BY Argie Simonis
The Church has given the devil a way too much power than he really has. This is because it is usually the easy way to justify its ineffectiveness against sickness, problems and all the devil's tactics.
There are certain things that the Lord has told us believers to do.
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7
To "resist the devil" that James writes to us here is not a suggestion, but a command. The Lord commands us to resist the devil with the power and authority He has given us. We must learn what power and authority has been given to us and begin to use it:
"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power," Eph. 1:18-19
There is a very wrong teaching saying that nothing happens in the world without being in the will of God. God does not treat us like puppets. He has given us the privilege of free will. Even if we make the wrong decision, the Lord will honor His Word because He can not take it back:
"My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." Psalm 89:34
As I have pointed out in previous messages, the devil and his demons are spirits who can not use their power in the physical on their own (this includes our body, mind, and emotions). They can only do so through a person who, either knowingly or in ignorance, will cooperate with them.
Let me give you a very simple example: When you consider the opinion of the world more important than what God says and you ignore His Word, you have already cooperated with the devil. When for example you believe the people who tell you that you are left alone and no one cares about you nor loves you, the Lord says to you:
"... for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Rom. 8:35
If you ignore what the Lord is telling you through His Word and believe the world, you have already fallen into satan's trap and are cooperating with him.
Another equally important thing that we must not forget is that Jesus, with His death on the cross and His Resurrection, took back from the devil the power that had been given to him by Adam and Eve because of their disobedience:
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth." Mat. 28:18
He handed over this power to us:
"Behold, I give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:19
The power needed to exercise this power was given to us by the Holy Spirit:
"But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come on you: and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8
But the use of authority and power requires responsibility. In the previous verse we see that we are given the power of the Spirit so that we can become witnesses of Jesus "to the uttermost part of the earth."
I emphasize this because a very wrong picture has been given to prayer. People are not born again through prayer, but when they know the truth (John 8:32), and in order to do this, someone must tell them:
"For whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" Rom. 10:13-14
If you pray for someone to be born again without ever preaching the gospel to him, you will have no result. If for some reason you are not allowed to do it (due to distance for example) you can use this:
"Then said he to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;
Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." Mat. 9:37-38
The responsibility for preaching the gospel has been given to humans and not to angels. Angels are spirits without physical bodies and have no such authority. Read the example of Cornelius in chapter 10 of Acts. The angel of the Lord came and told him to go to Peter to preach the gospel to him.
Peter also writes to us in his letter:
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and stays for ever." 1Pet. 1:23
Just as a baby cannot be conceived in the womb without a sperm, the same is with the Word of God. It must be sown in one's heart before it can bear fruit.
Two remarks so far:
1. Prayer without appropriate actions does not bring results.
2. Of course there will be a time when we will rebuke the devil, but primarily prayer is not intended for spiritual warfare, but more to have fellowship with the Lord and to spend time with Him.
Paul writes to the Ephesians:
"Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us," Eph. 3:20
Many stop in the middle and leave out the last part of the verse "according to the power that works within us." If there is no active power within you, that is, if you do not take responsibility for the power that the Lord has given you and you do not do what he tells you to do, you somehow "tie" His hands and limit what the Lord can do in your life you because you do not cooperate with Him.
"Thus said the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command you me." Isaiah 45:11
God has given us believers the power and authority to be the extension of His hands here on Earth, and it is very important that we recognize this and take on our responsibilities!
In my next message I will go deeper into this topic of the authority we have as believers.
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