan, the devil. Satan in Greek means “adversary.” Satan is not only God’s enemy outside of God’s kingdom but also the adversary within God’s kingdom, rebelling against God. The devil, who is Satan, accuses us before God and slanders us before men. If we still love the world, we will have no way to overcome Satan. But if we do not love the world, we will have the position to overcome him.
According to Revelation 12:11, the believers can overcome Satan first “because of the blood of the Lamb.” To overcome Satan because of the blood of the Lamb means to apply the blood of the Lord Jesus as our covering and to take the Lord’s blood to counter Satan’s accusations and attacks. We are still on earth and in a body of flesh; hence, we cannot help but have some defilement, corruption, weakness, shortcoming, and other undesirable conditions. When we fight with Satan, the first thing he does is to point out all our weaknesses and shortcomings in our conscience, and then he accuses and attacks us. Therefore, whenever we sense the accusation of the devil, we need to take the power and effectiveness of the blood of the Lamb by applying the blood to answer all of Satan’s accusations. In this way, we can be strong and of good courage before the enemy and fight against him.
As we wage war against Satan, we must see the blood of the Lamb and declare that we are under its covering. This blood is the prevailing blood, and it speaks and implies a great deal. Only God and, to some extent, the devil know how much the blood implies. Whether or not we know all that the blood implies, as long as we apply it, we will have all that it implies. Therefore, we can overcome Satan because of the blood of the Lamb.
Second, the believers can overcome Satan because of the word of their testimony, which is the word testifying that the devil has been judged by the Lord. Whenever we sense the devil’s accusation, we should verbally testify how the Lord has already dealt with him. We must declare with the uttered word the Lord’s victory over him. We must declare what the Lord has accomplished, the victory of the cross, the attainment of resurrection, and the position of ascension. This is not a matter of preaching but of testifying.
The blood is the fact, and the word is our testimony. The blood implies the fact that our sins have been forgiven and taken away, that we have been crucified, that Satan has been judged, and that his head has been bruised. When we apply the blood, we apply these facts. After applying the blood, we must declare the facts to Satan. This is the way to overcome the enemy.
Third, those who overcome the devil do not love “their soul-life even unto death.” As a result of Adam’s fall, Satan joined himself to man’s soul-life, man’s self (Matt. 16:23-24). Hence, to overcome Satan we should not love our soul-life; rather, we should hate and deny it (Luke 14:26; 9:23). This kind of persons do not love their soul-life unto death. That is, even at the point of being martyred, they still do not love their soul-life. They are persons who are willing to be martyred.
If we want to overcome Satan, we must have no self-love or self-care. Loving ourselves and caring for ourselves cause us to lose the position of warfare and to be unable to fight against the enemy. Therefore, in order to overcome Satan, we must not love our soul-life. As long as we love our soul-life, we are dust, good to be food for Satan. But if we do not love our soul-life, that is, deny our soul-life, Satan will have no ground. This is the way for us, through experiencing the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, to overcome Satan.
To be subject to God and to be humble toward God (James 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:6) enable the believers to withstand the devil, that is, to stand against the devil. James 4:7 says, “Be subject therefore to God; but withstand the devil, and he will flee from you.” To be proud toward God is to side with God’s enemy, the devil. To be humble toward God is the best strategy to fight God’s enemy; it always causes him to flee from us.
The devil is as a roaring lion, howling in hunger, walking about, constantly and aggressively seeking for prey, that is, seeking someone to devour. Therefore, we need to be sober and watchful, being firm in our faith, in order to withstand him (1 Pet. 5:8-9). Peter charges us to withstand our adversary, the devil, because he accuses us day and night. However, to withstand does not mean to resist or to struggle against. Rather, it is to stand firmly as a rock on the ground of our faith before the roaring devil. In 1 Peter 5:9 faith refers to the believers’ subjective faith, which is their faith in God’s protecting power and loving concern.
In nothing should we give any place to the devil. In Ephesians 4:26-27 Paul says, “Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your indignation, neither give place to the devil.” According to the context, to continue in anger is to give place to the devil. If we hold on to our anger, we are actually welcoming the devil. However, if we relinquish our anger, we close the door to the devil and give him no place.
Satan is subtle in taking advantage of the believers. Satan, the evil one, is behind the scenes in every scheme, and he works according to his schemes. His schemes are his plans, plots, devices, designs, wiles, intentions, and purposes. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Paul reminds us not to “be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” This verse indicates that, even in the church life, Satan may be behind the scenes. Even forgiving a brother may involve not only the church but also the devices of Satan (vv. 6-10), for in such a matter Satan may be crouching, looking for a way to execute his evil plans and devour the weak ones. Therefore, we need to be aware of the subtlety of the enemy.
When Satan came to Eve, he came as a serpent. When he came to the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16, he came through Peter. However, the Lord Jesus was on the alert and realized that Satan was in front of him. For this reason, the Lord said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” (v. 23). Just as Satan came to the Lord Jesus through Peter, Satan may come to us through a certain person. Therefore, we need to be on the alert and know the devices of the devil.
The believers can overcome Satan because they are guarded by the faithful Lord from the evil one. In 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Paul says, “The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” We are guarded by eternal comfort and good hope (2:16-17). Only the eternal life can guard us from the evil one. The whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19), but we have a part within us that has been regenerated, born of God, and has the life of God. The divine life with which we have been born of God will keep and guard us from the evil one (vv. 18, 4; 3:8-9).
The believers need to experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the matters of not loving the world and of overcoming Satan, the devil. God created man to live on the earth for the fulfillment of His purpose, but His enemy, Satan, in order to usurp the God-created man, has formed an anti-God world system on this earth. Therefore, the world denotes the enemy’s scheme, system, and organization to usurp the place of God in man and eventually to gain full possession of man.
The ground for us to overcome the evil one is that we love God, not love the world or the things in the world, including the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life. The lust of the flesh is the passionate desire of the body. The lust of the eyes is the passionate desire of the soul through the eyes. The vainglory of life is the empty pride, boast, confidence, assurance, and display of material things of the present life. If we keep the love of God with which He has loved us, we will not love the world or the things in the world. The world is against God the Father, and the things in the world are against the will of God. The world and its lust are passing away, but God, His will, and those who do the will of God abide forever. Paul charges us not to be conformed, fashioned according to this age. Therefore, instead of living according to the modern fashions of this age, we need to flee to the Triune God and His Word.
Through the dispensing of the processed Triune God the believers can overcome Satan, the devil. We can overcome Satan because we apply the blood of the Lord Jesus as our covering by taking the Lord’s blood to counter Satan’s accusations and attacks. We can overcome Satan because of the word of our testimony, which is our testimony that the devil has already been judged by the Lord. Furthermore, in order to overcome Satan, we should not love our soul-life but rather we should hate it, denying our soul-life, and even be willing to be martyred. James says that to be subject to God, to be humble toward God, is the best strategy to fight God’s enemy, because being subject to God always causes the devil to flee from us. Peter says that the devil is as a roaring lion, howling in hunger, walking about and constantly and aggressively seeking for prey, that is, seeking someone to devour. Therefore, we need to stand firm as a rock on the ground of our faith in order to withstand our adversary, the devil. In nothing should we give any place to the devil. The whole world lies in the evil one, but we have a part within us that has been regenerated, born of God, and has the life of God. The divine life with which we have been born of God will keep and guard us from the evil one.
