SATAN
CHURCH
MYSTERY
34
AND THE
OF THE
Wherefore, if ye have been delivered from the authority of darkness, and have been translated into the kingdom of
His dear Son, why as though still living under the dominion of Satan are ye in so great fear of his activity?
It is written concerning Enoch:
`By faith Enoch was translated ... and was not found, because God had translated him' (Heb. 11:5).
What if Peter has to tell the believers among the dispersion that the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). He can no more `find' a member of the One Body, than men could `find'
Enoch, for both are translated.
The position of the church is one that is `far above all principality and authority', in a realm where Satan has no
access, from which he was cast before the foundation of the world, and in which he has no authority to `walk up and
down'. His sphere is confined to the heavens of the air (Eph. 2:2), and the earth (Job 2:2). Presently Satan will be
cast out of the heaven he now occupies (Rev. 12:9), and another region of his malignant activities will be closed
against him. The earth alone will then have cause to fear his evil work (Rev. 12:17), until the earth itself shall be rid
of his dread presence during the Millennium and, with the exception of the `little season', for ever (Rev. 20:2,3).
Christ, the Head of the church of the mystery, is `Head over all things' to us, and `all things' are under His feet.
The church is blessed in and with Him there, at the right hand of God. If John could write to his readers, `He that is
begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not ... the whole world lieth in wickedness (the
wicked one)' (1 John 5:18,19), surely those who are blessed as Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 affirm, may evermore
testify that `the wicked one toucheth them not'. Too much concern with the Devil's activity has the appearance, at
least, of an incomplete understanding of the majestic truth of the ascension of Christ, `far above all', and of the fact
that the church of the mystery is the first and only complete foreshadowing of the new creation where God shall be
all in all.
3. THE POWER
What is the power at the disposal of the church of the One Body for all things - life, service, or warfare?
` ... The exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty
power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in
the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this world (age), but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet, and
gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in
all' (Eph. 1:19-23).
That is the power that has already overcome Satan and all his activity so far as the super-heavenlies are
concerned. Paul (so far as the inspired record informs us) never organised a prayer meeting to `resist the Devil'.
Why attempt a thing so lacking in faith? If Christ as Head has all things beneath His feet; if the church's sphere is
far above the reach of Satan; if the church has been delivered from his authority and translated into a kingdom for
ever shut against him, is it not the essence of unbelief to talk of Satan in the terms of 1 Peter 5:8, as true for this
glorious and exalted company?
Are we to believe that Christians to-day are more spiritually alive to Satan's activities, and more fully in touch
with the mind of the Lord, than was the apostle Paul? And, if not, what of their phraseology, their attitude in prayer,
and the prominence given to Satan and his activities in their view and teaching? Judging by the infallible standard
of inspired Scripture we have no alternative but to say that it is not of God.
4. THE POINT OF CONTACT
Ephesians 2:2,3 makes clear the following facts: - Satan, as the prince of the power of the air, has authority over
`the children of disobedience' and the `children of wrath'. His point of contact is `their conversation', `the desires
(the wills) of the flesh and the mind'. Here too is the only vantage ground that Satan possesses over the believer. A
comparison of Ephesians 2:2,3 and 4:17-27 will make this plain.