Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church – Beloved brothers and sisters! We live in both an invisible and a visible world. Often Satan, the prince of demons, the dragon, that ancient serpent, and his demons lull us to sleep, putting our souls and God’s church into a deep slumber, so that we no longer see the spiritual world, the forces of darkness and their schemes, deceptions and wicked, dark tactics. Only those who have close fellowship with God, are filled with the Holy Spirit, live in His presence, walk in His anointing and have sharp spiritual eyes can see that invisible world.
Scripture reminds us that the battle with Satan is real: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities” (Ephesians 6:12). But Scripture also declares that Jesus has triumphed over the devil on the cross. This message helps us understand that battle and stand firm in the Lord.
The Battle With Satan in the Christian Life
Understanding our enemy rightly keeps us from taking him lightly, but also from being afraid, because the One who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world.
“The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5)
So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.1 Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?2
If we do not let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, if we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, walking by the Spirit, in God’s anointing, power and authority, then the god of this age will blind us to the world of Satan, his evil spirits and the powers of darkness.
Did you know that when Satan was judged and fell from heaven, he dragged a third of the angels with him, and they became demons, evil and unclean spirits? Today’s demons are highly organized; they have their legions, and their legions are many.
Do you remember the story of the demon-possessed man? He lived among the tombs, and although people tried to bind him with chains, no one could hold him. Many times his feet and hands were shackled, but he tore the chains apart and broke the shackles; no one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day he wandered among the tombs and hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him. Jesus commanded, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!” The demon shrieked, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that You won’t torture me!” Jesus asked, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” A Roman legion numbered some three to six thousand soldiers. The demons begged Jesus not to send them out of the region and asked to be sent into the herd of pigs.3
Brothers and sisters, Satan and his demons have a very sophisticated and cunning organization. They use every trick and scheme to deceive and attack God’s church and God’s children on earth, so that we lose our close, firm relationship with Jesus. The devil knows that our strength, power and authority come from Jesus and His Spirit in us when we draw near to God and submit to Him.
Satan, the ringleader, holds his council and orders his demons and servants to do dark, wicked work to destroy our relationship with God. That dark work is temptation: making God’s children love the world, material things, money, power, fame and the passing values of this world more than they love God.
Satan and the evil spirits know that God calls His people on earth to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength,” so they do not want God’s church and God’s children to be faithful and loyal to God, because they themselves are unfaithful angels who rebelled against God, were severely punished and became demons. They sow evil thoughts to tear apart humanity, families, churches and God’s people on earth.
Satan and his demons sow seeds of discord and envy in the hearts of God’s children, so that they walk in darkness with bitterness, hatred, jealousy, condemnation and division, no longer loving one another as Jesus taught. When God’s people envy, hate and compete with one another, their prayers lose their power.
Years ago, two friends of mine, servants of God, were attacked by Satan, his evil spirits and their agents, leaving God’s church wounded and broken with deep heart wounds. They sowed seeds of division, envy, bitterness, hatred, rivalry and jealousy in the hearts of God’s people, who formed factions and cliques to attack God’s servants and His church. If this is not the work of Satan and his demons, what is it?
God’s Word says clearly, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.”4 In the past, some served God with hearts full of envy and rivalry. Paul wrote, “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love… the former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely.”5 Your soul cannot be healthy when you compare yourself with others. Your soul dies a little every time you adopt an attitude, mindset and lifestyle of rivalry. When you live like that, you let the destructive forces of competition, rivalry, envy and jealousy invade your heart, life and ministry, and you take Satan’s bait. You then live under the power of darkness instead of in the light of truth and life, under the Holy Spirit’s power and control, and you no longer walk in the anointing. In other words, you have lost God’s anointing. This was King Saul’s experience; when the power of darkness takes hold of you, you will try by any means to destroy your rival, just as Saul sent three thousand soldiers to hunt down David, the one God had anointed king.
Satan and his demons are very wicked. In the past they sowed seeds of envy and jealousy in King Saul’s heart, so that he resolved to assassinate David, his military commander. They sowed seeds of envy and jealousy in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers, so that they plotted to kill him and sold him as a slave to Egypt. They sowed envy and jealousy in the hearts of the Jews to oppose Paul’s teaching and insult him. They sowed envy and jealousy in the hearts of the proud, separatist Pharisees, so that they hated and killed Jesus. They also used Judas to betray the Lord and sell Him for thirty pieces of silver.
Beloved, Satan and his evil spirits hate God and hate Jesus. They know they can do nothing against God, so they attack His creatures, made in His beautiful image. That is why God’s church must pray in the Spirit,6 in the power of the Spirit, in the authority of Jesus,7 in the great name of Jesus.8 God’s church must use the sword of the Spirit, the word of God,9 to defeat the works of Satan and his evil spirits, as the Lord did when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness and He defeated Satan with God’s Word. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. Satan came and said, “If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took Him to the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.10
Remember that when Satan tempted Jesus, he tempted Him as an ordinary human being like us, but Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and used God’s weapon to strike back and defeat Satan: the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. This is our example, a deep spiritual lesson in power that we must learn from Jesus, asking the Holy Spirit to fill us and help us walk in the anointing and authority of Jesus. We also need to know how to use God’s Word as the sword of the Spirit to defeat Satan and the rulers, authorities, world powers of this darkness and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.11
Satan also knows God’s Word, but he twists God’s Word and truth and used God’s own Word to tempt Jesus. So we must pray for God to protect us from his deceptive schemes. We must ask God to revive us and His church on earth, so that the church repents and returns to the path of holiness and righteousness, lives in unity and love, forgives and encourages one another to serve God, builds God’s house and His kingdom on earth rather than our own, and proclaims the Lord’s death and resurrection until He comes.12
Did you know that the devil does not want the anointing, the Spirit’s power and the Lord’s authority to be displayed in the church today, especially in God’s servants who are responsible for teaching His Word and proclaiming the powerful good news?
So many pastors and preachers live in fear and do not rely on the anointing, the Spirit’s power and the Lord’s authority to carry out the ministry of teaching God’s Word and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, as the apostles of old relied on the Spirit’s power. Today many pastors teach God’s Word only with intellect, mechanically, so that listeners do not sense the Spirit at work in the church. They preach like a university lecture to students, without the authority, the Spirit’s power and the life of God that changes hearts and lives.
They borrow ready-made sermons from the internet, warm them up in the microwave for a few minutes and serve them to God’s children on the Lord’s Day, instead of coming to God for a fresh message, fresh bread for themselves first, living that message and then passing it on to God’s people. They have plenty of knowledge, worldly stories and jokes to make people laugh. They have piles of knowledge, even Hebrew and Greek, filling their minds, but they lack spiritual power, lack fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit in their souls in the pulpit, to rekindle cold hearts that have drifted from God, warm people’s souls and set the knowledge of God’s Word ablaze so that it touches souls and changes many lives.
Instead, we must first feed on God’s Word ourselves, prepare it with prayer under the Spirit’s guidance, live our sermons first and then teach God’s Word by the power of the Spirit sent from heaven. Then God’s Word will move, stir, challenge and touch people’s hearts, give life to God’s people and transform their lives from the inside out.
Brothers and sisters! The devil wants us and God’s church to have a religious spirit, keeping an outward form of godliness while denying its power.13 The main purpose of Jesus’ death was for God’s kingdom to be established in the hearts of His people, the church, and for the church to exercise the authority of that kingdom on earth. God’s church has been entrusted with the message of reconciliation on earth,14 to rescue the lost from the power of the devil. In Jesus’ name the church goes out to seek and save the lost and bring them into God’s kingdom. The Lord calls His church the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and He wants us to fulfill this important role, giving light to everyone and making the world and society more “salty” in this dark world. The Lord reminds the church, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”15 With the Spirit’s power, nothing is impossible. With God, all things are possible.
Recently I read an article titled “Satan Holds a World Conference.” I do not know who the author is. After reading it, I felt prompted by the Spirit to revise it, because the author laid out Satan’s and his evil spirits’ deceptive schemes but gave no response for fighting back and resisting the powers of darkness. So I have revised it and send it to God’s children and His church at home and abroad, so that we may be awakened to Satan’s wicked schemes and be equipped with God’s mighty weapons, knowing how to use the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and to pray in the Spirit to defeat Satan, the evil spirits and the powers of darkness.
Satan’s Conference
Satan, the ringleader, opened the meeting by addressing his demons and evil spirits: “We can’t stop Christians from going to church. We can’t stop them from reading the Bible and knowing the truth of their Jesus. We can’t stop them from forming an intimate relationship with their God either. If they connect with Jesus, our power of darkness over them will be broken. So let them go to church, let them keep their lifestyles, but steal their time, so they have no time to read, study, understand, meditate on and obey the Bible. Above all, by any means, keep them from having an intimate relationship with Jesus. That is what I want you to do.”
Satan commanded, “Demons and evil spirits, distract them from reading the Bible, the Word of God, and from connecting closely with their Jesus all day long!”
The demons and evil spirits cried, “How shall we do that?”
Satan answered:
- Keep them busy with nonessential, unimportant things in their daily lives and create lots of programs so their minds are never free and they have no time to pray to their Jesus or read God’s Word.
- Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then earn, earn, earn more money. Sow the seed of greed in their hearts; persuade wives to work long hours and husbands to work six or seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day, so they can comfortably live their empty, meaningless lives and have no time to pray.
- Keep them from spending time with their children, teaching them to fear God and love people. When husbands, wives and children drift apart, the family will soon be crushed by work pressure and serious stress, and gradually they will drift from Jesus, stop gathering with the church and grow cold toward Him.
- Overstimulate their minds with the love of material things so they cannot hear the still, small voice of Jesus and His Word in Scripture.
- Encourage them to turn on the radio or podcasts as they drive to work, full of things not worth hearing but that grab their attention, and remind them to keep their earbuds in every day, with no need to read the Bible, pray or visit one another when someone is struggling, sick or grieving.
- Keep the TV, videos, music and computers running all day at home. Make sure shops and restaurants constantly play worldly music far from Scripture. Get their minds hooked on drama series instead of on their Jesus, so they have no time to pray, fellowship with Jesus and read His Word.
- Put magazines and newspapers on the breakfast table. Fill their heads with news twenty-four hours a day. Flood their driving time with advertisements.
- Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, order forms, sweepstakes and every kind of advertisement for products, free services and other false hopes.
- Put slim, beautiful models on magazine covers so husbands believe outward beauty is what matters and grow dissatisfied with their wives. That will break families apart fast.
- Don’t let them go out into nature to behold the wonders of their God’s creation. Take them to amusement parks, sports events, drinking places, concerts and movies. Keep them busy, very busy!
- And when they meet for spiritual fellowship in their Bible study groups, inject gossip, slander and quarreling so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions.
- Let them get involved in soul-winning, but fill their lives with so many good causes that they have no time to read the Bible, pray alone with Jesus or pray together in the church to seek power and strength from their Jesus.
- Tempt them to grab control and form an elite inner circle in the church of the powerful, talented and wealthy, who run the church’s work, manipulate every program, eat and socialize only with each other, and exclude those they dislike, envy, resent or feel threatened by.
- Keep them busy suspecting one another, gossiping and slandering to offend and wound one another with hard-to-heal wounds, so that they resent one another, divide and form factions and cliques. Sow envy, rivalry and jealousy in their hearts so they fight over positions and prestige in the church. We have done this before: we sowed envy and jealousy in King Saul’s heart so he set out to kill David, his commander; in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers so they plotted to kill him or sell him as a slave to Egypt; in the hearts of the proud, separatist Pharisees so they hated and killed Jesus, their leader. We sowed love of money and power in Judas’s heart so he betrayed and sold his Teacher and Lord.
- Sow seeds of discord and jealousy in their hearts so they walk in darkness with bitterness, hatred, jealousy, judgment and division, no longer loving one another as Jesus taught. When they envy, hate and compete with one another, their prayers lose their power and Jesus no longer hears their prayers. This works very, very well!
- Make their minds crave worldly things and love the world more than their Jesus. Fill them with the thoughts and values of the world instead of the thoughts and values of the kingdom of heaven. Make them stop loving the Bible, stop honoring, praising, worshiping and serving their Jesus and caring for the lost and suffering.
- Keep their minds full of impure thoughts and evil desires, infected with worry, fear, anger, pride, rivalry, doubt, joylessness and insecurity.
- Lull their souls to sleep; keep them so busy with church programs that they no longer hear the voice and Word of their Jesus. If they listen to sermons, harden their hearts so that they hear without understanding and hear without doing.16 Make them love funny, pleasant sermons that do not impart life, inspire, teach, correct, exhort, rebuke or train people in Jesus’ righteousness. Make them love soft, gentle sermons that challenge no one and make no one uncomfortable. Make them love sermons that tickle the ears, dull and lifeless, without power, so they cannot awaken cold, sleeping souls sunk in sin. Make them sing sweet, dreamy hymns without understanding the truth and meaning of the songs. Make them sing songs that have no life or power to change their lives. Make them love only to show off through their singing.
- Sow a religious spirit in their hearts, so that outwardly they keep a form of godliness but deny its power.17 Make them like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but full of dead men’s bones and all kinds of impurity inside.18 Make them lose the fear of God, stop building up, encouraging, loving and forgiving one another. Make their hearts bitter, resentful and slow to forgive, with no desire to worship their Jesus when they come to church. Make them lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, always thinking they are rich, have acquired wealth and need nothing. But never let them know that spiritually they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.19
- Most important of all, when they come to church on the Lord’s Day, don’t let them know that this is the church of the living God! It is just a club, a community club. A place for dates. A place for idle chatter and gossip for fun. A place to ruin others’ reputations. A place to pry into others’ private lives to pass the time. If they realize it is the church of the living God, as their Jesus said, “My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers,”20 they will obey Jesus, come to Him regularly in prayer, ask Him to revive them and their church, and go out in the Spirit’s power to preach the good news and save the lost, as their Jesus did, urging people to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. If they realize that the main purpose of Jesus’ death was to establish God’s kingdom in their hearts and that they are to exercise its authority on earth,21 rescuing the lost from our dark dominion so that Jesus saves them from sin and eternal death and brings them into His kingdom, then all our work, plans and dark schemes will be destroyed at once!
Satan declared loudly, “Soon they will follow our dark, cunning schemes and work in their own strength, busy loving the world, money and riches more than God, their Jesus. They will live with anger, resentment, bitterness, shouting, slander, rivalry, envy, jealousy and every kind of malice,22 sacrificing their health and families for it. This works, it works very well! Carry it out immediately, as soon as possible!”
That was Satan’s conference. And the evil spirits eagerly went out into the world with the mission of keeping Christians busy so they could carry out their dark work.
You may ask, “Will Satan and the evil spirits succeed in their plan?” Let us examine ourselves!
How Should the Church Respond?
Beloved, if these are the schemes Satan has sown and is sowing in the hearts of God’s people, what must the living church of Jesus on earth do to fight back and defeat the devil’s deceptions and these dangerous powers of darkness?
Stay silent? Sleep on? Do nothing? Every person for themselves? Not pray to God? Not join with God’s church in crying out for the Spirit to intervene? Not tell Jesus everything and ask Him to defeat Satan and his wicked plots? Not ask the Holy Spirit to revive His church?
Some say, “Our church is already strong; our spiritual life is very high and deep in God’s Word; we lack nothing and need nothing. Don’t bother us with talk of ‘revival’ or ‘saving people.’ Leave us alone and let us enjoy our peaceful spiritual sleep.” Others say, “It’s not my church; why should I worry and give myself a headache? That is the job of the church board, the secretary, the elected leaders. That’s the pastor’s job. Sorry, I don’t want to get involved or care whether this church lives or dies!”
If we are cold and indifferent, not caring for and loving the church as Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for her, and we let Satan roar, prowl and look for someone to devour,23 or let him attack the church fiercely, how delighted he will be. But Satan will tremble with terror when Jesus’ church kneels together with one heart and mind in prayer, praying together in the Spirit’s power, submitting to and drawing near to God, keeping watch, staying alert and putting on the full armor of God to stand against his schemes,24 and telling Jesus about Satan’s wicked plans at work in people’s hearts. Then the Lord will use His authority to punish and defeat him. That is the most fearsome weapon in the hands of the people of God: the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and prayer in the power of the Spirit.25 God’s Word reminds His servants, the pastors and preachers responsible for teaching God’s truth, not to preach pleasant words that please people instead of pleasing God.
Paul warned, “For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.”26 As people of God, we must be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might,27 boldly and courageously teaching God’s truth with integrity and firm confidence in Scripture, the Word of God, without compromise. We must always use the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, to teach, rebuke, correct and train people in righteousness. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and intentions of the heart.28 Shepherds of God’s flock must always strive to please God as workers who have nothing to be ashamed of, rightly handling the word of truth.29
Brothers and sisters! We are living in the last days, and our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against invisible powers, against the rulers, authorities and world powers of this darkness, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.30 Satan and his demons know their time is short, so they are furious. They use every cunning deception to attack, harass and divide God’s servants, His children and His church everywhere on earth. Their main purpose is to steal, kill and destroy everything good that God has made, including His church on earth, His new creation in Christ, which He bought at the highest price, His own precious, innocent blood, His very life on the cross.31
That is why we must pray wholeheartedly for the Holy Spirit to protect God’s people and defeat Satan, the evil spirits and the powers of darkness. The apostle John reminds the church, “This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.”32 May the Holy Spirit revive His church, save the lost and empower His church to walk in the Spirit’s power and the authority of the kingdom of heaven. May the Holy Spirit place the fear of God in our souls so that we walk in the light of His Word, for His Word is truth. Jesus wants His church to walk in His authority to resist the power of the devil. He said, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you,” and “I will build My church on this rock, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”33 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet, the living church of Jesus.34
Postscript
If you read this and feel angry or proud, the devil may be controlling you. But if you read this and the Holy Spirit awakens, convicts and reminds you, the Lord is visiting you; I encourage you to immediately ask God for mercy and forgiveness and sincerely repent. If you read this and see brothers and sisters being attacked by the devil and used as his agents without realizing it because he has blinded them, share it with them and pray for God to deliver them from the power of darkness. If the Holy Spirit opens your spiritual eyes to see the devil’s works as you read, I encourage you to pray for your pastor and his family, your own family and the church where you worship, that Satan’s power will be defeated and God will deliver them.
If you, the reader, have been tempted and used by Satan and his evil spirits, forming factions, causing division and wounding Jesus’ church; if you are nitpicking, digging for faults and using your mouth to gossip about God’s servants and accuse your brothers and sisters in the church, you are doing Satan’s work and living under the power of darkness. If you pretend to be discerning and sensitive to the Spirit but always look for faults to criticize and judge others, you are living under the devil’s power and acting as his agent to harm God’s church.
By the mercy of God, I call you to repent and wholeheartedly ask God to forgive you; otherwise one day you will face Jesus when He returns in great power and glory on the clouds of heaven, and how will you dare to look at Him? God is ready to forgive you if you truly repent with a broken, contrite heart and resolve to turn from these works of darkness done under the devil’s influence.
Instead of accusing one another, God wants us to pray for one another; instead of nitpicking, He wants us to love one another deeply as He loves us, because love covers a multitude of sins.35 “Covering” here means overlooking our brothers’ and sisters’ faults and forgiving those who have hurt us. God does not want us to live with retaliation, anger, resentment and bitterness toward those who offend and wound us. He wants to deliver us and heal our wounded hearts.
God’s Word teaches us: do not sin in your anger; do not let the sun go down on your anger; do not give the devil a foothold; let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up, to give grace to those who hear; and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, clamor and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving one another just as in Christ God forgave you.36
Brothers and sisters, the Lord has warned us that before His return we will be persecuted and hated by all nations because of His name. Many will fall away, betray and hate one another. Many false prophets, even false christs, will arise and lead many astray, and because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. Is your love growing cold right now? God’s Word teaches us that love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; outdo one another in showing honor. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Do not repay anyone evil for evil; carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not avenge yourselves, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.37
Through the apostle Paul, God’s Word urges us: you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality. But that is not how you came to know Christ. If you have heard of Him and were taught in Him according to the truth that is in Jesus, put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires; be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.38
Beloved, I want to encourage you with God’s Word. Do not harbor bitter envy, selfish ambition and jealousy.39 If you keep biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.40 Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. Get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly receive the word planted in you, which can save your souls.41 We must walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.42 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.43
God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.44
Beloved, come to Jesus today and ask for His mercy and forgiveness. Tell the Lord honestly:
“Lord Jesus, I do not deserve Your mercy. Have mercy on me, a sinner. Forgive me for being an agent of Satan and his evil spirits for so long without knowing it. The god of this age, Satan, has blinded my heart, so my heart has been full of pride, rivalry, envy, hatred and bitterness. Living that way, my conscience has been troubled and my heart and soul have suffered greatly, O Lord. I have wounded and divided Your church and Your body and grieved You with my sin. Have mercy on me and forgive me. Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Holy Spirit, awaken my soul, revive me and restore my inner self, so that my soul may come alive and rejoice in You forever. Place the fear of God in my heart and soul, so that I walk in the anointing and in the fear of the Lord all my days on earth, waiting for the day of Your appearing when You take us to Your kingdom in heaven. In the great name of the Savior Jesus. Amen!”
I pray that God will strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith,45 and that you may walk in the light of His Word, in the truth of His Word, in the anointing, power and authority of Christ and His Spirit. May the Holy Spirit make you strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you and all our friends near and far, at home and abroad! In the great name of Jesus Christ!
COME, LORD JESUS!
Dr. Christian Le, PhD
Creator/Admin, The Message of Life
Notes
- 1 Corinthians 10:12
- Psalm 85:6
- Mark 5:1–13
- James 3:16
- Philippians 1:15–17
- Ephesians 6:18; Jude 20
- Luke 10:19
- Luke 10:17
- Ephesians 6:17
- Matthew 4:1–11
- Ephesians 6:12
- 1 Corinthians 11:26
- 2 Timothy 3:5
- Luke 17:21; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Matthew 16:19
- Acts 1:8
- James 1:22
- 2 Timothy 3:5
- Matthew 23:27
- Revelation 3:17
- Luke 19:46
- Luke 17:21; Matthew 16:19
- James 3:14; Ephesians 4:31
- 1 Peter 5:8
- James 4:7–8; 1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:11
- Ephesians 6:17; Jude 20
- 2 Timothy 4:3
- Ephesians 6:10
- Ephesians 6:10; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; Matthew 4:1–11
- 2 Timothy 2:15
- Ephesians 6:12
- Revelation 12:12; John 10:10; 1 Corinthians 6:20
- 1 John 3:8
- Luke 10:18–19; Matthew 16:18
- Romans 16:20
- 1 Peter 4:8
- Ephesians 4:26–32
- Matthew 24:9–13; Romans 12:9–21
- Ephesians 4:17–24
- James 3:14–16
- Galatians 5:15
- James 1:19–21
- Ephesians 4:1–3
- Philippians 2:3–5
- 1 John 1:7–10
- Ephesians 3:16–17
Standing Firm in the Battle With Satan
In the battle with Satan, our weapons are truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the Word of God and prayer. We do not fight in our own strength, but stand firm by the Lord’s power.
Keep up your daily fellowship with God through His Word and prayer, and don’t separate yourself from the church. James 4:7 reminds us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
You may also like: Are You in the Middle of a Spiritual Attack? and 4 Signs Your Spiritual Life Is in Trouble.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for triumphing over Satan and every power of darkness on the cross. Help us stay alert, put on the full armor of God and stand firm in You. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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