The Devil's Schemes

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Ephesians 6:10-11

Let us realize something about the cleverness and cunning wiliness of the forces against which we are battling, and we will begin to appreciate the armor with which we have been provided. The first step for any soldier in training is to be introduced to the strategy which the enemy will use against him. Paul refers to the devil's schemes. The devil is a very cunning and wily strategist. How is it that he keeps the world in such bondage and such powerlessness? The only one in all history who has ever defeated the devil is the Lord Jesus Christ. He put his finger squarely upon the strategy and the tactics of Satan when he said, The devil is a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). The strategy of the devil is to murder, and the tactic by which he accomplishes this is to lie. If we consider these phrases carefully, we will see how accurate they are.

The devil opposes the work of God in the world by murdering, by destroying. One of the names given to the devil in the book of Revelation is Apollyon, the Destroyer. Here we have the explanation for the whole tragic story of human history: A destroyer is at work among men. Our God is a God of beauty, harmony, order, perfection, love, light, and grace. But into this scene a destroyer came. What are the tactics the devil employs to accomplish this destructiveness? By deceiving, by lying, by distorting, by counterfeiting, by masquerading.

The majority of the attacks of the devil against Christians are not direct but indirect. That is why they are called schemes. A direct attack of the devil upon a human life is an obvious thing, but this is something devious, something difficult to detect. This indirect approach comes largely through two channels. One is what the Bible calls the flesh, and the other, the world. When the Bible speaks about the flesh, it uses it in a symbolic sense. It is not our bodies, not the meat and blood and bones of our physical life. Rather it is a term that describes the urge to self-centeredness within us, that distortion of human nature which makes us want to be our own god, that proud ego which is the seat of willful defiance and rebellion against authority. The world, on the other hand, is the corporate expression of all the flesh-centered individuals who make up the human race. When the Bible addresses itself to Christians it says, Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold (Romans 12:2, JB Phillips). Why? Because the world is flesh-centered. So this is the world — that human society which insists on satanic value judgments and is guided by satanic pride and philosophy. It is totally unaware of it, yet nevertheless it is under the control of satanic philosophy.

Father, awaken my heart and mind, and tear away the delusive veils by which I have allowed myself to be defeated and weakened in this great battle.