How to deal with enemies - The Unseen Enemy
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Intro
if you were to ask a random stranger on the street this question, “Who is your enemy?” An honest answer would yield things like:
particular individual’s name
particular family
particular group (women, men, race, political, rich people)
organization like the government
foreign country
All of these individuals or groups can be seen, but today’s word is about an unseen enemy and how to deal with that unseen enemy.
Biblical definition of an enemy
Biblical definition of an enemy
Greek and Hebrew - someone being hostile to you
someone against you
wants things to go bad for you
try to make things go bad for you
rejoices when things go bad for you
Who is the unseen enemy?
Who is the unseen enemy?
This unseen enemy is very hostile towards you
This unseen enemy is your number one enemy
The unseen enemy is satan/the devil
satan meaning adversary, opponent, in today’s vernacular he is the opps (opposition)
the word devil is from the greek diablos, meaning one who slanders (talk bad about you)
He is the unseen enemy. Him and other fallen angels who work with him
The very same Bible that teaches us about God, lets us know that we have an unseen enemy
The Bible describes satan/the devil as a murderer, the father of lies, the accuser, the deceiver, the great dragon, the serpent, the tempter, the prince of the power of the air, beelzebub, belial
let’s go through some scriptures:
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.
here we see a mention of Satan and his fallen angels, who we called demons
He seeks to deceive the whole world
he is the unseen enemy
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
our main enemy, our real struggle in life is not against other humans that we can see (flesh and blood)
our main enemy, our real struggle, our real fight in life is against the unseen enemy . . . who is controlling or influencing that particular person or group of people we can see
we can see rulers like presidents and governors and mayors . . . but there are also rulers that we can’t see, and they are our real enemies
we can see military forces who are against us, just turn on the news . . . but the real threat are the spiritual forces that we cannot see
There is an unseen evil entity assigned to wreck your life
maybe on the personal level
probably on the local level
most assuredly on the national level
definitely on the global level
An example in the Bible, Daniel prayed to God, and God sent an angel with the answer to Daniel’s prayer, and God allowed Daniel to see an hear the angel . . . when Daniel saw him, Daniel became afraid
Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.
But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.
a demon, the spirit prince of Persia (national level), tried to block the way of this angel of God, and the fight lasted for 21 days, until Michael the archangel came to help the angel fight
we have unseen enemies.
What Powers does our unseen enemy have?
What Powers does our unseen enemy have?
What can he do?
What abilities does he have?
What tools are at his disposal?
We learn from the book of Job in the BIble, that he can do a lot
God bragged on his servant Job, and how he lived right
Satan responded to God that Job only lives right because you protect him and allow only good things happen to him
so God says
“All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.
The Lord said you can test him, and to test him, you man do whatever you want, but you cannot touch his body
in this testing, Satan caused some people to steal all of Job’s oxen and donkeys, and kill his servants
in this testing, Satan caused fire to fall down from the sky (lightning) and burn up Job’s sheep and shepherds
in this testing, Satan caused another group of people to steal his camels and kill some more servants
in this testing, Satan caused a great wind (tornado) to knock down the house were Job’s children were, killing all of them.
Then later, God allowed satan to bring a terrible sickness on Job . . . but God said you can’t kill him though
so satan had some diabolical powers at his disposal
And this story shows you how much satan would do to you if he could
take everything you have
destroy everything you have
kill every person associated with you
put sickness on you
and kill you
This unseen enemy is your number one enemy!
Why that might be terrifying, the good news is that we (Christians) don’t have to fear him!
In fact, there is another unseen person that the Bible actually teaches us to fear . . . and that’s God
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”
if you are going to be afraid of someone, be afraid of God
if you are going to be worried about what someone is up to, be worried about what God is up to
we worry to much about our seen enemies:
what is the person at the job up to
what are those people up to
what are those politicians up to
what is that foreign country up to
or if we worry about the unseen, we worry about the devil
“you know the devil is busy”
“you the satan always trying to mess something up”
but there is onely one person to fear and that is God.
You don’t have to be afraid of the devil
You don’t have to be afraid of the devil
caveat - by you, I mean Christians
Why? God keeps satan on a leash
in every part of the story of Job, God limits what he will allow satan to do
God will only allow him to do so much
If Satan was not on a leash, no one on the earth would be alive
the devil cannot just do what he wants, he is restricted . . . . and God has his own purposes for how much he restricts him
another example of how our unseen enemy cannot just do what he wants, this is Jesus talking to Peter
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
sift you like wheat . . . let me put him through something to show that Simon Peter ain’t nuthin’
that’s what he wants to do, but satan has to get permission
you don’t have to fear the devil because he can’t touch you without God’s permission . . . which goes back to if you are to fear anyone, fear God
so since satan is restricted, since God won’t allow him to just come in and overwhelm us, how does satan, our unseen enemy most often attack us?
Satan lies and schemes
Satan lies and schemes
he tricks and traps
he spreads falsehoods
Jesus said this about some Pharisees who were against him
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
notice how Jesus recognizes the true enemy . . . . you father the devil
satan is a liar and the father of lies
in the very beginning, satan told Adam and Eve this lie, “if you eat this fruit you won’t die!”
He lies and he uses these lies to trick us
he tells us that things that are wrong are NOT wrong
he tells us that things that are not good for us ARE good for us
he tells us that things are ok, when things are not ok
he tells us that things are not ok, when things are ok
he tells us that we are free, when we are actually in bondage
he tells us that we are in bondage, when actually we are free
he tells us we can’t we we can
he tells us we should when we shouldn’t
he tell us that the Bible is wrong
he tells us that there are no consequences to sin
he tells us there is no sin, just preferences
he tells us there is no iniquity, just lifestyle choices
he tells us God won’t come through
He tells us that God demands too much
he tell us that we can make it without God
he tells us can’t trust God
he tells us there is no God
he tells us that he doesn’t exist
he will lie through a thought, a person, a group, society, a religion, entertainment
he will tell an outright lie
he will twist the truth with a lie
he will tell an outrageous lie
he will repeat a lie
he lies and schemes
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
our concern it not satan over powering us, our concern should b satan tricking us . . because he schemes
One scheme he loves is taking the fleshly desire to do wrong, and calling it right
Before Cain murdered his brother Abel, he was already thinking about it, and God warned him
“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected?
You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
God reveals that The truth is that evil desires try to control us, so we must strive to subdue those evil desires
but he devil lies and says, don’t try to subdue evil desires or unnatural urges, just go with it . . . flow with whatever your flesh says . . . and we won’t call it sin, wrong, not right . . we will call it progress
being powerful
living in your truth
not being confined to the restraints of society
the scheme: then he repeated and repeated it, the lie sounded ridiculous at first, but he kept hammering away
just one example is how satan has us naming men as women of the year
Glamor magazine did it
USA today did it
Time magazine did it
how did we get there . . . Satan just lied and then repeated it through educational system, entertainment, politics
and instead of getting people the counseling they need, we let them live the devil’s lie
How do we deal with our unseen enemy?
How do we deal with our unseen enemy?
lies and schemes
tricks and traps
what people want to hear is something real religious sounding, mystical
get some extra virgin olive oil
get a pastor, 2 deacons, and 2 women of God to pray over it
anoint your house every seven days at 6am
maybe God might tell you to do something like that a PARTICULAR time . . . but for everyday dealing with our unseen enemy, the bible makes it plain
2 steps
Step 1 - Be aware
Step 1 - Be aware
be alert, be watchful = be aware that you really do have an unseen enemy, don’t fall asleep on the enemy . . . . he is after you, your family
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
know that the enemy is around and that he is prowling . . . looking for someone to devour
lions pick off the weak of the flock
he is looking for a weakness, seeking an opportunity to attack with his lies and schemes
he is the car thief who keeps trying different car doors until he finds the one car that the owner did not lock
Be aware, be alert, be watchful, don’t fall asleep
we are not careful what we watch, listen to, or what our kids watch, listen to, are taught
Step 2 - Resist and stand firm
Step 2 - Resist and stand firm
there’s a lot in that, but let’s get to the heart of resist and stand firm
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
resist and stand firm
in fact, all of us Christians need to to, we are all fighting
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
you put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist and stand firm against the schemes (there’s that word again)
don’t have time to go through the various parts listed: belt of truth (obvious), breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit (word of God)
the heart of it is that you need to be fully immersed into God
serving him
following him
listening to him
learning his word
and you will have all those things and be able to resist his lies and stand firm
another scripture says it simply
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
submit - yield, fully get into God, be sold out
Resist the devil and he will flee
That’s what Jesus did during his temptation
he answered the devils lies and schemes with the truth.
and the devil had to get out of there
the opposite - if you don’t submit to God, you won’t be able to resist, and you will fall for satan’s schemes . . . and he will destroy everything he can in your life
Real Bible Example
It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
man pridefully living in sin with his stepmother
devil’s lie - you love who you love, love is love
who church knows about it, no one calling him to repentance, just ignoring it
devil’s lie - misuse the scripture, “Bible says don’t judge” (when the Bible says don’t judge it doesn’t mean ignore sin within fellow believers)
following the devil’s lie would have torn uup the church: it would hasve turned into everyone do whatever you want, no holiness, no trying to live right
Paul steps in with the truth, “kick him out!”; Hand him over to satan (remove protection of the church), then satan can do more than just lie to him, and maybe that will bring him to repentance
the church at Corinth listened to the truth. Resisted the devil and stood firm, and kicked the man out . . . and apparently the man came to repentance
devils lie - you shouldn’t forgive him for what he did! He doesn’t deserve forgivness
Paul’s response - forgive him . . . follow the word of God . . . resist the devil’s lie and stand firm on what is right
When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit,
so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
unforgiveness would have torn up the church, and Paul points is out . . . that’s a scheme of satan to have us not forgive
see the scheme on top of scheme
tricks on top of tricks
get man with stepmother with some lies
try to get church to accept it . . . . with some lies
if they get pass those lies . . . trick them with righteous indignation and unforgiveness
but someone who is fully immersed . . . says, “that’s the devil”
Invitation
don’t let the devil trick you into missing heaven