Following in Jesus' footsteps Photo: Lighstock
Lesson #1: Victory By Surrender To God
Jesus modelled the way of winning the war against Satan by surrendering to God the Father and taught his disciples to do the same.
" Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does." John 5:19-20 NIV
" I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it." John 12:49 NLT
"I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 NIV
The apostle Paul learned this from his experience of almost dying, as he wrote to the Christians in Corinth.
" We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV
And supremely, we see Jesus himself leading by example in the following verses.
"Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation (Greek: peirasmos=testing).” He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:39-44 NIV
Lesson #2: Maintaining Relationship with Father God
Jesus maintained his intimate relationship with Father God through
• Spending time alone with God in a quiet place
• Listening to God in Prayer, Bible reading, Meditation and Fasting
• Talking with God in Prayer
• Praising and worshipping God
Lesson #3: Doing What Jesus Did
Jesus's method of training the disciples was:
• He demonstrated how to do it while they watched
• They did it while he watched
• He sent them out two-by-two to do what he had taught them
Lesson #4: Binding the Strong Man
Jesus taught the disciples a parable about how to plunder the possessions of a strong man.
" When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.." Luke 11:21-22 NIV
The strong man fully armed = Satan, who has a panoply=whole armour. To plunder his possessions requires the power of a stronger man (Jesus).
In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul says that to be able to win the spiritual battle, we need to put on the whole armour (panoply) of God that is to be found in Jesus.
Binding the strong man in practice means removing the legal authority given to Satan by sin, committed by us or against us, that has given Satan the legal authority to harass us. We do this by confession, repentance and renunciation of sin and by forgiving all those who have hurt us, Jesus says, if we want God to forgive our sins.
Lesson #5: Resisting The Enemy
James 4:7 Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. Surrendering to God and removing all the enemy's legal authority to keep us in bondage needs to be followed by aggressive resistance by exercising the authority and power Jesus gave his disciples.
Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 9:1-2
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go........Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’......Luke 10:1,9
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:17-21