THE RESISTANCE
INTRODUCTION
During WW2 when Germany overran France, there was a group of men and women who fought behind enemy line, setting underground information links and disrupting the German efforts as they were able, they were known as the French Resistance.
There is a tremendous need for every believer to become part of a new resistance movement.
James 4:7 Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.
The Bible says that we are to resist the devil, however far too many Christians, most likely inadvertently, are assisting the devil.
Now I am not a big believer in chasing after the devil, I would rather spend my time pursuing after the things of God. That is where ‘I live and more and have my being’. However the Scripture is clear the Satan and his forces are hell-bent on destroying my life and taking what God has designed for me to have. So I must resist His efforts to do so. And so must you.
So today I would like to bring to your attention 4 areas that will enable you to be a part of the resistance movement against the devil.
1. NO OPPORTUNITY - Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack. 1 Peter 5:8
Notice the words here - sneaking around to find someone to attack.
That means there are some who are more open to attack than others. The devil is looking an opportunity, the right time to attack our lives. Therefore friends, to resist the devil we must give him NO OPPORTUNITY.
Illust - I am sure we have all seen the wild life documentaries of lions sneaking, surrounding a herd of animals. The lion is seeking out an infant, a weak one or a casual or careless animal. Then at the opportune moment the lion leaps from his hiding place and snares his prey.
The scripture here tells us to ‘be on our guard and stay awake’.
In what part of life do we need to be alert and on guard? Well, answer this question. What do lions like to eat? FLESH.
When it comes to resisting the devil we need to be on guard and alert that we don’t live according to our flesh. The flesh is our old, pre-salvation lifestyle and thinking. Other terms the Bible uses are carnal minded, sinful nature.
Romans 8 says that as believers we to ‘no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the Spirit.’ and we have ‘no obligation whatsoever to do what our sinful nature urges us to do.’ v 4 &12
However the truth is we all from time to time think we can life in our own strength, our own might and not by the Holy Spirit. Every time we do that we give the devil a sniff of flesh and offer him and opportunity to attack.
So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves …. immoral ways, filthy thoughts, lustful pleasure, wrongly directed worship, witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with, jealous, angry, and selfish, argue and cause trouble, envious, get drunk, wild parties etc. Gal 5:16, 19-21
We need to stay alert and on guard when we find ourselves enjoying and participating in flesh desires.
Paul insists in Eph 4 that we ‘must no longer live as the ungodly… having lost all sensitivity , they have given themselves over to sensuality… with a continual lust for more.’ v17, 19
We give the devil and opportunity to attack us when we live according to the flesh because we loose all sensitivity because we have become sensual.
Sensuality is living for pleasure and the gratification of the 4 senses.
Sensitivity is living with alertness to right and wrong and the desire to please God by doing what is right.
Society today’s motto - It does not matter if it is right, as long as it feels good. Sensitivity is overruled by sensuality.
Bible example - Samson.
In other words when we begin to live for ‘me, myself and I’ rather than Jesus we are living according the flesh and not the Spirit and we are assisting the devil rather than resisting.
Believers of the resistance movement are people empowered by the Holy Spirit.
2. NO ADVANTAGE - 2 Corinthians 2:11 ….lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
The second area in resisting the devil is giving him NO ADVANTAGE.
Definition - Advantage = to gain more, to obtain a greater share. eg. to gain a share in a company on the stock exchange and make a hostile take over.
We give the devil an advantage in our life, when we are ignorant of his devices.
There are two interesting words here in this passage.
IGNORANT - lack of thinking, understanding and perception.
DEVICES - a well thought out purposeful plan.
When we put it all together, the devil is smart and he will out smart us if we don’t use our brain. Plan for life or the devil will plan it for you.
Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
When Christians stop using their ‘renewed thinking’ and just copy the thinking concepts of the world they give the devil and advantage. Worldly ways are the devils ways. He will know them better than us because he devised them. Don’t be ignorant of the devils the devices – worldly methods. ‘My people perish for lack of knowledge…’ Hosea 4:6
Allow your thinking to be transformed by the Word rather than conformed by the World.
I believe that the world (secular society) has taken some of God’s methods and distorted them and that we need to reclaim them and use them to their original purpose and intent – glorifying God and sharing the gospel. However the key to remember is this if we our primary reliance if first the Word then the devil will have no advantage.
Our ignorance is overcome by knowing, meditating and hiding the Word in our hearts.
Remember Jesus battle with the devil - Jesus response was the Word - ‘it is written.’
In every temptation made to Jesus the devil, offered some sort of ‘advantage, short cut, quick fix’. When the devil if offering you an advantage, if you take it, then you will be giving him the advantage.
So when a worldly method offers a short cut advantage, check it out. “If it’s too good to be true, it most likely is.” Know the truth and it will set your free.
Believers of the resistance movement are people who know the Word better than the World.
3. NO PERMISSION - Mark 5:6-13 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him. He ran to meet Jesus and fell down before him. 7 He gave a terrible scream, shrieking, “Why are you bothering me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”
9 Then Jesus asked, “What is your name?”
And the spirit replied, “Legion, because there are many of us here inside this man.” 10 Then the spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place. 11 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. 12 “Send us into those pigs,” the evil spirits begged. 13 Jesus gave them permission. So the evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of two thousand pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake, where they drowned.
The third key to resisting the devil is to give him NO PERMISSION.
Notice that this Legion of demonic forces could not do anything in Jesus presence without His permission.
The key to NO OPPORTUNITY is live in the Spirit not the flesh.
The key to NO ADVANTAGE is knowing the Word better than the World.
The key to NO PERMISSION is staying in obedience / submission to the authority of Christ.
We give the devil permission to invade our life when to disobey God’s authority over us – either through direct command of His Word or indirectly through His leadership as covering over our lives.
The Bible says the ‘disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft’. 1Sam 15:23
King Saul in the OT is an example of allowing permission for the devil to enter your life through disobedience. Saul started out knowing and experiencing the anointing. But an evil spirit began to torment his soul, and eventually Saul consulted a medium and the dead for advice. It all started when Saul did not ‘fully obey’ God command through Samuel. Saul obeyed 95% God’s way and 5% his own way – his own judgment. He assumed that added up to 100% obedience.
Saul’s mistake was that he did not understand that partial obedience is disobedience.
In the NT Jesus discovers a Roman Centurion that understood that permission flows from submission. The Centurion said, “I am a man in submission to my superiors, and so I know that when I give permission for my men to go here or there they go!” (Matt 8:9)
If we live in submission to God and His delegated authority, then the devil has no permission in our life.
In Acts 19 there were 7 guys who decided they could cast out an evil spirit by saying – “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” The evil spirit responded – “I know Jesus, and I know Paul. But who are you?” 16 And he … attacked them……
As you look at the account these 7 guys were in rebellion to their father, a priest, they were not in submission to Paul and they certainly were not God delegated authority.
Believers of the resistance movement are people who obey and submit to God’s authority.
4. NO PLACE - Ephesians 4:25-27 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,27 nor give place to the devil.
The final part of the resisting the devil is to give him NO PLACE.
Definition - Place = space marked off, reserved. eg. reserved car park space.
Illust - Monopoly - when you land on someone’s space you have to pay especially if there are houses and hotels. If you can not pay it is ‘go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200’. Then you get out of jail and land on the space again and the cycle repeats. This is a description of some people’s lives because they have given a place to the devil.
Occasionally mainly through ‘luck’ you miss the space and assume the issue to overcome, but next time round it happens again. We must deal and resist the devil and give him no place.
The context of this verse makes it clear that we must remain in right relationship with others, especially the members of the church, if we are to give the devil no place.
I don’t know how many times I have seen it happen that people who get out of sorts with others in the church, leave the church end up allow the devil to settle in their lives and families. The sad fact is that most often the devil attacks the children. He does not need to touch the parents he has them just how wants them, with a bit chip on the shoulder.
Anger is more than an emotion; a feeling is the means by which the devil can obtain a place, a foothold in your life.
Forgiveness is more than a good character trait; it is your protection against the devil.
I don’t believe it is a coincidence that the Lord’s Prayer goes like this… ….forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matt 6:12-13
We sometimes wonder why we are missing out on God’s blessing in areas of our life.
• we are giving but financial blessing is not there.
• we are eating right, exercising etc yet sickness is at our door
• we are honest in business yet promotion passes us by
Jesus says before you come to my presence and pray give priority to making sure your relationships are right and if not put things right, even if it not your fault. Don’t let the ‘root of bitterness’ grow in your heart. Heb 12:15
Right relationships leave no room for the devil to mess with other areas of life.
Believers of the resistance movement are people who are in right relationship with others.
CONCLUSION
Resist the devil and he will flee…. To be in God’s resistance you have to be a person ….
1. …..of the Holy Spirit. Don’t just experience Him, know Him. Give the devil NO OPPORTUNITY
2. …..of the Word. A doer of the Word. Give the devil NO ADVANTAGE
3. …. in obedience & submission to authority. Give the devil NO PERMISSION
4. …..in right relationship with others. Give the devil NO PLACE
