Know your enemy. And no, I don’t mean the rage song by Green Day. Quite the opposite. By knowing your enemy, I want to provoke us to think about how tactics enable us to identify who our enemy really is. Because the real enemy we are facing in our lives and in our nation today, though very cunning and deceptive, is actually very limited in weaponry. That is to say, when we see the same tactics used over and over – even over centuries of time – we can confidently know who is behind the attacks. This is the principle which, for example, tells investigators they are dealing with a serial killer. The same modus operandi.
First, let’s realize that knowing the enemy’s real identity is vital to our defense and, ultimately, to victory. You remember, in the days of World War 2 (at least as depicted in the movie Patton), General Patton is seen exclaiming as his tank corps was defeating Rommel’s, “Rommel…I read your book!” Patton knew who his enemy was. But what if we find ourselves in a battle with an unknown enemy? How can we identify him? Tactics. By the tactics. Let me demonstrate from the following Bible passage in the experience of the Apostle Paul:
“Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.” (Acts 17:1-9)
I do not quote this scripture in any kind of effort to imply that Jewish people are our enemy today. Many of them were Paul’s enemy because they were trying to squelch the spread of Christianity. But what I want us to notice is that there is a striking similarity to the missiles being launched at us today.
- Formation of violent mobs
- Attacks upon private homes
- Using governmental agencies to persecute
- Bringing false charges
- Levying financial attacks
Who really was the enemy attacking Paul and those early Christians? We know the answer – Satan. And I propose to you that we face the very same enemy today. There is really someone behind it all.
If you speak out against the wicked, evil movements and ideas being propagated today – abortion, corruption, gender distortion insanity, using schools and universities to propagate evil – what can you expect? The missiles launched at you will be the very same diabolic game plan Paul faced centuries ago. You may well have a violent mob surround you. That mob may come right to the front door of your home. You may become the target of the IRS, DOJ, or FBI probe. False charges – both civil and criminal – may be levied against you, as well as financial attacks demanded before you are released from jail. It is indeed the very same arsenal.
This tells us that we face that very same enemy who is behind it all, just as he has been from the very beginning. It is all very good for us to oppose and expose evil people such as those in the highest offices of the land today. But unless we understand who the real ultimate enemy is, we are just going to be fighting blindly. We won’t even understand the kind of fight we are in. And that means we will not use the right weapons. Jesus knew all of this, and he exposed His opponents for what they really were:
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
The real war being waged, the war in which all of these separate battles are just a part, is the war between God’s kingdom of light and Satan’s kingdom of darkness. Saint Augustine realized this millennia ago when he wrote The City of God. The Apostle Paul understood it and explained to the church at Ephesus:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:12-13)
When we are blinded to the forest by the trees, when we are oblivious of the War because we are so focused on the battles, then we are not going to win. We will use the wrong tactics and the wrong weapons because we don’t even really know who our actual enemy is. In this sense, you see, Joe Biden and his horde are only dupes, minions, instruments of evil. Their very minds are darkened to believe the insanity of wicked things they are promoting, just as Judas was.
So, how do we fight Satan and these spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places who are operating out of sight, calling the shots, and implementing their demonic strategies? There are hands-on things we can do to battle against the flesh and blood servants of the enemy, but how do we strike the enemy himself?
The answer is surprisingly simple. Truth. Paul states it for us:
“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:14-18)
We can’t discuss each of these pieces of armor in detail here, but can you see the common thread in all of them? Truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, prayer. Truth. God’s truth. The truth of and about Jesus Christ our Savior who has at the cross defeated the enemy. Truth to counter the lies being fired at us every day. The truth of God’s Word, the Bible. The truth about how a person is made righteous before God and saved from the penalty for sin by faith in Christ. The truth that God is mightier than our enemy and that we can pray in faith to Him.
Satan’s tactics reveal him, even as he operates invisibly behind the scenes. His tactics are always the same. That means we can know our enemy and use the weapons he knows to defeat his assaults against us. But if we are going to pick up this armor, we must believe what God says to us about the war, about the real enemy, and about who our victorious General is — the Lord Jesus Christ.
The real enemy, individualized devils that co-habit human bodies. Christ came casting out devils (individual ones). He gave his disciples the same powers. The same problem that existed back then, exists today. Satan is a great adversary, but so are devils that dwell in human bodies. And, the American Medical Association refusal to admit that devils exist in some human bodies remains problematic. We fight against ‘principalities, spiritual wickness in the heavenlies’. Ephesians 6:12 A this cosmos enemy. Not relegated to the Earth. Or, we might say, not relegated to this space-time dimension that we humans live and die in. They feed off of our sin and disobedience to God. That is one reason why Christ’s coming into time was so important. To tapper down those individualizing Satanic presences. And, to give us comfort.
Devils themselves and devilish spirits that co-inhabit many Earthly human bodies. Without first getting their Earthly hosts permission or consent. Christian? It doesn’t matter. Your body will do just fine. And not just some generalized being we call Satan. As well as the presence of alien beings from other star systems, here on Earth right now. Shape shifters? Evidenced by the deadly spirits emanating from many ‘apparently’ human being bodies, crying out loud, ‘alien being’, ‘alien being’, ‘alien being’. You can have a Close Encounter of the Third Kind just driving down Main Street, USA. I have chosen to run many red stop lights, waiting for the light to turn green, when ‘It’ with a Legion of evil spirits, pulled up alongside of me. That was the time to thank the police officer for the traffic ticket for my running the red light. And, thank God for protecting me from ‘Legion’. Mark 5:9 There is a lot more than ‘just witchcraft’ going on mother Earth, and in the United States of America.