When Christ turn to Peter and said the following, He was not speaking to Peter but to the devil who was using Peter's mouth and placing thoughts in Peter's mind to deter Christ from His purpose.
Matthew 16:22-23 "…22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” 23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
This is what we are encountering right now in these end times. Many people are being used by the devil to cause division in the church, in families, in governments, and in communities.
There are days when we can feel it emotionally and even physically as we encounter the wicked spirit world that is intensifying before the rapture and the tribulation.
The devil is influencing the minds of people to deter them from God's truth.
1 Peter 5:7-9 "…7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.…"
How to resist the devil:
James 4:7
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
How to submit to Christ:
Read His Word for the purpose of obeying it! Then pray that if there be any false way in us, He would remove it, replacing it with the truth.
We are all being affected and tempted to act in ways we should not in order to diminish our testimony for Christ.
We are all being tested and tried to make us stronger.
James 1:2-8 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
If you are to resist the devil and follow Christ you have to want it badly enough to ask God in humility for it.
If you think you can be righteous on your own in the flesh you will not be able to ask nor will you be able to resist the devil.
Matthew 6:33
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
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