Know Your Enemy!

As a Christian disciple we are meant to be and actively engaged in spiritual warfare!  Many of us have b=very little knowledge today of what this means or entails.

We have been brought up to believe that the devil or satan doesn’t really exist but is some vague threat that we use to frighten others into behaving well.

We are also taught by the world that demons don’t exist but that all is a product of our imagination and can be dealt with psychology the current end time religion of our age.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Jesus said in the Bibe that He saw satan fall to the earth after being cast out of heaven due to his prideful rebellion.  Luke 10 verse 18 says, ‘And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’

And at the start of Jesus mission and ministry He was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  Matthew 4 verses 1-11 says, ‘Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” ⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” ⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him,  “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”  ¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Satan is very real, but not as some comic imagined villain who is always dressed in red and with pointy horns and a pointy tail and a pitchfork in his hands.

Isaiah 14 verses 12-21 says, ‘“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! ¹³ For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ ¹⁵ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. ¹⁶ “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, ¹⁷ Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who ^[did not open the house of his prisoners?’ ¹⁸ “All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house; ¹⁹ But you are cast out of your grave Like an abominable branch, Like the garment of those who are slain, Thrust through with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit, Like a corpse trodden underfoot. ²⁰ You will not be joined with them in burial, Because you have destroyed your land And slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. ²¹ Prepare slaughter for his children Because of the iniquity of their fathers, Lest they rise up and possess the land, And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Satan, or the devil is not myth or fairy story; he exists but appears as an angel of light 2 Corinthians 11 verse 14 says, ‘ And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.’

2 Corinthians 4 verses 1-6 refers to satan as the god of this age, the god of this current world system, the prince of the power of the air, ‘ Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. ² But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴ whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. ⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2 verse 2 says, ‘ in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,’

Of course as a Christian we should not only believe but know that satan has been defeated by Christ’s death on the cross of Calvary and that we have the victory in and through Him; but that satan’s complete destruction is also written in Revelation 20 verse 10, ‘The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.’

In the meantime satan is trying to deceive, distract and destroy any believer who is not sold out and on fire for Christ.

Satan has limited power but some power nonetheless. And believe it or not as you will, there is a greater enemy we face!

This enemy is elf.  Matthew 16 verses 24-27 says this, ‘²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.’

Ultimately, satan is a defeated foe and he knows this but whilst he is time remains short he fights a reargued action seeking to disrupt, distract and destroy we, the elect of God.

His schemes are very subtle as he uses all his remaining time and power attempting to deceive as many of the faithful as he can trying to spoil God’s ultimate victory by corrupting as many of the saints that he can.  Our battle today is against the world, the flesh and the devil; or self, sin and satan.  Being a Christian disciple is to come out of the world of selfishness into selflessness.

This world is not out true home, but heaven and the new city of Jerusalem is!  Whereas, as unbelievers we put self first and last as Christians our goal and our calling is to put Christ and His kingdom above all other considerations and interests.

We are called and chosen to serve like Christ; to sacrifice our lives to Christ and to be less and let Him be more in us so that we can witness to the world a better way to be and to do.

We are called to constantly put to death our old natures and embrace ‘Christ in us, the hope of glory’  That little passage in Matthew 16 verses 24-27 encapsulates all Christian discipleship.

Deny yourself and let Christ live in and through you,  When we are focussed on Christ and His kingdom we forget self and fix our eyes on Him who is the author and finisher, the pioneer and perfecter, the beginning and the end of our walk of faith.

On our own we are weak and easily defeated, but with Christ in us nothing is impossible and self, sin and satan will be finally and completely defeated.  Amen