Know Your Enemy

Know Your Enemy

February 22, 2015 Evening Service

Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK

Rick Boyne

Message Point: When we know our enemy, we do not have to be afraid.

Focus Passage: Isaiah 14:12-15

Introduction: The devil is the greatest of all the fallen angels, He opposes God and is completely evil; however, He is not equal to God as might be understood from a dualistic perspective. He is often called Lucifer which is a Latin translation of "light bearer" found in Isaiah 14:12, and also the accuser of the brethren in (Rev. 12:10), dragon (Rev. 12:9), the devil (Matt. 4:1), the tempter (Matt. 4:3), the accuser (Rev. 12:10), the prince of demons (Luke 11:15), the ruler of this world (John 12:31). Upon Jesus' return, the Devil will be vanquished. His future is the eternal lake of fire. https://carm.org/dictionary-devil

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

I. Satan – Transliteration of Hebrew word for Adversary (or Opposer)

a. And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:7-9 NASB)

b. Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7 NASB)

c. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8 NASB)

II. Devil – Comes from Greek word diabolos which means Accuser

a. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. (Revelation 12:10 NASB)

b. Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? "Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. "But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face." (Job 1:9-11 NASB)

c. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. (Zechariah 3:1 NASB)

III. Loser – English word for one who is conquered by Jesus Christ

a. He likes to make people think he is omnipotent; he is NOT

b. He likes to make people think he is omnipresent; he is NOT

c. He likes to make people think he is omniscient; he is NOT

d. He likes to make people think he doesn’t exist; he DOES

e. He likes to get credit for a lot of things he doesn’t do

f. He likes to pervert Scripture

g. He likes to subvert doctrine

h. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. (Revelation 20:1-3 NASB)

i. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)

Application/Invitation: The devil is not impersonal like stones or bureaucracies; he is a non-person. The Devil has become all that God is not; he is not beyond personality--he is without it. His purpose in creation is not to destroy God; he knows that he cannot do that. He wants to draw us into the vortex of non-personhood that he has become, and the nothingness of non-being that he is becoming. Satan, in short, aims to take as many of us with him as he can. Nigel Wright, The Satan Syndrome, Zondervan, 1990, p. 163