So, when fighting against an enemy, it’s important to know their methodology and tactics. Whether it’s the serpent sowing doubt in God’s goodness in the garden or him trying to get Jesus to doubt that he is a beloved son in his trial in the desert, the enemy’s goal is to trip us up with lying, and when we make agreements with those lies, and act on those assumptions, the evil one then accuses us for tripping the traps he set. Now an important thing to remember is that accusations can come against the self, people or groups, in the first, second, and third person. Whenever you see that sort of mentality, open up your ears and eyes to see if the enemy is at work. Now sometimes the things we hear are true and there are times you have to renounce and rebuke compromised people. Samuel did that with David with adultery of Bathsheba but if it’s just malicious insinuation, then rebuke and renounce it.
Goals of the Enemy
Steal, Kill, Destroy: John 10:10, Job 1:6-8
It’s interesting to note that the word in John for destroy is closer to immolate. It brings to mind the scene from the Phantom Menace where Quigon and Obi Wan say to Jar Jar, “Do you hear that? That is the sound of a thousand terrible things coming. If they find us, they will kill us, grind us to pieces, and blast us into oblivion.” And that is the sort of mentality towards you. Always remember that you are at war with the enemy but he has been routed because of Christ.
Doubt: 1 Kings 19:3-5
Doubt is often a successful tool of the enemy, simply because it’s so insidious. Many a good ministries or movements to help those outside the Kingdom of God never got off the ground because doubt killed good motivations before they could be acted on. The backdrop of this story is that after Elijah, calling fire down from heaven Elijah, heard the immoral King Ahab was after his life he ran and was so depressed and doubtful, he had to be tended by an angel. There is comfort in that I think, if one of the greatest prophets had to be encouraged, then it’s no wonder that we need it do and we shouldn’t feel ashamed when we need a helping hand when it comes to doubt.
Apathy: 2 Kings 13:14-18, Luke 14:18
The background to this is that Jehoash was going to see Elisha, Elijah’s successor to assure victory for the Israelites since they were facing off against a pagan king. But because Jehoash was so apathetic, Elisha didn’t give him complete victory, only a partial victory. And in many instances we do the same. We give a half-hearted prayer or effort and expect to have overwhelming victory over the enemy ignoring how persistent the evil one is. I do not say that God won’t answer prayers from when you’re in dark areas of your life though, remember, God answered Elijah when he was downcast.
Despair: 1 Kings 19:9-18, Luke 22:39-44
Back to the story of Elijah fleeing Ahab, we have the infamous story of God setting off a great wind, an earthquake and a fire. But the reason God did that was to remind Elijah who he served. After hearing that all the other prophets of God were killed, Elijah needed something to break him out of his despair. We serve the God who set the very stars in place, who has moved heaven and earth to ransom us from the enemy, and has gone to the very depths of hell to show how much he loves us. It’s good to remember that when you have despair.
Isolation: Genesis 4:9-16
So with Cain and Abel, we see the flesh at work. Envy, anger and jealous can isolate us from even the closest among us. It’s the age old tactic, divide and conquer. It is said that two people can withstand one person and a threefold cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 12:6). When you’re feeling isolated, reach out to a good friend in Christ or a mentor that has your respect.
Division: 2 Samuel 15:1-12
If the enemy can’t get you to self-isolate, he’ll try to divide you. In the case of David and Absalom, this division began because David let the rapist of Absalom’s sister, Tamar go without any punishment. This created a wedge of anger between the two, and it ended with Absalom forming a coupe against David. Sadly, that rift was never remedied between the two and Absalom died in revolt against his father. Romans 12:18 comes to mind, “As far as possible, so far as depends on you, live peaceably with all”.
Preventing Learning: Daniel 10:12-14
So the backdrop to this story was that the prophet Daniel had received a disturbing revelation, so
disturbing in fact that he appealed to God for an explanation. And received no reply… He thought God was ignoring him, had abandoned him and as John Eldredge would say, an angel showed up sort of out of breath and apologetic. Turned out that God hadn’t abandoned him but had sent an angel the very first day that Daniel had prayed. When we seem shut out by God, when we seem to be ignored, it could be that the enemy is in the background mucking things up. Pray, pray hard, and if it seems it’s needed, fast. James 4:8 says that those who draw near to God will be drawn close to him so persist !
Distorted views/Faulty Agreements: Job 2:9 (wife) , Job 4:12-21, Job 2-25 (Read this one apart from the study)
Another popular tactic with the enemy is distorted views. These can come within or without and will try\ to get you to make some sort of foul agreement. “I'm worthless; things will never change; he/she is cheating on me; I can't do this; etc.” are examples of these sorts of agreements. In the beginning of Job, God made a bet with the evil one that Job would not curse God. So the enemy got to work by causing all sorts of misery and then getting Job’s wife to try to get Job to break his resolve. When that doesn’t work, he sends a foul spirit to give one of Job’s friends a false vision. Because of that, they accuse him for 24 chapters. Now these devilish urgings can come from not just people that don’t know you that well, but also from people in the church, your close friends or your family. The demonstration in Job made it clear that no one is immune from this sort of attack, even Jesus had to rebuke the evil one in Simon Peter. (Mathew 16:23) That’s why it’s so important to know your scripture.
Fear/Discouragement 1Samuel 17:20-4
So to give a brief lead-up to this, Jesse, sends his youngest son David out to his brothers to bring them food and supplies. When David arrives, he’s greeted by a scene, Goliath taunting the Israelites which, being the heap of muscle and sinew that he was, intimidated them. And we may have like circumstances as well but such instances are well won with the right perspective. It was David, being incensed at Goliath’s daring that riled him up enough to face Goliath. Now that it’s important to note that whenever you attempt something monumental, the enemy may send naysayers to discourage you. With David, it was his brother and Saul but what was David’s reply? “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth.” That’s some gumption! Now all we have to do to overcome an evil one trying to intimidating us is remember that we have the authority of Jesus who struck the head of the enemy and delivered his flock from his mouth and invoke/claim it. (Genesis 3:15,
John 10)
Compromise Numbers 22-24 (Give the summary)
So, Balak, king of the Moabites saw that the Israelites were trouncing everyone they went up against. Being fearful, he decided to hire Balaam, who had blessed the Israelites, to do the opposite, to curse them, thinking that he could defeat them after. But God told Balaam not to go to Balak. What does he do? After being offered riches and honor, he angers God by going, which is when God sends an angel to block the road. After the infamous scene where he beats his donkey so much that God has to imbue the donkey with speech so it can rebuke Balaam, Balaam learns his lesson and blesses the Israelites. Remember this important lesson, when there are clear roadblocks in your life, seek God to see if they are put their by Him to keep you from compromising your walk. Know your triggers for wandering into compromise. Guys, if you have a bad breakup, don’t go to porn. Gals, if you are lonely, don’t reach out to lewd romance novels or gluttony. If you’re in business slump, don’t resort to unethical tactics. And so and so forth. If you're stressed, don't go to your cheap replacements for God. The enemy knows your weak points so be sure to stand under righteousness.
Forgetfulness Jeremiah 13:24-5
Over and over in the history of the Jewish people they were forgetful and each and every time God had to discipline them to remind them of their relationship with him. And we too need reminders of what we are in Christ and what we should not do. Romans 12:2 puts it this way, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Practice what you learn, keep notes to remind you what you have gone over in your studies and above all be diligent in reading of the word.
Identity of the Enemy
The World (including wolves in the church): 1 John 2:16
You’ve all seen them, ads or commercials that seem to whisper, “If you just have X, you can be
successful/happy/fulfilled.” Or such whispers may come through promises of promotion, or pride of what you’ve done all on your own steam. Do not be deceived, such things never fulfill in the long run. In addition, beware of the “prosperity gospel” “pastors” which teach almost nothing but how you should give them money so you can be “blessed”. That sort of person was rebuked by Peter when Simon the magician tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. The world will always seem alluring but it will never fulfill what it promises.
Evil Beings: Acts 16:16-8
As we saw in Job, there are malevolent beings that seek to oppose God’s kingdom, in the case of Paul it was a demon possessed girl that was acting crazy to get people not to pay attention to Paul and Silas (imagine a crazy person on the street following you as you try to do ministry!) Keep in mind that even demons can quote scripture but it’s often the way they do it that is disruptive. Rebuke such things as Paul did.
The Flesh: Romans 8:9
The flesh is sort of the last item of the unholy trinity, aptly named by John Eldredge. A Trojan horse if you will of the enemy and like the trojan horse, it will only succeed if we invite it in to our lives. A better way to handle it is to treat it for what it is and destroy it. Had the Trojans lit the horse on fire, their cities would not lie in ruins as they do now. If we do try to please ourselves with the flesh, God often takes hiatus on the relationship with us, causing us to lose the joy of our salvation, until we get back on the right track. Remember, you will always suffer more than you expect, lose more than you want and have more pain that you could care for when you indulge in the flesh. Don’t do it!
What We can do about It
So know that we know how the enemy works, and who they are, what can we do about these fiendish foes? Well we can start by knowing what sort of authority and identity we have in God/Christ. Let's start by:
Praying by Invoking Authority given to Us
Power over evil: Luke 10:19
This is one of the main verses in our tool belt for spiritual warfare. No matter how many evil
powerful ones we face, we have assurance from the highest authority that we can triumph over
them. This is of course conditional to staying in Christ.
Putting on the Armour of God: Ephesians 6:10-18
Most people have trouble memorizing this one so I’ve created a mnemonic for this verse, Giddy (gird) tigers (truth) bound (breastplate) round (righteousness) fences (feet) getting (gospel) shiny (shield) fish (faith) hanging (helmet) some (salvation) spans (sword) wide (word). The first letter corresponds to an item on the armor; Gird yourself with the truth, this is reminiscent of the old testamentsinstructions to gird your loins and I think there’s no coincidence that Paul uses this verbiage. The idea here was to get ready for battle or heavy work. The closest to today’s language would be to roll up your sleeves. It could also refer to protecting your vulnerable areas. During his trial in the desert, the enemy kept taunting Jesus, “If you are the son of God...” and each time Jesus answered with the truth in scripture. (It's interesting how the evil one kept leaving out the word beloved which God affirmed at Jesus’s baptism,) The second item on the list is the breastplate of righteousness. As Johnny Cash would say, you gotta walk the line. Many ministries have been defeated because of affairs or other scandals, but if you have a reputation for honesty and integrity, it will never be an issue. Many other leaders in the church take precautions never to put themselves in compromising situations. It’s always good to follow that example. The third item on the list is the feet ready with the gospel. In war many battles were won and lost because of how fast the forces were able to advance or regroup. We are to spread the word and by extension, spread God’s kingdom and that comes down to how ready you are to act on those chance encounters with people. Be always ready to give a reason for the hope that you have with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15) The fourth item in the armor of God is shield of faith. To be honest, sometimes the circumstances we get drawn into can get confusing. One moment we think that we’re fine, acting in accordance to the word and the next, well, we’re having a Daniel moment. It’s our faith though that keeps us grounded. Sometimes we have understanding, sometimes we have to wait weeks, months, or even years until we understand why God subjects us to difficult situations as was the case with Joseph. Stand firm with your faith and it will shield you from many of the enemies’ schemes. The fifth item is the helmet of salvation. In combat, one of the first things to be attacked is the head. A blow or a cleaving slash to the old noggin was enough to bring even the toughest combatants down as Goliath learned. Likewise, if the enemy can get a blow to your salvation, your walk will similarly go down, leaving you vulnerable. Be protected in the knowledge that God’s saving work for you is just as effective for protecting you, provided you don your scalp saver. The final tool is our main offense weapon, the sword, or more accurately, the word. If you remember your scriptures, each time Jesus rebuked the enemy in the desert, he did it with scripture. You must be the same way. Keep scripture as closely as a warrior would grip his sword during the heat of battle. Don’t let your memory of it rust, sharpen it’s edge. Don’t let it gather dust either. I’ve compile the two sets for easy memorization. (Giddy/gird, tigers/truth, bound/breastplate, round/righteousness, fences/feet, getting/gospel, shiny/shield, fish/faith, hanging/helmet, some/salvation, spans/sword, wide/word.)
Driving out: Mathew: 10:1
When people read this verse, most often people think of exorcisms but it also can apply to situations, places, things or groups. I heard a story once where a group was on a mission trip, one of the ladies in the restroom felt a malevolent presence so they had to gather together to drive it out. If anything seems off or you sense evil, pray. Pray hard. And if that doesn’t work, fast and pray.
Binding: Mathew 16:19, Matthew 18:18
This is the good old verse to restrain the enemy, although we can’t destroy the enemy, we can make sure that he does not cause any more mischief. One of the things I pray is either invoking the authority granted to me by this verse and Luke 10:19 or asking God to bind, gag, blind and cast the evil spirit into the abyss. What’s the abyss you say?
Casting into the Abyss: Luke 8:27-31
There seems to be an area that’s reference in Luke and Revelation that seems to be a sort of prison or detainment area for especially nasty evil. Not much is known about it except that it’s a place evil ones greatly fear. If you feel led, incorporate it into your prayers.
Test: 1 John 4:1-3
Testing spirits isn’t just limited to the spiritual realm but to earthly as well. There are many cults and spiritual “advisors” that claim to be from God but are not. In the early Church, they had to deal with the gnostics, today, we have mormons, people who deny the existence of hell, deny the divinity of Christ, and so on. It’s also important to note that if someone teaches something contrary to scripture, we have the right and responsibility to rebuke them (2 Timothy 4:2)
Demolish Strongholds: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Now a stronghold can be a hard heart or it can be a spiritual stronghold like in Daniel’s case. It can be a hard place to reach with missionaries, or it can be the homeless who’ve been made hard by life. It can be a trauma from your past that needs healing or it could be a rift with your spouse. In each instance, you need to ask discernment and not attack these strongholds willy-nilly. But attack them we must ensure that the enemies schemes are thwarted.
Disarm: Colossians 2:13-5
When Jesus died on the cross, the enemy made a critical error. Jesus went to hell and returned with its keys and a train of captives. With that one act, he disarmed the biggest tool the enemy had. It’s as if a thug tried to mug Jesus in an alley and instead of making off with the wallet, the thug lost his gun to Jesus and is now residing in the proverbial stocks. Never forget this because the enemy knows he’s beaten, routed. He can no longer blame you for your past misdeeds and because of that, you can stand in God’s authority. The next time you feel being beaten down by guilt or intimidated, remember that that sort of talk comes from something that has been shackled and chained to a post. With God’s authority, we can do the same. Be the sort of person that makes demons’ knees quake when your knees hit the floor.
Authority given from God: Ephesians 1:18-21, Ephesians 2:5-6
Talk about authority, in this age and the one to come? Far above all rule and authority? Talk about a glorious inheritance. But yet for some reason many Christians look like they’ve been handed a prison sentence whenever they talk about Christianity. Yet, what would it look like if the people around us had this perspective? What would it look like if we had this perspective daily? I think it would make all the hardship worth it. It gives new meaning to when the Bible
talks about how Christ ran for the joy set before him. Do you have joy set before you? Something to think about. And then…
Claiming Identity and Promises
Loved: Romans 8:37-9
This is a hard one for some people. A lot in life can make us loose heart and because of that we don’t feel loved. We don’t think we are loved though only because we don’t have the experience of how much God loves us. Seriously, have you ever stopped and wondered, tried your best to wrap your head around how much God loves you? Oh you may have a vague feeling of salvation and forgiveness. But love? Take a moment to think of the times when you felt fully loved, from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes. Now take that memory and multiply it exponentially. That’s how much God loves us. It’s the sort of love that swaddles your heart in comfort when you’re down. It’s the sort of love that has exorbitant rejoicing when you’ve done some secret good deed. And it’s the same love that every one of us should live with the knowledge of each day. Only we don’t because we don’t dwell in it. Jesus once said, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew11:28) So rest in him.
Friends: John 15:15
So here’s one of the first things in the hierarchy of relationship towards God. We’re not employees that have an impersonal relationship with him (although some Christians are comfortable with that amount of distance), we’re his friends, we can talk to each other about the meaty issues of our lives. And not only that, we have an assurance that he won’t drop because of minor issues. That being said, how close of a friend would you think God is to you?
Children of God: 1 John 4:4-6
Now being friends is nice, but being a child of God is better. Have you ever made smores with your dad or had popcorn and movies on the couch? It’s intimate right? That’s the sort of relationship with God the Father wants you to have. Now, imagine someone messed with God’s kid. Would you want to mess with him when he’s like that? No? Neither does the enemy but if he can get you wandering off on your own, you bet he’ll try his best to bully you. Don’t wander off.
Chosen/Adopted: Ephesians 1:3-8
This is a little different than being a born child of a parent. This something special. I don’t know if you’ve seen the adoption videos but there’s a wonderful moment when a child finally realizes that he’s claimed, that someone loves him. That he doesn’t have to struggle in life alone. That some ache deep inside him is filled. God doesn’t want us to struggle against the evil one alone, he wants us to do it with him.
Free from condemnation: Rom 8:1-2
This one is pretty simple, you get clean slate but for those who have done horrible things, that clean slate can mean the world. It’s like having a rain cloud all your life and then to suddenly have it removed. You have sunshine and rainbows. You see the world in literally a new light. It’s no small wonder then that Mary Magdalen loved Jesus so much.
Anointed and Sealed with the Spirit: 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Ok, so what is this seal? Is it something like a seal of freshness? Not really. In ancient times, the one way one could tell that something was from the King was if it had a seal, usually in wax or clay. The King would take clay or hot wax and press his signet ring into it, leaving his sign signifying that is was from him. Now we Christians have a very special seal because it’s done not in wax or clay but sealed us with the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Alternatively, artists would also have a symbol that identified a particular workmanship as his. We are God’s workmanship and he has set about making us masterpieces.
Citizen of Heaven Philippians: 3:20
So to be a citizen of a kingdom or nation means that you have an allegiance with that place. It also means that you identify with that kingdom. Anyone who has traveled to another country knows what this means. The mannerisms, traditions, customs, differ from your home country but we have the unique position of having never been to our country yet. In a way, we’re like immigrants who have been approved for citizenship but haven’t made the trip over. So we
practice what it’s like to be a citizen where we are. It also means that we can be protected by the country we are under. One angel killed 185,000 men in one instance (Isaiah 37:36). And that is just a mere infinitesimal sampling of power that comes from the kingdom of God.
Access to God’s Throne: Hebrews 4:14-16
This is a big one. Imagine if you had unlimited access to the President’s office, to ask for anything. We have that in God, only it’s not only the USA he has dominion over but all the countries and all the domains of the universe. If you acted like this was true, what would you pray for?
Given a Spirit of Power, Love and Discipline: 2 Tim 1:7
If you sense some situation or person is giving you fear, does not have any love, or is trying to get you to compromise your walk, pay attention, the enemy may be lurking around. Pray, seek guidance from the scriptures, and talk to solid Christian mentors. Then deal with the situation with love, power, and discipline.
Protected: 1 John 5:18
So, we have protection from God, but, if we sin, we don’t. Many of the Jewish kings in the old testament learned this lesson the hard way; many others didn’t learn it because of pride, selfishness and sin and they perished because of it. To have the protection and life of God you have to not be walking in sin. To ignore this is like opening the front doors of the fortress you live in while an enemy army is outside the gates.
Being temple for: 1 Corinthians 3:16
This is a warning for the spiritual and earthly realm. Once Rome thought it was all powerful, being able to destroy the Church of Christ but we being the temple of God can not be destroyed, only our bodies. God does tear down that which tries to destroy his people. What was once Rome is now a collection of counties that are disjointed and though they cooperate from time to time, will probably never be unified again. The empires and kingdoms of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Philistines also suffered dismantling as well because they challenged God through his people.
His workmanship: Ephesians 2:10
As his workmanship, we are for the purposes for God, and sometimes we can get distracted by things that are not necessarily sinful but stall us in doing God’s work. So for instance watching a TV show that may be wholesome may stop you from calling a friend that needs some comfort and guidance in a difficult situation. Or you may know of someone who has some desperate need, but you ignore it because you want to spend time with someone you have a crush on or
you want to go to an event or you just are “too tired” to do anything. It can be even be keeping your lips sealed because you’re too embarrassed to tell how God has worked in your life. But we have the example of Jesus that when he was tired, hungry, homeless, afraid, did what God had set before him.
Can all do things through God: Philippians 4:13
To understand the full scope of this, you have to understand who is saying it. Mr. stoned, beaten, lashed 39 times, shipwrecked multiple times, bit by a viper (Acts 28:5) and in all sorts of danger Paul (2 Corinthians 11:24-6), struck Elymus (Bar-Jesus) with blindness (Act 13:11), healed a cripple (Acts 14:10), cast out evil spirits and healed (Acts 16:18,19:11-2). Talk about a man who can not be stopped. In Christ, we have access to that same power, and even if all the
forces of the evil one were arrayed against us, we in God would still prevail. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
What else is there ?
Renouncing sin/agreements about lies: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Sin is like kryptonite to Christians. We have access to an awesome power in Christ but sin shorts out that power. If we sin we are giving up on all the authority and power to defeat the domain of the evil one. It’s like going into battle naked against tanks, artillery strikes, forces armed to the teeth and nukes. You want to be on the side of God.
Singing Hymns/Worshiping: James 5:13
This is one of the ways we can encourage each other. There’s something about singing that emboldens us, not only that, many songs can be in and of itself a small version of sermon. If you’re feeling disconnected from God, try listening/singing to worship songs (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16)
Spending time in nature: Psalm 19:1
Although the earth is dying (1 John 2:16-7) it is still God’s creation and there’s a restorative effect to spending time in nature’s beauty. Think of the times you’ve been in nature and were glad for it. The night sky, the morning dawn and evening sunset, light streaming through the tree-lines. If it’s been a while, spend some time outdoors. Dwell on the beauty that God has made. (Philippians 4:8)
Coffee Talk with God and Christians: 1 Corinthians 1:9
We were meant to be in fellowship with God and when we avoid our relationship with him, we do not have the wisdom and guidance to bring to our lives. Think of it this way, how weird would it be if you lived in the same house with a roommate, and yet you never talked to each other. Isn’t God though much more than a roommate? If you don’t have room for him in your life then have the dedication to make room for him. If it comes down to leisure time or God, choose God, if it comes down to cutting away some activities in your work to have spare time, do it. The world will always try to chip away at this so be on guard. Also have regular contact with good Christian mentors and friends. You never know who might have gone down a similar path that you're facing now.
Meditating with God and the word (Daily): Philippians 4:8
For those who continually work at pursing God, you know what it’s like when you don’t reach out to God daily, you lose your sense of spiritual things, you start to forget scripture, you don’t have the dedication to do good things that you once had and things don’t feel the same between you and God. That’s why it’s so important to keep on pursuing God. All relationships require maintenance and our relationship with El Shaddai is no exception to that.
Developing this Life Protection (Daily): Mathew 6:11
Our relationship with God should be as important as food, and we shouldn’t treat it lightly. We should seek it as often it as we eat, enjoy it as much and give it as freely as God has fed us.
Jude 1:24-5
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
