I can’t remember the last time I sang the hymn ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ in church. It was several years ago I’m sure and it may well have been a service I was leading, which means that I haven’t chosen it for some time either.
There seems to have been something of a backlash against what some Christians might term the more militaristic hymns in our hymn books; we don’t sing ‘Soldiers of Christ Arise and Put Your Armour On’ or ‘Fight the Good Fight’. Perhaps because the acceptance that the Crusades were wrong or that the church has too often used might to spread the gospel we now shy away from hymns like this; or perhaps it is because we don’t really believe that we have an enemy to fight.
For many, many years I would have expressed the view, if asked, that there is no such entity as Satan (or the Devil, if you prefer). I would have claimed that it was once reasonable to believe in a personal embodiment of evil, but that now we know better! Despite the witness of scripture, despite the fact that Jesus, Paul and Peter all saw Satan as very real I would have argued against his existence.
I now know better! Experience has taught me that Satan is very real, the embodiment of all that is evil and twisted and selfish and sinful; a very real enemy who desires to lead Christians away from God and to prevent people becoming Christians in the first place.
I first came to this knowledge last year when student ministers and ordinands from college were preparing for a faith sharing weekend at four relatively local churches. One by one problems emerged. Several people had unexpected problems with family members that came out of the blue, as it were. Several students were struck down by a variety of unrelated illnesses. I myself was suddenly subjected to nearly crippling back pain. Far too much happened for it to just be coincidence and several of us realised that we were being subjected to an attack by the evil one.
Again this weekend and in the weeks since term started our Methodist community has seemed to be under a sustained assault from Satan. Again there have been family stresses that could not be predicted nor really accounted for by normal reasoning. People have been struck by serious illness and relatives have been sick. All this as we are trying to form Christian community of those studying together and sharing together; all this in the lead up to and actually during our weekend retreat to Ampleforth Abbey.
Again some of us realised what was going on and we had a prayer session where we asked God for protection of our community as a whole and for healing and comfort for those who needed it. As we prayed God gave me a picture of hundreds of figures in white robes descending a golden staircase and I took it as a sign that God was sending his angels to watch over us, protect us and drive Satan and his diabolical servants far from us. As I prayed I certainly felt as though I was engaging in spiritual warfare and was remarkably tired afterwards.
To realise we have an enemy who hates us and who hates to God who loves us is disturbing; but we must remember that Satan is a defeated foe. God is infinitely more powerful than Satan and he is our shield and protection. He will not allow Satan to do anything to us that we cannot cope with. Satan is truly a defeated enemy; Jesus sacrifice on the cross dealt Satan a fatal blow; he is just taking a long time dying! We must be aware of him, but we must ever remember that if we rely on God he will give us the power we need to resist the devil and stand against any attack.
We need to sing hymns like ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ because they express the reality of part of our lives as Christ’s faithful servants. We need to sing them because they remind us of the victory we have in Christ. When Christ is for us, and he surely is, then none can stand against us!
“Your enemy the devil prowls about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV)
Further Reading
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
I Believe In Satan’s Downfall by Michael Green
I Believe In Satan’s Downfall by Michael Green
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