If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of one hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Many believers fall into either two traps, over-estimating Satan or underestimating him. When you over-estimate the enemy, you give him more power than he has. When you under-estimate him you don’t respect the power that he has. The Lord has not left us without a guide as to what we can expect in our battles. He has given us His word so that we can be prepared and know what he can and can’t do.
No Fear
Our goal is to be thoroughly secure and knowledgeable in Christ that we know that we can do great exploits, without fear. If anyone here is afraid, please listen to this scripture from
Deuteronomy 20:8 “Let the officials also speak to the army, ‘Is there a man here who is afraid and faint-hearted? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may demoralize his fellow soldier.’ ISV.
We need to Know Ourselves, (What Christ Has Done For Us.)
When we first believed in the Lord, we were transferred from the kingdom of darkness into his kingdom of light. Jesus said in John 5:24 “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, whoever hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has passed from death to life.” ISV. Jesus took our judgment at the cross. Although we may endure trials and discipline, we will never receive judgment or condemnation from God. Romans 8:1 says “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.” ISV. This is comparable to a passage in Colossians 2:13-15 “Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses, having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross. And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross. ISV. This passage says that the powers of darkness have been disarmed. Similarly, Ephesians 2:1-6 explains what was done for us when we turned away from darkness and believed: “You used to be dead because of your offenses and sins that you once practiced as you lived according to the ways of this present world and according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now active in those who are disobedient. Indeed, all of us once behaved like them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for wrath, just like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us even when we were dead because of our offenses, made us alive together with the Messiah (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly realm in the Messiah Jesus. ISV.
Satan does not have the power to condemn but only accuse. Jesus has the power to condemn but won’t accuse us. Have a look at these scriptures:
1) Romans 8:34 “Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.” ISV. This passage is saying here that the Lord Jesus has the power to condemn, but he is the one that justifies us. I’ve heard it said that justify can mean, “just as if I never sinned.”
2) Satan accuses. In Zechariah 3:1 we see his work; “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. ISV.
Know Your Enemy
In Numbers 22: Balak wanted to put a curse on the Israelites. (For illustrative purposes let’s say he represents Satan who wants to destroy all Christians) He hired Balaam the false prophet to do this. As Balaam attempted to curse Israel, he found himself blessing them instead. Read Numbers 23-24. We learn from this passage that although Satan wants to destroy God’s people he can’t. No curse from the pit of hell has any power. However, we can see that he tempts us with sins that lead to death. (A sin that leads to death is basically any sin that was punished in the Old Testament with death. 1 John 5:16,17 “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray that God would give him life. This applies to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not telling you to pray about that. Every kind of wrongdoing is sin, yet there are sins that do not lead to death.” ISV.) Let’s look at Revelation 2:14; But I have a few things against you: You have there some who hold to the teaching of Balaam, the one who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality. ISV.
From these passages, we can see that Satan will entice you to sin because he can’t do any physical harm to you. He has no legal power over you unless you give it to him. People also allow Satan to intimidate them through fear. A good illustration is a peacock. Did you know that a peacock’s tail is a display of power rather than beauty? Growing up on a farm I often saw a peacock pursuing and intimidating other animals with its “many eyes.” With its tail spread, it is giving the impression that all these eyes are watching them, and the other animal is confused, intimidated, and overpowered. Eyes are power in this instance. The other animal doesn’t know which eyes to watch. The peacock is giving the impression that it has more power than it has. So too with Satan. Stop giving him more power than he has. Question: Where have you given Satan more power than he has? I’ve been guilty of this one more time than I would like. In my early years as a Christian talking about demonic situations and then said to myself, “we better cover ourselves in the blood of Jesus as we talk about this”. Thankfully someone pulled me up on this. I have been guilty of making Satan out to be bigger than he is.
Knowing our enemy
From my experiences, here are the areas where we give the enemy access.
1) One Mistake is Through Contempt of Court
Don’t get charged with contempt of court! Here’s a correct scriptural example of contending in the Spirit realm: Jude 8 & 9 “In a similar way, these dreamers also defile their flesh, reject the Lord’s authority, and slander his glorious beings. Even the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil and fought over the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him. Instead, he said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” ISV. Satan has authority over people because they are lost, and we must recognize “Satan’s right to rule.” Isaiah 42:22 says, “But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, “Send them back.”NIV. Recognize that these people are lost, and Satan has a legal right to them. We cannot win by getting enraged at the powers of darkness.
One of my Bible College lecturers taught how she got into a severe attack through warfare. She got into a rage over idol worship when there was a religious celebration occurring. The lesson here is Satan has his domain through idolatry, through people’s disobedience and rebellion. He legitimately has “the right to rule.”
There was a time when I was having trouble with a well. I knew that people had used water divining to find the best place to put the well. We always had problems with it. One day as I was trying to fix the pump in the well, I got extremely frustrated and got into a “railing accusation” against the devil. I fell very quickly afterward. I was a young believer and am thankful that God’s grace was upon me, so I learned my lesson. Psalm 37:23 “A man’s steps are established by the Lord, and the Lord delights in his way. Though he stumbles, he will not fall down flat, for the LORD will hold up his hand.” ISV.
Don’t get into a shouting or arguing match with the enemy!
Another Avenue of Attack is From Gloating
Luke 13:20 “However, stop rejoicing because the spirits are submitting to you. Instead, rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” ISV. I want to relate a personal story of mine where I certainly learned my lesson in this area. I was interceding on a particular project. One night I slept over at my brother’s house. As I was talking to him I said, “good night, I’m going to slay some dragons.” Immediately I heard the Holy Spirit say, “NO!” The very next day I had a road rage incident against me where I was assaulted resulting in a mild black eye. I got humbled and learned my lesson and never boasted in battle again. The Lord corrected me through Psalm 44:3 “It was not with their sword that they inherited the land, nor did their own arm deliver them. But it was by your power, your strength, and by the light of your face; because you were pleased with them.” ISV. Accessing the Lord’s power is through grace and there is no room for gloating!