The Wiles, Or
Methods
Of The Devil
By
Evan Roberts
What
is a wile of the devil? It may be his strategic way of approach: it may be his cunning way, and his ruse made up of a combination
of truth and lies, set in operation to fulfill his purposes. The wile with Christ in His second temptation, was to ask Him
to exhibit His great faith in God, and thus carry out His self-destruction. The devil said in effect: Cast thyself down from
the pinnacle of the temple, and the angels will save thee; but in truth he meant: Cast thyself down, and thus slay thyself.
Wiles
of Ignorance
Believers
should know that there are wiles in existence to keep the spiritual souls in ignorance. This state of ignorance makes the
powers of darkness bold to attack, for the believer is not watching. Where in the Scriptures does it say that Christ watches
instead of the believer? Did not Christ say: “I say unto you, watch!” And Paul: “Be sober, be vigilant”
- on guard. If God alone is doing the watching, what does it matter whether we are watching or not?”
The Wile About “Works”
The
devil pushes the Christian worker to do good work. “Go in,” says the devil, “for a vast amount of good work;”
but the voice is not detected as that of the devil. The believer obeys; and the devil rejoicingly says to himself, “Go
in for a vast amount of work, and break down thy health.” Christian workers are lost in good works: no time for prayer,
for the Word, for study, for rest. They go on, unaware of the wiles in operation to break then down in health, and rob them
of higher good. One of the buttresses of this wile will be a flattery of their good works.
Wiles
About Prayer
There
are wiles in operation around the prayer life, around the Bible reading time, around the believers' studies, their social
intercourse, their religious work; whether it be preaching the Word, uttering a song, visiting the sick, inspecting prisoners,
in open-air work, etc. For instance, the Apostles saw it not fit to serve tables. “Serving tables” was Satan's
wile to hinder them from giving themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer. Serving tables was a good work, but it
would have been evil for them to do it, when thy could give themselves to prayer, and the ministry of the Word.
Wiles
About Service
There
is a temptation to go to a lower service, although that be a very high and honorable one. Not the qualifications needed in
the men who are to serve tables: men of honest report, men full of the Holy Spirit, men full of wisdom. And again, these were
to be appointed over the business. The wile is to get the believer to do the lesser good instead of the greater. Just as there
is a choice between good and evil, so also there must be an acute discrimination, in order to choose between good and good.
The devil's wile may be even now in operation to get the believer down to, and keep him in the lesser good.
There
is a wile to lower conversation from a higher to a lower degree of good. The prayer time, Satan would have in conversation,
and again, conversation turned into general talk; and then this general talk turned into idle words, and disputings; and this
again into friction and open rupture – that is a descent from the higher good to the lesser, from the lesser good to
evil, and from bad to worse; and then Satan rejoices that his wiles have succeeded.
Wiles
of Many Kinds
Whatever
is good, there is a wile in operation to carry out the opposite. If there be unity, there is a wile in operation to make division.
If there is liberality, then the wile is to stay in generosity, and to give a touch of hardness and to close the spirit. If
there be revival, the wile is to bring about stagnation and death to the church.
The
devil hates all good, and verily there are wiles in operation to exterminate all good. If there be utterance with unction,
then the wile is to hinder the entrance and reception of the words; then the words have to be hewn out, so to speak, and in
the believer arises the desire that prayer may be made on his behalf that “utterance” may be given unto him.
Wiles
regarding Volition and State
There
are wiles around the actions which arise out of volition and state. The difference between action arising from (a) volition,
(b) state, e.g., a man says, “I will to be silent.” The truth is he cannot speak; either he has no spirit for
conversation, or is ignorant of the subject under discussion. A man wills to put on a solemn countenance, but it is a farce;
he cannot be other than solemn, if he were to test himself he would discover that he could not smile or laugh, even if he
willed to do so and tried. Volition comes in when you have an option, or alternative, e.g., when you are able to sing, or
refrain from doing so; then you can will to sing or not to sing.
Detection
of Wiles
Victory
over the wiles of the devil can be had by detection. Detection enables a believer to frustrate the objective before it gets
into operation. Guy Fawkes intended to blow up the Houses of parliament, but his wile or stratagem, was detected, and thus
undid the whole plot – commonly called the “gunpowder plot.”
Mark
the difference between wiles and the objectives of the wiles; to detect the wile enables the work to be destroyed before it
is fully executed.
Mark
the difference between undoing work done, and hindering work being done. The Church is generally conscious of the devil's
work only after it has come to full fruition or development. Therefore we need to know (a) The possibility of a wile in operation.
This needs experimental knowledge in order to detect. (b) Signs of a wile in operation, e.g., if the objective of the enemy
is to cause impatience in the believer, then there will be wiles in operation to bring that about, and if a person is a little
inclined to impatience at some time more than others, then let the believer be on guard lest the irritation be the effect
of the assault of the enemy. This is the time for special self-control, for at this time the enemy may use the nearest and
dearest to attack.
Attacks
may come through letters, or possibly by neglect of health, and this is the time to pray off all the enemy's attacks, both
direct and indirect, on one's patience. Knowledge of wiles is conducive to watchfulness.
The
way to get victory over sin is not only to fight sin itself, but also fight Satan, and the powers of darkness which stir up
the evil nature.
Then
what is gained by detecting a wile? The detection enables the believer to bring into operation all forces to carry out the
destruction of the objective of the wile.
For
instance, a large town mansion is in charge of servants. One night they detect suspicious persons about the place. Later on
they perceive them to be burglars intent on robbery. What will the servants do? Deal with them alone? No! They ring up the
Police Station, and bring to their aid all possible constabulary force. So also must the believer “ask,” and let
God “do” - that is, the moment a wile of the devil is discovered, let him ask God to come to his aid to carry
out the destruction of the work of the devil.
