22 - RESIST (Nehemiah)

Text: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” –– 1 Peter 5:8–9, NASB

Theme: God is faithful and has given you everything you need to resist temptation.

Intro: What should you do when tempted? In Nehemiah 6, we see that Nehemiah’s enemies are relentless. Like a lion, they prowl around, seeking to devour Nehemiah and the remnant of rebuilders. However, through the Scripture, God exposes the enemy’s tactics and reveals how we should respond. Today, I want to show you what you can practically do to overcome temptation. It’s summed up in a word: RESIST.

1) R - Remember who God is, who you are, what the Lord has done and what he has commissioned you to do (1 Cor. 10:13).

In the military, they have a phrase called the ‘fog of war’.

It’s about the fogginess and uncertainty that we go through in battle and warfare.

“The fog of war (German: Nebel des Krieges) is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign. Military forces try to reduce the fog of war through military intelligence and friendly force tracking systems.” –– Wikipedia

The enemy’s assaults can cause us to be uncertain.

On a personal level, what we thought we knew, we forget––we get foggy.

The fog of war can cause you to forget the Father and his will.

Therefore, you need to be intentional about remembering your God and who you are.

Purposely, reinforce your armour and walls.

Nehemiah 6 reveals the tactics the enemy uses:

1) Befriending

2) Persistence

3) Persuasion (Smooth Talk)

4) Control & Manipulation

5) Intimidation (Fear)

6) Accusations

7) Discouragement

8) False Prophecy

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Co 10:13, NASB).Meditate on Romans 6-8

2) E - Exercise Your Authority (Luke 10:19).

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Rom. 16:20, NASB).

Jesus––through his death and resurrection––has given you authority over every evil power.Luke 10:18-19

Putting on the boots of the Gospel of Peace means knowing and walking in your authority in Christ.

Since the enemy is relentless, you need to resist, resist, resist.

Hear the calls of resistance in Ephesians 6:13, James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:9

These verses all use the same Greek word: ἀνθίστημι (anthistemi)

It’s made up of two parts: anti = against + histemi = stand.

“to resist by actively opposing pressure or power” [Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 494). New York: United Bible Societies.]

It also means to set oneself against, oppose, weigh against, outweigh, hold one’s ground and refuse to yield.

With regards to demonic visitations at night, use your authority.

With regards to your home, use your authority to claim your home is holy ground.

3) S - Submit to God (James 4:7).

But first, before you resist the devil, submit to God.

All of your authority over temptation is based on your submission to God. Our authority is delegated by God to us and is only powerful as we submit to God.

Practice regularly submitting all the parts of your body to Christ’s righteousness.

In submission to God is the safest and most powerful place to be.

4) I - Include God’s people in the battle (Ephesians 6:18-20).

Notice how Paul is always asking for prayer (Eph. 6:18-20, etc.).

It’s because Paul knows that we win or lose through persistent prayer.

Think about Moses on the hill and Joshua fighting below (Exo. 17:8-16).

One of the tactics of the enemy is isolation.

One of the enemy’s greatest areas of deception is persuading Christians that church is not important.

And so they habitually stop gathering together.

Make a habit of being in fellowship each week.

And call on friends to pray for you, especially when tempted.

In the same way that Paul asked for prayer, humble yourself to ask for prayer.

5) S - Sharpen your sword (Psalm 119:11).

Meditate and memorise specific verses, especially in the areas where the enemy is challenging you.

Remember how Jesus fought the devil in the wilderness (Matt 4; Luke 4).

Joshua 1:1-9

6) T - Take up the shied of faith (Ephesians 6:16).

This brings us back to the first point: faith is remembering what God has said and trusting in it.

The only way the enemy can knock you down is if you stop trusting in God.

“In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph 6:16).

Conclusion: When faced with temptation, remember the word RESIST: 1) R - Remember, 2) E - Exercise your authority, 3) S - Submit to God, 4) I - Include God’s people, 5) S - Sharpen your sword, 6) T - Take up the shield of faith.

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