Defense against the Devil - 3

SECOND, TO DEFEAT SATAN, WE MUST RESIST HIM.



(James 4:7)  “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”



1.      The Greek word translated “resist” (antistete) literally means “take a stand against, oppose, or resist."



2.      Resisting Satan means opposing him, turning away from him, and having nothing to do with him and the temptations that he throws at us.



3.      A great passage of Scripture that we should use to resist the Devil is in (Titus 2:12) which says, “say no to ungodliness and worldly passions.”



a.       Often times, we say maybe to sin instead of no, leaving the option open for us to say yes.  This is not the way to resist Satan or his temptations.



b.      Have you ever had a salesperson try to sell you something at your front door?  Often times we don’t want to tell them no, so we will tell them to come back later when our spouse is home.  Guess what! Since we told the salesperson maybe, he or she will come back that same night to make the sell. Salespeople are persistent.



c.       If we say maybe to sin and the Devil, then he will keep coming back until we say no.  To resist sin and the Devil, we must say a firm “NO” and shut the door.



ILLUSTRATION:



One Haitian Minister told this story.



A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2000.00. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price.  After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail hanging from just over the door.


After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So first, the owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.



4.      If we leave one small sin in our lives, the Devil will return causing us misery.  We must resist Satan.  And if we do, he will flee from us.

http://www.biblecenter.com/sermons/howtodefeatsatanandhisdemonspart2.htm