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"The Unseen Enemy" Preface The Christian is engaged in a supernatural war with the spirits of darkness. The devil hates God and all of mankind with evil, unfathomable malice. When a person is born again out of the kingdom of darkness, the devil’s domain, into the kingdom of light, God’s kingdom, the battle lines are drawn. This spiritual war has eternal consequences, for the spoils of this war are the souls of men. This life and death struggle is unseen by human eyes, but more real than the physical world in which we temporarily reside. God, His angels, and the departed saints (the “great cloud of witnesses” : Hebrews 12:1) are watching the unfolding war, and will testify of mankind and his choices, securing his eternal fate in heaven or hell. As in any war, to be successful, the victor has to know the enemy, his goals, and his strategy. Jesus taught more on the devil and hell than He did on the kingdom of heaven. This is an exhaustive subject and a theme that encompasses much of the scriptures. This writer will condense in a series of teachings who the enemy is, his goals and strategies. and how he is defeated in our everyday life while we live in this world. May God grant the reader eyes to see and ears to hear what is received by faith and the grace of God.
Part I (Knowing the Enemy)
God is all Truth, Love, Purity, Holiness, Beauty, Power, Majesty, Justice, Omniscience and Light. He is the Creator of all things, and in Him there is no changing or shadow of turning. He is the beginning and end of all things. Conversely, the devil is as dark as God is light. The devil was once Lucifer, a former archangel and covering cherub who resided before the throne of God. He coveted God’s position as God, and iniquity was found in his heart. He rebelled against the Holy One and incited and deceived one-third of the angelic hosts to join his futile revolt against God (Revelation 12: 3-4). Lucifer and his minions were cast down from heaven as profane things, and they were corrupted and twisted from their original angelic state, becoming vile agents of darkness: the devil and his hierarchy of demons. The devil was cast down from heaven to the earth before the creation of mankind: “…but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 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” (Revelation 12: 8-9). This account of the devil’s fall can be read in Isaiah 14: 12-17, Ezekiel 28: 12-19, Revelation 12: 7-10. Firstly, we need to establish that the devil and the demons have been judged; there remains no redemption or salvation for them. Jesus declared that the prince of this world (Satan) has been judged (John 16:11). The Epistle of Jude states: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day…” (verse 6). Finally, their eternal destination is the lake of fire, or hell: “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20: 10). Secondly, and very importantly, the devil, though superior to mankind in intellect and power, is not worthy to be compared to Almighty God. The devil is a created being, and finite in his ability and understanding. His power and understanding have been perverted by sin, and the plans and mysteries of God are beyond his knowledge. If he had known that the crucifying of Jesus Christ would be his defeat and God’s victory, the scriptures stated that he would never have “crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). The devil cannot read the thoughts of men; however, since he has been on the earth since the fall of Adam and Eve, he is an expert on the predictability of fallen human nature, and the weaknesses of man. Although fallen man is born into spiritual darkness, the devil cannot possess or overtake the free will of man unless the demons are given consent to do so by habitual sin: “…do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4: 26). The devil has blinded people to the gospel of Jesus Christ, but he cannot prevent a person from choosing to repent and receive salvation through faith in Jesus Christ: “But even if our gospel is veiled (hid), it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age (satan) has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4: 3-4). He is called a “deceiver of the whole world” and “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12: 9-10). He is also called the “father of lies,” “a murderer,” (John 8: 44), “the thief” (John 10:10), and “the wicked one” (1 John 5:18). The devil is also called a “roaring lion” who roams about, seeking who he may devour (1 Peter 5:). Not only is he a deceiver, but he is also deceived. Blinded by darkness, he believes that he can overcome God and His eternal purposes. For example, God made promises to the Jewish people through His covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The devil has persecuted the Jews throughout history, from the ovens of Adolph Hitler, to the present hatred of Israel by much of the Arab world and the rest of the world that is under the sway of the antichrist spirit. If the devil can incite men to exterminate the Jews, then he believes that he can thwart the promise of God, and make God to be a liar. Of course, God laughs in derision at the devil. God knows his end, and we can also when we read the Book of Revelation. Part II will examine the enemy’s goals, and Part III will expose the strategies and wiles of the enemy of our souls. “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” (Ephesians 6: 12).
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