To the Rescue

It may have been a very small thing that gave place to the devil in each of these cases. It generally is (Galatians 5:9; James 3:5). It may have been a thought, a feeling, a thrill of the affections, a flash across the landscape of the imagination—nothing more—but quite enough to account for everything. If only it had been detected and resisted when it was but a speck upon the horizon! But it was allowed to pass unchecked, and now a whole continent has been invaded and must be recovered inch by inch.

Shall we come to the rescue of such souls, “to the help of the LORD against the mighty”* (Judges 5:23)? We may. But how the devil opposes our doing so, either telling us that it is not our work, or that the case is too difficult, or subtly disabling us from acting, when we would gladly do so and are weighed down with the need!

Shall we not, too, heed the warning and learn the lesson that is before us—watching as well as praying, and discerning between good and evil, that we may “cast off the works of darkness, and… put on the armour of light”* (Romans 13:12)? All down the ages the powers of evil have conspired to invade man’s soul and wreck it, and now it would appear that more than ever the devil is marshalling his forces to steal in upon the citadel and take it by storm.