Part of Angels and Demons ~ Fr. Thomas Hopko

...And then of course, we can think about that statement in the Letter to the Ephesians, which is so important to quote when we’re thinking about angels and demons. And that is where the Apostle Paul is writing in the last chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians:

Finally, he says, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of the present darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all things to stand.

And of course that evil day is that day of judgment and the day of tribulation that we’re in. So St. Paul continues:

Stand, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace. Beside all these things, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This is how we are understanding ourselves. In this cosmic battle with the evil spirits, with the powers, the principalities, the world rulers of the present darkness, the spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places, and the evil one himself, this is what our struggle is.
Now, if we want to know if all this is true. If you want to know, is this really so? Is this, not just, mythology or fantasy or something like that? Then, we are told by the Scriptures and by the saints how we can find out if it’s true. What we are told is this:

If you want to know if it’s true, just try to keep the commandments of God. If you want to know whether or not this is true, just try to pray. If you want to know whether or not this is true, just try to love your enemy and to bless those who curse you and to pray for those who abuse you. If you want to know if it’s true, just try to keep the commandments, the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant, Try not to lie, not to cheat, not to bear false witness, not to commit adultery, not to fornicate, not to get involved in porneia. If you want to know if it’s true, just try to honor other people and to give honor as due, honoring your parents first of all, honoring your father and your mother. Try to live at peace with everyone.

And then according to the Scriptures and the saints, we’ll know darn well whether this is true or not. Because we’ll realize that when we try to do these things—when we try to be Godly, when we try to obey God, when we try to keep his commandments, when we try to follow the teachings of Christ, when we try to be pure in heart and poor in spirit, when we try to be merciful and peacemaking and when we try to be meek, when we try to keep the teachings of the Sermon on the Mountain—then every demon in Hell rises up to attack us.
One of the Holy Fathers said: “If you want to know if the demons exist, just try to pray.” Try to focus and pray. He says: “Cause when a person stands up to pray, every dark and evil power in Hell tries to get him not to pray.” And they’ll always lie. They’ll always accuse. They’ll say: “Oh you don’t need to do this. There’s no God anyway. You’re a good person anyway.” And then when you sin, they say: “You’re an evil person. You’re going to burn in Hell. You’re going to be with us. Ha! Ha! We got you!”
They always tell the opposite. They always accuse. They always attack, and they never shut up. They’re always blabbing at us, every minute. We’ve got to learn how to live not paying attention to them. But they’re there, and stupidly they never give up. They keep trying to get us to the end. And of course, the old saying also is: “Why are there no devils in the cities? Why are they all out in the desert?” Well, they’re after the monks; they’re after the nuns. The devil has already got the people who follow their own evil will.
And according to the saints, many people follow their own evil will, and in fact, they’re following the devil. Cause we’re either following our own evil will with the devil or fighting against evil and trying to do good with the Holy Spirit. There’s no middle path. If we’re not with the Holy Spirit, then we’re with the evil spirits. But if you want to know if those evil spirits exist, just try to do good. And when you try to do good, you’ll have an experiential conviction of how those crazy, demonic powers try to get you. And they’ll try to get you every possible way.
And we can say, well on one hand, that invisible warfare is very treacherous. It’s very subtle. But on the other hand, it’s very simple too. The Holy Fathers say, the evil spirits are subtle, and they are seducing, and they are hiding, but once you get to know their tactics, you realize how transparently stupid they are and how they keep trying the same thing and doing the same thing and rebelling against the goodness and the beauty and the glory of God.

thanks to source:

http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/angels_and_demons