1 RESIST THE DEVIL, STEADFAST IN THE FAITH

James 4:6,7 reads: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God.” To be humble means to be willing to listen to God and to obey Him. That can be very difficult at times. Have you found that? I certainly have. To obey God when “self”, your old carnal nature, wants to do something completely different, can cause a real battle in your mind. “Self”, the old carnal nature, is our worst enemy, because it is the enemy “within the gates”, so to speak. That’s the battle that we are told is “the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle. But the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness” (SC 43) “God resists the proud”. Who does God tell us to resist?

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” To resist the devil can also be very difficult sometimes, particularly if we attempt to resist in our own strength. What can we do without Christ? “For without Me you can do nothing” (Jn.15:5). But we can overcome Satan if we resist him the way God has taught us. “It is this resistance that Satan dreads. He knows better than we do the limit of his power and how easily he can be overcome if we resist and face him” (5T 293).

What does it even mean to resist the devil? Sermons, evangelistic meetings, and Bible studies often centre around what it means to submit to God, but it is rare nowadays to hear an explanation of what it means to resist the devil. So that’s my focus today.

The Bible describes the hosts of darkness as our next worst enemy, after self. Eph.6:12. Why must we resist the devil? 1 Pet.5:8. Can Satan devour Christians? O yes; he has, and he will devour many, many more. How do you resist the devil? 1 Pet.5:9 “Resist him, steadfast in the faith.”

Notice that these words are in the form of a command. To resist the devil is not an optional extra for the Christian. Such an enemy cannot be ignored, since every Christian is under attack. They will attack you; they will attack me. In fact, “The more nearly the Christian imitates the divine Pattern, the more surely he makes himself a mark for the attacks of Satan” (MLT 309). The more we become like Jesus, the more we become a threat to Satan’s kingdom. Thus, the more opposition we get from the forces of darkness.

There are many forms of demonic attack, harassment, and power. I’m going to mention just a few. These include: 2

(1) Temptation - demons can inject thoughts and feelings into your mind. You may not have thought of temptation that way before, but this is Satan’s main method of attack or harassment. This is what Ellen White described when she wrote, “There are thoughts and feelings suggested and aroused by Satan that annoy even the best of men; but if they are not cherished, if they are repulsed as hateful, the soul is not contaminated with guilt, and no other is defiled by their influence” (MCP 432).

(2) Demonic compulsions or “strongholds” in thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. Many people, including many Christians, have powerful urges and feelings to do things that they don’t want to do, things that they know are wrong, but feel compelled to do. The apostle Paul wrote about such compulsions as “the works of the flesh” in Gal.5:19- 21, and the apostle John wrote of them as “the works of the devil” (1 Jn.3:8). Many Christians are locked in the prison of compulsive sins, such as lies, lust, anger, hatred, fear, blasphemy, heresy, pharisaism, lukewarmness, liberalism, and so on. Fortunately, there can be freedom in Christ even from the bondage of such compulsive sins, as mentioned in 2 Cor.10:3-5. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn.3:8).

(3) The giving of supernatural occult / New Age powers E.g. Acts 16:16-18. The power of fortune-telling is one such demonic ability, and there are many others. God lists some of these demonic powers in Deut.18:9-14, and calls all who do these things an abomination to the Lord.

(4) Counterfeiting the dead. I hope each of us is aware of the many sightings of an evil spirit manifesting as “Mary”, “the Mother of God”, as she is termed in the Roman Catholic church. Quoting from page 11 in “The Thunder of Justice”, by two R.C. authors, “Currently, hundreds of Marian apparitions are being reported. A storm is approaching, and grace is telling us where our safety lies. In Mudjugorge, Mary has said she will appear if necessary in every single household”. Are you ready to meet devils in the form of Mary, the apostles, great men of the past, and even Jesus Himself? What will you say and do when “Mary” or an “extraterrestrial” or some other deceiving spirit visits you, contradicting the Word of God? A good Sabbath afternoon’s discussion!

(5) There are many other types of demonic attack, harassment, and power. Also, for each Christian church, Satan has his specialised array of subtle deceptions to turn God’s people away from the truth and to separate them from God (e.g. 2 Cor.11:2-4). Satan has his special means of deceiving and destroying this particular SDA church. Remember the warning of our Lord, that if possible, Satan would deceive even the elect (Matt.24:24) - you and me, if we don’t watch and pray, abide in Christ, and cling to God and His Word, and the righteousness of Christ.

What can demons do to Christians? “If permitted, they can distract our minds, disorder and torment our bodies, destroy our possessions and our lives” (GC 517).

The information I will share with you now I am summarizing from a 2 1/2 hour seminar I give in our churches. And that is one part of a series that goes for either 3 or 4 weeks, 3 covering Satan’s power and devices, victory over temptation, putting on the whole armour of God, and the deliverance ministry.

GOD’S METHODS OF RESISTING THE DEVIL, STEADFAST IN THE FAITH

(1) The first step to effective resistance of the devil is submission to God (Js.4:7). You cannot resist the devil successfully without first submitting yourself wholly to God.

This means to surrender yourself wholly to God first thing every morning. “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You” (Ps.63:1). “Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, ‘Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee’ ”(SC 70). Wholly surrendering yourself to God like this is to put on the whole armour of God (SD 346). I call it setting your mind onto “automatic pilot” spiritual warfare mode.

To submit to God also means to surrender yourself to the Word of God, to the law of God, and to the convictions of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim.3:16,17; Rom.8:14). In the battle to do this, “Everything depends on the right action of the will” (SC 48). “If you fight the fight of faith with all your will power, you will conquer” (OHC 103).

(2) Study the Subject of Spiritual Warfare

God said to Israel, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos.4:6). Which army wouldn’t benefit by a knowledge of the enemy’s power, capabilities, devices, strengths and weaknesses? It’s the same in the Christian warfare. For this reason, Ellen White writes, “If his power and subtlety were understood, many would be prepared to successfully resist him” (1T 342). “There is nothing that the great deceiver fears so much as that we shall become acquainted with his devices. So long as we are ignorant of their wiles, they have almost inconceivable advantage” (GC 516). “In the final crisis he will deceive to their own ruin those who do not now seek to understand his methods of working” (RH, July 10, 1910).

There is a remarkable amount of teaching in the Word of God about the subject of spiritual warfare. In a Bible study that I put together recently entitled, “Summary of Bible Texts on Spiritual Warfare”, I’ve located around 500 Bible texts specifically related to this subject. Did you know that an entire quarter of the Gospel of Mark is directly dedicated to teaching us how the Lord Jesus overcame the powers of darkness? Apart from the Bible, if you were to get together on photostat size paper all of Ellen White’s writings upon this one subject of spiritual warfare, it would be about 7 cm thick. That should tell us that God wants us to understand the subject of spiritual warfare! 4

(3) Learn to Sift Your Thoughts & Feelings & to Expel Those That Are From Satan

The basic sources of your thoughts are your own mind, other people, the world around you, and of course, God, and the good and evil angels. The Bible teaches that Christians are to be “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor.10:5). Satan is “constantly putting suggestions into the minds of God’s people” (1 SG 180). That is why “So long as we are in this world of sin, we must engage in a constant spiritual warfare” (20 MR 170). Suspect every thought that is out of harmony with the will of God, His Word, and the principles of His kingdom.

We need to learn to surrender these demonic thoughts immediately to God. “Every unholy thought must be instantly repelled” (5T 177). If you delay, and let your mind dwell on these thoughts, if you drool over these wrong thoughts, what will happen? You allow the evil angels to influence and control you. “Any wilful violation of the principles of the kingdom of God exposes your soul to the full assaults of Satan. When you lose your conscious integrity your soul becomes a battlefield for Satan” (TMK 248). You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? When you wilfully allow Satan to tempt you, your mind becomes a battlefield. The battle can go on for a long time, until when? Until you place your will on one side or the other, hopefully on the side of Christ.

To resist the devil successfully, you must learn how to effectively use the “weapons of our warfare” (2 Cor.10:4), as a “good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim.2:3). The Christian life is not a game, but a battle and a march. What are these weapons by which we can cast down demonic strongholds and instantly repel Satan’s unholy thoughts?

(4) Resist the Devil Out Aloud by the Word of Your Testimony

The Bible writes of God’s people overcoming Satan “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev.12:11). One aspect of the meaning of this text is to resist the devil out aloud, not in terms of decibels, as demons can hear the softest whisper, but so that you are heard. Demons can’t read your thoughts (1SM 122). If you resist Satan this way when you are tempted or under attack, you can greatly shorten the harassment, and force Satan to depart.

For those of us who may think that to actually speak to, or rebuke, Satan and his demons is surely wrong, I would like to commend to you the example of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and spoken to by Satan, He didn’t ignore the devil. It is rather hard to ignore someone who is physically carrying you in his arms to an exceedingly high mountain and up to a pinnacle of the temple! He resisted him with “the sword of the Spirit”, which is the Word of God (Eph.6:17). Study it for yourself in Matt.4:1-11. Ellen White called the way Jesus handled Satan “the key whereby he [the Christian], in Christ’s name, may overcome” (ST, 10.24.78, ‘A Lesson for the Times’, pr.6). For this reason, Ellen White has given us example after example of how to resist and rebuke Satan in this way in order to force 5 him to depart. She taught us to claim out aloud to Satan the victories of Christ, His spotless righteousness, His merits, blood and sacrifice as our ground for victory. E.g.:

“Satan will come to you, saying, You are a sinner. But do not let him fill your mind with the thought that because you are sinful, God has cast you off. Say to him, Yes, I am a sinner, and for that reason I need a Saviour. I need forgiveness and pardon, and Christ says that if I come to Him I shall not perish [Jn.3:16; 6:37]. In His letter to me I read, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 Jn.1:9). I will believe the word He has left for me. I will obey His commands. When Satan tells you that you are lost, answer, Yes, but Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost [Matt.18:11]. The greater my sin, the greater my need of a Saviour”(Lt.986, 1896). [Did you notice the 4 Bible texts used in this rebuke to Satan?]

When you learn to resist the devil like this, using the Word of God as the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph.6:17), as Jesus did, Satan trembles and will flee from you.

Now here is an important principle of victory in spiritual warfare to keep in mind: you do not fight towards victory, but from victory. “Henceforth Christ’s followers are to look upon Satan as a conquered foe. Upon the cross, Jesus was to gain the victory for them; that victory He desired them to accept as their own” (MH 94). For your temptations and weaknesses, claim Christ’s victories as your own.

(5) Use the Weapons of Praise and the Song of Faith

“When tempted, instead of giving utterance to our feelings, let us by faith lift up a song of thanksgiving to God... Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement” (MH 254). “And such song has wonderful power” (Ed 168).

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised” (Ps.48:). “God desired that the whole life of His people should be a life of praise....These exercises drive back the power of Satan. They expel the spirit of murmering and complaint, and the tempter loses ground” (COL 299,300). Demons cringe and will in time flee in the atmosphere of the genuine praise of God. Do you know why? Demons can’t bear to hear the praises of the One whom they hate. Also, where there is genuine praise for God, the holy angels and the Holy Spirit draw near. “You are holy, who inhabit the praises of Israel” (Ps.22:3).

In many homes, TV, poor music, and other noises from the others in the home can be extremely distracting when you are resisting the enemy. This can be overcome with the wonderful new invention of the Ipod or MP3 player. You can download beautiful, sacred Christian music that glorifies God, and have earphones going directly to your ears, without all the distracting interference being filtered through at the same time. You can “drown out” the voices of the enemy! Sing along with the music if you know the words, too, and let the enemy know that you are choosing to abide in Christ and refuse to listen to his rubbish. 6

(6) There Is Great Power in the Prayer of Faith

“ The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (Js.5:16). This is not talking about “Now I lay me down to sleep” type of prayers, but warfare prayer. It means taking God at His Word, believing and claiming His promises in the Bible. “The prayer of faith is the weapon by which we may successfully resist every assault of the enemy” (1 SM 88). I love Moses’ defiant spiritual warfare each time the sanctuary was moved: “Rise up, O Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You” (Num.10:35).

“Prayer and praise to God are not always offered without a struggle” (5T 548). You may have to use all the power of your will to pray and praise God at times. You may feel strong impressions to stop praying, a choking sensation, an inability to breathe, a desire to run away, a strong temptation, someone may ring you up on the phone, or you might even feel like tearing up your Bible or cursing, etc... The forces of darkness may in such ways attempt to hinder your efforts to abide in Christ and seek victory in Christ. But don’t allow Satan to stop you in such ways from prayer and praise.

If something like this happens to you, call on the name of the Lord (Ps.50:3). Say out aloud, “Lord Jesus, help me”. Then, aware of the delegated authority which you have as a disciple of Christ (Lk.10:19), say, “Satan and his demons, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, release me!” You may have to repeat this command several times until they obey. They will obey, but not always immediately, since instant obedience is certainly not one of their strengths! Listen to this remarkable statement from Ellen White about the invisible battle going on when we resist the devil, steadfast in the faith:

“Could our eyes be opened and could each see the conflict of angelic agencies with the satanic confederacy, what astonishment would come upon the soul.... We should see battles going on between the two armies as real as those fought by opposing forces on earth” (ST, Oct.10, 1894). The conflict between God’s angels and Satan’s angels is severe. This is why it sometimes takes time to be free from demonic temptation, harassment, and possession.

(7) Read the Word of God Out Aloud

Satan has no problem quoting certain parts of the Bible, as evidenced in his temptation of Christ (Matt.4:6). However, there are many texts in the Bible that Satan particularly hates, and that he cannot long abide. Thus, reading such texts can also be very helpful to force the enemy to depart. As an excellent by-product, your own faith and knowledge of the Word of God will be strengthened!

Here are a few examples of such texts, which emphasize: the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ above principalities and powers (Eph.1:13-23; 2:1-10; Col.1:13-29; 2:9,10; Matt.28:18); the love of God (1 Jn.4:7-19); the defeat of all the powers of darkness at the cross through the blood of Christ (Col.2:15; Isa.53:3-6; Matt.chapters 7

26-28); the resurrection power of Christ (Matt.28:1-20); the self-sacrificing servanthood of Jesus and His incarnation as God the Son in the flesh (Phil.2:5-11; 1 Jn.4:1-3,15; 1 Tim.3:16); the praises of God (Ps.145-150); and also our authority over the forces of darkness (Lk.9:1; 10:17-20). The demons are tortured by such Bible texts.

(8) Spend Quality Time with God Daily in Bible & Other Inspirational Study

As part of the command to “put on the whole armour of God” (Eph.6:11), we are taught to gird the waist with truth (Eph.6:14). The original Greek indicates an action for which you are responsible. God does not do this for you, nor resist for you. You must take the study and memorisation of the Word of God seriously. If you humble yourself before God, and heed the messages of His Word, by it you are born again (1 Pet.1:23) and sanctified (Jn.17:17), and equiped for coming encounters with the enemy of your soul.

How long a time do we need for truth to become a part of us? 5 minutes here and there won’t achieve much. So we are counselled, “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit” (DA 83). Focusing upon the life of Christ is an essential part of coming to know Him, which is eternal life (Jn.17:17), and having Christ formed within, the hope of glory (Col.1:27). By beholding we become changed (2 Cor.3:18). We become more and more like that which we love, admire, and focus upon. Thus, we are to be “fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb.12:2). There are other vital truths to know that will act as a protection against Satan’s deceptions. “None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict” (GC 593).

Now, in all honesty, we all fall at times, isn’t that so? Through lack of watchfulness and vigilance in abiding in Christ and resisting the devil, or ignorance of his wiles, we are overcome by “self” or the devil. At times like this, when we are down and discouraged with ourselves, let us remind ourselves of the love of God, His mercy and grace. “We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes; but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John, ‘These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous’ (FLB 118).”

In conclusion, God has taught us how to resist the devil and his angels, steadfast in the faith: (1) Submit yourself to God first thing every morning, (2) study the subject of spiritual warfare, (3) learn to sift your thoughts and feelings, and to immediately expel those that are from Satan, (4) resist the devil out aloud by the word of your testimony, (5) use the weapons of praise, and the song of faith, and (6) the prayer of faith. (7) Read 8 the Word of God out aloud, and (8) spend quality time with God daily in Bible and other inspirational study. May the God of peace be with you as you obey God’s command to resist the devil. And all praise to the Lord Jesus Christ, for His is the victory.

Study by Stephen Koncz