8. Knowing the Enemy
chapter eight
Knowing the Enemy
Imagine that you and I are allowed to observe a meeting held for all the powers of darkness. The setting is a huge conference hall, and in the audience are millions of demons gathered from the corners of the earth by Satan himself. As they enter the hall, they whisper to one another: “What’s going on? What is this meeting about? What is our Master’s agenda?”
They look around, and there on the wall in huge letters are written these words: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
The prince of darkness approaches the podium to address his army.
“Do you understand,” he thunders, indicating the words of Jesus Christ written on the wall, “that when this Gospel of our enemy is preached to the whole world, it means our end as well?”
Satan is keenly aware of what will happen to him and his legions of demons when the end comes. He already knows what is written in the final chapter: He will be forever tormented in the lake of fire. It is only a matter of time before the appointed moment when his doom is sealed by God.
The appointed moment is also mentioned when Jesus was about to cast the demons out of the men in the country of the Gadarenes. The demons cried out, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” (Matthew 8:29, italics added).
A short time is all the enemy has, which will be cut even shorter by the preaching of the Gospel to all nations. As we reach our generation for the Lord, we hasten His coming as well as the demise of the devil. If we are able to mobilize the entire Body of Christ all over the world to move out and actively share Christ’s love, it will be only a few years before Jesus returns.
Do you think the devil is happy over this? We are told that “he is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12). I can assure you that he does his utmost to extend that time in any way possible. In fact, those of us who have heard the call of eternity and committed ourselves to pray, give and go to reach the lost world have set ourselves up (whether we realize it or not) for direct, face-to-face confrontation with the powers of darkness.
For years now at Gospel for Asia, we have seen how those preparing to join our home team staff face serious attack once they make their decision to come. Some experience health problems. Others deal with emotional turbulence. And most face opposition, sometimes severe, from relatives and friends.
We routinely tell anyone who has been called to join our staff, “Now that you’ve made a decision to join this ministry, we want to put you on the alert that there will be many battles to face. You will experience attacks and opposition to your decision. You need to be prepared and pray, along with us, for the Lord’s protection.”
The battle we face with the powers of darkness is an ongoing one. If there is anything good to be said about the devil, it is that he is a hard worker. He never rests, never sleeps, never goes on vacation. He works all the time.
So as long as our hearts are committed to serving the Lord and helping advance His kingdom on earth, we will always face opposition from the enemy. Whenever we are serving the Lord, especially when it comes to reaching people who live in lands ruled for centuries by demonic powers and principalities, you can be sure we will find ourselves in the very heat of the spiritual battle.
Supernatural Networking
Recently I heard about 500 non-Christians in South Asia who publicly gave their lives to Christ after watching a film on the life of Jesus. Imagine what a stir this caused among the ranks of demons who suddenly lost their power over these people! Here is a possible scenario:
“What’s wrong with you?” a demon leader demands of his gang. “Why did you let this happen?”
“What can we do?” they whine. “We were doing our best to keep them in darkness, but these missionaries brought in that projector and film, and they keep going from village to village with it. And they do so much praying! They don’t give us any rest.”
The head demon checks out this Gospel for Asia outfit and finds out that somewhere in America—in Carrollton, Texas—funds are being raised to support these missionaries.
So the commander of the Carrollton region is alerted: “A group of people in your territory is causing us big trouble in South Asia. Do what you can to stop them!”
Soon the Carrollton commander has a file on each staff member of Gospel for Asia. He knows every name, every address, every car that is driven, every book that is read, every weakness, every fear, every struggle and how each staff member can be attacked most effectively. Does this sound outlandish? It shouldn’t. Even human beings have the capability of comprehensive communication. I discovered recently that everyone in India, even in the most remote village, can get CNN. All they have to do is pay to get it hooked up. The Internet has made instant communication available to most of the globe. I remember a magazine cover showing a Samburu warrior in a desolate region of northern Kenya with a spear in one hand and a cell phone in the other.
Believe me, if human beings with our finite, low-level minds have the genius for this kind of communication, there is no doubt Satan can make a connection between what happens on the mission field and your personal commitment to give and pray for missions. His ultimate goal is to do everything in his power to lead men and women away from Christ and take them to hell.
Jesus calls Satan “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). The apostle John tells us that the whole world is lying in the lap of the wicked one (see 1 John 5:19). Political systems, religious hierarchies, financial institutions, educational and banking systems—everything on earth can be manipulated by the enemy to lead men and women away from the living God and keep them in bondage.
He is working on believers, too, particularly in our areas of vulnerability. You sometimes experience tensions and conflicts with those who are closest to you—your children, your spouse, your close relatives. You find a tendency toward friction in your church, in the Christian organization you work with, in your prayer group or home fellowship. Because we live and work together as human beings, these things occur naturally. They also represent areas of vulnerability to demonic attack.
The soldiers who go to war are the ones who get wounded. People who drive cars are the ones who have accidents. The families who have children are the ones who have struggles in raising them. Those who are alive are the ones who get headaches and illnesses. Only when you are dead, lying in your coffin under the earth, will you face no problems!
Jesus had plenty of problems with His disciples. They squabbled among themselves as to who was the greatest and fought for their future positions around His throne. Peter ran off at the mouth without thinking. Judas was ready to do anything for money—even betray his Master.
Particularly in the process of doing our very best to build the Lord’s kingdom, we face problems. We can expect it.
I want to point out four areas where the enemy can easily attack those whose hearts are committed to reaching the lost world. I want to share these because I believe that as you are forewarned and take these to heart, you will be strengthened and encouraged to stand firm in the days to come.
Burning the Barn Down
One attack of the enemy is tempting us to major on minor issues. And for those who are involved in any way in reaching the lost world, the attack of the enemy is more severe and direct. He takes advantage of the problems we face and, like a balloon, blows them up bigger and bigger so that our vision of everything else is blocked. Suddenly all we see are the problems.
A Christian organization I heard about was attacked in the press. The problem stemmed from a disagreement between two board members and the leader of this organization. The people fueling the fire were so-called Christian brothers who went to the media with their complaints and in so doing undermined the work of God. The problem was publicized; no mention was made of the 99 good things this organization does.
The enemy used these men to blow the problem out of proportion. Not only did the annual income of this organization drop nearly a million dollars, but great damage was done to millions of suffering people around the world as a result.
This is what Satan does: He takes small things and makes them big. The pastor of a church may have said or done something that caused a misunderstanding. A clique is formed, people blow the problem out of proportion and the church, instead of dealing with it, divides.
Some time ago a woman called Gospel for Asia and told me that she and her husband could no longer support our organization. When I asked why, she said it was because someone had told her GFA had become liberal. I asked how she had come to such a conclusion.
“Well,” she responded, “I found out that GFA workers do not use the King James Version of the Bible.”
“I’m sorry, they don’t,” I replied.
“You’ve deceived me!” she exclaimed. “I can’t support your work any longer.”
Then I asked her, “Are you aware that your missionary in Thailand doesn’t speak English? You realize, of course, that the King James Bible is in English?”
My point here is not to argue about the King James Version, which I love. But this woman allowed Satan to take a small problem and blow it out of proportion; and as a result she decided to give up her commitment to support a national missionary. (Later she changed her mind.)
The enemy will highlight specific failures, even the smallest shortcomings, of leaders of Christian organizations, pastors, church elders and those with whom you work and fellowship. Be on your guard against focusing on just that problem alone. If you do, you will be blinded to the total picture, and this can be very dangerous.
Jesus encountered such blindness. The Pharisees, who caught Jesus’ disciples eating their food without washing their hands according to the Jewish law, blocked out everything else Jesus taught and focused on this one apparent failure. Or when Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath, the Pharisees jumped on Him and said He could not be from God since He worked on the Sabbath. These Pharisees were extremely conscientious when it came to religion. They gave tithes, prayed and fasted. But they left out mercy, kindness and love. Jesus told them, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’ ” (Matthew 9:13).
There seems to be an increasing tendency today for believers to search out the smallest hint of anything negative in Christian organizations, ministries and local churches. Church-hoppers and self-proclaimed spiritual vigilantes are on the increase.
I heard recently about a church that experienced tremendous growth. A 7,000-seat auditorium was built to handle the continuous influx of new members. But now that building sits with many empty pews. Why? Because the leadership of the church was accused of several mistakes. No one could corroborate these mistakes, but most of the members left overnight.
When you are active in a local body of believers, when you support your local church and pastor, and when you pray for Christian ministries, you will soon find problems. But do not forsake your friendships, pack your bags and walk off. You do not abandon a true friend when he has problems; you stay and pray with him. We need to develop this character in our churches, prayer fellowships and ministries so that our brothers and sisters do not suffer needlessly.
I have heard a saying: You don’t burn the barn down just to kill a rat. If you have a barn, you expect to find a few rats. But you do not demolish the place just to kill them; you target the rats.
When you face a problem that looms large in your vision, keep two things in mind: First, pray about it. Commit yourself to pray for your leaders, for the ministries you know, for the church, for the pastor and for those people who are stirring up the problem. Then focus your heart on the percent of good that is happening. Determine to see the problem for what it really is—in light of everything else and not standing by itself.
Let us purpose to see the problems we deal with in the total picture of what God is doing. And even when we are faced with injustices, even when our rights are violated, let us say with Paul, “What does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice” (Philippians 1:18).
Rationalizing Our Desire to Follow the Crowd
The second attack Satan wages against followers of Jesus is tempting us to become self-centered by rationalization. Everybody is doing it, we reason, so it must be okay. We adopt a herd mentality.
I heard a story on the radio recently. A man approaching a big bridge in his car saw another man standing close to the edge, looking down into the river. He stopped his car and went over to the man, apparently hoping to counsel him to save his life. In the end, though, both men jumped off the bridge to their deaths.
This is a perfect illustration of human nature. Our flesh never looks for what it can do for God’s kingdom, but for what it can get for itself. As a result we are easily swayed to become self-centered. All we have to do is rationalize a bit.
An interesting event is recorded in John 21 that took place after Jesus was resurrected, when Peter decided to go back to fishing. “[The disciples] said, ‘We’ll go with you’ ” (John 21:3). How easily influenced these disciples were by Peter’s decision!
We are not much different. It is easy to rationalize our actions, our decisions, even our thoughts. But when your heart becomes discouraged, when doubts rise in your mind, when you are tired and want out of the battle, remember that it does not matter what happens to anyone else. Your only concern is to follow the Lord.
Peter was used by Satan to pull the disciples away from their commitment to Jesus and run after the fishing nets and boats again. I pray that none of us will become an instrument in the hand of the enemy to cause a brother or sister to stumble.
We talked in the last chapter about William Carey, who answered the call of the Lord in the late 18th century to go to India. But when he shared the burden on his heart with the elders in his congregation, their response was, “Sit down, young man. If God wants to save those heathens, He’ll find someone else.” Carey could easily have rationalized that he should listen to the elders. Instead he decided to obey the Lord’s calling alone.
What about Daniel and his friends? They stood alone, captives in a foreign land. They chose to follow God’s law and faced isolation, persecution, even the loss of their lives.
What about Enoch? Genesis 5 records a long list of names, and in the middle of the list we read, “Enoch walked with God” (verse 22). All alone, it seems.
Jeremiah faced four decades of prophecy, laments, rejection, misunderstandings and persecution, and had to stand all alone.
Jesus also stood alone. And to His disciples He said, “I am sending you out like lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3).
You must not look for approval from anybody as you seek to build the Lord’s kingdom. Sometimes you must set your face against the cold wind and walk all alone.
The enemy will use many voices around you to attack you so that you begin to question your calling. You will be tempted to rationalize what you hear. What are you to do, after all? Your father is against you, your mother, your brothers and sisters, the whole congregation, everyone. The Lord must not be calling you after all.
But take a lesson from Joshua and Caleb. When Moses sent the 12 spies into Canaan, the majority of the group concluded that the children of Israel should not go into the land. Only Joshua and Caleb said, “We can go in and take it,” even though they were the minority and no one would listen. People even picked up stones to stone them. Jesus told us our lives with Him would lead down a narrow road. Be watchful and alert so that you are not deceived by the majority.
Do not forget that Jesus’ own brothers came to snatch Him away, saying He was “out of his mind” (Mark 3:21; see John 7:5). Jesus said: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).
As we follow Christ, our closest relatives—even our parents—might oppose our decision. Jesus said:
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”
Matthew 10:34–36
But we are called to keep our allegiance to God’s revealed Word, to obey Him and follow Him.
This is true especially in communities that follow traditional religions. When young people decide to follow Christ and stop practicing the duties of their former religions, they often suffer persecution and harassment—sometimes they are even killed. But these men and women are willing to take a stand against the deeply entrenched family system.
You must also know the call of Christ beyond the shadow of a doubt if you are to hear the call and abandon your life to Him. Do not let the majority become the tool of the enemy to deceive you. That does not mean we should not listen to the wisdom of those in our prayer fellowship or congregation. The Bible tells us that “for lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure” (Proverbs 11:14). But this is one of the areas where we need to be extremely watchful of the enemy’s tactics.
Not Recognizing the Fiery Darts
The third way the enemy attacks us is by tempting us to forget we have an enemy. Satan’s ultimate desire is not to withhold funds or stop programs from being carried out. His plan is to make believers ineffective in the work of the kingdom.
As followers of Jesus in a fallen world, we are not immune to the devil’s attacks. No one is exempt from these struggles, especially those serving the Lord on the front lines. Satan hurls his fiery darts at us constantly, using the tiniest problem to waste our precious time. We face discouragement, sorrow, misunderstanding and disappointment, and may not even recognize these as the fiery darts of the enemy.
But Paul tells us we are in a spiritual war, and to stand firm and pray always (Ephesians 6:12–13, 18). Unless we stay in the battle, we can easily get crushed by the enemy. And we need to realize how important it is to pray for God’s protection over one another.
We have no need to be afraid of the enemy’s schemes. We are told to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). John encourages us, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome [evil spirits], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
God is never troubled by the lack of money or ideas. His greatest purpose is to find people. “The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). It is individuals—you and I—whom God has chosen to change the course of this generation. Sometimes we forget this, but Satan has never forgotten it. He sees the servants of the Lord as an awesome threat and does his best to make us as ineffective as possible.
Let me share some encouraging words by an unknown author that came across my desk recently:
The Lord has given every man his work. It is his business to do it, and the devil’s business to hinder him if he can. And as sure as God has given you a work to do, Satan will try to hinder you.
My dear Christian friend, keep at your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars; do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs; do not fool away your time chasing the devil’s rabbits. Do your work. Let liars lie, let religious sectarians quarrel, let corporations resolve, let editors publish, and come what may, let the devil do his worst; but see to it that nothing hinders you from fulfilling the work God has given you.
Keep at your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. Let the world brawl and babble and bubble. Keep at your work. You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded and rejected; you may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends and despised and rejected of men, but see to it with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of your life and the object of your being, until at last you can say, “I have run the race ... I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”
Succumbing to Our Natural Thoughts
Finally, one of the strongest attacks of the enemy against believers is tempting us to forget our need to exercise faith in God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
There are times in our lives when we have more questions than answers. Our emotions are dry and cold. Nothing gives us reason to get excited or happy about serving God. What do we do?
Times like these are part of the battle. They are when “the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). In every battle we face, we need to keep in mind that faith is the key that helps us overcome the world and the enemy. “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
After spying out the land of Canaan, Joshua and Caleb said, “Let’s go!” Caleb in particular was a radical revolutionary who told Moses and the people of Israel, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30).
What did the other 10 spies say? “This is impossible! We can’t do it. We saw giants in the land, and we ourselves are grasshoppers in comparison” (see Numbers 13:33).
Forty-five years later, when it was finally time for Israel to enter the land of Canaan, Caleb at age 85 was still ready to go and possess his inheritance:
I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. ... The LORD helping me, I will drive [the Anakites] out just as he said.
Joshua 14:11–12
Caleb lived his whole life following the Lord. When he saw the land of Canaan, he had no doubt that the children of Israel could possess it—not because he was confident in their might, but because he was confident in God’s ability to go beyond any weakness or frailty. God honored Caleb’s faith and gave him a special inheritance in the Promised Land because, as Moses told him, “You have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly” (Joshua 14:9).
If you know anything about faith, you know there is something innate in us that works against faith, even in the most knowledgeable theologian or the most powerful preacher. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him” (1 Corinthians 2:14). No matter how much we read and memorize the Bible, our natural mind always comes up with some argument against God’s way of doing things. This is why exercising faith is so important.
The Lord makes a clear distinction between His thoughts and ours:
Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:7–9
An important part of spiritual warfare involves dealing with our natural thoughts, those that work against faith. Paul exhorted the believers in Corinth—and us today as well:
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3–5
When Elisha the prophet was serving the Lord in Israel, a powerful Syrian captain named Naaman came to him. He had heard that Elisha could heal him of his leprosy. But Elisha made a strange requirement: “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed” (2 Kings 5:10).
Naaman became angry when he heard this. The word in the King James is wroth, and it translates to mean that he burst out in anger. Naaman probably spewed out a stream of vulgarities.
Why was he so angry? Verse 11 records Naaman’s explanation: “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.” Naaman was not a small man in the kingdom of Syria, and what the prophet had asked him to do was insulting.
No matter what God says, our own thoughts will either try to get the job done, or say it cannot be done, or say it is not God’s will for it to be done, or say that is not the way He works. Our thoughts will always come up with something to counteract what God asks us to do.
What can we do about our wayward minds? First we must search our hearts and make sure nothing is keeping us from uniting our hearts with one another. The Bible tells us that “if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). The other important thing to keep in mind is what Jesus told us in Mark 11:24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” So many have used this verse out of context over the years that we have a tendency to write it off. But that verse is in your Bible and mine as well!
It sounds simplistic, doesn’t it, just to believe! As a matter of fact, it sounds more like something an ignorant child would do rather than an educated adult.
When my daughter, Sarah, was very small, her older cousins had great fun with her during our regular visits to my home village in India. They discovered that she believed anything they told her! Soon it happened regularly that Sarah would come running home with some wild story she had heard from a cousin, which she believed with all her heart. She did not know not to believe it.
And in terms of the kingdom of God, this is exactly what Jesus is telling us to do—to believe as a child believes: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
When you pray for an unsaved loved one, for revival in your church, for a spiritual breakthrough in Islamic countries, for the unsaved to be reached with the Gospel, remember what Jesus said: “Believe that you have received it.” When God told Abraham he would have a son, Abraham not only believed it but began to thank God. Later on he received his son.
I encourage you to exercise your faith actively in what God is able to do. Go beyond your natural thoughts and reactions. Trust Him, in obedience to what His Word says, for miracles far greater than what your mind could ever imagine.
The Victory That Overcomes the World
I agree there is no point in investing our time and energy to study the intricate strategies of the devil. Yet for those of us who serve the Lord and are committed to His purposes, I want to stress how important it is to be aware that our lives make a powerful impact on the spiritual world.
It is vitally important for us to remember that our walk and service to the Lord are not like a normal, nine-to-five, five-day-a-week job for which we clock in and clock out. We must realize, by the very nature of our commitment to the Lord, that we may face attacks and problems anytime. Our safeguard is to be aware daily of these attacks. And as we take up the spiritual weapons of our warfare as described in Ephesians 6, we will be overcomers in this battle: “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13).
In the next chapter, the final chapter of this section, we will look at the greatest weapon in our arsenal.