What Satan is Desperate to Attain...

Chapter  Twelve:

In any war or battle there is some sort of prize that is sought by both sides. It can be for position and power, wealth, land and kingdoms, and even in order to expand some set of laws or rules.  As believers, we need to seriously consider what it is that our enemy seeks to win from us, what the prize is that we have that he's desperate to attain. 

At the end of Ephesians 6:12, it reads, "...against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly  places."  After much study, Gurnall came to the conclusion that he was in agreement with others who interpreted the meaning of the original words to mean heavenly "things", not heavenly "places".   Gurnall explains, "This would mean that Paul is saying, in essence 'We do not wrestle for small or trivial things, but for heavenly things - in fact, for heaven itself!"   He believed that when we wrestle against these powers of spiritual wickedness, it was for the greatest prize of all, "...for that which heaven itself holds forth. Such an enemy and such a prize make it a matter of our greatest care how we manage the combat."

Satan's efforts are so intense because he's desperate  to get us to stop doing things that draw us closer to becoming like Christ, having a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father, or from doing any endeavors that will help enlarge the Kingdom of Heaven. Why? Because he despises God and His children and anything that will help God's Kingdom grow.  He isn't satisfied that he currently rules this world.  He has position and power, but it's not enough for him. He has many within his grasp, but he can't stand the thought that there are those of us who have turned down his offer of living a carnal life here, as we are not satisfied with less than heaven itself. If he can't get us to willingly return to his side,  he'll try to use whatever means he can to undermine our walk with God.

Charles Spurgeon reminds us, "Nothing less than perfection and complete salvation of a Christian is the heart's desire of our Savior. The reverse is true of Satan, nothing short of the total destruction of a believer will satisfy him. His aim is to destroy your faith so that you may not believe in God to the saving of your soul. Let us take this for comfort: if it is Satan's desire that we may be utterly destroyed, in that at least he is certain to be defeated. When it comes to the question of who shall win the victory -- Christ, the Eternal Son of God, or Satan, the prince of the power of the air -- we need have no doubt as to which shall succeed!"

One of the main weapons our enemy tries to use against us is to try to get us to question our salvation in the first place. He waits for us to slip up and make the slightest mistake so he can become our accuser.  However, what we need to realize is that as we grow in Christ it is a natural thing for us to become more aware of our personal sin. While grace is not an excuse to sin, it's a natural thing to begin to see the depth of depravity that exists within all of us. The enemy, however, will try to make you feel like you are a terrible person for realizing you still have sin in your life, when in actuality it is a measure of our growing closer to God.  As we grow in Christ, we are shown that which still needs to be deal with within us. While it can be disheartening to realize it still exists, we should be encouraged that we are becoming more sensitized to the Holy Spirit's shining a light on that which needs to be dealt with. 

Sometimes a sin can be present for years in our lives, but we have just now noticed it. We should rejoice that we are choking out the weeds that the enemy has planted.  The more aware we become, the quicker we can drive in the nails of repentance and forgiveness to any sin that is drawn to our attention.  Sin cannot survive when our distaste for it is present. The sign that we are full of remorse at the presence of the least sin is an indicator that our love for God is increasing!

Another way the enemy seeks to shipwreck us is through hopelessness or despair. As believers,  we shouldn't expect any satisfaction from anything this world has to offer. Our anticipation of heaven, and eternal life with our Father, has to be what gives us the hope that will carry us through any time of hardship or difficulty.  Gurnall tells us why hope is so important, "Hope is the grace that shows us how to rejoice in the prospect of promised glory. It sits beside us in the worst of times. When things are so bad that we cannot imagine how they could possibly get worse, hope lifts our eyes from our immediate troubles and places them on our future eternal joys. We can smile even in the face of our persecutors,  knowing that in only a short time the cross will be lifted from our shoulders forever."   Satan knows this and he tries to get us to believe his lies about God so as to cause us sorrow and to lose our sense of peace and joy.

E.M. Bounds warns us, "The Devil often tries to break the soul down and reduce it to despair. In order to discourage us, he tells us that we will never succeed, that the way is too hard and the burden too heavy. He takes advantage of weak, distracted nerves and suggests fears. Grace is hidden from sight, shortcomings are magnified, and weaknesses are classed as gross sins. Sometimes the fear of death is used by Satan to quench the fire of faith....Heaven and God are hidden by a thick veil of tomorrow's cares, trials and needs. The imaginary disasters, failures, and evils of the future are powerful weapons in Satan's hand. He suggests that the Lord is a hard master and that His promises will fail. He works on the corruption that remains in the heart and raises a great storm in the soul."

We must remember that whatever methods or devices he tries to use against us, that his main methods are trickery and deception. If we are aware of this and are watching for him to try to get us off course, we can quickly remind ourselves that through Christ we have the ability, and duty, to resist him, as we stand steadfast in our faith (First Peter 5:8.9). 

If he can't get to us by hopelessness or fear, he'll try to get us to by getting our eyes on earthly things all the while telling us that we can have the best of both worlds.  We must be careful and not resort to the world's ways in our desire for material possessions.  While God doesn't mandate that we live like paupers, He also doesn't want us having the wrong perspective on our "things".  If He blesses us with possessions, it's so we use them for the benefit of others and the Kingdom, not solely for our own personal pleasure. What many don't understand is that God created pleasure, He desires us to enjoy things, but it's when our possessions own us, rather than us owning the possessions, that problems arise. 

We must have the same indifference to keeping earthly possessions as we do about gaining them. When we are called home, we will take nothing with us, not even the clothes that we wear. If we are totally honest with ourselves, we will agree that earthly things are, in the end, deeply unsatisfying.  They can never bring us the kind of contentment that we think they can. We must use them as they are meant to be used. If God sees fit to give us things while we are here, then we are to be thankful for His generosity, and if He takes them away, then it is His right to do so. We need to ask ourselves if we have allowed our possessions to take control of us. What if God asks us to let go of them to show our love for Him, could we do it? We must keep a loose grip on the material possessions that we value the most and be ready at a moment's notice to turn our backs on them if we are told to do so, rather than risk the shipwreck of our faith. If our hands and hearts are focused on earthly pursuits, we cannot labor for our treasure that should be laid up in heaven.

So, how do we make sure he doesn't get what he's after?  We remind ourselves that the battle isn't ours, it is Almighty God's. He wages war with Him, not us.  Our duty is to seek and draw close to God. If we have sinned, we are quick to repent and move on.  We make sure that we have surrendered all earthly things to God and that we use them properly. And above all, we must guard our hearts against allowing hopelessness, despair or worldliness from taking hold.   Gurnall says, "If you will have heaven, you must have Christ, who is all in all. And if Christ, you must accept His service as well as His sacrifice. No holiness, no happiness.".  We must not allow the enemy to gain one piece of this precious treasure he is after, and with God's help, he won't!