Enemies
Pt. 2 –Intelligence Training
Text Backdrop for Series:
Remember the backdrop I set up last week. There is a time for peace, but there is also a time for war. Joel declares that farmers should turn their farming instruments into weapons to prepare for battle. Paul says we shouldn’t be unaware of enemy tactics so that we won’t fall prey to his schemes! So we are in a war. We have enemies. I wished everyone and everything was bent on helping, assisting, and benefiting us. However, the truth is that not everyone is cheering for you. Not everyone is your friend. The truth is that everything doesn’t help or benefit you. Some people and some things are assigned to destroy you. So I told you that we have to be enemy conscious. Not enemy oblivious or obsessed but aware! We cannot become comfortable with our enemies. We cannot tolerate them. Our inability to destroy and dismiss our enemies is not due to lack of power or authority, but our lack of obedience. We fail to destroy our enemies because they appeal to us! But what we fail to kill will kill us. So we must cut off their influence from our lives. We must pass them by and we must pray for them.
You will also remember that last week I read to you David’s statement in
Psalms 119:98
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide.
He makes it very clear that the way to live our lives victoriously is to be wiser than our enemies. Jesus, speaking to his disciples, deepens this understanding when He tells them in Matthew 10:16, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Or as it says in the Message, “Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.”
So we understand that our journey through life will be a trip! We are to remain aware. We are to stay on guard. We must be alert because Jesus prior to this statement says in Matthew 7:15 that there would be wolves who try to influence us, get next to us, and infiltrate our lives by shrouding their true identity be dressing like, acting like, and even talking like sheep! They are chameleons. When they are with you they talk like a sheep. But out of your presence they are something else entirely. They are simply undercover!
So we need to learn some things about our enemy that will help us remain safe and unscathed.
II. Intelligence Training
A. Be wise not paranoid or untouchable.
Our instruction from Jesus is to be wise! However, He also says He is sending or assigning us to go right into their midst. There is a huge difference between being wise and being paranoid! If we live our lives paranoid and convinced that everyone is out to destroy us then we will want to curl up in the fetal position and hide in a dark corner of our bedroom. If we live like that there is no way that we can carry out our assignment or connect with people, love people, influence people. So we must learn to be aware without being untouchable! If we are not careful we will become closed and unapproachable. We will try to keep people at a distance and we will never let anyone into our space or heart. Jesus’ example is the perfect example as to how we should live life.
Jesus finds himself surrounded by enemies. There is no doubt whose side they are on! They are there to arrest Him and escort Him to a brutal death. His disciples had no problem discerning that they were enemies. So Peter deals with the enemy our way. He takes his sword and strikes, but watch Jesus. Jesus is standing in front of an armed man, a wounded man, a bloody man, a scared man who is probably ready to extract some revenge and Jesus get’s close enough to him to reach out, exposing Himself and His vital organs to a counter strike. The minor miracle is that Jesus healed the man’s ear. The major miracle is that He got close enough to an angry enemy to extend His hand and touch him. That is how we must live. Alert, on guard, but still willing to reach out, expose ourselves so that we can bring healing!
B. Your enemy has to get close.
You need to be smart enough to know that your enemy has to get close to you to destroy you. Why do you think wolves dress up like sheep? It is because they understand that the most effective and destructive type of fighting is hand to hand combat. The closer they get the more impact and destruction they can inflict.
Jesus’ experience with Judas teaches us that no one can betray you unless they are close. Unless they are close they don’t have the inside knowledge or track to get to you! I have often said it is those that are the closest to you that hurt you the most. So we must stay aware and alert.
The truth is that some of you let some people get too close too quick! You have to use some wisdom and test folks. Some of you tell everything on the first date. Some of you share your deepest darkest secrets after 2 months. Some of you watch a person expose another person’s dirty laundry and you don’t exercise a lick of wisdom and roll out your sorrid past in front of them thinking that they surely wouldn’t do that to you. Don’t live paranoid, but use the brain God gave you! Some things you need to keep to yourself until you have proven them to be a true friend rather than a Judas.
Right now as much as I hate to tell you this there are people on an assignment from the enemy of our soul that are trying to get close to you. Open your eyes . . . open your ears! You can’t afford to miss the warning signals and signs. A close strike is the most painful and can in fact be fatal!
C. Learn how the wolves work.
1. They prey on the weak.
A wolf will always go after the weak ones first. This is important to know because you need to do some very honest evaluation about you. Are you wounded? Are you hurt? Are you in pain? If the answer is yes, then you must be extra careful and guarded because you are target #1! If it has been a tough and tiring season you must be smart enough to know that your picture is someone’s bull’s eye!
I want you to be smarter than your enemy so, you need to find out some things about you. In order to as wise as a serpent you must know:
a. Where are you weak?
What is your weakness? What do you have tendencies toward?
What do you do when you are feeling pressure? You need to
know this because the enemy does and will use this against
you. Haven’t you ever wondered how right at your weakest
moment that image comes on the screen, that person calls,
that item is available. The enemy knows your weakness and so
should you.
b. To whom are you weak? There are people that you just can’t
hang around when you are weak. They fuel your weakness. They
feed your failure. They push your buttons! Their words,
attitudes, behaviors are not only toxic to you, but
contagious. When you are weak you have to use enough wisdom
not to answer their calls, go out with them, or talk to
them. When you are strong no problem they don’t influence
you, but at a weak moment they are your kryptonite.
c. When are you weak? There are certain season’s and times
that you are at your weakest. For instance, if you have a
tough day at work you can’t just veg out you have to stay on
guard. If you have had a fight with your spouse you can’t
afford to spend time with that person of the opposite sex
that you find attractive. For me, I am my weakest after
ministering because it drains me. You have to know and become
very familiar with your weakest moments so that you can build
safeguards into your life so that the wolf won’t have access
or an opening to get to you!
2. Wolves divide and conquer.
One of the easiest ways to discern if someone is a wolf in sheep’s clothing is if they monopolize your time and divide you from healthy relationships in your life. If they have to all your attention, if they want you to listen to them and them only, if they can only have one friend at a time they are an enemy! In fact, Paul instructs us in Romans to mark those who drive wedges or divisions between us and other folks in the body as an enemy! We are designed to operate as a body with many body parts. You need to be in relationship with many not just one! That is why the Word says there is wisdom and success is found in a multitude of counselors. This is why we are told that we are to run this race surrounded by a cloud of witnesses (plural). A wolf specializes in isolation! If they can isolate you they can destroy you!
3. Wolves operate in a pack.
You can discern the presence of a wolf in your life because they will gather other wolves. They will find others who support their views, beliefs, and will bring them into your life as well. They will divide you from the flock and then bring others into the mix that will help them keep that division in place. Wolves hang out with other wolves just like sheep hang out with other sheep! Ever felt ganged up on? Wolves!
4. Wolves are in constant struggle for control.
They will bark out against any form of control, laws, or rules. They are constantly struggling and fighting for control of their own lives, your life, and the lives of others. Sheep are content in the pasture, but a wolf desires high places.
I can usually spot a wolf immediately by the fact that they will rail against all beliefs, thoughts, convictions, and rules except the ones they set or like. A wolf will dismiss and demean everyone else’s opinion or position because the wolf wants control!
5. Wolves howl and bite!
You can discern a wolf by their howl and the fact they are constantly biting! If the person you are hanging around or who you has influence in your life is always howling against someone, complaining, criticizing, fighting, and inflicting pain, on the offensive, caustic, abrasive, and hurtful then they are a wolf.
How do we deal with wolves?
D. Run to the shepherd and the sheepfold!
The safest place is as close to the shephard as you can get. David speaks to this truth in Psalm 23. In verse 1, he states that the Lord is our shepherd! Then in verse 5 the shepherd nurtures and nourishes me in the presence of my enemies! He sets the table for me! Think about that! If we stay close to the shepherd He sets us up for blessing right in the midst of our enemies! John 10:11 Jesus states about himself, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
Jesus also says about Himself, “I am the door.” We don’t really understand this the way Jesus meant it. He was painting a word picture of why we need to stay close to the shepherd. Each evening as the day was coming to a close the shepherd would set up crude, makeshift enclosures of brush, sticks and rocks. However, the circle was incomplete and broken so that there was a doorway going into the enclosure. Once the sheep were inside and bedded down the shepherd would lie down across the opening. So he physically became the door. His body kept the sheep in and the enemy could only get to the sheep over the literal dead body of the shepherd. He would lay his life down for the sheep. By the way, He still does the same today! He places His body between us and the enemy!
Why is that when we are being attacked that some of us run away from other sheep? We are safest when we are near the shepherd! Guess where you find the shepherd? Near the sheep! Get in the sheepfold when you are under attack! The harder you are being attacked the more you should hang out with the sheep. There is strength in numbers. Sheep are not supposed to be solitary animals. We are supposed to be in flocks! If we are separated we get picked off one by one! I will never understand why people who are hurt want to isolate themselves from the ones who can heal them. When the wolves are attacking get as close to Jesus and His body as you can!
So today I want to challenge you to gain some intelligence!
