TACTICS OF TERROR
Ephesians 6:10-17
Some time ago I heard of a mental hospital which had devised an unusual test to determine when their patients were ready to go back into the world. They brought any candidates for return into a room where a water tap was pouring water out over the floor. They handed the patient a mop and told him to mop up the water. If the patient had sense enough to turn off the tap before mopping up the water, he was ready to go back. But if, as in the case of many, he took the mop and started mopping up the water with the tap still flowing, they knew more treatment was needed.
We laugh at that, but I am afraid we are laughing at ourselves, because that is what many people are doing. Every Christian, facing the personal world in which he lives, is given the mop of truth and told to use it. But we can only help in that world if we have enough intelligence to conquer first the evil which is pouring into our own hearts from these present rulers of world darkness.
That is exactly what the apostle is urging. We can be of no possible help in the solutions of world problems as long as we remain part of the problems. Therefore, this whole passage is designed to awaken us and to call our attention to the need for understanding the nature of our problem. We have already seen that the devil attacks humanity in two ways -- directly and indirectly. Through the flesh and through the world.
If the devil lets the Spirit of God have his way, any individual Christian, without exception, would be a powerful force to destroy the devil's kingdom of darkness. The devil takes over in direct control of human life whenever he can. Sometimes he assails us through the world, But most often the devil comes in disguise, through the channel of the flesh -- our inner selves -- with subtle, suggestive wiles.
That is what the apostle is warning against -- the wiles of the devil. We must now take a closer look at this flesh within us: According to the Bible, the flesh, in this symbolic sense, is identified with the body which ultimately dies. In Romans 8 the apostle says, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." (Romans 8:10).
We could say, "The body is dying because of sin," the apostle looks on to the end and says that it is as good as dead already. The body is the seat of sin, or the flesh -- this evil principle of self-centeredness in each of us. Therefore, the flesh is going to be with us for life.
But the body, soul and spirit of man are inextricably tied together. The relationship between the body, soul and spirit is beyond our comprehension. But because they are so inextricably tied together, the flesh, linked to the body, touches the whole man. It is important to see this. This means that the devil can influence us, in the body, in the soul, and in the spirit.
He has access to the whole man through the channel of the flesh. Put another way, we are subject to the influence of these world rulers of present darkness through our mind, our emotions, and our deeds, We need to understand how this works: Through our mind, or intelligence, the devil makes his appeal to human pride. We regard our reason as the greatest gift God has given to man -- and not without justification.
Through the emotions, he works on our fears. Emotion is really our most human characteristic. We are really governed by our emotions, our urges, our desires, our deep-seated, sometimes subconscious wants -- our instincts, if you like. In the realm of deeds, or practical matters, the devil makes his appeal to pleasure, for the body is essentially sensuous, it is designed by God to respond to stimuli.
See how accurately this is illustrated by the story of Eve in the Garden of Eden. We are told that when she saw that the fruit was good for food, it offered the pleasant sensation of eating (the appeal to the body or the flesh), and it was a delight to the eyes, it awakened within her a sense of beauty (the appeal to the emotions), and when she saw that it was desired to make one wise (there is the appeal to the intelligence and love of wisdom), she took and ate.
These are simply the channels by which men are moved whether by God or the devil does not make any difference. This is the way men are.It is important to notice that both of the forces outside man, which work upon man -- God and the devil -- move him through these channels: The emotions,-- the heart; the mind, -- the intelligence; and the will, the power to choose.
This is beautifully expressed in one of the familiar hymns of Isaac Watts, "WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS:"
"When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died..."
What is that? Well, that is the mind engaged. When I think about the cross, when I give intelligent consideration to what it means, when I think of all that was involved in that supreme hour when Jesus hung between heaven and earth.
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died -- my intelligence is captured. I see there are deep and marvelous things about this event. And then what? Well, it moves my emotions:
"My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride."
I am moved, my emotions are immediately involved. I have learned that when people talk about the truth of the Word, and it does not move them emotionally, they have not really understood the truth.
Truth is designed to reach the heart, to move it, and to involve it. As you go on in this song you see how marvelously the emotions are involved:
"Were the whole realm of nature
mine,
That were a present far too small..."
Here is a sense of the grandeur of the work of the cross, the extent of it, and the glory of it.
"Love so amazing, so divine...
Demands my soul, my life, my all"
Love does what? It Demands! There is the will being impelled to action. The whole man is totally engaged. That is the way God works! Take the realm of the mind, for instance. It is the wiles of the devil which seek to exalt reason to the exclusion of faith. Faith is a function of the emotions, the soul.
That is why faith is the most human characteristic of man -- because it is a function of the soul, that element of man which is our basic motivator. That is why everyone can exercise faith. You are not human, you are not even alive, if you cannot exercise faith. But the devil tries to move from a balance in this area to an exaltation of reason by appealing to our pride.
With Christians, the devil works in the realm of the mind. He also attacks the realm of emotions, and through the realm of the flesh. The devil always makes his appeal in this realm to our fears, while God makes his appeal to faith. From faith comes hope and love, but the devil pushes to the opposite. He wants us to give way to our fears.
The one thing Jesus said over and over again to his disciples was, "Fear not. Be not fearful, be not anxious, be not troubled." Why? Because, "I am with you," he said. From fear comes despair, the opposite of hope, and hate, the opposite of love. That is what the devil is after. If you give way to fear, you will soon be discouraged and defeated.
If you give way to defeat you will begin to hate, and then the devil will have accomplished his purpose. He has destroyed, he had ruined, he has laid waste that which God loves and desires to bless.
Take the realm of deeds. Here again the devil is constantly at work seeking to get us involved in doing things. Ah, but we want to have fun when we do things, we want pleasurable things and so he gets some to seek a continual round of something new, something exciting. We have to be constantly satisfied with some exciting activity. The devil pushes others in the other direction. All they want is the same thing, over and over again.
God never intended life to be lived that way, or the other way. God's will for man represents a great highway right through the center of life where the whole man is ministered to. That is where the Lord Jesus walked and that is where the Scriptures take us, if we walk by them. This is but the merest survey of this subject today. I cannot possibly cover all the bewildering variety of ways the devil can influence us, and attack us.
I have said almost nothing about his attack through the world, with its illusions, its allures, and its pressures to conform, But that is why we have the Scriptures, that is why the Word of God is given to us -- that it might instruct us in all the ways of evil.
"Who is sufficient for these things? How can we possibly understand all this? Who can hope to win against such a variety of ways of attack that we don't even recognize are wrong? Who can even grasp, let alone answer, these subtle and powerful attacks against human life?"
Does it leave you feeling rather discouraged? If it does, then let me say you have not understood what Paul is saying here. His word to us is:
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11)
There is a provision made. It is when we recognize we are weak that we're ready to, "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might," and we are ready to give intelligent consideration to what that is, and how to do it.
That is where we will start next time: "Put on the whole armor of God." We will look at the means God has provided by which we may stand in the midst of this darkness, this attack upon us, and overcome it and live in victory, unmoved and undefeated.