"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith." (1 Pet. 5:8-9)
That enemy uses innumerable means to trap and devour the unwary. All he employs to frustrate and destroy the work of God has one thing in common; it appeals to the Adam in us all, the unholy ambition to be the gods of our own lives.
Pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth, the so-called seven deadly sins, appeal to our more base, self-serving, nature.
False religion, the society of secrets, supernatural powers, appeal to man’s spiritual pride, his determination to be master of his own destiny, god of his own world.
The Darkness of Spiritual Pride
We see spiritual pride at the Tower of Babel, where men built a tower to make a name for themselves. We see it in the desert when God’s people built a golden calf, the chosen choosing for themselves. We see it in the worship of Artemis in Ephesus, worship designed to harness her power over nature and fecundity to their own ends.
A people determined to make a name for themselves, rather than submit to the name above all names; a people determined to choose their own path, rather than the path God showed them through the prophet; a people determined to harness the power of a goddess to their own ends, rather than trust the maker and sustainer of all things, follow his plan and purpose.
We have seen that occult means hidden, it reminds us that Adam, having chosen his way over God’s way, hid in the Garden. The Bible tells us, ‘This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil’ (Jn.3:19)
The Light in Which we Walk
As Christians, however, we are to walk in the light:
‘This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.’ (1 Jn.1:5-7)
Just as God called out to Adam, so he calls us today to repent, receive forgiveness, and have fellowship with him once more, to walk in the light.
Even so, there is still so much darkness. The enemy remains, prowling like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. What are children of light to do? ‘For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.’ (1 Thess.5:5)
He Who Is In Us
Our opening text, in 1 Peter, tells us to be self-controlled and alert, to resist the devil and the darkness, to stand firm. The devil loves our complacency, so we need to be alert. He preys on our appetites, for pleasure or for power, so we need to be self-controlled. He plays on our fears, so we must take courage and resist him. As in the Garden, he loves to sow doubt, so we must stand firm.
John affirms, ‘We also know that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.’ (1 Jn.4:4)
There is so much ‘in us’ that is so much stronger than the darkness of the occult, of anything that would draw us away from God and his ways. We need to recognise this, not in a spectacular, fireworks light show sort of way, but in a, self-controlled, standing firm sort of way.
We need to be biblical, remembering God’s promises to those that love him.
We need to be biblical, learning and following God’s purposes in Christ.
We need to be biblical, trusting in the power and finished work of the Cross.
We need to be biblical, knowing his power in us to resist the devil.
We need to be biblical, seeing our resistance is truly putting the devil to flight.
"No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me," declares the Lord." (Is. 54:17)
Previous posts:
A Counterfeit Supernatural Power
Ouija Boards and Other Abominable Practices
See on our Website: The Occult, Christ, and Christians
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