“Our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil.”
This is how J. B. Phillips translates Ephesians 6:12, and it brings a chill to the heart while at the same time it raises questions and offers explanations few of us have been willing to face.
Limited in outlook, bound by tradition and convention, and more or less trained to believe only what we can demonstrate on the drawing board or in the test tube, we blithely go our way, oblivious to the scriptural affirmations about the forces of evil that surround us.
We live in a time when many people deny the existence of Satan, despite the evidences of his malignant influence on every hand. Strange that so many should doubt the reality of this enemy of our souls! Or is it strange? Has he not succeeded in blinding the minds of many so that they neither recognize him nor turn from him to the marvelous light of the Gospel?
For evidence of his evil presence, one has but to pick up the morning newspaper and read of the lives he has marred. Moreover, the indifference, unconcern, self-satisfaction, and inertia of many “good” people are more than mere personality deficiencies, for often they reflect the deadening influence of the enemy of souls upon the hearts and minds of unsuspecting victims.
The cosmic conflict is that unending warfare between the forces of righteousness and the forces of evil, between God and his angels of light and Satan and his minions of darkness. This is not fanciful thinking if the biblical record is true, or if the evidences of our own day are to be interpreted correctly.
That Satan should intensify his warfare at times should be expected. That he will increase his efforts near the end of the age is one legitimate interpretation of Revelation 12:12: “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Of this we can be sure: Satan and his hosts are exceedingly active today on every hand.
The comfort and hope of the Christian and the immediate hope of the world rest on the fact that this is not a one-sided engagement but a conflict involving God and all the forces of righteousness that proceed from him.
It is strange that, despite the wealth of references to Satan, his hosts, and his work in the Bible, we are often inclined to pass over the entire matter as something of a joke. Because it is the very antithesis of a joking matter, our indifference or ignorance is serious indeed.
Again and again our Lord refers to Satan and his works—to his position as “the prince of this world” and “the prince of devils.” The fact that Satan could with assurance offer the power and glory of this world to the Lord of Glory gives him a status we reject at our own peril. Paul refers to him as the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”—showing something of the universality of his operations.
Both history and present-day conditions indicate that this conflict is felt in every area of life and every part of the world. Although it is a spiritual struggle it is very real and is carried on not only at the personal level but at national and international levels as well.
Satan, we are told, goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is described as our “adversary”—an enemy against whom we must maintain a vigilant defense.
The Apostle Paul was acutely aware of this great conflict. He suffered from the attacks and hindrances of the adversary as much as any man ever has. Writing to the Corinthian Christians, he warns against the satanic intrusion of bitterness and misunderstanding between Christians and adds, “For we are not ignorant of his devices.”
The enemy of souls is cunning to a degree none of us can imagine. He may appear first as an angel of light and then with all the sinister trappings of a fiend of hell. He will tempt Christians by a simulated success in their work, by the injection of pride that renders them useless in the work of the Lord, and by seemingly innocent diversions from legitimate work. He does this in any one of a thousand ways, and usually attacks at the weakest or least expected point.
Those who preach the Gospel find themselves caught up in this battle for the souls of men, because it is at this very point that the conflict is centered. As the seed of the Word is sown, Satan comes along to snatch it out of the hearts of the hearers. And at the same time he sows the tares of unbelief and indifference, so that the wheat of God’s redeemed ones is forced to grow along with the tares of the children of Satan.
Satan is the master propagandist. He is a liar and the father of lies. As the conflict rages—increasing in tempo and working to a climax—the lying propaganda of the devil is to be found on every hand. Only by the Spirit of God can men see with discernment. Only by his help can they be delivered from the blandishments and false concepts and philosophies that are a part of this warfare.
At no point is this conflict more clearly seen than in the satanic cleverness, persistence, and power of the growing Communist influence. Playing on legitimate longings engendered by human need, taking advantage of the animosities and hatreds of nations and races, exploiting all facets of the humanistic philosophy, and appealing to the materialistic desires of men everywhere, Communism offers the answer to all of these aspirations, with but one proviso: “Bow down and worship me.”
Once man capitulates to a world without God, he may indeed secure certain temporary advantages, but he does so at the price of his soul.
One has but to study the methods of this monstrous evil to see in it the works of Satan himself. Gladly will he give to the world the power and the glory that are his, provided the one fatal compromise is made. Gladly will he make man’s lot in this world more bearable—if he can keep the soul for eternity.
Nevertheless, this cosmic conflict in which all the world finds itself involved has a sure end. Christ will triumph and Satan will be vanquished.
The question for each of us is this: On whose side are we today? By whose strength are we living? Are we the sons of God through Christ’s redemptive work, or children of the devil by our failure to receive the Giver of Life?
