My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
MAN’S GREATEST ADVERSARY
The Holy Apostle Peter writes:
"Be sober, be vigilant; because
YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL walks about
like a roaring lion, seek whom he may
devout." [1 Peter 5:8].
Saint Basil the Great says, "that the devil wanders over all the earth under heaven and ranges about like a mad dog, seeking whom he may devour." Justin the Martyr explains this by saying that before the coming of Christ the devil did not know what the weight of his punishment would be, but that when the Lord came and proclaimed that eternal fire was prepared for hm and his angels he reacted by becoming even more determined to ensnare believers, in order to have as much company as possible in his rebellion. Hilary ofArles says, "There is a world of difference between God and the devil. If you resist God, he will destroy you, but if you resist the devil, you will destroy him." And the Venerable Bede states, "The stronger you are in your faith, the greater will be your confidence that you can overcome the wilse of the devil. You will also be aided in this endeavor by the knowledge that what you are going through is something common to the fellowship of all Christians throughout the world. Ever since the beginning of time it has been the lot of the righteous to suffer, and wht a shame it would be if you were to be the only one unable to endure this."
"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning" [1 John 3:8]. The word "devil" means ‘slanderer." Bringing together the evidence of Holy Scripture, we see that the devil, our adversary, is one of the rational spirits or angels who deviated into the path of evil. Possessing, oke all rational creatures, the freedom which was given him for becoming perfect in the good, he "abode not in the truth" and fell away from God. The Savior said to him: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it" [John 8:44].
The evil spirits are mentioned in only a few passages in the Old Testament Revelation. These places are the following: We read of the "serpent," the TEMPTER of the first people, in the third chapter of the Book of Genesis. The activities of "Satan" in the life of the righteous Job are related in the first chapter of the Book of Job.
An incomparably more complete representation of the activity of Satan and his angels is contained in the New Testament Revelation. From it we know that Satan and the evil spirits are constantly attracting people to evl. Satan even dared to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the desert. The evil spirits rush into the souls and even into the bodies of men; of this there is the testimony of many events in the Gospel and of the teachings of our Savior Christ. Concerning the habitation of evil spirits in men, we know from the numerous healings by our Savior of the demon-possessed. Evil spirits spy, as it were, on the CARELESSNESS OF MAN SO AS TO ATTRACT HIM TO EVIL: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than first" [Matthew 12:43-45].
Man’s adversary [Gk. ο αντίδικος], our opponent or antagonist is the evil one. He relentlessly pursues man to separate him from God and Creator and destroy him by leading him to sin and spiritual death. The Holy Apostle Paul writes: "but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity in the law of sin which is in my members" [Romans 7:18, 22-23]. The sinful inclinations in man have taken the reigning position; man has become "the servant of sin" [Romans 6:17]. Both the mind and the feelings have become darkened in him, and therefore his moral freedom often does not incline towards the good, but towards evil. "Lust" and "pride" have appeared in the depths of man’s impulses to activity in life. Of this we read in I John 2:15-16: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world…For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
The "lust of the flesh" is a weakening of the authority of the spirit over the body, a subjection of it to the lower, fleshly desires; the "lust of the eyes" means the false idols and attachments, greed and hunger for the world, envy; and "pride" is self-esteem, egoism, self-exaltation, a despising of others who are weaker, love of self, and vainglory. As we can clearly understand that man’s battle against evil is constant and formattable. No one should underestimate the dark powers we are up against. We are up against pure evil and man is no match to the cunning and deviousness of the adversary.
What is at stake here is our very soul. When man lost the Grace of God, he experienced SPIRITUAL DEATH, and this spiritual death made him subject to physical death. Thus, Saint Gregory Palamas writes: "It was indeed Adam’s soul that died by becoming through his transgression SEPARATED FROM GOD; for bodily he continued to live after that time, even for 930 years. The death, however, that befell the soul because of the transgression not only crippled the soul and made man accursed; it also rendered the body itself subject to fatigue, suffering, and corruptibility, and finally handed over to death" [Philokalia vol. 4, p, 296].
Elsewhere, Saint Gregory Palamas expounds further on what is meant by the death of the soul: "Physical death is when the soul leaves the body andis separated from it. The DEATH OF THE SOUL IS WHEN GOD LEAVES THE SOUL AND IS SEPARATED FROM IT, although in another way, the soul remains IMMORTAL. Once separated from God it becomes more ugly and useless than a dead body…"
It is imperative, therefore, that man takes the adversary seriously and his capability to deprive us of God’s salvation and Kingdom. Just like all other adversities in life and our effort to overcome them, this too, must be dealt with prudently, carefully, and deliberately to triumph over the many poisonous arrows fired and temptations against us. We are taught by our Orthodox Christian Church to always be alert and vigilant and to use God’s-given discernment to fight the good fight. We all know that one needs to have faith, confidence, courage, and God’s grace to win. The demonic assaults will continue as long as we live here on earth but we never succumb to them. The Christian must keep our Creator’s Commandments and trust in Him at all times.
It is up to the individual Christian to choose where he or she wants to spend eternity. There are Christians of other traditions that have come to believe that there is no heaven or hell. That there is no such being as the devil and that there is no sin. These Christians have been deceived and have been separated from the truth. The word Satan (which means literally THE ENEMY OR THE ADVERSARY) seeks to obstruct man’s effort to strengthen his relationship and communion with God but he has no power to impose his will on man. However, beloved, "Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary (enemy), the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. RESIST HIM, STEADFAST IN THE FAITH…" [1 Peter 5:8-9]. No one should ever let their guard down but be watchful for he and his angels (demons) always look for our weaknesses. And when he is unable to tempt us, he brings forth a threat of persecution so that fear may cause us to betray the faith.
As Orthodox Christians we are taught by our Holy Church to be actively engaged in spiritual warfare. The Holy Apostle Paul writes: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the PRINCIPALITIES, AGAINST THE POWERS, AGAINST THE WORLD RULERS OF THIS PRESENT DARKNESS, AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF WICKEDNESS IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES" [Ephesians 6:11-12]. All Christians who stand for good must always wage a constant battle with the forces of evil because the demons still have power in the world until CHRIST COMES AGAIN IN GLORY. This is clearly acknowledged in the prayers at the conclusion of Orthodox baptism. Orthodox Christians fight back with God’s arms, that is, His Uncreated Divine energy, given to us and actively used by us. The Orthodox Christian has "put on" at baptism all of the qualities listed as armor, "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; PRAYING ALWAYS WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION IN THE SPIRIT, BEING WATCHFUL TO THIS END WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE AND SUPPLICATION FOR ALL THE SAINTS" [Ephesians 6:14-18].
Again just as important as spiritual armor is a Christian’s READINESS and ALERTNESS: DILIGENT PRAYER AND WATCHFULNESS IN SUBMISSION TO THE Holy Spirit. Those on the "FRONT LINES," bishops, priests, deacons, missionaries, theologians etc. require the back up power of a praying Church. Please remember that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ HAS DESTROYED THE POWER OF THE DEVIL. He came into the world specifically for this reason. If one is "in Christ" he or she is led out of temptation and delivered from the evil one. The goal of our spiritual life is to be triumphant over the machinations, snares and allurements of the devil. [Resources: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology]
"…AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE.."
___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 