05 Feb There is a New Sheriff in Town (Colossians 2:15) [Part 2]
We give the devil way too much credit! Unfortunately most of that credit comes from born again believers. We make statements like, “The devil made me do that” when in actuality the devil can’t make us do anything we don’t allow.
I heard a story of two Christian teens who were both killed in a car wreck. Many friends and family were saying, “The devil did this!” Now please don’t mistake me, I want to put as much blame as possible on the devil! I certainly don’t want it going to God! I’m at least glad these people weren’t like so many other Christians…blaming God for those types of things! However, it turns out those young people were both drunk when they got into the tragic accident. While the devil may have been involved at some level of enticement, the Bible clearly tells us, “But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust has conceived it brings forth sin and sin when it is finished brings forth death” (James 1:14-15).
Sometimes I think the devil could retire, leave us to our own devices and still do pretty well! The Bible fact is that the devil is defeated (see Colossians 2:15 and Hebrews 2:14-15)! Let’s stop giving him too much credit and start taking our rightful place as the “new sheriff in town”.
Last week we began our discussion and shared with you concerning the devil’s defeat and two ditches to stay out of:
- Everything is a demon
- Nothing is a demon
We also began to share with you 5 Aspects of Using your Authority:
1. Jesus delegated His authority to you (Matt. 28:18-20, Mk 16:15-18)
2. You give the devil no ground (Eph. 4:27)
This week let’s continue:
3. You’ve been raised up (Eph. 1:18-2:6).
Here the Bible tells us, “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all…And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
I hope you are sitting down when you read this as I am about to shock you! Jesus is not the head of the devil! “Now wait a minute, Pastor Jim, I thought you said that Jesus had defeated the devil…now you are saying Jesus is not the head of the devil?” That’s right, Jesus is not the head of the devil…you are! Notice that in the aforementioned verses that Jesus “put all things under His feet”. Where are the feet…in the head or in the body? Jesus is the head of you…you are the head of the devil!
4. You must remember he’s a lyin’ lion (I Pet. 5:8-9).
Here the Bible tells us, “Your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith…”. Notice the one key word in this verse “as”. The Bible doesn’t say he is a roaring lion. He walks about AS a roaring lion. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the righteous (you) are bold as a lion (see Prov. 28:1). In other words, the devil is a de-toothed and de-clawed kit cat…give me a break!
Imagine on a hot summer’s evening you stepped out into your back yard. To your horror, there waiting for you was a huge, hungry lion. This lion let out a ferocious roar. Your first tendency is to recoil in utter fear, but suddenly you notice…this lion has no teeth and no claws. Just as suddenly, this lion goes from being a big ferocious lion to a big fuzzy cat in under two seconds.
Remember this, the devil is all bark and no bite. Buy into his bark and to you, he’ll have a bite.
5. You must resist the devil (James 4:7).
Here the Word of God tells us, “Submit yourself to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” This verse is clearly letting us know you must resist the devil. The Greek word translated “resist” is the word anthistemi…we get our English word “antihistamine” from this. What does it do? It clears a passage in your nose. In everyday language when we submit ourselves to God and resist the devil with God’s Word and the name of Jesus…that “little booger”, the devil, has got to go!
The thing that concerns me however, is that we normally quote this “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We conveniently leave out the phrase, “Submit yourself to God.” In other words, we keep the devil under our feet by staying under God’s hand! “Pastor Jim, I resisted the devil and he didn’t flee from me!” Remember this, if your “resister” is not working…check your “submitter”.
Please don’t mistake me, I am not saying it takes perfect obedience to be able to resist the devil, but I am saying we can’t persist in known, stubborn disobedience and successfully resist the devil! I can’t resist lung cancer while continuing to smoke. I can’t resist high cholesterol and eat at Captain D’s every night. I can’t resist debt while my favorite phrase is “Charge it, please.”
Remember this, we don’t rebuke our way out of mountains we have caused…we obey our way out of mountains we have caused! Remember this also, let’s get under what’s over us so we can get over what’s under us!
Next week we’ll continue our series on “There’s a New Sheriff in Town”.