Know Your Enemy

 By Tom Ascol - Posted at Founders Ministries:

Published 04.01.2013

"Have you listened to the fretful laments coming across the airways and in the places of public conversation about crime and immorality in our day? Have you watched the pundits and experts wring their hands and observe their futile solutions. They miss it They are clueless I do not mean this disrespectfully, but listen to our President talk about what we need to do about children committing violence to one another in our public schools. His answer: Let’s require uniforms to be worn. We have too many people killing one another says the Surgeon General–what we need is safer bullets Too many of our children are getting pregnant–let’s pass out condoms in our schools. Listen to the language of the supposed cultural experts in our day addressing the ills, and trying to prescribe remedies–if it were not so serious it would be laughable. It is no longer an adultery; it is an affair. It is no longer homosexuality; it is an alternate lifestyle. It is no longer abortion; it is a choice. Our world is in darkness. Ignorant of God, ignorant of sin, ignorant of what man is and ignorant of the dignity that belongs to every man, woman and child created in the image of almighty God. Listen to the philosophers, educators, and government officials scoff at God, scoff at His law, ridicule His gospel, disdain His people. And all the while, Satan and his demons laugh with devilish delight–ruling and watching their empire, continuing to march on. If we fail to recognize what is taking place in our day in terms of Satan’s activities then we will become a part of the problem, and the solution from God’s Word will not be prescribed."

Evil Rulers in a Holy War

John Bunyan, a 17th-century pastor, is best known today as author of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Allegory is used to tell the story of a person’s conversion to Christ. “Christian,” the main character, leaves the city of his birth, the City of Destruction, and sets out for the Celestial City where he will live forever. With keen insight into the Word of God and brilliant imagination, Bunyan describes that dangerous journey of seeking the right path and avoiding by-paths. This allegorical story tells what happens when a person, becoming aware of his sin and his just condemnation under God, is transferred from that condition to a place where he will live forever with God.

What is not very well known about Bunyan is that he wrote several other allegorical works. He wrote stories about what takes place in heaven and another about what happens to a person who lives and dies in his sin. The best of these is his book entitled The Holy War. It is a story about one individual’s life. The whole story takes place in the heart and soul of an individual. Bunyan allegorizes it by describing this holy war as taking place in the reclaiming of the town named Mansoul. Mansoul, in its original founding, belonged to King Shaddai–belonged to God. But, Diabolus (Satan, or the Devil) and his armies captured Mansoul. So the holy war begins when the forces of Shaddai attack Mansoul, overcome Diabolus, cast him out, placing Lord Emmanuel (the son, the prince, the vice-regent of Shaddai) on the throne of Mansoul, heart castle. As you might expect, Diabolus, though he has been conquered and cast out, doesn’t just take it lying down; he begins to attack again. He figures out ways to get back into this town of Mansoul and reclaim it. What Bunyan describes in The Holy War is a very insightful, biblically-accurate description of what happens in the life of any individual who is converted to faith in Jesus Christ. All of this is a picture of a Christian–as one whose heart and life have been captured by the gracious power of God. A Christian is set free from the enslavement of Satan (Diabolus) and has Jesus Christ enthroned in his heartland life.

However, as Bunyan so aptly illustrates, when a sinner becomes converted in this manner, it is the beginning of a war–a holy war which is waged by Satan and his forces against the soul of the Christian.

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