In this world today, the devil seems to be inflicting heavy injuries or casualties on the saints of God that made up the church of Christ. The reason been that the saints of God out of ignorance are allowing him to gain or to take advantage of them.
The case of Paul and the rest of the apostles and believers at that time or dispensation were wiser and vigilant not to allow Satan to inflict them as he is inflicting the church of Christ today.
Paul was equivocal when he told believers in 2 Corinthians 2:11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorance of his devices”.
Of course, ignorance is one of the main tactics Satan is using to inflict heavy injuries and casualties on the church. Due to their ignorance of the devices of the devil, he had gained or taken advantage of many of the believers or saints of God.
Even God lamented about His people in Psalms 82:5 where he said “They do not know, nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable.
He also said in Hosea 4:6a “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
As said, one of the devices of Satan that the saints of God are ignorant of is in the area of spiritual warfare. Many saints of God who suppose to be praying are found to be playing.
They are playing in the sense that they failed to realize that the end of all things is at hand, that they ought to be sober and watch unto prayer as 1 Peter 4:7 urged us.
One unfortunate thing is that many believers are living lifestyles that shows their ignorance of spiritual battles confronting them. Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh”.
To this end, many believers, what they began in the spirit, they feel that they are made perfect by the flesh while as Romans 8:8 said, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God”.
Recently the Holy Spirit made me to understand that the reason for these heavy injuries or casualties that Satan is inflicting upon members of the church of Christ is due to the devil’s success in defiling the members of the church of Christ.
The devil knew that once one is defiled by iniquity, the Holy Spirit will surely leave or depart from the person. It is at that point that the person becomes an easy target or prey for the devil.
The first illustration can be seen in the story of Sampson. As long as the spirit of God was with Sampson, he was a one man army and terror to the philistine. But it came to pass that he took it for granted and started toiling with iniquity.
See what happened in Judges 16:20b-21 which described what happened to Samson after toiling with the sin of immorality yet expected everything to be as usual.
And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
The second illustration can be seen in the encounter between David and Goliath. The giant Goliath, despite his military might, he does not confront his opponent without first defiling them.
See what he did in 1 Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”
As said, once we are defiled, we become powerless and fearful as it happened to Saul and all Israel who heard these words of the Philistine; they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
See also what happened in Zechariah 3: 1-4, which talked about Joshua the High priest wearing a filthy garment. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you!. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
When we get defiled by whatever means, we get clothed with filthy garment as Joshua the high priest was clothed with filthy garment.
Once we are defiled, we will never be effective in spiritual warfare because the devil will have a legal ground to resist or oppose us. Have you seen now why we need to be sober and watch unto prayer.
