Word of Salvation – Vol. 19 No.45 – August 1973

 

Spiritual Warfare – or – Plaything In The Devil’s Hand

 

Sermon by Rev. C. Moerman, Th.Grad. on Ephesians 6:12

SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 8:26-39

PSALTER HYMNAL: 86:1 & 3; 246:1 & 4 (after Law); 374: all
                        464: all (after sermon); 465:1,3 & 4; 148:5 (doxology)

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, young and old,

There IS plenty of life, plenty of traffic going on between heaven and earth.  A lot more than we probably dare to think.

Do you believe in ANGELS?

Most likely your answer will be ‘yes’.  And, of course, for the Bible teaches so.

BUT… angels are divided into TWO groups: the goodies and the baddies.  And the bad ones are all organized under their undisputed head and leader: Satan.

The thought of a devil, or many of them, does not commend itself in ALL quarters today.  Not even in all churches.

Still less, does the idea of principalities and powers of evil and spiritual rulers of darkness, a multitude of demons.  And many who claim to be Christians, reject their existence altogether.

It is too gruesome, too unreal.  And together with creation, miracles, virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of our Lord, the whole world of Satan and demons has gone by the board also.

But the Bible is very clear and plain on the subject.

It pictures Satan, the leader of the demons, as a person, a living unavoidable reality.

Jesus Christ meets him in the desert and becomes engaged in a head-on collision.  Jesus Christ calls him, ‘the murderer from the beginning’, ‘the ruler of this world’, ‘the father of lies’, ‘a strong man armed to the teeth’.  And the whole teaching of the Word of God cannot be understood unless we understand clearly its major theme: ‘LIGHT VERSUS DARKNESS, CHRIST VERSUS SATAN, LIFE VERSUS DEATH, HOLINESS VERSUS SIN’.

And TWO forces are engaged in the battle: ‘GOOD AND EVIL’

And Satan is supported in his ‘life or death’ struggle by a countless host of demons.  His evil servants, the fallen angels, cast out from heaven together with their leader.

The spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places, winging around, waiting for an opportunity to find an opening through the door of your heart.

Demons ARE a reality.

Jesus Christ cast out many of them.  .The apostle Paul did too.  There are many demon-possessed people today.

When Jesus Christ arrived in the country of the Gerasenes He was met by a man possessed by MANY demons.  Legion was his name.  When the man saw Jesus Christ he cried out; ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’  Or in another translation, ‘What have we in common?’

And indeed what HAVE they in common?

Light and darkness. . . Jesus and Satan?

Christ came to RESTORE, TO BUILD.

Satan, and his demons, TO DESTROY, TO BREAK DOWN.

They ARE up there.  Winging around, waiting. . . and you’d better be warned.

It is about these horrible realities that our text speaks today.  And we have a closer look at the words under the theme:
            ‘SPIRITUAL WARFARE’ or ‘PLAYTHING IN THE DEVIL’S HAND’.

In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul has given advice and warnings to the Church.  He spoke about relationships between husband and wife, children and parents, masters and slaves.  How easily these can be disturbed.  All the time he was speaking how man ought to deal with man’.

But now in the last part of his letter he removes a curtain, which puts the battle of the Christian in a completely different light.

He shows the REAL cause of misery, of broken relationships, of disruption: IN and THROUGH and NEXT to and BEHIND people, are lined up the demons, in vast array, in great numbers, with all their craftiness and trickery, their brute force and cleverness.

And THESE are the dangers to watch out for.  THESE are the forces which use human beings as PAWNS, as PLAYTHINGS, in the great battle which goes on.

‘We are NOT contending against flesh and blood’, our text says.  Or, differently translated ‘not against HUMAN enemies do we have to fight’.

Our REAL enemies are NOT the people we dislike.  Our GREATEST danger is NOT ‘man whom we can see’.  In our contest between ‘good and evil’, it is NOT the prostitute who walks the street, not the poker machine, not the medium of Spiritism, or the witchdoctor, or the fortune-teller whom we should fear or fight.  BUT the SPIRIT they represent.

Not AGAINST FLESH OR BLOOD is our Christian battle, but AGAINST THE FORCES BEHIND IT ALL.

Man is engaged in a SPIRITUAL warfare.

Man is engaged in a life-long battle against forces HE CANNOT SEE, but yet ARE REAL.

The word used in our text ‘contending’, calls attention to a contest, a battle, in which the one party forcefully tries to knock out the other, and then keeps him down with his hand upon his neck.  And when we realize that the loser in a Greek wrestling contest had his eyes cut out with the result of blindness for the rest of his days, then we can form some idea of the seriousness of Paul’s warning to the Church.

It is as if the apostle Paul wants to scream it out to all, to you, to me, ‘People of God, there IS a battle going on, a battle so serious, so fatal, so deadly, that IF you ever will be the loser, you will be a goner for time and eternity.  Please BEWARE!

And the battle is NOT against MAN WHOM WE CAN SEE.  It is not that MAN or that WOMAN who can make life so nasty.  It is not the one who makes such terrible pronouncements.  Not the man who proposes new theories, or even new theology.  The battle is not against MATTER we can touch.  The OPPONENT is an ‘INVISIBLE ONE’. . . and THEREFORE so much more dangerous.

Man is only a plaything in the devil’s hand.  A pawn used by the forces of darkness surrounding him.

The forces of darkness THESE are the real dangers: the principalities, and powers and the world rulers of this present darkness.  They are sweeping in from above, from heavenly places.  Of course not from heaven itself, but from outer darkness, from the headquarters of Satan, ironically called ‘our father’ by C.S.Lewis in his books.  From outside the realm of our world, WAITING for an opportunity to take possession of man.  To make their dwelling place in man, and do their devastating and ruinous work.

Three names: principalities, powers and rulers of darkness.  Not so much three different forces.  But a repetition, an indication of the enormous power they represent, of the tremendous threat to man and his happiness.

Sometimes, we tend to under-estimate the power of the ‘evil one’.

But the forces of darkness so huge, and monstrous in number, are trying to invade ALL spheres of human life: social, and business, entertainment and government, military and church.  Not a square inch is safe.  The Bible itself says (1John) ‘We know that WE are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one.’

The whole world in the power of the evil one.  It is his playground, where under the sovereignty of God Almighty, he is allowed to make havoc, to play around for a little while.

WHY?

One of the most difficult questions to answer.  Why does God allow the evil one to have so much power?  Why can he ruin God’s beautiful creation?  Why can he make such fatal inroads in the life of Christians?

– Doesn’t the testing of your faith produce steadfastness?  (James)

– And doesn’t steadfastness lead to its full effect,
            that you may be perfect and complete, lack in nothing?

One of the most baffling questions.  WHY DOES GOD ALLOW THE DEVIL GO AROUND PROWLING and even DEVOURING?

But God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO ENDURE.  (1Cor.10).

Powers of darkness sweeping down in great numbers from ‘up there’.  Trying to settle in your heart and mind, IF there is emptiness, if there is room… luring away, using craft and trickery, cunning arts and deceit.  So real, that a Martin Luther in his spiritual warfare against them, took up his inkwell and threw it at them.

So real and cunning, presenting themselves in many shades, forms and colours.  Working on the lower or higher instincts of men, whatever fits the situation best.

It has been claimed that most abnormalities are demon-caused.  That may be too sweeping a statement, but the fact remains that demons cause abnormality in human conduct.

Of the demon-possessed man Jesus met, we read, for a long time he had worn no clothes’.  Filled with lust and uncleanness?

Immorality is the spirit of evil.

The spirits of darkness are invading in great numbers our society today.  Nude – sex plays are being staged for the people’s entertainment.  Fashion designers are offering the skimpiest minimum in order to arouse the maximum of imagination.  And a brainwashed generation accepts it, while the tide of crime and immorality and insanity threatens to overwhelm us.

There is a link between sex problems and demon possession.  And many who crave for sexual freedom discover only (too late) the most soul-crippling bondage that a person can ever experience.  Demons are moving in to lower morality, trying to turn ‘the best’ into ‘the worst’.

It was reported in the press that to mark the opening of the Sydney Opera House a work will be staged called “Rites of Passage”.  The author describes his proposed opera as “mind blowing…”  (‘You hear that?  The demons are laughing for that’s where they want to plant their subtle ideas, in the mind’) …and “guaranteed to lay you in the aisles.”  He went on to say: “In my opera the rituals will be brutal and if we need sex on the stage, we MUST have it’.

The spiritual hosts of wickedness are closing in… and well received.  Ready for the ‘great kill’.

For if the grip gets too tight around your collar ‘ a beautiful and soft way of escape’ is offered by the powers of darkness: suicide.  Stories are written in our modern literature under titles such as “What is it like to want to die?”

Are these things happening only in the world outside?  In the world of crime or wordly entertainment?  Outside our Reformed Churches?

O no!  Satan knows no boundaries.  Nothing is sacred.

I have heard of an actual case in our Reformed Churches, where a young man, brainwashed, bashed by life, possessed by demons, successfully committed suicide.  Successfully?  Yes, for the demons, who joyfully delivered another victim to their unholy father, to THE ETERNAL DOMAIN OF SUFFERING, to HELL.

Speaking to ‘a member’ kept in bondage of a specific sin, I was told, “I do not live, I just EXIST”….(by the grace of the powers of darkness?)

The powers of darkness closing in to DESTROY.

The man of our Bible reading was so wild, he could not be kept by chains.

Do we need to be reminded that demons of violence have turned loose in our world, in our society?

Uncontrollable youths; common assault; pack-rapes; murders; riots; demonstrations; irresponsible strikes; bills for abortion ‘on demand’; all expressions of violence, resistance, lowering of morality, breaking down of norms, of A DEMON POSSESSED WORLD.

The powers of darkness are literally surrounding you and me, trying to destroy.  And not always do they come in as a roaring lion.  His craft and power are great, Luther sang in his famous song.  His tricks are numerous.

The powers TRY TO ISOLATE, in order to destroy.

How many a time are we not told: “You do not have to go to church to be a Christian”.  The powers try to ISOLATE people, keeping them away from the regular fellowship with God and His people.  A FIRST step – to drive them to error, to sin, to …destruction.

An unchristian or pagan society falls so much easier – as a rotten apple into Satan’s basket.

‘Take it easy’.  One of the most common slogans of the powers of darkness.  You do not have to be over-spiritual’ (whatever that might mean).  You can conveniently forget to pray at times, skip reading your Bible, miss out on a church service.  Don’t take it all so seriously’.

In the well-known book ‘Screwtape letters’, a senior demon writes to a junior demon, “A moderated religion is as AS GOOD FOR US AS NO RELIGION AT ALL, and MORE amusing.”

You may rest assured that one laughs, when you, watching on Sunday afternoon your favourite program, are telling yourself that you are free, AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF GOD’S PEOPLE MEETS IN HIS HOUSE OF PRAYER.

One laughs, when you refuse to become involved in activities of church or society to counteract the baffling problems we are surrounded with.

Demons deceive people into thinking they are so good and humane.  They do not need Jesus Christ for this.  It is just “in” them.

And the powers of darkness continue to brainwash the mind of man.  If it serves their purpose they BREAK UP the peace.  All the time pulling him further away from God.

The spiritual hosts of wickedness is a force TO RECKON WITH, also in YOUR life.

They’ll tell you NOT to compel people or those whom you love, to surrender to Jesus Christ.  NOT to hurry.  Give them time, Yes, TIME can be the devil’s greatest friend.

But the Bible says, “BE URGENT!”

Maybe you cannot COMPEL them, but you can WARN them.

You can defeat the powers of darkness already at work in you, by getting rid of your ‘slow- own’ motion.  The business of the King requires haste.

You can show others the road they are travelling – in the grip of a furious, or of a soft-spoken, friendly looking demon.

The false prophets of today are pawns of the spiritual hosts of wickedness and present themselves AS THE ANGELS OF LIGHT, in – and outside – the churches.  And we are surrounded by many of them, (legions).  Outbidding one another with what they have to offer.  They work on the intellect, and greatness, and freedom of man.  And their most successful trick is to make man believe that THEY DO NOT EXIST; that there are no demons no God, no Jesus Christ, no supernatural.

Man is master of his own destiny, and does not need outside help.

His craft and power are great.

His practices vary:

Intellectualism, perversion, crime, deception, backsliding, delay, uncontrolled violent power, secularization, picturing a ‘utopia for man’ on earth, ideologies such as communism, man-centred socialism, materialism.  The powers of darkness are not scrupulous in their ways and means of trickery.

The PRIZE, the TARGET, justifies ALL the means they are using.  THE TARGET…. is YOU…. YOUR SOUL… your TEMPORAL and ETERNAL DESTRUCTION.

We are not contending against flesh and blood.  That would be easy enough.  We would be able to match strength with strength.

We are engaged IN THE MOST SICKLY, DEADLY battle man can ever imagine… against THE POWERS OF DARKNESS, surrounding our planet, descending on our shoulders, whispering into our ears, trying to find an opening in our hearts.  Trying to TAKE OVER, TO CAPTURE, TO DIVIDE, TO PROMISE heavenly bliss, and deliver HELLISH MISERY instead; trying to WEAKEN, TO POSTPONE, to DELAY, trying…  TO DESTROY.

Yes, over the whole of the earth hangs the shadow of a dark wing.  Legions of them.

So let us arm ourselves with THE ONLY EFFECTIVE weapons there are:

“PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD.”

In your own strength you are not able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Let JESUS tell you WHAT to do…!

Let JESUS be your GUIDE, in ALL matters.

Let JESUS do your fighting.

When Jesus and the devil meet, then two worlds are meeting.  Two champions clash; then two kingdoms clash…. AND THE OUTCOME IS SURE.

Remember the demons are liars, the demons are deceivers.  But the demons are also cowards.  In their encounter with Jesus Christ the demons cried out, ‘do not torment us’.

And what more…?

This: the decisive battle HAS BEEN fought.  And Jesus became THE MIGHTY VICTOR.

And the demons flee when they see Jesus approaching.

The demons flee when you REALLY pray.

They are afraid of the Word of God.

They are scared to bits when you PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD.

Speaking to a man who lives close to his Lord, I was told, “When temptation comes, I simply say, “You are beaten Satan, you have lost already, devil… in the name of Jesus Christ GET AWAY FROM ME” …and… he says, “IT HELPS.”

The demons are cowards.  They are scared for the Prince of Light.

They are afraid of the name of Jesus.

Put on then, O people of God, the WHOLE armour of God.

No HALFHEARTEDNESS, NO EASY WAYS… but WORKING, fully ARMED against the principalities, the powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness.  That you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand……!

Amen.