History is repleted with heroic resistance of people in the face of tyranny in virtually every generation and cultures. An interesting story about resistance to the tyranny of an empire that came to my mind was that of how a group of rag-tag men: artisan, craftsmen, hunters and farmers in a small country in pre-colonial Africa called Egba got their act together to defeat an empire. You see at the time the Oyo empire was an empire in what is geographically today, Western Nigeria and part of Benin Republic. It was founded circa 1300 and at its height, was the most politically important state in the entirety of Western Africa till the late 18th century. But these group of artisan, craftsmen and farmers defeated the empire in their land and liberated themselves because they refused to play dead again and allow things to continue as they were. They organised themselves, they took action and won the war of liberation against the powerful empire. Same way the bible encourages us to resist the enemy at all points.
That enemy is the devil.
But unlike the powerful empire the people of Egba faced, this enemy has already been defeated. However he has through the centuries after his defeat cast himself as a powerful foe.
The bible beg to differ
But the bible beg to differ, Jesus had defeated Him on our behalf already! Yes, there was a time when he was powerful on this earth but he has been stripped of that by Jesus.
God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory. Colossians 2:15 CEV
So the devil and his minions has been defeated already, But he still try to strut around as someone powerful through creating an impression via various means that he is. But he is not. I’ve heard believers say this, ‘the devil has power but no salvation’ There is nothing in the bible that teaches that. Hear what the bible says about what he has,
Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. Ephesians 6:11
Tricks is all He has
Did you see that?
Tricks is all he has and if he can trick us to believe that he is more powerful than us and can take us out anytime, we will walk in fear all the days of our lives afraid of a defeated foe. And when he come against you in any area of your life with intention to take you out, to destroy your health, to destroy your home or your finances, you will not lie down and play dead but rise up and put on the armour of God to resist him.
It’s not only you
You might say ‘Pastor, It’s just only me, I don’t think I can fight the devil and win and I know myself’
Truth is you probably don’t if you think like that. You are a new creature made righteous by God to reign in life (2 Corinthians 5:21) You have been given authority over the devil and all the powers of the enemy.
Hear what Jesus said about you: Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you Luke 10:19
Hear what you are expected to do: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7
That is what happen when we resist the devil. he will flee, tat is guaranteed by the scripture. You will make him flee. So take action today just like those group of Egba rag-tag army made up of artisan, farmers, hunters and craftsmen refused to play dead in the midst of oppression and won the war against an empire. So resist the devil and he will run away from you in terror.
