We sat in the basement of our church building around a table. We had finished a time of prayer with a half dozen faithful members when one lady begin to weep with an inconsolable sobbing. As best as she could between sobs, she explained that she felt a deep sense of depression come over her during the time of prayer and that she had been recently experiencing the same sense of depression frequently. I looked directly at her and spoke in a firm voice, “demon of depression, leave this woman in Jesus’ Name.” Suddenly the room was pierced with a long shriek that gradually died out. The woman immediately stopped her sobbing and raising her head and in a somewhat cheery voice said, “it’s gone!” Frankly those present were a bit shaken by the whole ordeal. The woman however, maintained that the demon that had been oppressing (and depressing) her was gone. In my many years of ministry, I have seen such events only a few times. However, I have become very convinced that demons are real, the devil is very real, and they are our deadly arch-enemies as we continue our Christian journey through this life!
In fact, as Christians we are in a spiritual battle constantly! I’m not stating my own opinion. I’m stating the word of God. Ephesians 6:12 states, “ For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places.” This verse reminds us that we are always in a battle against principalities, the powers of darkness and wickedness in high places, not against flesh and blood, not against another human being. Simply put, our battle is with the devil and his demons and not against one another. If we concentrate on beating up one another, the devil and his demons will most certainly win and that means defeat for each one of us, for our families, for our loved ones and for members of our local church. This is so very important for us to understand and remember as we live in this constant state of warfare.
There may be times when the battle seems to have subsided. It is especially at these times that we need to be alert. The devil is merely “biding his time” looking for an opening, an opportunity. In Luke 4:13 when Jesus had successfully completed his temptation by the devil, we read, “And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” We are wise to always be alert! A “sneak attack” by the devil and/or his demons is coming!
Today, as we grow steadily nearer the close of this “age,” we can expect the intensity of the war and our battles to increase. The Bible tells us that as the devil realizes that his time is growing short that he will increase both the frequency and severity of his attacks. Indeed, we need to realize the truth of God’s Word, namely that “the devil roams about the earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”
Here are a few essential facts we must understand about this war:
1 As Christians we are always in the war. We are in this war as long as we are in this human body! There is no time for us to “let down our guard.” There is no break, no “time-out.” We are always in the war!
2 The devil has declared war on us because we are the children of God and part of the Body of Christ. The devil especially hates us because we chose Jesus over him and because we no longer belong to him. When we chose Jesus, God transferred us from the devil’s kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His Dear Son, into the “kingdom of light.” We are strangers and aliens here in the world!
3 We are the prime targets of the devil and his demons. As Jesus stated in John 10:10, the devil’s purpose is to “steal from us, to kill us, and to destroy us” and anything or anyone associated with us!
4 This war is primarily a spiritual war, though there are often physical manifestations and consequences. Ephesians 6: 10 makes it clear that our battle is not against flesh and blood (not against other humans) but against principalities, against powers, against wickedness in “high places.” In other words, our battles of life are always against the devil, his demons and/or his human agents.
5 Since this war is a spiritual war, it must be fought with spiritual weapons, never with fleshly weapons.
(II Corinthians 10:4)
6 We must learn to “take up the full armor of GOD” that we
may be able to resist the devil and to stand firm.” (Ephesians
6:13) See Ephesians 6:10-18 for a complete description of
God’s armor.
7 We must fight in God’s Strength, never our own, “for we are
overwhelming conquerors through Jesus Christ who loves
us!” (Romans 8:37) John also tells us, “Greater is He that
is in you than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4)
8 It is a deadly serious war! The devil seeks to steal our joy,
our peace, our love, and the rest of the “fruits of the Holy
Spirit” within us. In addition, he desires to kill us, and to
destroy us and all that we represent as the children of God!
Thank God, Jesus in explaining these purposes of the devil
went on to say in John 10:10, “but I came that you might
have life and have it more abundantly.”
It is absolutely imperative that we prepare ourselves for this on-going battle. There are the rules of this war and we must follow them to win. As always we have a choice, to obey GOD and apply His principles, or to fight our battles in the flesh with fleshly weapons which guarantees a quick defeat by the enemy of our soul. We can only stand against the power of the enemy by standing in God’s strength, never our own!
The following biblical principles will prove invaluable to us as we fight in this war.
1. KNOW YOUR ENEMY!
Who is the enemy? The enemy is clever, tricky, ruthless, and very deadly! He wears many disguises. (In II Corinthians 11:14 the devil “appears as an angel of light.”) He is a “spirit being” and he goes by many names. Among the most common are the Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Belial, and Beelzebub. Who is the devil? Is he real or just some vague reference to evil? The truth is that he is a very real being and a very real enemy. He is referred to in the Bible as “the father of lies,” the “evil one,” the “tempter,” the “prince of this world,” the “god of this age,” the “prince of the power of the air,” and the “accuser of the brethren.” The existence of Satan is taught in seven Old Testament books and by every New Testament book. Jesus himself taught the existence of the devil and demons and dealt with them directly on several occasions during His three and one-half year ministry here on the earth. Originally, the devil was a high-ranking angel of God of the order of Cherubim. He was in the very presence of God. It appears that he may have been the “chief musician” at the throne of God. This may help us understand why the devil uses music so effectively as an instrument (or medium) to express his evil. Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 are the principal Old Testament passages that tell us about the devil’s position before his fall.
Ezekiel 28:12 states of him, “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Verse 13 continues, “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering.” Verse 14 states, “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I (God) placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire.” Verse 15 continues, “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.”
This sin of the devil is described as pride in Isaiah 14:13-14 and by the Apostle Paul in I Timothy 3:6. In Isaiah 14, we find what are commonly referred to as the five “I wills” of the devil. In verse 13 we read, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.” Verse 14 continues, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” In verse 15 God says of Lucifer (the devil), “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” In verse 12, God states of Lucifer, “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth.”
Apparently Lucifer (the devil) wasn’t able to “handle” his high position (his “perfection,” and his beauty) without his pride getting the best of him. His pride demanded that he “become as God.” The devil (Lucifer) sought to overthrow God and His position as “God over all” by waging war against Heaven itself. The Bible tells us that Michael and His angels fought against Lucifer and his angels and prevailed against him. The result was that he (Lucifer) was “cast out of Heaven” and onto the earth along with one-third of all the angels of heaven. Thus we have Lucifer (satan, the devil) and his demons here on earth with which we must do battle in a war that will continue until Jesus returns as the Conquering KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
2. KNOW THE DEVIL’S PURPOSE
Jesus said that this enemy “seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy.” (John 10:10) In I Peter 5:8 we read, “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” He lies, he deceives, and he will use anyone as an instrument for his evil purposes who, either willingly or unknowingly, allows him/herself to be used as his destructive instrument for hindering the work of God. It is his purpose to deceive, to lie, to discourage, to confuse, to hurt, to sow seeds of strife, jealousy, suspicion, dissension, and hatred. He is truly the lifelong enemy of all who are truly the children of God. His purpose is to tear apart and destroy lives, families, churches, communities, and even nations. Make no mistake about it; he is indeed a deadly enemy and must be taken seriously by every child of God!
3. KNOW THE DEVIL’S “WINDOWS” INTO OUR LIVES
In I John 2:15-17 we are instructed, “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Verse 16 continues, “for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world (the devil).” Verse 17 continues, “And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”
Here are the three “windows” through which the devil and demons find “entrance” into our lives – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. It is interesting to note that the devil’s methods have been the same since he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. The devil even attempted to “tempt” Jesus through the same three methods at the beginning of His earthly ministry.
In Luke 4:1-13, we have the record of the temptation of Jesus be the devil. In verse 1 and 2 we read, “Then Jesus was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He (Jesus) ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, he became hungry.” The devil then tempted Jesus through the “lust of the flesh.” As recorded in verse 3, “And the devil said to Him (Jesus), ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” The devil always attempts to sow “seeds of doubt.” He questioned whether Jesus was really the Son of God with the little word, “if” and he appealed to His great hunger. Jesus responded with the “sword,” that is, the word of God. In verse 4 Jesus gave us the model of how to use our one “offensive weapon” of warfare, the Bible! Here He said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone’ but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
When this method failed to work, the devil switched to his second method, “the lust of the eyes.” In verse 5 we read, “And he [the devil] led Him [Jesus] up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” Verse 6 continues, “and the devil said to Him, I will give You this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” In verse 7, the devil continues, “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” The devil knew very well that the whole earth was created by Jesus and rightfully already belonged to Him. He knew too, that he had robbed mankind of these through deceit and lies in the Garden of Eden and thereby gained control over the kingdoms of the earth. Because of this, at this point in time, all the kingdoms of the world did belong to the devil – they were his to offer to Jesus. Jesus knew also that He was to regain all of these kingdoms of the world when He would defeat the devil through His “Supreme Sacrifice” on the cross of Calvary, through his death, His burial, and His resurrection.
The devil knew this also.
Here we see the devil use a strategy that is all too often successful with humans. He tempts us to take what is rightfully ours in a premature and wrongful manner. He offers a “shortcut” for us to gain what is rightfully ours. He offers immediate gratification – immediate pleasure. He says, “why wait, take it now – enjoy it now.” Here, we need to remember that God’s Will must be done in God’s way and in God’s time in order to gain God’s blessings. Anything and everything else is “sin.” I am always amazed at our ability as humans to rationalize almost anything and make it “sound” right. The devil and his demons are always ready to help us in this effort through feeding us through their lies and deceit.
Once again, Jesus resisted the temptation of the devil. He refused to fall down and worship the devil in return for the kingdoms of the world. In verse 8, Jesus responded to the devil, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord Your God, and serve Him only.’ ” Again, Jesus used the “sword of The Spirit,” the Holy Scripture, against the devil and successfully resisted his temptation. Failing a second time, the devil tries method number three: “the boastful pride of life.” In verse 9 we read, “And he (the devil) led Him (Jesus) to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him ‘If you are the Son of God throw Yourself down from here;’ for it is written, ‘He [God] will give His angels charge concerning You’ and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” Note again how the devil attempted to sow seeds of doubt as to whether Jesus was really the Son of God with the word “if.” Also, he appealed to “the pride of life”, tempting Jesus to demonstrate His power, to prove that He really was the Son of God. Jesus resisted this temptation responding in verse 12, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord Your God to the test.’ ”
Verse 13 continues, “And when the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Matthew 4:11 adds “Then the devil left Him and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.” Luke 4:14 states, “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit; and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district.” Let me emphasize this point, God’s angels ministered to Jesus and then He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Jesus lived and moved in the “power of the Spirit.” This reminds us that God desires to be our strength. It reminds us of that wonderful truth, “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” And it also reminds us that God means for us to be “overwhelming conquerors through Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us.” Praise God!
Let’s go back for a moment to that ending phrase of verse 13, “he (the devil) departed from Him (Jesus) until an opportune time.” This reminds us that the devil and his demons are always looking to gain entrance to our lives through one of those three “windows” of opportunity, “the lust of the flesh,” “the lust of the eyes,” and “the boastful pride of life!” We can be assured that the devil and his demons will be back again to try another method to “trip us up” – to defeat us, to destroy us and even kill us, if possible! Even when we win a battle with the devil, he and his demons will always be looking for a more “opportune time” to return and attack us again!
This temptation experience of Jesus should be a warning to us. The devil and his demons use these very same methods on us today! We need to always be “clothed in the armor of God” that we find described in Ephesians 6:13-18. Clothed in this soldier’s armor supplied by God, we need to “stand firm” against the devil in the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, in verse 18, we are admonished to undergird our entire life of battle by “praying always.” James also gives us valuable instruction on this matter. In James 4:7 we read, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” I often hear the second part of that verse quoted without reference to the first part. To resist the devil without first submitting to God is useless. This will leave us defenseless, fighting the battle “in the flesh” and will lead to certain defeat at the hands of the devil and his demons. Our first and most important directive is to “submit to God” and through this to allow Jesus Christ” to be LORD in our lives! All else is for naught without first submitting to God.
4. KNOW THE ENEMY'S WEAPONS
The weapons used by the devil and his demons against us are all too familiar to us. Here is a partial list of his weapons used against us. (1) The devil is referred to in God’s Word as a liar and “the father of lies.” He uses lies to deceive us. The devil’s lies are not easy to recognize. Remember he is a “counterfeiter.” His lies always so closely resemble the truth, that we must be well-grounded in God’s Word in order to detect the devil’s subtle changes that distort the truth into a lie! (2) In addition to his lies, the devil adds “confusion.” God’s word tells us that the devil is the “author of confusion.” (3) Another of the devil’s weapons is fear. Fear comes from the devil. God’s Word states in
2. Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind.” This fear that comes from the devil is irrational, magnified, and groundless. (This fear should be distinguished from a natural fear that is a part of our make-up and is an important protective device for us. This kind of fear makes us flee from a wild animal that could harm us and keeps us from stepping out into on-coming traffic. The devil often takes our natural feelings and magnifies them until they are irrational and harmful to ourselves and to others.) (4) The devil uses our natural feelings, and attributes to his advantage. Among these “natural attributes” that the devil magnifies and distorts to harmful degrees are pride, arrogance, jealousy, selfish ambition, and hatred. He also magnifies and distorts our many appetites and desires such as our need for pleasure, possessions, love, sexual fulfillment, food, and for the praise and recognition of others. James refers to these attributes in the hands of the devil as “natural, earthly, and demonic” in James 3:15. In verses 14-16, James states that these “are not from above” (from Heaven) and goes on to describes these weapons of the devil as, “bitter jealousy,” “selfish ambition,” “arrogance or pride,” and “lying against the truth.” James adds, where these exist, “there is disorder and every evil thing.” The devil uses these weapons effectively to bring about strife, discord, disunity, and disorder, in the life of the believer, in marriages, in families, and in the life of the church – The Body of Christ!
5. KNOW WHO IS NOT THE ENEMY
Ephesians 6:12 makes it clear that our enemy is not “flesh and blood.” In other words, our enemy is never another human being. Instead, Ephesians 6:12 goes on to explain that our enemies are “principalities and powers, wickedness in high places.” In other words, our enemies are the devil and all of his demonic forces. We need to work hard at realizing this truth! It seems to me that this “truth” is one of the most difficult for us to “hold before us.” It seems so “natural” and “right” for us to strike out at the human being through whom the devil is working at the moment. We “see” the person standing before us and it seems that the hurtful words are coming from this person. What we must work hard to remember is this truth – The person is being used by the devil and/or one of his demons. The person is merely a “mouthpiece” – an “instrument” – a “conduit” – a “channel” – being used as an instrument of the devil at the moment.
The age-old device of “divide and conquer” is a tried and true weapon of the devil and his demons and they use it frequently. (Aha! Here is a specific weapon!) Let’s be too wise to fall for it! The next time you find yourself getting upset with a fellow human being, stop! Ask yourself this question, who is my true enemy? With whom should I really be angry? Be sure to direct your attention and energies against the real enemy -- the devil and his demons, not against your brother or sister in the LORD!
In this regard, a special note is necessary here. One of the favorite tactics of the devil is to get Christians taking “potshots” at one another. Consequently, we use our time and energy against our fellow Christians and not against the devil and his demons. A noted Theologian of the past caught the essence of this when he stated, “If we asked Christians to form a firing squad, we would line up in a circle.” Allow me to cite an example. In the Christian family, we often rip, tear, and criticize one another with a vicious attitude that would be admirable if actually directed at the enemy. We seem to be so quick and ever-ready to fine fault with those Christian leaders in the public eye. Let’s note that the world and the media are like a pack of hungry wolves ready to pounce on and tear any Christian apart. Any little (or big) inappropriate act is blown into a major offence and we (as Christians) often seem all to eager to join in. This is so contrary to what the Bible teaches us to do. The Bible states that “Love covers a multitude of sins.” So often, we act as though we are directed to expose the sin. Also, the Bible directs us to “lift up a Brother or sister who has fallen. In Galatians 6:1-2, we read, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”
How desperately we need to show mercy and forgiveness to our fellow Christians as we are directed by Christ to do. We need to remember the words of Christ in Matthew 7:14-15, "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” 15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (I am constantly amazed at the typical Christian’s attitude that “I can hold onto my unforgiveness of someone else and still expect to receive God’s forgiveness of me and my sin.” This cannot and will not happen. We are forgiven by God for our sins as we forgive others for their “sin” their “wrongs” committed against us!) (NASU) My dear friend, how we need to remember and to appropriate in our lives the meaning of scripture as we read in Romans 8:1-2, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” Praise God!!!
6. KNOW THAT WE ARE IN A WAR
We are always in the war. It rages around us all the time. There is no time-out; there is no rest from it. We must never let our guard down! The apostle Paul in I Timothy, Chapter 2, admonishes Timothy to be alert, be vigilant, be strong, and to stand firm. As Christians, we are soldiers in God’s army and we must always be ready for battle. For us to fail to realize this fact of our Christian Life is to open ourselves to certain defeat and disaster at the hands of our enemy. Remember, the devil’s purpose is to kill, to steal, and to destroy US! He has no good purpose! The devil and his demons are always seeking the opportunity to steal from us, to kill us, and/or to destroy us! We will be in this war for as long as we live on this earth in this body of human flesh.
7. KNOW YOUR WEAPONS OF WARFARE
God has provided His supernatural weapons to assure our victory. In II Corinthians 10:4, we are assured that our weapons of warfare are “not of the flesh, but divinely powerful to the pulling down of Satan’s strongholds in our lives.” And specifically, in Ephesians 6:12-18 we have God’s listing of our divinely provided “uniform” and “weapons” for us to fight successfully in this war. This uniform includes the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt or “apron” of truth, shoes that are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and finally our divinely powerful weapon – The Sword of the spirit – The WORD of GOD!! God further instructs us to “stand firm in the LORD!” (Note that we are told to stand firm in HIS strength not our own strength. We should never make the mistake of asking the Lord to strengthen us but instead our prayer should be, “LORD, be our strength.” There is a world of difference in these two requests.) And finally in the closing verses of Ephesians 6, we are told to undergird all of this preparation for warfare with prayer. We should never just pray, but we should never act before we pray!
8. KNOW THAT GOD’S PLAN IS FOR US TO BE VICTORIOUS
God, our Gracious Father, has made all the necessary arrangements for us to be victorious in this war. He refers to us in Romans 8:37 as “more than conquerors through Jesus Christ” and in I John 5:4 as “more than overcomers.” You see, Christ Jesus has already gained the victory over the devil and all his demons and because we are in Christ, we too can win against the devil and all demonic forces. Jesus said in John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.” A very marvelous truth of Gods word is that, as his children, we walk, live, and breathe in the authority of JESUS CHRIST and in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. We are “Christ Appointed Ambassadors!” He has appointed us and told us to “Go in MY Authority.” Truly, “greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world!”
9. KNOW THE WONDERFUL RESULT OF OUR OBEDIENCE
Yes, there is good news! In fact, there is wonderful, glorious news! The result of our obedience is victory in and through our Lord Jesus Christ! Victory, sweet victory, awaits every obedient child of God our Father as we “walk in The Power of The Holy Spirit!” To reiterate, Romans 8:37 states, “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquers through Him [Jesus Christ] who loved us.” In I John 4:4 we are given the assurance, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them [false prophets]; because greater is He who is in you (GOD) than he [the devil] who is in the world.”
In I John 5:4-5 we read, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
In Revelation 12:11 we read, “And they overcame him [the devil] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even unto death.”
In John 10:10, JESUS says, “The devil comes only for the purpose to kill, steal, and destroy; but I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” JESUS clearly intends for us to be victorious and to have abundant life right here, right now, this minute, in this life! But there is more, so much more, JESUS has promised eternal life with Him in Heaven forever! Perhaps the Apostle Paul expresses this truth best when he writes in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” God has wonderful things in store for us as His children!
In closing, let’s look at the statement of the apostle Paul as he wrote his closing comments in his last letter to Timothy. Paul, realizing that his remaining time on this earth was very short, said, “I have run the race, I have finished my course.” Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the RIGHTEOUS JUDGE shall give to me in that day, and not to me only but to everyone who loves HIS APPEARING!” Be alert, dear one! Be obedient, keep your eyes fixed on JESUS, watch and wait! Keep your armor on and your “sword” sharp. And, be sure to under gird it all with prayer! Your rewards now, and for all eternity, are GR-R-R-R-REAT!!! So, hang in there! Stand firm! Stay faithful! Be obedient to God and be victorious over the devil and his demons!
Let’s do it God’s way and He will give us victory after victory for His glory!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Pastor J. Gilbert Hammond