Who is My Enemy?

Ephesians 6:10-18

[We move now from Walking in Unity, Purity, and Harmony to Walking in Victory.]

Terrorism is appropriately named because it has you always on edge, looking over your shoulder, wondering who might be your enemy.  They want people to be terrified…to board a bus, train, or plane.  To go to school, church, or a mall or stadium.  They wear no uniform so it’s impossible to know, who is my enemy?  They’re not obvious like a sniper, clearly visible, on the roof beside you.  They’re more like one hiding in the bushes.  And now they aren’t just foreigners.  In America, many are now home grown!  Terrorism is rampant.

        Oh how Israel flipped the script this week on terrorists, who are now finding out how it feels to be terrorized!

But v. 12 says our real enemy isn’t human…and isn’t visible.  This is why we must put on the whole armor of God, and dress for success!

This is not talking about the fake wrestling popular today.  This is a reference to the days of war during the rise of the Roman Empire.  It is that stage of war when soldiers dismount their horses and hop off their chariots and engage in hand to hand combat, mano a mano.  It is intense.

And this wrestling war is not vs. flesh and blood.  Our enemy is not the dope pusher, or that dope in the White House.  Our enemy is the devil and his forces which control such, using them as tools in his hand.  Our enemy is not the pornographer or the beer barons, it is the devil.  Your enemy is not that person who hates you or has done you wrong.  The devil should get that credit.  Behind the scenes of every earthly opposition is a very real, mega-intense spiritual force. 

The Christian life is not a playground, it's a battleground.  A battleship, not a cruise ship.

The Christian is a target in the center of the battlefield, and yet most aren't even aware that there's a spiritual war going on.  We have an enemy to face every day that we live.  We're in the Lord's Army!

Our external enemy is the world, society apart from God.  Our world is in no way friendly to the cause of Christ.  Rather, Christians are viewed by the world as the problem, not the solution.

The world caters to the lust of our flesh, our eyes, and pride.  Media caters to these 3, as does entertainment, advertisers, Facebook, etc.

Our internal enemy is our flesh, the old nature.  We got saved, the Spirit of God came into us, and now there's a war going on inside us!  Paul said, what I want to do I don't do, and what I don't want to do I “do do!”

Our infernal enemy is the devil.  He's real, he's on the earth, and he has quite a following, both demonic and human.

As we study now about our enemies, and this great warfare we must wage, I remind you in advance that Jesus Christ has already defeated the world, the flesh, and the devil!  We don't fight FOR victory, we fight FROM victory.  It is from that perspective we battle, simply walking in the victory already won for us by Jesus!  The prize is waiting for us at the finish line, we must simply keep running all the way to the line and claim it. 

        I'll hear somebody say, "I won a great victory this week over the devil or my flesh."  I know what they mean, but in a strict, doctrinal view, that is not correct.  I could smart off and correct them, instructing them to say, "I had success this week in appropriating the victory already won for me by my Savior."  [not as nice a ring to it!]

ill.--Joshua led Israel thru Canaan, not winning victories, but claiming already assured, pre-guaranteed victories, trusting and obeying, following God's providential lead, mopping up and taking names!

Joshua came first to Jericho, representing the world.  Note that God never told Joshua to fight with Jericho, but to march around it.  We cannot overcome the world by fighting with it. 

        Faith overcomes the world.  [faith]

1 John 5:4
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Next, Joshua came to the little village of Ai, representing our flesh.  It was so small, that Joshua didn't see fit to send the entire army there.  They had confidence in their flesh, and it failed them.  And they were utterly defeated, with 39 of them losing their lives.  His soldiers’ hearts melted with fear.  "We thought God was with us?"  God said, there's sin in the camp. [Achan]  They did business with God, and put away the flesh, and again walked in God's designed victory. 

        Confession and repentance overcome the flesh. [flight]

Next was the Gibeonites, sly and clever, representing the devil.  God had said not to make any pact with non-believers in the land, and the Gibeonites knew it...so they set up a deception, a sting, using worn out shoes, moldy bread, worn out wineskins, and they traveled from over a hill to Joshua, saying, we traveled from far away, form a treaty with us.  Joshua says, we can't have a treaty with Canaanites.  They respond with a lie, saying, we aren't Canaanites, and we have all this evidence.  Joshua fell to the deception, and it came back to haunt him.  The devil does not attack in bright colors like the redcoats of the Revolutionary War.  He doesn't introduce himself as Beelzebub.  He deceives!

        James 4:7
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

        Fighting overcomes the devil.  Not in the strength of our flesh though.  [fight]

1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Jesus fought the devil with the Word, and so should we.

I hate the way people of God are portrayed as weak sissies, and worldly people as strong.  The strongest people I know aren't wimps, they are soldiers in the Lord's Army, doing battle!

ill.--Anytime Hollywood needs to cast a man of God, they make Him look weak and feminine.  M*A*S*H, the TV show, said that the strong, macho men were those who boozed it up, cheated on their wives, etc.  Who was the priest, Father Mulcahy?  A pansy!  [Princess Bride]

        If you think you're macho because you smoke, drink, and read Playboy, I hold in my hand something much stronger than you could ever hope to be.  It's the Word of God.  I challenge you.  I DARE you to read it, to believe it, to obey it, and to step up and be a man and enlist in the Lord's Army!

Step one is knowing who our enemy is.  This is basic intelligence...it tells our fighting men and women who the enemy is, how they work, and where they are located.

Our infernal enemy, the devil:

He doesn't have horns, a tail, or a pitchfork.  He presents himself beautifully.  But he is very real.  He's not just figurative. 

He is active in this world, and especially in the church!  Remember, Ephesians 6 wasn't written to a bunch of idol worshippers.  It was written to the church, to you and me.  I don't believe the devil concentrates his efforts in the nightclubs.  He's got them right where he wants them.  [mafia / organized crime / drugs]

        I believe his attack is centered on rooms full of believers like this one, because this Word of God is a great threat to him! 

The devil would like nothing more than to do great damage to the true church, and to use people in it to accomplish his purposes from within! 

Let's avoid 2 common mistakes as we deal with the devil:

1.     Don't maximize his influence.

Don't pin everything on him.  Flip Wilson said, "The devil made me do it."  Maybe it was your flesh!  He doesn’t deserve to be in all our thoughts.

Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

2.     Don't minimize his influence.

Many Christians become easy prey because of ignorance of the devil's devices.  Part of our worldview should be an awareness of him.

• He is a created being.

Ezekiel 28 makes it clear that Lucifer was a created being, an angel, given the assignment of guarding the mountain of God, and had somewhat to do with music.  Never underestimate the power of music to the good or to evil. 

ill.--experiment with little children, and play some soothing, classical music, and watch their response.  Then crank some heavy metal and watch!  The same was done with remote African tribes.  Music either speaks to calm the soul or to excite the flesh.  Melody speaks to the heart, harmony to the soul, and rhythm to the body.  Add filthy lyrics and it's just another gateway to the mind for the fallen angel who used to lead the music in heaven!

He is created, and thus is limited.  He is not like God.  He is not all knowing, all powerful, or omni-present. 

He is a created being.

• He is a corrupted being.

Ezekiel 28:15
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Ezekiel 28:17
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness...

Isaiah 14 reveals Satan's 'I' problem.  "I will be like the most high..."

He was not satisfied with his lofty position, he wanted to be God himself.  And he will again make that attempt in the last days during the tribulation, via the anti-Christ.

And when we decide to do our will instead of God's will, we are set up for a big fall.

Contrast Jesus, who said, I will go down from heaven to earth, I will lower myself to human flesh, I will kneel down and wash your feet, I will kneel down in Gethsemane and say not my will, but thine, Lord...and then went down into the heart of the earth, to hell itself.  And God said, since you went down, I will raise you up, highly exalted, and every knee shall bow!

Lucifer said, I will go up, above the stars, above the throne of God, and God said, no, you're goin' down!

Isaiah 14:12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground...

Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up!

It's one reason we kneel at the altar at the invitation time.  My ego does not demand that you come.  But God is worthy!  It's an act of humility, and when we do, He lifts us up!  When we bow we are saying, I am willing to go down.  When we don’t, we are saying, I will not lower myself.  I will be up!

created, corrupted...

• He is a condemned being.

Ezekiel 28:16
I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God...

Isaiah 14:15
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

He is condemned, and so are you if you haven’t been saved.  You don’t have to join his team to go to hell.  You were born on his team.  You need to switch teams and choose Christ, and accept His gift of salvation and be born again!

The first time Jesus came to earth, there was a flurry of demonic activity everywhere.  And Jesus is coming again, and Satan knows his days are numbered, and his time is short.  No wonder the Bible predicts another big surge of demonic activity, increasing up to the end!

Whose side are you on?  Are you in the Lord's Army?  If not, you'll be left behind with the enemy.