Know Thy Enemy: What is his Strategy?

Introduction

Good morning!

This month we have been discussing our enemy.

We identified who he is.

The nacash, that serpent from the garden.

The adversary, the opposer.

The dragon of Revelation.

And what he wants.

To steal, kill, and destroy.

To devour.

To separate people from God, and drag them down with him.

And this week, I'm going to talk to you about how he does that.

What is the enemies strategy for separating people from God?

Now, before we begin, there are some things we need to be aware of.

First: I cant tell you his exact movement or particular plans.

I cant tell you how he may be using these things in your life, or someone elses life.

I dont know every manner in which he will approach, or the timing in which he will do it.

There is no complete compilation of everything the enemy can do, will do, or is doing.

And as such, this message is not, and should not be taken as a total comprehensive look at all of the enemies battle plans.

Secondly: I have heard too many fellow believers speak about the enemy as if he were weak, or stupid, or just not really a threat.

Jude 1:9 tells us:

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Jude

9 But even when Michael the archangel was arguing with the devil and debating with him concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”

Not even Michael, who is alluded to being one of the most powerful members of the heavenly host, would dare to insult or slander the enemy.

Elsewhere in the New Testament the enemy is called “A roaring lion”, “The god of this age”, “The dragon”, and Jesus refers to him as “a strong man”.

All of these seem to imply that the enemy is a very formidable foe.

I promise you, he isn't stupid, he isn't weak, and he very much so is a threat.

I do not say this so that you should fear him, or even respect him, as I don't thing we should do either of those things.

However, you should be aware of the foe we stand in opposition to.

He is smarter, and more crafty than any of us.

He is very strong, very cruel, and very dangerous.

The only reason we can stand against him, is because Christ dwells in, and fights for his children.

If it were not for that, the enemy would crush you as easily as we would crush a bug.

With those two things in mind, let us begin.

As I said, I cant tell you the enemies exact battle plan, or his immediate strategy against you or your loved ones.

What I can, and will share with you are some key components to the enemies plans that seem to be repeated pretty regularly.

I think the best way for us to do this, is to read the whole passage, and then go through what we just read.

Please turn to Matthew 4 starting in verse 1

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 4

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished.

3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.”

4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the highest point of the temple,

6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur.

9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to his needs.

Phishing for Information

First, lets address one very large and glaring aspect of spiritual warfare that we often miss.

This is a battle for intelligence.

Like a mental game of Chess.

Our enemy is very intelligent.

More so than any of us.

But, he is not all knowing.

This is why unfulfilled prophecy is so hard to interpret.

When a prophecy is given, it needs to be clear enough for us to understand some important things.

While simultaneously not revealing the exact details of how everything will occur.

Like a game of poker, everyone can see whats on the table, but each player is holding their own hand which wont be revealed until the end of the game.

Fortunately our God is all knowing, and can see all the hands being played.

Returning to our passage.

The enemy knows full well that Jesus is God in flesh.

And he knows why Jesus has come, to reclaim the nations.

But he doesn't know how Jesus will do that, or what weaknesses his fleshly form has.

And so, the info war begins.

In two of these temptations, there is a question that the enemy is trying to get answered.

In the first one, “…command these stones to become bread”.

The question is simple, yet essential for his plans.

“Could you be persuaded to act independently from your Father?”

Jesus responds perfectly with a quotation from Deuteronomy 8.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 4

It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Which essentially means “It doesn't matter if I can or cannot, I wont.”

The second question is even bigger than the first.

The enemy takes Christ to the top of the temple and quotes Psalm 91 to Him. Goading Him to take the leap.

Whats the question the enemy wants answered?

This ones going to blow your mind a little bit.

“Can you be killed?”

Again Jesus responds perfectly:

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 4

“Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

A quotation from Deuteronomy 6.

In much the same vein as Jesus first response, He says “I told you the first time, you wont learn anything from Me.”

The enemies final temptation is brought fourth more as a mockery of Christ than an actual proposition.

(Not to say that the enemy didn't hope that Jesus would say yes to it, Just that he didn't really expect Jesus to.)

“I know what you came here for, Ill give it to you if only you bow down to me.”

Again Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6.

“I will not be subject to you, only to My Father.”

So why does this matter?

The enemy cant read your mind.

He can guess at what you are thinking, but he doesn't know it.

The only information he has on you, is the information you have given him.

It works in much the same way as the algorithms that supply advertisements work on the internet.

Where you google search one small thing, and suddenly every advertisement you get pertains to that one small thing.

Google “quality couches” and you start getting advertisements for furniture stores.

The enemy will present things to you, watch your response, and then act according to your response.

It will start small, then get more dramatic.

Say, you are driving and someone cuts you off in traffic.

Instead of just remaining calm and shrugging it off, you exhaust a small bit of rage.

Maybe you cuss that driver out a little bit to yourself.

Now, that situation probably wasn’t brought about by the enemy, but he or one of his colleges was definitely watching.

So what have they learned?

With a small situation like that, you displayed a little bit of uncontrolled and unwarranted rage.

Now the enemy thinks, how far will that rage go?

What if someone pulls into a parking space that you were clearly indicating you were going to take?

What happens then?

How much does it really take to provoke this person to anger?

How can I quantify that to be expressed as more than just silent rage?

Can I make them hate another human to the point of acting on it physically?

Can I make them hate everything enough to eventually hate God the one who created it all?

This is one small example, and its really difficult to clearly identify.

But its ever present in the enemies plans.

In nearly every aspect of our lives the enemy is looking at how you might respond.

Looking for a small weakness that he might exploit.

The information that you give him, is the information he will run with.

Dont give him any information.

Appeal to Desire

Another component hyper present in the enemies plans is to appeal to desire.

As humans, we all have desires.

And having a desire is not in and of itself sinful.

Where we run into problems is whether we submit those desires to Gods will or not.

Those desires and that outcome is where the enemy wants to play.

First and foremost, the enemy is probably not going to present you with something you have no desire for anyway.

There is no sense in trying to strike a bargain with someone when they don't even want what you have.

That’s like trying to sell shrimp to someone who hates seafood.

This is plainly obvious to anyone who has struggled with substance abuse.

If you have never struggled with Substance abuse, chances are you have been presented the option to use maybe 2 or 3 times in your life, and that's probably it.

Going back to our first point, the enemy isn't going to waste his time on something he knows you have no desire for.

Now, if you have struggled with Substance abuse, those presentations rise dramatically.

You have probably had hundreds of presentations, and chances are, you still run into a presentation from time to time.

While having desires isn't bad, the enemy will try to use those desires against you.

After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry.

Jesus wanted some food.

So that is what the enemy played off of.

Similarly, with the 3rd temptation, the enemy knew why Christ had come.

He knew that God wanted to reclaim humanity, to take back the nations.

Which, interestingly, from a theological perspective the nations were the devils to give.

While I believe the enemies 3rd temptation was more of a mockery than an actual proposition.

I also think it was the most tempting of them all for Christ.

Who intimately knew Gods plan and how much He would suffer to achieve it.

You may ask, “Well what if my desire lines up with Gods desire?”

And Id say “That’s great, now make sure that your mode of achieving that desire lines up with Gods mode of achieving it.”

During European expansion I’m sure there were many who felt that the forced conversion to Christianity of many indigenous peoples under penalty of death, was in fact in line with Gods will that all people come to believe.

While they forgot that Gods mode of achieving that was a willing acceptance of the Gospel message, not forced fake conversion.

The enemies plan will play off of your desires.

Sometimes very good, holy, and pure desires.

Its good and pure to desire That people come to Christ.

But will you pursue that desire to its end, even if it means stepping out of Gods will?

That’s the element present in the enemies plans.

So we need to ask ourselves, Is this desire walking is submission to God, or am I trying to act independently from Him?

Using Scripture

In the same way that the enemy will take holy desires, and twist them to be unholy.

The enemy will take Gods word, and try to use it for his advantage.

In the 2nd temptation, the enemy quotes Psalm 91 to Jesus.

Many of you are probably very familiar with Psalm 91.

Its a wonderful Psalm promising Gods protection for those who abide in Him.

But its also a very interesting Psalm for reasons most people probably don't know.

When the Dead Sea scrolls were uncovered in Qumran, Psalm 91 was found in a Jar with 4 other extrabiblical Psalms.

All 4 of those other psalms were exorcism psalms.

Lets read Psalm 91

Psalm 91 NET 2nd ed.

As for you, the one who lives in the shelter of the Most High, and resides in the protective shadow of the Sovereign One— I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust— he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter and from the destructive plague. He will shelter you with his wings; you will find safety under his wings. His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. You need not fear the terrors of the night, the arrow that flies by day, the plague that stalks in the darkness, or the disease that ravages at noon. Though a thousand may fall beside you, and a multitude on your right side, it will not reach you. Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes— you will see the wicked paid back. For you have taken refuge in the Lord, my shelter, the Most High. No harm will overtake you; no illness will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you in all you do. They will lift you up in their hands, so you will not slip and fall on a stone. You will subdue a lion and a snake; you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent. The Lord says, “Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he is loyal to me. When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him when he is in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him honor. I will satisfy him with long life, and will let him see my salvation.”

Now, in English, this doesn’t appear very exorcistic at all.

But for the literate ancient Israelite reading this in Hebrew you would recognize that the:

“Hunters snare”

and the “Arrow that flies by day”

And the “Pestilence”

Are all names of Canaanite deities.

As a matter of fact, every evil thing mentioned in this Psalm is either the name of, or a title given to some pagan deity.

Ancient Israelites and second temple Jews (like Jesus) would recognize these as evil demonic spirits.

And the Psalms promise is that whoever walks with, and abides in YHWH would be protected from these beings and their nefarious intentions.

That’s why I said earlier that hidden in the temptation, the enemy was asking “Can you be killed?”

If hypothetically, Jesus were to jump off the temple, and inevitably be carried by the angels safely to the ground, then the rest of the Psalm would be true too.

Which would mean that the evil spirits in service to the enemy could do no physical harm to Christ.

And thus would take the idea of killing the Messiah (the one thing that needs to happen in Gods plan) off of the enemies battle plan.

The enemy will use scripture for his own purposes.

Whether its like this situation, where he uses it correctly in an attempt to gain information and formulate his plan.

Or in situations like with Eve in the garden, where he twisted Gods word in order to inspire doubt for it within Eve.

Whatever the case, the enemy is familiar with scripture and will use it when he sees fit.

This is why I stress the importance of reading scripture constantly,carefully, and within its intended cultural, historical, and literary context.

Horrible atrocities have been commited because people never stopped to figure out if the Bible really said what they think it says.

Raising a Doubt

The final element that I think is ever present in the enemies schemes is to raise a doubt.

Right before Jesus was led to the wilderness to face temptation, He was baptized.

And at that baptism The Spirit of God descended onto Christ and the Father declared publically that Jesus is His Unique Son.

In the first and second temptation the enemy raises a doubt to the Identity of the God-Man.

“If you are the Son of God...”

In all three temptations he raises a doubt as to Gods will for Jesus.

“Will God really provide for you?”

“Will God really Protect you?”

“Is Gods plan really better than this alternative?”

There is some debate as to whether or not it was even possible for Jesus to doubt in his own nature as the God-Man, or to doubt in his own will as the God-Man.

But that's not whats important right now.

Whats important is that whether its possible or not, the enemy attempted it.

He tried to make Jesus doubt in His identity with the Father, and the Fathers will for him.

As a matter of fact, nearly everything the enemy does bears the intention of raising a doubt to your trust in God.

Jesus response to every one of these temptations was a quotation from Deuteronomy.

Either from Chapter 6 or chapter 8.

In those chapters Moses is reminding the Israelites of Gods commands for them and promise He has given them.

If I might end where Jesus started, Deuteronomy 8 tells us:

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 8

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments I am giving you today so that you may live, increase in number, and go in and occupy the land that the LORD promised to your ancestors.

2 Remember the whole way by which he has brought you these forty years through the wilderness so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the LORD’s mouth.

4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years.

5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

6 So you must keep his commandments, live according to his standards, and revere him.

7 For the LORD your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills,

8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey,

9 a land where you may eat food in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper.

10 You will eat your fill and then praise the LORD your God because of the good land he has given you.

Trust in Gods provision.

Trust in His will for your life.

Trust in His promise to you.

A promise that Christ secured for us at Cavalry, when He hung on a cross and died a sinners death.

That through all this trial and pain.

At the end of this desert is a good land.

A land flowing with milk and honey.

A land where the food will be plentiful.

A land that was prepared for, and promised to those who follow Christ.

Communion

Closing

These are the elements that are ever present in the enemies Strategy.

To gather information.

To appeal to your desire.

To abuse scripture.

And to raise a doubt in your faith.

I hope that by seeing this, you can identify the enemies pattern in your life.

But know, that even if you slip, the Father is waiting with arms open ready to welcome you back home.

Next Sunday we will talk about the enemies fate, and let me tell you, God is not playing around when He says “Vengeance is Mine.”