Know your Adversary

by Marko Severin.

Have you ever been in a type of situation that you never imagined you would be in?

Or let me put it another way, have you ever been involved in a situation you hoped you would never be involved in?

Have you been in a situation where it seems that all hell has broken loose and it seems like there is no easy way out?

I have certainly experienced these situations and I would imagine some or most of you would have as well. Some of us have not been quite so far yet.

These strange occurrences I believe have much to do with day to day living or life as a whole.

Day to day life also centers around some biblical truth. Some profound truths are found in the book of Genesis.

This first book of God’s Word gives us a sobering look at what we can expect in life and most importantly the nature of our enemy. It says our enemy is likened in Ch3 verse1 to a serpent or a “snake” and is attributed as being more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. It also says in verse14 of Ch3 of Genesis that our enemy is most cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field.

Then GOD said this to Adam,

Gen 3:17 (KJV)

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

There are two points I would make about this verse that may not be immediately obvious;

Firstly, Adam had obediently followed what his wife had told him to do, why? Because he was close to her, trusted and loved her very much. On the surface, nothing wrong with this. The problem was at the same time he had disobeyed GOD’s word. Here is where the subtle part comes into the scenario, our enemy will quite often use those who are closest to us to make an attempt to cause us to stumble in some way. The enemy will use complete strangers as well. Even the people you work with (your colleagues), your neighbors and fellow saints in the church!

The second point I would make about Gen 3:17 is on the part where it says “cursed is the ground for thy sake”. This says to me that there is nothing that man can cultivate or produce from the ground that can in any way come near to perfection. In other words there can always be found imperfections in anything and everything man can produce on this earth. No human has a perfectly symmetrical body. The Earth was perfect until Adam had sinned. GOD can only produce perfect things, would you agree?.

It’s not all doom and gloom however, what has happened since the times of Adam is that mankind has been able to make life somewhat easier through co-operation with his fellow man and by using the GOD given gift of brainpower. Mankind is able to overcome many obstacles but not without some sort of effort on his own part. Wisdom also plays a large part in this effort. The thing to remember here is that GOD helps those who help themselves and others.

Referring back to the enemy, some examples of my personal experience of how the enemy works follow.

My wife and I have been married now for 27years and still battling through the mountains and valleys that life often present to us. We live a fairly peaceful existence for about 99 percent of the time we are together.

Most recently my wife and I were enjoying the quiet Christmas break when I was prompted to question her cooking practices. A battle of words ensued, emotions were running high and stretched to their limits. There was a direct attack on the heart. All that we had achieved in life together was seriously being tested under a microscope. The gloves were off and the temperature was at boiling point. All guns firing!

I will pause for a moment.

Slow to anger comes to mind here.

This is where the advantage of having the Holy Ghost came into play. I shouted out the words and I quote “this is exactly what satan would want us to do”. At that moment the battle had ceased and the enemy had fled. Everything soon returned back to some normality. Looking back and analyzing the episode I came to realize one important thing, you see the enemy did not like to have been identified.

Another attack of the enemy I had experienced was in the form of an Email war at the workplace. This happened between myself and a disgruntled employee. Every workplace has these people. This resulted in much wasted time and effort, not to mention zero productivity. It also resulted in seriously questioning of my own motives and seeking help from a professional psychologist.

During this time, workers compensation was sought and granted to me. In short, after some months this same employee ended up attacking my superior and soon after left the workplace never to be allowed to return to the same organization. Banned for life.

On another occasion I found myself in a test of my theological knowledge between myself and my younger brother. This was accomplished through the aid of a mobile phone and text messaging. After some hours either a consensus was achieved or it ended up being time for dinner, whatever the outcome was I found it to be a mentally draining experience.

It is for times like this that the proper interpretation of God’s word is mandatory.

Have you ever been followed so closely in a motor vehicle by another motorist that if you needed to stop in a hurry you would find him or her in your back seat?

I have many a time, but on one occasion I stopped my car in the middle of the road, opened the door and proceeded to walk toward the driver who was in the car behind me. He came out of his vehicle and asked me why I had stopped. I told him that it was because he was following too closely. In hind sight I would not attempt this again. In any case the law is on your side as far as rear end accidents are concerned. It is good practice when driving to have eyes mostly front and not be too concerned about what is happening behind you.

Now Jesus was also confronted with many challenges, one that comes to mind is when he had a pressing appointment with a man who had an unclean spirit. Before he could attend to this man, he needed to cross a river as it was also in the evening and becoming dark. His disciples jumped into the boat and cast off with Jesus sitting at the rear end of the boat on a pillow. Soon after, Jesus had fallen asleep when a great storm of wind arose. The wind caused large waves which spilled over into the boat and filled it with water to the top. The disciples had to wake Jesus asking him if he was worried about them all drowning. Then in Mark 4:39-41 (KJV) it says

³⁹ And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? ⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Leaving the subject of the enemy behind and taking the Holy Ghost into consideration for a moment, Jesus had these words to say in verse 37 and 38 of John Chapter 7;

37 the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

The good news is that this same invitation is currently still valid even in these perilous times.

If you believe in Jesus today and have not already been baptized, I cannot recommend anything more highly than to be baptized of water and the Holy Ghost. This can easily be arranged within the church, your brothers and sisters are always on stand by for such a great event. The angels in heaven are rejoicing over one lost soul who is saved on earth. Most of all Jesus is only too willing if you are willing.

In my way of thinking one of the attributes of the rivers of living water is that this living water comes in handy when it is needed to quench the fiery Darts of the enemy.

Another characteristic of the enemy is that he cannot tolerate GOD’s word. When tempted by the devil in the wilderness Jesus quoted GOD’s word three times before the serpent fled. This can be found in Matthew chapter 4 from verse 1 on to 11. It is also interesting to note that Jesus had identified the enemy by name in verse 10 just before satan had left him.

The enemy is also known as the accuser of the brethren, who will eventually be cast down, in the book of Revelation it says in chapter 12 and verse 10 (KJV)

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now (everyone say now!) Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Can you imagine in his ear day and night, even the Lord must truly have an earful.

In words of encouragement to the saints, that’s you and I the apostle Paul wrote this in a letter to the Ephesians,

Eph 6:10-18 (KJV)

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

My brothers and sisters, the evil day being referred to in scripture is not some distant time in the future but is referring to this present time in history.

With these last verses one could present a whole other sermon, but perhaps that is for another time.

I will leave you to consider these verses from:

1 Thess 5:6-10 (KJV)

6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

I won’t keep you any longer, thanks for listening and may GOD bless.