"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he
will draw nigh to you." James 4:7, 8. This text gives
perfect instructions, and one who will follow them will
always succeed in getting rid of Satan.
Notice the order of action. First,
resist the devil, and he will flee; secondly, draw nigh to
God. Some people spend all their time resisting the devil,
consequently have no time to draw nigh to God. Satan does
not care how much you resist in your own strength; but
when you begin to draw nigh to God, then Satan trembles
and flees away. He is willing to fight with you for a life
time, if he canthereby hinder you from drawing nigh to
God. When Satan is resisted steadfastly in the faith and
the soul draws nigh to God, there is no longer hope for
Satan and the only alternative left him is to flee. As
long as you show a weak faith and listen to the
suggestions of the enemy, he is well pleased. Sometimes
Satan must be ignored. It is not always necessary to get
on your knees in order to resist the devil. I have known
persons to spend hours, and even days, almost constantly
on their knees, and yet come out in the end defeated, not
because they did not pray, but because they did not ignore
the devil and resist him once for all, then draw nigh to
God.
Some people pray because Satan
tells them to do so. He will accuse them of having done
wrong and suggest that they had better go and pray a
while. They will then go and spend an hour or two, perhaps
half a day, on their knees, not praying, but listening to
the suggestions of the devil and trying to get rid of him
in their own strength. Never go and pray because you are
accused. When you go to pray, always pray to the Lord, who
is ever willing to hear you and to grant you all your
needs. Ask Him in faith and confidence for the needed
strength and grace never forgetting to thank Him for what
He has done. I have often found that the best way to get
rid of Satan is to quit thinking of his suggestions—to
utterly ignore him and to interest myself in something
beneficial. If you have work to do, set about it, singing
some encouraging song as you work, or take a Bible and
read a few chapters. Begin to praise the Lord for past
benefits and rejoice in expectations of future blessings.
The more you thank and praise the Lord, the less you will
feel disposed to doubt or give up.
The only reliable standard of right
and wrong is the Bible. Acquaint yourself thoroughly with
the practical precepts of the New Testament. You will then
be well armed and able to decide whether an impression is
from the Lord or of the devil, and when you know it is the
devil, you will surely not spend time parleying with him.
Some people however, get in such a habit of listening to
Satan that you will hear them say, "The devil has
been after me for two or three days." The devil has
been after you? Then, you really knew that it was the
devil, yet you have allowed him to trouble you for two or
three days? Do you not know that the New Testament says,
"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you"?
Again, someone will say, "the
devil is trying to make me believe I have sinned," or
"the devil has been trying to make me believe this or
that." Who was talking to you? If you knew it was the
devil, why did you not resist him? If you resisted him,
why did you not then draw nigh to God? and as God would
have drawn near to you, Satan would have fled. But you
really spent two or three days listening to what you knew
was the suggestion of the devil and spent hours on your
knees wrestling in your own strength against what you knew
was the suggestion of the evil one. Be ashamed and never
do the like again. If Satan tells you a lie, and you know
it to be Satan and know it to be a lie, you are to blame
if you believe it; and if you disbelieve it, act
accordingly. Do not be afraid to let Satan know that you
believe him to be a liar. You may tell him in a trembling
way, as many times as you please, that he is a liar, that
you do not believe him, and that you believe the Lord, but
little does he care what you tell him, so long as you
continue to worry about what he has told you.
Now, in conclusion, let me give you
a perfect plan to get rid of the devil at any time and
under any circumstance. First, as I have said, you must be
acquainted with the practical precepts of the New
Testament, so that you may detect the difference between
the voice of Satan and the voice of God. Then in your
action against the devil follow carefully this order of
attack: First, resist the devil steadfastly in the faith;
secondly, do not linger to see whether he will go or not,
but draw nigh to God with all your heart. When Satan sees
you start toward the Lord, he will become frightened and
flee away. By following this order of attack you will see
that you have only a small part to perform in getting rid
of the devil and you will find it an easy task; for as
Satan departs, God draws nigh. You have but one third of
the distance to go; for as you draw nigh to God, He draws
nigh to you, and Satan flees at the same rate of speed. So
then. when you have drawn nigh to the Lord, you will be
twice as far from Satan as the distance you have come; for
as you draw nigh to God, He draws nigh to you and Satan
flees away. Amen.
