THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO FIGHT THE DEVIL

This message is one that God unfolded to me supematurally and told me to teach to the Church.

You know by this time, that Jesus loves you and He causes you no harm. He comes to bless you. He comes to give you life and give it to you more abundantly.

All the bad things and the harm and the heartaches and things you've ever had in your life didn't come from God. They came from the devil. Now it is one thing to learn who Jesus is; it's another thing to learn who the devil is.

It's like this one family that said they had trained their children to know the Lord Jesus Christ all of their life. They're a good, sweet, precious Christian family. They received a phone call one night from the police station. The policeman said, "Is your name so and so?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well, this is the local police station and you better come down here. We're fixing to lock up your son (he was 17 years old), and he's going to be here a long, long time."

"Oh no, not our son. It couldn't be our son. Our son is a Christian. We've taught our son all about Jesus all his life. He's never caused us one minute's trouble. He knows the Lord Jesus Christ personally."

The policeman said, "I don't know about that ma'am. I'm just telling you, your son's down here and he told us to call you. He just shot somebody and tried to rape a girl and robbed a place all at one time. We've got about three big charges against him. He's going to be here a long, long time. You better come down here if you want to see him."

So the woman got all shook up and started wringing her hands, "Why God, oh why God? Why did this happen to us?"

That's what Christians usually always say: "Oh God why did this happen to us?" God doesn't even have anything to do with it.

"Lord, why did this happen to us? We taught our son all about you Jesus, all of his life."

They went to the police station to talk to him.

The mother was so shook up, they decided to call a Bible teacher for some words of comfort. So the Bible teacher got there and the lady began, "I don't know why this happened to us. We've taught our family all about Jesus. Oh God, why did this happen to us? Jesus why did this happen to us?"

"Wait a minute lady! Wait a minute! What do you mean talking this over with Jesus? You picked the wrong one."

"Ah, I have?"

"Yeah, that's right; you have. What are you blaming God for this for? God didn't have anything to do with this."

"Oh, but I've taught him all about Jesus all of his life."

"But Jesus doesn't make people rob places, rape girls and shoot people. Jesus is not guilty of that kind of junk. Let me ask you a question ma'am. Did you ever teach your son about the devil?"

She said, "No, I never did teach my son about the devil."

"Well this is a result of your teaching. Jesus is not guilty of making people do those things, the devil is. How would you like for the United States Army to draft your son at 18 years old and send him overseas in the battlefield with no basic training at all. He doesn't know how to dig a fox hole or even know to wear a helmet. How long do you think he'd last? Why he'd get killed in 30 minutes. He wouldn't even know what to do."

THE DEVIL IS CRAZY

I want you to know that the Bible says you're in a battle. Now Jesus Himself, the Head of the Church, teaches you how to fight the devil.

God says in the Bible also through Paul that you better know who your enemy is, and you better put on the whole armor of God so that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (See Ephesians 6:11-18.) You have to stand against the wiles of the devil. Wiles! The devil's wild, crazy as a bat! He's wild.

I've worked in penitentiaries and mental institutions for years. You talk about crazy, I mean the devil is goofy. I've worked in penitentiaries where they gave me a room and the prisoners would just sit around. I'd have a question and answer session for an hour. Most of them don't know why they're in there.

I asked a young man, "How long you in here for?"

"Twenty-five years." "What did you do?" "Well, I'm in here for rape." "Who did you rape?" "A 70 year old woman." "How old are you?" "Twenty-four."

I said, "Now you're a sharp looking young man. You could get most any girl. Why would you rape a 70 year old woman? Why would you do that?"

"I don't know; something made me do it."

I'd ask another one, "How many years do you have?"

"Fifteen."

"What are you in here for?"

"I'm a bank robber."

"What made you rob the bank? Are you lazy? Don't you want to work?"

"I just got hung up with the wrong crowd I guess, and started drinking and something got in me."

It's the same way with all of them; they don't even know why they're in there. They know something did it. But every time they walk them down those long corridors and open the steel door and push them in their cell and lock it and walk off —some in for 20 years, 10 years, 35 years, 50 years—they stand there and say, "Well this is stupid. Why am I in here? What made me do that? How dumb can you get?"

They don't even know why they're in there. I start telling them that the devil did it and unless I can get that thing out of them and get them filled up with God they'll do the same thing when they get out of there. But 80-85% of them go back in there again.

It's good to minister in penitentiaries. Most of the prisoners are pretty nice fellows; they really are. They just listened to the devil. They had nobody to help them; nobody to warn them about the devil. They don't even know what the devil is. When you start pointing out to them how the devil operates they say, "Yeah, that had to be the devil."

It's good to teach people about Jesus, but you better also teach them about the devil and how to combat him.

THE EASY WAY TO FIGHT THE DEVIL

I tell you, Jesus has the perfect solution and the perfect way to fight the devil. And He wants to teach you how to do it. It's very simple but you have to do what God says.

Let's look at Matthew chapter 4. You will see from the Bible how Jesus fought the devil. He told me to teach you how He fought the devil and to tell you that you better learn and learn quickly to fight the devil the same way He did. Do you understand what I'm telling you?

Let me say that again so you won't forget it.

Jesus told me to tell you plainly several years ago when He showed me this, that He wanted me to teach you how He fought the devil. And He told me to tell you to learn quickly how to fight the devil the same way He did.

The Lord Jesus Christ is an example for us. We're supposed to fight the devil the same way that Jesus fought the devil. Now this is the easy way to fight the devil. There's nothing that the devil can do with the Word of God, nothing.

All through the New Testament Jesus offers you things and tells you about all the benefits you can have, but you can't have them unless you believe the Word and claim the benefits, chapter and verse.

When you claim something, remind God of the chapter and verse that you're standing on and claiming in Jesus' name. Remind God. Quote the Bible to God. God likes for you to quote the Bible to Him. God likes for you to go to Him and say, "God, I come in Jesus' name. The Bible says chapter so and so, verse so and so that this is mine." Start quoting what it says, claim it in Jesus' name, thank God for it, and walk off like you got it. Boy, I tell you God loves that kind of praying. Why? Because He knows you've been reading the Bible and you haven't just dreamed up a bunch of things in your mind.

THE BATTLE BEGINS

God left the Bible on the earth to get your thinking straightened out. And I'm going to teach you the fourth chapter of the book of Matthew to get your thinking straightened out on how to fight the devil. If you can't follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ you might as well hang it up, go home and get under the house. You'll never be in victory anyway.

Now the battle always starts after the Spirit of the Lord comes upon you. That's when the battle starts. That's the way the devil operates.

A lot of times, a young man that doesn't know anything about God will go out with three or four young boys on a Saturday night and try to pick up girls if they don't have a date. They'll try to pick up girls. That's just the way young men are. And a lot of times it's hard to pick up girls. When they get saved and baptized in the Holy Ghost and start working for God, then girls try to pick them up all the time. Isn't that wild? A young man doesn't know God and he goes out on a Saturday night and tries to pick up a girl and some Saturday nights he can't even pick one up. He gets saved and baptized with the Holy Ghost and there will be six girls trying to pick him up. The devil's nuts man, I'm telling you.

After the Spirit of the Lord comes into you, then the battle begins. That's the reason it's very important to you to know the Word of God. Learn to do things like Jesus did them.

"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit (this was after John baptized Him) into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him (that means the devil), he said (the devil did), If." About 2/3 of his conversation with you will be IF so and so, IF so and so. Now notice what the jerk says right here. "If thou be the Son of God (If thou be the Son of God. He knew that Jesus was the Son of God; he was in heaven with Him), command that these stones be made bread."

Why?

Well Jesus had been fasting forty days and forty nights.

"But he (Jesus) answered and said, IT IS WRITTEN."

Say that out loud, IT IS WRITTEN. Say that again, IT IS WRITTEN.

Now that's your answer for the rest of your life.

Do you understand that?

That's your answer for the rest of your life. In the Bible is where all of your answers are. Whatever is written in there, that's what you've got.

Now you might say, "Well it's in the Bible but I don't have it." You haven't claimed it then. You have to learn how to apply the Word of God. The Word of God doesn't work for you unless you apply it.

Let me break it right down for you so I can teach it to you. When's the last time you read the Bible to the devil? Every Christian should read the Bible to the devil. If you'll read the Bible to the devil he will never be able to steal the patience of God away from you. And for you to possess patience is so important in your life. I don't mean have it every once in a while, I mean to POSSESS patience.

The devil will bombard your mind and give you all kinds of excuses why you're not going to receive something from God. But if you'll just stand steadfast with patience and say, "Well it is written devil, that it's mine. The Bible says I have it"; that will get rid of temptations in your mind quicker than anything else. Just say it boldly: "The Bible says I have it."

HE WON'T QUIT THE FIRST TIME

Now he won't quit the first time. The Lord told me to tell you and to show you in the Bible that he won't quit the first time.

Suppose you go to a service and walk up to the front and say, "Lay your hands on me Brother, I want to be healed." Someone lays his hands on you and maybe the power of God comes on you so strong that you fall flat on the floor and the healing power of God just surges through you. If you think you're going to get away with that with the devil, I've got news for you. I guarantee you the next day or in just two or three days the devil will come to you and tell you, you didn't get healed. And he'll try to make symptoms show up again. When the symptoms come on you again, that's when he tells you, "You didn't get it. You are not healed. You did not get it. You did not get it."

Now that's when you need to rise up, right then, and say, "The Bible says I did. It is written in the Bible that I did."

And if he keeps on bugging you, just turn the Bible to Mark 16 and read it to him. Say, "Devil, Jesus said right here to lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. I walked up there by faith, and I got that Brother to lay his hands on me. He laid his hands on me so therefore, I got it. It's mine. It is written in the Bible that it's mine. I've already got it."

Why?

Because that Scripture was fulfilled. It is written that you have it. It is written. It says to lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. The moment that he laid his hands on you, I don't care how you felt, you were healed. That split second when he laid his hands on you, you were healed.

Why?

Because it is written; that's the way it is.

Let's read on in verse 4: "But he (Jesus) answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." See, He said by every word, every word, EVERY word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That's the reason you need the whole Bible. You need to

HE'LL BE BACK

Don't think the devil is just going to walk off and leave you alone and never come back and tempt you again, because I've got news for you: he'll be back.

Now the fifth verse: "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him... "

This is what the Lord told me to point out to you, look what the devil says: "IF THOU BE THE SON OF GOD." See, he said the same dumb thing, IF.

Now notice the devil mocking Jesus here: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Yeah, the devil said, it is written.

Now this is the second time the Lord told me to tell you that you must obey the Bible and do what He did. Don't let your mind wander away from God's Word and come at it a different way.

Jesus told me to point out to you what He did and teach YOU to do what He did.

In the seventh verse, "Jesus said unto him (the devil), IT IS WRITTEN."

Say that out loud, IT IS WRITTEN. Say it again, IT IS WRITTEN. Now remember as long as you live that that is what you always say to the devil. It is written, devil. It is written, devil. Get your Bible and read the Bible to the devil. When you open up your Bible say, "Devil, I do have it because it is written and I'm going to read it to you right now." And then read it to him.

THE WORD WORKS

I ministered to a lady in San Antonio, Texas several years ago. She came forward one morning in a service. She had a great responsibility in a big corporation. She had a lot of people working for her. She said the pressure on her was so great that she could hardly stand it.

I ministered to her what it was and God really moved on her and set her mind free. Her mind was so clear and she was weeping and crying and rejoicing in the Lord.

She came up later and said, "Brother Norvel, I've been a Christian for years but the pressure on me as far as my job is concerned is so heavy I can't hold onto this feeling. If I could just stay like I am right now! When I go back into my office and that pressure comes back on me, my mind gets so messed up and confused."

I said, "Do you know what that is?"

She said, "What?"

"It's the devil," I said. "The devil comes to confuse your mind. Now I'm going to tell you what to do. I want you to read the Bible to the devil. You have received the joy of the Lord according to Mark 11:24. We have prayed and you have received. Jesus said whatever you believed for when you prayed, believe that you received it and you shall get it. You will get it. All right, you believed and now you've got it and you know you've got it. Don't you let the devil rob you of the joy. Now, I want you to take your Bible to work with you tomorrow and lay it on your desk. When the devil comes to you, tomorrow or the next day or whenever he shows up, Jesus says he always comes (Mark 4:15), take your Bible; open it up and read it to the devil. Tell him that you HAVE

RECEIVED, not GOING TO. YOU HAVE RECEIVED. Just sit there at your desk and say, 'I've got the joy of the Lord. I have received the joy of the Lord in my mind and in my spirit. I possess joy. I won't accept confusion. No pressure can put confusion on me. My mind belongs to God in Jesus' name. You'll not rob me devil of this joy.' And start reading the Bible to him."

She came back to church a day or two later and jumped up one night and started testifying, rejoicing and shouting. Just shouting right there in the service!

She said, "I never have seen anything like that in my life. You never could have made me believe that something that simple could have worked like that. The devil tried to come back and confuse me and mess me up, just a few hours after I got to work. I did exactly what Brother Norvel told me to do. I took the Bible and laid it on my desk, open. When he came right at my desk, I said, 'No devil, you're not going to rob me of the joy. The pressure is not going to have any affect on me. I've got the joy of the Lord and you're not going to rob me. It is written in the Bible, I have the joy of the Lord.' I read the Bible to him. I said, 'Listen devil, to what

"I'm telling you people, it works. The devil left. I sat there all day with the joy of the Lord in my mind, and my mind clear. All the problems came in on me, all the secretaries, all the work like it always does at one time, just continually, but I just waded right through it calmly. Glory to God! It works! It really works!"

You're not supposed to let the pressures of the world rob you of the joy of the Lord. Listen, the devil wants to do it. He wants to rob you. But you don't have to let him. Tell him like Jesus did the second time, "It is written." Jesus said, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (verse 7).

YOU NEED THE WORD

Remember, the devil always comes back; he's not dead. So you need the Word of God and the name of Jesus as long as you live on this earth. Don't think you'll get to be a strong Christian sometime and the devil won't ever tempt you again. Sometimes he will leave you for several weeks, or even for several months. But don't you ever forget, he's going to come again one of these times—maybe through your child, or your business or something else—and try to mess you up.

"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him. All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."

He offered Jesus the whole world, but he offers you and me a whiskey bottle and X-rated movies—big deal. The devil offered Jesus the whole world. He doesn't offer you and me anything but a bunch of junk.

The tenth verse is the climax of it. Jesus told me to show you and teach you that you've got to get mad at the devil. You've got to get tired and fed up with his temptations, then tell him what to do.

"Then saith Jesus unto him, ’Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’"

What did He say?

Jesus said to the devil, "Get thee hence Satan for it is written." Now remember, every time, you must say, IT IS WRITTEN; IT IS WRITTEN; IT IS WRITTEN. It is written in the Bible that I've got it. It's rightfully mine. It's mine. It is written.

What does that mean?

That means that you fight the devil with the Bible. You use Jesus' name and come against him and use the Bible. Quote the Bible to the devil. Make up your mind. Be determined.

THEN WHAT HAPPENS

What happens when you just keep telling the devil in his face, over and over and over and over again, "It is written devil. It is written"?

I'm glad you asked.

The eleventh verse shows you exactly what happens to you, and the Lord told me to tell you it will happen to you exactly the same way it happened to Him IF you'll do the same thing He did.

"Then the devil leaveth him." That moment when the devil leaveth him, glory to God, "and behold, angels came and ministered unto him."

Angels came and got around Him and began to minister unto Him—angels did. If you'll stand and resist the devil in Jesus' name, tell him what the Bible says, he'll leave you. If you keep on quoting the Bible to him and telling him, "it is written," he'll leave. Then the angels will come and begin to minister to you. I guarantee you, the angels will come and begin to minister to you. Praise God forever!

But you have to stand in the devil's face and learn how to fight him. You have to stand in the devil's face and quote the Bible to him. He'll bombard your mind and dog your tracks as long as you live, if you'll allow him to do it. But you have to stand up steadfast and say, "It is written. The Bible says I have it. The Bible says I have it. The Bible says I have it." If you can get a deaf man to do that his ears will pop open.

But of course I understand the problem is, getting people to do it. It only works for people that do it. The fourth chapter in the book of Matthew doesn't work for people just because they read it. It works for those and only those that do it. The devil only leaves people that stand like Jesus did in the face of the devil and say, "It is written Satan." But you have to SAY that. Don't just think it.

You think, well I'm going to hunt a good spiritual service to go to. Well, that's good, I'm not knocking that. You need to go to good spiritual services. But see, you're only in service a little while on Sunday and Wednesday. What are you going to do on Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock? What are you going to do on Friday at 11:30 at night? The devil's not dead on Thursday morning, you know. But you have to understand the Word of God works for you all the time, not just part of the time, all the time. The Bible will stick closer to you than a brother. The Bible works for you all the time, 24 hours a day, every day; but only for those that obey it.

I tell you, God gives you life, but you've got to find it. And you can't find it by just watching Gunsmoke on T.V. You find it by opening up the Bible and studying it. Ask the Holy Ghost to unfold it to you and to show you what you need. He will, because He is the great teacher. Praise God forever! You can have what you believe the Bible for.

DON'T DOUBT

I was in a fellow's church some time ago teaching the Bible. I had been there for about three days when all of a sudden one night, a woman in the back of the congregation just stood up and challenged me. She just stood up boldly and said, "Brother Hayes, you talk like God would do anything for you. I've been listening to you for three days and you talk like God would do anything for you."

I said, "Well I believe that, for anybody who will trust and believe Him."

She said, "Well my husband and I are parents of a 17-year-old girl who went to the drug store six months ago and has never come back. Doesn't God know where she is?"

"Sure God knows where she is," I said.

She said, "We're Christians, spirit-filled, and love God. I've been praying and wringing my hands about to go crazy for six months."

"Yeah," I said, "but you've lost the peace of the Lord, and the patience. God will show you where your daughter is at if you'll do what I tell you to do. I imagine the devil's already told you at least 5,000 times that she's dead."

"That's right, he's told me thousands of times that she's dead."

I said, "All right, let's pray. Jesus said believe that ye receive when you pray. (See Mark 11:24.) Now stretch your hand out here to me." So we prayed and agreed in Jesus' name. I said, "God, I ask you in Jesus' name to move upon this girl wherever she is and have her call her parents in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And thank you Lord for doing it for her."

And she started to sit down. And the Holy Ghost moved on me when she started to sit down and just let me know, she doubts. So I said, "Don't sit down lady; stand up." She stood back up. "I'm warning you lady, you better not doubt. You better not doubt."

She said, "Oh, okay, all right, I won't doubt."

I went back to that church six months later just to hold a meeting. Right before I spoke, a man stood up and said, "We've got a testimony for Brother Norvel. Can we give it to him? Honey, you give it because he's the one that taught you what to do."

So this lady said, "After you left here the last time Brother Norvel, I did what you told me to do.

I walked around the house for about two weeks saying 'Thank you Jesus for showing us where our daughter is at.' But nothing happened.

"The devil told me that you were crazy and not to believe anything that you said.

He reasoned it out to me that my daughter must be dead. She never did cause us any trouble at all. 'She's such a sweet girl and you know that your daughter wouldn't have just run off like that and still be in good shape,' he said. 'You know your daughter is dead just as well as I do because she wouldn't have done that.' (The devil always does that.)

"I started to fold up just like I had done before you came to our church and taught the Bible. I started to fall on the floor like I had done several times before and say, 'Oh God, why us? Lord, why us?' I just couldn't stand it any longer. I started to fold up when all of a sudden (Boy I tell you the Holy Ghost is inside of you to help you) I saw you inside of me. You were standing behind that pulpit in the church and you were saying, I'm warning you lady, you better not doubt. You better not doubt. You better not doubt. When I saw you doing that I jumped and said, 'OOOOOOOOHH!

I'm not going to doubt. I'm not going to doubt. Thank you Jesus for showing me where my daughter is at. You said I could have whatever I desire and God I desire so much to see my little girl. I believe Jesus, I believe. It is written in the Bible that I can have my desires. Thank you Jesus for showing me where my daughter is at.'

"I kept on doing that for about another week and one day the telephone rang. I picked it up and the little voice on the other end of the phone said, 'Mama, do you know who this is? Mama something has happened to me. I feel so bad the way I've treated you and Daddy. Mama I want you and Daddy to come to so and so city and pick me up and bring me home. I want to sleep in my room. I want to come back home Mama. And Mama, something else has happened to me too. I want to get saved and give my life to Jesus.'

"Needless to say, we jumped in the car and drove to the city where she was. Jesus not only showed us where our daughter was at but He already had her under conviction. And do you know where she is tonight?"

"Where?"

"She's sitting right over there, saved and filled with the Holy Ghost."

I looked over across the aisle from there, where she was sitting, and she looked like Miss Teenage of America. She had long, straight hair— just as cute as she could be. And as I looked over there to her, the Spirit of God fell upon her supernaturally and she broke and began to cry and weep and her hands went up in the air. And, of course, she was the only one in the audience (there were several hundred people there) like this. I saw it was a holy thing and I backed away from the pulpit. And when I did, God rose her up out of the seat and she walked slowly up the aisle and walked up behind the pulpit under the supernatural power of God. She walked up to me and put her arms around my neck and put her little head on my shoulder. The glory of God was on her so strong and she was just rejoicing and rejoicing and rejoicing in the Lord, crying with tears of joy. And when she put her head on my shoulder, it got on me. Glory be to God! I tell you the glory of God dropped on both of us and we stood there for about 10 or 15 minutes rejoicing in the Lord. And the congregation just had to sit there and eat their hearts out.

I'm telling you, when you look the devil in the face and hold the Bible up to him and say, "It is written devil. Devil, it is written. Jesus said I could have the desires of my heart. I am a believer; I'm not a doubter," the devil will leave you in Jesus' name. Then the angels of the Lord will come and minister to you. Glory be to God!

NOW, DO THE WORD

If you'll just be honest now, you might say, "Yes the devil has been trying to mess me up. And I see it; I see it. It is written in the Bible that there is victory for me. It is written in the Bible I don't have to put up with this mountain."

Do you want to get rid of that dumb mountain?

Begin to confess with your mouth: "It is written in the Bible, I have victory. I've got the victory. It is written, I've got the victory. It is written, the victory is mine. The victory is mine."

The victory is yours because you said it in Jesus' name. The Lord Jesus Christ has bought for you and me the abundant life, not a bunch of junk.

Jesus didn't pay the price for you and me to live a junky life and to put up with a bunch of junky stuff. That's not the price that Jesus paid. Jesus paid the price so you could have patience, contentment, peace and joy; that you could stand steadfast and not waver.

You have the nature of God in you and it is not His nature to be climbing over mountains all the time and falling into dumb gullies. You have a right to live in peace. You have a right to have the kind of life that Jesus has offered you. You have that right. You inherited it. You are an heir of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. Jesus is complete victory. Receive that peace.

Say it gently to the Lord, "It is written, I do have what I desire in Jesus’ name. It is written. Thank you for the Bible because the Word is truth. And only the truth will set me free and keep me free in Jesus’ name."

Say, "The words from my lips will be from this day forward, 'Satan you thief, IT IS WRITTEN, I have victory in Jesus’ name.'"

Norvel Hayes

Norvel Hayes is a successful businessman and Bible teacher. He has learned through- personal experience that the Word of God is effective in every area of life for those who believe and apply it.

Norvel owns a variety of businesses which function successfully despite the fact that he spends over half of his time away from his office teaching the Word.

Norvel presents the whole Gospel — boldly and simply —as he ministers in colleges, churches, penitentiaries, conventions and seminars all over the United States.

Table of Contents

Start