PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

Withstanding Satan by Faith

With this issue we continue our fellowship concerning the attacks of Satan giving particular attention to the way to withstand them. This matter is critical; we must stand not only for our own sake, but also for the sake of our children. Satan's harassment is upon all the children of God and upon all those who are in the families exercising faith in Christ. We must learn to exercise our faith, trusting in the prevailing accomplishments of the Lord Jesus and the effectiveness of His blood. Watchman Nee offers us keen insights and clear instructions concerning the objects of our faith whereby we will be able to withstand Satan.

The temptations of Satan come primarily through our mind; thoughts are subtly planted into our mind unconsciously. If we accept the thought and continue to dwell on it, it will become a snare to us. But if we learn to reject his attacks on our mind, we will close off the only entrance his temptations have. Watchman Nee tells us that to reject Satan's thoughts is not difficult:

How do we reject thoughts from Satan? It is easy to reject these thoughts. God has given us our mind; it is ours, not Satan's. We are the only ones who have the right to use our mind; Satan has no authority over our mind. All we need to do is not allow him to think. Satan can only usurp our mind with deception. He will give us a thought, and we may think that this thought is ours. Actually, it is from Satan. As soon as we recognize that it is not ours, we have overcome....

First Peter 5:8-9 says, "Be sober; watch. Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking someone to devour. Him withstand, being firm in your faith." God's Word shows us clearly that the way to withstand Satan is by faith. There is no other way to withstand him. What should our faith rest on? How should we exercise our faith to withstand him? Let us consider what the Word of God says concerning this.

A. Believing That the Lord's Manifestation Is to Destroy the Works of the Devil

First, we must believe that the Lord was manifested for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). The Son of God has come to the earth; He was manifested. When He was on earth, He destroyed the work of the devil wherever He went. Often Satan's work was not obvious; he hid behind natural phenomena. However, the Lord rebuked him every time. It is clear that He was rebuking Satan when He rebuked Peter's speaking (Matthew 16:22-23), when He rebuked the fever of Peter's mother-in-law (Luke 4:39), and when He rebuked the winds and the waves. Although the devil hid behind many natural phenomena, the Lord Jesus rebuked him. Wherever the Lord went, the power of the devil was shattered. This is why He said, "But if I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Matthew 12:28). In other words, wherever the Lord went, Satan was cast out, and the kingdom of God was manifested. Satan could not remain where the Lord was. This is why He said that He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.

We should also believe that in manifesting Himself on the earth, the Lord not only destroyed the works of the devil, but also gave authority to His disciples to cast out demons in His name. The Lord said, "Behold, I have given you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19). He gave His name to the church so that His church might continue His work on earth after His ascension. The Lord used His authority on earth to cast out demons. He also gave this authority to the church.

We must distinguish between what the devil has and what we have. What the devil has is power. What we have is authority. All that Satan has is power. But the Lord Jesus has given us authority, which can overcome all the power of Satan. Power cannot prevail over authority. God has given us authority, and Satan will surely fail.

Consider an illustration of how authority overcomes power: A traffic light on a road controls traffic. When a policeman turns on the red light, all pedestrians and cars have to stop. No one is allowed to dash through a red light. The pedestrians and cars are much more powerful than the red light in terms of power. However, no pedestrian or driver will dare dash through the red light because of the presence of authority. This is an example of authority prevailing over power.

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