May 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one" (Eph. 6:16).

Devotional

A few of God's children may be ignorant, more or less, of Satan's devices. But none are exempt from the "flaming darts" of the adversary. Our Lord himself was not.

Many, peculiar, and great are their temptations. They are often those which touch the very vitals of the gospel, which go to undermine the believer's faith in the fundamentals of Christianity, and which affect his own personal interest in the covenant of grace.

Satan is the sworn enemy of the believer! He is your constant, unwearied foe. There is also a subtlety and malignity which does not mark not the other and numerous enemies of the soul. The Holy Spirit speaks of the "depths of Satan" (Rev. 2:24). There are "depths" in his malice, in his subtlety, and in his shrewdness which many of the beloved of the Lord are made in some degree to fathom. The Lord may allow them to go down into those "depths" just to convince them that there are depths in his wisdom, love, power, and grace, which can out-fathom the "depths of Satan."

But what are some of the devices of the wicked one? What are some of his flaming darts? Sometimes he fills the mind of the believer with the most blasphemous and unbelieving thoughts, threatening the utter destruction of his peace and confidence.

Sometimes he takes advantage of periods of weakness, trial, and perplexity to stir up the corruptions of his flesh, bringing the soul back as into captivity to the law of sin and death.

Sometimes he suggests unbelieving doubts respecting his adoption, beguiling him into the belief that his professed conversion is all a delusion, that his religion is all hypocrisy, and that what he had thought was the work of grace is nothing but the work of nature.

But by far the greatest and most general controversy which Satan has with the saint of God is, to lead him to doubt the ability and the willingness of Christ to save a poor sinner. When the anchor of his soul removed from this truth, he is driven out upon a rough sea of doubt and anguish. He is at the mercy of every wind of doctrine and every billow of unbelief that may assail his storm-tossed bark.

But in the midst of it all, where does the comfort and the victory of the tempted believer come from? From the promise which assures him that "when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him" (Isa. 59:19 KJV)

And what is the standard which the Spirit, the Comforter, lifts up to stem this flood? A dying, risen, ascended, exalted, and ever-living Savior. This is the standard that strikes terror into the foe. This is the gate that shuts out the flood.

So the disciples proved. This is their testimony: "The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your Name!'" (Luke 10:17).

Immanuel is that Name which puts to flight every spiritual foe. And the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, leads the tempted soul to this Name, to shelter itself beneath it, to plead it with God, and to battle with it against the enemy.

Dear reader, are you a target against which the fiery darts of the devil are leveled? Are you sorely tempted? Do not be astonished as though some strange thing is happening to you. The holiest of God's saints have suffered as you are now suffering. Yes, even your blessed Lord—your Master, your Pattern, your Example, and he in whose Name you shall be more than conqueror—was once assailed as you are, and by the same enemy.

Let the reflection console you, that temptations only leave the traces of guilt upon the conscience, and are only regarded as sins by God, as they are yielded to. The mere suggestion of the adversary, the mere presentation of a temptation, is no sin, so long as, in the strength that is in Christ Jesus, the believer firmly and resolutely resists it. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (Jas. 4:7). Jesus has already fought and conquered for you. He knew well what the conflict with Satan was. And he remembers, too, what it is.

Lift up your head, dear tempted soul! You shall obtain the victory. The Seed of the Woman has bruised the serpent's head; yes, has crushed him, never to obtain his supremacy over you again. The devil may harass you. He may annoy you. He may distress you. But he can never pluck you from the hollow of the hand that was pierced for you.

In the hour of trial,
Jesus, plead for me;
lest by base denial
I depart from thee;
when thou seest me waver,
with a look recall,
nor for fear or favor
suffer me to fall.

With its witching pleasures
would this vain world charm,
or its sordid treasures
spread to work me harm,
bring to my remembrance
sad Gethsemane,
or, in darker semblance,
cross-crowned Calvary.

If with sore affliction
thou in love chastise,
pour thy benediction
on the sacrifice;
then, upon thine altar
freely offered up,
though the flesh may falter,
faith shall drink the cup.

When in dust and ashes
to the grave I sink,
while heav'n's glory flashes
o'er the shelving brink,
on thy truth relying
through that mortal strife,
Lord, receive me, dying,
to eternal life.

(Jas. Montgomery, 1834; St. 1, line 2, alt.)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.