How to Prepare for Battle, Part 2
We need to Know Our Enemy
Eph 6:10-24
- Analyze the enemy – began by getting to know Satan and his tactics.
Ephesians 6:10-12 (NKJV)
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We need to Know Our Enemy
On 10 September 1813, after defeating the British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie, Oliver Hazard Perry, commander of the American fleet, dispatched one of the most famous messages in military history to Maj. Gen. William Henry Harrison. It read: “Dear Gen’l: “WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY, AND THEY ARE OURS.”, two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem. H. Perry.”
Who is our enemy?
DEVIL (accuser) – the main title for the fallen angelic being who is the supreme enemy of God and man. Satan is his name, and devil is what he is-the accuser or deceiver. The title “devil” appears 38 times in the KJV. In every case it is preceded by the article “the,” indicating a title rather than a name. The term comes from a Greek word that means “a false witness” or “malicious accuser.”
If you see “a devil” or “devils” it means demons.
Several descriptive phrases applied to the devil in the New Testament point out the nature of his wicked personality and the extent of his evil deeds.
The Wicked or Evil One (Matt 6:13; 13:19,38; 1 John 2:13).
This phrase depicts the devil’s fundamental nature.
Matthew 6:13 (NKJV)
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
He is the source of all evil and wickedness. While the KJV reads, “Deliver us from evil,” the NKJV more accurately reads, “Deliver us from the evil one.”
Matthew 13:19 (NKJV)
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
Matthew 13:38-39 (NKJV)
38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
He is in direct opposition to everything God is or all he wishes to do.
1 John 2:13 (NKJV)
13 I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
Humanity needs this deliverance, for the devil “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
1 Peter 5:6-11 (NKJV)
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Enemy (Matt 13:25,28,39). The devil is man’s worst enemy.
This is one enemy Jesus does not want us to love.
He is an enemy of Christ, the church, and the gospel; and he is tireless in his efforts to uproot good and sow evil.
Matthew 13:25 (NKJV) but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
Matthew 13:28 (NKJV) He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
Matthew 13:39 (NKJV) The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
Murderer (John 8:44). “He was a murderer from the beginning” are strong words from the lips of Jesus.
John 8:44 (NKJV) You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
The devil killed Abel and the prophets, and he wanted to kill Jesus before His time (8:40).
John 8:40 (NKJV) But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
Deceiver (Rev 20:10).
Revelation 20:10 (NKJV) The devil, who deceived them, …
Starting with Eve, the devil has attempted to deceive every living soul. Evil men operating under the power of the evil one will continue to deceive.
2 Timothy 3:13 (NKJV) But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Beelzebub, Prince of Demons (Matt 9:34; 12:24). The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because they claimed the miracles of Jesus were actually conducted by the devil.
The KJV and some other versions incorrectly translate “demons” as “devils.” There are many demons but only one devil.
His name is Beelzebub, the chief leader of the fallen angels known as demons.
Matthew 9:32-34 (NKJV)
32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
Ruler of This World (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Three times Jesus called the devil the “ruler of this world.”
John 12:31 (NKJV) Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
John 14:30 (NKJV) I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
John 16:8-11 (NKJV) And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
The devil offered the world to Jesus if He would worship him (Luke 4:5-7),
Luke 4:5-7 (NKJV)
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
but the Lord refused with these words, “Get behind me Satan” (4:8).
Luke 4:8 (NKJV) And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ “
At Calvary God dealt a death blow to this world ruler. It is only a matter of time before God will win the final victory at the end of time.
1 John 3:8 (NKJV) He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Matthew 25:41 (NKJV) Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
Revelation 12:7-12 (NKJV)
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
