Michael and the Dragon, or Christ Tempted and Satan Foiled by Daniel Dyke and published by Old Paths Publications.
Though the language of this book is old, the matters it addresses are contemporary. Dyke argues that it is impossible to be a Christian and not to encounter Satan and wage daily warfare with temptation. When God becomes real in the soul, Satan becomes real as well. Satan will not easily release his prey. Dyke puts it this way: "What we get and gain from Satan by Repentance, he seeks to regain and to recover his Temptations. We must not think to pass quietly out of Egypt without Pharoah's pursuit, nor to travel through the wilderness of this world without the opposition of the Amalekites."
Do you want to be aware of Satan's devices in your life? Do you wish you had strength to stand fast and resist Satan when he attacks you as a roaring lion or seeks to beguile you as an angel of light? Read Dyke's masterful treatise. Let it sink into your soul. Ponder statements like these: "[We must learn] never to be secure after temptation, though we have got the victory. But as in the fight we have an eye unto the victory, so in the victory to have an eye to the fight again." Or, "As Satan would persuade Christ of a sure decent from the Temple without going down by the stairs, nay, by using a contrary means, a violent flinging of Himself down: so he would persuade us of a sure ascent into heaven, without going up by the stairs of obedience."
Michael and the Dragon is a warm, helpful treatise that must be read slowly and digested prayerfully. Here is practical divinity at its best - divinity to be read, prayed over, and above all, lived.
