3. What is our duty in standing against the attacks and temptations of satan?

Our duty is twofold.

1. We must resist the devil; we must resist him steadfastly in the faith.

The word “resist” (antistete) means to withstand the devil; to stand firm against him; to strive and struggle against him.

Note that we must be steadfast in our resistance. We must not…

➣        Let our guard down

➣        Slip one step

➣        Look at temptation one time

➣        Touch sin at all

➣        Taste a single bite of dishonesty

➣        Listen to one word of gossip

➣        Think a single thought of evil

➣        Give way to any desire of the Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes or the Pride of Life.

It might look good, taste good, and feel good, but we must resist the desire and lust and be steadfast in our resistance.

➣        We must not give in at all. Giving in one step leads to a second step, and before we know it, we have caved in and are engaged in the sin. Satan will devoured us.

Our duty is to resist the devil and to be steadfast in our resistance.

Note what it is that satan is after…. He trying to destroy the believer’s faith.

He wants the believer to deny their faith and …. to turn away from Christ.

The devil want to DESTROY your TESTIMONY and he tell you to say…

➣        “Oh come on! It won’t hurt you.”

➣        “Do your own thing.”

➣        “You’re a fool if you don’t get all you can.”

➣        “Its alright to lie, steal, cheat, and kill.”

➣        “Live, drink, and be merry.”

The temptation will always be there to turn you away from Christ and His righteousness…..

➣        And to turn you away from your faith and for you to return to the world and its ways.

➣        Our duty is to resist the devil steadfastly in the faith, trusting God for the necessary strength to conquer the temptation.

When a believer refuses to go along with the world and its ways, he is misunderstood, withdrawn from, ridiculed, mocked, abused, and persecuted by unbelievers.

✞        “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” – Romans 6:13.

✞        “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” – 1 Cor. 10:13.

✞        “26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.” – Ephes. 4:26-27.

✞        “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” – Ephes. 6:13.

✞        “Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil.” – Proverbs 4:14.

✞        “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7.

✞        “Be sober, be vigilant; because[a] your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8.

Every Christian’s faith will be tried and tested.

➣        It is part of God’s plan for His people to learn how to overcome and trust Him in difficulties and challenges times.

➣        This does not mean that we are to be fatalistic and accept every negative thing that comes into our way and our lives.

➣        We have been called to fight the good fight of faith.

➣        The key is to walk in fellowship and worship and praise the Lord in the midst of trials.

We are not praising God for the trials.

We are praising Him as an act of worship in the middle of a trials.

As Christians we are not to live “stressed-out” and “burnt-out” lives.

Part of being spiritual is learning how to cast our care upon God and let Him carry the load.

The secret is to be able to release those things to the Lord and to trust Him totally to take care of us.

satan hates Christians because their lives testify to the reality of Jesus. We are to recognize the fact that satan is actively looking for people to attack and destroy.

satan is a coward and bully who attacks people when they are weak and down.

If you commit your way to the Lord and walk under His umbrella of protection, you don’t have to fear satan.

The Lord will “Restore and get us Abundant Life”. David said with splendor and completeness…. The Lord… “Restores my Soul.”

This means He replaces “Spiritual Death with Spiritual Life”….

CONCLUSION:

Let’s look at John 3:16 in this light and ask ourselves why did God cares or loves us so much to have send His son as a sacrifice to save us.?

What is God saving us from?

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The Almighty God did this because he knows that the devil has come into the world for just one purpose only and that is to destroy the wonderful and masterpiece that He creates in His own image after His own likeness and that comprises of you and me.

Somebody praise the Almighty God for JESUS…….

We need to be totally committed to the Lord. I heard an illustration that was given by a Haitian pastor. He said…. A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. 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 protruding from just over the front door.

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

The Haitian pastor’s conclusion: “If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation.”

Christians must not fear being destroyed by satan…. nor ignore the his power, he can destroy and that is why 1 Peter 5:8 warns us by saying that we should “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

The hog nosed snake is an evil looking reptile which responds to the threat of danger with two tactical maneuver.

First, it impersonates a pit viper, coiling and striking and hissing viciously. If this fails to intimidate the attacker the snake turns belly up, opens its mouth and sticks its tongue out and play dead.

➣        If it is picked up and placed back on it’s belly it simply turns over again and resumes to play his game.

➣        As Born Again Believer…. we don’t have to play dead. We are covered and protected by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

✞        Jesus said in John 10:10 that “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

We are more than conqueror through the Lord Jesus Christ, so “You Better Be Aware and Put On The Whole Armor of God and Resist the Devil and He Will Flee.

Praise the LORD.