Under the Circumstances

Part 1 of Battling the Darkness: Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

No one makes it through life without problems.  In the eyes of the world, when bad things happen that can't be otherwise explained, they're attributed to "circumstances" or "bad luck".  Too often we as Christians have bought into this lie; we live "under the circumstances", a place we should never be.  If we apportion blame, it may be to specific people. or to the general condition of the world, or society.  While it is certainly true that, in a fallen world, bad things can and do happen to "good people", and we sometimes bring disaster on ourselves, often we need to look elsewhere.

The ancient world was accustomed to the idea of demons and evil spirits of every kind.  No one questioned that Jesus or Paul cast out demons from people.  In our "modern" world, though, things like mental illness, heredity, and chemical deficiency are blamed for a wide variety of ailments that once would have been considered the work of demons.  That's certainly true in many cases, but most physicians and psychiatrists are not trained, or inclined, to diagnose spiritual problems.  Concentrating on treating symptoms, they have no real idea of the ultimate cause if it isn't physiological or related to "circumstances."  Fundamental Christians believe in the existence of demons, servants of Satan, in the world, but we steer clear of subjects like exorcism, casting out demons.  People who engage in such practices are viewed as crackpots, or con artists.

As Christians, we should expect unfavorable attention from the Devil.  If we coast along, and nothing really bad ever happens to us after we're saved, it's because we're not doing anything for the Lord.  The moment we do, we can expect an attack to come our way.  It may take many forms: through our work, through our families, in finances, in relationships, in being victimized by crime or personal attacks.  The good news is that we don't have to sit and take it; the Lord has given us defenses against the enemy's attacks.  We also have a powerful weapon to strike back with.  The next two lessons in this series will look at both our spiritual armor, and our weapon of attack, the sword of the Spirit.

Besides direct attacks against Christians, there are levels of ongoing demonic involvement in our lives, and in the lives of the unsaved.  Persistent demonic activity around someone, leading to feelings of anxiety, despair, and general spiritual heaviness, is demonic oppression.  The demon, or demons, don't directly control the person, but make life so miserable that the person may be driven to extreme action, such as violent behavior or even suicide.  This activity is much less common than the daily drum roll of attacks we face if we're trying to serve God.  Even less common, actually quite rare, is demonic possession.

The Bible is clear that possession by demons occurred in the time of Christ and the early church.  We should not think things are any different in our world, where there is such an obvious abundance of satanic activity.  There is a fine line, though, between behavior manifested as a result of schizophrenia or paranoia, and the work of demons inside someone.  No one should delve into activity like confronting demons, or attempting something like an exorcism, without the gift of spiritual discernment, to determine if demons are, in fact, at work.  Such efforts can be disastrous both for the person attempting exorcism and the presumed demoniac, who may be mentally ill and nothing more.  One such incident, actually a bit humorous, is recorded in Acts 19:13-20, involving the sons of one Sceva.  Too many times, though, the results are far from humorous.  We will look in a later article at the marks of demonic possession according to the Bible.  Can a Christian be demon-possessed?  The short answer is "No"; we'll look at why this is the case.

There are many paths a person can take to spiritual bondage.  Today our world is endlessly fascinated with the occult, from psychics with their "spirit guides", to mediums, to haunted buildings.  Horoscopes are a big business, as are psychic hotlines.  People are frantic to gain a measure of control over their lives by trying to find out what their future holds, and what decisions they should make.  Such fascination with the occult is very unhealthy, and provides an open door for demonic involvement in the person's life.  This lesson looks at avenues of spiritual bondage, both to avoid, and to repent of, if we have already engaged in them.

In the last discussion, we look at the requirements of good spiritual health.  For every circumstance, for every problem, God has a solution in his Word.  Nothing is new under the sun, Solomon wrote (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  Modern philosophies have a lot of new names, like secular humanism, and modernism, and postmodernisms, and a whole host of other "isms".  All of them, though, amount to the same thing: an attempt to explain the world, or the universe, apart from God.  To him, all such are efforts are foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18-25), and the one who denies that there is a God is the greatest fool of all (Psalms 14:1).  There is a correct, Biblical attitude that we should take toward the world, and all of its terrors.  That's what we'll consider at the end of this series.

Coming next: The right equipment for the job.

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