The modern fascination for stories about inter-planetary wars, remote as it seems to be from the realities of God's Word, is not without a basis of truth. It is not surprising that the world of fiction should now and then reflect and echo the deeper world of fact, as this is set before us in the Bible. Perhaps fiction, after all, is nothing more than a voice arising from the murky depths of man's consciousness which betrays his fear that there is a whole world somewhere in which nightmarish things could be true. The Bible, far from denying, strongly affirms that there is a reality behind man's fear of evil spirits and behind man's dread of some fiery punishment after death. Is it then surprising that the weird inventions of man's corrupt imagination should, at least occasionally, correspond to things which are not fictional at all but belong to the realm of soberness and truth? A war of worlds and a cosmic conflict between spiritual beings sounds far-fetched; but why should it not be true?

The above conviction is not just guesswork. For no one could read such a part of the Bible as the Book of Revelation without feeling that there must be powerful invading forces at work in the world in which we live – hidden powers of both darkness and light which fit the symbols of that part of Scripture. It is absolutely certain that the 'beasts' of Revelation must have some invisible reality to which they correspond. These symbolic 'beasts' are nothing at all if they are not dread anti-Christian powers exerting themselves to oppose God and to do harm, as far as they are permitted to do, to those who serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always remember that in this Book of Revelation the term 'beast' in English translates two Greek words, 'zoon' ('living creature') and 'therion' ('beast', almost our 'monster'). The first term is used of angelic beings; the second of satanic powers. These two terms should not be confused. We are referring here to the latter term.

The Bible of course does not teach that there are, or ever will be, 'star-wars' or 'inter-planetary' invasions by extra-terrestrial intelligences. Such ideas are the fiction of puerile minds invented to gratify the fallen tastes of international viewing audiences, most of whom would scorn to read the Bible. The warfare, however, which is being carried on 'in the heavenlies', according to the Bible, is a real thing and its outcome will have a profound bearing on every single member of the human race, either for good or ill. Distorted and contorted as these fictional 'star-wars' are, they are a crude reminder to the Bible-believer that there is a cosmic warfare taking place, the unfolding of which corresponds to the progress of real history, and the final outcome of which will bring untold blessing, or else misery, to every man and woman on earth.

The penalty which our 'scientific' age is paying for its contemptuous dismissal of angels, spirits and demons as mere myths is that it is inventing a mythology all of its own. As the world has rejected belief in God, heaven, hell, angels and devils, it has invented another 'spiritual world' consisting of weird creatures from hobbits to little green men, complete with monsters and dinosaurs!

No sooner did man advance to being 'scientific' than he felt the urge to push 'science' over the edge till it became 'science fiction'. No sooner did he manage to convince himself that the old spiritual realities of the Bible are nonsense than he found himself creating an occult fantasy-world all his own. Any high-street bookseller will tell us how popular books on the occult are today. It is the plight of mankind that when it rejects a true supernaturalism it must be attracted by a false one. 'Scientific' modern society has cast off God and the angelic world; but it is at home with fairies, ghosts, witches and star-wars.

The Lord Jesus Christ on one occasion presented a picture of his mission to this world in terms which echo the language of the 'war of the worlds'. Our Lord's words were these:

When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.Luke 11:21-22

It is all the more certain that he had 'extra-terrestrial', or rather 'devilish', powers in mind because the context of his words was his casting out a dumb devil (v. 14) and his subsequent explanation that this exorcism had been performed, not by the power of Beelzebub, but by 'the finger of God' (v. 20).

Here, if anywhere, is a theme which ought to strike a chord in our present age. If ever Christ used a parable which ought to reach home to our 'star-wars' generation, surely this is it. What is our Lord actually saying?

The elements of our Lord's parable are these. The 'strong man' is Satan. His 'palace' is this present fallen world. His 'goods' are the men, women and children who live here in this world. Satan makes sure that they are kept 'in peace'. The 'stronger than he' is Christ himself. Christ's great mission was to enter into this fallen world, which is so much under the influence and control of Satan. Christ came to take away Satan's trusted 'armour' and deliver his 'spoils', the men and women who belong to him and come to put their trust in him. This, in outline, is the interpretation of this rather neglected and overlooked passage of Scripture.

If men are interested at all in any kind of 'war of the worlds', here is the 'war' which they ought to study, because it belongs to the realms of truth and reality. It will also have in the end the most profound influence on their own lives and destinies. In a sense, the whole message of the Bible is present in this short parable told by Christ. It informs us of the present tragic condition of mankind and it tells us what must happen in our life if we are to be on the right side of the 'war' in the end. Almost the whole Bible, Old Testament and New, is poured into the few words of this short illustration. We cannot afford to be ignorant of our Lord's meaning.

Christ's parable, taking it in general, states that there are two rival powers in this world, each in conflict with the other and each competing for possession of the 'goods' which are important to them. The 'goods' are the souls and lives of men. The souls of men, of all men, are the object of Satan's jealousy and vigilance. He looks on them as his possessions and he 'keeps' them under lock and key.

It is this dire and terrible truth that makes this world the sad place it is. Human freedom is a myth and a lie. Sinners are no more free to escape from sin than men in a dungeon are free to walk in the grounds of the castle where they are being held. Sinners are kept in their place by a mighty spiritual agency of unceasing vigilance and malignity. No poor Jewish prisoner in his concentration camp at Auschwitz was ever more closely guarded than are sinners of this world by their spiritual jailer. Satan sees to it that sinners are held securely in their dark bondage and in their ignorance of God.

The 'armour' of Satan, like himself, is invisible and yet deadly. As the spider holds the fly by its web, so Satan holds men to their slavery in his hateful kingdom. His 'armour' is the great system of deception which prevails in this world. Over the centuries Satan has been redecorating the rooms of God's beautiful creation so as to efface all reference to its Maker and its Judge. From the cradle to the grave Satan is at pains to brainwash poor sinners with the lie of atheism, or humanism, or else corrupt Christianity. As 'a murderer from the beginning' (John 8:44) and as 'a liar and the father of it' (John 8:44) Satan has blinded the generations one by one, as far as he was permitted, 'lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them' (2 Cor. 4:4). What were the pantheon of Babylon, or the mythology of Greece and Rome, or the superstitions of the Middle Ages but just so many great deceptions of Satan to keep his goods secure in his 'palace'? What today are the many false and misleading philosophies and corrupt and unbiblical religious traditions but so many chains by which men are enslaved to darkness and held back from the light of God's glorious gospel?

Satan's concern, as Christ's parable informs us, is to keep his goods 'in peace'. No words could more completely expose the crafty cruelty of Satan than these. He aims to keep men in bondage – but in a 'happy' bondage. His great skill is seen in the way in which he holds men down by the very throat, yet at the same time deceives them into convincing themselves that they are all the time in a 'peaceful' and good condition.

None are so 'happy' as sinners, in their own opinion. None are so 'free' as they. They are free to enjoy a thousand pleasures. Drink, drugs, sensuality, crime, and much more of the same sort, sinners are free to enjoy. They can believe whatever they wish, reject whatever religion they choose, and embrace whatever way of life they prefer. The sinner is 'free' to do anything – except escape to God and be saved. This is the one thing which the vigilant eye of Satan guards against.

If any sinner wants to prove the truth of Christ's words, let him use an experiment to verify their accuracy. Let him attempt to escape from Satan's clutches and then he will see what sudden stir the devil will make to keep him in his bondage. Like a boa constrictor, the devil winds his slow coils round the souls of men while they live in this life. At first they are scarcely noticed or felt. But let a man attempt to struggle free and he will feel the enemy of his soul endeavouring to tighten the grip to the point of suffocation. Satan will crush his bones if he can.

This attempt to get free from Satan's power is visible in the lives of such heroic men as Martin Luther. He struggled and, by God's grace, he threw off a thousand years of satanic deceits and escaped with his soul.

The evidence of a man's having become free from Satan is the commotion that the devil makes to disturb his peace and draw him back, if he can, to his own power and 'palace'.

The temporary Christian is a man who all but escapes from the 'palace' of the devil but is seduced back again. The devil has a scheme for recovery of those who for a time appear to have got free. Tribulation and persecution, two great engines of the devil, are effective means to drive false Christians back to their 'peace' in the dungeon. Love of this world and various lusts for earthly things are another of Satan's weapons. They have seduced many a poor professing Christian back to the prison-house of slavery from which he had almost 'clean escaped' (2 Pet. 2:18).

A most skilful device of Satan is to promote men to high place in the church of Christ as a means to keeping them 'in peace'. Let a man without grace become an important preacher, or a bishop, or a scholar and he is caught in a perfect web of self-deception from which he will hardly escape. Remember Judas Iscariot. Human ambition and human pride in graceless churchmen will not let them admit that their life is a lie. If conscience at any time stirs into action, the heel of self-love quickly stamps it into silence. Godless men in high office in Christ's church are, more than all men, kept 'in peace'. Not one in ten thousand will repent and escape to the pardoning blood of Christ. Perhaps it is because they are caught in so tight a web of deceit that they often turn to drink, or worse.

Into such a world as this Christ came to force open the prison door and set free the souls of men. As the glorious God-Man he is infinitely stronger than Satan. To this fact his mighty works and his exorcisms bear witness. Christ came 'to destroy the works of the devil' (1 John 3:8). This he does by his Holy Spirit, making gospel-light shine in men's hearts with irresistible power and sweetness. No sinner can resist the call of Christ's love when it goes forth with heavenly persuasion into his inmost heart and soul. To retain such a man in his dungeon Satan has no power, wisdom or device.

Christ takes away Satan's 'armour' of deception by making truth, holiness and God precious to men. A sinner who has tasted God's love and felt his free and gracious pardon will rather burn than turn back to his former bondage. This is why the first Christians preferred to burn than turn. It is the reason why multitudes of Christians since then have preferred imprisonment, shooting and painful deaths rather than to deny their glorious Redeemer for fear of men.

The history of the world is the history of how Christ has 'led captivity captive' (Psa. 68:18) and spoiled Satan's prison-house of its captives. Not for nothing does the prophet Isaiah foresee that Christ would 'divide the spoil with the strong' (Isa. 53:12). Not for no reason does the Apostle Paul announce that our blessed Saviour 'spoiled principalities and powers' and 'made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them' in his blood-shedding and painful death on the Cross (Col. 2:15). Did not our Lord himself at the beginning of his ministry declare in his home synagogue that he had come 'to preach deliverance to the captives' (Luke 4:18)?

The war of the worlds is the age-old conflict between God and Satan, truth and error, light and darkness. Whatever else is in doubt, one thing is not. Christ will have the victory at last. He will put his foot on Satan's neck and then cast him into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). We shall share in his triumph if we are true men of God and do not faint.