April 8

In addition to being immaterial and highly intellectual, spirits gain a distinct advantage by being immortal. Of other enemies, you may hear at last that "they are dead which sought [thy] life," as the angel told Joseph concerning Herod (Matthew 2:20). Wicked men walk a turn or two upon the stage, then are called off by death; so end their plots. But devils do not die. They will track you to your grave, and if you die Christless, they will meet you in another world to accuse and torment you there also.

These wicked spirits are indefatigable. When the fight is over among men, even the conqueror must sit down and catch his breath. His strength has a limit. Other men, successful by human standards but deprived of their own personal goals, lose their will to fight and give up in despair. Tertullian said of Diocletian that he threw down his scepter in a fit of pique when he was unsuccessful at stamping out Christianity. He could not kill Christ's followers as fast as they were being born into the kingdom, so at last he gave up altogether and sought some other fiendish amusement.

But the devil never becomes dispirited, nor does he tire of doing mischief to the souls of men. He has not stood still for a moment since he first began to walk to and fro in the earth (Job 1:7). Indeed, God Himself must bind him hand and foot to stop his feverish activities.

Not only are devils spirits, but they are extremely wicked spirits. God is called the Holy One because none is as holy as the Lord. The devil is called the "wicked one" because he is uniquely evil (Matthew 13:19). What we know of him from Scripture gives us a measure of the height of his wickedness, and can be used to judge the degrees of sins and sinners among men. The formula is simple. The more we are like God, the holier we are; the more like the devil, the more wicked.

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