How to Defeat the Enemy

After listening carefully to the instructor’s directions, Troy was ready for his first parachute jump.

“Count to ten, then pull the rip cord. If the chute doesn’t open, pull the second cord for the backup parachute. When you land, a van will be there to pick you up. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready!” Troy answered excitedly. With that, he jumped out of the airplane, counted to ten, then pulled the cord. The chute didn’t open.

He grabbed the second cord and pulled it. Still nothing happened.

As he was falling to the ground, he thought an angry thought, “And I bet that van won’t be there, either.”

I want to start a new series of messages on my Wednesday evenings called “Stand Firm”. Every other week we will talk about what it means to stand firm as a believer.

Christians need to stand firm for God. We can’t waiver in our commitment to Christ or the truths that are in the Word of God.

Compromise should not be allowed when it comes to our faith and obedience to Christ.

We must focus on what matters. I like my little joke tonight because I think a whole lot of Christians are falling to the ground and are upset about things that don’t matter a whole bunch. They are focusing on a world that will pass away and they have no clue how the enemy is manipulating them to keep their focus off of God.

In other words, we are living more for ourselves than for God or others.

Jesus told His disciples that we need to give up our own ways and will to follow Him.

He asked His followers:

Matthew 16:26–27 NLT

26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.

What matters most in this life? Are we focused on what matters? Or are we upset when things don’t go our way? Are we like the guy who was falling to his death and he was upset about something that doesn’t even matter?

I’m telling you the truth, we need to be standing on a firm foundation. We need to be clear eyed knowing that Jesus is who matters most. Our attention should be focused on Him. We should spend time with Him in prayer and His Holy Word.

You have a purpose in this life. You can only find and fulfill that purpose if you focus on Jesus and give Him your life.

This life will come to an abrupt end one day. The question then will be what we did with the knowledge of Christ.

So with that in mind I want to start a this series talking about standing firm against our enemy. Satan is your enemy. He is real. He is active. He is smart. He is capable.

But…He is defeated.

We do not need to live defeated by him! Through Christ we have the victory over the enemy. We don’t have to be held captive by him. In Christ we are regenerated and not controlled by satan any longer.

1 Corinthians 15:57 NLT

57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of this victory we can do what we are told in the next:

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT)

58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Be Strong and Immovable.

It’s real hard, right? It’s easy to talk a big game, but the enemy knows what tempts us. He knows exactly how to push the buttons that weaken our resolve.

He might know how to tempt, but we don’t have to give in. We can fight back in faith knowing that when we resist he must flee!

You can control your thoughts. The devil has no control over how you react. That’s all in our strength and control.

I have three thoughts to help you defeat the enemy in your daily walk.

To understand the battle we need to go all the way back to the first man and woman in the garden of eden. Remember they were the first humans to encounter the devil.

Remember what Satan said to them?

Genesis 3:1–6 (NLT)

1 ....“Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.

3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’ ”

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.

5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

Don’t Give Satan a foothold

What’s a foothold? Well, imagine yourself being chased by a bad person. You run up to your room and try to close the door, but the person sticks his shoe at the bottom end of the door so you can't close it. That part of his foot that prevents you from closing the door effectively is called a "foothold."

Once that door is open and the foot is stuck in the gap, it’s almost impossible to get it shut, and what’s worse is it will give the enemy the leverage to force it open.

If you give Satan control of one little part of your life, he will soon take over the whole thing. You give him a foothold into your life, and he turns it into a stronghold.

In the garden of Eden we see the enemy slip a foot in the door by asking a simple question. He posed what seemed like a normal question. Really, it might have seemed to Eve that he was just looking for information. She didn’t recognize that he was slipping a foot right in the gap and would soon blow it wide open.

Genesis 3:1 (NLT)

1 ...“Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

You see that he didn’t ask about the one tree God said not to eat from, he asked about ALL the trees. He asked a silly question to open a dialog.

In our world we aren’t dealing with trees, but we are dealing with other things.

There are questions that might pop into your head that could lead to a foothold in your life. The best thing to do is to slam the door immediately, don’t allow the enemy to get your thoughts going down the wrong path.

Anything that questions God, His authority, and His truth are from the enemy. Don’t entertain such thoughts!

Does God really....?

Will God ever....?

Did God forget to…?

Why won’t God…?

Too many times, when we hit difficult situations, we start to wonder if God is working.

Nothing is outside of God’s knowledge. He knows all things. If something happens in this world it’s because He allows it to happen. We may not ever no why, but that’s because we AREN’T God.

1 Corinthians 13:9 NLT

9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!

We don’t know everything. The enemy knows that and he will use this fact as a foothold in our lives to get us to question things that are beyond our knowledge. Before you know it, you’ll be spiraling down to his level and end up losing everything.

I believe the enemy gets footholds in a believers life more often than not because he appeals to our emotions.

Look at this verse:

Ephesians 4:27 NLT

27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Here is an he example is anger, but it could be any negative emotion. If you fill your life with worry, he’s gained a foothold in your life. If you fill your life with resentment, he’s gained a foothold in your life. If you allow guilt to turn into shame, Satan has a foothold in your life.

The Apostle Paul says the best way to deal with these negative emotions is immediately.

He says,

Ephesians 4:26–27 NLT

26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Otherwise, the negative emotion will fester in your heart and give Satan the opportunity to establish a foothold in your life.

One of Adam’s responsibilities was to “keep” the garden (Gen. 2:15), which means to guard it.

We must guard our hearts, minds, and lives against the enemy by not allowing him any foothold.

It could be emotional, physical, mental, or even things from the world that we allow to influence us.

The first way we defeat the enemy is by not allowing even a foothold.

The second way is that we...

Don’t Listen to Satan’s Offers

Smooth words can tickle our ears and build up our self-image, but the motive behind those words must be examined.

United States Senator Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky once gave this wise advice to the then young newcomer, Senator Stephen M. Young:

“If some colleague refers to you as ‘the distinguished Senator from Ohio,’ consider yourself lucky.…”

“If this same colleague refers to you as the ‘able and distinguished Senator from Ohio,’ be on your guard, for the knife is getter sharper.

If, however, your colleague refers to you as ‘the able and distinguished Senator from Ohio and my good friend,’ then duck fast because he’s trying to see if the jugular vein is exposed.”

“And, in case your colleagues should refer to you as ‘my very good friend, the able, distinguished and outstanding Senator from Ohio’ then run for your life!”

We must be on guard at all times because the enemy will try to use clever ways to deceive us. Very rarely is the enemy going to come at you in a blaze of fire. Most often it will be in the form of something sweet or good.

Satan is a counterfeiter and a masquerader who never reveals his true nature. He can even come as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) and lead us astray.

Sometimes the enemy even uses well meaning people to trip us up.

I’ve experienced this in my life and you have too. I’ve been fortunate to manage a few businesses and Pastored in a few churches. And there’s nothing that will prick my ears to the working of the enemy more than when someone saying things like:

I’m so sorry you have to work so hard without anyone noticing. People just don’t know everything you do...

I wish you were in charge so that things would get better...

You’re so much more qualified...

The truth is, God has placed each of us exactly where He wants us and we need to work for the Lord. Stop jockeying for position, power, or authority. Humility always wins in the kingdom of God.

Flattering words are a sure sign that the enemy might be working because he knows we are self absorbed. We love to be validated.

The truth is we need to find our value in what the scripture says about us. We need to take our strength from the great crowd of witnesses who have overcome by the blood of the lamb. I’d much rather have that approval than approval from a slippery tongued trouble maker.

Remember the enemy loves to make offers that he can’t deliver.

We can tell when Satan is at work because he questions God’s Word and encourages us to deny the authority of Scripture, asking us, “Did God really say…?”

Satan first questions the Word, then denies the Word, then substitutes his own lies.

Our reply must be, “Yes, God did say, and I am going to respect it!”

We must immediately turn to the Lord in prayer and seek His wisdom. He will remind us of what we have learned from the Scriptures and we can use the sword of the Spirit to defeat Satan, as Jesus did when Satan attacked him (Eph. 6:17; Matt. 4:1–11).

There’s only one way to recognize when the enemy is making offers that are blasphemous.

Psalm 119:11 NLT

11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Scripture is our absolute truth. We must measure everything through the lens of scripture!

God’s Word has all the answers. It’s nearly impossible to fall for a lie of the enemy if you know the truth!

Walking around Disney world especially when you first enter you are met with the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls. Your mouth starts watering. The brain tells your tummy that you’re about to have the greatest treat you’ve ever had.

So, you seek out that cinnamon roll only to find that these jokers have cinnamon roll air fresheners pumping right out into the street to make you think they are baking fresh fluffy rolls. They are not baking cinnamon rolls at Disney world. They are selling $200 dollar imposters! I saw them unwrapping them from a pre-made package!

Once you know the truth, that sweet smell becomes annoying and a repellant.

It’s the same thing with the offers of the enemy. If you spend time meditating on the Word of God then you will be able to recognize the counterfeit.

Back in the garden with Eve the enemy told a lie and made an offer.

Genesis 3:4–5 NLT

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Verse 6 says the woman was convinced.

She believed him over God.

We do the same thing all the time. What offers are you believing right now?

I’m tell you, that the greatest tool we can have in our tool belt is - contentment. Content to trust God. To have faith that He is working.

How do we defeat the enemy?

First, we don’t allow him a foothold. Second, we stop listening to his offers, and third we:

Remind yourself of God’s Gifts

There was a businessman who was not doing well in business.

Even though he put in every penny he and the bank had, he owed everybody. It was so bad, he contemplated suicide. As a last resort he went to a pastor and with many tears asked for help.

The pastor had advice for this man “Here’s what I want you to do: Take a beach chair and your Bible and head down to the beach. When you get there, take the beach chair and your Bible and sit at the water’s edge.

Next, open your Bible. Look down at the page and read the first thing you see. From that you will know what to do.”

A year later the businessman went back to the pastor. The man pulled up in a new car, he was in a new custom-tailored suit, and was a completely new man.

The businessman pulled out an envelope stuffed with money and gave it to the pastor as a thank-you gift.

The pastor asked: “You did as I suggested?”

“Absolutely,” replied the businessman.

“You went to the beach?”

“Absolutely.”

“You sat in the beach chair with the Bible in your lap?”

“Absolutely.”

“You let the pages riffle until they stopped?”

“Absolutely.”

“And what were the first words you saw on the page?”

“Chapter 11.”

I tell that joke because we want everything that the world calls success and sometimes we are willing to do whatever it takes to get it, even if it’s outside the will of God.

Temptation is a real thing and a tactic the enemy uses to trip us up.

A temptation is Satan’s offer to give you something he claims that God hasn’t given you.

The greatest example of this in when Jesus was face to face with satan.

In Matthew 4 when Satan tempted Jesus, he suggested, “Your Father just said you were his beloved son. If he loves you, why are you hungry?”

He tempted Jesus with food because it had been 40 days since Jesus had eaten. He was offering to give Jesus something that he claimed the God was withholding from Him.

There could be things in your life right now that you question why God hasn’t provided. But you have to remember that God has given you exactly what you need right now even if it’s not exactly what you WANT.

Remember the words of James:

James 1:12–15 NLT

12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

This is a warning against temptation. He follows up this warning with a reminder:

James 1:16–18 NLT

16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

A temptation is Satan’s cheap substitute for the real gifts from heaven the Father has given us.

The devil wanted Jesus to transform stones into bread so He could eat. He wanted Jesus to believe the lie that God didn’t give Him what He NEEDED to live.

How did Jesus respond? It’s important because this is how WE need to respond:

Matthew 4:4 NLT

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Jesus preferred the nourishing bread of life, the Word of God.

Is this what we prefer when we are struggling for answers in life’s difficult situations?

Back to the garden tonight:

1 Timothy 2:14 NLT

14 And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result.

This scripture reinforces that Eve was deceived by Satan, but when Adam showed up, he sinned with his eyes wide open because he wanted to remain with his wife.

It was his deliberate disobedience that plunged the human race into sin and judgment (Rom. 5:12–21).

We have all been deceived. In this battle we call life we will be deceived again. We have tools to fight, but our greatest strength is actually acknowledging our weakness and need for a saviour.

Without Jesus we have no hope in living a victorious life.

It was our Lord’s obedience and death on the cross that saved us from condemnation and made us the children of God.

We must trust in this Gift of God called Salvation.

The greatest weapon we have in defeating the enemy is that we have been saved from him. We have been saved, redeemed, and set free.

The enemy only have as much power over us as what we allow.

James 4:7 NLT

7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Because we are children of God we can

Ephesians 6:17 NLT

17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We defeat the enemy first by not allowing a foothold, closing our ears to his offers, and by remembering the gifts that God has given.

Here’s my final scripture for tonight to encourage you:

Romans 8:37–39 NLT

37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.