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Satan’s
Assault via the Church (Part 2) By
Bob Myhan When
we speak of Satan’s assault on the church front, we do not mean that he does
not attack individuals. We simply mean that he exploits the relationship that
individual members of the church sustain to one another in his attempts to
devour them. If he cannot devour a particular individual separately, he will
devour him with the collective. The
three divine institutions—the family, civil government and the local
church—have a singular common weakness. They are composed of human beings, all
of whom are susceptible to temptation, though in varying degrees. The
reason Satan finds it so easy to exploit relationships in his attempts to devour
is that sin has a leavening effect. That is, just as “a
little leaven leavens the whole lump” of dough (1 Cor. 5:6), “evil
company corrupts good habits” (1 Cor. 15:33). To use another
figure, there is a rippling effect whenever sin goes unchecked, much like a
stone being tossed into a pond. Thus, Satan uses the members of a local church
to adversely influence one another, morally and spiritually. A
local church, when scripturally organized and fully constituted, consists of “saints
in Christ Jesus…with the bishops and deacons” (Phil. 1:1).
Bishops are also called overseers, presbyters, elders, pastors and shepherds
(Acts 20:17-28; Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4). These six
terms, all referring to the same office, are translated from three Greek words. The
words, “bishop” and “overseer,” are from a Greek word that indicates the
responsibility of supervising the local church and its work. The words,
“presbyter” and “elder,” are from a Greek word that indicates the
advanced age of the men who are to oversee the church and its work. The words,
“pastor” and “shepherd,” are from a Greek word indicating the nature of
the oversight; they are to do figuratively that which shepherds do literally, “tend
the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2, ASV). This work is so important
that God has given such qualifications for the bishop as will enhance submission
on the part of the membership, and expedite the threefold work of edification,
benevolence toward saints and evangelistic support. Unless
and until a plurality of men in a congregation qualify themselves for, and are
appointed to the eldership, that congregation is extremely vulnerable to the
devil’s efforts to devour its members. Satan
can and does exploit other relationships in the church to devour the whole
congregation. For example, having “drawn
away [one of the members] of his own desires and enticed” that
member to commit fornication—resulting in the destruction of his marriage—he
can then use the divorce to influence the relatives of both spouses, who might
be members of the same congregation. This
is one reason it is necessary to deal with sin expeditiously. “Because
the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts
of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11). Prior
to warning his readers that “The devil
walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1
Peter 5:8), Peter prepared them for this warning by writing, “Gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace
that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient
children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in you ignorance;
but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because
it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1:13-16). He
also had written, “Therefore, laying aside
all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn
babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (2:1-2). Peter
then wrote about their relationship to civil government (2:13-17), their
relationship to their respective masters (2:18-25) and their relationship to
their respective spouses (3:1-7), because Satan can use any and all of these
relationships to devour the individuals in the relationships. He
then writes concerning their relationship to one another in their respective
congregations (3:8-12). First, he mentions the necessity of maintaining a proper
attitude. “Be of one mind, having
compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted; be courteous.”
If we will develop these attitudes, we will minimize Satan’s
ability to devour us via his assault on the church front. Peter
then moves to reactions, which will largely be the result of our attitudes, but
“old habits die hard.” We often react too quickly for own good. We are “not
[to be] returning evil for evil
or reviling for reviling but on the contrary
blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a
blessing.” Peter
then turns to speech. “For ‘he who would
love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips
from speaking deceit.’” We sometimes sing, “Angry words! O let
them never from the tongue unbridled slip; may the heart’s best impulse ever
check them ere they soil the lip.” “Angry words are lightly spoken,
bitt’rest tho’ts are rashly stirred, brightest links of life are broken by a
single angry word.” But if we “love one another,” these things will not
occur. This cannot be overemphasized! Peter
then speaks of the proper pursuit. “Let
him turn away from evil and do good” (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 25:31-46);
“let him seek peace and pursue it.”
He is to “seek peace” because it is not always apparent. Once seen, it is
only possessed by diligent pursuit. The apostle Paul wrote, “If
it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men”
(Rom. 12:18). When
and where he can, Satan will even infiltrate the eldership of a local church.
Indeed, Paul told the elders of the church at Satan
will also do his best to confuse the distinction between how the work of the
local church is to be carried out and who is to do the work. For example, many
apparently sincere brethren try to justify church contributions to human
institutions on the basis that the New Testament does not say how the local
church is to do its work. But there is a difference between how the work is to
be done and who is to do the work. In
order for any work to be done there must be supervision, servants and supplies.
In a scripturally organized and fully constituted local church, the elders
provide supervision, the deacons serve and the money in the treasury is used to
purchase the supplies. Thus,
the local church is its own benevolent institution, its own edification
institution and its own evangelistic institution. That is, God so designed and
organized the church that it does not need [nor is it authorized] to delegate
any part of its work or donate any of its money to a human organization.
& The
Conscience (Part One)
By
Bob Myhan |