Resistance is Vital!

Transcript S3E6

Resistance is Vital!

[00:09] 

Hello, I'm Tony Kostas, and welcome to Led Into Love.

[00:13] 

Following on from last time when I was speaking about God taking back His world, my heart's been stirred to take this a bit further with you now. Because in talking about that, I also referenced to our enemy … God's enemy … the devil, who originally usurped this world by leading Adam and Eve to disobey God. And that since then he has ruled the world that he has absolutely no right to, so that he can assert himself over God. Not because he can do it to God, but by asserting himself over the people that are made in God's image – the people who are humankind. This world of humanity that the devil took away, that God is taking back now.

This is very real. This is not like some fantasy. This is reality. This is the reality that we live in. This is the reality of this world that is falling apart around us – because the devil who took it off God can only steal, kill and destroy.

[01:19] 

Just as God is the life-giver, the devil is absolutely the death-giver, the death-dealer, the one who destroys while God creates. The devil has never created anything, but he destroys everything inevitably - because that's his nature.

So now I don't want to focus on him per se, but I do want to talk with you about your dealings with the devil. But don't let that spook you – and I hope it doesn't attract you at all! But I'll explain.

You may have come across a term – it's often used in movies or dramatic stories, and I believe it became well known for those who followed Star Trek … which I never did. But it's a term where a vicious enemy says to those who might be possibly opposing him or might have an intention to oppose him, just to stop them in their tracks. He says, “Resistance is futile. Don't even think about it. Resistance is futile!”

[02:26] 

Well, I want to draw to your attention two Bible verses that are going to lead into what I want to say to you right now. 

One of them is written by the apostle Peter – 1 Peter, chapter 5: 8 & 9. He says: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith,

[02:58] because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

In other words, wherever there are people who believe – who are true believers, who are living for God – they're targets of the devil. The devil is like a ravenous roaring lion looking for prey. But Peter says, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”

The faith isn't talking about, ‘what doctrines do you believe?’ Or ‘are you a Christian? And ‘what do you believe about Christianity?’The faith is your living relationship with God … what exists between you and God. Standing firm in that.

Another disciple of Jesus – James - wrote in James, chapter 4, verse 7: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Get that? That sums it up beautifully. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Now the devil would like to be that person that I quoted before, who would say to you: “Resistance is futile! Don't think about it. Don't waste your energy. You cannot win.” That's what he says to you. But I want to say to you right now that resistance is notfutile, it is vital.

[04:21]

So, I want to read to you now from something that the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, when he was talking to them about the same kind of thing and the things they were facing as God's people.

Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 11 to 17. It's well known amongst Christians. One of the problems with this kind of thing is that these things – I often say this, I know – but Christians … so many Christians … so many Bible believing Christians … know a lot of these scriptures. But they know them well enough to have familiarity. Not well enough to actually get what God is saying through them.

I want to tell you what God is saying through them. Because when Paul wrote these words, he wasn't writing a book for the Bible. Paul was writing to this church in Ephesus. A city in Asia Minor, a real place where real people who knew nothing about the living God … people who had worshipped another God … people who left their religious belief at great risk and great cost to themselves (and Paul got a pretty rough treatment at Ephesus himself). These people who were living in these circumstances – this was real to them. They were living in a hostile environment because they had become followers of Jesus.

You have heard these words before. You may know them very well – but listen attentively because of what I'm going to say about them.

[05:49] 

“Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armour of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you've done everything to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”

[06:47] 

Okay, now this is not a Bible study. I'm not trying to give you an exposition of scriptures. I'm trying to share with you what these words that the apostle Paul – the great apostle who was great, not in the eyes of this world, but great because he became such a passionate lover of Jesus and a privileged apostle, who gave his life to draw people to Jesus and who carried these people on his heart and knew what they were facing. And I want to share that with you from my heart, because this is the reality if you want to live for God. 

But here, in these words of Paul, here you see what God has provided. And all it requires of you is the same thing it required of the people that Paul wrote it to – it required of Paul himself to take, as it says here, the full armour of God. And you can stand against the devil's schemes. 

He's absolutely uncompromising in every way. It's a very dangerous thing to claim to be a believer in Jesus and then to try and live for him, and even represent him in this world, devoid of what God provides to give you what you need to resist the devil. The armour of God is such a beautiful representation here of what God's provided.

[08:21] 

Make no mistake about it. The devil is real. The battle is real. Your part in it as one of God's people is real. Let's settle that. It's real! Ignore this at your peril. The only real danger is that you choose to not put on the armour that God has provided. That's the only danger. Put it on, and the devil is powerless against you. Without the armour of God, though, every one of us is powerless. I am powerless and you are powerless, if you try to live for God without what God has provided.

With God's armour – with what God has provided – we are more than conquerors. More than conquerors!

I'm going to go through this armour of God. Again, I'm not giving you a Bible study about it. I'm speaking to your heart so that you can see what can exist between you and God and how you are not at the mercy of the enemy of God. And that resistance, rather than being futile, is actually vital.

[09:33] 

Firstly, Paul wrote about the belt of truth wrapped around you.

Now in those days, you know, you have the picture of a soldier. And he would … whatever clothes he was wearing in that context in Paul's time … and he would need to make sure that everything was, tucked in, wrapped together, so there'd be no loose ends, no distractions, no hindrances. Everything strapped together, tucked in and out of the way.

Now, the Belt of Truth. What is the Belt of Truth? Now remember, the emphasis here is not on the belt. It's the truth. What is the truth?

Don't try and picture a belt. Think of the truth. The truth is what God speaks to your heart. If you are living in intimate, personal relationship with God, you know things in your heart. God can speak to you in many ways. And when He speaks and you know His truth … God loves to reveal truth.

Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth. He told His disciples that when the Spirit of truth has come, He would lead them into all truth. He leads us into all truth.

Now, what you know is true in your heart is what you wrap around yourself. Years ago, I used to talk about wrapping ourselves around God's truth. But then I realized, actually what this is about is wrapping the truth around you. Because if you wrap yourself around the truth, you say, “Right, I take hold of this, I believe this.” Then you're still in control. Like you're the guy that actually has decided to wrap yourself around it or wrap your arms around it, if you like – however you want to picture it – wrap your mind around it. And that keeps you in control. You can loosen your grip, you can let it go. 

But when you wrap the truth – God's truth – around yourself, you are submitting to the truth that you know in your heart … and that binds you to God. You are bound to the truth of God – what you know in your heart to be true.

And remember … I love these words in the Bible that say, “Let God be true and every man a liar”. When God says it's true – when you know in your heart that it's true – wrap it around you.

[11:57] 

Living by all of the truth all of the time is so vital. Not some of the truth some of the time. It is very easy and very tempting. And this is the problem – like, this casual relationship that too many Christians have, where they can pick something up and put it down. They can pick up a truth and live by it, or respond to it, when it suits them and kind of just let it go some other time.

The truth is the truth. How foolish we are if we don't live by the truth … live by all the truth all the time. Not some of the truth, some of the time. Otherwise your life will be like a juggling act. It will be full of loose ends and distractions and hindrances. Sometimes you'll have great experiences with God or with God's people or things will happen in your life. And other times, because you've kind of let it go and neglected it, you won't be living in the truth. And you'll be available. You'll be subject to distractions and hindrances and, lots of times, to temptation.

Jesus said,”If you continue in my truth, then you are my disciples, and you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” God's truth sets you free. Live in the truth. Live with the truth wrapped around you and it keeps you free. And that keeps you from … like the soldier's belt, keeps you from hindrances and distractions and loose ends in your life.

[13:25] 

And Paul says, “Take the breastplate of righteousness.”

Now again, don't think of the breastplate. Sure, picture a breastplate because Paul used the illustration. But the emphasis here is righteousness.

Righteousness is a breastplate because a soldier's breastplate was body-armour. It protected his heart and all his vital organs. Now the breastplate that God provides righteousness protects our heart. 

Now you know that I'm not talking about our physical heart. When we speak about our hearts, it's a very real thing. It's the core of my being, the centre of my being. It's synonymous with using the word ‘spirit’. I have a spirit given to me by God and in that spirit, God speaks to me. God gives me life in my spirit. And my spirit becomes one with His spirit.

Your spirit is the centre of your relationship with God. It's the command-and-control centre of your life with God. Therefore, just like any opposing army that wants to get at another army, they strike at the command-and-control centre, because that's the heart beating heart of that army and the command-and-control-centre of your heart is from where God speaks to you – and you have the awareness of God and you sense God. 

Now, because of your heart being that command-and-control centre, it's the devil's prime target.

The devil will aim at that. That's why God has provided the breastplate of righteousness … being righteous. 

[15:10]

Righteousness means right standing with God. It is neither being right nor being good.

Righteousness is the state that exists between you and God when things are right between you and God. If you belong to God and you know Him. We know that the Spirit – the Holy Spirit that He's given us – convicts us of sin, of righteousness and judgment. If you are sinning, you know about it. But if you're living righteously with God, you know about it.

I'm not talking about some code of conduct or Christian behaviour. I'm talking about you living in what you know is pleasing to God. Righteousness is the state that exists between God and you when things are right between you and God. It means exclusivity vital to righteousness. Right standing with God is that you are exclusively God's. In other words, you belong exclusively to Him by your choice. It is abandonment to Him at the expense of anything else and everything else.

And believe me, the devil knows whether or not that breastplate is in place. The devil sure knows if you are or are not living in a right relationship with God. If you're living in a right relationship with God, that breastplate of righteousness protects your heart from the devil's attacks – keeps that command-and-control centre of your spirit functioning, so that God is able to speak to you, lead you, do things in your life, be your God in every way.

And all it takes is that you've made up your mind … not just made up your mind, but you're living it out in your life. To live your life in abandonment to God – what's the thread in that? What a privilege!

[17:17] 

Then Paul went on and he spoke about having your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. Now what is that about?

Okay, again, he's not talking about any particular form of footwear. He's using that picture of your feet being fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Because you have come to God and received what God has provided in Jesus, there is peace between you and God. Not just because you've done that once, but because you live in the light and in the truth of the Gospel – the good news about Jesus, that sets you free. 

And living in that peace with God is like a soldier having just the right footwear. You are ready. You're sure-footed. And His peace in your heart, when you put your life in his hands, is like wings on your heels. You are light. You are free. You are ready to go where your heart takes you. You're able to move around quickly.

 A soldier's success depends in part on having right footwear. God provides the footwear. Live in the reality of what Jesus has done for you. Live out your peace with God – unburdened, not loaded down as you would be if you weren't living at peace with God.

 If you're not at peace with God, if you're carrying the weight of caring for yourself, you have no freedom of movement. It's like a soldier with lead boots. And a soldier who can't move nimbly and quickly is a sitting duck for the enemy! A soldier that knows what to do but hasn't got the freedom to do it is going to be a lot more vulnerable.

I love it that the key word is readiness. You are ready for anything when you are living at peace with God!

[19:13] 

Then the next part of the armour is the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. This is a wonderful defence!

Again, don't focus on ‘shield’. Focus on 'faith'. Faith is your shield.

What is faith? Faith is believing what God is saying – and when you believe God, no matter how many flaming arrows of fear and doubt the devil fires at you, your faith will effortlessly extinguish them. Not just arrows – that would be deadly enough, but arrows that are on fire. They pierce and they destroy and they burn. What they don't damage initially, they burn up.

So, the devil's attacks are very vicious and very consuming, but they don't even get to reach you –  because it's like a soldier with just the right shield in place, where whatever arrows are fired at him, they don't get past his shield. 

Faith is the shield! You can't believe God without staking everything on what He is saying, because faith is believing God. God said it. I believe it. That settles it.

When God speaks to your heart – like, when God speaks and you know he has spoken to your heart – then that's what you are to believe. And when you believe God, then whatever the devil fires at you, no matter how scary it seems, no matter how persuasive it seems, no matter how … 

Like, even with Adam and Eve, you could say, “Well, He didn't fire any arrows at them”. Yes, He did. His flaming arrow arrows were to cast doubt on what God had told them not to do. And they dropped the shield of faith and tried to handle it by talking about it with the devil. And the devil just totally outwitted them. If they'd stood up with the shield of faith and said: “No, God said this … and I believe that …” he couldn't have got beyond that. But he said, “Has God said it?” And then he just led them along. They dropped the shield of faith … and they were done!

[21:31] 

You don't have to be a victim of all the fears and all the doubts of the fiery arrows. The temptations, like, they can come from all directions. They can be scary. But all you've got to know, just like Jesus did in the wilderness – so different to Adam and Eve – when Jesus was in the desert being tempted by the devil, and the devil even quoted things, that we would say: “They’re scripture … they're the word of God”.

But the devil wasn't quoting things that he believed. He was quoting things that he felt he could use against Jesus. But Jesus … when Jesus replied, what He quoted was what He believed, what He knew was the truth. And every time He spoke, the devil would say: “This … God says this….” And Jesus says, “But this is the truth”. And Jesus believed it. And because He believed it, every time the arrows that the devil fired at Jesus were quenched.

Jesus quenched every flaming arrow. Not because He quoted God, but because He believed what God had said!

God knows those who believe Him … and the devil takes no prisoners.

You have the shield of faith. The devil's arrows cannot affect you … cannot reach you … cannot harm you. But if you're not believing God … if you're subject to fear and doubt and temptation … all sorts of ways the devil will try and get at you. He's not doing you any favours. He tried to convince Adam and Eve that he was interested in their welfare – that God was keeping something from them – and they lost everything because of that.

The shield of faith.

[23:11] 

Now, though, we move on to the next part of the armour – which is the helmet of salvation.

Now, what does a helmet do? It protects your head. It's fitting that salvation is presented as a helmet, because our heads are the repositories of our minds.

Just as our heart … our spirit … the centre of our being … is the command-and-control centre. We have a mind, too – in our brains … in our heads. And that's a prime target for the devil, because the devil knows how to access your mind. And he loves to mess with your mind. 

And, boy, doesn't he mess with people's minds these days – because so many people are not in relationship with God. They don't know God. They don't have any helmet of salvation!

Salvation is all about Jesus – Jesus, our Savior. He died to save us from our sins. He died to bring us back to God. Jesus, our Savior provides the helmet of salvation that protects, not your heart like the breastplate of righteousness does, but your mind from the devil's attacks. Because the devil sure can get in there! 

You know, they used to say: “An idle mind is the devil's playground”. Well, the devil will make a playground of your mind anytime he gets a chance. But he can't get in there if your mind is protected by the helmet of salvation! This helmet of salvation saves us from being at the mercy of our minds.

Like, basically, you know … I'm sure you know … we all know our own minds. I mean, one way or another. No one knows our minds … other than God, no one knows our minds other than we ourselves. All kinds of things can go on in your mind and often you can probably think, I don't want to be thinking about this thing … you know. Why is this coming?

[25:07] 

Our minds are very susceptible and very vulnerable – and the devil knows that. But we don't have to be at the mercy of our minds. And we certainly don't have to be at the mercy of the devil messing with our minds – because Jesus saves us from this! He saves our minds from being at the mercy of the devil. I love the simple saying that says: purity of heart brings clarity of mind. When you live in a pure-hearted relationship with God, your mind is clear. 

And your mind is not what you are to be led by. You were created to live by your heart or by your spirit, if you like. And when we know Jesus, God provides us with His life within us so that we are able to live the way that we were made to live. Which is not being led by your mind, but by our heart. And that our heart should be in control. Otherwise you shut out Jesus who's trying to speak to your heart, and your mind becomes vulnerable to all sorts of thoughts and deceptions.

Don't trust your mind. I hesitated to say that, but what I'm saying is: don't trust your mind as against trusting what you know in your heart.

You might have a very sound mind, and a very good mind. But your mind does not know spiritual things. 

Your mind should be applied to the things that you need your mind to be applied to, in response to your heart. If God says to your heart, “I want you to do this …,” then you have a mind that can show you how to do it.

Many years ago, God called me to take a life-changing journey to Russia. When God spoke to me out of the blue about making that trip, it was something that had never ever been in my mind. But I immediately knew it in my heart. But then there were plans, there were arrangements to make – and as my mind followed what was in my heart, then my mind was useful. But if I'd asked my mind: “What do you think about this?” my mind would have said: “That doesn't make sense. That's a silly thing. It's impractical. You've got a wife and three kids. What are you doing – doing something like that?”

Your heart knows what God is saying. Your mind is incapable of knowing when God speaks.

Hear God's word in your heart. Be aware of God's Spirit moving your heart – and then apply your mind to implement what is in your heart from God.

If you separate your mind from your heart and allow your mind to lead the way, to decide what you do and don't do, it's like not having the helmet on and putting your unprotected head in the devil's jaws!

[28:10] 

Finally, after all that – because you realize that all of these items we've spoken about are actually all defensive, because they're all armour. They're protective … defensive.

But there is one final item in Paul's list of the armour that God provides, and it's “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

So, there's all that armour … and there's just one weapon. But what a weapon! 

Use that weapon and you conquer. Refuse it and you'll be overwhelmingly defeated. Because all that armour is to protect you from what the devil tries to do to you. But that sword – which is the word of God – is what does real damage to the devil! Use that … use it and conquer.

But you can't effectively wield the sword of the Spirit unless you stake everything on just one thing: and that one thing is that God's word is the truth. 

And again, I'm not speaking about you quoting Bible verses. They are words written in a book. Whether you read it in the Bible or any other way, and your heart says, “I know God has spoken” – that's what you live by.

Regardless of what the devil is throwing at me. Regardless of whether what the world is throwing at me … whatever … even my mind, my own fears and insecurities are throwing at me – then I am able to wield what God has said.

God's word is truth. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and stake everything on this one thing: that God's worth is the truth! And stake everything on believing that what he has said and what he is saying to you is the truth and risk everything to live by it.

[30:16]

So many Christians love the stories in the Bible about great men of faith. Of course, Abraham is always the most outstanding one. You know – fthe man that kept responding to God and believing God in all sorts of situations where, you know, it seemed like he went through one thing and he really believed God. And then God gave him another thing to believe and it was bigger, and bigger, and bigger. But every time, because he believed God, that wonderful testimony is there in the Bible: “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Now that's right-standing with God. I tell you, when you believe God and the devil cannot convince you otherwise, you have got that sword in your hand and there's nothing that damages the devil and the devil's kingdom and decimates his power! 

Then when God's people go forward and express God, because they believe God … stake everything … believe me, I say this to you with all my heart. If you want to … if you will stake everything on believing that what God has said, and what He is saying, to you is the truth – and risk everything to live by it.

You cannot use the sword of the Spirit to be victorious for Jesus unless you are prepared to risk everything on what God has said, and what God is saying. But do it … do that, and no evil power can stand against you!

The devil wants to be fearsome. He appears to you in whatever form he wishes to appear to you. He makes himself known to you. But the devil is saying to you – and will say to you lots of times: “Resistance is futile!” I say it to you again now: Resistance is vital!

[32:31]

God has provided the armour that you need.

God has provided the weapon that you need.

You have all you need because you have Him.

And if He has decided for each one of us – I'll speak for myself here – if He has decided that what I think of as a weak, feeble, human … me … called by God, believing God – no more, no less a man of God than many before me … people that we've known, and that we know of, in the past – people who we read of in the Bible – we think they're larger than life figures. No! They're just people of flesh and blood, like you and like me. Yet those people … those who believed God, those who obeyed God … God achieved great victories through them.

God has a people … has people in this world – and there'll be other people that He'll draw to Himself. God wants to be glorified through every one that comes to Him. But I want to boil it down to you personally. 

He wants to be glorified in you and through you. Don't be focused on the devil, but don't be surprised at how real and how vicious he is. Keep your eyes on God. All of these things are to do with your relationship with God – not any kind of relationship or dialogue with the devil. It's all to do with God. 

This is what the devil does not want you to know. And even if you know it – and a lot of Christians know it – he sure doesn't want you to live it.

Live it and you have the privilege of being not only someone who belongs to Jesus, but someone who glorifies Him with their whole life. 

And that's my desire and my prayer for you.