Further study: Victory Over Evil Forces
Read Ellen G. White, “‘Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled,’” pp. 662-680, in The Desire of Ages;
“Appropriating the Righteousness of Christ,” p. 93, in Faith and Works; “Science and Revelation,” p. 310, in Selected Messages, book 3.
“Jesus gained the victory through submission and faith in God, and by the apostle He says to us, ‘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. We cannot save ourselves from the tempter’s power; he has conquered humanity, and when we try to stand in our own strength, we shall become a prey to his devices; but ‘the name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.’ Prov. 18:10. Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 130, 131.
“The omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit is the defense of every contrite soul. Not one that in penitence and faith has claimed His protection will Christ permit to pass under the enemy’s power. The Saviour is by the side of His tempted and tried ones. With Him there can be no such thing as failure, loss, impossibility, or defeat; we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. When temptations and trials come, do not wait to adjust all the difficulties, but look to Jesus, your helper.
“There are Christians who think and speak altogether too much about the power of Satan. They think of their adversary, they pray about him, they talk about him, and he looms up greater and greater in their imagination. It is true that Satan is a powerful being; but, thank God, we have a mighty Saviour, who cast out the evil one from heaven. Satan is pleased when we magnify his power. Why not talk of Jesus? Why not magnify His power and His love?” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 490, 493.
Discussion Questions
- Take some of the examples from this week that show the victories revealed in the Bible. In what ways do we see similar things happening today? What can we do, if anything, to see more of them?
- What does it mean to “draw nigh unto God,” as Ellen White quoted above? How do we do that? Discuss in class what it means, how you do it, and what happens when we do?
- Imagine that you are Peter, and people want to merely be touched by your shadow. Think about what that could do to you spiritually. What’s your only safety in a situation like that?
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This week study has really inspired me to trust God more and lean more on him. This week's trial was of my older son who had a collapsed lung and pneumonia. I told him to put his trust in God because he can see him through this, he is not a believer but he accepted what I had to say. I prayed for God's intervention during the operation as they had to cut him open to try and inflate the lungs and scrape away the pneumonia. The next day when I saw him he was out of bed and sitting up laughing and talking. The surgeon said that they were surprised to see him up so soon. I told my son that it is the power of God. So please pray for Micheal James to give his life to Christ as I continue to pray for him and encourage him. Thank you.
May God Bless as he decides to give his life to the Lord.
Far too often, loved ones fail to realize that healing is gifted by a compassionate God in response to the prayers of a loving Christian family member. May the Holy Spirit speak to their hearts and give them a hunger and thirst for a saving relationship with Jesus.
I love this and I hope God will help me work with this message.
Many times I failed in the spiritual battle because of my unfaithfulness and not putting God first in my life, from these lessons I learned that God and He alone can win the battle for me as long as I put my trust and all to Him. In every hardship of struggling from worldly things that almost we fall, thank God that He is always there for us knowing what is best that sometimes we think it's a failure but later appreciate He's really leading us.
So often we want to run away from our trials and temptations. It is so good to know, that we don't have to flee. James assures us the devil will flee if we submit ourselves to God. May we indeed draw closer to God, so that we can withstand the Devil.