someone with venison, with imprisonment in jail like someone fox hunting, and with hardship like someone dancing. That is why he understands both our humbling and exalting ourselves. He is able to clothe our proud hearts in everything so that they act arrogantly and do not seek rewards from God, but instead do everything for worthless approval or vain praises.
When such depravity is in the human heart and such cunning is in the devil, it is no wonder that Satan spreads gold people under himself like mud and tramples rays of sunshine under foot. There are few unpretentious people and hearts with God’s gifts such that they do everything sincerely for God, look to Him in everything, do everything for His praise, anticipate rewards from Him, intentionally avoid boasting in everything, and therefore eschew the affections of proud people, positions, and flatterers. Too few of those people are found who avoid the devil in this, live in simplicity of heart in all things (whether that be more pitiably or grandly), and look to God in everything and fear Him, not thinking many great things of themselves or blindly condemning themselves as if that were humility. We should truly humble ourselves in our hearts as the Son of God teaches us and diligently remember what He says, “Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.’” (Luke 17: 10) And therefore, doing everything that is commanded of us, we still do not have grounds to boast according to these words of the Son of God, thinking much of ourselves. In this same way the Son of God says, “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them.” (Matthew 6: 1) If we were to observe this teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would not boast or praise one another so much in everything, inciting one another’s proud and evil hearts to boasting, since they themselves do not hesitate to pride themselves in everything and think highly of themselves.
How could a person exalt himself, considering the Lord’s words when He says that He looks down on all that are haughty? He knows everything. The devil also knows the praise of boastful people and understands that there are proud hearts in them. When they praise others they also want to be praised themselves, and when they put others down they think more of themselves than of others. The devil sees all that. He destroys them with pride so that everything comes out of the evil heart through pride and boasting, always lifting itself up and putting others down. The devil, king over all who are proud, begets everything in pride. In whatever way they are proud (whether through some holiness or infamy), he pays attention to everything so that he begets those who love themselves, think much of themselves, and do not protect themselves from his cunning, being at peace before him. When he is king over all who are proud, he will be over us too if we do not guard ourselves diligently according to the apostle’s teaching about his kind of wickedness.
And then the apostle says here about the battle:
The apostle shows Christians when there is spiritual wickedness and hatred in that battle, since we cannot see it or easily figure out what kinds of approaches that unseen and cruel spirit has to us, being of incalculable understanding beyond us. Like sinful beasts, we still do not understand physical and visible things and how we would live life today for good. We discern that cunning and unseen spirit very little–how he carries out spiritual malevolence against us, watches us from a distance, and has access to us from far away for a long time in an unsuspecting manner. He does not approach from the side we would expect or watch for him from, but instead when we are looking for peace and presume to be safe before him. He approaches, has a way to us, and plans his spiritual hatred against us where we think there are beneficial things, seek salvation, and expect God–and therefore spiritually. He establishes his
17
