Resistance to the Elijah-type Ministry Is Inevitable

David W Palmer

Demonic resistance to ministry in the spirit and power of Elijah is inevitable:

(Matthew 17:9–13 DKJV) And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this vision until the Son of man is raised from the dead.” {10} And his disciples asked him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” {11} Jesus answered and said to them, “Elijah does indeed come first, and restores everything. {12} But I say to you that Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him but did to him whatever they wanted to do. In the same way, the Son of man will also suffer under them.” {13} Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them about John the Baptist.

This passage is a good reminder about several things. First, that Jesus said John the Baptist was Elijah—in the sense that he ministered in the spirit and power of Elijah. Second, that the Elijah task is to “restore everything” (verse 11).

We also notice that when the prophetic ministry of Elijah came, those in authority didn’t recognize him. Instead of celebrating him, receiving from his ministry and heeding his prophetic message, they resisted him—ultimately imprisoning and murdering him. This again reminds us of the reality of the violent clash of kingdoms we are entering when we accept the call to follow Jesus. As we take up the call to Elijah’s task in our day, we will encounter stiff resistance.

The Holy Spirit Says it Is Demonic

Thankfully, the Apostle Paul pioneered this path for us. Throughout his life of following Jesus, he learned many things from his study of God’s word, his relationship with the Holy Spirit, and the reality of his experiences while seeking to fulfil his ministry assignment. We are grateful that he recorded in his epistles the insights, revelations, and understanding he received. When added to Jesus’s teaching and example in the gospels, they equip us with understanding and spiritual “know-how.” In other words, reading and meditating on what Paul wrote helps us preempt and overcome the challenges we will face.

For example, in Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul plainly says that we “wrestle,” but that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood—meaning natural humans, natural elements, or natural forces. Who or what did he find that our wrestle is against, and how do we win our grapple with them? Let’s read what he said:

(Ephesians 6:11–12 MKJV) Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. {12 EMTV} For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

I don’t think there was any doubt in Paul’s mind—after everything he experienced, and after everything that the Holy Spirit revealed to him—that spiritual warfare is real. Moreover, when he says, “that you may be able to stand,” he is addressing what he says to “you.” We should each take this to mean us individually as well as corporately. Each of us is in a life-and-death struggle with “principalities … powers … rulers of darkness … spiritual forces of evil.” This is a real, daily war, and it is fought in the “heavenlies” or spirit realm.

We note that the Holy Spirit uses the word “wrestle” when referring to our battle with evil spirits. Wrestling is up close and personal. It is not remote, distant, or of a general mode. On the contrary, wrestling implies that our enemy has a personal strategy—a plan for our destruction that is applied directly to us individually.

In wrestling, your opponent watches your every move and designs his wily strategies to outmanoeuvre you, defeat you, and pin you down—rendering you ineffective. The dictionary defines it as: to fight by gripping and pushing; to fight somebody using special holds and moves in an attempt to force his or her shoulders onto a mat. To have struggling fight; to fight with somebody by gripping and pushing rather than hitting.

God’s Formula for Overcoming Demonic Opposition

As part of his wonderful achievement for us, Jesus has supplied us with weapons and armor for overcoming in this struggle. The weapons he provided are “mighty through God” (2 Cor. 10:3–5). His armor is impenetrable; it quenches all the fiery darts of the enemy:

(Ephesians 6:13–17 EMTV) Because of this, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having accomplished all things, to stand. {14} Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, {15} and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; {16} above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. {17} And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We see in this passage that the armor God supplies for us will work effectively—if we take it up and wear it. That is why it is crucial to be fully aware of what our war is, and in what realm it is fought. Moreover, we need to be familiar and confident with our armor; we must know it and how it operates. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, so we need all of God’s supernatural armor.

We also see in verse 17 that our attack weapon is God’s word. This is the weapon that is “mighty through God” (2 Cor. 10:3–5). Along with the blood of the lamb and not loving our lives unto the death, it is absolutely able to overcome the enemy. Jesus’s (the Living Word’s) resurrection proves this beyond any doubt. Jesus, the Living Word, took all our sin, punishment, sickness, turmoil, and curse on himself when he died on the cross. If the Living Word were not sufficient to deal with all these things, he would not have been able to rise again. Moreover, if he were not sufficient to overcome the enemy, Satan would have kept him pinned down in hell eternally. Praise God, Jesus arose proving for all time that he is victorious; the Living Word is sufficient.

After rising, Jesus declared: “All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth” (Mat. 28:18 NKJV). Who is the “me” that declared this? the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Living Word of God. When the word comes alive in us, he has all authority. For us this means that if we value, love, meditate on, and receive God’s word until it lives in us; and then, if we wield it like a sword when it starts overflowing, God can overcome our enemy by our own hand:

(1 Chronicles 14:11 MKJV) And they came up to Baal-perazim. And David struck them there. Then David said, “God has broken in on my enemies by my hand like the breaking forth of waters.” Therefore they called the name of that place The Breaking of Baal.

Today, I am not only warning you about the inevitable wrestling grapple the enemy will initiate when you step out in the spirit and power of Elijah; but I am also encouraging you to learn and apply your armour and weapons. You can win and overcome if you take up and apply the impenetrable armour and invincible weapon that God provides. Don’t wait; begin today.