Spiritual Warfare – Part 2

Subtitle: Wiles of the Devil

‘Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Eph 6:11)

The believer, as a soldier in God’s army, is instructed to put on the whole armor of God in order to stand against the wiles of the devil. In future articles we will discuss the individua parts of the armor. Oh and on a side note, there is a book that I highly recommend on this topic. It is The Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall. Get the unabridged version.

Being equipped with the whole armor enabled us to stand against the wiles of the devil. Let’s take a look into that word wiles. It holds some interesting keys to spiritual warfare. It is methodeia. We get our English word method from it. It comes from two Greek words – meta = “with, after, among.” And – hodeuō = “to travel, journey.” Therefore, we find the Devil as one who travels along the same path as us. He examines us and watches our every move. With that intimate knowledge of us he seeks methods to overthrow us. But that is where our armor comes in – both our offensive and defensive pieces!

In Matthew 12 Jesus gave us some fascinating and helpful information about demonic spirits. He said:

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (vv.43-45)

Jesus said the unclean spirit goes through “dry places.” Some have speculated dry places means the desert. But since Jesus was referring to demons inhabiting humans and not nature we are strongly inclined to think the dry places referred to the spiritual state of human souls. Jesus said “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

Therefore, we see being dry spiritually puts us at great risk. But we have an open invitation today to come to Jesus and drink. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit there will absolutely be no room for the enemy in our hearts. The key is staying in the flow of the living water of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Peter gives us some insight into our adversary as well.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

Being sober not only means not being drunk but being awake spiritually. To be vigilant means you don’t easily give up. Vigilance is required if we determine to take a stand against the enemy.

The devil walks about like a roaring lion. His main goal is first goal is to scare you. Don’t be afraid of his roar. And he can only devour those who allow him. He seeks to get us alone and afraid. That is why it is important to be in regular fellowship with other strong believers.