How Is the Christian Able to Fight against the Weapons of the Devil?

INVISIBLE FORCES

Recognizing the weapons of the Devil
and how to resist them


● How Is the Christian Able to Fight against the Weapons of the Devil?


(Part 13)

JAMES RONDINONE

13

How Is the Christian Able to Fight Against the Weapons of the Devil?

The Christian is in a constant battle for control of their mind. Many lose this battle to the forces of evil because they don’t learn from temporary defeat. What I mean is these skirmishes just don’t go away. Either we know how to fight against them, or if not, you might as well go back to living as an unbeliever.


How do we fight against the weapons of the Devil?
Let’s find out. The first weapon of his that we’ll figure out how to combat is persecution.

PERSECUTION
The Devil uses world leaders, unbelievers, fellow believers, false teaching to persecute God-fearing Christians. In this regard, what spiritual weapon should the Christians use in their fight against this evil armament? Please go to the book of 2 Timothy.

Suggested Reading: 2 Timothy 3:1-14

1-2 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

The Apostle Paul, in his instructions to Timothy, is telling him to be on guard because, in the last days, there will be people who’ll be eminently selfish under the garb of religion, being intent on their interests, having an outward semblance of reverence toward God but denying His power. Furthermore, they’re ever-increasing in their intellectual knowledge but never able to come to a precise and correct experiential knowledge of the truth, which can only be gained by having personal communion with Christ.

10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

But as for me, Paul reminds him, you’ve observed firsthand my doctrine (my teaching), manner of life (daily behavior), purpose (intentions; main concerns), faith (relationship to Christ), longsuffering (which focuses on a person's ability to persevere or endure [amid] difficult situations68), charity (love directed toward others), and patience (a person's ability to remain calm when confronted with adverse and unpleasant circumstances69).

11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

Furthermore, Paul said that when he was at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, there were [some] who organized a systematic program of harassment and oppression70 against him that resulted in personal suffering. However, through all this, not only had he endured (bear patiently), but God delivered (to draw out from peril) him out of them all. And then he went on to make this profound statement.

12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

All those who live godly shall suffer persecution. This takes us to the following question.


What is the spiritual weapon that we should use when fighting against persecution?
The spiritual weapon is to live godly.


What does it mean to live godly?
First, we must have the Holy Spirit residing within.
Second, we must learn about the fundamental doctrines of the faith (e.g., the gospel of Christ, the Trinity, redemption, forgiveness, eternal security, the deity of Christ, spiritual growth, etc.).
Third, we need to learn about sin and then confess it to God the Father when we commit it.
Fourth, we must learn about the new person we’ve become at salvation.
Fifth, we must learn about God’s perspective concerning those sinful tendencies that we’ve been engaging in.
Sixth, after we’ve learned about God’s perspective, we need to memorize and meditate on it throughout our day.
Seventh, we must continue to attend to the assembling of the saints for worship, prayer, fellowship, etc.

The next question to consider is this. How does a Christian fight against the Devil’s second weapon, which is called projections?

PROJECTIONS

Just to recap, what are projections?
A projection sometimes comes from the Devil, albeit his evil forces. Otherwise known as a fiery dart, this is an image or thought that comes into the mind, such as the appearance of someone with whom we’ve had some kind of engagement in sin or thoughts that try to stimulate us to think evil about someone that has no basis in fact or reflections in the mind relating to a regretful action that we had committed against someone else or contemplations on a sorrowful outcome that we wish we could have prevented from happening.

Another way to describe projections is that they’re:
●Considerations darted into the mind… sometimes starting up suddenly, even in the middle of holy exercises.71
●Lies, blasphemous thoughts, hateful thoughts about others, doubts, and burning desires for sin.72

Remember, not all projections are from the Devil. Sometimes, they’re from our memories, interactions with people, and circumstances.


What’s the spiritual weapon that will allow Christians to counteract this weapon of evil?
Please turn your Bible to the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:16

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

We’re told that there’s a spiritual weapon available for the Christian, which will allow them to quench (extinguish) all the fiery darts (evil projections) of the wicked (evil one; the Devil). Do you know what it is? The spiritual weapon that will help us extinguish the projections of the evil one is called the shield of faith.


What is the shield of faith?
The word shield can be taken by analogy to be the large shield which, according to the ancient Greek historian Polybius, gave protection to the whole body. It was made of two layers of wood, covered with canvas, [along] with a leather covering on the [outside. This,] when soaked with water before the battle, would effectively serve to extinguish the incendiary missiles of the enemy (Barth).73 As this shield was soaked with water, the fiery arrows of the enemy weren’t able to burn it up and leave the combatant defenseless. So, in this sense, a Christian is protected when they take up faith.


What is faith?
It’s that which protects the believer from the onslaught of the fiery darts. It’s that which acts like water. Water in the Scriptures can be considered as a type of the Word of God. An example of this is found in the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 5:25-26

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

The Apostle Paul emphatically told husbands to love their wives. They should love them, even as Christ also loved the church by His example of self-sacrificial love when He laid down His life for it so that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. The word cleanse describes how sanctification or holiness becomes a reality in the believer’s life. Inward purification takes place when the child of God appropriates the Word of God. As outward cleansing can be effectual by a bath of water, inward cleansing can be productive by applying the Word.


Let me leave you with a practical example of combating evil projections.
Recently, an unbeliever friend I’ve interacted with over the past many months has seemed to become distant. Phone calls have become less frequent and almost non-existent. When I’d visit this person, something just didn’t seem right. Usually, this individual would make a suggestion pertaining to helping him complete a construction project, whether this was a paid venture or not.

The Devil and his evil forces, if they so choose, could use this situation to project thoughts into my mind, such as, why is this person treating me this way? Did I do anything wrong? Did I say something to offend him? In my recent interactions with this person, I couldn’t find anything substantiating any of these thoughts I was contemplating.

I realized that it’s one thing to figure out if my thinking concerning this matter could be substantiated. However, letting these thoughts become a continual occupation in my mind is another thing. If or when they do, I must confess this preoccupation with these ideas as a sin to God the Father and replace them with God’s perspective.


What do I mean when I say I must replace these thoughts with God’s perspective?
Please go to the book of 1 Corinthians.

13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

One of the things that this verse says is that we, as believers, should believe all things. These words mean to credit no evil on any, but on the most positive evidence. They also suggest believing in the best of every person.

So, in order for this kind of evil projection to no longer continue to affect me, I must appropriate, memorize, and meditate upon the specific words of this verse and their meaning. When I do this, I’ll be occupied in my mind with God’s perspective; the aftereffect will be to avail myself of the peace of the Spirit and not the unrest of human perception.

To balance this, I didn’t say this was a projection from the Devil. Sometimes, it’s challenging to determine whether this came from him. Whether it’s from the forces of evil, ourselves, or our perception of others, we should act appropriately according to the Word of God.

We have one more weapon of the Devil to address: his deceitfulness of false teaching.
How does the Christian fight against this? Let’s find out.

FALSE TEACHING
When an unbeliever gets saved, having received the indwelling Holy Spirit, the memories, thoughts, and propensities of their flesh haven’t been eradicated. While they have a new nature, they’re at a loss as to how to consistently access God’s presence (peace, love, joy, etc.).

If they’ve been going to a particular faith where the preaching of the gospel has been non-existent, then in most cases, they’ll continue to attend to the various activities of said church. Even though they’re new creatures, they’ll be unable to learn about the new person they’ve become in Christ. Likewise, addressing the weaknesses of their flesh (sinful nature) by confessing their sins to God the Father and replacing these sinful thoughts with a divine viewpoint will be neglected because the kinds of teachings that would help them in this regard aren’t presented.

I can remember being accused by the leader of another faith of proselyting their members in the early years of the ministry. The issue, according to them, wasn’t whether the unbeliever needed to get saved but whether I was trying to dissuade them from attending their gatherings. Let me clarify: if an unbeliever were to hear the pure gospel and respond, thus becoming born-again, and I became aware that the church they were attending was religious (void of the Spirit), you bet I’d recommend that they no longer attend church.

It’s true , in many cases, that no two born-again Christian churches have identical doctrinal platforms. However, what they should have in common is preaching the pure gospel and relying on the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Religious churches rely only on the Word of God. In this setting, a Christian won’t grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. I can’t say I’m sorry if I offended a religious leader or institution in this declaration. If a believer is going to spend eternity with Christ, and they will, then it’s in their best interests to be involved with a Spirit-filled church right away, isn’t it?

As we learned in this study, the Devil tries to deceive the believer in false teaching through three avenues. Let’s recap this once more.

Let’s turn your Bible to the book of 2 Corinthians.

Suggested Reading: 2 Corinthians 11:3-20

4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

The Devil tries to deceive the believer:
● By preaching another Jesus.
● By receiving another spirit.
● By accepting another gospel.

The Apostle Paul was essentially saying to the Corinthians that you seem to be so eager to accept a new person when he comes and tells you about a different Jesus, who’s not the Jesus we told you about. And you happily pay attention when you receive a spirit and a message that are not like the Spirit and the [gospel message we] brought to you.74 This brings us to the following question.


What spiritual weapon should the believer use to combat the evil weapon of false teaching?
While Paul was aware that the believers at Corinth might submit readily to false teachers, his caution would be not to bear with (submit to, tolerate, accept) them. They had received enough teaching so that they should have been able to recognize false teaching and remove themselves from being a participant in listening to such. For new converts, this would probably be a decision they couldn’t make because they’d have little or no reference to what would characterize Spirit-filled teaching and what would exemplify religious instruction. The early church was continually dealing not only with false teaching but also with the inability of believers to remove themselves from it.

This is the way it is for many believers today. In certain situations, they’ve been severely hurt financially, sexually, or by an unreasonable exercise of power by those in leadership and have decided to attend no longer any church. For others, they’ve been involved in teaching that’s an admixture of Law and grace. And still, for others, the compelling sacrifice of time, talent, and treasure for being committed to being involved in a Spirit-filled church is overreaching.

Ultimately, each believer has to make up their mind concerning these scenarios. Each of us has a relationship with God. If the pure gospel is being preached, if you’re learning how to put on the new person, who you’ve been made to be at salvation, if you’re addressing your weaknesses, if you’re becoming aware of the gifts of the Spirit, you’ve been given at salvation and are utilizing them according to His prompting for the improvement of the body of Christ, then it sounds like you’re equipped to respond to any of these storylines according to the guidance in prayer, occupation with the Word of God, and the influences of the Holy Spirit.

I hope this study has enlightened you as to Who the Devil is. Who are his spiritual forces of evil? What are the evil weapons that he uses to prevent unbelievers from being saved? What are his tools in inhibiting believers from advancing in their walk with God? And how do we combat these hindrances?

Well, we’ve come to the end of this study. I want to leave you with some parting words.

Endnotes
68UBS.
69UBS.
70UBS.
71The Pulpit.
72The Bible Exposition.
73UBS.
74UBS.

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