Resist the devil
“In my name shall they cast out devils” (Mark 16:17).
“At the invocation of the name of Jesus hell trembles and shakes, and the prince of darkness hides. This name is an invincible weapon for defeating him,” says St John of the Ladder. “Strike the enemy with the name of Jesus. You will find no stronger weapon either in heaven or on earth… At the mention of Jesus Christ the demons tremble even now. The power of His name has not been diminished by our sins,” teaches St Gregory the Theologian. And Abba Elias tells this story: demons came to an elder who lived in an idol-temple and demanded that he leave his dwelling — this is our place, they said. The elder did not want to leave. Then one of the demons seized him and tried to throw him out by force. When they came near the doorway, the elder grabbed hold of the door and cried out: “Jesus, help me!” The demons vanished at once.
“O Lord, Thou hast given us Thy Cross as a weapon against the devil; for he trembles and quakes, not bearing to behold its power” (Lauds, Sunday, Tone 8).
Unwillingly, the demons themselves admit that the sign of the Cross “binds them, burns them like fire and drives them far away” (see “The Life of Cyprian and Justina” (commemorated 8 October); “The Life of Barlaam and Ioasaph” (commemorated 19 November)).
Once a demon appeared to St Symeon the Stylite in the form of a bright angel riding a shining chariot and said to him: “Hear, Symeon! God has sent me to you to carry you up to heaven like Elijah — you have earned it.” Symeon already had one foot in the chariot when, as was his custom, he made the sign of the Cross, and… in the twinkling of an eye the demon vanished.
So that the inexhaustible, incomprehensible, divine power of the Precious and Life-giving Cross may not leave us, we should make the sign of the Cross not merely from habit and carelessly, as we often do, but with full awareness of the power and meaning of the holy Cross, always remembering that Jesus Christ saved us by His suffering on the Cross, and we should cross ourselves with fear, hope and firm faith coming from the heart. “The Cross must be made not only outwardly,” says St John Chrysostom, “but first traced in the mind with all faith… remembering all its power, the whole work.”
“This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).
“Whoever fasts and prays,” teaches John Chrysostom, “has two wings lighter than the wind: he is swifter than fire and higher than the earth. Such a person fights the demons better than anyone. For no one is stronger than a person who prays and fasts sincerely,” and St Basil writes: “Fasting is a sure rampart for the soul, a weapon for warriors. It drives away temptations.”
The devil often attacked St Justina but could not overcome her. Once the venerable woman was standing at prayer. At that moment she felt a surge of unclean desires. The blessed one was astonished at this sinful stirring of her soul and ashamed of the impure thoughts, but she soon realised that the devil had sent this temptation upon her. The saint began to fast and besought the Lord to drive the temptation away. In the end, by prayer and fasting, the holy woman overcame the evil one and drove him off.
We have told you more than once the episode from the life of St Anthony when the devil himself admitted that the holy father overcame him by obedience alone. “When St Anthony saw the snares laid by the demon,” writes Abba Dorotheus, “he sighed and asked the Lord: ‘Who can escape them?’ And he received the answer: ‘The obedient one escapes them.’”
The devil appeared to a certain desert-dweller in the form of a bright angel and said: “I am Gabriel, and the Lord has sent me to you.” The desert-dweller answered humbly: “Are you not mistaken — have you not been sent to someone else? What am I, a sinner, that I should be worthy to see angels?” At these words the tempter vanished.
Obedience is what the evil powers hate most of all, for it sets the Christian on the path that our Saviour and Lord, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, walked.
People who have this gift are able to discern evil and good spirits. Without it a person may take the devil's deceit for a good suggestion from an angel or from God, as has indeed happened to many. To a monk named Heron, who had laboured in the desert for fifty years, the devil appeared in the form of an angel and suggested to him that he throw himself into a deep ravine, to prove that after his God-pleasing ascetic labours no evil power could harm him any more. Heron did not realise who was really speaking to him, and threw himself into the abyss. On the third day he was brought up from there half-dead, but they could not save him.
From another desert-dweller the evil one demanded that he sacrifice his son, as Abraham had. The hermit took the demon for a messenger of God and would have carried out this terrible command, had the boy not guessed everything and saved himself.
The gift of discerning spirits is given to a Christian by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is acquired only through obedience. But until we become worthy to receive this gift, we should not trust what our own heart and mind prompt us to, but ask about everything of a spiritually experienced father.
Gird yourselves with the belt of true teaching, the apostle Paul teaches us. A Christian who does everything according to Christian teaching blocks the way of the evil one, for the evil one is a lie and the father of lies, and cannot endure where there is truth. “Put on the breastplate of righteousness,” says the head of the apostles — that is, serve righteousness and holiness with heart and deed alike. The enemy's evil design, even if it touches one clothed in this breastplate, will not wound his heart; “your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” — that is, whatever sacrifice you may have to make, be ready to live according to the Gospel and to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to the world. The seventh — the help of the saints
But with all this a Christian needs other armour too. First of all, “the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” This means having firm and unshakable faith in the truth given us by God — a faith that is invincible, because it acts by God, and by which every inner and outer temptation is overcome; second, “the helmet of salvation,” that is, we must master the art of saving the soul, be careful and far-sighted and press on unceasingly along the path of the Christian life, which is achieved only by frequent confession and Communion; and third, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:11, 14–17). “To have this sword means to remember the Lord's commands… and, when needed, to say them from the heart against the suggestions of the evil one,” says Bishop Theophan; “repeat the Lord's words aloud at every onset of passion.” The spiritual experience of the holy fathers shows that the enemy is driven away fastest by these words of the 67th Psalm: “Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered.” The demons flee faster than lightning from anyone who says these words with faith and hope. St Basil the Great relates that when the holy fathers asked the demons which prayer they feared most, they replied that nothing was more terrible and dreadful to them than the beginning of David's 67th Psalm. And indeed, as soon as the fathers said the first phrase of this psalm, the tempter fled with a terrible shriek.
When Andrew (the fool for Christ) set out on the way of the Lord, the demons attacked him with such force that the saint thought the hour of his end had struck, and in despair he cried out: “Holy apostle John, help me!” No sooner had he said it than an old man of stern countenance appeared, over whose head stood a light like the sun. The old man was accompanied by a company of men clothed in white. “Bar the door, so that not one demon may escape from here,” the old man ordered his attendants. The order was carried out at once. “Woe to us, that we have been so bitterly deceived!” came the voice of the devil. “John is angry, and bitter torment awaits us.” “Have mercy on us, have mercy!” the other demons cried out too. Suddenly those clothed in white vanished. The demons disappeared too. “You see how quickly I came to help you?!” the old man said to Andrew. “Know that I am taking care of you. The Lord Himself commanded me to lead you along the way of salvation. Stand firm and endure everything without grumbling. The time is not far off when you will gain complete freedom and go wherever you wish.” “Lord, tell me, who are you?” cried Andrew. “I am he who leaned on the precious breast of the Saviour,” the old man answered, and was hidden from sight.
Here, then, are seven chief means of fighting our enemy, the ruler of this world, which each of us can use — and not only can, but is bound to. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
