“YOU CAN’T KILL THE DEVIL WITH A GUN”
Recently one of our members, Bro. Roy Turner, was talking with my wife Janet about a much discussed law regarding being able to carry a gun in the church building at a worship service. During their discussion Bro. Turner said, “You can’t kill the devil with a gun.” What a profound statement. Bro. Turner is a man who loves the church and the Bible and is wise in his thinking. So if you can’t kill the devil with a gun, how do you kill him?
First you must kill him in the hearts of men. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servant to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness” (Rom. 6:16). Crucify the old man. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). When one obeys the gospel and is buried in the watery grave of baptism he is resurrected to walk in a new life (Rom. 6:1-6). One by one, when Christ is preached and men obey you give a mortal wound to Satan.
Second, you kill the devil’s influence. There is only one way to kill the influence of the devil and that is with Christ. John wrote, “…Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Christ is the light that will kill the influence of the devil. In the earlier part of John 3:19 he wrote, “that light is come into the world.” Christ is light (Jn. 1:4; 14:6). Someone has defined darkness as the absence of light but when the influence of Jesus Christ is allowed to shine in the world it dispels the darkness and influence of the devil. Remember that Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify our father which is in heaven” (Mt. 5:16).
The third way to kill the devil is to resist him. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Do not give the devil an opportunity in your life. Jesus said to Peter, “Get thee behind me Satan” (Mt. 16:23).
You can bring your guns to church but the devil comes in disguised in the hearts of those present. To keep him out change the heart. Larry