Our Enemy and Our Warfare
Study Text: Ephesians 6:10 - 18
Introduction:
- The Bible made it clear that as Christians, we are engaged in a spiritual warfare which can only be won with the strength of the Lord and the spiritual weapons He provided for us.
- Two notable things about the warfare are:
1. It is described as a wrestling.
- This implies that it is a warfare that will involve the whole of our bodies, and that winners are only declared when the opponent surrenders and is unable to continue with the fight.
2. In the spiritual weapons provided for us, no provision was made for the back.
- This implies that as Christians, we must not retire or turn back, but must continue to fight valiantly until the opponent surrenders.
- Nevertheless, we are not fighting for victory in this warfare, but we are fighting from victory to victory, because Jesus already conquered the Devil and Has given us victory over him. Luke 10: 19-20
- We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:
1. The Significance of Our Warfare.
2. The Strategies of Our Wily Enemy.
3. The Secret of Our Winning.
1. The Significance of Our Warfare:
- This warfare is very significant because it is unseen, spiritual and it determines the success and breakthrough of the Christian in all areas of life.
- How do we know that there is a spiritual realm? If we cannot see it, then, should we believe in it?
- Many believers and unbelievers today do not want to deal with a world we cannot see when the world we do see is hard enough to deal with.
- Before we can discuss the spiritual battle, we have to believe in the spiritual realm. Just because we cannot see the spiritual realm does not mean it is not there.
- However, if we choose to ignore or not believe in the spiritual realm, we will find ourselves confused, frustrated, and quenching the peace that God has promised to each of us.
- Our belief in the existence of the spiritual realm, and our adequate knowledge about it is the beginning of our journey to victory, and God gives us everything else we need to be victorious.
- As the Scriptures has enlightened us, we must all believe that there is more than what the eye can see. However, since we do not see it, we often fail to believe in it. If we do not believe in it, then we cannot be aware of all that is going on, for and against us.
- Whether we choose to believe in the existence of spiritual beings and places does not change the fact of their existence and their activities.
- As Christians, it took faith to believe in Jesus Christ. We cannot see Him but we believe that He died on the cross for our sins. We believe that God raised Him from the dead and we believe that He alone is the source of our eternal salvation.
- All those beliefs are not physically seen by us today. We believe Jesus accomplished these things in the spiritual realm when He lived in the physical realm on earth. We know that we too, need to believe in this physical realm to be welcomed into His spiritual realm.
- Thus, it is faith that confirms to our hearts that we will be going to a very real place called heaven someday. The Bible is filled with references to the heavenly realm or a place that is invisible to our eyes physically today, yet very real in its existence. We believe with the eyes of our heart, instead of with the eyes in our head.
- There have been others who were able to see with their physical eyes into the spiritual realm through the help of the Holy Spirit opening their spiritual eyes and giving them insight. For example, Paul was able to discern the lady with the spirit of divination.
- Moreover, some do have the glimpse of the activities in the spiritual realm through Satanic means and have been able to wreck havoc which can be felt in the physical realm. For example, the lady was able to identify Paul and Silas and their mission through Satanic means. Acts 16:16-18
2. The Strategies of Our Wily Enemy:
- The Devil and the agents of darkness are full of wiles, which the Bible reveals to us that we can only overcome by putting on the whole armour of God.
- The kingdom of darkness is a well organized kingdom with hierarchy of authorities with an effective network of operations.
- The believers need to counterattack the strategies of the enemy to avoid being defeated, or being caught off guard.
- As Christians, we know Jesus has already defeated Satan for us (Colossians 2:15), but that doesn’t mean Satan isn’t going to use certain strategies to try and trick us into believing otherwise. His strategies are intended to keep us defeated and to take everything that is rightfully ours.
- If we had no responsibility to stand our ground against the Devil’s schemes, then God would not have told us to “resist the devil” (James 4:7) or to use “the weapons of our warfare” (2 Corinthians 10:4), and He would have had no need to give us “authority over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). Some of the strategies include:
1. The Strategy of Fear:
- The enemy instills fear.
- “God has not given us a spirit of fear.” –2 Timothy 1:7
- Fear is Satan’s primary weapon. It’s a spiritual force that begins inside you, and it is totally destructive because it robs you of your faith and peace.
- It keeps your focus on circumstances instead of on the promises in God’s Word.
- When Jairus needed healing for his daughter and the circumstances didn’t look good, Jesus was quick to instruct him, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed” (Luke 8:50). Jesus was warning Jairus of the greatest enemy to his daughter’s healing: Fear.
- The enemy instills fear by challenging the promises of God. An excellent example of this is found in Matthew 14:30 When Jesus invited Peter to come to Him on the water. “But when Peter saw the strong wind and waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted”.
- Peter was able to walk on the water because of his faith in the Word of Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and waves, and he was afraid, he began to sink. It wasn’t the wind and waves that defeated him; it was his fear of them.
- In order to overcome fear:
- Meditate on God’s Word. This is how faith that drives out fear is developed.
- The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. Speak the Word of God. Use it to fight Satan every time he comes against you.
- Hold up your shield of faith and quench all his fiery darts. Speak words of faith, and fear will depart.
2. The Strategy of Lies:
- The enemy lies to you.
“He is a liar and the father of lies.” –John 8:44
- One of the strategies of the enemy is to lie to you every day. Do you ever have negative and discouraging thoughts that come out of nowhere? Sometimes they can be hard to recognize as the enemy’s lies because they sound like they could be true.
- However, if you accept them as truth, or believe them even for a moment, you’ve fallen for his slay tactic, giving him the upper hand.
- The enemy knows your insecurities, and he plays on them. He knows the fears you fight against, and he tries his best to feed them by telling you lies.
- The Devil tell lies to have access to your life. He has come “to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).
- If he can get you into wrong thinking, wrong believing, wrong saying and wrong acting, the door to your life is wide open to him.
- So, if you have any thoughts that are opposite of what God says, know they are outright lies straight from the pit of hell itself.
- In order to overcome the lies of the enemy:
- Take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). To do this, start lining up every thought with the Word of God. John 10:27
3. The Strategy of Temptations:
- The enemy tempts you to sin.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” James 1:13
- God will never tempt you to do anything wrong. In fact, He has given you every tool to resist the devil so he will flee from you (James 4:7). The enemy tempts you to sin, and no one is exempted.
- Sometimes he is obvious about it, tempting you to lie or commit acts of immorality or another sin clearly defined as such in God’s Word. But a lot of times, he is subtler than that.
- In order to overcome temptation:
- Recognize there is a way out of it. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”. 1 Corinthians 10:13
- Answer the temptation with God’s Word. Matthew 4:4
4. The Strategy of Pride:
- The enemy stirs up pride
“Pride leads to conflict.” Proverbs 13:10
- One of the most effective strategies the enemy uses to keep you defeated is to stir up pride. Satan fell because of pride, and he wants to take you down with him by getting you prideful. Don’t let yourself fall into it.
- The Bible describes pride as one of the seven things that God hates. Proverbs 6:16-17, calls it an abomination to Him.
- Satan knows pride is the path to destruction and shame (Proverbs 11:2, 18:12), so he will deploy tactics to get you prideful. He’ll start whispering all kinds of things you want to hear in hopes that you will become puffed up. And the Bible says God resists the proud (1 Peter 5:5).
- In order to overcome pride:
- Humble yourself. According to 1 Peter 5:5-6, being truly humble means to submit to God and His Word. Romans 12:16-19
- Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
- Be watchful. Keep a watch on yourself, and when you catch yourself getting puffed up with your own greatness, repent and remember that every good thing you enjoy and every bit of success you’ve had has come by the grace of God and by His power.
5. The Strategy of Unforgiveness:
- The enemy makes you to be filled with bitterness against your offender and makes it difficult for you to forgive them.
- The Devil knows that if you do not forgive others, God will not forgive you your sins, and will not accept your sacrifice.
- In order to overcome unforgiveness, pray for the grace of God to overlook the offence and release the offender from your heart.
- Pray for the blessings of your offender including his or her salvation where necessary.
- Do not delay in forgiving others. Do it as soon as possible and as often as it is necessary, because Satan can launch an attack to make it too late to be done.
3. The Secrets of Our Winning :
- We should remember that as Christians we are soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3), engaged in a terrific warfare (Ephesians 6:12). But thank God, we have a great Captain. Hebrews 2:10.
- How are we to win through? Let us examine the secret of victory that Paul outlines for us in 1 Corinthians 16: 13 - 14:
1. Always be on Your Guard:
- This is the significance of the words in verse 13. They mean, ‘Keep awake and be vigilant!’
- Our three great enemies are the world, the flesh and the Devil, and unless we are on guard and being constantly watchful, we shall be overcome by these enemies.
1. The World is the enemy without.
- What a powerful enemy the world is: 1 John 2:15-17.
2. The Flesh is the enemy within.
- The “flesh” is evil and corrupt and it is incapable of improvement. Romans 7:18.
- We very quickly fall a prey to our old nature, which is seen when we show anger, bad temper, pride, irritability, and when we are careless to fall into one sin or the other.
3. The Devil is the enemy around.
- Satan is a real and a powerful enemy and he is determined to bring about our downfall. 1 Peter 5:8 But we are not to be “unaware of his schemes”. 2 Corinthians 2:11.
2. Stand Firm in the Faith:
- We are to be steadfast, immovable and to have spiritual convictions and stick to them.
- If we are going to have spiritual convictions and stick to them we must be men and women of the Word. 2 Timothy 2:15.
- We shall never grow up into spiritual maturity and be strong in the Lord and in His power unless we feed constantly upon the Word of God 2 Timothy 3:15-17.
- We need to Keep on trusting God without losing faith. In the midst of difficult situations and challenges of life, Satan’s primary objective is to shatter our faith. Luke 22:31-32.
- Therefore, stand firm in the faith, let your whole trust be in the Lord who will never leave you or forsake you. Hebrews 13:5-6.
3. Be Courageous and Overcome Fear:
- We must rise to the full stature of our growth in Christ, and overcome fear in all ramifications and be courageous through the strength given to us by the Lord. Joshua 1:7-8.
4. Do not be Wise in Your Own Sight and Do not Rely upon Your Own Strength:
- We must never believe that we have any strength of our own. We are incapable of facing the world, the flesh and the Devil, of being victorious over these enemies, of living a life that pleases God in our own strength. Ephesians 6:10, Proverbs 3:5-8.
- Every time we are defeated the reason is that we have been relying upon our own strength and being wise in our own sight.
5. Be Motivated by the Love of God in All That You Do:
- Love is the hallmark, and the distinguishing feature of the Christian: love to the Lord Jesus (John 14:15); and love for all the Lord’s people (John 13:34-35).
6. Do not Cover-up Sin, Always be Blameless.
- We are expected to live victoriously above sin, but when we fall into sin, we must not cover-up, but to repent genuinely through Godly sorrow. 1 John 2:1-2.
- The Devil knows when we have unconfessed sin, and he will take advantage of that in attacking us. Sin in our lives, gives him a legal ground to attack us.
7. Cultivate the Heart of Gratitude and Thanksgiving:
- Stop complaining and murmuring, be grateful to God and give thanks to Him for everything and in every situation. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
- Thanksgiving renews our trust and confidence in God, and refreshes our relationship with Him, and consequently, our strength in Him is renewed.
Conclusion:
- We are engaged in a spiritual warfare which we can only win by the strength of God and the spiritual weapons He provided for us.
- We need to understand the strategy of the enemy to know how to effectively resist him.
- We must discover all the secrets of our victory and explore them for our victories and supernatural blessings.
