Actively Fight Against

Let’s take a look at a sermon preached by my Pastor, Victor Hudson, titled “Keeping the pressure on Satan.” This sermon tackles strategies on how to fight the devil and achieve victory.

Oftentimes in our walk with Christ, we experience both victories and failures. Since the fall of Adam, it is in our human nature to fail daily. Sin was the entire mission of Jesus Christ. As believers, we must stay encouraged that our failures have been paid for. However, we cannot abuse the grace that Christ gave us. Knowing this, every believer definitely gets to a point in their life where they have had enough with their struggles. They desire complete, not just temporary, victory in order to do the will of the Father.

“The devil is only on your trail because you have been called to greatness.” –Pastor Vic

James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (NKJV) It is very easy to skip over the first part of the verse and jump to the end. But let’s take a look at the middle, where it says, “Resist the devil.” How do you resist the devil? I like my Pastor’s definition for the word resist, “ACTIVELY FIGHT AGAINST!” In order to resist the devil we must actively fight against the temptations he sends our way. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, did an awesome job at actively fighting against Satan. 

The devil continued to tempt Jesus while He was fasting for forty days in the wilderness. But Jesus continued to actively fight against Satan and like the Word says, the devil fled. However, Satan came back to tempt him. “And when the devil ended all the temptation, he departed for a season.” (Luke 4:13 NKJV) Once you defeat Satan, you must remember that he will always return for a more opportune time. Therefore, continue to put the pressure on him. Two chapters over, in Luke 6, we see Jesus has not ceased putting pressure on Satan. Verse 12 says, “And it came to pass in those days, the He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (NKJV) Christ put so much pressure on Satan that he did not dare to return to tempt Him. 

“The more pressure you put on the devil, the more he flees. The more he flees, the more he does not want to return” –Pastor Vic

We can clearly see that even Jesus had to continue to put pressure on Satan to achieve total victory. So how did He do it? How did Jesus put the pressure on the devil? He began to do radical things that caught Satan off guard. In Luke 6:12, Jesus prayed ALL NIGHT. NOW THAT IS RADICAL!

If you are going to win in 2012, you have to start being radical about your victory to come. One great radical strategy is fasting. Our Savior showed us the power of fasting in Luke 4. When you deny your flesh what it desires, your spirit man strengthens. Another strategy is to isolate yourself for a season. Even Jesus isolated himself for forty days. So turn off your cell phone; even deactivate your Facebook account if you have to. Get in a solitary state where all you "hear" is the Lord’s voice. Radical strategies like these will definitely bring you victory in resisting the devil.

Any victory in life does not come easy. Although, we know that we have been made victorious through Christ in Romans 8:37, we must take action to achieve this. James 2:17 says it clearly, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.” (WEB) We can say Romans 8:37 a million times but still never receive victory because we haven’t put our faith into action. In order to resist the devil we must, ACTIVELY FIGHT AGAINST. After you defeated him once, continue to put the pressure on him. Begin to use radical strategies, such as fasting and isolation to keep the pressure on him. Also remember, Satan will always come back. But make him fear returning to you by resisting his every move! Ask yourself questions like, “Am I being radical enough to achieve victory?” It’s up to you now!