“He left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.”
Genesis 39:12
In contending with certain sins there remains no mode of victory but by flight. The ancient naturalists wrote much of basilisks, whose eyes fascinated their victims and rendered them easy victims; so the mere gaze of wickedness puts us in solemn danger. He who would be safe from acts of evil must haste away from occasions of it. A covenant must be made with our eyes not even to look upon the cause of temptation, for such sins only need a spark to begin with and a blaze follows in an instant. Who would wantonly enter the leper’s prison and sleep amid its horrible corruption? He only who desires to be leprous himself would thus court contagion. If the mariner knew how to avoid a storm, he would do anything rather than run the risk of weathering it. Cautious pilots have no desire to try how near the quicksand they can sail, or how often they may touch a rock without springing a leak; their aim is to keep as nearly as possible in the midst of a safe channel.
In this first part of the reading, Spurgeon speaks of fleeing temptation as the only way to have victory. Note that he says "the mere gaze of wickedness" is a dangerous thing, and how true this is! Perhaps not the first time, but then the next and the next, and so on, because a spark is all that is needed to start a blaze that consumes a forest. Something that we may perceive as harmless can lead to something that will destroy us--the world is very good at convincing us that we are better than we think and Satan just helps that along. Show me a man who boasts about defeating temptation and I will show you a man who succumbs to it (at the least, in the form of pride).
In the second part of the reading, he speaks of not being of the world and losing respect, relationships, etc in fleeing temptation:
This day I may be exposed to great peril, let me have the serpent’s wisdom to keep out of it and avoid it. The wings of a dove may be of more use to me today than the jaws of a lion. It is true I may be an apparent loser by declining evil company, but I had better leave my cloak than lose my character; it is not needful that I should be rich, but it is imperative upon me to be pure. No ties of friendship, no chains of beauty, no flashings of talent, no shafts of ridicule must turn me from the wise resolve to flee from sin. The devil I am to resist and he will flee from me, but the lusts of the flesh, I must flee, or they will surely overcome me. O God of holiness preserve thy Josephs, that Madam Bubble bewitch them not with her vile suggestions. May the horrible trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil, never overcome us!
Note here that we must have an attitude of abandonment to those things around us that would pull us into sin; Christ spoke of cutting out an eye or cutting off a hand and entering eternity with one eye or hand rather than have both and go to hell. So too must we be ready to siphon off habits or relationships which cause us to sin; this is how it MUST be if we are truly set apart. Another interesting statement Spurgeon makes is that he distinguishes that Satan plays a role but that we also play a role in temptation--the lusts of our flesh we must flee as well. It is not enough to simply state, "Satan, flee from me," when in my own flesh I have ungodly desires and ideas that I do not actively combat with the Holy Spirit's assistance. War must be made on sin, its temptation and the very cause of that temptation. Run from it, Christian, and cling to Christ's work on the Cross and the resurrection!
