SPIRITUAL ADVERSARIES

2 Cor. 2:11

Morning Meditation 12/21/2012

"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."

The word “Lest” means, “in order that,” Satan not get an advantage of us. The warning Paul gives here indicates that Satan does have access to us for the purpose of temptation. The context reveals what the Corinthians could do to fall into the trap of Satan.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:10, "To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;" Then he follows with, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us.”

A bitter unforgiving spirit is the ball field on which Satan plays his best against us. Paul felt so strongly about this he had to warn the Corinthians. The Church there had major problems, i.e., the kind of problems were schisms were formed. These differences of opinion are the kind that can cause one not to forgive another. Paul begins this book in the first chapter verse 10: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."

A divided church is a powerless church. And a powerless church can have the lost present in the services and never feel a pinch of conviction for their sins.

Satan roams the world over to find a situation among believers where he can ruin them for service. 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

The words, “be sober,” translate, “nepho,” and means, “to be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit.” The words, “be diligent,” translate “gregoreuo,” and means, “ to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one, to give strict attention to.” The word, “adversary the devil” means that Satan is an active opponent of the believer in Christ. It is sad but many have fallen because they became lax in their Christian lives and Satan came along and broad-sided them and for all practical purposes put them on the shelf.

Paul is very out spoken on this subject. 1 Corinthians 9:27, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Someone has defined a “castaway” as a cracked pot. It won't hold water anymore so it is put on the shelf. Satan cannot reclaim us as his own but he can maim us to the point where our testimony is ruined.

Then Paul closes out this verse with the words, “for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Someone has said, “Satan comes oftentimes as an “angel of light posing as truth, culture, education, or religious reform. Dressed in the garb of supposed spiritual advancement, he seeks to lead men astray. Underneath the pleasing exterior and the then sugar coating of truth lies the bitter pill of deception and the fatal dose of error.”

Do you have an unforgiving spirit toward some brother or sister? If so you are standing very near the trap Satan has set to ruin your life. Repent while there is still time. Satan can “devour,” the saint who refuses to forgive. The word “devour” means to swallow down.

The devil has been voted out,

Psychologists say he is gone;

But simple folk would like to know

Who carries his business on!

—Anon.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White