Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
What it means to be initiated into the secret of the mystery. Part 64. Know our enemy by means of analyzing his plans and schemes.
Friday, June 17, 2005
We should “know our enemy by means of analyzing his plans and schemes” so that we will know something of his shortcomings as strong points for ourselves.
Their weakness toward us is always based upon our strength in TLJC.
In the natural realm, the rule is that the best policy is to take the enemy intact or undamaged; to destroy it is inferior to this.
2TI 2:26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
In the natural realm, to capture the enemy’s entire army is better than to destroy it.
In warfare to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the ultimate skill.
To subdue and capture the enemy without fighting is the supreme victory and the ultimate skill.
Their aim is to take captive as much as they can by their strategic plans.
This is called the art of offensive strategy.
a. We must know when to fight and when not to - when to be on the offensive and when to be on the defensive,EPH 6:11-13.
b. We must know our real enemy, EPH 6:12, and understand how they war against our soul and how we are to stand against them.
EPH 6:11 Hold your ground against the strategies of the devil.
EPH 6:13 Hold your ground in the day that evil attacks you
JAM 4:7 Submit therefore to God [execute the pre-designed plan of God]. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
1PE 5:9 But resist the devil by being firm in your doctrine.
c. We must know the value of unity and oneness because the one whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious.
d. We must know the importance of discipline and preparation because only those who are alert and prepared will be victorious.
If you know your enemy and know yourself, your chances of being victorious are good.
If you are ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.
You should examine and investigate the enemy’s plans so that you will know their shortcomings and weaknesses as your strong points.
Our real enemy is also invisible and inaudible.
The areas of our life that he intends to attack, he does not want us to know about.
As the ruler of the world attacking people, Satan knows to avoid them when their spirit is sharp, but to attack them when they are sluggish and divided.
This is the art of studying moods.
EPH 4:14 We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
2PE 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the deception of unprincipled men [men with no principles], you fall from your own steadfastness,
Satan knows that if believers are secure in Christ, he must be prepared for them.
If they are superior in strength because of the power of the Spirit and the power of the word of God, he evades them.
If his opponent is of irritable temper, he seeks to irritate them.
He may pretend to be weak toward us that we may grow arrogant.
If our forces are united, he wants to separate us.
Attack us where we are unprepared.
Appear in our lives in areas and places that are not expected.
Supreme excellence in warfare consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
“A confused army leads to another’s victory.”
1. He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.
2. He who understands how to fight in accordance with the strength of his antagonistic forces will be victorious.
3. He whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious.
PHI 2:2-3 Bring to completion my inner happiness [in your life] by thinking the same things, maintaining the same virtue-love, united in soul, concentrating on the same objective. Do nothing motivated by contentiousness or ambitious pride, but with humility of mind [by means of grace orientation] let each of you keep on considering one another as more important than himself;
PHI 2:4-5 do not merely be regarding your own personal interests, but also for the personal interests of others. Keep on thinking this [doctrine] within yourselves which was also resident in Christ Jesus,
4. He who is well prepared and lies in wait for an enemy who is not well prepared will be victorious.
5. He whose leaders are able and not interfered with by the sovereign one will be victorious.
When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal.
If you are ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.
Your enemy wants to impose his will on you but does not want you to impose your will on him.
How do you impose your will on Satan, the ruler of the world?
You do so by glorifying God in the midst of the angelic conflict.
Satan, as the ruler of the world, realizes by holding out advantages to many believers, he can cause those believers to approach him and his cosmic system of their own accord.
He masters in the divine art of subtlety and secrecy.
The areas where Satan intends to attack must not be made known; because then we have the opportunity to prepare against any possible attacks.
He does not care if we learn about the tactics that he uses; he just does not want us to see the strategy out of which victory is evolved.