Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. So says James, the Lord's brother in James 4:7-10. Here it is:
"7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Really James? He will flee?
He makes it sound so easy doesn't he? That's my issue with James. He preaches these little vignettes about different moral issues and he makes it sound so simple. It's like he's giving us the spiritual version of, "Duh". It annoys me, but as I have pointed out before, Truth can do that. I just hate it when someone makes me feel stupid and lazy. You would think I'd be used to that by now.
I will just say it. The bluntness and clarity with which James writes hurts my feelings - yes I do have them. Sometimes he makes me flat out angry. Again, I think these emotional reactions are the result of hearing the truth. It is God's Spirit working through His Word, coaching me, making me better, making me try harder. Even so, a kinder, gentler James would have been nice.
James leaves me feeling convicted. Even though he does not directly condemn, I still feel convicted, like I need to do something.. He pushes me.
For those reasons alone, I recommend reading the epistle. James is motivational. He will make you think. And if we really follow his advice, the Devil will flee. The problem I think comes when we fail to put down the initial temptation and it progresses to contemplating sin. Once we reach that point, we have lost. The poison has entered the system.
In his review of Thomas Brooks 17th Century book, "Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices",
Tim Challies offers ten ways to resist the Devil.
1. Be Ruled by the Word. Make the Word of God your rule and
authority and live in obedience to all it says. It will keep you walking
straight and guard you from all manner of temptation. “When men throw
off the Word, then God throws off them, and then Satan takes them by the
hand, and leads them into snares at his pleasure.”
2. Beware of Grieving the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit
that gives the Christian the ability to discern Satan’s temptations and
to see his hand in and behind life’s circumstances. If you grieve the
Spirit, you drive off the one whose ministry involves guarding you
against Satan’s attacks.
3. Labor for Wisdom. There is a great difference between
knowledge and wisdom, between accumulating facts and applying Scripture
to those facts so they become wisdom. It is not the Christian with the
most knowledge, but the Christian with the most wisdom, who is equipped
to battle Satan’s temptations.
4. Resist the First Stirring of Temptation. It is safe to
resist temptation and dangerous to dabble in it. “He that will play with
Satan’s bait, will quickly be taken with Satan’s hook.” God promises
that we can resist temptation, not that we can resist sin once we have begun to dabble in that temptation.
5. Labor to Be Filled With the Spirit. The Spirit is a
Spirit of light and power. The Spirit’s light shines bright against the
darkness of sin and his power is sufficient to overcome all evil and
temptation. When it comes to fighting Satan’s temptations, it is better
to have a heart filled with the Spirit than a head filled with facts.
6. Keep Humble. A humble heart would rather lie in the dust
than rise to prominence by sinful means; it would prefer to lose
everything than to sin and be left with a guilty conscience. The humble
person is neither drawn in by what Satan offers, nor terrified by
his threats.
7. Be Constantly on Guard. A secure soul is a soul in a
position to be led astray and ensnared. “That soul that will not watch
against temptations, will certainly fall before the power of
temptations.” Satan strengthens his assaults when the soul grows drowsy
and careless. So be constantly on guard. “Watchfulness is nothing else
but the soul running up and down, to and fro, busy everywhere; it is the
heart busied and employed with diligent observation of what comes from
within us, and of what comes from without us and into us.”
8. Continue Communing With God. It is as you join in
communion with God that he gives you strength to resist Satan’s attacks.
“A soul high in communion with God may be tempted, but will not easily
be conquered. Such a soul will fight it out to the death.” Take full
advantage of God’s means of grace.
9. Do Not Engage Satan In Your Own Strength. You need to
draw the power, and even the desire, to resist sin from Jesus Christ and
you need to do this every day. “Certainly that soul that engages
against any old or new temptation without new strength, new influences
from on high, will fall before the power of new temptation.” Commune
with God, be on guard, be humble—do all of these things! But do not rely
on them in the battle; instead, rely on Christ.
10. Pray Constantly. “Prayer is a shelter to the soul, a
sacrifice to God and a scourge to the devil.” So pray and pray
constantly. Tell God of your own inability to detect and respond to
temptation; tell him that you are utterly dependent upon his grace; tell
God that Christ’s blood has been applied to you; tell God that you are
his child; ask God to deliver you from temptation for the glory of
his name.
Some good stuff there.
