The Fight: Resist the Devil

Resist the Devil

Epic fights. Boxing matches. Rivalries. Street Fighter. Some of us grew up pushing every button on the controller, hoping something would happen…. Or the all mighty NERF GUN…

Then there are the ridiculous fights. Someone posts something on Facebook, and suddenly everybody is an expert—and everybody is fighting.

We fight about politics, parking spaces, and where we’re going to eat. We even fight about whether we’re fighting!

There is something in us—and something all around us—that keeps pulling us into THE FIGHT.

The question is: Who are we fighting, and what are we fighting for?

Could we be exhausting ourselves fighting the wrong fights, leaving us with no energy to fight the fight God has called us to?

Paul tells Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:12

“12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Every fight is comprised of TWO parties….. the first step in fighting the good fight…. Is knowing who our enemy is… whether we are fighting for our marriage, fighting the fight of faith…fighting for generational faith…. We need to remember that

PEOPLE are not our enemy

Ephesians 6:12

“12 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.”

Your spouse is someone to love, your kids are someone to raise, the person you disagree with is someone Jesus died for… none of which are enemies….

**If the enemy can keep us fighting each other… we won’t have the energy to resist HIM**

And that is the strategy that the scriptures give us for THE FIGHT….

RESIST THE DEVIL

James 4:7–8

“7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

This is both a command and a promise, but practically what does it look like.

(NERF ILLUSTRATION)

This word “Resist” - is a military term, meaning DO NOT YIELD… HOLD YOUR GROUND if you will

let the kids shoot…. While hold my ground

This word Submit…. We like to think of it as surrender…..

-hands up surrender to…… kids shoot me in the back

The word submit, also a military…. Positioned in formation under a commanding authority…..

-BEHIND my defender….

Dismiss KIDS….

1.) Resist THROUGH SURRENDER

There is an intentional sequence in this scripture…. SUBMIT God then resist the Devil

Fact is:

**We often want God’s protection while resisting God’s direction**

You cannot effectively resist the ENEMY, while resisting the God who covers you

Submission doesn’t just mean surrender… it means following….

Let me show you what this looks like…

-What do you think I should do about this relationship….

-step/stay….gets shot

-what do you think about my social media

-what do you think about this show

-what do you think …. Etc

Luke 22:42

“42 ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’”

The first moved in the fight is to surrender to God

Victory begins when “what I want” aligns to “God says”

Surrender is more than giving God your problem… its giving him permission to LEAD

2.)Resist by standing on the truth

It is important to note that JESUS was tempted by the enemy…. Which gives us two incredible truths

Being tempted isn’t wrong and what should we do when tempted.

Matthew 4… Jesus is in the wilderness fasting and the enemy comes to him and tempts him…

Matthew 4:4

“4 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’”

Matthew 4:7

“7 Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’”

Matthew 4:10

“10 Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”’”

The enemy offered shortcuts, challenged his identity and twisted scriptures….. JESUS HELD HIS POSITION…didn’t yield… stood on scripture and look at the result

Matthew 4:11

“11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”

Resist the devil….. and HE WILL FLEE YOU.

The bible identifies the devil as a liar and in fact the father of lies, and so often temptation begins with a believable lie…. And the only way to resist is standing on the TRUTH

-you resist the lies by following what God says

-a Strong feeling does not have the final authority… God’s word does

3.) Resist by REMOVING COMPROMISE

James 4:8

“8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

James moves right from our allegiance to our actions and our motives….

We cannot truly RESIST the enemy, while we return to his traps…

We cannot truly RESIST the enemy, while we host his habits

Romans 13:14

“14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Often times resistance looks very practical -turning off the tv

-stepping away from an inappropriate conversation

-shutting down a social media account

-addressing the bitterness you’ve been feeding

Simply put… for some of us resistance begins with removing what we keep making excuses for

4.) Resist by remaining close to God

James before he says wash your hands.. before he says “check your heart”..

He says COME CLOSE TO GOD…

The closer you stay to the authority, the more you can stand your ground…. This is an invitation to protection…

1 Peter 5:8–9

“8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

Simply put… you resist the devil, by remaining close

Salvation:

Some of us have taken more shots than we would care to share…. We’ve tried holding our own ground… but its not until you surrender… to the only authority that you can truly walk in freedom…

Confess that HE IS LORD- authority….

CHARGE:

Over time it’s amazing how often we can get out of step with the commander… and we wind up getting hit… today is an invitation to get close again.