Know Thy Enemy! (Part I)

It is a fact that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. One might not believe or might ignore it, but it is being waged against every Christian. If you believe the Bible, you have to believe this.

Scripture teaches us that our enemies constantly accost us in various forms and in various ways. Here is a small sampling of the Scriptures that address our enemies:

Psalm 64:1 “Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.”

Psalm 44:15,16. “All day long my dishonor is before me,
And my humiliation has overwhelmed me,
Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.”

Psalm 55: 2-3. “Give heed to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,
Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the pressure of the wicked;
For they bring down trouble upon me,
And in anger they bear a grudge against me.”

Ephesians 6:12. ” 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.”

God’s Provision

The wonderful news is that we are not alone and God provides all we need to engage in the war and win it.

Psalm 119:97,98. “O how I love Thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For they are ever mine.”

Psalm 61:3. “For Thou hast been a refuge for me,
A tower of strength against the enemy.”

So, who or what exactly is our enemy? Let me share a quick story to begin to explore this question.

A knight and his men return to their castle after a long hard day of fighting.
“How are we faring?” asks the king. “Sire,” replies the knight, “I have been robbing and pillaging on your behalf all day, burning the towns of your enemies in the west.” “What?!” shrieks the king. “I don’t have any enemies to the west!” “Oh,” says the knight. “Well, you do now.”

I would venture to say that probably most of us would claim that we don’t have any real enemies, enemies who would really do us harm.

In fact, you may be someone that everyone likes. You may be the most popular person in school, on the job, or in the neighborhood AND yet, if you are a Christian, you have enemies, at least three of them. And they conspire together to do you in, to ruin you and especially your Christian testimony.

The Bible refers to our enemies as: The World, The Flesh, and The Devil. In the 14th Century Thomas Kempis warns: The devil never sleeps, and your flesh is very much alive. Prepare yourself for battle. Surrounding you are enemies that never rest.

It is important, no crucial, to know our enemies. It is a deadly mistake to think that our enemies believe in peaceful coexistence. If we ignore them, they won’t ignore us. Spiritual warfare is real and it can wreak havoc on a Christian who ignores the battle.
Next week we’ll continue our discussion of “Know Thy Enemy”.