{"id":1726,"date":"2022-04-24T12:24:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-24T17:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=1726"},"modified":"2022-04-24T12:24:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T17:24:00","slug":"do-you-know-your-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/24\/do-you-know-your-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Know Your Enemy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cHear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.<\/strong>\u201d
Psalm 64:1 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Who is the enemy of a Christian? \u201cBe sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring\nlion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour<\/strong>\u201d (1 Peter 5:8). The\ndevil (Satan) is the enemy. We can read from this verse that he attacks and\nwants to destroy Christians. Why do we need to know about our enemy, Satan? \u201cLest Satan should get an advantage of us:\nfor we are not ignorant of his devices<\/strong>\u201d (2 Corinthians 2:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we continue, it\nis important that we understand a few things about Satan:  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • He lost his position in heaven\nbecause of pride:  \u201c12. How art thou\nfallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how<\/em> art thou cut down\nto the ground, which didst weaken the nations! <\/strong>13. For thou hast said in thine heart, I\nwill ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will\nsit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the\nnorth: 14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like\nthe most High<\/strong>\u201d (Isaiah 14:12-14).<\/li>
  • He is the father of lies: \u201cYe are of your<\/em> father the devil, and\nthe lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and\nabode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a\nlie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it<\/strong>\u201d\n(John 8:44). This is what Jesus said\nabout the devil when He was speaking to the religious leaders. We are to\nrecognize that Satan is a murderer, there is no truth in him, he only speaks of\nhis own, and he is a liar. These religious leaders obviously were not in\nrighteousness \u2013 which is the distinction between those who belong to God\ninstead of belonging to the devil.<\/li>
  • He tricks through subtlety: \u201cBut I fear, lest by any means, as the\nserpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted\nfrom the simplicity that is in Christ<\/strong>\u201d (2 Corinthians 11:3). <\/li>
  • He appears as an angel of\nlight:  \u201c13. For such are<\/em> false\napostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of\nChrist. <\/strong>14. And no\nmarvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light<\/strong>\u201d (2\nCorinthians 11:13-14).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

     When\nJesus came to earth, He came to defeat Satan (the devil), once and for all. \u201cHe that committeth sin is of the devil; for\nthe devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was\nmanifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil<\/strong>\u201d (1 John\n3:8). Not only do we learn that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, but\nwe recognize just who belongs to the devil. (One who commits sin in this verse\nis \u201cone who practices or lives in a prolonged form of sin<\/em>.\u201d) How can you\ntell the difference between those who belong to the devil and those who belong\nto God? \u201cIn this the children of\nGod are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not\nrighteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother<\/strong>\u201d\n(1 John 3:10). There is a definite\ndistinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How do Christians defeat our enemy, the devil? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the following verse, one can understand a warning:\ndeparting from the truth of God\u2019s Word, becoming a friend of the world, causes\none to become the enemy of God. \u201cYe\nadulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is\nenmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy\nof God<\/strong>\u201d (James 4:4). Adulterer<\/strong> means \u201capostate<\/em>.\u201d Therefore,\na Christian must resist the devil in the faith. \u201cWhom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions\nare accomplished in your brethren that are in the world<\/strong>\u201d (1 Peter\n5:9). If Satan can shake the faith of Christians and draw them into departing\nfrom the truths of God\u2019s Word, he can defeat them. Christians must stand fast\nin their faith. \u201cThat your faith\nshould not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God<\/strong>\u201d (1\nCorinthians 2:5). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Christians must be humble before God. \u201c6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you<\/strong>\u201d (1 Peter 5:6-7). It is important to humble a Christian life to God, understanding that He cares for those who belong to Him. How can this be done? \u201cAnd unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is<\/em> wisdom; and to depart from evil is<\/em> understanding<\/strong>\u201d (Job 28:28). Fear the Lord and depart from evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Do you recognize your enemy, standing fast in your faith while fearing the Lord and departing from evil?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Who is the enemy of a Christian? \u201cBe sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour\u201d (1 Peter 5:8). The devil (Satan) is the enemy. We can read from this verse that he attacks and wants to destroy Christians. Why do we need to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[682,918,915,345,683,166,914,80,917,916,184,919,347,211],"class_list":["post-1726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-adversary","tag-angel-of-light","tag-be-sober","tag-christians","tag-devil","tag-enemy","tag-humble","tag-jesus","tag-lies","tag-lucifer","tag-prayer","tag-subtilty","tag-understanding","tag-wisdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}