Every country first wants to identify its real enemies, both near and far, and then gain all possible information about them to develop a right and effective strategy to counter their threat. A believer’s first and foremost enemy is the devil and his forces of darkness and evil. He is called the accuser, thief and one who destroys, along with many other names. And since a name reveals the character of the individual, these identify his works directed against us. To be effective in facing his evil designs, it is imperative that we know all about him and his works.
The reality of Satan – Apostle Paul has warned all believers to be careful in their walk, ‘lest Satan should take advantage of us’ (2 Corinthians 2:11). We have this supernatural enemy whose basic aim is to take control of our life by using pain and pleasure to make us blind, act in a foolish manner and thus be miserable. We are blinded by him about the love of God and His mercy and grace towards us, His children. Apostle Peter had suffered at the hands of Satan and has taught us to be ‘sober and vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour’ (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is identified by him as our adversary and the Greek word ‘antidikos’ used means ‘accuser bringing formal charges, binding to get penalty’ and for believers this is for eternal damnation.
An example of his false accusation is to accuse Job of loving God only because of protection and provisioning of God and the moment that is withdrawn, ‘and he will surely curse You (God) to Your face’ (Job 1:9-11). As far as such accusations in the Court of Heaven before God are concerned, we are protected ‘for we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous’ (1 John 2:1). But the second part of Apostle Peter’s warning is about being devoured by the devil and thus destroyed. No one will fall for his tricks knowingly but only through deceit and traps. Unless we are aware of that, we are likely fall into his snares and suffer.
The devil has only one strategy that he uses again and again, over Eve, over the Lord in the wilderness and against us. First, create doubt about God’s Word. He tempted Eve by asking her, ‘Has God indeed said’, thus implying that God could not have said and you did not understand or hear properly (Genesis 3:1). In like manner he asked Lord Jesus ‘If You are the Son of God’, for he was aware of what God the Father had said at His Son’s baptism, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 4:3).
Second, doubting God’s grace – The question to Eve was ‘has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ After having been expelled from heaven and cast down to the earth, he was ‘in Eden, the garden of God’ and was witness to all that was commanded by God to Adam (Ezekiel 28:13). God had said to Adam, ‘of every tree of the garden you may freely eat’ for all that was created was for Adam and to be under his control (Genesis 2:16).
Third, belittle God’s Word – He could brazenly tell Eve about the result of eating the Forbidden Fruit, ‘You will not surely die’ (Genesis 3:4).
Four, attributing motives to God – Eve was then told by the serpent, ‘God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God’ (Genesis 3:5). God had created mankind in ‘His image and likeness’ and thus His attributes were to be in Adam and opening of their eyes was not going to make them like God. The devil wanted Eve to think that God did not want them to achieve their full potential.
The devil aims at the flesh bringing wrong desires beyond God’s provisions, ego satisfaction to test God and to defy Him to be equal to Him thus not being under His dominion and control. He uses the same trick with everyone today also. Apostle Paul refers to the devil as ‘the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience’ (Ephesians 2:2). He is a spirit and rules over the world system not necessarily by possessing or dwelling in people but exercising control over their thoughts, desires and resultant actions. Most people, especially those who do not believe in Lord Jesus as The Redeemer, are afflicted by him for he is called ‘the god of this age’ and he blinds the minds of non-believers and they follow his ways to turn away from God (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Thus freedom of mankind has been usurped by these ‘forces of evil and darkness’, for they submit to the devil’s ways. As ‘prince of the air’ it is also understood that the demonic forces occupy the space in the air below the heavens but above the earth. The devil thus uses the air that we breathe to spread various diseases; lies and his false ideas about himself through the use of air-waves; the internet, television and other means. Mankind is not totally free but is fully surrounded and dominated by the forces of evil and darkness. However, his biggest and most successful weapon is the lie about his non-existence and self- rule by man. But he is referred to as ‘the prince’ for there is One and only one who is King of kings and Lord of lords who has been exalted to the place of honour at the right hand of God, the Father, with all authority over everything in heaven and on earth.
Strategies to face Satan – Apostle James, Lord Jesus’ brother and head of the first Church at Jerusalem, provides the answer, ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7). He ‘seeks whom to devour’ and cannot defeat the one who resists him. Those who prevailed over him ‘conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death’ (Revelation 12:11). Those who clothe themselves with the truth of the Word of God, victory of Lord Jesus by His blood and do not fear are victorious. He does not have a free hand to do what he likes but cannot operate beyond the boundaries set by the Lord. He had to seek permission to have a go at Apostle Simon Peter (Luke 22:31) and he could not lead him away like Judas Iscariot.
Apostle Paul, the great fighter of these battles has revealed the devil’s identity as not being ‘flesh and blood’ but against ‘spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ that have organized themselves as ‘principalities and powers’ and ‘rulers of darkness of this age’ by controlling them in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12). Thus the battle is spiritual and the weapon cannot be carnal to become victorious. God calls this good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18) and ‘good fight’ (1 Timothy 6:12) not because we might die but because it refines us and tests our faith. This fight is like fire that refines the gold or preciousness of our faith to prepare us for ‘praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 1:7). Our most potent weapon is the ‘sword of the Spirit, which is the Sword of God’ and for its effective use ‘pray at all times’ to seek the help of God (Ephesians 6:17-18). Our loving Father in heaven wants us to win and He is our ‘rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle’ (Psalm 144:1).
Weapons of the devil and our attack and defense – First, ‘He is a liar and the father of lies’ (John 8:44) and we, like our Redeemer use the truth, the Word of God to walk free from his trials and temptations. He tested Eve with lies about God’s Word and also Lord Jesus by misquoting/ misapplying the Word of God.
Two, he blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4) to prevent them from seeing the light of the Word. He lies and he hides the truth to stop us from seeing the treasure, the facts and proofs of Scripture. The more he tries to stop us the more we must study, meditate upon and live the Word to defeat him.
Three, he disguises himself as ‘an angel of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14) and his agents pretend to be Apostles and Prophets to preach ‘the doctrines of demons’ (1 Timothy 4:1). Apostle Paul was in Berea and the Jewish people there ‘received the Word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were true’ (Acts 17:11). We also must do likewise to not be deceived by these ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ (Matthew 7:15).
Four, signs and wonders -Satan and his agents will perform ‘with all power, signs and lying wonders’ (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Lord Jesus also warned us about false prophets and false Christs showing ‘great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect’ (Matthew 24:24). Every word and act of a preacher must correlate with the Word of God only.
Five, he tempts people like he tried unsuccessfully with Lord Jesus in the wilderness but succeeded with Judas Iscariot. Apostle Paul warns us that like Eve, we must not fall prey to his craftiness (2 Corinthians 11:3). LORD God cautioned Joshua to remain focused on the Scripture by meditating on it day and night and obey every word therein to ‘make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success’ (Joshua 1:8).
Six, Satan plucks the Word from people’s hearts and destroys faith – Lord Jesus explaining the parable of the sower told that the seed sown on the wayside is like the seed taken away by Satan from their hearts immediately (Mark 4:15). And then faith that would have come by hearing the Word of God is lost (Romans 10:17). We must persevere in faith in the Word of God through meeting and encouraging each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Seven, the devil causes disease and sickness in certain cases – Lord Jesus identified the cause of the weakness of the hunchbacked woman as ‘the spirit of infirmity’ and binding by Satan for eighteen years (Luke 13:11-16). God the Father has delivered us from the ‘power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins’ (Colossians 1:13-14). Apostle James advised us to pray for the sick, anoint with oil in the name of the Lord to heal and save them (James 5:14-15).
Satan and the evil spirits are fully aware of their final state and the legion of evil spirits troubling the Gadarenes man, ‘cried out saying, ‘what have we to do with you, Jesus, You Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’ (Matthew 8:29). Satan also submits to the authority of God, though living in defiance and cannot cross the boundaries set by God.
King David suffered opposition from various sources before becoming king and even afterwards. He could still encourage himself by saying, ‘My soul, wait patiently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my Rock, and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved’ (Psalm 62:5-6). Like him we also must be encouraged by the promise of the Lord to be with us always and everywhere to be effective in our fight.
Being victorious over Satan – In this world there are no neutral zones, either you are with and for God or you are with the forces of evil. On surrendering to Lord Jesus as our Saviour Lord, the forces of Satan get active to lead us away from our faith by creating various difficulties in our walk with the Lord. As a believer we are under Divine protection but a soldier in the battle. The first aspect of our walk of victory is not to ‘give place (or an opportunity) to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). His work is to divide the family of God by casting false aspersions and sowing seeds of discord to effect their testimony. Once there is strong trust and faith in the Word of God and also in each other, his schemes would fail. Calls are generally received for prayer to escape persecution of the devil for placing him under great debt. By following wrong choices and living beyond our means, to impress others of our false affluence, we come under debt and not due to affliction. The answer is to control our urge to spend and seek the help of the Holy Spirit in this.
Though the devil is a powerful enemy, we are assured by the fact that our Saviour Lord ‘has overcome the world’ (John 16:33), even though we will and continue to face tribulation. The Greek word ‘thlipsis’ meaning tribulation is ‘intense distress or trouble’. But Lord Jesus commands us to ‘be of good cheer’ but the more accurate word is ‘take heart or be courageous’ and is about being strengthened from within to show boldness. The Greek word ‘nikao’ is translated as ‘overcome or be victorious or conquer’. The Nike shoe company uses this as their identity for all users of their products. The implication is not of a one time victory but a continuous uninterrupted victory for Lord Jesus has said, I have overcome, I am overcoming and I will always be overcoming the world’. He has the power and authority over everything but He has not said, ‘I have overcome your tribulation’ for our sufferings and trials will continue but we have the Victorious One with us.
Apostle Paul has declared, ‘all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28). The purpose of God for every believer is to give life in abundance and not of abundance, while life is fellowship and close relationship with Him. Second, is to confirm us to His Son and preserve us until we are taken to be with Him where He is and behold Him in His glory (John 17:24). So do not be discouraged by the devil inspired thoughts of fear and no hope, but overcome every situation that attacks you from all sides. Our Lord is with us to make us victorious for ‘the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil’ (1 John 3:8). Our Lord has already ‘disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it’ (Colossians 2:15).
Lord Jesus has taught, ‘no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man’ (Mark 3:27). We are strong in the power and authority of our overcomer, Lord Jesus Christ, and unless we allow the devil right over us through sin, that we do not repent of, he is powerless against us and will flee to seek someone else whom he can devour. David preached victory in the LORD to himself and Abram’s name was changed by God to Abraham to make him hear repeatedly in his name, the new state of his blessed life as ‘father of many nations’. We also must do the same to hear, believe and live in faith in the Word of God and overcome all evil in the name and authority of Lord Jesus.
Scripture defines our state as believers, to be ‘more than conquerors’ in Lord Jesus till we remain anchored in the testimony of salvation and eternal life in Him through His sacrifice. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, is definitely more powerful than all the forces of evil that surround us. The only requirement for us is to remain confessing this blessed victory in our hearts.
