VICTORY OVER SATAN AS A LIAR



VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL AS A LIAR (John 8: 44): "He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father thereof." This does not mean that the enemy never tells the truth, but his truth has the objective of getting the believer involved in evil; e.g., when the spirit of divination spoke the truth, that Paul and Silas were the servants of God, it was to suggest the lie that Paul and Silas derived their power from the same source as the girl under the evil spirit's power. The devil and his wicked spirits will speak, or use, ninety-nine parts of truth to float one lie, but Paul was not deceived by the witness of a soothsaying prophetess acknowledging their divine authority. He discerned the wicked spirit and its purpose, exposed it, and cast it out.

Even so must the believer be able to triumph over Satan as a liar, and be able to recognize his lies, and those of lying spirits, in whatever form they are presented to him. This he does by knowing the truth, and using the weapon of truth.



VICTORY OVER FALSEHOOD BY TRUTH



There is no way of victory over falsehood but by truth. To have victory over the devil as a liar, and over his lies, the believer must be determined always to know the truth, and speak the truth about everything, in himself, in others, and around him.

Satan the liar, through his lying spirits, persistently pours lies on the believer all day long; lies into his thoughts about himself, his feelings, his condition, his environment; lies misinterpreting everything in himself, and around him; about others with whom he is in contact; lies about the past and the future; lies about God; and lies about himself, magnifying his power and his authority. To have victory over this persistent stream of lies from the father of lies the believer must fight (1) with the weapon of God's truth in the written Word, and (2) truth about facts in himself, others and circumstances. How persistently to "refuse" all lies from the Liar, and his emissaries, is explained in other parts of this book. As the believer increasingly triumphs over the devil as a liar, he grows better able to discern his lies, and equipped to strip away the covering for others.



VICTORY OVER SATAN AS A COUNTERFEITER



VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL AS A COUNTERFEITER, OR FALSE "ANGEL OF LIGHT": "Even Satan himself fashioneth himself into an angel of light," and his "ministers" ("false apostles, deceitful workers," 2 Cor. 11: 13) also fashion themselves as "ministers of righteousness" (2 Cor. 11: 14-15). This aspect of victory over Satan runs on the same lines as the preceding ones; i.e., by the knowledge of truth, enabling the believer to recognize the lies of Satan, when he presents himself under the guise of light.

Light is the very nature of God Himself. To recognize darkness when clothed in light-supernatural light--needs deep knowledge of the true light, and a power to discern the innermost sources of things that in appearance look God-like and beautiful. How the Adversary counterfeits the very light of God, so as to appear as God, has been already set forth in Chapter 6. The main attitude for this aspect of victory over the Adversary, is a settled position of neutrality to all supernatural workings, until the believer knows what is of God. If any experience is accepted without question, how can its Divine origin be guaranteed? The basis of acceptance or rejection must be knowledge. The believer must know, and he cannot know without examination, nor will he "examine" unless he maintains the attitude of "Believe not every spirit" until he has "tested" and proved what is of God.
From her book, 'WAR ON THE SAINTS' (Unabridged Edition), by, Jessie Penn-Lewis

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FIRST BIND THE STRONG MAN

OUR LORD'S OBJECTIVE

      From the very beginning of His ministry, our Lord Jesus went forward with a steady warfare against the powers of darkness. He also gave to His disciples the same authority, and in every place they went they had three things to do as directed by Him: to preach, to heal sickness, and to cast out devils (Mark 3:14, 15).
      The Lord refused to deal with flesh and blood, or with political powers of His time. His one objective, from the time of His baptism in Jordan to the hour of His finished work on Calvary, was to conquer the prince of this world, so that He might redeem his captives and put him to an open shame (Colossians 2:14, 15). It was for this purpose that He came into the world (Luke 4:18); and on the eve of the Cross, He was able to say, "...now shall the prince of this world be cast out" (John 12:31).
      We read that His disciples brought to Him multitudes of sick and needy people to be healed, and again and again it was with the evil powers at the back of the trouble that He dealt. When He saw the woman in the synagogue with a spirit of infirmity, He called her to Him and said, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity." When His enemies protested against this, He said, "...ought not this woman...whom Satan hath bound...be loosed from this bond..." (Luke 13:11 - 16).
      We can trace throughout the Gospels how Christ dealt with the forces of evil. He taught His followers truth about God, but He was always dealing with the forces behind the evil around Him.
      The same evil forces are with us today but the Church doesn't fully understand the conflict. They don't recognize the enemy, and therefore, don't know how to pray and how to withstand him in the Name of Jesus. Our position in the Lord Jesus Christ, as truly joined to Him in spirit and seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), requires of us the recognition of Satan as a conquered foe. Through the Cross, Christ defeated the prince of darkness there, and now we can look the prince in the face and tell him that he is beaten, and he knows it.
      But Satan likes for us to think that he doesn't exist, while the whole time he is pouring his forces out like a flood on our land. We must not play into his hands and allow him to blind our eyes; we must go to the Scriptures and find out what God has clearly told us about these things.


FIRST BIND THE STRONG MAN

      In Matthew 12:29, the Lord said, "Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." How do you bind the strong man if won't recognize his existence and face the fact that he is the hidden cause of evil? The Church must learn the binding power of prayer. For it is written, "...Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 18:18).
      Binding means to restrain the works of the enemy by appealing to the conquering power of the One Who was born to destroy the works of the devil.
      Should we continue to allow Satan to stir up strife in our families and churches, while we shut our eyes and say, "We don't like to speak about him?" This in itself is the work of Satan. If you will open the Word of God and search out these things for yourself, you will understand that the victory of Calvary was not only a victory over sin, but victory also over Satan. He is not only a tempter, but a deceiver, and a liar. And you will learn that you can have victory over the "strong man" in the victory of Calvary.


THE PLACE OF SPIRITUAL CONFLICT

      When men walk in step with the world they are not much troubled by Satan for they aren't in conflict with him, and are actually serving him. It is when a man becomes spiritual and seeks to serve God that he knows the opposition of Satan. As the spirit of man is open to God, it is also open to the forces that are against God.
      The children of God ought to be as lights in the world. We may live as children of light if we know and understand how the forces of darkness can attack body and mind, and learn how to throw them off and take victory over them in the mighty Name of Jesus.
      God wants for you to have victory; to have your mind closed against the suggestions of the powers of darkness through the Name of Jesus. Therefore, ask God to give you the knowledge of liberty and victory in Christ, and accept no bondage that comes to you by saying, "This is from the enemy, and I refuse it."
      You ask if this can really work. Yes, if you are joined to Christ in spirit, and are seated with Him in His place of victory, from that position in the Lord, you have power to say that Satan shall not touch you, because you belong to Jesus Christ. From that throne of union with Christ "far above all principality and power," you, as a redeemed soul, can take this simple attitude toward the outside forces of evil. This key will unlock a thousand problems in the lives of God's children who are yearning to be all that God wants them to be. God has put into the hands of His children weapons for the warfare, weapons which are not of the flesh, but are "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4).
      Do you understand the fact that Satan was conquered at Calvary, and that Christ says to you, "Bind the strong man in My Name"? Do you believe His word, that, "...the spirits are subject unto you..." (Luke 10:20)? Then go and take it, just as you took salvation, by faith in Him. It's not through your experience, it's not because of your education or knowledge: it is only through the Name, The Name, THE NAME. Bind the enemy in the Name of Jesus!
           -J. Penn-Lewis


This article is available in tract form, free upon request, through:

Gospel Tract Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 1118
Independence, MO 64051-1118


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JESSIE PENN-LEWIS (1861-1927) Born in Neath, South Wales; given to the Lord by her parents; raised in a Calvinistic Methodist home; read Bible at age four; married at age 19 to William Penn-Lewis, age 21, a descendent of William Penn, Pilgrim father and founder of Pennsylvania; conversion after seeking the Lord, impressed with Isaiah 53:6 (1882); taught Bible class at Y.W.C.A., Richmond (1886); spoke at meetings in Brighton and Eastbourne; spoke to China Inland Mission (1895); first booklet, The Pathway of Life in God; spoke in many countries: Sweden (1896), Russia (1897), Switzerland, Finland, Denmark (1898), Canada, United States (1900), India (1903); speaker at Keswick Conventions (1899, 1903); influenced by Madame Guyon's writings on the cross; edited The Overcomer magazine, 1909-1914 (first series), 1920-1925 (second series); held monthly conferences for Christian workers at Eccleston Hall, London; spoke at annual conferences sponsored by The Overcomer at Swanwick, North Derbyshire (1920-27) where T. Austin-Sparks was invited to speak; death of husband (1925), her "fellow-heir of the grace of life" (I Pet. 3:7); did not practice immersion and laying on of hands; emphasis of her ministry was the cross; writings: The Centrality of the Cross, The Cross of Calvary, The Cross-The Touchstone of Faith, War on the Saints (Watchman Nee used material from her War on the Saints in writing The Spiritual Man, Vol. 3, Part 9); many other books and booklets; biography: Mary N. Geffard, Jessie Penn-Lewis: A Memoir, 2nd ed., Bristol: The Overcomer Literature Trust Ltd., 1947.

 

Mrs. Penn-Lewis sought to place before the people of God a brief outline of the then newly rising "Pentecostal Movement" based upon letters written by eye-witnesses in many parts of the world. She wrote several articles concerning this new "Movement" in an earnest attempt to enable believers to "discern" for themselves the points of danger, and an urgent appeal for all to "try the spirits, whether they be of God)," whenever supernatural manifestations were taking place. An except from one of those articles entitled, "An Hour of Peril", follows:

"The tactics of Satan as an angel of light have been so subtle and his imitations of the working of the Holy Spirit so close, that however deep the inner conviction has been that false powers were at work in the Movement [Pentecostal], the fear of touching anything that might be of God has checked the bold outspokenness which many faithful servants of God felt to be their duty...nevertheless, as fresh reports kept coming in from land after land where this movement was reaching it was seen, almost without exception, that everywhere it brought division and separation among Christians. In some cases, unhappily, where there had been a true ‘Revival’ by the Spirit of God..."
NOTE: Satan found out; has now re-named the greater portion of his deception, "Charismatic", and even more deceptive, "non-denominational".
-- Amethyst Ministries

 

"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."
(Romans 16:17)




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