Spiritual Warfare: Part Four

Chapter Twenty One:  How to stand against Satan's attacks

I hope that by now you realize that you are in the midst of a battle if you are a believer and follower of Christ.  It's your choice what part you play in it.  Understanding the battle and how one fights the enemy is vital for victory.  Through the Spirit of God, the Bible has unveiled this invisible world which surrounds us, and we see we have an enemy whose sole purpose is to stop the Kingdom of God from expanding and to destroy that which has already been built.  In order to do this, Satan and his fallen angels will attempt to make us as ineffective as possible in doing God's work and attempt to stop our growing in our relationship with Him.  We've looked at what tactics Satan uses, so now let's look at how you can not only stand against them but have victory over them.

Your number one way of defeating and standing against the attacks are being in prayer and walking close to God.  You'll remember that I earlier quoted I Peter 5: 8-9 which reads, “Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devils prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”  What I want you to remember is that a lion’s roar is meant to paralyze its prey with fear, and Satan tries to use that same trick.  If a lion goes up against a small vulnerable antelope, the antelope falls prey to fear and is easily overtaken by the lion.  But if that lion tries to attack something much larger, something less vulnerable, less afraid, let's say an elephant, it knows that it's roar will have little effect and goes on to look for smaller, more vulnerable prey.  Satan works the same way.  He looks for vulnerable believers who succumb to fear easily, those who give in to temptation easily and rationalize it away, and other followers of Christ who are easy prey.  But a believer who is strong in the Word, who walks close with God, who does not give in to his flesh, is striving to walk holy before God, is quick to repent for sin, and knows deep in his heart he is a child of God is a much harder target for the enemy.  

How do we become a bold, fearless warrior for Christ?  Scripture tells us the answer in James  4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  If you are truly submitted to God, desiring to walk holy before Him, and are strong in your walk with Him, Satan becomes like a toothless lion who can only roar and try to intimidate.  You will be able to resist the devil and all the ways he will try to attack you, and he will flee from you!  Satan knows that the worst believer to try to attack is one who is prayed up, in right standing before God, and is armed with the Word.   The question you must ask yourself is how submitted to God are you?  Are you 100% submitted or only playing around the edges, continuing to live life the way you want to?  Scripture makes it very clear that only those who are submitted to God will be able to resist the devil to the point that he will flee from you.  You're the only one who knows deep in your heart how serious you are in your walk with God.  

Scripture tells us how Satan tried to tempt Jesus several times when He was in the wilderness fasting and praying.  Satan tried to take advantage of Jesus' weakened physical condition.  Satan knew he could not conquer Jesus, so he had to resort to other deceptive means.  He went at it from the angle of tempting Jesus, knowing he was physically weak and offering Him things to get Him to give in (you can read about this in Matthew 4: 1-11).  Notice that every time Jesus' answer to Satan was quoting Scripture.  It was not yelling at Satan, or reminding him of who He was...He simply and plainly quoted Scripture.  This is why it is so important that you not only read Scripture but that you study it so that when the enemy attacks you the Holy Spirit will remind you what Scriptures you need to use against him.  

Even though memorizing Scripture is important (Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart so that I do not sin against you"), don't feel like you have to memorize the entire Bible in order to be prepared. Do not worry what to say for when the time comes the Holy Spirit will come upon you with power and tell you what to say. This way it is God operating through you against the enemy and not simply your own human understanding.   And don't feel you have to get all worked up and start yelling at Satan.  All you need to do is quietly and assertively use your authority as a child of God and speak Scripture at him as the Holy Spirit tells you.  Satan has no recourse against this weapon,  and will eventually give up and go looking for a more vulnerable believer that he can torment.  It may take a few times for him to realize that you're not going to easily give in, so be prepared.  Remember, he tempted Jesus several times before he finally gave up and left. 

Second Corinthians 10: 3-5 says, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  Because Christ is in us, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we can yield control of our "self" to God's spirit and resist Satan.  When we yield control to the Holy Spirit we will be filled with the Spirit, and the Lord will be able to transform us into the image of Christ.  The more we yield ourselves, the more like Christ we become.  This is why Romans 12: 1 refers to us being a "living sacrifice" which means that we need to be willing to give up our old ways and the things that we want.  Are you willing to give up all areas of your life, or do you want to hang on to some of them?  The ones you hang on to are the ones the enemy is going to use against you!  The more we surrender to Christ and become more like Him, the less the enemy can get to us.  Remember, James  4:7 is a warning to all believers... "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Matthew 26:41 tells us to, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  As we will discuss in a future teaching, this is one of the areas that fasting really has a lot of power...because the flesh IS weak and we must discipline it to obey.  Our old nature, with its fallen ways of thinking are very susceptible to the deceptions of Satan.  We will give the enemy no inroads as long as we are walking right before God. 

There are seemingly innocent activities that one can be involved in.  Throughout the Bible, God warns us against being involved with anything of the occult, from  horoscopes to getting a psychic reading, on up to being involved in animal or human sacrifices (Deuteronomy 18:9-13, Leviticus 19:31, and  20:6,7).  God’s warnings are as real for us today as they were for those in ancient times.  God knows we can unknowingly open ourselves up to demonic forces when we meddle in occult practices, regardless of how strong we feel our walk with God is or how much we think they are only fun, trivial things to play with.  Second Corinthians 4:3,4 says, " And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."  Satan accomplishes his goals  by using trickery, lies and deception.  

If you have meddled in any of these areas, even just harmlessly playing around, you need to confess your sin and ask the Lord to break any hold that it may have over your life.  Also, pay attention to the music you listen to, and the movies or TV shows that you watch.  They can seem like harmless fun, but they can subtly draw you in and that will allow Satan to gain access into your life.  Guard yourselves from the world around you as he tries to use any means possible to get to you.

Satan is a liar.  Scripture tells us in John 8:44 that "...He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."  He will try to convince you that you cannot stand up to him and that he is far stronger than you, that is why it is imperative that you know who you are as a child of God and that you have the authority as God's child to stand against and overcome Satan. Throughout the New Testament,  we are described by such phrases as “soldiers who have been enlisted” and “fighting the good fight”. Second Timothy 2:4 says, "No soldier on service entangles himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier." 

The first step in combating the enemy in your life is knowing the truth about Christ’s victory and Satan’s defeat. Colossians  2:15 reads, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  The second step is for you to take hold of the fact that as a believer you now have the authority and power to stand up to the enemy.

While Ephesians 6:12 explains to us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, Ephesians 6:13 goes on to tell us that we must “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes (when pressure comes), you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand".  Ephesians 6: 10-16 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power (the key here is to be strong in the Lord and in HIS mighty power).  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."

When I first became a believer and disciple of Christ, I was taught to put my armor on every morning just as I would clothe myself. This can be a beneficial exercise to go through when you are a young believer.  Doing this was a reminder to me that as my day started I needed to be aware that the enemy may try to hinder what God had for me that day.  But, as I matured in Christ, I began to realize that I was no longer figuratively taking off my armor at bedtime just to put it back on in the morning...what I  realized was that my armor had become a part of me and was constantly on,  so that I was continually ready.  When you grow in Christ, you will realize that this armor of God is not so much something you wear as it's something you have become; it's a mindset that develops within you as a result of having your spirit transformed by the Holy Spirit and you living in a perpetual state of closeness to God.

Remember, First John 4:4 says, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

If you do all you can and you discover that the enemy still harasses you, it’s quite possible that God’s allowing it in order to remove those things in you that stand in the way of your growing holier and closer to Him.  Satan's attacks will only affect you if God allows it.  God turns them from being used by the enemy to harm you to being something that He wants to use to refine you and purify you.    God will never allow Satan's attacks to go further than He intends.  James 1:2-4 says, "  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  I Peter 1: 6-7 states, "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."   First Corinthians 10:13 assures us that, " No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,  he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."                   

God tests us to see what's in our heart.  He wants to see if he can use us and trust us.  He also wants us to see what's in our character.  He allows Satan to test us as He allowed Satan to test Job.  He allows it in order to develop our character, to cause us to draw closer and more dependent upon Him, and for us to recognize that we cannot do this alone.  He also wants us to learn to discern evil from good and to hate evil as much as He does.  He wants us to learn to use the Word against the enemy and to learn the authority that we have as believers and children of God.  If while going through this He shows you something that you've done that displeases Him, confess your sin, be repentant, deal with your sin as He shows it to you and then strive for a life of holiness.

Ephesians 6:11  tells us to  " Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. " The word wiles in this verse translates "ingenious trap or snare."  In order for a trap to work, the right bait is necessary...something inviting, tempting, alluring, desired.  Imagine how a hunter lays a snare to catch his prey.  He carefully lays it in place and covers it up so that it is camouflaged.  Then he places the bait to entice his prey.  Ask yourself for a minute, what bait has Satan used in your life?  Was he successful in trapping you?  These answers may be a good place to start in seeing where your vulnerabilities lay so that you can go to God and have Him help you get rid of them. 

Remember, we are spiritual beings inside this temporary physical body.  Therefore, the attacks of the enemy can also be directed towards the thoughts and beliefs that we hold in our mind.  This is another tactic that Satan uses to try to defeat us.   And, unfortunately, our own fleshly nature can also be at the root of our thought problems.  In the next series of teachings, we will look at how you can be transformed by the renewing of your mind.