“I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” —Revelation 12:10, 11.
THE devil is the prince of the power of the air, the vile leader of a host of wicked spirits in the heavenlies who are engaged constantly in making war on the saints of God. But the time draws near when he and his evil emissaries will be cast down from heaven into this world of which he has been, through long ages, the prince and god. Michael the archangel is the guardian of Israel, and to him is to be given the honor of expelling Satan and his apostate angels from the heavens. The devil has been the accuser of the brethren from the time sin first came into the world, but the advocacy of Christ is the answer to all Satan’s efforts to condemn.
It is the part of wisdom never to underrate the strength of an enemy. Ours is a great and mighty foe, but his power will soon be broken, and he himself cast into the abyss. Meantime, we wrestle, not with flesh and blood, but with wicked spirits in heavenly places, the world-rulers of this darkness.
“I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.
I hear th’ Accuser roar
Of ills that I have done;
I know them all, and thousands more,
Jehovah findeth none.
—Horatius Bonar.