The Enemy

[0:00] Well, hey, good morning. My name is Ray Sweet from First Christian Church in Greensburg, Indiana. As always, you can check us out at FCCGreensburg.com or you can go to the FCC Greensburg Facebook page.

[0:13] But hey, thank you so much for tuning in today. Our heart here at FCC is to simply get into the Word of God, study it deeply in context, but most importantly, let this Word get into us and change these hearts to truly live for Jesus.

[0:31] Now, how many of you have seen the movie based off the American Revolution called The Patriot? Believe it or not, this movie is already 24 years old, but Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger are the two main actors.

[0:45] And it's this fictional story of a man named Benjamin Martin. He's an American war hero from the French and Indian War, but years later, when this movie begins, he is simply a dad and farmer who has tragically lost his wife trying to take care of his children the best he can.

[1:04] This is also a time where those living in the American colonies are getting fed up with British taxes, high British taxes without proper representation. Benjamin Martin, being a man who very well knew the devastation of war, he decides to oppose the American Revolution.

[1:21] He doesn't want to see the brutality increase. However, when the British decided to break the rules of war that resulted in his young son being viciously killed, the warrior was unleashed.

[1:35] And Martin quickly joined the American war efforts, not in a traditional sense where he was constantly marching onto a battlefield, but instead he was a colonel over a militia that took out the correspondence and the war communications of the British.

[1:50] That meant they ambushed those wagons and made life miserable for the pompous British elite. Jumping out of cornfields to steal warplands and fancy red coat uniforms, blowing up ships, bringing supplies, hiding in the woods, using their surroundings to waylay the enemy, and the opponent had a hard time finding them.

[2:09] And in one sense, you could call that guerrilla warfare. And boy, in the last 250 years, we've seen warfare change drastically from staring across the battlefield to now an invisible war, an invisible enemy who is sneaky, who's dangerous, and who's ruthless.

[2:29] Just ask any American soldier who has served in the Middle East in the last few decades, and they will tell you that guerrilla warfare is real and active.

[2:41] Believe it or not, this picture of warfare is one that the Apostle Paul used five different times in his epistles to explain our battle against the enemy. So welcome back here to the second week of our series over spiritual warfare called Stand.

[2:56] Go ahead and turn to the book of Ephesians if you'd like to follow along. Probably about 90% of the way through your Bibles in the New Testament. And if you weren't with us last week, we began this series by standing our ground against the enemy's attacks, by standing firm in courage and devotion in Christ.

[3:15] And we don't do that in our own strength. We do it in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the power of his might as children of God filled with the Holy Spirit, who have this inheritance that is infinitely better than any materialism that this earthly life can offer.

[3:33] We walk in the fruits of the Spirit that money can't buy. And then in Galatians 5, starting in verse 22, it says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, another word for patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

[3:56] Against such things there is no law. So what an amazing inheritance on this earth when we get to walk by the Spirit. And as great as this is, there's an even greater reward that awaits us, children of the King.

[4:10] We'll stand face to face with Jesus, spotless, not because of my good deeds, but only because of the blood of the Lamb that saves me by his grace through my faith I place in him.

[4:22] And I can't imagine how amazing heaven will someday be when his face I shall see. And as great of a motivator as that is, we are still living in this fallen world that is deeply affected by sin.

[4:36] That's why Paul wants to make sure that we have a battle plan, that we can identify who the enemy is that we face. What are his schemes to steal, kill, and destroy anything that belongs to God?

[4:46] Because when you have a battle plan, you can properly prepare, and you can stand your ground as you walk in victory. So let's chat today about what it is that you and I face as believers.

[5:01] And let's start off with an earlier passage here in Ephesians, where Paul is giving us a fuller picture of the enemy. So go ahead, if you got your Bibles, grab those.

[5:14] I mentioned Ephesians. Go ahead and go to chapter 2. And let's start here in verse 1. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world, and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work, and those who are disobedient, all of us who lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.

[5:47] Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. Now, I don't know if you saw it or not, but this passage just listed three different enemies that you and I as believers will battle daily.

[6:01] Three foes that want to steal, kill, and destroy your faith in Christ, your intimacy with Him, and your witness to those around you. And our first enemy is the world.

[6:12] And listen, don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying that when you leave church on a Sunday and you go to McDonald's that you say to your kids, okay, kids, do you see that worker back there with Daddy's Big Mac?

[6:25] She's from the world. She's bad. It can't become this self-righteous, us-against-them type of mentality. Here's what it means when we say that our first enemy is the world.

[6:37] Warren Wearsby defined it this way. The world refers to the system around us that is opposed to God, that caters to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

[6:50] In other words, what are the things that our world celebrates that stand opposed to God's truth? Our world celebrates abortion and calls it a responsible choice when our God's heart breaks over each of these precious lives.

[7:03] Our world celebrates sexual immorality that goes against God's perfect design that He blesses, and the world calls it individualism and freedom and true love.

[7:14] Our world celebrates terrible business integrity and often calls it creativity and success. And we can keep going, but the reality is that when we live for Jesus, following the Word of God, the world isn't going to be a big fan of ours.

[7:30] Our values will always clash with the world when we are truly immersed in the Word of God following Jesus. Just look at companies like Hobby Lobby or Chick-fil-A, just among others, that have taken a stand for biblical family values in one way or another.

[7:49] Not that they've mistreated or denied service to anyone. In fact, the company Chick-fil-A, I think they have better service than anybody else because they have modeled how to treat their customers after how Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor.

[8:04] And yet, if you remember, when these companies took their stand, the media went after them hardcore. Plenty of lies, plenty of manipulation, and yet they stood their ground. Or even here recently, with the opening ceremony of the Olympics, right?

[8:20] There were some different opinions on exactly what they were trying to depict, but a lot of Christians took great offense to the imagery that seemed to mock Christianity. And I hope we are never okay with things that go against the heart of God.

[8:33] But I can tell you that I wasn't distraught. I wasn't surprised by it. And here's why. Because the world is always going to act like the world. I was taught very early on in my walk with Christ to never be surprised when those who don't love and follow Jesus act like they don't love and follow Jesus.

[8:53] Instead, we shine bright for Christ. We love the world around us while never compromising the truth of God's Word. In fact, Jesus put it like this in John 15, starting in verse 18.

[9:07] He says, If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belong to it, but you are no longer a part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world so it hates you.

[9:21] So the enemy is that system around us. The first enemy is that system around us that stands opposed to holiness and truth according to the Word. And we as believers must be so in love with God's truth, so immersed in the Bible that we are not pulled into worldly ways of thinking and living.

[9:40] We choose holiness. We choose purity to honor and glorify the one who sets us free. Now the second enemy is the flesh. That's the sinful nature that every one of us inherit from the first man, Adam.

[9:56] This rebellious spirit where Adam and Eve ate from the one tree among all the other delicious options that God gave them, the one tree they were told not to eat from.

[10:08] And I'm convinced that you and I would have done the same thing. Where inside we battle that selfishness and that pride and that lust. And while we know better, we still got that little monster inside of us crying out for good old number one.

[10:24] Me, me, me. I want this. I want that. I deserve this. I deserve that. In fact, do you remember the fruits of the Spirit that we read earlier that are available when we are walking in the power of the Holy Spirit?

[10:36] The passage before that is what happens when the flesh is in charge. This is from Galatians 5, 19 through 21. It says, The acts of the flesh are obvious.

[10:49] Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like.

[11:06] I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, I don't know about you, but when I'm not seeking the heart of God, when I'm not walking in the Spirit, when I'm allowing the flesh to control me too much, several things on that list can happen in a hurry.

[11:25] And I bet you're the same way. And then Jesus comes along and he says, Hey, come follow me and be transformed in such a way that you don't look like the world any longer. Come and follow me and learn how to overcome the flesh and walk victoriously in Christ.

[11:40] Come follow me and experience that true freedom that doesn't come until we give up control and we wave the white flag of surrender to Christ. Listen to how Paul says this in Galatians 2.20.

[11:56] He says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. We read that last week. Do you remember that? I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

[12:11] The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Let me tell you something that I've seen way too much. Too many people come into church.

[12:24] They hear the sweet gospel message of repentance and grace and forgiveness and freedom in Christ. They're convicted that they need Jesus and that's a good thing.

[12:34] The sad part is that so many people think incorrectly that they're in charge of the cleanup process before they can come back to church or come to the Lord.

[12:45] Well, you can probably guess what happens next, right? We don't see them again until we go into Walmart. So here's the reality. You can't overcome the outside pressures of the world and then the inside cravings of the flesh.

[12:59] You can't do that on your own. You can try all you want and you will fail. We need Jesus. We need his grace. We need his forgiveness and we need his transformation. We need the Holy Spirit living inside of us, guiding us into the truth.

[13:13] And we need the encouragement and the spiritual nourishment that we get from actively being a part of the body of Christ, the study of God's word and prayer. Because you and I can't do it on our own.

[13:27] We are designed to depend upon Jesus and the godly community of other believers. And guys, we haven't even gotten to the most vicious enemy yet. So let's spend the rest of our time here today talking about the devil.

[13:40] And I get it. I get it. Satan has been so cartoonized, if that's even a word, that our minds immediately go to pictures of a mythical red creature with a tail and horns and a pitchfork and kids dress up in these costumes for Halloween.

[13:56] And we see all these sports teams use a devil, different colored devils as their mascot. But do me a favor. Forget all the commercialized devil stuff. But don't forget that Satan is real.

[14:09] He wants to destroy you. Chip Ingram, a well-known pastor, put it like this. He said, Christians who take Satan lightly are ignoring biblical instructions.

[14:21] He's a formidable foe. We need to have a healthy respect for him. We are not more formidable than Satan, but God is. Our proper attitude is to understand the capabilities of this angelic being and depend on God's strength for victory.

[14:36] So just today, I know we're not gonna do a master's level course on Satan and all his strategies, but for the remaining time that we have today, let's talk about some of the basics.

[14:46] Let's hit the ABCs of the devil so that we can understand who it is that's coming after us every day. And first, I want you to understand his army. The first thing we need to know is that Satan is not all-powerful.

[15:02] He is not all-knowing like our Heavenly Father. He cannot be in all places at once like God. People like to put Satan and like Jesus on the same level, but there's no comparison. Although Satan has a lot of power in this world, he doesn't even begin to compare to El Elyon, the God Most High.

[15:17] Satan was an angel that rebelled. He took a good deal of angels with him to create a demonic army. And if you'll flip with me to Ephesians 6.12, you can see the absolute spiritual warfare that is going on as Satan and his army are declaring war against God and his people.

[15:36] Here's what the Apostle Paul says. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but it's against the rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

[15:50] I've said this to you before. If we could open up the spiritual realm all around us, if we could see the absolute battle going on for your heart and mine, I am convinced that we would faint, we'd have a panic attack or worse.

[16:08] Satan and his army of demons are no doubt at work in this world, and they are coming for you, for me, for those we love. But the good news is that just like we read last week in 1 John 4.4, he that is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

[16:27] So there's no need to fear, no need to fret, and there's all the reason in the world to take courage in Christ and truly be devoted to him. Now, let's talk about the B in the ABCs, and that's his battle plan.

[16:44] Let me ask you this question. Have you ever had anyone in your life for whatever reason who just disagreed with you on everything? For example, if you said, man, the sky is a really pretty blue today, they would say, no, it's not a regular blue.

[16:58] It's a light blue. No matter what you believe, no matter what you say, they seem to get way too much enjoyment out of disagreeing with you. We've all had someone like that in our life. Just don't point at them if they're right next to you, okay?

[17:11] But I think you could also describe Satan's purpose or battle plan the same way. No matter what God says in his words, Satan is the opposite. Anything that has to do with God, Satan hates.

[17:22] He's determined to try to destroy it. Jesus made this very clear, and we're going to read this for several weeks. John 10.10, the thief, Satan, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

[17:33] But Jesus says, I have come that you may have life and have it to the full. So, what's Satan's battle plan? He wants to steal, kill, and destroy you and anything that's connected to God's righteousness.

[17:47] He wants to drive you away from your Savior. He wants to ruin your marriage. He wants to ruin your relationship with your children, grab a hold of their lives. He wants to cause problems in your church, and he wants to use us to do it sometimes.

[18:00] He wants to make you so busy that you put things like reading the word, praying, and going to church on the back burner. He wants you to be so stressed out and so down that your light for Jesus is not shining bright at all.

[18:15] And I've seen the intensity that he goes after new believers with to stifle your growth in Christ. Very simple. Satan's battle plan is to attack God and everything that belongs to him.

[18:27] See, God is light. Satan is darkness. God is truth. Satan is a liar. God brings life, and Satan brings death. And that leads us right into the C, his character.

[18:40] Let's talk about why he has this army of demonic forces. Where does his hatred and battle plan against God come from? In church, it starts with his character. And the first thing we need to know is that the word devil literally means accuser.

[18:55] Revelation 12 tells us that Satan is constantly accusing us before the throne of God. He's the one reminding you of where you've been and all the things that you've done.

[19:05] He loves to whisper in our ears that we aren't good enough. Never will be, so why would you even try? He loves to bombard you with guilt, tell you that God could never accept or love somebody like you or me.

[19:17] And here's the sad reality. I meet people all the time who believe him. Maybe even some in this room who've bought into the lies. But we gotta keep reading the passage in Revelation 12 where it tells us that we can overcome Satan by being washed in the blood of the Lamb.

[19:35] He's the accuser. And then the word Satan means adversary. Satan is God's adversary. And like we said, he stands opposed to everything that God says is right, pure, and lovely.

[19:47] And then next, Satan is a tempter. He comes at us just like he did Eve in the garden. Did God really say that you have to be a person of integrity?

[19:58] I mean, doesn't the government take enough of your money anyways? I mean, why would you report that on taxes? Did God really say that your words should be wholesome and build others up rather than tear them down?

[20:11] Did God really say that marriage is between a man and a woman? I mean, did God really say that you're supposed to forgive? I don't think he's dealt with a person like so-and-so.

[20:22] Did God really say that we're supposed to stay pure on Friday night just like Sunday morning? Come on, he just doesn't want you to have any fun, right? And the list goes on and on.

[20:33] Satan has a way of coming to us with those things that the world promotes and our flesh craves. And to quote a Casting Crown song, it's a slow fade when you give yourself away.

[20:43] Satan is the master of temptation, swaying you away from intimacy with Christ. And as we talk about his next character trait, let me ask you this.

[20:54] Have you ever met someone who could flash a smile, look you in the eye and lie straight to your face? Yeah, some people are really good at it, right? And I can tell you in my time in ministry, I've been lied to many times.

[21:06] I remember when I was in Tennessee, there was a guy who came to the church just randomly. They'll show up on a Sunday morning. And asked for gas money. And there's some real patterns.

[21:18] I mean, they're usually about seven, eight, nine hours away from where they need to get, you know. And he told us that he had just won a court case from an accident he was in. He had a big settlement that was coming.

[21:30] I mean, it was something to the effect of two or three, $400,000, if I remember right. And he said, well, since you're willing to give me a gas card to help me get on down the road, he said, I am going to write you a check when my settlement comes in.

[21:46] And I'm going to tithe off of that two, three, $400,000. Now, I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night, okay? So I didn't hold my breath.

[21:57] I knew he wouldn't come through. And I'm glad I didn't hold my breath. Well, listen, that guy doesn't even compare to the devil. He is a liar at the core. The Bible also says that he's a murderer.

[22:07] And then it compares him to two or three different animals. The first one's a lion. And here's how 1 Peter 5, 8 puts it. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

[22:22] He's also compared to a serpent that's crafty and deceptive. And then in 2 Corinthians 11, it says that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. See, Thomas Brooks, a theologian, once said, Satan promises the best but pays with the worst.

[22:39] He promises honor and pays with disgrace. He promises pleasure and pays with pain. He promises profit and pays with loss. He promises life and pays with death.

[22:50] Satan's ways can seem right. They can seem good. They can seem fair. But in the end, we always compare it to the truth of God's word as we pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and give wisdom.

[23:02] I want to close with an illustration that the famous evangelist D.L. Moody did around 150 years ago as he was preaching. So he had a glass of water, probably about half full.

[23:15] And he said, I wonder what's the best way to get the air out of the glass. And as Moody asked his audience, someone shouted out, well, suck it out with a pump. But that would surely shatter the glass, right?

[23:28] Others gave different suggestions. And then Moody, with a big smile on his face, simply picked up a pitcher of water, filled the glass, and he said, good, now the air is gone. So today we've spent about 30 minutes talking about the enemy that we face.

[23:43] The world, the flesh, and Satan and his demonic army. We've analyzed how he works. We've tried to do, to be better, to try to kind of better understand how he's going to come after us.

[23:53] And I'm glad we did, although it's a little bit of a depressing subject, right? In future weeks, we'll talk about how we stand firm by putting on the armor of God. But listen to me here.

[24:04] Just like the filling, filling that glass gets rid of the air, the answer to the enemy's attacks is also simple. It's more of Jesus and less of me. Is my heart sold out to Christ?

[24:16] Am I putting on the spiritual disciplines? Am I putting those into practice in my life? Things like the study of God's word and prayer and fasting, a support system that includes accountability, weekly worship with the body of Christ and more.

[24:32] See, it's all about saying, more of Jesus, less of me. More of Jesus and less of me. Let's pray.

[24:44] Father, we just thank you for opening up these words of life before us today. Probably not the most enjoyable topic to talk about and yet such a vital thing that we need to understand.

[25:01] And while Father, I know we could have gone deeper into this subject, thank you for showing us just who it is that we face.

[25:12] The outside pressures of the world, the inside cravings of the flesh, and then Satan, his army, and their attacks. So Father, we know that the answer to all of this is more of you, less of me.

[25:28] More of you, less of me. So fill us with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Help us to walk in your power, in your grace, in your truth every day.

[25:38] And may you just take us and make us like that lump of clay that you can mold and you can shape into the image that you want us to be, into the image of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

[25:52] Thank you for your truth, and may we walk in it every day. We pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Hey, I want to give you a simple invitation this morning.

[26:06] If you have been listening to this, maybe you're a regular listener, maybe you're just driving along, or maybe it's just the first time you've listened to us. I believe God has done that on purpose.

[26:16] I don't believe it's an accident that you have been listening to this broadcast. So I just encourage you, there's a couple ways that you can reach out to us if you have faith questions, if you want to just learn more about what it means to be a follower of Christ, if you want to talk about surrendering your heart to Jesus.

[26:35] My name is Ray. I'm the lead pastor. I would love to spend some time with you talking about that. So here's how you can connect with us. You can go to our website, FCCGreensburg.com.

[26:49] There'll be some contact us stuff there, or you can dial us at 812-663-8488. Once again, that's 812-663-8488.

[27:00] Or you can email me at ray at FCCGreensburg.com. Hey, God bless you. We so appreciate you listening to the truth today.