By: Kenneth E. Hagin
In whom the GOD OF THIS WORLD hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. – 2 Corinthians 4:4
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able TO STAND against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able TO WITHSTAND in the evil day, and have done all, TO STAND.
STAND therefore… – Ephesians 6:11-14
Many believers today know much about their rights and privileges in Christ. And many are successfully appropriating by faith their inheritance in Him.
However, many don’t understand how to steadfastly stand their ground in faith until they see their answer. In other words, they often fall by the wayside and relinquish their faith when the Word doesn’t seem to produce for them right away. They think God has failed them or that their faith isn’t working.
But God hasn’t failed them. And it’s impossible for God’s Word to fail (Matt. 24:35). God has never failed anyone who was standing steadfastly on His Word. When you stand by the Word, the Word will always stand by you.
I feel sorry for people who have been tricked by the devil to believe that faith in God’s Word won’t work – for them. The Bible says God has dealt to every believer the measure of faith (Rom. 12:3). That means every believer has faith. And God would be unjust to give someone faith that doesn’t work!
But God is not unjust! The Bible says God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). In other words, God has given to every man, woman, boy, and girl the ability to have faith and to develop their measure of faith into great faith in God and His Word.
For the most part, Christians know how to act on their faith by praying the prayer of faith, confessing the Word, and praising God for the answer. But many times in the face of contradictory circumstances, believers waver in their faith and give up, and they forfeit the victory that belongs to them. They fail because they don’t recognize that the source of their opposition is Satan, and they don’t stand their ground against him.
At one time or another we’ve all been in situations when it seemed like our faith was weak or ineffective and that we’d lost the victory. And if that describes your situation right now, God hasn’t left you without help. When your faith seems weak and your victory lost, God’s Word tells you what to do: Stand your ground on the Word! So many times Christians do not recognize that it’s Satan opposing them to try to discourage them from standing on God’s Word. Sometimes they aren’t fully persuaded that it’s God’s will to bless them; therefore, when tests and trials come their way, they don’t know if it’s God or Satan who is opposing them.
I’ve seen Christians experience tests and trials and say, “Well, maybe God is trying to teach me something.” People who say that are uninformed about God and His Word. God doesn’t oppose
believers. The Bible says God is for you; He’s on your side (Rom. 8:31)!
I remember years ago in the days of The Voice of Healing revival, one particular evangelist had a large tent. One spring during tornado season, while he was holding a tent meeting in a certain city, a tornado came along and blew his tent away, completely destroying it.
Later at a ministers’ convention, this minister was invited to speak to the audience. I nearly fell off the pew when I heard him say, “I don’t know whether God or the devil blew my tent away.”
When I heard that, I thought, God is not out blowing gospel tents away; He’s out getting them put up!
Hearing ministers say things like that confuses baby Christians and prevents them from receiving God’s best because it hinders their faith. Stop and think about it: How could a person receive something, from God by his faith if he thought God was the one opposing him and making it hard for him to be blessed? He couldn’t.
That’s why Christians need to be taught that when they are standing in faith on God’s Word, it is Satan who is the source of their opposition, not God. And they need to be taught how to stand against the devil.
Too many times Christians are ready to give up on something they are believing God for the minute their faith is tried. But instead, they should recognize that it is Satan who is trying to keep them from receiving the blessings God has promised in His Word.
The blessings in God’s Word have to be manifested in this natural realm where we are living. That’s where Satan is at work – in the natural realm. The Bible calls him the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). Satan will put up every roadblock he possibly can in the natural realm to try to keep your answer from coming to pass. He will try to discourage you so you will give up. Then he can keep you defeated.
Sometimes when people are believing God for something, if there is the least bit of delay in the answer to their prayer they say, “Maybe God doesn’t want me to have it. Maybe it wasn’t God’s will after all.”
But if you have God’s Word for something, then it is God’s will that you have it. So don’t give up if your answer is delayed. Learn to stand your ground!
EPHESIANS 6:10,13,14
10) Finally, my brethren, BE STRONG IN THE LORD, and in the power of HIS might….
13) …having done all, TO STAND.
14) STAND therefore….
I’ve heard folks say, “Yes, I know the Word says to be strong, and I’m trying to be strong.” But Ephesians 6:10 doesn’t say a word in the world about being strong in yourself or even trying to be strong in yourself. No, it says, “…be strong IN THE LORD, and in the power of HIS might.”
Many times that is where people miss it. They start out believing God and trusting Him – and that’s faith. But then they drop back into the natural realm and try to be strong in themselves instead of in the power of God’s Word.
Years ago in Pentecostal circles we used to have testimony meetings, and sometimes I’d hear people say, “You all pray for me that I’ll hold out faithful to the end.” They were struggling, trying to be strong in their own might. They didn’t make the Word their strength.
In the 1930s, the United States government did some experimenting with lighter-than-air aircraft or dirigibles. Servicemen were trying to moor one of these dirigibles when all of a sudden the moorings broke and the aircraft shot up into the air. Some of the sailors holding the anchoring ropes had the presence of mind to let go. Others tried to hold on to the ropes but couldn’t, and some fell to their deaths.
But there was one man who held on, suspended from the dirigible. He was carried higher and higher until he looked like a little tin soldier and then only a tiny speck against the big sky.
The crowd was anxious. Onlookers anticipated that the sailor would fall at any minute. Reports said that women fainted, babies cried, and men yelled frantically.
When sailors finally succeeded in mooring the dirigible, an ambulance crew rushed over to the man who had hung on, suspended so long from the aircraft. They put him on a stretcher and examined him, but the man said, “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.”
Someone asked him. “How in the world did you hold on for so long?” He replied, “When I saw I was too far away from the ground to let go of the rope, I wrapped about four feet of the rope around my waist and tied it. I didn’t hold on to the rope; the rope held me.”
In other words, while the people were weeping and yelling in panic, this sailor was just swinging from the aircraft, hanging free and enjoying the scenery! He wasn’t wrestling or struggling or even trying to hold on. The rope was holding him!
Too many Christians are trying to stand in faith, holding on in their own strength. Instead, they need to be wrapping themselves up in the promises of God! Then instead of worrying, fretting, and struggling, they could swing free and enjoy the scenery while they trust God and His Word to securely hold them and bring to pass God’s promises in their lives.
Just swing free and enjoy yourself while you are standing on the promises of God! If you try to hold on by yourself, you’ll tire out after a while. But let God’s Word do the work for you, because God’s Word will never fail.
Certainly, the devil is arrayed against us, but thank God, we can stand against him because Jesus defeated him for us at the Cross of Calvary. Someone said, “I prayed and believed God, and I’ve
done all I know to do. What am I supposed to do now?”
The Bible tells us what to do: “Having done all to stand, stand!” (Eph. 6:13,14). When you’re standing on God’s Word, you’ve got to just keep on standing until you see your answer!
“But how long will I have to stand my ground?” someone asked.
As long as you need to stand! When you’ve got God’s Word, and you’re standing on it in faith, your victory is assured. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).
So get your mind off the problems or circumstances, and keep your heart and mind fixed on the Word. Learn to stand your ground against the devil so that no matter what comes against you, you can remain steadfast and calm because God’s Word is holding you up. If you’ll trust God and His Word, His Word will never fail you. His Word will come to pass in your life if you will stay in faith and refuse to give up.
You see, you do not have to yield to negative thoughts of defeat, including thoughts of fear and doubt. Fear and doubt are not from God; they’re from the enemy, Satan. And if fear and doubt are not from God, you can stand your ground against them.
Too often we limit our idea of what is right and wrong. When we think of something that’s evil, we usually think of lying, stealing, adultery, murder, and so forth. Those things are evil, but the Bible also calls doubt evil (Num. 13:26-28,31,32). You shouldn’t entertain doubt in your thought life even for a minute.
The Bible also says fear is not from God. Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Since fear doesn’t come from God, then it’s wrong, and we don’t have any business with it in our lives. We should resist fear when it tries to come against us and rob us of our faith in God and the blessings He wants us to have.
I got ahold of these truths when I was a teenager and had just been raised up from a deathbed by faith in God’s Word. When fear and doubt tried to come against my mind, I would just stop wherever I was and say, “Fear and doubt, I resist you in the Name of Jesus. I refuse to fear, and I refuse to doubt God’s Word.”
If I was alone when fear and doubt tried to assail my mind, I would resist them out loud. If other people were nearby, I’d say it quietly. But I always resisted fear and doubt, because they’re evil.
We will all have temptations in life as long as we are in these flesh-and-blood bodies. We need to learn how to deal with those temptations through the Word so we can stand our ground against them.
For instance, if the thought came to you to steal something, you wouldn’t yield to it, because you know stealing is wrong. You would resist that thought because it’s from the devil (John 10:10). You should do the same thing with thoughts of fear, doubt, or unbelief. You should resist those thoughts the same way you would resist thoughts of lying, stealing, or murder. You wouldn’t entertain thoughts of lying, stealing, or murder, would you? No, you would speak to them and say, “In Jesus’ Name, I’ll not
entertain you.”
The very minute a thought comes to you that isn’t in line with what the Word says, you need to stand against it. Don’t ever think that wrong thoughts and temptations won’t come to you, because they will as long as you are living on this earth where Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). You see, Satan operates in the natural, mental realm, and he will try to bring evil thoughts to your mind to defeat you. But you need to recognize the source of those thoughts and stand against them.
If you want to walk in victory according to the Word and enjoy the blessings of God, you’re going to have to recognize that the source of all opposition is Satan! And you’re going to have to stand against him with the Word.
There’s no use your wishing that the devil would leave you alone and never trouble you with thoughts of fear, doubt, unbelief, and failure. You might as well get used to the idea that the devil is going to try to oppose your faith so he can keep you from enjoying God’s best blessings in life.
Once after a meeting I held, in all seriousness a man said to me, “Brother Hagin, I want you to pray for me that I won’t ever have any more trouble with the devil.”
I answered him, “Do you want me to pray that you’ll die?”
“No!” he said. “I don’t want to die!”
“Well,” I told him, “the only way in the world you’ll never have any more trouble with the devil is to die and go on to Heaven.”
Certainly Satan is a defeated foe. Jesus defeated him at the Cross of Calvary through His death, burial, and resurrection. And if you are in Christ, the devil can’t defeat you just because he wants to. But he can defeat you if he can get you to give in to his thoughts and give up your faith in God’s anointed Word.
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might by simply standing your ground on His Word! If you will stand your ground and hold fast to your confession of God’s Word, you will beat the devil in every combat. Stand your ground on the promises of God’s Word, and God’s blessings will be yours to enjoy!
(The above material appeared in the March 1993 issue of The Word of Faith.)
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