SATAN IN A RAGE – Charles Spurgeon
SATAN IN A RAGE
“Woe to the inhibitors of the earth and of the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.” Revelation 12:12.
The Battle in the Heavenlies
The great battle in the heavenlies has been fought—our glorious Michael has forever overthrown the dragon and cast him down. In the highest regions, the great principle of evil has received a total defeat through the life and death of our Lord Jesus. Atonement has been made for human sin, and the great quarrel between God and man has come to a happy end. Everlasting righteousness has been brought in, and the peace of God reigns in Heaven. The conflict, from now on, rages here below, and in these inferior regions, the Prince of this world is warring mightily against the cause of God and truth. Much woe does this cause to the sons of men—woe which will never end until his power is altogether taken away.
Satan’s Forethought
Observe concerning our archenemy that he exercises forethought and care regarding the evil enterprise to which he has set his hand. Whatever foolish men may do, the devil thinks. Others may be heedless and thoughtless, but he is anxious and full of consideration. He knows that his time, or “opportunity,” is short, and he bides his time until its close, for he is no careless waster of time and forgetter of the end. He values his opportunity to maintain his kingdom, to distress the people of God, and to dishonor the name of Christ. And since it is but a short one, he treats it as such. He infers the brevity of his time from the victory which Jesus has already gained over him.
The Man-Child and the Dragon
In reading the chapter, we saw how the Man-Child, who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron, was caught up unto God and to His Throne. And then we saw the war in Heaven and how the devil was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Then was a loud voice heard on high, “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.” Right well may the old serpent conclude that he will be routed on earth since he has already sustained so dire a defeat that he has fallen from Heaven never to rise again! Because the Man-Child, Christ Jesus, has met him in conflict, met him when as yet all his power was unbroken and has cast him down from his high places, he is persuaded and well he may be, that his reign is ended and that his opportunity is short.
Satan’s Knowledge of the Future
He feels about him, even now, a chain which is lengthened for a while, but which shall be drawn into shorter compass and fastened down, by-and-by, so that he shall roam the earth no longer, but lie as a captive in his prison. Fallen as this apostate spirit has become, he has wit enough to look forward to the future! O that men were half as wise and would remember their latter end! I beg you to notice this fact concerning the evil spirit, that you, too, may learn to acquire knowledge and then use it for practical purposes. Why should it always be that the powers of darkness appear to act more wisely than the children of light?
Lessons from the Archenemy
Among men, there are some who know a great many important matters, but act as if they did not know them—their knowledge is so much waste stored up in the lumber room of their minds and never brought into the workshop to be used for practical purposes. For instance, we know our mortality and yet live as if we never meant to die! There is great necessity for many of us to pray, “Lord, teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” We must know that our time is short and that our life will soon come to an end, and yet we fail to know it practically, for we are not as earnest as dying men ought to be. In this, the archenemy is not so foolish as we are, for he so well knows that his time is short that he remembers the fact and is actuated by it.
Satan’s Wrath and the Shortness of Time
Note well the direction in which this knowledge operates upon him. It excites his emotions. The deepest emotion of which he is capable is that of anger, for he knows not how to love. Wrath is his very soul, as hatred is his very life! He knows nothing of gentleness, nothing of affection, and, therefore, the fact that his time is short moves within him his master passion and he has great wrath. His evil nature is all on fire, and his excitement is terrible! How much the shortness of our time ought to stir our hearts! With what ardency of love and fervency of zeal ought we to pass the days of our sojourning here! Knowing that the time of our departure is at hand and that the season in which we can serve God among the sons of men is very brief, we ought to be excited to flaming zeal and passionate love! We are not half stirred as we ought to be. Devils feel great hatred—how is it that we do not feel great love? Shall they be more eager to destroy than we are to save? Shall they be all alive and shall we be half dead?
Satan’s Industry
Nor is the result of knowing that his time is short merely emotional on the part of the archenemy, for in consequence of his great wrath, he is moved to make earnest efforts. His energy is excited! He persecutes the woman whose Seed he dreads and he pours floods out of his mouth against her. There is nothing which Satan can do for his evil cause which he does not do. We may be half-hearted, but he never is. He is the very image of ceaseless industry and indefatigable earnestness. He will do all that can be done in the time of his permitted range. We may be sure that he will never lose a day.
The Urgency of Our Work
My Brothers and Sisters, you and I, on the other hand, should be moved by the shortness of our opportunity to an equal energy of incessant industry, serving God continually because, “the night comes wherein no man can work.” My Friend, if you want your children brought to Christ, speak to them, for they will soon be without a father! If you wish your servants to be saved, labor for their conversion, for they will soon be without a mistress! If you desire your brother to be converted, speak to him, for your sisterly love will not much longer avail him. Minister, if you would save your congregation by the Spirit of God, seek to do it at once, for your tongue will soon be silent. Teacher in the Sunday school, if you would have your class gathered into the Good Shepherd’s fold, treasure up every Lord’s Day opportunity, for in a short time, the place which knows you now shall know you no more forever!
Thus, as of old, the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his plowshare and his axe and his shovel, so have I bid you quicken your diligence by the example of the Prince of Darkness. Shall we not learn wisdom from his subtlety and zeal from his fury? Shall he discern the signs of the times and, therefore, bestir himself, and shall we sleep? Shall evil compass sea and land and shall the children of God creep about in idleness? God forbid! By the great wrath of the old dragon, I beseech you, my Brothers and Sisters, awake out of your sleep!
Satan’s Raging Prophesies His End
The text tells us that the shortness of Satan’s opportunity excites his wrath, and we may gather a general rule from this one statement—namely, that in proportion as the devil’s time is shortened, his energy is increased and we may take it as an assured fact that when he rages to the uttermost his opportunities are nearly over. He has great wrath, knowing that his time is short. I hope there will be something of instruction in this and of comfort for all those who are on the right side. May the Holy Spirit make it so!
The Triumph of Good Over Evil
In the world around us, we must not consider that things go altogether amiss when the powers of evil become strong. We should be foolish if we wept in despair because the tares are ripening, for is not the wheat ripening, too? True, the dead become more and more corrupt, but if the living become more and more active, why should we lament? Because blasphemy grows loud; because infidels seek to undermine the foundation of the faith, or because the clouds of superstition grow more dense, we must not, therefore, conclude that we have fallen upon evil times, the like of which were never seen before. Not so! Oftentimes the development of evil is an indication that there is an equal or a greater development of good—and the climax of ill is frequently its end.
The Defeat of Evil in History
Do you not know that in the world of Nature, the darkest time of the night is that which precedes the dawning of the day? May it not be the same in the spiritual and moral world? Does not the old proverb tell us, concerning the year, that “as the day lengthens, the cold strengthens”? As the spring comes with lengthened days, the frosts often grow more sharp and hard. Is it not also plain to the simplest mind that the turning of the tide happens when the ebb has reached its utmost? Even so, when evil is at its height, it is nearest to its fall.
The Final Victory of Christ
At the very last, he shall go about to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle. They shall come up in great hosts, fierce for the conflict, to “the battle of the great day of God Almighty” at Armageddon. It shall then seem as if the light of Israel must be quenched and the Truth of God utterly extinguished. But in that dread hour, the Lord shall triumph gloriously and He shall smite His adversaries to their final overthrow. Then shall the angel standing in the sun invite the vultures and all the fowls that fly in the midst of Heaven to gather to the grim feast of vengeance to eat the flesh of horsemen and men of might! Then, also, shall the devil that deceived them be cast into the Lake of Fire and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then, also, shall the shout be heard, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” On the greatest possible scale, the greatness of the dragon’s wrath is a sure prophecy of the end of his reign!
Satan’s Wrath and the Soul’s Conflict
What is true on a great scale is true in the smaller one. Missionaries in any country will generally find that the last onslaught of heathenism is the most ferocious. We shall find, whenever the Truth of God comes into contact with falsehood, that when error is driven to its last entrenchments, it fights for life, tooth and nail, with all its might! Its wrath is great because its time is short. In any village or town in England, or in any other country, whenever the opposition to the Gospel reaches its most outrageous pitch and men seem as if they would murder the preacher of the Word, you may reckon that the power of the opposition is almost over.
Satan’s Last Attempts
When once the bad passions of mankind shall have boiled up, they will cool down again. Has not the Lord promised to restrain it? As the burning heat of the noontide sun lasts not forever, but gradually abates when it has reached the hottest point, so is it with the wrath of man which the foul fiend so often uses for his base purposes. The same truth will apply to every individual man. When God begins His great work in a sinner’s heart, to lead him to Christ, it is no bad sign if the man feels more hatred to God than ever; more dislike to good things than before. Nor need we despair if he is driven into greater sin than ever. The ferocity of the temptation indicates the vigor with which Satan contends for any one of his black sheep. Satan will not lose his subjects if he can help it and so he drives forth all his strength to keep them under his power. And he is especially vigilant and furious when the power of Grace is about to prevail for their salvation.
Comfort for the Believer
The general fact is further illustrated in the cases of many Believers. There are times when, in the Believer’s heart, the battle rages horribly; when he hardly knows whether he is a child of God at all and is ready to give up all hope. He is so distracted he cannot pray or praise. He cannot read the Scriptures without horrible thoughts. It seems as if he must utterly perish—no space is given him in which to refresh his heart—the attacks are constant and violent. But such dreadful excitements are often followed by years of peace, quiet usefulness, holiness, and communion with God!
Satan’s Fury at the End
Satan knows that God is about to set a limit to his vexations of the good man and so he rages extremely because his opportunity is short. It is very remarkable that some of the greatest of the saints have died in the midst of the most fearful conflicts for the same reason—the dog howled at them because he knew that they would soon be out of his reach.
Conclusion
Do not, therefore, be at all surprised if Satan rages against you! Do not marvel if you should seem to be given into his power, but rather rejoice in this, that his great wrath is the token of the shortness of his time! He wages war with us all the more cruelly because he knows that he will ultimately be defeated! His degraded mind delights in petty malice—if he cannot destroy, he will disturb—if he cannot kill, he will wound.
The Final Victory of Christ in the Soul
It is the doom of evil to persevere in its spite after it knows that it is all in vain—to be forever vanquished by the invincible Seed of the living God—and yet forever to return to the fray! He is forever rolling upward, a huge stone which returns upon him! This is a true picture of the devil vainly laboring to remove the Truth of God out of its place. His is, indeed, “labor in vain.”
Comfort for the Seeking Soul
I thought this morning that I would call attention to one particular instance which is seen in the soul that is coming to Christ, in whom Satan often has great wrath knowing that his time is short. My objective is to comfort those who are awakened and are seeking the Savior. If they are sorely beset, I long that they may find peace, rest, and hope very speedily.
Conclusion: Call to Action
Let us therefore turn to Christ and resist the devil, for soon his time will be no more. And in the meantime, let us stand firm, knowing that though he may rage, his power is fleeting and Christ will give us victory.