Revival
was in full swing: then the devil struck back with a vengeance.
The
attack came simultaneously from all sides. It should, and but for the
grace of God would, have been totally overwhelming. I think this
narrative has important lessons for anyone in Christian service, but
particularly anyone whose ministry marks them out more than the usual
as a target. There were three main “fronts” the devil attacked
on, and they ran more or less concurrently, so I will adopt the
novelists' technique of jumping from one strand to another and then
moving forward in time a bit and repeating the process. As I said my
story has important lessons.
But
first I want to quickly run over some theory.
The
books on spiritual conflict generally start with the warning that
there are two dangerous errors. The first is not believing the devil
is real. The second is wanting to know too much about the devil.
1.
Spiritual conflict is real
Some
of my children had experience in Christian mission in Japan. Many
Western missionaries came to grief because they did not know how to
protect themselves against spiritual attack. Japan is a country where
a businessman about to go to an important meeting will unashamedly go
to the temple for the express purpose of “getting a demon to help
him”. They have no illusions about the reality of demonic spirits.
The missionary who does not believe they really exist “in the
modern world” goes down like a rabbit caught in the spotlight.
What
you do not know can hurt you! In 2000 some scrap
dealers in Bangkok bought a metal cylinder among other scrap from a
hospital. It had a yellow label which had English writing which none
of them could read. It had a funny device like a three leafed clover
which conveyed nothing to them. They opened up the cylinder and
admired the beautiful blue metal within. It only took a couple of
days for the authorities to realise than a canister of radioactive
cobalt isotope had been mistakenly sent for scrap. But for the
invisible gamma rays from the harmless looking canister a couple of
says were enough. Three people died and several more had terrible
radiation burns. You don't have to know something exists for it to be
able to hurt you!
For
most people C. S. Lewis' fictional tale “the Screwtape Letters”
is probably sufficient to put you onto the right track. Plus the
advice: when in doubt pray for help.
Remember you are God's child. Every human parent knows that a scream
from their little child is all it takes to bring them running,
adrenalin pumping ready to protect their baby. God is better than any
human parent! A cry for help to him is all it takes!
If
you are a Christian leader, then the devil is probably even more
intent on bringing you down. You are also by now a more mature
Christian, with a more mature relationship to God. He may expect you
to understand the situation better and be more specific in your
prayers to him.
It
is a “growing up” thing. A baby just has to cry. Its mother works
out whether it is hungry; has a dirty nappy or is over tired and
takes the appropriate action. As the child grows to maturity she
expects it to learn to articulate its needs more precisely. Just
bellowing incoherently when you want something is not generally
acceptable in a 20 year old!
As
a mature Christian you need to talk to God more about how he wants
you to handle spiritual attack, and what he wants you to pray for and
about in this regard. Of course in an emergency “Help me Lord!”
always works.
You
will also find that within your Christian circle God will have people
who are praying for you, also people you should alert when you are
under attack so they can pray for you more specifically and likely
people who can teach you things you need to know about resisting
spiritual attack.
Lastly
there are people whom God calls to special ministry in this area.
They don't chose to, God chooses them. If they are willing, then the
Holy Spirit personally sees to their training and their equipping
with the necessary spiritual gifts. In all probability you won't even
guess who they are. But one reason the Christian West has seen so
little obvious demonic activity compared to overtly pagan countries
is that down the ages God has called and enabled such people to pray
for the protection of their fellows. Be thankful that he has. C. S.
Lewis's “That Hideous strength” includes a cameo of a
fictional little cell of such people, and contrasts it with the
worldly clique.
2.
Don't get too interested.
This
is really not a time you want to “know your enemy”!
Concentrate on knowing God! All you want to know about the devil can
be summed up in a few Scriptures:
Jesus
said: “He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, not
holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him, when he lies he
speaks his native language, for he is liar and the father of lies”
John 8:44ff.
Jesus
said: “The thief comes only to kill and destroy, but I have
that they may have life and have it to the full” John
10:10
“That
ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan who leads the whole world
astray. He was hurled down to earth and his angels with him …...
and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring – those
who keep God's commands and hold fast to the testimony about Jesus.”
Revelation 12
NB.
Rev. 12:12 “Woe to the earth and sea, because the devil has gone
down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is
short”
“Be
alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm
in the faith ...” 1 Peter 5:8ff
“Submit
yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”
James 4:7
“And
the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning
sulphur...” Revelation 20:10
The
only spiritual being you want to spend time learning about is God,
Father Son and Holy Spirit!
I
say this particularly because in my brushes with more extreme
Pentecostal teaching I have seen them often fall into the devil's
snare by becoming too interested. Remember the devil is a liar and
the father of lies, if you try to learn about him thinking that is a
way to protect yourself you will inevitably be snared by his clever
lies.
I
have heard Christians saying such silly things as “The devil is a
legalist, so we need to pray such and such” Idiots! Liar is what
the devil is! And you have just swallowed his bait hook line and
sinker!
It
does not matter in the least whether the devil is a legalist or
anything else – he is not the boss! It is God who is
your Lord, God who is all-powerful, Christ who is the rightful ruler
of the world and of your heart! You just need to learn what God is
like, and pray to God according to his character!
The
events I am about to relate involve illness, human activity by people
who thought of themselves as Christians, and one person I would
describe as demonic. You may say it was all coincidence. As a
scientific person, when I see “coincidences” I start to look for
“cause and effect” relationships.
I
think that here my “the devil strikes back” theory is the
most plausible explanation.
Illness?
Even we dumb humans know how to use disease as a weapon
– we just don't because it is evil. I have heard stories from the
mission fields that make me think the devil does use illness
as a weapon. However whether he did in this case or whether he merely
took hold of the opportunity which presented itself I don't know.
Either way he utilised the opportunity to press home a coordinated
attack which brought a vigorous Christian revival to an end.
As
to professing Christians being used by the devil:
haven't we all been! Who has not had the experience of realising to
their bitter shame and horror that they have just fallen for some
temptation or some deceit or some ploy of the evil one and ended up
causing harm? Tragically while some of us learn from our mistakes
others go on in them. Some even let it take them over. History
presents a terrible catalogue of evil done by people who thought they
were serving God.
No comments:
Post a Comment