By Staff
"There is no release from that war." These are the words of King Solomon from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 8, verse 8. Solomon was speaking of life, death and the struggle to live in an acceptable manner.
There is good; there is evil. There is God and there is the devil. We are in a "truceless warfare." God is greater than the devil (1 John 4:4), but God has allowed the devil to have dominion over the earth for a while (John 14:30).
We are in a great conflict waged from heaven to hell, like it or not. The devil, or Satan, is the ultimate terrorist. He seeks to disrupt and destroy. If we ignore him, tragedy will ensue.
The only discharge in this war is death; every other moment is conflict. There is no "R &R," there is no safe haven behind the lines, no vacation spot; we are engaged. We so want to close our eyes, rest a bit, exercise some freedoms, relax the vigil, enjoy some borderline desires, but when we do, the devil is right there trying to take us down.
The devil has schemes (Ephesians 6:11 NIV). His schemes were exhibited as he tempted Jesus Christ in the wilderness in Matthew, chapter 4. Satan tempted Jesus to turn the stones to bread to satisfy a ravishing hunger brought about by a forty-day fast (Matthew 4:3). The scheme was to have Jesus depend on Himself rather than wait for God to supply. Jesus waited on God (Matthew 4:11).
The next scheme involved the devil prompting Jesus to jump from a high wall in Jerusalem. Satan quoted scripture in an attempt to get Jesus to exalt Himself with a spectacular miracle (Matthew 4:6). Jesus refused.
The next scheme was to get Jesus to take a shortcut. The devil knew that one day Jesus would have all things given to Him. The pathway to this glory and the price was death on the cross of Calvary. Satan offered Jesus the world now if He would just bow down and worship him. Jesus refused this shortcut (Matthew 4:9).
The devil comes to us with the same schemes. There is the temptation to depend on ourselves or some system rather than waiting on God. There is the temptation to exalt ourselves rather than to humble ourselves before God and wait for Him to exalt us (1 Peter 5:6). Shortcuts are ever before us, but the toll is higher than we expect.
What are we to do about the devil? The apostle Paul shares with the Christians in Ephesus some practical handles on dealing with the attacks of the devil in Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 10-18. We would do well to follow these admonitions.
First of all, we are to gird ourselves with truth (Ephesians 6:14a). This is Bible knowledge applied. We have areas we struggle in, which makes us easy prey to the devil. Fear, insecurity, lust, greed, selfishness, etc., all give Satan opportunity to accuse us, discourage us, and destroy us. We need truth to counter the devil's lies.
Second, we are to faithfully practice right living, that is, righteousness (Ephesians 6:14b). This is honesty, integrity, self-control, humility, doing the right thing in every circumstance. Another key to righteousness is running to God in confession when we do sin, rather than stubbornly going our way and being in the grip of the devil.
Third, we are to stand firm on the truth of the gospel (Ephesians 6:15). We matter to God! He loves us, Jesus died for us, and there is every provision for us to live a holy life. We can cry "Abba Father" (Romans 8:15), which simply means "Father, I am yours."
Fourth, we are to use the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16) to ward off the fusillade of flaming arrows (i.e. lies) and attacks of the devil. These come continually to distract and discourage us.
Fifth, we must claim the assurance provided in God's Word that we belong to God (Ephesians 6:17), even though one of those flaming arrows that may come our way is doubt about our salvation. We are sealed in His family (Ephesians 1:13).
Sixth, we are to cultivate a working knowledge of the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). If Jesus quoted scripture against the devil, should we think we should do less?
Finally, there is prayer (Ephesians 6:18). We should be "praying always."
The devil is a very formidable foe. He is out to get us. We must stand against him in the strength of "the Lord and in the power of His might," as we "put on the whole armor of God" (Eph. 6:10-11). There is no discharge or reprieve in this truceless warfare.
He writes a weekly column for the Niles Daily Star.