Stay in the Mingled Spirit: the God of Peace will Crush Satan under our Feet Shortly!

Christ has defeated and destroyed Satan on the cross, we can stand in His victory, and the God of peace will crush Satan under the feet of the built-up local church shortly, as we remain and live in the mingled spirit! Hallelujah!

Even though God has judged Satan and condemned him through Christ’s work on the cross, He still allows him to exist until He fulfils His purpose.

However, Satan has some stratagems, some schemes; one of these schemes is to wear out the saints little by little, day by day, month by month.

We may love the Lord today, but what about in five years time? Satan works in the environment, in our family life, at the office, and in the world situation to wear us out.

When we realize that he is behind the scenes operating and working to wear us out, we can stand one with the Lord in prayer and rebuke Satan, even stand against him by exercising our spirit.

Satan as our adversary is like a roaring lion, walking about, seeking someone to devour.

May we not become his prey; may we not live in our flesh and in our self but rather, may we exercise our spirit, hide in the high tower of our spirit, and be watchful in all things.

We need to be vigilant as in warfare, as the soldiers on the frontier, for there’s a spiritual warfare going on, and Satan is ready to devour us.

We stand in faith, being firmly and intimately connected to the Lord Jesus in our organic union with Him, and we trust in Him, not in us, for He will take us through and He will take us all the way to the end!

Praise the Lord for our subjective faith, our faith in God’s protecting power and loving concern!

We are linked to the Lord, intimately connected to Him, to be one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17); in our spirit, we experience God’s protecting power and realize His loving concern.

Praise the Lord for our spirit, the only place that Satan cannot invade! He can try as much as he can, but Satan cannot touch us when we’re in the spirit; the best way for us to be victorious in Christ over Satan is to live in the mingled spirit.

It is in the mingled spirit that we are not under the authority of Satan but under the authority of God, enjoying the Son of God’s love in the realm of the kingdom of God.

But when we’re in the flesh or in the self, when we’re not in our mingled spirit, we are easy prey for the enemy.

Oh Lord, may we remain in our spirit, turn to our spirit, and live in the spirit, so that Satan may have no way with us!

The God of peace will crush Satan under the Feet of the Built-up Local Church Shortly!

In Rom. 16:20 we are told that the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet shortly. Here Paul refers not to an individual brother or sister but to the church, even to the local church.

The Greek word for “your” is plural; it refers to a corporate entity, which is not the Body of Christ in a general and universal sense but, as seen in Rom. 16, it is the practical and local expression of the Body.

In Romans 16 we are told not mainly of the Body of Christ in its universal aspect, but the practical, local expression of the Body of Christ, which is the local church.

Satan can be only crushed under the feet of the practical expression of the Body in the local churches.

When we are built up together in the local church, when we pay the price to exercise our spirit and are built up with the saints in the locality where the Lord put us, Satan is crushed under our feet.

In this chapter of Romans, Paul brought us into the blending life of the entire Body of Christ by recommendations and greetings, and he concludes with the fact that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet and we enjoy the rich grace of Christ (Rom. 16:1-16, 21-24, 20).

In this chapter he greets the saints one by one, mentioning at least twenty-seven names; he also greets the saints generally, showing us that he had a considerable amount of knowledge, understanding, and care with regard to every one of them.

As we fellowship in the church life, caring for one another, having mutual fellowship, and being intimately concerned for one another, with the exercise of our spirit, we are built up as the local church and the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet shortly as we enjoy the grace of Christ.

Dealing with Satan is not an individual matter but a Body matter; the Lord doesn’t need giant spiritual warriors who stand out by being individual overcomers for all others to see, admire, and follow.

What the Lord is after is a built-up local church, the local expression of the Body of Christ, who is properly related and in mutual fellowship with all the other churches on earth for the expression of God and for His dominion to be exercised.

Satan can be crushed only under the feet of the practical expression of the Body of Christ in the local churches (Rom. 12:5; 16:1, 4, 16).

When we are built up together in and as the local church, the practical expression of the Body in our locality, Satan is crushed under our feet.

It is significant that the One who crushes Satan under our feet is the God of peace (Rom. 16:20).

It is not the God of war, the mighty God, or the Great Creator, but the God of peace.

This means that we as the church remain in peace and enjoy peace, and the God of peace operating in us and among us crushes Satan under our feet shortly.

The God of peace is the Sanctifier, and His sanctification brings in peace (1 Thes. 5:23).

He cares for our entire tripartite being – spirit, soul, and body – and He sanctifies us wholly and completely, until our whole being us fully sanctified.

When we are wholly sanctified by Himi from within, we have peace with God and with man in every way (1 Thes. 5:13; Rom. 6:19, 22; Heb. 13:12).

The peace of God guards our heart, mounting guard over our hearts and thoughts because the God of peace patrols before our thoughts and hearts in Christ, keeping us calm and tranquil (Phil. 4:7).

The enemy attacks our mind, trying to inject all kinds of fear and panic and worrying thoughts into us, but we have a guard – the God of peace guards our hearts, patrolling in our heart, keeping our heart at peace.

On one hand, we need to guard our own heart, and on the other, the God of peace is patrolling and guarding our hearts and thoughts.

As we fellowship with the Lord and with one another, the Lord adjusts our thoughts, saves us from the enemy’s attacks, and builds us up together; the result is that we have peace and enjoy grace, while the God of peace crushes Satan under our feet shortly.

Hallelujah, the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet shortly! Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You to be built up together with the saints in the local church where You have placed us so that the God of peace would crush Satan under the feet of the built-up church! May we be built up in the practical expression of the Body in the local church, and may Satan be crushed under the practical expression of the Body of Christ! Keep us in Your peace, Lord, and guard our heart and thoughts in Christ Jesus from any attack of the enemy. We want to keep our heart with all vigilance, and we trust that You as the God of peace mounts guard over and patrols in our heart and thoughts, keeping us calm and tranquil. Yes, Lord, keep us enjoying Your grace and peace in the local church as we’re being built up together, and crush Satan under our feet shortly!

When we Stay in our Spirit, we are Built up in the Body and Satan is Defeated and Crushed under our Feet

What is the practical way for us to be built up in the Body of Christ and to have Satan crushed under our feet?

The key, the secret, is our mingled spirit, our regenerated human spirit.

The only way for us as human beings who were regenerated by God with His divine life is to stay in the high tower of our regenerated spirit. In our spirit, we overcome Satan, and he cannot touch there. It is in our spirit that we are built up in the Body of Christ in a practical way.

The way for Satan to be crushed under our feet shortly by the God of peace is for us to stay in our spirit.

If we are in our mind, even though we may understand the doctrines in the Bible and agree with them, we cannot overcome, and Satan will still have a way to defeat us.

If we stay in our mind, we will be divided; we will be of a different mind from God and the saints, and Satan will defeat us.

This is true and applicable both in our church life and in our family life. If we remain in our mind and our spouse also remains in their mind, we will not be one; it is impossible for us to be one if we’re in our mind.

But when we’re in our spirit and our spouse is in our spirit, we can be one; if we are in our spirit, if we just stay in the mingled spirit, we are in the oneness, and Satan is defeated.

We need to have a healthy fear of staying in our mind; we need to beware of being in the self and living according to the vanity of our mind as we used to.

Both in living the church life and the family life, we must be afraid of our mind that is so easily set on the flesh, for when we live in such a way, division comes in, dissenting thoughts and opinions are easily expressed, and Satan has a way to defeat us.

But when we set our mind not on the flesh but on the spirit when we set our mind on the regenerated spirit and contact the Lord, we are spontaneously built up in the Body of Christ and the God of peace has a way to crush Satan under our feet.

When we find that we’re critical of others in our thinking, we must immediately turn to the Lord and pray; we shouldn’t try to “defeat our critical thoughts” by thinking positively but rather, turn to our spirit and stay in the high tower of our spirit.

When we stay in our spirit, Satan’s fiery darts targeting our mind will be rejected by the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith; when we are in our mind, we are in a minefield, and Satan has a way to damage us. Oh, Lord!

When we’re in the spirit, we experience Christ as life and we are built up as the Body of Christ.

In the spirit with the divine life and with the Body of Christ, Satan is overcome and even crushed under our feet.

May we realize the importance of our mingled spirit, may we never neglect our regenerated spirit, and may we seek to be in our spirit and remain here!

Whenever we sense that we are about to argue with our spouse or raise our voice when speaking with others, we need to quickly turn to the Lord.

When we have negative thoughts about our spouse or about the saints in the church, we should simply turn to our spirit and pray over the word of God, so that Satan would be exposed and defeated in his attacks.

When we see that the flesh is about to rise up and respond or live, when we realize we’re living in the self, and when we sense we live in the vanity of our mind, we should simply turn to our spirit, run to the high tower of our reborn spirit, and here we experience life, the Body of Christ, and victory in Christ over Satan!

Amen, when we’re in the high tower of our mingled spirit, Satan can do nothing to us but rather, in our spirit we receive and enjoy the divine life, we are built up as the Body of Christ, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet.

What a practical way for us to experience the God of peace crushing Satan under our feet shortly!

Lord Jesus, we want to stay in the high tower of our regenerated spirit so that we may overcome Satan in all his attacks. Save us from setting our mind on our flesh. Save us from living in the vanity of our mind. Save us from living in the flesh or according to the self. Oh Lord, may we be quick to turn to our spirit again and again, even as we sense the flesh rising up to be expressed and the self-seeking to be manifested. May we have a healthy fear of staying in our mind. Oh Lord, we love our mingled spirit! We don’t want to neglect our regenerated spirit but rather, run in the high tower in our spirit, for it is here that we enjoy the flow of the divine life, and it is here that we’re built up as the Body! Hallelujah, when we’re in our spirit, the God of peace has a way to crush Satan under our feet shortly!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Romans, msgs. 30 and 49 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes (2020 winter training), week 2, God, Man, and Satan.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Nevermore we fear the devil, / Christ destroyed him on the cross, / Stripping off the authorities; / Now we live His victory. / God of peace now crushes Satan / Under overcoming feet; / Our rejoicing overthrows him, / Shaming every enemy. (Song on, Living Christ, Our Victory)
  – Lord, we would our every thought be captured / By the rich enjoyment in Your Word. / In it we’re supplied, our mind there will abide, / Till our thoughts are wholly sanctified. / Let’s keep practicing the application / Of this life by minding just the Son. / Praise Him for the way to live by Him today! / Lord, on You our minds will ever stay. (Hymns #1193)
  – Minding flesh no longer, / I’ll the spirit mind; / Self-will never follow, / But the Spirit’s find. / Following the Spirit, / Living in the Lord, / Life He doth supply me / And His peace afford. (Hymns #594)