Man, if there is anyone that is a follower (true believer, disciple) of Jesus Christ and they don’t feel the pressure of the spiritual war raging then they may want to make sure they have a spiritual pulse and have actually enlisted.
Two words – it’s real.
I’ve personally only been aware of it for the last 20 years even though it goes back to the very beginning (Rev. 12:9). In my time being “deployed” I’ve been: engaged and also hiding; bloody and also pristine; armored up and also in nothing but my briefs (sorry for mental image); leading/following and also neutralized…you probably get the idea.
Recently I have become sensitive, maybe hypersensitive, to the battle…and frankly perplexed by the inability of my fellow soldiers-in-Christ to recognize the enemy. Yes, Virginia…there is a devil.
I have a bee in my bonnet when it comes to my family in Christ missing some of what I’d characterize as the bigger-picture truths/fundamentals…like – there’s only one church (One Body, with One Head [His name is Jesus]) and for crying out loud can we act like we believe that and pull on the same end of the rope! We are not in competition with one another…we are supposed to be engaged (actively I’ll add) in warfare against the one entity/being (angel) that has been opposing GOD and His plan from the very beginning (see above).
Yes, we too can and are part of the problem…but we do fool ourselves if we forget about the despicable jerk pulling the strings on a great number of people, situations, and things.
Bumper sticker theology has its place – namely it’s handy for remembering some truths in a succinct way. Who in The Kingdom would argue with “Jesus Saves”? Well, here’s one for you… “If you’re not coming face-to-face with the enemy, you’re likely headed in the same direction.” From my experience this is very true – when I have been the most aware of his schemes it is when I have been fully engaged (facing him head-on) in fighting him and his demons…when it seems that I’ve been given a pass for R&R (more accurately AWOL) that’s when I’ve been the most sifted (Luke 22:31-32).
Two of his favorite tactics are – 1) convincing people he’s not real/doesn’t exist; and, 2) for us (The Body) to become so preoccupied with him that it takes us away from the task that GOD has called us to.
satan is a liar and doesn’t give a crap about any person that has ever lived. The sole purpose of his miserable existence is to try and stick his thumb into the eye of Almighty GOD. To do this he wants to accuse us of our sin and to make his case that we deserve to be in hell with him. Were it not for the unfathomable love of CHRIST that is exactly where we would all end up.
In a recent sermon (John Piper) I heard the question raised, “Why, then, does GOD not simply wipe satan out?” He has the right and power to do this. Rev. 20:10 says He is going to do it some day. Why let him rampage through humanity for centuries?
The ultimate answer is found in Col. 1:16, that “all things were created through Christ and for Christ.” Jesus Christ, The Son of GOD, will be more highly honored in the end because He defeats satan through longsuffering, patience, humility, servanthood, suffering, and death, rather than through raw power.
Did you catch that not-so-nuance? Pastor John explains that the glory of Christ reaches its apex in the obedient sacrifice of the cross where Jesus triumphed over the devil (Col. 2:15). Jesus said, “Now [in my final hour] is the Son of Man glorified, and GOD is glorified in him” (John 13:31). Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified . . . the power of GOD and the wisdom of GOD” (1Cor. 1:23-24). Jesus said to Paul about satan’s thorn in Paul’s side, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor. 12:9). satan, and all his pain, serves in the end to magnify the power and wisdom and love and grace and mercy and patience and wrath of Jesus Christ. We would not know Him in the fullness of His glory if He had not defeated satan in the way He did.
Pastor John laid out eight do’s and four don’ts…
The Do’s
Expect evil. “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1Pet.4:12).
Endure evil. “Love bears all thing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1Cor.13:7; Mark 13:13).
Give thanks for the refining effect of evil that comes against you. “Give thanks always and for everything to GOD the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph.5:20; 1Thes.5:18; Rom. 5:3-5).
Hate evil. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Rom. 12:9).
Pray for escape from evil. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt.6:13).
Expose evil. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:11).
Overcome evil with good. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).
Resist evil. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jam. 4:7).
The Don’ts
Never despair that this evil world is out of GOD’s control. “[He] works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11).
Never give in to the sense that because of random evil life is absurd and meaningless. “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! . . . For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Rom. 11:33,36).
Never yield to the thought that GOD sins, or is ever unjust or unrighteous in the way he governs the universe. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways.” (Psalm 145:17).
Never doubt that GOD is totally for you in Christ. If you trust him with your life, you are in Christ. Never doubt that all the evil that befalls you—even if it takes your life—is GOD’s loving, purifying, saving, fatherly discipline. It is not an expression of his punishment in wrath. That fell on Jesus Christ our substitute. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb 12:6).
When we acknowledge the reality of satan and renounce his designs and trust the power and wisdom and goodness of GOD through Christ, we fulfill GOD’s purpose in letting satan live. We glorify the infinitely superior worth of Jesus.
Armor up!
GBU – Ephesians 6:10-20
