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Chapter 3: The Armor of Satan: Pride is part of Satan’s Armor. In James 4:5-7 the Apostle James
warns the Believers that God resists the Proud.” More to the Point: If we want to resist the devil, we had
better make sure God is not resisting us. Christians
who have Pride in their lives cannot participate in Spiritual Warfare at the
Gate of their Enemies nor at the Border if they have pride in their lives as
Satan knows that God will resist the proud and that is why Pride is the first
piece of spiritual armor that Satan wants the Believer to put on. Ephesians 6 reveals that we are
to put on the “Armor of God” – and given that Satan wants to be like God – we
should not be surprised that Satan has his own Armor. The
Armor of Satan: In James 4:5-7 the Apostle James warns
the Believers that God resists the Proud.”
James 4:5-7 5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain,
“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil
and he will flee from you. NKJV More to the Point: If we want to resist the devil, we had better make sure God is
not resisting us. The Armor of Satan Throughout this book I have written quite a lot about the “Armor
of God” that Christians should put on as recorded in Ephesians 6. However, what about the Secular Christian
(1 Corinthians 3) who thinks more highly of themselves than they should
(Romans 12:3) that the Apostle Paul tells to examine themselves to make sure
their faith is genuine (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Or, what about a Judas who was under the influence of Satan. Whose armor are they putting on? Well, they are certainly not putting on
the Armor of God, which means the only armor they are putting on is the
“Armor of Satan.” More to the point, the Carnal
Christian who is controlled by their sinful nature and who is dealing with
pride should not even attempt to stand in a Gateway on a Border. I have met many Carnal Christians who read
a book about Spiritual Warfare and unfortunately they come to the conclusion
on their own that hey, this is something they would like to do even though
they do not have the calling nor the gifts of the Holy Spirit to equip them
to engage in Spiritual Warfare. We
know from Romans 12 that not all Christians have the same calling or gifts of
the Holy Spirit and that is why Paul gave the following warning to the
Believers: Romans 12:3-8 3 Because of the privilege and authority
God has given me, I give each of you
this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of
yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and
each part has a special function, 5 so
it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to
each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for
doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to
prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them
well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If
your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give
generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility
seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it
gladly. NLT A Judas and the Carnal Christian who is controlled by their
sinful nature who are under the influence of Satan yet want to engage in
spiritual warfare may find themselves in the same situation that the “Seven
Sons of Sceva” found themselves in. The Seven Sons of Sceva: Acts 19:13-16 13 A group of Jews was traveling from town
to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord
Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom
Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven
sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 15 But one time when they tried it, the evil
spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped
on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they
fled from the house, naked and battered. NLT More to the Point: Again, if we want to resist the devil, we had better make sure
God is not resisting us. I want to
stress this point because I have met more than one Believer who has been
attacked by Satan because they are trying to cast out demons and stand in a
Gateway or on a Border and take authority over Satan when they have pride in
their lives and think more highly of themselves than they ought. The “Armor of Satan”: The most important
piece of Satan’s Armor is “Pride” because Satan knows that it is a Biblical
Principle that God has to Resist the Proud and that includes a “Proud
Christian.” James 4 was written to Christians: James 4:5-7 5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain,
“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil
and he will flee from you. NKJV Take note, James is addressing the Believers. And, this particular Christian cannot stand in the Gate of the
Enemy and turn the battle away from the Church. God
has His Armor (Ephesians 6) and Satan has his spiritual armor: pride! Anyone
who has pride in their lives is wearing the “Armor of Darkness.” Excerpts
from an article, “Recognizing and Defeating the Powers of Darkness,” by
George Otis, Jr. Much of the following is an excerpt from an article,
“Recognizing and Defeating the Powers of Darkness” written by George Otis, Jr. published in the
“International Journal of Frontier Missions Vol. 15:4, Oct.-Dec., 1998. Beginning
of Excerpt: “From the moment this lethal and unholy poison bubbled out of
the secret recesses of Lucifer’s heart, it has brought nothing but pain to
the heart of God. Of all the forces at work in the universe, none is more
destructive or antithetical to heavenly principles. For this reason we are told that “God opposes [or resists] the
proud but gives grace to the humble.”
This proverb, quoted twice in the New Testament, is linked
contextually in both instances to spiritual warfare. And for good reason! If
we want to resist the devil, we had better make sure God is not resisting us. Humility
comes, as successful spiritual warriors have learned, from seeing God—and the
devil too—for who they really are. One such warrior, the great reformer Martin Luther,
preserved his insights on the subject in the words of the classic hymn “A
Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” End
of Excerpt It’s
a Biblical Principal that God has to Resist the Proud: The Proud Christian, and there
are many, are so blinded by their pride that they can’t even detect or hate
their sin of pride (Psalm 36) and they even believe that God will not detect
their sin of pride. The proud
Christian doesn’t understand that according to God’s Word that God who put
His Word above His own Name (Psalm 138:2) has no choice other than oppose the
proud – otherwise God would not be a just God. It’s a Biblical Principle that
God will Resist the Proud If God resists the Proud
Christian, he will not be able to Resist his “Spiritual Enemies” And, that’s exactly what Satan
wants: A Proud Christian In Essence the Proud Christian is
unknowingly putting on the “Armor of Satan” Christians
who unknowingly put on the “Armor of Satan”: Whether they understand it or not a Proud
Christian is a Christian who has put on the “Armor of Satan.” Has the Christian forgotten that Satan fell
because of his Pride? The Armor of God and the Armor of Satan Ephesians 6:13 Therefore, put on the
complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground
in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis
demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable,
victorious]. Amplified Bible James 4:5-7 5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain,
“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil
and he will flee from you. NKJV All throughout Scripture God Warns Against Pride Because God
will Resist the Proud! Excerpt
– Continued Battlefield
Protection Recognizing
and Defeating the Powers of Darkness While some Christians are content to explain such incidents of
attack as the natural, if unfortunate, consequences of mundane forces, I find
this attitude a form of denial. By minimizing the influence that spiritual
powers have over human lives and habitats, these individuals hope to limit
their vulnerability. If their view does not make them any safer, it at least
makes them feel more modern. The Scriptures, however, offer no such harbor. From Genesis to
Revelation, we are reminded that activist Christian living is inextricably
bound up with the spiritual world—a world that consists not of abstract
forces or laws, but of powerful and interested personalities. And because we
are the focus of their interest, few happenings in ministry can truly be
called coincidence. Demonic powers have never been shy about getting in the way of
God’s servants. Satan, who stood as accuser at the right hand of Joshua (see
Zechariah 3:1), is also on record as having afflicted Job with painful sores
(see Job 2:7), tampered with Daniel’s intercessory mail (see Daniel 10:12-
13) and tried repeatedly to distract Jesus from His mission (see Matthew
16:21-23; Luke 4:1-3). The apostle Paul lamented to the Thessalonians, “We
wanted to come to you, certainly I, Paul, did, again and again, but Satan
stopped [hindered] us” (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Despite these examples, many Christians today hold the view that
the enemy is best ignored. I can still remember the indignity of one
Pentecostal man who approached me alter I had concluded a teaching on
spiritual warfare. Calling my accounts of demonic assaults on Christian
workers “lurid,” he asserted that Satan can only be empowered by such
attention. The best approach to dealing with the enemy, he insisted, is to
dismiss him. But the apostle Peter seems to commend a different approach. “Be
self-controlled and alert,” he urges. “Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him (1 Peter 5:8-9,
emphasis added). James offers similar advice. After instructing believers in
his brief epistle to submit themselves to God, he adds the proactive charge,
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7, emphasis added).
Passive neglect, as these biblical writers well understood, is a poor tactic
against an adversary who blatantly and frequently refuses to be ignored. Surviving the enemy’s gauntlet of snares, however, is not a task
to be taken lightly. As many well-meaning believers have learned (often too
late), Satan is a cunning and relentless adversary, a devious wizard whose
mastery of the dark arts enables him to fashion salacious temptations or
fling fiery darts with equal ease. Nor are these devices directed solely at
the weak and wayward. If the experiences of Job, Daniel and Paul tell us
anything, it is that men and women are not invulnerable to trouble simply
because their intentions and ministries please heaven. If Satan is audacious
enough to tempt the Son of God and impede an angelic messenger dispatched by
the Almighty, we can hardly expect him to steer clear of us! Where, then, does this leave us? If spiritual invulnerability is
an unattainable goal, can we not at least make ourselves more elusive
targets’? The answer is yes. While we cannot put on a magic suit or claim an
exemption from battle, God’s Word does present us with six tried-and-true steps
that, if followed, promise added protection. Latter-day warriors should
review them carefully. Cultivate Humility: Scripture
presents humility as a divine requirement (see Micah 6:8) and an endearing
characteristic (see 2 Chronicles 33:12-13; Isaiah 57:15; 1 Peter 5:5-6). It
is also a potent moral weapon in the battle against pride—a deceptive power
that Francis Frangipane calls “the
armor of darkness itself.” If God is drawn to humility, He abhors pride. From the moment this lethal and unholy poison bubbled out of the
secret recesses of Lucifer’s heart, it has brought nothing but pain to the
heart of God. Of all the forces at work in the universe, none is more
destructive or antithetical to heavenly principles. For this reason we are told that “God opposes [or resists] the
proud but gives grace to the humble.”
This proverb, quoted twice in the New Testament, is linked
contextually in both instances to spiritual warfare. And for good reason! If we want to resist the devil, we had better make sure
God is not resisting us. Humility comes, as successful spiritual
warriors have learned, from seeing God—and the devil too—for who they really
are. One such warrior, the great reformer Martin Luther, preserved
his insights on the subject in the words of the classic hymn “A Mighty
Fortress Is Our God.” Speaking first of our adversary, Luther penned (in the
original): The old, evil Enemy is determined to get us; He makes his vicious
plans With great might and cruel cunning; Nothing on earth is like him. In the last line (later translated as “On earth is not his
equal”), Luther rightly acknowledged Satan as a higher-dimensional being
whose power and cunning on terms are unmatched. However, after giving the devil his due Luther moved quickly to
the other side of the equation: But if the right man [Christ] is on our side,
One little word shall fell him. In this magnificently balanced theology, Luther acknowledged two
important truths. First, Satan’s power is such that we cannot defeat him in
our own strength-ever. Second, Christ’s power is such that Satan cannot
defeat Him in his own strength ever. While there is an obvious strategy in
these profound mismatches, it is visible only to the humble. Underestimating
either of these supernatural combatants will lead to certain defeat. Although some critics have accused the contemporary spiritual
warfare movement of ignoring divine sovereignty, I have not observed this to
be a serious problem. What I have found, at
least among Western Christians, is a tendency toward unqualified
triumphalism, a kind of swaggering religious play-acting that belittles the
capabilities of the enemy and incites believers into battle without first
ensuring that “the right man” is indeed on their side. To these
believers, the devil is little more than an abstract punching bag, an
ethereal bogey man at whom they can hurl epithets and chant cliches. Such bravado before the enemy, far from being a badge of
experience, is a sure sign that these believers have never seen their
reflection in his malignant, bloodshot eyes. Like
a naive child toying with a cobra, they have no idea what (or whom) they are
dealing with. As the sons of Sceva discovered, cockiness has no place in
spiritual warfare (see Acts 19:13-16). ….. Walking
in Obedience: The second ingredient for spiritual protection is
obedience. Some may consider this requirement too general or simplistic to
include in a list of practical advice. But the hard fact is, human
presumption is among the most common attractors to the demonic. In the arena of spiritual warfare, the
devil is concerned less about the words cast in his direction than about who
is doing the talking (see Acts 19:15). When it comes time
to size up an adversary, he has one primary question: Does this person have
an active relational link with God? In Scripture, this link involves not only
hearing but hearkening to the voice of the Lord. Whereas the former
affords us knowledge of God’s will, the latter indicates that we intend to do
it. The prophet Samuel declared that “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1
Samuel 15:22), for one simple reason: With sacrifice, we
decide what God will get; with obedience, we give God what He asks for. Walking
in obedience not only makes us safer by limiting enemy inroads into our
lives; it also allows God to defend His own purposes. While this support does not prevent the devil
from taking his best shot (witness Elijah, Mordecai and Paul), it does make
us more difficult targets. God can also intervene on our behalf without our
even knowing about it. When the
Moabite king Balak endeavored to curse the Israelites through the sorcerer
Balaam, God’s Spirit caused the well-known oracle to pronounce a blessing
instead (see Numbers 23-24).” End of Excerpt The above should get the attention of all Believers who have any
pride in their lives because at some point in their lives they will find themselves
in a situation where they will need to resist the devil. And, when that time comes they want to make sure that God is not
resisting them After all, wasn’t Pride the Main
reason Satan fell – Isaiah 14:12-14 |