WE CAN DEFEAT THE DEVIL

Victor M. Eskew

 

            Satan is the most dangerous adversary of mankind.  Peter warns us of him in I Peter 5:8.  “Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  This enemy appears to be extremely powerful.  The only person who has never fallen victim to him is the Son of God.  Even though the devil is a powerful force, we can overcome him.  We do not have to become one of his victories.

            The Bible plainly teaches us that we can overcome the evil one.  James 4:7 is probably the simplest passage to this end.  He writes:  “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).  James tells us that all we must do is resist the devil.  The word “resist” means “to stand against, to withstand, to oppose.”  Let’s look a little deeper into how we can do this.

            In the first chapter of James’ epistle, he describes for us the anatomy of sin.  “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:  for God cannot be tempted neither tempteth he any man:  but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hat conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:13-15).  Satan is much like a fisherman.  He uses different kinds of baits to lure us into sin.  John tells us that the enticements fall into three categories:  the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (I John 2:15-17).  Satan seeks the right enticement.  Once he finds our desire, he just continues to cast his bait before us.  If we yield, we sin.  Fortunately, we do not have to take the bait.  We can withstand the devil.  We can resist.  We can put ourselves in opposition to the evil one.  If we do this long and hard enough, James tells us that Satan will flee from us.  In those instances, we are victorious.  We have defeated the devil.

            Jesus is our perfect example in overcoming Satan’s enticements.  In the wilderness, Satan came against the Lord when He was extremely vulnerable.  He had been fasting forty days.  To entice His hunger, Satan reminded Him that He could turn stones into bread.  “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3).  Jesus resisted.  “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).  Satan did not immediately flee.  He used another bait.  He took Jesus up to a pinnacle of the temple and told him to cast himself down.  He even quoted Scripture in an attempt to convince our Lord to yeild.  “And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down:  for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee:  and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Matt. 4:6).  Again, Jesus opposed the tempter.  “Jesus said unto him, it is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord they God” (Matt. 4:7).  Satan’s third attempt involved the lust of the eyes.  “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:8-9).  Jesus still did not budge.  He held his ground against the devil.  “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:  for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10).  Yes, Jesus withstood.  Now listen to Matthew 4:11.  “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”  James is right.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Jesus is proof of this truth.

            We must remember that the word “resist” is a verb.  A verb is an action word.  To overcome our adversary, we have to put forth the effort to withstand him.  We do not resist him by accident.  We do not resist him, if we persist in our sin.  We do not resist him, if we submit to his temptation.  We do not resist him, if we love the temptation and find pleasure in it.  To resist means resist.  Sadly, there are many Christians who do not put up much of a fight against the devil.  Some take his bait, hook, line and sinker.  They are like Eve who took the forbidden fruit.  They are like Achan who was subdued by the silver, gold, and Babylonish garment.  They are like Judas who just had to have those thirty pieces of silver.  They are like Ananias and Sapphira who lied and kept back part of the price of the land.  It is not that they cannot overcome the devil.  They just do not resist him.  They do not give heed to Peter’s words found in I Peter 5:9:  “Whom resist steadfast in the faith…”

            The question now arises, if we have been defeated by the devil, is there any way to overcome him.  Fortunately, the answer is:  “Yes!”  This is why Jesus came to the earth and died on the cross of Calvary.  This is why the Holy Spirit revealed the divine revelation to mankind.  Listen to the words of Revelation 12:10-11.  “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:  for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”  In the pages of the Word of God, we learn how to come into contact with the blood of the Lamb which will forgive every sin we have committed.  When we obey the simple instructions found in God’s Word, we overcome the devil.  For the alien sinner, the process involves faith in Jesus Christ (John 8:24), repentance from sins (Luke 13:3, 5), confession of the name of Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9-10), and baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).  For the child of God who is in sin, he must repent of his sins (Acts 8:22), confess his sins (I John 1:9), and ask God for forgiveness (Acts 8:22).  Those who will do these things will overcome the devil.

            Dear reader, Satan is strong, but he is not that strong.  You and I can resist him.  We can refuse his bait.  We can shield ourselves from his fiery darts.  We can say “no” to his temptations.  And, even after we have sinned, and all have (Rom. 3:23), we can still overcome him with the blood of Jesus Christ and the inspired Word of God.  This reality ought to cause all of us to praise God and give Him thanks!