Understand Your Enemy
2 Corinthians 2:11
Message #2
In our last message, we opened up the “Spiritual Battle” in Daniel Chapter 10, and we got some great insight into the battle that is going on in the heavenly realm and how that battle directly impacts what we are experiencing here in the physical realm. Last week’s message was a verse-by-verse study of the Spiritual Battle in Daniel chapter 10. But apparently, that verse-by-verse study is growing into a “topical” study on this critical area in each of our lives.
So, for at least a couple more messages, I’d like to dig deeper into this topic to help us gain more understanding into an area that literally impacts every day of our lives. And yet it’s an area that we may not have much real understanding of. Does it sound like a good idea to spend a little time on this topic? Yes?
We started our study of Daniel 10 last week by looking at HOW Daniel entered the Spiritual Battle, which I said was really the most important lesson of the Chapter. We saw that Daniel entered the Spiritual Battle through an extended time of INTENTIONAL, SACRIFICIAL PRAYER. And that one key truth answers many of our questions regarding why we never seem to even begin our own spiritual battles.
And finally, last week, we saw a great battle take place in the spiritual realm on Daniel’s behalf. As the Angels of God did real battle with the Spirit Prince of the Enemy’s Kingdom and seeing that battle play out gave us critical insight into the fact that there truly IS a REAL BATTLE going on in a type of parallel reality called the Spiritual Realm which is more real than this temporary realm we live in.
So, here’s the BIG PICTURE of last week’s message:
1). The spiritual battle is REAL
2). EACH SIDE of the spiritual battle is fighting to influence the events in YOUR physical realm
3). YOU have a very REAL ROLE in HOW the spiritual battle influences YOUR life
Those were the lessons from our verse-by-verse study of Daniel Chapter 10.
Today I would like to start with some preface “introductions” to this critical area of our lives. Let’s start by clarifying the extremes in hopes that we can avoid them.
Extreme Number 1 – The spiritual battle isn’t real
We don’t have to talk about it; we just have to “try our hardest” to ACT like good Christians. That’s completely unbiblical and is probably the number one lie the enemy wants you to buy into – that he and his world doesn’t REALLY EXIST because that allows him to completely destroy your life while you’re denying that he exists.
Extreme Number 2 – There is a demon behind every bush
This is the idea that there’s a demon “attached” to every difficulty or struggle you face. Commonly communicated as “The demon of this or that.” That is also unbiblical. It gives the enemy too much credit, and it gives him too much focus... which can be just as damaging as NOT believing he exists.
So – avoiding the extremes – please hear me when I tell you, the spiritual battle is very real. There definitely ARE spiritual beings battling in the spiritual realm right now, and their goal is to influence your life for good or for evil. And the biggest truth is YOU have a very DEFINITE ROLE in which side of the spiritual battle ends up influencing your life.
Next, there are (in essence) Three general “groups” of people, and YOU are IN ONE of these 3 “groups” today. And there seems to be a unique FOCUS of the spiritual battle for each “group” (as I see it). And it is where you are at with Jesus Christ in your life that will determine WHAT the FOCUS of the spiritual battle (in general) looks like. So go ahead, and put yourself in one of these following three “groups.”
1). If you are an Unbeliever
The spiritual battle is primarily focused on the enemy working hard to KEEP you from believing, while God’s Angels are fighting to give you opportunity to believe. If this is you today, please, allow God to remove the scales from your eyes. Make a commitment today to believe God, and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord. And in that true commitment, you will have the ultimate victory!
2). If you say you’re a Believer
But you have not yet truly surrendered your life to Jesus Christ as Lord, then the spiritual battle seems primarily focused on keeping you on the FENCE. The enemy will work hard to help you keep one foot in the world – he’ll make you think you’re okay with God. At the same time, God’s Angels (and the Holy Spirit) are fighting to help you see the fallacy of your “double life.” They’re trying to place strong Christians in your life to help you start actually walking in the victory that Jesus Christ died to give you.
3). IF you really are all-in, following and serving the Lord
The primary focus of the battle will be:
To TRIP you up
or DISCOURAGE you
or get you to FALL into sin
To somehow, some way, get you to STOP following Jesus and turn back to damaging your life and the lives of those around you. And most importantly, to keep you – by any means possible – from doing ANYTHING truly productive for God.
And can I just say at this point - the way I most often see the enemy get real success in the lives of those (who are especially) in the beginning stages of following and serving the Lord is through division and offense in the Church? It is absolutely MIND-BOGGLING how easily your enemy can turn you away from following Jesus by using some “stupid” Christian who’s causing division or offense in the Church. And believe me when I say, “Some ‘stupid’ Christian,” I have certainly been duped by the enemy many times into earning that title for myself.
So don’t be so easily duped by the enemy using Christians to sow criticism or offense into your life. Don’t make it SO EASY for the enemy to take you out. Just quote the words that Jesus spoke to the Apostle Peter when the enemy was trying to use Peter in Mathew 16:23, where Jesus just said (lovingly) to Peter, “Get behind me Satan.”
So, with those general introductions, let’s talk a bit about HOW the enemy can influence us. When we get to the spiritual armor (probably in our next message), we’ll go into more detail about HOW the enemy does this.
But let’s just start with an overview. And I guess the best place to start would be at Satan’s first and most all-encompassing deception, in Genesis Chapter 3. This is such a great study on how Satan works. But we can only skim over it today. And what I would like you to notice is that Satan spoke to Eve, and we need to recognize that throughout the Bible Satan has the ability to influence thought in some way. We need to come to grips with the fact that YOUR spiritual enemy has the ability to INFLUENCE your thoughts (in some way) IF you will LET HIM.
Genesis 3:1–5 (NLT) The Fall of Man
1 The serpent (Satan) was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (First, he questioned God in Eve’s mind)
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. (She’s now entered a conversation with Satan)
3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. (He denied God’s Word in Eve’s mind) . . . (And then he replaces it . . .)
5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God . . .”
The Enemy:
QUESTIONED God in Eve’s mind
DENIED God in Eve’s mind
REPLACED God in Eve’s mind
For today what I want you to see is that the FALL of Man started in THE MIND of Eve. The enemy INFLUENCED Eve’s thoughts (her mind).
And then look at Genesis 3, verse 6.
Genesis 3:6 (NLT)
6 The woman was convinced . . .
BAAM! Satan had gotten into Eve’s MIND and convinced her to do what he wanted her to do OVER what God had created her to do.
Let me say it again, in case you missed it:
Satan had influenced Eve’s mind (and ultimately Adam’s) to do what he wanted them to do over what God had created them to do.
Does that give you an idea of HOW the enemy accomplishes destruction in YOUR life?
AND just in case you don’t think Satan’s approach with Eve is applicable to us today, let’s just look at 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3.
2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT)
3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
If the enemy brought about the fall of man with this tactic, WHY would he not use it on YOU today?
We could read a dozen clear references to the enemy influencing the minds of God’s people in the Old Testament. But for time’s sake, let’s just do one more. Find 1 Chronicles Chapter 20. I can’t go into all the background, but King David is going to commit his last big sin here (this was after the Bathsheba sin that the enemy was definitely ALSO involved in). David’s sin here is numbering the people. It was a sin of pride and a costly one for David. But let’s look at how a few different translations put this:
1 Chronicles 21:1 (NLT)
1 Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:1 (ESV)
1 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:1 (AMP)
1 SATAN [an adversary] stood up against Israel and stirred up David to number Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:1 (NKJV)
1 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
It’s amazing to look at this Hebrew word because ALL these translations are correct.
Satan CAUSED David to sin (NLT)
Satan INCITED David to sin (ESV)
Satan STIRRED UP David to sin (AMP)
Satan MOVED David to sin (NKJV)
What’s my point? You have an enemy who can INFLUENCE your thoughts toward massively destructive sin. This particular sin of David’s caused the death of 70,000 men in Israel. And do you think the enemy was dancing a jig that day?
Guys, it is the same TYPE of word (in GREEK) used to describe Satan’s final move on Judas Iscariot.
John 13:2 (NLT) – the devil prompted Judas, to betray Jesus
John 13:2 (ESV) – the devil put it into the heart of Judas
John 13:2 (AMP) – Satan put the thought of betraying Jesus in the heart of Judas
I know we think we can’t be compared with Judas Iscariot, and maybe that’s why the enemy has such an easy time influencing us. We have got to realize we have an enemy before we can join the battle. And we’ve got to realize that he can easily influence our minds before we will make a commitment to do something about it.
The enemy of your soul is CONSTANTLY trying to INFLUENCE your thoughts and thereby your ACTIONS, and you may NOT even KNOW there’s a spiritual battle going on in your life.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
You have a great enemy, and he is looking to devour you.
Coming to grips with that will help us make a commitment to:
1). STAND FIRM against him
2). to BE STRONG in the faith
which is exactly what the next verse says.
1 Peter 5:9 (NLT)
9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. (and then) Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
The spiritual battle is a reality in every Believer’s life all around the world, and that means it’s a reality in your life.
Let’s look at just a few New Testament references to the fact that the enemy of our soul has the ability to influence our minds and our actions.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11 (NLT)
(Paul was telling the Church to forgive) 11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
This means Satan CAN outsmart us.
In 1 Thessalonians 3:5 (NLT)
(Paul was concerned about the Church’s faith) 5 That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.
Paul was concerned that the enemy had taken out these New Believers – completely.
In 2 Corinthians 11:14–15 (NLT)
(Paul was concerned about the Church being FOOLED by servants of the enemy) 14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness . . .
Often the enemy “SPEAKS” thru people who (usually unknowingly) are doing his bidding for him.
1 Timothy 4:1 (NLT)
1 . . . in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.
There are deceptive spirits who WILL turn some AWAY from the faith.
2 Timothy 3:13 (NLT)
13 But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.
They will deceive on behalf of the enemy, and they will themselves be deceived!
Have I totally freaked you out yet?
I HOPE SO – because the first thing you do – before going into a battle – is to understand your enemy. And I’m afraid many of us don’t understand our enemy, and we may not even know there’s a battle raging around us. Before we can talk about strategy for victory, we have to first BELIEVE we have an ENEMY – who is constantly trying to DECEIVE US – and DESTROY US.
So, if I’ve gotten that point across, I’ll close with the best news of all – sound good?
Once we DO understand there IS a REAL spiritual battle going on – at that point – one of the enemy’s biggest DECEPTIONS is to convince us that we MUST FIGHT FOR our victory.
But – HERE is the greatest truth of all – in the spiritual battle
We DO NOT fight FOR our victory
We fight FROM a position of victory.
We don’t fight to win our ultimate victory because Jesus Christ has already won it for us.
Does that mean the enemy can’t take us out? No, I’m afraid it doesn’t. Both scripture and the lives of those around us tell us the enemy can still destroy our lives. BUT because Jesus Christ has already won the complete victory on our behalf, all we have to do is stand firm in the victory that Jesus Christ has won for us. All we have to do is remain in him, staying strong in the faith.
Let’s turn over to Colossians Chapter 2 to close.
Colossians 2:13–15 (NLT)
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.
14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
THAT victory – Jesus WON – in your place. And when you put your faith in Him and receive him into your life, HIS victory – Becomes YOUR victory and HIS victory is sure and complete.
ALL you have to do – is STAND FIRM in HIS VICTORY.
ALL you have to do – is WALK in HIS VICTORY.
And that is what we’re going to spend the next few messages talking about. But first, you have to make his victory – YOUR VICTORY. HIS victory is YOUR victory, but YOUR CHOICE is what applies his victory to your life. He has already WON it, but you receive it into your life by faith.
Would you do that today? Would you recognize that you have a spiritual enemy that is constantly working to destroy your life, and the only victory over this enemy is receiving the victory Jesus Christ WON on the Cross?
You can do that today.
And you can begin to walk in victory in this battle instead of defeat.
So, for at least a couple more messages, I’d like to dig deeper into this topic to help us gain more understanding into an area that literally impacts every day of our lives. And yet it’s an area that we may not have much real understanding of. Does it sound like a good idea to spend a little time on this topic? Yes?
We started our study of Daniel 10 last week by looking at HOW Daniel entered the Spiritual Battle, which I said was really the most important lesson of the Chapter. We saw that Daniel entered the Spiritual Battle through an extended time of INTENTIONAL, SACRIFICIAL PRAYER. And that one key truth answers many of our questions regarding why we never seem to even begin our own spiritual battles.
And finally, last week, we saw a great battle take place in the spiritual realm on Daniel’s behalf. As the Angels of God did real battle with the Spirit Prince of the Enemy’s Kingdom and seeing that battle play out gave us critical insight into the fact that there truly IS a REAL BATTLE going on in a type of parallel reality called the Spiritual Realm which is more real than this temporary realm we live in.
So, here’s the BIG PICTURE of last week’s message:
1). The spiritual battle is REAL
2). EACH SIDE of the spiritual battle is fighting to influence the events in YOUR physical realm
3). YOU have a very REAL ROLE in HOW the spiritual battle influences YOUR life
Those were the lessons from our verse-by-verse study of Daniel Chapter 10.
Today I would like to start with some preface “introductions” to this critical area of our lives. Let’s start by clarifying the extremes in hopes that we can avoid them.
Extreme Number 1 – The spiritual battle isn’t real
We don’t have to talk about it; we just have to “try our hardest” to ACT like good Christians. That’s completely unbiblical and is probably the number one lie the enemy wants you to buy into – that he and his world doesn’t REALLY EXIST because that allows him to completely destroy your life while you’re denying that he exists.
Extreme Number 2 – There is a demon behind every bush
This is the idea that there’s a demon “attached” to every difficulty or struggle you face. Commonly communicated as “The demon of this or that.” That is also unbiblical. It gives the enemy too much credit, and it gives him too much focus... which can be just as damaging as NOT believing he exists.
So – avoiding the extremes – please hear me when I tell you, the spiritual battle is very real. There definitely ARE spiritual beings battling in the spiritual realm right now, and their goal is to influence your life for good or for evil. And the biggest truth is YOU have a very DEFINITE ROLE in which side of the spiritual battle ends up influencing your life.
Next, there are (in essence) Three general “groups” of people, and YOU are IN ONE of these 3 “groups” today. And there seems to be a unique FOCUS of the spiritual battle for each “group” (as I see it). And it is where you are at with Jesus Christ in your life that will determine WHAT the FOCUS of the spiritual battle (in general) looks like. So go ahead, and put yourself in one of these following three “groups.”
1). If you are an Unbeliever
The spiritual battle is primarily focused on the enemy working hard to KEEP you from believing, while God’s Angels are fighting to give you opportunity to believe. If this is you today, please, allow God to remove the scales from your eyes. Make a commitment today to believe God, and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord. And in that true commitment, you will have the ultimate victory!
2). If you say you’re a Believer
But you have not yet truly surrendered your life to Jesus Christ as Lord, then the spiritual battle seems primarily focused on keeping you on the FENCE. The enemy will work hard to help you keep one foot in the world – he’ll make you think you’re okay with God. At the same time, God’s Angels (and the Holy Spirit) are fighting to help you see the fallacy of your “double life.” They’re trying to place strong Christians in your life to help you start actually walking in the victory that Jesus Christ died to give you.
3). IF you really are all-in, following and serving the Lord
The primary focus of the battle will be:
To TRIP you up
or DISCOURAGE you
or get you to FALL into sin
To somehow, some way, get you to STOP following Jesus and turn back to damaging your life and the lives of those around you. And most importantly, to keep you – by any means possible – from doing ANYTHING truly productive for God.
And can I just say at this point - the way I most often see the enemy get real success in the lives of those (who are especially) in the beginning stages of following and serving the Lord is through division and offense in the Church? It is absolutely MIND-BOGGLING how easily your enemy can turn you away from following Jesus by using some “stupid” Christian who’s causing division or offense in the Church. And believe me when I say, “Some ‘stupid’ Christian,” I have certainly been duped by the enemy many times into earning that title for myself.
So don’t be so easily duped by the enemy using Christians to sow criticism or offense into your life. Don’t make it SO EASY for the enemy to take you out. Just quote the words that Jesus spoke to the Apostle Peter when the enemy was trying to use Peter in Mathew 16:23, where Jesus just said (lovingly) to Peter, “Get behind me Satan.”
So, with those general introductions, let’s talk a bit about HOW the enemy can influence us. When we get to the spiritual armor (probably in our next message), we’ll go into more detail about HOW the enemy does this.
But let’s just start with an overview. And I guess the best place to start would be at Satan’s first and most all-encompassing deception, in Genesis Chapter 3. This is such a great study on how Satan works. But we can only skim over it today. And what I would like you to notice is that Satan spoke to Eve, and we need to recognize that throughout the Bible Satan has the ability to influence thought in some way. We need to come to grips with the fact that YOUR spiritual enemy has the ability to INFLUENCE your thoughts (in some way) IF you will LET HIM.
Genesis 3:1–5 (NLT) The Fall of Man
1 The serpent (Satan) was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (First, he questioned God in Eve’s mind)
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. (She’s now entered a conversation with Satan)
3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. (He denied God’s Word in Eve’s mind) . . . (And then he replaces it . . .)
5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God . . .”
The Enemy:
QUESTIONED God in Eve’s mind
DENIED God in Eve’s mind
REPLACED God in Eve’s mind
For today what I want you to see is that the FALL of Man started in THE MIND of Eve. The enemy INFLUENCED Eve’s thoughts (her mind).
And then look at Genesis 3, verse 6.
Genesis 3:6 (NLT)
6 The woman was convinced . . .
BAAM! Satan had gotten into Eve’s MIND and convinced her to do what he wanted her to do OVER what God had created her to do.
Let me say it again, in case you missed it:
Satan had influenced Eve’s mind (and ultimately Adam’s) to do what he wanted them to do over what God had created them to do.
Does that give you an idea of HOW the enemy accomplishes destruction in YOUR life?
AND just in case you don’t think Satan’s approach with Eve is applicable to us today, let’s just look at 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3.
2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT)
3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
If the enemy brought about the fall of man with this tactic, WHY would he not use it on YOU today?
We could read a dozen clear references to the enemy influencing the minds of God’s people in the Old Testament. But for time’s sake, let’s just do one more. Find 1 Chronicles Chapter 20. I can’t go into all the background, but King David is going to commit his last big sin here (this was after the Bathsheba sin that the enemy was definitely ALSO involved in). David’s sin here is numbering the people. It was a sin of pride and a costly one for David. But let’s look at how a few different translations put this:
1 Chronicles 21:1 (NLT)
1 Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:1 (ESV)
1 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:1 (AMP)
1 SATAN [an adversary] stood up against Israel and stirred up David to number Israel.
1 Chronicles 21:1 (NKJV)
1 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
It’s amazing to look at this Hebrew word because ALL these translations are correct.
Satan CAUSED David to sin (NLT)
Satan INCITED David to sin (ESV)
Satan STIRRED UP David to sin (AMP)
Satan MOVED David to sin (NKJV)
What’s my point? You have an enemy who can INFLUENCE your thoughts toward massively destructive sin. This particular sin of David’s caused the death of 70,000 men in Israel. And do you think the enemy was dancing a jig that day?
Guys, it is the same TYPE of word (in GREEK) used to describe Satan’s final move on Judas Iscariot.
John 13:2 (NLT) – the devil prompted Judas, to betray Jesus
John 13:2 (ESV) – the devil put it into the heart of Judas
John 13:2 (AMP) – Satan put the thought of betraying Jesus in the heart of Judas
I know we think we can’t be compared with Judas Iscariot, and maybe that’s why the enemy has such an easy time influencing us. We have got to realize we have an enemy before we can join the battle. And we’ve got to realize that he can easily influence our minds before we will make a commitment to do something about it.
The enemy of your soul is CONSTANTLY trying to INFLUENCE your thoughts and thereby your ACTIONS, and you may NOT even KNOW there’s a spiritual battle going on in your life.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
You have a great enemy, and he is looking to devour you.
Coming to grips with that will help us make a commitment to:
1). STAND FIRM against him
2). to BE STRONG in the faith
which is exactly what the next verse says.
1 Peter 5:9 (NLT)
9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. (and then) Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
The spiritual battle is a reality in every Believer’s life all around the world, and that means it’s a reality in your life.
Let’s look at just a few New Testament references to the fact that the enemy of our soul has the ability to influence our minds and our actions.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11 (NLT)
(Paul was telling the Church to forgive) 11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
This means Satan CAN outsmart us.
In 1 Thessalonians 3:5 (NLT)
(Paul was concerned about the Church’s faith) 5 That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.
Paul was concerned that the enemy had taken out these New Believers – completely.
In 2 Corinthians 11:14–15 (NLT)
(Paul was concerned about the Church being FOOLED by servants of the enemy) 14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness . . .
Often the enemy “SPEAKS” thru people who (usually unknowingly) are doing his bidding for him.
1 Timothy 4:1 (NLT)
1 . . . in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.
There are deceptive spirits who WILL turn some AWAY from the faith.
2 Timothy 3:13 (NLT)
13 But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.
They will deceive on behalf of the enemy, and they will themselves be deceived!
Have I totally freaked you out yet?
I HOPE SO – because the first thing you do – before going into a battle – is to understand your enemy. And I’m afraid many of us don’t understand our enemy, and we may not even know there’s a battle raging around us. Before we can talk about strategy for victory, we have to first BELIEVE we have an ENEMY – who is constantly trying to DECEIVE US – and DESTROY US.
So, if I’ve gotten that point across, I’ll close with the best news of all – sound good?
Once we DO understand there IS a REAL spiritual battle going on – at that point – one of the enemy’s biggest DECEPTIONS is to convince us that we MUST FIGHT FOR our victory.
But – HERE is the greatest truth of all – in the spiritual battle
We DO NOT fight FOR our victory
We fight FROM a position of victory.
We don’t fight to win our ultimate victory because Jesus Christ has already won it for us.
Does that mean the enemy can’t take us out? No, I’m afraid it doesn’t. Both scripture and the lives of those around us tell us the enemy can still destroy our lives. BUT because Jesus Christ has already won the complete victory on our behalf, all we have to do is stand firm in the victory that Jesus Christ has won for us. All we have to do is remain in him, staying strong in the faith.
Let’s turn over to Colossians Chapter 2 to close.
Colossians 2:13–15 (NLT)
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.
14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
THAT victory – Jesus WON – in your place. And when you put your faith in Him and receive him into your life, HIS victory – Becomes YOUR victory and HIS victory is sure and complete.
ALL you have to do – is STAND FIRM in HIS VICTORY.
ALL you have to do – is WALK in HIS VICTORY.
And that is what we’re going to spend the next few messages talking about. But first, you have to make his victory – YOUR VICTORY. HIS victory is YOUR victory, but YOUR CHOICE is what applies his victory to your life. He has already WON it, but you receive it into your life by faith.
Would you do that today? Would you recognize that you have a spiritual enemy that is constantly working to destroy your life, and the only victory over this enemy is receiving the victory Jesus Christ WON on the Cross?
You can do that today.
And you can begin to walk in victory in this battle instead of defeat.