Part I—Surveying the Field of Operations

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the [‘your’RV] faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”* (1 Peter 5:8-9)

If I do not resist the devil, things very soon go wrong with me. I know that he is my adversary, and if I become unwatchful and unguarded, he surely, though perhaps slowly, gains on me, and God’s work is hindered. If you’re a true child of God, you are no exception to the rule. Satan will oppose you and challenge you, but remember that in Christ you may always triumph.

Satan is a powerful foe. No human being can hope to cope with him. The believer cannot take the offensive against him, but he can resist him. The word resist means “to withstand, to be firm against someone else’s onset.”

The word resist also indicates that we are not to flee from this enemy. Courage is called for in this fight, and courage God will give His child. Satan and his forces have to flee when the Christian stands his ground in the might of the Lord. Our standing, or maintaining our ground, is the goal in this battle (Ephesians 6:13).

The book of Ephesians gives ample proof that God will provide His child with the needed strength for the conflict. In chapter 1, verse 19, we read of the “exceeding greatness of his [the Father’s] power to usward who believe.”* (Ephesians 1:19) In the sixth chapter, the armor for the conflict points to Christ. In verse 18 of the same chapter the Holy Spirit’s contribution to our help in the warfare is emphatically expressed. It is through prayer, controlled and directed by the Holy Spirit, that we put on the armor, which is Christ, and find ourselves empowered by the Father. Each member of the Trinity has a part in the believer’s victory over the evil one. We must always remember that our help lies in God and not ourselves. Humble yourself under God’s hand, and He will exalt you (1 Peter 5:6).

Let it be added here that there is only one devil, but there are a myriad of subordinate spirits operating under Satan unseen. Usually our personal combat is with these, but I have almost exclusively adopted the word devil as a general and all-embracing term.