Know Your Enemy

 

Bruce Chant

generation-j - Pulse

13/06/2003

 

 

Know Your Enemy

 

Ephesians 6:10-18

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

 

 

Let me explain the world that we find ourselves in.

There is one God who is sovereign, the creator of all and is above all without peer.

Before creation God suffered a rebellion with lucifer seeking to be “god” himself. God kicked satan and 1/3 of the angels out of heaven after this rebellion and even though satan was and is defeated the battle continues.

 

The battle now is fought on earth. Satan continues to attack God by attacking the object of God’s love – his image bearers – humankind. This started with Adam and Eve who sinned and fell. God sent judgement and curse upon them as part of his justice but also sent a promise that a second Adam (Jesus) would come and defeat satan and break the curse of sin, death and hell.

 

Now we live in time after satans defeat by Jesus where we his people have victory but before the return of Jesus and the complete eradication of satan and his demons from creation. Because of this our enemy is still battle us, trying to take back the ground won, and inflict damage upon God through attacks on his people. It is because this battle continues that it is imperative we know our enemy.

 

We live in the promises of God, the grace of God, the victory of Jesus – but we still find ourselves frustrated by an enemy.

 

We look at the gospel and believe it but when it comes to living it – it is hard to do.

 

 

 

We, God’s people have an enemy. Don’t accept the lie from your enemy that seeks to kill and destroy you. Recognise it is an attack on God and get ready to fight. God’s word is TRUE. But we are fallen and subject to attack – but if we know our enemy and his tactics we are able to fight and overcome.

 

Ephesians 6:10-18

 

Our God, Our Strength (Ephesians 6:10)

“10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

In the battlefield of life it is vital to know what side you fight on. We fight on the army of the Lord. Our strength and power in the battle we face comes from one source only: God.

The King we serve is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is coming as a warrior riding on a white horse with a sword to slay the Dragon and his army upon the earth (Revelation 1:16, 19:11-16). His grace is the source of our strength – there is no other source of power for this battle.

 

Armour of God (Ephesians 6:11)

“11Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.”

At Koorong and places like that they sell kids play “Armour of the Lord”. That is not what spiritual warfare is. It is not individual renegades running around getting in fights with demons. That is dumb – the battle will come.

 

The key to a good battle plan is to know your enemy and to know his strategies – be it war, football, politics, ‘charmed’ whatever…

1) Know your enemy and 2) know their plan. Why? To protect yourself from your points of greatest vulnerability.  Ie If you were satan attacking you – where would you attack you? Is it lies, lust, laziness, gossip, drunkenness?

 

The devil has schemes – 2 Corinthians 2:11 says “in order that Satan might not outwit us… we are not unaware of his schemes.” We need to get wise and realize there is a plan to derail us. If you ever really mess-up, you can probably back track to see there was a plan of the enemy to derail you. That’s why we need to not be unaware of the enemies plan. That is why we need our armour.

 

Who is our Enemy? (Ephesians 6:12)

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Who is our enemy? It is not homosexuals, Muslims, satan worshippers, witches, drug dealers, Collingwood supporters etc.

The fight we fight is against not against people – they are pawns in the game. The fight is against the powers that stand behind them as a puppeteer – pulling their strings. Are they responsible for their own sin? Yes of course – no one can say the devil made me do it. He just baits the hook. But it is not hard to find willing vessels in this world to spread the evil and wage the battle against God. It is a spiritual war we are in.

 

Brace Yourself (Ephesians 6:13)

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Days of evil will come therefore be ready to stand against the enemies plan.

Brace yourself – it is when not if.

Stand – the victory is won but we need to stand there to enforce the victory and the ground that was taken. If you fight a battle, then go home, you’ve lost everything you’ve fought for! Stand your ground!

 

So how do we prepare? Our defence is the “Armour of God”.

The armour of God defends against the different schemes of the devil. Why do we have different arms of the armed forces? To protect against different forms of attack

 

 

Armour of God: Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14a)

“14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist”

One of the best defences you can have is to be armed with the truth. Why? Because the devil loves to use the weapon of “lies”.

 

Bible tells us the devil is an accuser of the saints (Rev 12:10) and that he is a liar. His native language is lies (Father of lies – John 8:44). He’s a master of telling lies – and getting you to believe it is true.

 

He will tell you all sorts of lies – “you’re not good enough, Jesus doesn’t love you, you’re going to fail, you can’t do it, why bother, God won’t answer your prayer, God can’t forgive you of that, you’ll never be anything, no-one would want you…” etc.

 

A lie is not true – but if we believe it does that empower it? Yes. If a wife believes her husband is cheating on her and that is not true but she believes it does that empower it? Yes – therefore it is important we don’t believe the lies of the devil!

 

They are the lies of the enemy – but God’s word says “there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). To refute those lies the devil will throw at you – you need to know the truth. Jesus says I am the truth. We need the truth.

 

He twisted the words of the bible when tempting Jesus in the desert – don’t let him twist them on you – rebuke him with the truth: about God, about you (God’s child) and about his future (destruction).

 

Armour of God: Breastplate of Righteousness (Ephesians 6:14b)

“with the breastplate of righteousness in place,”

 

Another favour tactic of the enemy is plain old sin. How can the enemy knock you down? Get you to sin and exchange the righteousness of God for filth and stains. The old one-two of temptation and sin (placed in the right place and dressed in the right way) is often enough to topple God’s people.

 

It is simple – that is why it is hard to pick. Walking in unrighteousness can look deceptively like anyone else’s life. 1 John 2:16 says “For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…”

 

That’s the premise of the world we live in – looks good, feels good, I’m so good. That’s not evil – that’s just people being people; drunk, horny and arrogant. No that is an attack on your heart.

 

The devil can not make you sin – but he can tempt you. Jesus was tempted in everyway just as we are but was without sin. We are the guilty one’s who sin – therefore we need to know where he is likely to strike.

 

God tells us we are to protect ourselves by a breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protects the area covering the heart. A key target is always the heart – the enemy wants us to turn that heart from God and His righteousness towards sin. That is a tragic mistake.

 

Armour of God: Shoes of the Gospel (Ephesians 6:15)

15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

 

Feet fitted with a readiness to proclaim, carry, take the gospel talks about urgency. One of the greatest strategies the enemy will use against us, particularly in an easygoing place like Perth, is Apathy.

 

There is no urgency to tell people about Jesus. There is no urgency to pray for salvations, miracles and healings. There is no urgency to rescue lives and rescue a generation from hell. There is no urgency to plant new churches. Why? Because the strategy of apathy is working so well.

 

When apathy sets in people fail to see the urgent needs around them. The book of Nehemiah tells the same tale. Nehemiah wakes up one day and says hey there’s no wall.  No joke there’s no wall. There hasn’t been a wall for ages. Same here – do you see a great sense of urgency to proclaim the gospel in Perth? No.

 

Hey there’s no Christians at my school or uni class. No joke there’s none. There’s no Christians on TV, in the media, on the sporting fields, I just don’t meet them – no joke. But what are you going to do about it?

 

It is easy to get consumed by busyness, other items to attend to, other pastimes, study, work, TV shows, shopping. Everyone is flat out. 12 hours of uni per week is sooo hectic!! But our defence against apathy is to get our feet ready to take the gospel out there into the world we live in. We are placed where we are around the people we know for a reason – the take the gospel of peace to them.

 

 

Armour of God: Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16)

16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

 

In ancient battle shields were initially made of wood. That made it tough for arrows to get through. So they devised arrows that had the tip on fire. It hits the shield and consumes it. Great move!

 

We have an enemy who loves to throw flaming darts at us. Doubt, fear, anxiety, condemnation. God tells us the best way to counter that is to carry a shield – not of wood – but of faith.

 

We need faith to walk forward and claim ground in this battle. If we stay timid and in retreat we are in trouble. A shield is only useful if you are moving forward and moving forward in God, claiming ground, taking the victory, requires faith.

 

 

Armour of God: Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17a)

17Take the helmet of salvation

 

The helmet of salvation is very important. Helmets protect your head – you need your head. You may be able to live without a finger or even a leg or arm, but not a head.

 

You need your head. In fighting go for the head, take the head – it increases your chances of winning. In war you need to protect your head because your enemy is seeking to kill you and will go for your head. So keep your helmet on and your head down.

 

In the army you are given a helmet and told to keep your head down. Salvation is your helmet. If you haven’t come to Jesus and asked His forgiveness and love Him then you are literally walking around a war-zone, head up helmet off like an idiot copping blows to the head. If you keep that up you’ll die. Therefore you need Christ badly! Without Him we are dead.

 

Just as our head is vital to us continuing to live, so is our Salvation vital to us living and surviving the battle. Likewise, we need our salvation – therefore protect it.

 

 

Armour of God: Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17b)

“and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’

We need our weapons of offence as well as defence. We have two. One is the sword of the Spirit – the word of God.

Jesus used it when tempted – so should we (he quoted Deuteronomy – he is a master bladesman!). We should use the sword to slay the enemy, slay sin, slay lies.

 

Christians have a few problems with their sword that the devil likes to exploit.

1.      He lies to God’s people and tells them their sword is not a sword at all.

[Over-educated people debate that this sword is really not a sword but a toothpick; that’s dumb. Satan uses this tactic too – that’s not a sword, it doesn’t work, put it down. We put it down and get it run through us – hes a liar]

2.      He distracts God people to argue over their swords until they begin stabbing each other with their swords.

[Arguments over tongues, rapture etc. Eg Insight on Hillsong. The enemy laughs – us killing ourselves]

3.      He gets people talking about their swords but not using them.

[It comes to church with us, sits on the mantelpiece – but isn’t used. People keep guns and bats under their beds in readiness, we keep our sword on the backseat of the car – not a lot of use there].

 

Armour of God: Prayer (Ephesians 6:18)

18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

 

Prayer is vital. Our battle is in the heavenly realm – the realm of prayer.

Revival will begin in prayer.

Therefore pray for each other, for your pastors and leaders.

 

 

Summary.

We are in a battle – but let’s not be naïve of the enemy or his plan.

God has a plan for us and our city. Let’s take up the armour of God and put it to use in the good fight of faith.

 

Pray – for those struggling, wounded, casualties.

 

 

 

 

Sources:             

www.marshillchurch.org - Sermon: Dragon Slayer

 

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