The Bride's Temptation in the Wilderness

From Dick Stoddard's Bread of Life messages:

"If I were to select the best picture of the Bride of Christ out of all the portraits of her that are shown through the words in the Bible, I would choose the one portrayed in this scripture: 'Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?' (S.of S. 8:5).There are many other great pictures of her throughout the Bible, but the reason this one is so special is that it shows the Bride of Christ happy, healthy, mature and leaning upon the arm of the Lord.

"If you look closely at my favorite portrait of the Bride, you will notice what it was that helped so much in her spiritual progress. The Bible shows her COMING UP FROM THE WILDERNESS as she is leaning on her Beloved. There is nothing that helps us mature as much as a trip through the wilderness. (That is, if we learn to come out of it leaning on the Lord.)

"The word 'wilderness' in Hebrew means 'desert,' in Greek it means 'lonely.' It is true that, although we who belong to Christ have unlimited riches, we still go through some dry and barren wastelands while we are here on earth.

"Don't think that you are unspiritual when you find yourself in a desert facing a lot of temptations. Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted of the devil (Matt. 4:1). And one of the temptations Satan will use on you when you are in the wilderness is to tempt you to doubt your relationship with Christ. He has a powerful weapon aimed at you with a key in his hands to activate it. If it is unleashed against you, it could destroy your life. If you are hit with this weapon, it could strip away your security by breaking down your faith. It could plunder your joy, diminish your hope, and get you to think that you are an unloved, forsaken orphan rather than a victorious child of the King.

"This weapon is aimed at your mind; that is the place where Satan will launch his greatest attack against you. He has devised this weapon to blow away your identity. If he scores a direct hit on you, you may be so devastated that you won't know who you are or to whom you belong.

"I almost hesitate to name this weapon because it is such a common word and you have heard it so much that you may not fear it the way you should. The weapon is called 'DOUBT' and it is deadly. It is like a guided missile poised on the launch pad, zeroed in for a direct hit on your identity.

"Satan is the great master of deceit. This weapon of doubt will appear to be striking at God, when it really is aimed directly at you. Satan used this tactic to deceive Eve in the Garden of Eden when he implied that God lied to her (Gen.3:4- 5). If he can get you to believe a wrong concept of God; such as, Him being a hard taskmaster rather than a loving Heavenly Father, then you will be afraid to stay close to the Lord and will want to run away from His presence.

"The other path taken by this deadly weapon called 'DOUBT' will not be toward the identity of God; it is set for a direct hit on your own identity. If you have received Christ as your Savior and Satan can persuade you to accept a wrong concept of your identity as a beloved child of God, then you will become an easy prey for his vicious attacks.

"The key that Satan has to unlock this deadly weapon of doubt appears to be small, because it is only a two-letter word; but it can activate an incredible force against you. The key is called 'IF.'

"The devil tried to use this key on Jesus and he will try to use it on you. When Jesus was hungry from forty days and nights of fasting in the wilderness, Satan said to Him, 'IF thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread . . . IF thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from the pinnacle of the temple' (Matt. 4:3-6). Jesus knew who He was and did not have to perform a miracle to prove His identity.

"When you are in a weak position Satan will speak to you—usually through your own thoughts, although it could be through another person—and say, 'IF you are a child of God, why are you having such a difficult time?' He will put an evil thought in your head and then say, 'IF you are a Christian, why are you thinking such things?' He will tempt you to sin against God and then say to you, 'IF you are a true believer, why do you have these temptations?' His great desire is to get you to doubt your identity as a beloved child of God.

"When the Bride comes out of the wilderness she is mature and no longer listens to the devil who is the accuser of the brethren (Rev.12:10). Nor does she hear the legalistic preacher who is trying to move her away from God's grace into the bondage of trying to become righteous through the law. She does not give ear to her own flesh when it tries to place her under condemnation (Rom. 8:1). She has been in the wilderness where she learned to walk by faith and listen to the voice of the Lord. This is what she is hearing from Him: 'Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee,'and she hears Him call her names like 'My flawless one' (S.of S. 4:7; 5:2).

"She is now secure in her true identity, which gives her the courage to face the eleventh hour crisis that is about to come upon this earth. And she is now ready and eagerly waiting for the Bridegroom to return to rapture her into a new dimension where she will sit at His banqueting table and spend eternity in glory with Him."