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Matthew 16:23:
23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Mark 8:33:
33But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
Luke 4:6-8:
6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
It cannot be denied that in former times, especially in the Middle Ages, people strongly exaggerated Satan by dragging him, wisely or unwisely, into everything. But does it not seem that our times rather incline to the opposite extreme, and forget, if not deny, the very existence of the Evil One?
With this denial, self-conceited freedom in matters of belief makes singular shifts with the Gospel of our Lord.
It is then said that one feels himself detached from the Old Testament, and for this very reason holds himself the more closely to the Gospel. These people who are amphibious of spirit are not concerned with Moses but with Jesus, and oftentimes do not scruple to criticize you, who hold to the whole Scripture, as being too old-testamentish and, therefore, only half Christian.
But now see how these very people who are so loud in their praises of the Gospel, themselves deal with the Gospel.
It is true that almost no mention is made of Satan in the Old Testament, and that on the contrary he is broadly and amply dealt with in the Gospel. And not this alone but that also Jesus Himself, in His words as well as in His works, ever shows that He reckons with Satan. Only think of the Temptation in the Wilderness, of the constant casting out of devils, of the whole conflict of evil spirits with the Saviour; then of all He spake concerning the Prince of this world, yea, how He understood all His suffering and dying as a combat with this Prince; and then, not to mention other instances, think not least of this, that in the short "Our Father" He interwove for all His people as a final prayer the petition: "Deliver us from the Evil One."
But all this is of no avail. The half friends who have put the Old Testament aside in order to hold themselves alone to Jesus and His Gospel, do not scruple to reject this whole matter of Satan's influences, part and parcel, from their Gospel. And so here, too, is shown how such effort is always bound not to fashion their own mind and thoughts after the Gospel, but to frame the Gospel after their world of thought.
And with respect to this, there is even guilt among those who are more faithful to the truth; not by denying but by forgetting Satan's real working.
Is it not extremely rarely that in the spoken address or written essay, in psychology or in the revelations of the inner life, the Evil One is reckoned with as a real factor?
Now in connection with this you should bear in mind that Satan is like a thief; he prefers that you should be unconscious of his presence and of his doings.
In the very circles in which his existence is denied or ridiculed he has his hands entirely free to murder souls to his heart's content. And that he can be so strangely forgotten by those who are more inclined to believe the Gospel, also offers him the most wonderful chance to poison souls.
You may be quite sure, that in all this denial and in all this forgetting of the actual existence of Satan, there operates effectively a trick of Satan himself.
When the mighty Spirit of Christ operated upon the life in Palestine, Satan had no success in this for a moment, and Jesus compelled him to show himself.
But now he does succeed in keeping himself concealed, and from the ambush unseen and unnoticed, he infuses his character to better effect on this very account.
How the working of Satan goes on is not revealed to us in detail. Only we know that our human world is not the only world of conscious beings, but that there exist myriads of other spiritual beings which are called spirits, angels, cherubim, seraphim, etc.; and it is equally certain that this world of spirits is not separated from our human world, but exists alongside of it, is related with it in all sorts of ways and strongly affects it.
In addition to this, it is revealed that the antithesis between holy and unholy has also broken out in this world of spirits, even at an earlier date than on this earth, and that from this world of spirits it has entered into our human world.
Hence there is a certain alliance between good spirits and good men, and also a conspiracy between unholy spirits in the invisible world and unholy spirits in the visible world. Joy among the good angels over one sinner that repenteth, and a sardonic grin among the evil spirits when the fall of a lost soul is successfully brought about.
It is all one conflict, one warfare, one struggle with Christ as the Head of the holy spirits on this earth, and outside of this world against Satan as the head of all unholy spirits among men and devils.
All this is clearly, broadly and exhaustively brought to our knowledge in the Gospels, in the Epistles and in the Book of Revelation. This we know, this we believe, and in accordance with this we must direct our doings and non-doings.
But how this working of unholy spirits operates upon our human world, remains for us wrapped in shadow, so that only a few vague features give direction to our thoughts.
Yet it is sufficiently certain that a threefold working outlines itself severally with sufficient clearness.
There are workings from the unholy spirit-world which, without any definite attack, of themselves find vehicles that are observable by us in public opinion, in usages and customs of life, in sinful human nature.
This is the ordinary, the everyday, the ever continuous working from the unholy spirit-world which, as it were, is in the air, and of which we all undergo a certain influence.
There is a second, more grievous working, when one of the many evil spirits takes possession of the spirit of a certain class of people, or of the spirit of an individual person. Sometimes several evil spirits do this at the same time. Just recall Jesus' parable (Matthew 12:45).
And, finally, there is a third, still more painful, yea the most painful working, when Satan does not send out one of his satellites, but girds himself for battle, to assault a chief stronghold in the spirit-world.
In accordance with the conditions of the times and of the persons the first, second or the third working appears in the foreground.
You see it in Jesus' days.
The main question at issue had then to be fought out, and consequently all these three workings came powerfully into play.
Satan himself against Jesus and His Apostles, evil spirits against elect victims, and the ordinary workings among the rank and file of the whole people.
Escape then was no help. Hiding did not do. The conflict was in the open.
So altogether different from now.
Yet even then—and this is so full of instruction for us —Satan tried to hold himself concealed.
Peter with his sensitive temperament and impetuous nature was bound thereby to serve as an instrument. "His Jesus to die on the cross! Never!" Love alone was the motive in contending against this dreadful thought in Jesus. And so we read that Peter rebuked Jesus, saying: "Have pity on thyself! This shall in nowise be unto thee!" (Matthew 16:22.)
Herein Satan's working concealed itself. Peter did not realize this. But Jesus immediately saw through it, and now in turn rebuked the disciple, who was adrift upon his feelings, instead of being at rest upon the prophesied plan concerning the Man of Sorrows: "Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
So Satan did not gain an inch. Jesus unmasked him at once. Even by his attack from the ambush he could advance nothing against Jesus.
But for us this event is of incalculable benefit.
It shows us that under the most lovely forms of feeling, when apparently no evil intent can in anywise be surmised, and when we have the impression of walking very tender ways, nothing less than a direct assault of Satan can be concealed under it.
This does not say that Satan ever attacked you yourself personally. It is very possible that thus far he confined himself to influence you by one of his subservient spirits. It is even conceivable that he never influenced you otherwise than by his general workings in the spiritual atmosphere.
But this incident with Peter shows nevertheless that you might be mistaken. That there might be an assault of Satan himself, where you did not in the least surmise it.
And in any case, that the daily prayer: Deliver me, "deliver us from the Evil One!" can for no one of us be a superfluous wealth.
Looking back from behind, long afterwards, altogether objectively, upon a temptation that we endured, the question can sometimes present itself: "Was not this an assault of Satan himself upon my heart, and was it not my God Who delivered and saved and preserved me?"
This applies not always to the temptation to commit one particularly great sin. See it in the case of Peter. He rather deemed that he was doing good.
But this is certain, that what obstructs most effectively the way to the evil world of spirits is your seeking and striving to be near unto God, to live in His hidden walk; in vital, conscious fellowship with God to choose your path and to pursue your way through life.
And for you yourself, on the other hand, there is no safer stronghold within which to spare yourself these unholy influences than in being much of the time near unto your God. This is the reason why Satan is ever intent to interrupt this communion with God in your heart.
That you seriously seek the hidden walk with God is a reason for Satan to attempt an assault upon you in a particular way, by no means always to entice you to a great sin, but very often, as with Peter, by giving you diverting workings of the affections.
Be, therefore, on your guard.
As soon as you observe spiritual coolness, as soon as you perceive that, whatever it may be makes it difficult for you or hinders you to be and to remain near God, then see to what influences you are exposed, what unnoticed influences take place in your soul, and shake everything off, and rest not until you have found your hiding place again near to the heart of your God.
Hesitation, procrastination, is not tolerated here.
Jesus broke the spell, immediately, on the spot; and repulsed Peter and threw him off from himself with the first word that came to his mind.
"Satan, get thee behind Me!"
Brief, strong and aggressive! So alone the snare breaks and you can escape.
* * * * * * *This devotional classic offers 110 meditations on a single thought from Psalm 73: "As for me, it is good to be near to God." The author states, "The fellowship of being near unto God must become reality ... it must permeate and give color to our feeling, our perceptions, our sensations, our thinking, our imagining, our willing, our acting, our speaking. It must not stand as a foreign factor in our life, but it must be the passion that breathes throughout our whole existence."
The meditations reflect the blending of spiritual vigor with doctrinal loyalty so consistently expressed in the life of Abraham Kuyper. These are devotions with true substance, avoiding the extremes about which Kuyper adds a word of caution: "Stress in creedal confession, without drinking from the Living Fountain, runs dry in barren orthodoxy, just as truly as spiritual emotion, without clearness in confessional standards, makes one sink in the bog of sickly mysticism."
Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a Dutch political leader and Calvinist theologian. Elected to parliament in 1874, he became Prime Minister in 1901 and served in that capacity until 1905. As a theologian, he revived a systematic, orthodox Calvinism. He founded the Free Reformed Church and the Free University of Amsterdam. His other works include Principles of Sacred Theology, Lectures on Calvinism, and The Work of the Holy Spirit
Further information about Abraham Kuyper's life can be seen in the translator's "Biographical Note"; further information about To Be Near Unto God can be Abraham Kuyper's "Preface" to that book.
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