THE ACTIVITY OF SPIRITUAL EVIL

The essence and source of spiritual evil is of course Satan, whose wiles are well catalogued for us in Scripture.  In this present time of accelerating spiritual degeneration, it is apparent that God’s assembly is his specific target as he promotes increasingly subtle forms of deception calculated to deflect saints and undermine divine order.  It has ever been his unrelenting activity to seek every means by which to nullify assembly testimony, for he well knows its spiritual potential as the corporate embodiment of divine purpose (I Cor.12:12 and 1 Cor.3:16).  Would that many saints today had an equally clear perception of divine purpose in relation to the assembly!  Thus we recognise that the forces of spiritual evil are engaged to bring about the effective elimination of corporate divine testimony in the world, Satan’s domain, by seeking to deceive assemblies into embracing that which has an appearance of good but which is in reality evil.

Believers generally have little difficulty recognising evil at the moral level but spiritual evil is a very different matter, calling for the acquired ability of discernment to judge between good and evil at this level (1 Cor.2:14-15).  Unfortunately, this necessary skill of the new man is noticeably lacking in conditions of spiritual decline, with the result that the nature and operation of spiritual evil often goes unrecognised in the very sphere where God has made provision for its detection and exposure.  In the light of these prevailing circumstances, it is useful to remind ourselves that evil operates at two distinct levels in God’s assembly but with one end in view – to lead saints astray from a pathway governed by divine principles and to disrupt the divine peace and tranquility that should characterise the house of God.  If Satan can strike successfully at the doctrinal basis of the assembly then he knows it is effectively neutralised as a force for God.

In the first instance, the adversary misses no opportunity to activate the flesh in believers so that destructive human nature can have its way in the divine sphere of the new man.  The flesh, or human nature as it is more readily understood, has of course been put to death in God’s purpose and therefore has no legitimate place in the assembly (Rom.6:6).  However, it is not uncommon in our day to find that the truth of the end of the flesh is either unknown among the saints or is ignored, with the consequence that human reasoning and compromise are much in evidence in the house of God.  This grotesque reversal of divine order, with ensuing loss of assembly character, presents a grave enough situation but even this is eclipsed when spiritual counterfeit is embraced by God’s people.  The use of counterfeit is Satan’s speciality and his masterpiece is Christendom, its beguiling presence and seducing influence posing a constant threat to local church integrity.  All professing religious testimony that is broadly contrary to New Testament church principles comprises false Christendom, no matter how zealous, evangelical or excellent in social good works it may be.  Assemblies court it and its connections at their peril!

So we can see that the main plank of Satan’s strategy in relation to God’s assembly is the promoting of religious activity in forms which simulate the real thing, with the view to attracting the unlearned and any whose faith is not firmly grounded in the word of God.  Failure to recognise the nature of evangelical denominations, mission efforts of various kinds, national gospel campaigns, indeed any spiritual activity outside the sphere of the assembly, has proved a snare to many down the years, including some who take the place of being assembly leaders.  It is not our purpose to decry religious organisations or works for the sake of being critical but rather to identify spiritual evil for the guidance and wellbeing of saints who might otherwise fall victim to its seducing influence: ideally this is an important function of overseers.

The more subtle a form of spiritual evil, the more difficult it is to differentiate between it and that which is true or scriptural.  A particularly cunning example of this in our day is the type of mission activity that appears to have no particular religious connection, projecting an apparently non-sectarian image and holding a place at the very forefront of good works and evangelical endeavour in many of our cities.  This kind of work has great appeal to the young and the unwary and may even be presented as having had strong assembly connections in its early beginnings, to say nothing of ‘assembly’ support in its present activities.  Little wonder that City Missions have been damaging to the assemblies while securing widespread support among the denominations of Christendom.  Godly elders, however, are not so easily deceived by ‘appearances’ of good, no matter how attractively packaged, preferring to submit all such activity to the test of Holy Writ.  Under this scrutiny it is readily identified as being outside the scope of God’s New Testament pattern and therefore designed to overturn divine principles and divide the saints.  In the final analysis it is quality of service that counts and that cannot be achieved by any natural perception of what is good, only by what conforms to New Testament precept and principle (2 Tim.2:5).  We hear increasing murmurings among God’s people today that this view of things is far too narrow; it may be too narrow for the flesh bit it poses no problem for the spiritual, whose delight is to bow in worshipful obedience to the requirements of God’s word (Psalm 119:15-16).

The assembly is unique in divine purpose and it is clearly the mind of God that saints should be separated from the leaven of Christendom in all its forms, both individually and corporately.  To engage in service that is contrary to divine principles constitutes rebellion against godly order and is wholly at odds with the doctrinal basis of assembly fellowship.  Links with any aspect of Christendom or its works bespeaks either ignorance of God’s ways or spiritual bankruptcy, for the reality is that such associations advance the cause of the adversary in his implacable opposition to God and the sphere of divine rule.  Let us take due note then that spiritual evil is not to be trifled with and separation from it in all its forms is a positive necessity if New Testament assemblies are to retain their character and the presence of God in the midst (2 Cor.6:17-18 and Rev.2:5).