Satan in Full Retreat by George B. Thompson

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Aug 15, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 32.

Read the full edition

Satan in Full Retreat

By George B. Thompson

Helpless Before the Artillery of Heaven — The Only Thing He Dreads — A Polished Name for Infidelity

By George B. Thompson

T HE apostle James exhorts: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7. This text has Satan on the run, not toward us, but from us. If we resist, he will flee. This ought to bring comfort to the tempted, buffeted sons and daughters of Adam. Satan, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking prey. He is after souls. He is chasing thousands to perdition. But there is hope for all through Christ. It is possible to defeat him — not merely hold him at bay, but make him retreat.

We hear people say, The devil is after me. But the text in James indicates that it is our privilege to know that the enemy is fleeing from us. It is no common spectacle to see the commander in chief of perdition in full retreat.

But how can this great soul destroyer be made to retreat? In giving instruction concerning the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26. Notice that a part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring to our remembrance the words of Jesus. The word of God unmasks all the schemes of the enemy, and he is helpless before this artillery of heaven. When Jesus was tempted by the enemy, following His long fast in the wilderness, His only defense was, "It is written," "It is written," "It is written." God's word is mighty, and the devil fled from the Saviour; for we read, "Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." Matt. 4:11.

The seer of God says, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall put him to flight." Isa. 59:19, margin. Here again the prince of darkness is fleeing. When the great adversary of souls comes in like a flood from some burst dam, in a determined effort to carry everything before him, and with the besom of destruction sweep our souls into the abyss of ruin, the Holy Spirit will bring to our minds the precious promises of God. Unable to stand before the mighty power of God's eternal word, the devil, with all his cohorts of darkness, is forced to flee.

Be assured that the God who cast this prince of angels, with his sympathizers, out of heaven when they sinned, can control these legions of darkness now. But before we can be thus kept, and the Spirit of God lift up a standard against the enemy, we must study the Word. The Spirit can teach us something we never knew before, but He cannot help us to remember what we never had in our memory.

In order, in the hour of trial and temptation, to have weapons drawn from the arsenal of the Word, we must study and ponder the Word until it becomes fixed in the mind. Then, when the awful power of satanic temptation comes upon us, the Spirit can bring to our minds some of the strong, sustaining promises of the Word, to which we can anchor by faith, and not be swept away by the force and sophistry of Satan's deceptions.

It was by the word of God that the heavens were made, and it is by this same word that they are upheld. The word that holds planets in their orbit is the same that holds one of God's children from falling. None who believe the Bible, will be deceived by the prince of liars, no matter how artful the deception may be, or how closely the counterfeit may resemble the original coin of the heavenly realm.

We can therefore clearly see why Satan is using all the cunning of his master mind to destroy confidence in God's word. It is the only thing he dreads. He

SATAN IN FULL RETREAT

(Continued from page 1)

well knows its power when lodged in the heart of a believing child of God. His agent is sometimes the blatant infidel, who misrepresents the Word. But he is best suited if his agent stands in a pulpit dedicated to the worship of Jehovah, and poses as a critic — a higher critic.

"Higher criticism" is only a more polished name for infidelity. It shocks the spiritual sensibilities less. Masquerading in the livery of heaven, it becomes a more dangerous deception, and will damn more souls. Many churches, we regret to say, are honeycombed with the uncertain guesses and monstrous fables of higher criticism, expounded from pulpits where the Bible is supposed to be honored and revered.

Behind higher criticism is the great enemy of God in disguise, working to pull the eternal rock of Scripture from under our feet, and give us instead but shifting sand. Let us cling to the Word, and defeat the enemy.