Дух злобный

The battle with people is difficult, but it is much harder to fight evil spirits. They see us and notice what we do and say, but we don’t see them. They are trying to take away from us not cities, not borders, not perishable treasure, but eternal salvation, which Christ, the Son of God, purchased for us with His honest Blood and death. They try and work hard day and night to steal this invaluable treasure from us. They tempt us who are awake, and they also tempt us who sleep; They plot by day, they plot by night. Christians! We also need to stay alert if we want to save ourselves and not be their prisoners. They find their weapons in ourselves. They fight us with our passions and lusts. There is no time for anyone who wants to fight successfully against these enemies to seek wealth, honor and glory in this world. And if someone, having left heavenly things, thinks about earthly things, who pleases not God, but the world and his own whims, then this is a sure sign that he is their captive. Victory without feat, feat without battle, battle without enemies does not exist. Christians, the common and eternal enemy of the servants of Christ is the devil with his dark horde, demons and his servants. Against this enemy they must endure constant warfare and heroic deeds. When Israel, with a strong hand and a high arm, got rid of the slavery of Egypt, Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, with his army chased after him, wanting to enslave him again. So Christians, the new Israel, the spiritual children of Abraham (see Rom. 4:11; Gal. 3:17, 29) are persecuted by Satan with his dark army, persecuting them as if they had been delivered from dark power and service to him by the power of Christ, in order to subjugate them again. Israel of the Old Law, going to the promised land, was hindered by many enemies and was not allowed into that land. So the new Israel, Christians, is trying to prevent the same enemy the devil from entering the heavenly fatherland, which God promised to believers in His name. Christians have constant warfare and struggle with this adversary. It must be admitted that this battle and feat is difficult, as the following circumstances show: 1. These Christian enemies are not visible, but invisible; not blood and flesh, but the spirits of wickedness in high places, as the apostle says: our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the high places (Eph. 6:12). And therefore, in this spiritual warfare it is not the same as in the battle of this world, where enemies see each other and are afraid. But here our enemies see us, they observe what we do, what we begin, what we incline our deeds, words and undertakings to, they take note, but we, like spirits, do not see them. 1. They are beyond measure evil and hostile to us and seek in every way to overthrow and destroy us. 3. They are crafty and cunning, and after so many centuries they have learned the art themselves; they know well how to proceed, from which side to attack, with what weapon to wound whom; they know how to offer us evil and good under the guise of good, how to ward off poison from good under the guise of honey and under the guise of harm, and often they fight us with our imaginary good, driving us into arrogance. 4. They never stop fighting us. We sleep and rest, but they never rest, but are always and everywhere awake to our destruction; and when it seems that we have been abandoned, then with greater desire they want to attack us and hurt us more. 5. These enemies find their weapons against us in ourselves and fight us with our weapons. Our heart, corrupted by him, is like the vagina of all kinds of weapons with which we are wounded. For from the heart come evil thoughts (Matthew 15:19), says Christ our King. They always shoot at us with these guns. They try to make our mind, tongue, eyes, ears and other members instruments of injustice, and thus hurt our conscience and take away victory from us. 6. Thus, rebelling against us, they want to deprive us not of our estates, not of our land, not of our cities, not of our head, not of our temporary life, but of what is dearer than the whole world - eternal salvation. Against so many and such enemies, Christians are faced with battle and heroic deeds. This feat should not be done with a slumbering eye, not with a discouraged heart, but cheerfully and vigilantly, when they want to be unashamed before their hero Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christ, our King and Lord, exhorts us: watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41). The holy apostles, His messengers and our princes exhort Him: Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Cor. 10:12). My brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:10-11). And also Christ: keep what you have, so that no one takes your crown (Rev. 3:11). From these and other admonitions found in Holy Scripture, it is clear how difficult the battle is for Christians with these ethereal enemies. And the faithful themselves feel their fierce attacks every day, when through evil thoughts they either destroy their faith as the basis of all spiritual bliss, or extinguish their love and try to sow their tares of iniquity in the field of their hearts.