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Called To BattleIt is because of such considerations that we will spend time in analyzing and considering Paul's great statement. We will take a short look at "the wiles of the devil," trying to understand what it means when it says that we are "wrestling, not against flesh and blood" (in ourselves, or in any other people), but against these spiritual powers and these principalities, these unseen hordes of wickedness that are at the back of evil, controlling the minds of evil men and all their activities, and bring the whole of the Gospel set against us in order to try to defeat us, to spoil our witness into disrepute. The first thing you have to do is to understand the nature and the character of your problem. So we have to realize that we are called, in the Christian life, to a battle, not to a life of ease; to a battle, to warfare, to wrestle, to a struggle. Already we should be aware of the varied, almost endless ways in which the devil in his wiliness and subtlety tries to trap and to ensnare, to confuse and to confound the Christian. For the Christian to be forewarned as to the character and strategy of the enemy is absolutely essential, for to be forewarned is to be forearmed, and that in itself is half the battle. But let us remember that it is only half the battle. Were we to leave it at that we should all undoubtedly be depressed. We would say, "Life is sufficient enough as it is without your dragging out all these things. You show us that the problem is such that no man is adequate to deal with it. You emphasize that we wrestle against terrible powers and principalities. Who is sufficient for these things? Who can stand against such massed hordes of evil, with all their subtlety and malign power?" To consider the problem in isolation, even though absolutely essential, could lead to no result except that we should all feel depressed and completely and entirely hopeless. But, thank God, the Gospel is always realistic. It never hides any of the truth, it never gives a false impression. It is not a true Gospel that gives us the impression that the Christian life is easy, and that there are no problems to be faced. That is not the New Testament teaching. The New Testament is most alarming at first, indeed terrifying, as it shows us the problems by which we are confronted. But follow it-go on! It does not stop halfway, it goes on to this addition, this second half; and here it shows us the way in which, though that is the truth concerning the battle, we can be enabled to wage it, and not only to wage it, but to triumph in it. It shows us that we are meant to be "more than conquerors". |
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