The Church Today Is Ready To Harvest, Are You?

RESISTING THE DEVIL

James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Unless a person truly submits to God, they cannot truly resist the devil. Ephesians 4:27 says, "Neither give place to the devil."

When we as Christians fail to submit some area of our lives to God, we are giving place to the devil. Ecclesiastes 10:8 warns, "He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him."

When there is a breach in the wall of God’s protection, all hell can break loose. It puts us on the run from the devil, instead of him being on the run from us. Rather than standing strong as the children of light, we become subject to the unfruitful works of darkness. "…Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). We reap what we sow, and if we sow to the flesh we will most certainly reap corruption.

Romans 6:16 "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness."

We all sin, all the time, every day. No one is without sin, Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." We have a sin nature and so by nature we will sin. But there is a difference in the inherent sin that we resist and yet fail, as opposed to living in habitual sin.

 In the Old Testament, Amalek, founded a people who would later trouble Isreal, the Amalekites. They were symbolic of the flesh nature and so God commanded his people to wipe them out. The same is true today, make no covenant with the flesh, it will only bring you trouble. We are to cast down, crucify, and utterly destroy the works of the flesh.

 1 Samuel 15:18 "And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed." Not merely resist, but fight against. As Christians we not only resist the devil, we crucify the flesh realm in which he dwells. "And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Galatians 5:24). "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).

When sin overtakes a saint, Satan moves in for the kill. If the person does not repent and get right with the Lord, eventually God will "…deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5). Sinning saints who live without resisting the devil pay an awful price, but they cannot become demon possessed, nor do they go to hell. Such a one will suffer loss, but their soul will be saved.

1 Corinthians 3:15-17 "If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Context – Sin, loss, destroyed but saved.
A Christian cannot be demon possessed and he cannot be born again, again. Eternal life begins with accepting Christ as your personal Lord and savior and it lasts forever.

We are all very much aware of the fact that in this life we will encounter many temptations, some of which we succumb to and some of which we resist and overcome. Hebrews 12:4 says, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Most of us have not yet suffered deadly persecutions and yet we give way to sin. What would happen if the pressure was really on?

God’s grace is sufficient; His strength is made perfect in weakness. No one is perfect. Paul the apostle who wrote two thirds of the New Testament said, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not" (1 Corinthians 8:18). "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin" (1 Corinthians 8:24-25).

When Jesus resisted the devil on the Mount of Temptation, in Luke 4:13 it says, "And when the devil had ended all the temptations, he departed from him for a season." For a season means he came back. When we resist the devil he will flee from us temporarily but we must be ready with the shield of faith when he returns. Ephesians 6:16 instructs us to, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

When the devil is cast out of an unbeliever, he will return to see if he can possess that same person. If he finds that house empty (void of the Holy Spirit) the Bible says he will bring seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they will enter him, Matt.12, and Luke 11. Whether we resist, bind, or cast out demons, there is no guarantee they will not regroup and return. The admonition is - we must be ready. Not by looking for the devil but by resisting him. He is a worthy adversary and we are not ignorant of his devices. When we walk in the Spirit, the battle belongs to the Lord.

Resisting for your own good is much different than binding for the good of others. I can’t think of a single case where someone demon possessed resisted the devil for themselves. It was always the authority of other believers binding the demon and spoiling his house. In Mark 3:27 Jesus taught that we must first bind the strong man, and then we will spoil his house.

In Acts 19, the seven sons of Sceva took it upon themselves to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over them which had evil spirits saying, we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. And the evil spirits said Jesus I know and Paul I know; but who are you? Then the demon possessed man leaped on them and overcame them. The seven sons of Sceva may have had a proper understanding of the name Jesus but they lacked a personal relation with him, therefore they had no power over the devil. Technique without power means nothing, even when quoting scripture. It takes the anointing of the Holy Spirit in a believers life to bind the devil and cast him out.

The devil was bound on the Passover in Egypt to not enter any house that had the blood of the Passover lamb applied to the lintel and the two side posts of the door. There was no way the devil could violate the blood and enter that house; he was bound. The devil cannot enter a Christian because to be a Christian you must have the blood of the lamb applied to your life. We overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony, Rev.12:11.

In Matthew 16:18 when Jesus was speaking to Peter about himself being the rock of our salvation he said, "And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The church has the power to bind the devils activities and to destroy his works. The church is the salt of the earth; a preserving influence and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. If the devil was free to do as he pleased we would all be dead. Thank God he is bound to the limitations God has set. Jesus gave us power and authority over all the power of the enemy and then he assured us that nothing shall by any means hurt us Luke.10:19. The same authority that Jesus gave his immediate circle of disciples was later extended to all that believe. Mark 16:17 "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues."
The children of Israel never did posses all the land that God gave to them. They were comfortable on the other side of Jordan to just stay put and resist only if need be. But God commanded them to enter the Promised Land and aggressively posses it.

Jesus said, Mathew 11:12, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." The New International version reads, "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." Under the Old Dispensation even John the Baptist, though so near the kingdom, was not within it.

Today, more than ever before in history, repentant sinners are crowding into the Kingdom of God. Their eagerness to enter may be compared to soldiers attempting to storm a city. The New Covenant is not fading as the Old Covenant did, it is increasing. The kingdom of God is not passively resisting the devil on the wrong side of the Jordan; it is aggressively advancing towards the promises of God. The church is not winding down, but rather gaining in momentum and that will continue until the coming of the Lord.

 The early church was born in the power of Pentecost but will mature in the revelation of God’s word to a greater degree even than those who wrote it. The Bible is layer upon layer of truth most of which has never been tapped. I don’t believe there will ever be a 151st Psalm but until Jesus who is perfect comes I believe there is an enhanced revelation for the people of God. It is not new revelation; it is within the revelation already given. The revelation given to Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven remains a mystery.

John the revelator was forbidden to write what he heard when the seven thunders uttered their voice. He was commanded to seal it up and write it not until the time of the end. Speaking of the last of the last days, Daniel 12:4 states, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Knowledge shall be increased in every way. God’s progressive revelation will ultimately lead to a vivid unveiling of his Son.

 When Paul was caught up to the third heaven he had only a glimpse of what he now knows and what we are about to see. Haggai 2:6-9 declares, "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." The latter glory will be greater than that of the former.

"Ask ye the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain…" (Zechariah 10:1). Jesus said, "The harvest truly is plenteous , but the labourers are few "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will sent forth labourers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38).

Harvest is always a result of rain. No matter how dark and sinful the world becomes, God still sends his workers into it. The darker it gets, the brighter we shine. We resist and bind the work of the devil so the outpouring will come, then we move in on the harvest and advance the kingdom.

Isaiah 60:2 "But behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." The latter day rain will be greater than that of the former rain because where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. Romans 5:20 "…But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."

In the darkest hour, great grace will be upon us and upon the people we reach. By the grace of God, we resist the devil in our own lives and by the grace of God we bind and break his curse in the lives of others. God equips us for the battle and then blesses us with the spoils of war. Some call it, ‘plundering hell to populate heaven.’ Bind the enemy and free the people. Daniel 12:3 says, "And they that be wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

If ever there has been a time to push back the power of the devil for revival, its now. The harvest is ripe. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered…(Joel 2:31-32).

Pastor Tilson
Shekinah Fellowship