No Room for the Devil

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

 

PONDER THIS

Do you know what the word malice means? Malice is a desire to hurt somebody. Have you felt that way before? Someone has made you so mad you want them to hurt. You may not know you’ve just let the devil in. The devil can take no place except what you give him. You have gone from valuing another’s life to specifically wanting to hurt that person.

The next right response is repentance. There’s one thing God will not accept for sin: an excuse. You may feel like you’ve got rights. You don’t have any more rights than a dead man; you’ve been crucified with Christ. You’re not your own; you’re bought with a price. You’re to glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. There must be repentance—not just being broken over your sin, but being broken from your sin. Put it away; be done with it.

What are some ways you might be giving the enemy a foothold in your life?

Why is repentance such an important part of our faith? What are some reasons we avoid it?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask God to reveal any areas where you have given the enemy a foothold and repent of that sin.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Bible Study

Isaiah 43:2

    [2] When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

        and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

    when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

        and the flame shall not consume you.

Isaiah 40:29-31

    [29] He gives power to the faint,

        and to him who has no might he increases strength. 

    [30] Even youths shall faint and be weary,

        and young men shall fall exhausted; 

    [31] but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

        they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

    they shall run and not be weary;

        they shall walk and not faint.

Philippians 4:13

[13] I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

1 Corinthians 2:5

[5] so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Sin, Satan, Sickness, or Sabotage

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)

Is the suffering that comes to the Christian because of persecution the same as the suffering that comes from cancer? Do the promises given to one apply to the other? My answer is yes. All of life, if it is lived earnestly by faith in the pursuit of God’s glory and the salvation of others, will meet with some kind of obstacle and suffering. The suffering that comes to the obedient Christian is part of the price of living where you are in obedience to the call of God.

In choosing to follow Christ in the way he directs, we choose all that this path includes under his sovereign providence. Thus, all suffering that comes in the path of obedience is suffering with Christ and for Christ — whether it is cancer at home or persecution far away.

And it is “chosen” — that is, we willingly take the path of obedience where the suffering befalls us, and we do not murmur against God. We may pray — as Paul did — that the suffering be removed (2 Corinthians 12:8); but if God wills, we embrace it as part of the cost of discipleship in the path of obedience on the way to heaven.

All experiences of suffering in the path of Christian obedience, whether from persecution or sickness or accident, have this in common: They all threaten our faith in the goodness of God, and tempt us to leave the path of obedience.

Therefore, every triumph of faith, and all perseverance in obedience, are testimonies to the goodness of God and the preciousness of Christ — whether the enemy is sickness, Satan, sin, or sabotage. Therefore, all suffering, of every kind, that we endure in the path of our Christian calling is a suffering “with Christ” and “for Christ.”

With him in the sense that the suffering comes to us as we are walking with him by faith, and in the sense that it is endured in the strength he supplies through his sympathizing high-priestly ministry to us (Hebrews 4:15).

And for him in the sense that the suffering tests and proves our allegiance to his goodness and power, and in the sense that it reveals his worth as an all-sufficient compensation and prize.

John Piper 

Oppression and Obsession

“Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, ‘Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be quiet, and come out of him!’ And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.” MARK 1:23-26

 

PONDER THIS

I once thought that if I could avoid sin, I would not face spiritual warfare. But you can be perfectly righteous and still do battle with the devil. Jesus did. The devil came to Jesus to oppress Him.

The devil works through oppression but also obsession. That’s when something fills your mind, consumes your energy, and drives you in a particular way. Many people are obsessed with money. A businessman may be respected in America today, but he may have an obsession. He's not making money; he's just keeping score. He doesn't need any more money, but he can't stop. He has an obsession. Others are obsessed with maintaining their image. Their vanity has become an obsession that drives every decision they make, from what they wear to what they say. So many times, these obsessions blind us instead of moving us toward God in repentance. You may feel like you are in control, but there is a spiritual battle at war for your soul.

Where do you feel oppressed or obsessed in your life? What might this indicate about spiritual battle?

How can we seek to balance daily interests in good things so they don’t become unhealthy obsessions?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess the ways you have been, or are currently feeling, tempted. Ask God to help you focus on Him and follow His way.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Bible Study

Ephesians 1:21-23

[21] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. [22] And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Colossians 1:13-15

[13] He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Ephesians 3:10-12

[10] so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, [12] in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Ephesians 1:3-6

[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Radical Recompense

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29–30)

What Jesus means here is that he himself makes up for every sacrifice.

If you give up a mother’s nearby affection and concern, you get back one hundred times the affection and concern from the ever-present Christ.

If you give up the warm comradeship of a brother, you get back one hundred times the warmth and comradeship of Christ.

If you give up the sense of at-homeness you had in your house, you get back one hundred times the comfort and security of knowing that your Lord owns every house.

To prospective missionaries, Jesus says, “I promise to work for you, and be for you, so much that you will not be able to speak of having sacrificed anything.”

What was Jesus’s attitude to Peter’s “sacrificial” spirit? Peter said, “We have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28). Is this the spirit of “self-denial” commended by Jesus? No, it is rebuked.

Jesus said to Peter, “No one ever sacrifices anything for me that I do not pay back a hundredfold — yes, in one sense even in this life, not to mention eternal life in the age to come.”

John Piper 

The War We Often Miss

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."EPHESIANS 6:12

 

PONDER THIS

There is a spiritual world. Some will laugh at the idea of demons and spirits, and they may be somewhat amazed that a supposedly educated man would teach about the reality of demons. The problem is, there is no way possible that you can take the Bible at face value and deny the reality of the demonic.

It will be a great day in America when people learn everything spiritual is not necessarily good. There is spiritual righteousness and spiritual wickedness. Our battle is not primarily any earthly power. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood; we are wrestling against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. And the reason we don't win the battle many times is we don't show up for the war. We don't even know where the war is. And therefore, we go down in defeat. God has given us the means to be prepared if we will come to Him.

What are your beliefs about the spiritual realm? What does the Bible say compared with how you typically operate?

How does recognizing there are spiritual battles change how you deal with the challenges of today?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask a pastor what he has learned about spiritual warfare. Ask how you can grow in awareness and preparedness.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers