 I want to show you from the Word of God how to defeat the enemy in your life and it's actually very simple. Now when I use the term secrets, I'm using that synonymously with keys. These are biblical keys to victory. Really the Bible very plainly spells out how we ought to defeat the enemy. God did not intend for you to be defeated. God did not intend for you to walk in bondage. You can be victorious. You will be victorious despite how the enemy has lied to you. Write that in the comment section. Victory is mine. Let that be your public declaration of faith. As I turn now to 1 Peter chapter five, I'm going to read verses eight and nine. Stay alert. Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. There is a spiritual realm. Heaven is real. Hell is real. Demons exist. Angels exist. Heavenly hosts exist. The supernatural realm is real. When the Bible talks about demonic power, it's not just using that term as an analogy for darkness. These are actual sentient beings that exist in another dimension that hate the children of God. The Bible gives us a warning to stay alert, to be vigilant. Now keep in mind that vigilance is not the same thing as paranoia. Far too many Christians come to believe doctrines about the enemy that minimize the power of the Holy Spirit and magnify the power of the enemy. But that's not what we're going to do today. Again, as I said, it's actually quite simple. So if you've been frustrated, you feel like you're spinning your wheels, maybe pressing up against a brick wall that you just can't move in. Maybe you're frustrated. Maybe you're tired of the cycles. Maybe you're tired of going through this again and again and again. And you're crying out saying, God, where are you? God, what do I do? Why the turmoil? Why the torment? Why the chaos? Why the confusion? Why the conflict? Why the constant tension? And you sense that overbearing weighty burden of spiritual attack. And maybe for years you've been trying to be free or perhaps it's only been a few days. Either way, the Word of God has the answer. Number one, submit to God. James chapter four, verse seven says, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Now, let God be true in every man a liar. If the Word of God says it, I believe it, even if others claim something different. So what does the Bible say about those who resist the devil? Does the devil fight them? Or does he flee? Well, what does the Word say? He flees. Far too many Christians find some form of pride in the fact that they're defeated by the enemy. And they say things like, well, the devil is just fighting me so hard because he knows how much of a threat I am to the kingdom. It's actually just the opposite according to Scripture. When the devil recognizes the threat that you become, he flees. He doesn't fight. Notice here that the Bible says to resist the devil. That is to come against him. That means he's on the exterior coming against you. And as you begin to resist him, then he recognizes that you know who you are in Christ. He recognizes that you're walking in obedience. He recognizes that you're becoming who God intended you to be and therefore he flees. Now, does this mean that the devil never attacks obedient Christians? By no means. Of course, he attacks obedient Christians. I'm not talking about trials and tragedies and the things on the exterior that take place around us. Remember, the devil comes against us, not just our circumstances. I'm talking about those who live under the deception of the enemy in such a way where they are internally defeated. They're walking in constant loneliness. They're walking in constant fear. They're walking in constant confusion. They can't overcome a sinful habit. And they're wondering how to be free. Here, the Bible says, what do you do? What do you do? You submit yourselves therefore to God. As you surrender to the Holy Spirit, you become one who can stand against the enemy. Surrender to the Holy Spirit is to say no to your will and yes to God's. Surrender to the Holy Spirit is to say no to the desires of the flesh and yes to the Holy Spirit's desires. Resist the devil and he will flee. So the enemy does flee when you resist him. And again, let me emphasize this so that there's no misunderstanding and that there's no confusion because of that misunderstanding. I am not saying that the devil doesn't attack Christians. He attempts them. He tries to deceive them. He tries to torment them. Of course, what I'm saying is that those attacks do not prevail if you're submitted to God. Does this mean that we'll never face tragedies or chaotic circumstances? No, sometimes life happens. But at the same time, we must never settle for internal defeat. We must never settle for spiritual bondage. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Before you can resist the devil, you have to submit to God. You have to submit to the voice of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit speaks, obey. When the Holy Spirit convicts you, change. When the Holy Spirit guides you, follow. Listen for the voice of the precious Holy Spirit in your life. Follow his leading and he will guide you into freedom. How do we submit to God? Well, it's the simple basic practices of the Christian faith. Listen, I'm going to say something that maybe your flesh might try to resist, but I want you to hear this. 99.999 percent of the Christians' troubles, and I'm not talking about trials, trials according to James. Trials are opportunities for great joy because they perfect our faith. That's the circumstances of life. I'm talking specifically not about trials. I'm talking about the attacks of the enemy and Christians get those confused for one another. And so, because they confuse trials for attacks of the enemy, they think that the enemy is somehow gaining victory just because things aren't going their way. Those are two separate things. But when you begin to walk in obedience, 99.999 percent of your problems, not necessarily trials, doesn't mean all your troubles go away, all your circumstances align the way you want them. I'm talking about that internal victory. 99.99 percent of those things that bring you spiritual defeat will be broken if you just practice the spiritual basics. But we don't want to be told that. We want to be told that we can blame exterior forces for the choices that we make in the flesh. You want to know who your number one enemy is? Satan is an enemy, yes. But do you know who your number one enemy is? It's the flesh. I thought the Bible said we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Well, there the Scripture is talking about conflict with other human beings. It's not talking about the sin nature. In fact, the Bible talks more about the sin nature than it does demons. The Bible talks more about overcoming that sin than it does overcoming the enemy or being alert and watching out for the enemy. I'm not saying the enemy isn't an issue. I'm saying the bigger problem is self and self partners with Satan. So many times the choices that we make causes us to become more susceptible to the power of the enemy so that we live in a certain way that gives the enemy the ability to deceive us, to tempt us, to torment us. All the while, all we have to do is walk in simple obedience and as I said, it will solve 99.999% of your problems internally. Now, let's say you went in for a physical checkup for your local doctor, at your local doctor and you go to the doctor and you say, listen, I'm not feeling well. Something about my body just feels off. I just feel low energy, constantly tired, always in pain. Everything just seems to be malfunctioning in the body. The doctor is going to begin to assess you and first ask you some basic questions. The physician will ask, are you drinking water? How are your sleep patterns? How's your diet? Do you exercise? And the physician will ask about those four different categories typically because most of the issues that you have can be solved early on if you simply practice healthy habits. In the same way, if you simply give yourself over to daily prayer, if you simply make it a habit to pray, if you simply make it a habit to seek the Lord in the secret place, it's all part of prayer. If you make it a habit to devote yourself to the Word, to study the Scripture, to show yourself approved, to worship God, to attend a local church, you practice the basics of Christianity, pray, read the Word, fellowship, live holy, worship God, you do those things. And as I said, 99.999% of those internal issues where the enemy's tempting you, deceiving you, tormenting you, confusing you, they'll go away. I'm not saying all your issues, I'm talking about spiritual attack. And again, when we confuse trials in this world for spiritual attack, we're going to think we're always under attack because trials abound in the life of the believer. But that doesn't mean we have to live in defeat because we can be victorious even in the trials. So these are the simple fixes we must apply. Believers don't want to do that. Why? Because they don't want to implement the disciplines of practicing the basics. They'd rather have a preacher lay hands on them, you preacher lay hands on me, make all my problems go away, and then I don't have to do anything. I don't have to change anything. Well, even if the preacher lays hands on you, and there's some form of breakthrough that takes place, if you don't practice the spiritual basics, you're just going to find yourself in bondage again. I very rarely have ever met a Christian who prayed daily, devoted themselves to the Word, and lived in spiritual bondage. I've never met that kind of Christian. I've never met a Christian who was spiritually, spiritually defeated, and was a prayer warrior, and was in the Word. Sure, they went through troubling times, but inwardly they had peace, they had joy, they had love. They had this stability about them that caused them to approach life with a faith and a hope that caused them to be victorious even in the midst of the struggle. No complications, no rituals to perform. The only power the enemy has over you is the power you give. It's the power you surrender. The only power he has over you is the power you believe he has. He's a liar. The devil is a liar. And so you overcome the attacks of the enemy, you defeat satanic power by number one, submitting to God, and through that submission to God, you resist the devil. Number two, you declare the Word, you speak the Word. Go with me now to Matthew chapter four. I'm going to read verses one to eleven. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights, he fasted and became very hungry. During that time, the devil came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, please tell these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus told him, no, the scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Verse five, then the devil took him to the holy city Jerusalem to the highest point of the temple and said, if you are the Son of God, jump off. For the scriptures say, he will order his angels to protect you and they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Verse seven, Jesus responded, the scriptures also say, you must not test the Lord your God. Next, the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. I will give it all to you. He said, if you will kneel down and worship me. Verse 10, get out of here Satan. Jesus told him, for the scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him. Then the devil went away and angels came and took care of Jesus. Now, Jesus very clearly lays out for us a roadmap, if you will, to defeating the power of the enemy. Now, what was the devil doing? He was questioning the authority of the Lord. He was questioning his identity. If you are the Son of God, if you are the Son of God, well, often temptations begin with the questioning of your identity in Christ. When you don't know who you are in him, it's very difficult to defeat the enemy. Now, Satan was questioning. Satan was contradicting. Satan was resisting. If you are the Son of God, if you are the Son of God, almost taunting him. Now, Jesus could have responded with his experience. Think about it. Jesus could have pointed to his baptism and said, what do you mean if I am the Son of God? Weren't you there at my baptism? The Holy Spirit descended upon me like a dove. My Father spoke aloud from a voice from heaven. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Didn't you hear the voice? Didn't you see the dove? Couldn't you see heaven open? Jesus didn't do that. Jesus did not point to his experience. In fact, Jesus is the only one who, if he wanted to, could have referenced his experience. But he didn't. What did he say? It is written. Let me tell you something very plainly. The devil and demons do not care about how much you think you know about the spiritual realm. The devil does not care how long you've been practicing spiritual warfare, how long you've been practicing deliverance, how long you've been casting out demons. The devil doesn't care about what you know about demonology. The devil doesn't care about the doctrines that you have. The devil doesn't care if you raise your voice or shout or consider yourself some spiritually elite, well-equipped individual who knows how to deal with demons. He laughs at what we think gives us authority. The devil doesn't care about any of that. Demons are not intimidated by man's credentials. Demons are not intimidated by our attempts at being intimidating. What does he look at? One thing, it is written. Using the scripture to contradict what the enemy says. Using the scripture to combat the lies. That's what the enemy fears. Stop pointing to your experience. Stop pointing to what you think is your expertise and instead point to the word, it is written. Methods and experiences do nothing. Nothing. It's the word of God. It's not in man's ability. It's in the power of the Holy Ghost. So, it's number two, speak the words. Number one, submit to God. Number two, speak the word. Number three, stand firm in truth and faith. Ephesians chapter six, we're going to read verses 10 through 17. Go there now, please. A final word, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. That's key. We're going to come back to it in a moment. Verse 12, for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then, after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the piece that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Now, verse 11, going back to it, put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. The word strategies here is methods. These are the methods of the enemy. Now, notice that the Bible tells us, the book of Ephesians here in chapter 6, it tells us plainly that if you apply the armor of God, that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies, not some, you're going to be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Now, that's key right there because that means that if you wear the armor of God, there's no strategy that the enemy can use against you that will work. Here, the Scripture is expressing an idea of wholeness, completeness. This covers everything if you wear the armor of God. Now, as we begin to break down the armor, we see the various different pieces, belts of truth, simple truth, body armor of God's righteousness. The armor that's being talked about here would be the kind that would require that the body armor be held in place by the belt. So, truth causes you to stand in righteousness. You cannot stand in righteousness if you're not grounded in truth. Jesus said, you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. So, if you're still bound, then there's a truth you've yet to discover. All spiritual defeat is rooted in spiritual deception. If you are bound by the enemy, there's a lie somewhere that you're believing. Stand your ground putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. That truth holds the body armor, the righteousness in place. For shoes, put on the piece that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. So, for our shoes, we put on the truth of the gospel. In addition to all these, hold up the shield of faith. What is the shield of faith? It's your belief in what God has said. When the enemy launches a fiery dart, which is a lie, you hold up the shield of faith and you resist that lie. So, by putting my faith in what God has said, I extinguished the lie of the enemy. Think about that. By putting my faith in what God has said, I extinguished the lie of the enemy. How do you hold up the shield of faith? You believe or you choose to believe what the scripture says in contradiction to the lie that the enemy tells you. Put on salvation as your helmet. Salvation, this is the mindset or the thinking according to salvation, the hope of salvation. It's mindset. That, of course, has to do with combating deception and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. This is the truth of the word of God. Notice here that as the body armor of God is being detailed, that we are being given all of the pieces that we need for the purpose of fighting deception. Every piece of the armor of God has something primarily to do with truth. And therefore, spiritual warfare is the fight to believe God's truths over the enemy's lies. And so, when the enemy attacks you with the lie, you choose instead to stand in faith. You choose instead to stand in truth. He tells you, God has rejected you. You say, no, I hold up my shield of faith and I believe in the promise I'll never leave you nor forsake you. That's what the Bible says. The enemy says you're not forgiven. He's abandoned you. You say, no, 1 John 1.9, I hold up that shield of faith and I put my faith in what the Scripture says. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so, for every lie that the enemy tells you, there's a truth in the word of God that contradicts that lie. But how are you supposed to know that if you're not in the word? This is why I say it comes back to the basics. If you're not taking in the word, what are you giving yourself to combat the lie? If you're not in the word daily, you've let down your shield and your sword. You've dropped those pieces of armor. How are you supposed to fight without a shield and a sword? So, number one, you submit to God. This is to do the basics. Just live for God. Read the word. Pray. Worship. Assemble with the believers. Live a clean life. You do these things that's submission to God. And that right there, you do just those basics. 99.999% of all your internal spiritual problems done. You can walk in peace and victory. You can walk in the goodness of God. You can walk in joy. You don't have to walk around with that heaviness on you if you just submit to God. Speak the word. This is to declare the truth. Jesus did not combat Satan with his experience or his credentials. He combated him with the word. It is written. And finally, number three, stand in truth and faith. This is to put on the armor of God and combat the lies of the enemy. Now, I want to say something that is loosely connected with this message. And you'll find that it doesn't necessarily fit into the outline, but it is something that I believe the Holy Spirit wanted me to share with you. Fear is not of God. Fear is based in deception. Fear is based in the lies of the enemy. I truly believe that there's an assault on the church from the enemy, the spirit of fear. And you know the spirit of fear because it manifests as paranoia. It manifests as defensiveness. It manifests as the inability to reason or be reasoned with. Fear. And in this day and age, there are many things about which we can be afraid if we so choose, if we focus on them. Anything's going on in our world that are cause for concern. System's failing. Nation going against nation. People failing. Confusion. Term oil. Conflict. You're worried about your future perhaps. You're hearing all of the different sayings and reports coming in on the news and social media feeds. And it's very easy to get swept up in the fear so much so that we begin to develop doctrines and theologies that are based in fear and we live in the constant tension of fear based theology. The devil is a liar. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. And perhaps the enemy is attacking you in this area causing compromise in your thinking causing your faith to waver. Recognize this for what it is. It's an attack of the enemy. You overcome that attack by submitting to God declaring the word and wearing the armor of God for battle. Father in the name of Jesus, I lift each one to you now who's receiving this. And I ask you precious Lord to begin to strengthen your people. Touch their lives in a fresh way and encounter you anew. Let your presence and power be sensed in the room with them right now. We are nourished in your presence. Lord I thank you for the light that is shining in the dark place. I can sense it like heat on my hands right now. The power of God is flowing. Receive today. I thank you Jesus. Let your touching each one. Let your light shine in dark places. Peace. Joy overflowing. Mighty name of Jesus we pray. Say it because you believe it. Type it because you believe it. Amen. If you enjoyed that message you think others really need to hear it. You can help spread that message by simply leaving a like on the video right now no matter where you're watching. Also don't forget to subscribe to my channel for more teachings on the Holy Spirit prayer and spiritual warfare. 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