SATAN’S ASSAULT ON THE CHURCH FRONT (Part Two)

By Bob Myhan

hen 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.

he 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.

he 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.

 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.

he 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.

nless and until a plurality of men in a congregation qualify themselves for, and are appointed to the eldership, that congregation is extremely vulnerable to Satan’s efforts to devour its members.

atan 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.

his 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).

rior 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).

e 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).

eter 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.

e 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.

eter 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.”

eter 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!

eter 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).

hen and where he can, Satan will even infiltrate the eldership of a local church. Indeed, Paul told the elders of the church at Ephesus that this very thing would happen there (Acts 20:28-30). Having done this, Satan will then try to influence the eldership to “authorize” unscriptural activities and/or expenditures. This is the reason it is necessary to insure that only qualified men are appointed to the office of elder. This is also the most likely reason God limited the scope of the eldership to the local church, for if there were a hierarchy of churches, practical and doctrinal error would spread like wildfire from one congregation to another.

atan 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.

n order for any work to be done there must be supervision, administration and supplies. In a scripturally organized and fully constituted local church, the elders provide the supervision, the deacons provide the administration and the money in the treasury is used to purchase the supplies.

hus, 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. &