New Level, No New Devil
Dr. Malcolm (Chip) Hill, Jr.

Christians love clichés. A cliché, of course, is a trite phrase or expression that people generally find pleasing and worthy of repeating. Take the phrase, “No pain, no gain,” for example. Athletes use this one all the time, and generally speaking, it is very true. If you are not willing to push yourself physically and mentally in a certain sport, you will never reach the levels of victory and success you desire.

The Body of Christ picks up clichés as easily as the world does, but often they are not right, or if they are, they are not right in every situation. And so it is with the cliché, “New level; new devil.” I do not know who first came up with this phrase, but it sure caught on, and before long everybody was using it. Although it sounds spiritual it doesn't always apply. The idea sets forth the idea that when one goes to a new level in his relationship with God, or to a new level of ministry, there will be a new devil waiting for him when he arrives. While this is true in some cases, it is not true in every case, and to anticipate a fight with the enemy every time the Lord lifts us to a new place is not necessarily what the Lord wants us to do.

In our Monday night prayer meeting recently, I heard the Spirit telling me that He was going to take us to a new level. Without giving it much thought, I responded by saying, “Yeah, and to a new devil.” Immediately the Lord rebuked me. “Don't say that!” He said. “You're believing for the wrong thing!”

For a couple of minutes I found myself thinking about how easily we repeat things just because somebody else said it. Again, I do not know who coined the phrase “New level; new devil,” but we need to be careful not to put more faith in that than we do God's ability to lift us up without a brawl when we get there. Unless such a warning comes, we should use our faith to believe for the new level without a new devil. Isn't the Lord able to lift us to heights where there aren't any new devils to fight? Can't He simply exalt us above our enemies and bring us into “a spacious place, free from restriction, and to the comfort of our table laden with choice food?” (See Psalm 27:6; Job 36:16, NIV.) And if there are devils to fight at the new level, what's the big deal? The very fact that God lifts us higher tells us that He believes we are more than able to fight and defeat them if we need to.

Never Fear the Devil
I think Christians are far too superstitious where demons are concerned, and make too big of a fuss over having to face them. One definition of the word superstition is, “the fear of devils.” Through superstitious fear people enter a fight with too much timidity and trepidation, and thus better empower the dark kingdom to defeat them. This ought not to be.

Although the dark kingdom is arrayed against us throughout our lives, the Lord will at times diminish the effectiveness and power of that kingdom, bringing us into seasons of peace and great harvest. Perhaps there are times when He takes from one level—where we have been fighting many devils—and lifts us to a new level where He makes “wars to cease” (Psalm 46:9). Wasn't it Solomon who said, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven…a time of war, and a time of peace?” Let us therefore believe the Lord to give us times of peace and productivity, rather than be so quick to believe that the Devil will bring us a lot of war and hardship.

Building, Planting, and Living Ready
Every believer in Christ's body is called to be a spiritual builder and planter. Because the kingdom of God must advance across the earth, all of us are called and equipped to support that work by offering our physical, mental and spiritual resources to the building/planting process. As we advance, however, war is often what we face. Even so, we are not to go about seeking the warfare; rather, we are to seek to build and to plant! If all we ever do is look for battle, the Devil will accommodate us and we will get little else done. We must earnestly seek to spend most of our energy building, planting and harvesting for the kingdom. While it is true that we are to remain ready for war, we must have seasons where we can devote our full energies to more positive and productive activities. If demons can bog us down in fighting 24-7, then we will have no time left for building. Therefore, let us remember that we are soldiers incidentally, but builders and planters by full ordination! Let us actively expect God to grant us seasons of peace and prosperity so that we might get on with the business of kingdom building.

We are Seated Far Above!
As I consider the battles we must sometimes enter while working amidst this present darkness, I always seek to rally my courage with the following words from Ephesians:

Even when we were dead in trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus…far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 2:5-6; 1:21-23

The fullness of Jesus Christ fills His mystical body (the Church), which is on earth. Not only that, but the very Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in each of our mortal bodies! (Romans 8:11). The Word says, “Greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Therefore, despite the age in which we live, and regardless of the levels to which we rise, the ruling princes and demons we face are far below us in authority and dominion! Because we are in Christ, we are over them! “We are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10). It is an undeniable fact that all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, and that He has delegated that authority to His Church (Matthew 28:18). Because we possess this delegated authority, “We are strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power” (Colossians 1:11), and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). Hence, we can build anything God sends us to build, plant anything He wants us to plant, and tackle any demon stupid enough to confront us at any turn or on any level.

The Power of Revelation
The Book of Ephesians gives us a revelation of God's present greatness in response to this present darkness. It gives us a revelation of our greatness in Him! When gross darkness covers the people, and they languish in despair and defeat, we are to arise. Not only are we to arise, but also shine! (Isaiah 60:1). Left to our own resources, however, we would surely succumb to the forces of evil. But Hallelujah, in Christ Jesus we have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3), which includes knowledge, wisdom, anointing, authority, the living Word and the Holy Spirit. We have also been issued dynamic spiritual weapons that are not carnal but “mighty through God to the pulling down (overthrow and destruction) of demonic strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). But that's not all! Paul tells us in Ephesians' last chapter that we can take up “the whole armor of God” (6:13) and plow right through the resistance we might encounter at the new level. In truth, brother or sister, we can't lose for winning! We are not here to lose gracefully, but to win decisively!

When Jesus spoke of building His Church, He stated that it would be built on the rock of divine revelation. He said, “Upon this rock, I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades will nor prevail against it!” (See Matthew 16:18.) When revelation of Jesus comes to anyone—and they receive it—to them it becomes a rock beneath their feet! Upon this rock the Church rises across the earth! Because of this, it is no more plausible for the Church to pause in its advance, than it is for the free and untrammeled eagle not to soar. Because the Lord is constantly giving revelation to those who seek it, the Church is always expanding and conquering new ground for the kingdom.

Beloved, the Lord desires to take us all to new levels in days to come, and that won't always mean there will be new devils to fight when we get there. I believe that the higher we go in God, the less significant the demonic powers will be to us anyway.

When I was a little boy, tiny lizards in the skink family seemed like Komodo Dragons and Gila Monsters. But as I grew, I began to see the creatures for what they really were. They were nothing more than frightened little lizards that could easily be crushed underfoot. I pray we all can get such a revelation concerning the demons that oppose us in coming days. In 2007, expect to go to new levels with no new devils. And if one or two are there, crush them beneath your feet!