The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1969

Gli 1p fron, th b Dr. G orge Lawlor ' 'SATANIC CUNNING'' 111 1:c- pJ, . , . 11. tl1c sr ,al ch,lrgc gi,,c11 tc..' 1'clic,'e t, t t1 pllt (1 n the \\ h le :11 tl'l \.'l f 1 d 1n rdcr that he , 11,a, , he ahle to tand a gain t • the ,,,ilc,·· f the de\il. The , ord · ,,,ilc ··· 1 111et l1o<i eia • u~ d onl hcrt: and in ph. 4: 14. in th .T.. in th en.. e f " hen1ing craftine ... r ..car fult,-c ntrived artifice." A .. an readil\· b en. it i the term .. f ron1 \\ hi h ur Engli h word "meth- d .. 1 deri\ ed. and in Eph. 6: 11 it i.. pr per to tran late: " tand again t th e.r pert 111etl1od of the devil." Th ame rendering i correct for the 4 : 14 \ er e a well. i.e. ' the expert 111et/1od f the deception. . ." The idea f ma terful kill and expert methodology mu t not be ignored or 1 t here. The devil is the great ad– , ·ersary of Chri t and Hi aints. he i the ruler of thi world-age, the commander of the armie oppo ed to u . and be i a great one. He know the game. He i killful and deadly, }' tematic and methodical always moving according to carefully-planned trategy. with immen e resources of cunning and craft and with the power to affect the minds of believers with evil. We mu t not make the mi take of under-e timating him simply be– cau e we are Chri tian and are thu indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Classical Greek In the Greek Classics, Plato uses the \\'Ord to de cribe an inquiry into scientif ic subjects~ and Sophocle use it in referring to the ,net-hod by which such inquiry is prosecuted. Aristoteles writes concerning a man who was ' ' ystematically' · trained and educated. Polybiu uses a form of ,nethodeia to describe a man who went to work "according to rule', and call hlm "methodical.'' Dionysius Hal. and others use both noun and verb form to describe the following of orderly and tech nical procedures in the handl– ing of a subject. and the pursuit of something ,nethodically and accord– ing to the rules of art. In Du Cange the word is used of the collection of f~"<es. Philo uses it to describe the rhetorical tricks of public speakers. Polybius and Hesychius use the word of c11nnin1t tricker)' . the contriving of 14 FEBRUARY, 1969 a ctinn ing lit'\ ice. , 11 I a s 1 stc111nti <.i ce ' I ti n. 1\ f ,, , f tl1c later t)nr>vt i have the \V()rtl in tf1e scn,c t)I " 111 ·th J ' ' l , \ll\ l ll\ \.\ \ 1 11[, 421 .D .. speak, ol cct tn1n rent\ l1aving licen re,s:11/(1rl v ( 111ctl1 clicallv ) collcctcc1 . In Pap rtJ\ O \ [ . 518 . ., tl1 writer ay ', of a partict1lar accot1nit ,that it cor,1 rc,p nded with a 11other ' ' i 11 111e t /1ocl f receipt and c p nditt1re.' ' In Papyru. 111her t I I ( 6 .D.). a 111an speaks f "t/1e 11ze1/1odlt of collection adopted b n1e. '' n ther writer refer to a 1 an ,vhich i to be S) 1 ste111aticall) re– paid to the per on who i lawfully demanding it. while till another peak of ''tl1e 111ethod" by which he conduct hi dealing . Satan Is No Amateur Clearly then, thi command in Eph. 6: 11 i vitally important for all Chri tian . Paul doe not say merely ' 'to tand again t the devil," but far more than that "to tand again t the expert methods of the devil." Satan i no amateur. He moves and works according rto plan, sy te– matically methodically. He employs the mo t subtle and deceptive strate– gem calculated crafts and combina– tions. to win his battles and achieve hi ends. The effectivenes of his method may be seen in his sy tematic influencing ,and unsettling the mind of Eve by cleverly misrepresenting God and His Word: in stirrin~ up the mi,litant aspirations of David to bake a military census and force ,a conscription as the basis for a stand– ing army: in the inflaming and posses ing the avaricious and sordid spirit of Judas; in making an agent of unwitting Peter who wa moved by good intentions when he spoke out against the Lord's suffering and death ( we must not miss this warning to watch our love and good intentions, and our best acts, lest thev actually agree with Satan and not with Christ); in his dreadful as aults on the Lord Jesus Christ by appeal to appetite, piety, and ambition: in ltttrning people away from the truth of divine revela- t i n int o ,,ath s of rcligi t1 s apostasy. \vl1 ich lca(i t rt1in ancl 1cmoval fr n1 the r>1 cscncc of ,ocf forever. Obccf i.. t'ncc to the Lotcl. vigilance f mind a11cl SJJirit . and clil1gcncc in the etern– al vcrittc'i of J-Iol y Scripture arc in– ll 1spcnsahlc to meet him. An<I sinee • atan's aim i to throw tis off o t1r gt1ard and then to fall tipon ti s with all the deadly force of hi s carcf t111 y– deviscd. methodical attack with its sy tcn1atic proccc;5ec; of deception ancl pecial crafty maneL1vcr - o there i the greate t need 1o be ever clothed in the complete armor of God. Angel of Light The devil appears as an angel of light, and his agents in the earth a ume the role of apo tle of Christ. appearing as ministers of righteous– ne thu deceiving many. They work according to an expert ystem, with mooth and crafty methodology. al] of which eems fair and honest and Christian to the inexperienced eye and unwary mind - but it is deadly in it methodical cunning and trickiness. Devili h error and substitution always work and operate with a tricky sys– tematic expertness. Error uses Scrip– ture p 1 assages apparently in their true meaning with reasoning and in– terpretation seemingly correct, which thus fools unsuspecting Christians who are young in Christian faith and knowledge, ,and who have not grown up to Christian maturity and the age– ·measure of the fulness of Christ. It u e the names of God and of Christ and often expresses itself in a term– inology which sounds Ohristian. Therefore we must test the spirits whether they are of God because there are many false prophets abroad~ and their dishonest doctrine alwavs affects the minds of men. Error leads astray and perverts human lives in subtle, moral ways and corrupts hu– man hearts in unspeakable ways with - it deadly methodical expertness. But the full armor of God put on de– cisively and worn constantly will en– able us to detect subtle error and equi o us to stand successfully, in– vincibly. Capsules of Life The great living lessons taught by Christ in His parables used the common. everyday exper iences of life. His illustrations and aptness of application came from the heart that sought only good for the listener and you the reader of today. The accounts of missionary bravery and true incidents in the lives of experienced Christians characterize the literature we publ ish for you . Our take-home papers are planned to cover a broad area of Christian exper ience. Your , church can orily benefit from the read in g of these fine papers: FOR MOMMY AND ME, PR!MARY PAL, COURAGE, CHALLENGE, CONQUEST. ~;~; 1 :~~~!ee Regular Baptist Press 1800 Oakton Boulevard • Des Plaines, Ill. 60018 THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST