Michael Brooks
The devil is real, and he's powerful, but the Bible is clear that we can resist him and win. We have all the spiritual armor we need, and Jesus has shown us how to resist the devil. In the Bible, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days and was tempted by the devil. Jesus resisted the devil, and he will flee from you too. To resist the devil, you can pray and fast, be led by the Holy Spirit, know the Word of God, worship, plead the blood of Jesus, have faith, and more.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Be ruled by the Word | Make the Word of God your rule and authority and live in obedience to all it says |
| Beware of grieving the Holy Spirit | The Holy Spirit gives Christians the ability to discern Satan's temptations |
| Do not engage Satan in your own strength | Draw the power and desire to resist sin from Jesus Christ |
| Pray constantly | Prayer is a shelter to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to the devil |
| Resist the first stirring of temptation | It is safe to resist temptation and dangerous to dabble in it |
| Labor to be filled with the Spirit | The Spirit's light shines bright against the darkness of sin and his power is sufficient to overcome all evil and temptation |
| Keep humble | A humble heart would rather lose everything than to sin and be left with a guilty conscience |
| Be led by the Holy Spirit | The Holy Spirit empowers us to overcome spiritual attacks and temptation |
| Fasting | Fasting helps subdue our flesh and makes us more sensitive to the Holy Spirit |
| Know the Word of God | Study and meditate on the Scriptures |
| Worship | Commit to worship God |
| Plead the blood of Jesus | Plead the blood of Jesus over our lives and testify to the goodness of God |
| Have faith | Have faith in God |
| Put on the full armor of God | The full armor of God includes the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, truth, the readiness to proclaim the gospel, and faith |
| Be sober-minded and alert | Recognize that the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour |
| Understand God's authority | God has complete authority over Satan and Jesus Christ is seated in power above everything and everyone in heaven and on earth |
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What You'll Learn
Be ruled by the Word of God
The Word of God is a complex and multifaceted concept that extends beyond Scripture, encompassing the oral traditions and teachings of the Christian faith. Being ruled by the Word of God means submitting to the authority of Christ and allowing him to guide one's actions, behaviour, and thoughts. This involves studying and meditating on Scripture, as well as seeking guidance from anointed individuals who teach and explain the Word of God.
To be ruled by the Word of God is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, who himself was led by the Holy Spirit. This means being obedient to the Word and allowing it to guard against temptation. Thomas Brooks, in his work "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices," emphasises the importance of making the Word of God one's rule and authority: "When men throw off the Word, then God throws off them, and then Satan takes them by the hand and leads them into snares at his pleasure."
To resist the devil, one must recognise the power of the Word. In Luke 4, Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, resisted the devil's temptations by quoting the Word of God: "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:3-4). By knowing and abiding by the Word, we can find strength and protection from evil plots and temptation.
Fasting is another way to be ruled by the Word, as it helps to subdue our flesh and makes us more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Through prayer and fasting, we can resist the devil and strengthen our connection to God.
Ultimately, being ruled by the Word of God means submitting to God's authority and allowing Him to guide our lives. It is a commitment to following Christ's teachings and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us away from temptation and towards a life of worship and faith. By being ruled by the Word, we open ourselves up to God's divine order and justice, as described by Isaiah: "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end...and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever" (Isaiah 9:7).
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Do not engage Satan in your own strength
Christians are engaged in a war against Satan and all his devils, and this war will last until Christ comes again in glory. However, Satan is too powerful for Christians to defeat on their own. As Christian soldiers, we must lean on Christ's might and draw our strength from him.
The Bible says, "Certainly that soul that engages against any old or new temptation without new strength, new influences from on high, will fall before the power of new temptation." We must not rely on our own strength in the battle against Satan, but on Christ. Our strategic supply line is our dependence on Christ. We must commune with God, be on guard, and be humble, but we must not rely on these things in the fight against Satan. Instead, we must rely on Christ.
Christians must exercise their faith through prayer. Prayer is the hand reaching up to Christ, open to the Spirit purchased by Christ's wounds. We must pray constantly, telling God of our own inability to detect and respond to temptation, and of our utter dependence on his grace. We must also labour to be filled with the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit's light shines bright against the darkness of sin, and his power is sufficient to overcome all evil and temptation.
We must also be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit, for it is the Holy Spirit that gives Christians the ability to discern Satan's temptations and to see his hand in life's circumstances. If we grieve the Spirit, we drive off the one whose ministry involves guarding us against Satan's attacks.
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Resist the first stirrings of temptation
The Bible says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). But how do we resist the devil's temptations?
Firstly, it is important to recognise the first stirrings of temptation. Saint Francis de Sales identifies three steps in the process of temptation: firstly, sin is proposed to the soul; secondly, we are either pleased or displeased by the proposal; and finally, we consent to or reject the temptation to sin. It is at the second stage, when we are either pleased or displeased by the proposal, that we must recognise the danger and immediately reject the pleasure.
Saint Francis de Sales advises that we should not try to resist temptation by the sheer force of our will, as we will fail. Instead, we should seek the help of God. We should turn our hearts towards Jesus Christ and make an act of love to Him. We should also be led by the Holy Spirit, which gives us the ability to discern Satan's temptations and to see his hand in life's circumstances.
To resist the devil, we should also know the Word of God. We should study and meditate on the Scriptures, listen to anointed men and women of God teach and explain the Word of God, and commit it to memory. The Word of God builds our faith and helps us overcome temptation.
It is also important to keep humble. A humble heart would rather lie in the dust than rise to prominence by sinful means; it would prefer to lose everything than to sin and be left with a guilty conscience.
Finally, we should pray constantly. We should tell God of our inability to detect and respond to temptation and our utter dependence on His grace.
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Fasting and prayer
Fasting helps subdue our flesh and makes us more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It is a way of conquering oneself, as it reckons with the immediate and direct impact the sensual and physical have on us, as well as the fragmentation within us among appetites, reason, and will. Through fasting, we can master ourselves and not be slaves to our appetites.
Prayer, on the other hand, is a way to tell God of our own inability to detect and respond to temptation, and to acknowledge our utter dependence on His grace. Prayer rooted in faith in Jesus Christ is effective.
In the New Testament, fasting was simply prayer so focused and intense that a person did not give attention to things like eating or drinking. Thus, Jesus emphasized that a certain kind of demon could only be cast out by intensive prayer and fasting. This is seen in Mark 9, where Jesus casts out an evil spirit that His disciples were previously unable to cast out.
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Plead the blood of Jesus
Pleading the blood of Jesus is a spiritual practice that is not to be confused with a superstitious application of a magic formula of words. It is a heaven-given resource that grants believers the power to stand in dominion over the works of hell.
The power of the blood of Jesus Christ is greater than the energy of humanity and that of the Adversary. The blood of Jesus is the central economic factor in all human order. When Jesus shed His blood on the cross, He accomplished more than Redemption and the remission of sins. The blood of Jesus reversed every part of the curse, including sickness, disease, poverty, and any type of bondage to sin.
When you plead the blood of Jesus, you are applying the power of the blood to a situation in your life. There is protection and deliverance in the blood. You are laying down your case and putting your entire confidence in an oath that is covenant-sworn by Almighty God. You can plead the blood of Jesus over any person or situation. For example, you can lay your hands on your children's heads and say, "In the Name of Jesus, I plead the blood of Jesus over [name]." You can also plead the blood of Jesus over your health, home, ministry, and town.
It is important to understand the reason for the words used in this practice so that they do not become a formula. By pleading the blood of Jesus, you are not begging before God, but rather, you are exercising your legal right, through the blood of Jesus Christ, to enter a plea and to lay claim to the evidence (His slain body and shed blood on the Cross) which is proven to neutralize the power of sin, affliction, death, and hell.
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