by Rev. D. B. Macleod, Retiring Moderator
“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”
Romans 16:20.
In this Epistle we find the Apostle bringing before believers at Rome the great doctrine of justification by faith in order that they might be established in the truth of this doctrine and might know that it was not by works that sinners were to be saved. As you well know it was this glorious doctrine of the faith that was resurrected at the time of the Reformation. God, by His Spirit, sealed upon the heart and conscience of Martin Luther the words: “The just shall live by faith.” This doctrine liberated the countries of Europe from the darkness of popery; and it is this same glorious doctrine, by preventing men from resting on a hope of salvation by works, that will deliver our beloved land from the superstition and idolatry which is abroad today.
In the closing part of this Epistle, as in all his Epistles, the Apostle turns to practical exhortation and warning. Even in the middle of his closing salutations he turns and warns the church — as the church is to be warned in every age — of dangers to which she was exposed. “Now I beseech you brethren,” he said, “mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” He also commends them saying, “Your obedience is come abroad unto all men”; yet he has to exhort, “I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil.” He then goes on to give this wonderful promise: “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”
We may now come to notice:
1 The kingdom of darkness in opposition to the kingdom of Christ
2 The promise concerning the bruising of Satan
First of all then let us consider a little concerning the kingdom of darkness.
When, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth He had to pronounce concerning all that it was good. There was no sin there — nothing to mar the perfection of the handiwork of God — no kingdom of darkness. Yet it is evident from the Word of God, as well as from the history of the world, that now there is a kingdom of darkness, that there is a power of evil, that there are powers of darkness at work in the world in opposition to Christ and His kingdom. How are we then to account for the existence of the kingdom of darkness?
We must trace this first of all to the apostacy among the angelic host. Here is where it begins — in Satan’s rebellion against God. Though created an angel of light — a morning star — a bright star in the firmament of God — yet through pride he sought the very Throne of God. He sought to displace the God of heaven from that throne which is His from everlasting to everlasting. Men are ready to say, “But why did God permit sin?” How are we to account for the entry of sin? This is a mystery that finite minds cannot fathom. We can be sure, however, in connection with the entry of sin and the setting up of the kingdom of darkness through the apostacy of Satan and the angels that kept not their first estate, that the divine permission in allowing sin to enter into the world did not mar any of the glorious perfections of God. Men would cast a reflection upon the glory of the infinitely glorious One because of the entry of sin into the universe of God. If sin has come in and marred the perfect handiwork of God — that God who is infinitely glorious shall over-rule all that to the greater glory of His great Name. In eternity, when this earth has run its course, then shall God’s name be endlessly glorified for over-ruling the entry of sin into the world for the greater glory of His grace.
When we come to the kingdom of darkness in its beginning amongst men we must turn to the temptation of Eve by the serpent in the garden of Eden. The enmity of Satan to God manifested itself in enmity to our first parents who were created in the image of God. Satan hated the image of God as seen in them and by his temptation succeeded in marring it. At one stroke Satan brought down the whole race of Adam and made them subject to himself. The Saviour indicated the bondage men are in to Satan when He said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and his works ye do.” The whole race, through that sin of our first covenant-head lost communion with God and came under the power of the great adversary of their souls. How extensive, then, is the kingdom of darkness! Where is it not to be found? Go where you will upon the face of the earth and you find men and women, young and old, under the bondage of sin and Satan. Satan has set up his throne in the hearts of sinners. There you find the kingdom of darkness — men under the power of sin and Satan, subject to his will, slaves to the great adversary of their soul, and kept in bondage by him. Oh, we ought to ask ourselves if we are part and parcel of that kingdom. Do we owe allegiance to the great adversary of our soul? Are we still in Satan’s kingdom? Wherever sin reigns in the hearts and minds of sinners, there Satan’s kingdom is; there Satan is king upon the throne of the heart. He will remain on the throne of the heart until the Lord in infinite mercy will deliver the sinner from the bondage of sin and Satan. You need not think you shall ever be able to set yourself free — you who are in bondage to sin and Satan. None of those whom he has held in bondage ever set themselves free from his chains.
In the world, too, you see Satan active. The principles of this world are the principles of the kingdom of darkness. In the world darkness reigns. Men think that they are wise but they are under the power of Satan. Satan reigns in the allurements of this world. The attractions of this world keep men in bondage to sin, so that they may never be set free. Then, again, Satan is operating in the world in his own agency as a tempting devil, drawing men into sin, setting snares for the feet of the unwary to entrap them.
As we see the activity of Satan in all these spheres so do we see Satan active especially in opposition to God, His people, His Word, His Church. It is clear from the Word of God that Satan will be nowhere so active in opposition to the truth as where the truth is most clearly manifest. Having the testimony for the truth which God has been pleased to give us as a branch of His visible Church, we need not be surprised at the enmity of Satan or at the many attempts made by Satan to destroy the witness for the truth in connection with our own Church. Satan hates the truth. He is a liar, and the father of lies; he abode not in the truth. Oh, you are perhaps ready to say: What awful attacks Satan makes on the Church to which we belong. But it is an honour if Satan is so incensed against us. We can be sure he is not incensed without good reason. Therefore, let us not be unduly moved because the great adversary seeks our overthrow and has attempted it over and over again in our history. If we are faithful to the testimony for truth we will have Satan as an adversary more and more — and particularly in a day of declension — for Satan would seek to use the opportunity of declension in the visible church to make us forsake that testimony which God in His kindness has given to us.
Although we have said that we are not to be unduly concerned that Satan is opposed to us, yet we are to lay to heart that he is powerful and mighty. We are to remember, too, that he is a subtle adversary. The people of God and the servants of the Lord know full well what it is to conflict with the devil. The Church could say: “We are not ignorant of his devices.” You know what it is to conflict with Satan upon the battlefield of your own soul. With sin and Satan you have had many a struggle. He is the great adversary of your soul. How foolish it would be for you to say, “I can easily overcome him.” That would be the height of folly. Satan is powerful, too powerful for you or for me, too powerful for the Church of God. We cannot combat with him in our own strength; only in the strength of divine grace can we overcome him. It is only by laying hold upon the armour of righteousness that we can be delivered from the power of the great adversary.
Though Satan’s power is great it is not unlimited. Also he cannot go beyond the divine permission so far as the people of God are concerned. Satan cannot lift up his hand against them beyond that line which God permits him to go. This was true in Job’s case. Satan could not touch him beyond what the Lord permitted him to do. Again although Satan is strong in the world, though he is so powerful and so subtle, yet he is a defeated foe. He has been given the stroke from which he and his kingdom shall never recover. That stroke will bring his kingdom down to the dust and bring it down finally to the lowest hell.
Let us go on then to notice, in the second place, the promise which is given here: that “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Who is the God of peace”? Is He not the God of peace who has reconciled all things to Himself by Jesus Christ? Is he not the God of peace who has not only sent forth His well-beloved Son into this world to die the accursed death of the cross in the room and stead of the guilty, but also has brought up again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep. “The God of peace has brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” Oh, what a wonder this is — reconciliation through the blood that was shed on Calvary’s accursed tree! What a wonder it ought to be to us this night that the God of peace made provision for the reconciling of sinners unto Himself through Jesus Christ. As far as we are concerned who are Gentiles, how wonderful it should be to us that the blessings that were Israel’s under the Old Testament were not confined to Israel under the New, but that the Prince, who is our peace, has reconciled both unto Himself in one body by the cross, Jew and Gentile being brought into one body through the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. All the blessings that were once Israel’s, now belong to the Gentiles as well. The Gospel of reconciliation is now preached throughout the whole world for the obedience to the faith of all nations. What a wonder it should be that the Lord has sent the gospel of reconciliation even to these distant isles! How wonderful that the Lord has committed to us this word of reconciliation to declare to sinners that are afar off from God, that they might be brought nigh to God through Jesus Christ! How wonderful that the God of peace should provide a way of deliverance for the lost and for the guilty; that there should be proclaimed to the children of men a free and full pardon of all their sins and that, not on the ground of any righteousness that is in themselves, but only on the ground of the atonement that Christ made on Calvary!
It is this God of peace that shall bruise Satan. Oh, let us go back to the Garden of Eden. Let us hear the voice of God, the God of peace, saying to the great adversary, “the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent.” Oh, what a message of reconciliation, what a message of hope to a lost world! The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent — this proclaims salvation through Jesus Christ. Who is to bruise the head of the serpent? None other than God’s well-beloved Son, the Divine Son of the everlasting Father. Oh, what a message of salvation preachers of the Gospel have to declare — a Divine Saviour for lost sinners, a Saviour who is the Son of God. What a manifestation of the love of God in providing for the bruising of the head of the serpent through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through the One who is the Son of God. But let us remember He was not to bruise the head of the serpent as the Son of God in the bosom of the Father, but as the God-man Redeemer. Mystery of mysteries that God should be manifest in the flesh: that the eternal God, infinitely glorious, glorious before all worlds were created, glorious unto eternity, should assume our nature, take hold of this human nature which we possess, only without sin; take hold of it in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and be born of her yet without sin. How marvellous that there should be constituted this glorious wonderful thing that was spoken of to Mary — “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God”; and that He should have this name Immanuel, God with us! Then again what a wonder, that the bruising of Satan’s head was to be effected through the bruising of the heel of the Seed of the Woman. Christ was to make an end of sin, He was to destroy the works of the devil in that death He was to accomplish outside the gates of Jerusalem. It is there the struggle took place. We do not see much of the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary if we do not see there two kingdoms — Christ, the Head over His Kingdom, and Satan, the head over his kingdom in conflict — and these two kingdoms locked in a life and death struggle. Christ spoiled principalities and powers in that death which He accomplished. Satan manifested all his hatred and enmity against the Son of God in our nature, and yet Christ effected the deliverance of His people in that very death that He died on Calvary. “The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.” There in His holy humanity He suffered; there His body was broken; there His blood was shed. There in His holy soul He suffered, the Just in the room of the unjust, and there He bruised the head of the serpent. “I will contend with them that contend with thee, and I will save thy children.” “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive be delivered?” Yes, through the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious One, the God-man Redeemer. “The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Satan has received the stroke. It is but a little while and Christ will demonstrate to an assembled universe that He has gotten Him the victory.
But now in application for the people of God, and the church of God in the world, what can this promise mean — “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly”? For you, the individual believer, the tried, the afflicted, tempest-tossed child of God, in the midst of your afflictions you are wondering — so deep are these trials — whether you will ever get out of them. Oh, yes, even in this world itself you will get out of them. God will give you seasons when you will experience that the God of peace has indeed bruised Satan under your feet. But though in this world you were not to know such seasons, it will be only a little while and you shall see Satan as a vanquished foe. As you are brought with gladness great and mirth on every side into the palace of the king to abide there forever, Satan will be a vanquished foe. There you will be out of the range of Satan. You will say then — now I am done with sin and done with Satan for ever, having obtained the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. You have to cry out here, “Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of this death,” owing to the working of sin within. You will, however, have seasons even in this world when you will have to say — “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” But you will yet have to say with a higher note of praise in everlasting glory — “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In the church of God, Satan is active. He is ever active though the Lord gives His church evidences of His own power. There are signs of the God of peace bruising Satan under the feet of people here in this world. You who declare the everlasting gospel — on every occasion that the word of God is blessed by the Holy Spirit to the salvation of a soul, there the God of peace has bruised Satan under your feet. The church of God, it is true, has seasons of languishing, seasons when there is little evidence of the Lord’s working. Still it is only a little while and He will manifest His power for the Lord has not been wont to leave His cause. He has not been a wilderness to Israel; no, nor ever will be. “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Then again with regard to the glorious promises concerning the extension of the cause and kingdom of Jesus Christ — Oh, they seem impossible of fulfilment in such a day as ours. Is Satan not active everywhere? Do we not see his cause and kingdom being built up? Yes, but the Lord says in His word through His servant — the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. These mighty powers, these strong holds of the adversary are being set up, set up in our very midst; yes, but the Lord will come shortly and will bring them down.” The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” What will be the effect? The effect will be this — you will have a song of gladness in your heart to Him who wrought such great deliverance for you. You will sing to the praise of the glory of His grace. You will take no glory to yourself. You will say, “Oh, this is the work of God. Surely the Lord has wrought this great work in the earth.” You will be like the children of Israel when Zion’s bondage was turned back in the days of their captivity in Babylon.
When Zion’s bondage God turn’d back,
as men that dream’d were we.
Thèn fill’d with laughter was our mouth,
our tongue with melody:
They ‘mong heathen said, The Lord
great things for them hath wrought.
The Lord has done great things for us,
whence joy to us is brought.
Let us therefore be encouraged even in this dark day that the Covenant promises, promises that are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, will be fulfilled, and this promise with every other promise — “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
In true conversion the soul is changed to be of the same mind with Christ.