Satan is Attacking!

The subject of spiritual warfare will always stir interest from the congregation. Images of ghost and demons run through our mind in cinematic proportions. We imagine the forces of evil encroaching on the doors of the church and taking over by force the work of the Church. There is no question that the evil one has and does attack local assemblies and does his dead level best to defeat individual Christians. The problem is that we are often giving the Devil more credit than he is due and what is worse is that we fear him and stand in awe of his parlor tricks far more than we fear the one who created him in the first place.  There are few theological points that should be considered about Satan. 

First let us remember that he is a created being. He is in no way shape or form the opposite of God. He is not even close to being as evil as God is good. He cannot be as destructive as God is creative.

Secondly, as a created being he cannot go beyond the allowance of his creator. To put it bluntly he is on a leash and he cannot do as he pleases unless he is allowed by God. Now this may stir other questions in our mind but it should put to rest the notion that somehow Satan could ever attack the church in a way that would be a surprise to God.  We need not sit back and wring our hands in fear that Satan may do what God has not decreed.

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Thirdly, consider that Satan does not share god-like attributes. He is not omnipresent (in all places at once), He is not omniscient (knowing all things), He is not omnipotent (possessing all power) and though he is the “god” of this world he is not the sovereign god of this world. Satan thus depends upon a hierarchy of imps to accomplish his deeds as well as well crafted lies that distract us from the truth just long enough to keep us from obedience. Satan’s lies are always short lived in their deception because once we take the bait we know that we are naked.

So if Satan is a created being that is not autonomous,  much less sovereign, why should we as Christians be concerned? We have been clearly warned in scripture that he seeks to devour us and that he is on the attack to bring down Christians and hinder the work of Christ. Satan’s danger is not found in his ability to overpower a believer or to wreck an individual saint but his power is in his ability to sell what we are buying. He knows that what he offers is so tempting to the human heart that no matter how many times we are duped we are always good for one more laugh. 

Thus we find the great danger of Satan’s attack is found in the willingness of the heart of man to believe his lies. If we did not want what he offers he could hurt our bodies but never distract our soul from the glory of God. You see today, as in the beginning, the temptation is “ye shall be as gods”. Three inordinate desires of man are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. If we could sum these up in one word it would be “autonomy”.  Man wants to be his own god and all temptation is a temptation to self govern. We see this in the church and in the culture at large. Albert Mohler pointed out recently that society has said for many years that divine revelation has no right to tell us what to do and now we have gone so far as to say that scripture and its author have no right to tell us who we are. From the earliest age man is grasping for independence and autonomy. Even in an age that rejects responsibility we cry even louder for autonomy. This is the sin of Satan and the original sin of man and every sin after has found its roots in a quest for autonomy.   In the second psalm we find this agenda spelled out clearly.

Psalms 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

As a little child we stomp our feet and scream “I can do it myself” and as adults we shake our fist and declare, “It’s my life; I’ll do as I please!”. Every sin is an attempted coup against the King of kings. What arrogance lies in the heart of man and Satan capitalizes on this arrogance.

What then is the solution to temptation? There is nothing mysterious here at all. We need to stop wanting what Satan is selling. If only there where a creator who loved us and made us for a unique purpose. If only this creator was good and worthy of all our praise. If only this creator would save us from our sin-cursed state. If only he could be trusted to govern our lives and order our steps. If only we could rely on him to orchestrate the good and bad events of life for our good and to his glory. If only this creator would have revealed himself to man. If only he could find away to communicate to man his desires so that man could know and do what his creator made him to do. If only we could rest content in the provision this creator afforded us, then and only then would we not buy what Satan is selling. 

We were never made to self govern we must learn to trust our God and obey his word. The weapons we have been given are not weak and anemic but are mighty through God. Let us yield to the spirit of God within and obey the word of our King. Let us abdicate the throne of our hearts and recognize Jesus as king of Kings and Lord of Lords.

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